Manuscript Rabbi Raphael Yeshaya Azulai Av Beit Din of Ancona – Sermon for Shabbat Shuvah and a Prayer for the ...

Manuscript Rabbi Raphael Yeshaya Azulai Av Beit Din of Ancona – Sermon for Shabbat Shuvah and a Prayer for the Ancona Community

Handwritten notebook, sermon for Shabbat Shuvah before Yom Kippur, with a special prayer for Yom Kippur, handwritten entirely by Rabbi Raphael Yeshaya Azulai – the son of the Chida. [12] leaves, [24] handwritten pages.

The content of the manuscript: a sermon for Shabbat Tshuvah. With commentary on several Midrashic sayings of the sages and biblical verses. Among others, he also rebukes them for certain sins.

On the first page, an introduction to the sermon. On page [4] reference to his father the Chida: "And I have seen by the Genius Rabbi Atar who introduced words by his father who interpreted the saying…"

On page [9], a version of a special prayer written by the Rabbi, to be acquitted on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. The prayer is in a special language using poetic phrases and metaphors from the bible and the Talmudic Sages:

"...איכו השתא צלותי מצלתינן, בעייא צלותא, צ'ולו לרוכב בערבות, והנה שפתי דובבות, לדידי חזי לי הרימותי קולי, ואל שדי אתחנן, יהמו נא רחמיך עלינו ישוב ירחמנו, ישפיע שפע טבו עלינו, מן הבריכה העליונה, דנאמנים אמרי... סלח נא אנו מבקשים, דנא כתב בס' החיים והשלום ומלא משאלות לבינו לטובה בנחת ושובה בהשקט ובטח ושאנן והוא יכוננה ימין ה' עושה חיל ויגז שלוי'ם ונחת, שולחנם מלא דשן ברכות הטובה, מאלפי רבבה, ושיזכו לשנים רבות, שנותם בנעימים, שנים כתקנן, תחל שנה וברכותיה, כן בני הנה'ורים... ובא לציון גואל, בן דוד בא חלוץ צבא, יתי ונחמני נחזי אנן, יאסוף כחול שרי ישראל כבודה ירושלם, נאוה שאנן ישמחו כל רואיה בעגלה..."

The manuscript also refers to books by the Achronim, such as the Maharsha, Sefer Yeffe To'ar, Sefer Sha'ar Efrayim, and to the "great rabbi author of Nechpah Bachesef who introduced the words of the great Rabbi Saba Demishpatim Yisrael Ze'evi …" and to Rabbi Mordechai Rubio (author of the Shemen HaMor Responsa, one of the leading sages of Jerusalem).

On page [11], words of rebuke and Mussar to the community, among others, it is written: "… all the more so and not to mention in this our generation and he who is not a Torah

scholar I did not know how dare he walk in the middle of the night and the dark with an unmarried woman and all the more so with a married one may the All-merciful protect us, and he who takes care of himself will keep away and spare the members of this holy community who are all responsible one for the other, and with sin, one sin entails another and leads to Chilul Hashem, like when they go to a bookstore on Sabbath like on any other day of the week and even the gentiles wonder and say the Jews have lost the Sabbath and it is a sin that has no atonement until they die and especially the sin of the Sabbath which is equal to the complete Torah…"

To the best of our knowledge, the manuscript has not been printed!!

Rabbi Raphael Yeshaya Azulai (1743-1826) the eldest son of the Chida. Studied Torah with his great father. Was one of the sages of Jerusalem. During the years 1780-1785, he was sent on a mission by the rabbis of Tiberias to various countries, a mission that ended in Amsterdam where he married the daughter of Rabbi Shlomo Shalem, the rabbi of the Sephardic community of Amsterdam. When Rabbi Chaim Avraham Yisrael, Av Beit Din of Ancona, died in 1885, the Chida suggested that his son replace him and indeed, he served as the rabbi of Ancona until the end of his days. His father was extremely fond of his and always wrote to him with respect and affection. Rabbi Raphael Yeshaya suffered sickness and pains in his lifetime and it was difficult for him to write so much so that his father wrote to him: "The sight of your writings and steps, my great sorrow is incredible and I have become sick … yet know my son friend that God is with you no evil shall befall you nor shall any plague come near your dwelling and with tears in my eyes I shall pour my soul before God for your recovery and salvation…" Despite his sickness, he did not stop from writing Torah novellae. He left several books. Responsa by him was printed in his father's books Chaim Sha'al, Yosef Ometz, Pnei David, Marit HaAyin.  

13x19cm. Good condition. Several blurs of ink. Restorations in the margins of several leaves. Soft binding.