Bidspirit auction | Chiddushei Maharivan on Shas With

Chiddushei Maharivan on Shas With Handwritten Gloss First Edition. Dessau, 1698 * Sefer Beis Yehudah containing chiddushei halachos on eight masechtos commonly studied in yeshivos, by Rabbi Yehudah of Kalish, one of the most renowned Torah scholars of his generation. The leading Rabbanim of Polish Jewry wrote in their approbation that his chiddushim are so extraordinary, ”that even in the days of Yehoshua ben Nun nothing like them was ever said!” The sefer became known to future generations as ‘Chiddushei Maharivan’, an acronym for ‘Morenu HaRav Yehudah ben Nissan’. The Maharivan was a remarkable “mechadesh”, like a wellspring that overflows, and he invested his entire being into his chiddushim with true self-sacrifice — as described by the author himself in his will. This sefer alone contains over 900 pages of his chiddushim! The sefer was printed by the author's son, Rabbi Avraham, a close associate of Rabbi David Oppenheim (see below) who served as Av Beis Din of Austerlitz and, around the time of the printing, held the position of maggid in the great beis midrash of Nikolsburg. Leaf 7b features an original handwritten gloss with an addition to the text of the sefer, likely in the handwriting of the publisher, the author’s son, or possibly the author himself, or one of the talmidim involved in the printing. A second known copy bears this gloss in handwriting, and there is a third copy in which the text was already corrected in print. Rabbi Yehudah of Kalish, known as “Maharivan”, (1624–after 1698) was one of the great Rabbanim of Lithuania and Poland, serving for many years as Rav in the city of Kalish. He was recognized as an illui (prodigy) from a young age, as attested by Rabbi Yitzchak, Av Beis Din of Posen, who knew him in his youth: ”All who hear his sharp insights are left astonished.” In his chiddushim, he engages extensively with the writings of the Maharshal and the Maharsha, referring to them as “my teachers” — despite their having passed away before he reached adulthood. He also authored a small sefer under the title Beis Yehudah (Sulzbach, 1687). Dessau, 1696–1698. First Edition. Reprinted only in recent times. Page Count: [3], 10, 262, 92 leaves. Size: 30.7 cm. Condition: Good; brown paper, typical of German printing in this era. Light restoration to title page. At the beginning of the sefer, the author's son printed a full booklet of chiddushim by Rabbi David Oppenheim, then Av Beis Din of Nikolsburg, later Av Beis Din of Prague and one of the Gedolim of the era. These chiddushim are titled ‘Moed David’ and are on Maseches Shabbos. This is the first time the chiddushim of Rabbi Dovid Oppenheim were published. (Previously, only a single teshuvah had apparently been published.) Rabbi David Oppenheim gave a warm approbation to the sefer and personally worked to raise the enormous sum needed to print this vast work — over 1,800 Reichsthaler, as noted by the author’s son in the introduction.