Sefer HaTzavaah (Smichat Chachamim) – With Hanhagot by the Yismach Moshe of Ujhel and Rabbi Shmelka of Nikolsburg – ...

Sefer HaTzavaah (Smichat Chachamim) – With Hanhagot by the Yismach Moshe of Ujhel and Rabbi Shmelka of Nikolsburg – Original Title Cover

Sefer HaTzavaah by R. Naftali HaKohen Katz, author of Smichat Chachamim; with Azharot Yekarot Imrot Tehorot by R. Moshe Teitelbaum, Av Beit Din of Ujhel, author of Yismach Moshe; and Hanhagot Tovot VeDarchei Yesharim by R. Shmuel "Shmelka" Horowitz, Av Beit Din of Nikolsburg. Munkacs (Mukachevo): Shmuel Zenvil Kahn and Ozer HaKohen Fried, 1904. Two title pages. The first is printed on the binding, with different text than the version on the interior title page.

On the endpapers, long handwritten inscription: outline of a eulogy, including: "A perfect and honored man who feared God… Yehuda Rosenberg… lived seventy years! For he walked an upright path, as every Jew should… For he walked all his days in a good path, was careful to observe Shabbat and guide his family in keeping kosher, he gave more charity than he could afford, he went evening and morning to the synagogue, he also listened to Torah, he was involved in learning and sermons…".

Rebbe Moshe Teitelbaum, Av Beit Din of Ujhel (1759-1841), the Yismach Moshe, an illustrious Chassidic leader in Hungary and Galicia, and progenitor of the Sighet and Satmar Chassidic dynasties. An outstanding Torah scholar and kabbalist, he was an expert in both the revealed and hidden Torah. He was famed during his lifetime as a holy wonderworker possessing ruach hakodesh. He first served as rabbi in Shinova from 1785-1808, and subsequently in 1808 he was appointed rabbi and Av Beit Din of Ujhel (Sátoraljaújhely) and the region. Rebbe Moshe was originally opposed to Chassidut, and in his youth he traveled to study with the Vilna Gaon. He joined Chassidut at a later age, influenced by his son-in-law, R. Aryeh Leib Lipschitz, Av Beit Din of Vishnitza (Nowy Wiśnicz), author of Responsa Aryeh DeVei Ila'i, who convinced him to travel to the Chozeh of Lublin. With the Chozeh he became aware of clear manifestations of ruach hakodesh, and from that point on he became his close disciple, devoting himself to the Chassidic way and spreading its teachings in his regions. He likewise traveled to visit the Ohev Yisrael of Apta. Starting in 1815, he began to distribute amulets to those in need of salvation, thereby performing countless wonders. It is told that he hesitated about whether to continue making amulets until he heard a heavenly voice calling out to him while he was awake: "Do not fear, for I am with you" (Tehillah LeMoshe). To this day, most of the amulets and shemirot in Ashkenazic lands are attributed to the amulets of the Yismach Moshe, including the printed shemirot for children and child-bearing women and for plague. The famous "Keresterir's amulets", which were written by rebbes as a Segulah to guard one's house and property, originate with the Yismach Moshe.

[16] leaves. 19 cm. Good condition. Stains and wear. Stamps. Bound with new leather binding, over original binding.