This first edition of Chiddushim (Novellae) to the talmudic tractate Pesachim was printed in Frankfurt on the Oder in 1776. The author’s father, Eleazar, died before his son’s birth in 1728, and Rabbi Eliazar ben Eliazar was given his father’s name. In 1759 he was appointed rabbi of Zabludow, and in 1768 rabbi and head of the yeshiva (talmudic school) of Rechnitz, and in 1781 rabbi of Kolin, near Prague. Rabbi Eliazar died in 1801.
His first book, Ohr Chadash, on the Pentateuch, was published in Fuerth in 1766. This second book, called Ohr Chadash – Chelek Sheni (Part two) is really a completely separate work.
My copy has a remarkable series of haskamas, (approbations), recommending the book, from some of the most influential and leading rabbonim of the second half of the eighteenth century, which are scanned below.
The first is a letter “words of truth and greeting” from Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch of Berlin, known in London as “Hart Lyon”. He was born in Rzeszow in 1721. His father, Arieh Leib, was rabbi of Amsterdam and his mother was a daughter of the Chacham Tzvi. He was an erudite and notable talmudic scholar.
The previous Chief Rabbi in London, Aaron Hart, had died in 1756, and the London community appointed Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch, also known as Hirsch Lewin as well as Hart Lyon, in 1758. It was a relatively well paid position, but the community at the time was not a center of Torah learning, and he resigned in 1766. There are more details of his rabbinate in Cecil Roth’s book “The History of the Great Synagogue”. When he was asked why he was leaving he famously replied that this was the first “shailoh” (question) that he had been asked since he came to London. Importantly, his son, Solomon Hirschell, who was born in London, later became Chief Rabbi, and was thus the first British born Chief Rabbi. Rabbi Hart Lyon was succeeded as Chief Rabbi by David Tevele Schiff, under whom there was considerable development of the Jewish community.
After leaving London, Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch went to Halberstadt and Mannheim, and was eventually appointed Chief Rabbi of Berlin. He was henceforth known as Tzvi Hirsch Berlin.
This approbation is from Rabbi Yechezkel Landau, 1713 – 1793, an extremely important and influential expert on Jewish law, who is often known by the title of his best known work, the “Nodah beYehuda“. He was appointed Rabbi of Prague in 1755.
This approbation is from Rabbi Samuel Shmelke Horowitz of Nikolsburg (1726 – 1778).
This approbation is from Rabbi Yosef Steinhart, who was the author of a book of responsa called Shu”t Zichron Yosef, published in 1773. This had a polemic foreword against chassidim.
This approbation is from Rabbi Saul Lowenstein of Amsterdam, 1717 – 1790, a first cousin of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch of London and Berlin, whose mother was a daughter of the Chacham Tzvi.
This approbation is from Rabbi Solomon Dov Berish Halberstadt, 1720 – 1785, Av Beis Din (Head of the Rabbinical Court) of Glogau.
This approbation is from Rabbi Meir ben Saul Barby of Presburg, 1729 – 1789.
This approbation is from Rabbi Asher Lemel Halevi of Eisenstadt.
This is a mention of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Mirels, who was born in London. His father was Rabbi Aaron ben Meshullem Zalman Mirels, who lived in London and whose sister, Sarah, married the Chacham Zvi. Rabbi Zvi Hirsch received his early education in London, studied at various yeshivos (Rabbinical colleges) and became rabbi at Wreschen and then Schwerin.
This approbation is from Rabbi Raphael HaKohen, 1722 – 1803, who was later Av Beis Din (Head of the Rabbinical Court) of Altona, Hamburg and Wansbeck.
This approbation is from Rabbi Shmuel Hakatan of Vilna, a son of Rabbi Abraham Ragoler who was a brother of the Vilna Gaon.
This approbation is from Rabbi Shabesai of Shereshov, an uncle of the author.
This approbation is from Rabbi Meir Posner, known as the Beis Meir, of Mesitritz, who later became rabbi of Schotland near Danzig.
This approbation is from Rabbi Moshe Eisenstadt of Kletzk. He was married to the author, Rabbi Eleazar Kallir’s sister.
And finally, here are the printers whose considerable work of typesetting and printing made this book possible:
Jewish Miscellanies 