Siddur Tefillat Yisrael – Jerusalem, 1842 – First Siddur Printed in Jerusalem

Siddur Tefillat Yisrael – Jerusalem, 1842 – First Siddur Printed in Jerusalem

Siddur Tefillat Yisrael, Sephardic rite, with laws, piyyutim and supplications. Jerusalem: R. Yisrael Bak, 1842. The first siddur to be printed in Jerusalem.
The title page lauds the virtue and sanctity of the book, which was printed in Jerusalem in absolute holiness, and "all those involved in this holy production were Jewish".
Many approbations from Sephardi Torah scholars of Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias and Hebron, and from Ashkenazi Torah scholars of Jerusalem (Rebbe Aharon Moshe of Brody, R. Yeshayah Bardaki son-in-law of R. Yisrael of Shklow, and R. Moshe Rivlin "Doresh LeTzion" – the Maggid of Shklow). The "approbation" by the Jerusalem rabbis printed on the verso of the title page is actually an authorization from Tevet 1841 granting R. Yisrael Bak the exclusive rights to print books in Jerusalem. Additional approbation from the rabbis of Jerusalem (dated Iyar 1842) on leaf 3.
In his introduction, the printer recounts the ordeals he underwent in Safed: "After all the travails that befell me – pestilence, sword and hunger… a great earthquake… I was compelled to ascend to the mountain, and I have established my dwelling here… Jerusalem". He thanks Yosef Amzalag "who assisted me in printing the siddur".

The renowned printer R. Yisrael Bak (1797-1874), a disciple of the Chassidic masters Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev and Rebbe Yisrael of Ruzhin. Born in Berditchev, he was involved in the printing profession already in his youth, and in 1815, he established the (second) printing press in Berditchev, where he printed some 26 books before immigrating to Eretz Israel. Reputedly, he designed the Slavita typeface. Following his immigration to Eretz Israel, ca. 1831, he settled in Safed, where he established a printing press which operated for a short while, until the great 1837 earthquake which completely destroyed the town. In 1840 he established a printing press in Jerusalem – the first printing press in Jerusalem to print Hebrew books and the only press in the city until the 1860s.
For more information about R. Yisrael Bak and his printing press in Safed and Jerusalem, see: Shoshana Halevy, Sifrei Yerushalayim HaRishonim, Jerusalem 1976, pp. 15-27; Meir Benayahu, R. Yisrael Bak's Printing Press in Safed and the Beginning of Printing in Jerusalem, Areshet, IV, Jerusalem 1966, pp. 271-295 (Hebrew).
Signature on title page: "Yaakov de Pinto" (a Torah scholar and a leading member of the Jewish community of The Hague in the 19th century).

152 leaves. Leaves 22-23 bound out of sequence. 14 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Light wear and signs of use. Small open tear to one leaf, affecting text, and other light tears and damage, slightly affecting text. Inner margins of title page and several other leaves repaired with paper filling. Close trimming, affecting text of some leaves. New binding.

The third Hebrew book printed in Jerusalem, and first siddur printed in Jerusalem. Sh. Halevy, no. 4 (apart from the two books which preceded it, Halevy lists another publication: a broadside for righteous women in Eretz Israel and abroad, ibid. no. 2; see lot 61 in the present catalogue).