COLLECTION OF SERMONS AND BIBLICAL COMMENTARIES, MANUSCRIPT ON PAPER Mainly from the School of Joseph Taitazak [ca. 1550-1575]

185 leaves (3 blanks, plus three loose pages of notes and transcriptions by Halberstam), 8 ½ x 6 inches; 220 x 160 mm, fols. 1-31 written in a dark brown ink in a semi-cursive Byzantine(?) script of the sixteenth century, fols. 33-134 written in an oriental cursive script of the sixteenth-seventeenth century, fols. 33-67 written in black ink, fols. 68-134 in brown ink, fols. 137-182 written in brown ink in semi-cursive Byzantine(?) script of the sixteenth-seventeenth century, on paper stocks variously watermarked with Angel in circle, Anchor in circle (cf. Briquet 552), marginal notes on fols.1-31, 169v, 174r, original foliation in ink in Hebrew letters, modern foliation in pencil, catchwords; scattered ink erosion on fols. 1-31, ink burnholes on fols. 147-182 with some loss.  Contemporary half vellum over paste paper boards, manuscript paper spine label; corners defective.

Solomon Halberstam (shelf no. 11)

Hirschfeld (ms. no. 14); The texts by Levi ibn Habib, Asher ben Jehiel, Joseph Taitazak and Judah Nathan Provencale are also found in Manuscript Oxford, Bodleian, 969; the sermon by Asher ben Jehiel was printed from this manuscript by Halberstam in the Azriel Hildesheimer-Festschrift, 1890, pp. 90-94

Contents

Fols. 1r-31v: Biblical comments by Joseph Taitazak, a sixteenth-century talmudist, bible scholar, and kabbalist from Salonica.  Jospeh Caro helped establish the authority of Taitazak, calling him "the light and the holy one of Israel, the crown of the Diaspora."  In his Maggid Meisharim, Caro referred in laudatory terms to Taitazak’s "scholarship and saintliness" and credited him with “raising many disciples."  These students included Isaac Adarbi, Samuel de Medina, Eliezer Ashkenazi, Isaac Arollia, and Solomon Alkabez.  Taitazak’s biblical commentaries are notable for their philosophical bent and their rigorous adherence to the scholastic system of Thomas Aquinas.  Taitazak’s chief importance was as a kabbalist and he may be considered one of the founders of the kabbalistic circle established by his disciples in Safed.  Articles on Taitazak by G. Scholem, M. Benayahu and others appear in Sefunot, 11, 1971-1978 (The Book of Greek Jewry).  See Montefiore ms. 62 (Lot 55) for an additional manuscript containing the commentary of Taitazak.

Fol. 22v:  A sermon on the first commandment, on the margin.

Fols. 33r-134v: Commentary on Isaiah and Jeremiah by Meir ben Isaac Arama (1460?–ca. 1545), biblical commentator and philosopher, from Saragossa. Arama’s commentary is printed under the title, Urim ve-tummim (Venice, 1603). The version in this manuscript differs from the printed one.

Fols. 137r-146r: Manot ha-Levi (opening section only) by Solomon Ben Moses Ha-Levi Alkabez (ca. 1505–1584), kabbalist and mystical poet.  Alkabez was the composer of the Sabbath hymn Lekhah Dodi [Come, my beloved] and his Manot ha-Levi is a commentary on the scroll of Esther.

Fols. 147r-151v: Sermons by Levi ben Jacob ibn Habib (also known as the Ralbah, ca. 1483–1545), a rabbi in Jerusalem and a principal opponent of the restoration of the semikhah.  Born in Zamora, Spain, he escaped with his father to Salonika, after being forcibly baptized in Portugal.  In Salonica, Levi received his education and taught  at the congregation of Spanish exiles, called Gerush Sefarad. In order to atone for his baptism as a youth, he went to Erez Israel, settling in Safed and then in Jerusalem, where he officiated for fifteen years. Levi became famous as a talmudist, showing a preference for the use of literal meaning (peshat) as opposed to casuistry (pilpul).

Fols. 151v-153v: Sermon by Asher ben Jehiel (ca. 1250–1327). Also known as Asheri and Rosh, Asher ben Jehiel’s first teachers were his father, one of the Hasidei Ashkenaz, who was a follower of Judah ben Samuel he-Hasid, and his elder brother. He spent some time in France, apparently in Troyes, and then lived in Cologne and Coblenz. From there he moved to Worms, where his teacher Meir ben Baruch of Rothenburg had been appointed rabbi in 1281. Meir esteemed his pupil, and appointed him a member of the local bet-din. After the imprisonment of Meir, Asher became the acknowledged leader of German Jewry and headed the unsuccessful efforts to obtain his master's release, toward which he was prepared to contribute a considerable portion of his assets. He distinguished himself for his activities during the period of the Rindfleisch massacres (1298), and for his decisions on matters arising from the resulting disruption of family and communal life. Fearing a similar fate to that of Meir of Rothenburg, Asher left Germany in 1303. The following year, he reached Barcelona, via north Italy and Provence, where he was welcomed with great honor by Solomon ben Abraham Adret. In 1305 he accepted the position of rabbi in Toledo.

Fols. 153v-161r: Comments on Rabbinic passages.

Fols. 161r-178r: Per[ush] Maam[arim] le-ha-Rambam. Comments on Maimonides and on Biblical passages, probably by Joseph Taitazak.

Fols. 180r-182r: Commentary on Lamentations by Judah Nathan Provencale.

Signed by the censors: Giovanni Carretto, 16[18] (fols. 87v, 136v, 182v); Fra Luigi, 1600 (fol. 182v).