Bidspirit auction | Rare: Shishah Sidrei Mishnah in

Rare: Shishah Sidrei Mishnah in One Volume – Students' Edition – Venice, 1776 * A comprehensive volume of Mishnayos designed for students, featuring all six orders of the Mishnah organized sequentially, presented without commentaries and including vowels. The volume is divided into two parts, each with its own title page. The first part contains Zera'im, Mo'ed, and Nashim; the second part contains Nezikin, Kodshim, and Taharos. This is a rare set. In the Institute for Hebrew Bibliography, the sefer is listed based on a copy lacking the first eight leaves (likely the copy currently digitized at the National Library of Israel). The proofreader, Rabbi Yosef Valensi (Alvalansi), one of the rabbanim of Venice, writes at the end of the sefer that he had prepared an expanded edition incorporating variant readings, yet in practice refrained from including them, for the benefit of the students who required only the standard text. He therefore printed the work according to the Amsterdam 1646 edition that had been printed at the initiative of Rabbi Menashe ben Yisrael. From his words, it is evident that the printing was financed by Rabbi Yaakov HaLevi, son of Rabbi Yitzchak of the Levi'im, great-grandson of one of the greatest rabbanim of Italy in his era, Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh of Modena. Rabbi Yosef Valensi (Alvalansi) was one of the sages of the yeshiva in Venice and is signed on several halachic rulings. He is especially known for the testimonial letter concerning the false messiah Shabbtai Tzvi, which he signed together with the other sages of Venice, such as Rabbi Shmuel Abuhav and Rabbi Moshe Zacuto. (That Iggeres was printed in Shu” t Divrei Shmuel and later reprinted by the Yaabetz in his sefer Toras HaKana'us.) Venice, 1776. Page Count : Part I: 65, 67–120, [1] leaves. Part II: 161, [7] leaves. Size : Small format, 15.5 cm. Condition : Fair to good. Minor restorations to the title page and first leaves. Occasional holes. Signs of use and stains at the lower margins. Antique binding.