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Bidding Information
Lot #    24300
Auction End Date    8/11/2009 10:22:00 AM (mm/dd/yyyy)
          
Title Information
Title (English)    Tzva'ah (Final Will)
Title (Hebrew)    צוואה מכתיבת יד קודש
Author    [Hasidim - First Ed.] R. Aaron ha-Gadol of Karlin
City    Chernovtsy
Publisher    Johann Eckhardt und Sohn
Publication Date    1855
          
Collection Information
Independent Item    This listing is an independent item not part of any collection
          
Description Information
Physical
Description		    [8] pp., 8 vo., 117:195 mm., light staining, nice margins, old hands, few minor wormholes. A good copy bound in modern half cloth and marbled paper over boards.
          
Detailed
Description		    Final will of the Admor of Karlin, R. Aaron b. Jacob, referred to in hasidic circles as "Aaron the Great" (1736–1772), the pioneer of Hasidism in Lithuania. He was a disciple of R. Dov Baer the Maggid of Mezhirech. During the lifetime of his teacher, in the early 1760s, he founded the first hasidic minyan in Karlin, from where he spread Hasidism throughout Lithuania. In contemporary sources "Karliner" became a synonym for "Hasid" in Lithuania. The spread of "Karliner" minyanim there was one of the causes of the campaign against Hasidism; in Karlin's sister town, Pinsk, it was directed against R. Aaron personally. R. Aaron's activity showed his concern with social problems. He helped to enforce the takkanot issued in 1769 at Nesvizh, abolishing an unusual and heavy tax affecting the poor, using his personal authority and imposing a herem. His azharot ("Warnings"), a letter, and a testament have been preserved (in manuscript). Inclined toward asceticism, Aaron fasted frequently and even demanded of his disciples: "seclusion, one day every week in a special room, spent in fasting, repentance, and study of the Torah." But he warned against extremes in such practices. In his azharot he cautioned "to beware of pride and anger, even if over the observance of a precept, and all the more so over disputes." He instructed his Hasidim to study the Mishnah daily and to be versed in the Bible. He regarded melancholy as "the lowest abyss," while joy stems from sanctity. The Jew who does not rejoice in being a Jew is ungrateful to Heaven. R. Aaron composed a hymn for Sabbath: Yah ekhsof no'am Shabbat ("Oh God, I yearn for the Sabbath's delight") which is included in several siddurim and is sung every Sabbath by the Hasidim of Karlin and those related to them. The Hasidim of Karlin have about 20 melodies for this hymn, one having become renowned as Ha-Niggun ha-Kadosh.
          
Reference
Description		    EJ; Not in CD-EPI
        
Associated Images
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Listing Classification
Period
19th Century:    Checked
  
Location
Russia-Poland:    Checked
  
Subject
Hasidic:    Checked
Other:    Final Will
  
Characteristic
Language:    Hebrew
  
Manuscript Type
  
Kind of Judaica