<p><b>Maharal of Prague. Community Register of the Holy Congregation of Eibeschitz. Prayers Following the Torah Reading. On Parchment.</b></p>
<p><b>A Bimah Booklet from the City of Eibeschütz in Moravia, from the Time of the Maharal of Prague</b></p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>A bimah booklet for the synagogue — blessings and prayers to be recited between the Torah reading and the return of the Torah scroll to the Holy Ark, on Sabbaths and Mondays and Thursdays. </p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>Hebrew manuscript on parchment. Written in fine calligraphic square script and in a flowing hand: Yekum Purkan min Shemaya, blessings for the congregation and its leaders, a Mi Sheberach blessing for those accepting a fast upon themselves, a blessing for the Emperor, prayers for the sick, the prayer "Yehi Ratzon milifnei Avinu Shebashamayim..." (rooted in the Siddur of Rav Amram Gaon, which Ashkenazim customarily recited on Mondays, Thursdays, and Mondays), prefaced by an addition against informers composed by the Maharal, and the prayer "Av HaRachamim Shokhein Meromim..." for the martyrs of the 1096 massacres.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>Eibeschütz (Ivančice), Moravia, apparently between the years 1553–1556.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>Written on parchment in Ashkenazic square and semi-cursive scribal script, in beautiful calligraphy by Yosef son of Hillel Shmuel, a scribe from Eibeschütz — decorated with fine ink ornaments in the forms of rosettes, branches and leaves, grape clusters, animals, and birds. 27.5 x 17.5 cm. Very fine leather binding, decorated with embossed impressions.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>10 pages. Stained. Folio.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>Many thanks to Prof. Shlomo Zucker (Jerusalem), who has researched this manuscript extensively. His scholarly notes accompany the item.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>Despite the fact that the Moravian custom of reciting the Yehi Ratzon prayer against informers is well established (Prof. Israel Heilperin, Takkanot Medinat Mehrin, no. 180), the actual text of the prayer has been unknown, as has its author. Nevertheless, Heilperin postulates that it was quite possibly composed by the Maharal of Prague. The present manuscript can now confirm this.</p>
<p>The manuscript contains the complete prayer and notes that it was "written by Rabbi Loew of Prague, to be recited on Mondays and Thursdays." Therefore, as Prof. Zucker states, there is clear proof that this prayer was authored by the Maharal of Prague — along with its precise wording — and it is found only in the present manuscript.</p>
<p>Informing appears to have been a significant problem in sixteenth-century Bohemia and Moravia, both within the Jewish community and beyond it. The Maharal himself was the victim of numerous accusations that challenged the legitimacy of his birth, thereby considerably delaying his appointment as Chief Rabbi of Prague. A well-known case of informing against a Bohemian-Moravian rabbi was that of R. Yom Tov Lipmann Heller (Tosafot Yom Tov), a student of the Maharal and his successor as Chief Rabbi of Prague. Accused of treason by a resentful community member, R. Heller was imprisoned and sentenced to death — a sentence ultimately commuted to a heavy fine and exile.</p>
<p>Eibeschütz (Ivančice) was home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in Moravia and was the ancestral home of the famous Eibeschütz and Auerbach families. The inclusion of the Maharal's prayer in the community synagogue prayer booklet during the Maharal's own lifetime underscores the powerful influence that the Rabbi of Prague exerted over the cities of Moravia.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>Text of the prayer, as recited:</p>
<p>"May it be the will of our Father in Heaven to uproot and eradicate every root that bears gall and wormwood in Israel — those who harm Israel with their tongues — and let there be no one who breaches the fence in their streets, the informers who harm Israel with their tongues, and those who destroy the standing between communities and press upon them to bring them down. May the Holy One, blessed be He, deliver Israel from their hands, and may He cut off the memory of these sinners and transgressors from the earth, and separate them for ill from all the tribes of Israel, and may they have no portion in the God of Israel; rather, may their name be blotted out from under the heavens. And may His people Israel be clean of this sin, guarding their mouths and their tongues, and separating themselves from these sinners and distancing themselves from them. May the God of old who dwells on high protect them, and may no breacher or sinner emerge from among them unto the end of all generations. And may they merit to see the consolations of Israel and their salvation [read: and their deliverance], now speedily and soon — and let us say, Amen."</p>
<p><br /></p>
<p><b>A particularly special and highly important historical manuscript.</b></p>
<p><br /></p>
<p><br /></p>
<div>
<br />
</div>
<p></p>
![<p><b>Maharal of Prague. Community Register of the Holy Congregation of Eibeschitz. Prayers Following the Torah Reading. On Parchment.</b></p>
<p><b>A Bimah Booklet from the City of Eibeschütz in Moravia, from the Time of the Maharal of Prague</b></p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>A bimah booklet for the synagogue — blessings and prayers to be recited between the Torah reading and the return of the Torah scroll to the Holy Ark, on Sabbaths and Mondays and Thursdays. </p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>Hebrew manuscript on parchment. Written in fine calligraphic square script and in a flowing hand: Yekum Purkan min Shemaya, blessings for the congregation and its leaders, a Mi Sheberach blessing for those accepting a fast upon themselves, a blessing for the Emperor, prayers for the sick, the prayer "Yehi Ratzon milifnei Avinu Shebashamayim..." (rooted in the Siddur of Rav Amram Gaon, which Ashkenazim customarily recited on Mondays, Thursdays, and Mondays), prefaced by an addition against informers composed by the Maharal, and the prayer "Av HaRachamim Shokhein Meromim..." for the martyrs of the 1096 massacres.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>Eibeschütz (Ivančice), Moravia, apparently between the years 1553–1556.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>Written on parchment in Ashkenazic square and semi-cursive scribal script, in beautiful calligraphy by Yosef son of Hillel Shmuel, a scribe from Eibeschütz — decorated with fine ink ornaments in the forms of rosettes, branches and leaves, grape clusters, animals, and birds. 27.5 x 17.5 cm. Very fine leather binding, decorated with embossed impressions.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>10 pages. Stained. Folio.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>Many thanks to Prof. Shlomo Zucker (Jerusalem), who has researched this manuscript extensively. His scholarly notes accompany the item.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>Despite the fact that the Moravian custom of reciting the Yehi Ratzon prayer against informers is well established (Prof. Israel Heilperin, Takkanot Medinat Mehrin, no. 180), the actual text of the prayer has been unknown, as has its author. Nevertheless, Heilperin postulates that it was quite possibly composed by the Maharal of Prague. The present manuscript can now confirm this.</p>
<p>The manuscript contains the complete prayer and notes that it was "written by Rabbi Loew of Prague, to be recited on Mondays and Thursdays." Therefore, as Prof. Zucker states, there is clear proof that this prayer was authored by the Maharal of Prague — along with its precise wording — and it is found only in the present manuscript.</p>
<p>Informing appears to have been a significant problem in sixteenth-century Bohemia and Moravia, both within the Jewish community and beyond it. The Maharal himself was the victim of numerous accusations that challenged the legitimacy of his birth, thereby considerably delaying his appointment as Chief Rabbi of Prague. A well-known case of informing against a Bohemian-Moravian rabbi was that of R. Yom Tov Lipmann Heller (Tosafot Yom Tov), a student of the Maharal and his successor as Chief Rabbi of Prague. Accused of treason by a resentful community member, R. Heller was imprisoned and sentenced to death — a sentence ultimately commuted to a heavy fine and exile.</p>
<p>Eibeschütz (Ivančice) was home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in Moravia and was the ancestral home of the famous Eibeschütz and Auerbach families. The inclusion of the Maharal's prayer in the community synagogue prayer booklet during the Maharal's own lifetime underscores the powerful influence that the Rabbi of Prague exerted over the cities of Moravia.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>Text of the prayer, as recited:</p>
<p>"May it be the will of our Father in Heaven to uproot and eradicate every root that bears gall and wormwood in Israel — those who harm Israel with their tongues — and let there be no one who breaches the fence in their streets, the informers who harm Israel with their tongues, and those who destroy the standing between communities and press upon them to bring them down. May the Holy One, blessed be He, deliver Israel from their hands, and may He cut off the memory of these sinners and transgressors from the earth, and separate them for ill from all the tribes of Israel, and may they have no portion in the God of Israel; rather, may their name be blotted out from under the heavens. And may His people Israel be clean of this sin, guarding their mouths and their tongues, and separating themselves from these sinners and distancing themselves from them. May the God of old who dwells on high protect them, and may no breacher or sinner emerge from among them unto the end of all generations. And may they merit to see the consolations of Israel and their salvation [read: and their deliverance], now speedily and soon — and let us say, Amen."</p>
<p><br /></p>
<p><b>A particularly special and highly important historical manuscript.</b></p>
<p><br /></p>
<p><br /></p>
<div>
<br />
</div>
<p></p>](/img/aHR0cHM6Ly9iaWRzcGlyaXQtaW1hZ2VzLmdsb2JhbC5zc2wuZmFzdGx5Lm5ldC90YWotYXJ0L2Nsb25lZC1pbWFnZXMvMjIwNzMvMDAxLzAwMS5qcGc.7J9yWY_q5ETNM6AJWn_Smg)
