by Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk Chassidic and Kabbalistic essays on the Torah,
This Sefer contains a collection of discourses which Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk delivered in Tiberias, following his immigration to Eretz Israel. The book was first printed in Kopust (Kopys), 1814. The title page states: "And they were collected together by the rabbi who was outstanding in Torah and fear of G-d, R. Elazar Zussman, scribe of the Holy Land, and from him it reached our hands". Rabbi Elazar Zussman was the scribe for Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk, and all the Chassidim who reached Eretz Israel in the famous 1777 immigration.
The identity of the writer of this book is subject to dispute. Some say the essays were recorded by his disciples, primarily Rabbi Elazar Zussman, who also edited and arranged them for print (Beit Rebbe). Conversely, according to the tradition of the Slonim Chassidim, the entire book was written by Rabbi Menachem Mendel himself, while Rabbi Elazar Zussman only edited and arranged it for print, adding the opening words "Patach HaRav" and "Shaal HaShoel" (Yesod HaMaala, I, p. 59). In the opinion of the researcher Rabbi Yehoshua Mondshine, Rabbi Elazar Zussman "was the one who wrote the letters of the righteous men and Chassidim from Eretz Israel, and it is evident that he also wrote the teachings of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk in the holy book Pri HaAretz, and the numerous figures of speech he uses to render it an almost skim thru the Sefer " (HaMaasar HaRishon, Jerusalem 2012, p. 222). Pri HaAretz is one of the most profound and difficult Seforim to comprehend of Chassidic Seforim. The Yesod HaAvoda of Slonim declared that he wishes that in the times of Moshiach and in the world to come he will be able to uphold the lofty levels described in this book. "We have a tradition from reliable people that this book never left the table of Rebbe Yisrael of Ruzhin, who would say that whoever is able to understand this book, is capable of combining the lower wisdom with the higher wisdom" (Yesod HaMaala, ibid).
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