MAHZOR (FESTIVAL PRAYER BOOK) ACCORDING TO THE SEPHARDIC RITE, JERUSALEM: ISRAEL BEN ABRAHAM [BAK], 1843-1844

The first mahzor for the three pilgrimage festivals printed in Jerusalem.

Sefer mo‘adei Hashem u-keri’ei mo‘ed is a two-volume Sephardic-rite mahzor containing the texts of the prayers (including the Passover Haggadah), public synagogue readings, and private nighttime study sessions for Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot. The publisher, Israel Bak, solicited approbations from Rabbis Hayyim Abraham Gagin and Jacob Antebi (1787-1846), the latter of whom took the opportunity to recount the story of his incarceration during the Damascus Affair of 1840 and subsequent release from prison on account of Sir Moses Montefiore’s intercession. In his own introduction, Bak claimed credit for bringing the Affair to Montefiore’s attention and proceeded to report on the latter’s lobbying of leaders in England, Egypt, and Istanbul. He explained that he decided to publish this mahzor “for it is [a book] that is accessible by all, child and adult […] and all use it.” He exhorted the mahzor’s users to pray on behalf of Queen Victoria and her ministers in recognition of their role in the resolution of the Affair, and for this purpose he printed in both volumes a special Hebrew mi she-berakh prayer with English translation. The fact that the movement for Jewish restoration to Palestine was already beginning to gain traction in Britain in this period may have also played a role in Bak’s inclusion of this liturgical paean to the Royal Family.