Sefer Ma'asiyot Le'Rabbeinu Nissim Gaon - 1943 - a Proofread and Annotated Copy prepared by "the Printer of ...

Sefer Ma'asiyot Le'Rabbeinu Nissim Gaon - 1943 - a Proofread and Annotated Copy prepared by "the Printer of Margarethen" for a New Edition that was not Printed due to the Holocaust - including Proofreading Leaves (with Handwritten Comments) of the New Edition
"Sefer Ma'asiyot, which is a nice composition by Rabbeinu Nissim Gaon … who wrote to his father-in-law Dunash to console him … the book is a collection of tales and stories of our forefathers many of which do not appear in the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmud or the Midrashim … printed … with many errors and has now been reprinted with corrections and references from the Talmud and Midrashim, by me Yosrael David Miller of Grodno". Printed by Reb Meir Yechiel Halter. Warsaw, 1893 [in some of the databases and catalogs, the year 1898 was written by mistake].

Before us is an extraordinary copy - a preparation for a new, revised annotated edition that was done in 1943 in Romania. The printing had started yet was stopped due to the Holocaust, which has reached Romania those days! An important unique item!

The writer and editor is the well-known publisher Rabbi Zi Moskowitz, who published many early compositions, proofread with his glosses (See: the catalog of Jerusalem of Gold, no. 5, lot 501).
The new edition of the book was supposed to contain 64 leaves. The printing of the book was not completed and its title page was never printed!

A.M. Habermann, in his essay "Ha'Kol Taluy Ba'mazal Afilu Sefer" (All Depends on Luck Even a Book) (in: Areshet, 1961) recalls that he had seen a single copy of this edition in the library of Naftali Ben Menachem, which contained printed sheets and proofreading leaves. It is most likely that what he saw was part of the copy before us, which in fact is the only copy in the world of the 1943 edition! This edition is not listed by the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book and does not appear in libraries in Israel.

Before us is a paper cover made by Moskowitz, which contains three items:
A. The original book from the 1893's edition - with his handwritten glosses.
B. Leaves with scholarly glosses and sources for the book, in his handwriting.
C. Proofreading leaves - with his handwriting. On the cover it was written: "Sefer Ma'asiyot Le'Rabbeinu Nissim Gaon".

A. The Book
On the margins of the leaves of the books, various pencil inscriptions about the book, among them lingual corrections, addition of sources and more. All in the handwriting of Moskowitz.
On the title page, signatures of Rabbi Yisrael Chaim Hess of Oradea (one of the most prominent Torah scribes of the previous generation. Was in contact with the Chafetz Chaim and other prominent rabbis). Pencil inscription: "thoroughly proofread". An additional signature: "Yesef Ezra Aran". Additional signatures. On one of the leaves, several words are missing and have been completed by hand.
88 pp.

B. Handwritten leaves
Three leaves handwritten by Moskowitz. At the head of the first leaf, it is written: "glosses and references for Sefer Ma'asiyot Le'Rabbeinu Nissim Gaon". Moskowitz intended to print a new, proofread edition with references that did not appear in previous editions.
Condition: Good. Wear.

C. Proofreading leaves
Seven proofreading leaves from the edition that Moskowitz had started printing in 1943, and which most likely had eventually not been printed (the leaves are numbered: 25-49). On the margins of the leaves, dozens of notations, additions, deletions and corrections - all these in the handwriting of Moskowitz. The edition was not printed after all due to the Holocaust.
Condition: Good. Wear and tear.

The Printer of Margarethen
Rabbi Zvi Moskowitz, "The Printer of Margarethen", was a hassid and kabbalist, a disciple of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Weinberger Av Beit Din of Margarethen, Romania. He was close to the Rebbes of Belz and Munkatch, Nadvorna and Komarno.
He edited and authored many books. He printed books in Margarethen since 1933 until 1943. He continued to print book in Romania after the Holocaust. He immigrated to Jerusalem in 1947, where he printed and sold books. He edited and published the religious anthology "Otzrot Yerushalayim" during the years 1955-1983. He edited the novellae and books of many of the rabbis and Rebbes of Hungary in Israel.