Sefer Pe’at HaShulchan. Safed, printed by Yisrael Bak, 1836. First edition.

Sefer Pe’at HaShulchan. Safed, printed by Yisrael Bak, 1836. First edition.
Sefer Pe’at HaShulchan – Laws of Eretz Yisrael, compiled from the teachings of the Tannaim and Rishonim, based on the textual tradition and halachic method of the Vilna Gaon, authored by Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov. Safed, printed by Yisrael Bak, 1836. First edition.

Presented here is the foundational halachic work of Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov, known by the title of this book, Pe’at HaShulchan. The volume is adorned with approbations from the rabbis of Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias, Damascus, and Baghdad, as well as prominent European sages, including Rabbi Moshe Sofer (the Chatam Sofer) and Rabbi Avraham Danzig (author of Chayei Adam), among others.

At the beginning of the book is a historical introduction by Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov, which includes:

– A character portrait of his teacher, the Vilna Gaon (Gra)

– The immigration of the Perushim (disciples of the Gra) to Eretz Yisrael following the Gaon’s passing

– The great hardships faced by these early pioneers

This introduction is a key primary source for the historical and academic study of the Gra and the Perushim aliyah.

Pe’at HaShulchan is one of the first seven Hebrew books printed in Eretz Yisrael by Yisrael Bak in Safed. Printing was delayed due to the plundering of Safed by rebels in 1834. (By Av 1834, some printed fascicles had already reached the Chatam Sofer.) In his introduction, Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov recounts the events of the uprising and the destruction of the print shop by the rioters. Based on typographic analysis, the first five leaves and those from leaf 94 onward were printed after the uprising; the rest were printed beforehand. See Shoshana Halevi: Seferi Yerushalayim HaRishonim, 1976, p. xix, note 28; Reshit HaDefus, 1989, p. 54; Meir Benayahu, Beit Defuso Shel Yisrael Bak, 1966, p. 275.

This copy bears the ownership stamp (partially faded) of the Admor Rabbi Yisrael Moshe Lipschitz of Gostynin, son of Rabbi Yechiel Meir, known as "the Good Jew of Gostynin." In his youth he was close to the Admor of Kotzk, and later studied under the Chidushei HaRim and Rabbi Avraham of Tchechnov. Following his father’s passing in 1888, he served as Rebbe in Pruszków until his death in 1918.

[5], II–109, [1] leaves. 30 cm.

Condition: Fair to good. Worming, mainly in the margins. Unbound.