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The Nazis during the Holocaust systematically murdered millions of Jews, ending not just their lives but often erasing the entire memory of their existence. Many of the victims, those murdered, as well as those victims that survived, had their entire worldly processions disappear, often leaving no trace of their existence for future generation. It is thus always an emotional moment for me when I find a book that records the ownership of a victim of the Holocaust, the physical... book often being the only remaining memory of the deceased. One such book I recently came across is a 19th century edition of Ginat Veradim, with a lengthy, beautiful written inscription, dedicating the book to R. Shlomo David Frankel upon his wedding. Born in 1903, R. Frankel's father, R. Meshulam Feish Frankel was a Rav and Dayan in Debrecen, Hungary. R. Shlomo David Married Miriam Blum, the daughter of R. Ben Zion Blum, author of Shivat Zion and a granddaughter of R. Amram Blum, the author of Shu"t Bet Shearim. He assisted his father-in-law in the rabbinate until the war years, where he was taken to a slave camp and suffered terribly under forced labor. His health deteriorated rapidly, and by the time they were liberated by the Russians, he was critically ill and passed away shortly after. The inscription in the book is from a Yisrael Eisenberg, gifted to R. Shlomo David Frankel upon his wedding on Rosh Hodesh Nissan, 1928. Following lavish praises on the Chatan, an acrostic poem featuring his full name appears, wishing blessings and good wishes for the newlyweds. Though R. Shlomo David Frankel died at the age of 42, his daughter survived and married R. Menashe Klein, the Ungvarer Rav, and author of numeros sefarim including Shu"t Mishneh Halachot.

The 1941 Miskolcs, Hungary Talmud Printing Life for Jews in the first years of the Holocaust in Hungary can often appear to be constructed from two very different opposing scenarios. The destruction of the Jewish Communities and the methodical killing of its Jewish residents in nearly all surrounding countries was seen, and the effects of the war were intimately felt. On one hand, there were a noticeable minority of people who foresaw the coming danger and heroic and selfless... efforts were made to assist those seeking to escape to safer countries, and to raise awareness in Western Countries of the atrocities being committed. On the other hand, for many in the Jewish Community though, life went on almost entirely as normal until the very days when the communities were rounded up and sent to their deaths in the concentration camps. When Hungary was given to the control of the Nazis, there was a feeling in the air that the Germans were losing the war and it was only a matter of time until the Allies were victorious. Unfortunately, despite that being the case, from May 1944 thru the end of the Holocaust, over 565,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered. A fascinating and as yet not properly studied phenomenon during this period, is the steady and varied continuation of Hebrew printing of Sefarim in Hungary throughout this period, up and through 1944. Many of the sefarim published during this period describe the situation at the time and the threat of death hovering over them. Despite this or perhaps because of this, there was a continued demand for sefarim and many titles were published throughout the communities of Hungary. One such publication I acquired this week is of a Talmud volume, Masechet Pesachim, published in the city of Miscolc, Hungary in 1941. This volume includes an approbation from R. Yoel Teitelbaum, the Av Bet Din of Satmar at the time, who writes in his Haskamah, "Being that due to our many sins the Jewish communities have been destroyed, those that were involved in the publishing of Sefarim were taken from us, and those involved in holy printing were obliterated from this world, may God the merciful have pity on us. Thus, there is a lack of sefarim and gemarot for the rabbis, the Yeshivot and the students, and we must worry for the decline of Torah study....therefore he is publishing individual tractates to supply the need.." The father of the publisher, R. Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich, the Rabbi of Miskolc wrote similarly in his Haskamah, "Due to our great sins, the wars and destruction currently raging in the world have caused many thousands of sefarim kedoshim and shasin to be burned and destroyed. In addition, the printing in the country of Poland has halted..."

An attractive pocket sized manuscript I acquired recently, is a remnant of a long and varied tradition of the reciting of the liturgical poem Mi Kamokha, Ve'en Kamokha of Yehuda Halevi (1075 1141). The manuscript, entirely in Judeo-Arabic looks to have been written approx. 150 years ago in the middle east, most likely in Iraq or Syria. Sephardic and Near-Eastern communities originally had a custom to recite the entire 82 stanzas of the poem on Shabbat Zakhor in the middle o...f the Birchot Keriat Shema, in the midst of the final beracha before the silent Amida. With time, the customs evolved, with some communities reciting it on Shabbat Zakhor before Yishtabach, before or after the reading of the Torah on Shabbat Zakhor and in Tunisia the custom was to read it on Purim itself. The poem tells over in poetic form the story of the Megillah. In many communities, the Hebrew was substituted with a Judeo-Arabic translation, such as the one in this manuscript, to allow the congregants to understand the text. Over the years, many imitations appeared as well, attempting to tell over the story of Purim in poetic form, as well as later poems for various communal occasions that used the same style and format as that of Yehuda Halevi. The custom is still widespread today in many Sephardic communities, though the Judeo-Arabic version is nearly entirely forgotten along with the many Judeo-Arabic speaking Jewish Communities that are slowly eroding from our memories.

The Rogatchover Gaon (18581936), known as R. Yosef Rosen was known as a prominent brilliant Talmudic authority and Posek, said to have had photographic memory. In the Yeshiva World, his writings are revered, and comparisons are often made comparing his thinking to Einstein and other great thinkers in history. A volume I recently acquired is a remnant of the remarkable tale of the publication of his writings. His legacy is in large part due to his published writings which on...ly exist today due to the devotion and unimaginable sacrifice of his daughter Rebbitzen Rachel Citron to the publication of his writings. R. Citron was married to Rabbi Israel Abba Citron, Rav in Petah Tikva, her husband's death, childless, left her in a complicated halachik position regarding her halitzah. One of the deceased's two brothers was an apostate in Germany, the second was a communist, inaccessible in Soviet Russia. The ensuing Rabbinic discussion regarding the possibilities of releasing her and allowing her to remarry engulfed the entire Rabbinic world at the time, the end result was her inability to remarry and leaving her an Agunah for the remainder of her life. When the Rogatchover Gaon passed away in 1936, his daughter Rachel Citron left the safety of her home in Petach Tikva (Israel) to return to Dvinsk, Latvia for the purpose of assembling the Rogatchover's many unpublished manuscripts and publish them and preserve them for posterity. Partnering with her father's talmid, Rabbi Yisroel Alter Safern-Fuchs, they published several volumes, the final volume being abandoned in the middle of the printing. With just 30 pages printed, it ends abruptly and no title page was published. Sensing the oncoming destruction, Rachel Citron and Rabbi Safern-Fuchs photographed into micro-photos thousands of pages of the Rogatchover's Rambam and Shas containing his marginal notes throughout and his correspondences. They mailed them weekly to Rav Alter's great-uncle, R. Zvi Hirsch Safern, in New York from 1940-1941 to preserve the writings and ensure their publication. Shortly after the last envelope was sent, the Nazis invaded Dvinsk, exiled the Jews to Breslau where they were all murdered on June 3rd 1942, and buried in a mass grave. Rebbetzin Rachel Citron and Rabbi Yisroel Alter Safern-Fuchs were both unmarried and childless at the time of their death, may the works of the Rogatcher Gaon which exist today serve as their memorial. https://www.ebay.com/itm/372959301261

Within an archive of a noted American Rabbi I recently acquired, one letter I found stood out to me, shedding light on life under the Nazis several years before the world the horrors of the Holocaust were unleashed. Written in May of 1936, the letter was sent from the famed Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin to Rabbi Ben Zion Eisenstadt in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York. The writer of the letter, Azriel Hildesheimer, presumably a grandson of the founder Rabbi Dr. Isr...ael Hildesheimer, requests that Rabbi Eisenstadt gift a copy of his recent publication Kol Bechi published in New York in 1935 to the Yeshiva so that the students can benefit and learn from the sefer. The writer of the letter described the dire situation of the Yeshiva, which precludes them from spending any money on acquiring books for their library. This forced them to request from publishing authors, that they send their books to the library as a donation. The Rabbiner-Seminar zu Berlin was founded and led by Rabbi Dr. Israel Hildesheimer in 1873, and under his leadership and his successors, R. David Zvi Hoffman. R. Avraham Eliyahu Kaplan and R. Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg the Yeshiva produced the majority of the Orthodox Rabbinate in Germany thru the Nazi Era. Due to increasing anti-semitism, and oppression by the Nazis, the Yeshiva closed its doors in 1938.

If there is one prayer that would signify the history of the Jewish Exile, it would arguably be the Prayer on behalf of the King, traditionally recited during the opening of the Torah Ark in Shabbat morning prayers. Wherever they found themselves, in countries where they lived in peace, as well as countries where they were persecuted, the Jewish people would recite a prayer on behalf of the local ruler. The prayer is alluded to in sefer Yirmiyah (29:7), "And seek the peace of... the city where I have exiled you and pray for it to the Lord, for in its peace you shall have peace", mentioned in the Mishnah and records of an early example have been found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. This at times led to Jews in neighboring countries, each praying for their respective local rulers, while these same rulers may have been sworn enemies of each other currently at war. One prayerbook I acquired this week, is an interesting example of the curious circumstances in which Jews found themselves in many situations, where the local ruler was often hard to determine and border towns found their nationality and governments alternating between various warring rulers. The Siddur was printed in 1814, in the city of Metz, today located in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France. Metz was often claimed by the nearby Prussians and later Germans and found itself under foreign rule on and off for several extensive stretches of time in recent history. In 1814, Metz found itself as the center of the attention of attacking Prussian, Russian and Hessian troops, with the siege of Metz beginning on the the 17th of January of that year. In this siddur, we find the prayer for the King in Hebrew and French, with the ruler stated as Napoleon, "Emperour Des Francais, Roi d'Italie", Emperor of France and King of Italy. The prayer would have had an added urgency during this period, while the city was under siege and the ability to move around freely was severely limited. By April 6th of the same year, the prayer would have been outdated, as Napoleon was forced to abdicate his throne and was exiled to the Island of Elba, an island of 12,000 inhabitants in the Mediterranean. Shortly after, the siege was abandoned by the attacking armies and France found itself under the rule of Louis XVII. This prayerbook thus had the correct ruler noted, at most for under 100 days.

"My father, a great Rabbi" Great European Rabbis and their American children: The author of Divre Shalom (St Louis, 1943), Rabbi Mordechai Leib Charney, a graduate of the Volozhin Yeshiva, received Semicha from the Netziv and served as Rabbi in Europe in several locals. Financial constraints forced him to immigrate to the United States, where he arrived in 1902, he served as Rabbi in Port Chester, NY for 29 years until his death in 1931.... He left 5 boys and 5 girls of which one of them, Sam Schwartz of Charlotte NC published posthumously this work. The greatness of the author can be seen by his correspondence in the sefer with the Oneg Yom Tov, Rav Chaim Berlin and other great Rabbis of the day. Alas, the generational gap between him and his children appears to be insurmountable. The tribute written to their father in the book, though loving and respectful, gives off the impression akin to someone viewing the pyramids with a telescope from a great distance. "This book is published for those who care to study the deep meaning of the Jewish Law. It was written by my father, a great Rabbi. His life and the memory of his teachings, have always been a source of inspiration to me. Perhaps someone else will find inspiration and comfort in the knowledge set forth herein. If so, his life has been fruitful. I am not just a dreamer, or a scholar. I am very much a realist - my only two sons are now in the army fighting for their country, but I am aware that dreams are still possible and dreamers do exist. And above the clouds of war, I dream that the sun is fighting to shine through and scholars will lay aside their guns and think and dream again. It is my hope that this book will furnish much food for their thoughts and dreams. Sam Schwartz"

Tucked in an early American Responsa Sefer I acquired recently, was a one page printed document from 1925 that tells a fascinating tale. While stories of Agunot are unfortunately not unheard of, and a vast literature surrounding the subject exists, tales of Agunim, males who are chained to a marriage are seldom discussed or heard of in Rabbinic Literature. This document was a Psak Din from a Bet Din in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York, under the leadership of R. Moses Benjamin... Tomashoff (d. 1960). Originally from Slutzk, Tomashoff later arrived in Brownsville (then nicknamed the Jerusalem of America), was an active member of the Agudath Harabonim and editor of the Rabbinic Journal Yagdil Torah. The case they were discussing was in regards to a certain woman who was declared insane 13 years prior and was under the care of Central Islip Psychiatric Center, of the largest psychiatric hospitals in the New York area, which reached a peak of 10,000 patients in 1955 before it finally closed its doors in 1996. Being that she was not capable of receiving a get due to her medical state, her husband was left alone, with their children, unable to marry and struggling to support and care for the children. Interestingly, the Bet Din notes that he had no daughters, only boys, which would make it much harder for him to take care of the children, as there were no daughters to assist. The Bet Din found a halakhic basis to allow him to remarry, on condition that an addition 97 rabbis sign to agree to this opinion of theirs, and that the husband commits to pay and care for his first wife's medical needs perpetually. The Bet Din mentions in their stipulation that they confirmed and conferred the options with a lawyer to arrange for the first wife's needs, and that in addition, he was required to first obtain a legal civil divorce before marrying a second wife. Presumably, this document was sent to additional rabbis that would then sign and agree to the psak, and once he obtained 100 signatures it was thus allow him to marry. Barry Gelman

The first 2 Hebrew translations of Shakespeare, translated and Judaized by a Jewish Convert to Christianity https://www.ebay.com/itm/372919796725 In 1874, during the height of the Haskalah, or the Jewish Enlightenment as it was known, the first translation of Shakespeare in Hebrew appeared, being a Hebrew translation of Othello, followed 4 years later by a Hebrew version of Romeo and Juliet, renamed Ram and Yael. The translator was Isaac Salkinson, a Lithuanian Jew living in ...Vienna, a colorful figure with a checkered past. Salkinson was born in 1820 in Shklo, Lithuania (present day Belarus), received a thorough Yeshiva education, eventually made his way to Vilna where he was exposed to and attracted to the Haskalah and by 1849 we find him in London. In London, he met Christian missionaries, who converted him to Christianity, and by 1856 he was appointed a Presbyterian Pastor, working as a missionary in 1864. He was sent to missionize in Vienna, where he met Peretz Smolentskin, editor of the Hebrew periodical Hashachar. Smolenskin, learning of his knowledge of English and talents as a translator, convinced Salkinson to translate English Classics to Hebrew. He translated John Milton's Paradise Lost in 1871, but he is most remembered for his translations of Shakespeare to Hebrew, Othello as Ithi'el ha-Kushi, and in 1878 - Romeo and Juliet as Ram ve-Ya'el. Despite his conversion to Christianity, he identified as a Jew and his translations of Shakespeare to Hebrew were Judaized and Christian elements were removed. Some of the Judaizing features in the Romeo and Juliet, is firstly the names in Hebrew, Ram, the namesake of the ancestor of Kind David mentioned in the book of Ruth and Yael, the protagonist of the story told in Judges where Yael saved the Israelites by killing Sisera, the enemy general. Some examples of the changes he made include: Pentecost was translated as , the Christian holiday Lammastide was translated as , baptized was substituted by , evening mass as , churchyard was replaced with and Holy Franciscan Friar was translated as . Similar obliteration of any Christian motifs were removed throughout the book, thus making the translation more appealing and readable to a Jewish audience.

What would be a minimum respectable donation for a synagogue appeal? I found an enlightening appeals card from 1937 in New York that indicates what the options were at the time, from as little as 25 cents to as high as $100. Notice how they are equal options for additional donations to benefit the Rabbi, Chazan and Shamash.

From Rhodes to Rhodesia, Weddings, Freemasons and Synagogue Services Mention of a Jewish Wedding or prayers at a synagogue can conjure many different memories, though 2 different booklets I came across this week are from a distant land in what feels like a different world, a setting likely to never repeat itself. These 2 publications were published in 1958 and 1963 by the Sha'are Shalom Synagogue in Salisbury, Rhodesia, the colonial names for the current Harare, Zimbabwe. Sal...isbury found itself home to an unlikely group of immigrant Jews in this period, with a steady but small stream of immigration occurring from the small but ancient Jewish Community of the Isle of Rhodes. In the 1930s, with Rhodes belonging to Italy since 1912 and the decision of Benito Mussolini to align with Hitler, antisemitism was rising and ever-present and there was a steady flow of the Jews to outside of Rhodes. While many Jews from Rhodes made their way to Western United States and elsewhere, a small group found refuge in Rhodesia, founded a congregation by 1931 and by June 1st, 1958, they consecrated a new building for use as a synagogue by the Jews from Rhodes, named Sha'are Shalom. The first publication I acquired is a wedding service which took place in the Sha'are Shalom synagogue, less than 3 months after its consecration. The ceremony was led by the local Rabbis, Rabbi Dr Manfred Papo (formerly of Vienna) and Rev. Rabbi Samuel Rodrigues-Pereira, the latter's father being the Rabbi at Montefiore Synagogue in Ramsgate Kent. The pamphlet includes the entire wedding ceremony, including the reading of the Ketubah, Birkat Kohanim and Sheva Berachot following their traditional customs, alongside English translation throughout. The Second publication is a curious Service, of the Provincial Grand Lodge of S. Rhodesia at the synagogue. As was common in times bygone, many Jews were members of local masonic lodges, which were generally of the few organizations where antisemitism didn't preclude a Jew from becoming a member. The order of service described includes an interesting procession, and alternating songs between members of the lodge and members of the synagogue assisted by the Choir of the Synagogue. Prayers for the Dutch and English Royal Families were made, the Torah was read, a sermon was given by the Rabbi, Rabbi Manfred Papo, and the service concluded with the recitation of God Save The Queen.

An Invitation to the wedding of the daughter of R. Yudel Rosenberg - Toronto 1916 Rabbi Yehudah Yudel Rosenberg (18591935) was a noted Rabbi and author of many sefarim, most often remembered for his bringing back to life the story of the Golem of the Maharal of Prague. Leaving a Rabbinic position in Tarlow, Poland in 1913, he emigrated to the New World, where he became Rabbi of Toronto’s Beth Jacob Congregation, which was founded in 1899 by a group of Polish-born Jews. He wa...s instrumental in many community activities in Toronto, including the founding of the Talmud Torah Eitz Chaim, still active today, over 100 years later. From 1919 thru his death in 1935 Rosenberg served as Rabbi in Montreal. I recently acquired an entertaining and memorable wedding invitation for the wedding of his daughter Chanah (Annie, born 1897) to Moshe Hadler. The printed invitation, entirely in Hebrew, begins with an acrostic poem, that spells out the name of the bride and groom, Moshe and Chanah. This is followed by the text of the invitation containing 101 words, each and every one starting with the Hebrew letter Aleph! This is followed by both parents name above the name of the bride and groom. Interestingly, the Chuppah took place late Friday Afternoon in R. Yudel's synagogue Beth Jacob, at 17 Elm Street, Toronto, at 3 pm, on a winter day, the first of Adar 1916. This was followed by a meal at the bride's home, the Rabbi's residence noted as 174 Agnes Street. Though nearly forgotten today, the custom of having Friday night meals for wedding feasts is an ancient one, known already in Talmudic times and had the economical advantage of combining the Shabbat Meal, the Sheva Berachot and the Wedding meal in to one feast.

A copy of a sefer titled Yalkut Nahmani published in Warsaw in 1937 came in to the store among a small collection of books I acquired this week. Many books published in Poland before the war found their way to libraries and homes in the United States, but it is rare to be able to trace how and when the book traveled. This volume though, retained inscriptions and markings that recorded its route to America. This sefer seems to have been sent to New York, in 1939, by an Eliyah...u Margolies of Warsaw, several months before the Nazis invaded Poland. The recipient was his relative, the Sanzer Rebbe of Brooklyn and it was sent as a token gift, alongside a request that the Rebbe pray on his behalf. On the upper portion of the title page, and inscription reads: " " " " " ' " " " ' translating as: Sent as an offering to my Mechutan, Harav Hagaon and Tzadik, scion of greatness, the Admor R. Menachem Binyamin Ben-Zion Halberstam the first of the month of Adar, the month where happiness is multiplied, 5799 (1939) Eliyahu Ben Hinda On the free-end, the ownership stamp of Eliyahu Margolies appears, stating ' " . Inserted in to the volume is a handwritten page, listing the names of Margolies, his wife and his seven year old son, with requests for a Livelihood for the father, health for the wife and health and a desire for Torah for the son, Ahron Shraga. Rebbe Menachem Binyamin Ben Tzion Rottenberg-Halberstam who received the sefer, was one of the earliest Hasidic Rebbes to arrive in the United States, where he settled in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn. He served as Rebbe in his small shul, named Divre Chaim, in Bensonhurst for many decades, until his passing in 1957.