Midbar Yehudah, Leone Modena, Venice: Daniel Zanetti, 1602

104 leaves (7 3/4 x 5 1/4 in.; 195 x 135 mm). Lightly stained; trace wormed; marginal tear, f. 23; hole near upper corner, f. 45, touching several letters; owner's notation on title page. Marbled endpapers; All edges gilt. Later green morocco; dentelles; titles gilt on spine.

Adolph Lewisohn-his bookplate

Vinograd, Venice 948.

The personality of the Venetian Rabbi, Leone (Judah Aryeh) Modena (1571–1648), has intrigued scholars both past and present and widely divergent evaluations have been proffered of both the man and his work. Modena’s sermons however, have been universally admired and during his lifetime won him paeans of praise from both Jews and Christians. Sadly, only a handful of Modena’s sermons have been bequeathed to posterity. In 1602, Modena published some of the sermons he had delivered during the previous decade. As recounted in the text, Modena, working under great pressure, submitted them to the printer over the course of six weeks. The work was published in Venice under a title which may be read as either Midbar Yehudah (the Wilderness of Judah) or mi-Devar Yehudah (from the Words of Judah). The 21 sermons included in this volume, written for different occasions and different audiences, are uniform in style and structure, but varied in subject matter. Certain themes recur in various forms with prominence given to questions of exile and redemption, the covenant between God and Israel, repentance, and the immortality of the soul.