Auction 109 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Megillot and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Sep 1, 2026
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Displaying 229 - 240 of 300
Auction 109 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Megillot and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Sep 1, 2026
Opening: $300
Sold for: $1,188
Including buyer's premium
Handwritten booklet, with the beginning of the Talmudic Tractate Moed Katan, with commentary of Rashi and Tosafot, and commentary "for beginners" in Dutch for difficult words and in Hebrew for explanations. Amsterdam, 3rd Cheshvan 1942.
These leaves, with the beginning of a Gemara written for beginners, were written during the Holocaust, in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.
Fine title page, with name of writer-author at top: "Yosef son of Yehudah Chazan", with the title of the tractate and commentaries in center, and in margins: "Amsterdam, the first comments were written on Wednesday, 3rd Cheshvan 1942".
On leaf after title page, pencil sketching the intended layout of the page (Gemara in the center and commentaries on the sides). The writer began to write the Gemara text, including a commentary in Hebrew and other languages, as well as several lines of commentary on the sides. The work is unfinished, and the other pages are left blank. We do not know who he is or what happened to him during the Holocaust.
[8] leaves (most leaves blank, apart from first two). 21.5 cm. Good condition.
Category
Holocaust and She'erit HaPletah – Manuscripts and Letters
Catalogue Value
Auction 109 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Megillot and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Sep 1, 2026
Opening: $300
Sold for: $1,375
Including buyer's premium
Printed leaf, poem for the wedding of Moshe son of Gershon Chefetz and Yonah daughter of Asher Chefetz, by R. Menachem son of R. Yitzchak Culi. [Venice?, 1682].
At top of leaf, lengthy introduction, followed by a sonnet, signed by the author.
The author of the poem, R. Menachem Yechiel son of R. Yitzchak Culi, was a physician and rabbi of Venice, a disciple of R. Shlomo Nizza. Authored a preface to Maaseh Toviah, Venice 1707; mentioned alongside his friend R. Moshe Chefetz in typesetter's preface to Machzor Shaar Bat Rabim, Venice 1711.
The groom, R. Moshe Chefetz (1664-1711), was an Italian rabbi, scholar and philosopher. Born in Trieste, he was raised in Venice, where he later disseminated Torah. He possessed wide-ranging knowledge of physics and metaphysics, as attested by his works Melechet Machshevet and Chanukat HaBayit. He composed this book to find solace for the untimely passing of his son R. Gershom, author of Yad Charuzim. R. Moshe died at the young age of 48 on 30th Cheshvan 1711 (R. Mordechai Ghirondi, Toldot Gedolei Yisrael, Trieste 1853, p. 239).
R. Shmuel David Luzzatto (Shadal) quotes a tradition transmitted by Italian Torah scholars, which maintains that the sages of his generation, upon hearing of the text of the caption R. Moshe intended to place beneath his portrait in his book, tried to dissuade him from doing so, warning him that it is not something one can make jest of. He did not heed their warning, and passed away within the year (Igrot Shadal, VII, p. 1013).
37 cm. Fair condition. Stains and wear. Folding marks. Open tears to folds and margins, affecting text.
This leaf is not bibliographically recorded and is not in the NLI catalog.
Another leaf with a poem for this wedding by R. Yom Tov Valvasson is held in the JTS collection.
Provenance: Collection of Mozes Heiman Gans.
Category
Printed Single Leaves – Italy, the Netherlands and Germany
Catalogue Value
Auction 109 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Megillot and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Sep 1, 2026
Opening: $300
Sold for: $500
Including buyer's premium
Printed leaf, Kol Yagon VaAnachah, "the sound of grief and wailing…" – elegy for the death of R. Shlomo Chai Saraval, by R. Yom Tov Valvasson. [Venice, Adar 1687].
Engraved flowery frame. At the top of the poem is an opening paragraph on the death of R. Shlomo Chai, 4th Adar 1687.
R. Shlomo Chai Saraval was born to a distinguished line of Venetian rabbis (son of R. Nechemiah and grandson of R. Leib Saraval). Rabbi and dayan in Venice. Disciple of R. Yehudah Aryeh of Modena. Served as a member of the supreme rabbinic authority of Venice, and signs letters and decisions alongside R. Moshe Zacuto, R. Simchah Luzzatto and others.
Ca. 1653 R. Shlomo Chai Saraval began to serve as general treasurer of tzedakah funds designated for Eretz Israel, and consequently he corresponded with the rabbis of Eretz Israel and was responsible for transferring the funds. In 1662-1665 he sent funds to the Jewish settlement in Safed, which was then suffering harsh conditions under Fakhreddin's regime.
Upon the rise of the false messiah Shabtai Tzvi, R. Shlomo Chai Saraval was one of the Venetian rabbis who examined him, corresponding with various rabbis and individuals in Eretz Israel and other communities, including R. Yaakov Sasportas. He also posed questions to his prophet Nathan of Gaza, and he was one of the rabbis to extract a retraction from his prophecy (see Kedem catalog, Auction 62, Lot 325).
The author of the elegy, R. Yom Tov Valvasson (1616-1690), was a rabbi and poet of Venice, author of Hed Urim (poems for the dedication of the Ashkenazic Torah school in Venice, Venice 1662).
R. Shlomo Chai Saraval's death is usually dated to 1692 (5452) based on the date in another elegy by R. Moshe son of R. Yaakov Levi Muggia. In light of the present leaf, which explicitly gives the date 1687 (5447), the discrepancy of five years in the other chronogram should be interpreted as representing five millennia.
43 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains and wear. Folding marks and creases. Small tears to margins and folding marks, slightly affecting several letters.
The present leaf is not recorded in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book or the NLI catalog.
Provenance: Collection of Mozes Heiman Gans.
Category
Printed Single Leaves – Italy, the Netherlands and Germany
Catalogue Value
Auction 109 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Megillot and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Sep 1, 2026
Opening: $800
Sold for: $4,000
Including buyer's premium
Large printed leaf, printed Aleph-Bet chart, with an abridged Birkat HaMazon and other blessings, Shema and other prayer texts. Venice: printer not indicated, 1697.
Chart for the instruction of Hebrew and Italian to children. The upper part of the leaf shows the letters of the Hebrew alphabet with various vowel points. The alphabet is flanked on the right by the Shema, Kedushah, Netilat Yadayim and blessings over food; and on the left by an abridged version of Birkat HaMazon and other blessings. The chart also contains other psalms and verses.
The center of the leaf is occupied by an illustration of a class of students. Several students are shown studying by a table, with a winged figure hovering over them and showering them with treats. Near them is a teacher brandishing a whip, ready to hit a disobedient student.
31X40 cm. Good condition. Stains. Folding marks. Marginal tears to left of chart, including open tear, slightly affecting printed frame, repaired with paper. Pencil inscriptions to verso of chart.
Charts such as this one were printed in Italy from the mid-17th century until the 19th century. Most of the charts were printed in a similar format, with the Aleph-Bet chart in the center and accompanying texts (with typographic variations). The illustration at the center of this leaf also appears in all other charts, with minor variations in the details (in earlier charts the illustration is a woodcut, while in later ones it is engraved).
For details about other Aleph-Bet charts printed in Italy, and about the variations between the illustrations, see: Y. Yudlov, Italian Alphabet Charts, Kiryat Sefer, 62, 1988-1989, pp. 930-932 (Hebrew; the present chart is no. 7 in Yudlov's list).
Provenance: Collection of Mozes Heiman Gans.
Category
Printed Single Leaves – Italy, the Netherlands and Germany
Catalogue Value
Auction 109 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Megillot and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Sep 1, 2026
Opening: $400
Sold for: $500
Including buyer's premium
Printed leaf, illustration of laws of shechitah according to the laws presented by the Mahari Weil, translated into Yiddish by R. Moshe Elzus (Alsas). Hanau: Johann Jakob Bassang, [1718]. Hebrew and Yiddish.
Large-format leaf, printed on both sides, to be hung on a wall. On one side is an illustration of the innards of an animal, together with halachic instructions and explanations, in Yiddish, in Tzenah URenah typeface. On the verso appear additional rulings, an illustration of part of a lung and heart of an animal, with the blessings for shechitah and for the mitzvah of covering the blood.
At the top of this page is an explanation by the translator and the publisher in rhyme: "The editor says: since this illustration is beneficial to the young who dwell in the open cities and in villages, who do not understand the Holy Tongue…". He adds that this leaf is intended for hanging on the wall "so that everyone should be able to hang it on the wall…and at the blink of an eye find that which he seeks…". On the margins: "The Shechitot of the Mahari Weil are concluded, printed here in Hanau…in the printing press of Johann Jakob Bassang".
[1] leaf. 35X41.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains, including dark stains. Wear. Folding marks. Tears and open tears to folds at center and edge of leaf, affecting text.
Not recorded in Bibliography of the Hebrew Book or NLI catalog.
Provenance: Collection of Mozes Heiman Gans.
Category
Printed Single Leaves – Italy, the Netherlands and Germany
Catalogue Value
Auction 109 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Megillot and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Sep 1, 2026
Opening: $300
Sold for: $500
Including buyer's premium
Printed poster, Kol Hashem LaIr Yikra, call for assistance after the fire in Lissa (Leszno) that destroyed homes and institutions in the Jewish community in 1767. [Breslau?]: printer not indicated, 1767.
Poster calling for assistance to rebuild the Lissa community, signed (in print) by the rabbis of Lissa (dated 4th Tishrei 1767), with a printed recommendation by the Rabbi of Breslau and community leaders (dated 7th Cheshvan 1767).
The poster contains a detailed description of the great fire that burned Lissa on 16th Av 1767, and the heavy damage that resulted from it: almost the entire city, including four great synagogues and numerous smaller synagogues and the Beit Midrash were destroyed and over thirty people were killed in the fire.
[1] leaf, 22.5X37.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains. Folding marks. Tears and open tears to folds and margins, slightly affecting text. Handwritten inscriptions.
The Jewish community in Lissa (Leszno) suffered many different disasters over the years, including several fires. A particularly disastrous fire in 1790 led to the printing of similar calls for assistance (see: Kedem catalog, Auction 62, Lot 332).
Especially rare. Not recorded in the NLI catalogue or WorldCat. Bibliographically unknown.
Provenance: Collection of Mozes Heiman Gans.
Category
Printed Single Leaves – Italy, the Netherlands and Germany
Catalogue Value
Auction 109 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Megillot and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Sep 1, 2026
Opening: $250
Sold for: $313
Including buyer's premium
Printed leaf, Re'i Mutzak, rhymed ethical admonitions by the dayan R. Yosef Yospa HaLevi Segal (author of Noheg KaTzon Yosef). [Amsterdam? Printer not indicated, ca. 1710].
Rhymed ethical admonitions in short paragraphs, forming the initials of the author: "Yosef Yospa son of R. Moshe Kosman Levi Essen". The next paragraphs are composed of the Torah portions. The bottom of the leaf features another two-line poem (the end of the leaf, which originally featured a printed decoration, is lacking).
The author, R. Yosef Yospa HaLevi Segal (ca. 1685-1759), son of R. Moshe Kosman Segal Essen, served as dayan in Deutz, Germany. Author of Noheg KaTzon Yosef (Hanau 1718) on Frankfurt and Ashkenazic customs, and other books.
[1] leaf, approx. 23.5X28.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains. Folding marks. Tears, repaired with paper to verso. Bottom of leaf, with printed decoration, trimmed and lacking.
Rare.
Not located in NLI (the NLI website features a digitized copy from the Bill Gross collection).
Provenance: Collection of Mozes Heiman Gans.
Category
Printed Single Leaves – Italy, the Netherlands and Germany
Catalogue Value
Auction 109 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Megillot and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Sep 1, 2026
Opening: $300
Sold for: $8,750
Including buyer's premium
Printed leaf, "This letter was found among the writings of the kabbalist R. Shimshon of Ostropoli, brought from the Holy Land by… R. Shimshon de Gilder, a resident of Safed" [Amsterdam, ca. 1760].
Igeret HaKodesh by the kabbalist R. Shimshon of Ostropoli, with his famous Segulah customarily recited on Erev Pesach. The letter explains a difficult passage in the writings of the Arizal discussing the angels responsible for the plagues in Egypt.
Printed at the end of the letter: "Afterwards he informed me that whoever thoroughly studies this wondrous and awesome secret, even once a year, and especially every Erev Pesach, is guaranteed to be protected that entire year from every obstacle, unusual death and any duress, and his enemies will not rule over him, and all his enemies will fall to him, and he will succeed in all his pursuits, Amen…".
This leaf was apparently printed by the emissary R. Shimshon de Gilder while he was in Amsterdam in 1760.
R. Shimshon of Ostropoli's Igeret HaKodesh was transmitted for many years in manuscript, and only began to appear in print in various books ca. 1760 (with variations). Since then, it has been printed in many Passover Haggadot and machzorim.
Reading the Igeret HaKodesh on Erev Pesach is regarded as a Segulah for protection, as stated explicitly in the closing words of the letter. This was practiced in the Beit El kabbalistic yeshiva. R. Chaim Palachi would read the letter to his grandchildren on Erev Pesach, and Rebbe Yochanan Sofer of Erlau attributed his surviving the Holocaust to reading the letter.
27.5 cm. Good condition. Stains and wear. Few marginal tears. One open tear slightly affecting letters. Repaired with paper.
Provenance: Collection of Mozes Heiman Gans.
Category
Printed Single Leaves – Italy, the Netherlands and Germany
Catalogue Value
Auction 109 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Megillot and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Sep 1, 2026
Opening: $400
Sold for: $525
Including buyer's premium
Di Befrorene Purim Kurant – "The frozen Purim news, flown in from Gruland", printed leaf with satirical text for Purim. [Amsterdam, 1789]. Western Yiddish.
Printed letter in Ashkenazic cursive script. At top of leaf, woodcut depicting two figures, evidently print workers.
Parody of the newspapers then current in Western Europe. Satirical leaves of this kind were printed for Purim and sold cheaply for popular entertainment among the Ashkenazic community in Amsterdam. The titular frozen news takes the form of an article describing absurd adventures and business dealings in Gruland, either a distant land or the icy island of Greenland.
34.5 cm. Fair condition. Folding marks. Stains, creases and wear. Tears to margins and folds.
Rare. Satirical leaves of this kind were regarded as cheap ephemera and were generally disposed of after Purim. Only a few copies of these leaves remain. The present leaf is not recorded in bibliographical sources, and evidently no other copies are extant.
Provenance: Collection of Mozes Heiman Gans.
Category
Printed Single Leaves – Italy, the Netherlands and Germany
Catalogue Value
Auction 109 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Megillot and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Sep 1, 2026
Opening: $300
Sold for: $525
Including buyer's premium
Printed leaf, Sheloshah Tzoakim VeEinan Ne'enin – poster written in poetic prose, protesting the customs of the Ashkenazic cantors in Amsterdam. [Amsterdam: printer not indicated, ca. 1800].
Polemical work by an anonymous author, sharply attacking the customs of the Ashkenazi cantors. Making reference to a Talmudic teaching on the "three who cry out and are not heard", the author makes jabs at the cantor and his two accompanists (as was the custom in those days).
Printed anonymously.
[1] leaf, approx. 24.5X40 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains. Folding marks. Tears and open tears to margins and folds, slightly affecting text.
Especially rare. Extant copies are recorded in the Bodleian collection in Oxford and the Rosenthaliana collection in Amsterdam (recorded in the NLI catalogue after a scan from the Bodleian library, but the NLI does not have a copy).
Provenance: Collection of Mozes Heiman Gans.
Category
Printed Single Leaves – Italy, the Netherlands and Germany
Catalogue Value
![Large printed leaf, riddle in honor of Mokirei Et society. [Venice?, ca. 18th century].
Introduction and dedication to m](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale109/239_1.jpg "Riddle Poem in Honor of Mokirei Et Society – Venice, 18th Century")
![Large printed leaf, riddle in honor of Mokirei Et society. [Venice?, ca. 18th century].
Introduction and dedication to m](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale109/239_2.jpg "Riddle Poem in Honor of Mokirei Et Society – Venice, 18th Century")
Auction 109 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Megillot and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Sep 1, 2026
Opening: $300
Sold for: $500
Including buyer's premium
Large printed leaf, riddle in honor of Mokirei Et society. [Venice?, ca. 18th century].
Introduction and dedication to members of Mokirei Et society (some names mounted on leaf during printing as a correction) at top of page.
Engraved illustration of riddle at center.
Author's name signed at bottom of poem.
Various inscriptions in Italian and Hebrew on the leaf, with attempted decipherments of the lines.
58 cm. Fair condition. Stains, including dampstains and mold stains. Wear and creases. Folding marks. Tears to folds, repaired with paper to verso.
Provenance: Collection of Mozes Heiman Gans.
Category
Printed Single Leaves – Italy, the Netherlands and Germany
Catalogue Value
![Large printed leaf, riddle for Purim. [Mantua, ca. second half of 18th century].
Introduction and dedication to three in](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale109/240_1.jpg "Riddle for Purim – Mantua, 18th Century")
![Large printed leaf, riddle for Purim. [Mantua, ca. second half of 18th century].
Introduction and dedication to three in](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale109/240_2.jpg "Riddle for Purim – Mantua, 18th Century")
Auction 109 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Megillot and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Sep 1, 2026
Opening: $300
Sold for: $688
Including buyer's premium
Large printed leaf, riddle for Purim. [Mantua, ca. second half of 18th century].
Introduction and dedication to three individuals at top of leaf.
Caption without illustration.
Ten-stanza poem signed with author's name.
52 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains and wear. Folding marks. Tears to folds, slightly affecting text. Paper repair to verso.
Provenance: Collection of Mozes Heiman Gans.
Category
Printed Single Leaves – Italy, the Netherlands and Germany
Catalogue Value