SEFER IGGERET SHEMU’EL (COMMENTARY ON RUTH), RABBI SAMUEL UCEDA, KURUÇEŞME: JOSEPH BEN ISAAC ASHKELONI, 1597

Sefer iggeret shemu’el is an exposition of the book of Ruth, accompanied by the biblical text and the commentary of Rashi. The author, Rabbi Samuel Uceda, was born in Safed in 1540 and there studied Kabbalah under the tutelage of the famous Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572). After the latter’s death, he continued learning under Luria’s primary disciple, Rabbi Hayyim Vital (1542-1620), and in 1580 established his own yeshiva in the city, where both the Talmud and Kabbalah were taught. Sefer iggeret shemu’el was the first of about ten Hebrew titles printed in Kuruçeşme after the relocation of the Belvedere press of Doña Reyna Nasi.