Amazing Discovery!
Sefer Ha’agudah, with Chiddushim in the Handwriting of Rabbi Asher Anshel Weiss, Author of Shemen Laminchah and Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich of Samloy
A Remnant of his Work on the Agudah
Cracow, 1571
Halachic rulings derived from sugyos in the Gemara, arranged in the order of Shas by Rabbi Alexander Zuslin Hakohein, one of the Rishonim. This sefer was printed and edited by Rabbi Yosef Katz of Cracow, author of Shu"t She’eris Yosef and brother-in-law of the Rema.
On the margins of the pages are handwritten glosses by the great rabbonim and tzaddikim of Hungary, the Gaon Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich, Rabbi of Shamaliv, and Rabbi Asher Anshil Weiss, author of Shemen Lemincha, and another 4 full pages of chidushim and notes at the end of the book. Most of them are in the handwriting of Rabbi Asher Anshil, the majority of the last page is written by the Gaon of Shamaliv.
His stamp appears on the title page and its verso, and his initialed signature appears in the margin of the gloss on leaf 149a.
The Composition on the Agudah
Rabbi Asher Anshel Weiss labored extensively to study the Sefer Ha’agudah and authored a full composition upon it, with intentions to publish it with his notes, as he announced in 1933:
"I hereby inform Klal Yisrael that I am reprinting Sefer Ha’agudah, which is extremely rare, as it was only printed once in Cracow in 1571… I have edited it and also added some notes and new insights." Sadly, he was unable to publish it, and with the Nazi destruction of Hungarian Jewry, most of his writings were plundered and lost, including his composition on the Agudah. Present here is the Shemen Laminchah’s personal copy, complete with his glosses and chiddushim that formed the basis of his composition.
Rabbi Asher Anshel Weiss (1882-1944), Av Beis Din of Nagy-Falu, was a talmid of the Shevet Sofer and the Arugas Habosem, and among the greatest disseminators of Torah and poskim in Transylvania. He owned an important and rare library and was acclaimed for his vast expertise in the works of Rishonim and Achronim. He taught Torah in Ujel, and was appointed as Av Beis Din of Nagy-Falu in 1913 where he faithfully served his congregation until the Holocaust years when he perished.
His published works include the 3-volume Shemen Laminchah on Torah and Talmudic sugyos (see Hachasam Sofer Vetalmidav p. 562 and preface to Shemen Laminchah on Shas).
Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Aharnariyech of Shamloi (1883-1944), one of the greatest and most brilliant tzaddikim of Hungary in the generation before the destruction, author of Shu"t Lechem Shlomo, was blessed in his childhood by Rabbi Zvi Hirsch of Liska and by the Heical Brocho of Komarna. He grew up in the company of his grandfather, the "Kol Aryeh", and in the Bar Mitzvah sermon held in his grandfather’s house, he amazed all the listeners.
He was admired by all the tzaddikim of the generation, and it is known that the Rebbe of Ratspert would refer halachic questions to him and would say: "For there is no one in that generation who answers according to Halacha like the Rebbe of Shamaloi." Likewise, the Rebbe of Nasud, who was the Rebbe of thousands of Hasidim, would stand before him humbly and ask him to mention him in his prayers for a blessing. He perished together with the members of his community in Auschwitz in 1944 Hy"d. [Roshei Golas Ariel, N.Y. 1979, p. 258-259]
There were strong bonds of friendship and great respect between the Gaon of Shamaloi and the Shemen Li’Mincha, and since Shamaloi and Nadi-Palo are nearby towns, they met many times and engaged in Torah discussions. They ultimetly met at the end of their days in the ghetto that was established near Shamaloi, from where they were taken to Auschwitz. Where they were murdered Al Kiddush Hashem Hy"d.
Apparently, after the Gaon of Shamloy heard that Rabbi Asher Anshil was working on a composition on the Sefer Aguda, he gave him his personal sefer Agudah with his notes.
Additional signatures that appear in the sefer are: “Hatzair Chaim Romano”, “Hakatan Chaim Ehrenreich, year 1919” and “Avraham Yehuda Fogel of Sighet, Shamloy 1929”.
Cracow, 1571. First Edition.
Page Count: 4, 250 leaves.
Page Size: 28 cm.
The sefer is being sold at auction due to the importance of the glosses, while the sefer itself is an incomplete and partially damaged copy (missing 3 leaves: 196, 243-244) with clean moth damage, tears and wear.
Bibliography: Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod #245
