Auction 67 Judaica - Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical Letters, Ceremonial Art
Sep 18, 2019 (Your local time)
Israel
 8 Ramban St, Jerusalem.
The auction has ended

LOT 47:

Collection of Manuscripts from the Binding of a Book - Autograph and Signatures of Rabbi Moshe Abikhzer, Signatures ...

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Sold for: $650
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Collection of Manuscripts from the Binding of a Book - Autograph and Signatures of Rabbi Moshe Abikhzer, Signatures of Rabbis of Ghris, Morocco, 19th Century
Collection of handwritten leaves found in the binding of a book - fragments of various compositions; signatures of rabbis of Ghris, Morocco (today: Goulmima). [Morocco, first half of the 19th century].
All the leaves were found in the binding of one book. The leaves include: • Leaves with lists of names of people. • Many leaves handwritten by R. Moshe Abikhzer. Some bear his calligraphic signature. One leaf states: "My writing… Moshe son of Yosef… Abikhzer". One leaf (double leaf, 3 pages) opens with: "A person must set times to study Torah especially at night…". Signed at the end of the page: "Moshe Abikhzer". The second page contains another passage with a personal testimony of his study schedule: "And this is the Torah learning schedule I established, I… whose signature appears below…", with an additional signature; the third page features another passage, also signed (the third signature and part of the text were damaged from worming). The leaf is dated 1819. This may be his will. • A fragment of a contract from 1818, with the calligraphic signatures of the rabbis of Ghris: R. Sa'id son of Moshe Illouz, R. Yaakov son of Yitzchak Simchon and R. Moshe Bensoussan. • A contract from 1780, signed by R. Machlouf son of Yosef Andam and R. Ya'ish son of Yosef Attia. • Fragment of a calendar of Tekufot, for 1740-1762. • Leaf with illustrations of the Menorah and Temple utensils. • Leaf with a passage from a commentary to the Thirteen principles of Faith of the Rambam. • Fragment of a decorated ketubah. • Fragments of other compositions.
The collection includes the binding from which these leaves were removed; enclosed are photographs from the process of disassembling the binding, and the separation of the leaves.
R. Moshe son of R. Yosef Abikhzer, a foremost Torah scholar in the Tafilalt region of Morocco in the 19th century. He was a close friend of R. Yaakov Abuchatzeira - the Abir Yaakov, and their signatures appear together on halachic rulings. He lived in the village of Ghris, "and all the neighboring villages subjected themselves to his authority. He was a great scholar and collected many books from distant countries at great personal effort. Eventually, he established a library, and all the books scattered throughout the villages of Tafilalt were left by him" (Malchei Rabbanan, in his entry). Two questions he addressed to R. Yaakov Berdugo were published in the latter's book Shufreih DeYaakov.
Approx. 50 leaves and leaf fragments. Size and condition vary (various degrees of damage due to use as binding and worming).

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