Compendium of sixteen works: philosophical homiletics, Kabbalah, ethical literature and belles-lettre, Scribe: Samuel ben Abraham Comento, Segovia: 1437

199 leaves (7^1/2 x 5^1/2 in.; 190 x 140 mm). Written in brown ink on paper in Sephardic semi-cursive Hebrew script; ff. 175-99 comprise a later, sixteenth-century addition to the manuscript written in brown ink in North African Sephardic semi-cursive Hebrew script, blind-ruled in hardpoint, 26-8 lines to a page, modern foliation in blue ink; corners and fore-edge rounded, affecting some text (ff. 175-99), dampstaining throughout,  f.5 detached. Early blind-tooled brown leather over paper, worn; housed within modern black cloth solander box, gold-stamped maroon morocco lettering piece.  

Bernard Revel, "An Epistle of Saadya Gaon Recently Discovered" in The Jewish Forum, vol. 1 no. 1, February 1918, pp.74-77; Dov Schwartz, Stira ve-hastara be-hagut ha-yehudit bi-yemei ha-beinaim, Ramat Gan 2002; Gershom Scholem, 'Did R. Moses de León Write Sefer Hashem?' (Hebrew), Qiryat Sefer 1 (1924-1925), pp. 45-52; G. Scholem, “A New Document on the History of the Beginning of the Kabbalah” (Hebrew) in Sefer Bialik, ed. by Y. Fichman, Tel Aviv 1934; Ma'aseh Nissim: A Commentary on the Torah by R. Nissim b. R. Moshe of Marseilles, edited with an introduction and notes by Haim Kreisel, Jerusalem, Mekize Nirdamim, 2000; A.S. Halkin, 'Nissim ben Mosheh on Providence' in: G. Nahon and Ch. Touati [eds.], Hommage à Georges Vajda: études d'histoire et de pensée juives, Louvain 1980, pp. 221-222; Ben ha-Melekh ve-ha-Nazir,  A.M. Habermann, ed. Tel Aviv 1951; Elliot R. Wolfson, 'Hai Gaon’s letter and Commentary on 'Aleynu: Further Evidence of Moses de León’s Pseudepigraphic Activity' in JQR LXXXI (1990/91), pp. 365–409; G. Scholem, “A New Document on the History of the Beginning of the Kabbalah” (Hebrew) in Sefer Bialik, ed. by Y. Fichman, Tel Aviv 1934, part III: articles, p. 158, note 4 = G. Scholem, Mehqarei Qabbalah, I, Tel Aviv 1998, p. 29, note 90.

A RARE AND IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF WORKS, COPIED IN THE YESHIVA OF R. JOSEPH BEN SHEM TOV IBN SHEM TOV IN SEGOVIA, SPAIN, IN 1437, INCLUDING AN EPISTLE BY R. SAADIAH GAON, UNKNOWN FROM ANY OTHER SOURCE, AS WELL AS SEVERAL OTHER PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN WORKS.

Comprising sixteen separate compositions, this collection of philosophical homiletics, Kabbalah, ethical literature and belles-lettre, collected and copied in Segovia, Spain, in the yeshiva of R. Joseph ben Shem Tov Ibn Shem Tov (circa 1400–1460) by R. Samuel b. Abraham Comento. It includes three works that have never been published (no. 6 below, a unique copy of an epistle by R. Saadiah Gaon, unknown from any other source, and also nos. 7 and 8 below), one work unknown from any manuscript (no. 9 below), and another, the last chapter of which has never been published (no. 15 below).

The manuscript is dated and signed (Thursday, 27 Tishrei 5198 = 27 September 1437) in a colophon that appears at the end of the first work (f. 134v).

At the end of the colophon is an ornate signature typical of Spanish (and later Sephardic) rabbis. This colophon also serves as the only testimony to the existence of the yeshiva of Segovia during the lifetime and under the leadership of R. Joseph ben Shem Tov Ibn Shem Tov (c. 1400-c.1460) a rational mystic and interpreter of Aristotelian philosophy.  Previously available evidence suggested that the yeshiva in Segovia had only flourished later, under the directorship of his son, Shem Tov ben Joseph ben Shem Tov Ibn Shem Tov (not to be confused with his grandfather of the same name, Shem Tov ben Shem Tov Ibn Shem Tov, a kabbalist and author of Sefer ha-Emunoth, a polemic against Maimonides’ philosophic views).  The yeshiva of Ibn Shem Tov in Segovia combined the study of philosophy and Kabbalah and after the martyrdom of R. Joseph, continued to operate under the leadership of his son, R. Shem Tov (b. Joseph) Ibn Shem Tov until the Expulsion from Spain in 1492. 

Several other philosophical treatises are known to have been copied at the yeshiva during this later period such as the 1482 Hebrew manuscript of Aristotle’s Ethics, Sefer ha-Middoth, (California State Library, Sutro Branch Ms. 162) and the 1491 copy of Aristotle’s Sefer ha-Nefesh (in the library of the University of Freiberg).  The copying of Sefer Nissim, a philosophical work with a strong Maimonidean influence, is entirely consistent with this later trend.  Particularly noteworthy however, is the curious admixture in this manuscript of both rational and kabbalistic works. This selection seems to emphasize the existential dilemma of this particular epoch in Spanish Jewish history.  In the wake of the massive nationwide pogroms of 1391 and the large-scale defections from the faith following the disputation of Tortosa in 1413-14, Spanish Jewry adopted neither rationalism nor mysticism exclusively, but rather, as exemplified by this manuscript, incorporated elements from each of these competing modalities of Jewish thought in order to arrive at a synthesis between the two.

contents

1) ff. 1r-134r: Sefer Nissim by R. Nissim b. Moses of Marseilles (14^th cent.).  Also known as Ikkarei ha-Dat [Principles of Faith],Sefer Nissim provides a rationalistic interpretation of prophecy, commandments and miracles and allegorical interpretations of Biblical narratives and Talmudic legends.  The second part of the work (from f. 47v) is a commentary on the weekly portions of the Pentateuch.  The entire work is heavily influenced by the writings of Maimonides.  Of the eight known manuscripts of Ma’aseh Nissim, the present example is the earliest dated copy of the work.

2) f. 135r-v: An explanatory note concerning events mentioned in II Samuel ch. 24.

3) ff. 135v-136r: A maqama (a narrative in rhymed prose, interlaced with short metrical poems) from Ben ha-Melekh ve-ha-Nazir (The Prince and the Hermit), originally a Hindu tale about a prince who eventually became an ascetic.  The early thirteenth century Hebrew version was written by Abraham ben Samuel ha-Levi Ibn Hasdai.

4) ff. 137v-138r: Peirush Aleinu le-Shabbeah, a kabbalistic epistle regarding the obligation to recite the aleinu at the conclusion of each daily prayer service, the first one third of the work (approximately) is missing at the beginning due to a missing leaf.  While the epistle presents itself as having been written by Rav Hai ben Sherira Gaon (d. 1038), scholars of  Kabbalah have recently attributed this composition to R. Moses ben Shem Tov de León (d. 1305). This epistle was printed in Meor va-Shemesh, by R. Judah ben Abraham Koriat, Leghorn 1739, based on the manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Héb. 181).

5) ff. 138v-140r: Otiyyot de-Rabbi Akiva (Letters of Rabbi Akiva), a part of Alef Bet de-Rabbi Akiva ("Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva"), Version II (A. Jellinek, Beth Hamidrash II, pp. 55-58). This Midrash on the alphabet contains a number of mystic and eschatological discussions and was likely compiled in the ninth century.

6) ff. 140r-142r: An Epistle in the Name of Rav Saadiah Gaon, (882–942), greatest scholar and author of the geonic period and leader of Babylonian Jewry.  This epistle is entirely unknown from any other source and its text has never been published.  The little that is known is from a tantalizing yet brief notice that accompanied the epistle’s discovery in the early twentieth century

In 1918 Dr. Bernard (Dov) Revel disclosed the existence of this hitherto unknown work in a brief notice in The Jewish Forum I (1918), pp. 74-77 stating that it had been brought to the United States by Dr. Nahum Slousch who had purchased it in Marrakesh, Morocco from Yehuda Peretz.  Despite Revel’s stated intention to write further concerning this work, the epistle remains now, as then, unpublished.

The text is headed with the caption: “And R. Saadya Gaon of blessed memory wrote to warn the people etc.”  The text would seem to have been written by Saadya’s personal secretary and makes reference to an earlier exchange of letters. It continues with 25 paragraphs each beginning with the address “O Children of Israel…”  Admonishing its recipients to “return good for evil,” the epistle focuses on ethical chastisement, bolstering the faith of the people, reinforcing the possibility of immanent redemption and the preaching of pious behavior.  It concludes with a paragraph on the rewards that await those who return to the Lord.

Based on his readings of both traditional texts as well as contemporary scholarship, Revel surmised that the letter was directed at a community in Spain rather than Egypt or Kairouan.  This belief was no doubt bolstered by the signal appearance of the epistle in this manuscript, and the testimony of the scribe, R. Samuel b. Don Abraham Comento, that it was among the works collected and copied in the yeshiva of Shem Tov b. Joseph ibn Shem Tov in Segovia.  Further analysis of this unique manuscript may yet yield further insight into the relationship between the Geonim of Babylonia and the far-flung Jewish communities in tenth-century Spain.

7) f. 142r: Ma’amar Katsar al ha-Atsilut (A brief tract on emanations) by R. Azriel of Gerona, which is a reworking of a passage from the epistle of R. Ezra b. Shlomo of Gerona to R. Abraham Hazzan, published by G. Scholem.  The deletions and additions of R. Azriel serve to differentiate this as an independent essay.  Unknown amongst the extant corpus of Azriel’s writings.

8) ff. 142r-149v: Alphabetical Glossary, a dictionary of selected terms pertinent to philosophy and Kabbalah (such as yedi'ah[knowledge], sod [mystery] etc.), the clarification of Hebrew prepositions and place names with symbolic significance.

9) ff. 149r-154v: Sha'ar ha-Yihud (Gateway of Unification) ascribed to R. Judah b. Saul Ibn Tibbon. This work was published inSefer Hamisha Meorot ha-Gedolim, ed. J.Gad, Johannesburg 1953, pp. 159-165. The published text is identical to that of the manuscript, including the corrupt spelling of Ibn Tibbon.  The signature of the scribe, Samuel b. Abraham (see above, no. 1), appears at the end of this text.

10) f. 154v: An arithmetic puzzle.

11) ff.154v-156r: “A Wonderful Metered Bakkashah (supplication)” by R. Abraham Bedersi, thirteenth century Hebrew poet from Béziers in France.   Known as Shir ha-Lamedim, this is a supplication for the Day of Atonement, in which each word contains the letter lamed, and all subsequent letters of the alphabet are excluded.  There is some doubt as to whether Abraham or his son Jedaiah (see # 12) composed this prayer.

12) ff. 156r-157v: The Bakkashah of the Mems (each word beginning with the letter “mem” by R. Jedaiah (b. Abraham) ha-Penini ha-Bedersi. (ca. 1270–1340) The beginning is lacking here.

13) f. 158r-v: Another metered supplication by Jedaiah ha-Penini ha-Bedarsi

14) ff. 158v-159v: 'Another Wonderful Non-metered Supplication by the Same Poet [R. Jedaiah ha-Penini]”: Called Elef Alfin because its thousand (Heb. elef) words all begin with the letter alef, this poem was published in Kerem Hemed, 4 (1839), 57–65) There is some doubt as to whether Jedaiah or his father Abraham (see # 11) composed this prayer.

15) ff. 160r-174v: Sefer Mesharet Moshe (The Servant of Moses) by R. Kalonymos: a defense of Maimonides' doctrine of Divine Providence in the Guide of the Perplexed.  This manuscript contains sections 1-7 (a page is evidently missing at the end of chapter 6). The printed edition (J. Goldenthal, Leipzig 1845), includes only sections 1–6 and even those sections are lacking material found in the present manuscript.

16) ff. 175r-199v: Sefer ha-Shem, a work once attributed to R. Moses de León, an attribution later called into question by Gershom Scholem. This work was written in North Africa, evidently at the end of the sixteenth century by another kabbalist, also named Moses and subsequently bound with the earlier part of the manuscript. The final leaves of the manuscript are lacking.

We would like to thank Shlomo Zucker for providing information concerning the manuscript which aided in cataloging this lot.