23.09.2019 - Auction # 25

Length: 85cm. Given in a matching case. The Tar is an Iranian musical instrument of the lute family and bears 4 strings. It is an integral part of classical Persian and Kurdish music. Generally very good condition.

Leather tefillin housings, probably Europe. Especially small. Thin leather. Yad: 4cm high, 2cm wide. Head: 3cm high, 2cm wide. Includes parshah scrolls from a later period, not checked.

Ancient astrolabe (a marine navigation tool for determining the angle of the sky relative to the horizon), made of brass and copper. Decorated with engravings of different Hebrew letters with the zodiac signs and Kabbalistic inscriptions. The first known metallic astrolabe in Western Europe was designed and built by the Jewish astronomer Rabbi Avraham Zechut (1452–1514) in Lisbon, Portugal. The metallic astrolabes were far more accurate than those made of wood. Rabbi Avraham Zechut also guided Columbus before his trip and helped him with various calculations on the solar and lunar system as well as the use of the astrolabes. The influence of R. Abraham on the travels of the Portuguese was so great that an historian of the period wrote in his book "History of India" that: "Before ordering people to discover India, King Manuel invited the Jewish man Zechut, who was a great astronomer, secretly spoke to him and asked him if it was at all possible to do the thing ... and he added that he would do nothing without his advice. " Height: 11 cm. Very good overall condition.

1. Marble board with an engraved dedication to someone who donated 5,500 francs for this hatzer (picture of the place appears in the Nezer Gva’ot, “for the poor of the Bokovina Kollel.” Light cracks at the edges. Stains. 2. Large certificate, “Nezer Gva’ot” designed for donors to the “Kollels of Jerusalem, Hevron, Tzfat, Tiberias.” With frames and decorations, illustrations of the Temple, the Kotel, graves of Davidic kings, Shechem, and more. Written in Hebrew, Yiddish, and English. The place for names of donors is empty. Tears, signs of folding. Printed by Zion in Jerusalem. Kollel Bokovina in Jerusalem was until the 1870s an inseparable part of the famous Wahlin Kollel established by Chassidic sages in Europe for the poor of Israel. Led by Admor Rabbi Haim Hager of Antiniya.

Decorated with cutting work of windows, filigree decorations. Probably Jerusalem. Light defects, at the top of one finial the Star of David is missing. Missing a number of bells. Height: 24cm. Weight: 390g. Generally good condition.

Decorated with cutting work, reliefs, and engravings, made by hand, with floral patterns. Eagles perch on a ball on top of a crown on the tops. Dedication in English to the South Hackney Synagogue in England, from 26/12/1903. Stamp of the artist “HA”, and a lion. Height: 42cm. Weight: 1,035g. Generally very good condition.

Silver holders for the candles, filigree work in the shapes of flowers and leaves. Width: 30cm. Height: 25cm. Weight: 510g.

Branched hanukkiyah on a base, with a Star of David on top. Designed by the artist Moshe Zelkind. Stamps. Height: 36cm. Width: 29cm. Weight: 468g. Generally very good condition

Inspired by hanukkiyot from Spain/southern France in the 14th century. Made of brass hammered with a signature “Betzalel Yerushalayim” with a rear triangular panel decorated with arches and a flower, in the center is an inscription “these candles are holy.” No place for the shamash. Designed by Betzalel, from the Shra’ar group. Height: 20cm. Width: 22cm. Depth: 6.5cm. Good condition.

Sofer script, uniform sefardi handwriting. 56 lines per column. Height of the parchment: 53cm. Not sold as kosher. Generally good condition.

Remains of Gemarot and Halachot of the Rif printed by the Jews of Spain and Portugal before the Expulsion and the generation after it, published by the Rabbinical Beit Midrash in America, edited by Rav Dr. Haim Zalman Dimitrovsky. New York 1979. Two original cardboard boxes with more than 500 facsimile pages, not bound. Book has introduction with historical and bibliographic explanations. Very good condition.

25 volumes. Generally good condition.

12 pages with questions and answers for children on Jerusalem’s history, accompanied by an engraved illustration of Jerusalem, and another one depicting the war over Jerusalem. Pages detached, probably originated in a book or magazine. Light stains, generally good condition.

Map of Jerusalem from the book by Sebastian Munster (1488-1552), Cosmographia Universalis, published in Basel in 1550. Size of the engraving: 38x15cm. The page: 39x29cm. Light tears. Generally very good condition.

Depicting Genesis 32, the meeting of Jacob and Esau, an illustration which shows attention to the smallest details. This was published in 1700 by Wilhelm and David Goeree, usually together with the artist Jan Luyken, one of the three illustrators of Dutch literature at the time. The engravings were done on paper by hand. Signs of folding, small tears in the folds. 32x56cm. Stains. Generally very good condition.

Shows the borders of the land of Israel given in the Tanach, and shows the division of the land of Israel according to tribe. There are additional illustrations of holy cities and holy places. The mizrach includes inscriptions in Hebrew, Yiddish, and English, and includes a list of Jewish colonies in Palestine at the time. 56x43cm. Generally good condition.

By the English engraver Thomas Bowen, the son of Emmanuel Bowen (1693/4-1767), a map engraver for King George II and Louis XVI. Thomas died at his office in Clerkenwell at the beginning of 1790. Size 42x23cm. Tears in the margins, generally ok to good condition.

Wonderful illustrations of peacocks and a crown, plants and flowers. Given in a matching frame. 32x45cm. Generally good condition.

Many different family legal documents from the 19-20th centuries, most from Israel though some from other countries (Beirut, Ushpizin, Kishinev, Casablanca, and more). Replicas of old ketubot as well. Some printed, others by hand. Signatures of rabbis, including Rav Shmuel Aharon Shazuri-Weber, Rav Yitzhak Abuhatzira of Haifa, Rabbi Baruch Marcus, Rav Unterman, Rav Yehoshua Kaniel, Rav Moshe HaLevi Sternberg, Rav Gershon Hen, Rav Yaakov Rosenthal, Rav Yosef Bbliki, and more. Not checked thoroughly, it is organized in plastic folders in a binder, sold as is.

Jew being crushed under a letter V (the symbol for victory). An interesting item showing the depth of anti-Semitism in Europe during the Shoah. Signs of folding, generally Fair condition. 91.5X122 cm

Black and white with a color cover, bearing the title “Remember What Amalek did to you” and the subtitles “Israel, souviens toi! / Think of it, Israel! / Israel denke dran!” Throughout the booklet are explanations in Hebrew, French, English, and German. Published by E. Varlin in Paris. Illustrated by Willy Leopold Guggenheim, known as Varlin, warning the public regarding the rise of the Nazi party. [34] pages, 27cm. Stains and defects, generally good condition.

An “abbreviated translation of the stenography from the Beilis Affair with an introduction describing in brief the whole legal process brought against Menachem Mendel Beilis in Ukraine, organized chronologically until his acquittal. By Zvi Berls, printed by Progress (Zeev Naskin). 168 pages. Moth holes, stains and light tears. Generally good condition. Menachem Beilis was a Russian Jew accused of ritual murder in Kiev in the Russian Empire in a notorious 1913 trial, known as the "Beilis trial" or "Beilis affair". Although Beilis was acquitted after a lengthy process by an all-Slavic jury, the legal process sparked international criticism of antisemitism in the Russian Empire. Bila Tserkva—a city located on the Ross River, 84 km south of Kiev, in the Kiev Shebaok region Rayna. Its name in Slavic languages is "white church", and therefore the Jews referred to it as Sde Lavan ("white field"), or antiphrastically as: "Black impurity" (Yiddish: "Schwartze Tuma"). The town had a strong Jewish community since the 16th century, where the Admorian dynasty Leviav [of the Chernobyl race] led by their community stood out. In 1823, a Hebrew printing house was opened in the city, which became known for three Hasidic books, though many years bibliographers did not know of the existence of a printing house here. Later, two other Hebrew books were printed in the city, in two different printing houses, and books from here are considered extremely rare.

Collected by Yaakov Zeev Wolf Brecher HaKohen ben Zochar, a rare book with exegeses on words and grammar of Hebrew and Aramaic. The author lived first in Darshowitz, and then in Kfar Banila, where he was considered one of the town leaders. He was active in Hibat Zion and settling the land. He was murdered in the Shoah by the Nazis. This is the only edition, Chernowitz, seems to be 1925. 224 pages. No binding. Stains, moth holes, and small tears at the edges. Generally good condition.

Booklet of prayers published by the Chief Rabbinate of France during the Shoah for students, when the Rabbinate moved its offices to Vichy from Paris a short time after Vichy was declared the capital of the French State, but it was exiled soon afterward. A rare siddur, unique, in complete condition. 64 pages. 20.5cm. Blue paper cover, with stamps of Rabbi Shmuel Rana Koppel and more. Light stains, generally very good condition. Rabbi Shmuel Rana Koppel (!907-1994) was born in France. In 1939, he was appointed Rabbi of Milouz and then of Orleans. At the outbreak of World War II, he was appointed to the 5th Army of the French Army. In August 1940 he became aware of the arrest of thousands of Jews in the quarantine camps in southwestern France and began vigorous activities to assist them as much as possible and bring them to liberation. At the same time, he tried in various ways to prevent the arrest of other Jews and to warn them ahead of time. This activity continued until he was arrested, in 1942. Rabbi Koppel survived the war after many hardships and died in Jerusalem in 1994. See more about him in his book "A Jewish Struggle in Occupied France, 1940-1944", Yad Vashem Press, Jerusalem, 2004.

First part has prayers for high holidays according to the Polish custom, with an interesting commentary at the bottom of the pages. Rare, not found in bibliographic listings. In the “rare books” section of the National Library there is a similar machzor, but only the second section is located there, and it is dissimilar to the copy before us since it also bears a translation to Yiddish, and the commentary here is in Hebrew. [1] 142 pages [5]. Signature of ownership from Rabbi Aharon Zonenbend, Av Beit Din of Zhirardov (Poland). Stains from tears, cover page with slight tears, some repaired. Original (worn) binding from cloth, with a defective leather spine. Generally good condition.