Sudilkov and other eastern european imprints

       Sudilkov is a town located in the Ukraine in Kamenets-Podolski region. Is is near Polnnoye. Sudilkov was a lesser brother in printing in the area to the Slavita printers. Several of the impressions below were issued by D. Madpis, the most prolific of Sudilkov printers. The Sudilkov press was strong on the reissue of classics and essential works. One of the main products of Jewish Sudilkov was Talesim. Also included below are a few items from Warsaw, Vilna and Polnnoye.
       This is the last of our posts of older Hebrew imprints for now. 

Abraham ben Jehiel Michal Danzig. Sefer Zikhru Torat Mosheh : kolel kol hilkhot Shabat be-kitsur nimrats : ... ve-hu kitsur mi-Sefer haredim kolel kol minyan ha-mitsvot asher tsivah Mosheh ... [Vilna], 1820/1. 16mo, marbled paper covered boards, significant loss to the head and foot of the spine, minor edgewear, 96 pp.  Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. First edition of this work published in the year of the author's death. Danzig was the great codifyer of the Halakhah that appeared after Joseph Karo's Shulkhan Arukh. This work was a smaller extract from his larger works. It discusses the labors prohibited on the Sabbath. Danzig's works were reissued frequently in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. (83539)     $125.00

Ashkenazi, Zevi Hirsch ben Jacob . Sefer She'elot u-teshuvot Hakham Tsevi: ve-hidushim u-ve'urim me-hiburav shel Tsevi Ashkenazi ... ben Ya'akov. [Sudylkow], Aleksandr Pavelvitsh, [1825]. Quarto, quarter leather worn through in many places and chipped at the spine ends, printed paper covered boards with wear at the corners, 112 pp. Hardbound. Good-. Text is in Hebrew. (83553)     $95.00

Bacharach, Jair Hayyim ben Moses Samson. Sefer She'elot u-teshuvot Havot Ya'ir : teshuvot ... Sudylkov, Yitshak ben Eliezer, 1834. Quarto, hand-painted paper covered boards, 104, 104 pp. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. (83554)     $95.00

Horowitz, Abraham ben Shabbetai Sheftel. Sefer Emek berakhah: dinim u-te'amim al birkat ha-nehenin u-virkat ha-tefilot... Sudilkov, R. Yitshak Madpis, 1834. Octavo, rebacked in hand-painted paper covered boards, 120, 130 pp., minor soiling to a few pages, cut down in the rebinding process with minor loss at the open edge in the first part of the volume. Hardbound. Fair. Text is in Hebrew. "Emek Berakhah ... is mainly a halakhic exposition of the benedictions for enjoyments, prayers and prayer ritual.," Encyclopedia Judaica. (83521)     $60.00

ibn Abi Zimra, David ben Solomon. Shut ha-Radbaz. Helek Shevi'i. Warsaw, Mordekhai Kalinberg, 1882. Small quarto, black cloth spine with the remnants of paper labels, marbled-paper covered boards, 54 pp., yellowed paper. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. Zimra was born in Spain but lived much of his life in Safed. He published many works of Hebrew literature and Kabbalah but his Halakhah was very important. It was all published after his lifetime and the first complete edition didn't appear until the first half of the nineteenth-century. (83789)

Isserles, Moses ben Israel. Sefer Sh. u-t. Rama. Sudilkov, R. Yitsshak Madpis, 1835. Quarto, black leather with gold lettering, with wear at the base of the spine and minor wear and a few scuffs to the boards, marbled endpapers, 41, 21-36, 29-44 leaves. A blue paper edition though the tint is faded more or less in part of the run. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. Pagination is confusing. The work is edited for publication by Solomon ben Jehiel Luria; Aryeh Loeb Loewenstamm and Shemaryah ben Ya'akov. (83525)     $125.00

Isserles, Moses ben Israel. Sefer Minhat Ya'akov: ve-zot Torat ha-hatat veha-minhah veha-shelamim: hu perush nehmad ve-harif ... al sefer "Torat hatat she-hiber Mosheh Iserles mi-Kraka. Bound with Sefer Minhat Shelamim: Helek Sheni." Polnnoye, 1805. Folio, brown leather spine with a red label near the top, leather worn at the ends, splitting from the boards without having separated from them, edgeworn patterned paper covered boards, 118, 60 pp. Hardbound. Good-. Text is in Hebrew. "Sefer Minhat Shelamim: Helek Sheni," has a second title-page. (83544)     $125.00

Judah, ha-Levi [Yehudah Halevi]. Sefer ha- kuzari: yasado ha-hakham ha-haver Rabi Yitshak Sangari z. l. ... Sudilkov, Nidpas etsel R. Yitshak Madfis, 1833. Royal octavo, rebacked in hand-painted paper covered boards with new endpapers laid-in, i, 164 leaves [ii, 328 pp.], title and place are printed in red ink, paper is a faint green that might be the trace of this having been a blue paper edition. Hardbound. Good. Translated into Hebrew by Yehudah ibn Tibon. Yitshak Sangari is the probably legendary figure responsible for the conversion of the Khazars described in the Kuzari. (83565)     $250.00

[Luria, Isaac] Kalmankes-Jaffe, Abraham ben Aryeh Loeb. Ma-ayan ha-hakhmah: mi-kitve Yitshak Lurya. Includes a second work (as published) "Sefer Shever Yosef," by Israel Sarug. Korzek, Drukeray fun Yohn Anton Kriger, 1784. Octavo, rebacked in marbled paper covers, lacking the title page, 38 leaves (72 pp.) Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. Kalmankes-Jaffe was "born at Uman about 1640; died at Frankfort-on-the-Oder after 1702." This is a small work editing Isaac Luria words. Sarug was a "Cabalist of the sixteenth century. A pupil of Isaac Luria, he devoted himself at the death of his master to the propagation of the latter's cabalistic system, for which he gained many adherents in various parts of Italy." Encyclopedia Judaica. (83540)     $395.00

Markus, Mordecai Zebi ben Benjamin . Sefer Mafteah ha-agadot mi-kol ha-Shas. Vilna, Almanah veha-Ahim Rom, 1880. Duodecimo, black cloth spine with wear, worn marbled apper covered boards, 200, 24 pp., yellowed paper. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. Including an additional shorter work, "Igeret le-kets ha-yamin : kol mevaser ve-omer: derush matai yathil kabalat ha-Shabat ... u-vi'at Meshihenu,"  Hayyim ben Joseph Vital; Ya'akov Goldzweig, Pieterkov, Bi-defus A. Vizengarten, 1905. (83793)     $50.00  

Sources

Jewish Encyclopedia

Encyclopedia Judaica

Hundert, Gershon David, edited by. The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. In Two Volumes. New Haven, Conn., Prepared for publication by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Studies for Yale University Press, 2008.

Vinograd, Yeshayahu. Thesaurus of the Hebrew Book. Jerusalem, The Institute for Computerized Bibliography, 1993. 

Eighteen and Nineteenth Century Hebrew imprints from the German Lands

             Printing began in Germany, but Hebrew printing did not begin in Germany until the late 17th century. Prague preceded German territories in printing within the German speaking world. The chaos in Jewish eastern Europe pushed some of the Jewish population westward. The first Hebrew presses in Germany were actually established by Christians. The patchwork quilt of principalities also made in more difficult for those Jews wishing to engage in Hebrew printing to get the license of the various princes. However, ultimately, Jewish printers had a better understanding of the larger market for Jewish books - Jews.

Avraham ben Barukh. Be-derekh Alshukh: al Torah ve-Nevi'im u-Khetuvim ... [Dyhernfurt], 1727. Small octavo, brown leather spine, edgeworn marbled paper covered boards, 59 leaves, title page with decorative sha'ar cut down at the edges with some loss of text to the verso, some of the internal matter also cut down with possible loss though not significant. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. (83535)      $195.00 

Ashkenazi, Bezalel ben Abraham. Shitah mekubetset ve-hu Asefat zekenim ... hidushim al masekhet Betsah. Ofen, Gedrukt in der kenigl ungr. Uniferzitets bukhdrukeriya, 1820. Large quarto, rebacked in hand-painted paper covered boards, new endpapers, 30, 13 leaves [60, 26 pp.] Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. With "Sefer Avodat Ha-Kodesh," also by Ashkenazi from the same publisher on the same date. This is a later edition of work from the 1600s. "To posterity Ashkenazi is known principally as the author of the Shitah Mekubezet, (trans. Gathered Interpretation). This work, as its title indicates, is a collection of glosses on the greater part of the Talmud, after the fashion of the Tosafot; and in it Ashkenazi combined much original and foreign material. The great value of the Shitah lies principally in the fact that Ashkenazi gives therein numerous excerpts from Talmudic commentaries which have not otherwise been preserved." Encyclopedia Judaica. A large paper edition. (83570)      $75.00

Buxtorf, Johannis and Abarbanel, Isaac. Dissertationes philologico-theologicae : I. de linguae Hebraeae origine & antiquitate, II. de ejus confussione & plurimum linguarum origines, III. de illius conservatione & propagatione, IV. de literarum Hebraicarum genuina antiquitate, V. de nominibus Dei Hebraicis, VI. de Coenae Dominicae primae ritibus & forma, VII. vindiciae praecedentis dissertationis, VIII. de lotione manuum Judaica ante & post cibum. Accesserent, R. Isaaci Abarbanelis, Hispani, aliquot elegantes & erudititae Disserationes; I. De Long & vitate primorum Patrum; II. De Statu & Jure Regio: III. De JUDICUM & REGUM in V.T. convenientiis & differentiis: IV De miraculosa statione Solis tempore Josue: V. De Peccato Davidis, numerantis populum: VI. De Nomine Mosis: VII. De Idololatri & speciebus, quarum in SS. Literis mentio: VIII. De Liborum Biblicorum Divisione; Ab codem ex Hebraea in Latinam Linguam versae: Cum Indice Locrum Scritura explicatorum & illustratorum.
Cum Privilegio. Basil, Jon. Jacobi Derkeri, Acad. Typographi, 1662. Octavo, full vellum a few stained spots, paper labels on the spine with the lettering worn away, ii, viii, 500 pp., foxed throughout. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Latin. The contribution from Abarbanel takes up the last sixth of the book. Marvin Heller doesn't consider these sorts of items interesting in a Jewish context, but they have historically been included within the field of Jewish book-collecting. Christian Hebraism has always been motivated by internal interests. Those interests may or may not have served Jewish interests in the long run. Luther turned against the Jews. However, a knowledge of Jewish texts outside of the Jewish community has ultimately been beneficial. Christian Hebraism was the sharp edge of the wedge that offered the non-Jewish world an alternative to over a millenium's blind prejudice. (83547)      $600.00

Dukes, Leopold. [A Palimpsest beginning with] Salomo ben Gabirol aus Malaga und die ethischen Werke desselben. Mit einer Uebersicht der meisten ethischen Werke der Araber. Ein Beitrag zur Literaturgeschicht der Araber und Juden des Mittelalters. Erstes Heft. Hannover, Druck der Telgener'schen Hofbuchdruckerei, 1860. Octavo, black cloth with worn gold lettering, minor fraying at the top of the spine, marbled paper covered boards, 124, 84, 64, 36, 32, 58, 26, 40, 41 pp. Paper quality various from work to work. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in German.
Additional works are 1) Joel, M., dargestellt von, "Don Hasdai Creskas' religiosphilosophische Lehren in ihrem geschichtlichen Einflusse," Breslau, Schletter'sche Buchhandlung, 1866. 2) Geiger, Abraham, "Leon da Modena, Rabbiner zu Venedig (1571-1648), und seine Stellung zur Kabbalah, zum Thalmud und zum Cristenthume," Breslau, Verlag von Joh. Urban Kern, 1856. With a section at the rear in Hebrew. 3) "Dr. Israel Hildesheimer: Eine biographische Skizze. Der Keinertrag dieser Schrift ist für die nothseidenden Juden in Westrussland bestimmt. Zweite Auflage." Frankfurt am Main, J. Kauffmann's Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1870. 4)  Nascher,Simon. "Moises Nascher (Oberrabbiner von Baja): eine exegetische Monographie."  Berlin SW : Friedrich Stahn, 1879. Lacking the portrait of Moises Nascher. 5) Ben Jechiel. "Kritische Streiflichter auf das Berliner Judenthum." Berlin, In Commission bei J.M. Späth, 1866. 6) Manheimer, Veit Friedrich, "Rabbiner Abraham Kohn, ein Märtyrer seiner Zeit: eine biographische Skizze." Stettin, Verlag von Friedrich Nagel, 1856. 7) Geiger, Abraham, "Die letzten zwei Jahre: Sendschreiben an einen befreundeten Rabbiner." Breslau,  M. Friedländer, 1840.
A compilation of short works by various authors engaged in the Wissenschaft des Judentums enterprise. (83548)     $180.00

Eybeschuetz, Jonathan. Ve-natati el hoshen ha-mishpat et ha-urim ve-et ha-tumim, Helek Rishon. Karlsruhe, Ernst Lebrecht Schniebes, 1775. Quarto, full brown leather, chips at the spine ends and minor cracking, with old and very soiled cloth ribbon ties on the open edge, i, 204 leaves [ii, 408 pp.], long note in an old rabbinic hand on the free front endpaper, mild soiling. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. The first of two volumes published in the same year. This work, like almost all of Eybeschuetz's output was published posthumously. A commentary on the Hoshen Mishpat section of Joseph Karo's 'Shulkhan Aruch." (83583)     $250.00 

Hagiz, Moses. Sefer Shete ha-lehem: minhah hidushah. Bound with an additional work, "Sefer Mishnat hakhamim helek rishon ve-gam sheni she-be-rishon melaket ha-k.M.H. [ha-katan Mosheh Hagiz], zeh yatsa rishonah le-havin imre binah; de-shanu hakhamim bi-leshon ha-Mishnah ... be-geder ma'alat ... arba'im u-shemonah ma'alot li-keniyat ha-Torah ... ; Kodesh la-H. zo nishmat hasidim; de shanu kan hakhamim .... Wandsbek, Be-vet ha-madpis Yisra'el bar Avraham, 1732/3. Squarish octavo, brown leather with wear to the spine at the ends and with lesser wear to the boards primarily at the edges, 59 leaves (118 pp), 138 leaves (276 pp.), foxing throughout. Hardbound. Good. Texts are in Hebrew/ The second work is also from the same place, publisher and year (roughly) as the first. The first of the two works is an ethical study. The second is responsa. Wandsbek, now a borough of Hamburg was in Hagiz's time one of the three small cities that comprised the "Drei Gemeinde," a union of small Jewish communities of Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbek. Hagiz became the official censor for Hebrew books in 1726. Between two and three dozen Hebrew books were published in the short period when he served as censor. Many were Hagiz's. Though a scholar of accomplishment, Hagiz is best known for his continuing battle with the Sabbatean heresy in the Land of Israel and Amsterdam as well as elsewhere. (83560)      $395.00 

Horowitz, Isaiah. Sefer Kitsur Shene luhot ha-berit ... Offenbach, Isra'el ben Moshe Shlit, 1724. Octavo, rebacked in brown cloth, stubs of a few blank pages inserted by the binder have been roughly torn out, soiled endpaper, 82 leaves (164 pp.), some foxing particularly to the last few pages. Hardbound. Good-. Text is in Hebrew. Horowitz's son Shabtai published the first edition in 1648. Jehiel Michal ben Abraham Epstein, ha-Levi edited and abridged the work for publication first in 1693. It became a very popular work in the teens and twenties of the eighteenth century. This one of many editions published in that period. (83545)      $250.00

Margolioth, Moses ben Judah Löb. Sefer Hakirat ha-gemul: bo be'arti inyan sekhar ve-onesh ... be-'ikvot Hazal. Ofen, 1829. Duodecimo, half black cloth with remnants of spine labels, marbled paper covers, lacking the free front endpaper, 71 pp., list of subscribers, errata list. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. (83792)      $150.00 

Muenz, Jacob. Sefer Peri Ya'akov: ve-hu hidushim al sugyot shonot ba-Shas ... [im] ezeh he'arot ... Helek Rishon/ Pri Jakob; ein commentar auf mehrere stellen im Talmud. Ofen, Gedrukt in der Keniglikhen Ungarishen Uniferzitets-Bekhdrukeray, 1830. Quarto, rebacked in hand-painted paper covered boards, new endpapers, 23 leaves, [46 pp.] Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (83571)   
Ofen is here a place name most specific to the Hebrew imagination. It is generally referred to as Alt-Ofen and is now part of the larger Budapest area.   $75.00

Naftali Hirsh ben Yeshayah, mi-yalde k.k. Firda. Sefer Naftali ayalah sheluhah: ve-hu hibur ... al hokhmot ha-mispar she-khorin bi-l. A. Tsifur  melukat ... be-kitsur nimrats ... : she-yukhal kol adam li-lemod me-atsmo ... Furth, Tsevi Hirsh ben Yosef Segal, 1698/9. Octavo, blue cloth spine, marbled paper covered boards, remnants of paper labels, soiled and mildly repaired title-page, 14 leaves. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. (83534)  Fuerth, along with Wilhelmsdorf and Sulzbach were part of a larger market emanating from Prague. The community, like all of the Bavarian Jewish communities, was never very large. At its peak it never exceeded four thousand. However, the market for Fuerth printings probably included all of Bavaria, from the other cities as well as the many small farm towns. Printing in Fuerth began in 1689 and about ten titles appeared a year in the 1690s. The pace of printing picked up in the 18th century and continued but with lessor production into the mid-19th century.    $350.00

Obornik, Mayer [Meir Obernik] [Meir Abernik], translated into Judeo-German by. Kitve kodesh: nidpasim me-hadash u-mehudarim be-tosafot rabot. Sefer Yermiya im targum Ashkenazi u-ve'ur me'et Meir Obernik ve-nilvah elav ha-korem ve-hu tosafot Bi'ur ve-Tikun Ha-Targum hibru Ha-Hakham Ha-Torani Ha-Mesaprim... Herts Homberg. Ve-od Nosef La-Zeh Perush Rashi. Vienna, Gedrukt bey Anton Schmid, k.k. priv. und N. Ö Landschaftsdeutsch und orientalischen Buchdrucker, 1817. Octavo, brown leather with a red label with gold lettering on the spine, wear to the spine surface and the extremities, decorative endpapers, steel-plate engraving or Obornik opposite the title page, title page sports an engraving depicting Jeremiah being raised from the pit by a team of soldier's led by Ebed-Melech the Kushite, 396 pp., errata on the final page, some foxing to a few pages, a few lines of old pen on  the early and late blanks (dated 1884 on the late blank) Hardbound. Very Good-. Text is in Hebrew and Judeo-German with the commentaries of Rashi, Bi'ur (Moses Mendelssohn, et al), and Ha-Korem (Herts Homberg). Preface by Judah Leib Ben-Ze'ev. Volume ten in a set of eighteen volumes. As traditional in appearance this volume is in many ways it is a through product of the Haskalah. Mendelssohn is the central presence of course, but the commentary by Homberg is an important Haskalah addition. Homberg was a radical education reformer in Jewish schooling in the Northern Italy and then in the Austro-Hungarian empire, first in Galicia, then Bohemia and eventually on matter affecting all of the Jews of the Empire. He allied himself strongly with the authrorities, but was considered so extreme that even they treated him with some suspicion. The preface to the volume is by Ben-Ze'ev who was another important Haskalah figure. He received a traditional upbringing but he proved to be a more academically oriented mind that a spiritual heart. His main areas of study were grammar and lexicography. After various struggles to find a place in the world he was able to find employment with Anton von. Schmid.  Obernik appear as one of the toleratd Jews in Vienna - as long as he remiained in the employ of von Schmid. Ben-Ze'ev who arrived after the 1804 list of tolerated Jews was promulgated was probably added to the list in the same capacity. It appears that Schmid was able to gain this protection for his workers. This was probably as result of the type of materials that were published and their use to the Imperial authorities. (83555)      $75.00 

Reischer, Jacob ben Joseph. Sefer Hok Ya'akov: ve-hu ... pilpula harifa ... be-hilkhot Pesah. Bruna, Be-vet uve-defus almanah Frantsis´ka Naimanin, 1764. Octavo, half-brown cloth with wearto the spine cracking along the spine edges, marbled paper covers, ii, 138 pp., some foxing, strong graphic design of the title page using large woodcut letters, three pages bear attractive printers devices.  Hardbound. Good-. Text is in Hebrew.
Brunn could be a variety of different places. It is not Brno because the Jews were excluded from Brno in long before and after the year that this item was published. This is an enigma for a greater scholar than myself. (83561)     $250.00

Rubin, Shemu'el ben Azri'el mi-Lanzburg. Amude Olam : ... be-agadeta uvi-shemaateta ... Berlin, Bi-defus Aharon ben Mosheh Rofe, 1741. Octavo, brown leather spine with minor wear, marbled paper covered boards a little shorter than the text block on the open side, 48 leaves, (96 pp.), boards are thin. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. (83563)     $195.00

Yehudah Aryeh, of Carpentras. Sefer ohole Yehudah ... ve-hineh ha-mehaber ... ha-rav ... Yehudah Aryeh me-k.k. Karpentrats ... ben ... ha-rav ... Tsevi Hirsh ... me-k.k. Krotoshin. Yesnits, Y. Avraham, 1718/9. Octavo, lacking the backstrip, edgeworn marbled paper covered boards (old but possibly not contemporary), no free endpapers, 57 leaves [114 pp.], water-staining throughout. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. "A Hebrew dictionary, in which special attention is paid to proper names,' including their etymology," Encyclopedia Judaica. (83569)     $195.00

Seder selihot: ha-makdimin la-amod le-ashmoret ha-boker le-khol roshe shanim: ke-minhag medinot Mehrrin, Piheym, Ungarin, Shleziya kefi she-nidpesu me-shanim kadmoniyot. Brünn, Gedruckt ben Joseph Karl Neumann, 1784. Octavo, traces of the brown leather spine on the boards, lacking the backstrip, edgeworn marbled paper covered boards with significant loss to the marbled paper on the front board and minor loss on the rear board at the edges,  87 leaves [174 pp.], 30 leaves [60 pp.] , title and lead words are printed from woodcuts rather than lead type. Hardbound. Fair. Text is in Hebrew in large letters (otiyot gedolot). Rare. (83541)      $195.00

Masekhet Zevahim im Perush Rashi ve-Tosafot u-Piske  Tosafot u-Perush Ha-Mishnayot Meha-rambam z"l. With Masekhet Menahot and Masekhet Bekhorot. The eighth of ten volumes which include thirty-three individual tractates and were published between 1720 and 1722. Frankfurt am Main, Yohan Kelner, 1721. Folio, full leather over wooden boards with raised bands, blind stamping on the boards and spine, possibly contemporary paper label on the spine, scuffing at the spine ends and edges, wood exposed at the corners, with remnants where the bolts of from the support of two metal clasps otherwise absent, foxed endpapers, with some worn spots to the free front endpaper, i, 126, 115, 73 leaves. Individual title pages for each of the tractates.  Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. Vinograd Frankfurt am Main # 398, 405 and 397. The set appears as twelve volumes in some recent auction listings but is cataloged at a ten volume set in Worldcat. The tractates appear to have been printed individually. They could easily have been bound in varying groupings. (83843)     $195.00
Sources

Jewish Encyclopedia

Encyclopedia Judaica

Heller, Marvin. Studies in the Making of the Early Hebrew Book. Leiden, Brill, 2008.

Hundert, Gershon David, edited by. The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. In Two Volumes. New Haven, Conn., Prepared for publication by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Studies for Yale University Press, 2008.

Vinograd, Yeshayahu. Thesaurus of the Hebrew Book. Jerusalem, The Institute for Computerized Bibliography, 1993. 

Daniel Persky: Slave to the Hebrew Language. The Forgotten Men: American Hebreaism, Part Two.

       

Daniel Persky as portrayed by Saul Raskin

             Memorializing a teacher and a gadfly is a difficult thing to do when the audience you are speaking to never knew the person. For many years Daniel Persky was just a gold-stamped name on the spine of a few slow selling Hebrew books. He only came alive to me in an obituary, a random clipping that I found in another book one day The author was loving but light-hearted. The Persky he knew was a devoted teacher at the Herzliah Hebrew Teachers' College and a bit of an oddball. Persky, he wrote, never bothered to own more than one suit at a time. Persky selected his attire from the finest goods that thrift stores provided. One day the white batting was streaming out of the shoulder pad of one of these fine suits. His eager students apprised him of this sartorial flaw. Persky calmly dipped his fountain pen in ink and blotted the contrast away before preceding on with his lesson. This is the Persky that for many years I thought I knew. .
         Luckily many different voices once rose to speak Persky's deeds. Dwight MacDonald profiled Persky in greater depth for the New Yorker in 1959. MacDonald wrote, "He buys good suits, but after that they're on their own. 'I can't be emptying my pockets all the time just to get a suit pressed,' he [Persky] says." (MacDonald, New Yorker, Nov. 28, 1959, p. 72.) MacDonald saw in Persky a man with little concern for the externals. His challenge was to understand how Persky could flourish outside of any version of a normal life.
         MacDonald, neither Jewish nor a speaker of Hebrew nor even Yiddish, was a left-wing writer and critic. He was the editor of the Partisan Review from 1937 to 1943, a position that put him at the center of New York Jewish intellectual life. By the time he wrote his profile of Persky he must have known him for some time. MacDonald appears to have first come in contact with Persky in Persky's own apartment. Persky serially sublet the majority of his apartment to various leftish tenants. MacDonald was visiting his friends Edith and Noah Greenberg when Persky wandered into one of the Greenbergs lively parties to pose a question relevant to his work on a large Hebrew-English dictionary. What possessed MacDonald to pitch (successfully) Persky as a good profile subject is unknown. Nevertheless, MacDonald's portrayal of Persky was still very much in the mind of many of those who wrote about Persky at the time of and after his death. Eisig Silberschlag even footnotes MacDonald in his entry on Persky for the Encyclopedia Judaica.
           In 1906, at age nineteen, Persky arrived in the US. He immediately sought work as a teacher of Hebrew. He was slowly able to accumulate private students. Some of their parents stepped up to offer financial support to his Hebraist organizing and publishing efforts. Bernard Isaacs, a longtime friend of Persky, was able to see Persky's idiosyncrasies even as he saw past them to appreciate his accomplishments.
           Isaacs founded the United Hebrew Schools of Detroit, Michigan. This was the first community wide entrenchment of the Ivrit be-Ivrit approach in America. The Detroit schools were for both girls and boys which was still a new thing. MacDonald mentions Eliezer Ben Yehuda's Jerusalem school, founded in 1891, where girls were educated. The local Orthodox community in Jerusalem considered his efforts borderline demonic. (MacDonald, 1959, P. 60-61). The first of the Bais Yaakov schools for Orthodox girls opened in Krakow in 1917 only two years before Isaac's United Hebrew Schools opened in Detroit. Isaacs founded the United Hebrew Schools two years before Moshe Feinstein established the Herzliah Hebrew Teachers' College. Persky was the first teacher that Feinstein hired. Persky had long since begun teaching Hebrew language to girls and he continued to do so at Herzlia.
           Isaacs gives a description of Persky's activities in a colloquy that I am guessing could be dated from 1945 or possibly 1961 (as it refers to Persky's 40th anniversary of "service to the Hebrew language and literature.") He described two essential activities that Persky performed outside of his teaching responsibilities. Firstly, "When it comes to his love and devotion to Hebrew authors, Persky knows no discrimination. Both the veteran and newcomer in literature are equally dear to him. He loves the budding author, he hovers over him and commands him to write, like the legendary angel who hovers over the sprouting plant and commands it to grow." (Sefer B. Issacs, P. 64). Isaacs describes Persky as a miniature paper bridge, a smaller version of a piece of architecture of the messianic times, a paper bridge that would carry the Jewish people back to the land of Israel from exile. But Persky's bridge carried two way traffic, "A veritable stream of books flows from his well-stocked room to Israel and a similar stream flows back from Israel to Persky."(Sefer B. Isaacs, P. 65).  "Persky is one of the biggest non-corporate customers of the Cooper Union post office."  (MacDonald, 1959, P. 75).
           MacDonald's picture of Persky's cultural transfer effort focused as much on the physical details - drawers full of used string and unkempt mounds of papers and books - as it did on the success of the mission for which these were only the means. Persky's parents ran a Kosher butcher shop and his technique in book shipping was probably derived from that experience. To my knowledge, the butcher paper and twine shipping technique is still in use at Y.L. Peretz Farlag in Tel Aviv, and despite my amusement seeing the Peretz Farlagers in action I am able to see past that and remember how vital their string-tied bundles are to today's Yiddishist enterprise. MacDonald failed to see a metaphor for sustenance that seems clear to me.
           Persky spent the years 1927-1933 traveling in Mandate Palestine and Eastern and Central Europe. His initial destination was the Fifteenth Zionist Congress in Basel. He traveled from town to town offering free lectures on Hebrew language and literature. Somehow he got by with no real source of income. This way of living never entirely ended for Persky even long after he had come in off the road. He saw some very difficult things in Europe and only avoided violent attack by a group of Nazi's because he happened to be in the bathroom when they attacked the restaurant he was in. He was also attacked by some Jews who mistook him for a Communist organizer. It seems possible that Persky's return to the US was motivated by a sense that America was the only physically safe place for his love of Hebrew though the entry on Persky in the Leksikon Ha-Sifrut Ha-Ivrit Ha-Hadashah suggests otherwise. Perhaps Persky really did return to the US because he felt that American Hebraism was doomed without him. But, things had changed in his absence. Persky's obsessive focus on Hebrew language and literature was no longer in sync with Jewish society even to the extent that it had been between the years 1910 and 1925.Persky was always at the center of American Hebraism. Sadly, after the 1920s the movement itself drifted farther and farther from the center of American life.
           There were quite a few Hebrew language newspapers and periodicals in the US starting in the 1880s. They were edited and produced by the Maskilim who arrived from Eastern Europe in the early part of the great Jewish migration. These publications, varying widely in their merit, flickered into print briefly and were swiftly snuffed out. With the rise of Chaim Bialik and then Yosef Chaim Brenner the younger generation of immigrants, among them Persky and nearly all of the group that I refer to as the American Hebraists, there was a desire to create a literature that reflected the new current that could be found in Ha-Shiloah and other European Hebrew periodicals.
          Along with Reuben Brainin, Persky was active in the Ahiever group. This group, formed in 1910, was involved with Silkiner's publication of Mul ohel Tumura: shiray po'ema (Before Timmura's Tent) and the Brainin edited anthology, Senunit: ḳovets-shirim. (Senunit is one of the Hebrew words for the bird name swallow.) Persky suggested the title for a new periodical that would carry on that work, "Ha-Toren," or "The Mast." He chose the name, "As a sign that our Hebrew ship sails here from beyond the sea." (Mintz, Alan, edited by. Hebrew in America: Perspectives and Prospects, Detroit, 1993, P. 74-75). "Ha-Toren" would become the main American Hebraist journal in the US in the critical period when a successful American Hebraist future seemed genuinely possible. It was the first long running Hebrew language periodical and ran until 1925. Only "Ha-Doar," which Persky later edited and wrote for lasted longer.

           Persky was one of the initial editors of "Ha-Toren," in 1913-1914. At that time it was a monthly. In 1915 "Ha-Toren," was reorganized for the first time and Y.D. Berkowitz became the editor. Under his editorship it became a weekly. Berkovitz was part of a cadre of European Hebraists and Zionists who arrived in the US fleeing from the chaos of the First World War. Berkowitz, of course, was Sholom Aleichem's son-in-law. Also arriving in that immigration with him were Shemarya Levin (and Mintz lists) "David Ben-Gurion, Itzhak Ben-Zvi, Eleizer Ben-Yehuda, Meyer Berlin (Bar-Ilan) and Judah L. Fischman (Maimon,)" (Mintz, 1993, P. 35) as some of the others in the emigre group. At that time the Zionist project in Ottoman Palestine was at a low ebb and it was unclear if Herzl or Ahad Ha'am would prevail in the conflict over the proper direction of Zionism. Persky was less involved in the production of "Ha-Toren," under Berkowitz. With the end of hostilities and the promulgation of the Balfour Declaration that cadre dissipated and leadership of the journal fell to Reuben Brainin. Brainin was at the time a Hebraist though in later years he transformed into a Yiddishist Territorialist and proselytizer for the Soviet Yiddish state in Birobidzhan. Brainin was unable to maintain the journal in the face of rising expenses and falling subscription. Persky was certainly very active in the distribution of the journal.
          The most important contribution that Persky made to "Ha-Toren" after his initial editorial stint was a letter by Persky that appeared in the March-April 1915 issue. Mintz discusses this letter in his contribution to Hebrew in America, "A Sanctuary in the Wilderness: The Beginnings of the Hebrew Movement in America in Hatoren." Persky wrote about his identity as a Hebraist. He states flat-out his alienation from traditional faith and plays at being a sort of simple soul. While Persky may have been a simple soul in his emotional life his dedication to his cause was already exceptional. Mintz explains that for Persky (and I quote here from Mintz at length in hope again for forgiveness for my presumptuousness), "...the struggles of belief belong to an earlier era. But yet the Torah and the commandments were the 'portable sanctuary' that Israel had brought with them into exile and that furnished them with a culture of daily holiness, a culture that was tangible, material, and deeply textured. Denied recourse to this culture by the failure of faith - a condition over which one can have no control - a Jew can make do with abstract talk about the ideals of Judaism (yahadut avirit = luft yiddishkeit), that is, tell the story without performing the practice, or a Jew can turn to the one element of the tradition that has not been invalidated by apostasy: the Hebrew language. The emphasis is on language as a concrete experience in the here and now, an ambient fluid of everyday life. Like the commandments, then, Hebrew enacts the paradox of the holy within the everyday. As the only salvageable component of the tradition, Hebrew becomes invested with all the sanctity and ultimate importance that inhered in the total system of which it was once a part. The Hebrew movement, Persky declares, is 'my Ohel Moed to which I repair to become sanctified and re-purified; it is the synagogue in which I pray.'" (Mintz, 1993, P. 42-43).
          Persky was not an enemy of religious faith. He could take pleasure among those who celebrated the joys of faith. MacDonald quotes Persky to good effect on this: "I had no need to lunch on Simhath Torah. The reason is a simple one. I was treated in every synagogue to goblets of liquor followed by a dessert of cookies and sponge cake. Some treated me to a bit of herring - until I had more than my fill....And if I did meet up with one or two victims of drink, what did they talk and sing about? These drunken Jews, who poured down their throats a dozen portions of hundred-proof stuff, opened their mouths and sang, 'Praises to the Holy One, Blessed by He of the Election of Israel!'" (MacDonald, New Yorker, P. 102). As long as Persky was among Hebrew speakers he was happy.
         With the specific land of Israel potentially optional and religious faith off the table the purpose of American Hebraism was difficult to explain. A few other writers in "Ha-Toren," attempted to explain the mission of the Hebraists in America. Mintz mentions the contributions of Moshe Halevi and Kalman Whiteman to the definitional cause. (Mintz, 1993, P. 52). The approaches of Halevi and Whiteman leaned heavily on a negative definition of American Hebraism. They proposed Hebraism as an antidote to a venality of the crude Yiddishist crowd and the larger crude and anti-spiritual American Nation as a whole. While this logic offered some appeal to Persky it was a logic that would serve the Hebraists poorly in the period after 1920. The Jewish historian M.Z. Frank sub-titled his obituary of Persky, "Hebrew Language Was His Wife." (Frank, M.Z., The National and Jewish post and Opinion, Friday, June 1, 1962). [Mintz has an extended discussion of an erotic emotion and expression particularly in his chapter on Abraham Regelson's Ḥaḳuḳot otiyotayikh: shirim in Sanctuary in the Wilderness: A Critical Introduction to American Hebrew Poetry.] Love offered a more potent sustenance than did angry disdain.
          Persky's letter offered a potential way of being that the American Hebraists could live for rather than against. For some it provided a model for a lifetime (Ephraim Lisitsky, Gabriel Preil and Eisig Silberschlag, for instance). For others the declaration of the state of Israel collapsed that possibility (Israel Efros, Simon Halkin and Abraham Regelson). In his later years Persky may have finally let the disappointment of the decline of the American Hebreaist's project get to him. He was always capable of a snarky remark. However, even from within his "mikdash me'at," the emotional aspect of Whiteman and Halevi's theories began to creep into in his later writings. (Waxman, Meyer, A History of Jewish Literature, Volume IV, Part Two, New York, 1960 [Second Edition], P. 1081).
            Persky was probably more important for his teaching, speaking, editing, advocacy and dissemination of literature than for his own literary contributions. His presence was seemingly everywhere and his column for "Ha-Doar," was sometimes a venue for Hebraist gossip. MacDonald quotes a variety of unnamed colleagues: "He is a fanatic, but a sweet-natured one. Everyone is indulgent toward him, and yet everyone respects him." "He is a kibitzer. At Meetings he stands around and tells everyone else how to do things." "...there is only one Daniel Persky. Un type as the French say,..." and "Persky is boring in a very interesting way." (MacDonald, 1959, P. 84-85).
          Persky's specialty as a writer was the feuilleton. The form was originally a French form, a light essay. It was very popular in Yiddish and early Modern Hebrew literature. Persky was a great practitioner of the form. Meyer Waxman described his work in that area:"The range of his theme is wide, a daily event, a date in the Jewish calendar, the appearance of a book, the celebration of a writer's jubilee or his demise, impressions of travels, and numerous other episodes. The humor is wholesome and much of it consists in puns and manipulations of the language. ... There is little depth in the thoughtful essays, but we meet frequently with a brilliant reflection that makes us pause. Of interest is also the numerous anecdotes relating to the life and activities of many Hebrew writers met by Persky ... he has preserves bits of conversation and bon mots of his chosen heroes." (Waxman, Volume IV, Part Two, P. 1081-1082).
           Among the collections of feuilletons are:

     Persky, Daniel. Li-khevod ha-regel: mo'ade Yisra'el bi-kedushatam uve-simhatam. New York, 1946. Octavo, black cloth with gold lettering against red panels with minor soiling at the base of the spine, 328 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (48556)      $30.00

Persky, Daniel. Ivri anokhi (On Hebrew Language, Literature and Culture). Kitve Daniel Persky Kerakh Rishon. New York, 1947. Octavo, brown cloth with gold lettering, 315 pp., index. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (52254)      $25.00

  Persky, Daniel. Mat'amim le-hag: reshimot u-feletonim, bedihot ve-hidudim le-kol mo'ede ha-shanah. New York, Pardes , 1939. Octavo, green cloth with gold lettering, 256 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (10488)      $25.00

  Persky, Daniel. Zemanim Tovim. New York, Hotzaat "Pardes", 1944. Octavo, pinkish cloth with black lettering, 272 pp. Soiling to the rear board. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. Inscribed by the author on the title page. (11281)      $25.00

  Persky, Daniel. Le-Elef Yedidim. New York, Vaad Ha-Yuval, 1935. Octavo, tan cloth spine green cloth covered boards with blue lettering, 96 pp. With a portrait of the author by Saul Raskin. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (32262)       $25.00

                Persky was the house linguist for Camp Massad one of several Hebreaist summer camps that tried to advance the Ivrit be-Ivrit agenda. Summer camp took the children out of their English language environments and immersed them in Hebrew for weeks at a time. I don't know how many years Persky attended the camp, but for a certain number of years he was on hand to provide new words to fill out the lexicon needed for camp life. He created a dictionary for the Camp.

  Persky, Daniel, edited by. The Massad English-Hebrew Dictionary: A Classified Listing of Everyday Words, Cross Indexed/ Milon Shimishi Angli-Ivri le-fi Ha-Inyanim veha-miktso'ot. New York, Camp Massad, 1947. 16mo, brown cloth with gold lettering, xxii, 271 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. In Hebrew and English. Compiled by Shlomo Shulsinger and Hillel Rudavsky. Meant for use at an American Hebrew speaking summer camp. (34206)  $20.00

             The Massad Dictionary was not organized in ABC order. Rather it was organized by subject so that the campers could familiarize themselves with all the vocabulary related to a specific activity.

             Persky was always involved in the children's supplement of "Ha-Doar," where he was the resident vocalizer. He did publish some material for children such as below.

  Persky, Daniel. Tsehok me-Erets Yisrael. Kitve Daniel Persky: Kerakh Sheni/ Israel Laughs. New York, 1950/1. Octavo, grey cloth with gold lettering and illustration in green, 267 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (55021)      $25.00

         Persky was not the most aggressive practitioner of "Amerikaniyut," but he did apparently have at least a minor moment of patriotism when he translated the US Constitution into Hebrew.

   Persky, Daniel, translated into Hebrew by. Hukat Artsot ha-Berit shel Amerikah/ The Constitution of the United States of America. New York, Ha-Histadrut ha-Ivrit ba-Amerikah, 1928. Octavo, stapled paper covers, 14 pp.  Softbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (78230)      $18.00

             Nowadays when the "Mikdash Me'at" for most people is an iphone or a tablet it comforts me to remember a man who loved words and good company more than data and social media. Daniel Persky offered an individual model for engagement with Jewish culture (whether one is religious or not) that still has something to say to today's American Jews and perhaps even to today's Israelis though few if any of them still are ready to listen.

Bibliography

Brown, Michael Gary. "All, All Alone: The Hebrew Press in America from 1914-1924," in American Jewish Historical Quarterly, Volume LIX, December, 1969, Number 2. Hebrew and Yiddish in America. Waltham, Mass., American Jewish Historical Society, 1969. Edited by Nathan M. Kaganoff. 

Frank, M.Z. "Persky Spurred Re-birth of Hebrew in U.S.: Hebrew Language was His Wife," in The National Jewish Post and Opinion, Friday, June, 1, 1962. Indianapolis, Ind., National Jewish Post, Inc., 1962

MacDonald, Dwight. "The Slave of Hebrew," in The New Yorker, November 28, 1959. New York, The New Yorker, 1959.

Mintz, Alan, edited by. Hebrew in America: Perspectives and Prospects. Detroit, Wayne State University Press, 1993.

Mintz, Alan. Sanctuary in the Wilderness: A Critical Introduction to American Hebrew Poetry. Stanford, California, Stanford University Press, 2012.

Nobel, Morris, editor. Sefer B. Isaacs. New York, Publications Committee, 1977. 

Waxman, Meyer. A History of Jewish Literature. (Five Volumes in Six Parts). New York, Thomas Yoseloff, 1960. Second Edition.

Another good bibliographical reference on Persky can be found in the 

                                          לקסיקון הספרות העברית החדשה 

edited by Yossi Galron at https://library.osu.edu/projects/hebrew-lexicon/01174.php. This entry, largely based on the work of the Israeli bibliographer G. Kressel details Persky's early years, his family, his education, his Zionist activities and his problems with the Russian authorities. It is a good source for some details of Persky's activities between 1927 and 1933. It also lists his publications and notes a variety of Hebrew language sources in him. It also reveals the pseudonyms, D. Daniel and Daniel Ben Rebecca, that he used when he wrote in Yiddish. 

The entry for Persky in the Encyclopedia Judaica is by Eisig Silberschlag and can be found online entire in the entry Persky, Daniel on the Jewish Virtual Library website.

Small packages...

A group of small books with a lot to say. Other than the Imber they are too big to be considered miniature books, but they are still pretty small. The first of a number of posts generated out of a large accumulations of pamphlets recently acquired. Most are in Hebrew but some are in Yiddish. Those not listed as sold are available through hollanderbooks.com

Ben Nun, Hanah and Helfgot, Yerahmi'el. Mi-ben homot Varshah: mi-yomane halutsim ba-mahteret. Merhavyah, Hostaat Ha-Kibuts Ha-Meuhad, c. 1943. 16mo, paper covers, 83 pp. Softbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. 5.25 by 3.75 inches. (77611)  An early work on the Warsaw and Lodz ghettos.    Sold

Y. H. B. [Brenner, Joseph Hayyim]. Perudot: kovets sifruti le-kor'im tse'irim (Alef.). Jaffa, Be-Hotsa'at S. Barsky, 1916/7. Short duodecimo, paper covers, 64 pp. Softbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew.6.5 by 4.75 inches. (77320) A literary magazine edited by Brenner. We also have the second issue in stock, but it is a larger format.    $45.00

Broides, Abraham. Ba-tsar. Tel Aviv, Ha-Mishmeret ha-tse'irah le-Mifleget po'ale Erets-Yisrael, 1945. 32mo, paper covers, 48 pp. Softbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. 6,25 by 4 inches. (77326)  A collection of poetry. Broides made Aliyah to Mandate Palestine. His writing is full of a fervent idealistic Zionism tempered only partly by his familiarity with Arab opposition and the general difficulties of the Zionist project.    $25.00

Cohen, Aharon. Ha-Tsad ha-sheni shel ha-matbe'a. Jerusalem, Ligah le-hitkarvut ve-shituf Yehudi-Aravi, 1947. 32mo, stapled paper covers, 34 pp. Softbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. 4.75 by 3.75 inches.  (77316) A left-leaning argument for rapprochement between Palestinian Jews and Arabs.    $20.00

Hazan, Hayim Aryeh. Neginot: kovets shirim manginim. Mekhil: Shire Bet-Sefer. Shire-Am. Shire-Bimah. Vilna, 1921. 16mo, paper covers, 80 pp., un-cut, yellowed paper. Softbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. Song lyrics without music. This item is described as for sale from Herrn Ch. Chazan Hebräisches Gymnasium in WILNO, Litauen and from Mrs. Mary Libert, 605 N. 6th St., Philadelphia, Pa, America.6 by 4.5 inches.  (77621)      $60.00

Imber, Naphtali Herz. Leha-Ivriyah asher shar ha-meshorer ha-nora ba'al "Hatikvah"/ To the Hebrew Language by the Famous Author of Hattikvah. Philadelphia, PA, Yosef Magilnitski, 1907. 64mo, stapled paper cover, 24 pp. Softbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. 2.5 by 1.5 inches. (77634)     Sold

Kook, Abraham Isaac. Igeret ha-tohorah; u-Ma'amar Pitse ohev. Me'ah She'arim, Hotsa'at Tal Talpiyot, 1940s. 32mo, stapled paper covers, 20 pp. Softbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. 4.75 by 3.75 inches.  (77635) A short article on the theology of "Love Suffering," a difficult theological concept discussed in Tractate Berakhot.  Sold

Kook, Abraham Isaac. Rosh milin; rishme mahshavah le-midrash ha-otiyot, Ha-Tagin, Ha-Nekudot veha-Te'amim. London, Available from J. Wolpert, 1916/7. 32mo, paper covers, 142 pp., errata. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. 5.5 by 3.5 inches  (77622) An important work by Rav Kook on repentance. It was published in London where he was serving as a local rabbi. It was his good fortune to be stuck in the UK at the outbreak of the First World War and took a pulpit there to make ends meet.   Sold

Lider: gezungen baym Arbeter Ring ovent Shabos, dem 20-ten Detsember, 1947, Toronto, Kanada. Toronto, Canada, Arbeter Ring, 1947. 32mo, stapled paper covers, 31 pp. Softbound. Very Good. Text is in Yiddish. 4.75 by 3.75 inches. (77231) A collection of songs sung by the membership of the Workman's Circle. Includes Hirsh Glik's 'Partisan Song.'    $25.00

Neustadt, Mordechai. Shenat hashmadah: (ha-Yahadut u-tenu'atenu ba-tofet ha-Natsit al saf shenat 704)/ The Year of Destruction (The Jews and our Movement under the Nazis at the end of 1943). Tel Aviv, Mifleget po'ale Erets-Yisrael, Detsember, 1943. 16mo, stapled paper covers, 47 pp. Softbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. 6 by 4.5 inches. (78080) Another work present contemporaneous reporting on the Holocaust for the Mandate Palestine audience. These things were known.    $35.00


Rosen, Shelomoh. Mi-tokh ha-mapolet. Tel Aviv, Sifriyat min ha-moked, Am Oved, 1943/4. 16mo, paper covers, 96 pp. Softbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. 5/75 by 4 inches.  (77612) Translated into Hebrew from a Yiddish manuscript by Hayim Tartakover.  A narrative by a Jewish fighter in the Second World War.  $25.00

M. Soloveitchik and A. Smitanah. Ha-Hok al devar va'ade ha-kehilot: ministeriyon le-inyene ha-Yehudim/ Laiinas istatymas is 1920 m. sausio 10 d. apic zydu bendruomeniu tarybu teises apkrauti mokesniasis gyventojus zydus ir instrukcija is 1920 m. kovo 29 d. del tojo istatymo vykdymo tvarkos. With a second cover with title-page in Yiddish: Der Gezetsvegn di Va'ade Ha-Kehilot un di Instruktsye vegn zeyn farvirklikhung fun 29 Merts 1920. Kaunas, Zydu Reikalu Ministretija, 1920. 16mo, stapled paper covers,25 pp. Softbound. Good. Text in Hebrew and Yiddish. 6 by 4 inches. (77619) A constitutional document in multiple languages for Jewish self-governance in Kaunas/ Kovno.    $50.00