Year-round siddur, following the Sephardic rite – siddur for weekdays, Shabbat and festivals. Amsterdam: Naftali Hertz Levi, [1739]. Miniature edition.

The first title page states that the book was printed "in the press of the master and expert physician R. Naftali Hertz Levi". On verso of leaf appears an introduction by Naftali Hertz Levi, stating that having seen a miniature siddur that was in small, unvocalized type unreadable to children, he decided to print this vocalized miniature siddur in beautiful type.

Divisional title page on leaf 223.

Several variants of this edition are recorded in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book.

Fundamento Solido, Baza y Thypo de la Sacro Sancta…, by Judah Leon de Joseph Perez. Amsterdam: Ishac Jeudah Leaõ Templo (R. Yehudah Leon Templo), 1728. Spanish. Additional title page in Hebrew: Yesod Oz, "published in a foreign tongue to bring merit to the mighty Jewish people, by a Jewish man of the family of Peretz, Yehudah Aryeh son of R. Yosef Peretz…".

Theological work in Spanish, with title page, colophon and approbations in Hebrew. The work was written for the Marranos, descendants of the Jews forcibly converted to Christianity in Spain and Portugal, who returned to their religion, with the aim of explaining various Jewish concepts, commandments and customs. The work was modeled on the Catholic catechism, in the form of questions and answers on the fundamentals of the Jewish faith.

The author,
R. Yehudah son of Yosef Peretz, author of Perach HaLevanon (Berlin, 1712) and Shaarei Rachamim (Venice, 1710), scion of one of the most distinguished Jewish families in Spain. Served as rabbi in Venice and Amsterdam. The Hebrew colophon describes the author's miraculous salvation from a shipwreck during a trip from London to Amsterdam for the purpose of printing the present book, with his original thanksgiving poem.

For more information on the book, see: Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, "The Re-Education of Marranos in the Seventeenth Century", in: The Faith of Fallen Jews: Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi and the Writing of Jewish History, Massachusetts, 2014, pp. 157-174.

On R. Yehudah son of Yosef Peretz and his family history, see: Michal Saraf (Malachi), Ayelet Chishki Kelilat Yofi – Toldot Rabbi Aharon Peretz, Lod: Habermann Institute for Literary Research, 1994, pp. 13-21.

[10] leaves, 126, 129-137, [3] pages. Approx. 18 cm. Good condition. Light stains. Minor marginal tears to a few leaves. Worming to bottom of leaves, not affecting text. Bookplate on inside of front cover. Inscriptions on inside of front cover and on front endpaper. Cardboard binding with leather spine and corners. Wear, minor tears and worming to binding. Minor rubbing and tears to spine.

Kayserling, p. 88.

Pi Shnayim, commentary on the Order of Zeraim by Rabbenu Asher (the Rosh), with additions by the publisher R. Elisha son of R. Avraham, and novellae by R. Yaakov Emden and R. Moshe Chagiz. Altona: Aharon son of Eliyahu Katz, [1735]. First edition of the commentary of the Rosh to the Order of Zeraim. Contains illustrative diagrams.

This work was published by R. Elisha son of R. Avraham of Grodno from a manuscript belonging to R. David Oppenheim. The book includes approbations by R. Moshe Chagiz, who was in Altona in the year the book was printed, and R. Yaakov Emden (Yaavetz), in Altona that year. R. Yaakov Emden added to his approbation an extract from his novellae to Tractate Rosh Hashanah, which was printed after the publisher's introduction. Several pages of novellae by R. Moshe Chagiz were printed at the end of the book (of which the publisher writes "what I found in the handwriting of the Torah scholar R. Moshe Chagiz of Jerusalem…").

The present copy belonged to R. Yaakov Emden, and contains his autograph glosses in two places in the book:

On the leaf containing the extract from his novellae, R. Yaakov Emden added notations and corrections, as well as a gloss.

In addition, to the novellae of R. Moshe Chagiz, R. Yaakov Emden added several lengthy glosses, most of them sharply-worded dissents criticizing R. Moshe Chagiz: "He speaks at length as if he saw what no one ever saw… he has the way of women…", "I resolved this well, but he didn't understand", "This is also nonsense…", "This is also futile breath and dribble to prolong the study…", "This is nonsense, and he forgot…"; "And he didn't understand the words of the Rashba…"; "He erred… and so why was he so upset, what was my transgression and my sin… he should have been grateful to us for leaving it for him to earn glory from".

In one of the glosses R. Yaakov Emden mentions his work: "…see what I wrote with the help of heaven in Shaar HaShir" (referring to the section on the Pesach Haggadah in his Siddur).

The background to the sharp glosses in the present book is revealed in R. Yaakov Emden's memoirs – Megilat Sefer (first printed in Warsaw, 1896), where R. Yaakov Emden recounts his tension with R. Moshe Chagiz, who was his partner in opposing Sabbateanism (including attacks on R. Yehonatan Eibeshitz and R. Moshe Chaim Luzzatto), and who was his neighbor in Altona for a few years. R. Yaakov Emden recounts that the present book was brought to him for an approbation. At that time, the main text of the book was already printed, and R. Yaakov Emden discovered that R. Moshe Chagiz's novellae printed at the end related to his own ideas in Lechem Shamayim on Tractate Bikurim (1:4). Although R. Moshe Chagiz did not explicitly mention R. Yaakov Emden or his work, R. Yaakov Emden was convinced that he was being referred to, and he felt that R. Moshe Chagiz was making ad hominem attacks on him deriving from personal rivalry and spite. R. Yaakov Emden mentions there that his approbation to the present book contains a veiled reference to R. Chagiz's novellae ("I will also speak, if G-d wills it, against the one who tried to find false pretexts against me…"). Handwritten in his personal copy, the present item, we find R. Yaakov Emden's impassioned responses to R. Moshe Chagiz's claims. R. Yaakov Emden later included the contents of these glosses in a lengthy passage written in response to R. Moshe Chagiz, in his work Asarah HaLechem printed at the end of Responsa She'elat Yaavetz (on Bikurim 1:4), where he adds further details to his account of the incident and to his response to R. Moshe Chagiz.

Petach Einayim – supplement to Shevirat Luchot HaAven, by R. Yaakov Emden. [Altona: R. Yaakov Emden, 1757?]. Only edition.

Printed without title page. Title appears on top of first page.

Printed by R. Yaakov Emden in his printing press in Altona, against the letter of the Noda BiYehudah printed in Luchot Edut in attempt to defend R. Yehonatan Eibeshitz and assuage the controversy. The name Petach Einayim is a play of words based on the fact that the Noda BiYehudah's letter, which R. Yaakov Emden attacks sharply, was written with a rhyme scheme based on the letter ayin. Leaves 13-16 contain several additional texts relating to the controversy.

Kitzur Tzitzat Novel Tzvi, polemical work against false messiah Shabtai Tzvi, by R. Yaakov Sasportas. Altona: R. Yaakov Emden, [1757]. On first page (in boldface): "in Amsterdam".

Printed without title page. The name of the work appears at the top of the first page.

Second edition, edited by R. Yaakov Emden (Yaavetz), who proofread the book and added his own original notes as well as responsa by R. Yaakov Sasportas relating to the topic.

The first edition of the book, edited by R. David Meldola, was originally printed as an appendix to Ohalei Yaakov by R. Yaakov Sasportas, in Amsterdam, 1737.

On title page, introduction by R. Yaakov Emden: "Therefore I saw fit to renew this desirable work and return it to its prime, and although its errors were many… with much effort and labor I illuminated the obscurity… and also added a few of his relevant answers from his responsa that relate to the present subject…".

On leaves 59-60 appear addenda and corrigenda, an index to Kitzur Tzitzat Novel Tzvi, as well as an index to Torat HaKenaot, another anti-Sabbatean work by R. Yaakov Emden, printed in Altona, 1752.