Orchos Tzaddikim, First Edition. Prague, 1581.
Jewish Classic!
As the foremost Jewish book of ethics, Orchos Tzaddikim is regarded as the primary book of Jewish philosophy and ethics. It was unanimously accepted by all Jewish communities in the world and published in over 100 editions. Excerpts from the sefer appear in the writings of prominent Torah works including Reishis Chochmah, Shl”a, Shevet Mussar and Siddur Yaabetz.
Orchos Tzaddikim is divided into 25 chapters and focuses on the subject of increasing fear of heaven and refining character traits.
This first edition copy is extremely rare.
This first edition was published free of the errors that appear in many subsequent editions. The Yaabetz in his sefer Migdal Oz remarks that “Many printing errors appear in sefer Orchos Tzaddikim.”
Author’s Mysterious Identity:
The author of this fundamental Jewish work chose to remain anonymous, ostensibly due to his supreme modesty, and his identity remains an enigma until this very day. Due to the matchless wisdom contained in this masterpiece and its untold significance to Jewish life, it has been attributed to the Rambam (although the Sdei Chemed refutes this, since the Rambam’s name appears in the body.) In the Warsaw 1914 edition, the editors attribute the work to Rabbi Yom Tov Lipman, author of Sefer Hanitzachon, yet presumably, there is no proof to this theory either. It is most likely that the author was one of the great Ashkenazic sages who lived shortly after the era of the Baalei Tosfos.
The Sdei Chemed praises this work: “Sefer Orchos Tzaddikim is an exalted work of philosophy and mussar, bespeaking honor, sanctity and purity, and is replete with fear of G-d and character refinement.”
Prague, 1581. First edition.
Prior to this edition, Orchos Tzaddikim was first published in Yiddish under the name Sefer Hamiddos in Isny. [58] Page size: 19.6 cm. Aesthetic copy. Minor moth holes and wax stains in final page margins; several page fragments in bottom margins. New binding.
Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod – Hebrew Classics No. 466
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