Bidspirit auction | Gai Chazon. Poem in Honor

Gai Chazon. Poem in Honor of Moses Montefiore. Jerusalem, 1855. Rare - Poem in Honor of Sir Moses Montefiore and His Wife. By Rabbi Yaakov Sapir HaLevi. Jerusalem, Printed by R. Yisrael Bak, 1855. Only Edition. A poem of thirty-seven stanzas, “To recount the greatness of Moses, his deeds of righteousness and his glory… our master the nobleman… Moses Montefiore… and his wife, most precious among women… Judith… and their righteous companions… seekers of the peace of the Holy Land… in the capital city of London.” The poem is vowelized, with a commentary printed beneath the verses. On the title page is printed: “On the press of Moses and Judith, may they be blessed.” By Rabbi Yaakov HaLevi Sapir (1822–1885), author of Even Sapir. Born in Ashmyany in the Russian Empire (today Belarus), he immigrated to Eretz Israel as a child with his family. A member of the Perushim community, he served as scribe of the community and secretary of the Perushim congregation in Jerusalem. In 1858 he was appointed emissary (shadar), representing all the city’s congregations on a fundraising mission to Jewish communities in the East. Alongside this mission, he meticulously recorded his travels, later publishing Even Sapir (1864–1866), describing his journey to Yemen and the Jewish community there. A rare booklet. Recorded in the Bibliographic Project on the basis of an incomplete copy. See also: A.R. Malachi, On Jerusalem Printing, Sinai 60 (1967), pp. 159–173; Sh. Halevy, The First Hebrew Books Printed in Jerusalem, no. 53. 24 pages. Approx. 18 cm. Very good condition. Uncut and unsewn leaves, bound together.