Books of Shemot and Vayikra with the Or HaChaim Commentary – Slavita, 1791 – First Book Printed in the Press of ...

Books of Shemot and Vayikra with the Or HaChaim Commentary – Slavita, 1791 – First Book Printed in the Press of Rabbi Moshe Shapira in Slavita

Books of Shemot and Vayikra, Parts II and III of the Five Books of the Torah, with Rashi, Targums and the commentary of the Or HaChaim by R. Chaim ibn Attar. Slavita: [R. Moshe Shapira, 1791]. Two volumes.
The name of the printer is not mentioned on the title page, yet the book was printed in the press of R. Moshe Shapira, and was presumably the first book he produced.

Two volumes. Shemot: 217, 221-223 leaves. Lacking 3 leaves: 218-220. Vayikra: 2-171 leaves. Lacking title page (replaced in photocopy) and final two leaves. Approx. 19 cm. Shemot vol. in fair condition, Vayikra vol. in fair-poor condition. Stains, including dampstains. Extensive wear. Many open tears to title page of first vol. and to other leaves, affecting text, repaired in part with paper (photocopy replacements to title page of Shemot vol.). Extensive worming, with significant damage to text, repaired in part with paper. Detached leaves and gatherings in Vayikra vol. Front and back boards only (without spines), detached, with extensive wear.

The Or HaChaim commentary by R. Chaim ibn Attar was held in high regard by the Chassidic leaders, who considered it to be on the level of the Zohar in its ability to purify the soul. His disciple the Chida quotes the Chassidic custom of studying the Or HaChaim commentary on Friday night: "And we heard that it is now held in high regard in Poland, and was printed there in another two editions. And this was due to the praise of the holy R. Yisrael Baal Shem Tov on the greatness of R. Chaim's soul".
Chassidic leaders praised the holiness of the author profusely. The Baal Shem Tov stated that every night, the Or HaChaim hears Torah directly from G-d. He also stated that when his soul ascended to Heaven each night, he saw that only R. Chaim ibn Attar preceded him in his ascent, and all his efforts to precede him were unsuccessful. Reputedly, the reason the Baal Shem Tov attempted to immigrate to Eretz Israel was in order to meet R. Chaim ibn Attar, who was "a spark of Mashiach", and thereby bring the Redemption.

Printing the Or HaChaim in Slavita Upon the Directives of R. Pinchas of Korets, as a Segulah for Protection
Reputedly, "R. Pinchas of Korets… commanded his sons [=R. Moshe Shapira rabbi of Slavita, and his brother R. Yechezkel Shapira, who was also involved in the establishment of the Slavita printing press] to print the Or HaChaim book every year… and they will thereby be saved from calamity and misfortune, and they fulfilled his directive, yet after the books of the Or HaChaim became so prevalent that they could no longer find buyers for them, they stopped printing them, and that year the infamous slander and misfortune occurred" (Migdal Oz, p. 268). (Nowadays, only seven editions of the Slavita Or HaChaim Chumash are bibliographically known, printed between 1791-1832).
Rare edition. The Bibliography of the Hebrew Book records the Shemot volume based only on an image of the title page of a copy which was offered at auction. The NLI catalog list the Vayikra volume, lacking many leaves, and the Devarim volume.

The Slavita Printing Press, Founded by R. Moshe Shapira Rabbi of Slavita
The Jewish printing press in Slavita (Khmelnytskyi Province, Western Ukraine), operated between 1790 and 1837. The founder of the printing press was the rabbi of the city, R. Moshe Shapira (1762-1840), son of the renowned R. Pinchas of Korets. Already in his youth, he showed exceptional talent in scribal writing, drawing, carving and etching. His holy father encouraged him to develop his talent, in order to acquire these professions. In the early 1790s, R. Moshe was appointed rabbi of Slavita, yet he concurrently established his famous printing press, not wishing to utilize Torah as a livelihood. The typeface used in the printing press was designed and fashioned by R. Moshe. Apart from the printing press, he also established workshops for the production of the paper and type. A large portion of Slavita's Jews earned their livelihood in an honorable way in one of the many divisions of the printing firm. Slavita books were reputed in the Jewish world for their beauty, splendor and accuracy; as well as for the owner of the press, R. Moshe, who was revered by the great Chassidic leaders. R. Moshe of Slavita was close to the Baal HaTanya, R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi, who commended him: "Exceptional in Torah, fear of G-d is his treasure, of holy descent". Sipurim Nora'im by R. Yaakov Keidner (Lviv, 1875) relates the wondrous account of how the Baal HaTanya assisted R. Moshe in attaining a government license for his printing press.
A special advantage of this printing press was that it only produced sacred books, and its type was never desecrated by profane books. Most of the workers were G-d fearing Jews. According to a famous Chassidic tradition, the equipment and type were immersed in a mikveh before use (regarding the printing press in Slavita, see: Haim Dov Friedberg, History of Printing in Poland, Tel Aviv, 1950, p. 104; Ch. Lieberman, Ohel Rachel, I, New York, 1980, pp. 199-202; Sh.D.B. Levine, History of Chabad in Czarist Russia, Brooklyn, 2010, p. 61).

Words of Torah Leaders in Praise of the Printing Press and the Talmud Editions
Leading Torah scholars in Russia, Poland and Lithuania, Chassidim and Mitnagdim, held R. Moshe Shapira and his firm in greatest esteem, as they write about him:
"If not for him, Torah would have G-d forbid been forgotten" (R. Avraham Abele Posweller in his second letter, printed at the beginning of Tractate Eruvin, Slavita 1836); "They raised the Torah banner in our country through their printing press" (R. Chaim Kohen Rappaport, rabbi of Ostroh, ibid.); "The true Tzaddik, who has enlightened the Jewish people… for the past forty years, has caused great benefit to the Jewish people through his excellent printing press, producing all holy books large and small, old and new, using good quality paper and a beautiful typeface" (Rebbe Mordechai of Chernobyl, ibid.); "…the world was barren of Torah, holy books and Talmud volumes were not available in the world at all, apart from those owned by several individuals, prominent wealthy men. Even in the study halls of bigger towns it was difficult to find a complete Shas… and when R. Chaim Volozhin established the yeshiva [the Volozhin yeshiva, founded 1803], many volumes of Talmud were required, and they were compelled to collect volumes of Talmud from various large cities for the yeshiva students. And when the rabbi of Slavita realized that there is a demand for volumes of Talmud in the world, he printed several hundred sets, large and small, and since they were received favorably, they were distributed throughout the world" (R. Moshe Shmuel Shmukler-Shapiro, in his book Toldot Rabbenu Chaim MiVolozhin, Jerusalem 2003 edition, pp. 26-27).