Auction 94 Part 2 Rare and Important Items
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Hanging Lamp for the Sabbath and holidays. [The Netherlands, 18th Century].
Cast pewter (unmarked).
Hanging lamp of a type characteristically used by Sephardi Jews of Spanish or Portuguese origin in the Netherlands (as well as by Sephardi Jews in England). Its origins can be traced to West Friesland (a region situated in the north of the Netherlands).
This item bears the characteristic structure of a lamp of this type. It has five parts, not including the missing original suspension hook: a multi-edged, fan-shaped crown, an upright support (baluster) which also functions as a reflector, an oil pan in the shape of a seven-point star, a small drip pan, and a bud-shaped weight.
Three 18th-century versions of this type of Shabbat lamp are known to exist, made of brass, silver, and pewter. All three versions are relatively rare, but the brass version is the least uncommon, with dozens of documented examples. The silver versions are rarer; only some 19 lamps are known to exist, not all of them intact. Surprisingly, the ostensibly inexpensive pewter versions are the rarest of all; thanks to the relative fragility and breakability of the material, very few copies have survived, and of these, in effect only a handful are entirely intact. Four pewter hanging Shabbat lamps are kept in the Jewish Museum, Amsterdam, but only one of them is intact, one is kept in the collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (117/39), two others are part of a private collection in Zurich, Switzerland, and one other copy was auctioned at Christie’s, Amsterdam, May 27, 1997, lot no. 456.
Height: Approx. 80 cm. Overall good condition.
Opulent certificate known as "Patent of Nobility, " inscribed on decorated parchment membranes and bound in a fine leather binding, all housed in an elegant box. Bestowed upon Salomon (Shlomo) Parente of Trieste by Emperor Franz Josef I in recognition of the former’s participation in the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair and his contribution to its success. Vienna, December 20, 1873. German.
This elaborate certificate bestows the title of "Freiherr" (equivalent to the title of "Baron") – along with the privilege of acquiring an aristocratic coat of arms – upon the Jewish businessman Salomon Parente of Trieste. The document is personally signed by Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria-Hungary, Foreign Minister Dr. Joseph Freiherr von Lasser-Zollheim, and Adolph Löhr, a minister in the Royal Cabinet.
The certificate is inscribed in black ink on four thick parchment membranes. The opening initials, heading titles, and names of noteworthy individuals are all highlighted in gilt ink and decorated with the colors red and blue. The text on all four sheets is framed with a border engraving adorned with the emblems of the Austro-Hungarian Imperial House; the name of the engraver, Carl Gernetl, appears in the margin of the last page.
Salomon (Shlomo) Parente (born in Trieste, 1807 or 1808; died 1890), merchant and businessman, senior executive of the Assicurazioni Generali insurance company, son of Aharon Yitzhak Parente of Trieste (1775-1853). Aharon was also a well-known merchant and businessman, from whom Salomon inherited the position of President of the Trieste Chamber of Commerce. Not much is known concerning the biography of Salomon Parente other than the details appearing in this particular certificate, as well as the fact that, from 1832 to 1855, he was the owner of the renowned "Rothschild Miscellany, " the "Rothschild Haggadah, " and other important Italian-Hebrew manuscripts, before finally selling these items to the Paris branch of the Rothschild family. Other members of the Parente family were known to have been involved in trade and banking in Trieste and its environs in the 19th century, in partnership with the Morpurgo family.
This certificate attests to Salomon Parente’s position as President of the Trieste Chamber of Commerce and Trade; various titles bestowed upon him by the Duchies of Braunschweig, Saxony, and Nassau; and finally, his prominent contribution to the success of the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair ("Weltausstellung 1873 Wien"), in recognition of which he and his descendants were awarded the title of "Freiherr" ("Baron"), along with the privilege of bearing an aristocratic coat of arms. A fine representation of the Parente Family Coat of Arms appears further on in the certificate, along with a precise, detailed explanation of each of its elements.
The parchment membranes are bound in a thick and particularly elaborate leather binding, created and signed by the official Court Bookbinder, "L. Groner K.K. Hofbuchbinder." The front of the binding is adorned with brass arabesque ornaments, blue-and-white enamel ornaments, and blue gemstones. In the center of the front binding is the Parente Family Coat of Arms, made of cast brass ornamented with pieces of painted enamel. The spine is strung with a gilt cloth cord ending with a large brass medallion stamped with the emblem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The medallion can be opened to reveal a red wax impression seal of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The document and its binding are housed in an especially elegant wooden box, coated in leather on the outside and lined with fabric on the inside, and equipped with a lock mechanism (lock itself missing). It has an impression forming the border along the edges, and brass ornaments at the corners. The lid of the box is adorned in the middle with a large brass ornament consisting of the monogram, surmounted by a crown, of Salomon Parente’s initials, "SP."
[4] leaves, 39 cm. Box: 44X34X10 cm. Leaves in good condition, with few stains. Minor blemishes to wax impression seal. Blemishes and scratches to leather. Two brass corner ornaments missing. Blemishes to leather of corners lacking brass ornaments. Blemishes and wear to fabric.
Single leaf, large format (engraving) – wedding poem in honor of the groom Yosef son of Chaim Segal [Levi] Polacco, and the bride Gracia daughter of Moshe Sullam, by R. Avraham son of R. Yosef Marini. [Italy, Verona?, ca. second half of the 17th century].
A large jug is depicted in the center of the engraving, held by a hand pouring water from it into a basin. The poem in honor of the bride and groom, forming a repeated acrostic of their names "Yosef Polacco" and "Gracia Sullam", is incorporated in the illustration.
To the right, a putto is portrayed holding in one hand a ribbon inscribed "Seder HaMadregah", and in the other a medallion with a detailed inscription regarding the bride and groom, beginning with the verse: "And Joseph found favor", alluding to the names of the bride and groom (Gracia = grace, favor). Inscriptions at the base of the jug and its upper edge. The Hebrew letters Chet and Nun, which open and close every line of the poem, are enlarged, forming together the word Chen – grace.
The water basin contains two paragraphs in Italian, with poetic expressions, allusions to the names of the bride and groom, and more. Signature of the author of the poem on the foot of the basin: "Avraham son of R. Yosef Marini".
The illustration of a hand pouring water from a jug was a common emblem amongst Levite families, and indeed served as emblem of the Levi Polacco family, see: Elivo Giuditta, Araldica ebraica in Italia, [Torino: Società Italiana di Studi Araldici], 2007, p. 136. This illustration is also found on two ketubot from Verona, both recording the marriages of sisters of the present groom, from the Polacco family: Venturina daughter of Chaim Polacco and Yosef son of Zalman Basevi, dated 13 Kislev 1686; Bella daughter of Chaim Polacco and Yaakov son of Moshe Sullam, dated 7 Cheshvan 1696.
A Torah ark curtain from Verona, completed in 1676, bears a dedication by Yosef son of Chaim Segal Polacco (the present groom), dated 1703 (see: Bracha Yaniv, Maaseh Rokem, Jerusalem 2009, p. 175; Dora Liscia Bemporad and Olga Melasecchi, Tutti i colori dell'Italia ebraica, Firenze: Giunti, 2019, p. 155).
Regarding the Polacco family in Verona, one of the prominent Ashkenazic families in the city (the family originated from Posen, Poland), see: I. Sonne, Material on the History of the Jews in Verona, Zion, year 3, book 2, Shevat 1938, p. 152.
R. Avraham son of R. Yosef Marini, author of the present wedding poem, presumably also lived in Verona. A supercommentary he authored to the Torah commentary of R. Avraham ibn Ezra is extant in manuscript (JTS Library Ms. 971), written in Verona in 1691, for "Shimshon son of the wealthy… Yaakov HaKohen Modon" (later a Torah scholar in Mantua, author of Kol Musar). There are also other extant poems by R. Avraham Marini, including a single printed leaf (from the Valmadonna collection), with a poem he composed in honor of the Menachem Avelim society in Mantua in ca. 1690 (the leaf mentions R. Moshe Zacuto, the Remez); and a single leaf with a wedding poem in honor of David Uziel and Sarah Vega, printed in Mantua around that time.
The Sullam family was a prominent Sephardic family originating from Provence, who lived in Mantua, Venice and the Veneto region. There is a printed leaf with a poem in honor of the wedding of Menachem son of Moshe Sullam, brother of the present bride, composed by R. Moshe Zacuto and printed in Mantua, in ca. 1680s-1690s (Judaica Jerusalem, Adar 2004, item 1). Regarding the "wealthy Sullam of Mantua" (possibly the father of the present bride), whom R. Chaim ibn Attar approached for support of the Knesset Israel yeshiva which he wanted to establish in Eretz Israel, see: Dr. B. Klar, Neue Briefe zur Palästinafahrt des R. Chajjim ibn Atar, in: Alim – Blätter für Bibliographie und Geschichte des Judentums, Year 3, vol. 2, October 1937, pp. 41-45.
57X44 cm. Overall good condition. Stains. Folding marks and wear. Tears, repaired in part with paper on verso.
Literature: A Hebrew Wedding Poem in an Eccentric Form." Between the Lines. A
Publication of the Friends of the [JTS] Library 3, 2 (Spring 1990): 3 [Not signed].
Large and rare collection of poems and riddles for weddings and other special occasions, printed in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries – including bibliographically unlisted leaves and leaves which are not known from any other source.
Poems composed by the Bassan family of Torah scholars
1. Wedding riddle in honor of Yaakov son of Moshe Sullam, and Bella daughter of Chaim Pollaco, by R. Mordechai son of Shmuel Chaim Bassan. Mantua, [Cheshvan 1696].
The ketubah of this couple is extant, written in Verona on 7 Cheshvan 1696; one of the witnesses who signed the ketubah was R. Mordechai son of Shmuel Bassan, author of the present poem (the ketubah is held in the Skirball museum collection, Los Angeles).
R. [Chizkiya] Mordechai son of R. Shmuel Bassan (d. Cheshvan 1703), rabbi of Verona, author of Pnei Yitzchak (Mantua 1744; published by his grandson R. Menachem Novarra the physician). His disciple was R. Yeshayahu Bassan.
Not in the NLI.
2. Wedding poem in honor of Yitzchak son of Shabtai Marini and Giuditta (Yehudit) daughter of Menachem d'Italia, by R. Yeshayahu Bassan. Mantua, [ca. 1724].
R. Yeshayahu Bassan (1673-1739), rabbi in Padua and later in Reggio, prime teacher of the Ramchal.
R. Yitzchak son of Shabtai Marini was a close friend of the Ramchal, and was one of the seven founding members of the society for the study of the Zohar established by the Ramchal. In honor of his wedding, the Ramchal composed two poems, one preserved in the handwriting of the Ramchal (Frankfurt am Main, Ms. Oct. 15), and printed several times; and a poem and riddle printed on a single leaf in Mantua (the second poem was published by A. Yaari in Kiryat Sefer, VIII, pp. 266-270).
A copy of the present poem is held in the National Library (previously from the Valmadonna collection; see: The Writing on the Wall: A Catalogue of Judaica Broadsides from the Valmadonna Trust Library, 2015, p. 151 no. 9).
3. Wedding poem in honor of the groom Yosef son of Shimshon Grego and the bride Chanah daughter of Pinchas HaKohen, by R. Shlomo son of R. Yisrael Bassan. [Verona, 18th century].
R. Shlomo Bassan (ca. 1670/1680 – after 1757), rabbi in Verona, presumably the brother of R. Yeshayahu Bassan.
A damaged copy is held in the NLI, lacking the upper part of the leaf with the preface and the full details of the couple.
4. Wedding riddle in honor of Yosef son of Shimshon Grego and the bride Chanah daughter of Pinchas HaKohen, by R. Shlomo son of R. Yisrael Bassan. [Verona, 18th century].
A copying of the poem appears in the aforementioned Leeds manuscript (listed by Pagis, p. 244, 257, based on this manuscript).
Not in the NLI.
Not in the NLI.
5. Poem in honor of the establishment of the Asiri society, by R. Shlomo son of Yisrael Bassan. [Verona, 18th century].
There is also a poem composed by R. Menachem Novarra in honor of this society, preserved in his handwriting in the Leeds University Library, Cecil Roth Ms. 102 (for more information about the Asiri society in Verona, see: Benayahu, Tikun Shivah BeAdar, in Tarbiz, year 48, Tishrei-Adar 1979, pp. 126-137).
Not in the NLI.
6. Poem composed upon the passing of R. Chizkiyahu Mordechai Bassan, rabbi of Livorno, and in honor of the establishment of the Talmud Torah, by R. Shlomo son of R. Yisrael Bassan. [Verona, 1704].
The preface mentions the date of passing of R. Chizkiyahu Mordechai Bassan – 8 Cheshvan 1703 (the leaf was presumably printed shortly after his passing). It also mentions R. Menashe Gentili (d. 1728), a rabbi in Verona (brother-in-law of R. Moshe Hagiz).
Not in the NLI.
7. Wedding poem in honor of the groom Yehoshua son of Yitzchak Recanati and the bride Esther Sarah daughter of Rafael Recanati, by R. Yisrael Binyamin Bassan. Livorno, 1746.
A splendid ketubah recording the marriage of this couple, held in Livorno on 13 Sivan 1746, is found in the Braginsky collection.
R. Yisrael Binyamin Bassan (1701-1790), son of R. Yeshayahu Bassan and colleague of the Ramchal. He succeeded his father as rabbi in Reggio.
There is a copy of the present riddle in the NLI, though damaged (open tears with loss, affecting name of author and other text).
The poem was reprinted by R. Avraham Baruch Piperno, Kol Ugav, Livorno 1846, pp. 3-7.
Poems composed by R. Menachem Novarra
8. Wedding riddle in honor of the groom Yekutiel son of Avraham Rimini and the bride Simcha daughter of Naftali Basevi, by R. Menachem son of R. Yitzchak Novarra. Verona, 1749.
R. Menachem Novarra the physician (1717-1777), rabbi in Verona, author of Yemei Temimim. He published Pnei Yitzchka (Mantua 1744), by his grandfather R. Chizkiyahu Mordechai Bassan. An autograph manuscript of his poems is held in the Leeds University Library, Cecil Roth Ms. 102; a copying of the present poem appears there on pp. 16-17 (listed by Pagis, A Secret Sealed, pp. 244, 249, based on that manuscript).
Not in the NLI.
9. Wedding riddle in honor of the groom Kalonymus son of Yitzchak Grego and the bride Malka daughter of Avraham Tzemach, by R. Menachem son of R. Yitzchak Novarra. [Verona, 18th century].
10. Mizmor LeTodah, poem in honor of the recovery of Empress Maria Theresa, by the physician R. Menachem Novarra. [Mantua, 18th century].
Not in the NLI.
Poems by various authors
11. Wedding poem in honor of the groom Benzion Rafael son of Yehuda Chaim, and the bride Rivka daughter of Yosef Chaim Chezighin of Casale, by R. Yitzchak Reggio. [Mantua?, 17th/18th century].
The author was presumably R. Yitzchak Reggio, rabbi in the yeshiva of the Remez in Mantua (see: Simonsohn, History of the Jews in the Duchy of Mantua, according to index of names).
Not in the NLI.
12. Wedding poem in honor of the groom Shlomo son of Kalonymus Sanguinetti of Modena, and the bride Miriam daughter of Yaakov Chaim Kohen (sister of Yisrael, Pinchas and Aharon Kohen), by R. Rafael Chaim son of R. Aviad Sar-Shalom Basilea. [Mantua, 18th century].
R. Refael Chaim Basilea (d. 1776), a Torah scholar in Mantua, editor and publisher of the book Minchat Shai (by R. Yedidia Shlomo Refael Norsa).
Not in the NLI.
13. Wedding poem in honor of the groom Yisrael son of Mordechai Bassan, and the bride Smeralda daughter of Avraham della Vida, by M.Tz. [=Mordechai Tzoref?]. [Mantua, 18th century].
Not in the NLI.
14. Wedding poem in honor of the groom Yisrael son of Mordechai Bassan, and the bride Smeralda daughter of Avraham della Vida, by Mordechai Tzoref. [Mantua, 18th century].
Not in the NLI.
15. Wedding riddle in honor of the groom Moshe Chaim son of Nechemia Katz and the bride Nechama daughter of Shmuel Menachem Katz, by Zerach Yaakov son of R. Rafael Naftali Katz. [Mantua, 18th century].
R. Zerach Yaakov Katz (d. 1794), a Mantuan Torah scholar. Extant in manuscript are a wedding poem he composed, from ca. 1780; a halachic responsum and work on Purim (his signature appears on ketubot from Mantua in 1778 and 1785).
Not in the NLI.
16. Wedding riddle in honor of the groom Yaakov son of Uri Chafetz of Venice, and the bride Sarah daughter of the physician Menachem Novarra of Verona, by R. Nathan son of R. Yitzchak Ashkenazi. Verona, 1770.
R. Rafael Nathan Ashkenazi (Tedesco; ca. 1750 – 1800), disciple of R. Yisrael Binyamin Bassan, a Torah scholar of Verona, later rabbi of Trieste.
Not in the NLI.
17. Wedding riddle in honor of the groom Yitzchak son of Kalonymus Novarra and the bride Esther daughter of Menachem Consiglio, by R. Shmuel son of R. Nathan Chaim Ashkenazi. [Verona?, 18th century].
We know of a Shmuel son of Nathan Ashkenazi who served as sandak for the son of his brother Mordechai in 1815 (A. Luzzatto, Registro delle circoncisioni di Yechiel Calabi – Verona 1806-1845, Asufot, II, p. 387, no. 49). The groom may have been the father of Menachem Novarra.
The poem is listed by Pagis, p. 242, 248, based on a copy of the leaf bound in JTS Library Ms. 9027.
18. Wedding poem in honor of the groom Shlomo son of Kalonymus Sanguinetti and the bride Miriam daughter of Yaakov Chaim Kohen, by R. Rafael Menachem son of R. Yehuda Mendola. [Mantua, 18th century].
R. Yehuda Mendola, rabbi in Padua, Rovigo and Mantua. In the pinkas of the Mantua community, there is a record of a stipend allotted to his widow and son Rafael Menachem (Simonsohn, History of the Jews in the Duchy of Mantua, II, p. 526 note 158).
Not in the NLI.
19. Poem in honor of Yaakov son of Avraham Yechiel Levi Polacco, who received his degree in medicine and philosophy, by R. Moshe Rafael son of R. Shmuel David Ottolenghi. [Verona, 1710].
Yaakov Levi Polacca is listed as a physician certified by the Padua university in 1710, see: A. Modena and E. Morpurgo, Medici e chirurghi ebrei dottorati e licenziati nell'Università di Padova dal 1617 al 1816, Bologna, Forni, 1967, p. 71 no. 177.
The NLI contains a damaged copy of this poem (previously from the Valmadonna collection; see: The Writing on the Wall: A Catalogue of Judaica Broadsides from the Valmadonna Trust Library, 2015, p. 167 no. 102). Another copy is bound in JTS Library, MS. 9027.
19 leaves of poems and riddles, large format (size varies). Overall good condition. Stains. Folding marks. Some margins trimmed (slightly affecting text in some places). Some attached together at margins.
Poems and riddles were commonly printed by Italian Jews for weddings and other occasions in the 17th and 18th century. Of special note are the riddles, generally presented at wedding parties to amuse and challenge the guests. The riddles where either handwritten or printed in a few copies, and mostly followed a standard format: a riddle in form of a sophisticated poem, surmounted by the riddle image. Many of the Italian Torah leaders wrote such riddles, including the Ramchal, R. Moshe Zacuto, and others. For more information about this phenomenon, see: Dan Pagis, A Sealed Secret – Hebrew Baroque Emblem-Riddles from Italy and Holland, Jerusalem, 1986.
Collection of letters from Jewish merchants from the community of Portuguese exiles in the city of Thessaloniki. [Mid-16th century]. Judeo-Portuguese (Hebrew and Latin script).
Thirteen handwritten leaves: ten letters, two sheets that served as envelopes (with destination address), and one draft sheet.
The leaves were discovered bound in old book bindings, and contain segments of letters from Jewish merchants in Salonika (Thessaloniki) – descendants of Jews expelled from Portugal – who persisted in clinging to their unique language, Judeo-Portuguese.
Roughly half of the letters were written in Hebrew script, and can thus be characterized as "Portuguese Aljamiado, " an exceedingly rare linguistic entity, represented by only a very small number of known writings and documents (see below).
The letters were all dispatched to Salonika, apparently in the course of the writers’ wanderings throughout the lands of the Ottoman Empire and Europe. Among the cities mentioned in the letters are Ankara, Edirne (Adrianople), Ancona, Bologna, Venice, Florence, Dubrovnik, and other places. This testifies to the broad geographical scope of the travels conducted by Jewish merchants in those years.
The letters were apparently written by four different writers: Abraham Hodara, his brother Joseph Hodara, Joseph Lindo, and a fourth (unidentified) person. The letters were addressed to Solomon (Salomon) Hodara (father of Abraham and Joseph) and Salomon Sensor; these names appear on the backs of the letters or on the envelopes.
The letters mostly deal with business matters, but the names of many members of the Portuguese-Jewish community of Salonika appear in them (including names that are most likely unknown from other sources): the uncle of the Hodara brothers, Joseph Ben Attar; Moses Baruch; Abraham and Moses de Boton; Joseph Gedaliah, and others.
In addition to the present letters, we know of only eleven Judeo-Portuguese manuscripts written in Hebrew script: two Passover Haggadahs (containing instructions in Judeo-Portuguese), a guide to paint mixing for book illustrators, seven translations of books on the subjects of medicine and astrology, and a private contract dated 1408. All eleven of theses texts were written prior to the expulsion from Portugal, and in all likelihood, they were actually written in Portugal. The present letters evidently represent the only surviving post-expulsion documents inscribed in this particular form of writing, and the only ones composed outside Portugal.
Judeo-Portuguese was a language spoken by the Jews of Portugal prior to their expulsion – a language which gradually disappeared over the years. The language was written in both Hebrew and Latin script, and it preserved archaic elements of the regular Portuguese language that had been extinguished from the language of non-Jewish Portuguese speakers. Similar trends were evident in the relationship between Ladino and non-Jewish Spanish. And as with other Judaic languages such as Ladino or Yiddish, many words possessing a uniquely Hebrew-Jewish source formed an integral part of the language. Following the expulsion of Jews from Portugal in the late 15th century, some of the exiles persisted in speaking Judeo-Portuguese in the lands they moved to, though at an ever-diminishing rate. By the 19th century, the language had entirely ceased to exist.
[13] leaves, approx. 16X21 cm (size varies). Five in Hebrew script (three written on both sides), five in Latin script (four written on both sides), two leaves which served as envelopes, and one draft leaf. Condition varies. Stains. Open tears, mostly small to medium in size, some affecting text. Large segments missing from one leaf. Some leaves partly mended. Remnants of wax seal on verso of one leaf.
See: Dov Cohen, "New Sources in Portuguese Aljamiado: A Collection of Letters Concerning the Commercial Activities of Sephardic Jews in the Ottoman Empire and Italy During the Mid-Sixteenth Century, in: "Portuguese Jews, New Christians and ‘New Jews’: A Tribute to Roberto Bachmann", Leiden: Brill, 2018, pp. 73-101.
26 booklets by Artur Carlos de Barros Basto (Avraham Yisrael Ben-Rosh). Porto: various publishers, 1913-46. Portuguese.
Large collection of booklets by Artur Carlos de Barros Basto, a celebrated officer in the Portuguese army, a hero of the 1910 revolution, and a Jew who dedicated his life to "Obra do Resgate" (a "Mission of Rescue"), which involved locating descendants of Marranos and conversos ("Crypto-Jews") in Portugal, and returning them to the Jewish faith. He was dubbed "the Jewish Dreyfus" for being vilified with false accusations connected to his unrelenting and unabashed efforts on behalf of the renewal of Jewish life in the coastal Portuguese city of Porto.
The present collection comprises twenty-six booklets – products of Barros Basto’s own unique printing enterprise – published over a period of more than thirty years for the sole purpose of introducing the great community of descendants of conversos to the wealth of Jewish knowledge that was lost to them over many generations.
The booklets address such topics as the Jewish religion and tradition; Jewish theology and philosophy; Jewish history; Jewish poems, songs, and customs; and more. They were printed by a number of different publishing houses established by Barros Basto in Porto under several different names, including Oryamismo; Comunidade Israelita do Porto; A. C. de Barros Basto (Ben-Rosh); and Instituto Teológico Israelita (Yeshibah Rosh-Pinah).
Artur Carlos de Barros Basto (1887-1961; Hebrew name: Avraham Yisrael Ben-Rosh). Officer in the Portuguese army. Fought in the 1910 revolution and the First World War; decorated several times for acts of bravery and promoted to the rank of Capitão (Captain). Renowned for nurturing a rebirth of the Jewish community in Porto, and for returning thousands of descendants of Portuguese Marranos and conversos to the Jewish faith. Born in northern Portugal; received a Catholic education. Discovered at a young age that he was descended from Jewish conversos, and familiarized himself with Jewish customs upon reaching adulthood. Underwent halakhic conversion, and married the daughter of one of the leaders of Lisbon’s Jewish community. The main objective of his ambitious efforts was the renewal of the Jewish community of Porto, several centuries after it had been destroyed with the expulsion of the Jews from Portugal. As part of his mission – and while still pursuing his military career – in 1927, Barros Basto founded a journal titled "HaLapid" ("The Torch"). He also published books, articles, and research papers on various Jewish topics. Many of these can be found in the present collection. In addition, he established a yeshiva by the name of "Rosh Pinah."
In order to locate Portuguese Crypto-Jews, Barros Basto would ride his horse through the rural areas surrounding Porto, accompanied by a "mohel", and whenever he came across male descendants of conversos who showed an interest in returning to Judaism, he would suggest they consider undergoing circumcision.
In the early 1920s, he began realizing his goal of re-establishing a Jewish community in Porto, centered around a synagogue originally located in a small apartment. This institution grew and eventually relocated to a large, magnificent building. Known as the Kadoorie – Mekor Haim Synagogue, it was funded by donations from the Baron Edmond de Rothschild and the Baron Lawrence Kadoorie, and was inaugurated in 1938.
Barros Basto’s far-reaching endeavors aimed at renewing Jewish life in Portugal – and in particular, the circumcision ceremonies he promoted – aroused the wrath of the Catholic Church. They also drew the attention of officials in the autocratic regime of António de Oliveira Salazar, sparking an anti-Semitic backlash. As a result, he was falsely accused of assorted crimes, put on trial, and despite his complete innocence, dishonorably discharged in 1937 from the ranks of the Portuguese armed forces. This course of events earned him the title of "the Portuguese Dreyfus." Barros Basto died in 1961 and was buried in his place of birth, Amarante.
Long after his death, in 2012, Barros Basto’s name was officially rehabilitated by an act of the Portuguese Parliament, and he thus posthumously regained his status as a Portuguese national hero.
26 booklets. Approx. 19 cm (with slight variations in size of booklets). Condition varies. Overall good condition. Bound along with original covers in new bindings inscribed with gilt impressions on spines (with several of the booklets bound together).
Also enclosed: 6 booklets by various authors, published by the "Instituto Teológico Israelita (Yeshibah Rosh Pinah), " founded by Barros Basto. Porto, 1942-47.
For a comprehensive overview of the prolific writings of Artur Carlos de Barros Basto, see:
Dov Cohen, Uma aproximação à atividade literária do Capitão Barros Basto, Cadernos de Estudos Sefarditas, no. 18, Cátedra de Estudos Sefarditas Alberto Benveniste, Lisbon, May 2018, pp. 61-98 (Portuguese).
A complete listing of the booklets will be delivered upon request.
Ketubah documenting the wedding of the bridegroom Aharon ben Ya’akov Binyamin de Pinto to the bride Rivkah bat Moshe Yeshurun Rodrigues "known as and signs Moshe Salvador." The Hague, 8th Shevat 1809.
Ink and paint on parchment.
Ketubah inscribed on parchment, documenting the wedding of a couple from two well-known families belonging to the Portuguese-Jewish exiles living in The Hague. Divided into two sections, separated by a ribbon-like illustration. The text of the ketubah appears in the upper section, whereas the lower section contains the "tna’im" ("terms" of the marriage agreement). The blessing "BeSiman Tov, " enclosed within a rhombus-shaped, jewel-like frame – sliced up into segments by a pair of arrows – is inscribed at the top of the ketubah. The frame is adorned with fine, delicate decorations that include wreaths of twisting, intertwined branches with leaves and flowers, a pair of pomegranates (or burning hearts), stalks of grain, ribbons, and blue curtains with dangling tassels.
The text of the ketubah mentions (in Hebrew) "the renowned local scribe by the name of Antonio van Ogtan, " who compiled the "tna’im."
A set of three signatures appears twice, once in the margin of the text of the ketubah, and once in the margin of the "tna’im." It includes the signature of the bridegroom (on the right, in Latin script), and those of the witnesses: David de Yitzhak Leon (to the left, in Hebrew script), and, underneath this, again in Latin script, "Js. Saruco." The latter probably refers to Yitzhak Saruk, a member of the family of Shlomo Saruk, rabbi of the Spanish-Portuguese Jewish community of The Hague in the years 1789-1852.
Two ketubot similar to this one are known to exist, undoubtedly created by the same artist. All three ketubot were composed (and the corresponding weddings took place) in the Hague in the first decade of the 19th century, and all three are connected by familial relationships: a ketubah dated 1804, (collection of Prof. Rabbi Meir Benayahu) documents the marriage of Moshe ben Ya’akov Binyamin de Pinto (brother of the aforementioned bridegroom) to the bride Sarah bat Moshe Yeshurun Rodrigues (sister of the aforementioned bride). A third ketubah belonging to this group (in the Mozes Heiman Gans Collection, Amsterdam, Item no. 5174.2/34) documents the marriage of Yitzhak ben Moshe de David Enriques de Kashto to the bride Rachel bat Moshe Yeshurun Rodrigues, another sister of the two aforementioned brides; this latter wedding took place on the same date as the one corresponding to the ketubah presented here, namely the 8th of Shevat, 5569 (January 25, 1809). The signatures of all the same witnesses appear on all three of these ketubot.
The bride Rivkah, and her sisters Sarah and Rachel – daughters of Moshe Yeshurun Rodrigues, known as "Salvador" – belonged to a distinguished, pedigreed family of Portuguese origin. Part of this family resided in England. The father, Moshe (Moses) Salvador, was the son of Jacob Salvador and nephew of Joseph Salvador. Both Jacob and Joseph were among the leaders of London’s Spanish-Portuguese Jewish community in the 18th century.
The de Pinto family was an equally well-established family of Sephardi Portuguese origin, which included prominent merchants and bankers. Aaron Joseph de Pinto, grandfather of the aforementioned bridegroom, Aharon (or Aaron, named after his grandfather), was a well-known collector of Judaica, and items from his collections can be found today in some of London’s most renowned museums. Two splendid manuscripts of the Book of Psalms – written and titled "the De Pinto Psalter" in his honor – are part of the René Braginsky Collection, Switzerland (Item nos. 62 and 222). Amsterdam’s "Huis de Pinto" (De Pinto Mansion), built by the family in the 17th century, remains intact till this day.
Approx. 40.5X29.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Dampstains, affecting text, and inkstains. Creases. Widthwise fold line. Framed, 42.5X31 cm (not examined outside of frame).
Provenance: The Richard Levy (1930-2019) Collection, Florida (label on back of frame).
Ketubah documenting the wedding of Josef Pollatschek to Hildegard Loewe-Fischer. Shanghai, China. Saturday (!), December 6, 1947 [23rd of Kislev, 5708]. Chinese. Signatures and transliteration of names in Latin script.
Printed form, decorated with characteristic Chinese motifs, in bold colors: cherry and peach blossoms, birds and butterflies ("bird-and-flower painting"), and bearing a broad decorative frame featuring an array of dragons in various colors.
Marriage contract arranged in several columns. The names of the bridegroom and bride appear in the far-right column, and the remaining columns show the names of the attorney who compiled the contract, along with the names of the witnesses: Hermine Weinberger, Dr. Alfred Lackenbacher, Georg März, and Erich Weinberger. The second column from the right gives all the above names, handwritten in Chinese, alongside their transliterations into Latin script. Additional details appear in Latin script: "Karlhaus" (apparently the birthplace of the bridegroom); and "Café Renée" (possibly the venue where the contract was drawn up, or perhaps the bridegroom’s workplace [?] See below).
Josef Pollatschek (apparently a native of Karlhaus, Slovakia, today Károlyháza, Hungary), lived in Vienna prior to the Second World War, and dealt in textiles. Fled Vienna to Shanghai in the course of the war; his name appears on a list, dated August 1944, of foreign refugees living in Shanghai ("List of Foreigners Residing in Dee Lay Jao Police District"), wherein his occupation is listed as "Tea-room owner." Hildegard (Hilda) Pollatschek, native of Berlin, also escaped to Shanghai sometime during the war. Josef and Hildegard are documented as a married couple in a list compiled in Shanghai by the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in 1950. The couple moved to Canada following the war and subsequently settled in Berlin, where they lived till their deaths (for more information regarding their biographies, see enclosed material; see also: Lawrence S. Freund, "A Bygone Yesterday: A Family Story, " Bloomington, Indiana: Xlibris, 2016, chapter 7).
Dr. Alfred Lackenbacher was a lawyer, a native of Baden, who lived in Vienna before escaping to Shanghai.
In the wake of the horrors of the "Reichskristallnacht" (November 1938), a large number of Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria arrived in Shanghai, China, whose gates were open to Jewish immigration at a time when many other countries had closed their doors. From November 1939 through July 1940, some 18,000 refugees entered Shanghai (estimates go as high as 20,000). Most of the migrants arrived penniless, and were absorbed and supported by local Jewish aid agencies. In 1943, following orders issued by the Japanese occupation authorities, all Jewish refugees lacking citizenship were concentrated in Shanghai’s Hongkou District, where they suffered from overcrowding and poor hygienic conditions until the end of the war. Once the war was over, roughly half of the refugees immigrated to North America, and most of the remainder eventually arrived in Israel. By the time of the Communist takeover of China in 1949, the vast majority of Jews residing in Shanghai had departed, and scarcely a few thousand remained.
Only a handful of similar marriage contracts are known to have survived. In the collection of ketubot of the National Library of Israel (NLI), only two Chinese ketubot are documented, one from Hong Kong (dated 1937, written on a printed ketubah form from Baghdad) and the other from Harbin (dated 1924). For additional examples, see: Kedem Auction Catalogue no. 61, April 24, 2018, lot no. 100; and The René Braginsky Collection, Switzerland, item no. 71 (K114).
Approx. 51X38 cm. Overall good condition. Fold lines, evidence of rolling, and minor creases. Tears to edges. Housed in original dedicated cardboard case, with printed label.
Music notebook filled with handwritten musical scores that apparently served cantors of the main synagogue of the Jewish community of Harbin. Harbin, China, [first half of the 20th century].
Staff-lined notebook, with handwritten musical scores. Lyrics to prayers written from left to right, Hebrew transliterated into Latin script. Titles in Hebrew script. Inked stamp of "Administration of the Main Synagogue Harbin" in Hebrew and Russian on pastedown and first page of music.
This notebook contains the lyrics and melodies for the Sabbath prayers, including the "Kabbalat Shabbat", "Shacharit" and "Mussaf" prayers. For each segment of each prayer, the first line and final verses – namely the words which the cantor customarily sings out loud – are written in.
The Jewish community of Harbin was the largest and most prominent of Chinese Jewish communities, and existed from the late 19th century till the 1960s. At its height it numbered some 25,000 members, most of them immigrants fleeing pogroms, persecutions, and wars in their native Russia and Eastern Europe. The city offered its jews a rich variety of cultural activities; there were Jewish newspapers, and "Talmud Torah" schools as well as art and music schools. Harbin’s first synagogue, known as "The Main Synagogue, " was founded in 1907, and did in fact serve as the city’s main house of Jewish worship. In the course of the 1930s and 1940s – in the wake of the Japanese conquest, the subsequent Soviet conquest, and finally, the rise of Communist China – the community dwindled, with most of the Jews either leaving or being forcefully evicted. The last of Harbin’s Jews finally left in the early 1960s.
[108] written pages, 20 cm. Good condition. Stains. Worming (mostly minor) to page edges. Open tear to corner of one leaf. Binding somewhat damaged.
"Dos Kind: Zayne Entviklung, Ertsihung un Krankheyten. Far eltern un nerses" ["The Child: Its Rearing, Development and Ailments. A book for parents and nurses"], by Dr. William Moses Feldman. London: E.W. Rabbinowicz, 1907. Yiddish. Additional title page in English.
Comprehensive Yiddish-language handbook for parents and caregiving nurses, with various photographs, diagrams, and illustrations. It gives detailed instructions regarding proper nutrition and hygiene for the child, in addition to guidelines on proper breastfeeding, children’s illnesses, health of the pregnant mother, medical care and medical treatment, caregiving, medications, and more. The book begins with the author’s introduction, expert reviewers’ opinions, a table of contents and list of illustrations. At the other end it has an additional title page, table of contents, list of illustrations, and expert reviewers’ opinions, all in English.
A wave of pogroms that swept across the lands of the Russian Empire drove roughly 300,000 Jews to flee these regions and immigrate to England. The vast majority of the immigrants originated from Yiddish-speaking communities, and few of them had much of a familiarity with the English language. In addition, information regarding medical issues was inadequate and outdated in their lands of origin. The present handbook was intended to introduce these Yiddish-speaking immigrants to the most current medical knowledge available at the time in their native tongue.
The book’s author, Dr. Moses William Feldman (1880-1939), was a specialist in pediatric medicine. Born into a rabbinical family from Pinsk (today in Belarus), Feldman immigrated to England with his family at the age of eight. He studied at the London School of Jewish Studies (LSJS), and completed his specialist residence at the Royal London Hospital. In 1907, at the time of the publication of this book, he was employed as a surgeon under the auspices of a charitable organization – the Royal Maternity Charity – while at the same time serving as a lecturer on the subjects of maternity and children’s diseases on behalf of the London County Council (LCC). In 1923, he was accepted for membership in the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Published various books, articles, and handbooks on the subject of child development and children’s health. The present handbook was the first of his books to be published.
Rare. Never offered for public auction.
XX, 154, [6] pages. Approx. 18 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor blemishes. Two first leaves partly detached. Handwritten dedication on front flyleaf. Binding not original; blemished and worn.
"Ein Psycholog erlebt das Konzentrationslager, " by Viktor Emil Frankl. Vienna: Verlag für Jugend und Volk, 1946. First Edition. German.
The present book, also known as "Man’s Search for Meaning", was written by the Jewish-Austrian psychiatrist, neurologist, and philosopher Viktor Emil Frankl. It is considered to be one of the most influential books of philosophy of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the earliest works to have offered a first-hand account of life in the concentration and death camps.
First edition. A copy in its original cover, bearing an illustration of the barbed-wire fences and a shattered pair of spectacles on the ground (cover designed by Leo Friedrich), not mentioning the name of the author, and with the book’s original title, "Ein Psycholog erlebt das Konzentrationslager" ("A Psychologist Experiences the Concentration Camp"), without the prefix "Trotzdem Ja zum Leben Sagen" ("Nevertheless Say Yes to Life") that only appeared from the second edition onward (later, the book’s English translations would be given the full, official title, "Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy").
The work was the result of nine continuous days of writing undertaken immediately after Victor Frankl’s liberation from the Dachau concentration camp (he had previously spent time in both Theresienstadt and Auschwitz). It presented, for the first time ever, an approach to psychotherapy known as "logotherapy" – a form of therapy promoting attempts to search for meaning in life – which Frankl had developed during his period of incarceration in the camps.
The first part of the book is devoted to a description of life in the camps, relating the experience and feelings of Jewish camp inmates, beginning first with the shock they felt the moment they were packed into cattle cars on trains, and from there to the "selection" process at the camp gates, to the daily routine in the camps, to the hunger, the dulling of the senses, the agony, and the physical degeneration of the inmates. Frankl continues by depicting the relations with the SS guards, and the hierarchy that existed between the "appointed" camp inmates – the kapos and others – and the "regular" inmates. He speaks of the spiritual energies that developed in the camps in spite of the grim reality and the inhuman conditions, of the humor that helped fortify the inmates’ resolve, and of the hopes for a better future and an end to the war.
In the second part of the book, Frankl lays down the foundations of his new methodology in the field of psychotherapy, which he terms "logotherapy" (from the Greek words "logos" and "therapeia, " together meaning "therapy through meaning"). This existentialist-psychological approach focuses on the human being’s aspiration to seek meaning (in contrast to the Freudian approach, which emphasizes the aspiration to seek pleasure and avoid suffering, or to Alfred Adler’s approach, which centers around the human desire to seek power and social status). In Frankl’s system, the search for meaning and significance in the human experience gives the human being the necessary strength to cope with pain and suffering in a reality devoid of religious faith and tradition, and enhances one’s ability to survive even under seemingly unbearable conditions, such as those that characterized life in the camps. In Frankl’s words, even in Auschwitz, a prisoner observing a beautiful sunset might remark: "How beautiful the world could be."
Once published, millions of copies of the book were sold; it was translated into dozens of languages, and quickly became one of the best-known symbols of post-Holocaust humanism.
Rare book. Only a handful of copies of this edition have survived. Not in NLI.
130 pages. 20 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes and abrasions to cover.
Letter handwritten and personally signed by Sigmund Freud, addressed to Yehuda Dvir, the earliest translator of his works into Hebrew. Vienna, December 15, 1930. German.
The letter is written on official stationery, indicating Sigmund Freud’s address in Vienna, Berggasse no. 19, where he resided for 47 years, from 1891 to 1938. It is addressed to the Jerusalemite educator and author Yehuda Dvir (Dvosis; 1896-1971), whose translations of Freud’s writings – the very first translations into Hebrew of Freud’s works – had just recently been published.
In his letter, Freud writes about the attitude toward Judaism and the Hebrew language that prevailed in his boyhood home thanks to the influence of his father, Jacob Freud, and how his identification with Judaism was later strengthened as he recalled the anti-Semitism he had experienced many years earlier in his student years at the University of Vienna, where he began his studies in the fall of 1873: "I derive great satisfaction and gratification from the publication of some of my works in Hebrew. My father’s fluency in the holy tongue was equal to, or possibly even greater than, his fluency in German. As for me, he allowed me to grow up without knowing anything about Judaism. Only once I reached maturity did I begin bearing a grudge against him for this. But even earlier, I felt myself a Jew, thanks to the pervasiveness of German anti-Semitism which reared its head over and over during my studies at the university."
Further on in the letter, Freud reveals his warm feelings toward Zionism and mentions his concerns regarding its fate – concerns which only intensified in the wake of the violent riots that broke out in Palestine in 1929, a year earlier: "I was inspired with a deep feeling of sympathy toward Zionism, and I remain loyal to it to this day. Right from the beginning, it appeared to me that it was linked to these exact concerns which, given the present circumstances, now seem entirely justified. I would love to be proven wrong. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the efforts you have invested, and I send you my heartfelt greetings. Yours, Sigmund Freud" (based on the Hebrew translation of the German, from: "Sigmund Freud, Letters, " translation by Eran Rolnik, Moshav Ben Shemen: Modan, 2019).
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), founding father of the field of psychoanalysis, one of the greatest and most influential intellectual figures of the 20th century. Freud published a series of groundbreaking works in psychology, including "Totem and Taboo", "The Interpretation of Dreams", "Moses and Monotheism", and numerous other works whose impact on Western thought regarding the human psyche was nothing short of revolutionary. Sigmund Freud passed away following a prolonged battle with cancer in September 1939.
[1] leaf, official stationery, 28.5 cm. Good condition. Fold lines and creases. Minor stains and wear. Slight tears to edges.