Bidspirit auction | Rare: Drush Pesach HaGadol by

Rare: Drush Pesach HaGadol by the Yaabetz.  First Edition. Printed in the Author's Home. Altona, 1775 * A highly valuable drashah for Shabbos HaGadol, delivered by the Yaabetz during his tenure as Rav of Emden in 1730, and later repeated in Altona in 1774. At the foot of the title page appears the inscription: ”Printed in the author's home” — referring to the author's private printing press, located in his home in Altona. This is one of the very last sefarim printed by the Yaabetz during his lifetime. This drashah was accorded tremendous esteem by the scholars of the generation for its exceptional sharpness, as noted on the title page itself: ”And those who understand knowledge swore… that they had never heard its like… and through it, more than one hundred complex points were resolved.” This drashah was especially beloved by the Yaabetz himself, and he wrote at the end of the sefer, in a poetic turn of phrase, that delivering this drashah was considered by him as though ”I had offered the Korban Pesach — the spiritual one — in its proper time!” In his youth, the Yaabetz served briefly as Rav of Emden. But, after resigning from the burdens of the rabbinate, he refused to accept any further rabbinic post, remarking in jest, ”Baruch shelo asani אב” ד — Blessed is He for not making me a Rav” (a play on the words of the daily blessing, ”Who did not make me a servant”). In his later years, however, he consented to accept remuneration for darshanus, as he himself relates in the drashah ”Tefillas Yesharim, ” printed by him in that same year. The gaon Rabbi Yaakov Emden (1698–1776) was a man of many facets, a brilliant scholar in both the revealed and hidden realms of Torah, and a prolific author. For the purpose of printing his works, he founded a printing press in his own home, where he published his holy sefarim — volumes that are today rare and highly sought after. In the year 1733, the Yaabetz returned from Emden to the city of his forebears, Altona. Driven by his strong desire to print his many works under his constant and exacting personal supervision, he endeavored to establish a printing press. Hashem granted him favor in the eyes of the king and ministers, and he received royal permission to set up, within his home, a full printing workshop, so that he might publish all his holy sefarim (Toldos Yaabetz, pp. 6–7). Altona, 1775. First edition. Printed in the author's home. Page Count: 18 leaves. Size: 18 cm. Condition: Good. New half-leather binding. Bibliography: Y. Raphael, Writings of Rabbi Yaakov Emden, Areshes III, pp. 263–264.