SH. U-T. HA-RADBAZ, HELEK SHELISHI

Fyorda: Be-Vet Uvi-Defus Itsak Ben David, 1781. Item #28045

Hardcover, folio, 132 pages, 34 cm. In Hebrew. SUBJECT (S) : Descriptor: Responsa -- 1040-1600. Named Person: Maimonides, Moses, 1135-1204. Mishneh torah -- Commentaries. Zimra (known as RaDBaZ = Rabbi David Ben Abi Zimra; 1479–1573) was a “talmudic scholar, halakhic authority, and kabbalist. Abi Zimra was born in Spain into a wealthy family, but by the age of 13 he was in Safed (possibly going via Fez – see Sambari in Neubauer's Chronicles, vol. 1 (1887) , 157) . The most eminent of his teachers was Joseph Saragossi of Sicily who left Spain in 1492 and eventually settled in Safed. Abi Zimra moved to Jerusalem but shortly before 1513 immigrated to Egypt, apparently due to bad economic conditions in Palestine. He remained there for 40 years, first in Alexandria, then in Cairo where he joined the bet din of the nagid, Isaac Sholal. After the conquest of Egypt by the Turks (1517) and the decline of the office of the nagid, Abi Zimra became the official head of Egyptian Jewry. He was not only dayyan but also head of a yeshivah, trustee of the hekdesh, and administrator of charity collections. He held all of these offices in an honorary capacity, as he was financially independent. Apart from his inherited wealth Abi Zimra was apparently successful in business and as a moneylender to non-Jews” (Zimmels in EJ 2010) . OCLC lists 8 copies worldwide. Hinge & spine repair. Yellowing of pages. Wear to binding. Good Condition. (Heb-33-16).

Price: $700.00

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