Manchester. The John Rylands Library, Gaster Hebrew MS 1354
- Source
- Manchester Digital Collections
- Library
- The John Rylands Library
- Shelfmark
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- Gaster Hebrew MS 1354
- Biblissima authority file
- Language
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- Hebrew
- Title
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- Avodat ha-Levi (עבודת הלוי | The Work of the Levite)
- Agent
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- Preferred form
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- Chnéour Zalman (de Lyadi, 1745-1813)
- Role
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- Other
- Original form
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- Shneur Zalman, of Lyady, 1745-1812
- שניאור זלמן בן ברוך, 1745-1812
- Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyady
- Biblissima authority file
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- Preferred form
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- Dov Baer Schneersohn (1773-1827)
- Role
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- Other
- Original form
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- Schneersohn, Dov Baer, 1773-1827
- שניאורסון, דב בר בן שניאור זלמן, 1773-1827
- Rabbi Dov Baer
- Biblissima authority file
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- Preferred form
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- Aaron ben Moses ha-Levi de Starosielce (1766-1828)
- Role
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- Author
- Original form
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- Aaron ben Moses, ha-Levi, of Starosielce, 1766-1828
- הורביץ, אהרן, מסטרשילוב, 1766-1828
- Rabbi Aaron ben Moses ha-Levi of Starosielce
- Biblissima authority file
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- Preferred form
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- Hayyim Jacob ben Samuel Rashal Velizh
- Role
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- Owner
- Original form
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- Hayyim Jacob ben Samuel Rashal Velizh
- חיים יעקב בהרשב''ץ רש"ל
- Biblissima authority file
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- Preferred form
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- Moses Gaster (1856-1939)
- Role
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- Former owner
- Original form
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- Moses Gaster
- Gaster, Moses 1856-1939
- Biblissima portal
- Biblissima authority file
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- Description
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- Extent:
49 ff. Leaf height: 218 mm, width: 169 mm.
Binding:
Quarter binding with black cloth on spine and cardboard boards with marble paper cover.
Acquisition:
Acquired by The John Rylands Library from the heirs of Moses Gaster in 1954.
Layout:
Long line with a maximum of 30 written lines
Collation:
Catchwords at the bottom left of most pages.
Script:
Ashkenazi cursive scriptAshkenazi square script for initial words
Data Source(s):
Description based on Alexander Samely's unpublished draft catalogue, revised and expanded by Stefania Silvestri, Renate Smithuis and Israel Sandman. Rabbi Shalom Dovber Levine, director of the Library of Agudas Chasidei Chabad, provided invaluable assistance with the manuscript.
Subject(s):
Cabala; Jewish sermons, Hebrew; Habad; Hasidim; Mysticism; Mysticism Judaism
Abstract:
The author of the thirteen discourses included in this manuscript is Rabbi Aaron ben Moses Horowitz ha-Levi of Starosielce (1766-1828). He was a senior disciple of the the founder of Habad Hasidism, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyady (1745-1812). During the lifetime of Rabbi Zalman, Rabbi Aaron had an official role in the former’s court, as a mentor to the older disciples. Upon Rabbi Shneur Zalman’s passing, Rabbi Aaron set up his own court, in which he expounded Rabbi Zalman’s Habad system of Hasidic thought. At this juncture, there was a rivalry between Rabbi Aaron and the eldest son of Rabbi Shneur Zalman, Rabbi Dov Baer (1773-1827), who, during the lifetime of his father, had the official role of mentor to the younger disciples, and who set up his own court, in which he expounded his father's thought. This manuscript was owned by Rabbi Hayyim Jacob ben Samuel Rashal (19th-20th century) [for a discussion of Rashal and manuscripts from his collection see Gaster Hebrew MS 1344]. Works by both Rabbi Aaron and Rabbi Dov Baer are represented in Rashal’s collection, which was established two to three generations after Rabbis Aaron and Dov Baer. By that time, Rabbi Aaron’s court had died out and Rabbi Dov Baer’s line had become normative. The presence, in Rashal’s collection, of works by both authors indicates that, despite the rivalry, their works had been absorbed into the Habad patrimony. These discourses were delivered by Rabbi Aaron to his disciples at various special occasions, in particular Jewish holidays and Shabbats. They deal with standard topics of Habad theology: an understanding of divine transcendence and immanence, divine attributes and their parallels in the human soul, and, despite challenges, the human ability to access the depths of the soul, mature spiritually, transcend the self, and enter into a meaningful relation with various levels of divinity. The discourses in this manuscript can be found, albeit with textual variations, in Rabbi Aaron's Avodat ha-Levi (The work of the Levite) printed in [Lemberg] 1841/2 and Warsaw 1865/6. In one case, the variation is particularly substantial (folios 22b-26b). The discourses have been "checked" (מוגה), i.e. collated and corrected on the basis of an authoritative manuscript, as indicated at the end of each one of them except for the discourse on folios 27a-30b. The corrector jotted down interlinear and marginal corrections plus erased the dates mentioned in the heading of four discourses, the first of which he then changed to 620 (= 1819). For literature on Rabbi Aaron see e.g. Louis Jacobs, Seeker of Unity: The Life and Works of Aaron of Starosselje (London 1966) and Naftali Loewenthal, Communicating the Infinite: The Emergence of the Habad School (London and Chicago 1990).
Foliation:
Pencil foliation in Arabic numerals 1-49 at the top outer corner of side a of each folio (added in 2018). Hebrew foliation at the top outer corner of side a of each folio, starting from folio 2 and ending on folio 48 (א-מז).
Format:
Codex
Material:
Paper
Provenance:
Paper label on spine.
Front paste-down: Handwritten in pencil "47ff." and in blue crayon number 1354.
Folio 1a: Handwritten in different inks: "(No. 96)"; "M. Gaster / 1354"
Folio 49b. Signature in Cyrillic characters.
Folios 1a and 49b. Signature of owner Hayyim Jacob ben Samuel Rashal Velizh repeated 3 times on 1a and once on 49b.
Condition:
Bookworm holes towards spine and surrounding sewing. Boards detaching. Front board bottom corner damaged.
Additions:
Interlinear and marginal corrections in a different ink on folios 3b-4a, 19a, 41a-b, 42a, 43b and 48b. This is the hand which writes מוגה at the end of most discourses and erases viz. changes dates of the discourses.Scribbles on folios 32b, 33b-34a and 47b.
Note(s):
Incomplete at the end (see catchword). The contents of the manuscript are as follows (between brackets are the corresponding columns in the Lemberg/Warsaw printed edition): Folio 1b: Table of contents (מפתחות)
Folios 2a-5a: להבין ענין ר"ה וגם להבין מה שבר"ה נפקדו עקרות "To understand the concept of Rosh Hashanah (= the Jewish New Year), and also to understand why it was that barren women were visited (viz. they conceived) on Rosh Hashanah" (vol. 2, folio 49, column b ff.).
Folios 5a-8b: והוכן בחסד כסא "The throne is established in loving-kindness" (from the Rosh Hashanah liturgy) (vol. 2, folio 47, column b ff.). For the first eve of Rosh ha-Shanah. The year in which the sermon was delivered has been erased and changed to 620 (= 1819).
Folios 8b-11a: הבן יקיר לי אפרים "Is Ephraim not a precious son to me?" (Jeremiah 31:19; in the prophetic reading for the second day of Rosh Hashanah) (vol. 2, folio 52, column a ff.). The date of the discourse has been erased.
Folios 11a-14b: דרשו ה' בהמצאו "Seek the Lord when He is to be found" (Isaiah 55:6) (vol. 2, folio 53, column c ff.). Caption: for the Shabbat of Repentance (i.e. the one that occurs in the ten days of Repentance, between Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur).
Folios 14b-19b: אפרים מה לי עוד לעצבים "Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?!" (Hosea 14:9) (vol. 2, folio 58, column c ff.). Delivered during the ten Days of Repentance.
Folios 20a-22b: למה תאמר יעקב "Why does Jacob say …?" (Isaiah 40:27), from the prophetic reading for Parashat Lekh lekha (Genesis 12:1-17:27) (vol. 1, folio 17, column a ff.). The date of the discourse has been erased.
Folios 22b-26b: והמלך דוד זקן "The king, David, was old" (1 Kings 1:1), from the prophetic reading for Parashat Hayye Sarah (Genesis 23:1-25:18) (vol. 1, folio 28, column d ff.: the text varies considerably from the printed edition). The date of the discourse has been erased.
Folios 27a-30b: גשה נא ושקה לי כו' ויתן לך "Now draw close to me and kiss me … may He give to you" (Genesis 27:26 and 28). On Parashat Toledot (Genesis 25:19-28:9) (vol. 1, folio 31, column 4 ff.).
Folios 30b-35b: ותאמר רחל אל יעקב "Rachel said to Jacob" (cf. Genesis 30:1-3). On Parashat Va-Yetse (Genesis 28:10-32:3) (vol. 1, folio 33, column d ff.).
Folios 35b-40a: ויבא יעקב שלם עיר שכם "Jacob arrived whole at the city of Shechem" (Genesis 33:18). On Parashat Va-Yishlah (Genesis 32:4-36:43) (vol. 1, folio 43, column c ff.).
Folios 40a-43b: ויוגד לתמר לאמר "It was told to Tamar, saying" (Genesis 38:13). Parashat Va-Yeshev (Genesis 37:1-40:23) (vol. 1, folio 47, column c ff.). With quite a few marginal corrections.
Folios 44a-47b: להבין ענין [עבודת] התורה והתפילה ולמה נקרא בשם עבודה "To understand the concept of Torah and prayer, and why it is called by the name “worship / service”" (vol. 2, folio 100, column c ff.).
Folios 46b-48b: כתיב עין ה' אל יראיו למיחלים לחסדו "It is written, “The eye of the Lord is unto those who fear Him, unto those who anticipate His loving kindness”" (Psalm 33:18) (vol. 2, folio 101, column d ff.).
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