Three Books Printed in Thessaloniki – From the Library of Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar

Three Books Printed in Thessaloniki – From the Library of Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar

Three books printed in Thessaloniki, from the library of Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar – with catalogue inscriptions made during the arrangement of the Satmar Rebbe's library in his home in the United States, and with the stamps: "Yoel Teitelbaum, Rabbi of Irshava and the region". [We surmise that these stamps were placed on the Satmar Rebbe's books at a date later than his tenure in Irshava – see previous Lot 185]. One of the books with the original binding of the Rebbe's library [made in the United States ca. 1950s].

• Devar Moshe, responsa by R. Chaim Moshe Amarilio, Part I on Orach Chaim, Even HaEzer and Yoreh Deah. Thessaloniki: Betzalel HaLevi Ashkenazi, [1742]. Lacking last leaf of indexes at beginning of book. Ownership inscription in Sephardic script on title page: "Yitzchak son of R. Daniel Castro". Additional stamps of R. Yitzchak Elbaum, Rabbi of Cieszyn and the region.

• Korban Elitzur, novellae on Tractate Avodah Zarah by R. Mansur Marzuk. Thessaloniki: Yehudah Kalai and Mordechai Nachman, [1777]. Heavy mold stains and large open tears, repaired with tape. Inscription in Sephardic script on title page: "I, Shlomo Yitzchak Shalom purchased it for the Beit Midrash called Sos Asis BaShem", as well as signatures of "Aharon Montilia".

• Pnei Mevin, Part II, novellae on Tractate Sanhedrin chapters 5-7, by R. Yitzchak Navarro, with notes by R. Yaakov Chabif, disciple of the author. Thessaloniki: sons of Betzalel HaLevi [Ashkenazi], [1826]. Ownership inscription in Sephardic script on title page: "Purchased by me, Avraham Shlomo".

3 volumes. Varying size and condition. Stains and dampstains. Wear, tears and open tears. Worming. One of the books in the original binding of the Rebbe's library, and the other two in new leather bindings.

Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar (1887-1979), 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 served as rabbi of Irshava (1911-1915, 1922-1926), Karoly (Carei; from 1925), 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.