by Rabbi Dovid ben Aryeh Leib Lida.
Commentaries on Rashi.
A very scarce volume.
29 pages, last page with marginal repair affecting text.
Super-commentary on Rashi on the Torah by R. David ben Aryeh Leib of Lida (c. 1650-1696). The title page states that it is:
Novellae on Rashi, "sweeter also than honey" (Psalms 19:11), not to be found in any other commentary on the Torah. Even if they are closed to the eye of the reader, and they are taken in part from "from the [great] brook" (cf. Samuel 17:40), a brook flowing living water, my great work, "which the mouth of the Lord shall express" (Isaiah 62:2) (Ir David), a third of which was already printed in Amsterdam with approbations from leading rabbis. I entitled it (Helkei Avanim) based on, "and [David], chose five smooth stones (helkei avanim) from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, and in his knapsack" (I Samuel 17:40). They are selected from five precious stones: Gemara, Midrashei Aggadah Babylonian and Jerusalem, Zohar, Recanati, Asarah Ma’amarot, and Rashi is explained through the discourses on the Torah. Even though all is not from me, as explained within, it is appropriate to call it by my name, for as it says in the Mekhilta, ”A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David" (Psalms 30:1), for did David build the house? Solomon built it, but because he put his soul into it is called by his name.
The text continues, naming R. Mordecai Model of Ansbach as the sponsor. It is dated Wednesday, this is in (12) Adar Rishon, "may You be a shield pn (453 = February 18, 1693) for us in mercy:’ Helkei Avanim has approbations from R. Samuel ben Uri Shraga Feibush and R. Issachar Berman. The text follows, in two columns in rabbinic type. The commentary draws on the sources noted on the title page, as well as others, for example, on Parashat ha-Azinu, Lida quotes the Alshekh and R. Moses Mendel.
An example of an entry, from Parashat Emor (Leviticus 21:3), states:
(Rashi) "for her, he shall make himself impure" mitzvah. Here the son inquires to explain the intent of Rashi in this, for is not every commandment in the Torah a mitzvah? Why is it necessary here for Rashi to explain saying, mitzvah? However, Rashi’s intent is to what our sages said concerning Joseph ha-Kohen whose wife died Erev Pesah and did not wish to defile himself for her. The sages pressed him and made him impure against his will. And this is what Rashi means mitzvah, for it is on the beit din to force him and defile him, besides the other mitzvot.
After the commentary is a discourse (23a-29a) entitled דרוש נחלמד וחריף. In the colophon, Lida echoes the lament voiced on the title page concerning his inability to complete the printing of Ir David. "The enemies of the Lord pursued me and ‘overtook me in the midst of [my] distress’ (Lamentations 1:3). They destroyed my house and caused me monetary loss of many thousands:’ Fourteen leaves only were printed (Amsterdam, 1683) the entire book being printed posthumously (Amsterdam, 1719), all due to the troubles noted above. Helkei Avanim was reprinted in Podgorze in 1898.
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