A Hebrew printing press was set up in Brunn (Brno) in 1753 by Franz Joseph Neumann and during the following century almost 100 books were published there. Aboyt twenty five of those works were printed by Joseph Rossman. The Jewish community of Brunn, capital of Moravia, was established in the first half of the 13th century by Jews invited by the margrave of Moravia. A charter granted in 1254 guaranteed protection to Jewish lives and property, freed Jews from restrictions on trade and occupations, and exempted them from wearing distinguishing dress; the community had to contribute a quarter of the amount required for the upkeep of the city fortifications. The charter was renewed in 1268 and incorporated in the city statutes in 1276. There were about 1,000 Jews living in Brunn in 1348. A charter granted in 1345 encouraged Jewish settlement. There was then a Jewish quarter with its own "Jews' Gate." Jewish tombstones have been discovered dating from 1373. In the first half of the 15th century Israel Bruna officiated as rabbi. The Jews were expelled from Brunn in 1454, after John of Capistrano preached there, and were formally excluded from Brunn until 1848 by the privilege de non tolerandis Judaeis. Individual Jews, however, paid for permission to attend the markets in the city with an admission fee. This license was extended in 1627 and 1648, but curtailed in 1661. A special inn (leased in 1724 by Jacob Dobruschka) was assigned for Jewish travelers who were officially permitted to spend one night in the city, but often stayed longer illegally. In 1706 the authorities prohibited Jews from holding religious services in public, although these services were tolerated in private. There were then 52 Jews living in Brunn. In 1722 the chief representative of Moravian Jewry, the Landesjudensollicitator, was permitted to settle near the city gate. The exclusion of the Jews from Brunn was renewed in 1745. In 1764 the brothers Hoenig took over the city bank but in the following year, when two of the brothers were permitted to lease houses in Brunn, there was an outbreak of rioting. In 1769 Solomon Dobruschka received permission to hold services in his house and to keep a "small" Torah scroll there. However, the authorities still made attempts to prevent the holding of services in public, and in 1812 levied a special tax for "keeping a Torah." Following the revolution of 1848 the Jewish community was organized, and received official recognition in 1859. The first rabbi was David Ashkenazi. A cemetery was consecrated in 1852, and a synagogue built in 1855. Baruch Placzek, when rabbi of Brunn, also held the title of Landesrabbiner from 1884 until his death in 1922, when it was discontinued. Jewish industrialists, such as Lazar Auspitz, Julius Ritter von Gomperz, Loew-Beer, and others, played an important part in developing the textile industry in Brunn. The community numbered c. 500 in 1959 and c. 700 in 1969.

הפנים והתרגום עמודה מול עמודה. הפנים באותיות רש"י והתרגום באותיות צו"ר. מחולק לשבעת ימי השבוע. ראינו טפסים עם שינויים טיפוגראפיים ושינויי כתיב בתרגום בקונטרס א-ב (דף א-ח).