Obj. ID: 34965
Jewish printed books  Reischer, Jacob ben Josef, Sefer sheelot u-tshuvot Shevut Ya'akov, Helek rishon (Halle, 1719)

{"2410":"Moses ben Avraham Avinu printed briefly in Amsterdam in 1690 and again in 1692, and represents a colorful chapter in Hebrew printing. A proselyte to Judaism, he was born in Haase and is referred to as Moses Polak in Dutch records. Originally from Nikolsburg or Prague, Moses came to Amsterdam, together with his wife Friede Israels, already a practicing Jew or a convert to Judaism in Amsterdam. There, Moses worked as a compositor in the printing-presses of Uri Phoebus Ha-Levi and David Tartas. In 1689 Moses ben Avraham acquired the printing house of Moses Kosman, but not his type foundry; he also acquired type cut by Hermanus Mandelslo. While eight titles are attributed to his press in 1690, he was not successful in this venture, and, in November 1690, deeply in debt, his printing house failed.The failure of Moses\u2019 press has been attributed to a suit brought against him by Tartas over the right to print a Polish-rite prayer book. Although he won the suit, he no longer had the resources to continue printing. In 1694, however, he resumed printing, again with a Polish-rite prayer book, and again against Tartas\u2019 opposition. In the end, he only printed four books (not the prayer book), and again did not succeed in the printing business. He left Amsterdam for Germany with unpaid debts, and continued to work in printing houses in Berlin, Frakfurt am Oder, and finally Halle. He eventually began printing independently, and put out the prayer book Tefilah-le-Moshe, which contained the prayer Aleinu, recently prohibited by royal decree. As a result, the press was closed, the typographical material and equipment seized, and Moses ben Avraham Avinu incarcerated."}