Mahzor, Minhag Asti, Nizza della Paglia (Alessandria), Scribe: Joseph ben Gabriel le-Beit Barukh (De Benedetti), 1731

201 leaves (9 1/4 x 6 1/2 in; 235 x 166 mm). Written in black ink on paper in square Hebrew script with nikud; original foliation in ink [1], 1-199 [1]; title page and tailpieces (ff. 88r, 200r) decorated in gouache; owner's notation (Eliezer ben …) front free endpaper. Marginal tear with minor loss f.198; running titles shaved ff. 80-94; some light staining; ink bleeding. Originally bound as quinternions, as indicated on title page, though subsequently rebound. Hinges cracked; speckled edges. Calf backed marbled boards. Worn.

Joseph ben Gabriel le-Beit Barukh (De Benedetti)-scribe of the manuscript, 1731; Rabbi Ezechiele Segre, Chief Rabbi of Casale Monferrato (1877-1941)- gifted by him in 1935 to Felice di Leone Ravenna, founder of the Italian Zionist Federation (1869-1937)

Daniel Goldschmidt, On Jewish Liturgy, pp. 80–121; A list of the piyyutim is given by I. Markon, in: Jewish Studies … G.A. Kohut (1935), Heb. pt., 89–101. The whole material of High Holidays piyyutim of the French mahzor found in this manuscript is included in the Mahzor la-Yamim ha-Nora'im, ed. D. Goldschmidt, Jerusalem, 1970.

a rare witness to the liturgical tradition of the jews of apam

This handsome early eighteenth century example of a Mahzor for the Yamim Noraim (High Holidays) presents the unique liturgical rite of the Jews of the Piedmont in Northern Italy, which devolved from the liturgical practices of the region’s earliest Jewish inhabitants, those expelled from France over the course of the 14th century. Following these expulsions (the two most notable occurring in 1306 and 1394), some of the Jews banished from France found refuge in Asti, then an important commercial center, and neighboring towns. For the daily, Sabbath, and Festival liturgy, these immigrant communities generally acclimated to the prevailing Ashkenazi rite of prayer, and the distinctive liturgical rite of Northern France largely ceased to exist. 

However, these same Jews steadfastly adhered to the French rite for the New Year and the Day of Atonement. This liturgical tradition soon acquired the name Minhag APAM, after the acronym for the three main centers of Jewish population in the area, the towns of Asti, Fosano and Moncalvo. There being no printed editions of this distinct liturgical tradition, the Jews of APAM recited the High Holiday prayers of their French forebears, from handwritten copies of the Mahzor, such as the present lot.

The community of Asti continued to hold High Holiday services in accordance with its ritual until about 1965. Though the APAM rite was never published, a scholarly treatment of the mahzor of these communities was accomplished by Daniel Goldschmidt, and a list of the piyyutim, assembled by I. Markon.