Bidspirit auction | ISSERLES, MOSHE (ReM’A).  Mechir Yayin

ISSERLES, MOSHE (ReM’A).  Mechir Yayin [commentary to the Book of Esther]. FIRST EDITION. ff. 24. Trace foxed. Recent gilt-ruled crushed morocco Sm. 4to. Vinograd, Cremona 27. Cremona, Vicenzo Conti, 1559. The Rem’a wrote Mechir Yayin in the Polish town of Shidlov (Szydlowiec) where he had fled in order to escape the plague that was ravaging his hometown of Cracow. He states that living conditions were deplorable (providing numerous examples) and, “in order to chase away my state of depression… I decided to write this commentary, for the words of Torah makes the heart rejoice.”   The work demonstrates the author’s mastery in the exposition of Tanach and the depth of his understanding of both Kabbalah and Maimonidean philosophy. He wrote Mechir Yayin when he was just 16 years old!