Pair of Tefillin Dating to the First Generations of Chassidut – Given to the Maggid of Zlotchov by the Baal Shem ...

Pair of Tefillin Dating to the First Generations of Chassidut – Given to the Maggid of Zlotchov by the Baal Shem Tov – Eastern Europe, 18th Century

Pair of tefillin dating to the first generations of Chassidut; the tefillin are attributed to R. Yechiel Michel, the Maggid of Zlotchov, who received them from his teacher the Baal Shem Tov. [Eastern Europe, 18th century].
Pair of tefillin, shel yad and shel rosh, with parashiot (parchment scrolls) in Arizal script, written by an expert scribe in the early days of Chassidut. [The batim (leather boxes) and straps date to a later period, apparently the late 19th or early 20th century].
The tefillin attributed to the Baal Shem Tov come from Rebbe Shmuel Gottesman of Lashkovitz-Yaritchov, a descendant of R. Michel of Zlotchov and the Baal Shem Tov. The tefillin were passed down from generation to generation in the Gottesman family – descendants of the Lashkovitz dynasty of rebbes. According to family tradition, the Baal Shem Tov gave the present tefillin to his close disciple R. Yechiel Michel, the Maggid of Zlotchov, and they passed by inheritance to his son R. Binyamin Ze'ev Wolf of Zbarazh, then to his son-in-law R. Yitzchak Tzvi Menachem Auerbach of Letychiv (grandson of R. Baruch of Mezhibuzh, grandson of the Baal Shem Tov), then to his son-in-law Rebbe Aharon Aryeh Leib Gottesman of Lashkovitz (son of R. Yosef Yoske Gottesman of Lashkovitz, son-in-law of R. Meir of Premishlan), then to his son Rebbe Yosef Yoske Gottesman (the second) of Lashkovitz-Zalishchyky, then to his son Rebbe Shmuel Gottesman of Lashkovitz-Yaritchov (1902-1970; son-in-law of Rebbe Chaim Yosef Teitelbaum of Dinov-Volova).

In 1940, Rebbe Shmuel Gottesman of Lashkovitz-Yaritchov managed to escape from Europe to the United States along with two items with ties to his ancestor the Baal Shem Tov – a Torah scroll written by R. Tzvi Hirsch Sofer (the scribe and disciple of the Baal Shem Tov), and the present set of tefillin. After Rebbe Shmuel's passing, his son R. Avraham Yehoshua Heshel Gottesman donated the Torah scroll to the Yeshiva University Museum in New York, where it remains to this day. He retained the tefillin and continued to lay them daily, and bar mitzvah boys would often visit him to put on the tefillin. After his passing in 2013, the tefillin were given to his daughter Leah, who deposited them with Kedem. Her signed certificate of authenticity is enclosed.

The script in the present item's parashiot has been identified as an exemplar of the ancient script used by sofrim in the first generations of Chassidut. Enclosed is a certificate of authenticity from R. David Leib Greenfeld of the United States, chairman and founder of Vaad Mishmeret Stam, an expert on Stam scripts and author of foundational works on the laws of writing Torah scrolls, tefillin and mezuzot. R. Greenfeld writes in the certificate of authenticity (from 2018) that Ms. Leah Gottesman brought for his inspection the tefillin reportedly given by the Baal Shem Tov to the Maggid of Zlotchov. He writes that he identifies the writing in the parashiot as ancient Chassidic script, and attests that despite their antiquity they remain kosher.
Enclosed is an additional certificate of authenticity by R. Yehoshua Yankelevitz, head of the Dorot institute for research into Torah scrolls and Jewish customs and an expert on ancient Stam scripts, confirming that it is evident from the ancient script that the parashiot were written by a scribe from the first generations of Chassidut. R. Yankelevitz describes the particular beauty of the script in these parashiot and highlights several indications that the scribe was an expert sofer, an exceptional master of his craft, particular in halachic beautification and a Chassid versed in the teachings of the Arizal, who lived in the first generations of the Chassidic period.

Height of parchment – parashiot shel yad: 44 mm; parashiot shel rosh: 60 mm. Batim: 50X50 mm; size of base: 75X95 mm. Height of batim (not including base): 55 mm. Parashiot in good condition (according to enclosed certificate, they are kosher); batim in fair-poor condition; plastic protective cases in good-fair condition; straps in good-fair condition. Placed in new velvet pouch.

Enclosed: Seven large leaves (ten pages) handwritten by Rebbe Shmuel Gottesman of Lashkovitz-Yaritchov, novellae on the Torah portions and Tehillim, written in his first years after reaching the United States. Titles heading leaves: "First day of Selichot 1943 – for beginning Tehillim, reciting ten chapters per day"; "20th Iyar 1943, New York, Tuesday of Bechukotai, 35th day of Matmonim [the Omer] – yahrzeit of my grandfather and master the holy rabbi of Lashkovitz"; "Naso 1948"; "26th Sivan 1952"; and more.