Manuscript Laws of Bedikos
with Semichah Letter from Ancona Rabbis
Ancona, 1762
This manuscript of the Laws of Bedikos, presented in a question and answer form, along with “Warnings to the Bodek” was authored by a shochet and bodek from Ancona. It includes a comprehensive summary of the practical laws and instructions of bedikah that follow Anconian Jewish rite.
The manuscript opens with two large illustrations spread out upon two leaves. The first depicts the hanging of an animal for the purpose of checking it, as well as an illustration of the lung of the animal marked with the names of each part of the organ.
Attached to the pamphlet is an original semichah letter with signatures of the eminent Rabbis of Ancona, among them Rabbi Shabsai Yitzchak of Pano, Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Niniati (who corresponded with the Chida [see Shu”t Chaim Shaal Vol. 1 Ch. 40); Rabbi Moshe Shmuel ben Rabbi Binyamin Nachman and Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Chaim ben Rabbi Yekusiel of Sengallia (see Dr. Mordechai Vilensky, Rabbis of Ancona, Sinai 25, pp. 86-87).
The present Laws of Bedikos discuss the examination of the internal parts of an animal after shechitah, performed to ensure that the animal is not treif. This process requires extensive knowledge and expertise, both in recognizing the internal organs of an animal and fluency in the laws of bedikos and treifos.
The majority of this composition is written in two columns, question and answer form, with the question appearing in the right column and the answer in the left. In the course of his writings, the author references numerous customs of his native Ancona, along with one particular instruction that his Rabbi delivered during his visit to a slaughterhouse, “And my master…Moreinu Harav S.M. delivered a practical ruling on the 8th day of Tammuz, 1728 in the slaughterhouse”
Ancona, 1762. [4], 35 leaves (74 handwritten sides). Page Size: 16 cm. Binding: Original parchment binding.
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