10 Extraordinary Highlights of Judaica

A t their height during the 19th and 20th centuries, the Sassoon family were one of the world’s wealthiest families. Hailing originally from Iraq, the Anglo-Jewish Sassoons built up a dominant shipping network, based in Asia, which led them to be forever known as the “Rothschilds of the East.” During his lifetime (1880-1942), scholar David Solomon Sassoon built up a vast collection of Jewish manuscripts, art, ritual objects and material culture, ranging geographically from Western Europe to the Far East and chronologically from the 10th to the 20th centuries.

Meanwhile, the Montefiore collection, of 580 manuscripts, many of which date to the medieval period, were gathered over the 19th century at the direction of philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore (1784-1885), one of the most famous Anglo-Jewish personalities of his era. This collection, housed at the college he established in his wife’s memory, is a testament to a millennium of creativity on the part of Jewish scholars and leaders who lived in the great centers of Jewish life in Europe, North Africa and the Near East.

Between these two collecting families exists over a millennium of Jewish sacred texts, culture, art and science from around the world. The Sassoons, with their Asian networks, represented the East, the Montefiores, originally from Italy and rooted in Europe, the West.

Preceding the highly anticipated single-lot auction of the oldest-inscribed stone tablet of the Ten Commandments, an auction of Judaica at Sotheby’s New York will mark the latest iteration of a long and fruitful collaboration between Sotheby’s and the Sassoons. In Important Judaica: Featuring Celebrated Manuscripts from the Collections of David Solomon Sassoon and the Montefiore Endowment, a curation of decorative manuscripts sourced from the Montefiore and Sassoon collections presents the largest group of Hebrew manuscripts offered at auction in 20 years. Between these two magnificent collections, we encounter a kaleidoscope of Jewish history, from the 13th to the 20th centuries, from Spain to India.

Upcoming Auction

Important Judaica

18 December 2024 | 10:15 AM EST | New York

Rabbi Moses Maimonides (Rambam; 1138-1204) began writing his magnum opus, the Mishneh Torah, in about 1170. The work set out to organize all the Halakhic material scattered throughout the Mishnah, Tosefta, Midrashim, and Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds into fourteen synthetic books, which were then subdivided into 83 treatises – a total of 1,000 chapters.

This included even those laws that were no longer applicable in the post-Temple era, as well as those observed only in the Land of Israel – a major innovation when compared with previous Halakhic compendia.

The present lot is a beautifully decorated copy of the Introduction, plus the first book in the Mishneh Torah series, entitled Sefer ha-madda, covering some of the most fundamental aspects of Jewish belief.

Lot

Mishneh Torah, Introduction and Sefer ha-Madda (Book of Knowledge), Rabbi Moses Maimonides, [Yemen, 14th century]

Estimate: 50,000 – 70,000 USD

Important Judaica

18 December 2024 | 10:15 AM EST | New York

The present work – known in Judeo-Arabic as Dalālat al-ḥāʼirīn (literally, The Instruction of the Perplexed) and in Hebrew as Moreh ha-nevukhim – is a landmark in the history of Jewish thought. As an examination of such topics as anthropomorphism, prophecy, Providence, cosmogony, ethics and political science, it has exerted enormous influence on both Jews and Gentiles from the Middle Ages to the present day.

This important exemplar contains both the Judeo-Arabic original and its Hebrew adaptation on each page.

Lot

Moreh ha-Nevukhim (The Guide for the Perplexed) in Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew Translation, Rabbis Moses Maimonides and Samuel Ibn Tibbon, [Middle East, 15th-16th century]

Estimate: 30,000 – 50,000 USD

Important Judaica

18 December 2024 | 10:15 AM EST | New York

Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi’s (Rif; 1013-1103) greatest literary legacy is Sefer ha-halakhot, also known as Hilkhot rav alfas, a comprehensive summary-cum-commentary on the Halakhic and Aggadic portions of the Talmud which remain practically relevant today, in the absence of the Temple in Jerusalem.

It has been studied by generations of scholars and laymen alike, in many cases substituting for the Talmud itself, due to its concision and practical orientation.

This elegantly produced copy preserves the author’s authentic text, avoiding the many errors and alterations introduced into later European manuscripts and printed editions of the work.

Lot

Sefer ha-Halakhot (Legal Code) on Berakhot, Seder Mo‘ed, and Halakhot Ketannot, Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi, Scribe: Amram ben Saadiah Ibn Abud, [Middle East or North Africa], 1510

Estimate: 25,000 – 40,000 USD

Important Judaica

18 December 2024 | 10:15 AM EST | New York

Jacob ben Asher (ca. 1269-1343) was a prominent Ashkenazic rabbinic authority who composed a seminal commentary on the Pentateuch divided in two. The first section is a shorter gloss, drawing mainly on the Franco-German homiletical tradition (editio princeps: Constantinople, 1514). The second part is a longer gloss, focused on the plain-sense meaning of the biblical text (editio princeps: Zolkiew, 1806).

Probably due to its concise, colorful, creative and at times even surprising content, the former commentary achieved far greater renown, especially once Hebrew printers began incorporating it into their Rabbinic Bibles, starting with the Venice edition of 1546-1548. The present masterfully decorated manuscript reproduces this commentary in four stately volumes.

Lot

Pentateuch with the Commentary of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher, Scribe: Moses ben Saadiah ben Judah ben David al-Qati‘i, Madhab (Yemen), 1679

Estimate: 20,000 – 30,000 USD

Important Judaica

18 December 2024 | 10:15 AM EST | New York

Rabbi Shalem ben Joseph Shabazi was born into the Mashta family in southern Yemen in 1619. In his twenties, Shabazi began work on a wide-ranging Hebrew midrash-cum-commentary on the Pentateuch, entitled Midrash hemdat yamim, completing his first draft around 1646. The book is suffused with Talmudic, Halakhic, exegetical, homiletical, philosophical and especially Kabbalistic teaching. Having anthologized numerous sources – some of them otherwise unattested – the author also added his own insights.

The present lot was written by Shabazi in his own hand – and may be the earliest copy of the work to have survived.

Lot

Midrash Hemdat Yamim on Genesis and Exodus, Autograph of Rabbi Shalem ben Joseph Shabazi, [Yemen, ca. 1650]

Estimate: 30,000 – 50,000 USD

Important Judaica

18 December 2024 | 10:15 AM EST | New York

This is a Spanish translation of an influential work of theology and polemics by Rabbi Saul Levi Morteira of Amsterdam (ca. 1596-1660). A professionally copied manuscript of Providencia, it contains critiques of the New Testament’s accounts of the events surrounding Jesus’ death; the theology behind the Eucharist, Trinity and Incarnation; Christian interpretation of Hebrew Scripture; the New Testament’s lack of legislation regarding political, economic and Calvinist teaching regarding observance of the Torah’s precepts.

Lot

Providencia de Dios con Ysrael (God’s Providence toward Israel), Rabbi Saul Levi Morteira, [Amsterdam, 18th century]

Estimate: 10,000 – 20,000 USD

Important Judaica

18 December 2024 | 10:15 AM EST | New York

In honor of David Solomon Sassoon’s birth in 1880, Rabbi Joseph Hayyim of Baghdad (1835-1909) – better known as the Ben Ish Hai – gifted the newborn a diamond ring and asked his father to make sure to request a set of tefillin (phylacteries) from him once the boy became a bar mitzvah. Indeed, around the time that day – 6 Tevet 5654 (December 17, 1893) – arrived, David Solomon received from his father a pair of tefillin that had been written under R. Joseph Hayyim’s supervision, as well as a golden Star of David sent by the distinguished rabbi to celebrate the occasion.

The present lot is yet another item given by the Ben Ish Hai to David Solomon in advance of his 13th birthday: a personalized Esther scroll, in which each column ends with one letter from his name: David [ben] Sliman David Sassoon.

Lot

An Esther Scroll Presented by the Ben Ish Hai to David Solomon Sassoon, [Baghdad, 1893]

Estimate: 5,000 – 7,000 USD

Important Judaica

18 December 2024 | 10:15 AM EST | New York

This lot is a magnificent example of a Western Ashkenazic siddur, containing the standard prayers for weekdays, the Sabbath, Rosh Hodesh, festivals, the High Holidays, Purim, weddings and circumcisions, as well as piyyutim (liturgical poems) recited on festivals and special Sabbaths. It even includes a Passover Haggadah and Pirkei avot (Ethics of the Fathers). Originally created in Germany, by the early 16th century it migrated with its Ashkenazic owners to Northern Italy, where for generations it was cherished and prayed from.

Lot

Siddur (Daily Prayer Book) According to the Western Ashkenazic Rite, [Germany, 14th-15th century]

Estimate: 80,000 – 120,000 USD

Important Judaica

18 December 2024 | 10:15 AM EST | New York

This well-preserved, rare example of a Candia-rite mahzor contains the liturgy for the three pilgrimage festivals, special Sabbaths, Hanukkah, Purim, weddings, circumcisions and some fast days. It is rich in piyyutim (liturgical poems) and has been used by numerous scholars for their critical editions of these literary creations.

By 1795, the volume had been acquired by Matsliah Solomon Montefiore, son of Judah Raphael Montefiore, who served as a mohel in Urbino and Pesaro between 1782 and 1822. After entering Solomon Joachim Halberstam’s library under the shelf mark 353, it was purchased on behalf of the renowned Jewish philanthropist, Moses Montefiore, for his college in Ramsgate. It survives today as an extremely rare example of a minority prayer usage.

Lot

Mahzor (Festival Prayer Book) for the Three Pilgrimage Festivals and Special Sabbaths According to the Rite of Candia, [15th century]

Estimate: 150,000 – 250,000 USD

Important Judaica

18 December 2024 | 10:15 AM EST | New York

The sale will also feature a privately owned masterpiece of Bezalel artistry. An illuminated manuscript on vellum, this glorious artifact is exquisitely bound in gold, silver and precious and semi-precious stones. It has 107 vellum leaves (28 x 22 cm), illuminated with 16 miniatures (each initialed Z. R. by the artist, Ze’ev Raban) and 44 illuminated capitals with vignettes, in total, 60 color illustrations.

This magnificent manuscript was commissioned and created in Jerusalem in 1942, in the midst of World War II, for presentation to a highly-decorated British officer, Colonel Albert G. Bonn (1889-1962). During his tenure, Bonn oversaw the building of airfields throughout the Middle East and crossed paths with Simon (Shimon) Diskin (1903-1976), a fellow engineer and successful Jewish Palestinian building contractor, whose expertise and local knowledge proved extremely useful to the British officer. The two men, the British officer and the Jewish contractor, seemed to have made a more personal connection as well, one which occasioned the creation of this breathtakingly beautiful manuscript.

In 1942, Bonn suffered the tragic loss of both of his sons in the war. It was after the death of Bonn’s second son, Ian, that Simon Diskin decided to commission this volume as a comfort for his colleague. Recalling that in the final chapters of the Book of Job God restores all of Job’s possessions and grants him the blessing of new children to recompense Job’s unwavering faith, Diskin commissioned two of the finest Bezalel artisans to create a fitting memorial: Ze’ev Raban to write and illustrate the text and Meir Gur Aryeh to create the elaborate binding. Diskin spared no expense and authorized the artisans to use the highest-quality vellum, the finest inks and pigments, 22-karat gold, sterling silver and 114 red rubies. Remarkably, the entire project was completed before the year was out and was presented to Colonel Bonn by Diskin in December 1942.

Lot

The Book of Job, Ze’ev Raban and Meir Gur Aryeh, Jerusalem, 1942

Estimate: 100,000 – 200,000 USD

Important Judaica

18 December 2024 | 10:15 AM EST | New York