Mishneh Torah: Two Early Leaves from Yemen: Sefer Madda (Book of Knowledge) Laws of Repentance, 5:7-6:2 [ca.1230-1300]; Sefer Ahavah (Book of Love) Laws of Prayer, 3:10-4:9 [ca.1300-1400]

2 leaves (11 x 8 ½ in.; 280 x 220 mm; and  9 ½ x 7 ½ in.; 240 x 190 mm). Written in black ink on paper in Yemenite Hebrew square script; one chapter heading with red ink highlights. Lightly soiled and stained; tears and losses at margins, affecting a few letters on one leaf; several small holes on the other leaf affecting individual letters only. Individual mylar sleeves.

Moses Maimonides (1135–1204), rabbinic authority, codifier, philosopher, and royal physician was the most illustrious figure in Judaism in the post-talmudic era. Frequently referred to as Rambam (an acronym for Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon,) Maimonides, was born in Cordoba, Spain but was forced to flee in 1148 as a result of religious persecution. Maimonides eventually settled in Egypt, where he was named court physician to al-Faḍil. In 1177 he was recognized as the official head of the Fostat community and his contemporaries referred to him in glowing terms as "the light of east and west and unique master and marvel of the generation."  It was during this exceptionally productive period of his life, that he wrote the two monumental works upon which his fame chiefly rests, the Mishneh Torah (ca. 1180) and the Guide to the Perplexed(ca. 1190).

Throughout his adult life Maimonides maintained a special relationship with the Jews of Yemen. When a false messiah arose, existentially threatening the survival of the Yemeni Jewish community, they turned in their hour of need to Maimonides, who replied in a consolatory epistle entitled "Iggeret Teman." This literary tour de force not only inspired them to withstand the current crisis; it left an indelible impression on the Jews of Yemen and afforded Maimonides a nearly saint-like status in their eyes. This led, even in Maimonides lifetime, to widespread promulgation and copying of the sage’s written works among Yemenite Jews. These early Yemenite manuscripts provide us with the most authoritative and most accurate versions of the Rambam’s words.

Rabbi Yosef Kapach (1917–2000), was one of the foremost leaders of the Yemenite Jewish community, first in Yemen and later in Israel. He is best known for his editions and translations of the works of Maimonides and other early rabbinic authorities, primarily his restoration of the Mishneh Torah from old manuscripts. His extensive personal collection of ancient manuscripts of Maimonides’ works, from which these leaves emanate, is legendary.

"When in my youth I studied the Mishneh Torah with my grandfather of blessed memory…[he] had manuscripts which were several hundred years old, each scroll of a different age. …The errors and deficiencies of the printed texts were well known. So much so that the printed books were used to characterize a mistaken person -- when someone said something incorrect on some subject, they would respond "you are like a printed text," and point out the correction. These matters were inscribed on my heart, and I grew up with the assumption that there were two types of Maimonides texts in the world: that of the Yemenite manuscripts and that of the printed book. With study and investigation over time, I realized that there were very many differences of various kinds between the Yemenite manuscripts and the printed texts…

We have a tradition from our ancestors, and my grandfather wrote about it in one of his letters, that even during the life of Maimonides, the Jews of Yemen sent expert copyists to Egypt to make copies of his manuscripts. And from time to time they sent for updates and corrections to their books according to the most recent emendations and reconciliations of Maimonides, including the very latest…This is not just a matter of oral tradition, but there is a provable reliable basis for it.”

– Rabbi Yosef Kapach's introduction to the Mishne Torah.)