Bidspirit auction | Collection of Ketubot – Morocco,

Collection of Ketubot – Morocco, 19th Century – Signatures of Rabbis - Large collection of 25 ketubot and copyings of ketubot from Morocco, most from Fez, with signatures of Moroccan rabbis: · Ketubah for the wedding of Elazar son of David HaKohen and Esther daughter of Avraham Azulai. Fez, Shevat 1839. Signatures of witnesses: R. Refael HaKohen and R. Shlomo Abensour. · Ketubah for the wedding of Moshe son of Machluf Ben Simchon and Zahra daughter of Shlomo Marciano. Fez, Adar 1839. Signatures of witnesses: R. Shlomo Abensour (who added two handwritten lines before his signature) and R. Yosef[?] Assayag. · Copying of a ketubah made by the Fez Beit Din, due to the wearing out of the original ketubah. Fez, Tevet 1842. Signatures of witnesses: R. Matitiah Serero and R. Yitzchak ibn Shimol. · Large-format ketubah for the wedding of Shimon son of R. Shmuel ibn Danan and Gamila daughter of R. Shlomo Abensour. Fez, Elul 1845. The ketubah contains a lengthy lineage (see below). Two rabbis of Fez sign as witnesses – R. Vidal HaTzarfati and R. Yedidiah Monsonego. On verso of leaf – formula attesting that the ketubah was paid, signed by the same two rabbis. · Ketubah for the wedding of Maimon son of Yaakov Levi and Simchah daughter of Shlomo Assiboni ”in Maitere”[?], Shevat 1861. · Ketubah for the wedding of Ayush son of Shalem Bar Sheshet and Aisha daughter of Yosef Ganon. Marrakesh, Adar I 1862. Signatures of witnesses: R. Masud son of Yaakov ibn Mocha and R. Yosef ibn Ibgi. · Ketubah for the wedding of David son of Yehudah Elaluf and Miriam daughter of Refael Abensour. Fez, Adar II 1862. Signatures of witnesses: R. Refael Yehoshua Tzion Serero and R. Mordechai ibn Shimol. · Replacement ketubah for Yaakov son of Shlomo Saadon and Zahra daughter of Ayush Azawi. Fez, Cheshvan 1877. Handwritten by R. Refael Abensour, with his signature and that of R. Shlomo HaKohen. · 17 ketubot and copies of ketubot from Fez, 1852-1872 (including a replacement ketubah, a ketubah for a remarriage after divorce and a ketubah for yibum). Most handwritten by R. Shlomo Eliyahu Abensour. On some he signed alone, on others his signature appears alongside that of R. Refael Yehoshua Tzion Serero, and on one his signature appears alongside that of R. Eliezer Monsonego. Some are unsigned. Some of the ketubot from Fez include a lineage, in accordance with the city's custom to record the lineage of the bride and groom (see at length the description on Zechirat HaKetubot by R. Refael Abensour in Kedem Catalogue 86, Part 1, Lot 57). The ketubah in this collection dated Elul 1845 is particularly noteworthy, in containing a detailed lineage for two of the most important rabbinical families in Fez – the Abensour and Ibn Danan families. The groom's lineage goes back twelve generations, while the bride's goes back ten. 25 ketubot and copies of ketubot. Size varies. Overall good-fair condition. Stains, wear and some tears and folding marks. 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.