Pardes Shoshanim – Asirei HaTikvah, allegorical play in rhyme, in three acts, by Joseph Penso de la Vega (author of Mehumat HaMehumot – Confusion de Confusiones, Amsterdam 1688). Amsterdam: Yosef Athias, 1673.
Morality play in three acts, on the theme of human free will. The play's hero is an unnamed king, representing man's free will. Satan attempts to tempt the king to evil, using his three servants – Pleasure, the Evil Inclination and Woman. They are opposed by Intellect, Providence, Truth and an Angel of G-d, who attempt to direct him to the right path.
Penso authored this play in 1667 (about six years before it was printed), at the young age of 17, and he is in fact referred to on the title page as "the young student" (Schirmann, referenced below, argues that the play may have been staged when Penso finished his school studies).
The book begins with an approbation in Portuguese by R. Moshe Refael de Aguilar and R. Avraham Kohen Pimentel, as well as a dedication in Portuguese by the author to his father, Yitzchak Felix Penso. The author's introduction is followed by many poems in praise of the book, in Hebrew, Spanish and Latin, by distinguished contemporary rabbis and poets (including the authors of the approbation).
[20], 54 leaves. 15.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains (somewhat dark dampstains to last leaves). Light wear. Minor worming, slightly affecting text. Tear to center of title page (with almost no loss), and minor tears to margins of title page and several other leaves. Original parchment binding, somewhat loose. Many stains and defects to binding.
See: A. Yaari, HaMachazeh HaIvri, Jerusalem 1956, p. 104 (Yaari notes that this is the first Hebrew play to be published by its author); Ch. Schirmann, LeToldot HaShirah VehaDrama HaIvrit, Mechkarim UMasot, Mosad Bialik, Jerusalem 1980, II, pp. 132-137.
Joseph Penso de la Vega (1650-1692), was a Jewish-Dutch merchant, preacher, poet and philanthropist, and a member of the Sephardic-Portuguese community in Amsterdam. He was born to a family of Marranos originating near Cordova, Andalusia, who fled to Holland to practice Judaism openly. Penso was educated in the Sephardic Torah school in Amsterdam, under the auspices of R. Moshe Refael de Aguilar and R. Yitzchak Aboab. Like his father, Yitzchak Penso, he was also a merchant, but in addition to his financial activities he also took part in cultural and spiritual community life.
He was one of the founders of literary circles ("academies") in Amsterdam and Livorno, and some of his addresses to these groups have been published. He authored poetry and prose, mainly in Spanish. Of special note is his early Hebrew play Asirei HaTikvah (Amsterdam, 1673), authored at the young age of 17, widely celebrated and considered one of the first plays to be printed in Hebrew. His fame is mainly due to his Mehumat HaMehumot (Confusion de Confusiones), published in Amsterdam in 1688, regarded as the first literary work about the stock market. The book, written as a philosophical dialogue, garnered attention even outside of Jewish circles, and was translated to various languages and printed in many editions over the course of the 20th century. In 2000, the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) began to award the De La Vega prize, named for him, to outstanding securities researchers.
Bookplate of Mozes Heiman Gans.
