Manuscript, with several compositions on the Mesorah (of the Bible), by Rabbi Shalom Shachne Yalin - greatest Mesorah scholar of the last generations. [Written throughout various times: Lithuania and Jerusalem, 19th century].
On the margins of a page in the middle of the volume, is the author's signature: "Shalom Shachne proofreader of Skidel". the manuscript contains several compositions in his handwriting:
1. Notes on the Mesorah HaGedola. [the Mesorah HaGedola was arranged in alphabetical order and not according to the order of the Bible. the composition contains: deciphering the place of verses, corrections of mistakes and notes of variations from the version of our books].
2. Editing words - List of corrections of chaserot and yeterot in Nevi'im and Ketuvim, according to the books of the Mesorah and other books.
3. Gilyon Mesorah - Copy of the Mesorah HaKetana, with completions and notes according to the Mesorah HaGedolah.
4. An orderly composition on the Mesorah, the Five Books of the Torah and the Five Megillot [apparently, the final composition of his works on the Mesorah].
5. Various lists of glosses on the Mesorah, list of verses beginning with the letter Vav, and new glosses.
Rabbi Shalom Shachne Yalin (1790-1874) proofreader from Skidel in the Grodno region [father of Rabbi Aryeh Leib Yalin, author of Yefe Einayim on the Talmud]. Disciple of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin; was very proficient in knowledge of the Mesorah and proofreading and knew the variations and doubts of the correct version of the Bible. this is apparent from his writings and from the tasks he was assigned by the Maharil Diskin and others. the only expert in the world on proofreading Torah scrolls and Bibles. He immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1858 with part of his family. A short while later, he was sent by Jerusalem rabbis [Rabbi Yosef Zundel of Salant and his son-in-law Rabbi Shmuel of Salant, Rabbi Chaim Nissim Abulafia, etc.] to Aleppo to copy the Mesorah from the Aleppo Codex. In c. 1859, Rabbi Yalin and his youngest son, Rabbi Yehoshua traveled to Aleppo and copied the Mesorah of the Nevi'im and the Torah. Later, he was asked to copy the Mesorah of the Ketuvim and due to his elderly age, he could not travel, so he sent his son-in-law Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Kimchi in his stead with a Nevi'im and Ketuvim he himself had proofread and with instructions. [See Tzefunot 8 and 10 about him and this mission, Amudei Shesh Jerusalem 1891 Part 2 in his introduction. Avoteinu - Yalin Jerusalem 1966, pp. 350-362].
98 leaves. Varied size 20.5-22 cm. thick paper [characteristic to the first half of the 19th century]. Fair condition, wear and stains, few worm damages. Unbound.
All the above has been written based on the enclosed letter - a detailed expert’s opinion given by a rabbi who specializes in Torah manuscripts.