Bidspirit auction | Magnificent Sefer Yesod: Pri Chadash,

Magnificent Sefer Yesod: Pri Chadash, First Edition – Exceptionally Wide Margins – Amsterdam, 1692 * Sefer Pri Chadash on Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah (including the text of the Shulchan Aruch), by the renowned gaon Rabbi Chizkiyah da Silva, known by the name of his work, Pri Chadash. An exceptionally important sefer yesod, replete with chiddushim — hence its name, Pri Chadash (“New Fruit”). The Chida, a disciple of his disciple, attested: “Today, all Torah scholars drink thirstily from his words.” The Pri Chadash was a brilliant Torah scholar who possessed a sharp intellect and remarkable depth and he had an extraordinary ability to produce bold and original chiddushim. It is hard to believe that although he passed away at a young age, before reaching forty, he merited to be counted as one of the widely acclaimed Torah giants. He served as Rosh Mesivta in Yerushalayim and was held in great esteem by both Sephardic and Ashkenazic sages. It is said that the Vilna Gaon regarded him as comparable to the Shach. The sefer was printed by the author himself, during his stay in Amsterdam as an emissary of the Jewish community of Yerushalayim, when he was only about thirty-five years old. A magnificent copy with exceptionally wide margins. The title page bears a lengthy inscription and the signature of the gaon Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich of Shamloi, Hy”d, one of the leading Hungarian rabbanim in the generation preceding the Holocaust. Several glosses appear in his handwriting or that of his sons. The title page also bears seventeenth-century signatures reading “David da Silva.” The author’s son, who printed his father’s remaining works, was known by this name. However, other individuals bearing the same name are also known, including a wealthy Amsterdam benefactor who assisted with the printing of another part of Pri Chadash in Amsterdam in 1730 and is gratefully acknowledged in the introduction by the author’s son. Describing the beauty of this edition in his approbation, Rabbi Moshe Yehudah, Av Beis Din of the Ashkenazic community of Amsterdam, writes: “It is altogether delightful, pleasing to the eye, the work of a skilled craftsman, printed with fine ink and paper, in beautifully clear and elegant type.” Presented here is one of the most beautiful known copies of this edition. Antique handwritten glosses appear on two pages at the beginning of the sefer. Dating from the period of its printing, they were evidently written by an outstanding Torah scholar. Rabbi Chizkiyah da Silva, author of Pri Chadash (1656–1696), was a towering Torah authority in Eretz Yisrael. Torah scholars throughout the generations have eagerly imbibed his teachings which are marked by profound truth, clarity and sweetness. The extraordinary breadth of his Torah knowledge and erudition is evident to all who study his sefer.  From a young age, he devoted himself entirely to Torah study, and his son Rabbi David attests that “in truth, the body, spirit, and neshamah of my teacher, my father, became entirely spiritual through occupation in Torah.” His brother-in-law, the gaon Rabbi Moshe Chagiz, related that when the Pri Chadash presented his sefarim to one of the Gedolei Hador, the gaon exclaimed aloud: “One who sees a Pri Chadash needs to recite the blessing of Shehecheyanu!” The Semichas Chachamim likewise praised the chiddushim of the Pri Chadash in poetic terms: “Pure, refined flour… anyone who tastes them will experience them as an actual Pri Chadash (new fruit), holy and worthy of praise, like the finest fruits of Eretz Yisrael…” (from his approbation to Pri Chadash, Amsterdam, 1706). In numerous sugyos, the Pri Chadash ruled differently from the authorities who preceded him, and several sages in his generation challenged his conclusions. Among them was the holy Ohr HaChaim, who composed an entire sefer addressing the chiddushim of the Pri Chadash and entitled it Peiros Ginosar (Amsterdam, 1742). The Chida relates that when he was young, he accompanied the Ohr HaChaim and his disciples to pray at graves of tzaddikim. Upon reaching the grave of the Pri Chadash, “we saw that the aforementioned Rav [the Ohr HaChaim] remained alone at his gravesite for about a quarter of an hour, his lips moving in prayer. We understood that he was asking forgiveness and explaining that his intentions had been entirely for the sake of Heaven…” Amsterdam, 1692. First edition. Page Count: [2], 116, 116, 116–130 leaves. Exceptionally large copy. Condition: Good. The final leaf is shorter than the other leaves. A few stains. Newly restored binding incorporating an original Amsterdam binding of that period. Bibliography: Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod, no. 171.