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Manuscript, Anthology of Works by Moroccan Rabbis and Others, Including Segulot and Amulets – 19th Century – About Half Handwritten by Rabbi Saadiah Alhabuz - Manuscript, anthology of works by Moroccan rabbis and others, including Taamei Halachot, formulas for halachic documents, Sefer HaTakanot and more, as well as segulot and amulets. [Morocco, 19th century]. Thick volume. Approx. half handwritten by R. Saadiah Alhabuz, a rabbi of Taza in the first half of the 19th century (for more information on him, see: Malchei Rabanan, p. 101b), his signature appears in several places in the present manuscript; the rest is in neat Western script (apparently by one of the scribes of the Fez Beit Din). The part handwritten by R. Saadiah Alhabuz (leaves 2-170, 277-309) includes: Taamei Halachot – on laws of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Chanukah, Purim, Pesach and Tishah B'Av; formulas for documents and letters (including sections from Leshon Limudim and Et Sofer by the Yaavetz), segulot and cures, amulets, a text for the protection of a child, with names of angels and angelic script; halachic rulings relating to documents and their formulation, homilies, segulot and cures; Order of Chalitzah by Mahari Adarbi and halachic rulings on laws of Even HaEzer by the rabbis of the Maghreb; homilies and aggadic novellae, including novellae cited from the Yaavetz and other rabbis of the Maghreb; and more. Also includes novellae by the writer, R. Saadiah Alhabuz, who signs at the end of each passage (pp. 69a, 133b, 137a, 289-291; on p. 163a: ”I heard this, but I added my own innovations”). At end of Taamei Halachot (p. 49a), his colophon: ”Taamei Halachot concluded… Saadiah Alhabuz”. The part written in the second hand (leaves 171-277) includes: copying of Sefer HaTakanot, ordinances of the rabbis of the Maghreb (Sefer HaTakanot went through several recensions by Moroccan rabbis, beginning with R. Yaakov Abensour – the Yaavetz, and later receiving editorial work with additional ordinances by Moroccan rabbis, including R. Refael Berdugo, R. Eliyahu HaTzarfati, and others; this work was first printed in Kerem Chamar by R. Avraham Ankawa, II, Livorno 1871; on the present recension, see preface to Takanot Chachmei Fez, I, p. 116); Leshon Chachamim by R. Yitzchak HaKohen (attributed to R. Yitzchak HaKohen Rappaport, author of Batei Kehunah); ”These are the names of men, copied from the handwriting of… the Yaavetz, in alphabetical order… And these are the names of women…”; Ke'arat Kesef by R. Yosef HaEzovi son of Chanan; ”Laws of Terefot in accordance with the custom of Fez”. At the beginning of the volume is a leaf, detached, not connected to the volume, with inscription: ”I began it on Sukkot 1733…”, with the signature: ”Abensour”[?]. [309] leaves. Fair condition. Stains, including dampstains and dark stains. Worming, affecting text in several places. Tears and wear. Open tears to several leaves, affecting text. 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. 13. Reference: Victor Klagsbald, Catalogue des manuscrits marocains de la collection Klagsbald, Paris, 1980, pp. 40-42. 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.