Autograph Manuscript – Amarot Tehorot, Handwritten by Author, Rabbi Shmuel Garmison – Unpublished Work – Jerusalem ...

Autograph Manuscript – Amarot Tehorot, Handwritten by Author, Rabbi Shmuel Garmison – Unpublished Work – Jerusalem, 17th Century

Manuscript, Amarot Tehorot – on the Torah, Neviim and Ketuvim, handwritten by author R. Shmuel Garmison. [Jerusalem, ca. latter half of 17th century].

Large volume. Most in autograph handwriting by author, with some in another hand. The page headers originally read: "Appendix to Imrei Emet". This header was deleted and replaced with: "Amarot Tehorot".

The manuscript begins with an interesting introduction by R. Shmuel Garmison, who later deleted it. At the beginning of this introduction appears a decorated frame reading: "Yam HaGadol – authored by me, the small and insignificant Shmuel Garmisano, which is an explanation of Torah, Neviim and Ketuvim, according to the method of allusion, and an explanation of the Masorah of each verse, apart from the books Torat Emet and Lechem Panim which I already authored. Now this sea is large [Yam Gadol] and wide, full of innumerable hints, Masorah Ketanah along with Masorah Gedolah, with no bound. Now here are the three books on the Tanach, each going in its own way, with the help of heaven". These lines were also deleted by the author. His introduction states that he in fact wrote three works on the Tanach, one according to the kabbalistic method, another according to the simple and homiletical method, and the present work according to the method of allusion and Masorah. He originally considered authoring all the books as a single work, but later decided to write each one separately for ease of reading, "for each person's desires and longings accord with the root of his soul, as explained in the appropriate place, and some choose the simple method, some choose the homiletical method, some choose the allusive method and others choose the esoteric method". He further mentions his statement about himself in the introduction to his work Lechem Panim: "In the early days of my youth, the spirit of G-d spoke with me, and I disseminated Torah publicly morning, afternoon and evening…". He writes of the present work: "I trust my Father in Heaven that the readers and preachers who disseminate Torah will find this book favorable and sweet as honeycomb…".

The present work has never been published.

R. Shmuel Garmison (ca. 1600-1675), a leading Jerusalem rabbi in the generation of R. Moshe Galante and R. Yaakov Chagiz. Apparently born in Thessaloniki, he immigrated to Jerusalem at a young age. He set out as an emissary for Jerusalem in the 1640s, and on his return journey (apparently winter of 1649-1650) he was captured by Maltese pirates, a fact which is attested in the letters of R. Shmuel Aboab, who made efforts to redeem him (see at length the biographical introduction by M. Benayahu, at the beginning of Imrei Binah on Tractate Sanhedrin, Jerusalem 1989). He subsequently returned to Jerusalem, and in 1662 he is mentioned as head of the Jerusalem Beit Din regarding a divorce arrangement (Benayahu, ibid.). In Jerusalem, he was a rabbi of the Beit Yaakov (Viga) yeshiva headed by R. Yaakov Chagiz, alongside other leading rabbis of the generation – R. Moshe Galante (HaRav HaMagen), R. Avraham Amigo, R. Avraham Ben Chananiah and others. He was considered one of the greatest Torah scholars of Jerusalem, and leading halachic authorities from Eretz Israel, Egypt and Turkey sent him questions and decisions, as is discernable from his responsa. His high status in Jerusalem is also evident from an old document seen by the Chida, which had R. Shmuel Garmison's signature second, after R. Shlomo Algazi and before R. Moshe Galante and R. Yaakov Chagiz (Shem HaGedolim, entry on R. Shmuel). His leading disciples in Jerusalem included R. Moshe ibn Habib.

R. Shmuel Garmison was one of the voluminous authors of all times, leading the Chida to say that his writings are "astounding to consider". He authored works on all facets of the Torah, Talmudic novellae, Biblical commentary, halachah and aggadah, on both revealed and hidden aspects of the Torah. Prof. Meir Benayahu writes of him (ibid.): "R. Shmuel Garmison was one of the greatest authors. There has been no other commentator to comment on every tractate of the Talmud, to explain each and every statement, jot and tittle, including those tractates which have no Gemara… As he commented on the Talmud, so he commented on Scripture, continuously explaining and commenting according to all the Pardes methods again and again…". The Chida (Shem HaGedolim, ibid.) describes what was known to him of his writings: "He made amazing commentaries on the entire Talmud, including some tractates for which he authored a revised commentary, as well as a commentary on Zera'im and Taharot, and forty or fifty homilies on every Parashah, and a commentary to the Tur, as well as several books of responsa. I saw about 600 sheets, and I know for a fact that this is a small minority of what he wrote and of his many books which he mentions in his writings. I also saw a commentary on Berachot by him, entirely according to the kabbalistic method, over fifty sheets long. All his books on the Tur and other halachic authorities are written on many sheets; it is astounding to consider all his writings. In our many sins we have not merited for any of his writings to be printed, and nothing has been published from his enormous writings…". Only in the last generation have his manuscripts begun to be published, including ten volumes of his Imrei Binah on the Talmud, published by Yad HaRav Nissim (Jerusalem, 1988-1993).

In a catalog of his extant manuscripts, Benayahu (in his introduction, ibid., p. 38) also mentions the present manuscript. He writes that he saw it briefly in the hands of a Jerusalem bookseller, adding that the merchant "did not allow me to examine the manuscript for more than a few moments, and prevented me from copying the deleted introduction of R. Shmuel Garmison on leaf 141, which contains important information about him and his books…".

[144] leaves (with a few original foliations, some deleted; foliation beginning at 141 retained). Incomplete at end (number of missing leaves unknown). 29.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, including dampstains and particularly dark stains to some leaves. Worming, affecting text. Tears and open tears to several leaves, affecting text, repaired with paper. New binding.