Bidspirit auction | Shulḥan Arba, by Rabbeinu Baḥya

Shulḥan Arba, by Rabbeinu Baḥya ibn Ḥalawa. Amsterdam, 1718 [תע”ח]. Rare and Important Edition - Shulḥan Arba deals with the laws and ethical principles relating to the conduct of a person at his table — a synthesis of halakhah, ethics, and mysticism — authored by Rabbeinu Baḥya ben Asher ibn Ḥalawa, one of the great sages of medieval Spain, author of Ḥovot ha-Levavot and Kad ha-Kemaḥ. The work discusses the customs and laws of the meal both from the legal and spiritual perspectives, emphasizing moral refinement, proper etiquette, gratitude to the Creator, and sanctity in daily life. It is considered a kind of moral and spiritual “table, ” a conceptual forerunner to the Shulḥan Arukh. The introduction states that “The Lord inspired… Rabbi Saadya ben ha-Dayan… and Rabbi Yitzḥak Briskir, of blessed memory… and they brought it to print… revised by Yitzḥak ben Avraham Dias, ” showing that the work was printed at the initiative of the Amsterdam rabbinate, who sought to preserve it as a fundamental ethical text. At the beginning appear the approbations of the Amsterdam rabbis, Rabbi Shlomo ben Yaakov Ayllon and Rabbi Avraham ben Yehuda, who praise the book’s spiritual and moral value. On the title page is an ownership stamp of the “Beit ha-Midrash of the Ashkenazim in Amsterdam – Ets Haim, ” one of the world’s oldest and most important Jewish libraries. On the front and rear flyleaves appear handwritten marginal notes and inscriptions, likely by early owners or students of the book. Printed in Amsterdam, 1718 [תע”ח], by Moshe Dias, one of the earliest Jewish printers in the city. [2], 22 leaves. 17 cm. Very good condition. Clean, white paper with minor age-stains. Original parchment binding, well preserved. A highly rare and beautiful edition — a reflection of the spiritual and ethical legacy of Spanish Jewry, guiding man’s conduct at his table with holiness, gratitude, and moral refinement.