Parchment Manuscript. Prayers and Hazkaras Neshamos for Chazzan by the Congregation of Breslau Refugees. Czarne, 1740
Anthology of prayers, blessings, and Hazkaras Neshamos for use by the chazzan and gabbai in shul, compiled by the congregation of Breslau evacuees who settled temporarily in the Polish city of Czarne following their expulsion.
This manuscript is written on parchment by the scribe Simcha ben Rabbi Yoel Feivish, a sofer from the city of Lisa. It includes a unique anthology of “Kel Malei Rachamim” prayers composed upon Polish sages, among them the authors of Semichas Chachamim and Kikayon D’Yonah, their sons, sons-in-law and many Kedoshim of various communities murdered al kiddush Hashem in the notorious pogroms and blood libels
Title Page Inscription:
“It is known that
after the expulsion and exile from our land [following the edict of the
Roman Emperor Charles VI], the city of Breslau, we sought a place to rest and settle, until we discovered the glorious city of Czarne, where we determined to settle. It has long been the custom of many holy congregations to possess a pamphlet of prayers for the synagogue, and here, there was no such pamphlet. Thus, this was compiled and completed on Sunday, 30 Tishrei, Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan in the year 1740… by the scribe Simcha ben Rabbi Yoel Feivish z”l, sofer of Lisa.”
Content:
“Yehi ratzon” and “Acheinu kol Beis Yisrael”; Kabbalas Shabbos; Baruch She’amar, which was sung by European congregations in a special tune on Shabbos and holidays; blessings of the Haftarah; “Yekum purkan”; “Hanosein teshuah l’melachim”; assorted “Mi shebeirachs”; Birkas Hachodesh; Hazkaras Neshamos and “Kel Malei Rachamim”; “Av Harachamim”; blessings upon blowing the shofar, reading Megillas Esther; prayers for Simchas Torah; blessing for a circumcision; blessings under the chuppah.
Below is a breakdown:
“Kel Malei Rachamim” upon the Geonim of Lisa (6a):
The chassid Moreinu Harav Rabbi Yitzchak ben Rabbi Shalom, Av Beis Din of Lisa and rebbi of the Magen Avraham. Rabbi Yitzchak authored Shalom Bayis and passed away in 1679.
Hagaon Moreinu Harav Rabbi Yitzchak ben Hachaver R’ Moshe Gershon succeeded Rabbi Yitzchak as Av Beis Din of Lisa in 1679. In a famous letter penned by Rabbi Bunim Ginz to the Chasam Sofer who proposes the shidduch between the Chasam Sofer and his niece the daughter of Rabbi Akiva Eiger, he extols the kallah’s family lineage, noting that she is a sixth-generation descendant of the said Rabbi Yitzchak (Chut Hameshulash p. 69).
Hachassid Moreinu Rabbi Efraim ben Moreinu Harav Rabbi Meir was also known as Rabbi Efraim Reddisher, Av Beis Din of Lisa and was a great-grandson of the Maginei Shlomo. He passed away in 1641. (See more in his approbation to Shu”t Even Hashoham (Dyrenfurth, 1933).
“Kel Malei Rachamim” upon the Kedoshim of Nemirov during the Chmielnicki Massacres (6b-7a).
Special version of “Kel Malei Rachamim” composed by Rabbi Sheftel Segal, Av Beis Din of Posen, son of the Shl”a, upon the Kedoshim of the town of Nemirov and “all other Polish congregations” whose blood was spilled like water.
“Kel Malei Rachamim” upon the Kedoshim of Posen (6b-7a)
Prayer upon three Kedoshim who suffered gruesome deaths at the hands of their oppressors and were burned alive during a blood libel in Posen during the month of Kislev, 1737.
“The holy and pure Moreinu Harav Yehuda Aryeh Leib ben Morei Moreinu Harav R’ Yosef”. This refers to Rabbi Aryeh Yehuda Leib Calafri, Av Beis Din of Posen and author of Kisvei Hakadosh (Bnei Brak, 1990), son of Rabbi Yosef of Posen, author of Yesod Yosef.
“The great Moreinu Harav Rabbi Yaakov ben Moreinu Harav R’ Yitzchak v’hachaver Rabbi Moshe ben Rav Uri Lipman Hakohein”
(See the complete story of blood libel in the preface to Amudei Olam [Berlin, 1741] and Toar Pnei Shlomo [Krotoszyn, 1870] pp. 41-43).
“Kel Malei Rachamim” upon the Kedoshim of Lelov, 1728 (7a-7b)
Lengthy “Kel Malei Rachamim” with vivid descriptions of the chilling murders of the righteous brothers Hagaon Rabbi Chaim Halevi (Reches), Av Beis Din of Levov and Hakadosh Rabbi Yehoshua (Reches) who were killed and burned at the stake during the blood libel enacted by a priest and apostate in Lvov on Erev Shavuos, 1728. (See complete story in Anshei Shem [Cracow, 1895 #165].)
“Kel Malei Rachamim” upon the Semichas Chachamim and Kikayon D’Yonah and their Families
“Kel Malei Rachamim” upon the souls of the tzaddik and kabbalist Rabbi Naftali Katz, author of Semichas Chachamim, and his righteous sons Rabbi Yitzchak, Av Beis Din of Fulda; Rabbi Yaakov Mordechai, Av Beis Din of Brody and Posen and son-in-law of the Yaabetz; Rabbi Betzalel, Av Beis Din of Ostroh; Rabbi Shmuel Shmelka, Av Beis Din of Breslau; his grandsons Rabbi Chaim ben Rabbi Yehuda Leib, who was raised in his grandfather’s home, and Rabbi Shaltiel Eisik; and sons-in-law Rabbi Saadya Yeshaya Katzenellenbogen, Av Beis Din of Halishwa, grandson of the Kikayon D’Yonah; Rabbi Yehuda Leib ben Rabbi Gavriel Eshkeles, Av Beis Din of Nikolsburg; and Rabbi Yaakov ben Rabbi Yitzchak, Av Beis Din of Posen.
This prayer was also dedicated l’iluy nishmas Rabbi Yonah Thumim, author of Kikayon D’Yonah, his son Rabbi Feivel Thumim, Av Beis Din of Breslau, and grandson Rabbi Chaim Yonah Thumim, Av Beis Din of Breslau and son-in-law of Rabbi Dovid Oppenheim. The latter authored Kuntress Rabbi Chaim Yonah.
“Kel Malei Rachamim” upon the Death of Kedoshim and Tehorim (7b-8a)
This “Kel Malei Rachamim” prayer was written upon the tragic deaths of six Kedoshim “Who accepted terrible suffering upon themselves and withstood the challenge.” There is no other known copy of this version of “Kel Malei Rachamim”.
Hazkaras Neshamos Pamphlet – Ravitch
Bound to the pages of this notebook are 5 papers with the “Kel Malei Rachamim” prayer listing approximately 100 Rabbanim and residents of Ravitch who passed away between the years 1785-1802.
It begins with “Kel Malei Rachamim” for Rabbi Akiva Eiger, Av Beis Din of Posen and “Nasi in Eretz Yisrael”, along with the illustrious Rabbanim of Ravitch, Rabbi Shlomo and his brother and successor Rabbi Aharon Yehoshua Eliyahu Hertzfeld, son of Rabbi Dovberish of Głogów and grandson of the Pnei Yehoshua.
Czarne-Breslau, 1740. Page Count: [10] parchment leaves + 5 paper leaves (Ravitch Pamphlet).
Page Size: 31.5 cm. Illustrated title page with attractive architectural border.
Condition: Title page border faded; used, creased, stained and minor damage. New leather binding.
Provenance: Yechezkel Toporowitch Collection
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