× Bidding has ended on this item.
Ended

Shevet Mussar (Rod of Admonition), R. Elijah ha-Kohen ha-Itamari, Jerusalem 1863

שבט מוסר - Kabbalah - The copy of R. Shem Tov Gagin

Listing Image
Payment Options
Seller Accepts Credit Cards

Payment Instructions
You will be emailed an invoice with payment instructions upon completion of the auction.
Details
  • Lot Number 50728
  • Title (English) Shevet Mussar (Rod of Admonition)
  • Title (Hebrew) שבט מוסר
  • Note The copy of R. Shem Tov b. Isaac Raphael Hezekiah Gagin
  • Author R. Elijah ha-Kohen ha-Itamari
  • City Jerusalem
  • Publisher Jehiel Brill, Mical ha-Kohen; Joel Solomon
  • Publication Date 1863
  • Estimated Price - Low 200
  • Estimated Price - High 500

  • Item # 1805618
  • End Date
  • Start Date
Description

Physical Description:

[2], 58; [59]-130 ff., quarto, 200:152 mm., age and damp staining, nice margins, worming throughout, not bound.

The copy of R. Shem Tov b. Isaac Raphael Hezekiah Gagin (Gaguine; 1884-1953), a descendant of a famous Moroccan family of rabbinical scholars which emigrated to Palestine from Spain at the time of the Inquisition. He was Chief Judge of the London Portuguese Community prior to becoming Secretary of the Chief Rabbinate in Cairo. R. Shem TovHe was the great-grandson of R. Chaim Abraham Gagin, the first Hakham Bashi of the Holy Land during the Ottoman Empire, and the son and nephew respectively of Rabbis Isaac and Abraham Gaguin. He was the great-great grandson of the famous scholar and kabbalist, Sar Shalom Sharabi.

He studied at the "Doresh Zion" College, Jerusalem and was a pupil of R. Jacob Alfiya. At an early age, he contributed articles to the Palestinian Hebrew Press ("Hahhabbezeleth" et al.) on aspects of Jewish traditional observances, as well as on biblical and philological matters. He was awarded rabbinical diplomas by numerous authorities, including R. Haim Berlin and Chief Rabbis Jacob Meir, C.B.E. and Abraham Kook, C.B.E. of Palestine. In 1911, R. Gaguine was appointed to serve in the office of dayyanut in Cairo. In 1919, he was invited to serve In Manchester, being appointed Av Bet Din in 1920. In 1927 he was appointed Rosh Yeshivah of Judith Montefiore College in Ramsgate.

 

Detailed Description:   

Kabbalistic, moral, and ethical text by R. Elijah b. Abraham Solomon ha-Kohen ha-Itamari (<1640-1729). He was born in Smyrna, where he was educated by R. Benjamin Melamed (he recods the eulogy in Midrash Elijah), a leading Rabbi of Izmir (Smyrna) and became a homiletic preacher. R. Elijah's opposition to Shabbetai Zevi and his associates earned him much grief at home. He apparently cared for orphans as his writings display an extremely detailed knowledge of the physical and psychological suffering of the poor. A prolific writer he is best remembered for his ethical work Shevet Mussar (Rod of Admonition), which has seen numerous editions and been translated into many languages. The first edition of Shevet Mussar was issued in Constantinople in 1712.

This edition features two title pages, the first inside an illustrated architectural frame, with an illustration of the Tomb of Zechariah. The other inside a decorative frame with an illustration of the Western Wall. Two parts. The second part has its own title page in which there is an illustration of a modern printing press descending from heaven and surrounded by clouds [S. Halevi photographed the illustrated "machine" in the introduction to her book, page 27] On the reverse side of the title page is the approbations of Jerusalem rabbis, R. Moses Judah Loeb of Kutna, R. Meir Auerbach, R. Nahum Levi of Shadik and R. Hayyim David Hazan.

 

Hebrew Description:

... ופירוש המלות החמורות ודברי קשה ההבנה הצגנו בסוף כל עמוד בציוני א"ב ... חלק [א]-ב. דפוס יחיאל ברי"ל, מיכל הכהן, יואל משה בהר"מ [שאלאמאן], שנת חשך ש'ב'ט'ו' שונא בנו ואוהבו שחרו מ'ו'ס'ר'

שני שערים. הסכמות רבני ירושלים: ר' משה יהודה ליב ב"ר בנימין [זילבערבערג מקוטנא], ר' מאיר אוירבאך ור' נחום בהרמ"א [אברהם לוי] , מנחם[-אב תרכ"ג; ר' חיים דוד חזן, א תמוז תרכ"ג.

 

References:

Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1470-1960 #000120646; Shoshana Halevi, Jerusalem Imprints 85; Vinograd Jerusalem 124; EJ