Bidspirit auction | Tur Orach Chaim – Venice

Tur Orach Chaim – Venice 1589 – First Edition with Numeration of the Laws Within the Beit Yosef. Rare! - Tur Orach Chaim, with Beit Yosef. Venice: Zuan (Giovanni) di Gara, [1589]. Fourth edition, based on the third edition (Venice, 1566). In this edition, however, lettered reference marks were added for the first time within the Beit Yosef: the laws are indicated by a small letter within the body of the text, while the “new rulings” are marked by a large square letter in the margins of the page. The numbering of these references corresponds to the index for Orach Chaim printed at the beginning of the volume. The printers drew the idea of adding these reference marks from the edition of Tur Choshen Mishpat with Beit Yosef printed in Sabbioneta, as stated on the title page: “Printed for the fourth time, with much study and careful correction by the distinguished scholar Rabbi Isaac Gershon… Furthermore, his spirit moved him to appoint a certain person overseeing the printing to mark the legal rulings by alphabetical reference signs for each and every law in the book, corresponding to them in the commentary and in the summaries. And the new rulings are indicated in the margins, as was done in the Tur Choshen Mishpat printed in Sabbioneta….” Beautiful early edition of Tur Orach Chaim with the Beit Yosef commentary. This was printed on its own, not as part of Arba Turim.  Rare! Has appeared only a handful of times at public auction. The Composition of Beit Yosef – The Heavenly Promise of the “Maggid” – Naming the Work According to the Maggid Rabbi Joseph Karo labored on the composition of Beit Yosef for 32 years. Between the years 1522–1542 he wrote the work, and for another twelve years—from 1542 until 1554—he devoted himself to editing and correcting it. As he writes at the end of the Choshen Mishpat volume (Sabbioneta, 1559, fol. 332/2): “I bless the Lord who has counseled me and until now has blessed me to begin and complete this splendid work, the commentary on the Arba’ah Turim, which I have called Beit Yosef. I began it in Adrianople in the year 1522 and completed it in the city of Safed in Upper Galilee, on Wednesday, the 11th of Elul, 1542. I continued to occupy myself with correcting it and preparing a second edition until the year 1554. I hope to God and beseech Him that He grant it to spread among all Israel…” During the writing of the work, the heavenly “Maggid” (angelic teacher) who revealed himself to Rabbi Joseph Karo promised him that he would help him complete the composition and that the book would illuminate the world and be accepted throughout the Jewish people: “I shall grant you the merit to complete your composition so that the eyes of all Israel will be illuminated by it. For all the nations—wise, understanding, and discerning—will draw from your work called Beit Yosef. They shall be satisfied from the abundance of your house; your springs will spread outward; wisdom will sing in the streets, and your name will be remembered in synagogues and study halls. Whenever you are mentioned in the house of study, the fragrance of your ashes will rise like the incense of spices.” (Maggid Meisharim, Vezot HaBerachah). Not only that—the name of the work was also chosen on the recommendation of the Maggid: “He also told me that he would help me finish my work without error or flaw, and that the eyes of all Israel would be illuminated by it, and that I should call it Beit Yosef, for that is its proper name, since it is my house in this world and in the World to Come.” (Maggid Meisharim, Vayakhel). In the introduction to his work (printed at the beginning of each volume), Rabbi Joseph Karo further explains the reasoning behind the title: “Thus this sefer contains nourishment for all within it; therefore I called it Beit Yosef. Just as from the house of Joseph all were sustained with bodily food, so too from this sefer they will be sustained with spiritual nourishment. A second reason is that this is my portion from all my labor—it is my house in this world and in the World to Come.” Studying Beit Yosef – A Segulah for Health and Longevity: Rebbi Mordechai Chaim of Slonim related that he heard from Rabbi Shmuel Heller, the rabbi of Safed, that studying Tur together with Beit Yosef is a segulah for long life. He told the following story: Rabbi Shmuel once became gravely ill. Then Rabbi Joseph Karo appeared to him in a dream and told him to study Tur and Beit Yosef, and through this he would recover. (See Hilula de-Tzaddikaya, Jerusalem 1998, p. 191.) Another testimony records: “I heard from my elderly uncle… who heard from his mother, my righteous grandmother Sarah’li daughter of Rabbi Meshullam Igra… that before his passing he said that many times Maran, the author of Beit Yosef, came to him asking him to study the book Beit Yosef. He wished to study it, but he could not,