Bidspirit auction | Extraordinary! Pe’as HaShulchan The Author

Extraordinary! Pe’as HaShulchan The Author Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov’s Personal Copy! With Moving Inscription and Handwritten Glosses * Sefer Pe’as HaShulchan, a sefer yesod on the laws of Eretz Yisrael, by Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov, a disciple of the Vilna Gaon. The personal copy of the holy author! Rabbi Yisrael received the sefer fresh off the press, and on the flyleaf he inscribed, in his own sacred handwriting, a heartfelt five-line dedication along with his signature: ”Blessed is Hashem, Who has granted me the merit, and has sustained and enabled me to see this precious sefer of mine, Pe’as HaShulchan, which is imbued with the chiddushim drawn from the holy air of Eretz Yisrael…” He goes on to express his hope to merit completing the second part, on the Laws of Shemittah, and prays: ”May He let me taste of His holy Torah, the Torah of truth that shall sprout forth from the Land” alluding to a Kabbalistic concept. He concludes with his distinctive signature: ”May His glory fill the entire land, amen, dust of Eretz Yisrael, author of Sefer Taklin Chadatin, Pe’as HaShulchan and Beis Yisrael.” In his great humility and love for the Holy Land, Harav Yisrael would at times sign with the words ”Dust of Eretz Yisrael” which also alludes to his personal name — Yisrael. Throughout the sefer are nine glosses in the handwriting of the author! Some are additions while others are corrections to the text. A photograph of the inscription and the text of these glosses was printed from this very copy in the Yerushalayim 1959 edition of Pe’as HaShulchan. An impressive copy with wide margins, as is found in copies belonging to the authors themselves – a most rare phenomenon in the scarce Tzfas printings!! It is quite likely that this was the first copy to come off the printing press and was immediately sent to the author, as was customary. Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov, author of Pe’as HaShulchan (1770-1839), was a preeminent disciple of the Vilna Gaon. He merited to serve the Vilna Gaon for the last six months of his life, and the Vilna Gaon cherished him and drew him close. In 1810, he led a group of the Vilna Gaon's disciples to establish a Jewish settlement in Tzfas, and devoted himself with unimaginable self-sacrifice to establishing the Ashkenazi settlement in Tzfas and Jerusalem. He became well known through his sefer Pe’as HaShulchan, which became a foundational sefer on the laws of the mitzvos pertaining to Eretz Yisrael and is based on the method of his rebbi, the Vilna Gaon. There is an interesting introduction with his biography and history. Tzfas, 1836. First edition. Printed by the chassid Rabbi Yisrael Beck. Page Count: [5], 2-109, [1] leaves. Page size: Large sefer: 34.3 cm! Condition: Holes, some through many leaves. Minor restorations on the first and last leaves. Some stains. Besides that – good condition. An impressive copy. Fine new binding. The inscription in the handwriting of Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov on the flyleaf has been completely preserved. The lower part of the page is lacking and has been completed with paper. Bibliography: Stefansky Sifrei Yesod, no. 205. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Surviving Leaves from the Tzfas Riots and the Destruction of the Printing Press Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov began printing his work Pe’as HaShulchan in the year 1833 in the Tzfas-based publishing house of Rabbi Yisrael Beck, yet the printing was halted due to the terrible rioting and looting perpetrated by the rebel fellahin against the Jews of Tzfas. During the riots, the printing press was destroyed and Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov was physically attacked. The leaves already printed were miraculously saved, and the printing was completed in 1836. It is possible to discern the differences between the pages printed before the pogrom (leaves 2-93), and those printed afterwards using new print tools ([5] opening leaves, and from leaf 94 till the end).