Bidspirit auction | The book of the ḥasid

The book of the ḥasid and magnate “the Baal HaMaaseh”: Sefer HaMitzvot of the Rambam with Marganita Tava – Lemberg 1860 - Sefer HaMitzvot of the Rambam With the critiques of the Ramban, Megillat Esther, and Marganita Tava. Lemberg 1860 Owners: On the title page: ”לד' הארץ ומלואה שייך לי הק' אברהם אבלי אינגבער” . The gaon, pious man, the famed magnate Rabbi Avraham Abele Ingeber of Rzeszów, joined Torah and wealth upon his table. He was a descendant of the “Ḥakham Tzvi” and the “Meginei Shlomo, ” and he himself became connected by marriage with the great ones of his generation. R. Abele sat and learned all day, and his righteous wife, Lipshe, managed his affairs – and scattered charity to the poor with a generosity unmatched. “Nine flasks of Meyd” – the story of the enrichment of R. Abele: The tale of the enrichment of the ḥasid R. Avraham Abele was told by the holy Rebbe of Tshechnov – this is how it happened: By the holy Rebbe the “Divrei Yeḥezkel” of Shinova there was on Purim great joy, many were blessed, especially in livelihood and wealth. One year, in the midst of the wine feast, the drink was finished. The Shinova Rebbe announced that whoever would bring “nine tep meyd” – nine flasks of liqueur, I promise him wealth! Sitting there was a ḥasid named R. Abele of Pshezhava, a poor and destitute man. R. Abele rose quickly, took his tallit-and-tefillin bag under his arm, and went out to the city street. He entered a liquor shop and requested “nine tep meyd” on credit, offering his tallit and tefillin as collateral until he could pay. The seller, who knew R. Abele’s dire financial state, refused to sell to him, for he did not believe he would find money to repay. In the strength of his faith in the blessing of the tzaddik, R. Abele did not despair; he went from shop to shop. In one shop the seller asked him: upon what do you rely that you will have the means to pay? R. Abele replied: upon the blessing of the Rebbe, who promised wealth to whoever brings the drink… The shopkeeper answered: you will become wealthy as much as Yankel the magnate fell from his fortune because of the curse of R. Meilekh… Yankel the magnate, as his name suggests, was a well-known wealthy man in the region, and several years earlier the holy Rebbe Rabbi Elimelekh of Rudnik approached him and asked him for a sum of money to redeem captives. Yankel the magnate refused to respond to the request, and even humiliated the Rebbe who pleaded with him. Rabbi Elimelekh said: I am assured that yet you shall fall from your wealth… The word of the curse of the Rebbe of Rudnik was publicized; years passed and the Rebbe departed this world, and Yankel the magnate – still wealthy was he… And this was the shopkeeper’s intent: you rely on the blessing of the Rebbe that you will become wealthy and be able to pay, but if Yankel is still wealthy, apparently one cannot rely on the Rebbes… R. Abele returned to his Rebbe’s table empty-handed. The Rebbe of Shinova turned to him and asked: where is the drink? R. Abele recounted what had happened to him, including the contemptuous remark of the seller: “you will become wealthy just as R. Yaakov the magnate fell from his fortune.” At the moment he told this, the holy Rebbe of Shinova turned pale. He said: if this is the case, that they are telling tales after the passing of Torah scholars, I am compelled to reveal the true story with that magnate… And so he told: when I was compelled to travel to Russia with my son R. Moshele, in order to perform ḥalitzah for the widow of my son R. Naftali, I summoned to me R. Yankel the magnate and asked him for a loan for the journey. The magnate said to me: the Rebbe knows that I bear a curse from R. Elimelekh of Rudnik, of blessed memory. Let the Rebbe know that from the very day he cursed me, my fortunes have turned and all my wealth is being lost. That I still appear a magnate and continue to trade and invest – this is not from my own money, but because people trust me and deposit with me dowry funds and the monies of orphans and widows that I invest for them. From this money of those unfortunate ones I cover the losses and attempt to recover. But recently the situation has reached the point that soon I shall collapse, and the invested money will also be lost, and those poor ones will be left with nothing, Heaven forbid! If the Rebbe will release me from the curse of R. Elimelekh of Rudnik – I shall give him the entire sum as a gift, but if the situation continues – I have nothing to lend at all! The Rebbe said to him: return to me tomorrow and I will consider the matter. On the next day, the Shinova Rebbe related, I said to Yankel that I had reflected, and it seems to me that assuredly R. Elimelekh of Rudnik agrees to forgo his grievance, for all his grievance was because he was then traveling to collect funds for redeeming captives, and there is no greater redeeming of captives than that Yankel remain a magnate, for if he collapses,