Only edition, 32 ff., quarto, 200:150 mm., light age staining, wide margins. A very good copy bound in modern leather over boards.

Yesha Elahim, a commentary on the Hashanat. by R. Moses ben Hayyim ben Shem Tov Pesante (c. 1 540-d. 1573). Born in Jerusalem, R. Pesante lived in Safed, leaving due to financial exigencies, traveling, from 1565 to 1573, in Turkey and the Balkans. In the introduction to Ner Mitzvah (Constantinople, 1567), his first book, Pesante bemoans his fate, hav­ing "seen neither joy nor rest, but rather trouble, sorrow, and sighing, going from city to city, for my iniquities have driven me out of the land of the living, 'from having a share in the inheritance of the Lord' (I Samuel 26:19), to provide for my home."

R. Pesante again expresses his longing for Erez Israel at the end of Yesha Elohim (Constantinople, 1567), writing, that he longs "'to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple' (Psalms 27:4), my land and birthplace from which I departed, and I will be 'at rest in my house, and flourish in my palace'" (Daniel 4: 1). Pesante did not have the good fortune to return to Safed, necessity forcing him to continue wandering and selling his books. He was, together with two Jewish merchants, murdered in Greece. The murder­ers, when apprehended, had cast R.Pesante's books into the sea from fear of being impli­cated by them in their crime.

Yesha Elahim was printed almost simultaneously with  his work, Ner Mitzvah, a commentary on the Arharot of R. Solomon ibn Gabirol,and are very much alike in appearance. The only ornamentation on the title pages and in the volume is the Jabez florets. The title, Ner Mitzvah, is in a larger font, otherwise the place­ment and type of the text is the same, except that the title 'Sultan,' for the Ottoman ruler, Selim, omitted from Ner Mitzvah, has been added to Yesha Elahim. Ner Mitzvah was begun and concluded, according to the title page and the colophon, respectively, on Sunday, 27 Tevet, ~:השכט (5329 = January 26, 1569), and Thursday, 21 Adar, in the year "they shall obtain  ישינו = March 20, 1569) joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isaiah 35: 10). Yesha Elahim was begun on Monday, 6 Shevat in the year "they shall obtain ישינו (329 = February 3, 1569) joy and gladness." Hukkat ha-Pesah, a third work by Pesante, was begun a week after Ner Mitzvah was completed.

Both works were printed previously and are now reprinted with additions. On the verso of the title page of Ner Mitzvah are verses, followed by Pesante's introduction (2a-3b) to the first edition. Next is the introduction of R. Samuel af Na'im (4a), and then Pesante's introduction (4b-7b) to the second edition, essentially the same as the first. The text (8a-67b) is followed by indices (68a-68b). Pesante's commentary on the Aeharot, printed between the Arharot, are of varying length, some brief, others quite long. Pes ante notes in the introduction that the first printing had errors and, for whatever reason, was not edited properly. This edition has been edited with great care and much new material has been added.

The title page of Yesha Elahim is followed, on the verso, by a brief preface and verse from Samuel af Na'im, Pesante's introduction (2a) with, at the bottom of the page, verse by R. Samuel ha-Kohen ben Perachiah and then Pesante's introduction to the reprint (2b-4b) with comments similar to those in Ner Mitzvah. The text (5a-30b) is made up of the Hoshanot and Pesante's commentary, placed between the Hashanat. The commentary also discusses relevant customs and the laws of lulav. There are piYyutim with commentaries for Shimini Hag Aizeret (Tikkun Geshem) and Tikkun Simhat Tarah. The book concludes with a third introduction from Pesante.

The printer of both works was Joseph Jabez. His brother Solomon printed the previ­ous editions of both titles in Constantinople. Pesante also wrote several books, never pub­lished and known from his references to them in the above works, such as Beit T ifillah, a commentary on prayer; a commentary on Pirkei Avat; novellae on tractate Kiddushin; Zera Kadesh on Seder Zera>im of the Jerusalem Talmud; and a collection of homilies.

Hebrew Description

  ... חברו... ר’ משה בכ"ר חיים בן... ר’ שם טוב לבית פיזנטי ז"ל, והוא פירוש... על ההושענות [עם הפנים, מנוקד], עם פירוש הרבה פסוקים ומאמרים באו בתוך הביאור. נדפס שנית עם תוספת פירוש פסוקים ומאמרים וחדושים הרבה יתר על הנדפסים ראשונה [בקושטאנדינא שכ"ז?]. ודיני לולב וערבה (על סדר שלחן ערוך [אורח חיים, סי’ תרמה-תרסט] שחבר... ר’ יוסף קארו)... ופירוש תיקון הגשם [לשמיני עצרת] ופיוטים של שמחה[!] תורה (תיקון שמחת תורה)... ‬

מעבר לשער: אלה דברי... ר’ שמואל אף נעים. מתוך ההוצאה הראשונה.

מלבד ההקדמה מתוך ההוצאה הראשונה הוסיף המחבר הקדמה נוספת שבה הוא כותב בין השאר: ולפי שבנדפסי’ ראשונה נפלו בהם טעיות כמה וכמה ... לסיבה... שלא הייתי עומד עליהם... עתה באתי...והרחבתי הביאור בכלל ובפרט ובפסוקים ובמאמרי’ רבים אשר נתוספו על הנדפסים ראשונה אשר לא נקראתי שם בעת המלאכה... ‬

בשולי הקדמה זו (דף ב,א) שיר בשבח הספר, מאת ר’ שמואל ב"ר פרחיה הכהן. פותח: ישע אלהים זה לעם נושע. הבט ואל תשתע בתפארתו. אוצר השירה והפיוט, ב, עמ’ 450, מס’ 4163. ‬

בדף לא,א: "הקדמה" שלישית של המחבר.