Bidspirit auction | Sefer Chazus Kashe by Rabbi

Sefer Chazus Kashe by Rabbi Yitzchak Arama, Author of the Akeida Sabbioneta, 1551. First Edition. * Sefer Chazus Kashe containing discussions of faith refuting philosophical ideas, addressing Divine Providence over all creation, and expounding the true approach of interpreting the stories and commandments of the Torah. Authored by the great sage Rabbi Yitzchak Arama, one of the illustrious sages of Spain in the generation preceding the expulsion, renowned throughout the world for his sefer Akeidas Yitzchak. The Chida wrote of him: “All the sefarim of the darshanim of previous generations drew from his wellsprings and entered his gates in gratitude.” On his gravestone is inscribed: “A father in Torah, a father in wisdom, and he left none like him among all his people.” The author quotes passages from the Zohar; see, for example, leaf 17b: “And the Divine Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai transmitted to us a sealed Kabbalah, with a great and mighty seal.” The Zohar was first printed only in 1558, several years after the printing of the present sefer. The structure of the sefer is quite unique: it opens with a “riddle” which the author saw in a dream, followed by twelve sha’arim (gates). The first ten serve as an introduction leading to the resolution found in the eleventh gate, while the twelfth serves as a supplement. A poem appears after that, followed by a detailed index divided into several sections. The fourth gate includes a dialogue with “a wise man among the gentiles.” Sabbioneta, 1551. First Edition. The sefer was printed over the course of three weeks — from the 26th of Cheshvan to the 18th of Kislev. It is the second Hebrew sefer ever printed in Sabbioneta. A complete copy, containing 38 leaves. Leaves 31–38 are the index leaves, which are lacking in many copies. Condition: Fair to fair-good; numerous repairs and inner-margin holes; signs of use. Old binding. Bibliography: Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod, p. 236 (addenda). — — — — — — — — — — — On the verso of the title page is printed a dedication by the printer in honor of the sage Rabbi Aharon of Pesaro, author of the fundamental work Toldos Aharon printed with the Chumashim. The scholar A. M. Habermann notes that this is the first known dedication ever to appear in a Hebrew sefer (HaSefer HaIvri BeHitpatchuto, p. 121).