Bidspirit auction | She’erit Yehuda. Salonika, [1600]. First

She’erit Yehuda. Salonika, [1600]. First Edition of One of the Major Halakhic Works. Rare - A complete, impressive, and particularly rare copy of one of the foundational halakhic works authored by the great Taitatzak family, among the most distinguished rabbinic dynasties of the Sephardic exiles. She’erit Yehuda is filled with innovative halakhic rulings and insights and was highly regarded by later authorities. The Kenesset ha-Gedolah cites it more than one hundred times, and it is also frequently quoted by the Shach, Pri Ḥadash, Pri Megadim, Birkei Yosef, and many other major halakhic commentators. The book contains novellae and glosses on the Beit Yosef, Yoreh De’ah, as well as responsa and rulings by Rabbi Shmuel Taitatzak (“Piskei R. Shmuel”) and his brother Rabbi Yosef Taitatzak (“Piskei Maharit”), edited and published by Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Shmuel Taitatzak. Included is a halakhic ruling by the rabbis of Salonika concerning the conversos who had fled Portugal: it rules that a forced convert (anusah) who was betrothed to a Jew—even with witnesses—need not be concerned about the validity of the betrothal and is therefore permitted to marry another man. In the publisher’s introduction, a member of the Taitatzak family describes the history of the manuscript from which the book was printed. On the final leaf appears the magnificent printer’s device of Mattathias ben Bath-Sheba, depicting angels, an eagle, and a lion. Yaari (Hebrew Printers’ Marks, p. 148) notes that this large version of the emblem appears only in this edition; in other Bath-Sheba press printings, the mark is smaller and lacks the printer’s name within the frame. ✦ The Authors Rabbi Yosef Taitatzak of Salonika (ca. 1470–1546): One of the greatest sages of the generation of the Spanish Expulsion; teacher of the Alshich, Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz (author of Lecha Dodi), the Maharshal of Salonika (Maharsdam), and many other eminent figures. Rabbi Yosef Karo, who corresponded with him, describes him as: “The light and sanctity of Israel, the crown of the exiles, a banner to the nations and a beacon of glory.” (Responsa Avkat Rokhel, no. 51). The author of Reshit Ḥokhmah writes that he did not sleep in a bed for forty years, and the Ḥida (Shem ha-Gedolim) attests that he possessed a “heavenly maggid, ” just as Rabbi Yosef Karo did. Rabbi Shmuel Taitatzak (d. 1562): A leading rabbi of Salonika. He was a signatory to ancient communal enactments together with Rabbi Yosef Karo in the year 1533, when the latter passed through Salonika en route to Eretz Israel. He corresponded on halakhic matters with the Mahari Beirav and the Maharsdam. [84] leaves. 19 cm. Very good condition. White, high-quality paper. Light age-staining. Modern half-leather binding.