Commentary on the Mahzor, [France or Germany, 14th century]

This manuscript contains an unpublished commentary on the liturgical poems for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. It is attributed to Raavan (Eliezer ben Nathan), and includes quotes from many early works and authorities. According to Grossman (p. 500, note 132), this manuscript contains many passages of R. Joseph Kara’s commentary. Kara was an eleventh century commentator from Northern France. The volume also contains early and later marginal notes, the latter being by Luzzatto and Halberstam. On fol. 41r, a marginal note is introduced: ve-ani ha-lavlar (I, the scribe).  

Sotheby’s is grateful to Menahem Schmelzer z”l and Benjamin Richler for cataloguing this manuscript.

Provenance

Solomon Halberstam (shelf no. 71, notes on front paper flyleaf, marginal pencil marks throughout)

Physical Description

91 leaves on parchment (first and final leaves blank); 14 ¾ x 10 ½ inches; 375 x 267 mm, pricked and ruled, text in 2 columns, written in Ashkenazi script in black ink (fols. 1r-40r appear to have been written by one scribe, fols. 40v-88v by another, and fol. 89 by yet another) a few rubricated initial words, some catchwords, old foliation begins with fol. 9 and extends to fol. 41, modern foliation in pencil; censored, fol. 15r (on margin: It is not recited), on fol. 20r the word ha-reshaah erased and bavel (in red) written instead; fols. 28v, 31r-v, 50v-51r (the text ha-goyyim, on the margin: It is not recited), fols. 52v-53r (ha-goyyim, and u-malkhutam not recited); text incomplete, with a portion lacking at beginning, 7 text lines rubbed on fol. 15, col. 1. Green marbled boards, cloth spine; very worn, edges gnawed, joints splitting. 

Literature

Hirschfeld (ms. no. 261); A. Grossman, The Early Sages of France, (1995), pp. 124, 268, 274, 277, 335, 500; N. Wieder, The Formation of Jewish Liturgy in the East and the West, (1998), pp. 305-306, 380-381 passim