Bidspirit auction | She’elot uTeshuvot Divrei Chaim, Lemberg

She’elot uTeshuvot Divrei Chaim, Lemberg 1875. Two Parts. First Edition - Sefer She’elot uTeshuvot Divrei Chaim, responsa on the four sections of the Shulchan Aruch. Lemberg, 1875. First printing. Two parts in one volume. First edition. The Divrei Chaim responsa, published during the lifetime of the holy author, the Rebbe of Sanz. On the title pages: “That which I have collected and gathered from among the responsa I have written and debated with the great sages of our time, I, the young and humble one among Israel, who is called Chaim, the Rav of the holy community of Sanz.” With an especially brief introduction by the author. The book was printed by his grandsons, Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam of Bobov and Rabbi Moshe Halberstam of Bardejov. It is told that while preparing and editing the responsa for print, the Divrei Chaim would sit with his scribe, Rabbi Avish Meir, after midnight and read aloud the final version of his responsa. He would read while the scribe wrote from his dictation. After reading a few sections, the Divrei Chaim would go to immerse in the mikveh. Upon returning, he would continue reading. After several more passages, he would immerse again, and return to dictate. “And so he would immerse five times each night during the cold nights of Tevet, while the scribe would write down half a responsum or a short one in its entirety, in order to produce Torah novellae in sanctity and purity” (see Makor Chaim, Bilgoraj 1912, §13). Rabbi Chaim Halberstam of Sanz (1797–1876), Rabbi of the city of Sanz in Galicia, founder of the Sanz Chassidic dynasty, was one of the leading Torah authorities and spiritual leaders of Eastern European Jewry in the 19th century. He was a disciple of Rabbi Naftali Tzvi of Ropshitz and Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch of Ziditchov. Most of his sons and sons-in-law served as Rebbes, the most prominent among them being his son, Rabbi Yechezkel Shraga Halberstam of Shinova. His descendants led many Chassidic courts such as Sanz-Klausenburg, Bobov, and Stropkov. Rabbi Chaim was also renowned as one of the foremost halachic decisors of his generation. He was ordained by Rabbi Ephraim Zalman Margolis of Brody and corresponded on halachic matters with the great rabbis of his era. He is particularly known for his stringent approach to the laws of mikvaot; he was staunchly opposed to machine-baked matzot and to wearing tzitzit made by machine. Some of his rulings caused considerable debate in the Chassidic world, such as his ruling that unmarried men should don tefillin on Chol HaMoed, and that the mantle of Rebbe should not be inherited. Numerous followers and interpreters of his halachic methodology were active in Galicia and Hungary. His responsa, Divrei Chaim, became part of the canon of modern rabbinic halachic literature. Stefansky, Chassidut 119. Stefansky, Sifrei Yessod 312. Part I: [2], 134 leaves. Part II: [4], 120 leaves. Approximately 36 cm. Good condition. Minor tears on the title page and following leaf. Cardboard binding detached. The rest of the leaves in very good condition.