Bidspirit auction | Manuscript: Chiddushim on Talmud Handwritten

Manuscript: Chiddushim on Talmud Handwritten by the Kabbalist Rabbi Avraham Chaim Gagin, Rosh Yeshiva of Kabbalists’ Yeshiva Beis El. Jerusalem, c.1800-1840 * Volume of 112 pages in the handwriting of Rabbi Avraham Gagin, one of the foremost Rabbanim and kabbalists of Jerusalem. Contains chiddushim on various masechtos of the Talmud (in the order they were written): Berachos, Megillah, Chagigah, Moed Katan, Pesachim, Sukkah, Rosh Hashanah, Beitzah, Sanhedrin, Kiddushin, Yevamos, Gittin, Shavuos, Bava Basra, Shabbos, Bava Kama, Chullin, Temurah. Most of the material was published in his sefer Chukei Chaim (Jerusalem, 1843, leaves 113–131), yet this manuscript includes sections that were never printed! The manuscript was written over the course of decades, beginning approximately in the early 1800s and continuing through the 1830s, and perhaps even into the early 1840s. In one place, the author mentions the sefer Kol Yaakov, which was printed in 1802, and writes about it as “recently reprinted.” He also references several other sefarim printed in the 1810s–1820s. On several leaves appear glosses added by the author long after the original writing. Some of these glosses indeed appear in the printed version, while others not printed were likely added in the years after the publication. There are occasional slight variations between the version in this manuscript and the published version. The Gaon of Jerusalem, the holy kabbalist Rabbi Avraham Chaim Gagin (1747–1848), was the Rishon LeTzion and Rosh Yeshiva of the kabbalistic Yeshiva Beis El. He was the son-in-law of Rabbi Raphael Avraham Shalom Mizrachi, author of Divrei Shalom, and a grandson of the Rashash. Upon his father-in-law’s passing, he was appointed “Rav of the Chassidim, ” leading the tefillah in the Beis El Yeshiva according to the Rashash’s mystical kavanos. Among his works are: Shu”t and Chiddushim Chukei Chaim (Jerusalem 1843) and Minchah Tehorah on Maseches Menachos (Salonika 1836). He also compiled and printed the Sefer HaTakanos VeHaHaskamos (Jerusalem 1842). Jerusalem, c. 1800–1840. Handwritten manuscript of Rabbi Gagin. Page Count: [112] written pages (some with only a few lines per page) + blank leaves. Size: 18 cm. Condition: Holes, mainly in the first and last leaves, occasionally lightly affecting text. Stains. Antique leather binding with engravings.