Sefer Rav Alfas, Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi, Venice, Daniel Bomberg: 1521-22

3 volumes (14 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.; 370 x 250 mm). Title pages within woodcut architectural borders; woodcut decorative initial word panels. Vol. I: ff. 399 with the final blank, f. 400, lacking here as in most copies.  Vol. II: ff. 401-782 (i.e. 781). Vol. III: ff. 392; quire 48 is misbound between quires 46-47. Lacking final section of Shaarei Shavuot, ff. 9,(1), appended to this edition. Stained in places, some worming, paper repairs, mostly marginal although in some instances affecting few words. Several quires strengthened at gutter. Previous owners' stamps and signatures on titles, marginal corrections and notes in various hands;  some lengthy notes, especially in Vol. III citing Solomon ibn Adret (Rashba). Uniform vellum, braided vellum loops, corresponding catches no longer present, lightly worn; paper labels on spine.

Shlomo Cohen-his inscription on f. 55r of Vol. I.

Vinograd, Venice 34; Habermann 69; Steinschneider,
5310, 2 (Ed. quoque rara).

Halakhic compendium by Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi (1013–1103), commonly known by the acronym Rif. After studying with both Nissim ben Jacob and Hananel ben Hushiel in Kairouan, Isaac relocated to Fez from whence his surname Alfasi is derived. There he became recognized as the leading talmudic sage of the day. At the age of 75, Alfasi was denounced to the government on unknown charges and was forced to flee to Spain, eventually settling in Lucena, where he headed the Talmudic academy. Joseph ibn Migash, and Judah Halevi were among his pupils.

Alfasi's major work, Sefer Rav Alfas, is considered to be one of the most important works in the development of halakhic literature. An abridgment of the Talmud, it extracts only pertinent legal decisions, eliminating both the non-halakhic material as well as those strictly theoretical subjects no longer relevant to the daily observance of Jewish law. More comprehensive than earlier codes, the Rif would remain a fundamental pillar of Jewish law for hundreds of years. The work of Alfasi served as an important touchstone for later halakhic codifiers such as Jacob ben Asher and Maimonides whose own codes relied heavily on the Rif.

Sefer Rav Alfas' great utility as an aid to understanding the text of the Talmud, made the 1521-22 Venice edition an invaluable and natural complement to the first edition of the Babylonian Talmud (1519/20-23).