Bidspirit auction | Manuscript Volume – Halachic Rulings,

Manuscript Volume – Halachic Rulings, Responsa and Enactments – Autographs and Signatures of Moroccan Rabbis – Yaavetz and His Disciples, Members of the Beit Din of Five in Fez, Berdugo and Toledano Families of Meknes, and Others - Manuscript volume, halachic rulings, letters, responsa and enactments – hundreds of autographs and signatures by Moroccan rabbis. [Fez, Meknes and other cities in Morocco, ca. 1740-1863]. Leaves and gatherings comprising rulings, halachic responsa, correspondence and enactments, written and signed by leading rabbis and dayanim of Morocco. Most of the volume comprises writings of disciples of R. Yaakov Abensour – the Yaavetz, including rabbis of the Beit Din of Five in Fez and famous rabbis of Meknes at the time, in particular members of the Berdugo family. One of the early documents (leaf 131) is signed by the Yaavetz himself – a document dated 1740 regarding the destruction of courtyards and houses in the famine, including two courtyards of R. Imanuel Monsano. Alongside the signature of the Yaavetz appears that of R. Shmuel Elbaz (a companion of the Or HaChaim who refers to him as ”my brother”). Another early document (leaf 130), also dated 1740, is signed by R. Yehudah Berdugo (a companion of the Or HaChaim, author of Mayim Amukim, and brother of the Marbitz, d. ca. 1743) and R. Shlomo Tapiero. The volume comprises dozens of autographs of dayanim of the Beit Din of Five in Fez (handwritten and/or signed by them), disciples ordained by the Yaavetz: his son R. Refael Oved Abensour, R. Shaul ibn Danan, R. Eliyahu HaTzarfati, R. Moshe ibn Zimra and R. Matitiah Serero; as well as of other leading rabbis and dayanim of Fez from the period, including: R. Yehudah ibn Attar (the second), R. Shmuel Abensour, R. Shaul Serero, R. Efraim Monsonego, R. Refael Aharon Monsonego, R. Yedidia Moshe Monsonego, R. Yehoshua Monsonego, R. Chaim David Serero, R. Yehonatan Serero, R. Shmuel Avraham ibn Zimra, R. Yosef Ashriki, R. Eliyahu Mansano, R. Nechemiah Yehudah HaKohen, R. Daniel ibn Tata, R. Yosef ibn Abbo, R. Avraham son of R. Masud ibn Sussan, R. David Botbol, R. Refael Yaakov ibn Simchon, R. Shlomo ibn Shimol, R. Yehudah son of Moshe son of Yosef, R. Yisrael Yaakov HaTzarfati, R. Moshe ibn Danan, R. Chaim Avraham HaLevi and others. The volume also contains dozens of autographs of leading rabbis of Meknes (handwritten and/or signed by them), prominently featuring the Berdugo family: R. Yekutiel Berdugo, his brother R. Refael Berdugo (”Refael HaMalach”), R. Mordechai Berdugo, R. Yosef Berdugo, R. Petachiah Mordechai Berdugo, R. Yaakov Berdugo and R. Maimon Berdugo, as well as rabbis of the Toledano family: R. Shlomo Toledano, R. Chaim Toledano, R. Shaul Shmuel Toledano and R. Baruch Toledano. Other rabbis of Meknes whose handwriting and signatures appear in the present volume: R. Moshe Maimran, R. Maimon Bussidan, R. Shmuel ibn Wa'ish, R. Shmuel HaLevi ibn Yuli, R. Maimon Adahan, R. Yaakov Adahan, R. Shlomo ibn al-Chasin, R. Shlomo Chaliwa and others. In addition, the present volume includes autographs by Moroccan rabbis from other cities: Sefrou – such as R. Yehudah Elbaz, R. Amor Abitbul, R. Shaul Yeshuah Abitbul (author of Avnei Shayish), R. Yehoshua Yisrael Yaakov Oliel, R. Masud Yitach, R. Yosef ibn Zikri; Rabat – R. Moshe de Avila, R. Yosef Elmaliach, R. Ayush Elmaliach; Salé – R. Eliyahu HaLevi ibn Tzfat, R. Avraham ibn Shlomo Chasan; Tétouan – R. Avraham Monsonego, R. Menachem Nahon, R. Moshe HaLevi, R. Moshe Abensour, R. Shlomo Abudarham, R. Efraim Monsonego, R. Vidal Bibas, R. Shlomo ibn Asusi. [156] leaves (including about 15 blank leaves). Approx. 21 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Worming, affecting text on several leaves. Detached leaves and gatherings. Placed in new binding with matching case. Provenance: 1. The Abensour Family Collection, Fez, Morocco. 2. The Victor Klagsbald Collection – Morocco, no. 6. Reference: Victor Klagsbald, Catalogue des manuscrits marocains de la collection Klagsbald, Paris, 1980, pp. 24-27. 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,