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Ezba Elohim or Ma'aseh Rav, R. Gabriel Polak, Livorno 1864

אצבע אלהים או מעשה רב - Only Edition

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Details
  • Lot Number 49272
  • Title (English) Ezba Elohim or Ma'aseh Rav
  • Title (Hebrew) אצבע אלהים או מעשה רב
  • Author R. Gabriel Polak
  • City Livorno
  • Publisher Albert Rosbach
  • Publication Date 1857
  • Estimated Price - Low 200
  • Estimated Price - High 500

  • Item # 1528821
  • End Date
  • Start Date
Description

Physical Description:

Octavo, 32 pp., 185:110 mm., light age staining, wide margins. A very good copy not bound.
     

Detailed Description:   

Fascinating if deplorable account of the legend that relates the story of a Hungarian crown prince who fell in love with the beautiful daughter of R. Tyrnau. Out of love for her he renounced the throne, became converted to Judaism, and went to study Torah from Sephardi rabbis. On his return to Hungary he entered into a clandestine marriage with her and continued to study under his father-in-law. His identity was accidentally discovered by Catholic priests who demanded that he revert to his original faith. When he refused, he was burned at the stake and the Jews expelled from Tyrnau. The Finger of God, or What Happened to R. Isaac Tyrnau," the author of Sefer ha-Minhagim, 1857). Also included are Megillat Kuriel, an account of what happened to R. David Kuriel, printed from a manuscript and related verse, printed for the first time.

R. Isaac Tyrnau (end of 14th century), Austrian rabbi and compiler of a book of minhagim.. Tyrnau's teachers were R. Abraham Klausner , Sar Shalom of Neustadt, and R. Aaron Neustadt. Until recently it was assumed that his name derived from Trnava (Tyrnau) in Hungary (now Slovakia), but modern scholars incline more to the view that he came from Austria. He was born in Vienna and apparently subsequently moved to Tyrnau in Austria, from where it is possible that he went to minister as rabbi of Pressburg although some scholars deny that he was ever in Pressburg. Little is known about his life except that in 1420 he contacted R. Jacob Moellin regarding a divorce. R. Tyrnau's fame rests upon his book of minhagim. Basing himself largely on his teacher, R. Klausner, he set down customs and codes of conduct for the whole year, and they were subsequently adopted in most communities in Austria, Hungary, and Styria. As R. Tyrnau wrote in the preface, his aim was to create a common minhag. As a result of the Black Death (1348–50), which had uprooted most of the communities of Germany, "scholars became so few.… I saw localities where there were no more than two or three persons with a real knowledge of local custom." His description is concise and his style easy. The book enjoyed great popularity among German and Polish Jewry. The first edition was printed in Venice (1566) and has been frequently republished often as an appendix to the prayer book. Similarly, a German translation by Simon Guenzburg (Mantua, 1590) has often been reprinted.

 

Hebrew Description:

או מעשה רב, שאירע להגאון ר"י [ר’ יצחק אייזיק] טירנא בעל המנהגים, ומגילת קוריאל (אשר אירע להגביר ... דוד קוריאל). עם שירים שונים, יוצאים פעם ראשונה לאור עולם. בהשתדלות ... גבריאל פאלק מאמשטרדם ... ששלח הכת"י, הכתוב בעצם ידי ... ר’ דוד חפשי מינדס ... להמוציא לאור י-ל ב-ר (ישראל באהמער) ...

מ’ 2-3: אגרת מאת גבריאל פאלק אל ישראל באהמער.

עמ’ 17-25: "מעשה נורא אשר אירע להגביר הנעלה דוד קוריאל יצ"ו, העתקתי מס’ כתיבת יד ממשפחה ההיא, נקרא אצלם מגילת קוריאל". עם שיר על הנס שאירע לקוריאל, מאת משה אבודיינטי. פותח: לנעטר ונסתר ונהדר.

עמ’ 31-32: "פיוט מקדמון אחד, בלי ספק הראב"ע". עם הערות מאת יהודה ליב דוקס. פותח: בשם אל אשר אמר (אוצר השירה והפיוט, ב, עמ’ 83, מס’ 1849).

 

References:

BE alef 2495; EJ; Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1470-1960 #000111401