View Auction Listing - Shevilei Emunah

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Bidding Information
Lot #		22816
Auction End Date		3/3/2009 10:12:00 AM (mm/dd/yyyy)

Title Information

Title (English)

Shevilei Emunah

Title (Hebrew)

שבילי אמונה

Author

[First Ed.]

City

Riva d'Trent

Publisher

[Three Partners]

Publication Date

1559

Collection Information

Independent Item

This listing is an independent item not part of any collection

Description Information

Physical
Description

First edition. 130 ff., 193:140 mm., wide margins, old hands, age and use staining, repairs to margins in ff. 1-3 not affecting text. A good copy loose in contemporary full vellum over boards.

Paragraph 1

The Hebrew printing press in Riva, was active between 1558 and 1562 and produced about 35 titles. The press owed its success to the cooperation of three men: Cardinal Cristoforo Madruzzo, bishop of Trent, who had jurisdiction over the town and whose coat-of-arms appears on many of the Riva publications; R. Joseph b. Nathan Ottolenghi, rabbi and rosh yeshivah at Cremona; and Jacob Marcaria, dayyan and physician, also of Cremona, who was the printer and contributed learned prefaces to his productions.

Detailed
Description

Philosophical exposition of the principles of Judaism. Shevilei Emunah is an ethical work designed to strengthen belief, and defend against the skepticism of philosophy, in an age when “people are lost in darkness.” The book is divided into ten primary netivot (paths, chapters), namely, 1) faith in the Creator, His unity and incorporeality, and a discussion of His names, with kabbalistic examples; 2) the creation of the world, the spheres, climates, and the immutability of God; 3) the forming of man and his partner (Eve), and procreation; 4) human embryology, anatomy and pathology; 5) conduct leading to longevity; 6) the nature of the soul; 7) elevation of the soul through the observance of the Torah and its commandments; 8) belief in the Oral Law and its unbroken transmission from Moses; 9) reward and punishment; and 10) the redemption of Israel and resurrection.

R. Meir ben Isaac Aldabi (aben Aldabi Sefardi, c. 1310-after 1360), was a grandson, on his mother’s side, of R. Asher ben Jehiel (Rosh), whom he frequently references. Aldabi was well educated in the scientific, philosophical, and theological ideas of the time, in addition to having received a thorough rabbinic education, supplemented by a deep interest in Kabbalistic studies. It is believed that Aldabi left Toledo in 1348 for Jerusalem, where he wrote Shevilei Emunah (Paths of Faith), completing it in 1360.

Paragraph 2

יסדו ... הר' מאיר אל דבי ספרדי ... בו כלולים עשר נתיבות חכמה. נדפס על ידי ... מהר"ר יוסף אוטילינג ...

עשר ה"נתיבות": א. אמונת הבורא ויחודו. ב. חידת העולם ופעולות גרמי השמים. ג. יצירת אדם וחוה. ד. יצירת האדם ותכונות אבריו. ה. הנהגת בריאות הגוף. ו. הנפש והשכל. ז. בריאות הנפש. ח. תורה שבעל פה. ט. שכר ועונש. י. גאולה, תחיה ועולם הבא. מעבר לשער: אל עין הקורא, מאת המגיה, הרופא יעקב ב"ר דוד מרקריאה.

Reference
Description

CD-EPI 0120604; EJ

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