Mesilat Yesharim – Copy of Rabbi Yehuda Leib Chasman – With His Handwritten Notes and Signature

Mesilat Yesharim, pertaining to ethics and fear of G-d, including Derech Etz Chaim, by R. Moshe Chaim Luzzatto – the Ramchal. Vilna, 1869.
The title page bears the signature of R. Yehuda Leib Chasman, signing with the acronym: "Yahel---". The margins contain numerous brief as well as lengthy notes in his handwriting.
Mesilat Yesharim is the foremost ethics work in Torah study halls and for adherents of the Mussar movement. This edition was printed based on the Königsberg 1858 edition which was published at the behest of R. Yisrael of Salant, following a directive he received from his teacher R. Yosef Zundel of Salant. The latter related to his illustrious disciple, that upon receiving a farewell blessing from his teacher R. Chaim of Volozhin when leaving the Volozhin yeshiva, he asked his teacher which ethics books he recommends studying. R. Chaim replied: "All ethics books are beneficial, but Mesilat Yesharim should be your guide".
R. Yehuda Leib Chasman (1869-1934), a leading Torah scholar of his times, was a study partner and childhood friend of R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski in their native city of Iwye. A student of the Kelm Beit HaTalmud, he served as mashgiach of the Telshe yeshiva during the time of R. Shimon Shkop. From 1909, he served as rabbi of Szczuczyn, and established there a Yeshiva Gedola which was closed at the outbreak of WWI. After the war, with the ensuing destruction of Torah institutions and communities, he dedicated himself to the activities of the Vaad HaYeshivot in Vilna. He was a confidant of the heads of the Vaad: R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, the Chafetz Chaim and R. Shimon Shkop.
In 1927, the Saba of Slabodka (who dubbed him "the genius in ethics") called him to succeed him as mashgiach of his yeshiva in Hebron, a position he held until his death in Cheshvan 1935. His Torah novellae were published in his book Minchat Yehuda and his discourses were printed by his leading disciples in the three volumes of Or Yahel.
[7], 2-42 leaves. Approx. 17.5 cm. Thin, high-quality paper. Good condition. Stains. New, elaborate leather binding.
Report from R. Yitzchak Yeshaya Weiss enclosed, identifying the signature and notes as "R. Yehuda Leib Chasman's distinctive handwriting". R. Weiss affirms that the signature on the title page can be read "Yahelibman", as per his surname in his youth, when he was known as Yehuda Leib Libman.