Bidspirit auction | Meor Einayim by Rabbi Azariah

Meor Einayim by Rabbi Azariah min HaAdumim With the Pages Revised After Ban Mantua, 1574 * Sefer Meor Einayim contains a collection of Torah and historical essays authored by Rabbi Azariah min haAdumim (c. 1513–1578), a great Italian scholar who was proficient in Torah, history, and sciences and well versed in many languages and secular books. The publication of the sefer caused immediate controversy amongst the Rabbanim in Italy who accused the author of casting doubt upon the words of Chazal, sowing confusion regarding the traditional chronology of creation, and making excessive use of secular philosophical works. Already in Elul 1573, prior to the book’s publication, Rabbi Azariah sent sample pages to Rabbi Moshe Provenzalo, the leading Rav of Mantua and one of the foremost Rabbanim in Italy at the time. Upon reading them, Rabbi Moshe was deeply disturbed and wrote him a letter of rebuke and criticism. Rabbi Azariah incorporated this letter into the revised edition, which is the present edition (see below). The Rabbanim of Tzfas, led by the Beis Yosef, issued a cherem (ban) against the sefer and even called for its burning! The ban was printed at the time and a rare original copy was recently discovered and presented in the Genazym Catalog (18, Item 41). In light of the controversy, and in an effort to appease his critics, Rabbi Azariah made several changes to the book: he added ten additional leaves at the end, which included Rabbi Moshe Provenzalo’s critique and his own detailed response. He also requested that readers erase the contents of six problematic pages and ultimately replaced them with newly printed, more moderately worded versions. The present copy is this corrected edition containing the reprinted versions of the six pages: leaves 52–53, 81–82, 87–88, as well as the last ten leaves which include Rabbi Provenzalo’s letter. (See photograph facsimiles of the pages in the original version in the book 'Genuzot Sefarim' (Hidden Books), pp. 21–39, by the collector Yisrael Mehlman from a rare copy in his possession.) Over the years, in several Italian communities, those who wished to study this sefer were required to first obtain written permission from the Rabbanim. (See the photograph of the signature of Rabbi Yaakov Chagiz, author of 'Halachos Ketanos, ' on such an authorization: Asufot, Vol. 5, p. 241). Description: The sefer includes three parts: Kol Elokim - on the earthquake which struck his city Ferrara in the year 1571. Hadras Zekinim - on the translation of the Torah to Greek. Imrei Binah – a collection of essays and works on Jewish history and hashkafa. Mantua 1574. First Edition. Page Count: 194 leaves (the body of the sefer ends on leaf 184b, and after its printing, Rabbi Azariah added ten leaves). Size: 20 cm. Condition: Good. Some stains, minor tears on some leaves. Fine new leather binding. Bibliography: Meir Benayahu, Asufot Vol. 5, Jerusalem 1991, pp. 213–265 Yisrael Mehlman, Genuzot Sefarim, Jerusalem 1976, pp. 21–39 Yitzchak Yudlov, Ginzei Yisrael, Jerusalem 1985, Entry 1327