Bidspirit auction | Discovery: Unknown Chiddushim by Rabbi

Discovery: Unknown Chiddushim by Rabbi Yoav Ab”d of Tzehlim, Author of Sha'arei Binah, in His Brother’s Handwriting! c.1805 * A handwritten booklet, containing two parts: A. Chaluka DeRabbanan – a discourse spanning seven pages on the sugiya of שבח (increase in value or appreciation) in Maseches Bava Metzia, leaf 14, from the Gaon Rabbi Yoav, author of Sha'arei Bina, Av Beis Din of Unsdorf and Tzehlim. B. Chiddushim on Maseches Chullin, six pages. The manuscript was written by the brother of the Gaon Rabbi Yoav, as at the beginning of the first part it is written: ”In the name of my honored brother, the great and famous Gaon, our teacher, the Av Beis Din and Rosh Mesivta of the holy community of Unsdorf, Rabbi Yoav.” It appears that this brother is the Gaon Rabbi Meir Rosenbaum, whom Rabbi Yoav mentions several times in his sefer Sha'arei Bina with the title, ”my sharp-minded brother.” (We do not know of any other brother.) The discourse is written in first person, in the actual language of Rabbi Yoav himself, and on one page he cites what he wrote ”in my sefer Sha'arei Bina.” Rabbi Yoav himself references in his other work, Imrei Noam, the very sugiya at hand: ”... I have written... in Chaluka DeRabbanan, Bava Metzia, page 14, on the subject of increase in value or appreciation (שבח).” (Imrei Noam, Jerusalem, 2012, p. 56) The second part consists, as mentioned, of chiddushim on Maseches Chullin, and these are apparently original insights of the writer himself. The second part mentions many times, ”Our honored father the Gaon, of blessed memory”, which implies that these chiddushim were written after the passing of the father of the two brothers, the righteous Gaon Rabbi Yirmiyahu, Av Beis Din of Mattersdorf, who passed away in 1805. Rabbi Yoav is mentioned here as Av Beis Din of the Unsdorf community, a position he left in 1808, and therefore, the present manuscript was likely written between the years 1805 and 1808. It seems this booklet was never printed. ”Every day we spoke his words” testified the Chasam Sofer in his eulogy on the Gaon Rabbi Yoav, Av Beis Din of Tzehlim (d. 1810) , one of the great Rabbanim of Hungary and Slovakia, who served as Rav in several cities, among them Tzehlim, Unsdorf, and Stanov. He was a primary disciple of his father Rabbi Yirmiyahu of Mattersdorf, and already at a young age was appointed to teach in his father’s yeshiva. He printed several of his works with approbations of the Gedolei Hador, and they became widespread and were studied already in his lifetime. The Chasam Sofer eulogized him at length. The father of the brothers, Rabbi Yirmiyahu of Mattersdorf (d. 1805) , was Av Beis Din and head of the famous yeshiva in Mattersdorf where hundreds of students studied, among them Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshischa, Rabbi Wolf Lew, author of Sha'arei Torah (his brother-in-law through Rabbi Yirmiyahu’s second marriage), and other Gedolei Hador. In his youth, he even merited to learn Torah from Rabbi Meir Eisenstadt, author of Panim Meiros. Slovakia, c. 1805–1808. Thirteen pages in the handwriting of Rabbi Yoav’s brother, Av Beis Din of Tzehlim. Size: 23.3 cm. Condition: Good-fair. The first and last leaves have tears with the loss of several words. Stains. Fine binding with a spine and corners made of parchment.