Etz Avot by the Ya'avetz. 1751. First Edition, in the Author's Lifetime. Rare Sefer

Etz Avot by the Ya'avetz. 1751. First Edition, in the Author's Lifetime. Rare Sefer

Sefer Etz Avot is one of the most important commentaries on Tractate Avot. It was authored by Rabbi Ya'akov Emden, one of the spiritual giants to have arisen among the Jewish people. Amsterdam, 1751. First edition, printed by the Ya'avetz in his lifetime. Especially rare sefer.

The (vowelized) text of the mishnayot is printed at the top of the leaves along with the Bartenura and Tosafot Yom Tov commentaries. Underneath these is the Ya'avetz's 'Lechem Shamayim' - a commentary on the mishnah, and 'Lechem Nekudim' - a commentary on the vowelization and the grammar in the mishnah. The final part of the sefer is "Luach Eras, " a work on the wisdom of vowelization, with criticism of grammarian R' Shlomo Zalman Henna.

Aside from the Torah value of this work, it has also gained renown for the two prefaces by the Ya'avetz included in it - the first at the beginning of the sefer, and the second just preceding the work "Luach Eras" (p. 75b). In the first preface, the Ya'ave"tz writes that 'Rash"i's commentary' on Tractate Avot was not actually authored by Rash"i, and in the body of the work, he provides proof for this. At the time, these assertions by the Ya'avetz generated a tremendous controversy, but his view has indeed been accepted to this day. In the second preface, the Ya'ave"tz states that the approbation from his father, the Chacham Tzvi, printed in R' Shlomo Zalman Henna's sefer, Beit Tefillah, is fraudulent!

Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of Rabbi Ya'akov Emden.

Yitzchak Raphael, Sifrei HaYa'avetz (in Areshet III) 7.

82 leaf, 20 cm.

Very fine condition. New binding.