Two independent works, the first Ha-Halakhah; Historia by Isaac Jacob Askhenazi, the second Ha-Zioniot by Joseph ben David Sapir. Ha-Halakhah, in two parts is on Masekhet Avot by R. Isaac Jacob Askhenazi. The title-page describes it as a systematic study of the perspectives of the Mishnayot and halakhot in Pirkei Avot, through which is made clear the reasonings of the generations and the sources in the life of the nation, that is, the Jewish people, through varying generations. The verso of the title-page has two dedications, to R. Jonah Mordecai Zlotnick and Jehiel Meir Keravaitz. The text is comprised of Avot accompanied below it with the detailed commentary. Part two is on the outlook and history, on Mishnayot and the halakhot in Avot clarifies the development and sources in the life of the [Jewish] nation in different periods.

The second work, Ha-Zionist by Joseph ben David Sapir, explains the intellectual spirit and sources of the Zionist movement and is on the essence and history of Zionism. It was written and published in Russian and Hebrew for the general reader. Ha-Zionist was an authoritative source for Zionist education.

Joseph ben David Sapir (1869–1935) was a Zionist leader. Born in Kishinev, Sapir qualified as a doctor. A member of Ḥovevei Zion from his youth, he was one of the most prominent Zionists in Odessa, and he established a publishing house, Di Kopeke Bibliotek, which published Zionist literature in Yiddish and Russian. After the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, Sapir was elected chairman of the South Russia Zionist Organization and was one of the leaders of the committee that aided victims of pogroms. He left Russia soon thereafter, spending several years in Bessarabia, and reached Palestine in 1925. Sapir was director of a department of the Bikkur Ḥolim hospital in Jerusalem. Sapir went to the Tahkemoni religious school and later attended a teachers’ seminary in Warsaw. repairing the Negev settlements for the approaching War of Independence. In 1948–53 he served as director general of the Ministry of Defense, under David Ben-Gurion. He was first elected to the Fourth Knesset on the Mapai list in 1959. In August 1968, Sapir succeeded Golda Meir as secretary general of the newly founded Israel Labor Party, serving in this position.

Two fascinating and illuminating works on different aspects of Jewish Hisory.

Hebrew Description

ההלכה וההיסטוריא : כולל חקירות מדעיות והשקפות היסטוריות, על המשניות וההלכות אשר בפרקי מסכת אבות ... מאת יצחק יעקב אשכנזי בפלוצק ... חלק א- ב.

הציוניות : ... מבאר ברוח מדעי ובסגנון פשוט את מהותה וקורותיה של התנועה הציונית, [מאת] ד"ר י. ספיר... נעתק לשפת עבר ע"י נחום ליב נאוואפלאנט...

עמ’ [4-6]: הקדמה מאת מ[שה] ל[יב] ליליענבלום.

המקור, באותיות קיריליות: Vilna ,Sionizm 1903.