Collected novellae and pure words from earlier geonim, gathered by R. Mendel Katzinaha of the Ukraine קאצינאהא. The title page, which is undated, is followed by several letters from distinguished rabbis praising the book. They are from R. Zevi Rappaport, admor of Chertekov; R. Isaiah Zilberstein, of וואיטצען; a second letter from R. Rappaport; R. Abraham Isaac Friedman, admor of Sadagora; R. Koppel ben Ezekiel Reich of Pest; and R. Akiva ben Marashbas, av bet din Pressburg. The text, in a single column in square letters, is in two parts, the first, parperot, is comprised of of fifty-seven entries. Parperot are generally taken to mean light or anecdotal items. An example of the contents is 13) Tov Tam to the righteous, as above: the righteous rejoices in his portion which is small, which is before him. The reason for this is that his eyes can see that from the multitude go out the wicked which is numerous. The second part is the pure words דברי תחות, comprised of twenty-four entries. Parperot appears to be unrecorded.

A paste-down on the front end-paper by R. Dov Arye Levinthal, dated Philadelphia, Passover [5]624 (1924), asks the recipient of this work to support and generously give to the Author who has suffered greatly with poor health, destitute family, and no income as a result of WWI. R. Dov Arye Levinthal (Bernard Louis, 1865–1952), was born in Lithuania, went to the United States in 1891 after having studied at the yeshivot of Kovno, Vilna, and Bialystok. Settling in Philadelphia, he succeeded his father-in-law, Eleazar Kleinberg, as rabbi of Congregation B'nai Abraham, where he served until his death, and as head of the United Orthodox Hebrew Congregations of Philadelphia. Levinthal was an able organizer and was responsible for the establishment of a number of institutions tending to the religious and social needs of the immigrant Jewish community, such as the Central Talmud Torah, out of which later grew the Yeshivah Mishkan Israel, and a municipal va'ad ha-kashruth to supervise ritual slaughtering. One of the founders of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada in 1902, of which he was the first president, his energy and wide range of interests enabled him to represent the Orthodox point of view in the greater Jewish community. He was a founder of the American Jewish Committee and a member of the delegation sent by the American Jewish Congress to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. An active Zionist as well, he helped to establish the Mizrachi Organization of America and was an honorary vice-president of the Federation of American Zionists.  

Hebrew Description

פרפראות : ליקוטי חידושי תורה ודברי צחות שיצאו מפי גאונים ... / מלקטם מענדיל קאצינאהע