TCHERNOVITZ, CHAIM. Sha’ar ha-Tephilah [Chassidic discourses on prayer]

The author is most famous for his magnum opus, Be’er Mayim Chayim on the Pentateuch, a classic of Chassidic thought to this day. Sha’ar ha-Tephilah is graced by the Haskamah of R. Ephraim of Sudylkow, grandson of R. Israel Ba’al Shem Tov, founder of the modern Chassidic movement. Although the large letters on the title state “Mohilev”, the fine print in Yiddish and Polish states “Sudylkow.” The present copy with the well-known responsa wherein the author debates the earlier opinion of R. Ezekiel Landau of Prague (Yoreh De’ah, no. 93) concerning the degree, or form, of intentionality required by law in prayer (ff.3-10). This responsum which is printed in rabbinic letters as opposed to the square letters of the rest of the volume is lacking in many copies (including the copy consulted by Vinograd). The previous owner of this book, R. Shlomo Friedman of Chortkov -Tel Aviv (affectionately known as R. Shlomonyu), built a large book-collection in the tradition of his forbearer R. Nachum Dov Baer