Shevu'ah Hamurah 'Al Bardan … (Solemn Oath Regarding the Communal Tax), Prague: [ca.1750]

1 broadside (15 ¼ x 9 in.; 390 x 235 mm). Lightly browned; crease at fold. Sewn into modern dyed calf portfolio.

Vinograd, Prague 875; See also: Israel Halperin, Takkanot Medinat Mehrin, Jerusalem: 1952. 

A solemn oath to be sworn by Jewish merchants attesting to their having abided by the rules regulating communal taxes and other financial activities, as well as a declaration that they have not engaged in any commercial improprieties, whether in their dealings with Jews or non-Jews. The oath was to be recited in front of an open Ark of the Law, in the presence of the Torah Scroll. A false oath was punishable by "all the curses included in the Torah of Moses, and all the curses of Isaiah…excommunication, and loss of one's portion in the World to Come." The merchant's wife was required to swear as well, attesting to the veracity of her husband's oath.