Chida’s Personal Autographed Copy of Birkei Yosef with 50 Handwritten Comments & Additions
Sefer Birkei Yosef Vol. 2 on Yoreh Deah, Even Haezer and Choshen Mishpat by the Chida (Livorno, 1776) with dozens of handwritten comments and additions in the author’s handwriting.
The Chida’s famous calligraphed autograph appears on the title page. In the margin of the same page, he compiles a partial list of pages where he inserted edits or additions into the body of the text with the goal of collecting and publishing them. Ultimately, these edits were never printed.
The Chida’s Sacred Writings
The Chida invested heart and soul into his prolific writings, painstakingly arranging and preparing them for print. Even after his works were published, he still devoted a great deal of time to review, edit, proofread, and polish his works to perfection, often printing the additions and supplements in separate booklets or later editions. The handwritten marginalia in this copy of Birkei Yosef were never published.
In this copy of Birkei Yosef , the Chida inserted full paragraphs . He also supplemented his halachic rulings based on rulings in sefarim that were published after the Birkei Yosef and responded to various questions posed to him on his own writings.
In the first handwritten comment in this sefer (p. 20b), the Chida cites his rebbi the Ohr Hachaim: “Sometime later, I saw that my master the Ohr Hachaim commented similarly to what I wrote in parshas Re’eh.” In other places, he refers to other sefarim that he authored, including Pesach Einayim, Shem Hagedolim and Chaim Sha’al.
Birkei Yosef Vol. 2. Livorno, 1776. First edition. One of the Chida’s first works. 121: 113 leaves. Page size: 28 cm. 9 comments are slightly cut off at the margins. Good condition. Faux leather binding.
Stefansky Sifrei Yesod – Classic #180
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From Yosef to Yosef There Was Never One As Yosef
“Just as they said of Rabbeinu Moshe [Maimonides], ‘From Moshe to Moshe there was never one as Moshe, ’ now we can assert, ‘From Yosef to Yosef there was never one as Yosef.’ Meaning, that since our holy Maran Harav Yosef Karo and until the genius of our generation Moreinu Harav Yosef Azzulai, there was never one as illustrious as he, for he has authored many books and filled the land with knowledge as water covers the ocean, and he illuminated [the houses] of Bnei Yisrael with light. May there be more like him in Israel!” (Ner Mitzvah by Rabbi Yehuda Sid. Saloniki, 1810 p. 186a)
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