Tefilah La-ʻAtsirat Ha-Magefah/ Preghiere Che Si Recitano Dagl' Israeliti Di Trieste Durante L'invasione Del Cholera Asiatico (Prayer to Stop the Plague - Prayers Recited By The Israelites Of Trieste During The Invasion Of The Asian Cholera)
Trieste: Tipografia del Lloyd Austriaco, 1855. First edition. Softcover. Octavo. 15pp. Original pink wrappers, sunned to a tan color. This scarce and intriguing publication is a Jewish prayer book created as a result of sever casualties in the city of Trieste during the outbreak of the Third Cholera Pandemic (1846–1860). The year of this publication, 1855, was noted as having been a particularly bad one in terms of fatalities in the city, prompting religious leaders to react and provide spiritual support to their communities. This work, assembled by Abraham Vita Chai Morpurgo and Aharon Luzzatto, contains two readings of two relevant biblical Psalms (91 and 20) plus an original prayer created by Trieste Rabbi, Sabbato Graziadio Treves (c.1780 - 1856) in 1836, during the previous cholera epidemic. A fascinating piece of social, medical and religious history, which sheds light on the state of the Trieste Jewish community of the mid 19th century.
Text pages throughout in Hebrew and Italian, in a number of period fonts and sizes.
Wrappers sunned, with light stains, smudges, and some light rubbing/chipping to corners. Both the front and back wrappers contains some period indecipherable manuscript writing in ink. Pages throughout with some light creasing, as well as some light sporadic stains, mostly in the margins. Wrappers in good, interior in very good- condition overall. g to vg-. Item #46515
Hebrew title: (sic) תפלה לעצירת המגפה
Alternate: תפילה לעצירת המגפה
Bibliographic reference: Vinograd, Trieste 25.
It is interesting to note that it was in response to these cholera pandemics, that a number of noted rabbis including Akiva Eiger, Yisrael Salanter and Moshe Sofer (Hatam Sofer) are known to have made consequential halakhic rulings mandating various situation specific actions (even those which violated Jewish laws) in order to save lives during this deadly period ("Pikuach Nefesh"). These had consequential effects, and were responsible for setting many historical precedents in the observance of Jewish law during epidemics, including most recently the COVID pandemic.
Price: $950.00