Hassidic discourses of Dovber Schneuri, the Mittler Rebbe, Scribe: Ben Zion [ben] Yehudah Leib, Ushatz (Ushachi, Belarus): 1826

189 leaves  (6 ½ x 4 ¼ in.; 165 x 110 mm). foliation : [3], 186. Written in brown ink on paper in Ashkenazic cursive Hebrew script. Decorated title page. Pen trials on first leaf. Browned; some soiling; occasional dampstains. Previous owner’s stamps and inscriptions on front free endpaper and preliminary leaves. Later blind tooled morocco; paper label on spine.

Dovber Schneuri (1773-1827) was the second Rebbe (spiritual leader) of the Habad Hasidic movement, and son of its founder Schneur Zalman of Liadi. Dovbear is commonly referred to as the Mitteler ("middle" in Yiddish) Rebbe, being the second of the first three generations of Habad leaders. In 1826, Dovber was ordered to Vitebsk by the Russian authorities to stand trial on trumped-up charges of treasonous activities. This manuscript was penned by Ben Zion [ben] Yehuda Leib, a native of Ushatz, near Vitebsk, where the Rebbe was detained. The text comprises six discrete ma’amarim (oral discourses) delivered by Dovbear Schneuri on several Sabbaths during the summer of 1826. Since the Rebbe's words could not be transcribed on the Sabbath, particularly gifted students were assigned the task of transcribing these discourses from memory immediately after the Sabbath. The manuscripts were then submitted to the Rebbe for his approval.