Bidspirit auction | Manuscript, Et Sofer and Leshon

Manuscript, Et Sofer and Leshon Limudim by Rabbi Yaakov Abensour (the Yaavetz), Handwritten by His Son Rabbi Refael Oved Abensour – Fez, Mid-18th Century - Manuscript, Et Sofer and Leshon Limudim, by R. Yaakov Abensour – the Yaavetz, handwritten by his son R. Refael Oved Abensour. [Fez, ca. 1740s-1750s]. Thick volume, mostly handwritten by R. Refael Oved Abensour, who copied and edited two works by his father the Yaavetz: Et Sofer – formulas for halachic documents of various kinds, and Leshon Limudim – literary epistles written by the Yaavetz over the years. The present manuscript was written during the lifetime of the Yaavetz (that is, before his passing in 1752), as he is mentioned throughout with the blessing for the living. The last letter of the Yaavetz copied here is dated Cheshvan 1751. A few leaves appear to have been written after the passing of the Yaavetz. Apart from the two works (Et Sofer and Leshon Limudim), R. Refael Oved Abensour additionally copied other letters and halachic rulings by his father the Yaavetz, his teacher R. Yehudah ibn Attar, and other Moroccan Torah scholars of that generation (such as: a halachic ruling by the Yaavetz addressed to the rabbis of Debdou, a halachic ruling on taxation of synagogue attendants, customs of the Maghreb according to the ordinances of the Castilian exiles, which ”I copied from the manuscript of R. Yehudah ibn Attar who wrote it for Eretz Israel”, and more). He likewise copied: formulas for halachic documents not included in Et Sofer; Sod Hashem with Sharvit HaZahav commentary; Refuat HaGeviyah by R. Yehudah Alcharizi, and more. At the beginning of Et Sofer appears the introduction: ”Et Sofer… tikun for documents… which I copied… Refael Oved son of R. Yaakov Abensour, with an added beautiful and refined commentary…”. At the beginning of Leshon Limudim: ”Leshon Limudim, which I copied, Refael Oved Abensour”. A copy of Leshon Limudim made by the author himself – the Yaavetz – has been preserved in JTS Ms. 3134, where the letters are ordered chronologically, while in the present manuscript the author's son R. Refael Oved Abensour ordered the book topically, with changes in wording (for example, the titles are rewritten, sometimes using first person: ”Letter for a deceased, sent by my father and master R. Yaakov Abensour upon the passing of Daniel son of R. Moshe Toledano”, or ”Letter sent by my father and master R. Yaakov Abensour to R. Sh. Azawi, as follows…”. The work was copied several times in Morocco, based on the present copy (and recension), and there is still a need for research and comparison of the author's autograph with the present manuscript. On one of last leaves, calligraphic signature of R. Refael Oved Abensour. In several places appear glosses by R. Shmuel Eliyahu Abensour, the great-great-grandson of the Yaavetz (signed ”Shaabetz” in some glosses). At the beginning of the manuscript is a leaf, his handwritten copying of a halachic ruling, and at the end of the manuscript are three leaves, his handwritten copying of the beginning of Leshon Chachamim (a rhyming dictionary, attributed to R. Yitzchak HaKohen Rappaport, author of Batei Kehunah). Several inscriptions handwritten by R. Refael Abensour the last, Rabbi of Fez. R. Refael Oved Abensour (1706-1769; Malchei Rabanan, p. 105a), son of R. Yaakov Abensour, and the only of seventeen children to outlive his father. Already during his father's lifetime (starting in 1750) he began to serve as dayan in the ”Beit Din of Five” in Fez. [200] leaves (including approx. 10 blank leaves). 18 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains (including dark stains or ink stains in several places). Wear. Tears to several leaves, affecting text. Placed in new binding with matching case. Provenance: 1. The Abensour Family Collection, Fez, Morocco. 2. The Victor Klagsbald Collection – Morocco, no. 11. Reference: Victor Klagsbald, Catalogue des manuscrits marocains de la collection Klagsbald, Paris, 1980, pp. 34-35. 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,