Manuscript, Hillula Rabba, study order for the night of Lag BaOmer in honor of R. Shimon bar Yochai. Tangier (Morocco), 1859–1869.
Masterfully illustrated colorful manuscript. Title page with an ornamental border and floral illustrations. The book title is also decorated with flowers. Other colorful ornaments and illustrations throughout the book (vases and flowers). Neat semi–cursive Sephardic script.
The date of the manuscript – 1859, is inscribed in the title page border. Includes piyyutim in honor of R. Shimon bar Yochai, Birkat HaIlanot and Petichat Eliyahu.
Three leaves in a different hand with the Birkat HaChamah order were added at the end of the manuscript. Dated 1869 on the final page.

Illustrated manuscripts originating from Tangier are exceptionally rare.

[23] leaves. 14.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor tears. Open tear to final leaf, not affecting text. New binding.

Exhibition:
• Sacred Places. Pilgrimages in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Chris de Lauwer (editor), MAS Museum aan de Stroom, Antwerp (19 September 2014 – 18 January 2015), p. 171.
See:
• El Presente. Estudios sobre la cultura sefardí. Edited by Tamar Alexander and Yaakov Bentolila 2008, p.54.
• Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World (Leiden, 2010).

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, MO.011.065.

Manuscript, works on the laws of shechitah. [Gibraltar?, first half of 19th century].
Cursive Sephardic script. The copyist was presumably R. Shmuel Benjo (disciple of R. Shmuel Conqui, rabbi in the Gibraltar in the first half of the 19th century – see item no. 120), who inscribed his name inside the front board.
The manuscript comprises several works on the laws of shechitah: a work by R. Refael Berdugo, with glosses by his son R. Maimon Berdugo; a ruling by R. Mordechai son of R. Yosef Berdugo; and more.
On p. 15b, illustration of a hand, with a summary of 70 types of terefot. The name of the author is inscribed in the margins: R. Yeshaya Ben Zekri (a Fes Torah scholar in the times of the Yaavetz). On the final page, illustrations of the lungs, spine and trachea.

[17] leaves. 16.5 cm. Good–fair condition. Stains. Detached leaves. Original card binding, detached.

Exhibition:
• Nicht ganz Koscher, Eisenstadt, Österreichisches Jüdisches Museum, 2000.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, AZ.011.005.

Declaracaõ das 613. encomendancas de nossa sancta ley, composition on Taryag Mitzvot by Rabbi Avraham Farrar. Amsterdam: Paulus Aertsen de Ravesteyn, [1627]. Portuguese.
Rabbi Farrar's comprehensive composition on the Jewish commanments, based on the Sefer Hamitzvot by Maimonides; compiled with the assistance of Rabbi (Saul Levi Mortera, 1596–1660?), who was Rabbi Farrar's study partner.
This book as an extraordinary example of Jewish–Portuguese print in the Netherlands; particularly beautiful are the illustrated title page, engraved with flowers and a quote from Psalms, and the historiated initial in the form of Abraham holding a knife – a reference to the author's name.

Rabbi Avraham Farrar (also: Pharar or Ferrar; b. 1663), also known as Francisco Lopes d'Azevedo'. Born to a family of Portuguese Marranos, Rabbi Farrar practiced as a physician, and was among the community leaders of the Jewish–Portuguese community in Amsterdam; on the the book's title page he refers to himself as "Judeo do desterro de Portugal" [Jewish exile from Portugal). Nephew of Rabbi David Farrar, one of the founders of the Jewish–Portuguese community in Amsterdam, and Rabbi Yaakov Tirado, founder of the "Beit Ya'akov" community in the city. Rabbi Farrar stood in close relations with Rabbi Menasseh Ben Israel, who dedicated to him his important composition "Thesouro dos Dinim (1645).

[1] leaf, 310 pages. 21 cm. Good condition. Stains. Marginal open tears and worming to some leaves, restored with paper (minor damage to text). Some ink inscriptions (old; in Hebrew letters). Leaves trimmed close to text. New fine Leather binding, gilt.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, NHB. 112.

Biblia en lengua espanola, traduzida palabra por palabra de la verdad Hebrayca [complete Bible, translated to Spanish]. Amsterdam: Gillis Ioost, [1646?]. Spanish.
New edition of the Spanish translation of the Bible, based on the Amsterdam 1630 edition. Third edition of the Ferrara Bible.
Fine engraved title page, depicting Moses and Aaron, the Ark of the Covenant, Adam and Eve, and more (signed: Cornelis Muller).
Imprint on title page for 5606 [1846] – presumably a printing error; the correct date is 5406 [1646].
17th and 18th century Amsterdam was home to a large Sephardi community. Most of its members were descendants of Marranos who emigrated from Spain and Portugal a century after the expulsion. The present book was printed for the members of this community who had lost familiarity with the Hebrew language.

[18], 417, 420–605 pages. 35.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Marginal open tears to final leaves, repaired with tape. Title page and first gatherings loose. Early wood and leather binding, with clasp remnants. Wear and defects to binding. Lettered in gilt on both boards: "Society of Writers to The Signet".

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, NHB.110.

Retrato del Tabernaculo de Moseh, by R. Jacob Judah Leon (Templo). Amsterdam: Gillis Joosten, 5414 [1654]. Spanish.
First edition of two works by R. Jacob Judah Leon – a work about the Tabernacle and a work about the cherubim on the cover of the Ark of the Covenant. The works were originally composed in Dutch, but were first published together in the present edition, in Spanish, with two impressive engraved plates – an engraving depicting the Tabernacle (with small illustrations of the Tabernacle utensils), and an engraving portraying the encampment of the tribes around the Tabernacle.

R. Jacob Judah Leon Templo (1603 – after 1675), a 17th century Torah scholar in Amsterdam. Born in Portugal to a family of Spanish exiles, he studied in Amsterdam under the rabbi of the Neveh Shalom community, R. Yitzchak Uziel. He was renowned for his books on the prominent Biblical structures and utensils – the Tabernacle, Solomon's temple, and the Ark of the Covenant, which R. Leon described for the first time based on contemporary scientific knowledge. His pioneering work earned him renown throughout Europe, and drew the attention of contemporary rulers – King Charles II, William II Prince of Orange, and Augustus Duke of Brunswick (who commissioned German translations of the works). Following the success of his books, R. Judah Leon created a model of Solomon's temple with small scale utensils, earning the nickname of "Templo".

[7] leaves, 88 pages (mispagination) + [2] folded plates. 18 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor creases. Minor marginal tears to some leaves. Ink stamp on title page. Small piece of paper with handwritten inscription attached to one leaf (blank). Parchment binding, worn and damaged, partially detached.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, NHB.123.