Collected Journals and Scholarly Writings of Ben-Hayyim Ha-Yisraeli (Abraham Elijah Posel), Hakaratayim Tzofim (Ust'-Lekchim, Russia), 1939-1942.

4 volumes (8 ¼ x 6 ½ in.; 210 x 165 mm). 255, 172, 180, 140 pages, written in various inks on lined paper in an eminently clear Ashkenazic Hebrew semi cursive with nikkud; 20 lines to a page, most pages with hand-drawn frame surrrounding text; contemporary pagination irregular. Very lightly stained; a few margins trimmed not affecting text. Half cloth over composition board; titles inscribed on paper labels affixed to front covers. Rubbed.

Moses Markowitz, le-Korot 'Ir Rasein u-Rabbaneha, Warsaw: Lipschitz, 1913

These four notebooks (and one additional volume in the JTS library) are all that remain of the more than forty unpublished works written by Ben-Haim ha-Yisraeli (the pseudonym for Abraham Elijah Posel), a brilliant and erudite Lithuanian Jew. His prodigious literary output included a wide range of material in fields as varied as: Halakhah, History, Polemics, Theology, and Philosophy. In addition, these volumes have serendipitously preserved a series of fascinating and extremely informative personal reminiscences which serve as primary historical sources, documenting some of the most tumultuous episodes in recent Jewish history.

Very little is known of Posel other than what we can glean from these volumes and a few other sources which mention him in passing. Born around 1880 in Rasenai (Yiddish: ‘Rasein’), a medium-sized Lithuanian town near Kaunas (Kovno), where Jews had lived since the 13th century, he founded an Old Age Home in 1904 and, despite the lack of any serious formal Jewish higher education, in 1913 he published a Halakhic work on the Laws of Acquisition.  He made a living from a small manufacturing business and a retail shop, working with his wife and sons. All the while Posel was constantly writing in his notebooks, balancing his scholarly writings with observations from life, including contemporary accounts of several blood libels.

In June of 1941, as part of the “Sovietization” of Lithuania, many of Raseniai’s Jews were forcibly exiled to Siberia. As it turns out, this may have saved their lives, as on June 23, a mere nine days after the commencement of the Soviet deportations, the invading German forces captured the town. Over the next two months, virtually all its remaining Jewish residents had been annihilated by the Nazis and their Lithuanian supporters.

Posel and his family spent the war years under grueling conditions in Ust'-Lekchim, Russia, which he referred to by the toponym "Hakaratayim Tzofim."

The present lot includes the following works:

VOLUME 1. Darkiyah le-‘Asiriyah ha-Kedosha  (The Path to the Sacred Decade)(in the author's list of publication in the JTS manuscript mentioned above this book is number 22) - This books contains a total of 255 pgs. A discussion on the nature of Man (comparing physical and spiritual aspects). A separate section, an "open letter" to Sholem Asch, rebuking the famous author for his book on Jesus.  The next section our author calls Mikreh Mar’ish be-Hayyai, (A Cataclysmic Event in My Life) denoting several incidents concerning blood libels. Mudah ve-Ne’ezav (Exiled and Abandoned) (book number 23 in authors list), written in 1941 is the most personal of all the works. Beginning with an account of life before the war, we learn about his successful business, happy life, his family (2 children, Eliezer, Yosef, the later studying in Kovno to become a lawyer) and the of his business ultimately being confiscated by the Communists. When the Kamenitz Yeshiva is exiled from their home and relocates in his town, Posel joins the yeshiva as a student at the age of 60. The second section of this work describes the events leading up to the exile at the hands of the Russians, and the details of the three-week journey to  Ust'-Lokchim and his early days there.

VOL. 2 Or Bahir, (Bright Light—book number 16 in the author's book list) this volume totals 172 pages. Discusses the biblical personage Zerubavel and his era; the past and future of Jewish return to the land of Israel; some  unconventional ideas regarding the authorship of Psalms and Ecclesiastes.

VOL. 3 Ha-Zerem ha-Shahor (The Black Stream—book number 16 in the author’s booklist) totals 180 pages. This book deals with Israel among the nations, 2000 years of exile among bitter enemies, with large sections sarcastically mocking Christianity. Masekhet Nega’im (Tractate of Lesions). This book deals with the sin of Lashon Hara (speaking ill of others).

VOL 4.  Masekhet Gehinnom (Tractate of Hell--book number 39 in the list) this book totaling 140 pgs. The author says should be read after completing the three lost volumes of his "Scroll of Jesus”. Written in emulation of Biblical versification as a dialogue describing the trial of the enemies of the Jewish people. Atido shel Ben Haim (The Future of Ben Haim) Included in this work is a long letter from an imaginary teacher "Rabbi Do'eg haYahaduti from the city of Harada" (The Rabbi’s name translates to “Jewish Worry from the city of Fear.”

The richness of this trove of original material cannot be overstated.