Bidspirit auction | Miniature Manuscript – Kabbalistic Piyyutim

Miniature Manuscript – Kabbalistic Piyyutim and Prayers, for Protection and Success, and More – Salé, Morocco, 19th Century - Manuscript, kabbalistic piyyutim and prayers, for protection and success, and more. [Salé, Morocco, ca. 19th century]. Miniature format. Neat Western script. Most of the manuscript was scribed by ”Refael son of Shimon Ben Haros”, who signs his name in many colophons throughout the manuscript. Colophon on last leaf: ”I, the writer, Shalom Ben Harosh”. On p. 31a: ”in highly exquisite format by R[efael] B[en] H[aros], here in Salé”. The manuscript contains: ”The grandeur of Moses when he ascended to heaven” (Midrash Gedulat Moshe); an alphabetical ethical poem; ”Remusah BeYad Tzar” – a techinah by R. Reuven Abensour; piyyutim about R. Shimon son of Yochai: ”Bar Yochai Nimshachta Ashrecha” (by R. Shimon Lavi), ”Bar Yochai Devarecha Arevim” (by R. Machluf Ben Shetrit), ”Bar Yochai Hashem Imcha” (by R. Masud Arwach); song for Yom Kippur night – ”BeLeil Zeh Nora Alilah”; prayers for protection and various matters, including ”prayer of R. Yishmael”, including a chart for protection from Torah verses; a techinah, ”Hashem Yemincha HaRamah”; Petichat Eliyahu; various prayers with kabbalistic kavanot and permutations of Holy Names, including prayer for the sick, prayer based on the zodiacs, and more; order of lashes and annulment of vows according to the custom of Eretz Israel; annulment of vows and excommunications; prayers and piyyutim for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur; symbolic foods for Rosh Hashanah night; prayer to be saved from reincarnation; additional kabbalistic prayers, with permutations of Holy Names and kavanot; and other selections. Ownership inscriptions: ”Michael Ankawa” (p. 22b), ”Shmuel Ankawa” (p. 106a). [117] leaves. 9.5 cm. Good condition. Stains, including dark stains. Tears to a few leaves. Open tear to one leaf, affecting text, repaired with paper. New leather binding. Manuscript Collection of Moroccan Rabbis – The Abensour Family In the 1960s, the Klagsbald collection was supplemented by a particularly important collection – the manuscripts of the Abensour (Ibn Tzur) family of Fez. The collection contains many volumes comprising halachic rulings and correspondence of leading Moroccan rabbis, centering around the figure of R. Yaakov Abensour, the Yaavetz, a leading Moroccan Torah scholar and Rabbi of Fez, and an ancestor of the family. The collection was painstakingly assembled by R. Refael Abensour the youngest (see below) and was held in its entirety by the Abensour family in Fez until its purchase by Victor Klagsbald. This collection is of inestimable importance as an immense and rare compilation of the Torah teachings and halachic rulings of generations of Moroccan rabbis, kept in its entirety over many generations. Many parts of this collection have yet to be studied and published. Furthermore, the present collection preserves an unparalleled, comprehensive assemblage of autograph manuscripts – handwritten by the leading rabbis of Morocco, with their unique, calligraphic signatures, first and foremost by the Or HaChaim and his peers. R. Yaakov Abensour – the Yaavetz The centerpiece of the collection is comprised of numerous halachic rulings and autographs by R. Yaakov Abensour, the Yaavetz (1673-1752; Malchei Rabanan, pp. 64-65), a most prominent and illustrious figure of Moroccan Jewry. A leading halachic authority of his generation (the generation of the holy Or HaChaim and his teachers), a poet and a kabbalist, also well versed in practical kabbalah. At the age of twenty, he was appointed scribe of the Beit Din of R. Vidal HaTzarfati, R. Menachem Serero and R. Yehudah ibn Attar in Fez. He then authored Et Sofer – laws and customs of halachic documents. With the passing of R. Vidal HaTzarfati, R. Yehudah ibn Attar was appointed head of the Beit Din and the Yaavetz became his fellow dayan. The Yaavetz (along with R. Yehudah ibn Attar and other leading Torah scholars of the generation) authored the approbation to Chefetz Hashem by R. Chaim ibn Attar, the Or HaChaim (printed in Amsterdam, 1732). Following R. Yehudah ibn Attar's passing, the Yaavetz succeeded him as head of the Fez Beit Din, and became the supreme authority in Morocco, responding to halachic queries from throughout the Maghreb. The Yaavetz was compelled to leave Fez several times. Between 1719-1728 he resided in Meknes, and during the famine of 1738, he wandered to Tétouan. In these places he was also received with great honor and joined the local rabbis in the Beit Din, even heading the list of signatories on Beit Din rulings. In his later years, he appointed five of his disciples to assist him in leading the community, who became known as ”the Beit Din of Five”, serving as the leaders of the community in his old age and after his passing. He wrote numerous halachic responsa and other works.