A Rare Collection of Halakhic and Kabbalistic Treatises, [Middle East?, ca. late 14th-mid-15th century]

A miscellany comprising three distinct works, two of them unpublished.

The first (ff. 1-71) is an apparently unique copy of the Sefer ha-mitsvot (Book of the Commandments) of Rabbi Isaac ben Samuel. The author, about whom little is known, gives his name in an acrostic composed of verses taken from psalm 119 at the beginning of the book. (It may also be hinted at in the word Ahivshena in the title, assuming this word stands for ani hatum yitshak ben shemu’el noho eden.) In his introduction (ff. 1r-3r), he recounts some of the history of the Oral Law and the rules for deciding it before explaining the need in each generation for the composition of new tracts meant to increase the Law’s accessibility (including its translation into foreign languages). In particular, he mentions the works of his predecessors, Rabbis Isaac Ibn Ghiyyat, Solomon ben Isaac, Moses Maimonides, Moses of Coucy, Judah ha-Kohen al-Mudari, Moses Nahmanides, Isaac of Corbeil, Solomon Ibn Adret, and Jacob ben Asher. Mention of this last authority, who died in 1340, suggests that the compilation of the Sefer ha-mitsvot took place in the mid-fourteenth century, or perhaps somewhat later. In addition, the inclusion of an extended Judeo-Arabic quotation (f. 31r-v) probably points to Spain or the Islamic lands as the author’s location.

The work aims to expound on the 613 commandments in the order of their appearance in the Pentateuch according to the weekly parashiyyot (Torah portions), drawing upon and epitomizing the interpretations of earlier authorities. Its first section (ff. 3v-4v) is devoted to the 248 positive commandments, while its second part (ff. 5r-71v) is focused on the 365 negative commandments. Rabbi Isaac ben Samuel’s treatment of a given precept could be extensive, as indeed was the case for negative commandment 21, the requirement to not violate the Sabbath, which, in fact, closes out the portion of the book preserved in this miscellany (ff. 21v-71v).

The second tract (ff. 72r-167v) is somewhat similar in content and language to Rabbi Isaac ben Samuel’s aforementioned discussion of the laws of the Sabbath, and it, too, may have been composed by him. It goes through the rules governing the Sabbath eve (ff. 72r-79v), the lighting of Sabbath (ff. 79v-82r) and Hanukkah (ff. 82r-83v) candles, the Kiddush blessing recited on the Sabbath (ff. 83v-88r), the types of labors forbidden on the Sabbath (ff. 88r-139v), and the prohibitions against transferring property from one domain to another and leaving the city limits on the Sabbath (ff. 140r-167v). The treatise contains a wealth of information especially from geonic sources and is, like its predecessor, apparently unique to this manuscript.

The third work represented here (ff. 168r-234v) is a beautifully decorated copy of Rabbi Menahem Recanati’s (late 13th-early 14th-century) kabbalistic commentary on the books of Genesis and Exodus (through the middle of Parashat tetsavveh), with various marginalia apparently added by the scribe, whose name may have been Isaac (see f. 215r). The Italian author has recourse to various traditional Sephardic and Ashkenazic mystical sources in his interpretation of the biblical text and includes descriptions of some of his own visions and celestial revelations. Predating the editio princeps of the full Torah commentary (Venice, 1523) probably by a century or so, the present manuscript constitutes an important witness to this influential esoteric tract.

Sotheby’s is grateful to Simcha Emanuel, Benjamin Richler, and Yaakov Taubes for providing information that aided in the cataloging of this manuscript.

Provenance

1. Sason ben Isaac ha-Levi (ff. 62v, 218v; apparently also the owner of MS Cincinnati, HUC 308)
2. Widow of Sason ben Isaac ha-Levi (f. 214r)
3. Hayyim Levi Mizrahi (ff. 1r, 83v, 168r, 214r)

Physical Description

234 folios (10 1/2 x 7 in.; 267 x 177 mm) (beginning collation indeterminate, but starting with f. 5: i⁷ [i₁ lacking], ii-v⁸, vi¹⁰, vii⁹ [?], viii⁸, 1, [gap], ix⁸, x¹², xi⁸, xii¹², xiii⁸, xiv¹², xv-xvi⁸, [gap], xvii⁸, xviii¹², [gap], xix⁹ [xix_1-2,12 lacking], xx¹², xxi-xxiii¹⁰, xxiv¹⁰ [lacking xxiv_1-2], xxv⁶ [lacking xxv_1,8]) on apparently unmarked paper; modern foliation in pencil in Arabic numerals in upper-outer corners of rectos; written in Eastern square (titles and incipits) and semi-cursive (text body) scripts in black ink; single-column text of 32 (ff. 1-71) or 33 (ff. 72-234) lines per page; ruled in blind; horizontal catchwords relatively consistently on ff. 72-234; justification via dilation and contraction of final letters, abbreviation, and diagonal inscription of final words; Tetragrammaton generally formed as three yodin in a triangle followed by a squiggle, or as a yod-vav-yod sequence; later marginal notation of parashiyyot on f. 6r-v only; Judeo-Arabic text (with diacritics) quoted on f. 31r-v; corrections, marginalia, and insertions in primary and later hands. Intricately executed pen-drawn opening panels and/or frames on ff. 1r, 3v-4r, 5r-6r, 168r, 189v, 192r, 197v, 202r, 203r, 204r, 207v, 209v, 211v-212r, 217r, 218r, 221r, 225v, 228r, 230r, 234r, with green and red inks used on ff. 5r-6r; similar-style full-page book division on f. 214r; diagrams on ff. 15r-17r, 18r-19r, 26r, 31v, 36r-37v, 44r, 46r-v, 48r, 49v-51v, 54r-55v, 56v-58r, 59v-65v, 70r, 75r-v, 95r, 111r, 117v, 122v-123r, 125v-126v, 128r, 129v, 131v-132r, 149r, 151v, 152v, 153v-157r, 159v-160r, 161v-162r, 164v-165r, 166r-167v, 232r. Probably lacking one folio between ff. 1-2, 3-4, 176-177, 228-229, two folios between ff. 218-219, and an unknown number between ff. 4-5, 71-72, 139-140, 147-148, and 167-168 and after f. 234; staining and dampstaining intermittently throughout, occasionally obscuring or abrading some text (see esp. ff. 230-232); thumbing; ff. 1-12 frayed and torn in edges, without loss of text; tape in gutters of ff. 51-52, 54, 61-63, 69-71, 80, 91, 100, 111, 119-121, 130-131, 146-147, 156, 176, 189, 199-200, 208, 212, 227, 230; tear near gutter of f. 85; small holes in middle of ff. 90, 179, 230, slightly affecting text; paper repairs in upper sections of ff. 140-141, 148-150, on each of which a few lines of text are damaged; paper repairs in upper-outer corners of ff. 151-155 and in outer edge of f. 156, without loss of text. Unbound; stitching exposed and fraying; many folios partially or completely loose.

Literature

Simcha Emanuel (ed.), Teshuvot ha-ge’onim ha-hadashot, revised ed. (Jerusalem; Wickliffe, OH: Ofeq Institute, 2018), 251 n. 32, 277.

https://www.nli.org.il/he/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/itempage?vid=MANUSCRIPTS&scope=PNX_MANUSCRIPTS&docId=PNX_MANUSCRIPTS990001890740205171&SearchTxt=990001890740205171

https://www.nli.org.il/he/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/itempage?vid=MANUSCRIPTS&scope=PNX_MANUSCRIPTS&docId=PNX_MANUSCRIPTS990001928870205171&SearchTxt=990001928870205171