Manuscript Booklet – Halachic Responsum by Rabbi Shmuel Avigdor Tosfaah...

Manuscript Booklet – Halachic Responsum by Rabbi Shmuel Avigdor Tosfaah – Nyasvizh, Ca. 1854

Manuscript booklet (15 pages), halachic responsum by R. Shmuel Avigdor Tosfaah, Rabbi of Nyasvizh and Karlin, sent to R. Yaakov Moshe, "the Rabbi of Stalovichy". Nyasvizh, [ca. 1854].
Lengthy halachic responsum on the division of an estate by a Beit Din without all heirs present. The case involved an estate with three heirs, one of whom was not present due to being conscripted to the army in an unknown location. The house was in need of expensive repairs, and the question was whether the two brothers were permitted to sell the third brother's share in order to repair theirs. Another responsum on the issue was sent to the same querent by R. Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor who was serving at the time as Rabbi of Novardok (see next lot). The present responsum was also sent to R. Yaakov Moshe and comes from his family's archive (the neat, even writing appears to indicate that R. Shmuel Avigdor sent the responsum to the querent in a copy made by his scribe, and the signature at the end is also presumably in the copyist's handwriting).
The present responsum has apparently never been printed, and it appears to be the only responsum to survive from R. Shmuel Avigdor's responsa on Choshen Mishpat, which was prepared for printing but was lost in a fire. This event is recorded in the introduction of the author's grandson to his She'erit HaPletah (Warsaw, 1888), who recounts that an immense amount of R. Shmuel Avigdor's manuscripts "were consumed by a profane fire". He goes on to detail the contents of the burned works, including Part II of Responsa She'elat Shlomo: "…the two parts of the Responsa on Choshen Mishpat and Even HaEzer were also food for the jaws of the great flame…".

R. Shmuel Avigdor Tosfaah (1806-1866), Rabbi of Karlin, prominent Lithuanian Torah scholar. Recognized for his brilliance from his youth, at age 18 he was appointed Rabbi of Achorei Nahar (Vorstadt, a suburb across the river of Grodno), succeeding his brother-in-law R. Binyamin Diskin (father of Maharil Diskin) when the latter relocated to another city. At that time, he began to author his magnum opus Tana Tosfaah on the Tosefta (he later changed his surname to Tosfaah after this work). In 1839 he relocated to serve as Rabbi of Svislach and subsequently of Augustów (Poland). In 1853 he again moved in order to serve as Rabbi of Nyasvizh, and in 1856 he moved to Karlin to serve as Rabbi, succeeding the Keren Orah. He held this position for the rest of his life, and today he is known as Rabbi of Karlin.

The recipient of the letter, R. Yaakov Moshe Direktor (1809-1879), Rabbi of Mush, a Lithuanian Torah scholar, famous as a holy man and wonderworker. A disciple of R. Itzele of Volozhin, he served as Rabbi of Stalovichy (a town near Novardok). He engaged in halachic discussions with leading rabbis of his generation, including the Nachalat David; R. Eizel Charif, Rabbi of Slonim; and R. Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor. In 1857 he relocated to serve as Rabbi of Mush (Novaya Mysh). He was the father of R. Yisrael Yehonatan Yerushalimsky (1860-1917), Rabbi of Orlya and Ihumen (Chervyen), father-in-law of R. Yechezkel Abramsky, Head of the London Beit Din, author of Chazon Yechezkel.
The present responsum was written and sent ca. 1853-1856, since R. Shmuel Avigdor served as Rabbi of Nyasvizh from 1853 until Pesach 1856.

8 leaves (containing 15 closely written pages, in neat writing). 22 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Wear and small open tears to corners of leaves. Detached leaves. Worming, slightly affecting text.