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| Country of Location: |
Country of Location
Switzerland
|
| Location: |
Location Zürich |
| Library / Collection: |
Library / Collection
Braginsky Collection
|
| Shelfmark: | Shelfmark B45 |
| Manuscript Title: | Manuscript Title Solomon Adeni, Melekhet Shelomo ("the commentaries on the Mishnah by Solomon") |
| Caption: | Caption Paper · 280 ff. · 21.5 x 15.5 cm · Hebron (The Land of Israel), Solomon Adeni · before 1611 |
| Language: |
Language
Hebrew |
| Manuscript Summary: | Manuscript Summary Shelomo bar Joshua Adeni (1567-1625) was a Jewish scholar who devoted himself primarily to the study of the Mishnah (the first major written redaction of the Oral Torah). According to tradition, he spent three decades working on his commentary, writing his own thoughts and remarks in the margins next to and around the text of his printed edition of the complete Mishnah. His notes became so crowded that he himself had difficulty deciphering them, whereupon a patron enabled him to rewrite his collection of thoughts into a coherent work; the result is this Mishnah commentary. The Mishnah consists of six orders; this text is a commentary on the first part, the Zera’im ("Seeds"), pertaining to blessings, prayers and laws related to agriculture. The Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York holds a corresponding commentary on the sixth order of the Mishnah, the Tohorot ("Purities") (MS Rab33). It is dated 1611, so we can assume that our manuscript was written earlier. |
| DOI (Digital Object Identifier): | DOI (Digital Object Identifier 10.5076/e-codices-bc-b-0045 (http://dx.doi.org/10.5076/e-codices-bc-b-0045) |
| Permanent link: | Permanent link https://e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/b-0045 |
| IIIF Manifest URL: |
IIIF Manifest URL
https://e-codices.ch/metadata/iiif/bc-b-0045/manifest.json
|
| How to quote: | How to quote Zürich, Braginsky Collection, B45: Solomon Adeni, Melekhet Shelomo ("the commentaries on the Mishnah by Solomon") (https://e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/b-0045). |
| Online Since: | Online Since 03/19/2015 |
| External resources: | External resources |
| Rights: | Rights Images:
(Concerning all other rights see each manuscript description and our Terms of use) |
| Document Type: |
Document Type
Manuscript |
| Century: |
Century
17th century |
e-codices · 01/28/2015, 10:04:43
The Mishnah, after the Bible, is the most fundamental pillar of Jewish tradition. It represents the Oral Torah in its primary formulation. It was the subject of many commentaries, few of which surpass in depth and breadth the work of Solomon Adeni.
Adeni (b. 1567) was four years old when he was taken by his parents from his native Yemen to the Land of Israel. He lived in Safed, Jerusalem, and ultimately settled in Hebron. Adeni studied with the Talmudist Rabbi Bezalel Ashkenazi and the mystic Rabbi Hayyim Vital. Adeni suffered many personal tragedies, living in abject poverty and earning only a meager living teaching small children.
Adeni labored on this Mishnah commentary for thirty years. He wrote it originally in the margins of the printed Mishnah edition he owned. The comments were so crowded that, after a while, the author had difficulty deciphering his own handwriting. A patron presented him with reams of paper to enable him to transcribe his notes into a coherent work. The manuscript on display here is one section of this book, which covers the first order of the Mishnah, Zera'im, which deals with blessings, prayers, and agriculture-related laws. Corrections, additions, and erasures by the author are clearly visible in the manuscript. Another part of the book, on the sixth order of the Mishnah, Tohorot, is dated 1611 (New York, The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary, MS Rab 33).
Rabbi Solomon Adeni’s contributions to the study of the Mishnah are manifold. He endeavored to establish the correct text and vocalization of the Mishnah and preserved traditions concerning the text that otherwise would have been lost. He apparently had access to libraries of manuscripts of medieval rabbinic works in the Talmudic academies of Jerusalem, Safed, and Hebron, and incorporated excerpts from them into his commentary. Furthermore, he included exhaustive discussions of his own on many passages.
Far from European centers of Jewish learning, Adeni was able to create a work of lasting importance. Although not published until the end of the nineteenth century, the Melekhet Shelomo is found today in many standard editions of the Mishnah and is being studied diligently by new generations of students.
From: A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, S. 92.
From: A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 92-93.