Precious Treasure from the Chaba"d Pantheon: The Tzemach Tzeddek's Shulchan Aruch HaRav with Lengthy Glosses ...

Precious Treasure from the Chaba"d Pantheon: The Tzemach Tzeddek's Shulchan Aruch HaRav with Lengthy Glosses Handwritten by him

And Aharon shall bear the names of Yisrael's sons on the breastplate of judgement over his heart

Shulchan Aruch HaRav "compiled from the necessary halachahs in Tur Choshen Mishpat" by the Admo"r, the Alter Rebbe of Chaba"d, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. Distinguished Zhitomir edition, Shapira grandsons' press, 1856. Lengthy glosses [over 350 words!] positively identified as handwritten by the sacred G-dly Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, author of Tzemach Tzeddek, of Lubavitch.

The lengthy glosses in the margins of the sheets deal with the completion of passages that were omitted by the strict Christian censor. The Tzemach Tzeddek, who used this copy, took the trouble to complete the text in the wide margins of the pages, in his own hand. These glosses are on the laws of theft and robbery, in the sections that deal with import taxes, theft and a non-Jew's error (sections 4, 15, pages 156a and 157b).

The Tzemach Tzeddek not only rewrote the omissions, but also uprooted the words the Christian censor planted in the text. Parenthetical indications on the book's leaves, also handwritten by the Tzemach Tzeddek, surround the words inserted by the censor. It is worth noting that the Tzemach Tzeddek did not cross out the defective words. He did to the Shulchan Aruch as was customarily done to Talmudic volumes, not to erase extra words, but to surround them with round brackets.

Sacred Chaba"d item with such a rare historical-Chassidic perspective that it is hard to overstate its value - one of the most important items in the magnificent pantheon of Chaba"d Chassidut! The monumental book by the founder of the dynasty, the Alter Rebbe, the author of Tanya and Shulchan Aruch, was commandeered by the Russian censor, may his name be obliterated, who destroyed almost four hundred words from the teachings of the Alter Rebbe, until his grandson and successor, that tzaddik of the generations, the Tzemach Tzeddek, came and recovered, in his own hand, the lost words of his pure grandfather! This item symbolizes the victory of the Chaba"d spirit over the Russian Empire - a victory over the klipot of Amalek, the powerful yet transient.

This is, of course, aside from the book's huge value as the Tzemach Tzeddek's personal copy of Shulchan Aruch HaRav, with all the significance that carries. It is the very copy from which he decided halachahs and taught Hashem's word to his thousands of petitioners. Some of these responsa were printed in his Shu"t Tzemach Tzeddek. It is also alongside the segulah inherent in the lengthy glosses written in it by the very hand of the tzaddik of generations.

Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of the Admo"r the gaon Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, author of Tzemach Tzeddek.

[1], 133-167 leaf. 22.5 cm. Beautiful copy with wide margins. One of the most important Chaba"d items to ever have been offered at auction!

Very fine condition. The glosses were slightly cropped at their edges, with light damage to the text. Beautiful, clean paper. Minimal aging and usage stains. New binding with gilt imprints.

Confirmation included from the expert Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Lieder, sought after by leading auction houses in Israel for his professional opinion (and member of bibliographer Rabbi Yehoshua Mondshine's inner circle of disciples).