Hard-to Find.Torah Insights by the Mysterious Jewish Scholar Mr. Shoshani

Hard-to Find.Torah Insights by the Mysterious Jewish Scholar Mr. Shoshani

"For three years in Paris, I was also his disciple. Under him, I learned much about the dangers of language and understanding; the urges of a scholar, and of the insane, their mysterious ways ... But I didn't learn a thing about what tortured him about or protected him against a sick humanity." Elie Wiesel

Two large pages with dozens of Torah insights by the anonymous mysterious genius known by the moniker "Mr. Shoshani, " teacher and rabbi of famous thinkers of the 20th century including Emmanuel Levinas and Eli Wiesel. Written late in his life. Montevideo, Uruguay. [Early 1940s]. Mr. Shoshani's manuscripts are stored in the National Library Collection in Jerusalem and in private collections photographed and uploaded to a designated internet site.

Mr. Shoshani's manuscripts are like a closed book. It may be that he conducted himself according to the well-known stringency that divrei Torah may not be written down unless there is a concern they will be forgotten. As such, his writings consist of several excerpts (usually gemaras) that he writes, and he lets the reader understand himself what is novel in what he has written. This manuscript includes repeated usage of graphic markings. These markings are borrowed from the world of mathematics and are used as a type of shorthand. The main symbols used are: Three dots in a triangle pointing upwards is "therefore."  Three dots pointing downwards is "since." The equal sign means that the matters are equivalent.

His student David Ratner relates that he saw Mr. Shoshani write a lot and quite frequently, but he always burned his writings afterwards. His student Emmanuel Levinas also claimed that he did not leave one written line behind, "It was oral Torah, " he explained. However, Michael Grynszpan's research on Mr. Shoshani (after which he directed the documentary "The Shoshani Riddle") - it was revealed that there was an association in France that preserved Mr. Shoshani's works. In 2019, Mr Shoshani's notebooks were sold by Winner'S Auctions for about $20,000. In 2021, some of his notebooks were given to the National Library by Professor Rosenberg, and scans were uploaded to the dedicated Internet site.

Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief discussion of Mr. Shoshani [Hillel Perlman? Mordechai Shoshani? Mordechai Rosenbaum? Ben Shushan?]

[1] leaf paper. Shuvah Yisrael company stationery. Written on both sides in blue ink. 27x21 cm.

Fine condition. Aging stains. Fold marks.