R. Israel ben Samuel Shklov (d. 1839) by whom the manuscript was found was a talmudic scholar of Lithuania and, later, in Erez Israel, where he was leader of the "Kolel ha-Perushim," the local community of the disciples of R. Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, the Vilna Gaon. R. Israel was born and brought up in Shklov. Although he studied under the Vilna Gaon for only six months before the latter's death, he was nevertheless entrusted with the preparation of the Gaon's commentaries for publication. In 1809 he joined the third group of the Gaon’s pupils, led by R. Hayyim ben Tobiah, that immigrated to Erez Israel and settled in Safed, where there were already 40 families from the two previous groups. Within less than a year of his arrival he was sent by the Kolel ha-Perushim to Lithuania to organize permanent assistance for the immigrants. During the course of this mission, which proved extremely successful, he published the notes of the Vilna Gaon on the tractate Shekalim of the Jerusalem Talmud together with a commentary of his own under the title of Taklin Hadtin (Minsk, 1812). In 1816, R. Israel was chosen to succeed R. Menahem Mendel of Shklov, the leader of the Kolel ha-Perushim there, when the latter moved to Jerusalem. R. Israel served as head of the community, which now numbered 600, first in Safed and later in Jerusalem.

R. Baruch Ben Jacob Schick, (also known as Baruch Shklover, from the name of his birthplace, Shklov (?1740–after 1812), who published Beit Ya’akov, was a rabbi, physician, and one of the pioneers of Haskalah of Eastern Europe. R. Schick was ordained rabbi in 1764 and subsequently served as dayyan in Minsk. In his youth he was already attracted to the Haskalah and general knowledge. His first scholarly work and his other works were lost in a conflagration. He traveled to London to study medicine and there joined the Freemasons. After qualifying as a doctor he moved to Berlin where he became acquainted with the maskilim of the town—including Moses Mendelssohn and Naphtali Herz Wessely. In 1777 R. Schick published in Berlin Isaac Israeli's astronomical work Yesod Olam from a defective manuscript in the possession of Hirschel b. Aryeh Lob Levin and that same year published his Ammudei Shamayim, a scientific commentary to Maimonides' Hilkhot Kiddush ha-Hodesh, adding to it his Tiferet Adam, a popular work on anatomy. In 1778, on his way back to Minsk, he visited Vilna and was in the group associated with R. Elijah ben Solomon (the Gaon of Vilna), in whose name he published a statement on the need for scientific knowledge for an understanding of the Torah. This strengthened Schick's standing in Jewish circles and influenced not only his contemporaries but also subsequent generations. He stated that the Gaon of Vilna advised him to translate scientific works into Hebrew in order to make their contents available to Jews. In the Hague in 1779, he published his Derekh Yesharah, on medicine and hygiene, and in 1780 he published from Latin a Hebrew translation of the first part of Euclid's geometry. In 1784 he was in Prague, where he published his Keneh ha-Middah, on geometry and trigonometry, which he translated from English (republished by him in Shklov in 1791, together with additional expositions to Maimonides' Hilkhot Kiddush ha-Hodesh). From Prague he returned to Minsk. After some time he settled in Shklov and there he belonged to the maskilim whose needs were supplied by the wealthy Joshua Zeitlin of Ustye near Shklov. Toward the end of his life he lived in Slutzk, where he served as dayyan and as court physician to Count Radziwill, and where he died. Among the manuscripts he left were a book of medical cures and the translation of the second part of Euclid. R. Schick devoted his energies to arousing his fellow Jews to the need for studying the arts and sciences. He regarded the neglect of the sciences as caused by the exile. He repeats the accusations of his predecessor, R. Israel Moses ha-Levi Zamoscz, against the fanatical rabbis and leaders who persecuted and condemned the maskilim. To restore science to its former place of honor he pleaded for a revival of Hebrew, in which scientific works intended for his people should be written.

דף ד-ו,א: תוספות מעשה רב. בהקדמה אומר המחבר: "זה לא כביר נדפס ילקוט על מס' כלים [ספר סדרי טהרות לר' גרשון חנוך העניך ליינער, חלק א, יוזעפאף תרל"ג], בו אסף ולקט כל התוספתות וברייתות וכל דברי האמוראים המפוזרים בכל הש"ס השייכים להמשניות מס' כלים ... והנה ... יצא בילקוטו ... ופגע ... בכבוד ... הגר"א ומשיג על דבריו בעזות פנים וחוצפה ... ושמתי עיוני ... ומצאתי ... לא הבין ולא רצה להבין דברי הגר"א ... לזאת מצאתי חובה ... להראות לעיני כל שגיאותו של המלקט". בהקדמה נכללה "האגרת אשר שלח תלמידו המובהק [של הגר"א] ... מו"ה חיים אב"ד ור"מ דק"ק וואלאזין אל קהל עדת ישורון בכל מדינה ומדינ' ... בעת התחיל ליסד ולנהל ישיבתו הגדולה בק"ק הנ"ל ביום א ז עשרת ימי תשובה שנת תקס"ג".