Bidspirit auction | Keset HaSofer by Rabbi Shlomo

Keset HaSofer by Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried – Copy of Rabbi Shalom Goldenberg, Rabbi of Svalyava | Rare Chassidic Testimony Concerning the Megillot of the Bnei Yissaschar and Rabbi Zvi Hirsch of Liska - The classic and authoritative work on the laws of writing Torah scrolls, tefillin, mezuzot, and related scribal practices, authored by the world-renowned Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried of Ungvar, author of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. Ungvar, 1871. In his approbation, the Chatam Sofer famously ruled that no certification should be granted to a Torah scribe who is not proficient in this work. First printing of the expanded second edition, containing extensive additions and revisions (see below). This copy belonged to the noted Gaon Rabbi Shalom Goldenberg, author of Divrei Shalom and Rabbi of Svalyava, a position later held by Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Weiss. At the upper-right corner of the title page appears his early autograph signature: “LeH”V, the humble Shalom Goldenberg.” Beneath it appears his (faded) rabbinical stamp from his tenure in Svalyava. (An additional inscription of his name appears elsewhere on the title page, though it seems to be in another hand and not his autograph.) Throughout the volume are more than fifteen manuscript notes and corrections, apparently in Rabbi Shalom Goldenberg’s own hand. Several references cite the responsa of the Chatam Sofer and Maharam Schick. Rabbi Shalom Goldenberg of Svalyava (d. 1918) was among the prominent Chassidic rabbis and tzaddikim of Hungary. He was a disciple of the holy Rabbi of Shinova, served as Rabbi of Svalyava from 1882 until 1913, and headed a yeshivah there. He signed public proclamations together with the authors of Darkei Teshuvah of Munkacs and Arugat HaBosem. His writings were later published as Divrei Shalom on the Torah and Birkat Shalom on the Talmud. A common misconception identifies Rabbi Shalom as the son-in-law of Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Weiss of Svalyava. In fact, Rabbi Shalom assumed the rabbinate only after Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac had moved elsewhere. Nevertheless, the families became related through marriage when Rabbi Shalom’s daughter Esther married Rabbi Yosef Epstein, grandson of Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Weiss. [4], 138 leaves. Height: approximately 23 cm. Condition: Fair-good to good. Title page worn and detached. Staining. Wear to final leaf. Binding worn and disbound. Rare Chassidic Testimony Regarding the Megillot of the Bnei Yissaschar and Rabbi Zvi Hirsch of Liska On the inside rear cover appears a fascinating pencil inscription indicating that the writer personally repaired the sacred Megillot used by the Bnei Yissaschar, Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov, and by Rabbi Zvi Hirsch of Liska. The writer was likely Rabbi Yosef Epstein of Satmar, son-in-law of Rabbi Shalom Goldenberg and a close associate of the Minchat Elazar of Munkacs. Rabbi Yosef was a renowned expert Torah scribe and was evidently entrusted with repairing the Megillot of these revered Chassidic masters. Regarding the Megillah of the Bnei Yissaschar, he writes: “I repaired a Megillah from which the holy Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov read, and I saw that it was written ‘lifneihem’; however, I heard that there was another Megillah before him in which it was written ‘bifneihem, ’ and he read from both.” Regarding the Megillah of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch of Liska, he records: “I saw in the Megillah of the holy Rabbi Tzvi of Liska, which I repaired, that the word ‘Ardi’ was written defectively…” These testimonies were later published from the present copy in Imrei Devash (New York, 1998), p. 139, and in Meshiv Devarim, vol. II (New York, 2019), p. 175. They were reproduced there verbatim, but without any identification of the likely author. Rabbi Yosef Epstein, son of Rabbi Ephraim Fishel Epstein and grandson through marriage of Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac of Svalyava, was both a disciple and son-in-law of Rabbi Shalom Goldenberg. He published his father-in-law’s Divrei Shalom, was closely associated with the Darkei Teshuvah of Munkacs, and was widely recognized as an expert scribe and authority in the laws of STaM. In 1899 he settled in Satmar, where he served as preacher and rabbi of the Nemeti district synagogue. He was murdered al kiddush Hashem in Auschwitz on 10 Sivan 1944 together with members of his family. Following these inscriptions appears another pencil signature: “The humble Yitzchak Isaac Epstein, son of Esther daughter of the Rabbi of the holy community of Svalyava.” This was apparently Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Epstein, son of Rabbi Yosef Epstein, later serving as rabbinical judge in Petrove. A responsum addressed to him appears in Tiferet Adam (Part I, no. 54), written while he was still a young man. About Keset HaSofer The work was first printed in Ofen (Budapest) in 1835, when its author was only thirty-one years old. Before publication, the manuscript was submitted to the Chatam Sofer,