Constantinople – Kushta – Reish – 1506
Passover Haggadah with Commentary by Abarbanel.
First Edition. Constantinople, 1506
Haggadah with commentary by Don Yitzchak Abarbanel.
It is one of the first Haggadahs ever printed, and the very first Haggadah published with a commentary.
This rare edition of the Haggadah was printed in Constantinople, Turkey over 500 years ago!
The foreword to this Haggadah features historical content in the course of which the Abarbanel recounts his turbulent life story. Beginning with his flight from his native Portugal to Spain and his rise to glory and fame in Spain, he continues with the tragic expulsion of Spanish Jewry and his exile to Naples, Italy which he was forced to flee yet again after Naples was conquered by France.
He wrote his commentary to the Haggadah in the year 1496 while he was living in the port city of Monopoly.
The text of the Haggadah is printed in large square letters. The commentary is in Rashi letters.
The Abarbanel’s commentary is divided into 4 units:
1.
Meah Shearim – 100 questions that the Abarbanel poses at the start of the Haggadah.
2.
Commentary – Resolutions to all the above questions.
3.
Leil Shimurim – Summary of halachos of the Seder based on customs of Sephardic Jewry.
4.
Conclusion – Philosophical essay illuminating the mitzvos of Pesach and the Seder night.
Constantinople, 1506. First edition.
Page Count: [40 leaves]
Page size: 26.5 cm. Originally printed together with the Abarbanel’s Rosh Amana and Nachalas Avos. The first page features a poem by his son Yehudah Abarbanel surrounded by a decorative border.
Condition: Impressive copy, high-quality white paper and attractive margins. The margins of the first [8] leaves were professionally restored.
Binding: Ornate new leather binding.
The leaves of this sefer feature marginalia in Spanish Hebrew scripts by several writers. One of the glosses begins with “Rabbi Yitzchak Curacas said…” It is likely that this is Rabbi Yitzchak Curacas who was exiled from Spain and journeyed to Eretz Yisrael where he assumed a place of honor among the scholars and dayanim of Jerusalem during the era of the Ralbach.
Bibliography: Yudelov, Otzar Hahaggados #5. Yaari, Constantinople #3. Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod #451.
Provenance: Yechezkel Toporowitch Collection
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