The Rosh Responsa - Signature of Rabbi Meshulam Feish Segal Lowy - The First Tosher Rebbe

The Rosh Responsa - Signature of Rabbi Meshulam Feish Segal Lowy - The First Tosher Rebbe
Responsa by Rabbeinu Asher. Zhovkva, 1803. Fourth edition.
On the title page is the signature of the first Tosher Rebbe, R. "Feish Segal". Many stamps of his grandson, the Koson Rebbe Moshe Shmuel Rottenberg of Kisvárda [son of Rebbe Yosef Rottenburg of Koson (Mezőkaszony), author of Bnei Shileshim], and signatures of his son R. "Efraim Asher HaLevi Rottenberg" [rabbi in Los Angeles].
R. Meshulam Feish Segal Lowy (I), born in Moravia, was the first Tosher Rebbe (1821-1873) and a leading Hungarian Rabbi, renowned for his holiness and the wonders he performed. During his formative years, the Enlightenment movement and Torah abandonment spread throughout Moravia, and he traveled to study in Hungarian yeshivas, led by the Maharam Ash and R. Avraham Shaag. After his wedding, he moved to the village of Nyirvasvari (Eshvor) near Nyírbátor [a place famed for its illustrious kabbalists and G-d-fearing Jews whom the Komarno Rabbi would call "Fire and light scholars", a play on the name of the place Esh ("fire" in Hebrew) "v'or" ("and light" in Hebrew)], near his father-in-law, who was a disciple of the Kaliver Rebbe and the Rebbe of Komarno. R. Meshulam Feish was connected to the leading Chassidic Rebbes of Hungary and Galicia: The Rebbe of Liska, the Divrei Chaim of Sanz, the Mohari of Zhydachiv, the Rebbe of Komarno, the Rebbe of Roslavl, and others. His primary rebbe was R. David of Dynow who ordained him as rebbe.
R. Lowy served as Rabbi and Av Beit Din of the city of Nyirtass (near the Kleinwardein [Kisvárda] district) and was renowned for his fiery enthusiasm of G-d's service and prayer. Prominent rebbes of his times (R. David of Dynow and R. Asher Anshel Yungreiss of Csenger) sent people seeking salvation to R. Lowy relying on his pure prayers and the merit of his Torah study and holiness. Tales of the revelation of Ruach HaKodesh in his Beit Midrash are well-known. Reputedly, he used to perform wonders at the time he danced on Shabbat [see Pe'er Meshulam for many stories about his wonders and the great elevation felt by those in his proximity].
In his senior years, he made a special trip to pray at the gravesite of Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk to merit a son, and after his son was born, he named him Elimelech after the tsaddik. R. Lowy used to fondly call his son "the Rebbe R. Elimelech" [this son was orphaned from his father in his babyhood and was raised by his illustrious brother-in-law Rebbe Yehosef Rottenberg, author of Bnei Shileshim. Only in 1908 did he succeed his father as Av Beit Din of Nyirtass].
In 1873, an epidemic broke out and the rebbe begged G-d to take his life to atone for the People of Israel, and indeed, his death brought an end to the epidemic. R. Zvi Elimelech of Blozhov, author of Zvi LaTsaddik said that if Rebbe Meshulam Feish would have lived to an old age, he would have conquered "not only Hungary but also Poland…".
The Tosh dynasty continues until our days in Kiryat Tosh in Canada, founded by his great-grandson the Tosh Rebbe Meshulam Feish Segal Lowy II (1922-2015), son of R. Mordechai of Demecser, son of R. Elimelech Rabbi of Tosh and grandson of R. Meshulam Feish Lowy I.
R. Lowy's grandson (son of his daughter), Rebbe Moshe Shmuel Rottenberg (1872-1946) was the son of the first Koson Rebbe, R. Yehosef HaLevi Rottenberg, author of Bnei Shileshim (1853-1911). He was raised in the Rottenberg home together with his uncle R. Elimelech of Tosh (1872-1942) who was close to his age. After his marriage to the daughter of Rabbi Ben-Zion Fisch of Borşa, he resided in Kleinwardein and later immigrated to the US and settled in Los Angeles and in NY (see: Encyclopedia L'Chassidut, Vol. 3, p. 373; M. Wunder, Encyclopedia L'Chochmei Galicia, Vol. 4, pp. 831-832; Pe'er Meshulam and Tiferet Beit Koson). His son R. Efraim Asher Rottenberg is rabbi of the Ner Yisrael community in Los Angeles.
[1], 98; 9; 8 leaves. 37 cm. Thick high-quality paper. Overall good condition. Stains and wear. Worming to some leaves. Contemporary, worn and torn binding.