The First Machzor that was ever Printed in Jerusalem and the Land of Israel - the First Book that was Printed by ...

The First Machzor that was ever Printed in Jerusalem and the Land of Israel - the First Book that was Printed by Montefiore's Printing Press! Printed by Rabbi Yisrael Bak - Includes a Poem he Wrote about the Building of Jerusalem and the Renewal of Its Hebrew Printing Presses - 1843
Machzor for Sukkot and Hosha'ana Rabba, "Moa'dei Hashem Ve'Kri'ei Moed" (according to the Sephardic custom). Second section. Printed by Rabbi Yisrael Bak, at the Moshe and Yehudit printing press, 1843.
The well-known printer Rabbi Yisrael Bak (1792-1875) was a disciple of Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin and Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdychiv. When he was 19 (!) he founded a Hebrew printing press in Berdytchiv, his hometown, which was operative for nine years, he was known as an expert printer. According to tradition, he was the designer of the Slavita fonts.
In 1831, he immigrated to Safed and founded a printing press (the first that was founded there in the current era). In 1834, he founded an agricultural settlement on Jabal al-Jarmaq, or Mount Meron. It was the first settlement that was founded by Jewish immigrants in the current era! In 1840, Rabbi Yisrael moved to Jerusalem. There he reestablished his printing press, which was the first printing press in Jerusalem that printed Hebrew books. The Machzor before us is the first Machzor ever to be printed in the Land of Israel in general and in Jerusalem in particular!

In 1843, Rabbi Yisrael Bak received a new printing press from Sir Moses Montefiore, whom he was in contact with ever since he had lived in Safed. The printing press was named after the Montefiore couple (as mentioned by the title page before us - "The gift of Moses and Yehudit". The modern machine enabled Rabbi Bak to carry out greater plans than he had planned.
Before us is the first book printed by this historical printing press, "a historical printing press that symbolizes the outset of our printed history in the land of our forefathers" (in the words of the Jerusalem historian Reb Pinchas Grayevsky). For certain reasons, the first section of the Machzor - for Passover and Shavu'ot - was printed later, in 1844.
Those days, Bak's printing press was the only one in Jerusalem and Bak was considered the pioneer of Hebrew printing in the Land of Israel. In addition, all the workers of Bak's printing press were Jews, which was extremely rare at that time. Thus, Jerusalem became the center of Hebrew printing.

"Sha'arei Yerushalyim Techadesh" (The gates of Jerusalem You shall reestablish) - the historical significance of the Machzor
A nice, detailed engraving of the Western Wall, Temple Mount and the Mount of Olives was printed on the title page of the Machzor. This was most likely the first time this engraving was printed!
The year is noted by the verse "Ki Ba'Sukkot Hoshavti et Bnei Yisrael" - implying the printer's name.
On leaf 108, there is a vowelized poem by the well-known proofreader Rabbi Ze'ev Wolfensohn. Wolfensohn was the first proofreader of the Land of Israel whose identity is known to us. He contributed much to the building of Jerusalem and especially to the building of the Hurva synagogue.

On the last leaf of the book, Rabbi Yisrael Bak printed a touching poem-prayer that he had written, a poem that expresses the longing for the return of the Jewish nation to its land. In this festive poem, Rabbi Yisrael expresses his desire to build the Land of Israel and Jerusalem and revive the Hebrew printing in the Land of Israel.
These poems, of the proofreader and the printer, were never printed again and are totally unknown despite their religious and historical significance!

For more information about the printing of the book, see S. Ha'Levi, Sifrei Yerushalayim Ha'Rishonim, paragraph 19.

A historical item!
[2], 5-16, 21-108; 77 leaves.
Condition: Very Good, compared to other copies of this ancient Machzor. The binding is worn and was simply restored with adhesive tape. Stains of use. Slight flaws on the title page. Rabbinical ownership inscriptions and short handwritten glosses from the 1840's.