Bidspirit auction | Chaim Sha'al Responsa – Livorno,

Chaim Sha'al Responsa – Livorno, 1796. First Edition. - Chaim Sha'al Responsa – First Edition Printed During the Chida's Lifetime. Copy of Rabbi Chaim Berlin Chaim Sha'al, responsa by Maran Rabbeinu Chaim Yosef David Azulai – the Chida. Part Two. Livorno, 1796. First edition. The first edition of the second part of the important responsa work Chaim Sha'al, printed during the author's lifetime under his supervision. In his characteristic manner, the Chida did not limit himself to publishing his responsa alone, but incorporated into the volume a treasury of important works and additions, some of which were printed here for the first time from early manuscripts. Among the treatises and works printed in the volume are: Chazeh HaTenufah – an abridgment of the responsa of the Rosh; Chiddushei Sofrim by Rabbi Yosef ben Maharshal Abohav; the responsa of Rabbi Yosef Korkos on Maimonides' laws of Shabbos; as well as Melo HaOmer and sections from the Chida's works Va'ad LaChachamim, Tov Ayin, and Tehilah LaAretz. A particularly distinguished copy, bearing ownership stamps of the gaon Rabbi Chaim Berlin. On the front endpaper, handwritten indexes to the book were recorded, attesting to continued use and study. Maran Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai – the Chida (1724–1806), was one of the most central and revered figures in Jewish history. A halachic authority, kabbalist, preacher, emissary, bibliographer, and extraordinarily prolific author, he composed more than eighty works in all areas of Torah scholarship, including halachah, responsa, kabbalah, homiletics, bibliography, and rabbinic biography. His books were accepted throughout the Jewish world and became enduring classics of Torah literature in all its branches, exerting profound influence on halachic decision-making in later generations. The gaon Rabbi Chaim Berlin (1832–1912), eldest son of the Netziv of Volozhin, was one of the most illustrious figures of the Lithuanian and Jerusalem Torah worlds. He served as Chief Rabbi of Moscow, as Av Beis Din and Rosh Yeshivah of Volozhin—the “Mother of Yeshivos”—and later as rabbi of Kobrin. In 1906 he settled in Jerusalem, and following the passing of Rabbi Shmuel Salant, he was regarded as the spiritual leader of the city's Ashkenazic community. The books and personal possessions of Rabbi Chaim Berlin are considered especially desirable and rare. Presented here is a copy of distinguished rabbinic provenance, combining a first edition of one of the Chida's foundational works with ownership stamps of one of the greatest rabbis of Lithuania and Jerusalem. Benayahu, Sifrei HaChida, no. 24. [1], 76, 36 leaves. 30 cm. Condition: Good. Minor worming. Original leather binding, worn and defective.