Bidspirit auction | Leḥem Setarim – Commentary on

Leḥem Setarim – Commentary on Tractate Avodah Zarah. Strasbourg, [1777]. Second edition, with the approbation of the “Noda BiYehudah” - An important scholarly work on Tractate Avodah Zarah, authored by the eminent scholar Rabbi Shlomo Algazi, one of the notable Torah figures of the 18th century . The genius with the masterpiece. Leḥem Setarim is renowned for its clear analytical method and systematic elucidation of complex talmudic passages, and it earned wide esteem in the world of Torah learning. The present copy is the second edition, printed in Strasbourg in 5537 [1777] at the press of Janaz Lorenz, and includes the approbation of Rabbi Yeḥezkel Landau, the “Noda BiYehudah”, among the foremost halakhic authorities of his generation. The inclusion of his approbation attests to the importance of the work and its standing as a foundational commentary on the tractate. On leaf [3] appears an “Introduction in Honor of the Eminent Author”, written by Rabbi Yosef David Sinzheim (printed anonymously), later Chief Rabbi of Strasbourg and a leading figure of French Jewry. On leaf [4] is the printer’s introduction, which contains a vivid account of the printer’s visit to the home of Rabbi Yosef David Sinzheim. There he found “a house full of books, ” including Leḥem Setarim, and recounts that upon requesting permission to reprint the book, the rabbi handed it over immediately “without price and without payment, in order to benefit the public”—a moving testimony to the spirit of Torah dissemination in that era. [4], 120, 14 leaves. 20 cm. Condition: Very good. Binding: Half leather with marbled paper boards, spine defective. A foundational work on Tractate Avodah Zarah, in an important early edition, with the approbation of the “Noda BiYehudah” and historically significant introductions—an attractive item for collectors and scholarly libraries.