Auction 95 Early Printed Books, Chassidut and Kabbalah, Letters and Manuscripts, Engravings and Jewish Ceremonial Objects
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![Ha-Lapid, O facho, Orgão da Comunidade Israelita do Porto [periodical of the Jewish community in Porto], edited by Avr](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale95/187_1.jpg "Ha-Lapid – Periodical of the Jewish Community in Portugal – Volume wit")
![Ha-Lapid, O facho, Orgão da Comunidade Israelita do Porto [periodical of the Jewish community in Porto], edited by Avr](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale95/187_2.jpg "Ha-Lapid – Periodical of the Jewish Community in Portugal – Volume wit")
Ha-Lapid, O facho, Orgão da Comunidade Israelita do Porto [periodical of the Jewish community in Porto], edited by Avraham Yisrael Ben-Rosh. Porto (Portugal): Empresa Diario do Porto, 1927-1948. Portuguese.
Volume of issues, containing 110 issues (issues no. 3-110, 141-142), from the first year of the periodical (1927) to its 15th year (1941). Two additional issues from the 22nd year of the periodical (1948).
The periodical was published in the years 1927-1958, and contained news and information on the events in the Jewish community in Porto and other Jewish communities around the world, articles on Jewish topics, various photographs, and more. At first the periodical was published on a monthly basis, but starting in 1929 it began to be published bimonthly (the last issues of the periodical were printed biannually).
Artur Carlos de Barros Basto (1887-1961; Hebrew name: Avraham Yisrael Ben-Rosh). Officer in the Portuguese army. Fought in the 1910 revolution and the First World War; decorated several times for acts of bravery and promoted to the rank of Capitão (Captain). Renowned for nurturing a rebirth of the Jewish community in Porto, and for returning thousands of descendants of Portuguese Marranos and conversos to the Jewish faith. Born in northern Portugal; received a Catholic education. Discovered at a young age that he was descended from Jewish conversos, and familiarized himself with Jewish customs upon reaching adulthood. Underwent halakhic conversion, and married the daughter of one of the leaders of Lisbon’s Jewish community. The main objective of his ambitious efforts was the renewal of the Jewish community of Porto, several centuries after it had been destroyed with the expulsion of the Jews from Portugal. As part of his mission – and while still pursuing his military career – in 1927, Barros Basto founded a journal titled "HaLapid" ("The Torch"). He also published books, articles, and research papers on various Jewish topics. Many of these can be found in the present collection. In addition, he established a yeshiva by the name of "Rosh Pinah."
In order to locate Portuguese Crypto-Jews, Barros Basto would ride his horse through the rural areas surrounding Porto, accompanied by a "mohel", and whenever he came across male descendants of conversos who showed an interest in returning to Judaism, he would suggest they consider undergoing circumcision.
In the early 1920s, he began realizing his goal of re-establishing a Jewish community in Porto, centered around a synagogue originally located in a small apartment. This institution grew and eventually relocated to a large, magnificent building. Known as the Kadoorie – Mekor Haim Synagogue, it was funded by donations from the Baron Edmond de Rothschild and the Baron Lawrence Kadoorie, and was inaugurated in 1938.
Barros Basto’s far-reaching endeavors aimed at renewing Jewish life in Portugal – and in particular, the circumcision ceremonies he promoted – aroused the wrath of the Catholic Church. They also drew the attention of officials in the autocratic regime of António de Oliveira Salazar, sparking an anti-Semitic backlash. As a result, he was falsely accused of assorted crimes, put on trial, and despite his complete innocence, dishonorably discharged in 1937 from the ranks of the Portuguese armed forces. This course of events earned him the title of "the Portuguese Dreyfus." Barros Basto died in 1961 and was buried in his place of birth, Amarante.
Long after his death, in 2012, Barros Basto’s name was officially rehabilitated by an act of the Portuguese Parliament, and he thus posthumously regained his status as a Portuguese national hero.
110 issues. One issue disconnected. Many sequences of leaves. 24 cm. Dry paper. Good-fair condition. Stains. Tears, including a few open tears affecting text, partially repaired with paper. New binding.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Escamoth, Reglamentos, e Ordenanças para o bom governo da Santa Irmandade Mishenet Zequenim, id est: Bordao dos Velhos, Novamente Istituida nesta cidade Amsterdam, para amparo de Velhos, e Velhas, desvalidos. Amsterdam, 1750. Printed with the permission of the community council.
Booklet containing ordinances of the Mishenet Zekenim society – a home for old men and women associated with the Portuguese Talmud Torah community in Amsterdam. This old age home was one of the earliest known Jewish welfare institutions of its kind.
The Spanish-Portuguese community was established in Amsterdam by an increasing flow of Jews drawn there for its relative religious tolerance and commercial opportunities. The 1579 Union of Utrecht declared that no person would be persecuted or interrogated on religious grounds, which made the city the destination of choice for Marranos from the Iberian Peninsula and southern France who wished to begin practicing Judaism openly. In its early years in the late 16th century, the community was not officially recognized and was forbidden from building a synagogue. Towards the mid-17th century, the city was already home to some 2500 Jews; the small congregations – Neveh Shalom, Beit Yisrael and Beit Yaakov – united in 1639 to form a Sephardic congregation named Talmud Torah, and in 1675, the congregation inaugurated its magnificent synagogue, the Esnoga, active to this day. The elite of the Sephardic society contributed much to the economy of the city and to Dutch colonization efforts, and the great benefit they brought to the city led the authorities to grant the community extensive freedom and autonomous rights. The members of the community became prominent physicians, philosophers, poets and rabbis. Amsterdam was one of the prominent printing centers in Europe, and was home to Jewish printers renowned for their high standards of work.
[6]; 9, [1] pages. 19.5 cm. Good condition. Colorful wrapper; light wear to wrapper.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Orot HaMitzvot, commentaries and novellae on the reasons for commandments, according to the order of the Torah portions, with Emek Binyamin – responsa, halachic rulings and laws by R. Binyamin Dias-Brandon [a rabbi of the Portuguese community of Amsterdam). Amsterdam: Jan Janson, [1753]. First editions of both works.
Divisional title page for Emek Binyamin (which was also printed separately). At the beginning of Orot HaMitzvot are many approbations and poems in praise of the author and his book, by rabbis of Amsterdam and Hamburg.
Emek Binyamin sections 15-16 contain a halachic correspondence regarding inheritance between the author and R. Aharon Ledesma of Suriname (South America; his location is mentioned in the contents on the last page). This is the first place in responsa literature where a European rabbi addresses an American rabbi.
Ownership inscriptions on front endpaper. Inscription on title page.
[18], 103, [1]; [2], 22 leaves. 20 cm. Good condition. Stains. Early leather binding, front part loose, damaged.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Three decrees and documents relating the citizenship and rights of Jews in France. France, 1790. French.
The decrees were published shortly after the outbreak of the French Revolution, in the period when France underwent extreme societal and governmental changes. At the beginning of the revolution, King Louis XVI was forced to acquiesce to the demands of the new National Assembly, the estates system of rights was replaced with elected bodies, and the Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen was authored.
• Adresse à l'Assemblée Nationale, Paris: National Assembly, 1789 [i.e. January 1790].
A petition submitted by the Spanish-Portuguese community in Bordeaux to the National Assembly in France, regarding their citizenship and equal rights.
8 pages (double leaf, folded). Approx. 27 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains. Creases and wear. Tears and holes, affecting text.
• Proclamation du roi, sur un décret de l'assemblée nationale, concernant les Juifs, du 16 Avril 1790 [proclamation of the king about a decree of the National Assembly regarding the Jews, 16 April, 1790]. Paris: L'Imprimerie Royale, 1790.
A decree of protection passed by the revolutionary National Assembly of France, approved by King Louis XVI. The decree grants protection of the law and citizenship to the Ashkenazi Jews in the Alsace and Lorraine provinces. The decree instructs the authorities and the National Guard to defend the Jews in their provinces and protect their lives and property. At the top of the leaf is printed a woodcut.
[1] double leaf (2 printed pages). Approx. 27 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and wear. Tear to fold.
• Lettres patentes du Roi, sur le décret de l'Assemblée nationale, du 20 juillet dernier, portant suppression des droits d'habitation, de protection, de tolérance et de redevances semblables sur les Juifs, données à Saint-Claude le 7 août 1790. La Rochelle: P. L. Chauvet, 1790.
Official decree of King Louis XVI cancelling the yearly tax of 20,000 livres that had been levied on the Jews of Metz, as well as other taxes levied on French Jews, according to the decision of the French National Assembly on July 20, 1790. At the top of the first page is printed a woodcut.
4 pages. 25 cm. Good condition. Stains and light damage. Bound with red paper wrapper.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Vayikra, Part III of the Five Books of the Torah, with Haftarot, Rashi, Baal HaTurim and Siftei Chachamim, and with the commentaries of the Chida – Nachal Kedumim on the Torah and Nachal Sorek on the Haftarot. Safed: Yisrael Bak, [1833].
Some of the words on the title page are printed in red ink.
This is the second or third book printed by R. Yisrael Bak in Safed. The other parts of the Chumash from this press are unknown, and it appears that only the Book of Vayikra was printed. Bak printed another edition in tandem without the commentaries of the Chida.
Signature on title page: "Ezra Dweck HaKohen" [the Dweck family was an illustrious family of kohanim in Syria which produced leading Torah scholars, rabbis and poskim].
137 leaves. 20 cm. Fair condition. Stains, including dampstains and traces of former dampness (with light mold stains). Worming, affecting text, partially repaired with paper filling. Open tears, affecting text, including marginal open tears to the title page, and a large open tear to the final leaf (with loss to about half the leaf), repaired with paper filling. Some leaves supplied from another copy. On the title page is an ink drawing around the title and location of printing. New binding.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Kenesiyah LeShem Shamayim, against witchcraft and demon worship, by R. Menashe Matlub Sithon, Rabbi of Syria and head of the Safed Beit Din. Jerusalem: Eliyahu and Moshe Sason, 1874. Only edition.
Copy of the author's son R. Chaim Sithon, Rabbi of Safed – at the top of the title page is his handwritten ownership inscription.
The author, R. Menashe Matlub Sithon (d. 1876), Rabbi of Syria, immigrated to Safed and served as the head of its Beit Din in his later years. His son R. Chaim Sithon was born in Safed and later served as Rabbi of the Sephardic community in the city.
Kenesiyah LeShem Shamayim was composed to oppose magical practices that had spread among Jewish women in Jerusalem, Aleppo and elsewhere, particularly "indulco", a ceremony of "sweetening" held for the demons, for cures, birth and various troubles.
[2], 93 leaves. 19 cm. Good-fair condition. Minor stains and wear. Worming. Original binding, worn and damaged.
Shoshana Halevy, no. 210.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Printed booklet, Kol MeHeichal, polemic against the people of the New Yishuv who opposed the Halukka system of charity distribution in Eretz Israel. [Jerusalem: Yoel Moshe Salomon, 1885.] Printed without title page.
The booklet contains the printed signatures of about eighty leaders of the Ashkenazi Perushim and Chassidic communities.
The author of the booklet is apparently the famous traveler R. Yaakov Sapir. The author describes the economic contributions of the Old Yishuv in contrast to the passivity of the new settlers, and goes on to describe the strain on the Halukka donations in Jerusalem as a result of refugees from the pogroms in Russia and Romania in 1881.
This booklet raised much interest in its time, and was the Old Yishuv's official response to the polemic against the Halukka institutions.
8 pages. 20-21 cm. Fair condition. Many stains. Much wear and tears, mainly to last two leaves. Some handwritten corrections. Detached leaves, without binding.
Shoshana Halevy, no. 529 (who calls this "an especially rare booklet").
Recorded in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book project based on a photocopy.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Collection of books from early Jerusalem presses, 1863-1903.
12 books. Varying size and condition. New bindings. The books were not thoroughly examined, and are being sold as is.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter to the Mantua community, regarding purchase of lulavim and etrogim for Sukkot for the community, from Bentzion of Norzi. Ferrara, 1580.
Letter sent to the Mantua community leaders. The author writes that he had received a letter from the Mantua community leaders, followed by another one from R. Yehudah Provenzalo, regarding lulavim. He promises to uphold his promise to send lulavim and etrogim to Mantua. The margins of the letter contain the place and date of writing, with his signature.
[1] double leaf (on the exterior – address of recipients in Italian). 31 cm. Good condition. Stains. Folds. Open tears to margins and center of leaf (not affecting text).
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Manuscript, "Ketubah for Shavuot". Pesaro, Italy, 1698.
Square Italian script, mostly vowelized. Decorated title on first page with initials of scribe (Moshe Shmuel Macabe Finzi of Recanati). The date on the title page is given as 1661, which is apparently the date a similar Pesaro manuscript was copied, from which the present item was in turn copied. This copy is dated 1698 on verso of title page.
At the end of the manuscript is an illustration of a coat of arms – a cartouche containing a Star of David with the image of a lion and a rooster holding a stalk of wheat, with Biblical verses as captions and initials of the scribe.
The manuscript contains two versions of the Ketubah for Shavuot, the first credited to R. Yisrael Najara and the second unattributed.
The manuscript was rebound with the original cardboard binding, which apparently originally bound this manuscript and an additional one. On the binding are inscriptions from 1669 and 1698, on the purchase of a manuscript (not the present item) and on combining it with the present manuscript.
2-7, [1] leaves. 13.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains. Much worming, affecting text. New binding, bound with original cardboard binding. Worming and damage to old binding, affecting ownership inscriptions on the binding.
Provenance: Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, IT.011.017.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Printed leaf with a riddle, for the wedding of Yitzchak son of Shabtai Marini with the bride Yehudit daughter of Menachem of Italy, by R. Yeshayahu Bassan. Mantua, [ca. 1724].
At the top of the leaf is an engraving with angels holding a crown, branches and musical instruments, with the (printed) signature of the author.
R. Yeshayahu Bassan (1673-1739), Rabbi in Padua and later in Reggio, close teacher of the Ramchal (R. Moshe Chaim Luzzatto).
The groom, R. Yitzchak son of Shabtai Marini, was a close friend of the Ramchal, and was one of the first seven in the Zohar study group founded by the Ramchal. The Ramchal also wrote two poems for his wedding.
[1] leaf. Approx. 46 cm. Fair condition. Stains. Folds. Tears to folds and margins, slightly affecting text. The leaf is mounted on another leaf for reinforcement and preservation.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Printed leaf with a riddle for the wedding of the groom Yehoshua son of Yitzchak Recanati and the bride Esther Sarah daughter of Refael Recanati, by R. Yisrael Binyamin Bassan. Livorno: Avraham Meldola, 1746.
The poem contains 24 stanzas, with the (printed) signature of the author.
An elaborate Ketubah from the same wedding appears in the Braginsky collection.
R. Yisrael Binyamin Bassan (1701-1790), son of R. Yeshayahu Bassan and friend of the Ramchal. He succeeded his father as Rabbi of Reggio.
[1] leaf. Approx. 54 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains. Folds. Several tears to folds, affecting text. The leaf is mounted on another leaf to reinforce and repair it.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.