Manuscript of Novellae and Sermons with Illustrated Title Pages. Ashkenaz, Early 18th Century

Manuscript of Novellae and Sermons with Illustrated Title Pages. Ashkenaz, Early 18th Century

Manuscript of elucidations on Torah portions, sermons and various transcriptions, with beautiful illustrated title pages. Ashkenaz, 1722-1730. Including the rare composition Nishmat Chaim by Mahar"i Abuhav di Ponsikah.

The manuscript is comprised of three parts:

* Novellae and elucidations on the Torah portions, hadran and various sermons - this part is the mainstay of the manuscript. It was written in Ashkenaz and bears the dates 1722 (13a) and 1730 (39b). The writer was a sermonizer and possibly also a rabbi in his community, and at the beginnings of several sermons, a 'permission' ['רשות'] is written lyrically and in beautiful rhyme as is the way of the rabbis (see leaves 12, 19, 38). Many matters were written by the author in the name of his father, the officer and supporter of the state, Rabbi Aharon, who was clearly an exalted gaon in Torah.

* Nishmat Chaim by Rabbi Yitzchak Abuhav di Ponsikah of Amsterdam. Beautifully illustrated title page. [4 leaves]. Incomplete compilation.

The background to writing this compilation was a sermon delivered by Rabbi Shaul HaLevi Mortira in Amsterdam in 1635, in which he states that souls have eternal punishment forever. Rabbi Yitzchak Abuhav does not accept this, and in the middle of the sermon he raises his objections. This aroused a great controversy in the community of forced converts [אנוסים] who lived in Amsterdam, as it besmirched the souls of their ancestors, and such is the topic of this compilation.

This rare compilation, whose copies are very uncommon, was first published only in 1973. See extensive coverage in Kitvei Rabbi Yitzchak Abuhav - Machon Yerushalayim edition, and in the introduction there.

* Dimayon HaRefu'ot by the great Dr. Avraham Wallach. The title page (from the Frankfurt 1700 edition) bears a decorative border, an approbation from the rabbi of Frankfurt and a short introduction. It was not printed again. [2] leaves.

[77] leaves, of which 40 are written. 10x16 cm. Fine condition. Isolated worming perforations in the white margins. Minimal aging stains. Original leather binding, worn.