Bidspirit auction | Major Archive of Unpublished Torah

Major Archive of Unpublished Torah Manuscripts by Rabbi Shmuel Moshe Broida – Dayan on Rabbi Kook’s Jaffa Beit Din – Over 100 Pages - A large and important archive of Torah manuscripts in the handwriting of the Gaon Rabbi Shmuel Moshe Broida, who served as rabbi and Dayan of Druskininkai [Poland] for more than twenty years and, after immigrating to Eretz Israel, as a Dayan on the Beit Din of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook in Jaffa. [Poland and Eretz Israel, 19th–early 20th century]. Rabbi Shmuel Moshe was one of the four signatories of the first “Otzar Beit Din” document in Eretz Israel [photograph enclosed], together with Rabbi Kook and the other members of his Beit Din, during the Shemittah year of תר”ע. The present archive is extensive, comprising over one hundred densely written yet clearly legible pages, containing Torah novellae, intricate Talmudic discussions and sermons composed by Rabbi Shmuel Moshe Broida over the course of his life. The contents of these manuscripts have not yet been researched and, to the best of our knowledge, these Torah novellae have never been published. The archive includes more than sixty large pages, most on folded sheets measuring over 30 cm in length. These do not constitute a single continuous work, but rather a collection of novellae, scholarly discussions and sermons on various areas of Torah, recorded by the author over the years, including teachings he developed and delivered before his congregation. Also included is an additional notebook, entirely in his own handwriting, comprising approximately forty pages. Unlike the first collection, this notebook was arranged as a single organized unit and even contains a brief table of contents listing the novellae recorded within. Additionally included is a small booklet of approximately five written pages, inscribed on its cover: “Eulogy for our Rabbi Chaim Chizkiyahu.” The contents of the Torah novellae and sermons in this archive have yet to be studied. Presented here are thousands of handwritten lines and tens of thousands of words of previously unpublished Torah scholarship – a substantial body of material offering considerable potential for scholarly research and preparation of Rabbi Shmuel Moshe Broida’s teachings for publication. The sheer scope of the material could provide the basis for an entire volume. Rabbi Shmuel Moshe was among the outstanding Torah scholars of his generation. His stature is demonstrated by the fact that immediately upon his arrival in Eretz Israel in תרס”ד, Rabbi Kook selected him to serve as a Dayan on the Beit Din he established in Jaffa. Although Rabbi Broida had only recently arrived in the country, he was appointed to this prominent and highly responsible Torah position at a time when Eretz Israel was home to numerous celebrated rabbis and Torah giants, including native-born scholars and others who had already established their standing there over many years. Rabbi Kook’s decision to select Rabbi Shmuel Moshe from among this distinguished body of scholars, despite his recent arrival, and appoint him to his Beit Din, attests to the high esteem in which his Torah greatness and scholarship were held. Yet despite his distinguished position and Torah stature, following his passing his name was almost forgotten, and his Torah teachings left virtually no trace in print. The present archive is therefore of particular importance, revealing for the first time on such a substantial scale his Torah world and original scholarship. Rabbi Shmuel Moshe Broida The Gaon Rabbi Shmuel Moshe Broida [תר”ג–תרע”ו] was born in Vilna and served for approximately twenty-two years as rabbi and Dayan of Druskininkai in Poland. [In 1887, Druskininkai hosted the national conference of the Russian Hovevei Zion movement, attended by Ahad Ha’am, Rabbi Shmuel Mohilever and Moshe Leib Lilienblum, which played an important role in resolving disputes between the Maskilim and the Orthodox.] In תרס”ד, Rabbi Broida immigrated to Eretz Israel. That same year, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook arrived in Jaffa, and Rabbi Shmuel Moshe Broida served alongside him as a Dayan on the city’s Beit Din, together with Rabbi Yosef Tzvi HaLevi and Rabbi Zalman Shach. An important chapter in the history of the New Yishuv is associated with his name: Rabbi Shmuel Moshe Broida was one of the four signatories – together with Rabbi Kook and his two fellow Dayanim – of the “Otzar Beit Din” enactment during the Shemittah year תר”ע, one of the early attempts to regulate the distribution of agricultural produce during the Sabbatical year through a rabbinical court. Rabbi Shmuel Moshe passed away in Tel Aviv in the month of Tammuz תרע”ו and was buried in the old cemetery of Tel Aviv. His tombstone bears, among other words, the inscription: “Here lies the Rabbi and Dayan, Rabbi Shmuel Moshe Broida,