Bibliological and Religious Studies on the Hebrew Book: Collected Essays (Eastern and Central European Voices, 5) 9783525573358, 9783647573359, 3525573359

Table of contents :
Title Page
Copyright
Table of Contents
Abbreviations
Table of Hebrew and Aramaic transcription
Introduction
1. Hebrew printed book in Central-Eastern Europe in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries. Topography, production size, and function
1.1 The situation of the Jews in Europe at the beginning of the modern era
1.2 The function of the book in Jewish culture
1.3 Topography of Hebrew book printing centres in Europe and the estimated volume of their production
1.4 Topography of Hebrew printing centres in Central and Eastern Europe and the volume of their production
1.5 The profile and function of the printed Hebrew Book in Central and Eastern Europe in religious message
2. Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy between Katzenellenbogen and Giustiniani
3. New Testament in the Jewish language printed in Kraków in 1540–1541
3.1 Printer Asher/Paul Helicz
3.2 Historical and religious context of Asher/Paul Helicz
3.3 Dos noye testement – language, German original, patron
3.4 Fate of the mission and circulation
3.5 Conclusion (relevance of Dos noye testement to research)
3.6 Annexes
4. Jews in the Old Poland Talmud printing challenges
4.1 The beginnings of the Jewish Communities in Poland and their intellectual condition
4.2 Hebrew printing in the Old Poland and the printers of Talmudic tractates
4.3 The role of Hebrew printing in the Old Poland in the religious message of Judaism
4.4 Annexes
5. Disputes about the printing of Talmud in the Old Poland from the history of censorship in the sixteenth and seventeenth century
6. Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków
7. Hebrew incunabula from the Saraval Collection in the University Library in Wrocław
7.1 The History of the Saraval Collection
7.2 Hebrew incunabula in Poland
7.3 The Wrocław Collection of Hebrew incunabula
8. Wolff Haggadah with a Polish episode in the background
8.1 Archaeology of the manuscript
8.2 History of the manuscript
8.3 Manuscript culture
Bibliography
1. Printed sources
1.1 Talmud tractates
1.1.1 Talmud tractates from the Lublin printing house (in chronological order) with tractates bought in Hanau
1.1.2 Talmud tractates from the Kraków printing house (in chronological order)
1.1.3 Talmud tractates from the Nowy Dwór printing house (in chronological order)
1.2 Other sources
2. Sources of manuscripts
3. (Bible-)bibliographies and library catalogues
4. Studies
5. Auxiliary literature (selection)
Source of figures
List of tables
Index of persons
Index of places
Body

Citation preview

Format: BEZ 155x230, Aufriss: HuCo

EASTERN AND CENTRAL EUROPEAN VOICES

25 mm

VOL. 5

5 Krzysztof Pilarczyk

Bibliological and Religious Studies on the Hebrew Book

The Author Krzysztof Pilarczyk is professor of Judaic and Biblical Sciences and Religious History and Head of the Laboratory of the History of Christian-Jewish Relations at the Institute of Religious Studies of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.

ISBN 978-3-525-57335-8

9 783525 573358

9783525573358_UMS_Pilarczyk_Bibliological.indd 1,3

Bibliological and Religious Studies Pilarczyk  on the Hebrew Book

In modern research, it is important to trace the history of the Jewish manuscript and printed Hebrew book, and to capture its multiple functions. Thousands of people were involved in the process of their production and reproduction. It is worth while trying to identify them at least partially, describe the milieus they come from and the goals they set for themselves. The author’s intention was to give his own textual layout to the published studies and essays. All this to create at least a selective panorama of the history of the printed Hebrew book. The author believes it is time to share these achievements with a wider group of scholars and those interested in Judaism and the culture of the Jewish book.

Collected Essays

ECEV 05.04.22 12:21

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Eastern and Central European Voices Studies in Theology and Religion

Edited by Rajmund Pietkiewicz and Krzysztof Pilarczyk

In co-operation with Piotr Burgon´ski (Poland), Wojciech Gajewski (Poland), Cyril Hisˇem (Slovakia), Mirosław Kiwka (Poland), Mihály Laurinyecz (Hungary), Piotr Lorek (Poland), Dominik Opatrný (Czech Republic), Adrian Podaru (Romania), Kristina Rutkovska (Lithuania), Oleg Salamon (Ukraine), Sławomir Stasiak (Poland), Jose M. Vegas (Russia)

Volume 5

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Krzysztof Pilarczyk

Bibliological and Religious Studies on the Hebrew Book Collected Essays

Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

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The book was financed by the Jagiellonian University, Kraków.

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek: The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data available online: https://dnb.de. © 2022 by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Theaterstraße 13, 37073 Göttingen, Germany, an imprint of the Brill-Group (Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands; Brill USA Inc., Boston MA, USA; Brill Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore; Brill Deutschland GmbH, Paderborn, Germany; Brill Österreich GmbH, Vienna, Austria) Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Hotei, Brill Schöningh, Brill Fink, Brill mentis, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau, V&R unipress.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher. Cover design: SchwabScantechnik, Göttingen Publishing reviews: Prof. Dr. Hab. Gideon Kouts (University Paris 8) and Dr. Hab. Rajmund Pietkiewicz, Professor of Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław Translation: Monika and Jacek Szela, Wrocław Figures: Artur Kozioł, Kraków Indexes: Anna Kryza, Wrocław Typesetting: le-tex publishing services, Leipzig

Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Verlage | www.vandenhoeck-ruprecht-verlage.com ISSN 2749-6279 ISBN 978–3–647–57335–9

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Table of Contents

Abbreviations ......................................................................................

9

Table of Hebrew and Aramaic transcription ............................................ 11 Introduction.......................................................................................... 13 1. Hebrew printed book in Central-Eastern Europe in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries. Topography, production size, and function ............................................................................ 1.1 The situation of the Jews in Europe at the beginning of the modern era ............................................................................... 1.2 The function of the book in Jewish culture .................................... 1.3 Topography of Hebrew book printing centres in Europe and the estimated volume of their production ................................ 1.4 Topography of Hebrew printing centres in Central and Eastern Europe and the volume of their production ........................ 1.5 The profile and function of the printed Hebrew Book in Central and Eastern Europe in religious message ...........................

21 21 24 26 31 36

2. Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy between Katzenellenbogen and Giustiniani....................................... 41 3. New Testament in the Jewish language printed in Kraków in 1540–1541 ................................................................................... 3.1 Printer Asher/Paul Helicz ............................................................ 3.2 Historical and religious context of Asher/Paul Helicz....................... 3.3 Dos noye testement – language, German original, patron ................. 3.4 Fate of the mission and circulation ............................................... 3.5 Conclusion (relevance of Dos noye testement to research) ................ 3.6 Annexes ...................................................................................

65 68 69 72 76 77 78

4. Jews in the Old Poland Talmud printing challenges ........................... 85 4.1 The beginnings of the Jewish Communities in Poland and their intellectual condition .......................................................... 85

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Table of Contents

4.2 Hebrew printing in the Old Poland and the printers of Talmudic tractates ...................................................................... 95 4.3 The role of Hebrew printing in the Old Poland in the religious message of Judaism ....................................................... 97 4.4 Annexes .................................................................................... 115 5. Disputes about the printing of Talmud in the Old Poland from the history of censorship in the sixteenth and seventeenth century ........................................................................ 157 6. Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków ......................................................... 175 7. Hebrew incunabula from the Saraval Collection in the University Library in Wrocław ........................................................... 7.1 The History of the Saraval Collection ............................................ 7.2 Hebrew incunabula in Poland ...................................................... 7.3 The Wrocław Collection of Hebrew incunabula .............................

201 201 204 206

8. Wolff Haggadah with a Polish episode in the background. Archaeology, biography and culture of the manuscript ...................... 8.1 Archaeology of the manuscript .................................................... 8.2 History of the manuscript ........................................................... 8.3 Manuscript culture .....................................................................

225 226 228 230

Bibliography ........................................................................................ 233 1. Printed sources........................................................................... 233 1.1 Talmud tractates ................................................................... 233 1.1.1 Talmud tractates from the Lublin printing house (in chronological order) with tractates bought in Hanau .... 233 1.1.2 Talmud tractates from the Kraków printing house (in chronological order) ....................................... 234 1.1.3 Talmud tractates from the Nowy Dwór printing house (in chronological order) ....................................... 236 1.2 Other sources....................................................................... 237 2. Sources of manuscripts ................................................................ 239 3. (Bible-)bibliographies and library catalogues .................................. 239 4. Studies ...................................................................................... 241 5. Auxiliary literature (selection) ...................................................... 255 Source of figures ................................................................................. 257

© 2022 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht | Brill Deutschland GmbH ISBN Print: 9783525573358 — ISBN E-Book: 9783647573359

Table of Contents

List of tables ........................................................................................ 259 Index of persons ................................................................................... 261 Index of places ..................................................................................... 275

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Abbreviations

BH

The Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1470–1960: a Bibliography of All Printed Hebrew Language Books before 1960 (Hebrew: Ha-bibliografiah shel ha-sepher haivri 1470–1960) (CD-Rom – online bibliography) GoffHeb Incunabula in American libraries; a third census of fifteenth-century books recorded in North American collections, ed. F.R. Goff, New York 1964, p. 316–325 LDKHP Pilarczyk K., Leksykon drukarzy ksiąg Hebrajskich w Polsce z bibliografią polonojudaików w językach żydowskich (XVI–XVIII wieku) [Lexicon of Printers of Hebrew Books in Poland with Bibliography of Polono-Judaica in Jewish Languages (Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries)], Kraków 2004 Offenberg Hebrew Incunabula in Public Collections. A First International Census, ed. A.K. Offenberg, C. Moed-Van Walraven, Nieuwkoop 1990 SOcar Freimann A., Marx M., Otzar li-melechet ha-defus ha-ivri ha-rishona ad shenat 260. Part. 1, Supplement, Jerusalem 1967–1969 Schaeper Schaeper S., Inventory of Hebrew Incunabulas, [in:] A. Coates [et al.], A catalogue of books printed in the fifteenth century now in the Bodleian Library, vol. 6: T-Z, Oxford 2005, p. 2715–2740 SzU”T Moshe Isserles, ‫[ שאלות ותשובות‬She’elot u-teshuvot] Thes Freimann A., Marx M., Thesaurus typographiae Hebraicae saeculi XV, Berlin–Jerusalem 1924–1969

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© 2022 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht | Brill Deutschland GmbH ISBN Print: 9783525573358 — ISBN E-Book: 9783647573359

Table of Hebrew and Aramaic transcription

‫א‬ ‫ב‬ ‫בּ‬ ‫גגּ‬ ‫דדּ‬ ‫ה‬ ‫הּ‬ ‫ו‬ ‫וֹ‬ ‫וּ‬ ‫ז‬ ‫ח‬ ‫ט‬ ‫י‬ ‫כך‬ ‫כּ‬ ‫ל‬ ‫מם‬ ‫נן‬ ‫ס‬ ‫ע‬

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

silent v b g d h h w o u z ch t y kh k l m n s silent

‫פף‬ ‫צץ‬ ‫ק‬ ‫ר‬ ‫שׂ‬ ‫שׁ‬ ‫ת‬ ַ ָ ֲ ֶ ֵ ‫י‬ ֱ ‫י‬

ְ

ֻ

ֳ

ֹ

‫ׅ‬

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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ph tz q r s sh t a a or o a e e e e i i o o u [sound] e

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Introduction

Nearly forty years of academic work at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków have provided an opportunity to share my scholarly achievements in bibliology and the history of religions with English-speaking scholars for whom Polish, the language in which most of my work was written, is a barrier rarely crossed. The articles collected in this book constitute a small part of my output, focused on Hebrew books, which I would like to make recognizable in the international circle of scholars. My most significant bibliological and religious studies are books that have not been translated from Polish. These include: Talmud i jego drukarze w pierwszej Rzeczypospolitej [The Talmud and its Printers in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth] (1998), Leksykon drukarzy ksiąg hebrajskich w Polsce, XVI–XVIII wiek [Lexicon of Printers of Hebrew Books in Poland in the Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries] (2004), Literatura żydowska od epoki biblijnej do haskali [Jewish Literature from the Biblical Times to the Haskalah] (first edition 2006; second edition 2009), Katalog judaików – starych druków w zbiorach Biblioteki Jagiellońskiej z dawnej Pruskiej Biblioteki Państwowej w Berlinie: z faksymiliami wybranych elementów opisanych druków [Catalogue of Judaica – Old Prints of the Collection of the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków from the Former Prussian State Library in Berlin: with Facsimiles of Selected Elements of the Described Prints] (2011), Drukowana książka hebrajska a religia: vademecum bibliologiczne [Printed Hebrew Book and Religion: Bibliological Vademecum] (2012) and Studia z biblistyki, apokryfistyki, judaistyki i syndonologii [Biblical, Apocryphal, Judaic and Syndonological Studies] (2020). This publication mainly illustrates my own scholarly output, with the exception of one article, co-written with Paweł Filek, then a doctoral student, who was preparing a dissertation on Moshe Isserles, a rabbi from Kraków, under my supervision. I was aware that the Hebrew book as a subject of scholarly research has a long and extremely complicated history. The focus was on a type of book which is barely known in our cultural area, although it has been present there for centuries; namely, a printed Hebrew book, produced and reproduced mainly by Jews, but also Christians. The Hebrew script and the languages in which the book was printed using Hebrew fonts in various Jewish languages are a difficult barrier to overcome in order to gain insight into its specificity, history and function. The Hebrew book (both manuscripts and in print) for centuries has been inseparably connected with the Israelites/Jews. When delving into its history, we should first refer the concept of a book to this work which is spelled with a capital letter – “The Book”; this singular term comprises numerous books that were already considered sacred by the ancient Israelites and Judeans (Jews) and therefore held in high esteem. The

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14

Introduction

identification with the traditions they preserved and passed on has helped them maintain their ethnic and religious separateness and a specific collective memory for centuries. Hence, since the Middle Ages, Jews have often been referred to as “the people of the Book”, a term coined by Muslims, though inadequate because the biblical account presents Israel as a people into whose history God has entered and who have experienced His revelations. This Book (the Bible of Judaism) is a derivative of those theophanies and a reflection on them, in contrast to Islam, whose followers believe that revelation was given directly in the form of a book (the Koran) through the Prophet Muhammad. Obviously, when speaking of the “printed Hebrew book” one cannot narrow the term exclusively down to the Bible of Judaism (Kitve ha-Kodesh) and Christianity (Old Testament). In our understanding, the term means a more extensive, permanent printed document, a record of human thought, created (and read) in the period from the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of modern times until today mainly by Jews identifying themselves with the ethos shaped by halakhah (manifested in religiousness), as well as people connected to Jewish culture by ethnic and historical ties (including Christians), the specificity of Jewish life, language (or languages) and ethical values throughout the world. The subject matter of the book is irrelevant in this context; the decisive criterion is the method of production using a printing press with Hebrew type. The Hebrew printed book was and still is an information medium intended for public circulation, whose content is reproduced using easily moveable type. The external form of the book improved over the centuries (material, shape, size), which especially influenced the layout of the content. Nevertheless, the printed Hebrew book in reference to the sacred scriptures of Judaism, the religion of the Jews, did not replace the scroll reproduced by hand for use in the synagogue liturgy by the local Jewish communities, which take great care to maintain this ancient tradition. Understood in such a way, the Hebrew printed book has been produced in many languages, which illustrates at the same time the history of the dispersion (diaspora) of Jews around the world and the influence of many cultures on them. Its linguistic historical thread can be reduced to the following Jewish languages, recorded in print using Hebrew type: 1. Hebrew, which evolved from Canaanite and Aramaic; 2. (Judeo)Aramaic (Jewish forms of Aramaic); 3. Judeo-Greek, which was used by the Jews of the Hellenistic world (the Balkans, Cyprus, southern Italy, the Black Sea region and Egypt); 4. Judeo-Roman (Judeo-Italian); 5. Judeo-Provençal (Shuadit); 6. Judeo-French (La’az); 7. Judeo-Alzatian; 8. Judeo-Spanish (Ladino, Judezmo, Spaniol); 9. Judeo-Catalan; 10. Judeo-Castilian; 11. Judeo-Portuguese; 12. Judeo-Arabic; 13. Judeo-Berber; 14. Judeo-Persian (Judeo-Iranian); 15. Judeo-Tadjik (Uzbekistan); 16. Judeo-Tat (Dagestan); 17. Karaim (Karay in Poland and Lithuania and Chaltay in Crimea); 18. Gruzinic (Judeo-Georgian); 19. Krymchak (Crimea) and 20. Yiddish. Undoubtedly, the Hebrew book was most frequently printed by Jews

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Introduction

(and partly by Christians) in these four languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, Ladino and Yiddish. They were also the main focus of the research work of bibliologists. The phenomenon of polyglotism of the Jewish printed book was connected primarily with the history of the diaspora in modern times, i.e. the dispersion of Jewish communities around the world. Migration mainly to countries in Asia, Africa and Europe caused the formation of Jewish linguistic history, although – when it reached its zenith – its influence on linguistic evolution ceased, e.g. with regard to the development of Eastern Yiddish and Ladino. The Hebrew book printed in Jewish languages reached a growing market of readers, shaping the ethos and forms of religious life of Jewish society and their collective memory. It also gave the community to which it was addressed a sense of the continuity of tradition, especially through the preservation in halakhic works and devotional literature in Hebrew and Aramaic, languages closely related to Judaism, the national religion of the Jews. This continuity of national traditions since ancient times is also attested to by the language of contemporary Hebrew books, which, apart from its cognitive and educational function, has also a cultural, social and political function: it sustains and strengthens collective memory and a sense of ethnic or national belonging. Against the background of the whole history of the Hebrew book, which is almost three millennia old, the history of its printed form covers over 500 years. Although it is of interest primarily to contemporary bibliologists, the works that dominated the printing production were created as manuscripts during the period from the so-called First Temple of Jerusalem (ninth to eleventh centuries BC) to the completion of the last edition of the Talmud (sixth to seventh centuries CE) and from the period of the Gaons (second half of the seventh century) to the end of the fifteenth century. From the first period come the books of the Bible of Judaism (Old Testament) written in Hebrew and Aramaic, Jewish apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, targums, Midrashic literature as well as the Mishnah and the Palestinian and Babylonian Gemara. In the second period, Hebrew manuscripts were primarily copies of biblical books and Talmudic tractates, commentaries to them, religious and philosophical tractates, collections of poetry, prayer books, collections of laws and responsa (halakhah) and edifying stories (haggadah) about the history of ancient Israel; moreover, nature books, secular poetry, fairy tales and fables were produced. In the modern sense of the word the Jewish book is considered to be created by Sa’adiah ben Yosef Gaon (892–942), who wrote mainly in Arabic with Hebrew letters. We know part of the literature from that period, mainly in the form of manuscripts, from the titles and fragments quoted in the responsa, as well as from the collections preserved in the Cairo Genizah discovered at the end of the nineteenth century. From the end of the fifteenth century, the invention of the printing press and the dynamic development of Hebrew printing (Jewish and Christian) had a revolutionary impact on the Hebrew book. That event became the starting point from which

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16

Introduction

the Hebrew book began to shape the history of Judaism and the Jewish community with new dynamics, becoming their icon and a medium of collective memory and axiology. On the one hand, it exposed the Jewish connection to the Torah (Law) and the whole religious system, providing important support for it; on the other hand, it departed from the system, especially since the time of the Jewish Haskalah (from the second half of the eighteenth century), taking part in the redefinition of Jewish identity and in the process of the secularization and liberalization of Jewish life. In each period, the power of its influence is great, because the community of its recipients was attached to this medium, and illiteracy in this community was a marginal phenomenon. This feature of Jewish culture was already formed in antiquity because the Book was considered by the Israelites part of the sacred sphere, as was the language in which it was written. In this language, according to the biblical accounts, God himself was to write the laws that the people, with whom he had made a covenant, were obliged to observe. This sacred language (Lashon ha-Kodesh) transferred holiness into a medium that recorded God’s theophanies and communicated to the people the will of their patron deity. Through the message contained in the Book, this people who had developed into Israel, generations, a kingdom, a nation and a religious community, had access to these “primeval moments” of constitutive importance. Even if, in the light of historical criticism, many of the biblical accounts may be called into question, they remain an extremely important document of the epoch, in which we recognize the models of thinking adopted by the elites of that community and the will to transplant them to the majority in order to build institutions of religious and social life that ensured the vitality of the entire community of believers in Yahwism and their ability to achieve the objectives that stemmed from the covenant with Yahweh; the message of the Book helped to renew and preserve the fidelity. Therefore, the Book was becoming less historical and more mythological, though not detached from history. The end of the first and the beginning of the second century CE became the caesura in the influence the Book exerted on Jewish and Christian life. A small group of Judeo-Christians, followers of Jesus of Nazareth as the risen Lord and Messiah, kept Sacred Scriptures of Judaism as their own, adding to them over time a collection of New Testament writings. Henceforth the Book of Judaism (in the Alexandrian version) entered the new religion and through it spread all over the world. Christians attached extraordinary importance to it, counting it among their sacred writings. They tried to read the veritas Hebraica in their own way, in the light of Jesus’ teachings and deeds, differing in this from the Jews associated with the Synagogue, who did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Most of these Jews, at the same time as the Church was established, underwent a profound religious, social and political transformation, under the influence of various factors, which led to the formation of a new type of their religiosity, which in time came to be called rabbinic or Talmudic Judaism. The cultural transformations among them

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Introduction

demanded a modification of their collective memory. An important role in this process played the book called Talmud. Along with the Tanakh, it became the record of the new paradigms of Jewish religiousness, which determined the direction of social and religious development until the mid-eighteenth century (the end of the Jewish Middle Ages). That is why, these two Hebrew books were reproduced so persistently, despite the obstacles, even at the cost of lives. Other Hebrew books in various Jewish languages were added with time: there the Bible and the Talmud were commented on and analysed in detail and conclusions were drawn to shape religious life. The dispersion of Jews throughout the world and the lack of their own state meant that both the Books, the Talmud and literature that grew up around them were icons of Jewish culture and at the same time keystones of social and religious life. Jewish culture can therefore be termed, as it were, a “paper culture”. Jewish thought was reflected in parchment and paper books, which then shaped and educated generations of Jews, who sought in them answers to existential questions. And although the answers were not exactly the same, the fundamental message they contained about the permanence of God’s covenant and the need to live up to God’s will remained unchanged. In this way, out of the multiplicity of Jewish cultures, there arose a particular Jewish civilisation whose characteristic feature is a community of goals, for the realisation of which appropriate institutions of social and religious life were created as well as customs and customary law of religious origin. Without the Hebrew books, especially printed books, this would have been impossible. In contemporary research it is important to trace the history of the printed Hebrew book, both Jewish and, to a lesser extent, Christian, back to its beginnings (the second half of the fifteenth century) up to the present day, and to grasp its multiple functions. Thousands of people were involved in its production and reproduction. That is why, attempts are being made to, at least partially, identify them, describe their milieux and goals. Jews used to live in dispersion as minorities among Muslims and Christians, at times enjoying freedom and the possibility of self-determination, at other times – most often – experiencing enslavement, humiliation, persecution and even martyrdom. Christians, on the other hand, associated the Hebrew book with different goals, often using it to fight the Jews or to propagate religious ideas that were foreign to Judaism. I was aware that a description of the history of the Hebrew printed book in the Jewish and Christian cultures is a difficult task, exceeding the capabilities of a single researcher. Therefore, during many years of academic work I had to not only discover and study new sources, but also refer to many earlier findings in the field of bibliology, especially those made by Jewish and Christian Hebraists. My contribution was also the original composition of my published studies, essays and books. The objective was to create a broad panorama of the history of the

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18

Introduction

Hebrew printed book, a panorama we lacked in Polish historiography, but which was extremely needed. My studies were intended to be syntheses of previous achievements of bibliology concerning the Hebrew printed book, reconstructing its history, describing its formal features and multiple social and religious functions. They were not historiographical studies because they drew on rather than documented individual or collective research in this field but. Bearing in mind the non-academic audience, I sometimes refrained from adding detailed scholarly apparatus to the text. Instead, I added illustrations that were supposed to complement the historical narrative, recording it and giving a taste of the artistry of the Hebrew printed book. In the selection of engravings, I used mainly two Polish collections: the Saraval Collection from the University of Wrocław Library (with regard to incunables) and the collection of old Hebrew prints from the former Prussian State Library in Berlin, now in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków. I have decided to share a fragment of this output with a wider scholarly and media environment by translating selected articles into English. The selection of translated publications consists of three sub-groups, with a total of eight articles. The first one concerns the book produced by Jews in Central and Eastern Europe against the background of the world production of Hebrew book and two specific episodes in its history, i.e. the dispute between the Italian printers – Katzenellenbogen and Giustiniani – which had to be resolved by a young rabbi, Moshe Isserles, from sixteenth-century Kraków; and the printing of the New Testament in the Jewish language (with Hebrew type) in the first half of the sixteenth century in Kraków with the consent of the local bishop (the only full copy of this print has been preserved in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków). The second subgroup includes two articles on the Talmud. The first one, which is more extensive, presents the history of the reproduction of this book – extremely important for the religious message in Judaism – by printers in the former PolishLithuanian Commonwealth (sixteenth to eighteenth centuries) in three centres: Lublin, Kraków and Nowy Dwór. This article evaluates their work and its influence on the broadly understood spirituality of Jews, whose world centre was at that time the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, connected by a union. The first three annexes compile a list of tractates belonging to the four “Polish” editions of the Talmud and their individual editions; they also contain lists of people involved in their preparation and printing. The fourth one supplements the article with short biographies and bibliographical entries of particular printers involved in the reproduction of this important work. The second article shows the difficulties that Jewish printers had to face while dealing with the royal and ecclesiastical authorities, who censored their books, and the extent of the freedom that Jewish communities in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had in comparison with their legal situation in the western part of Europe.

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Introduction

The last part comprises an article that presents an outline of one of the most valuable European collections of Judaica: old prints, which after World War II were transported to the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków in order to protect them from destruction and robbery. They come from the former Prussian State Library in Berlin. Currently, they are the property of the Polish State Treasury. For many years, these prints were inaccessible, until I prepared their catalogue, published in 2011, which, in a way, made this collection accessible to researchers, providing insight into the “pearls” of Hebrew printing in Europe and enabling research into them. The second article describes part of the Saraval Collection i.e. the priceless Hebrew incunabula which were transferred from Prague to the Wrocław University Library. The third one describes the extraordinary history of the fourteenth-century Wolff Haggadah, a Hebrew manuscript which also had a “Polish episode” before it was donated to the National and University Library in Jerusalem. The impulse to publish the studies presented in this book were the interests I developed as a graduate student at the Catholic University of Lublin and later deepened at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, where I obtained the doctoral degree and became an assistant professor (habilitated doctor) and finally a full professor. The affiliation to particular university units was also conducive, stimulating the research I had chosen. These included the Interdepartmental Institute of the History and Culture of Jews in Poland, later transformed into the Institute of Jewish Studies, and (until now) the Institute of Religious Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy, all within the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Furthermore, there were lectures delivered periodically at various Kraków universities and the cooperation with the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Polish Association for Jewish Studies, of which I was president from 1996 to 2011, and the Association of Polish Biblical Scholars. An additional impulse to undertake such work were scholarly internships at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (the longest lasted several years) and at the universities of Heidelberg and Tübingen. They allowed me to deal with the history of the Hebrew book to a serious extent. When I started my bibliological research, I was aware that I was entering an area of science which was almost unknown to the post-war generation of Poles, referring to the work of Jewish luminaries of the interwar period, such as Hayyim Dov (Bernhard) Friedberg, Majer Bałaban (Meir Balaban) or Emanuel Ringelblum. I learned contemporary bibliology mainly from Jewish specialists from Israel, North America and Europe, which was possible thanks to, among other things, scholarly internships and study trips to Israel, Germany, Great Britain and Ukraine. The manner of presentation of the selected texts from my scholarly output and those distributed in the English language required several decisions, which have an impact on the formal shape of this book. As it usually happens in scholarly work, one would like to add, correct or omit something in old publications. The bibliographical note at the end of the book refers to the original texts and at the same time informs

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20

Introduction

about the dates of their creation. Most of the texts have been reproduced in their original form; they formed the basis of the English translation. As one can easily see, the acrybia of individual articles have also been unified and adapted to the publisher’s requirements. Besides, the articles themselves have different forms, starting from a scholarly essay (without detailed source documentation), through a presentation of issues supplemented by a bibliography in an annex, to a scholarly dissertation with the scholarly apparatus and appendices. This concept makes it difficult to avoid certain repetitions, but thanks to this it is possible to read the works at will without following the proposed order. Finally, I would like to thank the two reviewers of the book, Prof. Dr. Gideon Kouts from the University of Paris 8, specializing in Hebraist studies and Jewish and media studies, and Rev. Dr. Hab. Rajmund Pietkiewicz, Professor at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław, a bibliologist and biblical scholar of great renown in Poland and abroad; I extend my thanks to Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Verlag for accepting the book into the publishing plan and for publishing it and to my wife Jadwiga for her help in the composition, editing and proofreading of the texts for publication. Krzysztof Pilarczyk Kraków, April 2021

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1.

Hebrew printed book in Central-Eastern Europe in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries

Topography, production size, and function The invention of the printing press in the middle of the fifteenth century was to the culture of that time what the Internet, airplane and television are to modern civilization. It had a breakthrough effect on social change and turned the printed book into a medium that facilitated communication, and thus the flow and exchange of ideas; it helped disseminate religious ideas and shape forms of religiosity, all of which were of great importance in early modern times.1 In this context, one can first ask about the topography of the Hebrew publishing, then about the share of individual printing centres from Central and Eastern Europe in the global production of the Hebrew book, and, finally, about the role the Hebrew book played for three centuries, beginning in the sixteenth century. To answer these questions, it is necessary to: (1) trace briefly the situation of the Jews in Europe at the dawn of the modern era, determining at the same time how large their book market was, (2) describe the general function of the book in Jewish culture (especially religious and social) over the centuries, (3) show the topography of the major centres (Jewish and Christian) producing Hebrew books in Europe (excluding the Middle Eastern area) from the mid-fifteenth to the eighteenth century and the estimated volume of their production, (4) show the topography and production volumes of the Hebrew book in Central and Eastern Europe, (5) finally, indicate the profile of the production and the function of the Hebrew book in the religious message of Judaism in the Central and Eastern European diaspora until the end of the eighteenth century.

1.1

The situation of the Jews in Europe at the beginning of the modern era

Jews have been inhabiting Europe since ancient times. Demographic research shows their steady gradual increase in numbers on the Old Continent. At the end of the thirteenth century there lived nearly half a million Jews (about 1%) in Europe, which numbered 44 million people, and at the end of the fifteenth century these proportions were 600,000 to nearly 54 million (1.22%). The end of the seventeenth

1 Cf. E.L. Eisenstein, Rewolucja Gutenberga [Revolution of Gutenberg], trans. H. Hollender, Warszawa 2004, passim (a detailed subject bibliography).

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Hebrew printed book in Central-Eastern Europe in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries

century saw an increase in the population of European Jews, which reached 700,000 (with a total of one million Jews in the world). In the first half of the nineteenth century, their number in Europe is estimated at nearly 4 million, with slightly over half a million Jews outside the Old Continent.2 No less important was the distribution of Jewish population in Europe in the early modern period. It was influenced by the anti-Jewish policy of the Christian countries, which from the second half of the Middle Ages aimed at the gradual removal of Jews from their territories. The first in Europe to get rid of Jews was Brittany in 1239. England followed suit in 1290. The process of their expulsion from France began in 1306, which was essentially completed between 1394 and 1395, although Jews lived in Provence until 1501, and were never removed from papal Avignon. In Spain, which was gradually being freed from Arab influence, they enjoyed numerous liberties and were even entrusted with public functions. Persecutions began there only at the end of the fourteenth century and ended a century later with the complete expulsion of Jews (1492). In the years 1496–1497, Portugal did the same.3 At the end of the Middle Ages the Jews remained in Western Europe, apart from the Church State, only in the German Empire, whose system did not permit their complete and simultaneous expulsion. Upper Bavaria got rid of them for the first time in the second half of the thirteenth century, and for the second time in 1442. Various German cities did so between 1478 and 1519, and eventually the Jews were expelled from the entire German area (except Frankfurt am Main) by 1551.4 The place in Europe where Jews could take refuge and practice their religion, were the lands belonging to the Ottoman Empire and the Papal States with the Neapolitan enclave in Ponte Corvo and Benevento and the French enclave in Avignon. The papal policy towards Jews attracted them especially to Rome. The Papal States were not without persecution, but in general Jews enjoyed relative protection there. It was only in the middle of the sixteenth century that Pope Paul IV limited the asylum function of Rome: he ordered the separation of Jews from Christians in districts or streets of cities (ghettoization), allowed Jewish communities to have only one synagogue, ordered Jews to wear distinctive hats, forbade using the services of

2 Population, [in:] Encyclopaedia Judaica, CD-ROM edn., Jerusalem 1997; sub verbo; K. Pilarczyk, Literatura żydowska od epoki biblijnej do haskali. Wprowadzenie religioznawcze, literackie i historyczne [Jewish Literature from the Biblical Times to the Haskalah. Introduction from the Perspective of Religious Studies, Literature and History], Kraków 2006, p. 230. 3 Historical Atlas of the Jewish People, ed. Sh. Ahituv, New York–London 2003, p. 209–213, 219–220, 238–243, 248–260. 4 Ibid., p. 234–237.

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The situation of the Jews in Europe at the beginning of the modern era

Christians in their homes, trading in grain and any foodstuffs. These dispositions were extended and kept in force almost to the end of the Papal States (1870).5 At the end of the Middle Ages there were few areas in Europe where relatively humane relations between Christians and Jews prevailed. These included the lands of the Central East: Bohemia, Poland and Hungary, i.e. the places of settlement most frequently chosen by Jews in that period. Especially in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was politically stable until the middle of the seventeenth century, the biggest centre of religious life for Jews at that time was established, with a much wider scope of freedom than anywhere else in Europe.6 From the sixteenth to the mid-seventeenth century, a significant increase in the Jewish population in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth should be noted. After the mass exodus from Western and Southern Europe at the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century, which caused the number of Jews in the Jagiellonian state to reach approximately 30,000, there followed nearly a centurylong period of their intensive natural growth. If in 1576 they constituted 0.6% of the Polish population, then already in 1648 – about 5%, reaching the number of 400,000.7 Jewish norms and customs, early marriages and durability of marriages were conducive to this. It was not until the time of the Khmelnitsky Uprising and the so-called “deluge”, i.e. the war with Sweden in the mid-seventeenth century, that the number of Jews fell to about 350,000. Those years of population decline also mark the caesura of the “golden age” of Judaism in the Commonwealth, which lasted about 150 years (from the sixteenth to the mid-seventeenth century). At that time the number of Jewish communes increased, their structure was strengthened, the educational system developed, especially the Torah study flourished, native Jewish printing supported education, unique supracommunal organisational structures integrating Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth developed, not to mention the progress achieved in trade and Jewish contribution to the development of Polish economy. And although the Jews living in the Ottoman Empire at that time outnumbered the diaspora in Poland, the position of the latter continually

5 Ibid., p. 272–274. 6 B.D. Weinryb, The Jews of Poland. A Social and Economic History of the Jewish Community in Poland from 1100 to 1800, Philadelphia 1973, p. 107–176; S.W. Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews, vol. 16, Poland-Lithuania 1500–1650, New York–London–Philadelphia 1976, passim; D. Tollet, Historia Żydów w Polsce od XVI wieku do rozbiorów [A History of the Jews in Poland from the Sixteenth Century to the Partitions], transl. D. Zamojska, Warszawa 1999, p. 17–86; H. Haumann, Historia Żydów w Europie Środkowej i Wschodniej [History of the Jews in Central and Eastern Europe], transl. C. Jenne, Warszawa 2000, p. 15–45. 7 Z. Guldon, W. Kowalski, Between Tolerance and Abomination. Jews in Sixteenth-Century Poland, [in:] The Expulsion of the Jews. 1492 and After, ed. R.B. Waddington, A.H. Williamson, New York–London 1994, p. 161–198; especially p. 164 and 173.

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Hebrew printed book in Central-Eastern Europe in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries

grew, and the influence of Polish Jewry on other European and Asian communities was so strong that rabbinic Judaism took on a distinctive “Polish” character, expressed especially in the interpretation of the Torah, in its adaptation to the new challenges of civilization, and in customary law, which was popularized in other Jewish communities as binding. These achievements made it possible to call the early modern period in the history of Jews in the lands of the Commonwealth a “golden age”. Although in that period one model of Jewish religiousness – the rabbinic one – was established and supported, and the horizons of Jewish intellectuality were reduced to the study of the Torah, which in turn postponed the advent of the Jewish Enlightenment until the mid-eighteenth century, nevertheless, it was approved by the majority of Jews at that time, and its critical evaluation appeared only later mainly among the supporters of a new direction – the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment).8

1.2

The function of the book in Jewish culture

The Jewish book, both in manuscript form or printed, as it is defined in bibliology, is a document containing a verbal text recorded graphically, created in the period between antiquity and modern times by Jews identifying themselves with the ethos shaped by halakhah (manifested in religiousness), as well as by people connected to Jewish culture by ethnic and historical ties, the specificity of life, language (or languages), and ethical values throughout the world.9 The history of the Jewish book, which is more than 3,000 years old, is inextricably linked with the ancient history of the people of Israel, and later with the Jewish people living in Palestine and dispersed in the diaspora, especially in Egypt, Babylonia, North Africa, Europe, Asia, and since the nineteenth century in the Americas.10

8 K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze w Pierwszej Rzeczypospolitej. Z dziejów przekazu religijnego w judaizmie [The Talmud and its Printers in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. From the History of Religious Message in Judaism], Kraków 1998, p. 266–268; H. Haumann, Historia Żydów [A History of the Jews], p. 43–45. 9 K. Pilarczyk, Poliglotyzm książki żydowskiej [The Polyglotism of the Jewish Book], [in:] Żydzi I judaizm we współczesnych badaniach polskich [Jews and Judaism in Contemporary Polish Studies], ed. K. Pilarczyk, vol. 1, Kraków 1997, p. 401–412, especially p. 401. 10 For amore extensive discussion, see A.M. Habermann, ‫ בהתפתחותו הספר העברי‬,‫ הברמן‬.‫מ‬.‫ = א‬The History of the Hebrew Book. From Marks to Letters. From Scroll to Book, Jerusalem 1968; The Hebrew Book: an Historical Survey, ed. R. Posner, I. Ta-Shema, Jerusalem 1975; A.M. Habermann, .‫מ‬.‫א‬ ‫ פרקים בתולדות המדפיסים העברים ועניני ספרים‬,‫ = הברמן‬Studies in the History of Hebrew Printers 1978; A Sign and Witness. 2,000 Years of Hebrew Books and Illuminated Manuscripts, ed. L. Singer Gold, New York–Oxford 1988; Y.Sh. Spiegel,‫ הגהות ומהיגים‬:‫ = עמודים בתולדות הספר העברי‬Chapters in the History of the Jewish Book. Scholars and their Annotations, Ramat–Gan 1996.

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The function of the book in Jewish culture

Jewish books were written primarily in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and many other Jewish languages written in the Hebrew alphabet. Their history is divided into three periods: 1. from the earliest times to the completion of the last redaction of the Talmud (sixth/seventh century); 2. from the period of the Gaons (second half of the seventh century) to the end of the fifteenth century, when the first Hebrew printed books appear; 3. from the end of the fifteenth century to the present day. From the first period come the books of the Bible of Judaism (the Old Testament), Judaic apocrypha, targums, Midrashic literature and the Mishnah, Palestinian and Babylonian Gemara. In the second period, Jewish manuscript books were primarily copies of biblical books and Talmudic tractates, commentaries to them, religious and philosophical tractates, poetry collections, prayer books, collections of laws and responsa (halakhah) and edifying stories (haggadot) about the history of ancient Israel. Natural history books, secular poetry, fairy tales and fables were also written. Sa’adiah ben Yosef Gaon (892–942), writing mainly in Arabic with Hebrew letters, is considered to be the creator of the Jewish book in today’s sense of the word. We know some of the literature created in this period in the form of manuscript books mainly from the titles and quoted passages in the responsa, and from the collections preserved in the Cairo Geniza, discovered at the end of the nineteenth century. In the third period, the invention of printing in the second half of the fifteenth century and the dynamic development of Hebrew printing (Jewish and Christian) had a revolutionary influence on the Jewish book. The appearance of the printed book caused the opposition of Jewish copyists who wanted to keep their workshops. There was also a halakhic problem related to whether it was allowed to distribute the Torah, tefillin and mezuzahs (small fragments of the Pentateuch placed on doorframes) made in print. On the basis of rabbinical rulings from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with considerable participation of rabbinical authorities from Poland, it was decided that for the public reading of the Pentateuch and the Haftarah (excerpts from prophetic writings), Chamesh megillot, and for tefillin and mezuzahs, the handwritten text on scrolls would continue to be used (and it has been so until the present day), while printed books may be produced and distributed for use at home and in schools. As can be seen, the book in the Jewish civilisation was from the beginning treated with special respect, becoming one of the elements of the spiritual life of the Jews. This was due to the sanctity attributed to the most important book of the Jewish world – the Bible, especially the Pentateuch. Its authority influenced the respect that later rabbinical literature was held in, not only because of the content, but also because of the language written in the sacred Hebrew alphabet. The process of book production was called “sacred craft” undertaken with a sense of responsibility; it was perceived as the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy that “for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord” (Isa 11:9). The rules defining the attitude of Jews towards books were written down in the Talmud and made more detailed by rabbis

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Hebrew printed book in Central-Eastern Europe in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries

in the Middle Ages. They forbade touching sacred books with unclean hands after rising from sleep, moving them to unclean places, placing them “upside down”, leaving them open, using them for other purposes, etc. Children were taught to kiss books after taking them from a cabinet or shelf, to put them back in place, and to pick up the book that had fallen. Weathered or damaged books, as well as damaged scrolls of holy scriptures, were stored in genizahs (special places for this purpose) in synagogues; after genizahs became overfilled, the books were buried in the cemetery, which was a rite resembling that of the burial of a human body. Since the eleventh century it was forbidden, under the threat of a curse, to arrest books for unpaid debts. Rare, especially in antiquity, manuscripts were mainly the property of Jewish communities. They were usually stored in synagogues in decorated cabinets (Hebrew singular: Aron ha-Kodesh). In the Middle Ages, synagogues, rabbis and their higher rabbinical schools (yeshivot/yeshivas), as well as wealthy private individuals who sometimes lent them out so that more Jews could study the Torah, were the main owners. With time, among the Ashkenazi Hasidim, a slightly different law of book ownership from the usual one was formed. According to their belief, the one who learned from a book became its co-owner.

1.3

Topography of Hebrew book printing centres in Europe and the estimated volume of their production

After the invention of printing in the mid-fifteenth century, for a time the printing remained exclusively in the hands of Christians. The first Jews probably learned this art in Italy from the German printers Konrad Sweynheym and Arnold Pannartz when they published Latin books in the monastery of Subiaco near Rome between 1469 and 1472. These were Obadiah (ben Moshe?), Menashe and Benjamin, who probably printed Nachmanides’ commentary to the Pentateuch in Rome in 1469. Sources report the existence of as many as 22 Jewish printing houses in the fifteenth century: eleven in Italy, nine on the Iberian Peninsula and one in Constantinople and one in Paris.11

11 See Евреиские инкунабулы описание экземпляров, хранящихся в библиотеках Москвы и Ленинграда = Hebrew incunabula: description of publications kept in libraries of Moscow and Leningrad, ed. S.M. Akerson, Leningrad 1988; S. Iakerson, Каталог инкунабулов на древнееврейском языке Библиотеки Ленинградского отделения института востоковедения АН CCCP = Catalogue of Hebrew Incunabula in the Library of the Leningrad Branch of the U.S.S.R, Academy of Sciences, Leningrad 1985; S. Iakerson, Catalogue of Hebrew Incunabula from the Collection of the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, vol. 1–2, New York–Jerusalem 2004–2005; Hebrew Incunabula in Public Collections. A First International Census, ed. A.K. Offenberg, C. Moed-Van Walraven, Nieuwkoop 1990.

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Topography of Hebrew book printing centres in Europe and the estimated volume of their production

Table 1.1 Hebrew prints to the end of the fifteenth century (incunabula) Apennine Peninsula Date

1469?

Pyrenean Peninsula

Place and printers

Number of titles

Rome Obadiah (ben Moshe) , Menashe, Benjamin

1

1473

1475

1476? 1482

Reggio di Calabria Avraham Icchak ben Garton Piove di Sacco Meshullam Kuzi Mantua Avraham Konat Soncino family

8

=

10

Guadalajara Shlomo Alkabetz

24

35 Hijar Eliezer ben Avraham Altantasi Toledo Fano Shmuel Gakon

Brescia Gershom Soncino Barco

8 3

1492

?

Lisbon Eliezer Toledano?

2

1487

1500

Number of titles

1

1485

1490

Place and printers

Venice Naples Ferrara Casalmaggiore

1 30? 1 1?

?

11

9 8 5

Leiria Shmuel d’Ortas

7

Zamora Shmuel ben Musa

3

Portugal Spain?

102?

=

6 19 9 100? 207? (about 175 are extant)

In Italy, the first Jewish printing house was established in Reggio di Calabria, and others followed in the fifteenth century in Piove di Sacco, Mantua, Soncino, Brescia, Barco, Venice, Naples, Ferrara and Casalmaggiore. Of these, the largest number of books was printed by three: in Soncino, Naples and Mantua. In fifteenthcentury Spain, the Hebrew printing houses known to us operated in Guadalajara (the largest), Hijar and Zamora, and in Portugal – in Lisbon, Faro and Leiria. In the first half of the sixteenth century, Hebrew printing developed especially in Italy thanks to the Soncino family. Soon Venice became its centre: the printing houses of the Christians Daniel Bomberg and Marco Antonio Giustiniani (Justini-

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Hebrew printed book in Central-Eastern Europe in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries

ani) produced Hebrew prints, which were professionally edited by Jewish printers, typesetters and proofreaders employed by them. Nevertheless, the ban on the printing of the Talmud and the rabbinical literature connected with it, issued by Pope Julius III in 1553, negatively affected the Hebrew printing business. A year later (1554), the rabbis gathered in Ferrara decided that all printed Jewish books, before being published, should have, besides the imprimatur of the papal nuncio, the permission of three rabbis and the head of the community from the place of publication, which was to prevent new interventions of the Church and at the same time to confirm the right of the publisher and author to print the book. This regulation aroused dissatisfaction of Christian printers publishing Jewish books, but they submitted to it under the threat that Jews would be forbidden to purchase their products. In 1563, Pope Pius IV restored the possibility of printing rabbinical literature with the exception of the Talmud; this ruling had an impact on the revival of Hebrew printing, especially in Venice, where the printing traditions of Bomberg were continued by the Christian families of Bragadini (1550–1710) and Di Gara (1565–1610), who also employed Jewish printers and proofreaders. Table 1.2 The largest centres of Hebrew book production in Europe in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries* 1500– 1550– 1600– 1650– 1700– 1750– = 1549 1599 1649 1699 1749 1799 Italy Venice 374 493 392 217 356 260 2092 Mantua 14 167 32 63 135 167 578 Livorno 0 0 0 19 43 392 454 Outside Italy Paris 19 42 18 2 1 22 104 Amsterdam 0 0 167 509 938 656 2270 Basel 81 113 56 8 4 3 265 Thessaloniki 44 99 32 18 65 213 471 Constantinople 187 119 16 23 189 83 617 world 957 1715 1556 1970 4017 5551 15766 production City/Town

%**

13,26 3,66 2,87 0,65 14,39 1,68 2,98 3,91 100

* [Vinograd, Yeshayahu], = ‫ אוצר הספר העברי‬,‫ וינוגרד‬.‫ י‬Thesaurus of the Hebrew Book, vol. 1–2, Jerusalem 1993–1995. ** Percentage share of world production.

Istanbul was an important centre of Hebrew printing outside Italy, where Jewish printers came at the end of the fifteenth century, exiled from the Iberian Peninsula; these were among others the brothers Shmuel and David ibn Nachmias, and in the years 1530–1547 the Soncino family. From 1540 onwards other Jewish languages

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Topography of Hebrew book printing centres in Europe and the estimated volume of their production

were also printed there with Hebrew type: Ladino (until the twentieth century), Judeo-Persian, Judeo-Arabic and Judeo-Greek. In 1516, Hebrew printing reached as far as Fez in Morocco (1516–1522). In 1577 the first Hebrew printing house in Palestine (Safed) was established by Eliezer ben Icchak Ashkenazi from Lublin. On the Old Continent, apart from Italy (Venice, Mantua), the leading centres were initially Paris, Basel and Thessaloniki. In 1626 the first Hebrew printing house was established in Amsterdam by Manasse ben Israel. Hebrew fonts used there became popular in Europe, even in the printing capital – Venice. Vignettes used by Manasses were also copied, sometimes meticulously. After Manasses’ death, his printing house was run by his sons, Chaim and Shlomo. No less famous in Amsterdam were Immanuel Benveniste, who worked in the years 1641–1660, and his student Uri Phoebus ben Aaron ha-Levi, who independently ran the printing house in the years 1658–1689. In 1692, seeing a large market for Jewish books in Central-Eastern Europe, he moved his printing house to Zhovkva (Żółkiew) near Lviv (Lwów). Apart from them, the following companies were active in Amsterdam in the seventeenth century: the company of Gumpel and Levi, printers Athias, Abraham de Castro Tartas, Moshe Continho, Icchak de Kordowa, Moshe Dias, the Soto-Brando company, the Maarssen family and at the beginning of the eighteenth century the publishing house of Shlomo ben Yosef Proops, which survived until the middle of the nineteenth century. They made Amsterdam the world capital of Hebrew printing. Its share in world production in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries was about 14%. Only Venice, whose share slightly exceeded 13%, could compete with it. In the remaining cities the production did not even reach 4%. It should be remembered that these data do not disclose the dynamics of book production in particular publishing houses and centuries.12 From the seventeenth century, apart from Amsterdam, Hebrew printing flourished in many other European cities, especially German ones, even though Jews were not permitted to run printing houses at that time. However, they became unofficial partners of Christian printers.

12 B.H.D. Friedberg, ,‫ אמשטרדם‬,‫ איזנא‬,‫ אויגניון‬:‫ בערים האלה שבאירופה‬:‫תולדות הדפוס העברי‬ ‫ אנטוורפן‬,‫ קארלסרוא‬,‫ צוריך‬,‫ מיץ‬,‫ ליידן‬,‫ לונדון‬,‫ יעסניץ‬,‫ טהינגן‬,‫ ווינא‬,‫ האלי‬,‫ דעסויא‬,‫ דיהרנפורט‬,‫ ברונא‬,‫באזיליאה‬ :‫ דברי ימי חיי מיסדיהם ובוניהם‬:‫ מראשית הוסדם והתפתחותם בשנת רע״ו‬: ‫ קליווא ושטראסבורג‬,‫ קיטן‬,‫קושטנץ‬ ‫ מעובד על פי המקורות‬:‫ עם רשימת הספרים הנדפסים על ידיהם‬:‫קורות עוזריהם והמדפיסים הבאים אחריהם‬, [History of Hebrew Typography of the Following Cities in Europe: Avignon, Isny, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Basle, Verona, Dyhernfurt, Dessau, Halle, Vienna, Thiengen, Isny, London, Metz, Zurich, Carlsruhe, Constance, Coethen, Cleve, Strasbourg, from its Beginning in the Year 1516], Antwerp 1937; LDKHP, p. 54–59.

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Hebrew printed book in Central-Eastern Europe in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries

Table 1.3 Hebrew printing in German cities in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries* City/Town Altdorf Altona Berlin Dessau Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt a.d. Oder Fürth Halle Hamburg Hanau Homburg Isny Karlsruhe Köln Königsberg Leipzig Neurnberg Offenbach Rodelheim Sulzbach Wandsbeck Wilhermsdorf Wittenberg

1500– 1550– 1600– 1650– 1700– 1750– = 1549 1599 1649 1699 1749 1799 0 0 1 13 3 0 17 0 0 1 0 47 117 165 0 0 0 11 180 277 468 0 0 1 31 18 0 50

%**

1.04 2.96

3

0

5

147

352

59

566

3.59

0

7

1

124

176

161

469

2.97

0 0 0 0 0 18 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 0

0 0 6 1 0 0 0 8 0 1 7 0 0 0

0 0 12 58 0 0 0 3 1 1 1 0 0 0

0 15

0 2

148 41 44 44 62 0 0 0 0 15 1 93 0 134 41 138 2

490 5 38 1 3 0 42 0 37 5 7 49 13 299 1 0 0

697 46 123 104 65 18 42 14 39 49 19 142 13 483 42 185 28

4.42

0 8

59 0 23 1 0 0 0 1 1 25 1 0 0 50 1 47 1

3.06 1.17

The names of cities/towns whose share in world production exceeded 1% have been shaded. * Cf. [Vinograd, Yeshayahu], ‫ אוצר הספר העברי‬,‫ וינוגרד‬.‫[ י‬Thesaurus of the Hebrew Book], vol. 1–2, Jerusalem 1993–1995. ** Percentage share in world production (only centres above 1%).

The biggest German centres that were printing books with Hebrew fonts were Frankfurt am Main (from 1657), Fürth (from 1691), Berlin (from 1697), Frankfurt an der Oder and Sulzbach.13 In the eighteenth century the number of printing

13 B.H.D. Friedberg, ,‫ איכנהויזן‬,‫ אופיבאף‬,‫ אויגשבורג‬:‫תולדות הדפוס העברי בערים האלה שבאירופה התיכונה‬ ,‫ נייאוויט‬,‫ טנהויזן‬,‫ זולצבאך‬,‫ ווילהרמשדארף‬,‫ וואנזבעק‬,‫ הענא‬,‫ המבורג‬,‫ הידרנום‬,‫ הא‬.‫ד‬.‫ הומבורג פ‬,‫ ברלין‬,‫אלטונא‬ ‫ פרנקפורט דמאין וקולוניא מראשית הוסדו והתפתחותו בשנת רע״ג‬,‫ פרנקפורט דאדרה‬,‫ פראג‬,‫[ פיורדא‬3151] [History of Hebrew Typography of the following Cities in Central Europe: Augsburg, Offenbach, Ichenhaussen, Altona, Berlin, Homberg, Hanau, Wandsbeck, Wilhermsdorf , Sulzbach, Thannhausen,

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Topography of Hebrew printing centres in Central and Eastern Europe and the volume of their production

houses printing in Hebrew increased and their owners became mainly Jews, but those concentrated mainly in Central-Eastern Europe.

1.4

Topography of Hebrew printing centres in Central and Eastern Europe and the volume of their production

In the early modern times (until the end of the eighteenth century) in Central and Eastern Europe Hebrew printing houses were located in Silesia belonging to the Kingdom of Bohemia (Oels [Oleśnica], Hundsfeld [Psie Pole], Lignitz [Legnica], Dyhernfurth [Brzeg Dolny], Breslau [Wrocław]), in Prague and in Moravia (Prostitz [Prościejów] and Brno),14 and in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (most numerous; in 28 towns). Table 1.4 Printing of Hebrew books in Central and Eastern Europe (outside Poland) City/Town Breslau (Wrocław) Dyhernfurth (Brzeg Dolny) Oels (Oleśnica) Hundsfeld (Psie Pole) Prague Brno Prostitz (Prościejów) =

1500– 1550– 1600– 1650– 1700– 1750– = 1549 1599 1649 1699 1749 1799

%*

0

0

0

0

3

22

25

0.7

0

0

0

62

112

160

334

9.4

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

0.28

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

0.28

24 0

70 0

258 0

287 0

218 0

172 84

1029** 84

29.00 2.36

0

0

5

0

2

0

7

0.19

26

70

263

349

335

438

1481

41.66

* % percentage share in the production of all Hebrew printing houses from Central and Eastern Europe. ** This represents a 6.5% share in the world production of Hebrew books in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries.

Neuwied, Furth, Prague, Frankfort O., Frankfort M., Cologne, from its beginning in the year 1513], Antwerp 1935. 14 K. Migoń, Drukarstwo orientalne i hebrajskie na Śląsku w XV–XVIII w. [Oriental and Hebrew Printing in Silesia Between the Fifteenth and Eighteenth Centuries], Wrocław 1978 (Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis 346; Bibliotekoznawstwo 7), p. 75–81; Id., Książka żydowska na Śląsku. Rekonesans badawczy [Hebrew Book in Silesia. A Research Reconnaissance], “Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka” 44 (1989), no. 1, p. 89–99.

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Hebrew printed book in Central-Eastern Europe in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries

In the early modern period, the first and also the biggest centre of Hebrew printing in this part of Europe was Prague. A Jewish printer Chaim ben David Shachor came here, soon to be joined by Gershom ben Shlomo Kohen who established the first printing house in the Bohemian capital. In 1512, a prayer book was printed there as the first Hebrew book. In 1527 Gershom (under the name of Herman) received from King of Bohemia Ferdinand I Habsburg the privilege to print books, which he used until his death in 1545, and then it was renewed for his son Moshe, and in 1598 for his grandson Gershom ben Bezalel. This family kept the Prague printing house until the middle of the seventeenth century, all the time using the characteristic printer’s mark – the blessing hands of a kohen. The illustrated Haggadah of Pesach (1526), Turim by Yaakov ben Asher (1540) and Torat ha-Ola by Moshe Isserles (1569) are among its publication rarities.15 At the end of the sixteenth century, another Jewish printer, Yaakov Bak, came to Prague from Italy, who opened another Hebrew printing house in the Bohemian capital, publishing his first book there in 1605. After his death in 1618, the business was run by eight generations of the Bak family until the beginning of the nineteenth century. If the production potential of Hebrew printing houses in Prague can be measured by the number of titles printed in them in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, then they occupy the first place among Hebrew printing houses in Central and Eastern Europe, reaching the level of 29% of the production and 6.5% of the world production, while the production volume of the largest Hebrew printing house in Poland (in Zhovkva [Żółkiew]) amounted to 15.7% and 3.5% respectively. Of lesser importance were the printing houses in Oleśnica (only one title survived), Psie Pole (one title), Legnica (no prints can be found), Prościejów (7 titles), Brno (84 titles) and Wrocław (25 titles). The largest of these was the publishing house founded in 1753 by Franz Josef Neumann in Brno, Moravia (now Czechia), which printed 84 titles until the end of the eighteenth century. On the other hand, Dyhernfurth (Brzeg Dolny near Wrocław) occupied a significant position; it became famous as the centre of Hebrew printing at the end of the seventeenth century, although the first Jewish printing house might have been established there already in the 1630s (no prints are extant). The earliest print comes from the publishing house of Shabbethai Bass from 1689. From then on, it operated for 145 years (until 1834), and by the end of the eighteenth century it printed 334 titles (all are known). Its publishing assortment included biblical, Talmudic, devotional, rabbinic (halakhic) and, to a lesser extent, philosophical literature.16 At the time of its establishment, 15 M. Steinschneider, D. Cassel, Jüdische Typographie und jüdischer Buchhandel, Jerusalem 1938, p. 29–30. 16 H.C. Zafren, Dyhernfurth and Shabtai Bass: a Typographic Profile, [in:] Studies in Jewish Bibliography, History and Literature in Honor of I. Edward Kiev, ed. Ch. Berlin, New York 1971, p. 543–580;

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Topography of Hebrew printing centres in Central and Eastern Europe and the volume of their production

the Bass printing house was supposed to fill the gaping gap on the map of Hebrew printing in Central and Eastern Europe. At that time the printing houses in Kraków and Lublin went bankrupt and the Jewish printing house in Żółkiew had not been established yet. This fact attracted the attention of the Jewish communities not only from Bohemia, where the Jewish books was still available in Prague, but also from Poland and Germany. It was not until 1693 that Uri Phoebus ben Aaron ha-Levi, a printer from Amsterdam, opened a competing printing house in the western Ukraine near Lviv. The Hebrew printing in Poland was developed from 1534 mainly by Jews, less frequently by Christians. The first Hebrew printing houses (exclusively using Hebrew or Yiddish type) were established in Kraków and Lublin by Jews from Bohemia. Almost until the end of the seventeenth century (the establishment of the printing house in Żółkiew near Lviv) no other Jewish community in the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth could boast of owning them. From the very beginning they competed with each other and with foreign Hebrew printing houses: Italian, Bohemian, German and Dutch ones because the Polish kings, apart from the printing privileges, granted also permits for importing Hebrew books, which the Jewish self-government body – the Council of Four Lands – tried to regulate in the Commonwealth but apparently without success. The condition of the Jewish printing industry in Poland was also influenced by the wars waged at that time (the Thirty Years’ War 1618–1648, the Polish-Swedish War 1655–1660 and the War between the Commonwealth and Moscow 1654–1656, 1658–1667), the Khmelnitsky Uprising as well as disasters (fires, epidemics) which led to devastation and temporary impoverishment of the Jewish population in the Commonwealth. Their evident progress was only noted from the end of the seventeenth century.

M. Marx, H.C. Zafren, A Bibliography of Hebrew Printing in Dyhernfurth 1689–1718, [in:] Studies in Jewish Bibliography, p. 217–236.

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Hebrew printed book in Central-Eastern Europe in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries

Table 1.5 Hebrew printing houses in Poland in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries* City/Town Dubno Gdańsk Grodno Kopyl Kopys (Kopyś[ć]) Korec (Korzec) Kraków (with Nowy Dwór near Kraków) Lublin (with Końska Wola and Bystrzejowice) Lviv (Lwów) Mezhyriv (Meżyrów) Minkowce Nowy Dwór near Warsaw Oleksiniec Ostroh (Ostróg) Podberezce Polonne (Połonne) Poryck Poznań Slavuta (Sławuta) Shklov (Szkłów) Turka Warsaw Wegrow (Węgrów) Vilnius Zhovkva (Żółkiew) ? =

1500– 1550– 1600– 1650– 1700– 1750– = 1549 1599 1649 1699 1749 1800 0 0 0 0 0 23 23 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 75 75 0 0 0 0 0 2 2

%**

%***

1.11 0.04 3.61 0.09

0

0

0

0

0

3

3

0.14

0

0

0

0

0

93

93

4.48

14

186

239

22

0

0

461

22.49

2.9

1

76

132

31

0

0

240

11.58

1.52

0

0

0

0

0

194

194

9.36

1.23

0

0

0

0

0

21

21

1.01

0

0

0

0

0

7

7

0.33

0

0

0

0

0

84

84

4.05

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

18 24 6

18 24 6

0.86 1.15 0.28

0

0

0

0

0

30

30

1.44

0 0

0 0

0 1

0 0

0 0

14 3

14 4

0.67 0.19

0

0

0

0

0

21

21

1.01

0

0

0

0

0

114

114

5.50

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

10 18

10 18

0.48 0.86

0

0

0

0

0

4

4

0.19

0

0

0

0

0

16

16

0.77

0

0

0

15

132

411

558

26.93

0 15

0 262

0 372

1 70

0 132

30 31 1.49 1221 2072 100

0.53

0.72

3.53

13.14

* Based on own research – cf. LDKHP. ** Participation in production on the lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth within historical borders. *** Share in world production (major centres only).

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Topography of Hebrew printing centres in Central and Eastern Europe and the volume of their production

In total, from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century on the Polish territory within its historical borders there were 28 localities where books were printed in Hebrew type.17 Moreover, five other localities were granted privileges to establish Hebrew printing houses (Tartakiv [Tartaków], Sudylkiv [Sudylków], Medzhybizh [Międzybóż], Radyvýliv [Radziwiłłów] and Sambor), but either they were not opened, or no Hebrew prints are known which may have been produced until the end of the eighteenth century. The share of “Polish” printing houses in the production of Hebrew books in Central and Eastern Europe in the early modern period reached approximately 58% and barely exceeded 13% of world production. On the other hand, all Hebrew publishing houses in the investigated area of Europe produced 22.5% of all known book titles, or nearly 25% of the world’s output. This level was only exceeded in the seventeenth century when their share reached nearly 30%. At the end of the eighteenth century, it was not proportional to the size of the Jewish population living in this part of Europe. Therefore, it was a receptive market for Jewish books, to which the biggest Hebrew printing houses in Europe, mainly from Amsterdam and Germany, exported their production. This in turn destroyed small and medium local printing houses, driving them to bankruptcy. In order to defend them, and first of all ensure income for the treasury, duties were imposed on imported Jewish books (they were stamped).

17 See B.H.D. Friedberg, ‫ תולדות הדפוס העברי בפולניה‬,‫ פרידברג‬.‫ד‬.‫[ ח‬History of Hebrew Typography in Poland], Antwerpen 1932, 2nd edn, Tel-Aviv 1950; M. Wander., ‫[ הדפוס העברי בפולניה‬Ha-defus ha-ivri be-Polaniyah], “Alei Sefer” 5 (1978), p. 116–164; J. Wojakowski, Jewish Printing in Former Polish Commonwealth, “Revue europeenne des etudes hebraiques” 4 (2000), p. 140–132; LDKHP, p. 49–54; K. Pilarczyk, Hebrew Printing Houses in Poland against the Background of their History in the World, “Studia Judaica” 7 (2004), no. 2, p. 201–221.

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Hebrew printed book in Central-Eastern Europe in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries

Table 1.6 Central and Eastern Europe against world production

PLC Together in CEE Share of PLC in the production of CEE in % World production Share of PLC in world production in % Share of CEE in world production in %

1500– 1549 15

1550– 1599 262

1600– 1649 372

1650– 1699 70

1700– 1749 132

1750– 1799 1221

%*

41

332

635

419

467

1673

3553

36.46

78.91

58.58

16.70

28.26

72.98

58.35

957

1715

1556

1970

4017

5551

15766

1.56

15.27

23.90

3.55

3.28

22

13.14

4.1

19.35

40.80

21.26

11.62

30.14

22.52

= 2072

58,35 100

100

* Percentage of production in all Hebrew printing houses in Central and Eastern Europe.

Table 1.7 Hebrew books in Central and Eastern Europe against world production

Century XV XVI XVII XVIII XVI–XVIII Total

% share of CEE World production Production in CEE production in world (number of titles) (number of titles) production 187 0 0 2672 373 13.92 3526 1054 29.89 9568 2126 22.22 15766 3553 22.52 15953 3553 22.26

Production in PLC (number of titles) 0 277 442 1353 2072 2072

CEE – Central and Eastern Europe. PLC – Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

1.5

The profile and function of the printed Hebrew Book in Central and Eastern Europe in religious message

From the beginning of its existence through the early modern period, Hebrew printing in Central and Eastern Europe significantly supported the implementation of the fundamental ideas of Judaism, especially the resultant obligation to know and disseminate the Torah, which was elevated to the status of a religious duty. The

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The profile and function of the printed Hebrew Book in Central and Eastern Europe in religious message

access to the Holy Scriptures of Judaism (written Torah) and the Talmud, sanctified by tradition (oral Torah), was ensured by their reproduction, which was made possible due to the invention of printing. The remaining printing production, with few exceptions, supported this fundamental goal, which was to teach and disseminate the Torah as rabbinic Judaism understood it. Printers published the basic sources of Judaism and works commenting on them (e.g. collections of legal regulations), devotional literature (prayer books, song books), but also biblical stories for women (in Yiddish), kabbalistic and popular literature, and thus contributed to the development of Torah studies, supporting the complex educational process in the largest Jewish communities in Europe (and the world). In addition to them, rabbis, yeshiva rectors, judges of rabbinical courts, qahal authorities, Jewish families, especially fathers responsible for the religious education of their sons – in short, almost the entire community – participated in this complex educational process. Their work was highly valued in their own communities, which was reflected in the terminology used to describe their occupation – “holy work” – and its product was called “a work of heaven” because it contained the Torah, God’s gift to the Chosen People, the study of which was the most important activity a follower of Judaism could perform.18 The printer’s marks used by Jewish printers are an expression of this awareness. In their symbolism (fish, deer – doe, well – water), they refer to the theology of the Torah, based on the Bible and the Talmud.19 It is not only, in their understanding, the foundation on which life was built, but also the basis of the whole cosmic order. Without it, moral chaos would reign. Only thanks to the Torah can a Jew lead a decent, ethical life. It is as indispensable to him as water is to a fish. It also has the power to revive, just as water revives dry land. That is why it is compared to the “beloved doe”; everyone loves it, and whoever loves Torah loves nothing else but life. The religious message, transmitted through printed books in the countries where Judaism had its European centres from the sixteenth century onwards, at the same time strengthened the sense of separateness of Judaism’s adherents from Christians and contributed to the Jews’ greater ethnic and religious self-consciousness. This was of particular importance for nearly a century, beginning in the second half of the sixteenth century, at a time when the printing of one of the primary sources of Judaism, i.e. the Talmud, in Europe was significantly restricted by successive popes, while in the Italian states, where Hebrew printing flourished most, was made

18 K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 257–259. 19 Ibid., p. 204–206, 232–234; cf. A. Yaari, ‫ מראשית הדפוס העברי ועד סוף‬.‫ דגל המדפיסים העבריים‬,‫ יערי‬.‫א‬ ‫ = המאה התשהעשרה‬Hebrew Printers’ Marks. From the Beginning of Hebrew Printing to the End of the 19th Century, Jerusalem 1943.

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Hebrew printed book in Central-Eastern Europe in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries

entirely impossible from the second half of the sixteenth century onwards.20 At that time the Jewish printers, who had their printing houses in Bohemia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, faced the challenge of ensuring the continuity of the religious message by means of the newly invented medium – the printed book. It quickly gained a privileged position in Judaism, which had cultivated sacred texts for centuries. Jewish printers in Eastern and Central Europe, who from the sixteenth century were able to establish their own printing houses here, in contrast to Western European countries where only Christians could do so, reproduced the classical works of Judaism as well as new rabbinic works. In this way, they continued the traditions of their compatriots – companions in the art of printing from Spain and Italy from the second half of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth century. The Jewish owners of the printing houses, like their predecessors on the Pyrenees and Apennine Peninsulas, decided about the publishing profile themselves. It probably corresponded to the expectations of recipients both from the local Jewish communities and from abroad. Enjoying much greater freedom than their co-religionists in Western Europe, they printed works that were forbidden elsewhere in Europe, and even ignoring the provisions of the Church general and particular (synodal) legislation, although they themselves, starting from 1593, by virtue of the decree of the Council of Four Lands in Poland, introduced selfcensorship of printed books, so that none of them could be published without the permission of rabbis and scholars (alufim), under penalty of confiscation and closure of the printing house in which it would be printed. In reality, the repressions the Jewish printers suffered from, either in Prague or in Lublin, especially for printing the Talmud, came from the royal or ecclesiastical authorities and had basically two causes: either a denunciation by Jewish converts to Catholicism, or accusations maintained in the spirit of the propaganda practiced in Italian states by the Catholic clergy involved in a wider action carried out on economic and religious grounds against the Jews.21 They did not, however, deprive Jewish printers permanently of the possibility of reproducing works subject to church censorship, but only for a short period.

20 Cf. M.J. Heller, Printing the Talmud. A History of the Earliest Printed Editions of the Talmud, Brooklyn, N.Y. 1992, p. 201–240; K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 55–59. 21 P. Buchwald-Pelcowa, Cenzura w dawnej Polsce. Między prasą drukarską a stosem [Censorship in Former Polish Commonwealth. Between the Printing Press and the Stake], Warszawa 1997, passim; K. Pilarczyk, Bishop Marcin Szyszkowski and the Printer Tsvi Kalonymos Jaffe of Lubli. On Censorship of Books in the Kraków Diocese in the Seventeenth Century, “Gal-Ed” 18 (2002), p. 40–25 (Hebr.); Id., Zur Zensurfrage der judischen Bucher in Polen im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert, [in:] Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century. Proceedings of the 6th EAJS Congress, Toledo, July 1988, vol. 2: Judaism from the Renaissance to Modern Times, ed. J. Targarona Borras, A. Saenz-Badillos, Leiden–Boston–Koeln 1999, p. 346–353.

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The profile and function of the printed Hebrew Book in Central and Eastern Europe in religious message

Many members of the Jewish community were involved in the printing of books, even when the printing houses were in the hands of a Christian (e.g. in Nowy Dwór near Warsaw), whereby fulfilling one of the basic religious duties – the dissemination of the Torah. The main responsibility was taken by the printers, who often chose partners or were supported by their families, whose members gradually took over the duty of managing the printing house. Other members of Jewish communities also helped them in their “sacred work”. Some joined the task of passing the Torah to the next generations for religious and philanthropic reasons, others reconciled the religious duty with investment of capital, which was to provide them with financial profit and fame after the edition had been sold. In extreme cases, when the publishing plans of a printing house collapsed due to disasters and wars – as a result of which the Jewish population would become poorer – and foreign competition, which was unsuccessfully fought against, the printers were usually left to their own devices. Unable to pay their debts, they were prosecuted by courts and often went bankrupt. Communities, in which their printing houses were located, did not give them sufficient financial guarantees in such situations, despite the fact that they were proud of their presence and the prints they produced. More often, members of these communities, who were engaged in other crafts or banking, also fell into financial difficulties at the same time and were unable to help each other. A special place among people cooperating with printers was occupied by proofreaders, who usually came from among rabbis, heads of yeshivas or judges of rabbinical courts. The quality of printed books largely depended on them. The printing of the Tanakh and Talmud was a particular challenge for them because new generations of followers of Judaism shaped their ritual and ethos on their basis.22 Therefore, proofreaders were usually Torah teachers or Jewish judges, responsible for that further transmission and observance. They took care the prints were faithful to the source text, so that nothing would be lost from the great events described in them, nothing would be missing from the tradition handed down through the centuries in order that this primeval encounter of ancient Israel with holiness, with the great Lawgiver, would be saved from the destructive impact of time, and passed on in the best-preserved state possible. For Judaism existed for centuries thanks to the constant contact of its believers with the revealed Law – the Torah – thanks to the cultivation of the memories of that earliest moment of transmitting the Torah and to the constant reading of its meaning, especially by the spiritual leaders of successive generations, in the context of the ongoing changes in civilization. The requirement to preserve this message in its entirety was difficult for the printers and their collaborators to fulfil. The proofreader, responsible together

22 K. Pilarczyk, Printing the Talmud in Poland in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, “Polin” 15 (2001), p. 12–19.

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Hebrew printed book in Central-Eastern Europe in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries

with the printer for the text in its final form submitted for printing, had to make a triple choice. The first was to reproduce the canonical texts of Judaism with limited access to the sources on which the reproduction was based. Therefore, they could use their earlier printed editions or reach for better manuscripts, if they had access to them. The second choice concerned the extent of self-censorship applied by printers and proofreaders (especially for printing the Talmud), which was essential for defending the publishing house and the editions against censorship repressions, which sometimes ended up in closing the printing house and confiscating all printed copies of the tractates. The third choice consisted in selecting the most important additions to the canonical text (including commentaries, halakhic rulings from various compendia compiled over the centuries and from responsa, chidushim, etc.) and providing useful references for students. Their decisions were not always the most accurate, which affected the quality of the printed books and was reflected in their critical evaluation. The printing of Jewish books, especially halakhic (legal) literature, led to the unification of religious customs of everyday life (including prayers) and liturgy, and gave wider access to the Bible and Talmud, the understanding of which was supported by printed dictionaries and grammars. The Talmud was read with classical commentaries from the Middle Ages, especially by Shlomo ben Icchak (Rashi), David Kimchi and the Tosafists, as well as new Talmudists of worldwide renown such as Shalom Shakhnah, Moshe Isserles, Yosef Karo and Shlomo Luria. They gave impetus to further teaching of the Torah, set directions for its interpretation and popularized methods of its study.

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2.

Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy between Katzenellenbogen and Giustiniani1

The history of printing Hebrew books in sixteenth century Europe offers quite an interesting episode concerning a dispute between a Venetian printer and a Jewish author from Padua. At a certain stage a young (about 25 years old) rabbi from Kraków was involved in the contention. He was to be – as it were – a mediator in the case, or rather the one who would discern and settle it in a “Jewish” way, i.e. according to the rabbinic law, which would be important not so much for both sides to the conflict as for Europe’s Jewish community. Although his “verdict” did not end the case – it had a rather disastrous epilogue – it nevertheless allows us to look at and penetrate the rabbinic argumentation used at that time to settle the intricate controversy, and to learn about the social and religious power of halakhah. The protagonist in the controversy appears to have been a Jewish scholar, the Kraków rabbi, Moses ben Israel Isserles (1525?–1572), who was at the threshold of his career as a Talmudist. His way of adjudicating cases seems worth presenting and analysing. The two parties to the dispute, Rabbi Meir ben Icchak Katzenellenbogen (Meir ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen) from Padua, called Maharam (ca. 1482–1565), and printer Marco Antonio Giustiniani (son of the wealthy and influential Venetian Niccolo Giustiniani), will remain somewhat on the margins of our interest. The dispute was sparked by the publication in Venice of two editions of Maimonides’ book Mishneh Torah with a commentary by Maharam. It flared up over the right to print the text, and especially over the (preference) right to sell copies. One edition was published by Bragadini’s printing house in 1550,2 while another – a little later (in 1550–1551) by Giustiniani.3 For the printing of Maimonides’ famous and widely read work with his own commentary, Maharam turned to Giustiniani, the only printer of Hebrew books – after 1 With cooperation by Paweł Filek. 2 Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides), Miszne Tora, z komentarzem Meira Kacenellenbogena [Mishneh Torah, with Commentary by Meir Katzenellenbogen], part 1–2, vol. 1–4, Venice, Bragadini, 1550 (cf. M. Steinschneider, Catalogus librorum Hebraeorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana, vol. 2, Berolini 1860, p. 1871, item 5). 3 Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides), Miszne Tora [Mishneh Torah], with corrections based on the codex of Asriel Dajan; with commentary by Meir Katzenellenbogen (appended to vol. 4); published by Cornelius Adelkind, part 1–2, vol. 1–4, Venice: Giustiniani, 1550–1551 (cf. M. Steinschneider, Catalogus, vol. 2, p. 1871, item 6). Nevertheless, Meir Katzenellenbogen’s name was placed on the frontispiece in vol. 1.

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy

the death of Daniel Bomberg – in Venice, the capital of world printing. However, unable to agree with him on the terms of the contract (the date of publication), he finally entrusted his work to Alvise (Aloise) Bragadini, who had just opened a printing house in Venice,4 undoubtedly creating competition for Giustiniani. Bragadini immediately, already in the first half of 1550, published the entire four-volume work. Soon – as it turned out – it was also published in Giustiniani’s printing house by Cornelius Adelkind, who in an introduction – most probably written by himself – spoke ill of Maharam, probably because the latter had not transferred the rights to the commentary to Giustiniani’s printing house. Nevertheless, the first volume already stated on its frontispiece that it would contain a commentary by Rabbi Meir Katzenellenbogen. Besides, the copies were intended to be sold at a lower price than those of Bragadini. The differences in the editions of the work cannot be overlooked either. Bragadini placed Rabbi Meir’s commentary parallel to Maimonides’ text, which made it easier to read and raised its importance, while Giustiniani placed it at the end of the work (in volume four) as an unauthorized text. All in all, even before the book’s printing was completed in Giustiniani’s publishing house, it gave rise to a sharp dispute over the rights to it, which was in fact a struggle between two Venetian printers for a market for their printing production both in the Italian states and beyond, where Jews lived.5 The commentator on Maimonides’ work, Katzenellenbogen, also felt offended and threatened by Giustiniani’s action and aggrieved by it. He was convinced that his rights had also been violated by the printer’s competitor with whom he had entered into a contract. In such a situation Rabbi Meir turned to a young Talmudist from Kraków, Rabbi Moshe Isserles (Rema).6 One may wonder why a halakhist from Padua, well known in Europe, chose a young rabbi from Kraków. Isserles had only recently returned to Kraków after he had completed his Talmudic studies in Lublin with Rabbi Shalom Shakhnah.7 He did not yet have the authority of a Jewish teacher or judge. Maybe Rabbi Meir’s decision was based on the fact that Isserles was related to him on his mother’s side, and he wanted to give the young scholar a chance to appear in the Jewish world. Probably, in this request there was also an element of risk connected with the fact 4 See K. Pilarczyk, Drukowana książka hebrajska a religia. Vademecum bibliologiczne [Printed Hebrew Book and Religion: Bibliological Vademecum], Kraków 2012, p. 75. 5 See D. Amram, The Makers of Hebrew Book in Italy, being chapters in the history of the Hebrew printing press, London 1963, p. 254–264. 6 The figure of Isserles in historiography is quite controversial. In the case presented here, he appears as a young Talmudist whose authority was not yet established. He would later be given the title of “Maimonides of the North” or “Maimonides of Poland”, although not all researchers of his works and activities share this opinion. For more on this topic, see P. Filek, Mosze Isserles – Rema mi-Kroke w historiografii. Rekonesans badawczy [Moshe Isserles – Rema mi-Kroke in Historiography. A Research Reconnaissance], “Przegląd Religioznawczy” (2012), no. 3, p. 34–41. 7 See K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 63.

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy

that Isserles would not fulfil his task well, and that his judgement would not meet with Jewish approval. A ruling favourable for Rabbi Meir could have helped him sell his edition and pay off his investors because the rabbinical decision became, at least theoretically, binding not so much for Giustiniani, who was not Jewish, as for the entire Jewish community that constituted the potential market for Hebrew books. The ruling could almost force Jewish buyers of the book to purchase it exclusively from Bragadini and boycott Giustiniani’s edition. Isserles responded favourably to his relative’s request, for we find his response in a work attributed to him, entitled She’elot u-Teshuvot (ShU”T), which belongs to the so-called halakhic responsa literature. It is dated 4 Elul (5)310 (16 August 1550) and numbered 10 in printed editions.8 Isserles’ ShU”T were first brought out in 1640 in Kraków by Menachem Nachum ben Moshe Meisels Shimshon.9 They were published by Moshe ben Eliezer, a relative of the author, in the printing house of Yaakov ben Moshe Lesers from Wilno, also a relative of Moshe Isserles. These responsa were later reprinted many times,10 and the best editions include the one published in Warsaw by Solomon ben Jechiel Luria in 1883 (Goldman’s publishing house), and especially the Asher Siev Jerusalem edition of 1970 (critically revised). In translating the tenth edition of the Rema responsa we will use the editio princeps (held in the collection of the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków)11 and the critical electronic edition of the Bar Ilan Responsa Project (Version 22 Plus). The very fact that Moshe Isserles’ responsa were published posthumously, only 68 years after his death, calls for an assessment of their historical value, especially in the context of the case we are interested in. She’elot u-Teshuvot (responsa), like commentaries and codes, are among the legal forms eagerly used by rabbis.12 Responsa collected Talmudic jurisprudence in order to consolidate the transmission of Judaic legal tradition that emerged after the completion of work on the Talmud. It was created over centuries and consisted of collections of questions, posed by real persons or invented later, which prompted Jewish scholars, familiar with rabbinical law, to issue either short or longer reasoned legal opinions on particular cases. If, with time, a given ruling gained favour of

8 Sometimes number 9 is indicated (see M. Steinschneider, Catalogus, vol. 2, p. 1871). In the editions of Isserles’ ShU”T that we have used, always under number 10. 9 See LDKHP, p. 250, item 1464 and p. 116–119. 10 Among others in Hamburg in 1710(?), in Hanau in 1710–1711, in Amsterdam in 1711. 11 See Catalogue of Judaica – Old prints of the Collection of the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków from the Former Prussian State Library in Berlin: with Facsimiles of selected Elements of the Described Prints, ed. K. Pilarczyk, Kraków 2011, p. 340, pos. 2152; ref. Ex 1457/100. 12 K. Pilarczyk, Literatura żydowska od epoki biblijnej do haskali. Wprowadzenie religioznawcze, literackie i historyczne [Jewish Literature from the Biblical Times to the Haskalah. Introduction from the Perspective of Religious Studies, Literature and History], 2nd edn, Kraków 2009, p. 260–261.

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy

many rabbis and the Jewish community, and was recognized as complying with the Torah (the religious law of the Jews), it was included in the next code as a model of conduct. The collections of responsa themselves were published, if their author did not forbid it, sometimes only after his death, by the students of this Talmudist, or members of his family, who themselves usually continued the rabbinical studies, attaching importance to the rulings of their predecessors, and carefully passing them on to their descendants. The practice of writing responsa is known already from the first half of the Middle Ages and is present in the world of both Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews. After the expulsion of Jews from the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the fifteenth century, it was Central and Eastern Europe that became dominant rabbinic centres for the entire Jewish diaspora. The most famous responsa were written by Yehuda ben Eliezer ha-Levi, Meir Katzenellenbogen and Moshe Isserles, who was even compared to Maimonides. They significantly influenced the shape of created Jewish customary law, and that is why they were closely followed by the halakhists themselves, who knew the most eminent authorities in this field. It does not seem probable that the question posed to Isserles, which was the premise of the ruling contained in number 10 of his ShU”T, was fictitious because the whole matter is known also from other sources and has its far-reaching repercussions in the Jewish world not only of the sixteenth century. The decision of the rabbi of Kraków was also an attempt to settle the actual conflict concerning the dispute between the Venetian printers and Rabbi Katzenellenbogen, who sided with Bragadini. The author of the commentary himself was familiar with the rabbinic law and probably he was convinced that he should obtain a favourable decision for himself, even from a young Halakhist from Kraków. And the latter, in turn, could enjoy publicity for his decision; to this day it enjoys recognition. Isserles’ answer demanded diligence and professional reasoning for its conclusion because it seemed to be an extremely prestigious matter in the field of Jewish law, not to mention the desire to end the conflict. Besides, probably none of the Italian Jews wanted to conflict with the influential Venetian Giustiniani family, and Isserles was far away, on the Vistula, where its influence did not reach. We have divided Isserles’ responsa into four parts, which are distinguished in the text by Roman numerals. They include the following: I. An examination of the possibility of taking up the dispute on the basis of rabbinical law with its peculiarity being that it involves a Jew (Rabbi Katzenellenbogen of Padua) on the one hand and a non-Jew (Marco Antonio Giustiniani of Venice) on the other;13 II. The presentation of the case itself (setting up the dispute); III. Its proper judgement with argumentation divided into four parts; IV. The halakhic adjudication with the penal sanction imposed. We have decided that the best form of presentation of this responsa is

13 In principle, Jewish law could only be applied when the parties to the dispute were Jews themselves.

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy

to quote it in a rather literal translation (even at the expense of the quality of the translation) with the Hebrew terminology in phonetic transcription in particularly important places, or with the addition of complementary words (putting both in square brackets, the first written in italics, the second in antiqua). The translation has been provided with source commentary (indicating the source of quotations used in the judgement),14 philological, cultural and legal commentary. We hope that this will allow getting into the flow of rabbinical thinking, understanding it and recognising the argumentation used in the responsa. I We learn in the tractate Sanhedrin in the chapter “The Four Types of Execution [Arba Mitot]”.15 Rabbi Yochanan said, “Seven commandments were given to the descendants of Noah,16 for it is written in the Torah: ‘And the Eternal [YHWH], God [Elohim], commanded [vaytsav] the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat’ (Gen 2:16)”.17 This “And commanded [vaytsav]” refers to the establishment of judgements,18 for it is written: “For I have loved him to command [yetsavve] his sons, and his house after him, to keep the way of the Eternal, fulfilling virtue and righteousness, etc.” (Gen 18:19). “The Eternal [YHWH]” – is a prohibition against “blessing” God,19 as it is written: “And whoever would malign the name of the Eternal [YHWH]” (Lev 24:16). “God [Elohim]” – is idolatry, for it is written: “Thou shalt not have gods [elohim] of others before me” (Exod 20:3).20 Rabbi Icchak presented a different interpretation: That “commanded

14 When quoting biblical texts, we use generally accepted sigla, while the titles of Talmudic tractates are given in full, preceded by a lower-case letter m, when it concerns a text from the Mishnah, or by a lower-case letter j, when the text comes from the Gemara of the Jerusalem Talmud; the name of a Talmudic tractate itself (without m or j) indicates that it comes from the Gemara of the Babylonian Talmud. 15 Sanhedrin 56b, https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.56b.4?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en [accessed: 3.10.2021]. 16 Bnei Noah, hereafter also Noahide. The Sons of Noah is a term that denotes mankind in general on the one hand, and non-Jews on the other hand as those who were given seven – not 613 like the Jews – of God’s commandments. In this passage the Gemara discusses only three of the Noahide laws. 17 Here and elsewhere, where not otherwise noted, we draw on Isaac Cylkow’s translation. See Tora. Pięcioksiąg Mojżesza, trans. I. Cylkow, Kraków 2006; the translation is based on Orthodox Jewish Bible and Geneva Bible. 18 Ha-dinin – literally laws. Essentially, it is about establishing institutions that uphold the principles of justice in social life. On more detailed interpretations see P. Majdanik, Tora dla narodów świata. Prawa Noachickie w ujęciu Majmonidesa [Torah for the Nations of the World. Noahide Laws in the View of Maimonides], Warszawa–Toruń 2015, p. 323–350. 19 The Talmud uses a euphemism here, actually it obviously means cursing God. 20 Rabbi Jochanan uses here the argument by analogy – gezer shava (literally ‘equal verdict’). This is one of the most important methods of Talmudic hermeneutics. In short, it involves transferring the

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy

[vaytsav]” refers to idolatry, while “judges [elohim]” refers to the establishment of courts.21 It is understandable that “judges [elohim]” means the establishment of courts, for it is written: “the master of the house shall appear before the judges [elohim]” (Exod 22:7). But how do we know that “commanded [vaytsav]” refers to idolatry? Rav Chisda and rav Icchak ben Avdimi argued about this; One said: “They have turned aside quickly from the way I commanded them [tzivvitim], they have made for themselves a molten calf, etc.” (Exod 32:8), and the other said: “Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgement because he willingly walked after an arbitrary commandment [tsav]” (Hos 5:11).22 The translation by Rashi, may his memory be a blessing upon us:23 “Oppressed” – by his enemies; “broken” – by the judgements of the Holy One, may he be blessed, for they followed the command [tsivuy] of the prophets of Baal. The Gemara, on the other hand, asks: What is the practical difference between their [Rav Chisda and Rav Icchak ben Avdi] standpoints?24 And it answers: the case of the non-Jew,25 who made a statue but did not prostrate before it. According to what he says: “they made” – the act makes one guilty; according to what he said: “he has the will to walk”, the guilt begins with prostration. This is where our quote from the Gemara ends. We must now ask: Why does the Talmud ask about the practical difference between Rav Chisda and Rav Icchak bar Avdi rather than the one between Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Icchak in their dispute over whether the source of the prohibition of idolatry26 for Noahide is the phrase “And commanded” or “God/judges”? After all, the latter dispute is also about verse interpretation!27 It seems appropriate to answer that the dispute between Rabbi

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law of one case to another based on the similarity of vocabulary used in their description in the Pentateuch. In this case, the three successive words of Gen 2:16 (“and commanded”, “the Eternal” and “God”) are referred to three different verses (Gen 18:19, Lev 24:16 and Exod 20:3) in which the same words are used, in order to show that the first people (and thus all humanity) were commanded three things: the establishment of judgements, the prohibition of cursing God and the prohibition of idolatry. Rabbi Yitzchak agrees with Rabbi Yochanan on the identification of the three commandments, but applies other arguments by analogy: that elohim – an ambiguous term in Hebrew that can mean both God, a god, an angel, and a judge – means, according to him, the commandment to establish judgements, while the word “commanded” refers to the prohibition of idolatry. Rav Chisda and Rav Yitzchak ben Avdimi have differing opinions on which verse is the correct source of Rabbi Yitzchak’s teaching regarding the prohibition of idolatry. Rashi is an acronym referring to the medieval Talmudist Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchak. That is: in what case do their different interpretations result in a different legal outcome. Literally Kuti – “Kutite”, a term for historical Samaritans, used here and throughout the rest of the responsa (and frequently in rabbinic literature in general) to refer generally to non-Jews. It would be more logical to ask why the Gemara does not ask about the difference between Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Icchak regarding the source of the command to establish courts. It is difficult to say why the Rema formulates the issue in this way. The two disputes are identical insofar as they are fought over the determination of the source of the law in Scripture.

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy

Yochanan and Rabbi Icchak needs no explanation, for it is as clear as the sun at noon that Rabbi Yochanan, who learns the obligation of the Noahides to establish courts from the verse “And commanded”, claims that the only commandment incumbent upon the descendants of Noah is to observe the customs of the state and to judge between man and neighbour and newcomer28 in a just manner. On the other hand, judging according to the laws of the people of Israel, which Moses transmitted to us from Sinai, is not commanded to them, but only voluntary. Therefore, he [rabbi Yochanan] learns from the verse “And he commanded” and applies the argument by analogy with the verse “For I loved him to command his sons, and his house after him, to guard the way of the Eternal, fulfilling virtue and righteousness, etc.”, for this verse refers to a time when the Torah had not yet been given and Abraham did not have the laws that were given to us at Sinai. And though we learn:29 “Therefore, that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my warning – my commandments, my statutes, and my teachings” (Gen 26:5), that Abraham observed even eruv tavshilin,30 that is, that he followed the laws and commandments both those of the Torah itself and those of the rabbis. Nevertheless, it can be said that although he himself observed them, his household only observed the customary law that was given to them, that is, the seven commandments for Noahides. Similarly, who is greater than our great master and father Yaakov, peace be upon him, who yet married two sisters?31 And if so, we must admit that the verse: “that he commanded his sons, and his house after him, to guard the way of the Eternal, fulfilling virtue and righteousness, etc.” refers only to the seven commandments for the descendants of Noah. Therefore, Rabbi Yochanan argues that the commandment to establish courts by Noahides is learned from the “And commanded” – laws for the Israelites separately, for the descendants of Noah separately.32 Rabbi Icchak’s words, on the other hand, are filled with a different spirit: he learns the obligation to establish courts from the word “God/judges”, to which he applies the argument by analogy with the verse: “the master of the house shall appear before the judges”, to say that the laws commanded to the descendants of Noah are the same laws given to the people of Israel at

28 Ger is usually a stranger, newcomer, sojourner who does not belong to the people of Israel, though it is also used to refer to a proselyte (a convert to Judaism). 29 Joma 28b. 30 Eruv tavshilin is a very detailed and relatively rarely used rabbinic commandment regarding how to prepare food for the Shabbat that falls immediately after yom tov – the holy day. Cf. Shulchan Arukh. Orach Chayim 527. 31 Which is a clear transgression of the laws of Leviticus 18:18; cf. Maimonides, Sepher ha-mitzwot negative commandment no. 345. 32 Because he learns the Noahide commandment to establish judgements from Gen 18:19 referring to Abraham and thus to the time before the revelation at Sinai. And although according to rabbinic tradition the ancients observed the entire Law given to later Jews, it was not widely known at the time.

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Mount Sinai.33 Therefore, they are taught from the verse spoken at Sinai and all of these – the laws of the Noahides and those of the Jews – are one. This is how this Gemara should be learnt. And such is also the decision of the Rambam34 in the Laws of Kings35 that although the descendants of Noah are commanded to be judged only in cases concerning their seven commandments, as to these commandments they are obliged to judge according to the laws of Israel. And the matter we shall consider here concerns theft, which belongs to these seven commandments.36 Also, from the further considerations of the Gemara,37 it seems that one should constitute halakhah38 as did Rabbi Icchak. Namely, the Gemara asks: What is the practical difference between them [Rav Chisda and Rav Icchak bar Avdi]? etc. He then raises the difficulty: Was the establishment of courts really commanded to the Noahides? And yet we learn in the baraitah:39 the ten commandments were given to the people of Israel in Marah:40 the seven that were given to all the descendants of Noah, plus the establishment of courts, Shabbat, and respect for father and mother. Said Rabbah bar Avuha:41 As for the courts, only the details of the congregation, witnesses and warning were added in Marah.42 Rashi of blessed memory translates: “of the congregation, witnesses” – to appoint a twenty-three-member Sanhedrin [for administering the death penalty], as it is said: “the congregation shall judge, […] And the congregation shall deliver”43 (Num 35:24–25), while the Noahides were not instructed concerning this law, as we learn further on:44 the descendants of Noah can be sentenced to death by

33 This does not mean that the Noahides are bound by all the commandments that the Jews are bound by, but that the seven commandments given to them (e.g. the prohibition of stealing) should be judged according to the specific laws given to the Jews at Sinai. 34 Rambam is an acronym for Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon called Maimonides. 35 Maimonides, ‫ הלכות מלכים ומלהמות משנה תורה‬.‫[ משנה תורה‬Mishneh Torah Hilchot melachim umilchamot] probably understands Rema 9:14 this way. It is difficult to state this unequivocally. 36 The prohibition against stealing is one of the seven Noahide laws. 37 Shakla ve-taria – literally “give and take”, “negotiation”, “bargaining”. The term refers to the dynamics and course of a Talmudic sugya (pericope). 38 Halakhah – Jewish religious law. 39 Baraitah – Tannaitic teachings that were not part of the Mishnah and are thus considered less important than the Mishnah, but are nevertheless used in Talmudic argumentation as authoritative. 40 After the Exodus from Egypt, but before the revelation at Sinai. Cf. Exod 15:23–26 and Num 33:8–9. 41 In the standard edition of the Talmud, “Said Rav Nachman on behalf of Rabbah bar Avuha”. 42 Hatra’ah – a halakhic principle stating that a person may only be sentenced to death or flogging if he has committed a punishable act after being made aware that he is breaking the law and being warned of the consequences. 43 The quotation in the responsa is inaccurate, instead of ve-shafatu ha-edah […] ve-hitsilu ha-edah we read edah shofet ve-edah matselet. 44 Sanhedrin 57b, https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.57b.2?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en [accessed: 03.10.2021].

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy

one witness45 and one judge.46 The Gemara then asks: If so, why did we learn in the baraitah quoted above that “the establishment of courts was added”?47 Rava answers: It is a requirement only in cases punishable by fine.48 Which Rashi explains according to his clear mind: “In matters punishable by fine” – for the instruction which the Noahides received did not include these matters, for it is written: “And he commanded”, while concerning Abraham it is written: “fulfilling virtue and righteousness [mishpat]” – which means the establishment of courts. And matters punished with a fine are not called justice [mishpat] because in paying the fine, according to the Talmudic law, one pays more than the actual damage. The Gemara asks again: If this is so, then why in the baraitah it is written: “the establishment of courts was added to them”? Answer: It means that the Israelites were added laws concerning courts, the courts themselves, however, they already had.49 And the discussion goes on until the words: Said Rava Tanna,50 who taught that the establishment of judgements was given in Marah, he is, tanna of beth midrash51 of Menashe, who excluded from the commandments to the Noahides the establishment of courts and the “blessing” of the Name,52 inserting in their place the castration of animals53 and forbidden mixtures.54 Here let us conclude the quotation from the Gemara.55 And here, on close examination, we must say that this is proof that halakha is as Rabbi Icchak taught: the Noahides were commanded all the laws of Israel, in general as well as in

45 And the requirement for judging a Jew is the presence of at least two witnesses. 46 A Jew, on the other hand, can generally only be tried by a three-person, but in a case involving a major penalty, twenty-three person – beth din – rabbinical court. 47 Since it is one of the seven commandments to the descendants of Noah, it should not be mentioned separately. 48 Dine knasot – transgressions for which, according to halakha, there is a financial penalty, such as theft, bodily harm, etc. 49 They were given to them as one of the laws for the Noahides, while in Marah only specific laws pertaining only to the Jews were added. 50 The Tannaites are scholars living in the first centuries AD whose discussions are recorded in the Mishnah, Tosefta and Baraita. 51 Talmudic Academy. 52 This is cursing God. 53 Judaism prohibits sterilization of male animals (and humans); cf. Maimonides, ‫[ ספר המצות‬Sepher ha-mitzwot], negative commandment 361, Shulchan Arukh. Even ha-ezer 5:11. 54 Kilayim – a collective name for the negative commandments regarding “forbidden mixtures”: mixing and harnessing together animals of different species (kile behema), planting together certain species of plants and creating vaccines (kile zeraim), sowing grain, legumes or vegetables in a vineyard (kile kerem) and using fabric that is a mixture of wool and linen (kile begadim or shatnez). Cf. Shulchan Arukh. Yore dea 295–302. 55 The conclusion of the Gemara is that there is also another view – of the school of Menashe – according to which the establishment of judgements is not at all part of the commandments to the descendants of Noah, while to the Jews it was commanded in Mara.

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy

particular.56 For if we say that they were given only a portion of the laws, then Rava would have known this from the beginning of his reasoning and would not have maintained that the addition of establishing courts in the baraitah applies only to matters punishable by fines. Perhaps there are other laws that were not commanded to them? Rava should then have answered briefly that it is needed for all the other laws that were not commanded to the Noahides from the beginning. We must therefore say that the halakha is as Rabbi Icchak taught, that is, that they were commanded all the laws at once, just as they were given to the people of Israel at Sinai. Also, from what the great enlightening husband Rashi says, and from an analysis of his subtle formulations, we can understand that halakha is as Rabbi Icchak taught. For he deems it necessary to cite proof for any given law that does not apply to the Noahides, such as congregation, witnesses, warning, or criminal matters, which is understandable, since we have no doubt that these laws were not commanded to them. But as to that for which we have no proof [that it was not commanded to the Noahides], it should not be taken out of the rule or set apart, but should belong to the general laws of Israel.57 And if someone, wanting to be overly clever, says: “Does not Rashi of blessed memory quote the verse used by Rabbi Yochanan, in which it is said with reference to Abraham: ‘fulfilling virtue and righteousness’? And if so, it means that he believes that the adjudication is according to Rabbi Yochanan!” I will answer that this does not constitute proof, for it can be answered that Rashi chose this verse because Rabbi Yochanan is mentioned first by the Gemara. Anyway, this verse is also necessary for Rabbi Icchak because in the verse “the master of the house, etc., shall appear” it is only spoken of the rights of the guardians,58 not of matters punishable by a fine. Thus, from all that we have said above, it follows that the Noahides are instructed as to the laws of Israel in general in all its establishments and regulations. And if one were to think that halakha is like the baraitah taught in the bet midrash of Menashe, that is, that it excludes the establishment of courts and the “blessing” of God from the laws for the descendants of Noah and includes in their place the prohibition of castration of animals and forbidden mixtures, this is not a rational view, for Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Icchak knew this baraitah better than we do and did not give weight to its words, for they knew that it was not the basis for halakha, nor was it taught in the bet midrash of Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Oshiah.59 This is the reasoning behind the ruling

56 Again, of course, the point here (or going forward) is not that the Noahides are bound by the 613 commandments to the Jews, but only that the seven commandments given to them are to judge many Jewish laws. 57 The fact that amora Rava and the commentator Rashi detail specific laws not applicable to the Noahides indicates that a body of laws was given to Noah’s descendants. 58 Arba’ah shomrim – “the four guardians/custodians” – laws concerning the responsibility of the individual for the goods entrusted to his care. 59 The editors of the Tosefta, an early collection of barait treated as less authoritative than the Mishnah.

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy

of Alfasi,60 which also brings back Smag 61 regarding the case of the Well of Exile,62 which follows the opinion of the Amemar and Rava [and not the Mishnah] even though it is against the opinion of the Jerusalem Talmud.63 Check it out for yourself in their words.64 And it is not a difficulty that here in the chapter: “He who hires workers [Ha-sokher]”65 it is claimed that it is forbidden for a non-Jew to castrate a pet belonging to a Jew after Rav Khidek,66 who said that the Noahides were forbidden to castrate animals and because it is said: “thou shalt not put a stumbling block before the blind” (Lev 19:14).67 And this is also the ruling of Smag.68 And if so, then it is clear to us that halakha – ostensibly – is like the baraitah taught in the bet midrash of Menashe: it excludes from the Noahide laws the establishment of courts and the “blessing” of God, while it includes the prohibition of castrating animals and the kilayim. And if this is the case, then we are back to the original question, for it apparently follows that the Noahides do not have a commandment about courts… But in fact it is the other way around: the opinion of Rav Khidek is quoted there, and he does not follow the baraitah taught in the beth midrash of Menashe because halakha does not agree with their [Menashe’s school] opinion on matters of courts and castration, but is just like Rav Khidek, who adds [to the Noahide commandments] only castration. And there is no problem with the baraitah in the first chapter of the tractate Avodah Zarah69 taught in the name of Rabbi Yosef: What does the verse mean: “He stood and measured the earth: he beheld [raa] and dissolved the nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered, and the ancient hills did bow. His ways are everlasting”? (Hab 3:6) – What will

60 Yitzhak ben Yaakov Alfasi ha-Kohen, also known by the acronym Rif, was a 12th-century Moroccan Talmudist and halakhic poskim (creator of legal rulings), author of Hilchot ha-Rif, one of the sources of the Shulchan Arukh, the most popular modern code of Jewish law. 61 Acronym from the title of the work Sepher mitzwot gadol by the thirteenth century French tosaphist Moses ben Jacob of Coucy. 62 Eruvin 104a. 63 Eruvin 5.32. 64 Sepher mitzwot gadol – negative commandments 65 – brings back the decision from Hilchot ha-Rif the end of chapter “He who elevated the tefilin [Ha-motzi tephillin]” in the commentary on tractate Eruvin, which follows the decision of the amoraites against the theoretically more authoritative tannaitic source, which is why the Rema cites it – despite its apparent irrelevance to the topic of his discussion – to show that halakha can follow the view of the amoraite Rabbi Yitzchak, rather than the view of the tannaitic Menashe. 65 Bava Metzia 90b. 66 In the text of the Gemara, rabbi Khidek appears. It is difficult to say why the Rema quotes the Gemara from Bava Metzia, since an analogous passage is found in the passage he discusses in Sanhedrin 56b. 67 This phrase is often understood as a prohibition against contributing, even indirectly, to someone breaking any of the commandments. In this case, the idea is not to cause a non-Jew to transgress by having him sterilize an animal. 68 Sepher mitzwot gadol, negative commandments #120. 69 Avodah Zarah 2b-3a.

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he “behold” (raa)? He will behold the seven commandments for Noahides, which they accepted but did not fulfil. Because they did not fulfil them, they were exempted from them. From here we learn that today Noah’s descendants have no commandments at all. However, this is not true, for here the Gemara challenges: Since they did, it paid them off! So it pays to be a sinner!? Rabbi Yosef70 said: Even if they fulfil them, they do not receive retribution for them, only as much as one who is not commanded. As Rabbi Khanina said: Greater is he who is commanded and fulfils than he who is not commanded and fulfils. Commentary of Rashi of blessed memory: That it is given to them is not good for them, for they do not receive retribution for fulfilling.71 Hence it is clear that they are still instructed as to the commandments, just as they were at the beginning. Thus, we have proved and explained that we judge the non-Jews according to the laws of the people of Israel, for they have been commanded upon them. If someone still persists, he persists because his ears are closed to arguments, and he wants to say that Noahide judgements are not like our judgements. We must say to him, do not follow this way! For it is written in the tractate Bava Kamma, in the further chapter “He who stole [Ha-gozel]”:72 It is taught in the baraitah: The Jew and the non-Jew who come before you for judgement, if you can judge in favour of the Jew according to the laws of the people of Israel, then judge in his favour and say: “These are our judgements. If you can judge in his favour according to the laws of the nations of the world, do so and say to him: “These are your judgements”. And if neither one nor the other is possible, then try to bend the law. These are the words of Rabbi Ishmael. But Rabbi Akiva73 said, It is forbidden to bend the law, for the sake of sanctifying God’s name. Rashi’s translation: “to bend the law”: in the process, until we acquit the Jew.74 Here the quotation from the Gemara ends. And we learn from here that Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Ishmael only argue about bending the law, but as to whether to judge a non-Jew according to the laws of the people of Israel, they do not argue. And this is what we should adhere to when we are sovereign.

70 In today’s standard edition of the Babylonian Talmud, these words are delivered not by Rabbi Yosef, but by the Mar son of Ravina [Mar Breih deRavina]. This entire section of the Gemara is not so much a quotation as an abbreviated paraphrase, but essentially retains the same meaning. 71 We do not find Rashi’s commentary of this content in a modern edition of the Talmud, but one of his commentaries makes a similar point. 72 Bava Kamma 113a. The chapter is here referred to as continuing because the tractate closes with two chapters beginning with the words “The one who stole”: Ha-gozel etzim – “He who stole the wood” and Ha-gozel u-maahil – “He who stole and fed [with the stolen]”. 73 Akiva ben Yosef, one of the most prominent Tannaites. 74 We do not find Rashi’s commentary of this content in current editions of the Talmud, but one of his commentaries makes a similar point.

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy

II Thus, we have explained and proved that we judge non-Jews according to the laws of the people of Israel, and that we judge them as if they were both circumcised.75 Now let us go directly to where our words have been going from the beginning, and tell of a thing that happened in the world. There was a man in a strange land,76 whose name is famous in the most distant places. He drew from deep waters, from fresh waters.77 He established and legislated, blessed by the inhabitants of heaven. He is a tree whose fruit is nutritious and whose leaves are healing (cf. Ez 47:12), and whose speech is clear (cf. Ps 119:140). This is the esteemed Gaon,78 our teacher and Meir of Padua.79 After long study and deliberation, he entered into partnership with a certain man who belonged to the wealthy of the country and who owned a printing house.80 They agreed to print a great work, the Mishnah Torah,81 which was written by a true and perfect master, our teacher Moshe, the son of an eminent teacher and judge, our teacher Maimon. As they thought, so they did, until finally, with God’s help, the moment came when the work was completed. And the Gaon added to it commentaries and explanations made according to his subtle reasonings, so that there was no straw left among the grain, and he cleared the path so that not a stone remained upon it. And behold, a certain man arose against him, also a mighty man, from among the rich of the country,82 and said: “And I will do so for myself, and I will print this book”. And so he did, and worst of all, he did it without the cooperation of the aforementioned Gaon because he wanted to harm him, exposing him – God forbid! – to a financial loss! After all, it is known that if the Gaon does not sell the books, he will bear the costs! And here I ask: according to our holy Torah, does it take two Jews to judge this case in the courts of the people of Israel?! Not so, after all

75 It is probable they are both Jewish. 76 Any place outside the Land of Israel (Eretz Israel) inhabited by an Israelite is considered foreign. In this case, it is Italy. The following passage – to the name of Meir of Padua – is written in rhyming prose. 77 That is, he possessed great wisdom and erudition. Cf. Shavuot 7a and Proverbs 20:5 and Rashi’s commentary there. 78 A title bestowed upon an eminent Jewish scholar. 79 Meir ben Yitzchak Katzenellenbogen, rabbi of Padua and (nominally) Venice, considered one of the greatest rabbinical authorities of his time. He was a relative of Moshe Isserles on his mother’s side. 80 The reference is to Alwise Bragadini, owner of an outhouse in Venice. Cf. K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 54–55, and A. Sief, ‫] הרמ״א‬Ha-Rema], Jerusalem 1957, p. 20–21. 81 The Mishneh Torah, also known as the Yad ha-Hazaka – “The Book of the Strong Hand”, is one of the first and to this day the most important halakhic codes, written in the 12th century by Maimonides. 82 The reference is to Marc Antonio Giustiniani (Justiniani), owner of an outhouse in Venice. Cf. K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [Talmud and its Printers], p. 54–55, and A. Sief, ‫[ הרמ״א‬Ha-Rema], p. 20–21.

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we have proven above that Gaon deserves a fair judgement! The proof will be divided into four parts, for out of four issues our case and this whole issue is composed. I claim that the judgement is on the side of Gaon and that he has the right of preference to sell his books. Today, because of the multitude of our sins, it is not in our power to judge cases like this according to our Torah. Nevertheless, we will not abandon what is due to us. Therefore, I say that every Jew, and everyone who really deserves to be called that83 should not buy any new book of Maimonides except the edition that came out from the hand of the aforementioned Gaon or his representatives. And here are four reasons.

III The first obvious rule appears in the chapter “One shall not dig [Lo yechphor]”:84 Said Rav Huna: If an inhabitant of an alley has built a windmill, and another in the same alley desires to build another next door, it is the law that the first may stop him. And it is clear from the words: “build… next door” that he has done so with the knowledge of the first, nevertheless the first may stop him. So also in the case which we are judging, the second mighty man had no right to print at all, while the said Gaon had the right to stop him, as we have proved above. And this would also be the verdict of the judges of the people of Israel, except that through our sins we remain under a foreign power. Nevertheless, we must do what we can, and therefore we will render a verdict such as we have explained. Even though Rav Alfasi85 and Rosh86 decided, the law is not as according to the view of Rav Huna, for he is the voice of the individual against the majority, I nevertheless contend that the matter must be leaned upon. For behold, Mordechai87 in the chapter “One shall not dig” says in the name of Abiasaph88 in these words: When the alley is fenced on three sides and only on one side is open, and Reuwen89 lives just near the closed end,

83 Kol Israel u-mi shee-be-szem Israel yichune. Probably the author’s intention is to emphasize that he is addressing both more and less pious Jews. Cf. Moshe Alshich, commentary on the parasha Pinchas 26. 84 Bava Batra 21b. 85 Rif 11:1. 86 Rabbenu Asher – Asher ben Jehiel, author of perhaps the most influential medieval Ashkenazi commentary on the Talmud. Lived at the turn of the fourteenth century in Germany and Spain. Rosh 2:12. 87 Mordechai ben Hillel – thirteenth-century German commentator on the Talmud and posek halakha. Mordechai’s commentary to the tractate Bava Batra paragraph 516. 88 Title of a never-printed work by Eliezer ben Joel Ha-Levi, called after the title of his major work Ravia, a thirteenth-century German tosafist. The Abiezer was never printed and is known today only by quotations. 89 Reuwen, Shimon and Levi – the names of the three eldest sons of the biblical Yaakov, by their commonness used in examples intended to illustrate halakhic discussion; they are the Hebrew “Tom, Dick and Harry”.

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy

and behold, Shimon moves in and resides near the open end, so that those wishing to buy something to enter the alley must pass by him. Verdict: He can be stopped – just as Rav Huna said. Halakha must therefore be like Rav Huna, since the proof is brought here from him. Since this is the case, we distinguish a situation in which harm occurs, as here in the case of the avenue in which it clearly occurred, when everyone agrees that the halakha is as established by Rav Huna. In our case, too, there is a situation of obvious harm, for the other mighty one announced that each of his books would be one florin cheaper than those published by Gaon. And seeing this, everyone came to buy from him, and he could afford to sell cheaper, for he belongs to the rich of that land. Therefore, in our case too, halakha will follow the opinion of Rav Huna, and since we have already established that the Noahides are judged like the Jews, therefore I pass judgement as I said above. And it cannot be said that for the sake of social peace90 or in order not to arouse hostility one should be lenient and transgress the law. This case does not resemble that of the tosafists91 – from whose sources we draw – in the first chapter of the tractate Avodah Zarah,92 because to the question of economic interests [davar mekakh u-mimekhar] the argument from hostility does not apply, for anyone can justify himself by saying: it is not necessary to buy and sell. Check it in their words. And, therefore, there is no need to wait here for the judgement.93 The second base is sharp, clear and flows straight.94 We find it also in the chapter “One shall not dig”. We read there:95 Rav Dimi of Nehardea carried figs in a boat. Exilarch96 said to Rava: Go, see if he is a scholar of the Torah, and if so, give him the marketplace. And Rashi, of blessed memory, in his commentary shows us a great light, explaining: “give him the market” – see to it that no one sells figs in the city until he sells his. This is also written in the tractate Nedarim:97 Rava said: a scholar in the Torah has the right to declare: “I am a scholar, give me preference”. For it is written: “The sons of David were priests” (2 Sam 8:18) – just as the priest receives the first share of the harvest, so the scholar receives the first share of the harvest. We may apply this to our case, as if both parties were Jews, and by judgement the Gaon will have the right to sell first. Nevertheless, since the

90 Literally, shalom malchut – “peace of the kingdom”, a rule requiring Jews to act in such a way as not to cause animosity with their non-Jewish surroundings. 91 Tosafists – a group of several hundred scholars active from the twelfth to the fourteenth century mainly in what is now France and Germany, whose commentaries and decisions formed a collective commentary under the name “additions” (tosafot). 92 Tosafot’s comment Asur laset u-latet imahem in Avodah Zarah 2a. 93 Cf. Berakhot 40a. 94 The play on words which is a pseudo-quotation from Genesis 2:14: chad, kal ha-holech kadmat yosher brings to mind the verse Chiddekel hu ha-holech qidmat Ashshur – “Chiddekel that flows towards the east of Ashur”. 95 Bava Batra 22a. 96 The title of the leader of the Babylonian diaspora. 97 Nedarim 62a. Modern editions of the Talmud use different vocabulary at this point.

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mighty one has not accepted the judgement, we must build a fence so that no one buys from him. And one should not hesitate to say, After all, it is said in the tractate Avot:98 “And he that puts the crown [of the Torah] to his own use shall perish, etc.”, since the Gaon does not want to benefit from the Torah, but only needs the means to live. Such a charge is nonsense! Long ago, after all, the great Eagle – Maimonides, who has so influenced us through his commentary on the Mishnah, explained that the right of preference in the sale of merchandise to Torah scholars is a share and inheritance from the table of God, like the share from the harvest to the Kohen99 and the tithe to the Levite. Therefore, a judgement should be given as we said above. Furthermore, it is fitting for everyone to offer our wealth to support financially the said Gaon,100 thus fulfilling the commandment, “that thou shalt meditate on it day and night” (Josh 1:8).101 For this is how the law of Tur 102 is established in Yoreh De’ah 246 that anyone who assists from his property so that others may learn the Torah is fulfilling the commandment “that thou shalt meditate”. The third great principle is found in the midrash Torat Kohanim to parashah103 Be-har:104 “And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour’s hand” (Lev 25:14).105 The Torah teaches us here that when you come to buy something, you should buy from someone of your people, and similarly with selling. Here it clearly and obviously follows that even if the aforementioned Gaon had been none other than one of the simple folk, he would have deserved a favourable ruling in the case, so that the judgement all the more must be favourable to him. And it is not to be thought that the rule applies only when a non-Jew and a Jew sell in your town on the same terms, but when a non-Jew sells cheaper, it is better to buy from him to gain. No, such words are absurd, for here we learn in the chapter “What is usury [Eizehu neshech]”:106 Rabbi Yosef taught in the baraitah: “If you lend money to anyone of my people” (Exod 22:24) – when you have a choice between “of my people” and a non-Jew – the one “of my people” has preference, the poor and the rich – the poor has preference, etc. And Gemara asks: when you have a choice between “of my people” and a non-Jew, then “of my people” takes

98 mAvot 4.5, https://www.sefaria.org/Pirkei_Avot.4.5?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en [accessed: 4.10.2021]. 99 A priest in the Jerusalem temple, a descendant of Aaron, the brother of Moses. 100 Pesachim 53b; Shabbat 63a; Ketubot 111b. 101 A verse traditionally interpreted as a command to devote to Torah study to the greatest extent possible. 102 Actually Arba’ah Turim – the most important halakhic codex written at the turn of the fourteenth century in Spain by Yaakov ben Ashrer before the creation of Shulchan Arukh. Tur Yoreh De’ah 246,1. 103 That is, the pericope – the weekly portion of the Pentateuch. 104 Sifra, Be-har 3. Siphra also called Torat Kohanim is a collection of midrash to Leviticus. Parasha Be-har is a passage from Lev 25:1–26:2. 105 “Neighbour”, literally amit – “a fellow Jew”, here means a Jew. 106 Bava Metzia 71a.

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy

preference – it’s obvious!107 Answer: said the Rav Nachman on behalf of the Rav Huna: this baraitah is necessary for you to know that this applies even to a loan at interest, for it is written: “Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury” (Deut 23:21),108 and this positive commandment is overcome by “If you lend money”.109 All the more so in the case we are considering, the Gaon deserves to be given profit in the first place. And it cannot be said that this refers to a situation where there is no loss and only a lack of gain, and that in a situation of self-inflicted loss one need not give preference to the Jew. This is one of the distinctions that are made in the chapter “One who was travelling […] and night fell [Mi she-hechshich]”:110 he gives his money pouch to a non-Jew, etc. as Gemara puts it – said Rava: this applies only to his money pouch, but not to something he found.111 If so, it is clear that there is a difference between loss of proper capital and loss of gain. The same distinction, based on the Jerusalem Talmud, is also made by the Smag with regard to the laws of the middle days of the holidays,112 but he does not call it a loss [davar ha-avud], but something affecting the proper capital [agrama de-karna].113 I contend that these things [the preference of buying from a Jew] also apply to the case of loss [on the part of the buyer], for here it is clearly written in the first chapter of tractate Avodah zarah114 and in the chapter “The whole hour [Kol sha’ah]” in tractate Pesachim:115 It is taught in the baraitah: “Ye shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself; thou shalt give it unto the stranger [ger] that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto a foreigner [nokhri]” (Deut 14:21).116 All I know from here is that it can be given to a stranger and sold to a foreigner. How do I know that it can also be sold to a stranger? It is written, “thou shalt give […] or thou mayest sell” etc. Rashi comments: This refers to the stranger mentioned above: “unto the stranger […] he may eat it; or thou mayest sell”. Gemara further asks: How do I know that it can also be given to a foreigner? It is

107 The Baraitah must contain some teaching that is not understood by itself. 108 The imperative of the original is lost in Cylkow’s translation into Polish: La-nochri tashich, literally: “To a foreigner for usury give”. 109 It is established here that preference is given to a nonprofit loan to one of one’s own people over a profit-making loan to a stranger. 110 Shabbat 153a. 111 With the beginning of Shabbat at dusk on Friday, a traveling Jew is forbidden to carry. In such a situation, the Mishnah instructs him to hand over his belongings to a non-Jewish travel companion. The Amoraita Rava specifies that he may not do so with something he finds after Shabbat. 112 Chol ha-moed – the middle days of Pesach and Sukkot, having the status of semi-holidays. Sepher mitzwot gadol, negative commandments paragraph 75. 113 This refers to the halakhic concept of melechet davar ha-aved, according to which, on chol ha-moed, activities forbidden on holidays are permitted, provided that their omission would lead to financial loss. 114 Avodah Zarah 20a. 115 Pesachim 21b. 116 Throughout the following passage, a stranger means a Jew and a foreigner means a non-Jew.

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written: “thou shalt give it that he may eat it or thou mayest sell it”. Rashi comments: Both expressions refer to a foreigner, for if “thou shalt give it” did not refer to a foreigner, then it would be forbidden to give it away to him and it would be written: “thou shalt give it, that he may eat it, unto a stranger that is in thy gates, or thou mayest sell it unto a foreigner”, then giving it would not refer to a foreigner.117 In the subsequent fragments of Gemara, Rabbi Yehuda said: “No. The meaning of the words is as it is explicitly written: to the stranger [ger] one must give, and to the foreigner [nokhri] one must sell. This is a difficulty for Rabbi Meir [who authored the above interpretations]. Rabbi Yehuda would say: If it occurred to you that it is as Rabbi Meir claims, it would be written: “thou shalt give it, that he may eat it, and thou shalt sell it unto a foreigner”. Why write “or”? So it must be that the meaning of the words is as directly written. And Rabbi Meir? “Or else” is, according to him, to give preference to giving to a stranger over selling to a foreigner. Rashi’s explanation: If one can give to a stranger, one does not sell to a foreigner. And since this is the case, then “unto the stranger that is in thy gates thou shalt give” is the essence of the commandment, and only insofar as there is no stranger may one sell to a foreigner. Gemara poses another difficulty to Rabbi Yehuda: Since there is a commandment to help a stranger and no commandment to help a foreigner, we do not need a separate verse to teach us that giving to a stranger takes precedence over selling to a foreigner. This is where we end the quotation from Gemara. It is clear here that Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehuda are only arguing about whether we need a verse to know that the stranger takes precedence over the foreigner, but as to the very fact that the stranger takes precedence, they both agree. Even if it means a financial loss for the giver [mafsid be-karna], he is obligated to fulfil the commandment “unto the stranger that is in thy gates, thou shalt give” first, instead of selling meat to a foreigner. And so, in our case also, every person is obligated to fulfil the verse “buy from thy neighbour” – the neighbour takes precedence. Moreover, we learn from here that the neighbour takes precedence, even if a non-Jew sells cheaper. And here is the decision in the chapter “If one was taken out [Mi she-hotsi’uhu]” in tractate Eruvin:118 When Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehuda are arguing – the halakha is like Rabbi Yehuda. And [in the matter under discussion] Rabbi Yehuda argues that in order to give precedence to the stranger, we do not need a verse at all. That being the case, when it is written “buy from thy neighbour”, then this applies when even it is cheaper elsewhere; after all, if it were a situation where prices are equal, then we would not need the verse to understand this, since it is obvious that we are obligated to help the survival of our people. Learn from here: Even if you have a choice to assist a stranger, making profit or your neighbour, suffering a loss, your neighbour takes precedence. And in the case we are

117 The above interpretations are perfectly legitimate in view of the lack of punctuation in the original text. 118 Eruvin 47a.

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy

considering, it does not take long to conclude that the verdict is in favour of the Gaon and he should be ready to sell his books first. And to every rational man this is obvious. The fourth principle – the foundation of the building! – is found in the second chapter of tractate Ketubot:119 It is forbidden to keep unchecked Torah scrolls in the house for more than thirty days, for it is written: “let not wickedness dwell in thy tents” (Job 11:14). And Ashre explains,120 and likewise Hagahot maimoniot in the seventh chapter of the Laws of the Torah Scroll,121 that this law does not apply to the Torah alone, but also to the Prophets, the Writings, and all the rest of the holy books, such as the Talmud, the halakhic rulings, that is, all written Torah. And it applies to the latter all the more so because we make most of our halakhic decisions based on the Talmud and other books by various authors, and if there is a mistake in any of them, there can easily be a mistake in the decision, and what is forbidden will be permitted, and what is permitted will be forbidden, what is ritually unclean will be considered clean, and so on. And so, we also learn in the chapter “One shall not dig”.122 Rava said: if we have a choice between two teachers for children: one teaches quickly but makes mistakes, and the other does not make mistakes but teaches slowly, then we choose the one who is quick, although he makes mistakes because mistakes can be corrected in time. Rav Dimi of Nehardea said: we hire the one who teaches slowly but does not make mistakes, for error in teaching cannot be corrected. For it is written: “For Joab and all Israel remained there six months until he had cut off every male in Edom” (1 Kings 11:16).123 When he later stood before David, the latter asked him: “What is the reason that you did that?”.124 He answered him, “As it is written: You shall blot out the males [zakhar] of Amalek” (Deut 25:19). He answered, I was taught, “You shall blot out the remembrance [zekher] of Amalek”.125 [Joab] took a sword to kill his teacher, for it is written: “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with a slack hand […] And cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood!” (Jer 48:10).126 Thus claims Gemara. Now, Rava has a different opinion only in the case of a teacher who is quick but inaccurate, but if there is one who makes no mistakes and is quick, and another who is

119 Ketubot 19b. 120 Rosh, commentary on the tractate Ketubot 2:11. 121 Hagahot maimoniot – Meir ben Yekutiel ha-Kohen of Rottenburg – a thirteenth-century German commentator on the Talmud; Hagahot maimoniot 7,10. 122 Bava Batra 21a. 123 Biblia Święta to jest Księgi Starego y Nowego Przymierza z Żydowskiego y Greckiego Języka na Polski pilnie y wiernie przetłumaczone [The Holy Bible that is the Books of the Old and New Covenant from the Jewish and Greek Languages Carefully and Faithfully Translated into Polish], 1881, http:// biblehub.com/pol/1_kings/11.htm [accessed: 13.03.2016]. 124 That is: Why did you kill the men while sparing the women? Exterminating the Amalekite nation is one of the Biblical commandments; cf. Maimonides, ‫[ ספר המצות‬Sepher ha-mitzwot], positive commandment 188. 125 In a Torah scroll without punctuation, both sentences look identical. 126 In fact, the Gemara text here differs slightly from that cited by Rem.

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quick but makes mistakes, it is obvious that one chooses the one who is accurate and quick so as not to make Joab’s mistake. So also in our case it is proper that every one of the people of Israel should not choose the curse by buying a book unchecked, transgressing the prohibition: “let not wickedness dwell in thy ten”. If, on the other hand, the judged would argue that, after all, every person knows that these prints help to spread the Torah among Israel, and if it were not for them, God forbid, it would be forgotten, therefore care must be taken not to wreak destruction by banning them. Such words mean nothing, for here I have already explained that in financial matters the category of hostility does not apply, and it is correct to say that we do not need these books. Moreover, it is clear that those who print them are doing it for themselves – to make a profit – just like from any other business. Therefore, if they lose out on them one time, they will not stop printing them: on the contrary, they will desire to make up for the loss, and they will assiduously continue, and eventually from acting with the wrong intention they will come to acting for the right intention, and so the people of Israel will gain from it, and evil will not befall them instead of good. And if you say, here we learn in the first chapter of the tractate Bava Batra:127 Ifra Hormiz (Ifera Hurmiz), the mother of King Shapur, sent four hundred dinars to Rabbi Ami, but he did not accept them. She sent to Rava, and he accepted them. Rabbi Ami heard about this and was outraged: Does Rava not accept the lesson of the verse: “When the boughs are withered, they shall be broken off; the women shall come and set them on fire”! (Is 27:11). Rashi of blessed memory explains to us: “When they are withered” – the merits and “moisture” of the charity that is in their hands – “they shall be broken off ”.128 Rava, on the other hand, objected: This case is different, because it is for the sake of peace with the kingdom. Also, the position of the rabbis stems from a concern for social consensus. And since in the case we are judging here there is no concern for social consensus, as I explained above on behalf of the tosafists, therefore it is proper to take away their right [to sell books] so that they do not profit from them.

IV Here is the end of the hunt for words (Job 18:2): the Gaon won the case, let him take over the market, and he has the right to preference in selling his books. So let no man buy the newly printed Maimonides’ books, but only those that have come out of the hand of the Gaon or his representatives. So let [Gaon] reap the harvest and trim the vine, and defend himself with an iron against anyone who intersects his way and transgresses the law. So we have agreed on the verdict: Behold, we excommunicate [meshmatin], curse [mechermin], and put a curse of banishment [be-niddui cherem] and abandonment [shamata] – “The sentence is according to the decree of the watchmen, and according to the word

127 Bava Batra 10b. 128 The vocabulary of Rashi’s commentary is slightly different here.

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy

of the holy ones” (Dan 4:17)129 every student and scholar, young or old, in our whole country, who would buy a new edition of Maimonides’ work, and not the one that came out from the hand of the Gaon or his representatives. And everyone who breaketh the wall, a serpent shall bite (cf. Koh 10:8), and there will be complaint and loss (cf. Ps 144:14). And so, all who help them are put under a curse [cherem], as they themselves are, and all the people of Israel are obliged to ostracize [lindot] these sinners and not forgive them until they die. And their burial should be that of a donkey (cf. Jer 22:19). But he who heeds the serpent shall live (cf. Num 21:9),130 and shall receive blessing from the Almighty until his mouth grows tired of saying “enough”.131 Written on the first day of the week, 4 Elul 1550. And these are the words of the insignificant man, who desires only to lie in the dust at the feet of the Sages and to quench his thirst with their words, to learn from them and to shape himself into their likeness [le-hergil atzmo be-midoteihem], and to be the least significant of their servants. These are the words spoken by Moshe, son of my father Israel, may he live long good days, called Moshe Isserles of Kraków.

*** The ruling issued by Rabbi Moshe Isserles settled the dispute, as expected, in favour of Rabbi Meir and the printer Bragadini. Isserles justified his competence to deal with the controversy by the fact that it concerns a dispute between a Jew and a non-Jew, which is covered by the regulations contained in the so-called Noahic laws, which also treat the rules of coexistence between Israelites and strangers (non-Jews).132 In making his ruling, Rema took into account the fact that Bragadini had printed the Mishneh Torah before Giustiniani, and this with the permission of the author of the commentary. Giustiniani, who at the time of the ruling had not yet finished printing the disputed work, did so against the wishes of Rabbi Meir, who is listed in the first volume of his edition as the commentator on Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, and in this way robbed him of his property – one might add: his intellectual property – and theft is a forbidden and punishable act under Noahic law. The justification for the ruling consists of four arguments, which can be put succinctly

129 Biblia Święta to jest Księgi Starego y Nowego Przymierza z Żydowskiego y Greckiego Języka na Polski pilnie y wiernie przetłumaczone [The Holy Bible that is the Books of the Old and New Covenant from the Jewish and Greek Languages Carefully and Faithfully Translated into Polish], 1881, http:// biblehub.com/pol/daniel/4.htm [accessed: 13.03.2016]. 130 In addition to the reference to biblical history, the word “serpent” – “nahash” is an acronym for the words “niddui” – “exile”, “ostracism”, “cherem”, – “curse”, “excommunication”, “shamata” – “abandonment”, “curse”. 131 Cf. Ta’anit 9a and 22b and Shabbat 32b and Makkot 23b. 132 See P. Majdanik, Tora dla narodów świata [The Torah for the Nations of the World], passim.

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as follows: 1. the printer who first began to print a work may stop another publisher who as second in line wishes to begin or has begun printing the same book; 2. the scholar bound by contract with the chosen printer is entitled to preference in the sale of his book because this simultaneously secures his livelihood, and in the social axiology of Jews he deserves this because he is engaged in Torah study, which is the most important value; 3. the Jew buyer should purchase the book first from his fellow Jew, and not from a stranger (admittedly both printers were strangers, but with Bragadini the interests of Katzenellenbogen himself – a Jew – were connected, and therefore Jews should purchase a book from that edition, whose sale will enable repayment of the investors and will secure his claims arising from intellectual property, and not the interests of Giustiniani and Cornelius Adelkind, the publisher of the book, who – let us add – was a Jewish convert to Christianity, which fact aroused the dislike on the part of Jews);133 4. besides, it is forbidden for a Jew to keep in his house unverified (unauthorized) texts (books), and the announced commentary of Katzenellenbogen in Giustiniani’s edition was precisely such, and thus could be forbidden: “Let there be no iniquity in your tents”, and whoever would buy a book, admittedly spreading the Torah, but as an unauthorized text that might contain errors, would be cursed. As a result, Isserles forbade Jews to buy books from Giustiniani’s edition. On the strength of the decision of the rabbi of Kraków every Jew who purchased them fell under excommunication (Hebrew: cherem).134 Although in light of Venetian law this ruling was of little importance to Giustiniani, because it did not apply to him, Rabbi Meir used a dangerous weapon against him because the entire Jewish community was obliged (at least theoretically) to comply with the ruling of Isserles, and this prohibited the purchase of books printed by Giustiniani under the most severe penalty – cherem. In this respect, the Venetian printer was powerless, for in principle he could not sell his edition of the Mishneh Torah containing the commentary of Katzenellenbogen, and probably suffered a financial loss. At the same time, the construction of this ruling reveals the power of halakhah, which, while not having the formal power to be effective against non-Jews, is essentially able to protect the wronged party, its rights, and socially leads to the achievement of justice. However, the matter did not end there. Giustiniani offended by the decision of the rabbi from Poland turned for help to Pope Julius III (Giovanni Maria del Monte). Giustiniani’s representatives in the dispute were Jewish apostates, who in turn were supported by the Dominicans. The Giustiniani-Bragadini dispute

133 Cf. K. Pilarczyk, Drukowana książka hebrajska [Printed Hebrew Book], p. 104. 134 Cf. [Sz.A. Horodezky] ‫ שלש מאות שנה של יהדות פולין‬,‫ הורודצקי‬.‫א‬.‫[ ש‬Shalosh meot shanah shel yahadut Polin], Tel-Aviv 1945, p. 21.

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Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Kraków in the face of controversy

was listened to by as many as six cardinals appointed by the Pope and members of the Congregation of the Inquisition. The entire commission was chaired by Cardinal Giovanni Pietro Caraffa, the future Pope Paul IV, who was impressed by the recent conversion to Judaism of the Franciscan Corneglia da Montalcino.135 Thanks to Caraffa’s efforts, he had returned to Christianity, but only to die at the stake as a son of the Church. Now the cardinal took revenge on the Jews for the humiliation of what he believed was the conversion of the Franciscan to Judaism. The commission suggested to the pope that The Talmud be burnt, although not all of the commission’s members, including the Hebraist Andreas Masius, were in favour of such a solution.136 Julius III acceded to the request of the majority and by a bull of 12 August 1553 ordered to confiscate and burn the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmud as well as other Hebrew books in all Italian states.137 Less than a month later, on 9 September 1553, on the feast of the Jewish New Year, the Campo di Fiori in Rome witnessed a ceremonial burning of confiscated copies of Hebrew books, starting a large-scale campaign of their destruction, which probably did not spare Giustiniani’s unsold prints either. The Roman Inquisition demanded that the fonts used for the printing of Hebrew books in publishing houses also be confiscated, ordering that they be handed over to the nuncios residing in the capitals of the Italian states. At the request of the Jews from Italian countries, who were particularly affected by the repressions of the Inquisition, the pope issued a new bull Cum sicut nuper on 29 May 1554, in which he slightly changed the previous resolution.138 From then on, only the Talmud was to be destroyed by burning, while other Hebrew books were no longer included. In addition, there was an order that all Jewish books printed in Hebrew in the future were to be inspected, and furthermore, all books that were still in the possession of Jews were to be examined by appraisers, who were to determine whether they contained anything that would offend Christianity; after removing such passages, they could be returned to their owners. The Jews were allowed to possess Hebrew books which contained nothing offensive. Such were the consequences and a peculiar epilogue of the dispute between Rabbi Katzenellenbogen and the printer Giustiniani. 135 Cornelio da Montalcio was sentenced by the Inquisition to death by burning at the stake. The sentence was carried out on 4 September 1553; see more in M. J. Heller, Printing the Talmud, p. 217–228. The dispute between Bragadini and Giustiniani and its wider context and consequences of this controversy are popularly described by Alessandro Marzo Magno in his book: A. Marzo Magno, Bound in Venice. The Serene Republic and the Dawn of the Book, Roma 2013. 136 D. Amram, The Makers of Hebrew Book, p. 264–266. 137 Cf. The Apostolic See and the Jews, ed. Sh. Simonsohn, vol. 6: Documents: 1546–1555, Toronto 1990, p. 2887–2890; K.R. Stow, The Burning of the Talmud in 1553 in the Light of Sixteenth-Century Catholic Attitudes Toward the Talmud, “Bibliotheque d’Humanisme et Renaisance” 34 (1972), p. 435–459. 138 Cf. The Apostolic See and the Jews, ed. Sh. Simonsohn, vol. 6, p. 2920–2921.

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3.

New Testament in the Jewish language printed in Kraków in 1540–1541

The Jagiellonian Library in Kraków holds a unique old print which is little known not only to biblical scholars but also to bibliologists, philologists, Judaists and other researchers, which is confirmed by the fact that it has not been the subject of a separate comprehensive study so far. It is the New Testament printed in Hebrew type in the years 1540–1541 in Kraków by Paul Helicz in his printing house. In the world’s old and modern public collections there are four copies,1 of which only one is currently known, the one from the Jagiellonian Library.2 It was printed in a Hebrew font, in the so-called German italics (not square script), in bibliographic format 2°, with the dimensions 29.8 × 19.8 cm. The print column is 14.2 cm wide and 23.8 cm high. Biblical sigla (references to parallel texts or indicating Messianic texts) are printed in the margins of the pages, with a page header at the top. The outer margin is 3 cm, and the inner margin 2.5 cm. The print consists of 146 unnumbered

1 The first copy mentioned by J.Ch. Wolf (J.Ch. Wolf, Bibliotheca hebraea, sive notitia tum auctorum hebr. cuiuscunque aetatis, tum scriptorum, quae vel Hebraice primum exarata vel ab aliis conversa sunt, ad nostram aetatem deducta: accedit in calce Jacobi Gaffarelli Index Codicum Cabbalistic. MSS. quibus Jo. Picus, Mirandulanus Comes, usus est, vol. 1–4, Hamburgi–Lipsiae 1715–1733, [repr. New York–London 1967], vol. 2/459), which is described below, the second copy is in the Bodleian Library in Oxford (see M. Steinschneider, Catalogus librorum hebraeorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana, vol. 1–2, Berolini 1852–1860, vol. 1, item 5194/1; a more recent catalogue by A.E. Cowley, A Concise Catalogue of the Hebrew printed Books in the Bodleian Library, Oxford 1929 no longer mentions it), the third one, referred to by M. Bałaban (M. Bałaban, Historja Żydów w Krakowie i na Kazimierzu 1304–1868 [A History of Jews in Kraków and Kazimierz], vol. 1: 1304–1655, Kraków 1991 [repr. 1931], p. 529, fn. 18), is in the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York; the fourth one is from the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków. 2 Others are no longer mentioned in recent studies by either Ch. Shmeruk (Ch. Shmeruk, ,‫ שמרוק‬.‫ח‬ ‫[ רשימה ביבליוגראפית של דפוסי פולין ביידיש עד גזירות ת״ח ות״ט‬Bibliography of Yiddish Books Printed to the Middle of the 17th Century], [in:] Id., ‫[ ספרות יידיש בפולין‬Yiddish Literature in Poland. Historical Studies and Perspectives], Jerusalem 1981, p. 75–116), nor Y. Vinograd ([Y. Vinograd], ‫ אוצר הספר‬,‫ וינוגרד‬.‫י‬ ‫[ העברי‬Thesaurus of the Hebrew Book], vol. 1–2, Jerusalem 1993–1995), nor M.J. Heller (M.J. Heller, The Sixteenth Century Hebrew Book. An Abridged Thesaurus, vol. 1–2, Leiden–Boston 2003–2004; Id., Studies in the Making of the Early Hebrew Book, Leiden–Boston 2008).

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New Testament in the Jewish language printed in Kraków in 1540–1541

pages (ref: A–2,3 aa–mm4 , nn4 ) and is half-bound (nineteenth-century binding) with a reference number Cim. 8119 (old ref. Teol. 4959). Its provenance is not precisely known; it is described as “from old stock”.5 The title page of the New Testament is decorated with a vignette depicting two pillars entwined with garlands and crowned with an arch at the top and a beam at the bottom, under which are the torsos of two figures, and between them a cherub holding two coats of arms – on the right the coat of arms of the Sforza family (a crowned serpent swallowing a child), and on the left the coat of arms of King Sigismund I the Old (a crowned eagle interwoven with the letter S).4 At the end of the book (in Hebrew) on page 146 is embossed the coat of arms of Piotr Gamrat, archbishop of Gniezno, with trilingual two biblical verses (Hebrew, Latin and Greek) taken from the Book of Psalms (Ps 127:1 6 and 103:5 6 ). It is preceded (in Hebrew) by a two-page dedication in Latin written by the printer in honour of his patron and protector. From the title page of the book, we learn that it contains the New Testament, called the gospel, transcribed in Hebrew letters and printed in Kraków by Paul Helicz in 1540: ‫דאס נויי טעסטימענט’ דאס דא ווערט‬ ‫גינענט עבניעליאון’ דאס אישט אויף‬ ‫דוייטש איין וראליכי באטשפט’ גליך‬ ‫ווי אים עבירייעשן בשורה טובה‬ Gedrukt zu krokau durch Paul helic im Iar M.D.XXXX Dos noye testement. Dos da vert / genent evanielyon. Dos ist oyf / doytsh eyn vrolikhe botshft. Gleykh / vi im ebereyeshn be-shura tovah / Gedrukt zu krokau durkh / Paul helitz im Iar / M.D.XXXX

3 It is similar to two (out of four) coats of arms embossed in the first book published by the Helicz family in Kraków, Mirkewes ha-mishneh (1534); on the frontispiece of this print we find the coats of arms of the Polish Crown (an eagle) and Lithuania (a mounted knight, Vytis), as well as the coat of arms of the Sforza family (a dragon swallowing a child) – of the Italian family of Bona, wife of King Sigismund I – and of the city of Kraków – see LDKHP, p. 67. 4 “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Ps 103:5, KJV). 5 See Katalog poloników XVI wieku Biblioteki Jagiellońskiej [Catalogue of Polonica of the Sixteenth Century of the Jagiellonian Library], ed. M. Malicki, E. Zwinogrodzka; ed. M. Gołuszka [et al.], vol. 1–3, Kraków 1992–1995, p. 204 (item 1677). 6 “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it” (KJV).

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New Testament in the Jewish language printed in Kraków in 1540–1541

Fig. 3.1 Title page of Dos noye testement, Kraków 1540–1541

Fig. 3.2 Card 146 Dos noye testement with a dedication to Bishop Piotr Gamrat and with his coat of arms

However, the colophon after the dedication shows that the printing was completed in 1541: Me uero, ut paterna pietate complecti, et fortunulas meas fauore et patrocinio suo tueri augere, et commendatas habere uelit, supplici deuotione eandem R. P. tuam praecor. Quam Deus opti. maximus perpetuo foelicem et incolumem seruare dignetur. Craccouiae ex Officina mea. Anno Domini Millesimo, Quingetesimo, Quadragesimo Primo.

The very fact that we are dealing with such an atypical print in sixteenth century Poland leads us to ask many questions: (1) who was its printer/publisher; (2) in what language was it printed; (3) in what historical and religious context did it appear, especially for whom was it intended; (4) what was the fate of the edition; (5) what is the present significance of its known copy for scientific research (conclusion)?

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New Testament in the Jewish language printed in Kraków in 1540–1541

3.1

Printer Asher/Paul Helicz

Paul Helicz, mentioned in the title page of the New Testament, was one of the three Helicz brothers who owned a printing house, primarily but not exclusively, in Kraków. He was born around 1517 into a Jewish family and named Asher (ben Chaim/Hayyim Helicz).7 In the years 1534–1541, he was a printer and co-owner of a printing house (together with his brothers Shmuel and Eliakim) in Kraków. He is also recorded as a printer near Wrocław in Psie Pole (Hundsfeld) (1543–1547?) and Legnica (Lignitz) (1548–1550). His name was only mentioned in two books from Kraków: in the first Hebrew printing from that city Sha’are dura (1534 – Asher) and in Dos noye testement (1540–1541). These are not the only historical sources in which his name appears. The very change of name from Jewish to Christian was connected with the conversion of Asher (and the other Helicz brothers) from Judaism to Catholicism. In the aforementioned dedication attached to the New Testament, Asher signed himself “Paulus Haliciensis Neochristian[us], Calcographus Craccouiensis…”. Although we do not know the circumstances and motives of his conversion, its attestation can be found in four documents from the 1630s. The first and the oldest one, is an oblata (an entry of a legal act in the court books) of a privilege of King Sigismund I, found by me several years ago in the State Archive in Lublin. The privilege was granted in 1536 to the Helicz brothers who had converted to Catholicism; it prohibited Jews from importing books from

7 Cf. I. Schiper, ‫משפחה און דאס עלטסטע ״יידיש טייטשע״ בון אין‬-‫ די עלטסטע יידישע דרוקער‬,‫שיפער‬.‫[ י‬Di elteste yidishe druker-mishpoche un dos elteste “yidisz-taytshe” buch in Poyln], “Bicher Welt” 3 (1928), p. 24–28, 4 (1928), p. 16–37; M. Bałaban, Drukarstwo żydowskie w Polsce XVI w. [Jewish Printing in Poland in the Sixteenth Century], [in:] Pamiętnik Zjazdu Naukowego im. Jana Kochanowskiego w Krakowie 8 i 9 czerwca 1930 [Records of the Jan Kochanowski Scholarly Meeting in Kraków on 8 and 9 June 1930], Kraków 1931, p. 103–106, 117–118; Id., Historja Żydów [A History of the Jews], p. 131–134; B.H.D. Friedberg, ‫ תולדות הגפוס העברי בפולניה‬,‫ פרידברג‬.‫ד‬.‫ =ח‬History of Hebrew Typography in Poland, Antwerpen 1932, 2. wyd. Tel-Aviv 1950, p. 1–4; B. Szlosberg, ”‫ ”מרככת המשנה‬,‫ שלאסבערג‬.‫ב‬ ‫“ = – דער עלטסטער גדרוקטער יידישער שפראך־דאקומענט‬Markeves Hamishne” – najstarszy drukowany zabytek języka żydowskiego (Kraków 1534) [“Markeves Hamishne” – the Oldest Printed Monument of the Jewish Language (Kraków 1534)], “JIWO Bleter” 13 (1938), p. 313–324; A.M. Habermann, (‫ הברמן המדפיסים בני חיים הליץ )קראקא ר״צ – קושטא שכ״ב‬.‫מ‬.‫ = א‬The Sons of Hayyim Halicz, a Family of Hebrew Printers (with six facsimilies), “Kiryat Sefer” 33 (1957/58), p. 509–520; Drukarze dawnej Polski od XV do XVIII wieku [Printers of the Former Polish Commonwealth from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century], vol. 1: Małopolska [Lesser Poland], part 1, Wiek XV–XVI [From the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century], ed. A. Kawecka-Gryczowa, Wrocław 1983, p. 382–384; J. Wojakowski, Jewish Printing in former Polish Commonwealth, p. 137–136; K. Pilarczyk, Heliczowie – luminarze i bojkotowani konwertyci [The Helicz Family – Luminaries and Boycotted Converts], “Gutenberg” 1 (2000), p. 48–49; Id., Heliczowie [The Helicz Family], [in:] Encyklopedia Krakowa [The Encyclopaedia of Kraków], ed. A.H. Stachowski, Warszawa–Kraków 2000, p. 283; LDKHP, p. 33, 67–70.

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Historical and religious context of Asher/Paul Helicz

abroad and instead obliged them to obtain the books from the Helicz brothers (see Annex no. 1). The second document is also an oblata of the same privilege but issued in Kraków on 28 March 1537 (see Annex no. 2). The third document is dated 16 June 1537. It was granted by King Sigismund I to the Helicz brothers who were attacked by the Jews after converting to Catholicism. In this situation, the king defended them against their compatriots and threatened their persecutors with lawsuits (see Annex no. 3). The fourth document (its content will be analysed later) is the order of King Sigismund I dated 31 December 1539 ordering the Jewish communities in Kraków, Poznań and Lviv to buy the books printed by the Helicz brothers, the Jewish printers from Kraków (see Annex no. 4). In this document, as in the previous ones, the name Paul was mentioned in the first place. Moreover, the name of Paul appears in historical sources of the city of Poznań. His visit in that city in 1537 led to the baptism of fourteen Jews of both sexes.8 The ceremony attracted many parishioners, and the amount of money collected during the ceremony was enough to pay for dowries not only for the baptized women, but even a remuneration for the men.

3.2

Historical and religious context of Asher/Paul Helicz

We need to first put in order the events concerning Asher/Paul Helicz against the backdrop of the broader history of Kraków, Poland and Europe. At the foot of the Wawel Royal Castle and next to the University founded by Queen Jadwiga the first printers (Kasper Straube, Schwabolt Fiol, Kasper Hochfeder) appeared in the first half-century after the invention of printing (the second half of the fifteenth century), making the capital city a seat of the new craft which quickly conquered Europe. They printed their books not only in Latin but also in Cyrillic type, sending them to the Lithuanian-Ruthenian and Moscow territories. Soon, Jews settled in the multi-ethnic capital of the Jagiellons and in its satellite towns; from the end of the fifteenth century they were coming here in increasing numbers. They brought to the territories on the Vistula and Warta Rivers their own faith, religious rituals and customs with centuries-old cultural traditions that could be passed on here from generation to generation because the Piast and later Jagiellonian states guaranteed them much more freedom and the possibility of organizing selfgoverning religious communities than in other European countries. When in the sixteenth century fairly well-organized Jewish education was established in the Kingdom of Poland and in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a need arose to supply

8 See J. Łukaszewicz, Obraz historyczno-statystyczny miasta Poznania [Historical and Statistical Picture of Poznań], vol. 2, Poznań 1838, p. 273.

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New Testament in the Jewish language printed in Kraków in 1540–1541

this community with Jewish books printed in Hebrew fonts. Local printers, who developed their printing houses and published in them not only in Latin but also in German, Hungarian and Greek, did not undertake to press Jewish books. Hebrew fonts were used for the first time in 1517 in Kraków (and thus on Polish territory) for the publication of a Latin-Hebrew book entitled Sepher ha-bachur, i.e. a grammar of the Hebrew language by Elias Levita. Although it is not recorded in the Polish Bibliography by Karol Estreicher, the German bibliographer Johann Christoph Wolf mentions it.9 It is not known in which printing house it was printed (Florian Ungler? Hieronim Wietor?). Three other Latin-Hebrew books were also printed in Kraków, two in the printing house of Maciej Szarfenberg and one in Ungler’s. Probably in 1530, thanks to the efforts of David/Leonard (an Israelite) from Jelenia Góra, a Jewish convert (he was baptised in Kraków after his arrival from Warsaw)10 and a teacher of Hebrew at the Kraków Academy, a textbook on the Hebrew language entitled Elementale hebraicum was published.11 The next two books were grammars, compiled by Jan Campensis on the basis of a textbook by Elias Levita, printed in 1534: De natura Litterarum Et Punctorum Hebraicorum and Ex varijs libellis Eliae Grammaticorum omnium doctissimi, huc fere congestum est opera… These Christian printers did not set themselves the task of supplying the Jews with books exclusively printed in Hebrew fonts, whether in Hebrew or Yiddish. Most often Jews themselves imported them from Venice or Prague. Nevertheless, in order to increase their prestige, many Jewish communities dreamt of establishing their own printing house. The first in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth this happened to the community in Kraków, or rather in Kazimierz near Kraków, whose cramped buildings in the first half of the sixteenth century probably housed several hundred Jews. About 65 years after the printing of the world’s first book in Hebrew type in Rome by Obadiah ben Moshe, Menashe and Benjamin, who learned the art of printing from Konrad Sweynheym and Arnold Pannartz, the first Jewish printers appeared in Kraków – the Helicz brothers – among them Asher, who established a Jewish printing house in 1534 and ran it until 1541. We do not know why they came to Kraków, whether at someone’s invitation or sent as agents of Prague printer Gershom Kohen, from whom they learned the secrets of typography. What was their status in the community near Kraków, the community which could earn respect from the co-religionists of Judaism in Europe, Africa and Asia because of their printing activity, i.e. because the most sacred deposit, the Torah, was disseminated in the printed form? 9 Cf. J.Ch. Wolf, Bibliotheca hebraea, vol. 1, p. 154–155. 10 M. Bałaban, Historja Żydów [A History of the Jews], p. 523–524, 531. 11 K. Pilarczyk, Źródła do bibliografii i XVI-XVIII-wiecznych hebraików z ziem polskich [Sources for Bibliographies and Hebraica from the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century in Poland], “Biuletyn Biblioteki Jagiellońskiej” 45 (1995), no. 1/2, p. 82–83.

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Historical and religious context of Asher/Paul Helicz

Their first Jewish book printed in Kraków was Mirkewes ha-mishne asher le-konkordancjo, i.e. a concordance in Yiddish to the Pentateuch of Moses; it was supposed to help Jews who spoke this language (a mixture of German, Slavic languages and Hebrew) to better understand the first part of the Hebrew Bible. Its author was an unknown Rabbi Anshel from Kraków. Subsequent publications, numerous business contacts and knowledge of the Jewish book market in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth promised the Helicz brothers professional success. Then suddenly something incomprehensible happened. It is not known whether they were threatened by the competitive Hebrew printing houses from Europe or whether, fearing the accusations of causing the conversion of Christians to Judaism, they put themselves under the care of the bishop of Kraków Piotr Gamrat and were baptized at the end of 1536 or at the beginning of 1537, taking the names of Andrzej, Paweł and Jan. This event must have come as a surprise for the Jewish community. In the eyes of their fellow believers, the Helicz brothers, on whom they had pinned their hopes, became outcasts who had betrayed Judaism. The odium that Asher/Paul brought down on himself was even greater because he got involved, probably with the support of the local clergy, in the process of converting Jews to Catholicism, which in Poznań brought him success, since he managed to baptize as many as fourteen Jewish men and women. In the afterword to the New Testament, he wrote that the credit for that went to Piotr Gamrat, who held the two highest clerical offices in the country: the bishopric of Kraków and the archbishopric of Gniezno, and that “thanks to his work many Jews were baptized”. After his return from Poznań, Paul Helicz again wanted to open a printing house, after a two-year break (1536–1537), and publish Jewish books there as a Christian typographer, just as the Christian Daniel Bomberg did on a much larger scale in Venice, with the difference that he was not a Jewish convert. The Jews of Kraków, however, were unable to overcome the repugnance they felt towards him (and his brothers) because of their faithlessness. Even the powerful protector – the bishop of Kraków and the archbishop of Gniezno – could not help the Helicz brothers, nor did the king’s decrees forbidding the Jews to import Jewish books which were in the Helicz brothers’ stock at the same time. The printing house started to collapse. Even the king’s order given with the support of Bishop Gamrat that Jewish communities in Kraków, Poznań and Lviv should buy the books printed by Helicz, mainly prayer books, did not stop the publishing house from going bankrupt, in which the former co-religionists were instrumental in that they completely boycotted the production of the brothers. In his last book Sejder Noshim (1541), printed in Kraków together with his brother Eliakim (Jan), Asher/Paul did not mention either his own or his brother’s name. After its publication, he moved to Silesia, where he converted

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New Testament in the Jewish language printed in Kraków in 1540–1541

to Lutheranism and tried to further his missionary goals,12 imitating in this the German Hebraists, who were undoubtedly led by Johannes Reuchlin (1455–1522). The difference was that they taught the Christians Hebrew, while he wanted to bring them closer to the everyday language of Jews (which was still forming) from German countries and Polish lands, that is Yiddish. The aim was “to make it easier for Christians to study the Jewish mysteries contained in their letters and books” and to ensure communication with the Jews in carrying out missions among them. To this end, he founded a printing house in Psie Pole, where in 1543 he published Elemental oder lesebuchlen…13 – an abridged (on 16 pages) introduction to Hebrew and Jewish script.14 Incidentally, this primer is a unique print today. The only copy before World War II was kept in the Stadtbibliothek Breslau, and since 1945 it has been in the University Library in Wrocław (ref. 4 E 263).

3.3

Dos noye testement – language, German original, patron

After the closing of the common printing house (end of 1535) and conversion to Catholicism, the Helicz brothers, having divided the rest of their property, tried to work independently. At that time, Asher (Paul) printed in Kraków a book which still raises many questions. It is Dos noye testement – a New Testament printed in Hebrew fonts in Yiddish. In fact, it is an almost verbatim transcription from Martin Luther’s German translation of the New Testament, made – as Johann Christoph Wolf first reported and others repeat after him – by the neophyte (ex-Judaeus) Johann Harzuge (Herzuge),15 though this information cannot be found in the print itself. Wolff found it handwritten on the frontispiece of a copy he knew. His observation that we are dealing with a transcribed translation of Luther’s New

12 Cf. LDKHP, p. 33. 13 Elemental oder lesebuchlen Doraus meniglich mit gutem grund unterwisen wirt. Wie man deutsche buchlen Missiuen oder Sendbriue Schuldbriue so mit ebreischen ader Judischen buchstaben geschriben werden. Auch die Zol Jar Monad und anders zu gehorig. lesen und versten sol. Itz neulich an tag gegeben. Gedruckt zum hundersfeld. durch paul helicz M. D. XXXIII. Facsimiles of this print were published in Wrocław in 1929 on the initiative of Verein Judisches Museum Breslau. 14 Cf. B. Kocowski, Zarys dziejów drukarstwa na Dolnym Śląsku [Outline of the History of Printing in Lower Silesia], Wrocław 1948, p. 48–50. Kocowski, quoting Marcus Brann’s opinion (after M. Brann, Geschichte der Juden in Schlesien, Breslau 1910, p. 171), states that Helicz published Elemental oder lesebuchlen, “in order to enable those willing to read his New Testament”. (Ibid., p. 49). 15 Wolf wrote about this issue: “Vidi exemplar in Bibliotheca Vener. Polucarpi Lyseri, hodie Antistitis Generalis Collensis. […] In frontispicio manu, nescio cujus, nomen auctoris adscriptum erat Johan Harzuge, ex-Judaeus, secutus is erat versionem B. Luther” – see J.Ch. Wolf, Bibliotheca hebraea, II/459.

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Dos noye testement – language, German original, patron

Testament is confirmed by a comparison of the two texts. For example, consider the beginning of St Paul’s Letter to the Romans: Table 3.1 Comparison of Martin Luther’s translation of Letter to the Romans and transcription of the Helicz edition Martin Luther’s translation 1 Paulus, ein Knecht Jesu Christi, berufen zum Apostel, ausgesondert, zu predigen das Evangelium Gottes, 2 welches er zuvor verheißen hat durch seine Propheten in der heiligen Schrift, 3 von seinem Sohn, der geboren ist von dem Samen Davids nach dem Fleisch 4 und kraftig erwiesen als ein Sohn Gottes nach dem Geist, der da heiligt, seit der Zeit, da er auferstanden ist von den Toten, Jesus Christus, unser Herr, 5 durch welchen wir haben empfangen Gnade und Apostelamt, unter allen Heiden den Gehorsam des Glaubens aufzurichten unter seinem Namen, 6 unter welchen ihr auch seid, die da berufen sind von Jesu Christo, 7 allen, die zu Rom sind, den Liebsten Gottes und berufenen Heiligen: Gnade sei mit euch und Friede von Gott, unserm Vater, und dem Herrn Jesus Christus!

Transcription of the Helicz edition 1 Paulus ayn knekht Jeshua Kristi, berufn tsum apostel ausgesondert tsu predigen des ewanyelion Gotes, 2 welches er tsu vor ver haysn hot dorkh zayne profetn in der hayligen shrift, 3 von zaynm zon der im geborn iz vun dem zamn David nokh dem flaysh 4 un kreftiglich ervizet den zon Gotes nokh dem Gayst der da hayligt zand der tsayt er oyf ershtandn iz vun der totn, nemlikh Jeszha Krist oyzr her 5 doyrkh welkhn wir hebn empfangen genod un apostl amt untr ale haydn, der gehorseym des gloybens oyf tsu rikhtn unter zaynm namn, 6 vilkher ir tsu tayl oykh zayt di da berufn zayn vun Jeshua Kristo, 7 aln di tsu Rom zayn den libstn Gotes un berufnn hayligen: genod zay mit oykh un vrid vun Get unzrm vatr un dem hern Jeshua Kristo.

In the New Testament published by Helicz, the books are in the following order: Matt, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Rom, 1–2 Cor, Gal, Eph, Phil, Col, 1–2 Tes, 1–2 Tim, Phlm, 1–2 P, 1–3 John, Heb, James, Jude (26 writings). Only the absence of the last book of the New Testament, i.e. the Apocalypse of John, in the collection is surprising. In Jewish culture, the transcription of literary works in Hebrew letters, as in the case of the Dos noye testement, was not new. The earliest codex that attests to this phenomenon dates back to 1382. That Cambridge Codex contains, among other works, the Dukus Horant, a German epic belonging to the medieval court tales, transcribed in Hebrew letters, whose main character is Prince Horant. It is the first known German literary work transcribed from the so-called galches (text written in Latin letters).16 Jews interested in this literature and not being

16 The term ‫( גלחות‬Yiddish galches; from Hebrew ‫ = גלח‬to shave) means, in the first place, a Christian clergyman (i.e., a man wearing a tonsure – a shaved part of hair on the head in the shape of a circle); in a further sense, galches is the name of Latin letters (Latin alphabet), because mainly Christian monks (clergymen) used them when writing and copying texts in Latin.

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New Testament in the Jewish language printed in Kraków in 1540–1541

able to read Latin letters but understanding the meaning of German words, asked some scribe who wrote down the work of interest in Hebrew letters in phonetic transcription. Such a transcriptions were known in the Ashkenazi area from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century. What is new, however, is that the transcription was done for missionary purposes, that is, not to bring German literature to the Jews, but to convert them to Catholicism. For a similar purpose, this time Protestants published in Frankfurt (Oder) in 1700 the New Testament – as described by Johann Christoph Wolf – ex Lutheri versione literis Hebraeo-Rabbinicis Germanice eodem modo representavit Christianus Mollerus, Pastor Ecclesiae Sandoviensis […].17 It should be noted, however, that Jewish copyists, while transcribing the text, usually took on the role of a censor. Not infrequently, they introduced new words (of neutral or pejorative meaning), especially in place of those that belonged to the religious language of Christians. Sometimes they omitted such words. In this way, Jews familiarised themselves with certain works of German and other literature, without succumbing to Christian influence, and even demonstrating through the transcribed works their negative attitude toward the Christian faith, considered hostile.18 Such a phenomenon does not occur in the case of Dos noye testement. The text was not “censored”, because the copyist was a Jewish convert, who approached the transcribed literary work with a different attitude than the followers of Judaism. Therefore, the addressees of the work could familiarize themselves with the full range of Christian terms, without distorting them, although – which should be emphasized – in Martin Luther’s interpretation, who referred in his translation to the Greek original of the New Testament, and not to the Latin Vulgate. It is worth considering what dictated the choice of the German translation and Martin Luther’s edition. First, undoubtedly, the linguistic situation of the community to which the book was addressed. As Paul Helicz’s dedication, printed by him in the conclusion of the book, shows, the New Testament was intended for the Jews (Hebrews), whom – the neophyte Paul was convinced – should be evangelized, especially the simple people, by giving them the New Testament, because their leaders had taught them badly about Christ and the Gospel. It is true that the rabbis have, as Paul writes, a book of the Gospel, but it is “distorted and useless, and maliciously corrupted with blasphemies, false doctrines, and twisted translations of the rabbis, who hide it secretly from the people so that it can be easier for them to insult and misrepresent the doctrine of Christ”. The second reason he published this book was his conviction that the Jews did not believe in Christ because no

17 J.Ch. Wolf, Bibliotheca hebraea, II/459. 18 Cf. Ch. Shmeruk, Historia literatury jidysz [A History of Yiddish Literature], Wrocław [et al.] 1992, p. 22–26.

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Dos noye testement – language, German original, patron

one had preached Him to them. Now they would be able to learn His teaching by reading the New Testament themselves. Therefore, for them, he decided to give it “in the language they use every day, that is, the German they most often speak”. Other sources also confirm the fact that in the first half of the sixteenth century Jews of the Kraków community spoke German with elements of Hebrew and Slavonic languages, including Polish.19 The reason, however, why Helicz chose Martin Luther’s translation as the basis for the transcription remains a mystery. There were other German translations before Luther’s time; there were already at least 18 editions of the entire Bible and 34 partial editions, all from the Vulgate. Luther’s translation, produced over a period of ten months (May 1521 to March 1522) after the Elector of Saxony, Frederick the Wise, had abducted and imprisoned him in the castle of Wartburg near Eisenach, was made from the Greek original from the edition of Erasmus of Rotterdam. Its language refers to the official German of the Saxon area and the colloquial language characteristic of that region, which determined the communicativeness and comprehensibility of the biblical texts. Luther worked on his manuscript with the help of Melanchthon, among others; it was printed in Wittenberg as early as September 1522 (first edition in two volumes; circulation 3,000 copies). The translation was greeted with enthusiasm in the German-speaking area, although critics stressed its excessive departure from the original. Nevertheless, after three months the entire print run was already sold out, and by 1533 (by the time his translation of the entire Bible was published) 57 more editions of the New Testament appeared. Although there was another German translation from Greek – Zwingli-Bibel (Zurich 1525–1529), authored by a prominent reformer, co-founder of Protestantism in Switzerland (next to Calvin), who removed the Apocalypse from the Bible, it did not gain such popularity as Luther’s New Testament. Perhaps this universality of Luther’s translation caused Helicz, in his search for a suitable German text, to choose this one, but to delete from it, as Zwingli had done, the last part of the New Testament. Paul Helicz writes about the reasons for publishing the New Testament in the afterword-dedication. The book was to be used as an aid in the missions of the Catholic Church among the Jews. Therefore, the edition was financed by Bishop Piotr Gamrat, who probably gave his protégé the means to cover the costs of publishing the books, which were to be given to the Jews free of charge. As a token of his gratitude, Helicz addressed a letter to the bishop and placed the patron’s coat of arms at the end of the work. Everything would be understandable if not for

19 M. Altbauer, Achievements and Tasks in the Field of Jewish-Slavic Language Contact Studies, [in:] Id. Wzajemne wpływy polsko-żydowskie w dziedzinie językowej [Mutual Polish-Jewish Influences in the Field of Linguistics], ed. M. Brzezina, Kraków 2002, p. 29–42.

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New Testament in the Jewish language printed in Kraków in 1540–1541

the fact that the transcription was made from Luther’s German translation. Was this done with the knowledge of Bishop Gamrat? It is unlikely, but not impossible. Was it then a kind of “sabotage”? The fact is that soon after the publication of this book (the afterword is dated 1541) Asher left Kraków. Did he offend his protector? Was he deprived of his protector’s protection and had to look for a place for himself in Lutheranism? Or maybe he already sympathized with the Reformation and the choice of Luther’s translation was an expression of that? It’s also possible that even German-speaking Catholics were fascinated by Luther’s work, which was reflected in the publication of his translation as plagiarism by Emzer, a Catholic from Dresden, in 1537. Could it be that the Catholics of Kraków, the many burghers who spoke German, also used Luther’s work and that the copy used by Johan Herzuge should have come from them or the German burghers who were Luther’s (or Calvin’s and Zwingli’s) followers? We do not know the answer to this and previous questions.

3.4

Fate of the mission and circulation

The missionary goal that prompted Paul Helicz to print the New Testament was not achieved. No Jews wishing to be baptized appeared in Kraków. There was no repeat of the spectacular success that the Kraków printer achieved in Poznań before the printing of Dos noye testement. At least the historical sources are silent about it. Besides, those from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries only sporadically mention the conversion of Jews in Kraków. Perhaps this phenomenon was marginal, and its scale cannot be discerned. The researched books from Kraków and Kazimierz, a satellite town of Kraków report only single such cases. They confirm that the converts assimilated relatively quickly with the Christian community, especially when it came to mixed marriages. They received material help from the town. In general, they were not liked by Christians, not to mention the followers of Judaism.20 Did such a fate also befall Paul Helicz and his brothers? What happened to the edition of Dos noye testement? Did it share the fate of other books printed in Kraków by the Helicz brothers? The Jews definitely boycotted their printing house, not wanting to buy books from them. In 1539 King Sigismund I issued an order in this matter, ordering the Jewish communities of Kraków, Poznań and Lviv to buy them out, so that the printers would not go bankrupt (see annex no. 4).

20 Cf. B. Wyrozumska, J. Wyrozumski, Nowe materiały do dziejów Żydów krakowskich w średniowieczu [New Materials to the History of the Jews from Kraków in the Middle Ages], “Studia Judaica” 6 (2003), no. 2, p. 13–14; see also M. Bałaban, Historja Żydów [A History of the Jews], p. 87–92.

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Conclusion (relevance of Dos noye testement to research)

According to the document, a special commission was set up to carry out this order, composed of the Bishop of Kraków Piotr Gamrat, the Bishop of Chełm Sebastian Branicki, the Royal Vice-Chancellor Samuel Maciejowski, the Castellan of Biecz and the Royal Banker Seweryn Boner as well as the Governor and Starosta of Kraków Piotr Kmita. After an inventory of the books (probably the first of its kind in the world), which were stored at Helicz’s (a total of 3,350 volumes) was carried out under the commission’s supervision, the payment for them (1,600 florins) was distributed among the three Jewish communities. Probably, the Jews destroyed the books coming from the printing house of the converts, which they bought under duress. It is possible that a similar fate befell later the New Testament, or it simply lay in the cellars of bishops or clergymen engaged in the conversion of Jews, as there was no demand for them. The fact that only four copies are known to be in public collections from the whole edition, which could have numbered about 300–500 items, testifies to the probability of such a fate.

3.5

Conclusion (relevance of Dos noye testement to research)

This little-known edition of the New Testament is the first printed collection of New Testament writings on Polish soil. Other printings of the New Testament (we not mean particular separate books) from the sixteenth century are later: New Testament translated by Murzynowski, prepared and published by Jan Seklucjan appeared in Kraków in 1551; a translation by Jan Sandecki – in Królewiec (Königsberg) in 1552; the translation from the Vulgate of the New Testament in Kraków in 1556 at the publishing house of the Szarfenbergs; the entire Holy Bible into Polish known as the Leopolita Bible (Kraków 1561, 1575, at the publishing house of the Szarfenbergs); the Brest Bible (or the Reformed Radziwiłł Bible) in 1563; the New Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the translation by Jakub Wujek in Kraków in 1593 at the publishing house of A. Piotrowczyk. The translation is also important for the study of Yiddish, understood in this case as a work written not in the galches alphabet but in Hebrew. It is about a German text transcribed in other letters, not in another language. He tried to introduce thoroughly Christian concepts into Jewish culture, but – as we can see – rather unsuccessfully. Dos noye testement also makes a contribution to the history of Jewish conversion and Catholic missions targeting Jews in sixteenth century Poland. This is a littleknown issue due to the lack of preserved sources. There are much more of them from

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the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.21 They show that the Catholic Church in Polish lands considered it risky to give Jews the New Testament in Hebrew, Jewish or German, because individual reading of it could lead to unauthorized conclusions. At most, Jews could only read it in Latin, which they should learn. Already in the seventeenth century the well-known Jewish missionary Sebastian Śleszkowski warned against such practice, advocating the necessity of evangelizing Jews by preaching to them and forcing them to listen to the sermons.22 In the eighteenth century there appeared even a special cycle of missionary sermons to the Jews written by the bishop of Łuck, Franciszek Antoni Kobielski.23 However, the New Testament in the Hebrew alphabet (both in transcription and translation) was never printed in the Polish lands. If missionaries of various provenance later used it in Poland, for example the Anglicans, its printing took place outside the Polish lands. Paul Helicz’s book is also part of the history of Jewish printing in Poland. It explains, in a fragmentary way, why the first Jewish printing house in Poland collapsed after only six years (not counting a two-year break) of operation. Despite such an epilogue, it gave rise to the work continued later by Jewish typographers, especially in Kraków, Lublin and in the largest centre – Żółkiew near Lviv.

3.6

Annexes

Annex no. 1 The privilege of King Sigismund I granted in 1536 to the Helicz brothers, who had converted to Catholicism, forbidding Jews to import books from abroad and obliging them to buy them from the Helicz brothers (the Lublin privilege).

21 J. Goldberg, Żydowscy konwertyci w społeczeństwie staropolskim [Jewish Converts in Old Polish Society], [in:] Społeczeństwo staropolskie. Studia i szkice [Old Polish Society. Studies and Essays], ed. A. Izydorczyk, A. Wyczański, Warszawa 1986, p. 195–247; A. Kaźmierczyk, Jewish Converts in Kraków 1650–1763, “Gal-Ed” 2007, p. 17–52. 22 S. Śleszkowski, Odkrycie Zdrad, Zlosliwych Ceremoniy, taiemnych rad, praktyk szkodliwych Rzeczypospolitey y straszliwych zamysłow Zydowskich […] Przy Tym Zdrowa Rada, Jako zdradom, praktykom y przedsięwziętym zamysłom Zydowskim, iesli chcemy w cale bydź, przed czasem zabiegać mamy […] [Disclosing The Treasons, Malicious Ceremonies, Secret Counsels, Practices Detrimental to the Commonwealth and Wicked Jewish Intentions […] A Piece of Sound Advice to Prevent Beforehand the Treasons, Practices and Intentions of Jews if We Want to Remain Whole], Brunsberg 1621, ch. 21, § 4. 23 F.A. Kobielski, Światło na oświecenie narodu niewiernego to iest Kazania w synagogach żydowskich miane oraz Reflexye y List odpowiadaiący na pytania Synagogi Brodzkiey [A Light for the Enlightenment of the Infidel Nation – Sermons in Jewish Synagogues and Reflections and a Letter Answering the Questions of the Synagogue in Brody], Lwów 1746.

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Annexes

The National Archives in w Lublin, Lublin municipal registers, records series (from the years 1536–1540), part 2, ref. 4, k. 507v–507r.24 Litere Judeorum ad fidem conversorum Oblate sunt literae pergameneae sub titulo et sigilo Sigismundi Regis ex parte fametorum Pauli Andreae et Joannis fratris Heliczum ex superstitione iudaeaad fidem Cristianam conversorum. unacum sub inscriptione manus p.M.Regis plene eosdem acticati qui acticate sunt in hec verba: Sigismundus dei gratia Rex poloniae Magnus Dux lithvanie Russie tociusque Prussie ac masovie etc. dominus et heres Universis et heres Universis et singulis Cuiuscunque Condicionis ordinis et Dignitatis honestibus subditis nostris gratiam nostram Regiam superioribus [?] His in diebus ex Judaica supersticione ad fidem nostram Cristianam Conversi sunt Paulus, Andreas, et Joannes fratres Helicen[ses?], qui cum Huncusque diem excudendis et vendendis libris victum sibi quesiverunt et rem suam familiarem augendam curaverint. Nunc postea quam sancti spiritus gratia et industria relictis erroribus et supersitionibus Judaeis in quibus paulo ante versabantur ad veritatis cognicionem pervenerunt et veram fidem amplexi sunt periculum esse aiunt ut liceat eis deinceps qua racione[?] reperunt ea quod reliquam futurum est vite sustentare facultatisque suas agere quod Judei odio eorum ubivis pocius quam aput eos impressos libros empturi esse videantur Itaque […] nobis fuit ut […] id facere auderent Diplomate nostro ediceremus id quod nos tanto libencius facere in animum induximus quod impium et nefarium judicamus ad fraudem. hoc factibus[?] istis et detrimendum valere debere quod luce weritatis aguita eam sequenti[?] et sacro fonte sunt abluti. Quare mandamus et edicimus omnibus omnium Civitatum opidorum et arcum nostrarum propertis[?] et magistratibus simulatque ad nos fuerit aliquarum Judeorum Hebreos Codicis a predictis fratribus impressos ab alio quod ab illis emissos aut aliummodo[?] importatos vendidisse ut tam ab eo qui vendiderent quod ab eo qui emerit ultra exemplarium amissionem Ducentarum Marcarum mulctam fisco nostro aplicandem exigatis volumus enim et presenti diplomate nostro facimus quod et publicari ubi opus fuerit mandamus ut nulli liceat Judeo Hebraicos libros in Regno nostro et dominijs omnibus vendere aut imprimere sub prescripta pena In eius[?] rei testimonium Signum nostrum maius appendi fecimus et literis His manu no [beginning of the second page that has nothing to do with the first one] stram[?] personaliter coram officio[?] et actis publicis Recognovimus Que prout fuit ex officio sive Judicio Castranse […] Nobili Joanni Do[…] ad inromittendum[?] […] in tota […] in Carmanowicze nobili Joannis Carmanowskj [hereafter illegible – speaking about the intromission in Karmanowic].

24 See also LDKHP, p. 147.

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Annex no. 2 The privilege of King Sigismund I granted in 1536 to the Helicz brothers who converted to Catholicism, forbidding the Jews to import books from abroad and obliging them to buy them from the Helicz brothers (Kraków privilege, 28th March 1537). The National Archives in Kraków, Teutonicalia, vol. 10, p. 453–454.25 Sigismundus Dei gratia rex Poloniae […] universis et singulis […] subditis nostris gratiam nostram regiam. Superioribus hisce diebus ex iudaica superstitione ad fidem nostram christianam conversi sunt Paulus, Andreas et Joannes, fratres Halicienses, qui cum in hunc usque diem excudentis et vehendis libris victum sibi quesierint et rem suam familiarem augendam curaverint, nunc posteaquam sancti Spiritus gratia et misericordia relictis erroribus et superstitionibus iudaicis, in quibus paulo ante versabantur, ad veritatis cognitionem pervenerunt et Cristi fidem amplexi sunt, periculum esse aiunt, ut liceat eis deinceps, qua ratione ceperunt. ea quod reliquum futurum est vitae sustentare facultatesque suas augure, quod iudaei odio eorum ubivis potius gentium, quam apud eos impressos libros empturi esse videantur. Itaque suplicatum nobis fuit, ut, ne id facere auderent, diplomate nostro ediceremus; id quod nos tanto libentius facere in animum induximus, quod impium et nefarium iudicamus ad fraudem hoc fratribus istis et detrimentum valere debere, quod luce veritatis agnita eam secuti et sacro fonte sunt abluti. Quare mandamus et edicimus omnibus omnium civitatum, opidorum et arcium nostrarum praefectis et magistratibus simul atque(s) delatum ad vos fuerit, aliquem in daeorum hebrareos codices, a praedictis fratribus impressos, ab alio quam ab illis emisse aut aliunde importatos vendidisse, ut tam ab eo, qui vendiderit, quam ab eo, qui emerit, ultra exemplarium amisionem 200 mr. mulctam fisco nostro aplicandam exigatis. Volumus enim et praesenti diplomate nostro sancimus, quod et publicari, ubi opus fuerit, mandamus, ut nulli liceat iudeao hebraicos libros in regno nostro et dominiis omnibus vendere aut imprimere sub praescripta paena. In cuius rei testimonium signum nostrum maius appendi fecimus et littersi hiis(s) manu nostra subscripsimus. Datum Cracoviae, feria quarta magna, anno Domini 1537, regni vero nostri anno tricesimo primo. Sigismundus rex subscripsit.

25 It was published earlier by J. Ptaśnik (J. Ptaśnik, Nowe szczegóły do drukarstwa i księgarstwa w Krakowie [New Details to the Printing and Book Selling in Kraków], “Kwartalnik Historyczny” 37 (1924), no. 1–2, p. 86–87) and M. Bałaban (M. Bałaban, Zur Geschichte der hebraischen Druckerem in Polen, “Soncino-Blatter” 3 (1929), part 1, p. 36). See also LDKHP, p. 148.

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Annexes

Annex no. 3 The document dated 16 June 1537 issued by Sigismund I to the Helicz brothers, whom the king defends against attacks of Jews caused by their conversion to Catholicism. The National Archives in Kraków, Teutonicalia, vol. 10, p. 454–456.26 Sigismundus Dei gratia rex Poloniae… manifestum facimus tenore praesentium… quod nos certo de iudaeorum nimia licentia, quam in divexandis et molestandis famatis Paulo, Andrea, Joanne et altero Andrea, quondam iudaeis Haliciensibus ipsorumque familia, qui non ita pridem divina quadam ordinatione veritatem christianam et catholicam agnoverunt et sacramentum baptismatis receperunt, exercere non dubitant et concepto in ipsos virulento ob susceptum baptisma odio unum quemlibet novorum christianorum per se et submissas personas ipsi iudaei variis molestiis, iniuriis et suggestionibus malorum afficiunt, adeo, ut etiam ipsi fratres saepius ad nos lamentabiliter de iudaeis praefatis conquerentes confugerent, eam ob rem nos audaciam et temeritatem eorundem iudaeorum, quam in eosdem fratres et ipsorum universam familiam exercere non dubitant, comprimere volentes et attendentes, quod ipsi iudaei tanto audaeius securiusque talia patrare non formidant, quanto magis sibi suisque confidunt, neminem ex eis laturum esse testimonium de admissis pro aliquo istorum noviter baptizatorum fratrum huiusmodi indultum nostrum regium et praerogativam eisdem fratribus et eorum familiae christianae dandum et concedendum duximus.ut videlicet, posteaquam dicti iudaei tanto odio et invidia in eosdem fratres deflagrent, quod eos per omne nephas divexare per se vel per submissas personas non dubitant ipsique fratres propter huiusmodi ipsorum iudaeorum odium iniurias suas iuxta statuta et privilegia regni nostri contra eosdem iudaeos, adiuncto iudaeo christianae personae, probare nunquam possent, cum nemo iudaeorum proeist festimonium veritatis propter huiusmodi odium conceptum dare vellet, liceat eisdem fratribus Paulo, Andreae, Joanni, Andreae baptizatis eorumque universae familiae, non ita pridem baptizatae, quotienscunque iniuria alicuius fuerint affecti et quam eis ant alteri eorum dicti iudaei quocumque modo vel colore per se vel submissas personas intulerint sive intulerit, legitimo et sufficienti christianorum testimonio probare, nullo teste teste iudaeo in hoc adhibito, non obstantibus statutis regni nostri et probationibus contra iudaeos faciendis editis, quae in hoc casu singulari, quo ad istos fratres duntaxat valere minime contra praemissa volumus et decernimus. Postquam vero dicti fratres seu alter ipsorum testimoniis christianorum probaverint iniuriam sibi ab iudaeo quopiam uno vel pluribus per se vel per submissas personas illatam esse huiusmodi testimoniis

26 It was previously published by J. Ptaśnik (J. Ptaśnik, Nowe szczegóły [New Details], p. 87–88) and M. Bałaban (M. Bałaban, Zur Geschichte der hebraischen Druckerem in Polen, p. 41–42). See also LDKHP, p. 148–149.

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christianis fides plenaria et ad probationem faciendam sufficiens adhiberi ubique debebit, dictique fratres sive alter eorum iudaeumvel iudaeos praedictos huiusmodi testimoniis de iniuria sibi facta convictos ad paenas, in aliis litteris nostris designatas et praescriptas, deposcere et trahere poterint, totiens quotiens neccessitas rei postulabit. Quod ad universorum, quorum interest aut interesse poterit in futurum, notitiam deducimus et deduci volumus per praesentes, mandantes, quatinus eosdem Paulum, Andream, Joannem et alterum Andream eorumque familiam in hac nostra concessione et praerogativa conservetis et conservare curetis, ipsosque ad probationem huiusmodi per solos christianos homines faciendas totiens, quotiens opus fuerit, mittatis iudiciaque et iusticiam eis facere ex eisdem probationibus curetis, paenas vero contra eosdem iudaeos delinquen[tes] secundum exigentiam mandatorum nostrorum, in aliis litteris nostris dictis fratribus a nobis concessis, expressorum, extendere omnino studeatis, pro debito officioque vestro et gratia nostra aliter non facturi, harum testimonio litterarum, quibus sigillum nostrum est praesentibus appensum. Datum Cracoviae, sabbato proximo post festum sancti Viti, anno Domini 1537, regni vero nostri anno tricesimo primo. Joannes episcopus Plocensis et regni Poloniae cancellarius subscripsit. Relatio reverendissimi in Christo patris domini Joannis Choyensky, episcopi Ploczensis et regni Poloniae cancellarii.

Annex no. 4 The order of King Sigismund I dated 31 December 1539 ordering the Jewish communities of Kraków, Poznań and Lviv to buy books printed by the Helicz brothers, Jewish printers in Kraków. Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, Imprint, vol. 59 fol. 321b–324a.27 Sigismundus Dei gratia rex Poloniae etc. … manifestum facimus, quod cum Paulus, Andreas et Johannes, fratres Haliarum (?) misericordiam Dei consecuti ex blasphemia et persecutoribus et contumeliosis fidelis facti, mendacem Judaeorum perfidiam reliqussent atque ad agnitionem veritatis venissent, perfidi Judaei, qui autores eis fuerant, ut certos quosdam libros excuderent, quoniam demissas viderint horrendas blasphemia, quibus adversus Deum et intermeratam virginem matrem utuntur et abominandas execrationes quibusque reges. Totumque populum christianitas temporibus in synagogis suis omnibus divis. consueverant, conspirasse, dicti sunt inter se, ne quisquam eos libros emeret. Qua ex re, cum ad maximas angustias et dificultates neochristiani fratres redacti essent, quod quos jussu perfidorum Judaeorum libros impressenter eos nemo emeret, posteaquam

27 M. Bałaban, Zur Geschichte der hebraischen Druckerem in Polen, p. 42–44 (a document erroneously dated 31 December 1540; date corrected by him in M. Bałaban, Drukarstwo żydowskie [The Jewish Printing], p. 111. See also LDKHP, p. 149–150.

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Annexes

ad aures nostram eorum querimoniae pervenerent, pro regis christiani officio providere cupientes, ne quid ex eo detrimenti fratres isti caperent, quo christiani facti, Christum impuro Judaeorum ore blasphemari noluissent, dedimus negotium reverendis in Christo patribus: domino Petro a Gramratis cracoviensi, Sebastiano Branicki chelmensi, et nominato posnaniensi, Samueli Maciejowski Regni nostri vicecancellario, nominato chelmensi episcopis et generoso Severino Boner castellano biecensi, ut una cum his, qui a magnifico Petro Kmita comite a Wisnicze palatino et capitaneo cravoviensi eandem ad rem fuerant judices delegati, causam cognoscerent, cognitam nobis refferent. Qui, cum cognitioni qui praeesent et a fratribus neochristianis testes produci vidissent, qui et jussisse, perfidos Judaeos libros imprimere et cum probra maledicta blasphemia praetermissas intelligerent conjurasse consequasseque, ne quispiam impressos emeret, affirmarunt rem ita, ut cognoverant, ad nos detulerent. Nos vero, cum injuriam fratribus neochristianis a perfidis Judaeis fieri perspexisseimus, severe illis mandavimus, utsemel et semel quam maxime libros omnes ab illis emerent. Comisimus autem quibusdam, qui haberent earum rerum inteligenciam, ut eos libros taxarent. Taxatique sunt ad mille sescentos florenos. Cui taxae cracovienses et posnanienses Judaei non contradicerent, hoc tantum a nobis suplices petiverunt quandoquidem isti libri non in unius tantum aut alterius, sed in omnium Judaeorum usum sunt impressi, ne solos eos gravatos eorum emptione vellemus, sed eos quoque, qui sunt in Russia Judaeos qui sunt et plures et ditiores ad tertiam partem emendam, decreto nostro cogeremus, ita ut unam partem cracovienses, aliam posnanienses, teriam qui sunt in Russia, Judaei acciperent. Nos cum, aequm eos postulare videremus, libenter eorum petitionibus anuimus itaque decretum ejusmodi fecimus, ut omnes Judaei, qui sunt in Regno nostro, libros istos mille sescentis florenibus emere cogerentur. Quod pretium et si tolerabile esse accepimus, multoque carius libros istos vendi potuisse, tum ut tanto minus haberent perfidi Judaei, quoad. Possent in tres temporum rathas pecuniae solutionem discernendam, statuimos ut pro festo proximo circumucisioni anni 1540 sescentos florenos dare teneantur. Pro singulis vero rathis solutionem in tres partes dividi volumnus, ita ut tam pro prima, quam secunda Judaei cravovienses ducentos, posnanienses ducentos, rutheni ducentos, pro teria vero ratha: Judaei cracovienses centum triginta tres florenos grossos decem, posnanienses centum triginta tres florenos, grossos decem, rutheni centum trignita tres florenos, grossos centum deare, ad acta castri nostri cracoviensis numerare teteantur sub poena dupli, quociens ad ratham aliquam pecuniam non numeraverint. Cujus poenae dimidia pars palatino loci aut qui juridictionem in Judaeis habuerit, altera dimidia pars frateribus neochristianis cedere debebit. Numerus autem librorum qui tradendi sunt est iste: Magsza volumina octingenta, Slychos octingenta quinquaginta, Thurim volumina quingenta, Josseroth quadringenta, Minchagem ducenta, Pentateuchos Moysi tricenta, Syder minora tricenta, Szmyross major tricenta, Szmyross minora ducenta volumina. Quare vobis magnificis ac generosis palatinis et omnium locorum, ubi sunt Judaei, capitaneis id severe mandamus atque habere notum volumus, ut decretum hoc nostrum quod

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quidem Posnani et Leopoli ostendisse neochristianos sufficiat in omnibus suis punctis clausulis, conditionibus et articulis inviolate servari faciatis et, quoties per fratres neochristianos requisiti fueritis, indilatam eis justitiam administrestis. Pro gratia nostra, aliter non facturi hoc mandamus insuper sub poena centum marcarum argenti fisco nostro applicandas et nequisque ex perfidis Judaeis in regno nostro ubilibet existentibus aut aliunde libros invehere aut imprimi facere audeat, nisi de concentia loci ordinarii episcopi et palatini. In cujus testimonium sigillum nostrum praesentibus est appressum. Datum Cracoviae vigilia circumcisionis Domini [3r. XII.] anno 1539.

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4.

Jews in the Old Poland Talmud printing challenges

4.1

The beginnings of the Jewish Communities in Poland and their intellectual condition

The history of Judaism on Polish territory began with the establishment of the first Jewish communities in the Middle Ages (eleventh-twelfth centuries). The Jews who arrived brought their own faith and religious rituals, their own customs and centuries-old cultural traditions.1 They tried to maintain and pass them on. Rarely, mostly for economic reasons, did they undergo assimilation processes, sometimes converting to Christianity.2 Also the Polish law, starting from the privilege of the Duke of Kalisz Bolesław the Pious of 25 August 1264,3 which was granted by King Casimir the Great in 1334 to the Jews from the whole Poland and became a general privilege, guaranteed the Jews freedom of worship and organization of religious communities (qahals).4 From the medieval period, not only are there 1 J. Wyrozumski, Żydzi w Polsce średniowiecznej [Jews in medieval Poland] [in:] Żydzi w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej. Materiały z konferencji “Autonomia Żydów w Rzeczypospolitej Szlacheckiej”. Międzywydziałowy Zakład Historii i Kultury Żydów w Polsce, Uniwersytet Jagielloński 22–26 IX 1986 [Jews in the Polish Commonwealth. Materials from the conference “Autonomy of Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth”. Interdepartmental Institute of the History and Culture of Jews in Poland, Jagiellonian University 22–26 September 1986], ed. A. Link-Lenczowski, T. Polański, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków 1991, p. 132. 2 This process can be seen on the example of medieval Kraków, where – as records show – in the fifteenth century there lived several baptized Jews. Cf. M. Bałaban, Historja Żydów [A History of the Jews], p. 87–92; Żydzi w średniowiecznym Krakowie: wypisy źródłowe z ksiąg miejskich krakowskich [The Jews in mediaeval Cracow. Selected records from Cracow municipal books], ed. B. Wyrozumska, Kraków 1995, p. 9 (introduction), poz. 132, 167, 222, 230, 231, 261, 265–269, 274, 290, 306, 348, 351, 362, 366, 374, 670, 711, 728, 730, 731, 734, 735, 742, 745–748, 750, 764, 768, 769, 785, 798, 799, 800, 803–805, 809, 816, 876, 883, 989, 991, 994–996, 998, 999, 1027, 1031, 1032, 1055, 1056, 1059, 1095, 1098, 1099, 1113, 1120, 1137. 3 A.Sh. Cygielman, (1264) ‫ לעניין קביעת התאריך למתן הפריבילגיה הכללית ליהודי פולין גדול‬,‫ ציגלמן‬.‫א‬.‫[ ש‬On the Reckoning of the Date of the Boleslaw Privilegium to Jews in Great Poland (1264)], “Cion” 49 (1984), no. 3, p. 289–292. 4 Kodeks dyplomatyczny wielkopolski, obejmujący dokumenta tak już drukowane, jak dotąd nie ogłoszone, sięgające do roku 1400 [The Diplomatic Code of Great Poland, Comprising Documents Dated Back to 1400, Both Printed and Those Not Yet Announced], ed. I. Zakrzewski, F. Piekosiński, vol. 1, Poznań 1877, no. 605; cf. M. Schorr, Organizacya Żydów w Polsce (od najdawniejszych czasów do r. 1772) [The Organisation of Jews in Poland (from the Earliest Times to 1772)], Lwów 1899, p. 10; Teksty źródłowe do nauki historji Żydów w Polsce i we wschodniej Europie [Source Texts for Learning Jewish History in Poland and Eastern Europe], ed. E. Ringelblum, R. Mahler, Warszawa [1930], vol. 1b, p. 5–15; J. Drabina, Religie na ziemiach Polski i Litwy w średniowieczu [Religions on the Territory of Poland

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no traces of a particular development of Judaism in the Polish lands, let alone its influence on other Jewish communities outside Poland, but it can be assumed (only a few references exist) that the state of Jewish religiousness at that time, expressed primarily – and which is of particular interest to us – through the study of a wide range of oral and written Torah, was low, since Rabbi Eliezer of Bohemia, the famous commentator on the Talmud, writing around 1200 to the German Rabbi Yehuda Hechasid about the right of cantors (chazans) to collect donations on Purim and other holy days, as well as at weddings, presents it in this way: […] a gdybyś Ty im [kantorom] odebrał [prawo] do datków purymowych, ofiar święta Symchat Tora i ofiar [składanych przez] oblubieńców, to [zważ], że w krainach polskich, ruskich i węgierskich, gdzie z powodu wielkiej nędzy brak uczonych w Torze, przeważnie przyjmują na płatne stanowiska bylejakiego człowieka, którego znajdą, a on bywa u nich [równocześnie] kantorem, “sprawiedliwym sędzią” i nauczycielem […] i pozostaliby oni bez nauki, bez modlitwy i bez “sędziego sprawiedliwego”.5 [[…] and if you would take away [from the cantors] [the right] for Purim money, offerings of the feast of Simchat Torah and offerings [made by] bridegrooms, then [consider] that in Polish, Ruthenian and Hungarian lands, where because of great poverty there is a shortage of Torah scholars, they usually employ for paid positions any man they find, and he is [at the same time] their cantor, “just judge” and teacher […] and they would be left without teachings, without prayer and without a “just judge”].

On the basis of a reference made by a Talmudist known in the second half of the fifteenth century, Rabbi Israel Bruno of Brno in Moravia, it can be assumed that this state of affairs may have continued even in his time, since he calls the Jews of Kraków ignorant (‫[ עינם בני תורה‬enam bne torah]).6 According to Aron Eisenstein, who characterizes the position of Jews in Poland in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the synagogues then existing in the Jewish communities, called “scholae” in sources of Polish provenance to that period, were an important element in their organization. It is unlikely, however, that there was some kind

and Lithuania in the Middle Ages], Kraków 1989, p. 166–168; P. Fijałkowski, Dzieje Żydów w Polsce. Wybór tekstów źródłowych XI–XVIII wiek [History of the Jews in Poland. A Selection of Source Texts between the Eleventh to Eighteenth Century], Warszawa [1993], p. 8, 15–19. 5 Teksty źródłowe do nauki historji [Source Texts for Historical Studies], vol. 1b, p. 38–39; cf. J. Frenkel, Literatura rabiniczna Żydów w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej [Rabbinic Literature of the Jews in the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth] [in:] Żydzi w Polsce odrodzonej. Działalność społeczna, gospodarcza, oświatowa i kulturalna [Jews in the Restored Poland. Social, Economic, Educational and Cultural Activity], ed. I. Schiper, A. Tartakower, A. Hafftka, vol. 1, Warszawa [1932], p. 214; I.M. Ta-Shma, On the History of the Jews in Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century Poland, “Polin” 10 (1997), p. 288–289. 6 Cf. J. Frenkel, Literatura rabiniczna [Rabbinic Literature], p. 214.

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The beginnings of the Jewish Communities in Poland and their intellectual condition

of judicial and educational structure around them, as would be indicated by the terms “senior scholae” and “servitor scholae” mentioned in the statute of Prince Bolesław of Kalisz of 1264.7 Eisenstein agreed with the opinion of Tadeusz Czacki and Hilary Nussbaum that in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in Poland “the study of the Talmud florished”, despite the lack of information about it in the sources known to him.8 It was supposedly possible thanks to Jews from German countries migrating at that time, whose rabbinical education surpassed that of their co-religionists who had settled here earlier.9 According to Leopold Zunz, the thesis of the early existence of rabbinical studies in Poland (thirteenth-fifteenth century) could be confirmed by sources in the Vatican archives that have not yet been examined. These are explanations to the Pentateuch and fragments of Talmudic copies originating from eastern Poland. The first Jewish scholars from Poland known by name would be Katriel of Kraków, Mordechai Schealtiel and Icchak of Poland.10 On the basis of manuscript materials found in the National and University Library in Jerusalem, Israel M. Ta-Shma adds the following names to these ones: Yaakov Swar from Kraków, Moshe Poler, Moshe ben Chasdai, Simeon Polner, Pinchas from Poland, Raw Aaron, Raw Ezekiel, Icchak from Wrocław, Israel from Poland, Eleazar from Lublin, Asher ben Sinai.11 The sources do not give details of their activities and it cannot be said on their basis that they created a particular direction in rabbinic literature in the thirteenth century, since they themselves wrote little and their halakhic decisions were issued mainly orally. It is only presumed that they represented a pietistic religious formation, which was then quite common among Ashkenazi Jews. Later, fifteenth century sources provide us with more detailed information about the beginnings of Talmudic education organized by Jews in Polish lands.12 That is why this moment is usually regarded as a turning point in the history of Judaism in Poland. At that time, the existing forms of tradition transmission functioning in the family and community were supported by well-organized and high-quality

7 In 1899, M. Schorr wrote that these terms had nothing to do with school – cf. M. Schorr, Organizacya Żydów [Organization of the Jews], p. 34, fn. 6. 8 The first mention of a Jewish school operating at the synagogue in Kraków comes from 1370. Cf. J. Wyrozumski, Kraków do schyłku wieków średnich (Dzieje Krakowa 1) [Kraków till the End of the Middle Ages (History of Kraków 1)], Kraków 1992, p. 323. 9 A. Eisenstein, Die Stellung der Juden in Polen im XIII. und XIV. Jahrhundert, Cieszyn 1934, p. 160–162. 10 L. Zunz, Aelteste Nachrichten über Juden und jüdische Gelehrte in Polen, Slavonien, Russland, [in:] Id.: Gesammelte Schriften, Heidelsheim–New York 1979, p. 84; cf. M. Schorr, Organizacya Żydów [Organization of the Jews], p. 10–11. 11 I.M. Ta-Shma, On the History of the Jews, p. 293–317. 12 L. Zunz, Aelteste Nachrichten über Juden, p. 84–85; A. Brückner, Różnowiercy polscy: szkice obyczajowe i literackie [Diverse Religions in Poland: Essays on Their Customs and Literature], vol. 1, Warsaw 1905, p. 250.

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Jewish education, including higher Talmudic schools called yeshivot.13 Their seats were initially located in two cities – Poznań14 and Kraków.15 With time (in the sixteenth century) Lublin joined them. They were established thanks to the personality and rabbinical education of several dozen Jewish scholars who came mainly from Germany and Bohemia to Poland because of the persecutions of the Jewish community in those countries, which made it impossible to study Talmud.16 They educated new Talmud scholars born already in Poland, who became the pride of the local Jewish diaspora.17 From 1474 Rabbi Moshe ben Icchak Mintz taught in Poznań. Moshe ben Icchak Mintz, who was repeatedly expelled from various German cities. He gained great authority by his responsa in which he interpreted many provisions of civil and matrimonial law, often referring to local customs and takanot (changes, regulations). In this practice, he drew on the work of Gershom of Mainz and commented on the rules of conducting services and behaviour during prayer. However, it is not he

13 J. Trachtenberg, Jewish Education in Eastern Europe at the Beginnings of the Seventeenth Century, “Jewish Education” 11 (1939), no. 2, p. 133–134; J. Tomaszewski, Jesziwa [Yeshivah], [in:] Encyklopedia katolicka [Catholic Encyclopaedia], ed. S. Wielgus, J. Duchniewski, vol. 7, Lublin 1997, col. 1245–1246. 14 Ph. Bloch, Der Streit um den Moreh des Maimonides in der Gemeinde Posen um die Mitte des 16. Jahrh.; nebst Mitteilungen und Aktenstücken zur ältesten Zeit des Posner Rabbinats, Pressburg 1903. 15 M. Schorr, Organizacya Żydów [Organization of the Jews], p. 34–39; M. Bałaban, Szkolnictwo żydowskie w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej [Jewish Schools in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth], [in:] Żydzi w Polsce odrodzonej. Działalność społeczna, gospodarcza, oświatowa i kulturalna [Jews in the Restored Poland. Social, Economic, Educational and Cultural Activity], ed. I. Schiper, A. Tartakower, A. Hafftka, vol. 1, Warszawa [1932], p. 337–344; J. Trachtenberg, Jewish Education, p. 121–137; M.A. Shulvass, Between the Rhine and the Bosporus. Studies and Essays in European Jewish History, Chicago 1964, p. 70–95; J. Katz, Jewish Civilization as Reflected in the Yeshivot. Jewish Centers of Higher Learning, “Cahiers d’histoire mondiale” 10 (1967), p. 674–704; W. Wierzbicki, Uwagi o działalności szkolnictwa żydowskiego w Krakowie (XVI–XVIII) [Remarks on the Activities of Jewish Schools in Cracow (16th-18th)], “Zeszyty Naukowe Wydziału Humanistycznego Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego. Pedagogika, Historia Wychowania” 12 (1982), p. 119–132; Sz.A. Cygielman: Zagadnienia organizacji i programów nauczania szkolnictwa podstawowego w krakowskiej gminie żydowskiej [Problems of Organization and Curricula of Elementary Education in the Kraków Jewish Community], [in:] Żydzi w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej [Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth], p. 284–296; Id., Jewish Autonomy in Poland and Lithuania until 1648 (5408), Jerusalem 1997, p. 227–257. 16 The most complete collection of sources for the history of Jewish education between the fifteenth and the eighteenth centuries was collected by S. Assaf – cf. [S. Assaf] ‫ מקורות לתולדות החנוך‬,‫ אסף‬.‫ש‬ ‫[ בישראל‬Mekorot le-toldot ha-chinuch be-Israel], vol. 1–4, Tel-Aviv–Jerushalaim 1925–1943. 17 [S.A. Horodezky] ‫ שלש מאות‬,‫ הורודצקי‬.‫א‬.‫[ ש‬Shalosh meot], p. 51–72; S. A. Horodezky, Mystischreligiöse Strömungen unter den Juden in Polen im 16.–18. Jahrhundert, Leipzig 1914, p. 10–13; M. Bałaban, Historja i literatura żydowska [Jewish History and Literature], vol. 3, Lwów–Warszawa–Kraków 1925, p. 243–259; M. Waxman, A History of Jewish Literature, vol. 2: From the Twelfth Century to the Middle of the Eighteenth Century, 2nd edn, New York 1960 (1st edn 1933), p. 114–118.

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The beginnings of the Jewish Communities in Poland and their intellectual condition

who is considered the father of Polish yeshivas, but Yaakov the Pole, a Bavarianborn disciple of Yaakov Margulies from Regensburg, who moved to Kraków in the late fifteenth century.18 He founded a yeshiva here, which soon became widely known in the Jewish communities of Europe. In teaching, he focused on Talmudic studies. He also used the exegetical method developed according to hermeneutical principles (middot) to comment on biblical texts, and explained difficult issues with the help of “subtle distinctions” (chillukim) known from the Talmud. He also relied on logical analysis and argumentation characteristic of legal casuistry. This method was quickly recognized as authoritative in many circles of the followers of Judaism in Poland (and elsewhere), and was used by them in Jewish exegesis until World War II. Yaakov Polak’s comprehensive rabbinical education brought him fame and attracted students from all over Europe. As a result, he influenced the entire Ashkenazi world, and his name entered permanently into the history of Judaism and was associated with his residence in Polish lands. He also gained recognition in the eyes of the Polish king, Aleksander, who appointed him chief rabbi of Małopolska (Lesser Poland), entrusting him with the authority to judge disputes between Jews, shape customs and perform all functions related to the office of rabbi. This appointment was also confirmed by King Sigismund I the Old, Aleksander’s brother, after he took over the reign in 1506. However, Yaakov as a judge was not welcome in the Jewish circles, mainly because of the harsh sentences he passed in cases submitted to him. He even aroused the opposition of famous European rabbis. One of them, Abraham Mintz from Padua, even put a cherem on him. This brought Yaakov into conflict with his own Kraków community, and despite the king’s protection, he had to resign from his office and leave Poland. Nevertheless, he left behind his successors.19 Another prominent scholar and founder of Talmudic centres in Poland was Shalom Shakhnah (d. 1558), a student of Yaakov Polak.20 He was a rabbi in Lublin, where he was the head of the local yeshiva. He also took over from his teacher upon the nomination of King Sigismund I the Old as chief rabbi of Lesser Poland in 1541, and held this office until 1547, when the king appointed to this office

18 [M. Bałaban] М. Балабанъ: Яковъ Полякъ, отецъ польскаго раввинизма, и его время, “Evreiskaia Starina” 4 (1912), 225–245; M. Bałaban, Jakob Polak, der Baal Chillukim in Krakau, und seine Zeit, “Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums” 57 (1913), no. 1, p. 59–73; no. 2, p. 196–210; J. Frenkel, Literatura rabiniczna [Rabbinic Literature], p. 215; I. Zinberg, A History of Jewish Literature, vol. 6: The German-Polish Cultural Center, transl. and ed. B. Martin, Cincinnati, Ohio 1975, p. 25–29; [S.A. Horodezky] ‫ שלש מאות‬,‫ הורודצקי‬.‫א‬.‫[ ש‬Shalosh meot], p. 14–15; B.D. Weinryb, The Jews of Poland, p. 102–103. 19 S.W. Baron, A Social and Religious History, p. 26. 20 J. Frenkel, Literatura rabiniczna [Rabbinic Literature], p. 216; I. Zinberg, A History of Jewish Literature, vol. 6, p. 29; [S.A. Horodezky] ‫ שלש מאות‬,‫ הורודצקי‬.‫א‬.‫[ ש‬Shalosh meot], p. 15–16.

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another student of Yaakov Polak, Moshe ben Israel Isserles (Rema, 1525–1572) from Kraków. This appointment was later confirmed by King Sigismund August. The yeshiva of Shalom Shakhnah became as famous in Europe as that of his master. Aside from Lublin, Kraków became increasingly famous as a centre of Talmudic studies thanks to the teaching activity of Moshe ben Israel Isserles, who was born and died in Kraków (his grave is located at the Rema Synagogue). He was an eminent scholar and the greatest Talmudist of the Polish lands. He studied under the greatest rabbis of his time, among others in Lublin under Shalom Shakhnah.21 His contemporaries called him Maimonides of the North or Maimonides of Polish Jewry. He was distinguished by his attachment to the Bible and the Talmud, to traditional knowledge, but also – something new among Jews in Poland, in which he referred to the traditions of Sephardic Jews – showed, like his students, a passion for secular knowledge, especially mathematics and astronomy.22 Isserles took over his method of study from Yaakov Polak and Shalom Shakhnah. He was primarily interested in halakha, but also in philosophy, kabbalah, homiletics and natural sciences. In 1552, he founded a yeshiva in Kraków, which he managed and maintained until his death. It attracted many students from Poland and other European countries. He was also interested in the rabbinical output of other contemporary luminaries of the Jewish world. His position among Jewish scholars is confirmed by the fact that in the dispute Giustiniani-Bragadini he was asked for a ruling, which later was included in a collection of 132 of his responsa from the years 1550–1571 published in Kraków in 1640. He also had the merit of emphasizing the importance of tradition, which could be the source of halakha, especially when there was no other source to form it from. At times, he would even concede to it against the prevailing rule. He was very magnanimous and mild (unlike Yaakov Polak) in his interpretation of laws and customs, which met with criticism from his contemporaries, especially Chaim ben Bezalel of Poznań (1520–1588), who, like him, was a student of Shakhnah. Nonetheless, Isserles’ findings were accepted years later as binding on all Ashkenazi Jews.

21 [S.A. Horodezky] ‫ לקורות הרבנות‬,‫ הורודצקי‬.‫א‬.‫[ ש‬Le-korot ha-rabanut], Warsze 1911, p. 81–21; J. Frenkel, Literatura rabiniczna, p. 216–218; I. Zinberg, A History of Jewish Literature, vol. 6, p. 29–39; J. Dancygier, Isserles Mosze [Isserles Moshe], [in:] Polski słownik biograficzny [Polish Biographical Dictionary], ed. K. Lepszy [et al.], vol. 10, Wrocław 1962–1964, p. 172–173; [S. Siev] ‫ רבינו משה‬,‫ זיו‬.‫ש‬ ‫[ איסרלש‬Rabenu Mosze Isserles], New York 1972. 22 [S.P. Rabinovič] С.П. Рабиновичъ, Слъды свободомыслія въ польскомъ раввинизмъ XVI въка, “Evreiskaia Starina” 4 (1911), p. 1–18; I. Zinberg, A History of Jewish Literature, vol. 6, p. 45–46; S. Krauss, The Jewish-Christian Controversy. From the Earliest Times to 1789, vol. 1: History, ed. and rev. by W. Horbury, Tübingen 1996, p. 124.

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The beginnings of the Jewish Communities in Poland and their intellectual condition

In the sixteenth century, other famous Talmudists also worked in Poland. They commented on Shulchan Arukh – David ben Shmuel Ha-Levi,23 Abraham Aba Gombiner,24 Shabtai Kohen,25 Moshe Lima,26 Shmuel ben Phoebus and Yehoshua Falk,27 or explained Talmud in the so-called Chidushim, emphasizing – as Shlomo Luria (1510–1573)28 – that it is the primary source of all legal decisions, more important than all later codes. The works of these Polish rabbis influenced the ritual and civil and matrimonial law of all European Jews. Already in the middle of the sixteenth century achievements in Torah study brought Jews from Poland worldwide fame. Yeshivas enjoyed great popularity and respect here.29 Their headmasters, rectors of yeshivas, who had a great authority in the communities thanks to a thorough knowledge of Jewish religious tradition had an influence on the religiousness of Jews not only in their place of residence, but also on other communities, where their works were studied.30 This was possible thanks to the development of Hebrew printing in Europe, including Poland, which made the printed religious book a means of transmitting Judaic tradition. Printed texts were supplied to Talmudic schools and individual recipients who were able to read and use them for liturgical and communal purposes (in schools, synagogues, beit midrash) and for individual Torah study, regarded by the followers of Judaism as the most important manifestation of religiousness.31 The flourishing of Jewish religious life, which began at the end of the fifteenth century, provided a strong impulse for the shaping of certain elements of Jewish culture that distinguished this Jewish diaspora

23 Die jüdische Litteratur seit Abschluss des Kanons, ed. J. Winter, A. Wünsche, vol. 2: Geschichte der rabbinischen Litteratur während des Mittelalters und ihrer Nachblüthe in der neueren Zeit, Berlin 1897, p. 519; J. Frenkel, Literatura rabiniczna, p. 222; M. Bałaban: Dawid ben Samuel Ha-Levi (1587–1667) [David ben Samuel Ha-Levi], [in:] Polski słownik biograficzny [Polish Biographical Dictionary], vol. 4, Kraków 1938, p. 461. 24 Die jüdische Litteratur, ed. J. Winter, A. Wünsche, p. 519. 25 Ibid., p. 518; J. Frenkel, Literatura rabiniczna [Rabbinic Literature], p. 222–223. 26 Die jüdische Litteratur, ed. J. Winter, A. Wünsche, p. 519. 27 Ibid., p. 517–518; J. Frenkel, Literatura rabiniczna [Rabbinic Literature], p. 220; A. Penzak: Falk Jozue ben Aleksander Kohen (zm. 1614) [Yoshua ben Alexander HaCohen Falk (d. 1614)], [in:] Polski słownik biograficzny [Polish Biographical Dictionary], ed. W. Konopczyński, vol. 6, Kraków 1948, p. 335. 28 [S.A. Horodezky] ‫ לקורות הרבנות‬,‫ הורודצקי‬.‫א‬.‫[ ש‬Le-korot ha-rabanut], p. 123–144; J. Frenkel, Literatura rabiniczna [Rabbinic Literature], p. 218–219; I. Zinberg, A History of Jewish Literature, vol. 6, p. 39–44; R. Pytel: Luria Salomon ben Jechiel (1510–1573) [Luria Salomon ben Yehiel (1510–1573)], [in:] Polski słownik biograficzny [Polish Biographical Dictionary], ed. E. Rostworowski, vol. 18, Wrocław 1973, p. 134–135. 29 [Ch. Shmeruk] ‫ בחורים מאשכנז בישיבות פולין‬,‫ שמרוק‬.‫[ ח‬Bachurim me-Ashkenaz be-jeshivot Polin], [in:] ‫[ ספר יובל ליצחק בער‬Yitzhak F. Baer Jubilee Volume], Jerusalem 1960, p. 304–317. 30 [A. Gejger], А. Гейгеръ, Еврейство въ XVI столътіи, “Woschod” 3 (1883), no. 5–6, p. 138–141. 31 M. Weber, Szkice z socjologii religii [Essays on the Sociology of Religion], Warszawa 1984, p. 199.

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from others around the world, primarily because of its achievements in the area of spirituality, shaped primarily on the basis of halakhah – customary Jewish law. It was also here that the future shape of Orthodox Judaism was formed, which survived for centuries in the diasporas of Europe and throughout the world until the Shoah in the twentieth century.32 The output of Polish Jews, especially the scholars and leaders, was so extensive and valuable that, of all the Jewish communities established in the fifteen centuries following the redaction of the Talmud, the sixteenth century diaspora from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth can be compared to the distinguished Jewish communities of northern France at the time of Rashi and the later commentators called Tosafists, who contributed to the establishment of the Talmud text,33 and to the communities on the Iberian Peninsula in the late Middle Ages.34 A strong and influential centre of rabbinical Judaism in the Polish lands was to a large extent facilitated by the internal autonomy of the Jewish communities, with its own organisational structure, from the qahal to the representative body called The Council of Four Lands/Va’ad Arba’ Aratzot (Greater Poland, Lesser Poland, Red Ruthenia and Lithuania), compared by Jewish writers to the Sanhedrin of ancient Israel and regarded as the only such institution in the entire history of the Jewish diaspora.35 Thanks to the autonomy guaranteed by royal privileges and religious isolation, which was of equal importance for the rabbis and the Catholic Church, the Jewish communities in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth could

32 S.W. Baron, A Social and Religious History, p. 3. 33 [S. Assaf] ‫ פרקים מחיי התרבות של היהודים בימי הבינים‬.‫ באהלי יעקב‬,‫ אסף‬.‫[ ש‬Be-ohole Jaakow. Perakim me-chaje ha-tarbut shel ha-Jehudim bi-jeme ha-benajim], Jerushalaim 1943, p. 68. Por. K.R. Stow, Alienated Minority. The Jews of Medieval Latin Europe, London 1992, p. 146–153. 34 J.A. Gierowski, Rabini z Rzeczypospolitej we Frankfurcie nad Menem (Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis 1876) [Rabbis from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in Frankfurt am Main], Wrocław 1996, p. 24. 35 S. Ettinger, Sejm Czterech Ziem [The Council of Four Lands], [in:] Żydzi w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej. Materiały z konferencji “Autonomia Żydów w Rzeczypospolitej Szlacheckiej”. Międzywydziałowy Zakład Historii i Kultury Żydów w Polsce, Uniwersytet Jagielloński 22–26 IX 1986 [Jews in the Polish Commonwealth. Materials from the conference “Autonomy of Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth”. Interdepartmental Institute of the History and Culture of Jews in Poland, Jagiellonian University 22–26 September 1986], ed. A. Link-Lenczowski, T. Polański, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków 1991, p. 34–43; J. Goldberg, Żydowski Sejm Czterech Ziem w społecznym i politycznym ustroju dawnej Rzeczypospolitej [The Jewish Council of Four Lands in the Social and Political System of the former Commonwealth], [in:] Żydzi w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej [Jews in the Former Commonwealth], p. 44–58; A. Leszczyński, Sejm Żydów Korony 1623–1764 [The Council of Jews in the Polish Crown 1623–1764], Warszawa 1994; [A. Wein] ‫ מקהילה מסורתית ל’וועד‬.‫ הארגון האוטונומי של יהודי פולין‬,‫ ויין‬.‫א‬ ‫[ דתי‬Ha-irgun ha-otonomi shel yehude Polin. Me-kehila masortit le-waad dati], [in:] ‫ יהודי‬.‫קיום ושבר‬ ‫[ פולין לדורותיהם‬Kiyum we-shewer. Jehude Polin le-dorotechem], vol. 1: ‫[ פרקי היסטוריה‬Pirke historia], ed. I. Bartal, I. Gutman, Jerusalem 1996, p. 49–58.

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The beginnings of the Jewish Communities in Poland and their intellectual condition

develop intensively, including education on different levels and judiciary, helping the followers of Judaism living there to be faithful to the commandments contained in the holy religious tradition, especially in the Hebrew Bible and Talmud. Undoubtedly, in the Polish lands the Jews gained much more freedom than anywhere else in Europe. This is confirmed by the sixteenth century Jewish correspondence of Rabbi Moshe Isserles, who wrote as follows to one of his students: W tym kraju [Polsce] nie ma dzikiej nienawiści do nas jak w Niemczech. Oby to tak trwało aż do przyjścia Mesjasza. […] Nie będziesz miał nigdzie lepiej jak w tym kraju […], masz tutaj pokój umysłu. [In this country [Poland] there is no fierce hatred against us as in Germany. May it continue this way until the coming of the Messiah. […] You will not have anywhere better than in this country […], you have peace of mind here].

Another time, when he writes about family disputes between Jews (c. 1550), he characterizes the situation of the Diaspora in Poland in this way: Ta sprawa […] to może przypadek krzywdy w Polsce […], gdzie król dobrze odnosi się do naszych braci. […] Nie opuścił nas Bóg w tym kraju jako miejscu schronienia, a przeznaczenie Izraela mogło być rzeczywiście nieznośne. Ale dzięki Bogu, król i szlachta są nam życzliwi.36 [This case […] is perhaps an exceptional case of injustice in Poland […] where the king has a kind attitude to our brothers. […] God has not abandoned us in this country as a place of refuge, and Israel’s destiny may indeed have been unbearable. But thank God, the king and the nobility are kind to us].

Chaim ben Bezalel, who was a student of Isserles in Kraków and then left Poland to take up the post of rabbi in Friedberg, Germany, assessed the situation of Jews in Poland in a similar way. From the perspective of these two countries, where the living conditions of Jews were different, he wrote: Jak wiadomo, dzięki Bogu, jego naród w tym kraju nie jest pogardzany i łupiony. Dlatego nie-Żyd przychodzący na żydowską ulicę ma respekt przed ludnością, choć istnieje obawa, że ktoś zachowa się jak łotr względem Żydów, podczas gdy w Niemczech każdy Żyd był krzywdzony i prześladowany przez cały dzień.37

36 [Moshe Isserles] ‫ שאלות ותשובות‬,‫[ משה איסרלש‬She’elot u-teshuvot], Jerushalaim 1968 [repr.], resp. no. 95 and 63. 37 [Chaim ben Becalel] ‫ ויכוח מים חיים‬,‫[ חיים בן בצלאל‬Vikuach mayim chaim], Amsterdam 1712, kelal 5, no. 4.

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[As you know, thank God, his people in this country are not despised or looted. Therefore, a non-Jew coming into a Jewish street shows respect for the people, although there is a fear that someone will act like a villain towards the Jews, whereas in Germany every Jew was harmed and persecuted all day long].

That different living conditions of Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth compared to other European countries was also noticed by foreigners travelling in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. They included Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Commendone, who travelled around Poland, including Ukraine, in the second half of the sixteenth century.38 These accounts alone could lead to erroneous conclusions about the position of Jews in sixteenth-seventeenth century Poland. At the same time, one should not forget about other aspects of Jewish life at that time. First of all, there were sharp conflicts between the Christians, supported by guilds and clergy, and the Jews. In spite of this, Jewish trade, both external and internal, strengthened and reached its peak of development in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.39 Another factor leading to the destabilization of the position of Jews in the Commonwealth, otherwise ensured by the royal general and individual privileges, were the repeated accusations of Jews insulting the Holy Sacrament (the consecrated host) and ritual murder. Lawsuits related to this often ended in death sentences and expulsion of Jews from a given region.40 Despite those radical anti-Jewish acts, Majer Bałaban,

38 Cf. S.W. Baron, A Social and Religious History, p. 164. 39 I. Schiper, Dzieje handlu żydowskiego na ziemiach polskich [A History of Jewish Trade in Poland], Warszawa 1937, p. 123–133; J.M. Małecki, Handel żydowski u schyłku XVI i w 1 połowie XVII w. w świetle krakowskich rejestrów celnych [Jewish Trade in Cracow at the End of the Sixteenth Century and in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century in Kraków Customs Registers], [in:] Żydzi w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej [Jews in the Former Commonwealth], p. 215; Id., Wstęp [Introduction], [in:] Handel żydowski w Krakowie w końcu XVI i w XVII wieku: wypisy z krakowskich rejestrów celnych z lat 1593–1683 [Jewish Trade in Kraków at the End of the Sixteenth Century and in the Seventeenth Century: Selected Records from Kraków Customs Registers 1593–1683], ed. J.M. Małecki with E. Szlufik, Kraków 1995, p. 9–30. 40 J. Tazbir supposes that as a result of these trials between 200 and 2,000 Jews were executed – cf. J. Tazbir, Okrucieństwo w nowożytnej Europie [Cruelty in Modern Europe], Warsaw 1993, p. 57. Z. Guldon and J. Wijaczka established on the basis of available historical sources that in the sixteenth century 16 trials for ritual murders took place in Poland, in the seventeenth century – 34, and in the eighteenth century –32; cf. Z. Guldon, J. Wijaczka, Procesy o mordy rytualne w Polsce w XVI–XVIII wieku [Trials for Ritual Murders in Poland in the Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries], p. 94–95; Id, The Accusation of Ritual Murder in Poland, 1500–1800, “Polin” 10 (1997), p. 99–140. H. Węgrzynek established that in the sixteenth century in Poland there were 10 accusations against Jews of profanation of the consecrated host and 42 accusations of ritual murder – H. Węgrzynek, “Czarna legenda” Żydów. Procesy o rzekome mordy rytualne w dawnej Polsce [“The Black Legend” of the Jews. Trials for Alleged Ritual Murders in the Polish Commonwealth], Warszawa 1995, p. 182–189.

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Hebrew printing in the Old Poland and the printers of Talmudic tractates

a Jewish historian, in his attempt to summarize the situation of Jews in the sixteenth century in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, came closer in his assessment to the fragments from rabbis’ correspondence quoted above. He wrote: “Despite these reactionary intentions, and often the execution thereof, one feels the spirit of renaissance and liberality in Poland”.41 Thanks to that spirit Jews could be doctors and writers at the court of Polish kings, they also became famous as bankers and lessees of royal estates. They also played an important role in the development of trade, contributing to the growth of importance of many royal and private towns, including episcopal ones.

4.2

Hebrew printing in the Old Poland and the printers of Talmudic tractates

During this period of the Jewish presence in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, called their Golden Age (sixteenth-seventeenth centuries), the Jewish printing industry began and developed in the local diaspora, which was an indispensable element of a normally functioning community that needed books to study the Torah, especially the basic work – the Talmud, on which the rabbinic Judaism is based. Initially, it was centred in two cities, Kraków and Lublin,42 which in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries satisfied to a large extent the needs of the Jewish book market in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth43 and at the same time fought off the competition of foreign printing houses, which introduced to the local market – thanks to the development of trade – quite a number of prints, sometimes of better quality, cheaper and sold on more convenient conditions. The Jewish printing house in Poland, which was usually run by a few families for two or three generations, could not be compared with those of Venice or later with those of Amsterdam, which were culturally and economically more important

41 M. Bałaban, Umysłowość i moralność żydostwa polskiego XVI w. [The Mindset and Morality of Polish Jewry in the Sixteenth Century], [in:] Kultura staropolska [Old Polish Culture], Kraków 1932, p. 617. 42 [M. Marx] M.C., Zur Geschichte des hebräischen Buchdruckes in Russland und Polen. Chronologische Liste der Druckorte von den ersten Anfängen bis zum Erlaß des Gesetzes betreffend die Schließung der Druckereien vom Jahre 1837, [in:] Festschrift für Aron Freimann zum 60. Geburtstage, ed. A. Marx, H. Meyer, Berlin 1935, p. 91, 94; K. Korotajowa, Drukarnie różnowiercze [Printing Houses of Diverse Religious Communities], [in:] Encyklopedia katolicka, ed. L. Bieńkowski, F. Gryglewicz, R. Łukaszyk, vol. 4, Lublin 1983, col. 232; M.N. Rosenfeld, The Development of Hebrew Printing in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, [in:] A Sign and a Witness, p. 94, 99. 43 We do not know the exact size of this market. Data on the size of the Jewish population in Poland in the second half of the sixteenth century are very divergent (Guldon-Kowalski – 100,000, Baron and Sułowski – 150,000 to 300,000, Berszadski and Samsonowicz – 30,000) – cf. Z. Guldon, W. Kowalski, Between Tolerance and Abomination, p. 164,173 (fn. 23: lit.).

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and served many European communities.44 Nevertheless, as for the publication of the Talmud, the Jewish printing houses in Poland played an outstanding role. Since the dissemination of the work by the Jewish Soncino family in Italy (the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth centuries) they were the first Jewish printing houses in Europe (Bomberg and Giustiniani were Christians) which undertook the task of printing the Talmud at the time when it was almost impossible in Western Europe. They therefore represent an important link in the transmission of Judaic tradition, all the more important because they were written in a country with a much higher degree of tolerance towards Jews and religious freedom than anywhere else in Europe,45 a country where the influence of the papacy, with its restrictive orders against the Talmud, was limited, and the interest of papal nuncios was concentrated on much more important matters, such as maintaining the ties of the Polish Church with the Holy See, preventing the establishment of a national Church on the model of the Church of England, raising the standard of living of the higher, lower and monastic clergy, fighting the Reformation and gaining Poland as an ally in the organisation of an anti-Turkish league by the papacy in Europe. The printing, distribution and study of the Talmud most often became of interest to nuncios as a result of the activities of Jewish converts, who demanded directly in Poland or through their influential patrons in Rome strong anti-Jewish sanctions preventing the reproduction and distribution of the Talmud. This happened even in the times after the Council of Trent, when, from the point of view of ecclesiastical law, the Talmud was to be tolerated after fulfilling appropriate requirements, as it was defined in the 1564 Index of Prohibited Books formulated by Pius IV. This does not mean that Jews did not find support in Poland, both in the circle of kings and among the clergy, which – despite many adversities – allowed them to realize ambitious printing plans, and in a manner deviating from the norms defined by the universal and particular church law. The printing of the Talmud was almost indispensable for the functioning of the Jewish higher education. The destruction of previously reproduced copies of this work, mainly in Italy, deprived yeshiva students in the Commonwealth of the possibility to use it. In order to maintain the level of Jewish religious schools in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, it was not enough that only their rectors possessed a manuscript or a printout of the Talmud. Qahals, interested in the level of their education, must have experienced the urgent need to reproduce this fundamental work of rabbinical Judaism, the study of which contributed to securing the continuity of tradition transmission and constant development of halakha, ensuring the vitality of Judaism. While it was possible to purchase various Hebrew

44 Cf. S.W. Baron, A Social and Religious History, p. 261. 45 B.D. Weinryb, The Jews of Poland, p. 143.

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The role of Hebrew printing in the Old Poland in the religious message of Judaism

books from foreign printing houses – biblical books, prayer books, law compendia etc. – the Talmud itself, despite being printed in Christian Italian publishing houses, was not available in the second half of the sixteenth century due to confiscations and burning. Still, only its study could protect Judaism from ossification and limiting itself to the framework of previously issued halakhic rulings; the most eminent Jewish scholars did not want to allow this to happen. The Diaspora in the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth, strengthened by the inflow of religiously educated Jews from Germany and Bohemia, faced therefore a great task in the religious, scholar, printing and financial dimensions: reproduction of the Talmud, which demanded from its executors, especially proofreaders, a high level of rabbinical knowledge, taking into account the previous tradition and its latest achievements, and from printers the knowledge of the art of printing, so that they could manage the “work of heaven” and contribute to its dissemination and study.

4.3

The role of Hebrew printing in the Old Poland in the religious message of Judaism

Looking at the history of the reproduction of the Talmud, primarily the Babylonian Talmud, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the three printing centres of Lublin, Kraków and Nowy Dwór, against the background of its European publishing history, one can see what role they played in the religious message in Judaism. The theory of religion points to its four basic functions: (1) perpetuating, (2) protective, (3) transmissive between generations, and (4) adaptive to the changes of civilization. With regard to the Talmud, which is one of the many material substrates (channels-media) of religious transmission in Judaism, these functions are fulfilled to varying degrees and by no means encompass it in its entirety. Nevertheless, the history of Talmud reproduction in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth allows a synthetic attempt to answer the question to what extent it was fulfilled by four editions of the Babylonian Talmud and its individual tractates issued by the publishing houses of Kraków, Lublin and Nowy Dwór. Against the background of the entire output of these printing houses (at the time of the printing of the Talmud they were managed successively in Lublin by Chaim ben Icchak, Eliezer ben Icchak and Yosef and Kalonymos ben Mordechai Jaffe and Tzvi ben Abraham Kalonymos Jaffe; in Kraków by Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz, Aaron ben Icchak Prostitz, and in Nowy Dwór – by Johann Anton Krüger) the printing of Talmudic tractates dominated over other groups of printings: biblical books, prayer books, halakhic and devotional literature, grammars. At that time in Kraków about 100 Talmudic tractates were published and in Lublin about 60. We do not know the size of their circulation. If we assume an estimated 300 to 500 copies, it means that 48,000 to

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80,000 copies of the tractates were printed by Jewish printing houses in Poland. This substantial number is very meaningful. In evaluating their edition, we must first of all take into account the degree of fidelity of the message to the original (original) content contained in the copies of the Talmudic tractates, the factors influencing the corrections of its texts that were unfavourable for Judaism, the strength of the impact of the message flowing through the media channel of interest to us on other areas of Jewish religious and cultural life, which are also the heritage of Jewish civilization, and the influence of the spirit of the early modern times on the religious message in Judaism. 1. Jewish typographers perceived the Jagiellonian Commonwealth, the largest country in Europe in the fifteenth-sixteenth centuries, as an attractive book market. It was created by the Jewish communities existing since the late Middle Ages, constantly growing due to the influx of Jews mainly from the western and southern Europe, where persecutions intensified. The degree of religious tolerance in the multi-confessional Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was much greater than in other European countries. Apart from the dominating Catholic religion, other religions coexisted here: Orthodoxy in Ruthenia, Lutheranism in Royal Prussia, Calvinists, Polish Brethren (Arians), Czech Brethren and other smaller religious groups in various regions of the country. In this religious mosaic Jews who professed Judaism became more and more visible from the sixteenth century, especially in urban centres. They needed their own printing houses, which would significantly support the realization of the fundamental ideas of Judaism, especially the obligation to know and popularize the Torah, raised to the rank of a religious obligation, the fulfilment of which was a part of God’s service, according to the words in Deuteronomy “to love the Lord your God, and to serve him” (11:13), with “serve” meaning, as commented on in Siphre,46 “to study Torah” (§ 41; 80b). The best access to it since the invention of printing was provided by the reproduction with this technique of the inspired sacred writings (written Torah) of Judaism and the tradition-sanctified Talmud (oral Torah). The Tractate Bereshit explains, commenting on Exod 24:12 (“and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written to teach them”), that both of these Torahs were given to Moses at Sinai: “tablets of stone” means the Pentateuch, “commandments” is the Mishnah, “which

46 Siphre – a halakhic midrash to the Book of Numbers and Deuteronomy, which together with the midrash to Leviticus entitled Siphra, also known as Torat kohanim, published by Rabbi Chiya ben Abba in the third century, form one whole and were attached to the Mishnah. Cf. A. Steinsaltz, The Talmud. The Steinsaltz Edition. A Reference Guide, New York 1989, p. 147; A. Cohen, Talmud. Syntetyczny wykład na temat Talmudu i nauk rabinów dotyczących religii, etyki i prawodawstwa [Talmud. A Synthetic Lecture on the Talmud and Rabbinic Teachings on Religion, Ethics and Legislation], Warszawa 1995, p. 17.

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The role of Hebrew printing in the Old Poland in the religious message of Judaism

I have written” is the Prophets and Writings (the second and third parts of the Scriptures), and “to teach them” is the Gemara (Bereshit 5a). 2. By reproducing the Talmud, which was much more popular among the followers of Judaism in religious education than the Bible, printers contributed to the development of Talmudic studies, supporting the complex educational process in which, apart from them, who delivered books with holy texts, participated rabbis, yeshiva rectors, rabbinical court judges, qahal boards, Jewish families, especially fathers responsible for the religious education of their sons – in a word – almost entire communities. Their work was highly valued in the Jewish community, which was reflected in the terminology used to describe their occupation: “holy work”, and its product was called “a work of heaven”, because it contained the Torah, God’s gift to the Chosen People, the study of which was the most important activity a follower of Judaism could perform. The expression of this awareness of the Jewish printers from Lublin and Kraków are, among others, the printing signs used by them, including the copies of Talmudic tractates. Their symbolism (fish, deer-doe, well-water) refers to the theology of the Torah, based on the Bible and Talmud. It is not only – in their understanding – the foundation on which life was built, but the basis of the whole cosmic order. Without it, moral chaos would reign. Only thanks to the Torah can a Jew lead a decent, ethical life. It is as indispensable to him as water is to a fish. It also has the power to revive, as water does for dry ground. That is why it is compared to the “beloved doe”; everyone loves it, and whoever loves Torah loves nothing else but life. 3. The message of the oral Torah through the printing of the Talmud in a country where Judaism found its European centres from the sixteenth century onwards, at the same time perpetuated the sense of separateness of Judaism’s adherents from Christians, contributing to the Jews’ greater ethnic and religious self-consciousness. In their view, the Bible containing the written Torah was appropriated by Christianity. On the other hand, thanks to the oral Torah, partly contained in the Talmud, and then successively created over the centuries, Jews could more easily distinguish themselves from other peoples and protect their individuality.47 This was of particular importance for a period of almost a hundred years from the second half of the sixteenth century, i.e. at a time when in Europe the printing of the Talmud was in fact significantly restricted by successive popes, and in the Italian states, where Hebrew printing flourished most, from the second half of the sixteenth century it was almost impossible. At that time the Jewish printers who had their printing houses in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth faced the challenge of ensuring the continuity of the religious message by means of the newly invented media channel which was the printed book. This medium quickly gained a privileged position in

47 Ibid., p. 162.

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Judaism, which had cultivated sacred texts for centuries. The power of its influence was recognized by Jews since the first edition of the Talmud was published in Guadalajara (Castile) in 1480–1482(?), and then by the Jewish family Soncino in Italy (Soncino-Pesaro) in 1484–1519. These were the first Jewish publishing houses in Europe which undertook its printing. It should be remembered that the time between the mentioned “Spanish-Portuguese” and “Italian” editions, and – let’s call it conventionally – the “Polish” edition of the Talmud, passed in Europe under the sign of disputes about it and fighting with it. The polemics around the Talmud and its persecution in Christian Europe, which began in the thirteenth century, lasted until the seventeenth century. At times they intensified, at others they weakened, and at times they even ceased to exist when the Talmud briefly gained a prominent patron who would recommend – as for example Pope Clement V in 1307 that the Talmud be studied – or – after the invention of printing – allow Christian printers to distribute it for missionary purposes. In general, however, the prevailing opinion in most Christian circles was formed in the thirteenth century about the Jewish perfidy contained in it, which was to explain the attacks carried out on it by the Church in the form of censorship, the prohibition of its study (the decision of Pope Eugene IV made at the Council of Basel – 1437), confiscation and burning of copies. The beginning of the sixteenth century brought intensification of these polemics mainly due to Johannes Pfeffernkorn, a baptized Jewish convert. His dispute with Johannes Reuchlin, an eminent German Hebraist, divided for years the clergy of the Roman Church, including popes and monarchs, into fierce enemies of the Talmud, who strove for its complete destruction in all its copies, and supporters of its study at Christian universities in specially established chairs of Jewish studies and the Hebrew language. The dispute, which lasted from the middle of the first decade of the sixteenth century, did not actually end, only another event – Martin Luther’s statement with 95 theses in 1517 – diverted the main attention from it. An indirect expression of Pope Leo X’s position on the Pfeffernkorn-Reuchlin dispute was his granting of permission in 1520 for the printing of the entire Talmud to the Amsterdam printer Daniel Bomberg, a Christian who owned a printing house in Venice, the capital of European printing at the time. In this way, the Pope wanted to contribute to the development of Judaic studies, which were to serve the missionary work of Catholics among Jews. In spite of such a defined purpose of printing Talmudic tractates, Jews used their editions for their own religious message. Not being able to run printing houses themselves, in which they would be reproduced, they engaged themselves as proofreaders, typesetters, pressmen to cooperate with Christian printers, taking care of the proper preparation of the work, as well as high quality printing. Without them, the owners of printing houses, although they had sufficient capital and acquired knowledge of the art of printing, would not have been able to cope with such difficult tasks, without craftsmen who combined two qualities: proficiency in their craft and thorough knowledge of Talmudic literature.

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The role of Hebrew printing in the Old Poland in the religious message of Judaism

These qualities of the employees of the owners of the printing house made it possible to properly prepare the typesetting of the Talmud text and to correct it, at the same time bearing in mind the difficulties arising from its reconstruction on the basis of previous editions and manuscript copies that had been saved from complete destruction. In addition to Bomberg, another Venetian printer, Giustiniani, joined in the printing of the Talmud and also published a complete edition of the work. In fact, most of the Talmudic tractates published in Venice between 1519 and 1551 were not primarily for missionary purposes, but were purchased by Jews – despite censor interference evident in the text of some of the tractates – and used for educational purposes. This worried the papacy, which more than once, through its ambassador in Venice, tried in vain to control the printing of the Talmud. Finally, in 1553, Pope Julius III ordered the confiscation and burning of the Talmud, which was most promptly done in Rome. This order was also upheld by Julius III’s successor, Paul IV, called by the Jews “Haman” of the sixteenth century, during whose pontificate the first index of books forbidden by the Congregation of the Inquisition was published, including the Talmud. The election of the new Pope Pius IV gave hope for a relaxation of the decisions concerning the reproduction of the Talmud. The issue even became the subject of the Council of Trent at the end of its term (1563). Its final resolution came after the Council. In 1564 the papal chancellery announced the revised Index librorum prohibitorum, in which the Talmud was listed as a prohibited book. At the same time, it was allowed to acknowledge it as a tolerated book, provided that the title “Talmud” would not be used while printing it and the passages allegedly offending the Christian religion would be deleted from its content. It was also necessary to obtain permission to print it from an ecclesiastical censor appointed by the Congregation for the Inquisition or the local bishop. This legal regulation of Pius IV remained valid in countries with a dominant Catholicism for over 300 years, although in practice its application varied. At times, repressive measures against the Talmud were considerably intensified, even to such an extent that anyone living in a Christian country was forbidden to possess it (under Clement VIII, 1592–1605). As a result of this papal policy, from 1554 for four and a half centuries no printer, either Christian or Jewish, in Italy dared to print any Talmudic tractate. Instead, they were printed in Poland, Turkey, and in Basel, which belonged to the Swiss Union from 1501, and in the second half of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in other cities of the German Empire. Especially important for Jews from European communities were editions of the Talmud originating from Jewish printing houses in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. 4. The Jewish printers in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, by reproducing Talmudic tractates, continued with their work the traditions of their compatriots – companions in the art of printing from Spain and Italy, contributing to the maintenance of a unidirectional line in religious communication, so that their

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contemporary generations shaped their ritualized religiousness on the patterns of previous generations. As owners of printing houses, like their predecessors on the Pyrenean and Apennine peninsulas, they decided themselves about the profile of the publishing repertoire. It probably corresponded with the expectations of recipients from the Jewish communities in the Polish-Lithuanian lands, as well as from abroad, where the Talmud still enjoyed great interest and demand, although its possession was not always permitted. 5. The Jewish printers from Kraków and Lublin were stimulated to take up the challenge of Talmud printing by two basic factors. On the one hand, the religious necessity to continue the message of the Torah, and on the other hand, a much greater freedom enjoyed by Jews in the Commonwealth than that of their coreligionists in Western Europe. The degree of this freedom in principle allowed for the printing of forbidden works elsewhere, even bypassing the regulations of the general church legislation and the particular (synodal) Kraków legislation. 6. Repressions, which sometimes fell on printers in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for printing the Talmud, had basically two causes: either denunciations before the royal or episcopal authorities by Jews who had converted to Catholicism, or accusations maintained in the spirit of the propaganda practiced in Italian countries by clergymen-professors of the Kraków Academy engaged in a wider action on economic and religious grounds against the Jews. They did not, however, deprive Jewish printers of the possibility of reproducing the Talmud, with which they became a part of the general religious message in the history of Judaism, although they sometimes interrupted their work. 7. Many members of the Jewish community were involved in printing the Talmud, even when the printing house was owned by a Christian (e.g. in Nowy Dwór), thus fulfilling one of the basic religious duties: the dissemination of the Torah. The main responsibility was taken by the printers, who often chose partners or were supported by their families, whose members gradually took over the duty of managing the printing house. Other members of Jewish communities also helped them in their “sacred work”. Some joined the task of passing the Torah to the next generations for religious and philanthropic reasons, others reconciled the religious commandment with investment of capital, which was to provide them with financial profit and fame after selling the edition. In extreme cases, when the publishing plans of a printing house collapsed due to cataclysms and wars (as a result of which the Jewish population got poorer), and foreign competition (which was unsuccessfully fought off) the printers usually had to rely on themselves. Unable to pay their debts, they were prosecuted by courts and often went bankrupt. Communities, in which their printing houses were located, did not give them sufficient financial guarantees and support in such situations, despite the fact that they were proud of their presence and the prints they produced. More often than not, members of these communities,

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The role of Hebrew printing in the Old Poland in the religious message of Judaism

engaged in other crafts or banking, also fell into financial difficulties at the same time and were unable to help each other. 8. A special place among the printers’ collaborators was occupied by revisers of Talmudic tractates, who were usually rabbis, yeshiva managers or judges in rabbinical courts. It largely depended on them what text was printed in subsequent editions of the Talmud. They were obliged to prepare the text of Talmudic tractates as well as possible for printing because new generations of Judaism followers shaped their ritual and ethos on their basis. New teachers of the Torah, responsible for its further message, came from among them. Therefore, it was necessary to take care of the text’s fidelity, so as not to lose anything from the great events described in it, not to lose the tradition passed down through the centuries, to save this ancient encounter of ancient Israel with holiness, with the great Lawgiver, from the obliteration by destructive time, and to transfer it in the best possible preserved state. Judaism existed for centuries thanks to the constant contact of its believers with the revealed Law – the Torah – thanks to the cultivation of the memories of that ancient moment of transmitting the Torah and to the constant reading of its meaning, especially by the spiritual leaders of successive generations, in the context of the ongoing changes in civilization. The requirement to preserve this message in its entirety was difficult for printers and their collaborators operating in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The proofreader responsible together with the printer for the text in its final form submitted for printing had to make a triple choice. The first was to reproduce the text of the Talmud with limited access to the sources on which the reproduction was based. Either they could use earlier printed editions, most often one of the Bomberg or Giustiniani editions, or they could use better texts without censorship intervention preserved in manuscripts, if they had access to them. The second choice concerned the extent to which printers and proofreaders exercised self-censorship in order to protect the publishing house and the print runs of individual editions from censorious repression, which sometimes even went so far as to close down the printing house and confiscate all printed copies of the tractates. The third choice consisted in selecting the most important additions to the basic text (such as commentaries, halakhic rulings from various compendia compiled over the centuries and from the responsa, chidushim, etc.) and providing useful references for students. The Lublin printers based the first edition of the Talmud (1559–1577) primarily on Bomberg’s second edition and Giustiniani’s edition, with the exception of Tractate Avodah Zarah, which was submitted for printing on the basis of available manuscripts without any censorship interference, thus adding value to the entire edition. The second edition of 1617–1628 (1639), in spite of its external similarities to the Giustiniani and Kraków editions (1602–1605), they based in fact on the most censored of the sixteenth-century Talmud texts printed in Basel (1578–1581), supplementing it in some places, which they knew to have been distorted as a

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result of censorship, according to the Venice or Kraków editions. They deliberately did not want to use older manuscripts for its edition, applying self-censorship of the text themselves, so that their edition would not be completely destroyed, although in any case, because of this, the Lublin printing house was closed for a few years, and some copies of Talmudic tractates were seized for some time. The proofreaders’ work on this edition should be criticised because they did not use the newest commentaries, already printed earlier, to the Talmud of Shlomo ben Jehiel Luria (Maharshal), the announcements of which were placed on the title pages of the tractates of this edition. As a result, even in its more recent versions given for printing, the proofreaders did not correct the errors. Although the Kraków printers officially stated on the title page of their edition of 1602–1605 that it was based on the Venice edition of Giustiniani (1546–1551), in fact they used the Basel edition (1578–1581), supplementing it in some places with texts from the Giustiniani and Lublin editions (1559–1577), and not – as they had announced – from the manuscripts of Rabbi Shalom Shakhnah, Moshe Isserles and Meir from Lublin, because of which they did not avoid numerous errors. They were especially numerous in texts reprinted from Shlomo Maharshal’s Chochmat, which the printers and proofreaders did not fail to point out in a work published in Prague in 1612 devoted to the criticism of Talmudic texts. In general, it can be said that, if the very fact of the reproduction of the Talmud by the Kraków printers deserves recognition and is an important event in disseminating the religious message of Judaism on a European scale, the attempt they made to correct its text, allegedly on the basis of manuscripts by Jewish scholars, who enjoyed great authority at that time, was unsuccessful. The announcements of the accomplishment of this intention, which were reported in the tract, proved to be a mere trick to advertise its publication, in order to secure a greater demand for it. Also, the announced indexes and references to various halakhic compendia, with which the Prostitz edition was supposed to be superior to the Giustiniani edition, were not printed in it. If we add that the printing of the entire edition was done on low-quality paper, which rendered the text barely legible and even blurred in places, we must conclude that the challenge faced by the Kraków printers was beyond their capabilities. The second Kraków edition of the Talmud (1616–1620) turned out to be even worse than the first one. The official permission to print it was issued by Meshullam Phoebus, yeshiva rector and head of the rabbinical court in Kraków. He probably did it basing the edition on the text of the first Kraków edition, knowing all its shortcomings, errors and imperfections. However, the publishing of another, this time cheaper, edition, due to its small format and low quality of paper, so to speak a typical “school” edition, could have been dictated by religious and educational reasons – the desire for further development of Talmudic studies, assuming that the process of religious message also involves teachers at a later stage who were able to correct errors and fill in gaps that appeared in the next edition of the Talmud.

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The role of Hebrew printing in the Old Poland in the religious message of Judaism

These critical remarks about large editions of the Talmud printed in Poland in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries lead to a more general problem: Wasn’t the reason for their quality the lack of eminent Talmudists who would take care of the correctness of editions of the fundamental work of Rabbinic Judaism? This example may lead to the verification of the evaluation of the cultural achievements of Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from their so-called golden age (from the sixteenth to the mid-seventeenth century). To some extent, the remarks of some rabbis preserved in the responsa, concerning the level of knowledge of Talmudists from Poland and their intellectual capacity and willingness to actively participate in the process of religious message using various media available at that time, especially a printed book, are helpful in solving the problem. 9. Although printed Talmudic tractates in Jewish publishing houses in Poland served as textbooks in yeshivot, supporting and orienting the educational process, few Jewish scholars wanted to engage in their professional preparation for printing, either for fear of not being able to cope with such a difficult challenge, or because of their time-consuming engagement in the direct educational process or other responsible functions in the communities. This thesis seems to be confirmed by the fact that even the rapidly developing Jewish education since the sixteenth century in Polish lands was not sufficiently controlled by them, which led to a lowering of the level of education. With time, the attendance at the yeshiva itself was used quite often to achieve social advancement and make personal careers regardless of progress in education. Rabbinical offices or teaching jobs, which offered the possibility of a good income, were lucrative positions for yeshiva graduates. This was strongly condemned by some rabbis, who noticed that some of the students had no interest in studying the Talmud. Shlomo ben Jechiel Luria (Maharshal) wrote explicitly about this: Niestety, powiększa się ciągle liczba kandydatów na rabinów, z których tylko znikoma garstka posiada dostateczną znajomość Talmudu. Wzmaga się natomiast ilość pyszałków, którzy natychmiast po uzyskaniu dyplomu rabina zaczynają grupować koło siebie uczniów, aby w ten sposób dodać sobie powagi i splendoru. Oni to są małymi lisami, które bezczeszczą “ogród Boży”, a nawet wśród starszych rabinów nierzadko się zdarza, że nie rozumieją łatwego ustępu talmudycznego. Natomiast wydają oni za dużym wynagrodzeniem dyplomy uczniom, których nie znają. Oni sprawując rządy dusz, rzucają klątwy i je uchylają. Domagają się ciągle pieniędzy. Dlatego rozlegają się ciągle szemrania na talmudystów, którzy każą sobie płacić w wypadku obrazy funt złota.48

48 [Shlomo ben Yechiel Luria] ‫ בבא קמא‬.‫ ים של שלמה‬,‫[ שלמה בן יחיאל לוריא‬Jam shel Shlomo. Bava Kamma], Prague 1616, chapter VIII, § 45.

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[Unfortunately, the number of candidates for rabbis is constantly growing, and only a small handful of them have sufficient knowledge of the Talmud. On the other hand, the number of boasters who immediately after obtaining a rabbinical degree begin to group students around them in order to add to their prestige and splendour increases. They are the little foxes who desecrate the “garden of God”, and even among the older rabbis it often happens that they do not understand an easy Talmudic passage. On the other hand, they issue diplomas for great remuneration to students whom they do not know. They rule over souls, casting curses and rescinding them. They constantly demand money. That is why there are constant murmurs against Talmudists who make people pay a pound of gold in case of an insult].

10. The crisis of Jewish education and the related difficulties in ensuring intergenerational communication of the religious message were also due to the educational program and teaching methods. They violated all pedagogical principles. Children began their education at the age of three. The arrangement of the subjects they learned was purely formal. That is why complaints about mechanical learning, reckless treatment of the Bible and quick transition to learning Talmud multiplied. This was reflected in the tractate ‫[ עמודי שש‬Amude shesh] by Ephraim Shlomo ben Aaron of Łęczyca (d. 1619), in which he criticized the entire contemporary school system, proposing, among other things, that less able students be taught only the Mishnah, and that two neglected parts of the Kitve ha-Kodesh be introduced in place of the Gemara: Nevi’im and Ketuvim (Prophets and Scriptures).49 As a result of the early commencement of learning the Talmud and later exclusive focus on it in teaching, Jews lacked knowledge of Hebrew grammar, which manifested itself, among other things, in errors in editions of Talmudic tractates overlooked by proofreaders. Even Moshe Isserles, influenced by Shlomo Luria’s criticism, complained about this inability: “I never studied grammar in my life because I considered the knowledge of it a trifle”.50 Another shortcoming of Talmudic studies was the focus on sophistry, which for some became an art for art’s sake, while – as Moshe Isserles wrote in his comments to the Shulchan Arukh – “the dignity of a rabbi should not consist in ‘pilpul’ and ‘chiluk’, but in fluency in the Talmud and passing judgements”.51 Mordechai ben Abraham Jaffe also thought similarly; in order to encourage young students of Talmudic studies to search for the essence of things he

49 Cf. M. Bałaban, Szkolnictwo żydowskie w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej [Jewish School System in the Former Commonwealth], p. 340; D. Tollet, Życie prywatne Żydów w Polsce epoki Wazów [Private Life of Jews in Poland During the Vasa Period], [in:] Żydzi w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej [Jews in the Former Commonwealth], p. 276; Id., Histoire des Juifs en Pologne du XVIe siècle à nos jours, Paris 1992, p. 70. 50 [Moshe Isserles] ‫ שאלות ותשובות‬,‫[ משה איסרלש‬She’elot u-teshuvot], no. 7. 51 ‫ יורה דעה‬.‫שולחן ערוך‬, [Shulchan Arukh Yoreh de’ah], § 252, art. 29.

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The role of Hebrew printing in the Old Poland in the religious message of Judaism

wrote: “Talmudic study practiced by the pilpulistic method does not merit reward in the afterlife”.52 Remarks about the method and level of education in yeshivas collected from sixteenth and seventeenth century rabbinical literature of Jews from Poland confirm earlier assumptions about the lack of appropriate Talmudists who would be willing to get involved in proofreading of editions of the Talmud prepared for printing and who would actually support printers from Lublin and Kraków in this undertaking. The printers, in spite of the lack of sufficient help on their part, wishing to ensure the authority of the Talmudic tractates printed by them, more than once pointed to the manuscripts of eminent rabbis-Talmudists, suggesting that they had been made available to them for proofreading, while in reality they probably used them sporadically. 11. The reproduction of the Talmud by Jewish printers in Poland also gave rise to clashes between Jewish scholars around the problem of whether, instead of these costly printings, which required Talmudic knowledge and a good knowledge of the art of printing, one should rather print well-known halakhic codes and teach the Torah from the m. Such a need was supported by the size and opacity of the Talmud, which was not suitable for practical use, and moreover, was a kind of theoretical study. Rabbis such as Shlomo Luria, Meir of Lublin and Joel ben Shmuel Sirkes protested strongly against such a solution. Having direct experience with the then popularized code of Shulchan Arukh by Yosef Karo, they showed that it contained too bold resolutions of some disputable issues, contrary to the opinions of other outstanding Talmudists.53 At the same time, they feared that the clarity of Yosef Karo’s work and his authoritatively formulated religious regulations would lead to the relegation of the study of Talmudic tractates and their supporting rabbinic literature to the background. Joel Sirkes saw a methodical error in placing halakhic compendia above the Talmud. I believe, he wrote, that those who decide religious matters solely on the basis of the ‘Shulchan Arukh’ are acting contrary to Talmudic principles. For they do not know the origin of particular regulations, and so give their motivation incorrectly; in this way they spread ignorance.54

52 [Mordechai ben Avraham Jaffe] ‫ לבוש עטרת זהב‬,‫[ מרדכי בן אברהם יפה‬Levush ateret zahav], Kraków 1594, § 242, art. 30. 53 Shlomo Luria, in his preface to Yam shel Shlomo, expressed his opinion in this regard as follows: “Rabbi Karo has issued rulings on his own, sometimes contradicting our tradition and customs to date. His students blindly believe in his teachings, not realizing that they are in conflict both with the opinion of eminent authorities and with the spirit of tradition”. 54 [Joel ben Shmuel Sikres] ‫ בית חדש‬,‫[ יואל בן שמואל סירקיש שאלות ותשובות‬She’elot u-teshuvot. Beth chadash], Ostróg 1834, no. 80.

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Moreover, some of the regulations formulated in this code are based on the kabbalah of Icchak Luria (1534–1572), “which we do not recognize and which does not always go along with the ritual”.55 The statements of Meir of Lublin are in a similar vein.56 Among prominent rabbis of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Moshe Isserles had a different opinion about the code of Shulchan Arukh. He expressed great respect for the work of Yosef Karo: “One should not oppose his rulings because it is tantamount to disobeying God Himself ”.57 However, he was not uncritical of it, just as he was of Hilchot ha-Rosh or Arba’ah Turim. If there was a contradiction between the decisions of Yosef Karo and the customary law binding in the local tradition, he supported the latter.58 With time, his approach to the new code was accepted as authoritative and from the second half of the seventeenth century, new editions of the Talmud were printed with Shulchan Arukh and additions by Moshe Isserles.59 The history of the reception of the code of Shulchan Arukh in the Diaspora in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and its use for religious transmission, like any new collection of rabbinical rulings, indicates that the adoption of a new halakha was not a one-time event, taking place after the publication of a collection of rabbinical rulings in manuscript or printed form. In Judaism, individual customary laws, if universally accepted, with time became part of the oral Torah. Any discussion about this should be seen in terms of care for the purity of the religious message and its protection against any novelty, which was accepted as an expression of the adaptation of the religious message to changes in civilisation, if it was possible to derive the new religious rule from tradition. A similar dispute as the one about Shulchan Arukh took place among the followers of Judaism in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (and outside it) over Maimonides’ works, which were partly printed in Lublin and Kraków editions of

55 Ibid. 56 [Meir ben Gedalia mi-Lublin] ‫ מנהיר עיני חכמים‬.‫ שאלות ותשובות‬,‫[ מאיר בן גדליה מלובלין‬She’elot uteshuvot], Venice 1618, no. 11: “Nie jest moim zwyczajem studiować dzieło ‘Szulchan aruch’, tym bardziej nie stanowi ono dla mnie podstawy do wydawania jakiegokolwiek orzeczenia religijnego, gdyż kodeks ten nie jest oryginalny, a przepisy w nim zawarte zostały zaczerpnięte z różnych dzieł, których treści autor nie zawsze wiernie podaje [It is not my custom to study the work of the ‘Shulchan Arukh’, much less is it a basis for me to pass any religious judgement, since this code is not original, and the regulations it contains were taken from various works, the contents of which the author does not always faithfully report]”. 57 [Moshe Isserles] ‫ שאלות ותשובות‬,‫[ משה איסרלש‬She’elot u-teshuvot], no. 48. 58 Cf. H. Glejzer, Życie Żydów w Polsce w XVI i XVII ww. na podstawie responsów [The Life of Jews in Poland in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries on the Basis of Responsa], (MS), n.p. n.d. (Archive of Jewish Historical Institute, sign. 117/51), no. 51, p. 47a. 59 Cf. E. Reiner, The Ashkenazi Élite at the Beginning of the Modern Era. Manuscript versus Printed Book, “Polin” 10 (1997), p. 96–98.

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The role of Hebrew printing in the Old Poland in the religious message of Judaism

the Talmud. The essence of the dispute was contained in the question: can Jewish religious regulations be justified by referring to the knowledge coming from outside the sources of revelation, reconciling in this way the faithfulness to the Law, which replaced the possession by Jews of their own territory, with the development of scholarly knowledge?60 Among the rabbis from Poland, Shlomo Luria and Moshe Isserles were the spokesmen of opposing opinions on this issue. The former enjoyed greater authority in religious matters, so Moshe Isserles asked him for an opinion on whether he had acted correctly in drawing arguments for one of his rabbinical rulings from the thought of Aristotle. He was then met with a sharp reply: “The Torah mourns those who weave foreign elements into its studies”,61 and criticism for assimilating philosophical views into the youth. In another letter, Moshe Isserles explained to Shlomo Luria that he was familiar with Aristotelianism from Maimonides’ works, in which he did not see the extreme divergence between faith and philosophy that the Lublin scholar claimed. On the contrary, he believed that a bridge could be built between them, as proved by the text from Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah that he quoted: “I admit”, wrote Isserles, “that if I were to distance myself from a branch of knowledge because of its negative influence on religion, I would do so with the Kabbalah, for it is far more dangerous than philosophy. I do philosophy only on Saturdays, when everyone is out walking or resting, and all week long I study the Talmud and its commentaries”.62 The discussion between supporters and opponents of Maimonides lasted from the thirteenth century. It was also taken up by Jews in the modern Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, who were divided into two camps, as reflected in the aforementioned discussion between Shlomo Luria and Moshe Isserles. A certain victory for Maimonides’ supporters was the fact that his commentaries to Mishneh Torah and More nevuchim were included in the editions of Talmudic tractates, as were the earlier Italian editions. Maimonides’ works, though criticized for being too onesided, were considered to be among the most serious writings of casuistic literature, which contributed to its systematization. At the same time, their inclusion in the Talmud did not imply universal agreement with his views; rather, his decisions and opinions were treated as one of many voices in the discussion of important religious questions and were taken into account in the formulation of new rabbinic rulings. 12. The respect that Maimonides among Sephardic Jews and Moshe Isserles among Ashkenazi Jews had for the so-called secular sciences – obviously placed in 60 J. Legowicz, Historia filozofii średniowiecznej Europy zachodniej [A History of Medieval Philosophy in Western Europe], Warsaw 1986, p. 117–129; H. Simon, M. Simon, Filozofia żydowska [Jewish Philosophy], transl. T.G. Pszczółkowski, Warsaw 1990, p. 137. 61 [Moshe Isserles] ‫ שאלות ותשובות‬,‫[ משה איסרלש‬Sze’elot u-teshuvot], no. 7. 62 Ibid.

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the hierarchy of values after the Talmud – did not spread among many Talmudists from the Polish-Lithuanian lands. The printing of the Talmud in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Jewish publishing houses in Lesser Poland, which fostered the development of studies on it, and the scarcity of extra-biblical and extra-Talmudic literature printed in them, led to the narrowing down of education to the study of the sources of Jewish law, especially the Talmud and the first part of the Bible, thus imparting a specific Jewish spirituality among the followers of Judaism faithful to Talmudism from the sixteenth century onwards. Its source is to be found in divine revelation and the chosenness of Israel, which is God’s special and undeserved gift to the Jews as a collective and to individuals. In the content of this monotheistic revelation are contained the supreme truths about life, norms of conduct, personal models, and sanctions concerning responsibility for good and evil. The most important contribution of the generations of Jews living in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in that period to their religious culture is maintaining the previously formed image of God and its improvement, which the Jews from other European communities, repressed by various church environments, could not fully do. This led to the development of personal and communal attitudes corresponding to those images. In Judaism, the religion of the revealed Law, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries – just as before – the creatureship of man was emphasized, which inspired mainly the attitude of the fear of God and obedience expressed in ritual, which encompassed almost the entirety of personal and communal life and instilled the need to strive for union with God mainly through the study of Torah, which did not develop in other countries as it did in Poland. The direct sources of Jewish spirituality in the discussed period were sacred books containing God’s revelation and traditions of religious and spiritual life. The most important of those was the Talmud. It was mainly under its influence, thanks to the dissemination of its printed texts, that a legalistic orientation of spirituality took shape among Jews in the Commonwealth, expressed in absolute obedience to the holy law contained in the Talmud and continually adapted to the civilizational transformations of the modern era, and to the authorities interpreting those books, especially rabbis, rectors of the most famous yeshivas and rabbinical court judges from the Polish-Lithuanian lands. Fear of violating sacral and social regulations applied to various situations in life was a feature of legalistic spirituality was. Their constant adaptation to new life situations was taken care of by Jewish scholars, who with their judgements contributed to the creation of customary law, preventing Judaism from being enclosed in once-established legal norms and preventing some spheres of individual and communal life from escaping the influence of religious law. Of course, one cannot lead to a generalization that the whole spiritual life of Jews of that period had a legalistic orientation, but there is no doubt that from the sixteenth to the middle of the eighteenth century this orientation dominated in the

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The role of Hebrew printing in the Old Poland in the religious message of Judaism

spirituality of Jews from the Polish-Lithuanian lands, and they preferred it to other communities outside of Poland. Thus, in the Jewish communities in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where this type of religiousness dominated for decades, there was a departure from a broader education in accordance with the programs developed as early as in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in the Spanish Diaspora. In the Spanish Diaspora, in addition to biblical and Talmudic studies, they included Hebrew grammar, the relationship between philosophy and revelation, Aristotle’s logic as presented by Averroes, elements of Euclid’s geometry, arithmetic, optics, astronomy, music, mechanics, medicine, natural sciences and metaphysics.63 Israel Abrahams drew the conclusion that the achievements of Ashkenazi Jews before the Haskalah, including the “Polish” ones, meant little in comparison to the cultural richness of the Jews of medieval Spain, although they cannot be underestimated.64 A characteristic feature of rabbinic Judaism formed in the yeshivas of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and later transferred by their graduates to the communities of Western Europe, where many of them assumed important functions, influencing the spirituality of its members, was to focus attention in the religious message on halakhic literature, as if its knowledge exhausted the richness of the entire Jewish culture, especially that of the Spanish-Arabic, Italian and Provencal Diaspora. The intellectual horizons of the followers of Judaism from the Polish lands were limited – generally speaking – to theology. Those who had knowledge in the so-called secular sciences, such as medicine or pharmacy, gained it abroad, mainly in Italy. 13. Despite the shortcomings noted in the “Polish” editions of the Talmud, their very undertaking by Jewish printers should be regarded as an important contribution of the local diaspora in maintaining the continuity of religious tradition and an expression of a sense of responsibility for the development of Judaism at a time when the continuity of the sacred tradition in some European diasporas was seriously threatened. It served primarily as a link between generations, and to a lesser extent as a protection of tradition and an adaptation to the changes in civilization. However, not all channels of religious communication, including the printed Talmud, were equally faithful to the Torah. 14. The preference of the channel of religious communication, which was the printed Talmud, and its inappropriate use in the developed but uncontrolled system of Jewish education in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with its dominant pilpulistic method, sometimes called “Polish-Rabbinic” (Heinrich Hirsch Graetz

63 M. Steinschneider, Die hebräischen Übersetzungen des Mittelalters, Berlin 1893, p. 33. 64 I. Abrahams, Życie codzienne Żydów w średniowieczu [Everyday Life of the Jews in the Middle Ages], transl. B. Gadomska, Warszawa 1996, p. 244.

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(Heinrich Hirsch Graetz), brought adverse consequences to Judaism in its further history. From the mid-seventeenth century, this knowledge was disseminated in the yeshivas of Western Europe65 by the epigones of prominent rabbis of the “golden age” of Judaism in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Their activity was critically evaluated by Bałaban, who wrote that they “only chew and strengthen the achievements of their great predecessors, without creating anything new and without advancing the study of the Talmud”.66 They instilled this learning in their new communities, however, without contributing to the improvement of their general culture, for the reason that they knew neither the relations prevailing in the German and Dutch communities, nor the culture of the countries in which they lived. The role of Jewish scholars from the Polish lands in the West European communities, to which they flowed from the second half of the seventeenth century, was emphatically described by Heinrich Hirsch Graetz: Talmudyści polscy dumni byli ze swojej wyższości i z pogardą spoglądali na rabinów niemieckich, portugalskich i włoskich. Dalecy od pozbycia się na obczyźnie swoich cech odrębnych, żądali przeciwnie, żeby się cały świat stosował do nich, i postawili na swojem. Żartowano z ‘Polaków’, lecz słuchano ich we wszystkim… Kto chciał nabyć gruntownej wiedzy talmudycznej i rabinicznej, musiał usiąść u stóp talmudystów polskich. Każdy ojciec rodziny, który chciał wychować dzieci w duchu Talmudu, szukał dla nich ‘rabbi’ polskiego. Rabini polscy narzucili powoli gminom niemieckim, a po części też portugalskim i włoskim swoją mędrkującą pobożność i cały skład ducha. Przez nich upadło wykształcenie ogólne, zanikła jeszcze bardziej znajomość Biblii. Właśnie w stuleciu Kartezjusza i Spinozy, kiedy trzy narody cywilizowane, Francuzi, Anglicy i Holendrzy, zadały śmiertelny cios średniowieczu, przynieśli emigranci polsko-żydowscy, ścigani przez bandy Chmielnickiego, żydostwu europejskiemu nowe średniowiecze, które w pełni sił przetrwało z górą stulecie.67 [Polish Talmudists were proud of their superiority and looked with contempt at German, Portuguese and Italian rabbis. Far from getting rid of their distinctive features in the foreign lands, they demanded on the contrary that the whole world should follow them, and they imposed their views. These ‘Poles’ were joked about, but they were listened to in

65 Cf. J.A. Gierowski, Rabini z Rzeczypospolitej [Rabbis from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth], p. 24–28. 66 M. Bałaban, Historja i literatura żydowska [Jewish History and Literature], vol. 3, p. 306; M. Graetz, Der kulturelle Austausch zwischen den jüdischen Gemeinden in Polen und Deutschland im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert, [in:] Die wirtschaftlichen und kulturellen Beziehungen zwischen den jüdischen Gemeinden in Polen und Deutschland vom 16. Bis zum 20. Jahrhundert, ed. K.E. Grözingen, Wiesbaden 1992, p. 83–88. 67 H. Graetz, Historia Żydów [A History of the Jews], vol. 3, Kraków 1990 [repr. Warszawa 1929], p. 373–374.

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The role of Hebrew printing in the Old Poland in the religious message of Judaism

all matters… Whoever wanted to acquire thorough Talmudic and rabbinical knowledge had to sit at the feet of Polish Talmudists. Every father of a family who wanted to bring up his children in the spirit of the Talmud, looked for a Polish ‘rabbi’ for them. Polish rabbis slowly imposed their sage piety and spirit on German, and partly also Portuguese and Italian communities. Because of them the general education declined and the knowledge of the Bible disappeared even more. It was in the century of Descartes and Spinoza, when three civilized nations, the French, the English and the Dutch, dealt a death blow to the Middle Ages, that Polish-Jewish emigrants, pursued by the bands of Khmelnytsky, brought to European Jewry a new Middle Ages, which lasted in its full strength for more than a century].

The first major protest within Judaism itself against the one-sided and limited religious message that had developed under the influence of sixteenth and seventeenth century Polish rabbinic Judaism was eighteenth-century Hasidism, which emerged on the eastern fringes of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Its adherents opposed the then prevailing legalistic form of religiousness, the culmination of which was the sophisticated study of the Talmud and rabbinical literature, preferring over it a simple faith, moral transformation, spontaneous prayer permeated with emotion, and study of the Pentateuch. The second large-scale contestation, on the other hand, was the reform initiated in the second half of the eighteenth century by Moses Mendelssohn, which led to a radical departure from the principles set forth by the Talmud and rabbinic literature that had been binding in Judaism for centuries, in favour of the emancipation and assimilation of Jews who wished to conform to the Christian communities of the countries in which they lived while preserving their faith and at the same time departing from Talmudic legalism. These movements led to greater diversity within Judaism. The direction represented by those advocating the preservation of Talmudic spirituality and scrupulous observance of halakha nevertheless survived, though it was not as popular as in the centuries before the Haskalah. 15. Finally, research into the history of Talmud reproduction in the Old Polish period makes it possible to get to know, albeit incompletely but fragmentarily, the cultural achievements of Jews living in the Polish-Lithuanian lands, their level of intellectuality and level of religious commitment, which factors influenced, especially in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the continuity of the transmission of Judaic tradition and the development of halakha adequate to the civilizational changes of the time. These achievements were presented against the background of the history of, mainly, European dissemination of the Talmud. In this way, their significance for Judaism as a whole has been highlighted. It should be recognised that the role of the Jewish Diaspora in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in this respect was exceptional for nearly a century (from the second half of the

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sixteenth to the first half of the seventeenth century) and should be counted among the most important cultural achievements of “Polish” Jews. Further discoveries of particular elements of their culture, the knowledge of which would allow a fuller assessment of its richness, still remain a research hypothesis.

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Annexes

4.4

Annexes

Annex no. 1

Table 4.1 List of tractates printed in Jewish printing houses in Lublin in the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries Name of the Tractate 1

Masekhet Shevuot Masekhet Gittin

Masekhet Pesachim

Masekhet Betza

Masekhet Sukka

Masekhet Eruvin

Masekhet Kiddushin

Masekhet Nidda

Date of issue

Place of issue

Names of partners and employees

2

3 4 Printing house of Chaim ben Icchak and Hana bat Yosef Yakar Partners: Yaakov ben Moshe, Meshullam ben 1559 Lublin Shlomo, Eliezer ben Icchak of Prague, Kalonymos ben Mordechai Jaffe, Yaakov ben David Gutrat Końska Completed on Partners: Meshullam ben Shlomo of Neuss, Eliezer Wola Wednesday 10 ben Icchak of Prague, Kalonymos ben Mordechai near April 1560 Jaffe, Yaakov ben David, Gutrat Moshe ben Yaakov Lublin Końska Partners: Meshullam ben Shlomo, Eliezer ben Completed on Wola Icchak; employees: Yaakov ben David, Eliezer ben Wednesday 27 I near Meshullam, Icchak ben Eliezer, Yekutiel ben 1562 Lublin – Meshullam Lublin Printing house of Eliezer ben Icchak and Yosef Meir ben Mordechai HaLevi of Lublin – sponsor; associates starting work: Eliezer ben Icchak, Yaakov ben David Gutrat, Eliezer ben Meshullam, Completed on Chaim ben Icchak Shachor. Partners completing Sunday 16 XI Lublin their work: Yaakov ben David Gutrat, Kalonymos 1567 ben Mordechai Jaffe, Icchak ben Eliezer (Shalit), Eliezer ben Meshullam. Employees: Naphtali ben Joel Shachor – proofreader commenced on Monday 15 Meir ben Mordechai HaLevi from Lublin – sponsor; December 1567 associates: Eliezer ben Icchak, Yaakov ben David Lublin and concluded Gutrat, Kalonymos ben Mordechai Jaffe, Eliezer on Thursday 8 ben Meszulam April 1568 completed on Wednesday 29 Lublin ? April 1568 commenced on Thursday 1 II Kalonymos ben Mordechai Jaffe – sponsor and 1571 and Lublin collaborator; printers: Eliezer ben Icchak, Icchak concluded on ben Eliezer (Shalit) Wednesday 30 I 1572 began on Sunday Lublin 3 August 1572

Kalonymos ben Mordechai Jaffe – sponsor and collaborator; printers Eliezer ben Icchak Icchak ben Eliezer

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Name of the Tractate

Masekhet Avodah Zarah

Masekhet Jewamot

Masekhet Bava Batra

Masekhet Taanit

Masekhet Shevuot Masekhet Berakhot Masekhet Ketubot Masekhet Kiddushin Masekhet Gittin Masekhet Nidda Masekhet Jewamot Masekhet Nazir Masekhet Sota Masekhet Nedarim Masekhet Bava Kamma Masekhet Bava Metzia

Date of issue

Place of issue

Names of partners and employees

Publishing house of Kalonymos ben Mordechai Jaffe began on the evening of Saturday 9 Printers: Kalonymos ben Mordechai Jaffe, Yosef August 1572 and Lublin ben Kalonymos Jaffe, Chaim ben Kalonymos Jaffe ended on Thursday 5 November 1573 began on the evening of Lublin Printer Kalonymos ben Mordechai Saturday 23 I 1574 began on Tuesday 6 December 1575 Printers: Kalonymos ben Mordechai, Chaim ben Lublin and ended on Kalonymos Monday 15 October 1576 began on Sunday 14 X 1576 and Printers: Kalonymos ben Mordechai, Chaim ben Lublin ended on Sunday Kalonymos 18 XI 1576 Printing house of Tzvi [Hirsh] ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe 1611

Lublin

1617

Lublin

1618

Lublin

Partner Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna

1618

Lublin

Partner Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna

1618

Lublin

Partner Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna

1618

Hanau

Purchased by Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe from the publishing house of Hans Jacob Hene and added to the Lublin edition

1619

Lublin

Partner Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna

1619

Lublin

Partner Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna

1619

Lublin

Partner Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna

1619

Lublin

Partner Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna

1619

Lublin

Partner Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna

1620

Lublin

Partner Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna

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Annexes

Name of the Tractate Masekhet Bava Batra

Date of issue

Place of issue

Names of partners and employees

1620

Lublin

Partner Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna

Sanhedrin 1620

Lublin

Masekhet Makkot Masekhet Shevuot Seder Tohorot Masekhet Avodah Zarah Masekhet Shekalim Masekhet Betza Masekhet Rosh Hashanah Masekhet Taanit Masekhet Megilla Masekhet Chullin Masekhet Eruvin Masekhet Pesachim Masekhet Chagiga Masekhet Shabbat Masekhet Sukka Masekhet Moed katan Masekhet Joma Masekhet Zevachim Masekhet Bechorot Masekhet Arachin

Partner Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna

1620

Lublin

1620

Lublin

Partner Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna

July 1620–1621/ 1622(?)

Hanau

Purchased by Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe from the publishing house of Hans Jacob Hene and added to the Lublin edition

1621(?)

Lublin

Partner Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna

1621

Lublin

Co-publisher Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań

1622

Lublin

Partners: Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań

1622

Lublin

Partners: Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań

1622

Lublin

1622

Lublin

1622

Hanau

1626

Lublin

1626

Lublin

Partner of Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań

1626

Lublin

Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań

1626

Lublin

Partner Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań

1626

Lublin

Partners: Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań

1627

Lublin

Partners: Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań

1627

Lublin

1627

Lublin

1627

Lublin

1627

Lublin

Partner Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna

Partners: Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań Partners: Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań Purchased by Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe from the publishing house of Hans Jacob Hene and added to the Lublin edition. Printer Yoshua ben Israel Partners: Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań

Partners: Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań Partners: Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań Partners: Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań Partners: Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań

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Name of the Tractate Masekhet Menachot Masekhet Keritot Masekhet Avot Masekhet Eduyot Masekhet Horajot Masekhet Temura, Meila, Kinnin, Middot, Tamid, Soferim, Semachot, Kalla Masekhet Kiddushin Masekhet Bava Kamma

Date of issue

Place of issue

1628

Lublin

1628

Lublin

1628

Lublin

1628

Lublin

1628 (1639)

Lublin

1628 (1639)

Lublin

1646

Lublin

1646–1648 Completed 29 March 1948

Lublin – Kraków

Names of partners and employees Partners: Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań Partners: Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań Partners: Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań Partners: Moshe ben Eliezer of Vilna and Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań Printer Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe

Printers: Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe (Lublin) and Menachem (Nachum) Meisels ben Moshe Simson (Kraków)

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Annexes

Annex no. 2

Table 4.2 List of tractates printed in Jewish printing houses in Kraków in the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries Name of the tractate

1 Masekhet Ketubot Masekhet Shekalim Masekhet Betza

Date of issue

Place of Names of partner and employees issue Printing house of Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz 2 3 4 28 VII 1578 Kraków – 28 I 1579 1578–1579(?) Kraków fiction 1578–1579(?) Kraków fiction

Masekhet Avodah 1580 Kraków Zarah (Pirke) Avot 1580(?) Kraków Masekhet (Pirke) avot 1589 Kraków Masekhet (Pirke) owes 1590(?) Kraków (Pirke) avot Partners: Moshe ben Moshe called (in the Hebrew Yiddish 1594 Kraków Moshe Geronaz (‫)גרונז‬, Shmuel ben prayer book-) Yosef Mordechai, Yehuda ben Yosef Masekhet Betza 1599(?) Kraków Aaron ben Icchak, Moshe Yoshua and Isachar (Ber) ben Aaron Prostitz Masekhet Berakhot 1602 Kraków Masekhet Shabbat 1602 Kraków Bava Batra 1603 Kraków Bava Metzia 1603 Kraków Bava Kamma 1603 Kraków Masekhet Betza 1603 Kraków Masekhet Chagiga 1603 Kraków Masekhet Joma 1603 Kraków Masekhet Megilla 1603 Kraków Moed katan 1603 Kraków Masekhet Sukka 1603 Kraków Masekhet Eruvin 1603 Kraków Masekhet Pesachim 1603 Kraków Rosh Hashanah 1603 Kraków Masekhet Taanit 1603 Kraków Masekhet Shekalim 1603 Kraków

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Name of the tractate

Date of issue

Aaron ben Icchak, Moshe Yoshua and Isachar (Ber) ben Aaron Prostitz

Aaron ben Icchak, Moshe Yoshua and Isachar (Ber) ben Aaron Prostitz

Place of Names of partner and employees issue Aaron ben Aaron ben Icchak, Moshe Yoshua Icchak, and Isachar (Ber) ben Aaron Prostitz Moshe Yoshua and Isachar (Ber) ben Aaron Prostitz

Avot (printed from Masekhet Eduyot, 1604 Kraków Masekhtot ketanot, Masekhet Horajot) Masekhet Gittin 1604 Kraków Masekhet Horayot 1604 Kraków (printed with Avot) Masekhet Jevamot 1604 Kraków Masekhet Ketubot 1604 Kraków Masekhet Makkot 1604 Kraków Masekhet Nedarim 1604 Kraków Masekhet Nazir 1604 Kraków Masekhet Sota 1604 Kraków Masekhet Sanhedrin 1604 Kraków Avodah Zarah 1604 Kraków Masekhet Eduyot 1604 Kraków (with Avot) Masekhet Kiddushin 1604 Kraków Masekhet Shevuot 1604 Kraków Seder Zeraim 1604 Kraków Masekhet Tohorot 1604 Kraków Masekhtot ketanot (Semachot, Sofer, Kalla 1604 Kraków together with Avot) Masekhet Bechorot 1605 Kraków Masekhet Zevachim 1605 Kraków Masekhet Chullin 1605 Kraków Masekhet Keritot 1605 Kraków Masekhet Menachot 1605 Kraków Masekhet Meila, 1605 Kraków Kinnin, Middot, Tamid Masekhet Nidda 1605 Kraków Masekhet Arachin 1605 Kraków Masekhet Temura 1605 Kraków Talmud Yerushalmi 1609 Kraków Printing house of Aaron ben Icchak, Moshe Yohoshua and Issachar (Ber) ben Aaron Prostitz Masekhet Betza 1616 Kraków Masekhet Berakhot 1616 Kraków Masekhet Chagiga 1616 Kraków

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Annexes

Name of the tractate

Date of issue

Place of issue

Masekhet Jevamot Masekhet Joma Masekhet Megilla Masekhet Moed katan Masekhet Sukka Masekhet Eruvin Masekhet Pesachim Masekhet Rosh Hashanah Masekhet Shabbat Masekhet Shekalim Masekhet Taanit Avot (from the Yiddish translation) Masekhet Bava Batra Masekhet Bava Metzia Masekhet Bava Kamma Masekhet Bechorot Masekhet Gittin Masekhet Horajot Masekhet Zevachim Masekhet Chullin Masekhet Keritot Masekhet Ketubot Masekhet Makkot Masekhet Menachot Masekhet Meila Masekhet Nedarim Masekhet Nazir Masekhet Sota Masekhet Sanhedrin Masekhet Avodah Zarah Masekhet Eduyot Masekhet Arachin Masekhet Kiddushin Masekhet Shevout Masekhet Temura Seder Kodashim

1616 1616 1616 1616 1616 1616 1616

Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków

1616

Kraków

1616 1616 1616

Kraków Kraków Kraków

1617

Kraków

1618 1618

Kraków Kraków

1618

Kraków

1618 1618 1618 1618 1618 1618 1618 1618 1618 1618 1618 1618 1618 1618

Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków

1618

Kraków

1618 1618 1618 1618 1618 1618

Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków Kraków

Masekhet Nidda

1620

Kraków

Names of partner and employees

typesetters: Moshe Weisswasser ben Katriel, Juda (Leib) ben Icchak Judels Katz; proofreaders(?): Isachar (Ber) ben Aaron ben Icchak, Avigdor ben Shmuel ben Moshe Ezrat

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Annex no. 3

Table 4.3 List of tractates printed in the Hebrew printing house in Nowy Dwór near Warsaw in the eighteenth century Date of Place of Names of partners and employees issue issue 1 2 3 4 Printing House of Johann Anton Krüger Proofreaders: Jonatan ben Yaakov, Naphtali Tzvi Masekhet Berakhot ben Yosef Jalis called Hirsch Raivitzer, Moshe (from the mishnayot Nowy Arie ben Simon Katz from Żółkiew. Typesetters: 1784 of the Seder Dwór Tzvi Hirsch ben Simon Kahana from Żółkiew, Zeraim) Baruch ben Tzvi Hirsch from Oleksiniec in Wołyń, Asher Arie ben Menachem Manis from Żółkiew Proofreaders: Jonatan ben Yaakov, Naphtali Tzvi Seder Zeraim (only ben Yosef Jalis called Hirsch Raivitzer, Moshe mishnayot of this Nowy Arie ben Simon Katz from Żółkiew. Typesetters: order printed with 1784 Dwór Tzvi Hirsch ben Simon Kahana from Żółkiew, the tractate Baruch ben Tzvi Hirsch from Oleksiniec in Wołyń, Berakhot) Asher Arie ben Menachem Manis from Żółkiew Proofreaders: Jonatan ben Yaakov, Naphtali Tzvi ben Yosef Jalis called Hirsch Raivitzer, Moshe 1785/ Nowy Arie ben Simon Katz from Żółkiew. Typesetters: Masekhet Shabbat 1786 Dwór Tzvi Hirsch ben Simon Kahana from Żółkiew, Baruch ben Tzvi Hirsch from Oleksiniec in Wołyń, Asher Arie ben Menachem Manis from Żółkiew Proofreaders: Jonatan ben Yaakov, Naphtali Tzvi ben Yosef Jalis called Hirsch Raivitzer, Moshe 1785/ Nowy Arie ben Simon Katz from Żółkiew. Typesetters: Masekhet Eruvin 1786 Dwór Tzvi Hirsch ben Simon Kahana from Żółkiew, Baruch ben Tzvi Hirsch from Oleksiniec in Wołyń, Asher Arie ben Menachem Manis from Żółkiew Masekhet Bava Nowy 1787(?) Metzia Dwór Masekhet Rosh Nowy 1793(?) Ha-shana Dwór Name of the tractate

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Annexes

Annex no. 4 Printers of Talmudic tractates (geographically and chronologically) 4.4.1 Printers from Lublin

Chaim ben Icchak Shachor (Schwarz, Szwarc), date and place of birth unknown, died in Lublin at the end of 1567 or at the beginning of 1568; printer in Lublin in the years 1556–1567(1568?). After the death of his father, Icchak ben Chaim, at a very young age he became a partner of the now elderly Yosef ben (Yakov) Yakar and at the same time the main owner of a Hebrew publishing house in Lublin. Subsequent books printed in the years 1557–1562 (1564) were signed by him. Initially, he was supported by his partner, experienced in the typographic art, and after his death around 1559, by two official guardians, experienced printers from Prague, appointed by the rabbi and the rabbinical court: Yakov ben Moshe and Meszulam ben Shlomo. The position of the deceased Yakar was taken by the printer Eliezer ben Icchak, who came from Prague, probably the grandson of Chaim ben David Shachor, while Yosef’s daughter, Chana Yakar (Chana bat Yosef Yakar), became the heir. On May 27, 1599. Chaim and Chana, co-owners of the Lublin printing house, were granted a privilege by King Sigismund August to print and sell Hebrew books. The royal document also protected them from competition because it forbade subjects and foreigners to print and sell books in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth under the penalty of 20 mulcts and the threat of confiscation. The partners wished, above all, to start printing the Babylonian Talmud, which they had already done in the form of the Pentateuch (Chamishah chumshe torah) printed in 1557–1558. To this end, they formed a larger company, composed of Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechai Jaffe (who later married Chana bat Yosef Yakar) and Yaakov ben David. They were to be assisted by printers: Eliezer ben Icchak, Yaakov ben David Gutrat, Yaakov ben Moshe and Meshullam ben Shlomo. These plans could not be carried out in a short time. During the lifetime of Chaim ben Icchak only three Talmudic tractates were printed. After printing the first one (Shavuot, 1559), an epidemic broke out in Lublin, and the printers had to leave the town, taking their typographical equipment with them, and move to Końska Wola (Końskowola), a town near Puławy, where they printed the second treaty, Gitin (1560), and began to print the third one, Pesachim, which they had already finished in Lublin in January 1562. Therefore, the rectors of yeshivas in the Crown and in Lithuania ordered to teach the tractates in the Talmudic academies in the same order as they were printed in the Lublin publishing house, which was also supposed to ensure their demand and was a kind of letter of recommendation for their printers. The last book signed by Chaim ben Icchak Shachor was probably Machzor (prayer book)

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from 1562. After his death the printing house was closed. It resumed its activity only in 1567 thanks to Eliezer ben Icchak.68 Chana bat Yosef Yakar (Anna Yakar, Chana Yakar), date and place of birth and death unknown, co-owner of a Hebrew printing house in Lublin. Chana was the daughter of the Lublin printer Yosef ben (Yakov) Yakar, co-owner of the first printing house in Lublin, and granddaughter of the printer Chaim ben David Shachor. After her father’s death in 1559 she inherited together with the still young Chaim ben Icchak Shachor shares in the printing house. Probably with her consent a cousin(?) who came from Prague, printer Eliezer ben Icchak, probably a grandson of Chaim ben David Shachor, was employed in the printing house in place of her father. 27 May 1599. Chana Yakar and Chaim ben Icchak Shachor, co-owners of the Lublin printing house, were granted a privilege by King Sigismund August to print and sell Hebrew books. The royal document protected Chana and his partner from competition because it forbade subjects and foreigners to print and sell books in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth under the penalty of 20 mulcts and the threat of confiscation. The partners, intending to print the Babylonian Talmud, established a larger company for this purpose, which included, among others, Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechai Jaffe, the son of Mordechai ben Avraham, the second rector of the Lublin yeshiva. Around 1566 he married Chana bat Yosef Yakar. From this marriage three sons were born: Yosef, Chaim and Avraham. The first two learned the art of printing and worked in their father’s printing house. The third one inherited the printing house from his father but, not knowing the profession, handed it over to his son, Cwie ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe.69

68 M. Bałaban, Drukarstwo żydowskie [Jewish Printing Houses], p. 106–107; B.H.D. Friedberg, .‫ד‬.‫ח‬ ‫ תולדות הדפוס העברי בפולניה‬,‫[ פרידברג‬Toledot ha-defus ha-ivri be-Polanyah], Antwerpia 1932; 2nd edn, Tel-Aviv 1950, p. 39–41; P. Gdula, Drukarstwo lubelskie [Printing Houses in Lublin], “Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska” Sectio F, 8 (1953–1957), p. 45–46; Encyklopedia wiedzy o książce [Encyclopaedia of Knowledge of Books], ed. A. Birkenmajer, B. Kocowski, J. Trzynadlowski, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków 1971, col. 586; I. Strelnikowa, Drukarstwo lubelskie XVI i XVII wieku [Printing Houses in Lublin in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century], “Bibliotekarz Lubelski” 16 (1971), no 3–4, p. 15–16; Drukarze dawnej Polski [Printing Houses in the Former Commonwealth], vol. 1, part 1, ed. A. Kawecka-Gryczowa, p. 375, 377–378, 388–389; K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 72–87; J. Zętar, Drukarnie hebrajskie w Lublinie [Hebrew Printing Houses in Lublin], “Scriptores” 27 (2003), no. 1, p. 55–63; LDKHP, p. 36–37, 83, 151 (source no. 6); K. Pilarczyk, Drukowana książka hebrajska [Printed Hebrew Book], p. 75–76, 103; Id., Schachor (Schwarz, Szwarc) Chaim ben Icchak, [in:] Sylwetki Żydów lubelskich. Leksykon [Jews of Lublin. Lexicon], ed. A. Kopciowski, A. Trzciński, S.J. Żurek, M. Adamczyk-Garbowska, Lublin 2019, p. 236–237. 69 Drukarze dawnej Polski [Printing Houses in the Former Commonwealth], vol. 1, part 1, ed. A. KaweckaGryczowa, p. 377; K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 75–86; LDKHP, p. 38–39, 151 (source no. 6); K. Pilarczyk, Drukowana książka hebrajska [Printed Hebrew Book], p. 77–78; Id., Chana bat Jakar, [in:] Sylwetki Żydów lubelskich [Jews of Lublin], p. 62.

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Annexes

Eliezer ben Icchak (Lasarus? Eliezer, Eliezer Aszkenazi, Eliezer ben Icchak Aszkenazi), date and place of birth and death unknown, printer and bookseller(?) in Lublin in the years 1557(1559)–1573 (in the years 1567–1573 (co-owner of a Hebrew printing house in Lublin), in Końska Wola (Końskowola) in the years 1561–1562, in Constantinople in the years 1573–1576 and in Safed in the years 1577–1587. He came to Lublin at the end of the 1550s with a group of Jews from Prague in Bohemia. He found employment in a Jewish printing house because at that time, its co-owner, Icchak ben Chaim, died as a result of an epidemic in the city. The second co-owner was the now elderly Yosef ben (Yakov) Yakar (d. ca. 1559). He was helped by Eliezer ben Icchak, a printer from Prague, who may have been Chaim ben David Shachor’s grandson. He also brought typographical equipment, which began to be used in the Lublin printing house on the basis of a contract concluded between him and the official plenipotentiaries of Chaim ben Icchak Shachor, Yaakov ben Moshe and Meshullam ben Shlomo . However, formally, his daughter Chana Yakar became the heir of Yosef ben Yakar. Eliezer’s name appeared for the first time in the Pentateuch (Chamisha chumshe torah, 1557–1558) printed in the Lublin publishing house of Chaim ben Icchak Shachor, where Chaim’s associates involved in its publication and who were to start the printing of the Babylonian Talmud are listed. The existence of a special company established for this task is confirmed by the first Talmudic tractates printed from 1559 onwards. Both Shavuot (1559), Gitin (1560) and Pesachim (1562) contain the name of Eliezer ben Icchak. This means that he also left Lublin due to an epidemic and moved to Końska Wola, where Gitin was printed and Pesachim began to be printed, after which the printers returned with the equipment to Lublin, where Eliezer finished the last parts in January 1562. After the publication of the prayer book that year, work in the Lublin printing house was discontinued until 1567. It was resumed by the following partners: Eliezer ben Icchak, Icchak, Yakov Gutrod (Gutrat) , Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechai Jaffe, Eliezer ben Meszulam and Chaim ben Icchak Shachor, who had a valid royal privilege (of 1559) to run the publishing house. The printing house was located in the house of Meir ben Shlomo. A year earlier, even before the printing of Machzor (1567) according to the Polish rite, Eliezer ben Icchak, who belonged to the company, together with Yosef received on 6 August 1566, the royal privilege from Sigismund August to establish a printing house of Hebrew books with the right to sell them. Making efforts to obtain such a privilege was probably connected with Chaim ben Icchak Shachor’s bad health at the time of the reactivation of the printing house, before starting the printing of the first book after the break. The partners who financed the printing of the book saw the need to regulate the ownership issues of the printing house and this was probably the reason for applying for the new royal privilege. Their fears were confirmed, as Chaim ben Icchak Shachor died soon (probably at the end of 1567 or at the beginning of 1568) and Eliezer ben Icchak, by obtaining the royal privilege, acquired the right to continue the printing house of the Hebrew books of

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Chaim ben Icchak Shachor and Chana bat Yosef Yakar, which they in turn received by virtue of the royal privilege in 1559. The reactivation of the printing house, connected with the change of ownership and obtaining the royal privilege, took place at a very unfavourable time for the Lublin printers. Four months earlier, King Sigismund August granted Benedict Levita (Baruch Levi? ), a Jew from Kraków, a privilege to import Hebrew books from abroad and sell them throughout the Kingdom of Poland. The privilege dated 10 April 1566, guaranteed Benedict Levita the exclusive right to import Hebrew books from abroad for four years under the pain of confiscating the books if anyone else, both Jews and Christians, usurped the right to do so. It was granted in Kraków on 20 July 1566. The fate of this Jewish bookseller from Kraków and his bookshop is unknown. The privilege was granted to him eight days after the royal chancellery issued a similar permission together with four other Jews from Poland to trade in Hebrew books imported from abroad in any place in the kingdom (12 July 1566), although the privilege in question ensured exclusivity for Benedict and was not invalidated. The new privilege was granted to two Jews from Kraków: Daniel and Aaron, and two Jews from Opatów: Eliezer (Lazaro) and Kalman. On the basis of the available sources, it is impossible to decide whether Eliezer called in the document Lazarus iudaeus opatoviensis is the same person who is known from other sources as Lasarus iudaeus lublinensis (mentioned in the royal privilege of 6 August 1566 for printing and selling Hebrew books). Similarly, it is impossible to establish unequivocally whether the Kalman mentioned in the privilege of 6 August 1566 as Calman iudaeus opatoviensis is Kalonymos ben Mordechai Jaffe, Eliezer’s partner and co-editor of many Hebrew books in the Jewish printing house in Lublin, including the Babylonian Talmud. If we accept the above assumptions as true (and it seems that this should be the case), it may be assumed that at least at the beginning of 1566, and it is possible that they had already lived in Opatów for some time and together with two other Jews from Kraków (Aaron and Daniel) they tried to organize a bookshop, competing in this field with Benedict (Baruch) Levita from Kraków. Afterwards, they moved to Lublin, where Eliezer, less than a month after receiving a privilege for book trade, received another one (6 August 1566), this time for book printing, and Kalonymos (I) (not mentioned in the privilege) became his partner. In this way, the Hebrew printing house in Lublin was protected against the threat which the import of Jewish books printed outside Poland could pose. Eliezer, having two privileges and being a co-owner of both companies, was able to master and control the market for Jewish books to a serious degree and to take care of an unrivalled cooperation of these companies. The Talmud, without doubt, was best suited for sale in the Jewish market, insatiable in this respect, not only in Polish lands. At the same time, this royal privilege, as well as the previous one granted to the Jews of Lublin, did not make any obstacle that Jewish printers could not press Talmudic tractates, which Lublin printers could distribute and sell in other countries, even though at that

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Annexes

time elsewhere in Europe, except in Thessaloniki, Talmud could not be printed. Therefore, the Lublin printing house resumed its edition at the end of 1567. In this undertaking Eliezer was supported by Meir ben Mordechai ha-Levi from Lublin, who gave the printer money for this purpose. The further fate of Jewish printers in Lublin was also influenced by the opening of a printing house by Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz in Kraków in 1568. From then, the books printed at Eliezer ben Icchak’s in Lublin did not sell well, among other reasons because the quality of printing, due to the wear and tear of the fonts, could not compete with the Kraków prints. This led to the collapse of the existing partnership of Jewish publishers-printers in Lublin. An additional factor that may have influenced this decision may have been repressions against the local printer, who a year after opening a printing house in Kazimierz near Kraków (1569) was accused by the local clergy connected with the Kraków Academy of printing the Talmud, which allegedly was against the Christian religion. By the decision of King Sigismund August, the printer’s privilege to print Hebrew books was revoked and part of the printing house stock was confiscated for nearly a year until the case was clarified. The Lublin printer and his associates must have felt threatened and uncertain whether they would be able to continue the edition of the Babylonian Talmud, which had begun many years before and which undoubtedly required considerable financial outlays. Although the king’s decision limited the scope of repressions only to the Jewish publishing house in Kazimierz near Kraków and gave the whole matter a local character, the Jews from Lublin might have feared that their printing house, where the Talmud was actually printed, would not be affected by the repressions provoked by some Catholic clergy incited by Jewish converts. Eliezer ben Icchak, wanting to save his printing house from a double threat, stopped printing Talmud, the further financing of which could have turned out to be an extremely risky investment, if – as it happened in Kraków – typographical equipment and printed sheets were to be requisitioned by royal officials. The printer decided to use the time off for the necessary modernisation of his printing house. For this purpose, he sent his son Icchak abroad to buy new semi-custom fonts, with the use of which he could compete with the Prostitz printing house. The first book printed in them was published at the turn of 1570 and 1571 and it was Taame mitzvot (Meaning of the Commandments). After the work was resumed, the printing of Talmudic tractates continued to be the primary goal. The investment in new typographical equipment and the use of better paper made the prints issued after 1571 undoubtedly more attractive than the earlier ones, so that they could compete with the books printed in Kraków. Eight years after receiving the royal privilege to print Hebrew books, Eliezer ben Icchak finished his printing work in Lublin (at that time thirteen books signed by him were published) and published his last book here in 1573 entitled Pachad Icchak (Isaac’s Distress) by Icchak ben Avraham Chayut, in which he included a song indicating the motives of his decision to leave Lublin. As he states in the song, he did not find the peace

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and quiet he desired for his work here, and for this reason, after thirteen years, he intends to leave the city in order to “fulfil the aspirations of his heart”. It can be assumed that the final destination of his journey was to be the Holy Land (Eretz Israel). He decided on this trip under the influence of his cousin Icchak ben Avraham from Safed (his name is mentioned in the song in the acrostic), seeing at the same time the possibility of establishing a printing house and becoming interested in the books printed there by European Jews. The intermediate destination of the journey was to be Constantinople. Eliezer ben Icchak began to realize his plans probably in the middle of 1572, agreeing to let his editor and co-worker Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechai Jaffe start printing subsequent books on his own. In the following year, he himself published, still at the end of April, the above-mentioned work Pachad Icchak, after which he sold part of his typographical resources to Kalonymos (I), who financed his printing undertakings together with his sister-in-law, Ela, and took a part of them with the printed works, hoping that printing and selling the books on the way would bring income which would allow him to cover the costs of the journey. Not even the news about calamities caused in Constantinople in 1572 by an earthquake, as a result of which, according to the chronicler David Gans from Prague, “towers and great buildings fell down and over 3,000 people died”, dissuaded Eliezer ben Icchak from his decision to leave. As early as October 1573, Eliezer (now called Eliezer Ashkenazi) and his son worked with Jewish printers in Constantinople, where they remained until 1576, printing many books, after which Eliezer moved to Safed, where in 1577 he opened the first printing shop in the entire Middle East, where he worked for more than ten years. In Lublin Eliezer printed probably sixteen books; in the thirteenth there is information about him as a printer-owner of a printing house. Moreover, he took part in pressing four prints in Końska Wola.70 70 B.H.D. Friedberg, ‫[ לתולדות הדפוס העברי בלובלין‬Le-toledot ha-defus ha-ivri be-Lublin], Kraków 1900; M. Bałaban, Zur Geschichte der hebräischen Druckerein in Polen, p. 45; Id., Drukarstwo żydowskie, p. 107; B.H.D. Friedberg, ‫ תולדות הדפוס העברי בפולניה‬,‫ פרידברג‬.‫ד‬.‫[ ח‬Toledot ha-defus ha-ivri bePolanyah], Antwerpia 1932; 2nd edn, Tel-Aviv 1950, p. 40–41, 48–49; A. Yaari, ‫ הדפוס העברי‬,‫יערי‬.‫א‬ ‫[ בצפת‬Ha-defus ha-ivri be-Tswat], [in:] A. Yaari, Ha-defus ha-ivri be-arcot ha-mizrach vol. 1, Jerozolima 1937, p. 9–28, poz. 6; Drukarze dawnej Polski [Printing Houses in the Former Commonwealth], vol. 1, part 1, ed. A. Kawecka-Gryczowa, p. 378–380; M. Juda, Przywileje drukarskie w Polsce [Privileges for Printing Houses in Poland], Lublin 1992, p. 87; K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 72–101; Id., Drukarnie żydowskie [Jewish Printing Houses], [in:] Drukarze dawnej Polski od XV do XVIII wieku [Printing Houses in the Former Commonwealth from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century], vol. 1: Małopolska [Lesser Poland], part. 2, Wiek XVII–XVIII [The Seventeenth and the Eighteenth Century], vol. 2: L–Ż i drukarnie żydowskie [L–Ż and Jewish Printing Houses], ed. J. Pirożyński, Kraków 2000, p. 114; J. Zętar, Drukarnie hebrajskie w Lublinie [Hebrew Printing Houses in Lublin], p. 55–63; LDKHP, p. 60–64, 151–154, (source no. 7–9); K. Pilarczyk, Drukowana książka hebrajska [Printed Hebrew Book], p. 86–89; Id., Eliezer ben Icchak, [in:] Sylwetki Żydów lubelskich [Jews of Lublin], p. 78–82.

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Annexes

Yosef ben Yakar (Yosef ben Yaakov Yakar), date and place of birth unknown, died about 1559 in Lublin (?), co-founder of the first Hebrew printing house in Lublin and its printer in the years 1547(1550)–1554(1559), son-in-law of Chaim ben David Shachor, who helped him and his partner, Icchak ben Chaim, his son, to open a Hebrew printing house in Lublin about 1547. Together they planned to print and sell books in the Crown and in Lithuania. Already in 1547 they printed the prayer book Shomrim la-boker (Guardians of the Morning); Chaim David Shachor is signed as the printer, although it may be assumed that his son and son-in-law helped him. Afterwards, there was a break in the printing house’s work until 1550 when Yosef ben Yakar (perhaps together with his partner) received a privilege to print Hebrew books from King Sigismund August. However, its text is not known. It may be assumed that it was similar to later royal documents of this type from the years 1559, 1566 and 1578 (they confirmed the rights granted by the king to subsequent owners of the Jewish printing house in Lublin). The royal privilege allowed Yosef to officially start publishing Hebrew books. The first one signed by him was a comprehensive prayer book (Machzor, 1550–1551) according to the Polish rite. He printed two more, also prayer books, in 1553 – Yotzrot (Morning Prayers) and in 1554 Sidur (according to the Ashkenazi rite), in the latter of which, apart from him, Icchak ben Chaim and two of their collaborators, Yaakov ben Moshe and Meshullam ben Shlomo, both from Prague, are listed as printers. Soon after Sidur had been printed, Icchak ben Chaim died. At that time, the son of the deceased partner, Chaim ben Icchak Shachor, joined the partnership with Yosef and he formally became the first owner, publishing subsequent books under his own name in the years 1557–1562 (1564). Initially, the still young printer was supported by the experienced typographer Yosef ben Yakar, and after his death around 1559 – by two guardians appointed by the rabbi and the rabbinical court, Yakov ben Moshe and Meshullam ben Shlomo. The place of the deceased Yosef ben Yakar was taken by Eliezer ben Icchak, a printer from Prague, probably the grandson of Chaim ben David Shachor, while Yosef ’s daughter, Chana bat Yosef Yakar, became his heir.71 Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechai Jaffe (Abraham Kalonymos ben Mordechai, Kalman, Calman, Kalonymos Kalman ben Mordechai Jaffe, Kalonymos Avraham Kalman ben Mordechai Jaffe, Kalonymos ben Mordechai Jaffe), date and place of birth unknown, d. in 1603(?), printer in Lublin in the years 1556–1603 and in

71 M. Bałaban, Drukarstwo żydowskie [Jewish Printing Houses], p. 106; Drukarze dawnej Polski [Printing Houses in the Former Commonwealth], vol. 1, part 1, ed. A. Kawecka-Gryczowa, p. 377, 391; M. Juda, Przywileje drukarskie w Polsce [Privileges for Printing Houses in Poland], p. 87; K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 72–74; J. Zętar, Drukarnie hebrajskie w Lublinie [Hebrew Printing Houses in Lublin], p. 55–63; LDKHP, p. 87–88; K. Pilarczyk, Drukowana książka hebrajska [Printed Hebrew Book], p. 107–108; Id., Josef ben Jakow Jakar [Yosef ben Yakov Yakar], [in:] Sylwetki Żydów lubelskich [Jews of Lublin], p. 144–145.

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Bystrzejowice in 1592, owner of a Hebrew publishing house in Lublin in the years 1572–1603, bookseller in Opatów around 1566? son of Mordechai ben Avraham, the second rector of Lublin yeshiva, husband of Chana bat Yakar, daughter of Yosef ben Yakar, co-owner of the first Hebrew printing house in Lublin and granddaughter of printer Chaim ben David Shachor. He came from the Jaffa family living first in Germany and later in Bohemia. He arrived in Lublin around 1556 together with a group of Jews fleeing persecution in the West. From his marriage with Chana bat Yosef, Yakar had three sons: Yosef , Chaim and Avraham. Around 1566 he moved for a short time to Opatów and together with three other Jews he received on 12 July 1566 a royal privilege to import Hebrew books to Poland and sell them. When Eliezer ben Icchak together with Yosef obtained a privilege from King Sigismund August on 6 August 1566 to establish a Hebrew printing house in Lublin and sell Hebrew books, Kalonymos (I) returned to Lublin and became their partner. Around 1572 Eliezer, planning to go to Eretz Israel, sold Kalonymos (I) a large part of his equipment. Together with his sons he ran the Lublin printing house until 1603. After renewing the typographic stock, he continued the printing works on the Babylonian Talmud (he added four tractates to the edition started in 1559), introducing vignettes similar to the Venetian ones on the first pages of the subsequent parts. At the same time, he published other religious books, including works by Jewish scholars of the Arabic and Spanish periods. His sons Yosef (I) (1572–1575) and Chaim (1572–1596) helped him with this. Probably immediately after taking over the printing house, Kalonymos (I) applied for the royal privilege to print and sell Hebrew books, but he did not obtain it during the reign of King Henry of Valois. The king, probably because of his aversion to Jews, who had not been present in his home country – France – since the end of the fourteenth century, did not receive the delegation of large Jewish communities from Polish lands, who wanted to ask for the confirmation of the privileges previously granted to them, nor did he confirm the privileges themselves. Kalonymos (I) received the necessary privilege only on 7 March 1578, from King Stefan Batory. The royal privilege was supposed to prevent importing Jewish books from abroad, thus protecting Jewish printing houses in Poland against foreign competition, especially Italian, and forbidding reprinting books published by Kalonymos (I) in other printing houses. However, in spite of Kalonymos’s (I) resourcefulness, the Jewish printing house operating in Kraków was directly threatened by Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz, who forced the Lublin printer to close the printing house for nearly 11 years (1579–1590) and to conduct its thorough modernization, as well as bringing good typesetters from Moravia, so that its production could compete with the Kraków and Italian prints. Kalonymos (I) resumed his work in 1590, but at the end of 1592 he had to move it for a few months to the village of Bystrzejowice near Lublin because of an epidemic which broke out in Lublin, and there he published a Pesach haggadah entitled Zewach Pesach (Pesach Sacrifice, Bystrzejowice 1593).

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Annexes

After his return, he published, among other things, the Mishnah: Mishnayot im perush rabbi Obadiah Bertinora (Mishnah with commentary by Obadiah of Bertinoro, 1595–1596) and for the second time She’elot u-teshuvot (Responsa, 1599) by Shlomo ben Jechiel Luria (first ed. 1574), and also the work of his father Mordechai ben Avraham Jaffe Levush malchut (The King’s Robe, 1590, 1595, 1603 [publisher’s name omitted]), the last edition of which in 1603 completed his printing work after fifty years. In total, he printed 53 books in his printing house, including 44 signed by him. His partners and employees were: Shoel ben Juda Segal – under his name, the book Pirke rabbi Eliezer (Parables of Rabbi Eliezer) was published in 1598 – Joel ben Aaron ha-Levi – he signed the book printed in 1599. Sha’are Dura im perush Ateret Shlomo (Gates of Dura with commentary by Ateret Shlomo) – Yaakov ben Meir, Shlomo ben Yehuda, Mordechai and Yehuda (typesetters) – sons of Yaakov from Prościejów and Shlomo ben Gershon from Grodno (probably towards the end of Kalonymos’ (I) activity he helped him in managing the printing house). Before his death, Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechai Jaffe bequeathed the printing house to his son Avraham, who was probably the only living at that time, but who, not knowing the art of printing, soon handed it over to his son Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe (Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe).72 Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe (Tzvi Hirsch ben Avraham Kalmankes Kalonymos Jaffe, Tzvi ben Kalonymos Jaffe, Tzvi bar Abraham Kalonymous), date and place of birth unknown, died in 1628 probably in Lublin, a printer and owner of a Hebrew printing house in Lublin in the years 1604–1628. Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechai Jaffe, a printer in Lublin, died in 1603, his son Avraham, who did not know the art of printing and had no passion for it, inherited the printing house. Therefore, after the printing house had been closed for a few months, in the middle of 1604, he entrusted its management to his son Tzvi, who continued the printing traditions of the Jaf family in Lublin for over twenty years. He started putting together his first book,

72 M. Bałaban, Drukarnie żydowskie [Jewish Printing Houses], p. 107–109; B.H.D. Friedberg, .‫ד‬.‫ח‬ ‫ תולדות הדפוס העברי בפולניה‬,‫[ פרידברג‬Toledot ha-defus ha-ivri be-Polanyah], Antwerpia 1932; 2nd edn, Tel-Aviv 1950, p. 40–46; P. Gdula, Drukarstwo lubelskie [Printing Houses in Lublin], p. 46; Encyklopedia wiedzy o książce [Encyclopaedia of Knowledge of Books], col. 46; I. Strelnikowa, Drukarstwo lubelskie [Printing Houses in Lublin], p. 16; Drukarze dawnej Polski [Printing Houses in the Former Commonwealth], vol. 1, part 1, ed. A. Kawecka-Gryczowa, p. 389–391; M. Juda, Przywileje drukarskie w Polsce [Privileges for Printing Houses in Poland], p. 87; K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 101–108; Id., Rozpowszechnianie Talmudu w Polsce w XVI i XVII wieku a duchowość żydowska [Dissemination of the Talmud in Poland in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries and Jewish Spirituality], [in:] Duchowość żydowska w Polsce [Jewish Spirituality in Poland], ed. M. Galas, Kraków 2000, p. 49–59; J. Zętar, Drukarnie hebrajskie w Lublinie [Hebrew Printing Houses in Lublin], p. 55–63; LDKHP, p. 88–91, 156 (source no. 13); K. Pilarczyk, Drukowana książka hebrajska [Printed Hebrew Book], p. 109–110; Id., Jafe Kalonimos (I) ben Mordechaj [Jaffe Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechai], [in:] Sylwetki Żydów lubelskich [Jews of Lublin], p. 140–142.

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Kitzur Abravanel (Abridged Abravanel), in the middle of 1604 and finished it in 1605. In order to meet his costs, Tzvi concluded many contracts with co-publishers of books printed at his place. He also employed quite a large group of typesetters and pressmen, mainly from Italy or Moravia, especially when he began printing the Babylonian Talmud (1617), which was undoubtedly his greatest printing undertaking. Individual tractates appeared in 1617–1622, 1626–1628, and the entire edition was completed in 1639 by Kalonymos (II) Kalman Jaffe. Despite its outward similarities to the Italian edition of Giustiniani and the Kraków edition of 1602–1605, it was actually based on the most censored of the sixteenth century editions of the Talmud, the Basel edition (1578–1581), and supplemented in some places where the text therein was known to have been altered due to interference from church censors. In 1631, the Jews themselves undertook to apply self-censorship to a limited extent in further editions of the Talmud. Moreover, the second edition of Lublin Talmud was not unified, just like the first one from the years 1559–1576 which was printed by Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechai Jaffe, the grandfather of Tzvi. In 1622, Tzvi interrupted his work for a year due to tumults, the ongoing Thirty Years’ War, and an ongoing epidemic. At that time, Yeshua ben Israel, a proofreader in Cwi’s printing house, went to Hanau, where the following Talmud tractates were printed: Nida (1618), Tohorot (1620) and Chulin (1622). He personally supervised the printing of the latter. At the same time, he was an intermediary in the purchase of their edition, which Tzvi included in his edition of the Babylonian Talmud. In the year when he ceased his activity, he also found Tzvi ben Moshe and Yehuda ben Shlomo Katz Lifshitz as sponsors of the complete edition of the Talmud. Their names as funders are mentioned in subsequent tractates (from 1626). After a break, the printing house resumed its activity in 1623 and was active until 1627. The trade in Jewish books imported to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth mainly from Venice, Basel, Prague and from 1610 from Hanau and at the end of the 1630s from Amsterdam posed a threat that could lead to its collapse. Tzvi – like other Jewish printers from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – opposed this practice. This protest led in 1607 to a ban on the distribution of Hebrew books printed in Basel and in Prościejów in Moravia, where prayer books were published at that time. However, the bans were not very effective and were often violated. In 1628, by the order of King Sigismund III Vasa, the printing house of Tzvi was closed down and the prints of Talmudic tractates, which were in the publishing house, were confiscated. The reason for such repressions were accusations made to the monarch, probably by Jewish converts supported by a part of the Catholic clergy, that Tzvi printed the Talmud which was supposed to include fragments deleted earlier by the church censors. The efforts made by Jews to the Bishop of Kraków, Marcin Szyszkowski, and the Voivode of Lublin, Mikołaj Oleśnicki, to revoke the royal decree and to return the confiscated Talmudic tractates did not help. Until Władysław IV Waza took the throne (1633), the restrictions imposed earlier remained in force, although

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Annexes

it was possible to complete the entire edition quickly. However, this did not happen until 1639 when the Hebrew printing house in Lublin was run by Tzvi’s sons: Yosef (II) ben Tzvi Hirsch Kalonymos Jaffe and Kalonymos (II) Kalman Jaffe. Neither Tzvi, who died soon after the closing of the printing house in 1628, lived to see this event, nor Yeshua ben Israel, the proofreader who had cooperated with him since 1619 on this edition of the Talmud (he also died in 1628 and was succeeded by Yosef ben Yaakov). In the printing house of Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe, in the years 1604–1628, a total of 87 books were published, 80 of which were signed by him, and in 9 others, printed after his death (after 1628), it was stated that they came from the printing house of Tzvi ben Avraham. Among Tzvi’s publishing repertoire the most noteworthy is, apart from the Talmud, reissued in 1611, and printed for the first time by Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechai Jaffe in Lublin (1593) Chibure leket (Collection of Works) by Avraham ben Yehuda Chazan, teacher and cantor in the synagogue in Krzemieniec, a compilation commentary based on outstanding Jewish commentators Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Kimchi and Levi ben Gershon to Megillot, Prophets and Hagiographs with glosses in Yiddish. In 1612 Tzvi printed another chidushim (editio princeps) by one of the greatest Talmudic authorities of the time, Shmuel Eliezer ben Yehuda Edels (Maharsha) – a commentary to 18 tractates of the Babylonian Talmud, entitled Chidushe halachot (Halakhic Novels). The proofreader of this work was Shaul Shimon ben Yehuda Levi from Lublin. Moreover, in 1615–1616, Tzvi printed a four-part halakhic work Tevuat shor (Yield of oxen) by Efraim ben Naphtali Shor combined with Bet Yosef (House of Joseph) by Yosef Karo supplemented by various additions. Whereas in 1620 he published Chamisha chumshe torah, i.e. the Pentateuch, Megillot and Haftarot, which was composed by Yosef ben Gershon from Turobin, Avraham ben Bezalel from Poznań and Yosef ben Aleksander Kohen (called Leib Katz) from Prague. In the following year, the second part of Chidushe halachot by Shmuel Eliezer ben Yehuda Edels (to 10 consecutive tractates). The demand for kabbalistic commentaries prompted Tzvi Hirsh to print in 1623 Zohar (Shine), i.e. a kabbalistic interpretation of the Pentateuch, which was a pseudo-epigraph (in fact, this work was created in Spain and was probably compiled by Moshe de Leon, although some of its parts date back to before the thirteenth century). In the years 1624–1626, he also published Magid (Preacher), i.e. the second and third part (according to the Jewish arrangement – Prophets and Scriptures) of the Hebrew Bible with a commentary by Shlomo ben Icchak (Rashi). The biblical text was based on a corrected manuscript and was commented on in Yiddish by Yaakov ben Icchak, who in some places referred to Aaron Pesaro. The whole work was published in three volumes by Natan Nata ben Shimon from Poznań. In the second part, Menachem Meisels ben Moshe Shimshon of Kraków is given as the publisher, who added a note in the title to the part of the Scriptures: “in new fonts”. In 1627 he also published the first part of Chidushe agadot (New Haggadic books) by Shmuel Eliezer ben Yehuda Edels (editio princeps), being a

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commentary to the Haggadot of five Talmudic tractates, the proofreader of which was Shaul Shimon ben Yehuda Levi from Lublin and the publisher was Meir ben David from Kulk. Therefore, the publishing repertoire of Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe was dominated by Talmudic and halakhic works. It resulted from the situation of the Jewish education at that time, which developed intensely and with it the demand for works on Jewish customary law. Members of the Jafa family also played a role in establishing the halakhic regulations. One of the most prominent Talmudists of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Mordechai ben Avraham Jaffe (d. 1611), came from this family. He undoubtedly influenced the printing repertoire of the Tzvi’s printing house, although he was not permanently connected with Lublin. A similar influence was exerted by Shmuel Eliezer ben Yehuda ha-Levi Edels, whose commentaries to Talmudic tractates were printed at Jaffes’ several times (e.g. in 1612–1614, 1621, 1627) and were a valuable contribution to Talmudic studies. He was able to reconcile contradictory theses from Rashi’s commentary and the casuistic commentary Tosafot (Supplements) and interpret the Haggadot included in the Talmud (Chidushe agadot, 1627). On the other hand, Yaakov Veil’s tractate Shechitot u-vdikot (Slaughter and Research), printed many times in the Lublin publishing house, was very practical for everyday use. It helped to solve issues related to the slaughter of animals and keeping kosher when preparing meat for consumption. Apart from halakhic literature, the Tzvi’s printing house published, although less frequently, the texts of biblical books with commentaries, most often by Rashi. The Pentateuch, the Book of Esther and the five Megillot were the most popular. In the production profile one can also notice the increasing number of kabbalistic works, especially of exegetical and ethical-ascetical character. The printing house also catered to the needs connected with everyday religious practices and the performance of synagogue liturgy, systematically supplying prayer books for everyday use, holidays, as well as for special occasions. The linguistic situation of the Jewish community in the Polish lands, especially the dominant Yiddish language in everyday contacts, especially among women, created the demand for parabiblical-ethical literature in this language; the most popular book from this current was Tseno Ureno (Go and See), which was delivered to the market from Tzvi’s printing house. Other works, such as grammars and philosophical tractates, appeared sporadically. On most books, or even small tractates of a few pages published by Tzvi, there is a note about the approval of at least one rabbi (more often by several) for their printing. The Va’ad Arba’ Aratzot (Council of the Four Lands) obliged Jewish printers to do so in 1594, forbidding to print books without such approval. The element identifying Tzvi’s prints are, among others, the two printer’s marks he used. The first one (with a deer and fish motif) appears on some tractates of Talmud of the second edition in Lublin. Usually, it was embossed on the title pages of the earlier tractates, while it was missing in the later ones. In tractates Berachot, Gitin, Kiddushin and Yevamot, printed between 1617–1619, the printer’s

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Annexes

mark of Tzvi appears at the bottom of the title pages. The second printer’s mark was used by Tzvi in two Talmudic tractates, Nazir and Nedarim, published in 1619. It depicts the Jerusalem Temple – bet ha-mikdash according to the inscription on the dome and roof of the building depicted in the engraving.73 4.4.2 Printers of Kraków

The Prostitz (Prosticowie), a family of Jewish printers from Prościejów (Prostitz, Prossnitz, Prostějov) in Moravia. The family included: Icchak ben Aaron, Aaron ben Icchak, Moshe Yoshua ben Icchak, Simcha ben Icchak, Mordechai ben Icchak, and Issachar Ber ben Aaron; all bore the nickname Prostitz. Icchak ben Aaron owned and managed Hebrew printing houses: in Kraków in 1568–1602?(1612), in Nowy Dwór (II) near Kraków in 1592 and in Prościejów in Moravia in 1602–1605(?). He learned the art of printing from Italian masters. He came to Kraków in 1568 and that year, on October fifteenth, he received a privilege from King Sigismund August to establish a printing house in Kazimierz near Kraków, where he was allowed to print the Talmud and other Hebrew books. The privilege was revoked for a short period and then renewed with the exception of the right to print the Talmud. In 1592, due to an epidemic, Icchak moved the printing house for a few months to the village of Nowy Dwór (II) near Kraków, where he completed only one work (Pardes rimonim, 1592), after which he returned to Kraków. In total, up to 1600, he printed in his printing house about 200 books, including biblical books, prayer books, halakhic and kabbalistic works, most of them in Hebrew,

73 B.H.D. Friedberg, ‫[ לתולדות הדפוס העברי בלובלין‬Le-toledot ha-defus ha-ivri be-Lublin]; M. Bałaban, Die Judenstadt von Lublin, Berlin 1919; Id., Drukarstwo żydowskie [Jewish Printing Houses], p. 102–118; A. Yaari, ‫ מראשית הדפוס העברי ועד סוף המאה התשהעשרה‬.‫ דגל המדפיסים העבריים‬,‫ יערי‬.‫[ א‬Hebrew Printers’ Marks. From the Beginning of Hebrew Printing to the End of the Nineteenth Century]; P. Gdula, Drukarstwo lubelskie [Printing Houses in Lublin], p. 39–112; M.J. Heller, Printing the Talmud, p. 345–365; K. Pilarczyk, Zur Zensurfrage der jüdischen Bücher, p. 346–353 (see Id., Zur Zensurfrage des Talmud in Polen im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert, “Studia Judaica” 2 (1999), no. 2, p. 185–195); Id. Biskup krakowski Marcin Szyszkowski a cenzura ksiąg żydowskich: religijne swobody i ograniczenia Żydów w XVII-wiecznej Rzeczypospolitej [Bishop of Kraków Marcin Szyszkowski and the Censorship of Jewish books: Religious Liberties and Restrictions for Jews in the Seventeenth-Century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth], “Studia Religiologica” (2001), no. 34, p. 61–77 (in Hebrew: Bishop Marcin Szyszkowski, p. 25–40); Id., Spory o druk Talmudu w Pierwszej Rzeczypospolitej [Disputes over the Printing of the Talmud in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth], [in:] Żydzi i judaizm we współczesnych badaniach polskich [Jews and Judaism in Contemporary Polish Studies], vol. 2, ed. K. Pilarczyk, S. Gąsiorowski, Kraków 2000, p. 45–61; Id., Printing the Talmud in Poland in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, “Polin” 15 (2002), p. 59–64; Id., Drukarnie żydowskie [Jewish Printing Houses], p. 714–724; LDKHP, p. 39–46, 156–160 (source no. 14–19); K. Pilarczyk, Drukowana książka hebrajska [Printed Hebrew Book], p. 78–83; Id., Jafe Cwi ben Awraham Kalonimos [Jaffe Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos], [in:] Sylwetki Żydów lubelskich [Jews of Lublin], p. 136–140.

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Fig. 4.1 Printer’s mark of Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe of Lublin, 1604–1628

Fig. 4.2 Printer’s mark of Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe of Lublin

Fig. 4.3 Printer’s mark of Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe from the title page of the Tractate Bava Kamma, Lublin–Kraków 1646–1648

less frequently in Yiddish. ca. 1600 Icchak left Kraków and moved to Prościejów in Moravia, where he opened a small Hebrew printing house (1602–1605) and engaged in book trade. At the end of his life he returned to Kraków and died there (1612). From 1602 his sons Aaron and Moshe Jozue and his grandson Issachar Ber ben Aaron ran the Kraków printing house. They also taught the profession to the younger sons of Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz, i.e. Simcha and Mordechai. At that time, they published about sixty books, and in 1602–1605, the Babylonian

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Annexes

Talmud (in twelve volumes in a small folio edition) according to the Italian edition by Giustiniani taken over from the Basel edition (1578–1581), and in 1609, the Jerusalem Talmud, which fulfilled the greatest desire of Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz. From 1612, they started an independent printing business, signing their prints “bne Icchak Prostitz” (sons of Icchak Prostitz). In fact, the printing house was managed by Aaron ben Icchak. The Prostitz family also chose their partners to publish particular prints. During the 16 years of independent activity, the greatest publishing undertaking of the heirs of Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz was the re-issue of the Babylonian Talmud in 1616–1620, this time in quarto format, which was modelled on the Basel edition (1578–1581). They invested almost all of their wealth and went into debt. Their creditors were both Jews and Christians (Walenty Łącki, Stanisław Sałata, Marcin Giesser, Puszek). Apart from it, the printing repertoire was dominated by halakhic works, i.e. commentaries to the Talmud, commentaries to Rashi, legal compendia, rabbinical responsa, works on ethics (the four-part Arba’ah Turim [1613–1615] and Shulchan Arukh [1616–1619] by Yosef Karo, financed by Shmuel ben Pinchas Hurwic, deserve particular mention), followed by biblical books or their paraphrases, prayer books and kabbalistic works. The greatest threat to their business was the import of Hebrew books, mainly from Venice, Prague and Basel. They tried to stop it by appealing to the Council of the Four Lands (Va’ad Arba’ Aratzot), which issued a ban on printing the same books simultaneously in Poland and Venice, but it was probably not respected. The deteriorating financial condition of the printing house was also influenced by the crisis in European countries caused by the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), as a result of which thousands of Jewish families lost their livelihoods (the consequence of which was, among others, the collapse of book trade and Jewish knowledge), and by the epidemic which broke out in Kraków in 1622 and caused a break in the printing house’s work until 1624. During the epidemic, the typesetter Mordechai ben Icchak Prostitz left the printing house and moved to Hanau, where he had already worked in 1610. In 1627 the typesetter and printer Simcha ben Icchak Prostitz, Aaron ben Icchak’s brother, died, and in 1628 the penultimate book in the Prostitz printing house was printed by Issachar Ber ben Aaron Prostitz himself. In 1629 the publishing house closed with the printing of the book Shum sechel (it was no longer signed by any of the Prostitz). On many printed works issued by the Prostitz, heirs of Icchak ben Aaron, among others on the second edition of Talmudic Tractates, the names of the typographers were not printed. It is only assumed that they were the Prostitz. This supposition is confirmed by the typographical analysis of the Hebrew prints from Kraków dated 1613–1629 and additionally, with regard to the Talmud, by the printing mark printed in only one tractate, which helps to determine the origin of the whole edition. It is possible that there were some printer’s marks on the title pages of other tractates, but due to the destruction of most of these pages in the currently known copies of the tractates of this edition, this question cannot be clarified. The

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only surviving mark appears on the last page of the Tractate Zevachim (1618), which contains nothing else. The mark depicts a scene called akedat Icchak (Hebrew for the binding of Icchak) – a graphically depicted episode in the life of Avraham, who was put to the test of obedience when God required him to sacrifice his only son Icchak on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22). At the last moment – as described in the saga of the patriarch – an angel of Yahweh coming from the heavens stopped Avraham’s hand from dealing the fatal blow to his son. Instead of his son, the patriarch eventually sacrificed to God a ram, which he found nearby entangled with its horns in the brush. This printer’s mark is the most elaborate of the four sigla used by the Prostitz printer (two fish, a stag in a wreath, a ram, and an akedah). It was probably designed at the end of Icchak ben Aaron’s life, when the work of Yaakov ben Asher Arba’ah Turim, printed only after the typographer’s death (1613–1615), was being prepared for printing. The heirs of Icchak ben Aaron placed this mark on the title pages of the various parts of the Turim to honor the name of their father and grandfather, adding the caption: “Printed by the sons of Icchak, in the printing house which was established by their old father Icchak, of blessed memory the righteous, son of the printer Rabbi Aaron of blessed memory from Prościejów”. The same printer’s mark was embossed in Tractate Zevachim (Kraków 1618). Its woodcut dates to the sixteenth century, which is also indicated by the attire worn by Avraham, especially the hat and the collar, in the style of Henry II, the French king. The fourth printer’s mark, used in the Prostitz printing house, depicts a ram with its horns pointing towards the scrub. It, too, refers to the sacrifice of the biblical Icchak. This sign is an allusion to the name of the owner of the Hebrew printing house in Kraków – Icchak ben Aaron. Around the rectangular drawing there is an inscription in Hebrew: “Ransom for Icchak / remember the covenant of Avraham and the sacrifice [literally, binding] of Icchak. Restore again the tents of Yaakov. Guide us / for the sake of Your Name [360] according to the small reckoning of time”. This siglum is known only from one book, the Shaarei ora printed in 1600. The associates of the Prostitz in 1612–1628 were: Aaron ben Moshe Krumenau (of Moravia) (1617–1618, co-publisher), Avraham ben Israel (1618, co-publisher), Yosef bar Mordechai Grozmark (1618, co-publisher), Avigdor ben Shmuel ben Moshe Ezrat (1619, proofreader), Icchak ben Gershon of Turobin (1628, typesetter), Yaakov ben Avraham (1618–1620, 1622–1627, pressman), Yaakov ben Meir Heliszau (of Moravia) (1608–1609 and 1617, co-publisher), Juda (Leib) ben Icchak Judels Katz (1616?-1620, typesetter), Moshe ben Katriel Weisswasser (1616?–1620, typesetter), Naphtali Tzvi Hirsch ben Moshe Towja Gutmann (1625, co-publisher and proofreader), Shmuel Levi (1613?, editor), Shmuel ben Mordechai Ashkenazi from Przemyśl (1612, co-publisher). After 60 years of the printing house’s activity, its bankruptcy, including the seizure of printing equipment by creditors, as well as the inability to meet the increasing requirements of the printing art led to its closure. In the printing house of the heirs

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Annexes

Fig. 4.4 Printer’s mark of Prostitz family from the last page of the Tractate Zevachim, Kraków 1618

of Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz, 77 books were printed in the years 1612–1629, which indicates that, despite their efforts, the printers did not manage to maintain the level of production at such a volume as in the first 43 years of its existence, when it was managed by Icchak. The editorial level of books published by Prokop and Prokop decreased significantly, especially after 1624, which was taken advantage of by competitive Jewish publishing houses that had already been operating in Venice, Prague and the newly established ones (from 1619) in Mantua and Hanau, which introduced their own production to Poland. In the period of crisis, the Prostitz printing house intensified the activity of the Lublin printing house of Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe, which in 1622–1628 published 36 items, while the Prostitz only 8. It is also uncertain whether the Prostitz had no competition in Kraków itself. In total, the Hebrew printing house of the Prostitz in Kraków in 1569–1629 printed about 340 titles of Jewish books. In the discussed period the share of the Prostitz printing house in the total production of books in Jewish languages in the world amounted to ca. 15% taking into consideration only the number of published titles and not the number of printed sheets.74

74 B.H.D. Friedberg, ‫[ הדפוס העברי בקראקא‬Ha-defus ha-ivri be-Kraka], Kraków 1900, p. 21–25; M. Bałaban, Zur Geschichte der hebräischen Druckereien in Polen, p. 9–11; M. Bałaban, Drukarstwo żydowskie [Jewish Printing Houses], p. 102–118; Id., Historja Żydów [A History of the Jews], p. 510–512; [M. Marx] M.C., Zur Geschichte des hebräischen Buchdruckes, p. 91–96; M. Steinschneider, D. Cassel, Jüdische Typographie und jüdischer Buchhandel, Jerusalem 1938, p. 33–35; A.M. Habermann, .‫מ‬.‫א‬ ‫ בהתפתחותו הספר העברי‬,‫[ הברמן‬The History of the Hebrew Book], p. 162; R. Żurkowa, Udział Żydów krakowskich w handlu książką w pierwszej połowie XVII wieku [The Participation of the Jews of Kraków in the Book Trade in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century], [in:] Żydzi w Małopolsce. Studia z dziejów osadnictwa i życia społecznego [Jews in Lesser Poland. Studies from the History of Settlement and Social Life], ed. F. Kiryk, Przemyśl 1991 p. 59–78; M.J. Heller, Printing the Talmud, p. 367–396; K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 177–240; Id., Drukarnie żydowskie [Jewish Printing Houses], p. 679–680, 687–702; Id., Drukarstwo żydowskie [Jewish Printing Houses], [in:] Encyklopedia Krakowa [Encyclopaedia of Kraków], p. 169; Id., Drukowana książka hebrajska [Printed Hebrew Book], p. 118–121.

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Fig. 4.5 Printer’s mark of Prostitz family used only in Shaare ora, Kraków 1600

Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz (Isaac ben Aaron Prostitz, Prostic, Aaronowicz Izaak, Isaac the Printer, the Italian Jew) printer and owner of Hebrew printing houses in Kraków in 1568–1602? (1612) and in Prościejów in Moravia in 1602–1605, Jewish bookseller in Kraków and Prościejów (1600–1612). He was born in the 1530s or 1640s in Prościejów in Moravia (hence the nickname Prostitz), where his family arrived from Italy. As a young boy he was sent by his father to Italy to learn the art of printing in various cities and printing houses. He then worked in Venice, probably for the famous printers Giorgio Francesco, called the Cabalist (Giorgio di Cavalli) and Giovanni Griffo. When the former was closing his printing house, Icchak ben Aaron bought its equipment, including fonts, ornaments and vignettes, and brought them in 1568 to Kazimierz near Kraków. Shmuel ben Icchak ha-Kadosh Boehm, whom Icchak ben Aaron met in Venice, helped him, when he too worked for Giovanni Griffo as a proofreader. He also, having gained printing experience in the printing houses in Cremona (1556), Padua (1562) and Venice (1565–1567), professionally supported the Kraków printer until his death on 13 sivan (5)348, i.e. 8 June 1588, when at the end of the 60s of the sixteenth century he came to Kraków and founded, after a break of nearly thirty years since the existence of the Helicz brothers’ printing house here, a new Hebrew printing house. It is understandable that after the Heliczes converted to Catholicism the Jewish community near Kraków expected the new printer to be loyal, and the printing house because although it was private property, was to some extent subject to the community’s control. It was also in the interest of the printer that his activity met with the approval of the local Jewish community and met its expectations as well as the needs of the Jews living in the whole Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. When he started his work, Icchak ben Aaron applied for the royal privilege which allowed him and his heirs to print and sell Jewish books. It was issued in Warsaw on 15 October 1568, but we learn about its existence from another royal document issued over a year later. In the first privilege granted, thanks to the intercession of several senators, King Sigismund August allowed Icchak ben Aaron to print Hebrew books, especially the Talmud, and assured that for 50 years no one else would compete with him. This last assurance, if it referred to the whole of Poland, would not

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Annexes

be confirmed by facts because at that time in Lublin there was a Jewish printing house by virtue of the royal privilege granted in 1566 to Eliezer ben Icchak and Yosef, Jews from Lublin. In 1572, it was taken over by Eliezer ben Icchak’s partner, Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechai Jaffe, who in 1578 received a separate privilege from King Stefan Batory for printing Hebrew books. King Sigismund August’s assurance given to Icchak ben Aaron should therefore be interpreted as referring to Kraków and Kazimierz. Here, indeed, none of the Jewish printers, except for the Prostitz, received a royal privilege to print Hebrew books until 1629, i.e. until their printing house went bankrupt. Granting a privilege to open a printing house and print Hebrew books there, including the Talmud, was not so much “an act of courage on the part of the king”, as Majer Bałaban evaluated it, as it was an expression of the monarch’s consistent policy towards Jews and their influence on this policy. A year earlier Sigismund August faced the problem of whether to allow the Jews in Poland to maintain their religious freedom, including the publication and use of the Talmud and other Hebrew books. He expressed his opinion on the matter in a letter dated 24 July 1568. The king was prompted to write it by the incoming complaints from Jews that Jewish converts who had embraced Christianity were making it difficult for them to preserve and profess the faith of their forefathers, “not because of some righteous desire to enlighten them, but because of hatred and insolence”. They went to great lengths to have the king’s officials prohibit the Jews completely from printing, distributing and using Hebrew religious books. The king did not underestimate their request, presented by his advisors, unknown to us, and forbade anyone, regardless of his state, dignity and position, to restrict the Jews from their religious freedom, including the use of the books of the Talmud and other Hebrew books for religious purposes and their publication, under a penalty of 5000 Hungarian florins. The letter was also intended to protect in the future the right of the Jews perpetuated by the old custom. Recalling it, the king called upon all archbishops, bishops, and voivodes to respect the religious liberties of the Jews and to “attend to their observance by others”. The king’s letter was written at the time when in Lublin Eliezer ben Icchak, a Jewish printer, and his associates finished printing the seventh tractate of the first large edition of the Babylonian Talmud. Its printing probably caused discontent among Jewish converts and in some circles of the clergy, and may have been the cause of attempts to repress the followers of Judaism. A royal privilege granted to Icchak ben Aaron a few months later, in the autumn of 1568, gave Jews in Poland a greater opportunity to benefit from religious freedom guaranteed by the monarch, which in this case was expressed in the permission to print Hebrew books, including the Talmud, used for studying Torah and for prayer. Nine months after obtaining the privilege, Icchak ben Aaron began to print the first books. Between the fifteenth and 29th day of the month Av (5)329, i.e. from 29th July to 12th August 1569, Perush le-midrash chamesh megilot rabbi Naphtali Hirsch ben Menachem from Lviv came out from his

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printing press, in which the printer’s mark of the typographer appeared depicting a deer, the symbol of love for the Torah and the Biblical family of Naphtali (perhaps it is related to the author of the commentary, who bears the same name). From the 1st to the 12th month of Elul (5)325, i.e. from the fourteenth to the 25th of August 1569, Perush le-midrash rabot mi-ha-torah was printed. It was a two-part commentary to the midrash on the Pentateuch and on the five Megillot by Naphtali Hirsch ben Menachem ha-Bavli of Lviv, where the second part was – as can be seen – printed earlier than the first part. Soon afterwards, the Pesach Haggadah entitled Zavach Pesach left the printing press and Icchak ben Aaron probably started to put together the four parts of Mishnayot with the decisions of Moshe Maimonides marked on the margin. However, copies of this printing are very rare. Moritz Steinschneider, in describing a copy from the Bodleian Library, described it as a Kraków printing, which was probably produced in 1570–1612. He was followed by Yeshayahu Vinograd. It is difficult to say what part of this work the printer managed to finish by November 1569. Probably, its printing evoked sharp objections of some piorum et doctorum virorum (clergymen of Kraków and professors of the Kraków Academy?), who forced the king to revoke the privilege for Icchak ben Aaron (royal decree of 2 November 1569). Probably, an important evidence of the guilt of the Jewish printer from Kazimierz had to be a book printed at that time by him, which allegedly contained errors and phrases offensive to Christians. Only the four-part work Mishnayot (sentences from the Talmud), which Icchak ben Aaron probably started to print at the end of the summer or in the early autumn of 1569, could be suspected of this. The royal warrant was handed over for execution to Stanisław Myszkowski, the voivode of Kraków and the starost in one person. He was to confiscate, personally or through his clerks, copies of the printed Talmud (i.e. Mishnayot) and other Hebrew books slandering “our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity” so that not a single printed sheet could enter the trade. The printed matter taken away was to be inspected. What the Jewish converts had failed to obtain from the king the prohibition with regard to the whole of Poland, a few professors of the Kraków Academy now achieved with regard to the new Jewish printing house near Kraków. The king’s decision was incomprehensible insofar as it concerned only the Jewish printer in Kazimierz near Kraków, while in Lublin from 1559 to 1576 the first tractates of a large edition of the Talmud were printed and successively sold. It can be concluded that the king took such radical actions only under the influence of some clergymen from the Kraków diocese and he wanted to limit them to the capital metropolis, not extending them to the Jewish printing centre in Lublin. The extent of losses suffered by Icchak ben Aaron as a result of the governor’s execution of the royal order is difficult to determine. Majer Bałaban wrote that “the printing house ceased to exist”. However, this opinion cannot be shared because on the work Torat ha-Chatat Isserles printed in 1569. Icchak ben Aaron noted that he finished it on 25 Cheshvan (5)330, i.e. on 5 November 1569,

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Annexes

that is three days after the king’s office issued an order to confiscate the allegedly printed Talmud. Still on 21 Kislev (Wednesday) (5)330, i.e. 30 November 1569, Shlomo Molk’s sermons entitled Sepher hamephuar went off the press in Icchak’s printing house. On the other hand, in Yosef Karo’s work Shulchan Arukh with a commentary by Moshe Isserles, which was completed on 9 Adar (5)331 (4 February 1571), the printer gave as the date of its beginning the month Tevet (5)330, i.e. between 9 December 1569 and 6 January 1570. The execution of the royal order, i.e. the confiscation of the printed sheets of the stigmatized work (Mishnayot?) and its composition, probably took place before the printing of Shulchan Arukh began. If it was possible to prepare Shulchan Arukh for printing, it means that all typographical equipment was not taken away from Icchak ben Aaron, but only that which concerned the alleged Talmud. When the printer from the vicinity of Kraków started making efforts to regain the lost rights and seized things, Shmuel ben Icchak ha-Kadosh Boehm, Icchak ben Aaron’s co-worker, being unable to print anything, was probably preparing the typesetting of two parts of Yosef Karo’s work. The efforts of Icchak ben Aaron, supported probably by many influential members of the local Jewish community, brought the expected result only after a year. On the fifteenth of November 1570 the king revoked his decree of 2 November 1569. In a royal letter given to Ludwik Decius, the magnate of Kraków (magnus procurator), who was in charge of the royal estates in the whole Malopolska region, including the castle in Kraków, the king once again granted permission to “Isaac the Italian, a Jew” (this is how the printer from the vicinity of Kraków was called in the document) to print books now and in the future, with the exception of the Talmud and other books harmful to the Christian religion. At the same time, he ordered that the fonts taken by Voivode Stanisław Myszkowski be returned to him without delay. Upon investigation it turned out – as it was written in the letter – that he did not print Talmud and “it did not even cross his mind” to print any books harmful to the Christian religion. At the same time the king ordered the magistrate to take care of the Jewish printer’s right to print and distribute Hebrew books so that a similar situation would not occur as in the autumn of 1569, and so that others would respect the right of Icchak ben Aaron. On the other hand, there was no mention of the books and printed sheets which were to be requisitioned in accordance with the king’s order of 2 November 1569. It mentioned only fonts as the only items from the printing house which were to be returned. It is possible that they were the only ones to be requisitioned, or that Icchak recovered the commandeered books and printing sheets earlier. This episode from the history of Icchak ben Aaron’s printing house, concerning the accusation that he printed the Talmud and other Hebrew books allegedly offensive to Christians, was summed up by the printer in a poem written at the end of his work on the printing of a collection of ritual regulations arranged according to the order of Talmudic books entitled Aguda by Alexander Zuslin ha-Kohen from Frankfurt am Main. It was – as stated in the colophon at

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the end of the book – on Wednesday, the eve of Sukkot (5)332 (3 October 1571). The poem printed at the end of this work undoubtedly refers to the situation of the printer in the period of the revocation of his royal privilege, which he calls a time of “misery and hardship”. The content of the poem suggests that those difficult times are now in the past and all the printer’s affairs have been successfully resolved. It is significant, however, that the thanksgiving poem was only printed in October 1571, and not, for example, in the first book after the royal privilege was again granted to him (Shulchan Arukh, 4 February 1571). On this basis it may be assumed that after the announcement of the letter of Sigismund August of 2 November 1570, for almost a year the printer still asserted his rights. Eight years after the temporary withdrawal of the royal privilege from Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz, the Kraków community – as the printer probably thought – got used to the presence of the Jewish printing house in Kazimierz. Although it did not publish many books in 1571–1578, only about twenty titles, it came close to the production volume achieved by the Jewish printing house in Lublin, which printed about twenty-six titles at that time, and by the end of that decade it exceeded the production of the Lublin printing house of Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechai Jaffe in terms of the number of titles. The advantage of the Kraków prints over the Lublin ones, produced in the 1670s, was their quality, although Eliezer ben Icchak, the manager of the Lublin printing house, seeing this disadvantageous difference for himself, decided to renew fonts and vignettes already in the early 1670s. However, it did not influence the quality of his prints to such an extent that it gave the Lublin publishing house an advantage on the Jewish book market in Poland. At the end of the seventh decade of the sixteenth century, the printing house of Icchak ben Aaron began to dominate over the Lublin publishing house. The production of the printing house of Icchak was dominated by halakhic and biblical literature with commentaries, but there also appeared prayer books and paraphrases of biblical texts in Yiddish, intended especially for women. The volume of production of Hebrew and Yiddish books in 1571–1578 was conditioned by political events in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was first influenced by the death of King Sigismund August who died in Knyszyn on 7 July 1572, ending the reign of the Jagiellonian dynasty. He left no instructions either as to his successor or as to the organization of the state during the interregnum. The resulting mess in the kingdom was aggravated by the ever-increasing tension between the magnates and the middle nobility. The Convocation Sejm, convened in January 1573, while seeking a compromise between the camps engaged in political struggle, called for peace and religious tolerance. In the situation of political uncertainty and economic destabilization, it was much more difficult for Icchak ben Aaron to acquire partners willing to co-finance subsequent books printed in his printing house, and without their support it was impossible to produce books at the printer’s own expense. After the first interregnum, however, the expected stabilization of the position

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Annexes

of Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth did not occur. Henry, elected king in 1573, Prince of Anjou, the brother of the king of France, after arriving in Poland in January 1574 did not even want to confirm the previous privileges to Jews. Their situation improved only after the next election (December 1575), when Sigismund August’s sister, Anna, was proclaimed king. Stefan Batory, having established himself on the Polish throne, confirmed the earlier privileges for the Jews, and later repeatedly defended them against the growing intolerance, which in Kraków was inspired by the Academy with its multiple rector Jakub Górski, who belonged to the Caesarian camp during the second interregnum. In the new political situation in Poland, Icchak ben Aaron probably decided that he did not have to fear his former Kraków opposition and could start printing Talmud tractates, especially since in 1576 the first edition of the Babylonian Talmud, started in 1559, was finished in the Jewish printing house in Lublin. From 1578–1580 we know of three Talmudic tractates printed in Kraków: Masekhet Avodah Zarah, Masekhet Ketubot and Avot. It is possible that the care with which they were prepared and printed prompted Ambrosius Froben, a printer from Basel, to order the printing of the Tractate of Avodah Zarah from Icchak, since at that time (1578–1581) he was publishing the Babylonian Talmud in Basel, Unfortunately, it was heavily censored and, in addition, the church censor Marco Marino Brixano completely forbade him to print this tractate, which was a fairly common practice in Western European countries due to severe church censorship. In Poland, however, it was published thanks to the greater religious freedom that the followers of Judaism enjoyed there. It should be remembered that also in 1573 tractate Avodah Zarah was printed in Lublin, which did not raise any objections. The matter of ordering the Tractate of Avodah Zarah for the Basel edition from a Kraków printer must have been quite widely known although no archival sources have survived in connection with it. In the middle of the nineteenth century Moritz Steinschneider, describing a copy of this tractate that was found in Oppenheimer’s library, did not fail to point out: “Expl. Opp. 437F. tit. non habet, qui forsan non exstat, si revera Supplementi tantum instar ad ed. Basil. Talmudis impressum est per Isak b. Ahron…”. The best expert on Basil’s Hebrew prints, Johan Prijs, did likewise, who wrote at the title of this tractate: “Der von der Zensur gänzlich unterdrückte Traktat ‫( עבודה זרה‬IV. Ordnung, 9. Trakt.) erschien gesondert ca. 1580 in Krakau”. It is likely that Icchak ben Aaron, when publishing the three Talmudic tractates between 1576 and 1580, made a survey of the market and tried to determine the size of the demand for a possible complete edition of the Talmud. Its printing was also an opportunity to check the reaction of certain ecclesiastical and academic circles, which had been hostile to him from the very beginning of his printing activity in Kazimierz. The result of his checkibg was rather positive. The tractate Ketubot, which was the second tractate of the third order of Nashi, concerning marriage contracts, had not been printed in Poland so far, but it regulated issues

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that concerned most members of every Jewish community. The need for it was unquestionable. Probably, Icchak ben Aaron chose it as the first of the tractates printed by him. He hoped that most Talmudists studying in yeshivas, and not only them, would buy it first. The situation was similar in the case of Tractate Pirke Avot, which was also not included in the first Lublin edition. Prostitz therefore selected the tractates to be printed in such a way that they complemented the work of the Lublin printers. In this way, he provided another source for learning and developing halakhah concerning marriages (Ketubot), which was part of the holy message (Pirke Avot). On its basis, social and religious relations in the community were normalized to some extent. The printing success of Prostitz may have forced the Lublin printer Kalonymos (I) to close his printing house for 11 years (from 1579). However, Icchak did not continue printing other Talmudic tractates, which constituted the most important item in his publishing repertoire because the anti-Jewish propaganda started to intensify, threatening his publishing plans. A month before completing the printing of the Ketubot Tractate, Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Commendone, Papal Nuncio to Poland in 1563–1565 and 1571–1573 (at that time he acted as the Papal Legate), informed in a letter of 21 December 1578 his friend Bishop Giovanni A. Caligari, from 1576 the nuncio in Poland, that the Jews in Kraków had prepared a Talmud for printing, which he reported to the Polish chancellor Jan Zamoyski, who promised the cardinal that he would prevent “printing this work in every possible way”. Bishop Caligari prepared and sent a report on the matter to Rome. Without knowing it, Cardinal Tolomeo Galli, Secretary of State to Pope Gregory XIII, also sent a letter to Bishop Caligari, in which he reminded him that the Talmud, “is so pernicious, so full of insults pertaining to our Saviour, and impious, that there is no equal to it”. The Jews, called heretics in the letter, in attempting to republish this work, claimed that it was a sanitized version, i.e., censored. However, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, no permission should be given for the publication of the Talmud in Poland, whether it is purified or impurified. Nuncio Caligari, as well as Cardinal Commendone, shared this opinion, believing that it was unnecessary for the Council of Trent to decide on a conditional permission to print the Talmud because it is fundamentally anti-Christian. Therefore, whenever the Jews attempted to print Talmudic tractates, it met with determined opposition on their part. The letter of Cardinal Galli only sanctioned the actions of the nuncio against the letter and spirit of the Council of Trent, directed against the Jewish printer from Kraków. The position of the papal diplomats was probably shared by a part of the Kraków clergy. In spite of that, two tractates of the Talmud were published in the Prostitz printing house, including Avodah Zarah (about idolatry – pagan cults and rituals), which was not allowed to be printed at all by the church censorship in Western Europe. Its publication in Kraków was therefore a trial of strength between the supporters of religious tolerance, backed by King Stefan Batory, who had a morbid

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Annexes

fear of civil war and saw its source in every religious dispute, while supporting the provisions of the Council of Trent, and the forces hostile to religious diversity. This minor conflict was temporarily won by the supporters of a multi-confessional state, including Prostitz, who did not even have the “banned” prints confiscated. The absence of other Talmud tractates from Kraków in the library collection from that period and the simultaneous continuation of printing production by the Kraków printing house may indicate that the real reason why Prostitz stopped editing Talmud was the fear of another closure of his printing house, which in the 1680s was the only active Jewish printing house in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. If such a situation had taken place, the Lublin centre would have once again surrendered the position won by Prostitz on the Jewish book market in the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth, or it would have forced the Jews from Poland to publish their works, which were becoming more and more popular, and to purchase Hebrew prints only abroad, thus lowering the position of Jewish communities in Poland. All European Jews would also lose an important centre, relatively independent of the Catholic Church, for the study and formation of halakha, which had exerted an increasingly powerful influence on the shape of Judaism in Europe and among Jews living under Ottoman Turkish rule. If Jewish printers in Italy could have taken over the supply of books to Jews throughout Europe at this time, especially as trade and transportation were thriving, the continuing rise in prices, not only of books, would have been a serious barrier to their dissemination. Much more difficult to solve would be the problem of the free development of Judaic studies and thought, blocked by Church censorship and the Inquisition. The closest centre (outside Kraków) for the free practice of Judaic studies, which also had a printing house, would be Constantinople, which, given the constant threat to most European countries from Turkey and the efforts to create a large anti-Turkish coalition in Europe, made that centre less accessible to followers of Judaism. Besides, the very distance and difficult contacts with Constantinople made it impossible to make it the capital of Judaic thought for European Jews. Therefore, the choice of the publishing repertoire by Icchak ben Aaron, which to some extent also depended on the expectations and maybe even consent of the community near Kraków, was the result of a compromise. On the one hand, they wanted to maintain a strong Torah studying and teaching centre in Kazimierz. Talmudists lived there, to whom many Jews from Poland and abroad addressed questions, asking for halakhic decisions. The yeshivas run by them attracted Jewish youth from all over Europe, and the printing house popularized the scholarly achievements of not only the outstanding members of the community. On the other hand, Jews wanted to show a large degree of independence from the Catholic Church, taking advantage of the freedoms of the multi-religious state. However, they also had to take into account the fact that the balance of power was changing between the supporters of tolerance and religious freedom, and the anti-denominationalists

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trying to regain as many prerogatives as possible for the Catholic Church, which was striving to strengthen its position after being weakened in a confrontation with various Reformation trends. Modus vivendi for the Jewish community near Kraków and its printer turned out to be at that time moderate use of the rights guaranteed by the Council of Trent and royal privileges concerning the printing of Hebrew books in exchange for maintaining all institutions of the Jewish community, which ensured its resilient development, by which it attracted the attention of a large part of the diaspora in the world. In the further history of the printing house managed by Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz (before 1600) the Talmudic tractate Avot (in Yiddish [1590?, after 1586] and in Hebrew [1594]) and the Tractate Beca (1599) were printed only once more. This took place in the changed socio-political situation that emerged after the death of King Stefan Batory (1586) in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The interregnum of 1586 was marked by internal divisions in the country. Of the four contenders to the Polish throne, two were favourites: Zygmunt Waza, Anna Jagiellonka’s nephew, whose candidacy was put forward by her, supported by the camp of Chancellor Jan Zamoyski and Primate Karnkowski (the so-called “black circle”), and Archduke Maximilian of the Habsburgs, who had supporters in the Zborowski camp. The election, which took place in 1587, ended in a double election, which led to the outbreak of civil war. Zamoyski, having called together the levée en mass of Lesser Poland noblemen near Kraków, managed to repel Maximilian , who arrived near the capital of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with his army, and then in the battle of Byczyna (1588) defeated his forces and took the archduke prisoner himself. After this success Zamoyski escorted from Gdańsk Sigismund III Vasa, who on 27 December 1588 was crowned and took the Polish throne. The period of fighting for Kraków between the Habsburg armies and the forces gathered by Zamoyski was extremely difficult for Icchak ben Aaron. At that time (from 1587) he was working on a multi-volume edition of the Holy Scriptures: The Pentateuch, Megillot and Haftarot, supplemented by Targum Onkelos, Targum Megillot, Rashi’s commentary on the Pentateuch and Megillot, Nachmanides’ commentary on the Pentateuch, Icchak Abov’s super-commentary and David Kimchi’s commentary on Haftarot. The printing venture was so large that Prostitz enlisted four partners to finance it: Shlomo ben Meir Katz, Yechezkel ben Moshe Gabai, Menachem ben Icchak Segal, and Yosef ben Dan called Yosef Piglisz (Vögels). The work started under King Stefan Batory in 1587 was finished by a printer from the vicinity of Kraków on Friday, 1 January 1588, during the civil war in which Kraków and Kazimierz were particularly endangered. The printer described these moments in a colophon at the end of the last volume of the Holy Scriptures (f. 381). After Sigismund III formally assumed the throne, Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz printed the Talmudic tractate Avot three more times: first in Hebrew in 1589, then (probably in 1590) in Yiddish (Pirke Oves), which was a precedent in the history of Jewish printing in Poland, and for the third time, including its text in a

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Annexes

comprehensive (424 pages) prayer book published in 1594. The proofreader of these tractates was no longer Shmuel ben Icchak ha-Kadosh Boehm, who collaborated with Prostitz for over twenty years (from the time of Icchak ben Aaron’s arrival in Poland). After his death he was replaced by Yeshaya ha-Sofer ben Meir from Bunslau (d. 4 Shevat (5)372, i.e. 8 I 1612), a preacher and writer from Kraków. It is not known, however, whether he began his collaboration with the Kraków printer from 1588 and worked on the printing of Pirke Avot in Hebrew and Yiddish versions, or whether this occurred later. This doubt arises because he mentioned his name for the first time in the Hebrew-Yiddish prayer book according to the Polish ritual entitled Tfilot, which was printed by Icchak ben Aaron’s partners: Moshe ben Moshe called Moshe Geronaz, Shmuel ben Yosef Mordechai and Yehuda ben Yosef. Its printing was completed on 17 January 1594. Due to the fact that it contains the repeated text of Pirke Avot from the edition of 1589, it may be assumed that the proofreader, whose name is mentioned here, began his cooperation with Icchak ben Aaron at least as early as in 1589, since in the 1594 edition he included his name under the same text. Probably soon after completing the printing of Pirke Avot in the original language, Prostitz published the same tractate in Yiddish, which is a very telling fact. It shows the linguistic situation of Jews living in the lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In principle, they spoke two Jewish languages: Hebrew, the “holy language”, used mainly in the synagogue liturgy and in religious schools – yeshivot, and Yiddish, which was a common language, especially in families of Jews coming from Germany, migrating to Poland quite massively from the mid-fifteenth century. The translation of a popular Talmudic tractate into this language indicates the need for this type of literature (alongside biblical and popular literature) as essential to the educational process. It was supposed to contribute to raise the religious awareness of Jews. Its addressees were probably Jewish men and women who did not know Hebrew well enough to read the tractate in the original language. A printer from Kraków undertook its printing, meeting their expectations. The prayer books and biblical books printed so far, which served devotional purposes and contributed to the increase of religious biblical knowledge, were now supplemented with an important Talmudic work, which testifies to the desire to consolidate Talmudic ideas in wide circles of the Jewish community in Poland, and not to limit their knowledge only to its spiritual leaders. In 1592 Icchak ben Aaron moved the printing house for a few months to Nowy Dwór (I), a village near Kraków, because of the plague epidemic in Kraków. The kabbalistic work of Moshe Kordower Pardes rimonim, which had already been started in Kraków, was finished there (it was printed from Wednesday, 10 Elul (5)392, i.e. 18 August 1592, to Tuesday evening, 1 Cheshvan (5)353, i.e. 6 October 1592). After his return to Kraków his printing house worked continuously until 1599, publishing books in Hebrew and Yiddish, including Talmudic, devotional and biblical literature. Probably even before he left Kraków for Prościejów in Moravia, Icchak ben Aaron

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printed the Tractate Beca (1599), which we know only from a facsimile of its title page published by Rabinovicz. He gained partners for this undertaking: Moshe ben Moshe called Moshe Geronaz, Shmuel ben Yosef Mordechai, and Yehuda ben Yosef (these partners had previously printed a prayer book (Tfilot) in 1594, signing it with their names). On the title page of the tractate there is the printer’s mark of Icchak ben Aaron. It has the shape of an oval shield with two fish in the central part, facing opposite directions. Underneath, there is a printing device in the form of a stamp with its base turned upwards, used for putting ink. The printer’s mark was used by the printer from 1584. It appears in the first part (f. 190) of the prayer book (Machzor) printed in 1584–1585 by Icchak ben Aaron and his partners: Yechezkel ben Moshe Gabai, Nachman ben Asher, Mordechai ben Shabatai and Asher ben Avigdor. He later appeared in many books: Josipon (1589, at the end of the book), in the tractate Avot with commentary Derech chaim (1589, after the introduction), in the work Pardes rimonim completed in Nowy Dwór near Kraków (1592, between the introductions), in Chowot ha-levavot (1593, after the translator’s introduction), in Menorat ha-maor (1593, at the end of the book), in Midrash Shmuel (1594, on the back of the title page), in Reshit chochma (1593, k. 3 and at the end of the book before the indexes), in the second and third part of the Holy Scriptures with explanations by Naphtali Hirsch Altshuler (Neviim and Ketuvim) entitled Ayal shlucha (1595, after the book of Samuel and Job), in Yalkut Shimeoni (1595, on the title page), in Amuda gola (1596, at the end of the book) and in Emek bracha (1597, at the end of the book). It is possible that Tractate Beca is the last print from the printing house of Icchak ben Aaron before he left for Prościejów/Prostějov/Prostitz in 1600, which has this printer’s mark. The meaning of this sign is not entirely clear. The mentioned printing device drawn on the printer’s mark was used in typographical work. Its presence is understandable. However, the problem is what meaning was ascribed to fish. Maybe it was a common sign (symbol of blessing) of the company which helped to print Machzor (prayer book) in 1584–1585 and then it was used in other books printed at the Prostitz’s. It is also possible that it has something to do with the month of the printer’s birth – Adar, whose zodiac sign is Pisces, or with propagating the basic idea of rabbinical Judaism – the necessity of studying Torah, through which one achieves life in unity with God (Ha 1,14; cf. Avodah Zarah 3b).75

75 B.H. D. Friedberg, ‫[ הדפוס העברי בקראקא‬Ha-defus ha-ivri be-Kraka], p. 6–21; M. Bałaban, Zur Geschichte der hebräischen Druckereien in Polen, p. 9–11; Id., Drukarstwo żydowskie [Jewish Printing Houses], p. 102–118; Id., R. Icchak ben Aaron Prostic fun Italien, [in:] M. Bałaban, Yidn in Poyln, Wilne 1930 p. 195–202; B.H.D. Friedberg, ‫ תולדות הגפוס העברי בפולניה‬,‫ פרידברג‬.‫ד‬.‫[ ח‬History of Hebrew Typography in Poland], Antwerpen 1932, 2nd edn, Tel-Aviv 1950, p. 4–27; [M. Marx] M.C., Zur Geschichte des hebräischen Buchdruckes, p. 91–96; M. Steinschneider, D. Cassel, Jüdische Typographie, p. 33–35; A. Yaari,‫ מראשית הדפוס העברי ועד סוף המאה התשהעשרה‬.‫ דגל המדפיסים העבריים‬,‫ יערי‬.‫[ א‬Hebrew Printers’ Marks. From the Beginning of Hebrew Printing to the End of the Nineteenth Century],

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Annexes

Fig. 4.6 Printer’s mark of Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz from 1584

Aaron ben Icchak Prostitz (Aaron ben Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz, Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz, Isaac ben Aaron, Aaron ben Icchak ben Aaron), printer in 1600–1612 and co-owner of a Hebrew printing house in 1612–1629 in Kraków. He worked in the printing house of his father Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz, whom he had probably already helped in printing books, and from 1612 probably until 1629 he was its co-owner together with his brother Moshe Yosef and son Issachar Ber. Icchak’s heirs, including Aaron, most often signed the books they printed with “bne Icchak Prostitz” (sons of Icchak Prostitz). Only one book printed in Kraków was signed solely with Aaron’s name (Masoret ha-brit, 1619). It may be assumed that in spite of the co-ownership, he was in fact the manager of the printing house.76

p. 138; Drukarze dawnej Polski [Printing Houses in the Former Commonwealth], vol. 1, part 1, ed. A. Kawecka-Gryczowa, p. 385–388; R. Żurkowa, Udział Żydów [Participation of the Jews], p. 59–78; M.J. Heller, Printing the Talmud, p. 367–380; K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 206–221; Id., Reprodukcja Talmudu do połowy XVI wieku [Reproduction of the Talmud up to the Mid-Sixteenth Century], “Studia Judaica” 1 (1998), no 2, p. 145–175; Id., Drukowana książka hebrajska [Printed Hebrew Book], p. 92–103. 76 J.S. Bandtkie, Historia drukarń krakowskich [A History of Printing Houses in Kraków], Kraków 1815 p. 370; B.H.D. Friedberg, ‫[ הדפוס העברי בקראקא‬Ha-defus ha-ivri be-Kraka], p. 21–25; M. Bałaban, Zur Geschichte der hebräischen Druckereien in Polen, p. 9–11; Id., Drukarstwo żydowskie [Jewish Printing Houses], p. 102–118; B.H.D. Friedberg, ‫ תולדות הגפוס העברי בפולניה‬,‫ פרידברג‬.‫ד‬.‫[ ח‬History of Hebrew Typography in Poland], Antwerpen 1932, 2nd edn, Tel-Aviv 1950, p. 4–27; [M. Marx] M.C., Zur

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4.4.3 A printer of Nowy Dwór

Krüger Jan Antoni (Krüger Johan[n] Anton, Krieger), a Christian (Evangelical), owner of Hebrew printing houses in Nowy Dwór in 1781–1816, in Korzec in 1782–1786 and in Węgrów in 1794–1795. He came from Lower Saxony, from Wolfenbüttel, earlier he had dealt with trade. He settled in Warsaw, seeing an opportunity to conquer the Jewish book market with the support of high-ranking personalities of political life and the Polish fiscal authorities. For this purpose, he decided to open a Hebrew printing house in Nowy Dwór near Warsaw in 1781, which was open until 1816. At the time when it was being organized, there were five towns in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth where Hebrew books were printed (Żółkiew/Zhovkva, Lviv, Oleksiniec, Korzec/Korets and Szkłów/Shklov). The owners of Hebrew publishing houses located there were Jews. Their businesses were usually small and they could not meet the expectations of the Jewish community in Poland, which at the end of the eighteenth century numbered between 750 and 900 thousand people. Moreover, their owners, including the bigger ones in Żółkiew and Lviv, could not develop their workshops because Jewish books from rival Hebrew publishing houses from Western Europe were coming to Poland: Amsterdam, Sulzbach, Halle, Berlin, Frankfurt an der Oder, Frankfurt am Main, Fürth, Prague, Basel and Metz. They had better typographic equipment and much more capital, which ensured high quality of their printing production. And the developed trade undoubtedly accelerated the sale of Jewish books to people from the Polish lands. However, the Jewish printing houses in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the eighteenth century, as Emanuel Ringelblum writes, “were in a terrible state”, so they could not undertake any major publishing enterprise. Being aware of this situation, foreign printers tried, and succeeded, to control the Jewish book market in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the help of the Jews themselves. For this purpose, they asked the local rabbis, enjoying the greatest authority, and the seniors of the Jewish communities for approval of their editions, because it ensured them the exclusive right to sell the recommended books in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for the period of granted approval. This sometimes led to conflicts between printing houses, such as the Sulzbach printing house and the Amsterdam printing house, which at the beginning of the second half of the eighteenth century printed the Talmud almost simultaneously. The Amsterdam printing house of Yosef Yaakov and Avraham Props printed the Babylonian Talmud

Geschichte des hebräischen Buchdruckes, p. 91–96; M. Steinschneider, D. Cassel, Jüdische Typographie und jüdischer Buchhandel, Jerusalem 1938, 33–35; K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 206–225; Id., Drukarnie żydowskie [Jewish Printing Houses], p. 696–702; Id., Drukarstwo żydowskie [Jewish Printing Houses], p. 169; Id., Drukowana książka hebrajska [Printed Hebrew Book], p. 71.

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Annexes

almost simultaneously, but the Amsterdam printing house had the approval of the Council of Four Lands and secured part of the print run in advance, whereas the printing house of Meshullam Zelman ben Aaron in Sulzbach did not receive such approval. The Polish treasury authorities, being aware of the size of the Jewish book market, decided to levy on it bigger taxes which could supply the state treasury. For this purpose, in June 1775 a tax on Jewish prints was introduced. The legal act, Universal, of 3 June 1775, which contained a regulation of the Treasury Committee in this matter, obliged printers who issued books and merchants importing Jewish books, calendars and cards from abroad to present them in designated customs chambers to be stamped and charged according to a fixed tariff. Penalties were provided for violating these regulations, including the possibility of confiscating the books. In 1776 the regulations were modified so that not only new books but also older ones owned by Jews were covered. Jews were obliged to pay one silver penny for each book they owned. As a consequence of this regulation, a general census of Jewish books was conducted in 1776 and 1780 in order to make sure that the law had been fulfilled. After this census was completed, the Treasury Committee tried to limit the import of Jewish books as much as possible and to support their domestic production. These expectations were sought to be met by Johann Anton Krüger. By opening a printing house in Nowy Dwór, he wanted to protect the Polish market from the foreign competition, to facilitate the Jews’ access to cheaper books and to create – among others for them – new workplaces, to provide the Polish treasury with considerable sums of money, which had not remained in Poland so far, and to ensure himself a considerable profit. It is true that the royal privilege to print books in Hebrew fonts was already obtained earlier, not by him (at that time he was a little-known Warsaw clothier), but by the well-known Warsaw printer Piotr Dufour (Du Four, d. 1796 or 1797), to whom the king added a new one on 26 June 1780 (which was sealed on 6 July 1780), allowing for the printing in Warsaw of books not only in Western languages, but also in Jewish languages. This privilege was granted for thirty years. At the same time, it forbade other publishing houses to print Hebrew books. It also stipulated that as soon as the printing production in Dufour’s printing house increased sufficiently, a ban on importing Hebrew books would be issued under penalty of 2,000 Hungarian (red) zlotys and confiscation of books. During the preparations for launching the production, a conflict of interests arose, because Duke Stanisław Poniatowski, the King’s nephew and the Marshal of the Permanent Council, also intended to establish a Hebrew printing house, but in Nowy Dwór near the capital. Dufour, seeing the ineffectiveness of his actions, resigned from the privilege in favour of Johann Anton Krüger, an evangelist, supported by Prince Poniatowski. In a short time, the latter opened a printing house in Nowy Dwór near Warsaw. The location of the printing house was dictated by the fact that Warsaw, which was undoubtedly a better place for this purpose, had the “de non tolerandis Judaeis” privilege granted in 1527 by Sigismund I, under which Jews

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were not allowed to settle there permanently. Krüger had to employ them as type casters, typesetters, printers, proofreaders, bookbinders and agents. Nowy Dwór, however, was suitable for its location. The town was developing economically and was located close to the capital. Already in the second year after the establishment of the printing house there, it received city rights. At the peak of the printing house’s activity, the number of Krüger’s employees, including the agents who travelled from the lands of the Crown and Lithuania, amounted to about 100 people. Eight months after the launch of the printing house, Krüger sent a memorandum to the Treasury Committee, in which he reminded about the exclusive right to print Hebrew books and at the same time he asked for an entitlement to collect the tax on Jewish prints, as he wanted to take control over the entire Jewish book trade in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, he did not obtain the privilege because the Treasury Commission decided to enforce the tax on its own. So he took a different path to achieve his goal. In 1782 he bought or leased the printing house in Korets from Tzvi Hirsch ben Arie Leib Margaliot and his son-in-law Shmul ben Issachar Ber Segal and for four years (until 1786) he published rabbinical and kabbalistic Hebrew books in the Korets printing house, supplying them to Jews in Volhynia. The period of Krüger’s management of the Korets house belongs to the best in its history in this city. His additional advantage, which was conducive to the development of his printing house, was the fact that in 1784, two years after he sent the application to the Treasury Committee, he was granted the privilege which exempted his prints from the stamp duty. Therefore, he stamped them with a metric: “Printed in Nowy Dwór near Warsaw in the Kingdom by the privileged printing house of Jewish books”. He also used a characteristic printer’s mark ring with his monogram JAK framed in an ornament. Moreover, in 1794 Krüger opened a Hebrew printing house in Węgrów in the Podlasie region, which is considered to be a branch of the Nowy Dwór printing house. He obtained a permission from Jan Ossoliński, the starost of Drohiczyn. In total, until 1795, he published four titles of books there, after which the printing house was closed. Until the end of the eighteenth century, 124 book titles (109 signed with his name) were published in Krüger’s printing houses, including 84 in the Nowy Dwór printing house and 36 in Koretz printing house. Biblical commentaries, halakhic, philosophical and philological works dominated among them. The biggest of them, the printing house in Nowy Dwór, delivered its production to Jewish booksellers in Prague and to many places in the Crown and in Lithuania. It is also considered to be the largest Jewish bookshop in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the reign of King Stanislaw August Poniatowski. During the Prussian partition, after a two-year break due to the Kościuszko Uprising, its production decreased significantly. The

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Annexes

Fig. 4.7 The printer’s mark of Johann Anton Krüger from the Tractate Shabbat, Nowy Dwór 1785–1786

number of employees also decreased. In total (until 1816) it printed about 120–130 items with a total circulation of about 100,000–120,000 copies.77

77 M. Bałaban, Próba założenia pierwszej drukarni hebrajskiej w Warszawie [An Attempt to Establish the First Hebrew Printing House in Warsaw], [in:] Id., Z historii Żydów w Polsce. Studia i szkice [From the History of the Jews in Poland. Studies and Essays], Warszawa 1920, p. 85–86; A. Tauber, .‫א‬ ‫ דפוסי פולניה ורוסיה‬,‫[ טאובר‬Russian and Polish Prints], 1. ‫ דפוסי קארעץ‬.‫[ א‬Koretz Prints] [1776–1783], “Kirjath Sepher” 1 (1924/1925), p. 222–225, 302–306; 2 (1925/1926), p. 64–69, 215–228, 274–277; A. Tauber, Additions to my Article on Koretz Printing, “Kirjath Sepher” 4 (1927/1928), p. 281–286; [suppl.] I Rivkind, Koretz Prints, “Kirjath Sepher” 4 (1927/1928), p. 58–65; E. Ringelblum, Projekty i próby przewarstwienia Żydów w epoce stanisławowskiej [Projects and Attempts of the Segregation of the Jews in the Era of Stanislaus Poniatowski], “Sprawy Narodowościowe” 8 (1934), no. 1 and 2–3, p. 49–51; E. Ringelblum, ‫ דער נייהאפער דרוקער פון העברעישע‬,‫ יאהאן אנטאן קריגער‬,‫ רינגעבלום‬.‫ע‬ ‫[ ספרים‬Yohan Ant.on K.riger: der Nayhofer druk.er fun hebreishe sforim], “JIWO-Bleter” 7 (1934), p. 88–109; Polish transl.: E. Ringelblum, Johan Anton Krüger, drukarz książek hebrajskich w Nowym Dworze [Johan Anton Krüger, Printer of Hebrew Books in Nowy Dwor], “Biuletyn ŻIH” 42 (1962), p. 45–60; [M. Marx] M.C., Zur Geschichte des hebräischen Buchdruckes, p. 91–96; E. Ringelblum, .‫ע‬ ‫טן י״ה ‏‬18 ‫ צו דער געשיכטע פון יידישן בוך און דרוק אין פוילן אין דער צווייטער העלפט פון‬,‫[ רינגעבלום‬Tzu der geshikhte fun yidiszn bukh un druk in der zwayter helft fun 18tn j”h], Wilne 1936; Id., Z dziejów książki i drukarstwa żydowskiego w Polsce w drugiej połowie XVIII w. [From the History of Jewish Books and Printing in Poland in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century], “Biuletyn ŻIH” 41 (1962), p. 20–44; A. Yaari, ‫ הדפוס העסרי בשקלאוב‬,‫יערי‬.‫[ א‬Hebrew Printing at Shklov] [1783–1835], “Kirjath Sepher” 22 (1945/1946), p. 49–72, 135–160; K. Świerkowski, Dufour Piotr, [in:] Polski słownik biograficzny [Polish Biographical Dictionary], ed. W. Konopczyński, vol. 5, Kraków 1939–1946, p. 450–451; E. Leoni,.‫א‬ ‫ דפוס קארעץ‬,‫[ לאוני‬Defus Koretz], [in:] ‫קארעץ‬. ‫[ ספר זכרון‬Koritz (Wohlin); sepher zikaron] = The Koretz book, ed. Eliezer Leoni, Tel-Aviv 1959, p. 48–62; K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 241–254; Drukarze dawnej Polski od XV do XVIII wieku [Printers of the Former Polish Commonwealth from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century], vol. 3, part 2: Mazowsze z Podlasiem [Mazovia with Podlasie], ed. K. Korotajowa [et al.], ed. K. Korotajowa, J. Krauze-Karpińska, Warszawa 2001, p. 171–172; K. Pilarczyk, Drukowana książka hebrajska [Printed Hebrew Book], p. 111–114.

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5.

Disputes about the printing of Talmud in the Old Poland from the history of censorship in the sixteenth and seventeenth century

The multi-ethnic and multi-national character of modern Poland, and at the same time, its much more tolerant policy than that of other European countries, resulted in the establishment of various printing houses in the Commonwealth from the sixteenth century: of Calvinists, Lutherans, Polish Brethren, Czech Brethren, Orthodox believers and Jews. All prints produced by them were subject to censorship by the Catholic Church, which held a dominant role over other denominations in the Polish lands.1 I In principle, the obligation to censor printed Jewish books was hardly observed since the establishment of Hebrew printing houses in Poland (in the 1630s), which were run almost exclusively by Jews. No printings from the Jewish printing houses in Poland in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries contain the well-known Latin formulas proving censorship of printings, which can be found on the title pages of Hebrew and Yiddish books coming from Italian or German printing houses: “cum licentia superiorum” or later “recognitum ac iuxta mentem p. Concilii Tridentini approbatum”. The situation was different in Western Europe, especially in the Church State, in Italian and German cities, where censorship became extremely troublesome, sometimes making it impossible for Jews to run printing houses, and in those that did exist it had the effect of seriously limiting their publishing repertoire. The frontal attack was aimed primarily at the Talmud, which was often censored, confiscated or even burned, just as in the Middle Ages.2 Meanwhile, in Poland in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, according to historical sources known to us today, church censorship supported by the royal administration interfered only a few times with Hebrew printings from Jewish printing houses (at that time they were the only ones publishing them). It was then that the months-long or even years-long investigations and explanations began as to whether the imposed restrictions on the Jewish printers were justified or whether they should be abandoned and under what conditions. The proceedings in such

1 More on this subject: P. Buchwald-Pelcowa, Cenzura w dawnej Polsce [Censorship in Former Poland]. 2 K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 43–59.

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cases were conducted on the one hand by officials appointed by the king, and on the other hand by clergymen indicated by the bishop ordinarius of the place where the Jewish printing house existed. It was up to the king and the bishop to decide about the permission to print and distribute Jewish books. For the first time we learn about the functioning of the censorship of Jewish books in 1539 in connection with the case of printers Shmuel, Asher and Elyakim Helicz, who established in Kazimierz near Kraków the first Jewish printing house in Poland (1534–1540). Their adoption of baptism in unknown circumstances ensured them, through the intercession of Queen Bona, special protection of King Sigismund I and Piotr Gamrat, the Bishop of Kraków, but at the same time caused a boycott of their publishing house by the Jews who did not want to buy any books from them, which eventually led to its closure. Not wanting to let this happen, on 31 December 1539 the king issued an order for the Jewish communities of Kraków, Poznań and Lviv to buy the books printed by the baptised Helicz brothers, which stated: […] Pro gratia nostra, aliter non facturi hoc mandamus insuper sub poena centum marcarum argenti fisco nostro applicandas et nequisque ex perfidis Judaeis in regno nostro ubilibet existentibus aut aliunde libros invehere aut imprimi facere audeat, nisi de concentia loci ordinarii episcopi et palatini.3

It shows that from the beginning of their publication in Poland, Jewish books were subject to church censorship, which was to be exercised jointly by the local Ordinary on the part of the Church and the provincial governor representing royal authority. On the basis of that document, Majer Bałaban thought that the bishop was responsible for the substantive control of the printed books, and the provincial governor as bracchium saeculare was to confiscate them if necessary. II This division of censorship authority became evident in 1569, when a new printer, Isaac ben Aaron Prostitz, who had opened a Jewish printing house in Kraków after a break of nearly thirty years from the closing of the Helicz printing house, was falsely accused of printing the Talmud, although he had a royal privilege for this (of 15 October 1568), and by a decree of 2 November 1569, all rights previously granted to him were revoked and the printing house was closed. The reason for this decision were complaints piorum et doctorum virorum. This term was probably applied to

3 Metryka koronna [Metrica Regni Polonia, Register of the Polish Crown] (MS), n.p., n.d., (Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych w Warszawie [The Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw]), vol. 59, fol. 321b–324a; cf. M. Bałaban, Zur Geschichte der hebräischen Druckerein in Polen, p. 43–44.

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Disputes about the printing of Talmud in the Old Poland

some professors of the Kraków Academy, which was entrusted with the function of censor of all printed matter published in Poland. It may be assumed that one of the most active among them was Jakub Górski (c. 1525–1585), Canon of Kraków. At the end of 1567, he had just returned from a three-year study leave from Italy (Padua, Rome and Genoa), where he had obtained his doctorate in both laws, and he resumed lecturing at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Academy (1568–1571). In 1569 he published a Latin-Polish brochure entitled Index errorum in Latin and Okazanie błędów in Polish. As part of the current of anti-Jewish literature, which was developing quite rapidly in Poland at that time, he wanted to present how the Jews, by spreading and studying the Talmud, offend Christ the Saviour, God’s majesty and Christians, and falsify the text of the Bible. When preparing the brochure, Jakub Górski did not use the text of the Talmud (he probably did not know Hebrew), but repeated the accusations made by Sixtus of Siena, a Dominican and Jewish convert, in his work entitled Bibliotheca Sancta ex praecipuis Catholicae Ecclesiae auctoribus collecta (first edition, Genoa 1569), which enjoyed great popularity in the sixteenth century. Górski brought his copy to Kraków from Italy. In the Latin introduction to his pamphlet, he also mentioned that he had met Sixtus of Siena in Genoa, and had remained on close terms with him. Probably under his influence, Górski expressed his astonishment at how the Jewish people could be “tolerated” in Poland, and even bestowed with dignities. Górski deliberately made sure that the brochure with fragments of the work of Sixtus of Siena was published in Latin and Polish. This gave it a greater chance of making an impact. The arguments cited by Górski against the Talmud and the Jews were repeated in Polish anti-Jewish literature for two successive centuries. In this way, Western European models of anti-Jewish agitation found their way to Poland and were propagated there. Probably, the arguments collected against the Talmud in the brochure Okazanie błędów […] z talmuty żydowskiego zebranych [Revealing errors […] collected from the Jewish Talmud] by Jakub Górski were an important element of the complaint of the professors of the Kraków Academy submitted to King Sigismund August against Icchac ben Aaron. They had such an impact that even the king, who had previously supported the religious freedom of Jews, succumbed to them. He expressed this in his letter of 24 July 1568, in which he decided whether Jews in Poland should be allowed to maintain their religious freedom, including the publication and use of the Talmud and other Hebrew books. The King was prompted to write this letter by incoming complaints from the Jews that Jewish converts who had embraced Christianity were making it difficult for them to preserve and profess the faith of their forefathers, “not because of any just desire to enlighten them, but driven by hatred and insolence”. They went to great lengths to have the king’s officials prohibit the Jews completely from printing and distributing Hebrew religious books and from using them. The king did not underestimate their request, presented by advisors unknown to us, and forbade

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anyone, regardless of his social class, dignity and position, to restrict the Jews in their religious freedom, including the use of books of the Talmud and other Hebrew books for religious purposes and their publication under a penalty of 5,000 Hungarian florins. The letter was also intended to protect in the future the right of the Jews perpetuated by the old custom. Recalling this right, the king called upon all archbishops, bishops, and governors to respect the religious liberties of the Jews and to “see that they are observed by others”. It should not be forgotten that the letter was written at the time when Eliezer ben Icchak, a Jewish printer, and his partners finished printing the seventh tractate of the first large edition of the Babylonian Talmud in Lublin. Its publication probably caused discontent among Jewish converts and in some circles of the clergy and may have been the reason for attempts to repress the followers of Judaism. Despite his earlier political declaration regarding Jews, this time the king yielded to the influence of the Kraków clergy, and especially to the words of Jakub Górski’s brochure, and departed from the principles of tolerance towards the followers of Judaism that had been laid down in the letter a year earlier. Undoubtedly, an important proof of the guilt of the Jewish printer from Kazimierz had to be the text printed by him, which allegedly contained the errors and offensive phrases enumerated by Jakub Górski. Only the four-part work Mishnayot, which Icchak ben Aaron probably began printing at the end of the summer or early autumn of 1569, could be suspected of this. The Mishnayot is a collection of sentences from the various tractates of the Mishnah. The word ‘mishnayot’ itself is a plural noun derived from the word ‘mishnah’. It is used not only to denote the entire work of tannaites – the Mishnah, the first and fundamental part of the Talmud – but it also serves as the name of the smallest part in the Talmud – a paragraph of halakha. The Talmud is divided into orders, which in turn are divided into tractates, and the tractates into chapters (perakim), and the chapters into paragraphs (mishnayot). Not knowing from personal experience the edition of the Mishnayot printed by Icchak ben Aaron, we do not know whether he published a selection of such paragraphs with Maimonides’ remarks on the margins of the work, or the entire Mishnah, including the tractate Avodah Zarah, the printing of which the church censors did not approve, believing that its content offends Christians. And although the Mishnayot was not, in the strict sense of the term, a printing of the entire Talmud, i.e. its individual tractates including the Mishnah and Gemara, and only this work was included in the Church’s index of books the printing of which was forbidden, the possible printing in it of the Mishnayot from tractate Avodah Zarah could explain the reaction of royal officials. The royal order to close the printing house of Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz was handed over for execution to Stanisław Myszkowski, the governor of Kraków and the starost in one person. He was to confiscate, personally or through his clerks, the

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Disputes about the printing of Talmud in the Old Poland

printed copies of the Talmud and other Hebrew books slandering “our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity” so that not a single printed sheet would reach the market. The prints taken were to be inspected to determine what they contained. These repressions resulted from the accusation of Icchak ben Aaron by the Kraków clergy. What the Jewish converts had failed to obtain from the king with regard to the whole of Poland, a few professors of the Kraków Academy now achieved with regard to the new Jewish printing house near Kraków. The king’s decision was incomprehensible because it concerned only the Jewish printer in Kazimierz near Kraków, while in Lublin from 1559 to 1576 the first “Polish” edition of the Talmud was printed and successively sold. One could conclude from this that the king took such radical actions only under the influence of some clergymen from the Kraków diocese and wanted to limit them to the capital metropolis, not extending them to Lublin, to the Jewish printing centre there. The extent of losses suffered by Icchak ben Aaron as a result of the execution of the royal order by the governor is difficult to determine. Majer Bałaban writes that “the printing house ceased to exist”.4 However, this opinion cannot be shared, because on the work Torat ha-Chatat Isserles printed in 1569, Icchak ben Aaron noted that he finished it on 25 Cheshvan (5)330, i.e. on 5 November 1569, i.e. three days after the king’s office issued an order confiscating the allegedly printed Talmud. Still on 21 Kislev (Wednesday) (5)330, i.e. 30 November 1569, Shlomo Molk’s sermons entitled Sepher ha-Mephuar went off the press in Icchak’s printing house. However, in the completed 9 Adar (5)331 (4 February 1571), the work by Yosef Karo Shulchan Arukh with a commentary by Moshe Isserles, the printer gave as its starting date the month Tevet (5)330, i.e. between 9 December 1569 and 6 January 1570. The execution of the royal order, i.e. the confiscation of the printed sheets of the stigmatized work (Mishnayot?) and its composition, probably took place before the printing of the Shulchan Arukh began. If it was possible to prepare Shulchan Arukh for printing, it means that all the printing equipment was not taken away from Icchak ben Aaron, but only that which concerned the alleged Talmud. While the printer from the vicinity of Kraków started making efforts to regain the lost rights and seized things, Shmuel ben Hakadosh Boehm, Icchak ben Aaron’s co-worker, being unable to print anything, was probably preparing the composition of two parts of Yosef Karo’s work. The efforts of Icchak ben Aaron, supported probably by many influential members of the local Jewish community, brought the expected result only after a year. On 15 November 1570 the king revoked his decree of the 2 of November 1569 (this is how the printer from the vicinity of Kraków was called in the document) to print books now and in the future, with the exception of the Talmud and other books

4 M. Bałaban, Historja Żydów [A History of the Jews], p. 508.

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harmful to the Christian religion. At the same time, he ordered that the fonts taken by Voivode Stanisław Myszkowski should be returned to him immediately. After investigating the matter, it turned out – as it was written in the royal letter – that he did not print Talmud and “it did not even cross his mind” to print any books harmful to the Christian religion. At the same time the king ordered the magistrate to take care of the Jewish printer’s right to print and distribute Hebrew books so that a similar situation as in the autumn of 1569 would not happen and so that others would respect the right of Icchak ben Aaron. This episode from the history of the printing house of Icchak ben Aaron, concerning the accusation that he printed the Talmud and other Hebrew books allegedly offensive to Christians, was summed up by the printer in a poem written at the end of his work on the printing of a collection of ritual regulations, which – as stated in the colophon at the end of the book – fell on Wednesday, the eve of the holiday of Sukkot (5)332 (3 October 1571). This collection arranged according to the order of the Talmudic books and entitled Ha-aguda was authored by Alexander Zuslin ha-Kohen of Frankfurt am Main. The poem printed at the end of this work, undoubtedly refers to the situation of the printer at the time of the revocation of his royal privilege, which he calls “misery and hardship”. The meaning of the poem suggests that those difficult moments belong to the past and all the printer’s affairs have been successfully resolved. It is significant, however, that the thanksgiving poem was printed only in October 1571, and not, for example, in the first book after the royal privilege was again granted to him (Shulchan Arukh, 4 February 1571). On this basis, it may be assumed that after the announcement of the letter of Sigismund August of 2 November 1570, it took the printer almost a year to assert his rights. As a result of this interference of the censorship, Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz did not print Talmudic tractates until the end of the 1670s. However, after the political changes in Poland, disregarding the objections of some Kraków clergy, he started to print them and even dared to publish the tractate Avodah Zarah attached to the Basel edition of the Talmud (1578–1581), which Froben, a printer from Basel, was forbidden to print by the censorship. Apart from single tractates, in his printing house in Kraków, which was run by his two sons and grandson, two more editions of the Babylonian Talmud were printed in the years 1602–1605 and 1616–1620, as well as the Jerusalem Talmud in 1609. III The censorship intervened again in the 1730s when the second edition of the Talmud was printed in Lublin. It seems that then the division of the scope of the censorship power between the king and the bishop of the place over the Jewish books and their printers looked a bit different than in the two cases described earlier. On the one hand, the issues of ecclesiastical censorship were regulated by

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Disputes about the printing of Talmud in the Old Poland

indices librorum prohibitorum recommended by two successive bishops of Kraków, Bernard Maciejowski (in Kraków 1601–1605) and Marcin Szyszkowski (in Kraków from 1617 to 1630), under whose jurisdiction Lublin was at that time located, and on the other hand, the royal activity in this respect, confirmed by the preserved correspondence of the governor and the bishop with the king, is visible. Thus, Bishop Bernard Maciejowski recommended that the printers follow the index published in Kraków in 1603 and his introduction to it.5 In that index in the part entitled “Observatio” there was a fragment devoted to the Talmud and other Jewish books entitled “De Talmud et aliis libris Hebraeorum”. In the Church regulations disseminated at the beginning of the seventeenth century within the Kraków diocese, the above-mentioned text shows that the printing of the Talmud was still subject to the principle adopted at the Council of Trent, according to which the Talmud was forbidden; however, it could be published only on condition that the word “Talmud” was not used in the title and that all passages insulting or detrimental to the Christian religion were deleted from the text. In the list of forbidden books (“Incertorum Auctorum Libri prohibiti”) contained in the same index, the Talmud is therefore mentioned, but a clause was added next to it, the fulfilment of which allows the possibility of printing: Thalmud Hebraeu[s], eiusq; glossę, annotationes, interpretationes, & expositiones omnes, si tamen prodierint, sine nomine Thalmud, & sine iniuriis, & calumniis in Religionem Christiană, tolerabuntur.6

During the printing of the second edition of the Lublin Talmud, after Marcin Szyszkowski assumed the Kraków bishopric, another Index was published in Kraków in 1617, this time with an introduction by the new Kraków bishop.7 It repeats the general rules applied to the printing of books. Thus, he reminds that before printing, each book should receive an imprimatur from church authorities (bishop or inquisitor). The index also includes a section on the printing of the Talmud and lists the Talmud itself as one of the prohibited books. It does so in the same way as in the

5 Index librorum prohibitorum cum regulis confectis per Patres a Tridentina Synodo delectos, auctoritate Pii IIII primum editus, postea vero a Sixto V auctus et nunc demum S. D. N. Clementis PP. VIII jussu recognitus et publicatus. Instructione adjecta de exequendae prohibitionis, deque sincere emendandi et imprimendi libros ratione, Cracoviae 1603. 6 Ibid., p. [188]. 7 Index librorum prohibitorum. Cum regulis confectis per Patres a Tridentina Synodo delectos et cum adjecta instructione de emendandis imprimendisque libris et de exequenda prohibitione. Nunc, in hac editione, Congregationis Cardinalium edictis aliquot et librorum nuper scandalose evulgatorum descriptione auctus, Cracoviae 1617.

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Kraków edition of the 1603 index. It should be noted that the index Auctorum Librorvum Haereticorvm & prohibitorum 1617. editum does not include the first Talmudic tractate of the second edition in Lublin – Berakhot, printed in Lublin in 1617, although the use of the word “Talmud” on the title page violated the strictures of the Church law in force at that time. Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe, in spite of the self-censorship applied to a limited extent to the publication of the Talmud, was eventually punished for violating the binding church law, which was imposed on him and his printing house by King Sigismund III Vasa in a mandate issued in 1628. The royal mandate itself is not known today. However, we know about it from the published copies of two letters to King Sigismund III Vasa concerning the case of closing down the printing house of Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe and the confiscation of the Talmud. The first letter was written by Marcin Szyszkowski, Bishop of Kraków, and the second one by Mikołaj Oleśnicki, Voivode of Lublin. Moreover, in the volume of the Talmud held in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków (Teolog. No. 12174), which contains three tractates printed in Venice in the annex of Daniel Bomberg: Masekhet Shevuot (1521), Masekhet Sanhedrin (1520) and Masekhet Makkot (1520), I found a handwritten text in Latin on the back cover regarding the closing of the Jewish printing house in Lublin.8 On the basis of the above three texts, it is possible to attempt to reconstruct the fate of Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe, a Jewish printer in Lublin, and the second edition of the Lublin Talmud printed by him, although the reconstruction will probably be incomplete due to the lack of more detailed source documentation. The three documents quoted above show also in a new light the issue of the censorship of Jewish books in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

8 See K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 150–151.

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Disputes about the printing of Talmud in the Old Poland

Fig. 5.1 Facsimile of the tractate Avodah Zarah, Lublin 1628 (from the collection of the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków)

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It must be assumed that the printing of tractates on the Talmud in the printing house of Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe, which started in 1617, was interrupted in the summer of 1628.9 In 1628 they managed to print tractates Avodah Zarah, Menachot, Keritot, Avot, Eduyot, but failed to complete the printing of two others, Horayot and Meila, due to the closure of the printing house by royal order. The king’s decision meant that the Lublin printer stopped the second edition of Talmud, which had been in progress for twelve years, at the time when there was a real chance to finish it, despite numerous financial and personnel difficulties. The confiscation of the printed works halted their sale, which made it impossible for the printer to repay the loans he had incurred for the most expensive undertaking in the history of his printing house and increased his already large debts. Nevertheless, without any resistance, Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe submitted to the royal decision, seeing in such a procedure a chance for its cancellation or mitigation. The reason for issuing this mandate by the king was the accusation made against the printer from Lublin, that he introduced supplements to the printed text of the Talmud, correcting earlier censorship interferences from other editions of the Talmud. Governor Oleśnicki mentioned this in a letter to the king, writing: “in which [books] they themselves would have printed something over the former Talmut of their sancita”. However, Xiądz Officyał Lubelski tak o drukarniey iako i o Xięgach tych wie i wiedział dobrze, niebył przeciw contrarius temu, nie widząc, aby co blasphemiarum mogło się w nich znaleść, a co większa, że też nic a nic przyczynili ani umnieyszyli, dawnego Talmutu swego, iedno go tu cale z Xiąg inszych maiores commoditatis causa którychby coraz z cudzey Ziemie z niemałym kosztem zasięgać mieli, drukarz ich przedrukowywa10 [Reverend official of Lublin knows about the printing house and about these books, and he was not contrarius, seeing that nothing blasphemiarum could be found in them, and what is more, that they have neither contributed to nor diminished their former Talmud, except that they are reprinted here from other books maiores commoditatis causa, which they would obtain from other lands at considerable cost],

thus disputing the royal charge which was the cause of the printer’s repression. 9 The new date of printing of the tractate Avodah Zarah is important here. Contrary to what I advocated in my book (K. Pilarczyk, Talmud i jego drukarze [The Talmud and its Printers], p. 117, 174), finding a copy of this tractate in the Jagiellonian Library allowed me to dispel doubts raised by M. Steinschneider (he assumed that Avodah Zarah was printed in 1621) and J.Ch. Wolf and Y. Vinograd (the latter two accepted the date 1628) – see ibid., p. 117, fn. 205. On the title page of the Lublin edition of the tractate (see fig. 5.1) the date is clearly indicated in the chronogram ‫ שיעבו‬with the numerical value 388, which corresponds to the year 1627/1628. 10 J.S. Bandtkie, Historia drukarń w Królestwie Polskim [A History of Printing Houses in the Kingdom of Poland], vol. 1, Warszawa 1974 [repr. Kraków 1826], p. 354–356.

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Disputes about the printing of Talmud in the Old Poland

Bishop Szyszkowski, to whom the delegation of Jews went first, asking for help and intercession with the king, did not refer in his letter to the opinion of his official in Lublin about the books printed by the Jews. In his letter dated 1st September 1628, the Bishop interceded for the Jews using the arguments he had heard from them, and he himself only ordered to check the Lublin tractates of the Talmud for the texts removed by the Church censorship, which is evidenced by a note found in the above-mentioned Talmud volume from the Jagiellonian Library, made in December 1628. One may wonder why the Bishop of Kraków showed favour to the delegation of Jews and decided to intercede for them with the King, without checking the credibility of their words, whereas – as A. Grabowski writes – “prints [calendars] of the Jews were printed in the church, but they were not censored”. Grabowski writes: “the prints of [Calvinist] Wierzbięta [another printer from Kraków] were so persecuted”. Perhaps he relied on the opinion of the Lublin official (although he does not mention it), who confirmed to him that he knew the prints from the Jewish printing house in Lublin and saw nothing improper in them. However, the bishop was probably not fully convinced by this opinion. Moreover, as the Chancellor of the Kraków Academy he knew that formally the function of the church censor was performed by the professors of this Academy. Therefore, he ordered to check again the Talmud printed in Lublin. Despite the favour shown to the Jewish delegation, the bishop did not hide, which he also expressed in his letter to the king, that the printer from Lublin was guilty of the situation because he should have followed the ecclesiastical law in force in the diocese of Kraków. According to Bishop Szyszkowski, the most recent legal regulations concerning censorship of printed matter were contained in the Constitution of the Synod of Kraków, which was published in 1621. The synodal constitution of 10 February 1621 in a separate chapter (LXI) dedicated to Jews and entitled “De Iudaeis” introduced legal regulations concerning the books printed by Jews on the territory of the diocese of Kraków. According to this constitution, Jews were not allowed to print any books, especially the Talmud, which had not been previously checked and approved by censors appointed by the bishop and without having received written permission to print them. However, the printer from Lublin did not subject the Talmudic tractates printed in his house to the bishop’s censorship (as well as other books) which would have checked whether they were “cleared”, justifying himself by the fact that he did not know this synodal constitution, but only referred to the privileges obtained for the printing of Jewish books from the predecessors of King Sigismund III Vasa, and confirmed by him, in which there was no clause prohibiting the printing of the Talmud. On the other hand, the Jewish delegation justified the fact that the printer did not ask the bishop for the imprimatur on the printed works by the established customs in this field, which were in fact confirmed by the facts. It can be assumed that Bishop Szyszkowski tacitly approved of this custom concerning Jewish books, because he ends his letter to the king

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with a proposal of solving the issue of closing the Jewish printing house in Lublin. According to this proposal, he would appoint clerical censors, as required by papal documents and the constitution of the Synod of Kraków, to examine whether there was anything in the printed Talmud that was offensive to Jesus Christ, the Christian religion and the state interests of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. “If they do not find anything of the kind”, suggested the bishop, “they should be allowed to sell these books, because they have spent a lot of money on printing them”. Additionally, he advised that the king himself should appoint his own censors to thoroughly check the Talmud tractates. This suggestion of Bishop Szyszkowski proves that he did not claim the exclusive right to control the printed books, leaving to the king – as Majer Bałaban believed – only his execution if it turned out that the books had to be confiscated. In the light of this letter, the King also had the right to censor the printed matter coming out in the Commonwealth independently of the control exercised by the Church censorship. There are no documents today that clearly indicate what the direct reason was for the king issuing the mandate to close the Jewish printing house in Lublin and confiscating its prints. Bishop Szyszkowski’s letter shows that the king did not make that decision on the basis of the opinion presented by the censors appointed by him, since the bishop advised him to appoint them for this purpose. It can only be assumed that the printing of the controversial tractate Avodah Zarah (1628), about which the king was probably informed, could have been the main argument that decided about the order to close the Jewish printing house in Lublin. This conclusion seems to be supported by the opinion of William Popper, a contemporary researcher of the history of censorship of Jewish books, who, referring to Franz Heinrich Reusch, claims that the ban on selling the second edition of the Lublin Talmud was demanded in 1628 by the papal nuncio in Poland.11 If Bishop Szyszkowski had known about it, his letter would have been an additional proof of his friendly attitude towards Jews, characterized by his legal approach, even though this attitude could have led to conflict between him and the papal nuncio in Poland because it differed from the practice applied by consecutive popes, which, incidentally, did not comply with the decisions of the Council of Trent. The letter from the bishop of Kraków could not satisfy the Jews who sought help from him. It is true that Bishop Szyszkowski did not refuse to support them and intervened with the king, treating them with understanding, but he did not ask Sigismund III Vasa for an immediate solution of the presented matter, as the Jews seemed to expect, but he knew that it was possible after checking the text of the 11 W. Popper, The Censorship of Hebrew Books, New York 1969, p. 105; cf. F.H. Reusch, Der Index der Verbotenen Bücher, vol. 1, Bonn 1883, p. 51; Relacye nuncyuszów apostolskich i innych osób w Polsce od roku 1548 do 1690 [Reports of Apostolic Nuntios and Others in Poland from 1548 to 1690], ed. J. Albertrandi, vol. 2, Berlin–Poznań 1864, p. 160–161.

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Disputes about the printing of Talmud in the Old Poland

printed treaties. The Jews must have been aware of what this meant for them: first of all, the prolongation of the confiscation of the books and the closure of the printing house for several months, because the reviewing of several dozen printed tractates could not be done quickly. Moreover, they knew with what result the examination would end. The Bishop was in their favour, but on condition that the text of the Talmud did not contain passages already removed by the censors. The Jews, seeing the unfavourable turn of events, went to the governor of Lublin about two months after the visit to Bishop Szyszkowski and sought his support from the king. From the letter of the Governor of Oleśnica to the king dated 4 November 1628, it can be concluded that the Jews interceding for Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe presented to him their request in the same way as they presented to the bishop, emphasizing only the harm done to the printer from Lublin because of the losses resulting from the confiscation of books. The prolongation of this situation connected with the procedure started by the bishop of Kraków, which consisted in appointing censors and inspecting the Talmud before the printing house was reopened, could – according to the provincial governor – lead the printer to extreme poverty, because he could neither finish printing the books he had started, nor print new ones and sell the printed ones. Oleśnicki had already informed the king – as he writes – about the financial situation of the printer, which was influenced not only by a large investment in the printing of the Talmud, for which he incurred debts, but also by the plunder of his printing house by soldiers and looters. Instead of waiting for the result of the work of the bishop’s censors, the voivode suggested to the king to trust the opinion of the Lublin official, who did not see anything offensive in the Lublin prints and knew about the activity of the Jewish printer. If this was not sufficient reason to make the decision about returning the books and opening the printing house to Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe (his name is not mentioned in the letter), the governor asked – as Bishop Szyszkowski did – for the king to appoint censors to examine the books, which in Oleśnicki’s opinion – which he assured the king – should not lead Catholics to commit any errors in faith. The intercession of the governor of Lublin with the king in the case of the Jewish printing house in Lublin was probably more in line with the expectations of the Jews. The governor suggested first of all that the severe punishment be waived, which was not suggested by the bishop in his letter to the king. However, Sigismund III did not accept the governor’s proposal and probably did not appoint his own censors to examine the Lublin edition of the Talmud. On the other hand, in December 1628 Bishop Szyszkowski could already see the opinion of the censor appointed by him to examine the second Lublin edition of the Talmud, Rev. Jakub Vitellius, who was probably the author of the note included in the volume of the Talmud from the Jagiellonian Library with the number Teolog. 12174. Jakub Vitellius (Witeliusz, Vitalius, or Vitillius; 1587–1648) was a professor of the Kraków Academy. At the same time, he was a canon of three chapters and the

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rector of the Academy several times, as well as taking care of the Academy’s book collections. His knowledge of three languages: Latin, Greek and Hebrew, which at that time was a synonym of scholarship, predisposed him to check, ex mandato by Bishop Szyszkowski, the Chancellor of the Academy, the Lublin edition of the Talmud, the published tractates of which were probably delivered to the Bishop by a Jewish delegation. From the note he made, we can deduce how Vitellius carried out the commissioned task. Although he writes that he “checked the Jewish Talmud printed in Lublin”, it does not seem possible that he was able, in the period of about three months (this was the time that elapsed between Bishop Szyszkowski’s letter to the king and Vitellius’s note about the Talmud printed in Lublin) and his other duties as a professor and canon, to inspect in detail, reading page by page, 38 tractates published by Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe in 1617–1628. He probably made use of the works of Pietro Galatinus (1460–1540) and Sixtus of Siena (1520–1569), whose names he mentions in his note, when censoring them. Finally, Vitellius recalled in a note that there was in Kraków a copy of the Talmud from the period of the Council of Trent censored by Marco [Mark] Marino Brixano, a priest of the congregation of Canons Regular. In one of the volumes of this Talmud from the Venetian edition, which contains the tractate Sanhedrin mentioned by him, Vitellius made the note analysed above. This is because this tractate, especially its seventh chapter in the Lublin edition controlled by him, contained – as he stated – the most errors requiring censure. It can be assumed that Vitellius, looking after the book collection of the Academy, found the Talmud tractates that were printed for the first time by Bomberg in Venice and brought to Kraków. As Vitellius claimed, it was Marco Marino Brixano himself who marked mistakes in the tractates, i.e. fragments offending the Christian religion and faith, which should be removed so that the Talmud could be printed according to the decision made at the Council of Trent. Vitellius described these underlined texts, indicating what, in his opinion, they referred to, and more than one of them was marked with the note “blasphemia”. The Jagiellonian Library probably did not possess the entire twelve-volume edition of the Venetian Talmud (44 tractates) but only two volumes: one mentioned above, being the ninth volume of the first Venetian edition, and the other being the first volume of the same edition, which contained the tractate Berakhot and Mishnayot of Seder Zeraim (the latter cannot be found at present). It is probable that Vitellius could have seen only these two volumes and, on their basis, verified the second edition of the Lublin Talmud. This would explain why he drew Bishop Szyszkowski’s attention only to the tractate Sanhedrin, which he could have studied in more detail, comparing the text of the Venice edition (with the fragments indicated by Marco Brixano that should be deleted) with the Lublin one. It is also uncertain whether the Jews delivered all the tractates published in Lublin to

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Disputes about the printing of Talmud in the Old Poland

Bishop Szyszkowski or whether some of them had already been completely sold out by 1628. One can only assume that the tractate Sanhedrin published in 1620 was seen by Vitellius, although none of the tractates of this edition is currently in the Jagiellonian Library. The opinion of Vitellius, a professor at the Academy of Kraków, appointed from 1532 to perform the function of a censor in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was undoubtedly a sufficient basis for the Bishop of Kraków to respond definitively to the request of the Jews interceding for Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe of Lublin. Unfortunately, we do not know either the official answer Bishop Szyszkowski gave to the Jews or the further course of his correspondence with the king on this matter. Nevertheless, in view of Vitellius’s opinion, the bishop’s position seems to be clear. He probably decided that since the books presented to him by the Jews contained, contrary to their claims, fragments forbidden to be printed by the church censorship, they could not be approved by the clergy examiners. This would violate the ecclesiastical law specified in the synodal constitution of 1621 binding on the territory of the diocese of Kraków. No other arguments, including the fact that the Jewish printer had royal privileges allowing for the printing and sale of Hebrew books, could justify the Jews against whom the royal order to confiscate the books and close the printing house proved to be right in the bishop’s understanding. An attempt to get out of the impasse which arose after the closing of the Lublin printing house in 1628, was made by the Jews in 1631 when they announced a decree concerning the printing of books, especially the Talmud, called there Mishnah and Gemara. We do not know exactly where it was accepted by the representatives of Jewish communities in the Commonwealth. It was probably passed at one of the meetings of the local Jewish institution Va’ad Arba’ Aratzot in Lublin. Its Hebrew text was quoted by Luigi Aloisi Chiarini, based on the work of Charles Leslie.12 The decree was an attempt to determine the rules of self-censorship which Jewish printers in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were to apply when publishing Talmudic tractates. In the tractates printed in Lublin in 1617–1628, a partial reconstruction of the censored text of the Basel edition was made, which was the basis for the Lublin printer. The fear of print run confiscation and the closure of the printing house, which accompanied the bold intention of reproducing the original text of the Talmud in the second edition in Lublin, turned out to be right, although the Lublin printer and his partners may have been encouraged to take this bold step by the earlier editions of the tractates: the Kraków editions of 1602–1605 and 1616–1620 and the Lublin edition of 1559–1577. 12 Ch. Leslie, A Short and Easy Method with the Jews, wherein the certainty of the Christian religion is demonstrated, London 1812; cf. L.A. Chiarini, Théorie du Judaisme, appliquée a la réforme des Israélites de tous les pays de l’Europe, et servant en meme temps d’ouvrage préparatoire a la version du Thalmud de Babylone, vol. 1, Paris 1830, p. 161–163.

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The 1631 order makes it possible, in a different way from that done by Raphael Nathan Nata Rabinovicz, who probably did not know this arrangement (he never cited it), can determine the motives for Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe’s use of the Basel text as the basis for his edition. On the one hand, he probably did not want to irritate the ecclesiastical authorities in Poland by reprinting the Talmud text too freely (publishing it without interference of the censorship), which could have led to interventions of the king and the bishop, and to repressions against Jewish communities, as it happened earlier in Italy. And so the situation of the Jewish printers in Poland was much more favourable than in the Jewish centres of Western and Southern Europe, since they allowed themselves to use in the printing of the Talmud its original name on the title pages and partly did not respect the interference of the church censorship, and published Talmudic tractates, e.g. Avodah Zarah, which could not be printed at all in other European centres. This indicates that the Jews enjoyed and used more freedom in the Commonwealth. However, these freedoms were not guaranteed by law. The law, especially the ecclesiastical law, was basically the same as in the whole Church, however its execution looked different in the Commonwealth than in other European countries. Therefore the Jews lived in constant fear that the practice of dealing with them will change and the previous freedoms, among others concerning the printing of the Talmud in a not fully censored version, may become an argument causing repressions against all Jewish communities in Poland. Jews, wanting to prevent such a situation, applied self-censorship while editing the text of the Talmud, as we can see on the example of the second edition of Lublin Talmud. Therefore, leaving in the text of this edition the “Basel” version of the text, I would not explain, as Rabinovicz did, by the proofreader’s ignorance about the censored places, but by the expression of his conscious action, which was to prevent the misfortunes caused by too liberal (in the opinion of the church authorities) edition of the text. Ignoring other places where the church censorship intervened and returning to the original text may indicate a sense of relative freedom that Jewish printers and the recipients of their works in Poland had. It was certainly a surprise to them that after twelve years of printing Talmudic tractates the printer from Lublin was subjected to such severe sanctions. Based on the decree of 1631, it can also be concluded that Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe was denounced before the king by Jewish converts to Catholicism. Enjoying the support of the Church, they became – as can be seen – allies of the radical clerical circles, so influential that they exerted effective pressure even on the king and used his power to fight economically and religiously against the followers of Judaism in Poland. The Jews, seeing that their efforts made by the bishop and the governor to reopen the Lublin printing house did not help, decided to accept the strict rules of selfcensorship specified in the decree from 1631. Their presence in printed tractates led to the evaluation of the whole work as offensive to Christianity. In place of

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Disputes about the printing of Talmud in the Old Poland

the omitted texts the printer was obliged to insert the sign of a circle (O), which signalled to the student of the book the censor’s interference. Knowing about it, rabbis and teachers directly teaching young people passed the abandoned text orally, probably using their own manuscripts. Although this solution was inconvenient for students, it did not completely deprive them of access to Talmudic tractates, which were the basic medium of the religious message in Judaism and the most important textbook in the Jewish educational system. A small number of Talmud manuscripts would not allow for an intensive development of education. Tractates in the form of printed books ensured wide access to religious knowledge and promoted the universality of education. That was the reason why Jews made so much effort to reopen the publishing house in Lublin, which was an indispensable link in ensuring the continuity of the religious message in Judaism. However, even this attempt to reactivate the printing house by imposing self-censorship on printers did not bring the expected effect. It was not until 1633, when King Ladislaus IV (Władysław IV) took the throne after the death of his father, Sigismund III Vasa (Zygmunt III Waza), confirmed all the earlier privileges granted by his predecessors, that the Jewish printing house in Lublin resumed its activity. Historical sources that we know of do not mention any new interference of censorship in the later period of its activity, similarly to the Kraków’s printing house.

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Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

The beginnings of the collection, to which the Judaica described in the catalogue published in 2011 belong,1 are connected with the person of Friedrich Wilhelm I, known as the Great Elector. In 1661 he founded an electors’ library in Berlin, which was renamed the Royal Library in 1701 and the Prussian State Library (Preussiche Staatsbibliothek) in 1918.2 Just before the outbreak of World War II it included about three million prints and nine hundred thousand units of special collections. Judaica is a small part of this collection. During the war, in order to protect the entire library from destruction as a result of air raids by the Allies, the Germans divided it into parts and, beginning in 1941, transported them successively in convoys (41 in total) to ca. thirty places in the then Third Reich, including Książ (Fürstenberg) near Wałbrzych (Waldenburg), from where, in 1943, when the castle was being prepared for Hitler’s new quarters,3 the most valuable collection was transported to the Benedictine monastery in Grüssau (Krasnobór, later Krzeszów) near Kamienna Góra (Landeshut) in southern Lower Silesia. After the war, in 1946, a team led by Stanislaw Sierotwiński, a delegate of the Polish Ministry of Education, an employee of the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, was assigned the task of securing abandoned and derelict book collections. He decided to transport a part of the Berlin collection found there to Kraków. Since 1947 the so called “Berlinka” has been kept in the Jagiellonian Library. At the time of transport to Kraków, the collection was stored in 490 boxes. The Judaica, consisting of 3,407 prints in 2,601 volumes, is of great value for bibliological studies and is a pearl of print art for Jewish culture, like the other units in the collection are of inestimable value to other world cultures. While transporting them to Kraków, the collection was protected against destruction and

1 Katalog judaików [Catalogue of Judaica], ed. K. Pilarczyk, p. XXII + 794, ill., DVD with facsimiles (ISBN 978–83–60154–19–9). 2 R. Landwehrmeyer, Die Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (1871–1912), [in:] Das deutsche Buch. Die Sammlung deutscher Drucke 1450–1912. Bilanz der Forderung durch die VolkswagenStiftung, ed. B. Fabian, E. Mittler, Wiesbaden 1995, p. 61–64; Ex Bibliotheca Regia Berolinensi schone und seltene Bucher aus der Abteilung Historische Drucke, ed. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Wiesbaden 2000. 3 See W. Schochow, Bücherschicksale. Die Verlagerungsgeschichte der Preußischen Staatsbibliothek. Auslagerung. Zerstörung. Entfremdung. Rückführung. Dargestellt aus den Quellen, Berlin–New York 2003.

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robbery, although 15 chests – according to a comparison with German records – belonging to this collection did not reach the Jagiellonian Library.4 Due to the policy pursued by the communist authorities, the Berlin collection, owned by the Polish State Treasury, was inaccessible to researchers from 1947 to 1980. Over the past thirty years, the situation has gradually changed and now anyone may use it under the rules set forth in the Jagiellonian Library’s Regulations for Special Collections. In order to improve access to Judaica and disseminate knowledge about them, a separate catalogue in a book form has been prepared. The term “Judaica” in reference to the collection in the Jagiellonian Library from the Prussian State Library in Berlin refers to prints which constituted a separate collection in the Berlin collection (catalogue numbers Eu, Ev, Ew, Ex, Ey, Ez), were printed in Hebrew fonts in various languages, mostly in Hebrew, but also in Aramaic, Yiddish, Ladino or Judeo-Arabic (in Arabic written in Hebrew letters), as well as prints in other languages: Syriac, Latin, Italian, German, French, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese and English in content concerning Jews and Judaism, including anti-Jewish prints, as well as Karaite (concerning the Karaites) and Palestinian (concerning ancient Palestine) texts. The territorial range of their production is unlimited. It covers Europe, Asia and Africa. Table 6.1 shows the individual places of their production and the number of prints originating from them. The Judaica from the Berlin collection in the Jagiellonian Library come from 159 places of publication, in two cases only the country of origin was determined. However, in the case of 22 prints, it was not possible to determine the place of their publication at all. The most numerous are prints of Venetia (466) and Amsterdam (406), followed by Berlin (287), Frankfurt (an der Oder – 189 and am Mein – 153), Thessaloniki (152), Constantinople (147), Livorno (144) and Prague (134). As regards prints from Polish lands, noteworthy are those from Kraków (63), Lublin (48) and Żółkiew (24). Particularly rare are those from Izmir (23), Riva di Trento (10), Jerusalem (3), Safed (3), Warsaw (3), Orta Kijuai near Constantinople (2), Baghdad (1), Kraków and Nowy Dwór near Kraków (1). In total, they represent, apart from the oldest

4 Cf. P. Lechowski, Sporna Berlinka. Kontrowersje wokół zbiorów byłej Pruskiej Biblioteki Państwowej przechowywanych w Bibliotece Jagiellońskiej w Krakowie [The Contentious “Berlinka”. Controversy over the Collection of the Former Prussian State Library Stored in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków], “Biuletyn EBIB” 8 (2008), no. 99, http://www.ebib.info/2010/99/a.php?lechowski [accessed: 27.05.2021]; Z. Pietrzyk, W jaki sposób “Berlinka” trafiła do Biblioteki Jagiellońskiej? [How did “Berlinka” Get to the Jagiellonian Library?], interview with J. Miszkurek from Polskie Radio on 13.08.2007 (online) http:// www.polskieradiopl/zagranica/news/artykul56909.html [accessed: 18.08.2010]; Id., Zbiory z byłej Pruskiej Biblioteki Państwowej w Bibliotece Jagiellońskiej [Collections from the Former Prussian State Library in the Jagiellonian Library], “Alma Mater” (2008), no. 100, p. 16–19.

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Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

prints from the second half of the fifteenth century – incunabula, which are missing from this collection – almost all major centres of Hebrew book production in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries: Altona, Amsterdam, Basel, Berlin, Cremona, Dyhernfurth, Ferrara, Florence, Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt an der Oder, Furth, Halle, Hamburg, Hanau, Homburg, Isna, Izmir, Cairo, Karlsruhe, Constantinople, Korzec, Kraków, Leiden, Livorno (Leghorn), London, Lublin, Lviv, Mantua, Metz, Modena, Nowy Dwór, Offenbach, Padua, Pesaro, Polonne, Prague, Riva di Trento, Rome, Sabbioneta, Safed, Thessaloniki, Slavuta, Sulzbach, Venice, Verona, Wilhermsdorf, Vilnius, Warsaw, Zurich and Zhytomir.5 Table 6.1 Place of printing and the number of prints in the Kraków collection Place of printing Number of prints Venice 466 Amsterdam 406 Berlin 287 Frankfurt an der Oder 189 Frankfurt am Main 153 Thessaloniki 152 Constantinople 147 (Istanbul) Livorno 144 Prague 134 Furth 95 Mantua 80 Dyhernfurth 74 Kraków 63 Basel 58 Leipzig 54 Lublin 48 Altona 47 Sulzbach 45 Hamburg 35 Hanau 30 Leiden 30 Offenbach 28 Wilhermsdorf 28 London 27 Königsberg 26 Paris 26 Cremona 24

Place of printing Altdorf Ferrara Nuremberg Jessnitz Korzec Homburg

Number of prints 15 15 15 14 14 12

Jena

12

Giessen Lwów (Lviv) Strasbourg Dessau Pisa Riva di Trento Augsburg Bologna Wandsbeck Isna Nowy Dwór Oxford Rome Glasses Pesaro Roedelheim Utrecht Brno Fano Karlsruhe

11 11 11 10 10 10 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 6 6 6

5 Cf. The Hebrew Book, ed. R. Posner, I. Ta-Shma, p. 97–147.

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Place of printing Żółkiew (Zhovkva) Izmir Metz Modena Wittenberg Florence Breslau Halle Helmstadt Sabionetta Vienna Turin Tübingen Bonn Brunswick Buetzow Danzig Jerusalem Padua Poryck Safed Stettin Thiengen Uppsala Warsaw Vilnius Cleve Erfurt Freiburg im Breisgau Hanover Jozefów Cairo (Micraim)

Number of prints 24 23 22 20 20 19 17 17 16 16 16 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2

Magdeburg

2

Marburg Nice Orta Kijuai near Constantinople Polonné Regensburg

2 2

Reggio (di Calabria)

2

Place of printing Colony Neuwied Verona Gotha [Germany] Oppenheim Dresden Göttingen Grodno Thistle Rimini Delphis Dubno Ełk Franckenland Friedberg Fribourg Hegenau Heddernheim Heidelberg Hildesheim Jańsbork (Prussia) Koethen Copenhagen Krotoszyn Lisbon Ludwigsdorf Madrid Mannheim Mezyr Middelburg Neustrelitz Nowy Dwór near Kraków Palermo Parma

Number of prints 6 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

2

Pavia

1

2 2

Ploen Radziwiłłów The Cispadane Republic

1 1

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Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

Place of printing Toruń Worms Zurich Adrianopol Alessandria (Italy) Altenburg Avignon Baghdad Bern Blankenburg Burg Celle Chufut Kale Darmstadt

Number of prints 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Place of printing Rostock Rothenburg Rotterdam Riga Sławuta Steinfurt Stuttgart Torgau Tunis [Turkey] Wetzlar Wolfenbuttel Żytomierz (Zhytomyr) No place of publication

Number of prints 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Source: K. Pilarczyk, Katalog Judaików.

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Fig. 6.1 Moshe ben Israel Isserles (Rema), Torat ha-Chatat, Kraków: Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz, 1569. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Ex 1460 (Berlinka)

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Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

Fig. 6.2 Naphtali Hirsch ben Menachem from Lviv, Perush le-midrash chamesh megillot raba, Kraków: Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz, 1569. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Ex 2494 (Berlinka)

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Fig. 6.3 Otiyot shel rabbi Akiva, Kraków: [Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz], 1579; Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Eu 4074 (Berlinka)

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Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

Fig. 6.4 Pirke Avot, Kraków: [Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz], 1580; Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Eu 274 (Berlinka)

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Fig. 6.5 Moshe ben Yaakov Kordovero, Pardes rimonim, Kraków–Nowy Dwór near Kraków, 1592. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, Ref. Ex 1318 (Berlinka)

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Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

Fig. 6.6 Talmud jerushalmi, Kraków: Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz, 1609. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Eu 1142 (Berlinka)

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Fig. 6.7 Mordechai ben Avraham Jaffe, Levush Adar ha-Yakar, Lublin: Kalonymos ben Mordechai Jaffe, 1595. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Ex 256 (Berlinka)

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Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

Fig. 6.8 Bachya ben Asher Chlawa, Shulchan Arba, Lublin: Kalonymos ben Mordechai Jaffe, 1596. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, Ev 3220 (Berlinka)

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Fig. 6.9 Masekhet Berakhot, Lublin: Tzvi bar Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe, 1617, Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Eu 130 (Berlinka)

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Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

Fig. 6.10 Aaron Moshe ben Tzvi Hirsch from Lviv, Ohel Moshe, Żółkiew: Gershon ben Chayim David Segal, David ben Menachem Man, Chayim David ben Aaron Segal, 1765. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, Ev 2046 (Berlinka)

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Fig. 6.11 Sepher Yetzirah, Moshe ben Yaakov from Kiev, Korzec: Tzvi Hirsch ben Arje Leib and his son-in-law Shmuel ben Issachar Beer Segal, 1779. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, File Eu 4424 (Berlinka)

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Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

Fig. 6.12 Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam), Igerot u-She’elot u-teshuvot, Grodno 1795, Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, Ref. Ex 1927 (Berlinka) © 2022 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht | Brill Deutschland GmbH ISBN Print: 9783525573358 — ISBN E-Book: 9783647573359

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Fig. 6.13 Abraham ben Eliezer Lipman, Hin tzedek we-tikun ha-midot, Vilnius: Mirski Jozafat, 1799. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, Ref. Ex 1822 (Berlinka)

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Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

These prints do not have a single ethnic-religious provenance. They were produced both by Jews and non-Jews. This phenomenon is reflected in the history of Hebrew printing and European Hebraism. Although this collection lacks the earliest Hebrew prints from the fifteenth century, produced in Italy, Spain and Portugal, there are books pressed in Italy by members of the Jewish Soncino family. It was soon dominated (in the sixteenth century) by the huge production of Hebrew books by Venetian Christian printers Daniel Bomberg and Marco Antonio Giustiniani, whose prints owed their professionalism in large part to the Jews employed in those printing houses as, among others, pressmen, typesetters and proofreaders. Then, their work was continued by two Christian families – the Bragadinis (almost to the end of the eighteenth century) and the Di Gara (1565–1610), supported by Jews skilled in the art of printing. Prints from their printing houses constitute a substantial part of the Kraków’s “Berlinka” Collection. While Christian Hebrew printing dominated in Western Europe, Jewish printing developed at that time in the Ottoman Empire, where Jews found refuge from the late fifteenth century after numerous expulsions from Western and Central Europe.6 From the end of the fifteenth century, Istanbul (Constantinople) became its important centre. Prints by brothers Shmuel and David, sons of Nachmias, found in the Kraków collection, date from this early period. They belong to the oldest books in the collection (1505–1517). After the sons of Nachmias, the Soncino family (1530–1547) appeared in the capital of the Ottoman rulers, whose prints can also be found in the described collection. However, there are almost no prints, except for one, from Fez, Morocco, where Hebrew books were produced between 1516 and 1522. A bibliological rarity, however, are three prints from Safed (Tsfat) in the area of Palestine conquered by the Ottomans in the sixteenth century, where the first printing house was probably opened in 1577 by Eliezer ben Icchak Ashkenazi, who had previously printed in Lublin and Constantinople. When at the end of the fifteenth century Jewish migrations to Bohemia and Poland intensified, Jewish printing also appeared and developed in those countries, being subject to much fewer restrictions than in the West, especially with regard to the printing of the Talmud, which belonged to the permanent repertoire of Jewish printing houses. Prague became a particularly important centre in this field, where

6 K. Pilarczyk, Żydzi w Rzeczypospolitej polsko-litewskiej i w imperium osmańskim w dobie wczesno nowożytnej. Religioznawstwo w poszukiwaniu modelu koegzystencji mniejszości wyznaniowych [Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire in Early Modern Times. Religious Studies in Search of a Model of Coexistence of Religious Minorities], “Nomos. Kwartalnik Religioznawczy” (2001), no. 34/35, p. 252–269; Id., Еврейская диаспора в христианских и исламских государствах в период ранней новой истории (в поисках модели сосуществования), [in:] Взаимоотношения религиозных конфессий в многонациональном регионе, ed. J. Babinov, H. Hoffmann, Sewastopol 2001, p. 167–179.

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Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

Chayim ben David Shachor started printing in Hebrew fonts in 1512. Unfortunately, his productions from this period are missing from the “Berlinka” Collection. Only his later prints from Augsburg (1533–1540) and one from Heddernheim (1546) are extant. However, the earliest Prague prints found in the Kraków collection date from 1540, the period when Gershom Kohen (Gershom ben Shlomo ha-Kohen), the former co-worker of the first Prague printer, which gave rise to a well-known Jewish printing family, continuously using the blessed hands of the kohen as their printer’s mark until the end of the eighteenth century. From their printing houses, similarly as from the printing house of Yaakov bar Gershon Bak, who came to Prague at the end of the sixteenth century, and later of his sons, we find numerous copies in the Kraków collection. The Helicz brothers, who gave birth to Jewish printing in Poland, establishing a printing house in Kraków in 1534, learned the art of printing from Gershom Kohen. Only one print that was found in the Kraków collection from Berlin comes from this printing house, published by Jan (Elyakim) Helicz and Yosef Kurzius from Gross-Glogau in 1539.7 On the other hand, the print production of the Prostitz printing house, Menachem Nachum Meisels’ printing house and the Lublin printing house is more richly represented, especially when it was in the hands of Eliezer ben Icchak and then several generations of Kalonymos (until the second half of the seventeenth century). The revival of Jewish printing in Western Europe took place in the first half of the seventeenth century in the Netherlands, which became a refuge for Jews from the Iberian Peninsula. For their use a printing house was established in Amsterdam in 1623 by Menashe ben Israel, from which ten prints were found in the Kraków collection. There were also prints from the no less famous Amsterdam printing house of Immanuel Benveniste from the years 1641–1660 (9) and his pupil Uri Phoebus ben Aaron ha-Levi (11) who in the second half of the seventeenth century became independent and then, seeing a large market for Jewish books in the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth, in which after the closure of the only Hebrew printing houses in Kraków and Lublin he moved his printing house near Lwów (Lviv) to Żółkiew. However, his prints from the Żółkiew period do not exist; there are only 11 Amsterdam prints. From the richly represented Amsterdam production in the “Berlinka” Collection there are also seventeenth-eighteenth century prints produced by Immanuel Athias (13) and Avraham ben Raphael Chezkiyahu Athias (9), David de Castro Tartas (15), Moshe ben Avraham Mendes Kojtinjo (8), Icchak ben Yaakov di Kordov (4), Moshe 7 This is one of two prints from the Helicz printing house in Kraków in the Jagiellonian collection. The second one, not belonging to the Berlin collection, is dated back to 1540–1541 – see K. Pilarczyk, Nowy Testament po żydowsku wydrukowany w Krakowie w latach 1540–1541 [New Testament in Jewish Printed in Kraków in 1540–1541], “Studia Judaica” 12 (2009), no. 1–2, p. 121–141.

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Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

ben Icchak Dias (10), Asher Ansel ben Eliezer (10), the Props family: Shlomo ben Yosef Props, Yaakov Props and his widow and children, Shlomo ben Avraham and Avraham Props (over 100 prints altogether), Naphtali Hirsch Levi Rofe (33), Moshe Frankfurt (15), Yochanan Levi Rofe (7), Yosef Dajan (14), Kosman ben Yosef Baruch (17), Leib Zusman (11). Apart from Amsterdam, Hebrew printing flourished in many other cities of Central Europe in the seventeenth century, but generally Jews did not own the printing houses because at that time they did not receive permits to run them. Instead, they became unofficial partners of Christian printers. This is how the printing houses of Hebrew books functioned in Hanau, where the printing house was run by Hans Jacob Hena (his 11 prints from the years 1610–1630 are in the collection of Kraków), then in Bavaria: from 1667 in Sulzbach and Wilhermsdorf (there are no prints from this period in the described collection) and from 1691 in Fuerth, earlier in Frankfurt am Main (from 1657 – 9 prints only from 1687 to 1706 from Johann Wust’s printing house), Frankfurt an der Oder (systematically from 1677 Hebrew books were printed by Johann Christoph Beckmann – in the Kraków collection there are 8 of his prints – and Michael Gottschalck – 55 prints), in Berlin (from 1691 – 4 prints from the printing house of Daniel Ernst Jablonski). From the end of the seventeenth and in the eighteenth century the situation changed. The number of printing houses which printed in Hebrew increased and also Jews became their owners. They concentrated in southern and western Europe (Mantua, Florence, Livorno, Thessaloniki, Constantinople), central Europe (Jessnitz, Metz, Breslau, Wandsbeck, Dyhernfurth, Altona, Sulzbach, Berlin, Furth, Hamburg, Wilhermsdorf, Offenbach, Amsterdam, Brno, Prague, Vienna, Frankfurt an der Oder River, Frankfurt am Main, Nowy Dwór near Warsaw) and eastern Europe (in what is now Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania in Vilnius and Grodno). The number of prints from this period in the Kraków collection is more than twice as high as in the two previous centuries, which is shown in Table 6.2.8 In terms of content, the prints belonging to the described collection represent biblical and Talmudic texts, commentaries and their translations, halakhic writings, especially codices with commentaries and rabbinical responsa, prayer books, philosophical, historiosophical and kabbalistic writings as well as poetic works. A considerable part of the Kraków collection of Judaica – old prints – are prints included in Christian Hebrew studies. It experienced a renaissance from the end of the fifteenth century as a result of a tendency to return to the ancient sources of European culture. Jewish convert to Christianity Elias Levita (Elijahu Levita also

8 Cf. also K. Pilarczyk, Der hebräische Buchdruck zwischen Danzig und Siebenbürgen, [in:] Buch- und Wissenstransfer in Ostmittel- und Südosteuropa in der frühen Neuzeit: Beiträge der Tagung an der Universität Szeged vom 25.–28. April 2006, ed. D. Haberland, T. Katona, München 2007, p. 88.

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195

196

Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

known as Elijahu Baruch) made a significant contribution to its development. His Hebrew grammar was repeatedly revised and adapted to university needs, which is reflected in the described collection. Christian Hebraism developed especially in Protestant communities, e.g. in Basel, and was considerably supported by printing houses which published works by sixteenth-seventeenth century Hebraists, such as Sebastian Muenster, Johannes Buxtorf and his son Johannes (junior) . Works by Christian Hebraists were mainly printed in Latin, but also in Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, English, Italian or in one of these languages and Hebrew. Adding them to the Berlin collection was not accidental, but a consciously gathered collection of the most valuable works in the field of Hebraism, both Jewish, Karaite and Christian studies, which included Hebrew grammar, translations of classical Hebrew sources, works on literature and Jewish religious law and customs. The Kraków collection from Berlin contains occasional pamphlets containing local laws regulating the life of particular Jewish communities.

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Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

Table 6.2 Chronological distribution of Judaica – old prints from the Kraków collection Year(s)

Number of prints

15?? 1504 1504–1505 1505 1506 1507 1510 1510–1514 1511 1512 1513 1514 1515 1515–1520 1516 1516–1518 1516–1519 1517 1518 1519 1520 1520–1522 1521 1522 1523 1524 1525 1526 1527 1528 1529 1530 1531 1532 1533

1 1 1 4 3 1 4 1 3 1 4 5 8 1 2 1 1 3 2 7 4 1 5 6 8 4 5 5 3 10 7 8 3 1 4

1533–1534 1536

1 3

Number of Year(s) Number of prints prints SIXTEENTH CENTURY 1537 3 1570 2 1538 8 1571 4 1539 7 1572 2 1540 3 1573 3 1541 7 1574 10 1542 5 1575 1 1543 2 1576 6 1544 5 1577 5 1544–1545 1 1578 3 1545 18 1579 5 1546 23 158? 1 1547 13 1580 9 1548 10 1581 6 1548–1549 1 1582 2 1549 6 1583 4 1550 4 1584 5 1551 6 1585 9 1552 5 1586 15 1553 6 1586?–1587 1 1554 5 1587 8 1555 6 1588 5 1556 8 1589 8 1556–1560 2 1590 4 1557 9 1591 4 1557–1560 1 1592 6 1558 11 1593 4 1559 10 1593–1594 1 1560 14 1594 6 1561 5 1595 16 1562 3 1596 8 1563 7 1597 13 1564 2 1598 6 1565 7 1599 14 1566 18 1600 13 1567 13 Sixteenth 1 century 1568 3 TOTAL for the sixteenth century 1569 4

Year(s)

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197

198

Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

Year(s)

Number of prints

1601 1602 1603 1604 1604–1606 1605 1606 1607 1608 1609 1609–1611 1610 1611 1612 1613 1614 1615 1616 1617 1618 1619 1620 1621 1622 1623 1624 1625 1626 1627 1628 1629 1630 1631 1631–1632 1632

16 10 5 3 1 10 4 7 8 13 1 10 4 13 4 5 2 2 8 10 15 5 6 12 5 5 2 5 11 6 10 4 6 1 2

1633

2

1634 1635

6 2

Number of Year(s) Number of prints prints SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 1637 3 1669 5 1638 7 1670 8 1639 8 1671 2 1639–1642 1 1672 3 1640 9 1673 2 1641 2 1674 6 1642 11 1675 5 1643 1 1676 8 1644 10 1677 5 1645 5 1678 7 1646 3 1679 2 1646–1649 1 1680 8 1647 7 1680–1681 1 1648 9 1681 6 1649 4 1681–1682 1 1650 7 1682 5 1651 7 1683 10 1652 13 1684 3 1653 6 1685 3 1654 4 1686 7 1654–1655 1 1687 7 1655 14 1688 13 1655–1792 1 1689 2 1656 3 1690 9 1657 6 1691 7 1657–1668 1 1692 9 1658 3 1693 10 1658–1659 2 1694 9 1659 7 1695 2 1660 12 1696 11 1661 8 1697 17 1661–1662 1 1698 22 1662 4 1699 41 1663 6 1700 10 1664 5 During the reign of King 1 1665 5 Sigismund III 1666 8 TOTAL for the seventeenth century 715 1667 3

Year(s)

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Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

Year(s)

Number of prints

1701 1702 1703 1704 1704–1705 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1710–1711 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1722–1724 1723 1724 1725 1725–1729 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731

14 12 14 15 1 16 10 13 10 12 17 1 12 17 13 20 22 24 24 29 31 43 31 18 1 13 19 16 1 21 18 12 15 23 7

1732

7

1733

23

1734 1735 1736 1737

17 24 31 23

Number of Year(s) Number of prints prints EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 1738 11 1772 18 1738–1739 1 1773 15 1739 21 1774 10 1740 20 1775 11 1741 10 1776 21 1742 24 1777 19 1743 20 1777–1785 1 1744 11 1778 19 1745 16 1779 14 1745–1747 1 1780 13 1746 10 1781 20 1747 7 1782 19 1748 16 1782–1785 1 1749 11 1783 25 1749–1754 1 1784 28 1750 19 1785 26 1750–1753 1 1785–1788 1 1751 7 1786 24 1752 17 1787 19 1753 26 1788 28 1754 13 1789 29 1755 12 1789–1793 1 1756 24 1789–1802 1 1757 19 1790 33 1758 9 1790–1793 1 1759 7 1791 18 1759–1762 1 1792 21 1760 12 1793 35 1761 7 1794 28 1762 19 1795 27 1763 15 1796 27 1764 24 1797 32 1765 24 1798 25 1765–1776 1 1799 27 1766 27 1800 27 Eighteenth 1766–1770 1 4 century Second half 1767 27 of eighteenth 1 century 1768 19 1769 15 TOTAL for the eighteenth century 1920 1770 18

Year(s)

1771

17

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199

200

Judaica – old prints from the Berlin Collection in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków

Year(s)

Number of prints

1801 1802 1803 1803–1804 1804 1805 1806 1808 1809 1809–1810 1810 1811

13 14 9 1 5 8 5 3 3 1 4 6

1814

2

1816

7

1817

2

1818

8

1819

3

1820

4

Number of Year(s) Number of prints prints NINETEENTH–TWENTIETH CENTURIES 1821 3 1845 1 1822 5 1847 2 1823 1 1849 1 1824 1 1852 2 1825 1 1855 1 1826 3 1860 3 1827 1 1863 1 1828 1 1865 1 1829 1 1868 1 1830 1 1869 1 1831 1 1872 1 1832 1 1937 1 Sixteenth1835 1 nineteenth 1 centuries 1837 1 Eighteenth1 nineteenth centuries 1838 2 Nineteenth 1 century 1840 6 TOTAL for nineteenth and twentieth centuries 1842 1 151 No year of 1843 3 15 publication TOTAL 3407 Year(s)

Source: K. Pilarczyk, Katalog Judaików.

The presented collection of Judaica – old prints – is one of the most valuable in Europe, while in Poland it occupies a leading place among public collections of Judaica from the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries. Fortunately, it was not destroyed during the Nazi period in Germany. It also survived the ravages of war. Thanks to the compilation of its catalogue, it is now fully accessible. In this way it has been restored to culture and science after more than seventy years. It bears witness to the development of Jewish culture, in which books and their producers/creators played an important role, and is a valuable source for Judaic studies and for bibliological research on books printed with Hebrew fonts.

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7.

Hebrew incunabula from the Saraval Collection in the University Library in Wrocław

Towards the end of 2004 a part of the collection of printed books and manuscripts bought in the middle of the nineteenth century by the Jewish Theological Seminary in Wrocław (Jüdisch-Theologisches Seminar in Breslau) from the library of – as David Samuel Löwinger and Bernard Dov Weinryb put it – “legendary bibliophile Leon Vito Saraval from Trieste” returned to Wrocław from Prague.1 Its fate is a fragment of the history of the Wrocław Jewish community, a history which is worth recalling, while the collection is worth describing. In this article I will limit my description only to incunabula, which nowadays have significantly enriched public collections of Hebrew old prints in Poland.

7.1

The History of the Saraval Collection

The place of origin of the collection, which found its way to the Breslau university in the middle of the nineteenth century, was the library of Yehuda Chai Saraval (‫)יהודה חי סרואל‬, known in the literature as Leon Vita Saraval Targestinus (of Trieste) (1771–27 January 1851).2 He came from a family of Jewish scholars known since the sixteenth century. One of the Saravals, Avraham ben Yehuda Leib, lived and wrote in Venice. His commentary Seder ha-Ma’amadot is well known.3 Another Saraval, Yaakov ben Leib,4 lived in Cologne in the sixteenth century, while Yehuda Leib Saraval (d. 17 May 1617) was a rabbi in Venice, and his son Nehemiah (d. 1649) was a well-known Talmudist in that city, the author of the laudation to the book by Yosef Shlomo Delmedigo Elim printed in Amsterdam in 1629.5 Similarly, Shlomo Chai ben Nehemiah, who lived in the seventeenth century, followed in his father’s

1 D.S. Löwinger, B.D. Weinryb, Catalogue of Hebrew Manuscripts in the Library of the Juedischtheologisches Seminar in Breslau, Wiesbaden 1965, p. VII. 2 See M. M. Steinschneider, Catalogus, vol. 1–2, Berolini 1852–1860; 2nd edn, Hildesheim 1964 [repr. Berlin 1931], kol. 2500; cf. Id., Catalogue de la Bibliotheque de literature Hebraique et Orientale et d’Auteurs hebreux de feu Leon V. Saraval, Trieste 1853. 3 Commentary known from the Venice edition of 1606 (M. Steinschneider, Catalogus, item 2811; editio princeps unknown). 4 His name is mentioned in the responsa of Nachalat Yaakov ben Elchanan Heilbronn (N.J.J.E Nachalat, ‫[ שאלות ותשובות‬She’elot u-teshuvot], Padua 1622–1623). 5 His name is also mentioned in the responsa of Raphael Meldol Mayim Rabbim, ‫[ שאלות ותשובות‬She’elot u-teshuvot], Amsterdam 1737, 1:11) and in Devar Shmuel of Shmuel Aboab (S. Aboab, Devar Shmuel,

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202

Hebrew incunabula from the Saraval Collection in the University Library in Wrocław

footsteps.6 Another member of the Saraval family – Simcha Juda, an author and poet – was a rabbi in Mantua. Yehuda Chai lived in Trieste, becoming known as a collector of manuscripts and valuable old Hebrew prints (including incunabula) and author of Discorsi pronunciati all’apertura degli studi della comunità israelitica di Trieste (Trieste 1811). The organizers of the Breslau seminary for rabbis and teachers purchased from his heirs a part of the money (5,000 thalers, i.e. 15,000 marks of that time) donated to him in his will by Jonas Fraenckel (b. 1773),7 a merchant councillor and philanthropist, who died in 1846, a book collection of 405 items, including 69 manuscripts and 6 incunabula (in seven volumes). All of it arrived in Breslau in 1854, which is reflected in the reception record of the library, and coincided almost with the opening of the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau, founded by him and headed from the beginning by Zachariah Frankel. It became the centre of modern Jewish studies in that city, and survived until November 1938, becoming part of the so-called Wissenschaft des Judentums. The library of this university was based to a large extent on the Saraval collection; in total it consisted of over 30 thousand prints and about 400 manuscripts.8 It was an important element of the research workshop of the scholars who received Talmudic, philosophical and philological education, similar to that of Zachariah Frankel, director of the newly established rabbinical seminary in Breslau, a city which, along with Berlin, Königsberg and Vienna, belonged to the leading centres of the Jewish Haskalah. In the ongoing discussion in Jewish circles, he also marked out an intermediate way of reforming Judaism, searching for new forms of understanding and realizing it, trying to mark it out between (neo)Orthodoxy and radical reform. This direction is referred to as Conservative.9 In November 1938, (after the events of Kristallnacht) the Seminary, together with its library with priceless collections, was closed by the Gestapo, while in the following months the Nazis deported the Jewish community of Breslau to Grüssau (Krzeszów), Tormersdorf and other places in Silesia, and from 1942, they transported them to the concentration camps in Auschwitz, Sobibór, Riga and

6 7 8

9

Venice 1702, no. 19). Cf. G. Laras, Saraval, family of scholars, [in:] Encyclopaedia Judaica, ed. F. Skolnik, M. Berenbaum, T. Gale, 2nd edn, vol. 18, Jerusalem 2007, p. 51–52. Cf. S. Aboab, Devar Shmuel, p. 375; Piskei Recanati ha-Acharonim (p. 24). Fraenkel, family, in: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd edn, vol. 7, Jerusalem 2007, p. 143. This collection was described by D.S. Löwinger and B.D. Weinryb (D.S. Löwinger, B.D. Weinryb, Catalogue of Hebrew Manuscripts in the Library of the Juedisch-theologisches Seminar in Breslau, Wiesbaden 1965). Not all items came from the Saraval collection. For example, among the manuscripts only 69 items came from the Saraval collection. 36 other manuscripts were donated to the library by Mrs Beer of Dresden from the collection of her late husband Bernhard Beer. Other donors included R. Kircheim of Frankfurt am Main, Z. Frankel, J. Bernays, L. Adler, B. Zuckermann, D. Rosin, G. Tiktin, and A. Cohn. Cf. D.S. Löwinger, B.D. Weinryb, Catalogue of Hebrew Manuscripts, p. VII. K. Pilarczyk, Literatura żydowska [Jewish Literature], 2nd edn, p. 317–324.

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The History of the Saraval Collection

Terezin. The library collection itself was confiscated by the Gestapo, and in 1939 it was requisitioned by the German organization taking over the property of Jewish institutions – Reichsvereinigung der Deutschen Juden. They remained in Breslau until 1944, when the entire library collection was divided up and transported away. After the war part of the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau found in Kłodzko was given by the Polish authorities to the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. Another part, which was taken over by the Soviet army, was transported to the USSR.10 A part of the collection, first hidden in the Czech Sudetenland, found its way to Prague, where it was stored in the Klementinum Library, which was still administered by the Germans. After the end of World War II, it remained in it i.e. National Library of the Czech Republic but was not inventoried or recognized for many years. In the 1990s, 34 Hebrew manuscripts and 6 incunabula were identified and Wrocław (pre-war Breslau) was established as their provenance. In 2003, a detailed catalogue was compiled by Olga Sixtová and Jerzy Stankiewicz from the Jewish Museum in Prague. They also prepared, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, a Saraval Legacy exhibition in the National Library of the Czech Republic (7–19 November 2004), presenting a collection of Hebrew manuscripts and incunabula from the Saraval collection before it was returned to the Jewish Religious Community in Wrocław as an heir to the Wrocław Seminary. At the same time, the entire collection was included in the international program of digitizing the most valuable library collections (Memoria Project) carried out under the patronage of UNESCO in cooperation with the National Library of the Czech Republic and AiP Beroun Company.11 In December 2004, the Prague part of the Saraval collection (34 manuscripts and 7 incunabula volumes) was transferred, thanks to the efforts of the Polish government, to Wrocław and deposited by the legal heir of the Jewish Theological Seminary, i.e. the Jewish Religious Community, in the Old Prints Department of the University Library in Wrocław. The rest of the surviving collection is located in Warsaw, Moscow, New York, Jerusalem and in private collections.

10 39 manuscripts from the Saraval collection have been recently catalogued – see K.A. Dmitrieva, Каталог рукописей и архивных материалов из Еврейской Теологической Семинарии Города Бреслау в Российских Хранилищах [Catalogue of Manuscripts and Archival Materials of JuedischTheologisches Seminar in Breslau Held in Russian Depositories], Moskva 2003. 11 See www.manusciptorium.com and www.memoria.cz.

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203

204

Hebrew incunabula from the Saraval Collection in the University Library in Wrocław

7.2

Hebrew incunabula in Poland

Six Hebrew incunabula (prints in Hebrew type published before the end of 1500) in seven volumes from the Saraval collection, once the property of the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau and now in Wrocław, are an extremely rare group of books, reflecting the earliest, little known history of Jewish printing. It is estimated that in the early stages of Hebrew book production (until the end of 1500) typographers printed a total of about 40–50 thousand copies, of which just over 2,000 have survived. The rest was destroyed during fortuitous situations, as a result of wars, the action of church censorship, especially the burning of books ordered by the Inquisition on the Apennine and Iberian peninsulas. The calculations presented above are the result of bibliological research. It has been established that currently 175 editions (titles) of Hebrew books are known, which are found in public collections,12 or – as Yeshayahu Vinograd13 presents – 207 titles. Their print runs, on the other hand, are estimated at 200 to 400 copies, similar to other printed books from the invention of printing to the end of the fifteenth century. On this basis we can calculate the probable number of all copies printed until the end of the fifteenth century. It is impossible to determine the exact number also because these books did not always function as independent printings. Often the prints were bound into so-called adligats, which made them more difficult to recognise. According to Adriaan Karel Offenberg, until the return of the incunabula from the Saraval collection, there were 12 copies of these oldest Hebrew prints in Polish public collections.14 They were owned by the National Library in Warsaw (3), the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków (1) and the Library of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw (8).15 12 Cf. Hebrew Incunabula in Public Collections, ed. A.K. Offenberg, C. Moed-Van Walraven; Евреиские инкунабулы описание [Hebrew Incunabula: description], ed. S.M., Âkerson; S. Iakerson, Каталог инкунабулов на древнееврейском языке Библиотеки [Catalogue of Hebrew Incunabula in the Library]; S. Iakerson, Catalogue of Hebrew Incunabula from the Collection of the Library, vol. 1–2; K. Pilarczyk, Hebrajska książka drukowana w Europie środkowowschodniej w XVI–XVIII wieku: topografia, wielkość produkcji i funkcja [Hebrew Printed Books in Central and Eastern Europe in the Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries. Topography, Circulation and Function], “Studia Judaica” 10 (2007), no. 1, p. 7–9. 13 [Y. Vinograd], ‫ אוצר הספר העברי‬,‫וינוגרד‬.‫[ י‬Thesaurus of the Hebrew Book], vol. 2. 14 See Hebrew Incunabula in Public Collections, ed. A.K. Offenberg, C. Moed-Van Walraven. 15 See K. Pilarczyk, Przewodnik po bibliografiach polskich judaików [Guide to Bibliographies of Polish Judaica], Kraków 1992, p. 121–122. Incunabula from the collections of the Jewish Historical Institute, also from the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary in Wrocław, were described in detail earlier by G. Weil (G. Weil, Sur une bibliothèque systématiquement pillée par les nazis. Le catalogue des manuscrits et incunables retrouvés de la “Bibliothek des Jüdisch-theologischen Seminars in Breslau”, [in:] Hommage à Georges Vajda: études d’histoire et de pensée juives, ed. G. Nahon; Ch. Touati, Louvain 1980, p. 579–604).

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Hebrew incunabula in Poland

The National Library in Warsaw holds books of the Bible probably printed in Naples in 1487: (1) Tehilim [Psalms] with a commentary by David Kimchi (Naples: Yosef ben Yaakov Ashkenazi [Gunzenhauser], 28 March 1487), (2) Mishlei [Book of Proverbs] with a commentary by Immanuel [ben Shlomo of Rome] published by Chaim ben Icchak HaLevi Ashkenazi ([Naples: Yosef ben Yaakov Ashkenazi Gunzenhauser], between 28 March and 25 September 1487) and (3) in one volume Iiow [Job] and Divre ha-yamim [Book of Chronicles] with commentary by Levi Gersonides, Shlomo ben Icchak (Rashi), Yosef ben Shimeon Karo and PseudoShlomo ben Icchak published by Shmuel ben Shmuel of Rome (Naples: [Yosef ben Yaakov Ashkenazi Gunzenhauser], 26 September 1487). The Jagiellonian Library in Kraków is said to have contained one incunabulum, but it cannot be found at present. It was Mivchar ha-peninim [A selection of pearls] by Shlomo ibn Gabirol, translated and with a commentary by Judah ibn Tibon, probably published by Shlomo ben Peres Bonfroi Carfati in Soncino in Yeshua Soncino’s publishing house on 14 January 1484. The Jewish Historical Institute had the largest number of incunabula, as many as eight, all from the Saraval collection from the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau. Unfortunately, the newest catalogue of the most valuable old prints from this library does not list them,16 which may mean that they have disappeared(?). These included: (1) Chamishah chumshe torah [The Five Books of Moses] with a targum of Onkelos and a commentary by Shlomo ben Icchak (Rashi) (Lisbon: Eliezer [Toledano], between 8 July and 6 August 1491), (2) Neviim rishonim [The First Prophets] with a commentary by David Kimchi (Soncino: [Yochua Shlomo ben Israel Natan Soncino], 15 October 1485), (3) Arba’ah Turim [Four Orders] by Yaakov ben Asher ([Soncino: Shlomo ben Moshe Soncino], [ca. 1490]), (4) Tur orach chaim [Order of the Way of Life] by Yaakov ben Asher ([Ixar: Eliezer ben Avraham Alantansi], between 12 August and 9 September 1485), (5) Mishneh torah [Deuteronomy] by Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides) ([no place of publication, probably in Italy]: Shlomo ben Yehuda and Obadiah ben Moshe, [ca. 1475]), (6) Mishneh Torah [Deuteronomy] of Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides) (Soncino: Gershon ben Moshe Soncino, 23 March 1490), (7) Perush ha-torah [Commentary on the Pentateuch] of Moshe ben Nachman (Nachmanides) and the letter that the rabbi of Jerusalem sends to his son (Lisbon: Eliezer [Toledano], 15 July 1489) and (8) Perush ha-torah [Commentary on the Pentateuch] by Shlomo ben Icchak (Rashi) ([Rome: Obadiah, Menashe, Binyamin of Rome, ca. 1469–1472]; over 20 pages damaged).

16 M. Bendowska, J. Doktór, Świat ukryty w księgach: stare druki hebrajskie ze zbiorów Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego [A World Hidden in Books: Old Hebrew Prints from the Collection of the Jewish Historical Institute], Warsaw 2011.

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206

Hebrew incunabula from the Saraval Collection in the University Library in Wrocław

Therefore, we may assume that there are 10 volumes of Hebrew incunabula in public collections in Poland, 3 in the National Library in Warsaw and 7 (6 titles) in the University Library in Wrocław.

7.3

The Wrocław Collection of Hebrew incunabula

The Wrocław collection of Hebrew incunabula consists of six titles in seven volumes. They include: 1. Biblia hebraica. The early prophets (with a commentary by David ben Yosef Kimchi). Soncino [‫ שונצינו‬.‫ רמ״ו‬.‫]תנ״ך‬ [Neviim rishonim] [‫]נביאים ראשונים‬ (‫ מלכים… עם המפרש… רסינו דוד‬,‫ שמואל‬,‫ שפטים‬,‫קמחי ז״ל )אקבע נסיאים ראשונים… יהושע‬ (The four early prophets… The books of Yoshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings… with a commentary by Rabbi David Kimchi of blessed memory). ‫ רמ״ו‬,[‫ ]דפוס יהושע שלמה בן ישראל נתן שונצינו‬:‫שונצינו‬ Soncino: [Yehoshua Shlomo ben Israel Soncino], 6 Cheshvan 5246 (15 October 1485). C. 167 (folio in Arabic numerals). 2°. Ref: XXII (41 E 54) Binding: half-bound Citations: GoffHeb 22; Thes A31; SOcar 36; Offenberg 27; Schaeper Heb 9; BH 0202621. Notes: Includes: Book of Yoshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. Woodcut incipits. Decayed last two pages. 2. Yaakov ben Asher (Rosh) [‫])יעקב בן אשר( רא״ש‬ Arba’ah Turim (p. 1–4) ‫ארבעה הטורים‬ [‫ ]ר״ן‬,‫ דפוס שלמה בן משה שונצינו‬:[‫]שונצינו‬ [Soncino]: Shlomo ben Moshe Soncino, [ca. 1490]. 2°. K. [94, 80, 50, 126]. 2°. Ref: XXXIV (41 E 52) Binding: half-bound Citations: GoffHeb 48; Thes A56; SOcar 99; Offenberg 62; Schaeper Heb 43; BH 0313483. Notes: Contains four parts of the code: Orach chayim, Yoreh de’ah, Hoshen mishpat, Even ha-ezer. No card numbering, woodcut illustrations, notes in margins.

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The Wrocław Collection of Hebrew incunabula

Fig. 7.1 The beginning of the Book of Yoshua with Neviim rishonim. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXII (41 E 54). From the Saraval collection

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207

208

Hebrew incunabula from the Saraval Collection in the University Library in Wrocław

Fig. 7.2 Beginning of the Book of Judges with Neviim rishonim. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXII (41 E 54). From the Saraval collection

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The Wrocław Collection of Hebrew incunabula

Fig. 7.3 The beginning of the Book of Samuel with Neviim rishonim. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXII (41 E 54). From the Saraval collection

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209

210

Hebrew incunabula from the Saraval Collection in the University Library in Wrocław

Fig. 7.4 Beginning of the Book of Kings with Neviim rishonim. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXII (41 E 54). From the Saraval collection

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The Wrocław Collection of Hebrew incunabula

Fig. 7.5 Opening page of Arba’ah Turim. University Library of Wrocław, ref. XXIV (41 E 52). From the Saraval collection

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211

212

Hebrew incunabula from the Saraval Collection in the University Library in Wrocław

Fig. 7.6 Colophon of Arba’ah Turim from part 1 (c. 94). University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXIV (41 E 52). From the Saraval collection

3. Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam) (‫משה בן מימון )רמב״ם‬

Mishneh Torah ‫משנה תורה‬ [‫ ]רל״ד‬,‫ דפוס שלמה בן יהודה ועובדיה בן משה‬:[?‫]רומה‬ [Rome?]: Shlomo ben Yehuda and Obadiah ben Moshe, [ca. 1474]. 2°. [Ch. 2]. Ref: XLXII 2 (41 E 56) Binding: half-bound Citations: GoffHeb 76; Thes A17; SOcar 9; Offenberg 87; Schaeper Heb 58; HB 0150063. Notes: Second part, comprising books 8 through 14 (unnumbered); unnumbered pages added.

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The Wrocław Collection of Hebrew incunabula

4. Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam) (‫משה בן מימון )רמב״ם‬

Mishneh torah ‫משנה תורה‬ ‫ ר״ן‬,‫ דפוס גרשם בן משה שונצינו‬:‫שונצינו‬ Soncino: Gershom ben Moshe Soncino, 1 Nisan 5250 (23 March 1490). 2°. K. [380]. Ref: XXXVII (41 E 53) Binding: half-bound Citations: GoffHeb 77; Thes A55; SOcar 81; Offenberg 128–132; HB 0150064. Notes: Published by Eliezer ben Shmuel. Woodcut first card and incipits. Unnumbered cards.

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213

214

Hebrew incunabula from the Saraval Collection in the University Library in Wrocław

Fig. 7.7 Beginning of part 2 of Mishneh Torah of Moshe ben Maimon. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXIV (41 E 54). From the collection of Saraval

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The Wrocław Collection of Hebrew incunabula

Fig. 7.8 Colophon from Mishneh Torah of Moshe ben Maimon. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXIV (41 E 54). From the collection of Saraval

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215

216

Hebrew incunabula from the Saraval Collection in the University Library in Wrocław

Fig. 7.9 First page of the commentary of Chiddushe ha-torah of Moshe ben Nachman. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXXI 1 (41 E 51a). From the Saraval collection

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The Wrocław Collection of Hebrew incunabula

Fig. 7.10 Second page of the commentary of Chiddushe ha-torah of Moshe ben Nachman (recto). University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXXI 1 (41 E 51a). From the Saraval collection

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217

218

Hebrew incunabula from the Saraval Collection in the University Library in Wrocław

Fig. 7.11 Beginning of vol. 2 of Moshe ben Nachman’s commentary Chiddushe ha-torah. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXXI 2 (41 E 51b). From the Saraval collection

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The Wrocław Collection of Hebrew incunabula

Fig. 7.12 First preserved page from Perush ha-torah of Shlomo ben Icchak. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XIII (41 E 55). From the Saraval collection

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220

Hebrew incunabula from the Saraval Collection in the University Library in Wrocław

Fig. 7.13 Colophon from Perush ha-torah of Shlomo ben Icchak. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XIII (41 E 55). From the Saraval collection

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The Wrocław Collection of Hebrew incunabula

5a. Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban) (‫משה בן נחמן )רמב״ן‬

Chiddushe ha-toraha (Perusz ha-tora; Igeret ha-Ramban) ‫חדושי התורה‬ ‫פירושי התורה‬ ‫אגרת הרמב״ן‬ ‫ רמ״ט‬,[‫ דפוס אליעזר ]טולידאנו‬:‫אשבונה‬ Lisbon: Eliezer [Toledano], 18 Aw 5249 (15 July1489). 2°. vol. 1. C. 152, [2]. Ref: XXXI 1 (41 E 51a) Binding: half-bound (bad condition). Citations: GoffHeb 87; Thes B18; SOcar 237; Offenberg 97; Schaeper Heb 66; BH 0150431. Notes: Woodcut border and incipits. Card numbering with Arabic numerals.

5b. Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban) (‫משה בן נחמן )רמב״ן‬

Chidushe ha-tora (Perush ha-tora; Igeret ha-Ramban) ‫חדושי התורה‬ ‫פירושי התורה‬ ‫אגרת הרמב״ן‬ ‫ רמ״ט‬,[‫ דפוס אליעזר ]טולידאנו‬:‫אשבונה‬ Lisbon: Eliezer [Toledano], 18 Aw 5249 (15 July1489). 2°. vol. 2. C. 154–300. Ref: XXXI 2 (41 E 51b) Binding: half-bound (bad condition). Citations: GoffHeb 87; Thes B18; SOcar 237; Offenberg 97; Schaeper Heb 66; BH 0150431. Notes: Card numbering in Arabic numerals.

6. Shlomo ben Icchak (Rashi) (‫שלמה בן יצחק )רש״י‬

Perush ha-torah [‫]פירוש על התורה‬ [‫ ר״ל‬,‫ מנשה ובנימין מרומא‬,‫ דפוס עובדיה‬:‫]רומא‬ [Rome?, Obadiah, Manasseh and Benjamin?, 1469–1473]. 4°. C. 213. Ref: XIII (41 E 55) Binding: half-bound Citations: GoffHeb 92; Thes A21; SOcar 3; Offenberg 111; Schaeper Heb 73; HB 0309259 Notes: Commentary on the Pentateuch. No initial card.

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221

222

Hebrew incunabula from the Saraval Collection in the University Library in Wrocław

The Wrocław incunabula are among the most valuable and extremely rare. Two volumes (items 6 and 3) come from the first Hebrew printing house established ca. 1469–1470 in Rome where Obadiah, Manasseh and Benjamin from Rome produced books. They came to Italy, to the Benedictine monastery in Subiaco near Rome in order to learn the new art of printing from German printers Konrad Sweynheym and Arnold Pannartz, clerics. It is likely that between 1469 and 1473 in Rome, where their teachers moved their printing house from Subiaco , they became their partners and printed the first books in Hebrew fonts, giving birth to Jewish printing in Hebrew font. Only one of the books printed at that time indirectly mentions Rome as the place of its production, namely Moshe ben Nachman’s (Ramban) commentary to the Pentateuch leading to the end of the Book of Exodus. The short colophon attached to it states that it was printed by “Obadiah, Manasseh and Benjamin of Rome”. The place of publication of the book itself is not mentioned explicitly.17 Three other printings are also attributed to these three printers and described as having been produced in Rome, as typographical analysis (identical fonts and similar paper) allows. One of them is the above-described commentary to the Pentateuch by Shlomo ben Icchak (item 6), and the other two are from outside the described collection. The incunabula described in item 3 is a mysterious print. It also bears the names of three first Jewish printers, but it is not known where they printed Maimonides’ (Moshe ben Maimon) work Mishneh Torah, the second volume of which is included in the described collection. Because of its typographical features and its similarity to Roman printings, it may be presumed that it was also printed in Rome. Some scholars, like Schaeper, are more cautious and assume that it was printed in Italy between 1473 and 1475, although some push the time of its printing closer to 1480.18 In addition to Rome, further Jewish printing houses on the Apennine Peninsula were established in five Italian cities: Reggio di Calabria, Piove di Sacco, Mantua (capital of Lombardy), Ferrara, and Bologna, but it is difficult to precisely determine their chronology. In the course of time their number was increased by Soncino, Brescia, Barco, Venice, Naples and Casalmaggiore. Of these, the largest number of books was printed in Soncino, Naples and Mantua. In the Wrocław collection there are three prints from Soncino (items 1, 2 and 4). The first one, the so-called First Prophets (four books of the Bible with a commentary by a well-known tosafist David ben Yosef Kimchi) probably came out of the workshop of Yehoshua Shlomo ben Israel Soncino (the book only shows the place of publishing), who gave birth to three generations of printers. They developed Hebrew printing, which is expressed in the number of published books, an ambitious publishing repertoire and a high

17 Cf. Schaeper, Heb. 65; Offenberg 96; Thes A20; BH 0150430. 18 Cf. Schaeper, Heb. 58.

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The Wrocław Collection of Hebrew incunabula

level of editing. His family, who originated from Speyer on the Rhine, moved to Soncino, a small town in Lombardy, and there Yoshua established a printing house where the printing of the first book was completed at the end of 1483 and the last in mid-1489. The printing of the First Prophets was completed, according to the colophon, on 15 October 1485. The second incunabula from Wrocław printed by Shlomo ben Moshe Soncino is also counted among the Soncino prints. Shlomo was related to Yehoshua . His name is mentioned only once, in the print Arba’ah Turim by Yaakov ben Asher completed around 1490. It is possible that he printed more books, belonging to a printing company signed “sons of Soncino”. More or less at the same time when Shlomo ben Moshe Soncino was finishing printing the work of Yaakov ben Asher, also in Soncino, his brother and brotherin-law, Yehoshua Gershom ben Moshe Soncino, was finishing the work on the Mishne Torah of Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides), a copy of which belongs to the returned Saraval collection. Outside Italy, a no less important centre of Hebrew printing was the Iberian Peninsula, where Jewish printers opened their printing houses in the fifteenth century in six localities known to us: three in Spain and three in Portugal. Among the Portuguese was the capital city of Lisbon. From the Jewish printing house in that city comes a two-volume work by Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban), known as Nachmanides, whose printing was completed on 15 July 1489. It was made in the printing house of Eliezer Toledano, who probably ran it from 1488 to 1492. His name is mentioned in four printings, and several others are also attributed to him. Some researchers identified him with Eliezer b. Avraham ibn Alantasi, who printed in Hijar, and they believed that after closing his typographic workshop there he moved it to Lisbon, 600 km away, making a stopover halfway in Toledo; hence his nickname Toledano. Nevertheless, such a hypothesis is not firmly grounded, and our knowledge of the early history of Jewish printing in Portugal remains fragmentary. The description of Hebrew incunabula returned to Wrocław makes one ponder on what went missing from the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. Surprisingly, all those titles (the same copies?) which were returned from Prague, were once in Warsaw. Is this a coincidence or an unexplained episode in the Polish collection of Hebrew incunabula? Facsimiles of selected pages of incunabula presented in this article were made by the Reprographic Workshop of the University Library in Wrocław for the use of the author of the article.

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223

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8.

Wolff Haggadah with a Polish episode in the background

Archaeology, biography and culture of the manuscript The Jewish manuscript book has a rich history. We are particularly interested in the one concerning codices, which are the subject of codicologists’ research. These manuscripts were gradually popularized from the second century CE, and in the second half of the Middle Ages (especially from the eleventh century) they replaced the use of scrolls and became more and more common. This form was given to biblical manuscripts, Talmudic tractates, commentaries to them, religiousphilosophical tractates, collections of poetry, prayer books, collections of laws and responses, and edifying stories about the history of ancient Israel. Unfortunately, only a small part of them survived. Their number is estimated at about 60–80 thousand, depending on which of the defective manuscript books are counted among them. Strictly speaking, 40–50 thousand volumes belong to the medieval ones.1 Thus, the first extant codices from the eleventh century come from Italy, from the twelfth century from the Iberian Peninsula, France and Germany, and from the thirteenth century from Byzantium and the Maghreb. With regard to the writing techniques and forms used, they are divided into Byzantine and Oriental; the latter into: Yemenite (from the twelfth century), Persian (from the fourteenth century), Sephardic (from the thirteenth century: the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, Provence, Languedoc), Ashkenazi, and (altogether) Italian and Sicilian.2 The manuscript of interest to us, commonly known as Wolff Haggadah or the French Haggadah, belongs to the group of Jewish Oriental books of Sephardic provenance from Provence, and is dated to the end of the fourteenth century. It is stored in the National and University Library in Jerusalem under the title ‫הגדה‬ ‫ עם דיני סדר ליל הפסח ומנהגיו על פי רבני צרפת‬:‫[ של פסח כמנהג פרובנס‬Haggadah shel Pesach (Pesach haggadah According to the Provencal Ritual: with the Customs of the

1 See M. Beit-Arié, Hebrew Manuscripts of East and West. Towards a Comparative Codicology, London 1993, p. 8; C. Sirat, Hebrew Manuscripts of the Middle Ages, ed. and transl. N. de Lange, Cambridge 2002, p. 8. 2 Cf. K. Pilarczyk, Książka etniczna, mniejszości narodowych i religijnych. Żydzi [Ethnic, National Minority and Religious Books. Jews], [in:] Encyklopedia książki [Encyclopaedia of the Book], ed. A. ŻbikowskaMigoń and M. Skalska-Zlat, vol. 2: K–Z, Wrocław 2017, p. 132–133. Sometimes, due to the geochronological typology of Jewish manuscript books, they are divided into: Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Italian and Sicilian, Byzantine, Oriental, Yemenite, and unidentifiable (see C. Sirat, Hebrew Manuscripts, p. 11).

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226

Wolff Haggadah with a Polish episode in the background

Seder on the Night of Pesach as Defined by the French Rabbis)] and library reference number Ms. Heb. 38°7246.3

8.1

Archaeology of the manuscript

The manuscript was written in Hebrew on parchment. It bears the subtitle ‫דיני‬ ‫[ פסח‬Dine Pesach (Pesach laws)]. It was bound in maroon leather cut from a single piece and pasted on cardboard. At the top of the front cover there is an inscription in Hebrew in gold letters ‫[ הגדת צרפת‬Haggadah Tzorfat], and below it, in English: The French Haggadah. Bibliological research points its place of origin to Avignon in the Rhone Valley in Provence, which was independent of France during the Middle Ages. At the time the manuscript was written (late fourteenth century), Avignon belonged, along with surrounding estates, to the popes (from 1348), who bought the area from Joan I of Sicily. The antipopes resided there from 1378 to 1408. The manuscript is attributed to Yaakov ben Shlomo Tzarfati (see pages 4a, 14a and 24b). He was its copyist and then probably its owner. The nickname Tzarfati indicates that he came from France. He is identified as the author of the manuscript Mishkenot Yaakov, kept in Paris in the Bibliothèque Nationale (rkps 733.HEB). The manuscript, which consists of 36 cards preceded by two at the front and two added at the end, when bound forms a booklet measuring 15.5 × 20.5 cm,4 composed of four parts. The main content of the manuscript is a Passover haggadah according to the Provencal rite, supplemented by instructions and customs according to the rite in force in northern France. Thus, the manuscript consists of: − instructions for the burning of leaven (fol. 1v); − instructions and customs for the celebration of the seder (fols. 2–4v), including a kiddush with diacritical marks (punctuation) (2v) and a blessing associated with the eating of karpas5 (fol. 3);

3 The manuscript has been digitized and is available online, both its condition after it was acquired by the National Library of Jerusalem and its current condition after conservation at: https://www.nli.org.il/he/manuscripts/NNL_ALEPH000043376/NLI?_ga=2.62210348. 1602637092.1541920600–1067578015.1509615958#$FL15992115 [accessed: 22.02.2020]. Microfilm ref. B 964 (F 10116). 4 The cards are not equal. Full pages are 20.5 × c. 15.2–15.6 cm (fols.: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 20, 29, 33. Main text of Haggadah: 13.6–14.4 × 0.96 cm (fols.: 6, 6v, 7, 8, 10, 14, 16, 21, 24v, 30, 32, 33. Instructions and customs: text 13.7–14.4 × 0.96 (fols.: 2, 2v, 3, 3v, 25v, 26, 26v). Piyyutim: text 14.3–14.8 × 0.96 cm (fols.: 35, 35v, 36). 5 Karpas (Hebrew ‫ )כּ ְרפּס‬from Greek καρπός [karpos] – fresh raw vegetable, one of the rituals of the Pesach seder. It refers to a vegetable (parsley or celery), dipped in liquid (usually salt water, less often wine vinegar) – a symbol of the salty tears shed by the Israelites in Egyptian captivity – and then

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Archaeology of the manuscript

− signs used in the celebration of the seder (fol. 4v); − The text of the haggadah up to the middle of Hallelu (23v-24v); − instructions and customs for the celebration of the seder, related to drinking the second cup of wine, eating unleavened bread (macca), bitter herbs (maror), the main meal, afikoman,6 and drinking the third cup of wine (25–27). The text of the blessing over matzah, maror, and matzah in combination with maror has been provided with points (24–27); − a continuation of the text of Aggeus (Haggai) with instructions for the recitation of thanksgiving after meals (fol. 26), shefoch – followed by verses of biblical texts (Ps 69:25; 2:9; 69:26; Lam 3:66; Ps 69:29; 69:28; Lam 3:66; Ps 28:4; Lam 3:64; Hos 9:14; Ps 79:7) concerning God’s vengeance on the nations of the world (added later by the hand of an Ashkenazi copyist) (fol. 27); a continuation of the Hallelu (fols. 28–32) and the great Hallelu (fols. 32v-34v); − piyyutim: Mebait Eretz (fols. 35–35v) and Pesach Mitzraim (fol. 35v-36v). The main text of the haggadah was written in ten lines per page (except for fol. 12v, written in nine lines). Instructions and customs in 20 lines per page (except for fol. 25v, written in 19 lines). The great Hallel and piyyutim in 18–20 lines per page. The handwriting used for the manuscript is described as square Hebrew with a French-Provençal or Sephardic style. The text was written in dark brown ink. The great Hallel (fols. 23v-24v) and the piyyutim (fols. 35, 35v, 36) and the instructions and customs (fols. 24–27) were written in small square script, in lighter brown ink. The manuscript is dated to the last decade of the fourteenth century. It is ornamented (drawings and ornaments). The words that constitute the first words of the Torah (Pentateuch) quoted in the haggadah, seventy in all, are framed, beginning with page 6r, in alternating scarlet and violet borders decorated with arabesques. There are also eight text illustrations in the manuscript – ink drawings in sepia on the edges of pages 6, 6v, 21, 21v, 22, 23 and 24v. Only one was placed in the bottom margin (fol. 6v). The drawings depict male figures standing, bearded, dressed in long robes. The author of the illuminations is unknown. This issue requires further research, as the preliminary investigation shows their connection with the Italian illuminator tradition, related to the so-called Paduan Bible of the fourteenth century. In general, the manuscript’s state of preservation is good. Nevertheless, many pages are stained, probably by wine, most notably fol. 1, where even for this reason the inscription is barely visible.

eaten. Sometimes this name is used to describe the dipping of raw onions or boiled potatoes. Karpas is usually placed on the seder plate on the left side, below the baked egg. 6 Last piece of matzo.

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8.2

History of the manuscript

The history of the manuscript up to its German period is almost unknown. In 1889 it was bought at a public auction in Germany by Albert Wolff, a Jewish collector of Judaica and jeweller from Dresden. Almost until his death in 1907, it was part of his extensive collection. Thus began its recent history. The manuscript itself then became known under its new owner as the Wolff Haggadah.7 In 1907, Wolff’s collection, which consisted of objects of worship, coins, medals, prints, archaeological finds, and manuscripts (including the Haggadah), was given to the Berlin Jewish community. It was exhibited in two rooms next to the city library and was looked after by Moritz Stern. In the twenties, a Jewish museum in the full sense of the word was created, in which the art collection of the Jewish community found its place, especially when Karl Schwarz became its director and Max Liebermann became its honorary chairman. The official opening of the Jewish Museum in Berlin took place on 24 January 1933, six days before Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor.8 During the Nazi period the museum, like other Jewish institutions, was subject to increasing restrictions and harassment by the German authorities. After the so-called Kristallnacht (9/10 November 1938), the Gestapo confiscated the museum’s property, including the Wolff Haggadah. The further fate of the manuscript is basically unknown. It is known that the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) – the Reich Security Main Office, i.e. the headquarters of the state security police – amassed a large international Jewish library, which existed in an undivided state at least until April 1942. Over time, the books were probably transported from the upper floors of the RSHA in Eisenacherstrasse 12 in Berlin to several collection points in the Sudetenland,9 including Glatz (since 1945 Kłodzko) in Lower Silesia. When the Red Army entered the area, some of the Jewish collections confiscated by the Germans were found. The Wolff Haggadah from the Lower Silesia region found its way to the library of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw and was kept among the collections coming from Jewish communities in Germany and Austria.

7 It was first described twice by David Kaufmann (see D. Kaufmann, Une Haggadah de la France septentrinale ayant appertenu á Jacob ben Salomon á Avignon, “Revue des Études Juives” 25 (1892), p. 65–77, and D. Kaufmann, Le “Grand-Deuil” de Jacob b. Salomon Sarfati D’Avignon, “Revue des Études Juives” 30 (1895), p. 52–64). Starting from his studies, the manuscript became the subject of scholarly research. 8 Cf. I. Bertz, Das erste Jüdische Museum in Berlin, https://www.jmberlin.de/das-erste-juedischemuseum-berlin [accessed 27.02.2020]. 9 Cf. P. Kennedy Grimsted, Sudeten Crossroads for Europe’s Displaced Books. The “Mysterious Twilight” of the RSHA Amt VII Library and the Fate of a Million Victims of War, [in:] Restitution of Confiscated Art Works – Wish or Reality? Documentation, Identification and Restitution of Cultural Property of the Victims of World War II. Proceedings of the International Academic Conference Held in Liberec, 24–26 October 2007, ed. M. Borák, Prage 2008, p. 123–180.

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History of the manuscript

Unfortunately, its provenance was not recorded at that time, and it was impossible to reconstruct its route from Germany to Poland. The curators of the library and its first Polish and foreign researchers record the fact of its inclusion in the collection of the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw (ŻIH), where it was given the reference no. 242 and the originality and historical value of the manuscript was confirmed.10 In 1984, it was loaned by the Jewish Historical Institute to the USA for exhibition. Unfortunately, it was lost in unknown circumstances on its way back. Five years later (1989), Nathan Hecht, a Montreal Jew, acting through his agent Bery Gross, put it up for sale at the Habsburg-Feldman public auction house in Geneva, claiming that he had previously purchased the Wolff Haggadah. The new transaction was prevented by the World Jewish Congress, supported by the Israeli National and University Library in Jerusalem, acting on behalf of the Jewish communities of East and West Berlin (then still divided), i.e. the pre-war owners of the manuscript. The Polish government also became involved in the recovery of the manuscript, claiming its return to the Jewish Historical Institute, from which it had been allegedly stolen in 1984. The matter of the Haggadah’s ownership became the subject of a court dispute in Switzerland, and a Swiss investigating judge seized it, knowing its value, which at the time was estimated at 1–1.5 million dollars. The ruling of the Geneva Supreme Court, which heard the appeal against the lower court’s ruling, on 14 December 1989, stated that it was the legal property of the

10 See S. Strelcyn, Katalog rękopisów orientalnych [Catalogue of Oriental Manuscripts], “Przegląd Orientalistyczny” 1: 1953, no. 5, p. 48–54. The manuscript is defined as “a Provençal Hebrew Haggadah from the thirteenth century” (p. 49) and classified as the oldest manuscript beautifully illuminated (p. 51). A year later Franciszek Kupfer and Stefan Strelcyn (F. Kupfer, S. Stefan, Dwa lata pracy nad katalogiem rękopisów hebrajskich i aramejskich ze zbiorów polskich [Two Years of Work Over the Catalogue of Hebrew and Aramaic Manuscripts from Polish Collections], “Przegląd Orientalistyczny” 2 (1954), no. 10, p. 147–158) corrected its dating to the fourteenth c. (p. 158), adding that it was found by Soviet Army soldiers in the basement of the Gestapo in Kłodzko and has no metric (p. 149). The haggadah received most attention from Alfred Berengaut (A. Berengaut, Najstarsze rękopisy ze zbiorów Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego w Polsce i ich autorzy [Oldest Manuscripts, and Their Authors, from the Collection of the Jewish Historical Institute in Poland], “Biuletyn Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego” 1975, no. 2, p. 71–80). He dates it back to the thirteenth century (p. 77), and describes the place of publication as Provence. He also notes that Dr Gerard E. Weil, professor at the University of Nancy and head of the manuscripts department, when he saw manuscript no. 242 in Warsaw in 1971, confirmed that it was an original copy of great historical value (p. 77, note 7). Similarly, Michel Garel (see M. Garel, Manuscrits hébreux en Polone, “Revue d’Histoire des Textes. Bulletin” 5: 1977, p. 365–367 and M. Garel, The Rediscovery of the Wolf Haggadah, “Journal of Jewish Art” 2 (1975), p. 22–27) lists it among the most valuable illuminated Hebrew manuscripts found in Polish public collections. On the other hand, it was not noted in the work Zbiór rękopisów w bibliotekach i muzeach w Polsce [Collection of Manuscripts in Libraries and Museums in Poland], ed. D. Kamolowa, K. Muszyńska, Warsaw 1988, p. 285–287.

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Jewish communities in East and West Berlin.11 In this context, an agreement was signed in 1990 between the World Jewish Congress and the Polish government, in which it was agreed that if the plaintiffs won the court case, the Wolff Haggadah would be handed over to the Israeli National and University Library in Jerusalem. The case was not finally settled until 1996, after two appeals to the Geneva court. A year later the Haggadah was returned to the Polish embassy in Switzerland. On 15 January 1997, during the official state visit to Israel (14–17 January 1997), the Prime Minister of Poland, Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, presented it as a gift from the Polish Prime Minister to Professor Israel Shatzman, Director of the National and University Library in Jerusalem, during a ceremony which took place in the Knesset in the presence of its Chairman, Dan Tikhon. Shlomo Zucker described the manuscript as the first Israeli back in 1997.12 Afterwards, it underwent a thorough conservation process at the Israeli National Library and was professionally described by the Centre for Jewish Art of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem between 2002 and 2007.13

8.3

Manuscript culture

The manuscript we are interested in is referred to as a haggadah. This genre occurs quite often in Jewish literature. This type of work comprises blessings, prayers, midrashic commentaries and psalms recited during the so-called Seder ritual, celebrated on the eve of the Passover holiday, one of the most important in Judaism. Every Jewish family is obliged to celebrate Pesach Seder, according to the commandment included in the tenth chapter of Pesachim, which belongs to the second Seder of the Mishnah, called Moed.14 A particularly important message is contained in verse 10.4:

11 The date of this hearing and the earlier fate of the Wolff Haggadah was reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency – see T. Levy, Geneva Court to Rule Dec. 14 on Ownership of Wolff Hagaddah, [in:] “Daily News Bulletin”, [New York] 8 December 1989, vol. 67, no. 232, p. 4. 12 [S. Zucker], ,‫[ נפתולי הגורל והחקר של הגדת וולף שלמה צוקר‬Naftoli ha-Gorel we-ha-cheker shel haggadah Wolff ], “‫( פברואר”על ספרים ואנשים‬1997), p. 4–13. 13 See Wolf, Haggadah, documenter E. Kanon, section head M. Stemthal, ed. J. Cardozo, http://cja. huji.ac.il/manuscripts/Wolf%20Haggadah/Final_General.html [accessed 28.02.2020]. 14 See ‫פסחים‬. Paschy [Passovers], transl. and ed. R. Marcinkowski, [in:] Mishnah, vol. 2: Moed [Feast], ed. R. Marcinkowski, Warszawa 2014, p. 93–125.

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Manuscript culture

Nalano mu drugi kielich. Tu syn pyta ojca.15 A jeśli syn nie wie, to ojciec go poucza: “Czym różni się ta noc od wszystkich innych nocy?” Ponieważ we wszystkie noce spożywamy potrawy kwaszone i niekwaszone, tej nocy zaś wszystko jest niekwaszone. Ponieważ we wszystkie noce spożywamy pozostałe warzywa, tej nocy zaś gorzkie zioła. Ponieważ we wszystkie noce spożywamy mięso pieczone, smażone i gotowane, tej zaś nocy zaś wszystko jest tylko pieczone. Ponieważ we wszystkie noce maczamy jeden raz, tej zaś dwa razy. Według wiedzy syna, jego ojciec go poucza. Zaczyna naganą, a kończy pochwałą. Wyjaśnia od [słów]: “Błądzącym Aramejczykiem był mój ojciec”, aż skończy całą tę paraszę. [A second mug was poured for him. Here the son asks his father. And if the son does not know, the father instructs him: “How is this night different from all other nights?” Because on all nights we eat leavened and unleavened foods, on this night everything is unleavened. Because on all nights we eat other vegetables, but on this night we eat bitter herbs. Because in all nights we eat roasted, fried, and boiled meat, while this night everything is only roasted. Because in all nights we dip once, while this night we dip twice. According to the son’s knowledge, his father instructs him. He begins with a reprimand and ends with praise. He explains with [the words]: “An erring Aramean was my father”, until he finishes the entire parashah].

The Wolff Haggadah is part of Jewish culture, showing that the Pesach ritual was also observed by Jews in the Middle Ages. It must not be forgotten that each Diaspora adapted it to changing times and places although the haggadic tale of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt remained unchanged at its core. In order to define the specificity of the Wolff Haggadah, it was not difficult to answer the question of which environment it refers to and which customs it attests to. The name French Haggadah assigned to it pointed to France. Its first researcher, David Kaufmann, claimed that the manuscript was written in northern France, which would be confirmed by the details of the rituals it recounts. Later research, notably by Michel Garel, has shown that the manuscript was written in the south of France, in Provence, since the scenario of the Haggadah and ritual is typically Spanish-Provençal. It is sometimes called “the rite of Avignon” or “the rite of Carpentrac”,16 which was characteristic of the rituals of the Jews of Provence, while in other provisions they

15 These questions and answers make up the Passover haggadah, i.e. a specific story about the feast of Passover, during which a father of a family instructs his children on particular rites and customs, thus showing care for educating his offspring according to the Law and preserving the religious identity of the community to which his family belongs. In this way, he fulfils the injunction contained in Exod 12:26–28. Haggadahs compiled in the form of manuscripts and then printed supported the Jewish community in fulfilling this Torah injunction. These include the Wolff Haggadah. 16 The name “rite of Carpentras” is derived from the village of Carpentras (Hebrew: Karpentrac), 22 km northeast of Avignon. Jews from this village were expelled several times, but settled there again after the area of Avignon was transferred to the Holy See.

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adopted the Ashkenazi tradition, also known to the scribe because he was born in northern France, where it was widespread. To illustrate the “Avignon” customs which the scribe recorded in the Haggadah, two details are worth quoting. One concerns blessings. Some people during the Pesach seder bless the first cup of wine without first washing their hands, and they wash them only before eating karpas. And Yaakov ben Shlomo writes that his Rabbi Natan always did something that made him wash his hands before kiddush (this blessing), and he, educated by Natan, follows this custom (see fol. 2). The scribe did not recommend blessing after drinking the first cup of wine although several geonim of the great rabbinical schools in Babylonian Sura and Pumbedita and Rabbi Natan agreed that one should then bless. Yaakov ben Shlomo, however, argued that the sin of the one who does not bless (where, perhaps, it was necessary) is less than the sin of the one who blesses at that moment (see fol. 3). The hypothesis linking the environment of the creation of the Wolff Haggadah with Avignon is still predominant today. The identification of the scribe to whom the manuscript is attributed is also in harmony with it. Although he did not include a colophon in the manuscript, his identification is not questioned. He is Yaakov ben Shlomo Tzarfati, a scribe and physician from Provence, who lived there at the end of the fourteenth century. The latest research by Shlomo Zucker proves that a considerable part of the manuscript is his autograph,17 and the quoted Pesach customs illustrate to some extent the established Jewish religious culture in Provence, expressed in the holiday ritual. Without doubt, the Wolff Haggadah is among the most valuable illuminated manuscript medieval haggadot next to the Birds’ Head Haggadah (Germany, thirteenth century), Cincinnati Haggadah (Germany, fifteenth century), Darmstadt Haggadah (Germany, fifteenth century), Golden Haggadah (Spain, fourteenth century), Kaufmann Haggadah (Spain, fourteenth century), and Washington Haggadah (Germany, fifteenth century).

17 Cf. [S. Zucker], ,‫[ נפתולי הגורל והחקר של הגדת וולףשלמה צוקר‬Naphtoli ha-Gorel we-ha-cheker shel haggadah Wolff ], p. 12, fn. 26.

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Bibliography

1.

Printed sources

1.1

Talmud tractates

1.1.1 Talmud tractates from the Lublin printing house (in chronological order) with tractates bought in Hanau ‫[ מסכת שבועות‬Masekhet Shevuot], 1559. ‫[ מסכת גטין‬Masekhet Gittin], Końska Wola near Lublin 1560. ‫[ מסכת פסחים‬Masekhet Pesachim], Końska Wola near Lublin–Lublin 1562. ‫[ מסכת ביצה‬Masekhet Betza], 1567. ‫[ מסכת סוכה‬Masekhet Sukka], 1568. ‫[ מסכת עירובין‬Masekhet Eruvin], 1568. ‫[ מסכת קידושין‬Masekhet Kiddushin], 1572. ‫[ מסכת נידה‬Masekhet Nidda], 1572. ‫[ מסכת עבודה זרה‬Masekhet Avodah Zarah], 1573. ‫[ מסכת יבמות‬Masekhet Jevamot], 1574. ‫[ מסכת בבא בתרא‬Masekhet Bava batra], 1576. ‫[ מסכת תענית‬Masekhet Taanit], 1576. ‫[ מסכת ברכות‬Masekhet Berakhot], 1617. ‫[ מסכת כתובות‬Masekhet Ketubot], 1618. ‫[ מסכת קידושין‬Masekhet Kiddushin], 1618. ‫[ מסכת גטין‬Masekhet Gittin], 1618. ‫[ מסכת יבמות‬Masekhet Jevamot], 1619. ‫[ מסכת נזיר‬Masekhet Nazir], 1619. ‫[ מסכת סוטה‬Masekhet Sota], 1619. ‫[ מסכת נדרים‬Masekhet Nedarim], 1619. ‫[ מסכת בבא קמא‬Masekhet Bava kamma], 1619. ‫[ מסכת בבא מציעא‬Masekhet Bava Metzia], 1620. ‫[ מסכת בבא בתרא‬Masekhet Bava batra], 1620. ‫[ מסכת סנהדרין‬Masekhet Sanhedrin], 1620. ‫[ מסכת מכות‬Masekhet Makkot], 1620. ‫[ מסכת שבועות‬Masekhet Shevuot], 1620. ‫[ מסכת עבודה זרה‬Masekhet Avodah Zarah], 1621(?) ‫[ מסכת שקלים‬Masekhet Shekalim], 1621. ‫[ מסכת ביצה‬Masekhet Betza], 1622.

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234

Bibliography

‫[ מסכת ראש השנה‬Masekhet Rosh ha-shana], 1622. ‫[ מסכת תענית‬Masekhet Taanit], 1622. ‫[ מסכת מגילה‬Masekhet Megilla], 1622. ‫[ מסכת עירובין‬Masekhet Eruvin], 1626. ‫[ מסכת פסחים‬Masekhet Pesachim], 1626. ‫[ מסכת חגיגה‬Masekhet Chagiga], 1626. ‫[ מסכת שבת‬Masekhet Shabbat], 1626. ‫[ מסכת סוכה‬Masekhet Sukka], 1626. ‫[ מסכת מועד קטן‬Masekhet Moed katan], 1627. ‫[ מסכת יומא‬Masekhet Joma], 1627. ‫[ מסכת זבחים‬Masekhet Zevachim], 1627. ‫[ מסכת בכורות‬Masekhet Bechorot], 1627. ‫[ מסכת ערכין‬Masekhet Arachin], 1627. ‫[ מסכת מנחות‬Masekhet Menachot], 1628. ‫[ מסכת כריתות‬Masekhet Keritot], 1628. ‫[ מסכת אבות‬Masekhet Avot], 1628. ‫[ מסכת עדיות‬Masekhet Eduyot], 1628. ‫[ מסכת הוריות‬Masekhet Horayot], 1628(1639). ‫[ מסכת בבא קמא‬Masekhet Bava kamma], Lublin–Kraków 1646–1648.

*** ‫[ מסכת נידה‬Masekhet Nidda], Hanau 1618. ‫[ סדר טהרות‬Seder Tohorot], Hanau 1621(?). ‫[ מסכת חולין‬Masekhet Chullin], Hanau 1622.

1.1.2 Talmud tractates from the Kraków printing house (in chronological order) ‫[ מסכת כתובות‬Masekhet Ketubot], 1579. ‫[ מסכת עבודה זרה‬Masekhet Avodah Zarah], 1580. ‫[ פרקי אבות‬Pirke avot], 1580. ‫[ מסכת ברכות‬Masekhet Berakhot], 1602. ‫[ מסכת שבת‬Masekhet Shabbat], 1602. ‫[ בבא בתרא‬Bava batra], 1602. ‫[ בבא מציעא‬Bava Metzia], 1603. ‫[ בבא קמא‬Bava kamma], 1603. ‫[ מסכת ביצה‬Masekhet Betza], 1603. ‫[ מסכת חגיגה‬Masekhet Chagiga], 1603. ‫[ מסכת יומא‬Masekhet Joma], 1603. ‫[ מסכת מגילה‬Masekhet Megilla], 1603. ‫[ מועד קטן‬Moed katan], 1603. ‫[ מסכת סוכה‬Masekhet Sukka], 1603. ‫[ מסכת עירובין‬Masekhet Eruvin], 1603.

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Printed sources

‫[ מסכת פסחים‬Masekhet Pesachim], 1603. ‫[ ראש השנה‬Rosh ha-shana], 1603. ‫[ מסכת תענית‬Masekhet Taanit], 1603. ‫[ מסכת שקלים‬Masekhet Shekalim], 1603. ‫[ אבות‬Avot], 1604 (printed with Masekhet Eduyot, Masekhtot ketanot, Masekhet Horayot). ‫[ מסכת גטין‬Masekhet Gittin], 1604. ‫[ מסכת חוריות‬Masekhet Horayot], 1604 (printed with Avot). ‫[ מסכת יבמות‬Masekhet Jevamot], 1604. ‫[ מסכת כתובות‬Masekhet Ketubot], 1604. ‫[ מסכת מכות‬Masekhet Makkot], 1604. ‫[ מסכת נדרים‬Masekhet Nedarim], 1604. ‫[ מסכת נזיר‬Masekhet Nazir], 1604. ‫[ מסכת סוטה‬Masekhet Sota], 1604. ‫[ מסכת סנהדרין‬Masekhet Sanhedrin], 1604. ‫[ עבודה זרה‬Avodah Zarah], 1604. ‫[ מסכת עדיות‬Masekhet Eduyot], 1604 (printed with Avot) ‫[ מסכת קידושין‬Masekhet Kiddushin], 1604. ‫[ מסכת שבועות‬Masekhet Shevuot], 1604. ‫[ סדר זרעים‬Seder Zeraim], 1604. ‫[ מסכת טהרות‬Masekhet Tohorot], 1604. ‫[ מסכת קטנות‬Masekhtot ketanot], 1604. ‫[ מסכת בכורות‬Masekhet Bechorot], 1605. ‫[ מסכת זבחים‬Masekhet Zevachim], 1605. ‫[ מסכת חולין‬Masekhet Chullin], 1605. ‫[ מסכת כריתות‬Masekhet Keritot], 1605. ‫[ מסכת מנחות‬Masekhet Menachot], 1605. ‫[ מסכת מעילה וקינין ומדות ותמיד‬Masekhet Meila, Kinin, Middot, Tamid], 1605. ‫[ מסכת נידה‬Masekhet Nidda], 1605. ‫[ מסכת ערכין‬Masekhet Arachin], 1605. ‫[ צסכת תמורה‬Masekhet Temura], 1605. ‫[ תלמוד ירושלמי‬Talmud Jerushalmi], 1609. ‫[ מסכת ביצה‬Masekhet Betza], 1616. ‫[ מסכת ברכות‬Masekhet Berakhot], 1616. ‫[ מסכת חגיגה‬Masekhet Chagiga], 1616. ‫[ מסכת יבצות‬Masekhet Jevamot], 1616. ‫[ מסכת יומא‬Masekhet Joma], 1616. ‫[ מסכת מגילה‬Masekhet Megilla], 1616. ‫[ מסכת מועד קטן‬Masekhet Moed katan], 1616. ‫[ מסכת סוכה‬Masekhet Sukka], 1616. ‫[ מסכת עירובין‬Masekhet Eruvin], 1616. ‫[ מסכת פסחים‬Masekhet Pesachim], 1616.

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235

236

Bibliography

‫[ מסכת ראש השנה‬Masekhet Rosh ha-shana], 1616. ‫[ מסכת שבת‬Masekhet Shabbat], 1616. ‫[ מסכת שקלים‬Masekhet Shekalim], 1616. ‫[ מסכת תענית‬Masekhet Taanit], 1616. ‫[ אבות‬Avot], 1617. ‫[ בבא בתרא‬Bava batra], 1618. ‫[ בבא מציעה‬Bava metzia], 1618. ‫[ בבא קצא‬Bava kamma], 1618. ‫[ מסכת בכורות‬Masekhet Bechorot], 1618. ‫[ מסכת גטין‬Masekhet Gittin], 1618. ‫[ מסכת הוריות‬Masekhet Horayot], 1618. ‫[ מסכת זבחים‬Masekhet Zevachim], 1618. ‫[ מסכת חולין‬Masekhet Chullin], 1618. ‫[ מסכת כריתות‬Masekhet Keritot], 1618. ‫[ מסכת כתובות‬Masekhet Ketubot], 1618. ‫[ מסכת מכות‬Masekhet Makkot], 1618. ‫[ מסכת מנחות‬Masekhet Menachot], 1618. ‫[ מסכת מעילה‬Masekhet Meila], 1618. ‫[ מסכת נדרים‬Masekhet Nedarim], 1618. ‫[ מסכת נזיר‬Masekhet Nazir], 1618. ‫[ מסכת סוטה‬Masekhet Sota], 1618. ‫[ מסכת סנהדרין‬Masekhet Sanhedrin], 1618. ‫[ עבודה זרה‬Avodah Zarah], 1618. ‫[ מסכת עדיות‬Masekhet Eduyot], 1618. ‫[ מסכת ערכין‬Masekhet Arachin], 1618. ‫[ מסכת קידושין‬Masekhet Kiddushin], 1618. ‫[ מסכת שבועות‬Masekhet Shevuot], 1618. ‫[ מסכת תמורה‬Masekhet Temura], 1618. ‫[ סדר קדשים‬Seder Kodashim], 1618. ‫[ מסכת נידה‬Masekhet Nidda], 1620.

1.1.3 Talmud tractates from the Nowy Dwór printing house (in chronological order) ‫[ מסכת ברכות‬Masekhet Berakhot], 1784. ‫[ סדר זרעים‬Seder Zeraim], 1784. ‫[ מסכת שבת‬Masekhet Shabbat], 1785/1786.

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Printed sources

1.2

Other sources

Aboab, Shmuel ben Avraham, Devar Shmuel, Venice 1702. [Aleksander Zuslin ha-Kohen], ‫ ספר הגודה‬,‫[ אלקסנדר זוסלין הכהן‬Sepher ha-gudah], Kraków 1571. [Assaf, Simcha] ‫ מקורות לתולדות החנוך בישראל‬,‫ אסף‬.‫[ ש‬Mekorot le-toldot ha-chinuch be-Israel], vol. 1–4, Tel-Aviv–Jeruszalaim 1925–1943. Biblia Święta to jest Księgi Starego y Nowego Przymierza z Żydowskiego y Greckiego Języka na Polski pilnie y wiernie przetłumaczone [The Holy Bible that is the Books of the Old and New Covenant from the Jewish and Greek Languages Carefully and Faithfully Translated into Polish], 1881, https://biblehub.com/pol/genesis/1.htm [accessed: 27.12.2021]. [Chaim ben Bezalel] ‫ ויכוח מים חיים‬,‫[ חיים בן בצלאל‬Vikuach mayim chayim], Amsterdam 1712. Elemental oder lesebuchlen Doraus meniglich mit gutem grund unterwisen wirt. Wie man deutsche buchlen Missiuen oder Sendbriue Schuldbriue so mit ebreischen ader Judischen buchstaben geschriben werden. Auch die Zol Jar Monad und anders zu gehorig. lesen und versten sol. Itz neulich an tag gegeben. Gedruckt zum hundersfeld durch Paul Helicz M. D. XXXIII. The facsimile was published in Wrocław in 1929 on the initiative of Verein Judisches Museum Breslau. Fijałkowski, Paweł, Dzieje Żydów w Polsce. Wybór tekstów źródłowych XI–XVIII wiek [A History of the Jews in Poland. A Selection of Source Texts between the Eleventh to Eighteenth Century], Warszawa [1993]. Handel żydowski w Krakowie w końcu XVI i w XVII wieku: wypisy z krakowskich rejestrów celnych z lat 1593–1683 [Jewish Trade in Kraków at the End of the Sixteenth Century and in the Seventeenth Century: Selected Records from Kraków Customs Registers 1593–1683], ed. Jan M. Małecki with Elżbieta Szlufik, Kraków 1995. Heilbronn, Nachalat Yaakov Yaakov ben Elchanan, [‫ שאלות ותשובות‬She’elot u-teshuvot], Padua 1622–1623. [Horodezky S.A.] ‫ לקורות הרבנות‬,‫ הורודצקי‬.‫א‬.‫[ ש‬Le-korot ha-rabanut], Warsze 1911. [Icchak ben Abraham Chajut] ‫ פחד יצחק‬,‫[ יתחק בן אברהם חיות‬Pachat Icchak], Kraków 1573. Index errorum aliquot ex innumeris stultitiis, blasphemiis et impietatibus Thalmudici operis collectus, ut ex his paucis aliquot Christiano specimen exhibeatur horum execrabilium voluminum, in quibus infinite pene blasphemie continentur non solum adversus Christum Deum nostrum, sed etiam adversus Mosaicam legem, adversus Nature legem et contra ipsam divinae Celsitudinis Maiestatem ex secundo libro Bibliothecae Sanctae Sixti Senensis extractus [Selected errors of innumerable blasphemies, follies, and impiousness, collected from the Jewish Talmud: from which every one may understand how erroneous and how great are the enemies of Christians, the wicked and ignoble Jews; and by what means not only the Saviour our Lord Jesus, but also all the majesty of God they blaspheme. Extract from the Second Books of the Sacred Library of Sixtus of Siena], W Krakowie Lazarus Andree excudebat. 1569.

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Index librorum prohibitorum cum regulis confectis per Patres a Tridentina Synodo delectos, auctoritate Pii IIII primum editus, postea vero a Sixto V auctus et nunc demum S. D. N. Clementis PP. VIII jussu recognitus et publicatus. Instructione adjecta de exequendae prohibitionis, deque sincere emendandi et imprimendi libros ratione, Cracoviae 1603. Index librorum prohibitorum. Cum regulis confectis per Patres a Tridentina Synodo delectos et cum adjecta instructione de emendandis imprimendisque libris et de exequenda prohibitione. Nunc, in hac editione, Congregationis Cardinalium edictis aliquot et librorum nuper scandalose evulgatorum descriptione auctus, Cracoviae 1617. [Joel ben Shmuel Sikres] ‫ בית חדש‬.‫ שאלות ותשובות‬,‫[ יואל בן שמואל סירקיש‬She’elot u-teshuvot. Beit chadasz], Ostróg 1834. Kobielski, Franciszek Antoni, Światło na oświecenie narodu niewiernego to iest Kazania w synagogach żydowskich miane oraz Reflexye y List odpowiadaiący na pytania Synagogi Brodzkiey [A Light for the Enlightenment of the Infidel Nation – Sermons in Jewish Synagogues and Reflections and a Letter Answering the Questions of the Synagogue in Brody], Lviv 1746. Kodeks dyplomatyczny wielkopolski, obejmujący dokumenta tak już drukowane, jak dotąd nie ogłoszone, sięgające do roku 1400 [The Diplomatic Code of Great Poland, Comprising Documents Dated Back to 1400, Both Printed and Those Not Yet Announced], ed. Ignacy Zakrzewski, Franciszek Piekosiński, vol. 1, Poznań 1877. [Mordechai ben Avraham Jaffe] ‫ לבוש‬,‫[ עטרת זהב מרדכי בן אברהם יפה‬Levush ateret zahaw], Kraków 1594. [Meir ben Gedalia mi-Lublin] ‫ מנהיר עיני חכמים‬.‫ שאלות ותשובות‬,‫[ מאיר בן גדליה מלובלין‬She’elot u-teshuvot], Venice 1618. Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides), ‫משנה תורה‬. ‫[ הלכות מלכימ ומלהמות משנה תורה‬Mishneh Torah, Hilchot melachim u-milchamot Mishne Torah]. Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides), Mishneh Torah, with commentary of Meir Katzenellenbogen, part 1–2, vol. 1–4, Venice: Bragadini, 1550. Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides), Mishneh Torah, corrected according to the codex of Asriel Dayan; with a commentary by Meir Katzenellenbogen (appended to vol. 4); published by Cornelius Adelkind, part 1–2, vol. 1–4, Venice: Giustiniani, 1550–1551. Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides), ‫[ ספר המצות‬Sepher ha-mitzwot]. [Moshe Isserles] ‫ שאלות ותשובות‬,‫[ משה איסרלש‬She’elot u-teshuvot], Jeruszalaim 1968 [repr.]. Rabbim, Rafael Meldol Majim, ‫[ שאלות ותשובות‬She’elot u-teshuvot], Amsterdam 1737. Relacye nuncyuszów apostolskich i innych osób w Polsce od roku 1548 do 1690 [Reports of Apostolic Nuntios and Others in Poland from 1548 to 1690], ed. Jan Chrzciciel Albertrandi, vol. 2, Berlin–Poznań 1864. [Shlomo ben Jechiel Luria] ‫ בבא קמא‬.‫ ים של שלמה‬,‫[ שלמה בן יחיאל לוריא‬Jam shel Shlomo. Bava kamma], Praga 1616. Śleszkowski, Sebastian, Odkrycie Zdrad, Zlosliwych Ceremoniy, taiemnych rad, praktyk szkodliwych Rzeczypospolitey y straszliwych zamysłow Zydowskich […] Przy Tym Zdrowa Rada, Jako zdradom, praktykom y przedsięwziętym zamysłom Zydowskim, iesli chcemy w cale

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Sources of manuscripts

bydź, przed czasem zabiegać mamy […] [Disclosing The Treasons, Malicious Ceremonies, Secret Counsels, Practices Detrimental to the Commonwealth and Wicked Jewish Intentions […] A Piece of Sound Advice to Prevent Beforehand the Treasons, Practices and Intentions of Jews if We Want to Remain Whole], Brunsberga 1621. Teksty źródłowe do nauki historji Żydów w Polsce i we wschodniej Europie [Source Texts for Learning Jewish History in Poland and Eastern Europe], ed. Emanuel Ringelblum, Rafal Mahler, Warszawa [1930]. The Apostolic See and the Jews, ed. Shlomo Simonsohn, vol. 6: Documents: 1546–1555, Toronto 1990. Żydzi w średniowiecznym Krakowie: wypisy źródłowe z ksiąg miejskich krakowskich [The Jews in Mediaeval Cracow: Selected Records from Krakow Municipal Books], ed. Bożena Wyrozumska, Kraków 1995. ‫ יורה דעה‬.‫[ שולחן ערוך‬Shulchan Arukh. Yoreh De’ah].

2.

Sources of manuscripts

Glejzer, H., Życie Żydów w Polsce w XVI i XVII ww. na podstawie responsów [The Life of Jews in Poland in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries on the Basis of Responsa] (MS), n.p. n.d. (Archiwum Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego [Archive of Jewish Historical Institute], shelf mark 117/51), p. 47a. Księgi grodzkie lubelskie, seria zapisy (z lat 1536–1540), part 2, (MS) n.p., n.d, (Archiwum Państwowe w Lublinie [National Archives in Lublin], shelf mark 4), p. 507v–507r. Metryka koronna [Metrica Regni Polonia, Register of the Polish Crown] (MS), n.p., n.d., (Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych w Warszawie [The Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw], vol. 59, fol. 321b–324a). Teutonicalia, (MS) n.p., n.d, (Archiwum Państwowe w Krakowie [National Archives in Kraków], vol. 10), p. 453–456.

3.

(Bible-)bibliographies and library catalogues

Cowley, Arthur Ernest, A Concise Catalogue of the Hebrew printed Books in the Bodleian Library, Oxford 1929. Estreicher, Karol, Bibliografia polska [Polish Bibliography], part 3, [Druki stulecia XV–XVIII w układzie alfabetycznym] [Prints from the Fifteenth to Eighteenth Century in the Alphabetical Order], vol. 1–23 part 1 (general collection, vol. 12–34 part 1); from vol. 12 (23) published by Stanisław Estreicher, vol. 23 (34) published by Karol Estreicher (grandson), Warszawa 1978 [repr. Kraków 1891–1951]. Hebrew Incunabula in Public Collections. A First International Census, ed. Adriaan Karel Offenberg, C. Moed-Van Walraven, Nieuwkoop 1990.

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Heller, Marvin J., The Sixteenth Century Hebrew Book. An Abridged Thesaurus, vol. 1–2, Leiden–Boston 2003–2004. Iakerson, Shimon, Catalogue of Hebrew Incunabula from the Collection of the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, vol. 1–2, New York–Jerusalem 2004–2005. Jakerson, Semen Morduchovic, Каталог инкунабулов на древнееврейском языке Библиотеки Ленинградского отделения института востоковедения АН CCCP [Catalogue of Hebrew Incunabula in the Library of the Leningrad Branch of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences], Leningrad 1985. Katalog judaików – starych druków w zbiorach Biblioteki Jagiellońskiej w Krakowie z dawnej Pruskiej Biblioteki Państwowej w Berlinie: z faksymiliami wybranych elementów opisanych druków [Catalogue of Judaica – Old Prints of the Collection of the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków from the Former Prussian State Library in Berlin: with Facsimiles of Selected Elements of the Described Prints], ed. Krzysztof Pilarczyk, Kraków 2011. Katalog poloników XVI wieku Biblioteki Jagiellońskiej [Catalogue of Polonica of the Sixteenth Century of the Jagiellonian Library], ed. Marian Malicki, Ewa Zwinogrodzka, ed. Małgorzata Gołuszka [et al.], vol. 1–3, Kraków 1992–1995. Pilarczyk, Krzysztof, Leksykon drukarzy ksiąg hebrajskich w Polsce z bibliografią polonojudaików w językach żydowskich (XVI–XVIII wiek) [Lexicon of Printers of Hebrew Books in Poland with Bibliography of Polono-Judaica in Jewish Languages (Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries)], Kraków 2004. Pilarczyk, Krzysztof, Przewodnik po bibliografiach polskich judaików judaików [Guide to Bibliographies of Polish Judaica], Kraków 1992. Shmeruk, Chone, ‫ רשימה ביבליוגראפית של דפוסי פולין ביידיש עד גזירות ת״ח ות״ט‬,‫ שמרוק‬.‫[ ח‬Bibliography of Yiddish Books Printed to the Middle of the Seventeenth Century], [in:] Chone Shmeruk, ‫[ ספרות יידיש בפולין‬Yiddish Literature in Poland. Historical Studies and Perspectives], Jerusalem 1981, p. 75–116. Steinschneider, Moritz, Catalogue de la Bibliotheque de literature Hebraique et Orientale et d’Auteurs hebreux de feu Leon V. Saraval, Trieste 1853. Steinschneider, Moritz, Catalogus librorum hebraeorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana, vol. 1–2, Berolini 1852–1860. Steinschneider, Moritz, Catalogus librorum hebraeorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana, vol. 1–2, Hildesheim 1964 [repr. Berlin 1931]. [Vinograd, Yeshayahu], ‫ אוצר הספר העברי‬,‫ וינוגרד‬.‫[ י‬Thesaurus of the Hebrew Book], vol. 1–2, Jerusalem 1993–1995. Wolf, Johann Christoph, Bibliotheca hebraea, sive notitia tum auctorum hebr. cuiuscunque aetatis, tum scriptorum, quae vel Hebraice primum exarata vel ab aliis conversa sunt, ad nostram aetatem deducta : accedit in calce Jacobi Gaffarelli Index Codicum Cabbalistic. MSS. quibus Jo. Picus, Mirandulanus Comes, usus est, vol. 1–4, Hamburgi–Lipsiae 1715–1733, [repr. New York–London 1967].

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Studies

4.

Studies

A Sign and Witness. 2.000 Years of Hebrew Books and Illuminated Manuscripts, ed. Leonard Singer Gold, New York–Oxford 1988. Abrahams, Israel, Życie codzienne Żydów w średniowieczu [Everyday Life of the Jews in the Middle Ages], transl. Barbara Gadomska, Warszawa 1996. Altbauer, Moshe, Achievements and Tasks in the Field of Jewish-Slavic Language Contact Studies, [in:] Moshe Altbauer, Wzajemne wpływy polsko-żydowskie w dziedzinie językowej [Mutual Polish-Jewish Linguistic Influences], ed. Maria Brzezina, Kraków 2002. Amram, David, The Makers of Hebrew Book in Italy, being chapters in the history of the Hebrew printing press, London 1963. [Assaf, Simcha] ‫ פרקים מחיי התרבות של היהודים בימי הבינים‬.‫ באהלי יעקב‬,‫ אסף‬.‫[ ש‬Be-ohole Yaakov. Perakim me-chaje ha-tarbut szel ja-Jehudim bi-jeme ha-benajim], Jeruszalaim 1943. Bałaban, Majer, Dawid ben Samuel Ha-Levi (1587–1667), [in:] Polski słownik biograficzny [Polish Biographical Dictionary], ed. Władysław Konopczyński, vol. 4, Kraków 1938, p. 461. Bałaban, Majer, Die Judenstadt von Lublin, Berlin 1919. Bałaban, Majer, Drukarstwo żydowskie w Polsce XVI w. [Jewish Printing in Poland in the Sixteenth Century], [in:] Pamiętnik Zjazdu Naukowego im. Jana Kochanowskiego w Krakowie 8 i 9 czerwca 1930 [Records of the Jan Kochanowski Scholarly Meeting in Kraków on 8 and 9 June 1930], Kraków 1931, p. 102–116. Bałaban, Majer, Historja i literatura żydowska [Jewish History and Literature], vol. 3, Lviv–Warszawa–Kraków 1925. Bałaban, Majer, Historja Żydów w Krakowie i na Kazimierzu 1304–1868 [A History of Jews in Kraków and Kazimierz], vol. 1: 1304–1655, Kraków 1991 [repr. 1931]. Bałaban, Majer, Jakob Polak, der Baal Chillukim in Krakau, und seine Zeit, “Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums” 57 (1913), no. 1, p. 59–73; no. 2, p. 196–210. Bałaban, Majer, Próba założenia pierwszej drukarni hebrajskiej w Warszawie [An Attempt to Establish the First Hebrew Printing House in Warsaw], [in:] Majer Bałaban, Z historii Żydów w Polsce. Studia i szkice [From the History of the Jews in Poland. Studies and Essays], Warszawa 1920, p. 85–89. Bałaban, Majer, R. Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz fun Italien, [in:] Majer Bałaban, Jidn in Pojln, Wilne 1930. Bałaban, Majer, Szkolnictwo żydowskie w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej [Jewish School System in the Former Commonwealth], [in:] Żydzi w Polsce odrodzonej. Działalność społeczna, gospodarcza, oświatowa i kulturalna [Jews in the Restored Poland. Social, Economic, Educational and Cultural Activity], ed. Ignacy Schiper, Aryeh Tartakower, Aleksander Hafftka, vol. 1, Warszawa [1932], p. 337–344.

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Bałaban, Majer, Umysłowość i moralność żydostwa polskiego XVI w. [The Mindset and Morality of Polish Jewry in the Sixteenth Century], [in:] Kultura staropolska [Old Polish Culture], Kraków 1932, p. 606–639. Bałaban, Majer, Zur Geschichte der hebräischen Druckereien in Polen, “Soncino-Blätter” 3 (1929), part 1, p. 1–50. [Bałaban, Majer], Балабанъ, M., Яковъ Полякъ, отецъ польскаго раввинизма, и его время, “Evreiskaia Starina” 4 (1912), p. 225–245. Bandtkie, Jerzy Samuel, Historia drukarń krakowskich [A History of Printing Houses in Kraków], Kraków 1815. Bandtkie, Jerzy Samuel, Historia drukarń w Królestwie Polskim [A History of Printing Houses in the Kingdom of Poland], vol. 1, Warszawa 1974 [repr. Kraków 1826]. Baron, Salomon Wittmayer, A Social and Religious History of the Jews, vol. 16, PolandLithuania 1500–1650, New York–London–Philadelphia 1976. Beit-Arié, Malachi, Hebrew Manuscripts of East and West. Towards a Comparative Codicology, London 1993. Bendowska, Magdalena, Doktór, Jan, Świat ukryty w księgach: stare druki hebrajskie ze zbiorów Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego [A World Hidden in Books: Old Hebrew Prints from the Collection of the Jewish Historical Institute], Warszawa 2011. Berengaut, Alfred, Najstarsze rękopisy ze zbiorów Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego w Polsce i ich autorzy [Oldest Manuscripts, and Their Authors, from the Collection of the Jewish Historical Institute in Poland], “Biuletyn Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego” (1975), no. 2, p. 71–80. Bertz, Inka, Das erste Jüdische Museum in Berlin, https://www.jmberlin.de/das-erstejuedische-museum-berlin [accessed: 27.02.2020]. Bloch, Philip, Der Streit um den Moreh des Maimonides in der Gemeinde Posen um die Mitte des 16. Jahrh.; nebst Mitteilungen und Aktenstücken zur ältesten Zeit des Posner Rabbinats, Pressburg 1903. Brann, Marcus, Geschichte der Juden in Schlesien, Breslau 1910. Brückner, Aleksander, Różnowiercy polscy: szkice obyczajowe i literackie [Diverse Religions in Poland: Essays on Their Customs and Literature], vol. 1, Warszawa 1905. Buchwald-Pelcowa, Paulina, Cenzura w dawnej Polsce. Między prasą drukarską a stosem [Censorship in Former Polish Commonwealth. Between the Printing Press and the Stake], Warszawa 1997. Chiarini, Luigi Aloisi, Théorie du Judaisme, appliquée a la réforme des Israélites de tous les pays de l’Europe, et servant en meme temps d’ouvrage préparatoire a la version du Thalmud de Babylone, vol. 1, Paris 1830. Cohen, Abraham, Talmud. Syntetyczny wykład na temat Talmudu i nauk rabinów dotyczących religii, etyki i prawodawstwa [Talmud. A Synthetic Lecture on the Talmud and the Rabbis’ Teachings on Religion, Ethics and Legislation], Warszawa 1995. Cygielman, Shmuel Arthur, Jewish Autonomy in Poland and Lithuania until 1648 (5408), Jerusalem 1997.

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Studies

[Cygielman, Shmuel Arthur], ‫א‬.‫ש‬. ‫לעניין קביעת התאריך למתן הפריבילגיה הכללית ליהודי‬, ‫ציגלמן‬ (1264) ‫פולין גדול‬, [On the Reckoning of the Date of the Boleslaw Privilegium to Jews if Great Poland (1264)], “Cion” 49 (1984), no. 3, p. 289–292. Cygielman, Shmuel Arthur, Zagadnienia organizacji i programów nauczania szkolnictwa podstawowego w krakowskiej gminie żydowskiej [Problems of Organization and Curricula of Elementary Education in the Kraków Jewish Community], [in:] Żydzi w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej. Materiały z konferencji “Autonomia Żydów w Rzeczypospolitej Szlacheckiej”. Międzywydziałowy Zakład Historii i Kultury Żydów w Polsce, Uniwersytet Jagielloński 22–26 IX 1986 [Jews in the Polish Commonwealth. Materials from the conference “Autonomy of Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth”. Interdepartmental Institute of the History and Culture of Jews in Poland, Jagiellonian University 22–26 September 1986], ed. Andrzej Link-Lenczowski, Tomasz Polański, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków 1991. Dancygier, Józef, Isserles Moshe, [in:] Polski słownik biograficzny [Polish Biographical Dictionary], ed. Kazimierz Lepszy [et al.], vol. 10, Wrocław 1962–1964. Die jüdische Litteratur seit Abschluss des Kanons, eine prosaische und poetische Anthologie mit biographischen und literargeschichtlichen Einleitungen, ed. Jakob Winter, August Wünsche, vol. 2: Geschichte der rabbinischen Litteratur während des Mittelalters und ihrer Nachblüthe in der neueren Zeit, Berlin 1897. Dmitrieva, Karina A., Каталог рукописей и архивных материалов из Еврейской Теологической Семинарии Города Бреслау в Российских Хранилищах [Catalogue of Manuscripts and Archival Materials of Juedisch-Theologisches Seminar in Breslau Held in Russian Depositories], Moskva 2003. Drabina, Jan, Religie na ziemiach Polski i Litwy w średniowieczu [Religions on the Territory of Poland and Lithuania in the Middle Ages], Kraków 1989. Drukarze dawnej Polski od XV do XVIII wieku [Printers of the Former Polish Commonwealth from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century], vol. 1: Małopolska [Lesser Poland], part 1: Wiek XV–XVI, ed. Alodia Kawecka-Gryczowa, Wrocław 1983. Drukarze dawnej Polski od XV do XVIII wieku [Printers of the Former Polish Commonwealth from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century], vol. 3, part 2: Mazowsze z Podlasiem [Mazovia with Podlasie], ed. Krystyna Korotajowa [et al.], ed. Krystyna Korotajowa, Joanna KrauzeKarpińska, Warszawa 2001. Eisenstein, Aron, Die Stellung der Juden in Polen im XIII. und XIV. jahrhundert, Cieszyn 1934. Eisenstein, Elizabeth L., Rewolucja Gutenberga [Revolution of Gutenberg], transl. Henryk Hollender, Warszawa 2004. Ettinger, S., Sejm Czterech Ziem [The Council of Four Lands], [in:] Żydzi w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej. Materiały z konferencji “Autonomia Żydów w Rzeczypospolitej Szlacheckiej”. Międzywydziałowy Zakład Historii i Kultury Żydów w Polsce, Uniwersytet Jagielloński 22–26 IX 1986 [Jews in the Polish Commonwealth. Materials from the conference “Autonomy of Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth”. Interdepartmental Institute of the

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© 2022 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht | Brill Deutschland GmbH ISBN Print: 9783525573358 — ISBN E-Book: 9783647573359

Studies

following Cities in Central Europe: Augsburg, Offenbach, Ichenhaussen, Altona, Berlin, Homberg, Hanau, Wandsbeck, Wilhermsdorf, Sulzbach, Thannhausen, Neuwied, Furth, Prague, Frankfort O., Frankfort M., Cologne, from its beginning in the year 1513], Antwerp 1935. Garel, Michel, Manuscrits hébreux en Polone, “Revue d’Histoire des Textes. Bulletin” 5 (1977), p. 365–367. Garel, Michel, The Rediscovery of the Wolf Haggadah, “Journal of Jewish Art” 2 (1975), p. 22–27. Gdula, Paweł, Drukarstwo lubelskie [Printing Houses in Lublin], “Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sectio F” (1953), no. 8, p. 39–112. [Gejger, A.] Гейгеръ, A., Еврейство въ XVI столътіи, “Woschod” 3 (1883), no. 5–6, p. 133–141. Gierowski, J.A., Rabini z Rzeczypospolitej we Frankfurcie nad Menem [Rabbis from the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth in Frankfurt am Main] (Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis 1876), Wrocław 1996, p. 18–28. Goldberg, Jakub, Żydowscy konwertyci w społeczeństwie staropolskim [Jewish Converts in Old Polish Society], [in:] Społeczeństwo staropolskie. Studia i szkice [Old Polish Society. Studies and Essays], ed. Anna Izydorczyk, Andrzej Wyczański, vol. 4, Warszawa 1986, p. 195–247. Goldberg, Jakub, Żydowski Sejm Czterech Ziem w społecznym i politycznym ustroju dawnej Rzeczypospolitej [The Jewish Council of Four Lands in the Social and Political System of the former Commonwealth], [in:] Żydzi w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej. Materiały z konferencji “Autonomia Żydów w Rzeczypospolitej Szlacheckiej”. Międzywydziałowy Zakład Historii i Kultury Żydów w Polsce, Uniwersytet Jagielloński 22–26 IX 1986 [Jews in the Polish Commonwealth. Materials from the conference “Autonomy of Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth”. Interdepartmental Institute of the History and Culture of Jews in Poland, Jagiellonian University 22–26 September 1986], ed. Andrzej Link-Lenczowski, Tomasz Polański, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków 1991, p. 44–58. Graetz, Heinrich Hirsch, Historia Żydów [A History of the Jews], transl. Stanisław Szenhak, vol. 3, Kraków 1990. [repr. Warszawa 1929]. Graetz, M., Der kulturelle Austausch zwischen den jüdischen Gemeinden in Polen und Deutschland im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert, [in:] Die wirtschaftlichen und kulturellen Beziehungen zwischen den jüdischen Gemeinden in Polen und Deutschland vom 16. Bis zum 20. Jahrhundert, ed. Karl Erich Grözingen, Wiesbaden 1992. Guldon, Zenon, Kowalski, Waldemar, Between Tolerance and Abomination. Jews in SixteenthCentury Poland, [in:] The Expulsion of the Jews. 1492 and After, ed. Raymond B. Waddington, Arthur H. Williamson, New York–London 1994. Guldon, Zenon, Wijaczka, Jacek, Procesy o mordy rytualne w Polsce w XVI–XVIII wieku [Trials for Ritual Murders in Poland in the Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries], Kielce 1995. Guldon, Zenon, Wijaczka, Jacek, The Accusation of Ritual Murder in Poland, 1500–1800, “Polin” 10 (1997), p. 99–140.

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© 2022 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht | Brill Deutschland GmbH ISBN Print: 9783525573358 — ISBN E-Book: 9783647573359

Studies

Pilarczyk, Krzysztof, Der hebräische Buchdruck zwischen Danzig und Siebenbürgen, [in:] Buch- und Wissenstransfer in Ostmittel- und Südosteuropa in der frühen Neuzeit: Beiträge der Tagung an der Universität Szeged vom 25.–28. April 2006, ed. Detlef Haberland, Tünde Katona, München 2007. Pilarczyk, Krzysztof, Drukarnie żydowskie [Jewish Printing Houses], [in:] Drukarze dawnej Polski od XV do XVIII wieku [Printing Houses in the Former Commonwealth from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century], vol. 1: Małopolska [Lesser Poland], part 2: Wiek XVII–XVIII [The Seventeenth and the Eighteenth Century], vol. 2: L–Ż i drukarnie żydowskie [L–Ż and Jewish Printing Houses], ed. Jan Pirożyński, Kraków 2000. Pilarczyk, Krzysztof, Drukarstwo żydowskie [Jewish Printing Houses], [in:] Encyklopedia Krakowa [The Encyclopaedia of Kraków], ed. Antoni Henryk Stachowski Warszawa–Kraków 2000. Pilarczyk, Krzysztof, Drukowana książka hebrajska a religia. Vademecum bibliologiczne [Printed Hebrew Book and Religion: Bibliological Vademecum], Kraków 2012. Pilarczyk, Krzysztof, Eliezer ben Icchak, [in:] Sylwetki Żydów lubelskich. Leksykon [Jews of Lublin. Lexicon], ed. Adam Kopciowski, Andrzej Trzciński, Sławomir Jacek Żurek, Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska, Lublin 2019, p. 78–82. Pilarczyk, Krzysztof, Hebrajska książka drukowana w Europie środkowowschodniej w XVI–XVIII wieku: topografia, wielkość produkcji i funkcja [Hebrew Printed Books in Central and Eastern Europe in the Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries: Topography, Circulation and Function], “Studia Judaica” 10 (2007), no. 1, p. 7–9. Pilarczyk, Krzysztof, Hebrew Printing Houses in Poland against the Background of their History in the World, “Studia Judaica” 7 (2004), no. 2, p. 201–221. Pilarczyk, Krzysztof, Heliczowie – luminarze i bojkotowani konwertyci [The Helicz Family – Luminaries and Boycotted Converts], “Gutenberg” (2000), no. 1, p. 48–49. Pilarczyk, Krzysztof, Heliczowie [The Helicz Family], [in:] Encyklopedia Krakowa [The Encyclopaedia of Kraków], ed. Antoni Henryk Stachowski Warszawa–Kraków 2000. Pilarczyk, Krzysztof, Jafe Cwi ben Awraham Kalonimos [Jaffe Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos], [in:] Sylwetki Żydów lubelskich. Leksykon [Jews of Lublin. Lexicon], ed. Adam Kopciowski, Andrzej Trzciński, Sławomir Jacek Żurek, Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska, Lublin 2019, p. 136–140. Pilarczyk, Krzysztof, Jafe Kalonimos (I) ben Mordechaj [Jaffe Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechaj], [in:] Sylwetki Żydów lubelskich. Leksykon [Jews of Lublin. Lexicon], ed. Adam Kopciowski, Andrzej Trzciński, Sławomir Jacek Żurek, Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska, Lublin 2019, p. 140–142. Pilarczyk, Krzysztof, Josef ben Jakow Jakar [Yosef ben Yakov Yakar], [in:] Sylwetki Żydów lubelskich. Leksykon [Jews of Lublin. Lexicon], ed. Adam Kopciowski, Andrzej Trzciński, Sławomir Jacek Żurek, Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska, Lublin 2019, p. 144–145. Pilarczyk, Krzysztof, Książka etniczna, mniejszości narodowych i religijnych. Żydzi [Ethnic, National Minority and Religious Books. Jews], [in:] Encyklopedia książki [Encyclopaedia of

© 2022 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht | Brill Deutschland GmbH ISBN Print: 9783525573358 — ISBN E-Book: 9783647573359

249

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Studies

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Studies

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© 2022 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht | Brill Deutschland GmbH ISBN Print: 9783525573358 — ISBN E-Book: 9783647573359

Auxiliary literature (selection)

Zinberg, Israel, A History of Jewish Literature, vol. 6: The German-Polish Cultural Center, transl. and ed. Bernard Martin, Cincinnati, Ohio 1975. Zunz, Leopold, Aelteste Nachrichten über Juden und jüdische Gelehrte in Polen, Slavonien, Russland, [in:] Leopold Zunz, Gesammelte Schriften, Heidelsheim–New York 1979, p. 82–87. Żurkowa, Renata, Udział Żydów krakowskich w handlu książką w pierwszej połowie XVII wieku [The Participation of the Jews of Kraków in the Book Trade in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century], [in:] Żydzi w Małopolsce: studia z dziejów osadnictwa i życia społecznego [Jews in Lesser Poland. Studies from the History of Settlement and Social Life], ed. Feliks Kiryk, Przemyśl 1991, p. 59–78. Евреиские инкунабулы описание экземпляров, хранящихся в библиотеках Москвы и Ленинграда [Hebrew Incunabula: Description of Publications Kept in Libraries of Moscow and Leningrad], ed. Semen Morduchovič Âkerson, Leningrad 1988. ‫ עם דיני סדר ליל הפסח ומנהגיו על פי רבני צרפת‬:‫הגדה של פסח כמנהג פרובנס‬, [Hagada szel Pesach keminhag Prowans] https://www.nli.org.il/he/manuscripts/NNL_ALEPH000043376/NLI?_ga=2.62210348.1602637092.1541920600–1067578015.1509615958#$FL15992115 [accessed: 22.02.2020]. ‫פסחים‬. Paschy [Passovers], transl. and ed. Roman Marcinkowski, [in:] Miszna [Mishnah], vol. 2: Moed [Feast], ed. Roman Marcinkowski, Warszawa 2014, p. 93–125. [Zucker, Shlomo], ,‫[ נפתולי הגורל והחקר של הגדת וולף שלמה צוקר‬Naftoli ha-Gorel we-ha-cheker shel haggadah Wolff ], “‫( פברואר ”על ספרים ואנשים‬1997), p. 4–13.

5.

Auxiliary literature (selection)

Encyklopedia wiedzy o książce [Encyclopaedia of Knowledge of Books], ed. Aleksander Birkenmajer, Bronisław Kocowski, Jan Trzynadlowski, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków 1971. Historical Atlas of the Jewish People, ed. Shmuel Ahituv, New York–London 2003. Sief, Asher, ‫] הרמ״א‬Ha-Rema], Jerozolima 1957.

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Source of figures

Fig. 3.1 Title page of Dos noye testement, Kraków 1540–1541. The Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Cim. 8119 (old Teol. 4959) Fig. 3.2 Card 146 Dos noye testement with a dedication to Bishop Piotr Gamrat and with his coat of arms. The Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Cim. 8119 (old Teol. 4959) Fig. 4.1 Printer’s mark of Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe of Lublin, 1604–1628 Fig. 4.2 Printer’s mark of Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe of Lublin Fig. 4.3 Printer’s mark of Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe from the title page of the Tractate Bava kamma, Lublin–Kraków 1646–1648 Fig. 4.4 Printer’s mark of Prostitz family from the last page of the Tractate Zevachim, Kraków 1618 Fig. 4.5 Printer’s mark of Prostitz family used only in Shaare ora, Kraków 1600 Fig. 4.6 Printer’s mark of Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz from 1584 Fig. 4.7 The printer’s mark of J.A. Krüger from the Tractate Shabbat, Nowy Dwór 1785–1786 Fig. 5.1 Facsimile of the tractate Avodah Zarah, Lublin 1628. The Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, Eu 130 (Berlinka) Fig. 6.1 Moshe ben Israel Isserles (Rema), Torat ha-chatat, Kraków: Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz, 1569. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Ex 1460 (Berlinka) Fig. 6.2 Naphtali Hirsch ben Menachem from Lviv, Perush le-midrash chamesh megillot raba, Kraków: Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz, 1569. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Ex 2494 (Berlinka) Fig. 6.3 Otiot shel rabbi Akiva, Kraków: [Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz], 1579; Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Eu 4074 (Berlinka) Fig. 6.4 Pirke avot, Kraków: [Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz], 1580; Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Eu 274 (Berlinka) Fig. 6.5 Moshe ben Yaakov Kordovero, Pardes rimonim, Kraków–Nowy Dwór near Kraków, 1592. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, Ref. Ex 1318 (Berlinka) Fig. 6.6 Talmud jerushalmi, Kraków: Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz, 1609. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Eu 1142 (Berlinka) Fig. 6.7 Mordechai ben Avraham Jaffe, Levush Adar HaYakar, Lublin: Kalonymos ben Mordechai Jaffe, 1595. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Ex 256 (Berlinka) Fig. 6.8 Bachya ben Asher Chlava, Shulchan Arba, Lublin: Kalonymos ben Mordechai Jaffe, 1596. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, Ev 3220 (Berlinka) Fig. 6.9 Masekhet Berakhot, Lublin: Tzvi bar Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe, 1617, Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, ref. Eu 130 (Berlinka)

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258

Source of figures

Fig. 6.10 Aaron Moshe ben Tzvi Hirsch from Lviv, Ohel Moshe, Żółkiew: Gershon ben Chayim David Segal, David ben Menachem Man, Chayim David ben Aaron Segal, 1765. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, Ev 2046 (Berlinka) Fig. 6.11 Sepher Yetzirah, Moshe ben Yaakov from Kiev, Korzec: Tzvi Hirsch ben Arje Leib and his son-in-law Shmuel ben Issachar Beer Segal, 1779. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, File Eu 4424 (Berlinka) Fig. 6.12 Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam), Igerot u-She’elot u-teshuvot, Grodno 1795, Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, Ref. Ex 1927 (Berlinka) Fig. 6.13 Abraham ben Eliezer Lipman, Hin tzedek we-tikun ha-midot, Vilnius: Mirski Jozafat, 1799. Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, Ref. Ex 1822 (Berlinka) Fig. 7.1 The beginning of the Book of Yoshua with Neviim rishonim. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXII (41 E 54). From the Saraval collection Fig. 7.2 Beginning of the Book of Judges with Neviim rishonim. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXII (41 E 54). From the Saraval collection Fig. 7.3 The beginning of the Book of Samuel with Neviim rishonim. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXII (41 E 54). From the Saraval collection Fig. 7.4 Beginning of the Book of Kings with Neviim rishonim. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXII (41 E 54). From the Saraval collection Fig. 7.5 Opening page of Arba’ah Turim. University Library of Wrocław, ref. XXIV (41 E 52). From the Saraval collection Fig. 7.6 Colophon of Arba’ah Turim from part 1 (c. 94). University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXIV (41 E 52). From the Saraval collection Fig. 7.7 Beginning of part 2 of Mishneh Torah of Moshe ben Maimon. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXIV (41 E 54). From the collection of Saraval Fig. 7.8 Colophon from Mishne Torah of Moshe ben Maimon. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXIV (41 E 54). From the collection of Saraval Fig. 7.9 First page of the commentary of Chiddushe ha-torah of Moshe ben Nachman. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXXI 1 (41 E 51a). From the Saraval collection Fig. 7.10 Second page of the commentary of Chiddushe ha-torah of Moshe ben Nachman (recto). University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXXI 1 (41 E 51a). From the Saraval collection Fig. 7.11 Beginning of vol. 2 of Moshe ben Nachman’s commentary Chiddushe ha-torah. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XXXI 2 (41 E 51b). From the Saraval collection Fig. 7.12 First preserved page from Perush ha-torah of Shlomo ben Icchak. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XIII (41 E 55). From the Saraval collection Fig. 7.13 Colophon from Perush ha-torah of Shlomo ben Icchak. University Library in Wrocław, ref. XIII (41 E 55). From the Saraval collection

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List of tables

Table 1.1 Hebrew prints to the end of the fifteenth century (incunabula) Table 1.2 The largest centres of Hebrew book production in Europe in the sixteentheighteenth centuries Table 1.3 Hebrew printing in German cities in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries Table 1.4 Printing of Hebrew books in Central and Eastern Europe (outside Poland) Table 1.5 Hebrew printing houses in Poland in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries Table 1.6 Central and Eastern Europe against world production Table 1.7 Hebrew books in Central and Eastern Europe against world production Table 3.1 Comparison of Martin Luther’s translation of Letter to the Romans and transcription of the Helicz edition Table 4.1 List of tractates printed in Jewish printing houses in Lublin in the sixteenthseventeenth centuries Table 4.2 List of tractates printed in Jewish printing houses in Kraków in the sixteenthseventeenth centuries Table 4.3 List of tractates printed in the Hebrew printing house in Nowy Dwór near Warsaw in the eighteenth century Table 6.1 Place of printing and the number of prints in the Kraków collection Table 6.2 Chronological distribution of Judaica – old prints from the Kraków collection

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© 2022 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht | Brill Deutschland GmbH ISBN Print: 9783525573358 — ISBN E-Book: 9783647573359

Index of persons

A Aaron ben Icchak ben Aaron s. Aaron ben Icchak Prostitz Aaron ben Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz s. Aaron ben Icchak Prostitz Aaron ben Icchak Prostitz 97, 119, 120, 135–137, 151 Aaron ben Moshe Krumenau of Moravia 138 Aaron from Kraków 126 Aaron Moshe ben Tzvi Hirsch 189 Aaron Pesaro 133 Aaron, brother of Moses 56 Aaron, rabbi 138 Aboab, Shmuel ben Avraham 201, 202 Abraham Aba Gombiner 91 Abraham ben Eliezer Lipman 192 Abraham Kalonymos ben Mordechai s. Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechaj Jaffe Abraham Mintz from Padua 89 Abraham, patriarch 47, 49, 50, 138 Abrahams, Israel 111 Adamczyk-Garbowska, Monika 124 Adelkind, Cornelius ben Baruch 41, 42, 62 Adler, L. 202 Aggeus 227 Ahituv, Shmuel 22 Akiva ben Yosef, rabbi 52, 182 Albertrandi, Jan Chrzciciel 168 Aleksander Jagiellończyk, king 89 Alexander Zuslin ha-Kohen from Frankfurt am Main 143, 162 Altbauer, Moshe 75 Amalek, the founder of Amalekites 59 Amemar 51

Ami, rabbi 60 Amram, David 42, 63 Anna Jagiellonka, queen 145, 148 Anna Yakar s. Chana bat Yosef Yakar Anshel from Kraków, rabbi 71 Aristotle 109, 111 Akerson, Semen Morduchovic s. Iakerson, Shimon Asher Ansel ben Eliezer 195 Asher Arie ben Menachem Manis from Żółkiew 122 Asher ben Avigdor 150 Asher ben Chaim Helicz 65, 66, 68–72, 74–76, 78–82, 158 Asher ben Hayyim Helicz s. Asher ben Chaim Helicz Asher ben Jehiel 54 Asher ben Sinai 87 Asher Siev 43 Assaf, Simcha 88, 92 Ateret, Shlomo 131 Athias 29 Athias, Immanuel 194 Averroes 111 Avigdor ben Shmuel ben Moshe Ezrat 121, 138 Avraham s. Abraham, patriarch Avraham ben Bezalel from Poznań 133 Avraham ben Israel 138 Avraham ben Kalonymos Jaffe 124, 130 Avraham ben Raphael Chezkiyahu Athias 194 Avraham ben Yehuda Chazan 133 Avraham ben Yehuda Leib Saraval 201 Avraham Icchak ben Garton 27

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262

Index of persons

Avraham Konat 27 Avraham Props 152, 195 B Baal, a deity 46 Babinov, J. 193 Bachya ben Asher Chlawa 187 Bak, family 32 Bałaban, Majer 19, 65, 68, 70, 76, 80–82, 85, 88, 89, 91, 94, 95, 106, 112, 124, 128, 129, 131, 135, 139, 141, 142, 150, 151, 155, 158, 161, 168 Balaban, Meir s. Bałaban Majer Bandtkie, Jerzy Samuel 151, 166 Baron, Salomon Wittmayer 23, 89, 92, 94–96 Bartal, Israel 92 Baruch ben Tzvi Hirsch from Oleksiniec in Wołyń 122 Baruch Levi s. Benedict Levita from Kraków Bass, Shabbethai 32, 33 Beckmann, Johann Christoph 195 Beer, Bernhard 202 Beit-Arié, Malachi 225 Bendowska, Magdalena 205 Benedict Levita from Kraków 126 Benjamin of Rome, printer 26, 27, 70, 205, 221, 222 Benveniste, Immanuel 29, 194 Berenbaum, Michael 202 Berengaut, Alfred 229 Berlin, Charles 32 Bernays, J. 202 Bertz, Inka 228 Bieńkowski, Ludomir 95 Birkenmajer, Aleksander 124 Bloch, Philip 88 Bolesław the Pious, duke of Kalisz 85, 87 Bomberg, Daniel 27, 28, 42, 71, 96, 100, 101, 103, 164, 170, 193

Bona Sforza, queen 66, 158 Boner, Seweryn 77, 83 Borák, Mečislav 228 Bragadini, Aloise s. Bragadini, Alvise Bragadini, Alvise 42–44, 53, 61–63, 90 Bragadini, Alwise s. Bragadini, Alvise Bragadini, family 28, 41, 193 Branicki, Sebastian 77, 83 Brann, Marcus 72 Brixano, Marco Marino 145, 170 Brückner, Aleksander 87 Brzezina, Maria 75 Buchwald-Pelcowa, Paulina 38, 157 Buxtorf, Johannes junior 196 Buxtorf, Johannes senior 196 C Cabalist s. Francesco, Giorgio Caligari, Giovanni A., bishop 146 Calman s. Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechaj Jaffe Calvin, John 75, 76 Campensis, Jan 70 Caraffa, Giovanni Pietro s. Paul IV, pope Cardozo, J. 230 Casimir the Great, king 85 Cassel, David 32, 139, 150, 152 Castro Tartas, Abraham de 29 Castro Tartas, David de 194 Cavalli, Giorgio di s. Francesco, Giorgio Chaim ben Bezalel 90, 93 Chaim ben David Shachor 32, 123–125, 129, 130, 194 Chaim ben Icchak 115, 124 Chaim ben Icchak HaLevi Ashkenazi 205 Chaim ben Icchak Schwarc s. Chaim ben Icchak Shachor Chaim ben Icchak Schwarz s. Chaim ben Icchak Shachor Chaim ben Icchak Shachor 97, 115, 123–126, 129

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Index of persons

Chaim ben Kalonymos 130 Chaim ben Kalonymos Jaffe 116, 124, 130 Chaim ben Manasse 29 Chana bat Yosef Yakar 115, 123, 124, 126, 129, 130 Chana Yakar s. Chana bat Yosef Yakar Chayim ben David Shachor s. Chayim ben David Shachor Chayim David ben Aaron Segal 189 Chiarini, Luigi Aloisi 171 Chisda, rabbi 46, 48 Chiya, rabbi 50, 98 Chmielnicki, Bohdan 23, 33, 112, 113 Cimoszewicz, Włodzimierz 230 Clement V, pope 100 Clement VIII, pope 101 Cohen, Abraham 98 Cohn, A. 202 Commendone, Giovanni Francesco 94, 146 Corneglia da Montalcino 63 Cowley, Arthur Ernest 65 Cygielman, Shmuel Arthur 85, 88 Cylkow, Isaac 45, 57 Czacki, Tadeusz 87 D Dajan, Asriel 41 Dancygier, Józef 90 Daniel from Kraków 126 David ben Menachem Man 189 David ben Shmuel Ha-Levi 91 David ben Yosef Kimchi 40, 133, 148, 205, 206, 222 David Gans of Pragi 128 David ibn Nachmias 28, 193 David/Leonard an Israelite from Jelenia Góra 70 Decius, Ludwik 143 Descartes, René 112, 113 Di Gara, family 28, 193

Dimi of Nehardea 55, 59 Dmitrieva, Karina A. 203 Doktór, Jan 205 Drabina, Jan 85 Du Four, Piotr s. Dufour, Piotr Duchniewski, Jerzy 88 Dufour, Piotr 153, 155 E Efraim ben Naphtali Shor 133 Eisenstein, Aron 86, 87 Eisenstein, Elizabeth L. 21 Ela, sister-in-law 128 Eleazar from Lublin 87 Eliakim Halicz 68, 71 Elias Levita 70, 195 Eliezer Aszkenazi s. Eliezer ben Icchak Aszkenazi Eliezer ben Avraham Altantasi s. Eliezer ben Avraham ibn Alantansi Eliezer ben Avraham ibn Alantansi 27, 205, 223 Eliezer ben Icchak Ashkenazi s. Eliezer ben Icchak Aszkenazi Eliezer ben Icchak Aszkenazi 29, 97, 115, 123–125, 127–130, 141, 144, 160, 193, 194 Eliezer ben Icchak of Prague s. Eliezer ben Icchak Aszkenazi Eliezer ben Joel Ha-Levi 54 Eliezer ben Meshullam 115, 125 Eliezer ben Meszulam s. Eliezer ben Meshullam Eliezer ben Shmuel 213 Eliezer from Opatów 126 Eliezer of Bohemia, rabbi 86 Eliezer Toledano 27, 205, 221, 223 Elijahu Baruch s. Elias Levita Elijahu Levita s. Elias Levita Elyakim ben Chaim Helicz 79–82, 158, 194

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263

264

Index of persons

Emzer from Dresden 76 Ephraim Shlomo ben Aaron of Łęczyca 106 Erasmus of Rotterdam. 75 Estreicher, Karol 70 Ettinger, Sh. 92 Euclid of Alexandria 111 Eugene IV, pope 100 F Fabian, Bernhard 175 Ferdinand I Habsburg, king 32 Fijałkowski, Paweł 86 Filek, Paweł 13, 41, 42 Fiol, Schwabolt 69 Fraenckel, Jonas 202 Francesco, Giorgio 140 Frankel, Zachariasz 202 Frederick the Wise, elector of Saxony 75 Freimann, A. 95 Frenkel, Jeremiasz 86, 89–91 Friedberg, Bernhard H.ayyim Dov 19, 29, 30, 35, 68, 124, 128, 131, 135, 139, 150, 151 Friedrich Wilhelm I, the Great Elector 175 Froben, Ambrosius 145, 162 G Gakon, Shmuel 27 Galas, Michał 131 Galatinus, Pietro 170 Gale, Thomson 202 Galli, Tolomeo 146 Gamrat, Piotr 66, 67, 71, 75–77, 158 Garel, Michel 229, 231 Gdula, Paweł 124, 131, 135 Gejger, A. 91 Gershom ben Bezalel 32 Gershom ben Moshe Soncino 213 Gershom ben Shlomo Kohen 32, 70, 194

Gershom Kohen s. Gershom ben Shlomo ha-Kohen Gershom of Mainz 88 Gershom Soncino 27 Gershon ben Chayim David Segal 189 Gershon ben Moshe Soncino 205 Gierowski, Józef Andrzej 92, 112 Giesser, Puszek Marcin 137 Giustiniani, family 44 Giustiniani, Marco Antonio 18, 27, 41–44, 53, 61–63, 90, 96, 101, 103, 104, 132, 137, 193 Giustiniani, Niccolo 41 Glejzer, H. 108 Goldberg, Jakub 78, 92 Gołuszka, Małgorzata 66 Górski, Jakub 145, 159, 160 Gottschalck, Michael 195 Grabowski, A. 167 Graetz, Heinrich Hirsch 111, 112 Graetz, M. 112 Gregory XIII, pope 146 Griffo, Giovanni 140 Gross, Bery 229 Grözingen, Karl Erich 112 Gryglewicz, Feliks 95 Guldon, Zenon 23, 94, 95 Gutman, I. 92 Gutrat Moshe ben Yaakov 115 H Haberland, Detlef 195 Habermann, Abraham Meir 24, 68, 139 Hafftka, Aleksander 86, 88 Haman of the sixteenth century s. Paul IV, pope Harzuge, Johan 72, 76 Haumann, Heiko 23, 24 Hecht, Nathan 229 Heilbronn, Nachalat Yaakov ben Elchanan 201

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Index of persons

Helicz, Andrew s. Shmuel ben Chaim Helicz Helicz, family 66, 68–73, 77, 78, 80–82, 140, 158, 194 Helicz, John s. Elyakim ben Chaim Helicz Helicz, Paul s. Asher ben Chaim Helicz Heller, Marvin J. 38, 63, 65, 135, 139, 151 Hena, Hans Jacob 116, 117, 195 Hene, Hans Jacob s. Hena, Hans Jacob Henry II, king 138 Henry III of France, king 145 Henry of Valois, king 130 Herman Kohen s. Gershom ben Shlomo Kohen Herzuge, Johan s. Harzuge, Johan Hirsch Raivitzer s. Naphtali Tzvi ben Yosef Jalis Hitler, Adolf 175, 228 Hochfeder, Kasper 69 Hoffmann, H. 193 Hollender, Henryk 21 Horant, prince (fictitious) 73 Horbury, William 90 Horodezky, Samuel Aba 62, 88–91 Huna, rabbi 54, 55, 57 I Iakerson, Shimon 26, 204 Ibn Ezra 133 Icchak Abov 148 Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz s. Aaron ben Icchak Prostitz97, 119, 127, 130, 135–146, 148–151, 158, 160–162, 180, 183 Icchak ben Avdi s. Yitzchak ben Avdimi, rabbi Icchak ben Avdimi s. Yitzchak ben Avdimi, rabbi Icchak ben Avraham Chayut 127 Icchak ben Avraham from Safed 128 Icchak ben Chaim 123, 125, 129 Icchak ben Eliezer (Shalit) 115

Icchak ben Gershon of Turobin 138 Icchak ben Yaakov di Kordov 194 Icchak de Kordowa 29 Icchak from Wrocław 87 Icchak Luria 108 Icchak of Poland 87 Icchak, patriarch 138 Icchak, rabbi 45–50 Ifera Hurmiz s. Ifra Hormiz Ifra Hormiz 60 Immanuel ben Shlomo of Rome 205 Isaac ben Aaron s. Aaron ben Icchak Prostitz Isaac ben Aaron Prostitz s. Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz Isaac the Printer s. Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz Isachar (Ber) ben Aaron ben Icchak 121 Isachar (Ber) ben Aaron Prostitz 119, 120, 135–137, 151 Ishmael, rabbi 52 Israel Bruno 86 Israel from Poland 87 Issachar Ber ben Aaron Prostitz s. Isachar (Ber) ben Aaron Prostitz Italian Jew s. Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz Izydorczyk, Anna 78 J Jablonski, Daniel Ernst 195 Jadwiga of Poland, king 69 Jagiellonians, dynasty 23, 69, 98, 144 Jan Halicz s. Eliakim Halicz Jenne, Cezary 23 Jesus Christ of Nazareth 16, 73, 77, 142, 161, 168 Joab, military commander 59, 60 Joan I of Sicily 226 Jochanan, rabbi 45 Joel ben Aaron ha-Levi 131 Joel ben Shmuel Sikres 107

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265

266

Index of persons

Jonatan ben Yaakov 122 Juda / Leib ben Icchak Judels Katz 121, 138 Juda, Maria 128, 129, 131 Judah ibn Tibon 205 Julius III, pope 28, 62, 63, 101 Justiniani, Marco Antonio s. Giustiniani, Marco Antonio K Kalman s. Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechaj Jaffe Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechai Jaffe 97, 115, 116, 123–126, 128–133, 141, 144, 146, 186, 187 Kalonymos (II) Kalman Jaffe 132, 133 Kalonymos Avraham Kalman ben Mordechai s. Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechaj Jaffe Kalonymos ben Mordechai Jaffe s. Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechaj Jaffe Kalonymos Kalman ben Mordechai s. Kalonymos (I) ben Mordechaj Jaffe Kamolowa, Danuta 229 Kanon, E. 230 Karnkowski, Stanisław, primate 148 Katona, Tünde 195 Katriel of Kraków 87 Katz, Jacob 88 Kaufmann, David 228, 231, 232 Kawecka-Gryczowa, Alodia 68, 124, 128, 129, 131, 151 Kaźmierczyk, Adam 78 Kennedy Grimsted, Patricia 228 Khanina, rabbi 52 Khidek, rabbi 51 Khmelnytsky, Bohdan s. Chmielnicki, Bohdan Kircheim, R. of Frankfurt M. 202 Kiryk, Feliks 139 Kmita, Piotr 77, 83

Kobielski, Franciszek Antoni 78 Kocowski, Bronisław 72, 124 Konopczyński, Władysław 91, 155 Kopciowski, Adam 124 Korotajowa, Krystyna 95, 155 Kościuszko, Tadeusz 154 Kosman ben Yosef Baruch 195 Kouts, Gideon 20 Kowalski, Waldemar 23, 95 Krauss, Samuel 90 Krauze-Karpińska, Joanna 155 Krieger, Johann Anton s. Krüger, Jan Antoni Krüger, Jan Antoni 97, 122, 152–155 Krüger, Johann Anton s. Krüger, Jan Antoni Kupfer, Franciszek 229 Kurzius, Yosef 194 L Łącki, Walenty 137 Ladislaus IV Vasa, king s. Władysław IV Waza, king Landwehrmeyer, Richard 175 Lange, Nicholas de 225 Laras, G. 202 Lasarus Eliezer s. Eliezer ben Icchak Aszkenazi Lasarus iudaeus lublinensis s. Eliezer from Opatów Lazaro s. Eliezer from Opatów Lazarus iudaeus opatoviensis s. Eliezer from Opatów Lechowski, Piotr 176 Legowicz, Jan 109 Leib Katz s. Yosef ben Aleksander Kohen Leib Zusman 195 Leo X, pope 100 Leon Vita Saraval Targestinus of Trieste s. Yehuda Chai Saraval Leoni, Eliezer 155

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Index of persons

Lepszy, Kazimierz 90 Leslie, Charles 171 Leszczyński, Anatol 92 Levi ben Gershon 133 Levi Gersonides 205 Levi, son of Yaakov 54 Levy, T. 230 Liebermann, Max 228 Link-Lenczowski, Andrzej 85, 92 Löwinger, David Samuel 201, 202 Łukaszewicz, Józef 69 Łukaszyk, Romuald 95 Luter, Bernard 72 Luther, Martin 72–76, 100 M Maarssen, family 29 Maciejowski, Bernard 163 Maciejowski, Samuel 77, 83 Maharam s. Meir ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen Maharsha s. Shmuel Eliezer ben Yehuda Edels Maharshal s. Shlomo ben Jehiel Luria Mahler, Rafał 85 Maimonides s. Moshe ben Maimon Maimonides of Polish Jewry s. Moshe Isserles, rabbi Maimonides of the North s. Moshe Isserles, rabbi Majdanik, Piotr 45, 61 Małecki, Jan M. 94 Malicki, Marian 66 Manasse ben Israel 29 Manasseh of Rome, printer 221, 222 Marcinkowski, Roman 230 Martin, Bernard 89 Marx, Alexander 95 Marx, Moses 33, 95, 139, 150, 151, 155 Marzo Magno, Alessandro 63 Masius, Andreas 63

Maximilian of the Habsburgs, archduke 148 Meir ben David from Kulk 134 Meir ben Gedalia mi-Lublin 108 Meir ben Icchak Katzenellenbogen 18, 41, 42, 44, 53, 58, 61–63 Meir ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen s. Meir ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen Meir ben Mordechai HaLevi 115 Meir ben Mordechai ha-Levi from Lublin 127 Meir ben Shlomo 125 Meir ben Yekutiel ha-Kohen 59 Meir of Lublin 104, 107, 108 Meir of Padua 53 Melanchthon, Philip 75 Menachem ben Icchak Segal 148 Menachem Meisels ben Moshe Shimshon s. Menachem Nachum ben Moshe Meisels Shimshon Menachem Nachum ben Moshe Meisels Shimshon 43, 118, 133, 194 Menachem Nachum Meisels s. Menachem Nachum ben Moshe Meisels Shimshon Menachem Nachum Meisels ben Moshe Simson s. Menachem Nachum ben Moshe Meisels Shimshon Menashe 49–51 Menashe ben Israel 194 Menashe of Rome, printer 26, 27, 70, 205 Mendelssohn, Moses 113 Meshullam ben Shlomo of Neuss s. Meszulam ben Shlomo Meshullam Kuzi 27 Meshullam Phoebus 104 Meshullam Zelman ben Aaron in Sulzbach 153 Meszulam ben Shlomo 115, 123, 125, 129 Meyer, Herrmann 95 Migoń, Krzysztof 31 Mirski, Jozafat 192

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Miszkurek, J. 176 Mittler, Elmar 175 Moed-Van Walraven, C. 26, 204 Monte, Giovanni Maria del s. Julius III, pope Mordechai ben Abraham Jaffe 106, 107, 124, 130, 131, 134, 186 Mordechai ben Avraham s. Mordechai ben Abraham Jaffe Mordechai ben Avraham Jaffe s. Mordechai ben Abraham Jaffe Mordechai ben Hillel 54 Mordechai ben Icchak Prostitz 135–137 Mordechai ben Shabatai 150 Mordechai ben Yaakov 131 Mordechai Schealtiel 87 Moses ben Israel Isserles, rabbi s. Moshe Isserles, rabbi Moses ben Jacob of Coucy 51 Moses, patriarch 47, 56, 71, 98 Moshe Arie ben Simon Katz from Żółkiew 122 Moshe ben Avraham Mendes Kojtinjo 194 Moshe ben Chasdai 87 Moshe ben Eliezer 43, 116–118 Moshe ben Gershom 32 Moshe ben Icchak Dias 29, 195 Moshe ben Icchak Mintz 88 Moshe ben Israel Isserles s. Moshe Isserles, rabbi Moshe ben Katriel Weisswasser s. Moshe Weisswasser ben Katriel Moshe ben Maimon 41, 42, 44, 45, 47–49, 53, 54, 56, 59–61, 88, 90, 108, 109, 142, 160, 191, 205, 212–215, 222, 223 Moshe ben Moshe 119, 149, 150 Moshe ben Nachman 26, 48, 148, 205, 216, 218, 221–223 Moshe ben Yaakov from Kiev 190 Moshe ben Yaakov Kordovero 184 Moshe Continho 29

Moshe de Leon 133 Moshe Frankfurt 195 Moshe Geronaz s. Moshe ben Moshe Moshe Isserles, rabbi 13, 18, 32, 40–44, 46, 51, 53, 61, 90, 93, 104, 106, 108, 109, 143, 161, 180 Moshe Jozue ben Icchak Prostitz s. Moshe Yoshua ben Icchak Prostitz Moshe Kordower 149 Moshe Lima 91 Moshe Poler 87 Moshe Weisswasser ben Katriel 121, 138 Moshe Yohoshua ben Aaron Prostitz s. Moshe Yoshua ben Aaron Prostitz Moshe Yosef ben Icchak Prostitz 151 Moshe Yoshua ben Aaron Prostitz 119, 120 Moshe Yoshua ben Icchak Prostitz 135, 136 Muenster, Sebastian 196 Muhammad, prophet 14 Murzynowski, Stanisław 77 Muszyńska, Krystyna 229 Myszkowski, Stanisław 142, 143, 160, 162 N Nachman ben Asher 150 Nachman, rabbi 57 Nachmanides s. Moshe ben Nachman Nachmias 193 Nahon, Gerard 204 Naphtali ben Joel Shachor 115 Naphtali Hirsch Altshuler 150 Naphtali Hirsch ben Menachem from Lviv s. Naphtali Hirsch ben Menachem haBayvli of Lviv Naphtali Hirsch ben Menachem ha-Bavli of Lviv 141, 142, 181 Naphtali Hirsch Levi Rofe 195 Naphtali Tzvi ben Yosef Jalis 122

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Index of persons

Naphtali Tzvi Hirsch ben Moshe Towja Gutmann 138 Natan Nata ben Shimon from Poznań 133 Natan, rabbi 232 Nehemiah ben Yehuda Saraval 201 Neumann, Franz Josef 32 Noah, patriarch 45, 47–50, 52 Nussbaum, Hilary 87 O Obadiah ben Moshe of Rome, printer 26, 27, 70, 205, 212, 221, 222 Obadiah of Bertinoro 131 Offenberg, Adriaan Karel 26, 204 Oleśnicki, Mikołaj 132, 164, 166, 169 Ortas, Shmuel de 27 Oshiah, rabbi 50 Ossoliński, Jan 154 Ottoman, dynasty 147, 193 P Pannartz, Arnold 26, 70, 222 Paul IV, pope 22, 63, 101 Penzak, Abraham 91 Pfeffernkorn, Johannes 100 Piast, dynasty 69 Piekosiński, Franciszek 85 Pietkiewicz, Rajmund 20 Pietrzyk, Zdzisław 176 Piglisz, Yosef s. Yosef ben Dan Pilarczyk, Krzysztof 22, 24, 35, 37–39, 42, 43, 53, 62, 68, 70, 124, 128, 129, 131, 135, 139, 151, 152, 155, 157, 164, 166, 175, 179, 193–195, 200, 202, 204, 225 Pinchas from Poland 87 Piotrowczyk, A. 77 Pirożyński, Jan 128 Pius IV, pope 28, 96, 101 Polański, Tomasz 85, 92 Polner, Simeon 87 Poniatowski, Stanisław August, king 154

Poniatowski, Stanisław, duke 153, 155 Popper, William 168 Posner, Raphael 24, 88, 177 Prijs, Johan 145 Props, family 195 Prostic, Aaronowicz Izaak s. Icchak ben Aaron Prostitz Prosticowie, family 104, 127, 135, 137–140, 146–150, 194 Pseudo-Shlomo ben Icchak 205 Pszczółkowski, Tomasz Grzegorz 109 Ptaśnik, Jan 80, 81 Pytel, Roman 91 R Rabbah bar Avuha 48 Rabbenu Asher s. Asher ben Jehiel Rabbim, Rafael Meldol Majim 201 Rabinovič, S.P. 90 Rabinovicz, Raphael Nathan Nata 150, 172 Radziwiłł, Michał the Black 77 Rambam s. Moshe ben Maimon Ramban s. Moshe ben Nachman Rashi s. Shlomo ben Icchak Rava 49–51, 55, 57, 59, 60 Raw Aaron 87 Raw Ezekiel 87 Reiner, Elchanan 108 Rema s. Moshe Isserles, rabbi Reuchlin, Johannes 72, 100 Reusch, Franz Heinrich 168 Reuwen, son of Yaakov 54 Rif s. Yitzhak ben Yaakov Alfasi ha-Kohen Ringelblum, Emanuel 19, 85, 152, 155, 229 Rivkind, Isaac 155 Rosenfeld, Mosche N. 95 Rosh s. Yaakov ben Asher Rosin, D. 202 Rostworowski, Emanuel 91

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S Sałata, Stanisław 137 Sandecki, Jan 77 Saraval, family 18, 19, 201–205, 207, 209, 212, 214–216, 218, 220, 223 Sa’adiah ben Yosef Gaon 15, 25 Schaeper, Silke 222 Schiper, Ignacy 68, 86, 88, 94 Schochow, Werner 175 Schorr, Mojżesz 85, 87, 88 Schwarz, Karl 228 Seklucjan, Jan 77 Sforza, family 66 Shabtai Kohen 91 Shalom Shakhnah 40, 42, 89, 90, 104 Shapur II, king 60 Shatzman, Israel 230 Shaul Shimon ben Yehuda Levi from Lublin 133, 134 Shimon, son of Yaakov 54, 55 Shlomo Alkabetz 27 Shlomo ben Avraham Props 195 Shlomo ben Gershon from Grodno 131 Shlomo ben Icchak 40, 46, 48–50, 52, 53, 55, 57, 58, 60, 92, 133, 134, 137, 148, 205, 219–222 Shlomo ben Jechiel Luria s. Shlomo ben Jehiel Luria Shlomo ben Jehiel Luria 40, 43, 91, 104–107, 109, 131 Shlomo ben Manasse 29 Shlomo ben Meir Katz 148 Shlomo ben Moshe Soncino 205, 206, 223 Shlomo ben Peres Bonfroi Carfati 205 Shlomo ben Yechiel Luria s. Shlomo ben Jehiel Luria Shlomo ben Yehuda 131, 205, 212 Shlomo ben Yitzchak s. Shlomo ben Icchak Shlomo ben Yosef Props 195 Shlomo Chai ben Nehemiah 201 Shlomo ibn Gabirol 205

Shlomo Molk 143, 161 Shmeruk, Chone 65, 74, 91 Shmuel ben Chaim Helicz 79–82, 158 Shmuel ben Hakadosh Boehm 140, 143, 149, 161 Shmuel ben Icchak ha-Kadosh Boehm s. Shmuel ben Hakadosh Boehm Shmuel ben Issachar Beer Segal 190 Shmuel ben Mordechai Ashkenazi from Przemyśl 138 Shmuel ben Musa 27 Shmuel ben Phoebus 91 Shmuel ben Pinchas Hurwic 137 Shmuel ben Shmuel of Rome 205 Shmuel ben Yosef Mordechai 119, 149, 150 Shmuel Eliezer ben Yehuda Edels 133 Shmuel Eliezer ben Yehuda ha-Levi Edels 134 Shmuel ibn Nachmias 28, 193 Shmuel Levi 138 Shmul ben Issachar Ber Segal 154 Shoel ben Juda Segal 131 Shulvass, Moses A. 88 Sief, Asher 53 Sierotwiński, Stanisław 175 Siev, S. 90 Sigismund August, king 90, 123–127, 129, 130, 135, 140, 141, 144, 145, 159, 162 Sigismund I the Old, king 66, 68, 69, 76, 78, 80–82, 89, 153, 158 Sigismund III Vasa, king 132, 148, 164, 167–169, 173, 198 Simcha ben Icchak Prostitz 135–137 Simcha Juda of Mantua Saraval 202 Simon, Heinrich 109 Simon, Marie 109 Simonsohn, Shlomo 63 Singer Gold, Leonard 24 Sirat, Colette 225 Sixtová, Olga 203

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Index of persons

Sixtus of Siena 159, 170 Skalska-Zlat, Marta 225 Skolnik, Fred 202 Śleszkowski, Sebastian 78 Solomon ben Jechiel Luria s. Shlomo ben Jehiel Luria Soncino 223 Soncino, family 27, 28, 80, 96, 100, 193, 223 Soncino-Pesaro, family s. Soncino, family Spiegel, Yaakov Shmuel 24 Spinoza, Baruch 112, 113 Stachowski, Antoni Henryk 68 Stankiewicz, Jerzy 203 Stefan Batory, king 130, 141, 145, 146, 148 Steinsaltz, Adin 98 Steinschneider, Moritz 32, 41, 43, 65, 111, 139, 142, 145, 150, 152, 166, 201 Stemthal, M. 230 Stern, Moritz 228 Stow, Kenneth R. 63, 92 Straube, Kasper 69 Strelcyn, Stefan 229 Strelnikowa, Irena 124, 131 Sweynheym, Konrad 26, 70, 222 Świerkowski, Ksawery 155 Szarfenberg, Maciej 70 Szarfenbergs, family 77 Szlosberg, B. 68 Szlufik, Elżbieta 94 Szyszkowski, Marcin 38, 132, 135, 163, 164, 167–171 T Tartakower, Aryeh 86, 88 Ta-Shema, Israel M. 24 Ta-Shma, Israel M. 86, 87, 177 Tauber, Arieh 155 Tazbir, Janusz 94 Tikhon, Dan 230 Tiktin, G. 202

Tollet, Daniel 23, 106 Tomaszewski, Jerzy 88 Touati, Charles 204 Trachtenberg, J. 88 Trzciński, Andrzej 124 Trzynadlowski, Jan 124 Tzvi bar Abraham Kalonymous s. Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe 97, 116–118, 124, 131–134, 136, 139, 164, 166, 169–172, 188 Tzvi ben Kalonymos Jaffe s. Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe Tzvi ben Moshe 132 Tzvi Hirsch bar Icchak of Poznań 117, 118 Tzvi Hirsch ben Arie Leib Margaliot s. Tzvi Hirsch ben Arje Lejb Tzvi Hirsch ben Arje Leib 190 Tzvi Hirsch ben Arje Lejb 154 Tzvi Hirsch ben Avraham Kalmankes Kalonymos Jaffe s. Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe Tzvi Hirsch ben Simon Kahana from Żółkiew 122 Tzvi Hirsh s. Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe Tzvi Kalonymos Jaffe s. Tzvi ben Avraham Kalonymos Jaffe U Ungler, Florian 70 Uri Phoebus ben Aaron ha-Levi 29, 33, 194 V Veil, Yaakov 134 Vinograd, Yeshayahu 28, 30, 65, 142, 166, 204 Vitalius, Jakub s. Vitellius, Jakub Vitellius, Jakub 169–171

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Index of persons

Vitillius, Jakub s. Vitellius, Jakub Vögels, Yosef s. Yosef ben Dan W Wander, M. 35 Waxman, Meyer 88 Weber, Max 91 Węgrzynek, Hanna 94 Weil, Gérard Emmanuel 204, 229 Wein, A. 92 Weinryb, Bernard Dov 23, 89, 96, 201, 202 Wielgus, Stanisław 88 Wierzbicki, W. 88 Wierzbięta, Maciej 167 Wietor, Hieronim 70 Wijaczka, Jacek 94 Winter, Jakob 91 Witeliusz, Jakub s. Vitellius, Jakub Władysław IV Waza, king 132, 173 Wojakowski, Józef 35, 68 Wolf, Johann Christoph 65, 70, 72, 74, 166, 229, 230 Wolff, Albert 19, 72, 225, 228–232 Wujek, Jakub 77 Wünsche, August 91 Wust, Johann 195 Wyczański, Andrzej 78 Wyrozumska, Bożena 76, 85 Wyrozumski, Jerzy 76, 85, 87 Y Yaakov bar Gershon Bak 32, 194 Yaakov ben Asher 32, 54, 138, 205, 206, 223 Yaakov ben Ashrer 56 Yaakov ben Avraham 138 Yaakov ben David 115, 123 Yaakov ben David Gutrat 115, 123, 125 Yaakov ben Icchak 133 Yaakov ben Leib Saraval 201 Yaakov ben Meir Heliszau 131, 138

Yaakov ben Moshe Lesers 43, 115, 123, 125, 129 Yaakov ben Shlomo Tzarfati 226, 232 Yaakov Margulies from Regensburg s. Yaakov Polak Yaakov Polak 89, 90 Yaakov Props 195 Yaakov Swar from Kraków 87 Yaakov the Pole 89 Yaakov, patriarch 47, 54, 138 Yaari, Abraham 37, 128, 135, 150, 155 Yakov Gutrod s. Yaakov ben David Gutrat Yechezkel ben Moshe Gabai 148, 150 Yehoshua Falk 91 Yehoshua Gershom ben Moshe Soncino 223 Yehoshua Shlomo ben Israel Soncino 206, 222 Yehuda ben Eliezer ha-Levi 44, 58 Yehuda ben Shlomo Katz Lifshitz 132 Yehuda ben Yaakov 131 Yehuda ben Yosef 119, 149, 150 Yehuda Chai Saraval 201, 202 Yehuda Hechasid 86 Yehuda Leib Saraval 201 Yekutiel ben Meshullam 115 Yeshaya ha-Sofer ben Meir 149 Yeshua ben Israel 132, 133 Yeshua Soncino 205 Yitzchak ben Avdimi, rabbi 46, 48 Yitzhak ben Yaakov Alfasi ha-Kohen 51, 54 Yochanan Levi Rofe 195 Yochanan, rabbi 45–47, 50 Yochua Shlomo ben Israel Natan Soncino 205 Yosef (I) ben Kalonymos 130 Yosef (II) ben Tzvi Hirsch Kalonymos Jaffe 133 Yosef bar Mordechai Grozmark 138 Yosef ben Aleksander Kohen 133

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Index of persons

Yosef ben Dan 148 Yosef ben Gershon from Turobin 133 Yosef ben Kalonymos Jaffe 116, 124, 130 Yosef ben Mordechai Jaffe 97 Yosef ben Shimeon Karo 40, 107, 108, 133, 137, 143, 161, 205 Yosef ben Yaakov Ashkenazi Gunzenhauser 205 Yosef ben Yakar s. Yosef ben Yakov Yakar Yosef ben Yakov Yakar 123–125, 129, 130, 133 Yosef Dajan 195 Yosef Karo s. Yosef ben Shimeon Karo Yosef Shlomo Delmedigo Elim 201 Yosef Yaakov Props 152 Yosef, rabbi 51, 52, 56 Yoshua ben Alexander HaCohen Falk 91 Yoshua ben Israel 117

Z Zafren, Herbert C. 32, 33 Zakrzewski, Ignacy 85 Zamojska, Dorota 23 Zamoyski, Jan 146, 148 Żbikowska-Migoń, Anna 225 Zborowski, Krzysztof 148 Zętar, Joanna 124, 128, 129, 131 Zinberg, Israel 89–91 Zucker, Shlomo 230, 232 Zuckermann, B. 202 Zunz, Leopold 87 Żurek, Sławomir Jacek 124 Żurkowa, Renata 139, 151 Zwingli, Ulrich 75, 76 Zwinogrodzka, Ewa 66 Zygmunt III Waza s. Sigismund III Vasa, king

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Index of places

A Adrianopol 179 Africa 15, 70, 176 Alessandria (Italy) 179 Altdorf 30, 177 Altenburg 179 Altona 30, 177, 195 America 26 Americas 24 Amsterdam 28, 29, 33, 35, 43, 95, 100, 132, 152, 153, 176, 177, 194, 195, 201 Anjou 145 Apennine Peninsula 27, 38, 102, 204, 222 Ashkenaz 26, 44, 74, 87, 89, 90, 109, 111, 129, 225, 232 Asia 15, 24, 70, 176 Augsburg 30, 177, 194 Auschwitz 202 Austria 228 Avignon 22, 29, 179, 226, 228, 231, 232

Bern 179 Black Sea region 14 Blankenburg 179 Bohemia 23, 31–33, 38, 86, 88, 97, 125, 130, 193 Bologna 177, 222 Bonn 178 Brescia 27, 222 Breslau 18–20, 31, 32, 68, 72, 87, 178, 195, 201–206, 208, 210, 212, 215, 218, 220, 222, 223 Brittany 22 Brno 31, 32, 86, 177, 195 Brunswick 178 Brzeg Dolny s. Dyhernfurth Buetzow 178 Burg 179 Byczyna 148 Bystrzejowice 34, 130 Byzantium 225

B Babylonia 15, 24, 25, 45, 52, 55, 63, 97, 123–127, 130, 132, 133, 136, 137, 141, 145, 152, 160, 162, 171, 232 Baghdad 176, 179 Balkans 14 Barco 27, 222 Basel 28, 29, 100, 101, 103, 104, 132, 137, 145, 152, 162, 171, 172, 177, 196 Bavaria 89, 195 Bavaria, Upper 22 Belarus 195 Benevento 22 Berlin 13, 18, 19, 30, 43, 152, 175–177, 194–196, 202, 228–230

C Cairo 15, 25, 177, 178 Campo di Fiori 63 Carpentrac 231 Casalmaggiore 27, 222 Castile 100 Celle 179 Chufut Kale 179 Church State s. Papal States Cispadane Republic 178 Cleve 29, 178 Cologne 31, 201 Colony 178 Commonwealth s. Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

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Index of places

Constantinople 26, 28, 125, 128, 147, 176–178, 193, 195 Copenhagen 178 Coucy 51 Cremona 140, 177 Crimea 14 Crown s. Poland Cyprus 14 Czech 98, 157, 203 Czechia s. Moravia D Dagestan 14 Danzig 178, 195 Darmstadt 179, 232 Delphis 178 Dessau 29, 30, 177 Dresden 76, 178, 202, 228 Drohiczyn 154 Dubno 34, 178 Dyhernfurth 31–33, 177, 195

F Fano 27, 177 Faro 27 Ferrara 27, 28, 177, 222 Fez 29, 193 Florence 177, 178, 195 France 22, 55, 130, 145, 225, 226, 228, 231 France, northern 92, 226, 231, 232 France, southern 231 Franckenland 178 Frankfurt am Main 22, 30, 92, 143, 152, 162, 176, 177, 195, 202 Frankfurt an der Oder 30, 74, 152, 176, 177, 195 Freiburg im Breisgau 178 Fribourg 178 Friedberg 93, 178 Fuerth s. Fürth Fürstenberg s. Książ Furth s. Fürth Fürth 30, 31, 152, 177, 195

E Egypt 14, 24, 48, 178, 226, 231 Eisenach 75 Ełk 178 England 22, 96 Eretz Israel s. Holy Land Erfurt 178 Europe 15, 18, 19, 21–24, 26, 28, 29, 32, 37, 38, 41, 42, 69–71, 89–94, 96–101, 104, 110, 111, 113, 127, 128, 137, 147, 157, 171, 172, 176, 193, 195, 200, 228 Europe, Central 30, 193, 195 Europe, Central-Eastern 18, 21, 23, 29, 31–33, 35, 36, 38, 44, 204 Europe, Eastern 85, 88, 195 Europe, Southern 23, 98, 172, 195 Europe, Western 22, 23, 38, 98, 102, 109, 111, 112, 145, 146, 152, 157, 159, 172, 193–195

G Gdańsk 34, 148 Geneva 45, 229, 230 Genoa 159 German Empire 22, 101 Germany 19, 22, 26, 29, 30, 33, 35, 54, 55, 59, 65, 70–78, 86–89, 93, 94, 97, 100, 112, 113, 130, 149, 157, 176, 178, 200, 203, 222, 225, 228, 229, 232 Giessen 177 Glasses 177 Glatz 203, 228, 229 Gniezno 66, 71 Gotha 178 Göttingen 178 Grand Duchy of Lithuania 18, 69 Great Britain 19 Great Poland 85 Greater Poland 92

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Index of places

Grodno 34, 131, 178, 195 Gross-Glogau 194 Grüssau 175, 202 Guadalajara 27, 100 H Halle 29, 30, 152, 177, 178 Hamburg 30, 43, 177, 195 Hanau 30, 43, 116, 117, 132, 137, 139, 177, 195 Hanover 178 Heddernheim 178, 194 Hegenau 178 Heidelberg 19, 178 Helmstadt 178 Hijar 27, 223 Hildesheim 178 Holy Land 53, 128, 130 Homburg 30, 177 Hundsfeld 31, 32, 68, 72 Hungary 23, 86, 141, 153, 160 I Iberian Peninsula 26, 28, 44, 92, 194, 223, 225 Isna 177 Isny 29, 30 Israel 15, 16, 19, 24, 25, 39, 47–50, 52–54, 59–61, 92, 93, 103, 110, 225, 229, 230 Istanbul s. Constantinople Italy 14, 18, 26–29, 32, 33, 37, 38, 42, 44, 53, 63, 66, 96, 97, 99–102, 109, 111–113, 130, 132, 135, 137, 140, 147, 157, 159, 172, 179, 193, 205, 222, 223, 225, 227 Italy, southern 14 Ixar 205 Izmir 176–178 J Jańsbork (Prussia) Jelenia Góra 70 Jena 177

178

Jerusalem 15, 19, 28, 30, 43, 51, 57, 63, 87, 135, 137, 162, 176, 178, 203, 205, 225, 226, 229, 230 Jessnitz 177, 195 Jozefów 178 K Kalisz 85, 87 Kamienna Góra 175 Karlsruhe 30, 177 Kazimierz 65, 70, 76, 127, 135, 140–142, 144, 145, 147, 148, 158, 160, 161 Kiev 190 Kłodzko s. Glatz Knesset 230 Knyszyn 144 Koethen 178 Koln 30 Königsberg 30, 77, 177, 202 Końska Wola 34, 115, 123, 125, 128 Końskowola s. Końskowola Kopyl 34 Kopys 34 Kopyść 34 Korec s. Korzec Korets s. Korzec Korzec 34, 152, 154, 177, 190 Kraków 13, 18–20, 33, 34, 38, 41–44, 61, 62, 65, 66, 68–72, 75–78, 80–82, 85–90, 93–95, 97, 99, 102–104, 107, 108, 118–121, 126, 127, 130, 132, 133, 135–149, 151, 158–165, 167–171, 173, 175–177, 180, 182, 186, 187, 189, 191–197, 204, 205 Krasnobór s. Grüssau Królewiec s. Königsberg Krotoszyn 178 Krzeszów s. Grüssau Książ 175 Kulk 134

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L Landeshut s. Kamienna Góra Languedoc 225 Łęczyca 106 Leghorn s. Livorno Legnica s. Lignitz Leiden 177 Leipzig 30, 177 Leiria 27 Lesser Poland s. Małopolska Lignitz 31, 32, 68 Lisbon 27, 178, 205, 223 Lithuania 14, 18, 23, 66, 69, 86, 88, 92, 123, 129, 154, 195 Livorno 28, 176, 177, 195 Lombardy 222, 223 London 29, 177 Lower Saxony 152 Lower Silesia 72, 175, 228 Lublin 18, 19, 29, 33, 34, 38, 42, 68, 78, 87–90, 95, 97, 99, 102–104, 107–109, 115–118, 123–136, 139, 141, 142, 144–147, 160, 161, 163, 164, 166–173, 176, 177, 194 Łuck 78 Ludwigsdorf 178 Lviv 29, 33, 34, 69, 71, 76, 78, 82, 141, 142, 152, 158, 177, 189, 194 Lwów s. Lviv M Madrid 178 Magdeburg 178 Maghreb 225 Małopolska 68, 89, 92, 110, 128, 139, 148 Mannheim 178 Mantua 27–29, 139, 177, 195, 202, 222 Marah 48, 49 Marburg 178 Medzhybizh 35 Metz 29, 152, 177, 178, 195

Mezhyriv 34 Mezyr 178 Meżyrów s. Mezhyriv Micraim s. Egypt Middelburg 178 Middle East 21, 128 Międzybóż s. Medzybizh Minkowce 34 Modena 177, 178 Montreal 229 Moravia 31, 32, 86, 130, 132, 135, 136, 138, 140, 149 Moriah, mount 138 Morocco 29, 193 Moscow 26, 33, 69, 203 N Naples 27, 205, 222 Nazareth 16 Neapol 22 Netherlands 33, 112, 113, 194 Neurnberg 30 Neuss 115 Neustrelitz 178 Neuwied 31, 178 New York 65, 203 Nice 178 North Africa 24, 225 North America 19 Nowy Dwór near Kraków 34, 135, 149, 150, 176, 178, 184 Nowy Dwór near Warsaw 18, 34, 39, 97, 102, 122, 152–154, 177, 195 Nuremberg 177 O Oels 31, 32, 169 Offenbach 30, 177, 195 Oleksiniec 34, 122, 152 Oleśnica s. Oels Opatów 126, 130

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Index of places

Oppenheim 178 Orta Kijuai near Constantinople Ostróg 34 Ostroh s. Ostróg Ottoman Empire 22, 23, 193 Oxford 65, 177

176, 178

P Padua 41, 42, 44, 53, 140, 159, 177, 178, 227 Palermo 178 Palestine 24, 29, 176, 193 Papal States 22, 23, 157 Paris 20, 26, 28, 29, 177, 226 Parma 178 Pavia 178 Pesaro 177 Piove di Sacco 27, 222 Pisa 177 Ploen 178 Podberezce 34 Podlasie 154, 155 Poland 13, 14, 18–20, 23, 25, 31–35, 38, 39, 42, 62, 65–70, 77, 78, 85–98, 101, 105–111, 123, 126, 128–131, 135, 137, 139–142, 144–155, 157–159, 161, 162, 166, 168, 172, 193, 194, 200, 201, 204, 206, 229, 230 Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 13, 18, 23, 24, 31, 33, 34, 36, 38, 70, 71, 78, 85, 86, 88, 92, 94–99, 101–103, 105, 106, 108–113, 123, 124, 128, 129, 131, 132, 135, 140, 144, 145, 147–149, 151, 152, 154, 155, 157, 164, 168, 171, 172, 193, 194 Polonne 34, 177 Połonne 34 Polonné 178 Ponte Corvo 22 Portugal 14, 22, 27, 100, 112, 113, 193, 223 Poryck 34, 178

Poznań 34, 69, 71, 76, 82, 88, 90, 117, 118, 133, 158 Prague 19, 31–33, 38, 70, 104, 115, 123–125, 128, 129, 132, 133, 137, 139, 152, 154, 176, 177, 193–195, 201, 203, 223 Prościejów 31, 32, 131, 132, 135, 136, 138, 140, 149, 150 Prossnitz s. Prościejów Prostějov s. Prościejów Prostitz s. Prościejów Provence 22, 225, 226, 229, 231, 232 Prussia 178 Przemyśl 138 Psie Pole s. Hundsfeld Puławy 123 Pumbedita 232 Pyrenean Peninsula 38, 102 R Radyvýliv s. Radziwiłłów Radziwiłłów 35, 178 Red Ruthenia 92 Regensburg 89, 178 Reggio di Calabria 27, 222 Riga 179, 202 Rimini 178 Riva di Trento 176, 177 Rodelheim 30 Roedelheim 177 Rome 22, 26, 27, 63, 70, 96, 101, 146, 159, 177, 205, 222 Rostock 179 Rothenburg 179 Rotterdam 75, 179 Royal Prussia 98 S Sabionetta 178 Safed 29, 125, 128, 176–178, 193 Sambor 35

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Index of places

Saxony 75 Shklov 34, 152, 155 Sicily 225, 226 Silesia 31, 71, 202 Sinai, mount 47, 48, 50, 98 Slavuta 34, 177, 179 Sławuta s. Slavuta Sobibór 202 Soncino 27, 205, 206, 213, 222, 223 Spain 14, 22, 27, 38, 54, 56, 100, 101, 111, 130, 133, 193, 223, 231, 232 Speyer on the Rhine 223 Steinfurt 179 Stettin 178 Strasbourg 29, 177 Stuttgart 179 Subiaco 26, 222 Sudetes 203, 228 Sudylkiv 35 Sudylków s. Sudylkiv Sulzbach 30, 152, 153, 177, 195 Sura 232 Sweden 23 Switzerland 75, 101, 229, 230 Szkłów s. Shklov T Tartakiv 35 Tartaków s. Tartakiv Terezin 203 Thessaloniki 28, 29, 127, 176, 177, 195 Thiengen 29, 178 Thistle 178 Toledo 27, 38, 223 Torgau 179 Tormersdorf 202 Toruń 179 Trent 96, 101, 146–148, 163, 168, 170 Trieste 201, 202 Tsfat s. Safed Tübingen 19, 178

Tunis 179 Turin 178 Turka 34 Turkey 101, 147, 179 Turobin 133 U Ukraine 19, 33, 94, 195 Uppsala 178 USA 229 USSR 203 Utrecht 177 Uzbekistan 14 V Vatican 87 Venice 27–29, 41, 42, 44, 53, 63, 70, 71, 95, 100, 101, 104, 132, 137, 139, 140, 164, 170, 177, 201, 222 Verona 29, 177, 178 Vienna 29, 178, 195, 202 Vilna 116–118 Vilnius 34, 177, 178, 195 Vistula, river 44, 69 W Wałbrzych 175 Waldenburg s. Wałbrzych Wandsbeck 30, 177, 195 Warsaw 34, 43, 70, 82, 140, 152, 153, 155, 158, 176–178, 203–206, 223, 228, 229 Warta, river 69 Wartburg 75 Wegrow s. Węgrów Węgrów 34, 152, 154 Wetzlar 179 Wilhermsdorf 30, 177, 195 Wittenberg 30, 75, 178 Wolfenbüttel 152, 179 Wołyń 122 Worms 179 Wrocław s. Breslau

© 2022 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht | Brill Deutschland GmbH ISBN Print: 9783525573358 — ISBN E-Book: 9783647573359

Index of places

Z Zamora 27 Zhovka 29, 32–34, 78, 152, 176, 178, 189, 194

Zhovkva s. Żółkiew Zhytomyr s. Żytomierz Zurich 29, 75, 177, 179 Żytomierz 179

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