Obj. ID: 36066
Jewish printed books Seder Zra'im, Kopys', 1812
This text was prepared by William Gross:
Seder Zeraim from the Jerusalem Talmud.
The printer, Rabbi Yisrael Yaffe, is known as the "Printer from Kopyst." He printed many Chassidic works between c.1804-1828. Rabbi Yisrael Yaffe was a disciple of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk and was close to the Baal HaTanya. He carried the Baal HaTanya on his shoulders when he was released from prison in 1799. An adherent of Chabad Chassidism, he eventually emigrated to Eretz Israel, settled in Hebron, and established the country's first Hebrew printing press.
Ya'ari lists four different marks employed by R' Yaffe in his works (Ya'ari 182-185). The current mark (Ya'ari 184) copies that of the famous Foa family crest: an oval cartouche contianing two rampant lions flanking a central palm tree embalzoned with the Magen David. The printer's name appears below, on a base that supports the cartouche.