I bought this book some years ago, intrigued by its journey. It was found among the thousands of books that were saved from destruction during the Holocaust, and were collected in Warsaw after the war and eventually sent to the Land of Israel for distribution to institutions.
This volume was apparently purchased by Shmuel David Jakubowicz, possibly when he was living in Biala. He was born on May 27th, 1892, and by 1937 he was a bookkeeper, employed in the secretariat of the Lublin Jewish Community. He obviously took some pride in his ownership of books, and this one has four different book stamps of his. One of the stamps gives his address as 16, Szeroka, Lublin.
His name and address appears in various lists in 1940, during the German occupation, including a list of employees of the Main Chancellery operating at the Judenrat. The final list is dated February 27th, 1942, with his occupation, Accountant at the Jewish Community Office.
Ezras Kohanim is an important and detailed commentary on the tractate Middos by Rabbi Yehoshua Yosef ben Nachum Dov haKohen Feinberg. It was compiled from from the works of the early sages and of early and later commentaries. It describes the Temple according to all the commentators, and gives appropriate measurements. There are many illustrations and diagrams.
The tractate Middos has Mishnayos only. It gives, in five chapters, exact details and measurements of the building of the Temple and of its component parts, intended perhaps to serve as a guide for rebuilding the Temple. The description is that of the second Temple of Herod, and is based on the memory of sages who saw the Temple and, after its destruction passed on an oral description.
There is an introduction entitled Mevo haMikdash and then the text, which includes a small number of introductions.
This volume consists of the second and third parts – the first had been published in 1873 – and was printed in Warsaw at the press of Nathan Schriftgisser.
There are ‘haskamas’ (approbations) by very prominent Rabbis. These are (in order):
- Rabbi Yaakov Leiner of Izbica-Radzin (1818-1878). He was the son of the founder of the Izbica-Radzin dynasty, Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner
- Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen Rabinowitz of Lublin (1823-1900)
- Rabbi Yosef Dov Ber HaLevi Soloveitchek (The Beis Halevi) (1820-1892)
- Rabbi Boruch Mordechai Lipshitz of Siedlce (1810-1885)
- Rabbi Yehoshua, the son of the Mohorshal of Osnovice.
- Rabbi Dov Berish Landau, the first Admor of Biala Podlaska (18118-1876)
There is a very interesting list of hundreds of prenumeranten (names of subscribers to the book), from dozens of towns and cities, demonstrating widespread interest and support.
Jewish Miscellanies 