Likkutei ha-Pardes, Solomon ben Isaac (and other works), bound with Pesakim u-Khetavim, Venice: Daniel Bomberg, 1519

Estimate

5,000 - 7,000 USD

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Description

90 [54 +36] leaves (9 1/2 x 7 1/8 in.; 241 x 181 mm). Collation: Likkutei ha-Pardes: 1-12^{4, 13^{6 = 54 leaves; Pesakim u-Khetavim: 1-9^{4 = 36 leaves. Leaves strengthened at gutter, lightly stained, some worming. Hebrew inscription and censors' inscriptions (Luigi da Bologna, 1601; Girolamo da Durallano, 1640) on verso of final leaf; bookbinders stamp on verso of front free endpaper. Modern brown boards, spine defective.}}}

Literature

Likkutei ha-Pardes: Vinograd , Venice 10, 13, 18; Habermann 12. Pesakim u-Khetavim: Vinograd , Venice 12; Habermann 13.

Catalogue Note

Likkutei ha-Pardes, an abridgement of the longer Sefer ha-Pardes, comprises the first printed edition of collected halakhot and responsa attributed to Solomon ben Isaac (1040-1105), most commonly referred to by the acronym Rashi. In addition, it includes a number of other works by various authors.

Contents:

Halakhic writings of Rashi (ff. 2r-22r).

Refuot ha-Geviyah le-hohkam Rabbenu Judah [ben Solomon al-]Harizi. Al-Harizi (1170–1235) was a poet and translator, best known for his Sefer Tahkemoni. Refuot is a versified adaptation of a chapter four of Maimonides' hilkhot de'ot which deals with the maintenance of bodily health. (ff. 22v-23v).

f. 24 is blank

Sefer ha-Tapu'ach ve-Sefer ha-Nefesh. Sefer ha-Tapu'ach (25r-28r) is an Aristotelian work translated from Arabic by Abraham bar Hisdai and Sefer ha-Nefesh (ff. 29r-33v), attributed to Galen, was translated from the Arabic by al-Harizi.

Takkanot me-Rabbenu Gershon (sic) (34r-35v). The halakhic directives of Rabbi Gershom, "Light of the Exile." (c. 960–1028).

Mishlei hakhamim ve-Hidotam (35r-35v). Gate 44 of al-Harizi's Tahkemoni.

Aryeh Mesubach (36r) by Berechiah ben Natronai ha-Nakdan (12th-13th century). Parable 68 from his Mishlei Shu'alim.

Pesakim 'u-Khetavim contains 267 responsa by Israel ben Petahiah Isserlein (1390–1460), the foremost German rabbi of the fifteenth century. isserlein is often referred to by the names Israel Marburg or Israel Neustadt after two of the towns in which he resided. Renowned for his piety and ascetic lifestyle, he may be regarded as continuing the tradition of the Hasidei Ashkenaz of the thirteenth century. Of the 267 responsa collected by his students, seventy eight address marital relations, the remainder ritual and civil law. Most but not all are by Isserlein; fifteen are from one of his teachers, Shalom of Weiner-Neustadt, and five from a leading contemporary, Jacob Weil. Twenty seven, in a somewhat different form, can be found in his magnum opus, Terumat ha-Deshen. These responsa are important today, in addition to their halakhic value, for the information they provide about the life of central European Jewry in the fifteenth century.