Meah_Bemeah_Cropped_Master

Judaica and Hasidic Books and Manuscripts

Lot 95:

prev Back to the catalogue next

Extremely Rare 1743 Constantinople First Edition of She'elot U'Teshuvot Ch"b on Orah Chaim by Rabbi Chaim Benveniste (Author of Knesset HaGedolah) – Unrecorded on the Market with Historic Holocaust-Rescue JCR Bookplate

Auction will begin to close in __ days and __ hours

Start price: £150

Buyer's Premium:

Description

An extraordinary Sephardic halachic first edition of remarkable scarcity, uniting elite rabbinic authorship with a documented provenance of wartime survival.

  • The Work & Author: This volume is the definitive first edition of She’elot U’Teshuvot Ch"b (שאלות ותשובות ח"ב), containing the monumental responsa of maran Rabbi Chaim Benveniste (הגאון רבי חיים בנבנישתי זצ"ל; 1603–1673), the world-renowned author of the foundational Knesset HaGedolah (כנסת הגדולה). The letters "Ch"b" (ח"ב) represent the direct Hebrew acronym for his name (Chaim Benveniste). This specific work contains his complete, highly authoritative legal decisions covering the laws of Tor Orah Chaim.
  • Bibliographical Rarity: Printed in Constantinople (Kushtandina) in 1743 (ה’תק"ג) by the scholar Rabbi Shlomo Ashkenazi from rare family manuscripts. This edition represents a highly prized, standalone printing from the golden era of Ottoman typography. Genuine 18th-century Constantinople editions of such primary responsa are exceptionally scarce and hard to encounter in complete condition, making this a premier acquisition for discerning collectors of Sephardic rabbinica.
  • The Historic JCR Provenance (Holocaust Rescue): Adding immense institutional and emotional value, the front endpaper preserves the original graphic bookplate of the Jewish Cultural Reconstruction (JCR) organization ("תקומה לתרבות ישראל"). This documents the volume as a rare surviving artifact that was looted by the Nazi regime during WWII, rescued by international relief commissions from the depots in Germany after the war, and repatriated to safely rebuild the libraries of the Jewish people.
  • Notable Connection: Rabbi Chaim Benveniste’s wide-reaching rulings served as a primary cornerstone for the Chida and subsequent generations of halachic arbiters. First editions of his works printed in Constantinople are prized crown jewels for serious rabbinic libraries.

Condition report:

Status: Complete First Edition Internal Text Block with Vintage Wear.


Physical Dimensions: Approx. 19×31 cm (7.5×12.2 inches) — classic antique Sephardic folio format.

Details: The text block is complete, containing a total of 105 printed sides/pages (consisting of 52 leaves plus 1 title leaf / [1], נב דף), and remains structurally stable and fully legible. The early leather-backed binding displays typical exterior rubbing; the paper layers are intact on the hardcover faces while missing from sections of the spine, exposing the interior binding cloth underneath. The protective blank flyleaves are fully present (two front, two back). The title page and a few initial leaves show expected natural light antique stains and minor edge fraying, keeping the printed borders intact. Consistent with its 1743 printing, minor worming channels are present near the center of the book block and expand into a few clean, stable wormholes toward the final leaves, entirely clear of reading text utility.