Bidspirit auction | Manuscript, Halachic Rulings and Responsa

Manuscript, Halachic Rulings and Responsa of Moroccan Rabbis, Mostly Handwritten by Rabbi Refael Abensour the Last – Original Ruling Signed by the Yaavetz, Rabbi Shmuel Elbaz and Rabbi Maimon Adahan - Manuscript, halachic rulings and responsa of Moroccan rabbis. [Morocco (mainly Fez), second half of 19th century]. Most of the volume was written ca. the 1870s by R. Refael Abensour the last, Rabbi of Fez, and contains a neat copying of rulings and responsa of his ancestor R. Yaakov Abensour (the Yaavetz) and other Torah scholars of his generation, disciples of the Yaavetz who were members of the ”Beit Din of Five” in Fez, and other Moroccan rabbis. Towards the end of the volume are several rulings by the copyist R. Refael himself (with his signatures), members of his Beit Din in Fez, and contemporaneous rabbis from other places in Morocco (ca. 1874-1877). Several leaves written in other hands (including two leaves handwritten by R. Shlomo Eliyahu Abensour). In addition, an original ruling is bound between the leaves, handwritten and signed by the Yaavetz, with signatures of R. Shmuel Elbaz and R. Maimon Adahan. Fez, Kislev 1741. Between leaves 250 and 251 is bound the book Pi Niba, Amsterdam 1688. [264] leaves (including several blank leaves, and more blank leaves at end of volume). Approx. 20 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Browning of leaves. Some wear. Tears to several leaves, affecting text. Original leather binding. Damage and worming to binding. 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. Yehudah ibn Attar and other leading Torah scholars of the generation) authored the approbation to Chefetz Hashem by R. Chaim ibn Attar, the Or HaChaim (printed in Amsterdam, 1732). Following R. Yehudah ibn Attar's passing, the Yaavetz succeeded him as head of the Fez Beit Din, and became the supreme authority in Morocco, responding to halachic queries from throughout the Maghreb. The Yaavetz was compelled to leave Fez several times. Between 1719-1728 he resided in Meknes, and during the famine of 1738, he wandered to Tétouan. In these places he was also received with great honor and joined the local rabbis in the Beit Din, even heading the list of signatories on Beit Din rulings. In his later years, he appointed five of his disciples to assist him in leading the community, who became known as ”the Beit Din of Five”, serving as the leaders of the community in his old age and after his passing. He wrote numerous halachic responsa and other works. Some of his responsa were published in his two-part book Mishpat UTzedakah BeYaakov (printed in No Amon, Alexandria, Egypt, 1894 and 1903), some were published in the books of his contemporaries, and the rest remain in manuscript form. The Yaavetz was renowned for his poetical talents, demonstrated in the poetry collections he authored, including his renowned book Et Lechol Chefetz (No Amon, 1893), containing some four hundred piyyutim and poems he composed. The Chida describes him and his works in Shem HaGedolim,