Five Books of the Torah – First Edition of Be'er Mayim Chaim – Mohyliv-Sudylkiv, 1820

Five Books of the Torah – First Edition of Be'er Mayim Chaim – Mohyliv-Sudylkiv, 1820
Five Books of the Torah, with Targum Onkelos, Rashi and Baal HaTurim commentaries, and with the Be'er Mayim Chaim commentary, by R. Chaim Thirer Rabbi of Czernowitz (Chernivtsi). Mohyliv-Sudylkiv, [1820 – regarding the exact places and years of printing, see below]. First edition. Five volumes (complete set).
Be'er Mayim Chaim is a prominent and fundamental work of Chassidic teachings, unique for its clarity and conviction, as well as the enthusiastic Chassidic emotion which it exudes. It was published in many editions and became a cornerstone of Chassidut.
The volume of Bereshit contains approbations by R. Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apta, R. Efraim Zalman Margolies of Brody and R. Mordechai of Kremnitz (son of R. Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov).
The manuscript of Be'er Mayim Chaim was sent from Eretz Israel to R. Mordechai of Kremnitz after the passing of the author in 1813/1814. R. Mordechai writes in his approbation that upon receiving the writings, he accepted the burden of organizing their copying and arranging them for print. He also tells there of the extraordinary love his father, the Maggid of Zlotchov, felt towards the author. The Ohev Yisrael of Apta wrote in his approbation: "We are well aware of the desire and wish of that tzaddik, who yearned his entire life to benefit the public with his holy teachings… and he brought many to repentance… and may we benefit from the merit of the author…". The Rebbe of Belz, the Sar Shalom, said that the first book of ethics he studied was Be'er Mayim Chaim.
This edition also contains the commentary on the Masorah, Minchat Kalil, by R. Or Shraga Feivush Rabbi of Dubrowna, son-in-law of the Gaon of Vilna (copied from the Aderet Eliyahu chumash – Dubrowna, 1804).
The author, Rebbe Chaim Thirer of Czernowitz (ca. 1740s-1813/1814; regarding the date of his death, see item 86), a prominent Chassidic leader, was a close disciple of the Maggid of Zlotchov. He also authored the fundamental work Sidduro shel Shabbat (Mohyliv, 1813). He served as rabbi of Czernowitz, Mohyliv Podilskyi, Botoșani and Kishinev (Chișinău), and was greatly influential in reinforcing Torah observance in the Bukovina region. Reputed as a holy man, wondrous tales about him abound. He was renowned in the Chassidic world for his extreme attachment to the holiness of Shabbat, when he soared to exalted levels. His teacher, the Maggid of Zlotchov, attested that he drew his vitality from the holiness of Shabbat. According to Chassidic tradition, after his immersion before Shabbat, his form would change and he would grow taller by a handbreadth. In the summer of 1813, he immigrated to Eretz Israel and settled in Safed. There he composed Shaar HaTefillah (Sudylkiv, 1825) and Eretz HaChaim (Czernowitz, 1861), and there he is buried.
Five volumes. Approx. 21 cm. Two volumes are missing the title page and other leaves (replaced in photocopy). Greenish and bluish high-quality paper. New, uniform leather bindings.
Bereshit: [2], 5-354 leaves. Shemot and Esther: 2-282, 14, 19-37 leaves (missing first and last leaf, originally: 282, 14, 19-38 leaves). Vayikra and Shir HaShirim: [1], 2-120; 8; 10 leaves. Bamidbar and Ruth: [1], 2-16, 19-181 leaves. Leaves 113-114 are bound out of sequence. Devarim, Eicha and Kohelet: 2-172 leaves (missing title page and leaf [2], originally: [2], 2-172 leaves).
Good-fair condition. Several leaves in Bereshit volume trimmed close to headings. Early stamp on title page of Bereshit. Ownership stamps and censor's signatures in Vayikra volume. Stains, including dampstains; some significant. Tears and minor worming, affecting text, professionally repaired with paper.
Stefansky Chassidut, no. 216.
This edition is known as the Mohyliv 1820 edition, since that is what appears in the imprint of all five title pages. However, after careful examination, it seems that the imprint was altered to mislead the censor, and in fact the volume of Shemot was printed first, in Mohyliv, no later than Iyar 1818 and the rest of the volumes were printed in Sudylkiv after 1825.
Places of printing – the title pages of all five volumes declare in large red type: "In Mohyliv", however, printed above (besides in the Shemot volume) in small black type are the words: "Printed in Sudylkiv".
Years of printing – in the approbation of R. Mordechai of Kremnitz to Shaar HaTefillah, from 13th Iyar 1818, he writes: "With the help of G-d, one volume has already been printed, may He agree that I finish all five volumes". This refers to the Shemot volume, as the printers state at the end of the volume (p. 37b): "Printing started with this volume". Similarly, on the title page of the Shemot volume, the author is presented as the author of just Sidduro shel Shabbat (Mohyliv, 1813), whereas on the title pages of all the other volumes his book Shaar HaTefillah is also mentioned, that book being printed only in 1825. Encyclopedia L'Chassidut (Books, p. 604) documents a copy of the Bereshit volume of this set, which mentions the Shem Efraim commentary by R. Efraim Zalman Margolies, first printed in Ostroh 1825-1826.
It should be noted that the censor's permit in Polish, printed on verso of the Bereshit title page, states that the work was already presented for reviewing on December 27, 1815, although the permit was only given in the summer of 1820.