Bidspirit auction | She’elot u-Teshuvot R. Ḥayim ha-Kohen

She’elot u-Teshuvot R. Ḥayim ha-Kohen Rapoport, Av Beit Din of Lemberg. Lemberg 1861 — first edition. Copy belonging to the famed Tzuf Devash! - Responsa on the four sections of the Shulḥan Arukh, by Rabbi Ḥayim son of Rabbi Simḥah ha-Kohen Rapoport, Av Beit Din of Lemberg. Lemberg 1861, first edition. In most copies, among the approbations printed after the title page, appears also the approbation of the Sho’el u-Meishiv. In this copy, his approbation is absent; in its place appears the approbation of his brother-in-law, R. Mordechai Ze’ev Ettinga. Likewise, in this copy the publisher’s preface by R. Reuven Rapoport omits the passage thanking the Sho’el u-Meishiv for his comments. [Vinograd, Lemberg 1751]. This substitution may be related to the brothers-in-laws' differing views over machine Matzot. Rabbi Ḥayim ha-Kohen Rapoport (1700 – 13 Tammuz 1771) was among the great sages of his generation, rabbi of Lemberg. His father, R.i Simḥah ha-Kohen Rapoport, had served as rabbi in Dubno, Horodno, and Lublin, and at the end of his life was appointed rabbi of Lemberg — but passed away on the journey there. R. Ḥayim first served in the rabbinate as head of the yeshivah in Zhetl and in Slutsk, and from 1740 as Av Beit Din and rosh yeshivah of Lemberg, and subsequently was accepted as the senior rabbi of Galicia. He was a leading warrior against the Sabbatian movement; as head of the rabbinate he stood at the head of the delegation of rabbis chosen to participate in the famous public disputation with the Frankists in Lemberg in 1759. He passed away and was buried in Lemberg on 13 Tamuz 1771. Owners: On the title page appears: ”לע' קוני הצב״י מעט דב״ש יבה״ק ”. This is the sacred signature of the gaon Rabbi David ben Shimon — Tzuf Devash. “The great luminary, the western lamp, a wondrous and God-filled rabbi, mighty in holiness, humble as Hillel, whose gracious worth none can fully tell, resembling the sons of the divine, a holy man sanctified by Heaven” — thus wrote the Sdei Ḥemed. Rabbi Ḥayim Palaggi called him: “the distinguished rabbi of our generation, blessed is He who apportioned of His wisdom to those who fear Him.” Rabbi David ben Shimon (Tzuf Devash) was born in Rabat, Morocco, in 1824. Already in his youth he was surrounded by many disciples, teaching Torah and spreading holiness in his city. In 1854, at the age of twenty-eight, he left all his honor in Morocco and ascended to the Holy Land, to which he had yearned all his life; indeed, most of his writings concern its sanctity. Dozens of families of his disciples joined him, among them Rabbi Yaakov Bibas (author of Sha’arei Torah and She’erit Yaakov) and Rabbi Elazar ben Tov (author of Pekudat Elazar). In Jerusalem he found the Maghrebi community in deep poverty and want. He organized the Western-Jewish community, establishing an independent congregation separate from the Sephardic community council of Jerusalem. He built synagogues and institutions in the Old City, and personally sent emissaries to the communities of the Maghreb to raise funds for the community in general and for his primary goal — the establishment of the first neighborhood outside the walls for the benefit of ”Western Jews”. He was known for his care of orphans and widows, many of whom found refuge in his home. In 1866 he founded the neighborhood Maḥaneh Yisrael, the second neighborhood built outside the walls of Jerusalem, all of whose houses were designated for the poor of the Maghrebi community. He maintained close ties with Sir Moses Montefiore, who assisted the Western community at his request. He became renowned as a worker of salvations and a holy man, and many flocked to him for blessings. His Torah teachings are cited by the Sdei Ḥemed, the Ben Ish Ḥai, and Rabbi Ḥayim Palaggi. The Devash  passed away on 18 Kiskev 1879 at the age of fifty-three and was buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. He was succeeded as rabbi of the Western community by Rabbi Rafael Elazar ben Tov. His son Rabbi Rafael Aharon ben Shimon became a major halakhic authority, serving as chief rabbi of Cairo and president of its rabbinical court for some thirty years. Upon his passing, his place was filled by his brother, Rabbi Masa’ud Ḥai ben Shimon, the second son of the Tzuf Devash.