Bidspirit auction | Manuscript Volume – Halachic Rulings,

Manuscript Volume – Halachic Rulings, Responsa and Letters – Autographs and Signatures of Moroccan Rabbis – 1706-1766 - Volume of manuscripts, halachic rulings, responsa, letters and documents – autographs and signatures of Moroccan rabbis. [Morocco, ca. 1706-1766]. This volume includes many letters handwritten by R. Yaakov Abensour – the Yaavetz, with letters addressed to him by leading Torah scholars of his generation, as well as many leaves handwritten by the Yaavetz with autograph novellae, copyings of halachic rulings and more (the exterior of the letters addressed to him was extensively used by him as space for writing). In addition, the volume includes many letters and halachic rulings handwritten and signed by leading Moroccan rabbis: from Fez – R. Yehudah ibn Attar (teacher of the Yaavetz), the members of the Beit Din of the Yaavetz, R. Shalem Edre'i, R. Avraham Alal and R. Shmuel Elbaz; disciples of the Yaavetz, members of the ”Beit Din of Five” in Fez – R. Eliyahu HaTzarfati, R. Shaul ibn Danan, R. Efraim Monsonego and R. Matitiah Serero, and other rabbis of Fez; leading rabbis of Meknes – the Mashbir, the Marbitz, R. Chaim Toledano, R. Yaakov Toledano, R. Yekutiel Berdugo, R. Shlomo Toledano, R. Moshe Elbaz, and others; and rabbis of Marrakesh and other cities in Morocco (many signatures recur, some many times). The letters and documents in the present volume include: a halachic ruling handwritten and signed by R. Chaviv Toledano, also signed by his brother R. Moshe Toledano (before 1716); a halachic ruling from Fez, 1707, signed by R. Yehudah ibn Attar, R. Shmuel HaTzarfati, R. Avraham ibn Danan and the Yaavetz; a halachic ruling handwritten and signed by R. Yehudah ibn Attar, dated 1725, with an added ruling handwritten and signed by the Yaavetz, with signature of R. Moshe Adahan and an addition handwritten and signed by R. Moshe Berdugo – the Mashbir; a letter to the Yaavetz handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Toledano of Meknes, also signed by R. Mordechai Berdugo (the Marbitz); a letter handwritten and signed by R. Khalifa Malka of Mogador (author of Kaf Naki), addressed to the Yaavetz; a letter from R. Shalom son of R. Moshe Abensour of Salé, to his cousin the Yaavetz; and more. Other signatures appearing in the present volume include: R. Yehudah HaLevi, R. Yaakov ibn Danan, R. Chasdai Almosnino, R. Shmuel ibn Saadon, R. Yehonatan Monsano, R. Yaakov ibn Malka, R. Masud ibn Nachmias, R. Reuven ibn Assulin, R. Shaul ibn Danan, R. Maimon Adahan, R. Shlomo Abudarham, R. Yosef Attiya, R. Avraham Korkus, R. Yitzchak Harosh, R. Yitzchak Pinto and others. [126] leaves. Approx. 20 cm. Fair condition. Stains, tears and wear. Open tears and worming, affecting text. Detached leaves and gatherings. Placed in new binding (detached) with matching case. Provenance: 1. The Abensour Family Collection, Fez, Morocco. 2. The Victor Klagsbald Collection – Morocco, no. 39. Reference: Victor Klagsbald, Catalogue des manuscrits marocains de la collection Klagsbald, Paris, 1980, pp. 83-87. 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. 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.