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Lot : 68
Magnificent Pristine Copy – Chassidic Haggadah – Zhitomir, 1864
Magnificent Pristine Copy – Chassidic Haggadah – Zhitomir, 1864
Haggadah shel Pesach with Likutei Shoshanim — a collection of commentaries from Gedolei Yisrael and leading masters of Chassidus, together with a commentary on Chad Gadya by Rabbi Mordechai of Chernobyl.
An exceptional copy. Judging by its state of preservation, it appears never to have been used. The paper remains white and smooth, entirely free of blemishes, preserved for some 160 years as though it had only just emerged from the printing press.
Printed with elegance and precision, reflecting the finest traditions of the Shapira printing press in Zhitomir.
Likutei Shoshanim is an anthology of commentaries on the Haggadah drawn from leading classical commentators and Chassidic sefarim, including Be’er Mayim on the Haggadah shel Pesach (Mezhibuzh, 1817), Tzofnas Pa’neach by the Toldos Yaakov Yosef (Koretz, 1782), Or HaMeir (Koretz, 1798), and Avodas Yisrael by the Maggid of Kozhnitz (Józefów, 1842).
This is the earliest known edition of Likutei Shoshanim.
Although the bibliographer Wiener, in his catalog of Haggados (St. Petersburg, 1901, no. 534), records a Haggadah identical to this one from 1863, no copy of that edition is presently known to exist. Neither Yaari nor Yudlov saw it, relying solely on Wiener’s record. Accordingly, the present volume is the earliest obtainable edition of Likutei Shoshanim.
An exceptionally rare Haggadah.
Contents of the Haggadah
A. Sipurei Niflaos – wondrous stories from Rabbi Moshe of Zaloshin.
B. Likutei Shoshanim – as described above.
C. Derech HaChaim – laws and customs excerpted from the siddur Derech HaChaim by Rabbi Yaakov of Lisa.
D. Ma’aseh Rav – an early description of the order of the Korban Pesach, as transmitted by the Yaabetz.
E. Commentary on Chad Gadya by Rabbi Mordechai of Chernobyl.
F. Megillas Shir HaShirim – pp. 50–52.
As is well known, the halacha is that the Seder table should be arranged with beautiful and elegant dishes (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 472:2). There can be little doubt that this Haggadah itself qualifies as a beautiful and distinguished object, worthy of gracing a royal table on the night of the Seder.
Zhitomir, 1864. Printed by “the grandsons of the Rav of Slavita, Rabbi Chanina Lipa and Rabbi Yehoshua Heshel Shapira.”
Page Count: 52 pages. Size: 21.5 cm. Decorative title-page border with delicate ornaments. Condition: Superb. Fine new leather binding.
Bibliography: Otzar HaHaggados, no. 1253.
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Commentary on Chad Gadya by Rabbi Mordechai of Chernobyl
This commentary was first printed in Divrei Torah by the chassid Rabbi Moshe Wartman (Warsaw, 1851). At its beginning, he writes:
“Paths and modes of conduct in Chassidus, Torah, and Avodah, teaching how a person can forge a deep bond with and cleave to the Creator, each according to his level. It is based on the poem Chad Gadya, and was transmitted as a precious teaching by the saintly Rav, the holy luminary and man of G-d, Rabbi Mordechai of blessed memory, Maggid of the holy community of Chernobyl, known as Reb Mottele of Chernobyl, who delivered it in the year 1832.”
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The Slavita Printing Press
Concerning the printing press established by their grandfather, Rabbi Moshe Shapira of Slavita, Rabbi Mordechai of Chernobyl wrote in his approbation to the Slavita Talmud:
“A true tzaddik, who illuminated the eyes of Klal Yisrael in all their locations for more than forty years; he devoted himself solely to benefiting the Jewish people through his splendid printing press, producing sacred sefarim both big and small, new as well as old, on fine paper and with letters shining like the stars.”
