Physical Description

Only edition, octavo, 48 pp. 230:145 mm., wide margins, usual age staining A very good copy bound in modern boards.

Detail Description

Only edition of this valuable work on R. Aryeh Leib ben Sarah, his life, holy ways, Avodah, and tales, with letters from the Baal Shem Tov and his talmidim, among them the Mezitcher Maggid, R. Pinhas of Koretz, and the Ba’al ha-Tanya.

R. Aryeh Leib ben Sarahs (i.e., son of Sarah; 1730–1791), semi-legendary ḥasidic ẓaddik, born in Rovno, Poland. Although his father's name was Joseph, R. Aryeh Leib was known as Leib Sarahs after his mother. This unusual form of identification may derive from a prayer in the mystical Book of Raziel , which mentions a Leib ben Sarah. R. Aryeh Leib was the disciple of the Maggid R. Dov Baer of Mezhirech . His saying: "I did not go to the Maggid of Mezhirech to learn Torah from him but to watch him tie his boot laces" emphasized that the ẓaddik's personality and conduct are of prime importance for Ḥasidism. R. Aryeh Leib had the personality and popular status typical of the itinerant ẓaddikim who preceded R. Israel b. Eliezer Ba'al Shem Tov, the founder of Ḥasidism. He wandered from place to place helping the needy, especially by securing the release of imprisoned debtors. His deeds are embellished by popular legend which relates that he came, while invisible, to the court of Emperor Joseph II in Vienna, to obtain the abrogation of measures included in the Toleranzpatent (1782). Legends about R. Aryeh Leib Sarahs penetrated into Ukrainian folk literature. He died in Yaltushkov (Podolia).

R. Reuven ben Moses Margaliot was a rabbinic scholar and author. Born in Lemberg (Lvov), Margaliot qualified as a rabbi, but remained in business, eventually as a bookseller. Having been active in the Mizrachi movement in Lvov, he settled in Israel in 1935, becoming librarian of the Rambam Library in Tel Aviv. He devoted several studies to ḥasidic lore such as Or ha-Me'ir and Marganita de-R. Meir (1926, 1964); and Hillula de-Ẓaddikaya (1929, 1961). At a later stage he turned to Kabbalah, producing a monumental annotated edition of the Zohar (1964), of the Tikkunei Zohar (1948), of M.Ḥ. Luzzatto's Zohar Ḥadash (1953), and of the early kabbalistic work Sefer ha-Bahir (1951). He also wrote Sha'arei Zohar (1956), a comparative study of the Zohar's system. Margaliot also wrote on the Emden - Eybeschuetz controversy and received a reply from G. Scholem (1941).

Earlier he had also published sermons and homiletical material and annotations to R. Ḥayyim b. Moses Attar 's pentateuchal commentary Ner la-Ma'or (1932, 1959). He wrote biographies of S. Edels (1912); of  R. Ḥayyim b. Moses Attar (1925); of Maimonides' son Abraham (1930), whose Milḥamot Adonai he published in 1953; as well as Le-Toledot Anshei Shem bi-Lvov (1950), on the scholars of his native city. On Talmud and halakhah Margaliot wrote among others Margaliyyot ha-Yam (novellae on tractate Sanhedrin, 1958) and Nefesh Ḥayyah on the Shulḥan Arukh Oraḥ Ḥayyim (1954²). Of special interest is a study of the halakhic aspects of a political resettlement of Ereẓ Israel (Kavvei Or, 1921) written under the impact of the Balfour Declaration. Among halakhic studies in a more modern vein and idiom are his Yesod ha-Mishnah va-Arikhatah ("Foundations of the Mishnah and Its Redaction," 1956⁴); and Meḥkarim be-Darkhei ha-Talmud ("Studies in Talmudic Methodology," 1967). Also of importance are his editions of medieval texts, particularly his annotated Sefer Ḥasidim, attributed to Judah b. Samuel (12^th century), first published in 1924 and republished many times since. Margaliot also prepared an edition of the responsa of the tosafist R. Jacob of Marvège (She'elot u-Teshuvot min ha-Shamayim, 1957³); of the disputations of Naḥmanides with Pablo Christiani in Barcelona in 1263 (with a biography of Naḥmanides, 1929); and of Jehiel of Paris of 1240 (1928, 1944). He received the Israel Prize in 1957 for his research on Kabbalah and Ḥasidism.

Hebrew Description:

תולדות רבינו... ליב שרה'ס זי"ע, תהלוכותיו בקודש, דרכי עבודתו ... וספורים ... עם מכתבי קודש ממרן הקדוש הבעש"ט זי"ע ותלמידיו ... המגיד הגדול ממעזריטש ... ר' פנחס מקאריץ, הגה"ק מפולנאי ... בעל התניא ... הר"ר שמעלקא מניקולסבורג, ועוד [מאת ראובן מרגליות]...

Bibliography:

BE gimel 78; EJ;  CD-NLI 0149485