Mei Naftoach / Mayim Tehorim – Białystok, 1816 – Dedication to Rabbi Akiva Eger / Glosses Handwritten by Rabbi ...

Mei Naftoach / Mayim Tehorim – Białystok, 1816 – Dedication to Rabbi Akiva Eger / Glosses Handwritten by Rabbi Akiva Eger
Mei Naftoach, on the introduction of the Rambam to Seder Taharot of the Mishnah, by R. Yehuda Leib HaLevi Edel of Slonim. Białystok, [1816]. First edition. Bound with: Mayim Tehorim on Seder Taharot, by R. Yehuda Leib Edel of Slonim. Białystok, [1816]. First edition.
Copy of R. Akiva Eger, with three scholarly glosses in his own handwriting. A handwritten dedication on the front endpaper (handwritten by the author's messenger) attests that the author sent the book to R. Akiva Eger: "This work is sent by the author to the famous Torah scholar… R. Akiva Eger Rabbi of Posen".
This copy was bequeathed to R. Akiva Eger's son, R. Yitzchak Leib Eger of Johannisburg. His stamp – "I. L. Eger – Johannisburg" appears on the title page.
These three glosses were apparently never printed. They include objections to the words of the author on the laws of impurity. Reputedly, R. Akiva Eger would annotate new books he received during his afternoon rest (see his daily schedule published in Alei Zikaron, III, Av 2015, p. 4).
R. Akiva (Güns) Eger (1761-1837), a leading Torah scholar in his times, was born in Eisenstadt to R. Moshe Güns and Gittel – daughter of the first R. Akiva Eger (rabbi of Pressburg, author of Mishnat D'Rabbi Akiva). Before he reached the age of 13, he began studying in the Breslau yeshiva under the tutelage of his uncle and teacher R. Binyamin Wolf Eger and at the age of fifteen, he was already delivering Torah lectures. After getting married in 1778, he moved to Lissa (Leszno) to the home of his father-in-law R. Itzek Margolies. In spite of his young age, he was regarded as one of the leading scholars of the city, which was the hub of Torah study at that time. In 1792, he was appointed rabbi of Märkisch Friedland (Mirosławiec) and established a yeshiva there. In 1815, he began serving as rabbi of Posen (Poznań), a position he held over 20 years, until his passing in 1837. In Posen as well, he founded a yeshiva and taught many disciples. He was a holy person with Divine Inspiration, though supremely humble and gracious, he knew how to insist upon the honor due to the Torah and the rabbinate. He issued numerous regulations and established many public institutions. He replied to the thousands of questions addressed to him from around the world and recorded many novellae.
His descendants were also leading Torah scholars: R. Shlomo Eger (1786-1852), one of Warsaw's most influential Jews and his father's successor in the Posen rabbinate, author of Gilyon Maharsha and other books; R. Avraham Eger of Rawicz who edited his father's writings (with his own additions signed "A.A.B.H.H." – acronym of the Hebrew "Amar Avraham ben HaRav HaMechaber" [Avraham, son of the author says]); his renowned son-in-law R. Moshe Sofer, the Chatam Sofer, who after the death of his first wife, married the daughter of R. Akiva Eger (Rebbetzin Sorel, who bore him R. Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Wolf – the Ketav Sofer, and R. Shimon Sofer – rabbi of Kraków).
R. Akiva Eger devoted his entire life to Torah study and was known for his amazing proficiency and profound definitions which became basic tenets of Torah learning until our times. His books and novellae are key Torah texts for yeshiva students and poskim alike. R. Elazar Menachem Shach, author of Avi Ezri, writes in his approbation to the book Pote'ach She'arim – Teachings of R. Akiva Eger (Jerusalem, 1985) "For us, R. Akiva Eger, his opinions and reasoning are as conclusive as one of the Rishonim…".
His works include: Responsa of R. Akiva Eger, published by his sons in his lifetime, under his instruction. After his passing, his sons continued publishing his novella in Drush VeChiddush, and additional volumes of his responsa series. Other responsa and novellae are being published until this day based on manuscripts (the books Kushiot Atzumot, Ketav VeChotam, Michtavei R. Akiva Eger and others). His various books were reprinted in many editions, including some annotated and expanded editions, which were enriched with related selections of his Torah teachings appearing in other places.
The glosses of R. Akiva Eger are valued in the yeshiva world and by Torah scholars for their perspicacity and profundity, and they invest much effort in studying them. He himself considered his glosses a composition worth publishing, as is apparent from his letters to his son R. Avraham Eger, printed at the beginning of Hagahot Rabbenu Akiva Eger, Berlin 1862. Especially renowned are his glosses to the Talmud, named Gilyon HaShas (first printed in his lifetime in the Prague and Vilna editions of the Talmud), his glosses to the Shulchan Aruch, and Tosefot R. Akiva Eger on the Mishna. Over the years, his glosses to various books were published in later editions of those books and in Torah anthologies.
R. Yitzchak Leib Eger (d. 1871) lived in Lomza and later in Johannisburg, Germany. There he published in 1862 a Shulchan Aruch with his father's glosses. In the introduction, he writes that he only printed the glosses that he had in his father's handwriting, not those which disciples wrote in his father's name. His father mentions him in his novellae (Derush VeChiddush, Tractate Ketubot, p. 40a). In his father's later years, R. Yitzchak Leib wrote down novellae he had heard from him, mostly on tractate Chulin, in a special notebook.
[2], 3-9, 64 leaves; [1], 50, [2] leaves. 35 cm. High-quality paper. Good condition. Stains. Marginal dampstains to last leaves. Wear and a few tears. Stamps. New leather binding.