Kushta Reish
Kesser Torah. Constantinople, 1536
Laws of the 613 mitzvos d’Oraysa and 7 mitzvos d’Rabbanan in verse by Rabbi Dovid Vital
The sefer contains as well, the first printing of the fundamental poem written on the 70 types of treifos. This poem became famous and was widely disseminated and reprinted in many sefarim, and copied by hand into numerous manuscripts written on the laws of shechitah and bedikah.
For centuries, it was studied and memorized by shochtim and bodkim who referred to it in order to learn and review the laws of treifos.
Prior to the poem on the 70 types of treifos (Leaf 92b), there is a printed drawing of the shape of the lung. Three shapes of palms (Leaf 14b) were printed prior to the poem regarding calculating the calendar.
This sefer is based on a lengthy poem written by the author in the beginning of his sefer. The poem comprises 620 words (the sum of 613 mitzvos d’Oraysa and 7 mitzvos d’Rabbanan), and the remainder of the sefer is a commentary on the 613 mitzvos.
The acrostic of the poem is the words of the Ten Commandments.
Rabbi Dovid Vital was a 15th century Rabbi, posek, lecturer and poet. He married the daughter of Rabbi Dovid Hakohein of Corfu, author of Shu”t HaRadach. In his youth, he was exiled from Spain, and from there he wandered to Turkey and later to Patras, Greece. Rabbi Dovid Vital corresponded extensively with the great Torah luminaries in his generation, among them Maharam of Padua who wrote at the top of one of his letters, “Your essays reached my hands…and I rejoiced in them as with great wealth, and I blessed my Rock Who gave from His wisdom to those who fear Him, and that Avraham Avinu has a son like you.” (Shu”t Maharam Padua Ch. 31)
Constantinople, 1536. Eliezer ben Gershom Soncino Press. First edition. Page Count: [128] leaves.
Page Size: 20 cm. Additional Information: Title page enhanced with border and crown, alluding to the title of the sefer.
Condition: Moderate to good. Several leaves are stained. Light restorations on the margins of the first and last leaves.
Antique, slightly worn leather binding.
Provenance and owner’s signatures on the final leaf of the sefer: Yaakov Yosef Behar Meyuchas (this is presumably the famous Jerusalem sage Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Meyuchas, son of Rabbi Avraham Meyuchas, author of Sdei Ha’aretz. Rabbi Yaakov Yosef printed his father’s sefarim in Livorno.
Bibliography: Yaari, Constantinople #120.
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