Bidspirit auction | Magen Avraham. First Edition, Venice

Magen Avraham. First Edition, Venice 1603- Signature of the Gaon Rabbi Mazal Tov of Modena. - Sefer Magen Avraham, sermons and essays by Rabbi Avraham Laniado. Only Edition. Venice, 1603. Printed by Daniel Zanetti. On the title page appears a handwritten purchase inscription and the (partially trimmed) signature of the gaon Rabbi Mazal Tov of Modena ( d. c. 1830): one of the foremost rabbis of his generation and among the most renowned Italian rabbinic authorities and responsa writers of his time. He was the outstanding disciple of Rabbi Yishmael ha-Kohen, author of Zera Emet, and succeeded his teacher as Av Beit Din of Modena, his native city. He authored Pirur Leḥem on all four sections of the Shulḥan Arukh, Sha‘arei De‘ah (methodological principles for the Talmud), novellae on the Bible, and sermons on the Torah. A responsum of his concerning the use of organ music in synagogue prayer became particularly well known. His son was Rabbi David Zakut of Modena, who succeeded him as rabbi of Modena and authored Zecher David, Limudei Ha-, and other works. His principal teacher was Rabbi Yishmael ha-Kohen, author of Zera Emet, to whom Napoleon Bonaparte sent the famous Twelve Questions and whom he invited to the Assembly of Jewish Notables and the Sanhedrin. Owing to his advanced age, Rabbi Yishmael was unable to attend and sent in his stead his disciple Rabbi Mazal Tov, who participated in the rabbinic assembly (the Sanhedrin) in Paris. After his death, he was eulogized by the Maharsag, Rabbi of Padua, in the following words: “I hear a faint voice of lament in the camp of Israel, in the holy community of Modena and its environs, may it be rebuilt; a weak cry is heard, and every eye weeps tears, and the whole land mourns with a great cry, for a boiling cauldron—the roar from the city of Modena—since the Ark of God has been taken: this Sinai and uprooter of mountains, the eminent rabbi, our master Rabbi Mazal Tov of Modena, may his merit shield us, of blessed and saintly memory.” (See: Encyclopedia of the Sages of Italy, p. 322; Arzei ha-Levanon, p. 214; Chachmei ha-Mizrach, p. 122.) The author, Rabbi Avraham Laniado, was born in 1545. He lived in Safed and, as he writes in his introduction, studied under Maran Rabbi Yosef Karo. He was the son-in-law of Rabbi Shmuel Laniado, author of Ba‘al ha-Kelim. In the years 1603–1604 he resided in Venice, where he printed Kli Yakar by his father-in-law, as well as the present work. He later served as rabbi of Aleppo (Aram Tzova) until his death around 1620. 180 leaves. 19.5 cm.