Sefer Yesod.
Post-Incunable!
Sefer HaRokeach. First Edition. Fano, 1505
Complete, beautiful sefer!
Halachic rulings, laws, orders of repentance, and reparations for sinners, by Rabbi Elazar of Worms. Tradition relates that a divine spirit hovered in Rabbi Elazar’s famed Beis Medrash in Ashkenaz, and that he learned Torah directly from the mouth of Eliyahu Hanavi!
The Sefer HaRokeach was the very first Hebrew work printed with a title page.
The present sefer is primarily a compilation of halachic rulings, but it also includes orders and practices of repentance, introducing the concept of Teshuvas HaMishkal. The Chida in ‘Shem HaGedolim’ writes that he received these insights from his teachers in an unbroken chain going back to Moshe Rabbenu at Har Sinai.
This sefer was universally accepted by Jews throughout the Diaspora who regarded it as a fundamental work of halachah and teshuvah. Many of the greatest Rishonim and Achronim described it with awe and reverence and regarded his words as “divrei kabbalah” (authoritative teachings of the highest regard).
The Bnei Yissachar wrote about him, “The holy one (the Rokeach) whose words are teachings that he received from Eliyahu z”l (Bnei Yissachar, Chodesh Kislev, Essay 2 #2).
The ‘Chayei Olam’, which is a singular manuscript authored by one of the Rishonim (appeared in the previous Genazym Catalog) writes similarly that “R’ Elazar of Worms received [Torah] from the exalted angels in the presence of the prophets, Dovid, Shlomo and Eliyahu!”
Rabbi Elazar of Worms (circa 1130–1260) was among the foremost kabbalists and pious sages of Ashkenaz. He was a disciple of Rabbi Yehuda HaChassid and author of ‘Sefer Chassidim’. He was born in Mainz and passed away in Worms.
He wrote extensively, producing dozens of works spanning halacha, kabbalah, and commentaries. His most significant and well-known contribution is Sefer HaRokeach (its numerical value corresponding to "Elazar" in gematria), which earned him the enduring title "Baal HaRokeach".
The colophon states: “The Rokeach which was compiled by Rabbeinu Elazar ben Rabbi Yehuda z”l was completed in our city, Fano, on Erev Pesach 5205 (1505)”.
Fano, 1505. First Edition. Page count: [109] leaves.
Page Size: 30 cm.
Condition: Attractive copy, complete and in good condition with erasures by the censor and several handwritten comments in Italian script on the title page.
Attractive new leather binding with numerous gilded engravings.
Bibliography: Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod #234
