A COLLECTION OF TEXTS ON CUSTOMS AND LAWS, MANUSCRIPT ON PAPER [15th century]

47 leaves, 8 ½ x 5 ¾ inches; 216 x 147 mm, lightly ruled in ink, written in several different Ashkenazi scripts, modern foliation in pencil; dampstained along margins, several leaves loose, a few leaves at back gnawed in lower outer corner, scattered spotting, first leaf soiled, library stamp on first and last leaves. Wrappers; outer corners of back cover trimmed.

Moses ben Isaac Kohen Rapa — Solomon Halberstam (shelf no. 366)

Hirschfeld (ms. no. 150); M.Z. Weisz, in ha-Goren, 7 (1908), pp. 76-111, published Al ha-Kol from a Kaufmann manuscript; see J.N. Epstein, in Sinai, 94 (1984), pp. 123-134; M. M. Meshi Zahav (Jerusalem 1972) prepared a modern, complete edition of Sefer Barukh she-Amar based on this manuscript and others. This manuscript includes less glosses than some of the others.

Contents

Fols. 1r-13r: An unpublished treatise on customs and prayers by Baruch, the cantor of Troyes, with many glosses and additions inserted into the text. Another copy, without additions, is found in New York, JTSA, ms. Rab. 1489.

Fols. 13v-14r: Additional customs of reciting kaddish, legends about Ezra the Scribe, an account of three boats that brought survivors from the fall of Jerusalem to different countries in Europe and a question asked in a dream by Judah Hasid.

Fols. 17r-31v:  Al ha-Kol, laws and customs by Moses ben Shneur of Evreux, the teacher of Meir of Rothenburg. Other manuscript copies are found in Parma, Biblioteca Palatina Cod. Parm. 1902 and Cambridge, University Library Add. 3127.

Fols. 31v-32r: Commentary by Solomon ben Isaac (Rashi) on the thirteen hermeneutical rules of R. Ishmael.

Fols. 35r-41v: Sefer Barukh she-Amar. Laws of writing and preparing Torah scrolls, tefillin and mezzuzzot by Abraham ben Moses of Sonnenschein with copious glosses by Samson ben Eliezer Barukh She’amar. The text was copied only until the middle of letter “lamed” of section Tikkun Tefillin.

Fol.42r-46v: An anonymous work on the same laws.

Fol. 47v: Essay on the four levels of prophecy.