Auction 67 Judaica - Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical Letters, Ceremonial Art
Sep 18, 2019 (your local time)
Israel
 8 Ramban St, Jerusalem.
The auction has ended

LOT 206:

Multi-page Manuscript - Will of Rabbi David Hess, Posek in Tiel, Netherlands, 1860-1878

Start price:
$ 300
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VAT: 17% On commission only
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Multi-page Manuscript - Will of Rabbi David Hess, Posek in Tiel, Netherlands, 1860-1878
Nine-leaf document, handwritten by R. David Hess - posek in Tiel, Netherlands - a will addressed to his sons. Tiel (Gelderland, Netherlands), 1860-1878. Yiddish and Hebrew.
The will was written in several stages. The main part of the will was written in 1860, and over the course of the next few years, R. David added several more sections.
The body of the will comprises seven clauses, opening with: "Will - which I wrote on Wednesday, Erev Rosh Chodesh Adar 1860, may G-d grant me… lengthy years… yet man does not know when his time will come…". The will concludes: "Today, Thursday Parashat Vayikra, Yom Kippur Katan of Rosh Chodesh Nisan… 1860, written and completed in Tiel, David son of R. Avraham Hess". From the dates at the beginning and end of the will, it appears that this part was written over the course of approximately one month.
The first addition is dated 1867: "And this is an addition to the first part, written on 20th Cheshvan 1867", followed by further additions from 1869, 1871 and 1874, and the final one (entitled: "Addition to the addition"), from 26th Nisan 1878 - less than a month before his passing on 20th Iyar 1878. Each addition bears R. David's signature.
The will contains instructions regarding his burial, the mourning period and the inheritance, and words of ethics and reproach. R. David repeatedly stresses that the most important thing is to maintain peace and avoid strife.
R. David Hess (1798-1878), posek of the Tiel community for 58 years. He was born in Amsterdam to R. Avraham Abele Hess, who longed to immigrate to Eretz Israel and settled in Jerusalem. R. David also served as mohel in his community and the surroundings. See enclosed material.
[9] leaves. 21 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. A few tears.