Mayim Chayim, Zhitomir. First Edition. With a 'Letter' from the Ba'al Shem Tov. Five Title Pages

Mayim Chayim, Zhitomir. First Edition. With a 'Letter' from the Ba'al Shem Tov. Five Title Pages

She'elot U'Teshuvot Mayim Chayim by the sacred gaon Rabbi Chaim HaKohen Rapoport, av beit din of Lvov, about whom tales of wonder are told of him together with the Besh"t that shook the world. Two parts bound together with separate title pages. Printed at the Slavuta Rav's grandsons' press - Rabbi Chanina Lipa and Rabbi Yehoshua Heschel Shapira. Zhitomir, 1857. First edition. Complete copy with all five title pages, including the color title page. A rare halachic (!) responsum from the Besh"t appears in this book, with his rare signature. Prominent segulah and Chassidic book.

The author of this work, the sacred gaon Rabbi Chaim Rapoport, was responsible for many Chassidic tales of wonder, especially together with the Besh"t. These stories shook the Chassidic world over many generations (refer to the biography in the Hebrew catalog text). He was considered a kohen of proven lineage, and to this day, there are many (especially those who are part of the Brisk and Chazon Ish communities) who are particular to use kohanim who are definitively scions of the Rapoport family for pidyon haben.

The book is adorned with many approbations, including from the patriarchs of Chassidism: Rabbi Mordechai of Chernobyl, the “Sar Shalom” of Belz, and Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heschel of Apta. Book contents: responsa on the four parts of the Shulchan Aruch. In the margins: “Kuntress Otzrot Chayim” (with a dedicated title page) containing Torah novellae in the order of the weekly Torah portions by the author and his family.

In Part I, siman 27, there is a question printed that was sent from Medzhybizh to Rabbi Meir, av beit din of Konstantin, son of Rabbi Ya’akov Emden – the Ya’avetz, regarding a question about scarring, and as a result of the halachic decision, which turned into a huge dispute. “Due to the size of the conflagration that resulted from it, ” they turned to Rabbi Meir with the question. A description of the event opens the responsum, after which the beit din wrote, with a signature from ‘Yisrael Besh”t [Ba’al Shem] of Talist’ – an extraordinarily rare and early signature from the light of the seven seas, Rabbeinu Yisrael Ba’al Shem Tov. Later on is the lengthy responsum by Rabbi Meir, in which he describes the Ba’al Shem Tov: “Leader among the Jewish people … the accomplished, exalted and famous Besh”t [Ba’al Shem] Rabbi Yisrael …”

Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of the sacred gaon Rabbi Chaim HaKohen Rapoport.

84 pp; 151 p. 33 cm. Stefansky Chassidut no. 341.

Fine condition. Aging stains. Isolated worming perforations. Old binding, slightly worn.