Bidspirit auction | Manuscript, Autograph of Rabbi Yaakov

Manuscript, Autograph of Rabbi Yaakov Abensour (the Yaavetz), With His Signatures – Sermons and Novellae on Bible and Midrash - Manuscript, sermons and novellae on the Bible, Talmudic Aggadot and Midrashim, handwritten by the author, R. Yaakov Abensour – the Yaavetz. [Morocco, ca. 17th-18th centuries], beginning 1689. Complete volume. Autograph written by the Yaavetz, in his characteristic handwriting. The volume contains lengthy sermons alongside short novellae and commentary on verses, Talmudic Aggadot and Midrashim. This volume was written by the Yaavetz over a period of years, irregularly, and many passages conclude with his signatures. Leaves 38-58 are apparently the earliest, written in the Yaavetz's youth, beginning from the age of 17. These leaves appear to be the first core part of the manuscript (they were numbered 1-21 by the Yaavetz). The Yaavetz put the year of writing on each of these pages, from 1689 to 1695 (pp. 1a-8a – 1689; pp. 8b-9b – 1690; pp. 10a-10b – 1691; pp. 11a-16b – 1692; pp. 17a-21a – 1693; p. 21b – 1695). Almost every passage of these leaves concludes with his signature. On two sermons the Yaavetz writes that he delivered them ”in a dream” (pp. 120b, 127b; both on Tehillim). The empty leaf at the beginning of the manuscript contains an ownership inscription and signature of R. Shlomo Eliyahu Abensour (Shaavatz), son of R. Yaakov Abensour (the second) – great-grandson of the Yaavetz. There also appear signatures of ”Refael”. Several leaves in the present volume were written by R. Shlomo Eliyahu Abensour, who signs in several places. Most of the passages are copyings of the writings of his ancestor the Yaavetz (leaves 59, 96-99, 109-110, 128-129), apart from leaf 59 which is a copying from ”the writing of my grandfather R. Shlomo Shmuel Abensour in the name of the Berach Yitzchak – so says Shaavatz”, and on leaf 128 which is copied from ”the writing of R. Shmuel ibn Danan…”. Leaf 37 is handwritten by the Yaavetz's son, R. Refael Oved Abensour, who signs his name at the end of the passage: ”So it appears to me, Oved Abensour”. Calligraphic signatures on leaves 18-19: ”Reuven”, ”Reuven Abensour”. The contents of the present manuscript have been printed in Vayikra Yaavetz, Machon Malchei Rabanan – Ashdod, Jerusalem 2002. This printing has all the passages in the manuscript reordered after the Bible and Talmud, without documenting the original location of the novellae and sermons in the manuscript or attempting to distinguish early from late parts. This is especially true of the contents of leaves 38-58, which, as noted, were written by the Yaavetz from 1689-1695. The passages on these leaves are scattered throughout the printed book without notice of the date of writing of the novellae, or of their belonging to the Yaavetz's early years. [183] leaves (including several blank leaves; late pencil foliation). Approx. 19 cm. Fair-good condition (varies between leaves). Stains. Wear and tears. Worming, affecting text. Detached leaves or gatherings. New cardboard binding, detached. Slipcased. Provenance: 1. The Abensour Family Collection, Fez, Morocco. 2. The Victor Klagsbald Collection – Morocco, no. 1. Reference: Victor Klagsbald, Catalogue des manuscrits marocains de la collection Klagsbald, Paris, 1980, p. 21. 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.