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Tractate Rosh Ha-Shanah, printed by Moses ben Abraham Avinu. Only a small number of tractates were printed in Halle; they are of special interest due the circumstances surrounding them and the identity of the printer. The title page is spare, devoid of ornamentation and with little text. The outstanding feature of the title page is the oversized letters used for the words “Tractate Rosh Ha-Shanah,” measuring as large as 45 mm., and made from woodcut letters rather than metal type. The title page is dated, cryptically, two years prior toרוב"ע לקינ"ו (474 = 1712). The first word in the tractate is enclosed by an ornamental border comprised of florets, inset to the right of the body of the text. Two different cursive fonts are employed for Rashi and Tosafot. No additional commentaries accompany or follow the text and none of the standard indices, such as, Torah Or and Mesorat ha-Shas, were printed with the tractate, nor are there biblical and talmudic source references within Rashi and Tosafot.
Moses ben Abraham Avinu, among the more colorful personalities to have printed Hebrew books, was active for more than three decades in Amsterdam and Germany. He was a proselyte from Nikolsburg or Prague, known prior to his conversion as Haase, and afterwards referred to in Dutch records as Moses Polak. In Amsterdam Moses ben Abraham worked as a compositor in the printing-presses of Uri Phoebus ha-Levi, David Tartas, and Moses Kosman. He printed for his own account for a short time, but failing financially left Amsterdam for Germany, where he, or members of his family, were employed in Berlin, Dessau, Frankfort on Oder, and finally Halle. He was employed there by J. H. Michaelis (1668-1738), a non-Jew, professor at the local university, to print a critical edition of the Hebrew Bible. Moses ben Abraham began to print Hebrew books independently of Michaelis, assisted by his large family. Moses ben Abraham disregarded warnings, printing Hebrew titles without authorization or review of the books contents. The authorities closed the printing-press, seized the typographical material and equipment, and imprisoned Moses ben Abraham. Assisted by friends, he is reputed to have escaped shortly after being incarcerated. According to some sources, Moses ben Abraham returned to Amsterdam, dying there in c. 1733/34. |
