(Continued from last week)
Machon Yerushalayim’s edition of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch’s notes and novellae on the Mishna, the Tur and the Shulhan Arukh is introduced in a foreward by Rabbi Yosef Buxbaum, head of Machon Yerusahlayim, a preface by Prof. David S. Latchman of London, and a study by R. Avraham Schischa clarifying various biographical details of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch’s life and activities.
At the end of his study, R. Avraham Schischa, who is a well known rabbinic scholar and a collector of rabbinic books and manuscripts, discusses the sources of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch’s notes and novellae printed in the volume.
He writes:
“Rabbi Zevi Hirsch’s notes on the Mishna printed in this volume are based on the notes he wrote in his own hand in the margins of the Mishna edition printed in Amsterdam in 1685.
“This set of Mishnayot was a present to Rabbi Zvi Hirsch from his father, Rabbi Aryeh Loeb, who was the rabbi of the Ashkenazic community of Amsterdam. At a certain point in time, after he had penned his notes in the margins of the pages, he presented the set to his son, Rabbi Solomon, who after his father’s death was chosen rabbi of the Ashkenazic community of London. All these details are recorded on the title pages of the Mishna volumes.”
Rabbi Solomon Hirsch was apparently a bibliographer. He was the owner of a large and important library which included incuabula and rare books, as well as volumes of novellae of his father written in the latter’s own hand. The library was sold after Rabbi Solomon’s death. It was acquired in toto by a buyer who donated it to the Beth Din of London’s Ashkenazic community for the use of the Beth Din’s members. Several years ago, whose who were in charge of this great book treasure decided to sell most of the books at a public sale. The above mentioned Mishnayot set as well as the Tur and the Shulkah Aruch which contained Rabbi Zvi Hirsch’s notes were bought by Prof. David S. Latchman, who put them at the disposition of Machon Yerusahalyim for the purpose of publishing the notes in a volume to be dedicated to the memory of his father, Emmanuel (Menahem Mendel).
R. Avraham Schischa quotes Rabbi Zvi Yehezekel Michalson’s statements in the introduction to his edition of Tzava Rav — that the notes and the novellae on the Mishna which he published were based on Rabbi Zvi Hirsch’s handwritten glosses found in the Mishna edition he bequeathed to his youngest son, who resided in Piotrkow.
Schischa writes that he compared the handwriting of the notes found in the Amsterdam edition of the Mishna, which had been preserved for many years in the library of the London Beth Din, with the handwriting of a a responsum written by Rabbi Zvi Hirsch. This examination left no doubt in his mind that the notes in the Amsterdam edition of the Mishna were, indeed, written by Rabbi Zvi Hirsch. Rabbi Zvi Hirsch was a very busy person occupied with his various rabbinical tasks, and it was highly unlikely that he would have had the time to write his many notes and novellae on the Mishna twice. Schischa, therefore conjectures that the glosses on which Rabbi Michalson based his edition of Tzava Rav were not penned by Rabbi Zvi Hirsch but a copyist who copied them from the Amsterdam 1865 edition of the Mishna.
Rabbi Yosef Buxbaum takes issue with Schischa’s view in his foreword to the volume. If we assume, he states that the text used by Rabbi Michalson was but a copy of the original nots and novellae found in the Amsterdam edition of the Mishna, how do we account for the fact that many passages are missing in Rabbi Michalson’s edition and that there are numerous differences between the two versions? It is also very difficult to assume that Rabbi Michaelson would have mistaken the handwriting of a copyist for that of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch. Rabbi Buxbaum is of the opinion that it was quite possible that Rabbi Zevi Hirsch wrote his notes and novellae in the margins of two different editions of the Mishna at different periods of his life.
(To be continued)
The Jewish Press, Friday, March 29, 2002
Conclusion
In his forward of the Machon Yerushalayim’s edition of Tzava Rav, Rabbi Yosef Buxbaum discusses Rabbi Zevi Hirsch’s writings which have appeared in print as well as the many which are still in manuscript.
He writes that the unpublished writings include several volumes of novellae and responsa written in Rabbi Zvi Hirsch’s own hand. Several of these were, until a few years ago in the library of the London Beth Din. Some of the remaining ones are in the possession of R. Shaul Hutterer of Antwerp. From the latter several responsa and some novellae were published in recent years in Kerem Shlomo, the well known periodical which is put out by the Yeshiva of Bobov in New York and edited by Rabbi Shmarya Zitroenbaum. (I was recently informed that Kerem Shlomo, which for about 25 years published letters, responsa, novellae and various documents from manuscripts by rabbis of former generations, has ceased publication. Let us hope that the very erudite editor, Rabbi Shmarya Zitroenbaum will be able to renew its publications soon.
Rabbi Buxbaum also informs me that R. Avraham Schischa published a responsum by Rabbi Zvi Hirsch in matters of divorce with a very valuable introduction about the life of the author in HaDarom (Ellul 5720).
According to Rabbi Buxbaum, books carrying handwritten notes by Rabbi Zvi Hirsch and letters of his are found in some public and private libraries. Rabbi Buxbaum himself is in possession of a cop of Be’er Sheva by Rabbi Issachar Baer Eulenburg with notes by Rabbi Zvi Hirsch and two letters by him relating to communal affairs.
Rabbi Buxbaum;’s foreword is followed by a preface by Prof. David C. Lachtman who is the owner of the copies of the Mishna, the Tur and the Shulhan Arukh which contain Rabbi Zvi Hirsch’s handwritten notes, published in the new edition of Tzava Rav, and who, together with his mother sponsored the publication of the volume in memory of his father, Emanuel (Menahem Mendel).
Emanuel Lachtman had studied mathematics at London University. He wanted to become an actuary but in those days it was impossible for a strict Sabbath observer to practice this profession. He entered the field of property development and throughout his life was involved in charitable activities. For more than fifty years he served as honorary English secretary of the Sassover Rebbe of London conducting his English correspondence and participating in his many charitable activities. At Emanuel Lachtman’s funeral, the Rebbe declared that the deceased was his partner who deserved half a share in all his Mitzvot.
“From the moment I began to collect Anglo-Judaica, my father encouraged me to do so, always telling me to pay a little bit extra to acquire some choice items,” Professor Lachtman writes. “He always visited the local secondhand bookshop when inspecting properties, and would return either with something for me or with a list of available items.”
Rabbi Pesach Yaakok Yavorov, Rabbi Nissan Yehuda Leib Shub and Rabbi Hayyim Eisenstein of Machon Yerushalayim, as well as Rabbi Issachar Marmorstein of London helped in preparing for print the new edition of Tzava Rav which is illustrated with facsimilies of title pags and noet filled pages of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch’s personal copies of the Mishna, the Tur and the Shulhan Arukh.
In conclusion I permit myself to point out that the Vilna edition of the Mishna includes notes and novellae by Rabbi Zvi Hirsch under the title, Zvi Tiferet. The notes and novellae were submitted to the Vilna printers by Rabbi Zvi Y. Michelson, who added comments of his own to some of them. Zvi Tiferet includes many of the notes and novellae printed in Tzava Rav, but also features some which do not appear there. Rabbi Zvi Hirsch’s notes printed in the Vilna edition of the Talmud include many of those printed in Tzava Rav, but also contain glosses on Mishnayot not found in that volume (see Rabbi Zvi Hirsch’s note on Nedarim 31b- Mishna 3:11).
The Jewish Press, Friday, April 5, 2002