SEFER MEKHILTA (HALAKHIC MIDRASH ON EXODUS), CONSTANTINOPLE: ASTRUC DE TOULON, 1515

A rare copy of the first edition of the oldest halakhic midrash to Exodus.

Attributed to the school of the second-century tanna Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha, the Mekhilta is a midrashic exposition of the Book of Exodus beginning with the first commandment of the Torah, the injunction to sanctify the New Moon in Ex. 12:1-2, and ending with a discussion of the laws of the Sabbath in Ex. 31 and 35. Divided into several massekhtot (tractates), each of which is further broken down into parashot (portions), the midrash explicates the various laws and narratives in accordance with the hermeneutical principles propounded by R. Ishmael and his students.