Bidspirit auction | Bnei Yissaschar, by Rabbi Tzvi

Bnei Yissaschar, by Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech Shapira of Dinov. Zolkiew, 1846. First edition. The first book printed - Bnei Yissaschar. Chassidic and Kabbalistic discourses on the festivals and months of the year [Part II], on the months of Tishrei–Adar, by the Rebbe Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech Shapira, Av Beit Din of Munkatch and Dinov. [Zolkiew], 1846. First edition. The first book printed. Incomplete copy. In the present volume, Part II was printed before Part I. The first part was only first printed in 1850 in Zolkiew, where this present part was reprinted in a second edition. This first edition before us was printed without a title page, as the censor did not permit printing the book. The printing date appears in the colophon at the end of the book: “And the work was completed on Tuesday, the 38th day of the Omer [23 Iyar], year 1846.” The author, Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech Shapira of Dinov, a relative of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk (after whom he was named as a segulah), was a Torah genius in both the revealed and hidden realms, and was held in high esteem by the leading sages of his generation. In Chassidut, he was a disciple of the Chozeh of Lublin and Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rimanov, and later studied under the Maggid of Kozhnitz and the Ohev Yisrael of Apta. He served as rabbi in several communities, instituted important ordinances, and battled the Haskalah movement. He authored many books in all fields of Torah, but his name became eternalized through this work, Bnei Yissaschar. He passed away in 1841, and this work was published posthumously. On the story of the book's publication and the opposition of the censor—who was a former acquaintance of the author, a Jewish maskil who had converted—see: Ben Menachem, Pitchei She’arim, pp. 69–74. Stefansky Chassidut 92. Lacking beginning: leaves 1–6 and leaf 114. Printed without title page. 23.5 cm. Blue paper. Very good condition except for final five leaves with stains and reinforcement tape. Plain binding.