Sefer Kerem Shlomo, halachic chiddushim on the Shulchan Aruch by Rabbi Shlomo Hess, Av Beit Din of Reznitz. Section on Yoreh De’ah, first edition, Pressburg 1840. At the end is a ‘drosh yakar’ from the Siftei Kohen (the Shach) on some good maalot, etc. from the Pesach Haggadah, and a question from a rav to a talmid for refinement. 67 leaves. Additional partial leaves. Approbation from Ashkenazi gedolim including the Chatam Sofer, from when he served in the rabbinate of Frankfurt.
Original binding, defective and worn, stains and wear, a few localized bits of worming
damage. Overall fair condition.
The back of the binding, the title page, and the body of the work have
3 handwritten signatures from Rabbi Zundel of Salant, with his known dedication “for the Midrash Menachem Zion” (see below). The body of the work has a number of handwritten glosses. It should be noted that while his dedication appears in many books, his signature his extremely rare and it suggests that the book was owned by him and only later dedicated to the Hurva synagogue, since he would first sign it when he owned it and then add the dedication to acknowledge the new ownership by the synagogue.
Rabbi Zundel of Salant (1786-1865), the founder of the mussar movement and the teacher of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter. The dayan of the Ashkenazi community in Jerusalem. He studied in the renowned Volozhin yeshiva under Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. After his rabbi’s death he moved to Pozna to study from Rabbi Akiva Eiger, in order to learn his unique approach to learning and his method.
He was also extremely knowledgeable in the field of engineering and in math. He also spoke many languages and was fluent in general and Jewish history. He took an interest in grammar and tradition, devised various rules of grammar that comply with the Vilna Gaon’s rules of grammar. Rabbi Zundel greatly admired this subject because he saw it to require precise understanding of the material studied. In all of the books of the Churva of Rabbi Yehuda Hachasid, the place he prayed, he used to write “Lmidrash Menachem Zion”, as can be seen in this copy.
