Manuscript. Fragment from the Tzafnat Paneach of Rabbi Yosef Alashkar, c.1500.

Solitary leaf ...

Manuscript. Fragment from the Tzafnat Paneach of Rabbi Yosef Alashkar, c.1500.

Solitary leaf, an early copy from the work of Godly kabbalist Rabbi Yosef Alashkar.

Rabbi Yosef Alshkar was a prominent sage, amongst the many who suffered through the Spanish expulsion. He authored the Markevet Hamishnah on Tractate Avot and more. He was a scion of a family of Torah scholars and doctors from Seville, Catalonia. After the expulsion, he settled in Tlemcen, where he taught Torah and authored his noted works. He was buried next to the holy Rabbi, Rabbi Refael Enkaoua,   and his burial site is considered sacred amongst Algerian Jews.

His Tzafnat Paneach discusses the connection between the sequence of the tractates according to “Pardes.”

In this fragment, he mentions interesting information regarding earlier Gaonim who were experts in kabbalah. It was printed in his Tzafnat Paneach (Lod, 2008) p. 329-330.

[1] leaf with text on both its sides (2 pages).

Blemishes with loss that have been restored.

Size 11x16 cm.