Rare and Interesting Collection of Letters Including a Letter to the Author of Sha'agat Aryeh

Rare and Interesting Collection of Letters Including a Letter to the Author of Sha'agat Aryeh

Rare bundle of letters, including copies of letters from rabbis of Alsace and others. Important and interesting collection of over seventy letters copied into a special notepad.

Most of the letters are from Jewish communities in the Alsace region (Haguenau, Mutzig, Nancy, Hertzfeld, Romasweiller, Silsa, Wittenheim, Bischheim and others) yet there are also some from Mannheim, Metz, Amsterdam and London. The letters are primarily addressed to a rabbi named Binyamin, who is described with the exalted titles Av Beit Din and "Risha L'Medinta" but the location where he served in the rabbinate is not mentioned.

Among the the letters, we found letters from: Rabbi Netanel Modersheim, rabbi of Metz and author of Imrei Binah, Rabbi Ya'akov Yakel Guggenheim, Av Beit Din of Haguenau, Rabbi Tzadok Grumbach, Rabbi Reuven Zelig of Zamotch, author of Machaneh Reuven. As such, there are, among the letters, two letters from Rabbi Binyamin Tzair Marshweiler, Av Beit Din of Neiderenheim and district and he may be the "Rabbi Binyamin" to whom most of the letters are addressed. [However, it is possible that the same "Rabbi Binyamin" is the renowned gaon Rabbi Binyamin Fussweiler, who was a disciple of Rabbi Yehonatan Eybeschütz and one of the leading sages of Ashkenaz in his generation and taught many students].

One of the two letters mentioned above from Rabbi Binyamin Tzair is an interesting letter about ritual slaughter, that was sent to the gaon, the author of Sha'agat Aryeh. He writes, inter alia, "When I had the privilege of seeing [your] book Sha'agat Aryeh, despite the fact that I am just [your honor's] student, I understood as [you] did in some matters, as they are among my writings ..."

Rabbi Binyamin Tzair Marshweiler, Av Beit Din of Neiderenheim and district was also a disciple of the gaon Rabbi Yehonatan Eybeschütz and novellae by him are printed in books by the sages of his generation. His approbations are found in the book Shitah Mekubetzet and Lechem Setarim that were printed in Strasbourg in 1777 [refer to Shomrei Mishmeret HaKodesh Part I, p. 180, note 13].

[77] pp, approximately 16x21 cm. Thick, high-quality paper.

Fine condition: Aging stains. Slight tears. Not bound.