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Bidding Information
Lot #    16039
Auction End Date    10/24/2006 11:57:30 AM (mm/dd/yyyy)
          
Title Information
Title (English)    Sefer ha-Eshkol
Title (Hebrew)    ספר האשכול
Author    [First Ed.] R. Abraham b. Isaac of Narbonne
City    Berlin
Publisher    H. Itzkowski
Publication Date    1910
          
Collection Information
Independent Item    This listing is an independent item not part of any collection
          
Description Information
Physical
Description		    First edition. XXIII, 159; [2], 192; [3], 179 pp., 264:200 mm., wide margins, usual age staining. A very good copy bound in contemporary boards, rubbed.
          
Detailed
Description		    R. Abraham b. Isaac of Narbonne (known as Rabi Abad; c. 1110–1179), talmudist and spiritual leader of Provence; author of Sefer ha-Eshkol, the first work of codification of the halakhic commentary of southern France, which served as a model for all subsequent compilations. R. Abraham was a student of R. Isaac b. Merwan ha-Levi and R. Meshullam b. Jacob of Lunel. It is probable that R. Joseph ibn Plat, too, was one of his teachers. R. Abraham apparently spent some time in Barcelona where, it seems, he also studied with R. Judah b. Barzillai al-Bargeloni. He was av bet din in his native Narbonne, and his prestige was such that he was cited by the early scholars simply as “the Rabbi, Av Bet Din.” R. Benjamin of Tudela speaks of him as “principal of the yeshivah” in Narbonne. Among his renowned students were R. Zerahiah ha-Levi and R. Abraham b. David of Posquieres, who became his son-in-law. R. Abraham's halakhic compendium Sefer ha-Eshkol is an abridged version of the Sefer ha-Ittim, by R. Judah b. Barzillai al-Bargeloni, with additions from Rashi, R. Tam and his contemporaries, and R. Abraham himself. In the main, he omitted the geonic responsa and those of Alfasi. As most of the Ittim was lost, the Eshkol took on additional significance, in that it rescued a part, at least, of the extensive source material in the Sefer ha-lttim. The very ambitious enterprise of excerpting R. Judah b. Barzillai al-Bargeloni's book was carried out with the support and under the inspiration of his teacher, R. Meshullam b. Jacob, who encouraged the introduction of Spanish halakhah and tradition into Narbonne. The Eshkol was first published by Zevi Benjamin Auerbach (1869) with an introduction and commentary, but doubts about the authenticity of at least parts of Auerbach's manuscript were expressed by Shalom Albeck. The ensuing controversy was inconclusive. Auerbach's manuscript is rich in additions, the exact origin of which is not clear. Although there are no grounds for accusing Auerbach of willfully tampering with the manuscript, the version of the Eshkol that Albeck had in hand is undoubtedly the authentic one. Albeck himself published part of the Sefer ha-Eshkol (with introductions and notes) and his son Hanokh Albeck completed this edition (1935–38). R. Abraham played a vital role as the principal channel through which the Spanish traditions passed into Provence and from there to northern France. At the same time, he emphasized the local traditions of the "Elders of Narbonne,” of which he also made great use. His eclecticism is clear from the fact that he also gave due consideration to north-French halakhic traditions, using his personal authority to decide between the various traditions. R. Abraham was the recipient of numerous queries. A collection of his responsa has been published (ed. Kafah, Jerusalem, 1962) and another is extant in the Guenzburg Collection. Several of the responsa were published by S. Assaf in Sifran shel Rishonim (1935), and in Sinai, 11 (1947). He also wrote commentaries to the entire Talmud (except for the Order of Kodashim) which were quoted by his contemporaries and by later scholars, such as Zerahiah ha-Levi, Nahmanides, Solomon b. Abraham Adret, and others, but only his commentary on the second half of the tractate Bava Batra is extant (in a Munich manuscript, a fragment of which was published in Ozar ha-Hayyim, 12, 1936). The commentary resembles that of R. Samuel b. Meir (Rashbam), which served, in a way, as a transition from Rashi's commentary to the novellae of the tosafists, except that R. Abraham makes greater use of the earlier commentators and quotes them verbatim. He also excerpted R. Judah b. Barzillai's Sefer ha-Din.
          
Paragraph 2    יסדו רבנו אברהם ב"ר יצחק אב בית דין נ"ע מנרבונא. יוצא לאור ע"פ שני כ"י ערוך ומסודר מוגה ומבואר ע"י שלום אלבעק מווארשא. חברת ראשונה, כוללת הלכות זריזות, בעל קרי, ברכות השחר, פסוקי דזמרה, קרית שמע, תפלת השחר, נטילת ידים וסעודה.
          
Reference
Description		    CD-EPI 0120113; EJ; Assaf, in: Madda'ei ha-Yahadut, 2 (1926/27), 17; Benedikt, in: Tarbiz, 22 (1950/51), 101–5; 1. Twersky, Rabad of PosquiIres (1962), 7–10.
        
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Listing Classification
Period
20th Century:    Checked
  
Location
Germany:    Checked
  
Subject
Halacha:    Checked
  
Characteristic
First Editions:    Checked
Language:    Hebrew
  
Manuscript Type
  
Kind of Judaica