A Simchat Torah flag. Linocut by Salamon Yedidya (Seelenfreund). Jerusalem: Y.C. [Chaim Yehoshua] Kasovsky, "Beit Yisrael"; Y. Heilpern Press, [1923].
A swallowtail flag, printed in blue. One side is divided into two strips; on the upper strip are a Torah Scroll with a crown, flanked by angel wings, in front of the rising sun. On the lower strip are heraldic lions supporting a Star of David enclosing the Hebrew word "Zion". Alongside the traditional inscription "Zot HaTorah asher sam Moshe Lifnei Bnei Yisrael" (This is the Torah which Moses set before the children of Israel) appears an inscription of a more Zionist nature – "For our people, our country and our Torah" (Hebrew). The other side of the flag depicts a dove carrying in its beak a branch with the inscription "Sissu VeSimchu BeSimchat Torah" (Rejoice and be happy on Simchat Torah), in leaf-shaped lettering, alongside seven stars (following Herzl's suggestion for the Zionist flag), a Sukkah, the four species and a sheaf of wheat. The flag is signed in the plate "S. Yedidya".
This flag, which combines traditional and Zionist themes, appeared in 1923 on the last leaf of the newspaper "Al HaMishmar" edited by A.Z. Ben-Yishai and published in Jerusalem, alongside "user instructions": "To the Hebrew children in the diaspora! Like your friends in Palestine, you too in the diaspora, shall raise on 'Simchat Torah' only the Hebrew flag" (See: "The Flags of Simchat Torah, from Popular Jewish Art to Hebrew-Israeli Culture". Tel-Aviv: Eretz Israel Museum, 2012. p. 21).
Salamon Seelenfreund (1875-1961) was born in Hungary. When he was about 16, he left Szeged to Budapest to build his life as an artist. He studied at the School of Arts of the city and later also in Rome, Paris and Germany. When he returned to Hungary, he founded a workshop and became known as a master craftsman and art teacher; he was even invited to design and carry out the decoration of the new Neolog synagogue in Szeged, inaugurated in 1903. Later he held a solo exhibition and participated in group exhibitions in Szeged (1910) and Budapest. In 1921, he immigrated with his family to Palestine and founded a workshop in Jerusalem, later settling with his family in the colony of Beit Tulma in Emek HaArazim. During the 1929 Palestine Riots, the family escaped in time and was saved; however, the house and all that was in it – plans, works of art and equipment – was burned and anything that remained was looted. In the following years Yedidya lived alternately in Tel-Aviv and Givatayim; many of his works were destroyed when his house suffered a direct hit in the Egyptian aerial bombing during the War of Independence.
As a calligraphy artist, much of Yedidya's work focused on the Hebrew letters, which served him as raw material for creating decorative shapes and models inspired by the tradition of Jewish art. For additional information about him, see enclosed article by Timnah Rubinger, published by the Memorial Museum of the Hungarian Speaking Jewry.
21.5X28.5 cm. Good condition. Small tears, some of them reinforced with tape.

Schwarzbard. Paris: I. Grodzensky, [1928?]. Yiddish and French.
An album documenting the trial of Sholem Schwarzbard who assassinated Symon Petliura as revenge for the pogroms against the Jews of Ukraine. The album contains portraits of Sholem Schwarzbard, Symon Petliura, the defense lawyers and the prosecutors, the witnesses, the journalists and others, alongside photographs of the crime scene, Schwarzbard's shop, the court and trial, some of them captioned in Yiddish and French.
The album also contains short biographies of Schwarzbard and Petliura, a quote from Schwarzbard's lawyer, Henri Torrès, about the comradeship he feels for Schwarzbard, and quotes from journalist Bernard Lecache, writers Sholem Asch and Romain Rolland and socialist Jean Longuet about the guilt of the Ukrainians in general and Petliura specifically. Cover design by Marc Chagall; depicting an angel with its sword drawn hovering above a Torah Scroll.
Sholem Schwarzbard (1886-1938), "the avenger", a Serbian-born watchmaker, anarchist and Yiddish poet. He took part in revolutionary activity in his town and upon the outbreak of World War I, enlisted in the French Foreign Legion. Returning to Ukraine towards the end of the war, he organized Jewish militias for self-defense. In 1919, he returned to Paris, where he heard rumors about the Petliura pogroms, in which soldiers, most of them soldiers of the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic, massacred tens of thousands, some would say hundreds of thousands, Jews, including Schwarzbard's family. Symon Petliura, who headed the Ukrainian People's Republic, was blamed for ignoring the army's actions. In response to a Jewish delegation which appealed to him with a request to restrain his army, he said "The riots strengthen discipline among my ranks…".
In May 1926, Schwarzbard assassinated Petliura, who was then in political exile in Paris. Schwarzbard stood trial for murder in October 1927; yet the court was persuaded that Petliura was indeed responsible for the pogroms and acquitted Schwarzbard, despite his unhesitatingly admitting his guilt.
[19] photographs (printed on paper) and [4] text leaves, tipped in to the album. Approx. 38 cm. Good-fair condition. Tears and open tears to cover and to the edges of the album's leaves. Most of the album's leaves are detached. Several photographs are detached or partly detached from the album's leaves (with small tears along their edges). Stains to cover.

Verve, Revue Artistique et Littéraire, Vol. VIII no. 37 et 38 / Marc Chagall, Dessins pour la Bible. Paris: Éditions de la Revue Verve, 1960. French.
A double issue of the journal Verve dedicated to a series of bible illustrations by Marc Chagall, a series complementing his previous work, printed in issue no. 33-34 of the journal (see previous item). The issue contains 24 color lithographs by Chagall, in addition to 96 Heliogravures (reproductions) of his illustrations. On the cover of the issue appears an additional color lithograph by Chagall. Introduction by the philosopher Gaston Bachelard.
[9] leaves, 96 reproductions, [8] leaves + [24] lithograph plates, 35.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor blemishes along the edges of the binding. Blemishes to the illustrated title page.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.

Le Peintre aux trois Bouquets, color lithograph by Marc Chagall (1887-1985). [1982].
Print on paper. Signed and numbered 31/50.
48X66 cm. Good condition. Matted.