Manuscript, segulot, amulets and incantations. [Italy, 19th century]. Hebrew and Italian.
Neat script. Includes kabbalistic illustrations and diagrams. Hebrew and Italian, paragraph after paragraph. In Part II, the leaves are written from left to right.
Leaves [50–58] feature pentacle illustrations (based on the Key of Solomon, a Latin work from the Renaissance period).
This unique manuscript incorporates various traditions of magic, and makes use of prescriptions and amulets which originate from Christian writings. See: Alessia Bellusci, Jewish Magic in the Syncretic Renaissance, I Tatti Studies in the Italian Renaissance, Volume 24, Number 1, Spring 2021.

[90] leaves (including 13 blank leaves). Approx. 13.5 cm. Fair–good condition. Stains, including dampstains. Worming, affecting text. Original, gilt–decorated leather binding, damaged.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, IT.011.016.

"Pe'er Nesher", large poster with a hymn of praise dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte by Rabbi Moise Sabbato Beer di Pesaro. Pisa (under French occupation): Societa Letteraria, 1809. Hebrew, Italian and some Latin.
Large, impressive poster, exalting the greatness of Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French. Printed in Northern Italy during the Napoleonic occupation of the region.
The Hebrew name of the Hymn, "Pe'er Nesher", appears on the upper part of the poster, flanked on both sides by wings of a vulture, referring to the coat of arms of the house of Bonaparte. The Hebrew letter 'Shin' is raised to resemble a large crown (the arrangement of the hymn's name and the wings surrounding it is reminiscent of the flag of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy).
The center of the poster features a long dedication and prayer for Emperor Napoleon, and his wife, Josephine (Hebrew). Followed by a typographically intricate hymn of praise dedicated to the emperor (in Hebrew an Italian), with textual references and interpretations, arranged around the hymn, to resemble a Gemara page. The last reference suggests that the hymn was composed in Venice.
Signed in print by Rabbi Moise Sabbato Beer di Pesaro – presumably Rabbi Moise Shabtai Beer, who served as Rabbi in Rome from 1825 onwards. Rabbi Beer conferred with Pope Leo XII (1760–1829), in an effort to alleviate the hardships suffered by the Jewish community of his city, and is considered to be the first Roman Jew to have been allowed a personal meeting with the supreme pontiff; passed away in Rome in 1835 (see: Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, P. 635).
Due to his pivotal role in the emancipation of European Jewry, numerous hymns of praise and admiration were dedicated to Napoleon by Jews. The Napoleonic Code introduced to countries occupied by the French bore the spirit of the French revolution, epitomized in the motto "liberty, equality, fraternity", which significantly improved the condition of various minorities, granting them significant civil rights, which had been withheld until that point. In general, Jews held a positive attitude towards Napoleon, with some even interpreting his arrival as a symbol of the initial stages of the Messianic redemption.

55.5X72 cm. Frame: 71.5X87.5 cm. Good condition. Minor folding marks and creases. Unexamined out of frame.

Exhibitions:
• Only on paper: Six Centuries of Judaica from the Gross Family Collection, CD, 2005.
• Italia ebraica: oltre duemila anni di incontro tra la cultura italiana e l'ebraismo / сura della mostra e del libro, Natalia Berger e Daniela Di Castro. Tel Aviv, 2008.
Provenance:
• Sotheby's – Judaica auction, Tel Aviv, 19th April, 1990, lot no. 85.
• The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, 121.011.001.

Manuscript, songs and piyyutim. Rhodes, [1872].
Illustrated title page with floral motifs, stating that the manuscript was scribed by Chizkiyah Moshe David Israel and completed on 9th Iyar 1872 in Rhodes.
The songs and piyyutim are organized according to maqam types.
Includes many piyyutim by R. Yisrael Najara and his close disciple R. Avtalyon son of R. Mordechai. See Hebrew description for more details on the contents of the manuscript.
Blank leaves between the various maqams; piyyutim in a different hand were scribed on some of them. Several glosses and additions in a different hand throughout the manuscript.
Ownership inscriptions in Ladino, in Hebrew and Latin characters, on the title page and first and final leaves.

Illustrated manuscripts originating from Rhodes are exceptionally rare.

[4], 96, [2] leaves (including blank pages). 20 cm. Good condition. Stains, including dampstains and purple ink stains to several pages. Several marginal tears. Inscriptions, signatures and stamp. Fine, new gilt–decorated leather binding, incorporating parts of original binding.

The present manuscript is from the end of the Ottoman rule of Rhodes, before the island was conquered by the Italians in the early 20th century.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, OT.011.008.

Certificate with letters of recommendation and signatures, from Ashkenazi and Sephardi rabbis of Safed and Tiberias. Safed, 1858–1860.
Certificate in square script, recommendation to support R. Yaakov of Safed (grandson of the Chavat Daat).
The first signatories are rabbis of Safed: R. Shmuel Heller, R. Mordechai Silberman, R. Baruch Kahana and others.
Further on the leaf, to the right, is a letter of recommendation (in Oriental script), from the Sephardi rabbis of Safed, signed by R. Refael Maman, R. Shmuel Abbou and others. To the left is a letter of recommendation (in Oriental script), signed by R. Chaim Shmuel HaKohen of Tiberias, followed by other recommendations (in Ashkenazic script), signed by R. Yaakov Moshe of Kosov, R. Shlomo Heilperin, and others.
Additional recommendation at the foot of the leaf (5 lines), handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Yitzchak Eizik Heilperin of Botoshan (disciple of R. Baruch of Medzhibuzh).
R. Shmuel Heller (1786–1884), prominent Torah scholar and physician, rabbi of Safed for sixty years.
R. Mordechai Silberman (1819–1872), rabbi of Uman and later dayan in Safed and Tiberias.
R. Baruch Kahana, dayan in Safed in the 1860s.
R. Shmuel Abbou (1789–1879), rabbi of the Sephardic community in Safed and consul of France. Rebuilt Safed after the earthquake in 1837.
R. Refael Maman (1810–1882) from Meknes (Morocco). Dayan in Safed and later rabbi of Tiberias.
R. Chaim Shmuel HaKohen (d. 1873). Born in Italy, he served as chief rabbi of Tiberias for thirty years.
R. Yaakov Moshe, dayan and posek in Kitov and Kosov, and later in the Safed Beit Din.
The last signatory, R. Chaim Yitzchak Eizik Heilperin (d. 1867), disciple of R. Baruch of Medzhibuzh. Head of the Botoshan Beit Din until 1858, when he immigrated to Safed.

[1] leaf. Approx. 37 cm. Fair–good condition. Stains. Folding marks. Tears and open tears to folds, affecting text, repaired with paper.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, 057.011.031.

Large parchment certificate, signed by over thirty Sephardic Torah scholars. Safed, Elul [1895].
Decorative upper edge. Neat calligraphic script – Rashi script; headings and emphasized words in enlarged square script. Arched inscriptions at top of leaf.
Certificate for the emissary R. Yaakov Yosef Afriat, issued by the organizations of the Sephardic community in Safed, addressed to the communities of Algeria. The certificate lists the Tzadikim buried in the Galil, by whose gravesites they would pray for the donors.
At the foot of the leaf, signatures of close to forty rabbis and Torah scholars of Safed (some signatures are faded and difficult to decipher). Several stamps. See Hebrew description for list of signatories.

[1] large parchment leaf. 78X53 cm. Fair condition. Stains, creases and wear. Open tears to center of leaf, affecting text (repaired with paper).

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, 057.012.002.