Sepher HaZohar [“The Book of Splendor” - Kabbalah]. (Attributed to: Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai). Four parts in three volumes. Title surrounded by Biblical verses. Broad margins

AUCTION 40 | Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 1:00

Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Graphic & Ceremonial Art

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Lot 135

(HIRSCH, SAMSON RAPHAEL).

Sepher HaZohar [“The Book of Splendor” - Kabbalah]. (Attributed to: Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai). Four parts in three volumes. Title surrounded by Biblical verses. Broad margins

Samson Raphael Hirsch's Personal Copy. On title page of all three volumes appears the signature: Mendel F[rank]f[urter], Tamuz, 5552 [1792]. On front fly-leaf of Vols. II and III, appars the dedication: Le-doron derasha li-beni Harav Mhor”r Shamshon n[atrei] R[achmana] u[pharkei], Tamuz, 5591, Raphael F[rank]f[urter] [“An engagement gift to my son, Rabbi Samson, Tamuz, 1831; Raphael Frankfurter”]. On all three title-pages are stamped initials: S.R.H. Also appears, German stamps of: Justizrath Dr. N. Hirsch, Rechtsanwalt, Frankfurt a/M. * And Simon Sänger, Fürth i. Bayern. * And: Hebrew stamps of Rav Joseph Breuer Vol. I: ff. (7), 251, 11. * Vol. II: (1), 2-269, (1), 1. * Vol. III: ff. (2), 2-115; (1), 117-299, (1), 2-10. (Our collation differs from that of Vinograd, Amsterdam 1043). Foxed in places otherwise a clean copy. Contemporary black morocco, rebacked, new endpapers. 4to

Amsterdam: Solomon Proops 1715

Est: $15,000 - $20,000

PRICE REALIZED $20,000

The Zohar: Samson Raphael Hirsch's Personal Copy. Provenance: 1. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Frankfurter, Hamburg (1742-1823) - to 2. His son, Raphael Frankfurter (1777-1857) - to 3. His son, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) - to 4. His son, lawyer Naphtali Hirsch, Frankfurt a/Main (1844-1903) - to 5. His son-in-law, Simon Sänger, Fürth - to 6. His first cousin, Rabbi Dr. Joseph Breuer (1882-1980), Rabbi of Kehal Adath Jeschurun, Frankfurt a/ Main and Washington Heights, New York - to 7. His great grandson (whose maternal grand-mother was Rav Breuer's eldest daughter). 8. The Consignor Rabbi Dr. Joseph Breuer was a grandson of Samson Raphael Hirsch, son of Hirsch’s daughter Sophie and son-in-law Rabbi Salomon Breuer. (Sänger’s wife and Joseph Breuer were first cousins.) See E.M. Klugman, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1996), pp. 349-354. There exists some confusion concerning the surnames of the family. According to Klugman, the original family name was “Spiro.” In 1680, Menachem Mendel Spiro moved from Frankfurt to Hamburg, adopting “Frankfurter” as his surname after his place of origin. This name then persisted in the family until Raphael Frankfurter changed his name to Raphael Hirsch after his grandfather R. Tzvi Hirsch Frankfurter. Thus, it came about that Raphael’s son Samson Raphael bore the surname “Hirsch.” Klugman, pp. 2-4. On October 5, 1831, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch wed Hannah Jüdel. (Klugman, p.52). Evidently, their formal engagement took place some months earlier in the Summer (Tamuz) of 1831. This set of the Zohar marked the Occasion. At first, one might be surprised that in the German Hirsch Family - not known for its kabbalistic propensities - the Book of the Zohar would have been considered a treasured heirloom clearly handed down from father to son for a number of generations. However recently, there has commenced a fresh re-appraisal of Rabbiner Hirsch’s system of thought: Viz. Hirsch’s biographer’s tentative findings: “Although Kabbalah is never specifically referred to in Hirsch's Commentary, a number of scholars of that branch of wisdom have voiced the opinion that Rabbi Hirsch’s Torah Commentary was indeed deeply influenced by the Zohar.” (Klugman, pp. 332-33)