Bidspirit auction | Temat Yesharim – Four Early

Temat Yesharim – Four Early Works, edited by Rabbi Binyamin Motal. Venice, 1622. Only Edition - Temat Yesharim is a rare and important compilation that includes four early works and several shorter tracts, edited and printed by Rabbi Binyamin Motal, one of the prominent sages of Constantinople in the early seventeenth century. This edition was printed in Venice in 1622 [Shin-Peh-Bet], and it is the only edition ever published – making it extremely rare both bibliographically and rabbinically. The book bears a symbolic collective title, Temat Yesharim (“Integrity of the Upright”), and includes the following works: Ohaley Tam – Questions and answers by Rabbi Tam Yechya, one of the early sages of Spain, containing brief halachic discussions on the laws of Sabbath, kashrut, monetary law, and more. Derech Tamim – Glosses and notes on the Rif by Rabbi Yosef Shalom, containing novellae and scholarly comments on the rulings of the Rif. Tamim De’im – The rulings of the Ra’avad and his critical notes on the Rif, with explanations and annotations added by the editor. Klalei Shmuel – Talmudic and methodological rules by Rabbi Shmuel ben Sirleiu (Ibn Sid), one of the early scholars of Talmudic method, dealing with the structure of the Mishnah, forms of Talmudic discourse, and rules of inference and language. In addition, several shorter tracts, homiletic passages, and glosses added by the editor are included. Rabbi Binyamin Motal, the compiler, was among the outstanding scholars of Constantinople – a great grammarian, scholar, and bibliophile, who engaged in the editing and publication of early rabbinic texts. His name is known among the most precise printers and proofreaders of his generation, and he is regarded as an important figure in the transition of Hebrew printing from the Ottoman centers to Venice. In its structure and content, the book presents a broad cross-section of early rabbinic and halachic creativity, ranging from the period of the Geonim and the early Spanish sages to the first generations of the Acharonim. Its great rarity derives from the fact that it was never reprinted, and the known copies today are found mainly in a few libraries in Europe and Israel. On leaf 109 appears a large diagram. [114]; [120]; [94]; [66] leaves. Height: 28 cm. Condition: good. Quality paper. Age stains. In the margins of the title leaf, a light restoration without damage to the text. In three leaves, small tears affecting a few letters. Ancient parchment binding with renewed spine.