Sefer HaTerumah – Personal Copy of Admur HaGaon HaKadosh Rebbe Elisha of Gorlitz, zy”a
Sefer HaTerumah, classic halachic rulings, authored by Rabbi Baruch ben Rabbi Yitzchak of France, one of the Baalei HaTosafos. Printed in Zolkiew, 1811.
This exceptional copy bears the holy stamp of Reb Elisha, Av Beis Din of Gorlice, grandson of the ‘Divrei Chaim’ of Sanz, zy”a.
Additional ownership signatures appear in the sefer, including "Yehoshua Shechna Kahana Shapira" and "Shmuel Nosson Nota… Shapira".
HaGaon HaKadosh Rebbe Elisha of Gorlice, Hy”d (1860–1941), a descendant of the greatest tzaddikim of the generation, including the Baal ‘Yitav Lev’ of Sighet and the Baal ‘Divrei Chaim’ of Sanz, zy”a. In his youth, he learned under his uncle, the Baal ‘Emek Sheila’ of Hornosteipel, who later took him as a son-in-law.
In 5661 (1901), he was appointed Rav of Krasna, and later succeeded his brother, Reb Tzvi Hirsch, as Rav of Gorlice. Though he initially refused to serve as a Rebbe, the chassidim of his saintly father, Reb Baruch of Gorlice, zy”a, saw him as their leader and continued following him.
During the terrible years of the Holocaust, he was exiled to Siberia, where he passed away on the night of Pesach from heartbreak, as he had no matzah shemurah. It is told that at the seder table, as he recited "Vayehi bachatzi halailah", he hinted that his time was near—and so it was!
