Bidspirit auction | The First Talmud Printed After

The First Talmud Printed After the Holocaust!! Tractate Nedarim – Munich, [1946]. A Fine Copy - Tractate Nedarim, She’erit HaPleitah edition, published by the Vaad Agudat HaRabbanim (Council of Rabbis) in the American Zone of Germany. Munich, 5706 [1946]. A particularly fine and well-preserved copy. This volume represents the very first tractate of the Talmud printed in Europe after the Holocaust, produced for the She’erit HaPleitah — the surviving remnant of European Jewry living in the displaced persons camps of Germany. It stands as a milestone in the spiritual rebirth of the Torah world following the devastation of the Shoah. In the moving introduction, the editors wrote: “After a small measure of our spirit returned to us in the early days of liberation, we immediately felt the lack of the ‘Book’ for the People of the Book. The evildoers who destroyed and burned the Jews of Europe sought also to destroy every Hebrew book, so that the Jew would burn together with the Torah. Possession of a siddur or tefillin meant mortal danger... All Jewish books were taken to be turned into pulp or other base materials... This aroused us to begin printing tractates here for study...” And further: “Only Tractates Kiddushin and Nedarim were found in our possession, bound together in a single volume, almost new. We decided to photograph and reprint these tractates and distribute them among the She’erit HaPleitah in the exile of Germany.” The volume was published by the Council of Agudat HaRabbanim in the American Zone, with the assistance of Vaad Hatzalah. At the beginning appears a large and vividly illustrated title page, bearing powerful imagery from the concentration camps, with the inscription: “The barrack in which we sat, studied, and prayed in secret.” This Tractate Nedarim is regarded as the cornerstone of Torah revival after the Holocaust. Three years later, in 5709 [1949], the complete Talmud was printed in Munich — nineteen volumes in all — in a unified edition. However, the design of the title pages in that later printing differs from the original, rare 1946 edition presented here. A museum-quality Holocaust relic, of supreme historical, spiritual, and cultural significance — a tangible symbol of the triumph of faith and Torah over destruction. A volume worthy of any Torah library or collection of Jewish history and Holocaust heritage. [1] leaves: 2–123, [16] pages. 39 cm. A particularly fine and complete copy, printed on strong, high-quality paper. Condition: very good; small marginal tears; original decorated binding embossed with a Star of David; ownership signature present.