Pachad Yitzchak – First Torah Encyclopedia – Letters Alef through Mem – Venice-Livorno, 1750-1839 – Signatures and ...

Pachad Yitzchak – First Torah Encyclopedia – Letters Alef through Mem – Venice-Livorno, 1750-1839 – Signatures and Interesting Notes Handwritten by Rabbi Mordechai Shmuel Ghirondi – Including Rare Testimony on the Ramchal
Pachad Yitzchak, halachic-encyclopedic composition in alphabetical order, by R. Yitzchak Lampronti Rabbi of Ferrara. Venice-Reggio-Livorno, 1750-1839. First five parts, letters Alef through Mem, in six volumes.
Signatures on the title pages of the first and third volumes: "Mordechai Shmuel Ghirondi of Padua – HaGeshem"; "Shamgar – of the community of Padua". Five of the volumes contain halachic notes (some of them lengthy) with interesting historic and bibliographic data, handwritten by R. Mordechai Shmuel Ghirondi.
In Volume II, pp. 85b-86a, a lengthy note appears, containing a fascinating testimony about the Divine Inspiration exhibited by the Ramchal, who exposed a certain scholar as insincere and indeed, shortly thereafter, he renegaded: "…Nechemia Cohen, who is now dubbed by the Hebrews Chermia, after being a rabbi and posek for several years, having been ordained by two rabbi emissaries from Eretz Israel for his wisdom and great expertise in Talmud and Halacha… and G-d uncovers the flatterers and hypocrites… they found this despicable Chermia in illicit relations with a married woman, and when it was discovered, he converted and became a big bishop, and the holy Kabbalist R. Moshe Chaim Luzzatto Rabbi of Padua later revealed that all his wisdom and expertise was acquired through the Sitra Achra (impure forces). Once this despicable person was in our town Padua, and he kept his distance from the Ramchal, afraid that he would publicize his bad deeds. The Ramchal was accustomed to welcome the Shabbat in a certain garden together with all his disciples, and R. Yaakov Chazak asked his teacher why he doesn't invite that visiting scholar… to welcome the Shabbat with them, and R. Luzzatto answered him: leave him alone, as impure forces have caught him and are helping him, and an impure thing cannot sit in a holy place, and in a few days he will convert, and so it was. All these things I, Mordechai Shmuel Ghirondi, heard from the honorable elder Meir Trieste, who received them from his teacher the aforementioned R. Yaakov Chazak, posek in Padua" (this story is told briefly and with variations in his book Toldot Gedolei Yisrael U'Geonei Italia, Trieste, 1853, pp. 229-231).
Printed dedications in Italian, completed by hand and signed by the printer R. Yitzchak Foa, are pasted onto the front endpapers of the first two volumes.
Rabbi Mordechai Shmuel Ghirondi (1800-1852) was the rabbi of Padua, a kabbalist, bibliographer, teacher in the rabbinical seminary of Padua and researcher of the history of Italian rabbis. He served as rabbi of Padua since 1831, for 21 years. He composed several books on halacha and ethics, yet is renowned primarily for his book Toldot Gedolei Yisrael U’Geonei Italia (Trieste, 1853). One of the leading Torah scholars of the generation writes about his greatness in Kabbalah: "I have never seen anyone proficient in kabbalistic teachings like the Kabbalist R. Mordechai Shmuel… Ghirondi". His son, R. Efraim Refael Ghirondi, writes about his father: "A father to the poor… humble like Hillel, brought back many from sin… very well versed in responsa and Halacha, and also rabbis of his time posed halachic questions to him, and his wide-ranged responsa are recorded in his responsa book named Kevutzat Kesef which remains in manuscript…".
Six volumes. Vol. I (letters Alef-Bet), Venice, [1750]: [8], 124; 76 leaves. Vol. II (letters Gimmel-Dalet), Venice, [1753]: [4], 105 leaves, [1] folded leaf: Seder HaGet. Open tear to the foot of the last leaf, affecting text. Vol. III (letters He-Chet), Venice, [1796]: [1], 110 leaves. Leaf 47 is bound after leaf 48. Vol. IV (letters Chet-Tet), Venice, [1798]: [1], 93 leaves, [1] folded leaf. Vol. V (letters Yud-Lamed), Venice-Reggio, [1813]: [1], 108; 28 leaves. Lacking leaves 43-44. Vol. VI (letter Mem), Livorno, [1839]: [1], 241 leaves. 36 cm. Good condition. Stains. Original bindings with ornamented leather spines.