Toldot Adam, by R. Moshe David Ashkenazi Rabbi of Tolcsva – Jerusalem, 1845 – Copy from the Estate of the Author ...

Toldot Adam, by R. Moshe David Ashkenazi Rabbi of Tolcsva – Jerusalem, 1845 – Copy from the Estate of the Author, with Stamps of Rebbe Yoel of Satmar, Descendant of the Author

Toldot Adam, novellae on Talmudic topics, by R. Moshe David Ashkenazi. Jerusalem: R. Yisrael Bak (disciple of R. Yisrael of Ruzhin and R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev), [1845].
Copy of Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar, a descendant of the author. Stamps of the rebbe on the title page and final page, with the inscription: "Rabbi of Karoly and the region".
The title page bears a long inscription (trimmed) handwritten and signed by R. Yaakov Mordechai of Lizhensk, stating that he received the book from the estate of the author, on condition he returns it to the descendants of the author upon their request.
The author, R. Moshe David Ashkenazi – rabbi of Tolcsva-Safed, (1774-1856, Ishim B'Teshuvot HeChatam Sofer, p. 300), father-in-law of the Yitav Lev Rebbe of Sighet and father of R. Yoel Ashkenazi, rabbi of Zlotchov. Ancestor of the rebbes of Satmar and Klausenburg. At a young age he was appointed rabbi of Tolcsva, a position he held for forty years. He moved to Safed in 1844 and was one of the founders of the Chassidic settlement in post-earthquake Safed. A short while after his immigration to Eretz Israel, he printed this book in the printing press of R. Yisrael Bak in Jerusalem. He authored the book in his thirties and Rabbi Yaakov of Lissa, author of Chavat Daat writes in his approbation to the book: "The famous Torah scholar R. Moshe David… does not need me and my likes, but I honor his wish and cannot refuse a person greater than I". His home and Beit Midrash in Safed were restored by his grandson the Rebbe of Klausenburg and at present, they house the Sanz institutes in Safed. He also authored the book Be'er Sheva.
The recipient of the book was R. Yaakov Mordechai of Lizhensk and Safed. His signature appears on a letter which the leaders of the Chassidic community in Safed sent to the Divrei Chaim of Sanz, published in Eretz HaTzvi (Vienna, 1883, p. 184).
[2], 142 leaves. 29.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Tears and worming, affecting text, with paper repairs (primarily to first and final leaves). Stamp and inscriptions. New leather binding.
Stefansky Chassidut, no. 603; Sh. HaLevy, no. 33.

Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar (1887-1979) was the youngest son of Rebbe Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the Kedushat Yom Tov (1836-1904), and grandson of Rebbe Yekutiel Yehuda, the Yitav Lev (1808-1883), 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 as a leading Torah scholar of his generation, for his perspicacity and intellectual capacities, as well as for his holiness and outstanding purity. At a young age, he was appointed rabbi of Irshava. In 1925, he was appointed rabbi of Karaly (Carei; in place of R. Shaul Brach who went to serve as rabbi of Kashoi), and in 1934, of Satmar (Satu Mare). In all the places he served as rabbi, he also maintained a large yeshiva and Chassidic court. He stood at the helm of the faithful, uncompromising Orthodox Jewry in the Maramureș region. He was one of the founding pillars of the Torah world in the generation following the Holocaust. After surviving the Holocaust, he emigrated to the United States, where he established the Satmar Chassidic community – the largest Chassidic community in the world. He served as president of the Eda HaCharedit in Jerusalem, and as leader of Orthodox Jewry in the United States and throughout the world. His writings were published in dozens of books: VaYoel Moshe, Responsa Divrei Yoel, Divrei Yoel on the Torah and more.

The Holiness of Items of Tzaddikim – In the Teachings of Rebbe Yoel of Satmar

In his writings, Rebbe Yoel of Satmar repeatedly relates to the holiness contained in the possessions of a Tzaddik; and conversely to the prohibition of benefitting from the money of the wicked, warning not to accept funding from the Zionist state and the like.

In several places in his book Divrei Yoel on the Torah, the Rebbe describes the tremendous virtue of the belongings of the Tzaddik, which have the power to endow holiness for generations, since the "sparks of holiness" endure in them. Based on this concept, the Rebbe explains Yosef's influence on the Egyptians, who were sustained from his produce during the famine and drew from it "spiritual vibrancy": "…the property of Tzaddikim has the power to impart spiritual vibrancy…" (Divrei Yoel, Shemot, p. 33). Regarding the "aspect of holiness" contained in the belongings of Tzaddikim from "the root of their soul", he writes: "The possessions of Tzaddikim are precious to them… since they contain an aspect of the root of their soul… as they are particular not to steal…" (Divrei Yoel, Vayetze, p. 92).