Bidspirit auction | Ben Shmuel – Sefer of

Ben Shmuel – Sefer of Drashos by the Maharshadam – Mantua, 1622 * Thirty drashos on Torah, avodah, and acts of kindness, as well as on Shabbos and festivals of the year and various other topics, delivered by the gaon Rabbi Shmuel di Medina, known as the Maharshadam of Salonika. In contrast to the author’s renowned Shu”t sefarim, which are cited endlessly throughout the writings of the poskim, his sefer Ben Shmuel remained largely unknown. The author, Rabbi Shmuel di Medina, known as the Maharshadam (1506–1590) , was one of the greatest poskim and leading rabbanim of Salonika, and his influence extended across the Jewish world. He was a disciple of Rabbi Yosef Taitatzak and the Maharlbach. He is described as “a great and eminent Rav and a foremost halachic authority” (Korei HaDorot, in the entry on him). Rabbi Yaakov Shmuel Spiegel noted that in the present sefer, there is a unique testimony to the Maharshadam’s visit to Eretz Yisrael. The author writes: “I saw fit to give thanks, to praise and glorify the One Who bestowed upon me this great kindness and brought me to the Holy Land, whose dwelling is equivalent to all the mitzvos” (Drasha 26, leaf 98b). The sefer was printed by his grandson, Rabbi Shemaya, the son of Rabbi Moshe di Medina, who composed poems at the beginning and end of the sefer, as well as an introduction in which he recounts a dispute that led him to leave Salonika. Mantua, 1622. Singular edition (reprinted again only in recent years). Page Count: 2, 125 leaves. Size : 19.5 cm. Condition : Several isolated holes, restored along the inner margins; aside from this, an impressive copy with clean, white leaves. New binding.