SEFER SAR SHALOM (COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS), RABBI SAMUEL ARIPUL, SAFED: ABRAHAM ASHKENAZI AND ELIEZER ASHKENAZI, 1578-1579

The third book printed in the Holy Land.

Rabbi Samuel ben Isaac Aripul (d. after 1586), one of the greatest preachers of the sixteenth century, was probably born in Salonika but later traveled to Constantinople, Venice, and Safed. Like his Mizmor le-todah on Psalms 118:25-134 and Lev hakham on Ecclesiastes, Sefer sar shalom on the Song of Songs is a philosophically-infused commentary that stresses the ethical messages of the biblical text. The book takes its name from the midrash that understands the word shelomoh as used throughout the Song of Songs (with one or two exceptions) as a reference not to King Solomon but le-mi she-ha-shalom shello (to the One to Whom belongs peace) (Shevu‘ot 35b). As was the case for Kehillat ya‘akov before it, Sefer sar shalom would not be reprinted until 1977.

Following the publication of the present title, the Safed press paused its activities for about eight years. In 1586, Eliezer Ashkenazi returned briefly to Constantinople to print Aripul’s Lev hakham on Ecclesiastes with his erstwhile local partner, David ben Elijah Kashti, before returning to Safed and issuing two or three more books in 1587. It seems, sadly, that Eliezer passed away shortly thereafter, bringing Hebrew book production in the Land of Israel to a halt until 1832, two hundred forty-five years later.