Auction 27
Lot 160:
Volume with two books by Rabbeinu Haim Vittel, Pri Etz Haim and Etz Haim, printed at two different publishing houses in the city of Lviv. Pri Etz Haim: [2], 3-73, 32 pages (page 1 is missing, page 2 is not numbered). Etz Haim: [1], 99 pages. Moth holes. First cover is professionally repaired at the edges. Stains, generally good condition. New binding with golden inscriptions. Vorsatz page has signature of ownership of the Chassidic kabbalist, Rabbi Shimon Englander, and throughout the book are important corrections and glosses handwritten by him. Chassidic edition—on the back of the cover of Etz Haim, the person who brought it to the publisher (Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heschel Drucker) writes: ‘I did not rest until I traveled to the abode of the Holy Rabbi the Holy One [Rabbi Yitzhak Isaac] of Zidichev…and he warned me about all the different manners of printing, and I did not deviate from his instructions at all, God forbid.” Rabbi Shimon Englander (1874-1950), a Hassidic and Gaon Kabbalist who lived most of his life in anonymity. He was a descendent of Rabbi Naftali Katz, the Smichat Chachamim. He moved to Israel in 1933 from the city of Neumarkt (Nowy Targ) in Galicia. He settled in Haifa where he established the Ateret Zekein Institute to support the elderly. It is known mainly for his commentary on Sha’ar Shimon, on the Chassidic Kabbalah book, "Brit Kehunat Olam," which he brought to print between the years 1948-1950 and mentions his name on the title page: "Rabbi Shimon Englander of Haifa, author of Pardes Shimon," While the book was being printed, this righteous man died and was buried in the Haifa cemetery, and since then he has been known for his magnitude and heroism in Jewish mysticism.
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