Shaarei Teshuvah by Rabbeinu Yonah Gerondi – Cracow, 1581 – Fine Copy

Shaarei Teshuvah by Rabbeinu Yonah Gerondi – Cracow, 1581 – Fine Copy

Shaarei Teshuvah, by Rabbeinu Yonah Gerondi, "the pious". Cracow: Yitzchak son of Aharon of Prostitz, 1581.

Fine copy.

Shaarei Teshuvah deals with the fundamental issues of repentance and atonement for sins, and it is one of the classic books on the precept of repentance. The book contains four sections. The first section delineates the actions required of the sinner who wishes to repent. The second section deals with various factors that bring a person to repent. The third section is comprised of a detailed description of dozens of commandments and sins, ordered by severity. The fourth and final section mentions different types of atonement for various sins. Shaarei Teshuvah, in its familiar form, was originally one part of a larger and more comprehensive work that included other sections (which in Hebrew are referred to as "gates", and are mentioned occasionally in the book), but these "gates" have not come down to us.

The author, Rabbeinu Yonah Gerondi (of Gerona; ca. 1210-1263), one of the great medieval Torah authorities, was a rabbi in Catalonia and a central and influential figure in Spanish Jewish life in the 13th century. He was known in his lifetime as a great preacher and one of the important Talmudic commentators (the novellae he wrote on several tractates have been mostly lost). His fame for the ages derives mainly from the ethical books he authored, including Iggeret HaTeshuvah, Sefer HaYirah and first and foremost Shaarei Teshuvah. Shaarei Teshuvah was highly influential even in the author's own time, and in subsequent generations it was a recognized influence on a diverse range of authors.

See further on Rabbeinu Yonah and his writings: Y.M. Ta-Shma, Ashkenazic Pietism in Spain: Rabbeinu Yonah Gerondi – the Man and His Work, Studies in Medieval Rabbinic Literature, Volume 2: Spain, Bialik Institute, Jerusalem, 2004, pp. 109-148 (Hebrew).

At the end of the book (pp. 38b-44) is printed Sefer HaYirah by Rabbeinu Yonah Gerondi (first printed in Halichot Olam, Leiria, ca. 1495).

Interesting colophon on last leaf: "Blessed is the Lord, the G-d of Israel Who helped me up to this point, to complete the holy work authored by… Rabbeinu Yonah Gerondi, Shaarei Teshuvah with Sefer HaYirah… And I bow down and prostrate myself that my dreams were for good and blessing, as I dreamed on Rosh Hashanah to bring this book to press… So may G-d save me and all of Israel from bad dreams and evil decrees… Such is the prayer of Yitzchak son of R. Aharon Prostitz the typesetter; completed on the 5th of [Elul 1581]".

On title page, signatures and ownership inscriptions of "The bridegroom R. Natan Meisling of Copenhagen".

Handwritten correction of printing error on p. 29a.

44 leaves. Misfoliation. Approx. 19 cm. Good condition. Stains. Damage to margins of last leaf, bordering text, repaired with paper filling. Stamp on title page. New leather binding.