Ketubah recording the marriage of Yaakov da Costa with the bride Rachel daughter of Yitzchak Athias. Signed by R. Yitzchak Aboab da Fonseca. Amsterdam, 15th Sivan [June 20] 1663.
The texts of the ketubah and Tena'im were handwritten in Sephardic script, on a particularly high-quality, thin, light-colored sheet of parchment, decorated with a copperplate border. The printing is sharp and clean, presumably due to the fact that this is one of the first copies printed from the original printing block. The engraving depicts two vases holding large bouquets, with various birds and winged insects perched on them. These are topped by images of a bride and groom in contemporary attire (on the right) and a mother with two children (on the left; an allegorical figure of Caritas [charity]). The text apears between two rounded pillars entwined with branches, topped with an arch. On both sides of the arch are two Cherubs holding a drapery bearing the inscription "B'Siman Tov". The word "BeRevii" (on Wednesday) is also printed. At the bottom of the engraving is a large Rococo cartouche in which the Tena'im were written.
The engraving is not signed. It is accepted that the border ornaments were inspired by two Dutch ketubot created by the artist and engraver Shalom son of R. Mordechai Italia; one in Rotterdam, 1648 (previously in the Moses Heiman Ganz collection, now in the Israel Museum collection, B51.04.0257) and the second in Amsterdam, 1654 (Collection of the Etz Chaim library, Amsterdam, Pl. A-1, catalog no. 385). Shalom Italia, who arrived in Holland from Mantua, was also known for creating two Esther scrolls and portraits of Jacob Judah Leon Templo and Menasseh ben Israel. He passed away ca. 1655, and one can presume that after his passing, his ketubah engravings served as inspiration and model for the design of the present ketubah.
This ketubah design, which appeared ca. 1660, was in use in the Spanish-Portuguese community in Holland for many more years, throughout the 18th century until the mid-19th century, in slightly different versions and in varying quality of print.
Three signatures at the foot of the ketubah text and again at the foot of the Tena'im: signature of the groom, Yaakov (Jacob) da Costa (to the right), and the signatures of the witnesses, R. Yitzchak Aboab da Fonseca, rabbi of Amsterdam (calligraphic Spanish-Hebrew signature, in the center) and Mordechai (Mordohay) Hallas (to the left).
One of the earliest ketubot of its kind. There are only two known earlier exemplars of this kind of Amsterdam ketubah, both from 5421 (1660-1661), one is held in a private collection (1660), while the other is in the Etz Chaim Library collection (1661). The present ketubah is therefore the second earliest ketubah in private possession. Furthermore, the present ketubah is one of the very few ketubot bearing the signature of R. Yitzchak Aboab da Fonseca as witness.
The wedding of the da Costa-Athias couple is also documented in the marriage records of the Spanish-Portuguese community in Amsterdam (listing 1817), which provides further biographic details: Yaakov da Costa was from Pinheiro (presumably in Portugal, although there is a place by this name in Brazil) and the bride was from Brazil.
The bride, Rachel Athias (born in 1634 or 1639) was the daughter of R. Yitzchak Athias Tartas. R. Yitzchak Athias was a disciple of R. Yitzchak Uziel in Amsterdam (who was also the teacher of R. Yitzchak Aboab da Fonseca). He served as rabbi in Amsterdam, and as first rabbi of the Portuguese community in Hamburg and later in Venice, where he passed away. He authored Thesoro de preceptos on the 613 commandments (first edition: Venice 1627, second edition: Amsterdam 1649); for further information, see enclosed material and see Jewish Encyclopedia, II, p. 268.
The groom, Yaakov da Costa, born ca. 1633, passed away in Amsterdam in 1694.
R. Yitzchak Aboab da Fonseca (the third, 1605-1693) – one of the most prominent rabbis of Amsterdam in the 17th century – rabbi, kabbalist, author and translator. Born in Portugal, he immigrated to Amsterdam in 1612, where he studied under R. Yitzchak Uziel. At the age of 21, he already served as rabbi in the Jewish-Portuguese community in Amsterdam, a position he held for decades. He was one of the initiators of the establishment of the Esnoga, the Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam. He served as rabbi of Pernambuco, Brazil (which was then a Dutch colony) since 1642, and was thus the first rabbi to settle and officiate in the American continent, and the first Jewish author there. Following the war between Holland and Portugal, and the expulsion of the Jews from Brazil, he was compelled to return to Amsterdam in 1649, where he returned to his position as rabbi of the Portuguese community. He was one of the signatories on the ban against Baruch Spinoza in 1656 and around a decade later, he was one of the supporters of the false messiah Shabbetai Zevi. For further information, see Jewish Encyclopedia, I, pp. 74-75.
Mordechai (de Esperanca) Hallas was born in Pernambuco, Brazil in 1628, and passed away in Amsterdam in 1685.
The bride and her family presumably maintained close ties with the two witnesses whose signatures appear on the ketubah – R. Yitzchak Aboab da Fonseca and Mordechai Hallas, whom they knew from the time they lived in Pernambuco, Brazil. Likewise, it must be noted that the father of the bride and R. Yitzchak Aboab da Fonseca were both disciples of R. Yitzchak Uziel in Amsterdam, and this early acquaintance may be what connected R. Aboab da Fonseca to the bride's family.

40.5X34 cm. Good condition. High-quality, clean parchment. Some minor glue marks and abrasions on verso. Five small pieces of tape on verso. Folding marks and minor creases.

Reference:
• Shalom Sabar, Ketubbah: Jewish Marriage Contracts of Hebrew Union College, Skirball Museum, and Klau Library (NY, 1990), pp. 265-270, item 171.
• Mordechai Narkis, The Oeuvre of the Jewish Engraver Salom Italia, in: Tarbitz, Vol. 25, Issue 4, Tammuz 1956, pp. 441-451; Vol. 26, Issue 1, Tishrei 1956, pp. 87-101.
Exhibition: Yeshiva University Museum, New York, "The Sephardic Journey: 1492-1992", 1990-1992. See exhibition catalog, pp. 77, 336, no. 560.
The ketubah is digitized on the NLI website and in the Ktiv project.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, 035.012.004.

Decorated manuscript, Passover Haggadah and Passover prayers, with Shir HaShirim, produced by Yitzchak Meir Chaim Moshe Gabbai. Baghdad, 1853.
Complete manuscript, masterfully scribed and decorated. Semi-cursive and square Oriental script. Passover prayers and Haggadah decorated with geometric ornaments in ink. Large ornamental initial word panels in Shir HaShirim, decorated with colorful foliate designs and flowers (in yellow, orange, brown and reddish-purple hues).
The floral ornaments and the shapes of the letters in the initial word panels are identical to those found in a group of decorated Esther scrolls also produced by Yitzchak Meir Chaim Moshe Gabbai of Baghdad, in ca. 1848-1854. As evident from comparison of the present manuscript to the Esther scrolls produced by Gabbai, the vivid colors, the accurate and meticulous coloring, the symmetric ornaments and especially the meticulously executed stylized letters – were all prominent characteristics of his artwork, which give his manuscripts their trademark beauty.
From this group of scrolls, only six scrolls are extant today, three of which are held in museum collections (two in the Israel Museum – one in the Feuchtwanger collection and the other in the Stieglitz collection; the third is held in the Hechal Shlomo collection). These scrolls, known for their beauty and quality, appeared in many exhibitions and are documented in reference books. Nevertheless, for many years the identity of the artist who produced these scrolls was not known, and only in the 1980s was Gabbai identified as the artist, by comparison to the present manuscript, which was previously held in the Meir Benayahu collection (see: Catalog of the Stieglitz Collection, item 191).
Another interesting fact related to this manuscript and the scrolls is that two of the aforementioned scrolls (and presumably also the present manuscript) where previously part of the collection of David Suleiman Sassoon, whose mother Farha (Flora) Sassoon was the daughter of Ezekiel Gabbai, possibly related to the scribe of these manuscripts.
The manuscript includes: Passover Arvit prayer, Biur Chametz and Passover Haggadah with Judeo-Arabic translation (sharh), with the piyyut Emunim Archu Shevach by "Aharon HaKohen", and Shir HaShirim with Targum and Judeo-Arabic translation (verse by verse).
The beginning of the manuscript is dated Thursday, 19th Kislev 1853.
Writer's colophon at the end of the Arvit prayer: "The writer, I… Yitzchak Meir Chaim Moshe Gabbai… completed the Passover Arvit prayer on Tuesday, 23rd Kislev 1853, in the capital city of Baghdad". Following the colophon, the writer added curses in Judeo-Arabic to anyone who steals the manuscript. His name appears many more times throughout the manuscript. Additional colophon at the end of Shir HaShirim, dated 24th Cheshvan 1853.

[71] written leaves (+ blank leaves). 14 cm. Good condition. Stains (dark stains in several places). Minor marginal tears to a few leaves. Original ornamented leather binding, with minor blemishes.

Provenance:
1. Collection of Prof. Meir Benayahu.
2. The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, IQ.011.014.

Decorated manuscript, Passover Haggadah and Passover Arvit prayer, with Shir HaShirim and Pirkei Avot with Judeo-Arabic translation, by R. Moshe [son of] Yosef Avraham Somekh. Baghdad, 1883.
Particularly impressive manuscript, masterfully scribed and decorated – over two hundred pages bearing colorful decorations (decorations on every page). Semi-cursive and square Oriental script. Decorated heading and initial word panels (enlarged characters, scribed in color, with floral decorations); LaMenatze'ach Menorahs before the Haggadah and Shir HaShirim.
Each page of text is framed in a border and divided into two columns (usually separated with a floral ornament). In most of the manuscript, the Hebrew text occupies the right column while the left column contains the Judeo-Arabic translation.
The writer signed his name in several places throughout the manuscript within the borders and ornaments. The name was later deleted with black ink, yet can still be discerned in several places, such as in the initial word "Min HaMetzar" (p. 8b): "Moshe Yosef Avraham Somekh"; and at the end of the Passover Haggadah: "I completed it on 26th Adar I, Moshe Yosef Avraham Somekh".
Scribed in the border surrounding the LaMenatze'ach Menorah preceding the Haggadah: "Passover Haggadah, original text and sharh [Judeo-Arabic translation]", "I begin writing the Passover Haggadah, original text and sharh – Judeo-Arabic translation…", "The writer and copyist… [name deleted], in 1883".
Scribed in the headpiece of Shir HaShirim: "I begin writing Shir HaShirim, original text and sharh following the Sephardic rite, here in Baghdad… 1883", "Shir HaShirim, original text and translation, I began on Tuesday, Rosh Chodesh Adar I 1883, in the Beit Midrash of Tzalach Nissim Eliya Aboudi".
Moshe [son of] Yosef Avraham Somekh is presumably the brother of Shaul [son of] Yosef Avraham Somekh, who scribed and decorated another manuscript in this catalog – see previous item.

[112] leaves. 14 cm. Good condition. Stains, including ink stains to a few leaves, slightly affecting text. Name of writer deleted in black ink in several places, affecting text. Tears to several leaves. Original leather binding, with minor defects.

Reference:
• Yohanan Fried and Yoel Rappel (eds.), Siddur Klal Israel, Jerusalem: Mesora Laam, 1991, p. 228.
• Barbara Rush, Passover Splendor: Cherished Objects for the Seder Table. New York, 2004, p. 8.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, IQ.011.007.

Decorated manuscript, Tefillot Yesharot – kabbalistic siddur, with kavanot of the Arizal and kabbalistic practices – for weekdays, Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, Chanukah and Purim. [Turkey or another place in the region], 1734.
Complete, particularly beautiful and impressive manuscript, in a design reminiscent of Islamic prayer books. The title page is decorated with cartouches and floral ornaments in green, blue and gold. Each page of the manuscript is framed in a rectangular, gilt border, and contains the text of the prayers scribed in cursive Oriental script, with initial words and certain words in square script. Headings and other notes outside the border. Floral and foliate ornaments in several places. Original, leather covered binding, with gilt and red ornaments, also typical of Islamic prayer books. Several blank leaves interspersed in the manuscript, for inserting additional prayers.
Folded plate before the title page, with a gilt illustration of a LaMenatze'ach Menorah, including notes of its segulot. Inscription on verso: "This was the form of the menorah". A prayer to be recited "after the Menorah" is inscribed on the preceding page.
The illustrated title page states the title of the book, and the date of its completion: 11th Av 1734.
The text of the siddur includes many kabbalistic kavanot, prayers and practices, occasionally inserted by the writer in "windows" within the text.
See Hebrew description for partial list of contents of the manuscript.
Statement of the completion of the manuscript on the final page. Familial inscriptions in Ladino on the back endpaper, dated 1911-1925.

[225] leaves. Approx. 16 cm. Good condition. High-quality paper. Stains. Minor wear. Marginal ink stains (not affecting text). Original gilt-decorated binding, with minor blemishes; spine repaired.

Provenance:
1. Sotheby's Tel Aviv, 5 October 1984, lot 170.
2. The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, OT.011.010.