Eric Chaim Kline, Bookseller

Eric Chaim Kline, Bookseller

Menorath hammaor. Eine moralisch-religiöse und erbauliche Lektüre für Jung und Alt. 3 Vols. in 1 (Candelabrum of Light. Edifying Moral and Religious Reader for Young and Old)

Krotoschin (Krotoszyn): B. L. Monasch & Sohn, 1845–1848. First German edition. Hardcover. Octavo. viii, 315, (1) 558, 392pp. Bound in modern brown half-cloth over decorative paper-covered boards with gilt lettering and decorative ruling on spine. Light brown endpapers. The author, Isaac Aboab lived in Toledo at the end of the 14th century. His Hebrew work, Menorath HaMe'or ("The Candelabrum of Light") is a classic ethical work. It became immensely popular among the Jews in the Middle Ages with more than seventy editions printed. Originally written in Hebrew it was translated into Spanish, Ladino, Yiddish and German, with the 1st edition printed in Constantinople in 1514.

"Developing the image of the seven-branched candlestick (cf. Num. 4:9), Isaac divides his work into seven nerot ("lamps"). These, in turn, are subdivided into main divisions, parts, and chapters. Using the three parts of Psalms 34:15 as general headings, he assigns the seven lamps to them in the following manner: (a) "Depart from evil," (1) guard against envy, lust, ambition; (2) be wary of sins attendant upon speech. (b) "Do good," (3) observance of mitzvot such as circumcision, rearing of children, prayer, festivals, honoring parents, founding a family, charity, justice; (4) study of Torah; (5) repentance. (c) "Seek peace and pursue it," (6) peace and love for fellowman; and (7) humility. Into this rather loose framework lsaac fitted a wealth of aggadic material, culled from the Talmud and the vast midrashic literature. His use of passages from aggadic works now lost and the variants in the talmudic and midrashic texts he cites make the Menorat ha-Ma'or of great importance for establishing the text of the Talmud used in the Spanish-North African academies as distinct from that of the Franco-German school. Isaac is selective in using esoteric texts, and he fights shy of statements that may provoke doubt and heresy." -see:encyclopedia dot com.

The translation by R. J. Fürstenthal was completed by Benzion Behrend. Block somewhat browned with sporadic light foxing. Water stain at lower foredge and bottom, visible for about fifty pages. Binding in overall very good, interior in good condition. g to vg. Item #47660

Price: $250.00