Manuscript of the Sefer Yismach Moshe. Handwritten Glosses by the Yitev Lev of Sighet. Some Never Printed!

Manuscript of the Sefer Yismach Moshe. Handwritten Glosses by the Yitev Lev of Sighet. Some Never Printed!

New Torah will come from me.

Original manuscript of the sacred Sefer Yismach Moshe, authored by the leading Admo"r of Hungary, the wonder-worker and gaon Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum of Ujhely, whose amulets shook the world. It was said about them that they carried themselves like living beings. A significant part of this manuscript [an entire column, approximately 50 lines!] has never been printed; it is being revealed here for the first time. In the margins of the leaves are glosses [20 words!] handwritten by his grandson, the sacred gaon Rabbi Yekutiel Yehudah Teitelbaum, author of Yitev Lev. [Manuscript: Hungary, c. 1840; glosses by the Yitev Lev: Gorelitz or Sighet, c. 1848-1861.]

From this very manuscript, his grandson and successor, the sacred gaon Rabbi Yekutiel Yehudah Teitelbaum, the author of Yitev Lev, of Sighet, printed the sacred Sefer Yismach Moshe. The first steps of the Yismach Moshe's writing can be seen from the manuscript - before it was edited and divided into various topics and sefarim.

These pages here deal with the virtues of tzaddikim and the protection of their contemporaries, including the Yismach Moshe saying something frightening. It is known that the prayer without heartfelt intent does not rise Heavenward on its own - ministering angels carry it up, so that when prayers are offered for a tzaddik to not pass away, the prayers must have proper intent. Because angels desire the death of tzaddikim, as it says, when tzaddikim pass away, "angels and matzokim held the holy ark and the angels won out over the matzokim" - meaning, the angels want the tzaddikim to pass away. As such, how could the angels carry the prayers for a tzaddik not to die? A prosecutor does not become a defender. Hence it is proper to pray for a tzaddik with heartfelt intent as the prayers must ascend on their own without the help of angels.

This manuscript was hidden in the library of the Yismach Moshe's grandson and successor, the sacred gaon Rabbi Yekutiel Yehudah Teitelbaum, author of Yitev Lev of Sighet, who started this massive project of arranging the works of the Yismach Moshe. The Yitev Lev wrote in his foreword to the first edition of Yismach Moshe (Lemberg, 1849), as follows: "Although the bundle of writings was scattered about without any order ... I arose and became encouraged to bring them close together, as there were few in the proper order according to the parashiyot in the Torah." In his later years, the Yitev Lev was assisted in his work by his own grandson and disciple the gaon Rabbi Moshe David Teitelbaum, av beit din of Lăpuş, to help him with the tremendous work (as appears in the forewords to the later volumes of Yismach Moshe, starting from 1905).

In recent years, leaves from the original manuscript have been offered at auction. The manuscript of Yismach Moshe presented so many years after the sefer was printed, was met with much anticipation among those who love Torah and Chassidut, who hoped to discover new secrets from the sacred gaon. The vast majority of the manuscript was transcribed word-for-word into the Yismach Moshe series of sefarim, and most of the leaves did not reveal any new insights. The main work by the Yitev Lev and his grandson, the Rama"d of Lăpuş, was arranging the torot according to the weekly Torah portions, Na"ch and the gemara, etc. [Due to the fact that the author of Yismach Moshe did not write his insights in any particular order, but "whatever was put in my mouth." When he thought of an insight, he would immediately write it down, and not in any specific order]. In most of the leaves we have seen, there is indeed no chiddush that has not been printed.

However, wonder of wonders, a significant part of this manuscript here has never been printed! There are unknown new torot by the Yismach Moshe of Ujhely. To the best of our electronic examination, more than an entire column of this manuscript has never been printed! The passage that was omitted in the sefarim can be found on page 1 of the manuscript, beginning at the end of column 1, the passage beginning with the title "Eulogy for a kosher person" and continuing until the end of column 2, ending with "perhaps He will tell our distress 'Enough!'"

We are unaware of the reason that the Yitev Lev, in his wisdom, decided to leave out this respectable passage from the sefer. [The reason is not its being a eulogy, as the next passage, which also bears the word "eulogy" in its title, was indeed left in the sefer] - there is a treasure trove here - a lengthy unknown derashah by the Yismach Moshe, but there are lofty titles in the eulogy about the deceased: "The death of a tzaddik is like the burning of G-d's house;" "In my opinion, he was a tzaddik yessod olam, " - This said by the Yismach Moshe!

Another unique feature of this manuscript here are the glosses written in the margins by the Yismach Moshe's grandson and successor - the sacred gaon, the author of Yitev Lev of Sighet, leading Admo"r of Hungary in his generation. The glosses by the Yitev Lev here are on page 1 of the manuscript, column 1. Approximately [8] glosses, with [20] words in the Yitev Lev's penmanship. In one gloss, the Yitev Lev self-references: "Refer to what I wrote on this in Parashah Mishpatim." It is worth noting that among the handwritten glosses by the Yitev Lev, are the segulah words "in his mercy" and "for healing"!

Alongside the rare glosses by the Yitev Lev - which do not generally appear in most of the leaves in the manuscript that we have seen and that have been offered at auction in recent years - are the glosses his grandson, the sacred gaon Rabbi Moshe David Teitelbaum, av beit din of Lăpuş. Glosses by the Rama"d of Lăpuş do indeed appear in the rest of the leaves of the manuscript. The glosses by the Yitev Lev are differentiated from the glosses by the Rama"d of Lăpuş and they are recognizable by their completely different penmanship.

The difference between the handwritten glosses of the Yitev Lev and the Rama"d of Lăpuş are also identifiable in the printed work. When his own glosses are printed, the Rama"d of Lăpuş, puts them in square brackets, as appears in the foreword by [the Rama"d of Lăpuş] at the beginning of the Yismach Moshe sefarim, as follows: "So that they do not get confused with his sacred words, I put my comments in brackets like this [] so that they would be as recognizable as the sun during the day as my own writings, and those of a mosquito like me, a youth among the thousands among the Jewish people ... and if I made a mistake, it will stay with me ... this will be my reward." However, the glosses by his grandfather, the Yitev Lev, the Rama"d of Lăpuş inserted without brackets, as part of the text. This can be seen in the manuscript here, as all the Rama"d's glosses were printed in brackets, and the ones by the Yitev Lev were printed in the sefer without brackets. [The glosses here written by the Yitev Lev are printed in Yismach Moshe, in the section on Vayikra, Bamidbar, Devarim. New York, 1988, p. 318. Refer to the attached photocopy.]

Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of the author, Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum of Ujhely and the writer of the glosses, the Admo"r Rabbi Yekutiel Yehudah Teitelbaum.

[2] large format leaves of paper, 42x26.5 cm. Two columns on each page.

Fine condition. Aging stains.