Physical Description:

First edition, 91 ff., octavo, 145:99 mm., wide margins, light age and damp staining. A very good copy bound in recent quarter cloth over boards.

Detailed Description:   

Ethical work by by R. Isaac ben Solomon Farhi. Matok la-Nefesh is moral homilies, “‘reproofs of instruction are the way of life’ (Proverbs 6:23) to chastise and reprove oneself and others.” The work begins with verse in praise of the book, followed by an introduction from R. Farhi, and the text, which is organized in nineteen chapters. It concludes with prayers (tehinot) to be said to humble the heart, and errata.

R. Isaac ben Solomon Farhi (1782-1853) dayyan in Jerusalem, belonged to the distinguished family of financiers in Damascus during the 18th and 19th centuries, who held the position of sarraf (banker) in the province of Damascus during the 1740s and possibly even earlier. R. Farsi was born in Safed. The Jerusalem rabbinate sent him to Europe to raise funds for the poor; it was while he was an emissary that he printed many of his books in Livorno. In addition to Matok la-Nefesh and Matok mi-Devash, R. Farhi was also the author of Tuv Yerushalayim (Jerusalem, 1842), Zekhut ha-Rabbim (Constantinople, 1829), Imrei Binah (Bilagrado, 1837), Zekhut u-Mishor (Smyrna, 1850), Zuf Devash (Livorno, 1849), Shevet Mishor (Belgrade, 1837), Marpe la-Ezem (Constantinople, 1830), Musar Haskel (Constantinople, 1830), and Minei Metikah (Livorno, 1848).

Hebrew Description:

... דרך רמז ודרך דרש על כמה פסוקים ומאמרי רז"ל (בדברי מוסר)... כ"ד... המשתלח בשליחותייהו דרבנן קדישי ארעא ירושלם... יצחק פרחי...

בשער: שנת כי באלה ח’פ’צ’ת’י’ נאם ה’ [תקפ"ח]. קולופון: ותשלם המלאכה ביום ששי לש"ק בסדר ויהי בקר יום הששי כה בירח האיתנים מהאי שתא ואשעה ב’ח’ק’י’ך’ ת’מ’י’ד’ לפ"ג [תקפ"ט].

דף פד,ב-צ,א: תחינות שסידרתי להכניע הלבבות.

References:

Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1470-1960 #000159073; Yaari, Sheluhei 716-18; Vin 675