Physical Description

Octavo 12 ff., nice margins, light damp & age staining. A good copy bound in the original wrappers.

 

Detail Description

Sefer ha-Mussar, is the first published edition of this early ethical work in forty-eight chapters by R. Ibn Ephraim, Many of the pages in this copy afre still uncut. It was published by the Mekize Nerdamim Society, the first society to publish medieval Hebrew literature in every branch of intellectual activity, in scholarly editions. The second work, Le-Palgot Yisrael be-Ungaria, by R. Jekutiel Judah Greenwald (Grunwald) is a fascinating history of the Orthodox community in Hungary and its contentious and combative relationship with the reformers in Hungary.

The Mekize Nerdamim (rousers of those who slumber) Society’s aim was both to propagate a knowledge of Jewish scholarship and to establish personal contact between scholars. The structure of the society – which still continues – provided for a board of directors, consisting of the best qualified scholars in their field, and annual subscriptions from members. The Mekiẓe Nirdamim was fouded in 1862 by E.L. Silbermann in Lyck, founder-editor of the first Hebrew weekly Ha-Maggid , with the cooperation of Chief Rabbi Nathan M. Adler (London), M. Sachs (Berlin), and S.D. Luzzatto . There was a certain amount of opposition – for a variety of reasons – which included a lack of faith in the possibility of the renaissance of Jewish culture, an opposition to the publication of non-rabbinic texts, and an opposition in principle to the exclusive use of Hebrew, which was established as a rule by the society, and/or an opposition to its founders by such scholars as A. Geiger and M. Steinschneider . Support was found, however, among Polish and Russian scholars and even in rabbis such as Samuel and Mattityahu Straschun, S. Ganzfried , and M.L. Malbim, and by 1864 the number of subscribers, from a great many countries, stood at 1,200. In the same year the first four publications were issued, among them the first installment of S.D. Luzzatto's edition of Judah Halevi's Diwan. The adherence of Moses Montefiore in 1865 brought with it the support of many who had been aloof. After a decade's activity, there was a pause until, in 1885, the society resumed its work in Berlin, guided by A. Berliner , A. Harkavy , and others. It was then that the series Kobeẓ al Jad was initiated (26 volumes by 1970), devoted to the publication of smaller manuscripts and documents.

 

Hebrew Description

  לן’ אפרים ז"ל מארץ מודינ"א. נעתק מאת יוחנן במש"ז [בן מורנו שלמה זלמן] וויטטקאווער מאלטונא. יוצא לאור בפעם ראשונה מכת"י הנמצא בביבליאוטהיקא הגדולה בעיר האמבורג ... ‬

(ספרים היוצאים לאור בפעם ראשונה על ידי חברת מקיצי נרדמים, $a שנה רביעית, תרכ"ט-תרל"א) ‬

רוב החיבור נדפס מקודם על-ידי ויטקובר בכתב העת שומר ציון הנאמן, מחברת ד (תרי"א-תרי"ג), בהמשכים, לסרוגין, מדף שה עד דף שכא.

החיבור היה מיוחס לעיתים לאביו של המחבר, המשורר אפרים ממודינה.

כתב היד שראה המהדיר לא היה שלם וחסר בו שמו של החיבור. ד’ ברגמן הוציאה לאור מהדורה מתוקנת על פי כתב-יד אחר. עיין: חמס הזמן, מאת עזריה בן אפרים בן יואב ממודינה, בעריכת דבורה ברגמן, ירושלים תש"ע. שם גם קבעה שהמחבר הוא עזריה, בנו של אפרים ממודינה. ‬

 

References

Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1470-1960 #000105733; EJ