Milchemet Chovah, anthology of disputations with Christians, including the disputations of the Ramban, Radak and others. Constantinople: Naftali Hertz son of Azriel of Vilna and Yonah son of Yaakov Ashkenazi, 1710. First edition.
On title page: "I call you men to come fight the war of the Torah… It is a mitzvah to undermine them and expose their blemish. In truth they have said, 'All scoffing is forbidden except for scoffing at idolatry'. Moreover, it is our duty to refute them and expose their error, to have their faces blacken like the rim of a pot…".
On verso of title page appears a lengthy introduction, including a preface to Sela HaMachloket by R. Avraham Roman. Approbations of rabbis of Constantinople appear next.
The present volume is a dedicated anthology of several disputations and anti-Christian polemical works. On pp. 1a-13a appears the famous Barcelona disputation of the Ramban with the apostate Pablo Christiani (first printed by Wagenseil in Tela Ignea Satanae, Altdorf 1681); pp. 13a-18b contain the disputation of the Radak (attributed to R. David Kimchi), followed by Sefer HaBrit (pp. 18b-38b) by Radak's father – R. Yosef Kimchi, written as a manual for Jews disputing Christians (part of which appears to have been authored by others); and Setirat Emunat HaNotzrim by the Rashbatz (pp. 38b-69).
The last 12 leaves contain the work Reashim UReamim, attributed to the Arizal, appended to the book by the proofreader.
[6], 51, 53-69; 12 leaves. 16 cm. Good condition. Stains. Early leather binding, with front side detached. Damage to spine.
Rare.
CB, no. 3810; Zedner, p. 590.
Estimate: $800-1,000
