The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. On this occasion, the Jewish National and Hebrew University Library has placed on display some of its finest and most magnificent treasures.
The exhibition which is called “Treasures Revealed,” was opened on April 12th and will remain open through June 1.
“Let one and all come and view the ancient manuscripts of the Bible, Torah scrolls, each of which has a moving and thrilling tale to tell, illuminated prayer books, the commentary on the Mishnah– in his own handwriting- by Maimonides, the greatest of Jewish Sages, and let their hearts be filled with pride,” Professor Sara Japhet, director of the Jewish National and Hebrew University Library, writes in the foreword to the exhibition’s catalog. She continues, “Let them come and look at manuscripts and documents left by more recent generations,” and mentions several others of the many fascinating items on display.
The beautiful exhibition catalog – which features photographs in color as well as very detailed descriptions, in both Hebrew and English of every exhibit- also carries introductory articles by Professor Menachem Magidor, president of the Hebrew University and Rafael Weiser, director of the University’s Department of Manuscripts and Archives.
Weiser planned the exhibition and prepared its catalog with the aid of members of his staff and directors and staff members of other departments of the library, each of whom is mentioned by name in the catalog.
He states in his introduction that the library’s exhibition hall is not large enough to accommodate all he had selected for display. He had to exclude whole areas such as Halakhic literature, Jewish philosophy, Kabbala, modern Hebrew literature, and more. However, he believes that the present selection of exhibits conveys to the visitor an idea of the library’s wide ranging treasures.
The exhibit is divided into thirteen sections. The respective names of some of them are “Torah Scrolls,” “Bibles,” “Bible Translations,” “Jewish Festivals,” “Maimonides,” “The Holy Land” and “Science.”
In the section of Torah Scrolls three highly interesting items are on display. There is a Torah scroll written for his own use by the famous 14th century Spanish Talmud commentator. Rabbi Nissim ben Reuven Gerondi (the Ran).
From a silver dedication plaque which is attached to the scroll’s cover we learn that the scroll was placed in Barcelona’s Khillot Yaakov” synagogue by Rabbi Nissim on the fifth of Sivan 5096 (1336).
According to the catalog, the plaque shown at the catalog is probably a later copy of the original.
On the verso of the first sheet of the scroll, Reuben, a son of Rabbi Nissim wrote a poem which describes the persecutions of the Jews of Spain in 1390, how he and his family were saved and the rescue of the Torah scrolls, including that of his father.
The second item in that section is a Torah scroll written in Spain in the 14th-15th century. It was kept in the Kahal Shalom synagogue in the city of Rhodes, possibly brought there by exiles from Spain or their descendants — and was saved from the desecrated synagogue during the German occupation of the island during World War II.
The last time the scroll was used during services in the Rhodes synagogue was on Sabbath afternoon, July 15, 1944. Several days later Rhodes’ Jews were rounded up and deported by the Germans.
At the suggestion of Mr. Moise Soriano, President of the Jewish community of Rhodes’ the scroll was brought last year to Jerusalem. It was deposited in the Jewish National and Hebrew University Library in memory of the martyrs of Rhodes Jewry.
The third item in the section is a Torah scroll written in Poland or Italy in the sixteenth century or the beginning of the seventeenth century. A round silver plate on one of the staffs bears the name Shaul Wohl.
It is believed that the scroll belonged to Shaul Wohl (or Wahl) , the son of Rabbi Meir Ben Yehudah Katzenellenbogen, rabbi of the Jewish community of Padua, Italy. He was a wealthy merchant and leader of the Jewish community of Brest Litovsk. According to a legend, he was for one day, King of Poland. His sons Meir and Avraham served as rabbis of Brest Litovsk and Lvov respectively.
The ten items displayed in the section “Bibles” include:
A beautiful Torah manuscript, almost complete, written in fine large bold oriental square script, fully vocalized and with accents. It is believed to have been written in the tenth century, seemingly in Palestine.
An ornamented manuscript of a section of the Torah (Parashat Shelak Lekha) with vocalization, accents and Mesorah. Written in the beginning of the twelfth century, probably in Persia, it is divided into four Sedarim in accordance with the ancient triennial cycle of the Reading of the Torah.
The Book of Psalms with the commentary of Rabbi David Kimhi, printed in 1477, probably in Bologna, Italy. It was the first biblical text to be printed.
A miniature size edition of the entire Bible (30 mm x 20 mm) printed in Warsaw in 1896. One of the smallest Hebrew books, it was kept in a tiny metal box which also contained a magnifying glass.
To be continued
The Jewish Press, Friday, May 26, 2000
Continued from last week
Items displayed in the section of “Bible Translations” include a 9th century manuscript on parchment containing the Peshitta (Syrian translation) of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the Minor Prophets and Lamentations in classical Syriac script. It was probably written in Edessa, today called Urfa in southeastern Turkey, near Syria.
In the middle of the 16th century, Abraham Usque and Yom Tov Athias established a printing house in Ferrara, Italy. It was the first printing house that printed books in Spanish and Portuguese for Marranos who had fled from the Iberian peninsula to Italy and other countries.
In 1553 the printing house published a Spanish translation of the entire Bible. The translation was based on the traditional Spanish version in use by Spanish Jews.
The translation was published in two identical editions. One was destined for Christians and was dedicated to the Duke of Ferrara. The other edition– which is displayed at the exhibition- was intended for Jews and was dedicated to Dona Gracia Mendes-Nasi a well known 16th century Jewish personality, who for a time had been a Marrano. She was the aunt and mother-in-law of Jewish Nasi, the Duke of Naxos.
The edition intended for Jews carries the Hebrew date of the publication as well as the Hebrew names of the printers.
The section “Jewish Festivals” features, among other items, the Worms Mahzor, written on parchment in beautiful Ashkenazi calligraphy and illuminated and decorated in ink and color. The Mahzor, which was intended for Hazzanim, was written in the second half of the 13th century and originally consisted of two parts. The original second part was lost and was replaced by the second part of another Mahzor, which had similar contents and was written at approximately the same time but contained only two illustrations.
In the first part, the scribe had added, in Judeo-German, a blessing in rhyme for any person who would carry the Mahzor, which was quite heavy from the house of its owner to the synagogue: “Let a good day shine for him who will carry this Mahzor to the synagogue.” The catalog observes that this is the oldest Judeo-German text known to us.
The Mahzor was in use in the community of Worms until the destruction of the synagogue on Kristallnacht, in November 1938. It was saved by the city’s archivist, who concealed it in the cathedral.
In the same section two incunabula are on display:
One is a Passover Haggadah printed in the year 1482 in Wadi al Hijara in Spain. It is printed in Spanish square characters and is not vocalized. This Haggadah is deemed to be the first ever printed.
The other is Mahzor Roma, a festival prayerbook according to the Roman rite, printed on parchment in 1486 in Casalmaggiore, Italy by the Soncino family.
Among the other items in the section there is an Esther Scroll with illustrations in color, written and illuminated by Moshe ben Avraham Pescarol in Ferrara in 1616.
The section devoted to Maimonides features two items: Maimonides’ Arabic commentary on Seder Nashim of the Mishna in his own handwriting and a manuscript of the Rambam’s entire Mishneh Torah, written in Spain between 1300 and 1350.
The Jewish National and Hebrew University Library is in possession of Maimonides’ commentary on the Mishna (in his own hand) on Seder Mo’ed and on Seder Nashim. Both these manuscripts contain handwritten revisions and corrections by Maimonides as well as handwritten notations by his son Abraham and his great-grandson, David.
Until the 15th century, the entire commentary on the Mishnah was in the possession of Maimonides descendants.
The Bodleian Library in Oxford is in possession of Maimonides’ handwritten commentary on the Orders of Zera’im, Nezikin and Kodshim. The commentary on the Order of Toharot has been lost.
The Mishne Torah manuscript on display includes many correct readings (which became corrupted in later editions).
The first 40 leaves of the manuscript are exquisitely decorated in gold and other colors. According to Mordechai Narkiss, most of the illustrations were added later in Perugia, Italy around the year 1400.
(Conclusion next week)
The Jewish Press, Friday, June 2, 2000
Conclusion
The title of Rishon LeZion, which the Sephardic rabbis of the Holy Land conferred upon the leading Sephardic rabbinic personalities, is several centuries old. However, it was only around the middle of the 19th century that the Ottoman authorities recognized the Rishon LeZion’s authority as the spiritual leader of Palestine’s Jewry by naming him Hakham Bashi (Chief Rabbi) of Jerusalem. Until then they regarded the Hakham Bashi of Constantinople as the spiritual leader of all the Jewish communities of the Ottoman Empire.
The first Hakham Bashi of Jerusalem was the Rishon Lezion, Rabbi Hayim Avraham Gagin. He was born in Constantinople on 1787 and died in Jerusalem in 1848. In 1841 he was appointed Hakham Bashi of Jerusalem by Sultan Abd al Majid ibn Mahmoud Han. He received the firman, which included his appointment and detailed his privileges and responsibilities vis-a-vis the Turkish authorities, by a special messenger who remained in Jerusalem to make sure that the Hakham Bashi was treated with all the honor due to him. The Hakham Bashi wore a special gown and was accompanied in public by an honor guard who carried a staff with an ivory head. The staff and the gown were sent by the Sultan to Jerusalem together with the emissary.
The Sultan’s firman appointing Rabbi Hayyim Avraham Gagin as Hakham Bashi is displayed in the exhibition’s section called “Rishon LeZion.” It is a magnificent document written alternately in gold, red and black, with the signatures all in gold. Other objects in that section include a copy of Hukkei Hayyim, Rabbi Gagin’s printed responsa, and and the staff with the ivory head (the Hakham Bashi’s scepter).
In the section, “The Holy Land” there is a map in color showing the Holy Land and the portions of the individual tribes. The map was drawn in Eastern Europe in the early 19th century, on the basis of one produced by the Gaon of Vilna.
The section “Women’s Devotions” features a handwritten prayer book, two works of religious instruction and a Tehina (private prayer), all for women, as well as two Ketubbot exquisitely illuminated in color.
The prayer book which follows the Italian rite was copied by R. Abraham ben Mordecai Farissol in Mantua, Italy in 1480. The beautifully written Siddur contains many illustrations and drawings by an unknown artist.
Abraham Farissol was not only a scribe but also an author. His writings include a cosmological geographical work, Iggeret Orhot Olam.
He copied the Siddur for a rich lady. Of interest is his alteration of the text of one of the morning blessings: Blessed be He… who made me a woman and not a man.”
The Judeo-German Azharat Nashim by R. David Kohen, printed in Cracow in 1535 and the Ladino Seder Nashim, probably printed in Salonica around 1550 are guides to Mitzvot pertaining to women. (The Ladino book also includes prayers for every day, the Sabbath, holidays and fast days.) The books on display are the only known extant copies.
The Judeo-German Tehina (Ein Gor Sheine Tehina) was probably printed in Prague around the year 1600. No other copy of this booklet is known.
The two beautiful Ketubbot were produced in Ancona, Italy and in Herat, Afghanistan, respectively. The Italian one was written in 1771 and the other one in 1812.
I wish to conclude this review with the description of two items on display in the “Science” section.
- A Diploma in Latin from the University of Padua, Italy awarding the doctorate in philosophy and medicine to the Jew Copilus Pictor (Yaakov ben Yosef Mahler) of Bingen, Germany, in 1695. The diplomas consists of four illustrated and illuminated parchment folios fashioned into a booklet which is bound in fine Italian leather. The portrait of the diploma’s recipient appears in the booklet. The physican Yaakov ben Yosef Mahler (d. 1720) was an elder of the Jewish community of Bingen. His son R. Gumprecht Mahler served as rabbi there.
- The manuscript of Albert Einstein’s Die Grundlage der sllgemeinen Relativitatstheorie (The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity). At the suggestion of a Dutch physicist, Einstein wrote an expose of the principles of the theory of relativity in as simple a form as possible so that every physicist could familiarize himself with it. Albert Einstein donated the originated manuscript of the article to the Hebrew University on the occasion of its opening in 1925.
The Jewish Press, Friday, June 9, 2000