Physical
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[1], 42 ff., 165:104 mm., light age staining, wide margins, ink on heavy stock, 20 lines per page in beautiful Ashkenazic script, title in period colors, signed and dated, bound in contemporary half leather and marbled paper over boards, rubbed and split. |
Detailed
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Introduction to Talmudic study by R. Moses Hayyim Luzzatto (Ramhal). The title page informs that it contains all that is necessary to understand with ease Talmudic methodology and pilpul in a concise manner. There is an introduction from Ramhal and then the text, which is divided into thirteen chapters. Derekh Tevunot is primarily an analysis of Talmudic dialetics or pilpul. Ramhal’s approach to this subject is novel, differing considerably from earlier works on the subject, which dealt primarily with Talmudic terminology or rules for deriving halakhic decions. Ramhal instead analyzes the logical elements in the Talmudic discussion. He provides insight into Talmudic logic in a manner seldom achieved by others.
R. Moses Hayyim Luzzatto (Ramhal, 1707–1746) was a kabbalist, writer of ethical works, and Hebrew poet; leader of a group of religious thinkers, who were mainly interested in the problems of redemption and messianism. Luzzatto was born in Padua, Italy, into one of the most important, oldest, and most respectable families in Italian Jewry. Regarded as a genius from childhood, he knew Bible, Talmud, Midrash, halakhic literature, and classical languages and literature thoroughly. His main teachers were R. Isaac Cantarini, who taught him poetry and secular sciences, and R. Isaiah Bassan, who taught him mainly Kabbalah and became his friend and protector. Luzzatto's achievements, personality, and great knowledge of mysticism made him a leader of a group of young men in Padua, many of whom came there to study at the city's famous university. Probably the most important event in Luzzatto's personal life occurred in 1727. While he was immersed in kabbalistic speculations, he suddenly heard a divine voice, which he believed to be that of a maggid (i.e., a divine power inclined to reveal heavenly secrets to human beings). From that moment, the Maggid spoke to Luzzatto frequently and he noted these revelations, which comprised his kabbalistic writings for a few years. Most of them have not survived; only a few are known and have been published. His most important and best-known book is the classic ethical work Mesillat Yesharim. |
