Rabbi of Modena, By Rabbi David Zacuto Modena – Modena, 1811 Manuscript leaf, lament for passing of R. Yishmael HaKohen, Rabbi of Modena, by R. David Zacuto Modena. [Modena, 1810 or 1811].

A poetic lament with ten stanzas, handwritten by R. David Zacuto Modena, with a lengthy introduction at the top of the leaf and the signature of the author at the end of the poem. To the best of our knowledge, this poem has never been published.

R. Yishmael HaKohen, Rabbi of Modena (1724-1810), leading Italian rabbi and prominent posek. In 1782, he succeeded his brother R. David HaKohen as Rabbi of Modena, effectively leading all of Italian Jewry. When the Jewish Sanhedrin was instituted by Napoleon in 1806, he wrote a detailed response to 12 questions asked by Napoleon about the relation between state law and Jewish law, which served as the basis for the rabbis representing Italian regions in the Sanhedrin.

R. David Zacuto Modena (1778-1865), an important Italian rabbi in his times, also served as Rabbi of Modena, succeeding his father R. Mazal Tov Zacuto, in turn the disciple and successor of R. Yishmael HaKohen.

[1] leaf. 27.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains, tears and wear. Folds. Repaired with tape to reverse side of leaf.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.

Manuscript, Sefirat HaOmer, with Kabbalistic Kavanot. [Italy, 18th/19th century].

Square Italian script, partially vowelized. Pocket format. At the beginning of the manuscript are prayers, Kavanot and the blessing for counting the Omer, with Lamnatzeach in the shape of a Menorah. A subsequent page is dedicated to each one of the days of the Omer.

Ownership inscription on front endpaper. At the end is a long leaf (folded) with a list of names of men and women, ordered according to the months Tammuz-Av-Elul (perhaps their dates of death). The names are of families from the Piedmont region, most of them from the families Latas and Montel (apparently from Cuneo).

[28] leaves (and more blank leaves) + [1] folded leaf. Thick, high-quality paper. Approx. 10 cm. Good condition. Stains. Tears, affecting text with loss, to folded leaf at end. Original leather binding, damaged.

Provenance: Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, IT.011.026.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.

Talmud Bavli – complete set. Munich-Heidelberg, 1948. "Published by the Union of Rabbis in the American Occupation Zone in Germany".

After World War II, the demand for Talmud and holy books by surviving Jews congregated in the DP camps exceeded the few available copies. From 1946, the Union of Rabbis in Germany, with the assistance of the American army and the JDC, began to print volumes of Talmud for survivors. At first, only a few tractates were printed in various formats. In 1948, the present edition – a complete edition of the Talmud – was printed for the first time. Each volume contains two title pages. The first title page was especially designed to commemorate the printing of the Talmud on the debased German land; on its upper part is an illustration of a Jewish town with the caption "From slavery to redemption and from darkness to great light"; on its lower part is an illustration of barbed wire fences and a concentration camp, with the captions: "Labor camp in Germany during Nazi era", "They almost destroyed me on Earth, but I did not forsake Your precepts" (Psalms 119).

19 volumes. Missing first title page in Tractate Shabbat. Approx. 39 cm. Overall good condition. Stains. Tears, including tears to part of the title pages. Original bindings, with new leather spines (uniform).

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.

Letter handwritten and signed by Rebbe Menachem Mendel Hager, Rabbi of Visheve. Kislev 1940.

Letter of recommendation sent to the president of the Orthodox Bureau in Budapest, enclosed with a request for rescue (apparently from concentration camps). Rebbe Menachem Mendel Hager attests that he knows the person and that the matter is life-threatening, closing with his signature.

Rebbe Menachem Mendel Hager of Visheve (1885-1941), son of the Ahavat Yisrael of Vizhnitz. Served as rabbi of Vizhnitz, and later of Visheve (Vișeu de Sus), where he founded the Beit Yisrael yeshiva. A leader of Agudat Yisrael and member of the Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah.
The present letter dates to the end of the Rebbe's life, about a month before his passing on 13 Tevet, 1941.

[1] leaf. 22.5 cm. Good condition. Stains and folds.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.