Segulah Book: 'Nefesh HaChaim' by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin - Stamps, Ownership Inscriptions, and Numerous ...

Segulah Book: 'Nefesh HaChaim' by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin - Stamps, Ownership Inscriptions, and Numerous Signatures. Vilna-Horodna, 1824. First edition. Sefer Yesod.

The book "Yirat Hashem L'Chaim – Nefesh HaChaim, " divided into four gates (with an additional chapter titled "Chapters, " mainly discussing the Chassidic movement and its customs), presents the foundations of Torah and the service of God, both revealed and concealed, by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, the prominent disciple of the Vilna Gaon and the head of all Lithuanian yeshivas.

Introductions by his sons, Rabbi Yitzchak of Volozhin and Rabbi Yosef of Shereshev. Approvals by the rabbis of Vilna, Rabbi Shaul Katzenellenbogen, and Rabbi Avraham Abele Poswoler. In his introduction, Rabbi Yitzchak explains that the book is called "Nefesh HaChaim" because it was his father's custom to sign his letters and responses with this name.

The author, Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, valued this book more than his numerous halakhic writings. Before his passing, he instructed his sons to publish it. The book was compiled and brought to print by his son, Rabbi Yitzchak of Volozhin, and his niece's son, the Kabbalist Rabbi Avraham  Simcha of Amtchislav (Mstsislaw), who both served as heads of the yeshiva in Volozhin.

Many fundamental principles of the teachings of the Vilna Gaon and his disciples, many parts of the book were written as responses and answers to the opinions of the Chassidic movement, especially that of the Tanya, according to the approach and method of the Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna and his students.

It is noteworthy that in this first edition, a unique sentence appears at the beginning of gate four, which was later omitted in subsequent editions. It reads: "And now in these generations, the opposite is true. The low is elevated, and the elevated is lowered... And the crown of the Torah is placed on a cornerstone." The phrase "the low is elevated, and the elevated is lowered" refers to the phenomenon of focusing on Chassidut and devotion ("Learning only in books about awe and devotion, " in his wording) instead of studying the Torah itself. It is told that Rabbi Yitzchak considered these words too critical to be printed, and he instructed that once the sheet with these words was printed, it should be covered with paper. Interestingly, the adhesive stain of that paper is still visible in this copy, preserving the exact wording of those words. As mentioned, these words were omitted from all subsequent editions, and in their place, it is written: "Because of our many sins, the elevated has been lowered", rather than the low being elevated, which has a different meaning.

The book "Nefesh HaChaim, " the Segula - see "Neshamat Emunah" by Rabbi Reuven Shmeltzer (pp. 211-212, footnote 9), provides unknown details about unknown details of a famous miraculous story of dibbuk (a spirit entering a person's body), which occurred in the year 5669 with the Chafetz Chaim, and Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman. "Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Levinberg related that when Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman was in America in 5698, he told him the entire story about the dibbuk. Rabbi Levinberg remembered a detail that was not known before: initially, when the girl with the dibbuk arrived in Radin, the dibbuk did not speak to them at all. When Rabbi Moshe Rosenstern, zt"l, the supervisor of Lomza, entered the room, he asked the dibbuk why it was not talking to them. The dibbuk replied that there is too much holiness in the room because there is a book on the window sill. They checked and found a book, none other than "Nefesh HaChaim" by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin".

Stamps, ownership inscriptions, and numerous signatures: "The young Shalom Shachna...". "Moshe Yosef son of... Pinchas El...". "The honorable Akiva son of Rabbi...". "This book belongs to the rabbi... Rabbi Yehuda Leib Katz. from... "This book belongs to Rabbi Shmuel Shalom the sun-in-law of Rabbi Dov Be'er who is named Dov Be'er Tiaitz...". "Meir Eliyahu Akker– Jerusalem". General Hospital 'Bikur Cholim'. And many more signatures and inscriptions in Hebrew and other languages.

Vilna-Horodna, 1824. First edition. Sefer Yesod.

[6], , 4, [1] 8, 10, 17 17 leaves. 22 cm. Very good condition. Wide margins. Stains. New and beautiful leather binding.

Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod, 478.

Winograd, Books of the Gaon 1417.

A rare and beautiful copy with many stamps and signatures related to the Segula book and the foundational book of the teachings of the Vilna Gaon.