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Esame sui Doveri Religiosi e morali pei Giovani Israeliti D’Ambo I Sessi (Examination on the religious and moral duties of the Jewish faith). The text is in Italian with occasional Hebrew. The examination is not a test but rather an educational device, as each question is followed by a response. The questions cover a wide field of subjects, including dogma, the ten commandments, Shabbat, and festivals. An example of a question is “Che cosa sono i doveri morali? (What are the moral duties?), the response is I doveri morali sono quelli che ci corrono verso noi stessi, verso il nostro simile e verso la patria.
Hebrew printing in Verona has a long, if checkered history. A few books in Hebrew type were printed in Verona at the press of Francesco delle Donne between 1592 and 1595, one of them in Judeo-German (Pariz un Viena, 1594). Most important of the Hebrew books was the Tanhuma of 1595, produced by Jacob b. Gershon Bak, of Prague, and Abraham b. Shabbetai Bath-Sheba. Fifty years later Hebrew printing was resumed at the press of Francesco de' Rossi (1645–52), on the initiative of the Verona rabbis Samuel Aboab (and his sons Jacob and Joseph) and Jacob Hagiz, the first part of the latter's edition of the Mishnah with his commentary Ez Hayyim appearing in 1649 (the rest in Leghorn, 1650). Abraham Ortona was employed as typesetter. Two other printers were active in Verona late in the 18th and early in the 19th century, printing mainly liturgical items. |
