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Shevim u-Shtaim Yediot, R. Menahem Azariah da Fano, Lemberg 1867

שבעים ושתים ידיעות - Only Edition - Kabbalah

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Details
  • Lot Number 53590
  • Title (English) Shevim u-Shtaim Yediot
  • Title (Hebrew) שבעים ושתים ידיעות
  • Note Only Edition - Kabbalah
  • Author R. Menahem Azariah da Fano
  • City Lemberg
  • Publisher S. L. Kugel, Lewin et Com.
  • Publication Date 1867
  • Estimated Price - Low 200
  • Estimated Price - High 500

  • Item # 2424957
  • End Date
  • Start Date
Description

Physical Description

Only edition, folio, 2, 14 ff. 273:205 mm., usual light age staining,wide uncut margins. A very good copy not bound.

 

Detail Description

Only edition of this introductory Kabalisitic work by R. Menahem Azariah da Fano. The title-page describes Shevim u-Shtaim Yediot an initial and opening composition to the teachings of the Ari (R. Isaac Luria). There are approbations from R. Joseph Saul Nathinsohn, R. Hayyim Brit ben David av bet din of Vasolivitch, and R. Menahem Mendel ben Moshe David of Amsterdam.

R. Menahem Azariah da Fano (1548–1620) was an Italian rabbi and kabbalist. Scion of a wealthy family and a prolific author, he was a recognized authority on rabbinic law and the foremost exponent in the West of the kabbalistic system of R. Moses Cordovero. Under the influence of R. Israel Sarug , who during his stay in Italy spread the knowledge of the mystical system of R. Isaac Luria , R. Menahem Azariah became an admirer of the latter, though without departing from the system of Moses Cordovero. A pupil of R. Ishmael Hanina of Valmontone in Ferrara, he was active in Ferrara, Venice, Reggio, and Mantua. Together with his brothers he aided the victims of the earthquake of 1570. He was a patron of Jewish learning, contributing funds for the publication of such works as R. Cordovero's Pardes Rimmonim (Salonika, 1584) and R. Joseph Caro's commentary Kesef Mishneh (Venice, 1574–76) on Maimonides' Code. R. Fano's fame as a talmudist is borne out by the collection of 130 responsa bearing his name which was published in 1600 in Venice and in 1788 in Dyhernfurth. His style of writing was precise and he displayed considerable originality in the views he expressed. He enjoyed great popularity as a teacher, attracting students from far and wide, from Germany as well as Italy. One of his disciples compared him to an angel of God in appearance. His gentleness and humility showed themselves in his refusal to answer adverse criticism leveled against him by a contemporary scholar on account of certain statements he made with regard to the ritual of the lulav on the festival of Tabernacles. R. Amadeo Recanati dedicated to him his Italian translation of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed; R. Isaiah Horowitz praised his theological treatise Yonat Elem (Amsterdam, 1648) saying of it, "the overwhelming majority of hiswords, and perhaps all of them, are true, and his Torah is true" (introduction to Novelot Ḥokhmah (Basle, 1631) by R. Joseph Delmedigo ). Seventeen of his works have been published. These include a summary of the legal decisions of R. Isaac Alfasi and his own major work on the Kabbalah, entitled Asarah Ma'amarot (only parts have been printed, Venice, 1597); Kanfei Yonah (Korzec, 1786), a kabbalistic work on prayer; and Gilgulei Neshamot (Prague, 1688) on the transmigration of the soul. Many of his kabbalistic interpretations must have been made for the first time in the course of sermons delivered by him. Extant in manuscript are liturgical poems, elegies, comments on the teachings of R. Isaac Luria, and a voluminous correspondence. He died in Mantua.

 

Hebrew Descridpion

 להרב... מנחם עזריה מפאני [!] והוא הקדמות... לבאים פתחי האר"י ז"ל ... היה טמון וחתום (בכתב יד)... הוצאתיו לאור (חיים ברייט מדוקלא במהור"ר דוד, נכד... ר’ דוד אב"ד מוואסליוויטש מ"כ בק"ק סקאהל)...

 

References:

Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1470-1960 #000148612; BE shin 402; JE