<p><b>Toras HaOlah.</b></p> <p><b> </b> </p> <div> <b>Prague, 1570. First edition. </b> </div> <div> <b>Exceptionally Rare Copy with a Map of the Beis Hamikdash </b> </div> <div> * </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div> An extraordinarily rare copy of Toras HaOlah by the Rema, with a particularly rare map of the Beis Hamikdash. <br /> <br /> </div> <div> The sefer contains insights and elaborate discussions on the significance and meaning of the Beis Hamikdash, its precise measurements, the holy vessels, and the priestly garments, as well as discussions on the reasons and meaning of korbanos, by Rabbi Moshe Isserless of Cracow, known as the Rema. <br /> <br /> </div> <div> Attached to this rare copy is a large, folded map depicting the form of the Beis Hamikdash. The map presents a detailed description of the structure and its measurements: the walls, the hall, the courtyards, the chambers, the gates, and the vessels of the Beis Hamikdash. <br /> <br /> <b>The map is extremely rare; only two additional copies are known to us in which it appears.</b> Analysis of the watermarks has shown that the paper corresponds to the same type used for the printing of the sefer, and the Rashi-type font of the map is typographically identical to the Rashi letters printed on the title page and on leaf 172 (the body of the sefer is printed in square letters). <br /> <br /> </div> <div> This map has not been documented in bibliographic literature, nor have we found it in copies held by the major libraries of the world. <br /> <br /> </div> <div> The inclusion of the map with the sefer by the printer is entirely natural, as the sefer itself is devoted to these very subjects, and many sefarim of this nature were issued together with illustrative maps. </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div> One of the intriguing features of this map is the fact that its sides are not arranged in the usual manner but are reversed. Instead of the north appearing on the right and the south on the left, in the present map, the south appears on the right and the north on the left. The reason for this alteration is not known.&nbsp; </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div> As with all printing blocks, which are prepared in reverse and only appear properly aligned and legible once transferred to paper, this block too was prepared in reverse; it is therefore possible that the individual who drew the map onto the wooden block — which by necessity was prepared in reverse — did not fully take into account all the implications of this reversal. </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div> <b>The Form of the Beis Hamikdash in Toras HaOlah <br /></b> <br /> </div> <div> The Rema devotes entire chapters to explaining the general structure of the Beis Hamikdash and its external form, including the walls, chambers, gates, entrances, and steps, and at the end of chapter ten of the first part he writes, “This is what appears in the illustration of the Mikdash.” <br /> <br /> </div> <div> His involvement with the subject is grounded in the words of Rabbeinu Bachya, who wrote that “the account of the Mishkan and its vessels, and the investigation of them in the configuration of their forms and passages… is a great mitzvah.” <br /> <br /> </div> <div> The Rema himself wrote of his sefer that it contains “wonderful explanations based on all four methods of Torah study – pshat, remez, drush and sod (simple explanations, allusions, deeper meanings and kabbalistic Torah, collectively known by the acronym ‘Pardes’)” (Shu”t Rema Ch. 121). <br /> <br /> </div> <div> Toras HaOlah was brought to print by the Rema himself and was the second sefer that he published. <br /> <br /> </div> <div> The Rema integrates both Kabbalah and philosophy in this sefer, noting that &quot;the wisdom of Kabbalah is equivalent to the wisdom of philosophy; they are just speaking in two languages&quot; (Toras HaOlah Vol. 3 Ch. 4) and he frequently cites the Rambam’s Moreh Nevuchim (Guide to the Perplexed). <br /> <b><br />Prague, 1570. First edition. </b> </div> <div> <b>Page Count: </b>[6], 173 leaves + [1] folded leaf. <b>Size: </b>28.4 cm. </div> <div> <b>Size of the map when open: </b>Height 29.5 cm, width 38 cm. </div> <div> Illustrated title-page border. </div> <div> <b>Condition: </b>Tears on the title page and to approximately twenty additional leaves, repaired with paper restoration; brown paper, somewhat dark brown. The map has a tear with minor loss and several small holes, all repaired with paper restoration. Water stains. New leather binding. </div> <div> <b>Bibliography:</b> Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod, no. 500. </div> <div> </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div> ---------------------------------- </div> <div> <br /> Any inquiries about this lot? </div> <div> We are also available on </div> <div> <a href="https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=18458261645&amp;text=LOT11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WhatsApp &gt;&gt;&gt;</a> <br /> <br /> </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div> <br /> </div> <p></p>