Auction 118 Part 2. Seforim, Kabbalah & Chassidut, Manuscripts & Rabbinical letters. Belongings of Tzadikim & Amulets
Dec 17, 2019 (your local time)
Israel
 3 Shatner Center 1st Floor Givat Shaul Jerusalem
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LOT 49:

HaOrev, Battle over the Leadership of Prague Jewry. Especially Rare Polemic Book

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Sold for: $260
Start price:
$ 250
Estimated price:
$600 - $800
Auction house commission: 22%
VAT: 17% On commission only
tags: Books

HaOrev, Battle over the Leadership of Prague Jewry. Especially Rare Polemic Book
HaOrevֲ - controversy about the Prague rabbinate after the passing of the gaon Rabbi Yechezkel Landau, author ofֲ Noda BiYehudah. Salonika, [Vienna?] 1795. Only edition. Rare book.
After Rabbi Yechezkel Landau's passing after almost 40 years as rabbi of Prague, a dispute erupted about the leadership of Prague between the Noda BiYehuda's son, Rabbi Shmuel, who had already begun to serve as dayan and assistant to his aging father, and two dayanim in Prague, Rabbi Michael Bachrach and Rabbi Ya'akov Ginzberg, who acted independently.
The book before us, which was published anonymously, cites letters and claims from both sides. The letters are called "Plugta D'Shmuel" and "Tiyuvta D'Shmuel." The author used the pen name "Pinchas Chananyah Argozi." There are a number of hypotheses with regard to the author's identity. There are those who wrote that he was Rabbi Shaul Hirschel Levin (Berlin). However, the author was apparently actually Rabbi Baruch Yaltash of Prague, author of Taam HaMelech on the Ramba"m's "Sha'ar HaMelech," which hints at his being the author. Also, the place of print indicated on the title page - Salonika - is incorrect, and the book was apparently printed in Vienna. The compilation "Kivrot HaTa'avah" is printed on the last three leaves - a public notification by Rabbi Shmuel Landau that he does not want to be published in the book HaMeasef.
There is an interesting halachic deliberationֲ on the first leavesֲ about early Jewish coins - whether they had impressions of people on them, including the expert opinion of a gentile who wrote his view in French.
Rabbinic signatures and owner's notations from the time of printing, including an interesting notation on the title page about the question of the author's identity.
20 leaves, 19 cm. Fine condition. Professional restoration to the title page with a small photocopied completion. Aging stains and isolated worming perforations. Cropped upper margins. Detached back binding.

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