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The Machatzis HaShekel's Tur Orach Chaim, with His Holy Signature and Handwritten Notes
The Machatzis HaShekel’s Tur Orach Chaim, with His Holy Signature and Handwritten Notes
Tur Orach Chaim – the personal copy of the Machatzis HaShekel, one of the great Achronim and one of the foremost halachic authorities on Orach Chaim.
At the beginning of the sefer appears his full handwritten signature: “Shmuel HaKatan HaLevi ben Moreinu HaRav Nosson, zt”l, Kelin.”
On leaf 57b, several lines of the Beis Yosef were omitted from this edition, and the Machatzis HaShekel completed them in his own handwriting.
Additionally, one entire leaf that was missing was completed by the Machatzis HaShekel in his fine and orderly handwriting, following the layout of the original printed page.
The volume also contains several brief references and corrections in his holy handwriting.
(All of the above has been authenticated by Rabbi Shemaryahu Tziterenboim, shlita.)
“He sat and expounded like Moshe from the mouth of the Almighty;” “It was truly as though the Shechinah spoke from his throat”
– these are only some of the extraordinary praises bestowed by the
Chasam Sofer upon Rabbi Shmuel HaLevi Kelin (c. 1724–1806), author of Machatzis HaShekel. He was the son of Rabbi Nosson Nota Kelin and a descendant of the Megaleh Amukos. For sixty years he disseminated Torah in Boskovitz, teaching thousands of talmidim. He declined to accept the burden of a rabbinical position and devoted his entire life to delivering shiurim and writing his renowned works.
He became famous in the Torah world through his sefer Machatzis HaShekel, in which he set out to elucidate and clarify the words of the Magen Avraham, which, as is well known, were written with remarkable concision. Were it not for his work, the Magen Avraham would have remained like a sealed book to its readers. His halachic rulings and directives are cited numerous times in the Mishnah Brurah.
When the Chasam Sofer was in Boskovitz together with his rebbi, Rabbi Nosson Adler, he attended the shiurim of the Machatzis HaShekel. The Chasam Sofer mentions him several times in his writings, generally referring to him as “the gaon and chassid.”
In his hesped, the Chasam Sofer said of him: “An elderly tzaddik, sitting and expounding like Moshe from the mouth of the Almighty, with thousands of talmidim like olive shoots surrounding his pure table; it was truly as though the Shechinah spoke from his throat — our master, the gaon and chassid, Moreinu HaRav Rabbi Shmuel Kelin, zt”l” (Drashos Chasam Sofer, Vol. II, leaf 310b).
Beyond his extraordinary genius and greatness in Torah, he was renowned as a tzaddik and devout chassid, famed for the power of his tefillos and his many acts of tzedakah. His son, Rabbi Wolf Boskovitz, author of Seder Mishnah, writes about this at length in his hesped for his father (Ma’amar Esther, Drush 1).
Wilhermsdorf, 1727. Large volume: 35 cm.
Page Count: [2], 321 leaves. (The page before the hand-filled page is missing.)
Condition: A few tiny holes in some of the margins. Tears with loss to the final leaf. Restoration to the first two leaves. Bound in a new leather binding.
