Manuscript, Tzefirat Tifarah – Tarnopol, 1828 – Original Letters of Approbation by R. Aryeh Leib Katzenellenbogen ...

Manuscript, Tzefirat Tifarah – Tarnopol, 1828 – Original Letters of Approbation by R. Aryeh Leib Katzenellenbogen Rabbi of Brisk and R. Yerucham Altschuler Rabbi of Bodki – Unpublished Composition on the Laws of Tefillin
Manuscript, Tzefirat Tifarah, composition on the laws of Tefillin, by R. Yehuda Leibush son of R. Shimon Eisenberg of Dubno. [Tarnopol, 1828].
Unpublished work. The manuscript discusses the famous disputes regarding Tefillin: the order of insertion of the Parashiot according to Rashi and Rabbenu Tam; reciting one or two blessings; and the obligation to lay Tefillin on Chol HaMoed.
The manuscript opens with two original approbations signed by prominent Lithuanian Torah leaders: R. Aryeh Leib Katzenellenbogen Rabbi of Brisk and R. Yerucham Altschuler Rabbi of Bodki (Boćki).
In his approbation dated 17th Shevat 1835, which is written by a scribe and bears his signature, R. Aryeh Leib Katzenellenbogen addresses the author with exceptional titles of honor.
Of particular note is the lengthy approbation by R. Yerucham Altschuler, dated 10th Adar 1835 (two pages handwritten and signed by R. Yerucham), in which he praises the author and his composition, and mentions R. Aryeh Leib Katzenellenbogen's approbation. Both approbations relate to the author's conclusions that Rabbenu Tam Tefillin should preferably be donned as well (see Hebrew sidebar).
The manuscript opens with a title page on bluish paper, stating the book title – Shem MiShimon, and indicating that it contains two separate works on two different topics – Tzefirah Tifarah and Choshev Kero Mikra. The second work is not found in the present manuscript.
The approbations are bound after the general title page. A divisional title page for Tzefirat Tifarah, also written on bluish paper, precedes the composition itself.
The preface is signed by the author: "Yehuda Leibush son of R. Shimon Eisenberg of Dubno, currently residing in Tarnopol, Galicia".
The manuscript contains many glosses relating to the contents, in a slightly different hand. In several places, a piece of paper was pasted over the text, and occasionally over an entire page, with the corrected text. The manuscript may have been written by a scribe, with only the corrections handwritten by the author. There are however also glosses in a different script which were certainly not written by the author. Three glosses are signed: "Hagahot Yosef".
R. Aryeh Leib Katzenellenbogen (Katzenellenfogen) Rabbi of Brisk (d. 12 Av 1837), leading Lithuanian Torah scholar in his generation (in the times of R. Chaim of Volozhin and R. Abele Posweller of Vilna). He was the son-in-law of R. Mordechai Ze'ev Orenstein Rabbi of Lviv, and son of R. Yosef Katzenellenbogen Rabbi and dean of Brisk (son of R. Avraham Katzenellenbogen Rabbi of Brisk in 1820-1894, descendant of the Knesset Yechezkel R. Yechezkel Katzenellenbogen Rabbi of the Three Communities, who was born in Brisk to R. Avraham Katzenellenfogen, a dayan in Brisk). Already in his youth, in 1898, he was appointed rabbi of Brisk, as successor of his prominent ancestors who served as rabbis of Brisk for several generations (in the times when Brisk was one of the Torah centers of Europe, and its rabbis served as leaders of the Vaad Arba Aratzot). He served as rabbi of Brisk for close to forty years, and was known as one of the Torah leaders of the generation, for his brilliance and great piety, and for his firmness in conducting communal matters. In 1821, he signed together with R. Chaim of Volozhin a ban protecting the Eretz Israel funds. He was extensively eulogized upon his passing; one of the eulogies was published in Hoy Ariel (by R. Chanoch Zundel, author of Etz Yosef, Vilna 1838). A small part of his Torah teachings is quoted in various sources, though we do not know of any of his writings.
R. Yerucham Altschuler (d. ca. 1859), rabbi of Bodki and prominent Torah scholar. He exchanged halachic correspondence with R. Yechiel Heller author of Amudei Or who refers to him with exceptional praises (Amudei Or, section 11). In a eulogy by R. Shmuel Shlomo Zalman, he is praised for his good deeds, understanding and wise counsel, and it appears from his words that he was appointed as rabbi of the city already as a child (Yegon Lev, Warsaw 1860). He authored Orot MeOfel on the text of the Talmud, novellae on Mishnayot, novellae on the Jerusalem Talmud and responsa exchanged with the Torah leaders of his times. His works were not fully published; some of them appeared in Torah anthologies (R. Y.L. Fishman in Ezkerah – In the memory of R. Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, Jerusalem 1937, part III, p. 50). His textual corrections to the Talmud were published in installments in Sinai, and he seems to have been the first to methodically study the textual variations (see Y.Sh. Spiegel, Chapters in the History of the Jewish Book: Scholars and their Annotations, Ramat Gan 2005, pp. 474-475).
[3]; [45] leaves (altogether approx. 48 leaves; title page of Tzefirat Tifarah pasted on another leaf, hiding text). 23 cm. Fair condition. Stains, including ink stains. Wear. Tears and open tears, not affecting text. Detached leaves. Original binding, damaged and detached.