Or Hadash, Judah ben Bezalel Loew (Maharal), Prague: Moses ben Joseph Bezalel Katz, 1600

This multifaceted and complex, metaphysical commentary on the biblical book of Esther by one of the preeminent rabbinic figure of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries is accompanied by another work, Ner Mitzvah on the miracle of Hanukkah (ff. 43-60). Its author, Rabbi Judah ben Bezalel Loew, is most frequently referred to by his acronym as the Maharal of Prague. An original and profound thinker and a prolific author, in addition to his vast rabbinic scholarship, the Maharal’s varied interests included kabbalistic, scientific, and mathematical studies. It is ironic that he is better known to later generations for the unfounded legend that he was the creator of the famous, but apocryphal, Prague golem than for his intellectual prowess.