Kotnot Or – Berditchev, 1816 – Signatures of Rebbe Yitzchak Meir of Zinkov-Apta, and his Grandson R. Yechiel Heshel ...

Kotnot Or – Berditchev, 1816 – Signatures of Rebbe Yitzchak Meir of Zinkov-Apta, and his Grandson R. Yechiel Heshel of Krilovitz
Kotnot Or, 613 commandments in rhyme and acrostics, by R. Meir Margolies Rabbi of the Lviv region and Ostroh, author of Meir Netivim, foremost disciple of the Baal Shem Tov. With the Shemen LaMaor HaGadol, by his son R. Betzalel Margolies Rabbi of Ostroh (who added at the beginning of the book a special prayer which he composed, to be recited before saying the order of commandments). [Berditchev (Berdychiv): Shmuel son of Yissachar Ber Segal, 1816]. First edition.
Various signatures and inscriptions, including the signature of Rebbe Yitzchak Meir of Zinkov, son of the Ohev Yisrael of Apta: "Yitzchak Meir son of R. Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apta, here Mezhibuzh"; signature of his grandson R. Yechiel Heshel of Krilovitz: "Yechiel son of R. Meshulam Zusia son of R. Yitzchak Meir, whose signature appears above". Another two of his signatures on the title page: "Yechiel Heshel"; additional inscriptions handwritten by a descendant of the author: "This book was established and composed by my grandfather… R. Meir Rabbi of […] and of Ostroh and the vicinity, who composed Meir Netivim […] and Sod Yachin UBoaz"; "Ostroh".
R. Yitzchak Meir of Apta-Zinkov (1776-1855), a leading Rebbe of his generation, was the eldest son of R. Avraham Yehoshua Heshel, the Ohev Yisrael of Apta (Opatów). His descendants married the children of prominent Chassidic leaders and he was the progenitor of many Chassidic dynasties. After his father's passing, thousands of Chassidim followed him, and he transferred his court from Medzhybizh to Zinkov. Just like his father, he was reputed for his love of his fellow Jew, and drew many Jews closer to their father in Heaven. His long life was replete with acts of charity and kindness, and he would pray and effect salvations for each and every member of the Jewish people who turned to him. He was the beloved mechutan of leading Chassidic leaders of his generation (R. Yisrael of Kozhnitz, R. Yisrael of Ruzhin, R. Moshe Tzvi Savran and others) and many of the Tzaddikim of his generation sought his advice on all their matters. One of his granddaughters married Rebbe Yehoshua of Belz, who was very close to his illustrious grandfather. Many important dynasties of rebbes and rabbis descended from him.
Rebbe Yechiel Heshel of Krilovitz (1843-1916), a leading Ukrainian rebbe. He was the son of R. Meshulam Zusha Heshel of Zinkov (son of R. Yitzchak Meir of Zinkov and grandson of the Ohev Yisrael of Apta), and son-in- law of Rebbe Yehoshua Rokeach of Belz. He served as rebbe in the town of Murovani Kurylivtsi, Podolia and would frequently travel to the Podolian towns where his Chassidim resided. He passed away during a visit to his Chassidim in Kishinev. His sons-in-law and grandsons served as rebbes, one of them was Rebbe Yitzhak Yeshaya Halberstam of Tshechov (youngest son of the Divrei Chaim of Sanz).
Kotnot Or contains the order of the 613 commandments in poems, rhyme and acrostics. "Each commandment has three stanzas and each stanza three words". The section on positive commandments is named Kotnot Or, and the section on negative commandments, Or Torah. All the poems in the section of positive commandments are acrostics spelling out: "Meir son of the great luminary, outstanding in Torah and fear, R. Tzvi Hirsh" (in some poems, "renowned" replaces "outstanding"), whilst the poems in the section on negative commandments are acrostics of "Meir, small in wisdom and intellect". On the right-hand pages, twenty lines of rhymes are printed, one line per commandment.
A commentary to the rhymes, named Shemen LaMaor HaGadol, is printed at the foot of the right-hand pages and on the left-hand pages. This commentary was composed by the publisher and son of the author - R. Betzalel Margolies Rabbi of Ostroh. The publisher R. Betzalel, who also wrote a lengthy foreword to the book, suggests there to read every day one page containing twenty commandments, and he even printed at the beginning of the book a short supplication to recite before reading the commandments.
At the beginning of the book, a notice is printed, informing that due to the heavy costs of printing, the approbations were not printed, and only the names of those who accorded an approbation to the book are listed, including R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, R. Zusha of Anipoli, the Maggid of Kozhnitz, the Ohev Yisrael of Apta, R. Yosef of Kaminka and others.
34, [1] leaves. 20 cm. Blueish-greenish paper. Good condition. Stains. Paper repairs to verso of title page. Worming and tears (repaired with paper) to final leaf, not affecting text. Worming and minor tears to several other leaves. New binding.
Stefansky Chassidut, no. 247.