Three books by R. Shlomo Luria (the Maharshal), printed in Basel, 1599-1600, by the famous kabbalist R. Eliyahu Baal Shem Loans: Shaarei Dura, with commentary of the Maharshal, and Amudei Shlomo, commentary of the Maharshal on the Smag – two parts.
• Sefer HaShearim, Shaarei Dura with commentary of R. Shlomo Luria (Maharshal). Basel: Konrad Waldkirch, [1599]. At beginning of book, introduction by publisher and proofreader, R. "Eliyah son of R. Moshe Loans of Frankfurt am Main", who writes that the present work is the final recension of the Maharshal's work, with added novellae in laws of Niddah by the publisher R. Eliyahu Baal Shem.
• Amudei Shlomo, commentary of Maharshal to Sefer Mitzvot Gadol (Smag). Part I (negative commandments). Basel: Konrad Waldkirch, [1599-1600]. Introduction by publisher R. "Eliyah son of R. Moshe Loans of Frankfurt am Main".
• Amudei Shlomo, commentary of Maharshal to Sefer Mitzvot Gadol (Smag). Part II (positive commandments). Basel: Konrad Waldkirch, [1599-1600].
Stamps, signatures and ownership inscriptions, and some short glosses, handwritten by several writers.
Distinguished copies, from the library of Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar, including signatures and stamps of earlier rabbis: R. Moshe, head of the Cracow Beit Din, son of the Maginei Shlomo, R. Tzvi Hirsch HaKohen [of Cracow?]; R. Yisrael Yonah HaLevi Landau, Rabbi of Kępno, author of Meon HaBerachot, and his son R. Yosef Shmuel HaLevi Landau, Rabbi of Kępno, author of Kur HaBechinah.
On title page of Shaarei Dura, signature in Ashkenazic script contemporaneous with date of publication [early 17th century]: "Moshe son of my father the Gaon R. Yehoshua" – signature of R. Moshe, head of the Cracow Beit Din (before 1618-Adar 1688), written during the lifetime of his illustrious father, R. Yehoshua Charif, author of Maginei Shlomo (ca. 1577-1648). R. Moshe served as head of the Cracow Beit Din for forty years, beginning in 1648. The Chevra Kadisha ledger of Cracow says of him: "The chief of Torah, prince of the capital city, elder and sated of days, who was head of the Beit Din his entire life…" (see: R. Reuven Margaliot, LeToldot Anshei Shem BeLvov, Sinai, 1951, p. 221).
On verso of title page, early ownership inscription, written in Ashkenazic script contemporaneous with time of printing (covered by paper repair), of R. Tzvi Hirsch HaKohen: "I, Tzvi Hirsch, originating from the seed of Aaron, sign on this book, to grant proof of my sale of my book to someone else, which I gave for this book… and it is invaluable, 'for the Torah of your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver'" [the signature may be that of R. Tzvi Hirsch HaKohen of Cracow, a member of the Beit Din of the Maginei Shlomo in Cracow, who signs alongside him between 1640-1647; see: Responsa Pnei Yehoshua, section 65; Kelilat Yofi, I, leaf 46; II, leaves 20-21].
A century later, the present three volumes reached the father and son, Rabbis of Kępno – the last pages of all three books bear the stamps of R. Yisrael Yonah Segal Landau, Rabbi of Kępno (1750-1824), a leading Torah scholar of his generation, author of Meon HaBerachot and Ein HaBedolach, as well as the signatures of his son R. "Shmuel Yosef Segal Landau" (1800-1836), who succeeded him as Rabbi of Kępno (until his untimely death at the age of 36), author of Kur HaBechinah – Mishkan Shilo (Breslau, 1837). In his approbation to that book, the Chatam Sofer calls him "a great man among giants, who draws water from deep wells… I too was privy to the depths of his knowledge, when we enjoyed discussions of common halachot… and his words accord with law and practice…".
On the last page of second volume, stamp of: "Yaakov Chaim Ashkenazi, Nagyberezna" [Ungvár region; present-day Velykyi Bereznyi].
These books later reached the library of the Satmar Rebbe. All three books bear stamps of "Yoel Teitelbaum, Rabbi of Irshava and the region" [we surmise that these stamps were made and stamped on the books at a later date than his rabbinic tenure in Irshava – see next lot, and see Kedem, Auction 99, November 5, 2024, Lot 185].
Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar (1887-1979), author of Divre Yoel, a leader of his generation, president of the Edah HaCharedit in Jerusalem and leader of American Orthodox Jewry, one of the founding pillars of Chassidic Jewry after the Holocaust. Born in Sighet, he was the son of Rebbe Chananiah Yom Tov Lipa, the Kedushat Yom Tov, and grandson of Rebbe Yekutiel Yehudah, the Yitav Lev, who both served as rabbis of Sighet (Sighetu Marmației) and were leaders of Chassidic Jewry in the Maramureș region. He was renowned from his youth for his sharpness and intellectual capacities, as well as for his holiness and outstanding purity. After his marriage to the daughter of Rebbe Avraham Chaim Horowitz of Polaniec, he settled in Satmar and taught Torah and Chassidut to an elite group of disciples and followers. He later served as Rabbi of Irshava (1911-1915, 1922-1926), Karoly (Carei; from 1926) and Satmar (Satu Mare; from 1934), managing in each of these places a large yeshiva and Chassidic court. He stood at the helm of faithful, uncompromising Orthodox Jewry in the Maramureș region. During the Holocaust, he was rescued through the famous Kastner Train, and after a journey through Bergen-Belsen, Switzerland and Eretz Israel, he reached the United States, where he established the largest Chassidic group in the world.
Three volumes. [1], 2-97, [1] leaves; 2-114 leaves (lacking leaf 115); [1], 40, 43-49 leaves (lacking leaves 41-42). 18-18.5 cm. Varying condition of volumes, good-fair to fair. Stains. Wear and tears. Paper repairs. On first and third volume, worming, affecting text. In first volume, large tears to first six leaves, repaired with paper; throughout most of first volume, small tears (from a sharp object) in center of text. Stamps. New leather bindings, uniform.
