Or Ne'elam – Or Lo B’Tzion: The Personal Copy of Rabbi David Tevel of Minsk and Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim Meisel of Łódź

Or Ne'elam – Or Lo B’Tzion: The Personal Copy of Rabbi David Tevel of Minsk and Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim Meisel of Łódź

Or Ne'elam, a collection of responsa in halacha, authored by Rabbi Yitzchak Zekiel Ettlinger, Rabbi of Mainz. Karlsruhe, 1765 (תקכ"ה). First and only edition.

The author served as a rabbi in Ashkenazi communities for 33 years.

In his introduction, the author states that he sent several of his treatises to the greatest Torah scholars of his time, including the renowned Rabbi Yaakov Cohen Popers, Av Beit Din and Rosh Yeshiva of Frankfurt, who praised his work.

[1] ט, ט-לח [2] leaves, 31 cm.

Bound with:

Or Lo B’Tzion, a new commentary on Tziyon HaMetzuyen BeHalacha, arranged according to Ner Mitzvah on Tractate Berachot and Hilchot Ketanot on Tractate Menachot, also authored by Rabbi Yitzchak Zekiel Ettlinger. Karlsruhe, 1765 (תקכ"ה). First and only edition.

45 leaves, 31 cm.

Both books are exceptionally rare.

Condition good. Minor tears on white margins and creases in the bottom corner of several pages at the beginning of the book.

A Distinguished Provenance:

On the title page, the handwritten signature of Rabbi David Tevel of Minsk and the stamp of Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim Meisel, the renowned Rabbi of Łódź.

Rabbi David Tevel of Minsk (1794–1861)

Author of "Nachalat David."

One of the greatest disciples of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin and a leading scholar of his generation.

Around 1820, he became Av Beit Din and Rosh Yeshiva in Stopce, and in 1849 was appointed as the rabbi of the major city of Minsk.

Following the passing of Rabbi Yisrael Mirkeš in 1813, the city of Minsk decreed that future rabbis would be titled "Mara D’Atra" (מד"א) and "Moreh Tzedek" (מ"ץ) instead of Av Beit Din.

His works on the Talmud, responsa, and sermons, include "Beit David" and "Nachalat David".

His Nachalat David on Tractate Bava Kamma remains a fundamental work for in-depth study of this tractate and others.

Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim Meisel (1821–1912)

Born in Horodok in 1821, named "Eliyahu Chaim" in memory of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin.

As a child, he was recognized as a genius and a prodigy.

At the age of eight, he became a student of Rabbi Yitzchak of Volozhin.

He was instrumental in reopening the Volozhin Yeshiva in 1894, alongside the "Gadol of Pinsk".

Despite Łódź being a stronghold of Hasidism, Rabbi Meisel, a staunch Lithuanian rabbi, was deeply revered throughout Poland and Lithuania.

His life and legacy are recorded in "Raboteinu SheBagolah" by Moshe Zeira (p. 332 onward).