Bidspirit auction | Manuscript, Levush Adar HaYakar, Part

Manuscript, Levush Adar HaYakar, Part IX of Levush Malchut — an early pre-print version. Eastern Europe, ca. 1640 — with extensive glosses by the Rav of Kremenets, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ashkenazi. Manuscript of Sefer Levush Adar HaYakar, an early version of the Levush on Kiddush HaChodesh by the Gaon Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe, together with the first recension of the glosses of the Maharal”n. Eastern Europe [Kremenets?], ca. 1640. [26] leaves, Ashkenazic manuscript hand. The final [3] leaves are copied from Sefer Eilim, a work on astronomy and mathematics by Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Rofeh of Candia (Crete). In the present manuscript, a section from Sefer Eilim was copied, presenting the geographic locations of numerous ancient and contemporary cities according to latitude and longitude. Background: Rabbeinu Mordechai Yaffe authored the 'Levush', comprising ten 'Levushim.' His commentary on Kiddush HaChodesh was written after the printing of the Shulchan Aruch and before the printing of the glosses of the Rema, ca. 1567–1570. Levush Adar HaYakar on the laws of Kiddush HaChodesh in the Rambam was printed in 1594 within Levushei Or Yekarot. Rabbeinu Mordechai Yaffe (1530–1612) was born in Prague and studied under the Maharshal and the Rema in Poland. He served as Rosh Yeshiva in Prague until the expulsion of the Jews in 1559. In 1561 he moved to Mantua and Venice. Around 1573 he served as Rav of Grodno, and later in Kremenets, Poznań, and Lublin. In 1592 he succeeded the Maharal as Rav of Prague, and from 1596 served as Rav of Poznań. Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ben Rabbi Nasan HaLevi Ashkenazi , the Maharal”n (ca. 1545–ca. 1610), Rav of Kremenets, was among the leading Rabbanim of his generation and a participant in the Vaad Arba Aratzot (Council of Four Lands). He was a disciple of Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe during the latter’s tenure in Kremenets, and at his teacher’s request appended his glosses on the Rambam’s Kiddush HaChodesh to Levush Adar HaYakar. This item is accompanied by a comparative study between the text of the present manuscript and the printed text, demonstrating that the manuscript readings—both in Adar HaYakar and in the glosses of the Maharal”n—represent a first recension that predates the printed version. In the heading to the excerpt from Sefer Eilim, Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Rofeh of Candia is mentioned without a memorial blessing; he passed away in early 1655, establishing that year as the terminus ante quem for the copying of the manuscript. The manuscript appears to have been copied around 1640 in or near Kremenets, and it is possible that it survived the upheavals of 1648–1649. There is also a possibility that the manuscript was copied around 1620, with the final three leaves added several years later. Wooden boards covered in leather with decorative tooling; remnants of iron clasps. Stains. Good condition.