Association Copy: Sefer Or HaChaim with Likutei RaChA"M – Complete Two-Volume Edition (New York, 1916)
Description
Author: Rabbi Chaim Michel ben Yitzchak Zvi Greenberg (רבי חיים מיכל גרינבערג), an early pioneer of American Orthodox scholarship originally from Mława, Poland.
Content: This lot features a complete, historic two-volume work bound in one, containing the celebrated Torah commentary Or HaChaim (אור החיים) interspersed with the author’s own comprehensive expansion, Likutei RaChA"M (לקוטי רח"מ). Printed in New York (נוא יארק) in 1916 (תרע"ו) by the renowned press of A. H. Rosenberg.
Poignant Author’s Dedication: Just before the second volume section, the book preserves a deeply moving, black-bordered memorial page (אבל כבד) printed by the author for his wife, Taube (טאווע בת ר’ חיים מאיר ז"ל), who passed away suddenly in New York during the printing of this very volume. It lists all ten of their children, transforming this volume into a permanent monument to his family tragedy.
Notable Association Provenance: The top of the first title page features a handwritten gift inscription from the author to his colleague, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Grünberg. The title page additionally bears the historical stamp of the Beth Hamidrash D’Sphardim D’Harlem (בית המדרש דספרדים דהארלעם), a legendary early 20th-century congregation serving immigrant families on the Upper East Side and Harlem, providing a tangible link to New York’s early Chassidic landscape.
Rabbinic Endorsements (Haskamot): The book’s scholarly status is elevated by comprehensive endorsements from four of the most venerated leaders of early American Orthodoxy:
Rabbi Avraham Eliezer Alfarstein (רבי אברהם אליעזר אלפערשטיין)
Rabbi Alter Shaul Pepper (רבי אלטר שאול פפעפפער)
Rabbi Binyamin Baruch Gotta (רבי בנימין ברוך גוטה)
Rabbi Menachem Yehuda Guzik (רבי מנחם יהודה גוזיק)
Condition report:
Status: Good to Fair Antique Condition.
Binding: Housed in its original period binding (half-cloth over marbled boards) with expected surface scuffing and rounding at the corners. The outer spine fabric is worn but retains the text block securely in place.
Interior: Complete with both original title pages. Pages exhibit natural age-toning and mild fraying along the edges of the initial sheets. The print impressions, handwritten rabbinic signatures, and ink library stamps remain crisp, clear, and perfectly legible.
