Ve'Shav Ha'Cohen – a Copy Given by the Author Rabbi Raphael of Hamburg – Altona, 1792

Ve'Shav Ha'Cohen – a Copy Given by the Author Rabbi Raphael of Hamburg – Altona, 1792
Ve'Shav Ha'Cohen. Responsa and halachic novellae. By Rabbi Raphael Ha'Cohen Katz Av Beit Din of Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbek. Altona, 1792. First edition.
[2], 154, [13] leaves.
Printed here is also "a booklet sent to me by my son-in-law… Rabbi Zvi Hirsch [Av Beit Din of Janov] …"
This composition was printed with an additional composition by the above writer: "She'elat ha'Cohanim Torah". First edition. [2], 40, [9] leaves.
Before us is a special copy: on the title page of the first book, a handwritten inscription: "A gift by the genius author Ha'Katan Avraham". (An additional signature on the upper part of the title page).
It is most likely that the book was given by the author to one of the prominent rabbis of his times. We know of several of them who were called "Avraham", among them Rabbi Avraham the son of the Vilna Gaon (the author's friend) and more.
The author:
Rabbi Raphael Ha'Cohen Katz was born in 1722 to Rabbi Yekutiel Ziskind Ha'Cohen, Av beit Din of Livonija. In his youth, he studied with his uncle rabbi Aryeh Leib Ginzburg, the "She'agat Aryeh". He was appointed head of the yeshiva of Minsk. Later he served as the rabbi of several important towns.
Since 1776, he was the rabbi of Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbek,a position he held for approximately 23 years.
Rabbi Raphael was one of the leaders of the struggle against the Enlightenment Movement. He was the first to ban Moshe Mendelsohn's commentary on the Bible.
Rabbi Raphael was a close disciple of the Vilna Gaon and the "She'agat Aryeh"; yet he also admired the Hassidic Rebbes of his times.
Condition: