The Seforim of the Chidushei HaRIM of Ger – First Editions – A Segulah for Protection and Salvation!
She’eilos U’Teshuvos HaRIM, responsa and more from the holy Gaon and Admor, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter of Ger ZY"A, printed in Józefów, 1867 – First Edition –
The author’s first published sefer!
Chidushei HaRIM on Choshen Mishpat, by the holy Gaon Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter of Ger ZY"A, printed in Warsaw, 1870–1871, two volumes – First Editions.
A Segulah for Protection and Salvation
In the year 1867, a terrible plague spread throughout the cities of Poland. The holy Gaon, Rabbi Chanoch Henich of Aleksander, sent his talmid, Rabbi Shlomo Buchwicz of Warsaw, to the holy Rebbe, the Sfas Emes of Ger, with a request to begin printing the Torah insights of his grandfather, the Chidushei HaRIM:
"Surely it will serve as a segulah to stop the epidemic when the Torah of a Gaon and Tzaddik, who toiled in Torah with holiness and purity, is published. As Chazal say, ‘Great is Torah, for it gives life to those who practice it…’"
The Sfas Emes immediately accepted the Aleksander Rebbe’s request and began printing his grandfather’s chiddushim. That very year, She’eilos U’Teshuvos HaRIM was published in Józefów (the very volume before us). "…And as soon as it was printed, the plague ceased." (Meir Einei HaGolah, section 606).
This practice—printing seforim as a segulah to halt plagues—was common in Poland. Similarly, during the epidemic of 1851, Shu”t Meshiv Nefesh by the Maharal Tzinz ZY"A (the rebbi of the Chidushei HaRIM) was printed for this very purpose.
