Bidspirit auction | Pri Yitzchak – Responsa and

Pri Yitzchak – Responsa and Various Talmudic Investigations, by Rabbi Yitzchak Blazer. Vilna, 1881. First Edition. Long Autograph Annotation by the Author. - The celebrated foundational work Pri Yitzchak, containing responsa and profound halachic analyses by the saintly gaon Rabbi Yitzchak Blazer, one of the foremost disciples of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter and a central pillar of the early Mussar movement. Printed in Vilna in 1881, this is the first part of the work. The second part was printed in Jerusalem only more than thirty years later. Accordingly, the present volume is the original first edition of his major halachic composition. The book is adorned with approbations from leading sages of the generation: Rabbi Shlomo Kluger, his son Rabbi Avraham Binyamin Kluger, and Rabbi Yosef Shaul Nathanson—testimony to the great esteem in which the author was already held at the time of publication. The great distinction of this copy is a lengthy handwritten annotation by the author himself, appearing in Siman 20 and opening with the words: “אמר הכותב” (“Said the writer”). Before us is an authentic and significant addition by the author, illuminating his method of learning and granting this copy exceptional importance. Rabbi Yitzchak Blazer (1837–1907), widely known as Rabbi Itzele Petersburger, was the greatest disciple of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter and his foremost successor in spreading the Mussar movement. One of the outstanding Torah leaders of his generation, he served as Av Beit Din of the imperial capital St. Petersburg. After leaving that post, he moved to Kovno, where he headed the Kovno Kollel and profoundly influenced the yeshiva world. He regularly delivered Mussar discourses in the Slabodka Yeshiva, especially during the month of Elul. In his final years he settled in Jerusalem, where he passed away and was buried on the Mount of Olives. Among his notable works: Pri Yitzchak, Ohr Yisrael, and Kokhvei Ohr. 206 pages. 34 cm. Condition: Good. Minor worming to the blank margins. Simple binding.