Home
   Under Reconstruction!
Object Alone

Obj. ID: 38794
Jewish printed books
  Menorat ha-Meor, helek rishon by Yitzhak Aboab, Izmir, 1877

© Gross Family Collection, Photographer: Unknown,

This text was prepared by William Gross:

This printed book is an ethical treatise, one of the most popular such writings in Jewish history. Isaac Aboab (fl. end of the 14th century) was a Jewish Talmudic scholar. He was also known by the pen name Menorat ha-Maor or Menoras HaMaor, a work which he authored. He lived in Spain during the 14th century. As shown by Zunz ("Ritus," pp. 204–210), he is not to be confused with Isaac Aboab, rabbi of Castile, the supercommentator of Naḥmanides, who died in 1493.
He was a man of affairs, who, towards the end of his life, devoted much time to literary work and to preaching, as he found that great Talmudic scholars and important seats of learning were rare. In his time, the Jews for whom he wrote still understood and spoke Arabic. He belonged to a period of intellectual decline when men took naturally to eclecticism. He combined extensive rabbinical knowledge with philosophical erudition, and was fond of mystic interpretation of the Mosaic laws and ceremonies. He quoted Aristotle and Plato, though only from secondary sources, and endeavored to illustrate passages from the Talmud and the midrashic literature, with which he was especially familiar, by utterances taken from the philosophical, the ethical, and the mystic literature of his time. His chief aim was the popularization of knowledge and the elevation of the masses.
Aboab wrote three books:
The first, on Jewish rites, under the title of Aron ha-'Edut ("The Ark of the Testimony"), was divided, after the manner of the Decalogue, into ten sections, each again subdivided into chapters and paragraphs. The various ritual laws were therein traced to their Talmudic sources, and the decisions of the Geonim and later interpretations added. His second book, on the prayers and benedictions, was called Shulḥan ha-Panim ("Table of the Showbread"), and was divided into twelve sections, symbolizing the twelve loaves of the showbread in the Tabernacle; both works unfortunately are lost. His third book has survived, and has won considerable fame for the author, though in his humility he assures his readers that he composed it chiefly for his own use as a public speaker. But besides this it has contributed probably more than any other medieval book to the popularization of rabbinical lore and to the religious edification and elevation of the masses. It belongs to that class of ethical works which sprang up in the 13th century in a time of reaction against the one-sided manner in which Talmudic studies had been previously pursued.
"These Talmudists," he says in the preface, "consider it their duty to propose difficult questions and answer them in a witty and subtle manner, but leave unnoticed the precious pearls that lie upon the bed of the Talmudic ocean, the haggadic passages (similar to Midrash) so rich in beauty and sweetness." He conceived, therefore, the plan of grouping together the rich material stored up in the vast treasure-house of the Haggadah - (see Aggadah) from the religious and ethical point of view, and of presenting it in a book which he called Menorat ha-Maor ("The Candlestick of Light"; compare Numbers 4:9 also translated as "The Menorah Lamp") [1]), intending by it to illumine the minds and the hearts of his coreligionists. With reference to the seven-armed candlestick (Menorah) in the Tabernacle (as described in Exodus 25:31 [2]; and Numbers 8:2 [3]), he divided the book into seven sections, each of which bears the title of Ner or "Lamp" subdivided into separate parts and chapters. It can hardly be said that the division of the matter treated is very logical and systematic, nor indeed does the work lay any claim to originality; but in presenting the beautiful moral and religious truths of Judaism in homely form, Aboab supplied to the average reader a great need of the time. Its skillful arrangement of the various Biblical and rabbinical topics and its warm tone of deep earnestness and sincerity could not fail to appeal to the popular heart. And as in the course of time the sermon, then still in use among the Spanish Jews, ceased to be a part of the divine service because the preacher had to give way to the Hazzan, or precentor, the Menorat ha-Maor became a substitute for the living voice of the preacher. It was translated into Spanish and read to attentive assemblies of the people, particularly to those not versed in the Law. It thus became the household book of the medieval Jews. It was published with a Spanish translation (Leghorn, 1657), with a Hebrew commentary and a Judæo-German translation by Moses Frankfurter (Amsterdam, 1701), with a modern German translation by Jacob Raphael Fürstenthal and Benzion Behrend (Krotoschin, 1844–46). It was translated also into modern Yiddish, in Wilna, 1880. The book should not be confused with a work of the same name by Israel Alnaqua.
TRANSLATED TO LADINO. TITLE PAGE WITH 67TH PSALM IN THE FORM OF A MENORAH.
Izmir became an important center of Hebrew printing in the Ottoman Empire beginning in the mid-17th century. Its first printing house was founded in 1657 by Avraham b. Yedidya Gabbai, who published in Izmir in two distinct periods, from 1657-1660, and again from 1671-1675. After Gabbai left Izmir, all printing activity in that city ceased for the next fifty years. It was resumed between 1728-1739, and again between 1754-1767, and then lay dormant again for another 60 years.
Only from the mid-19th century onward did Hebrew printing in Izmir continue uninterrupted until 1950. Several printing houses were active by the second half of the century, including that of Avraham Pontrimoli, a member of a learned family in Izmir, and Ya’akov Poli. Pontrimoli and Poli founded their press in 1876, and continued to work together for 8 years. Pontrimoli continued to print until 1889, publishing some 35 books during his 13 years of printing activity.
This book, issued in 1877, bears the names of both Pontrimoli and Poli.

Summary and Remarks
Remarks

1 image(s)

sub-set tree:

Name/Title
Menorat ha-Meor, helek rishon by Yitzhak Aboab | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Unknown
Date
1877
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Pontrimoli, Abraham and Poli, Jacob, Printing House in Izmir
{"2351":"Avraham Pontrimoli and Ya\u2019akov founded their press in Izmir in 1876, and continued to work together for 8 years. Pontrimoli continued to print until 1889, publishing some 35 books during his 13 years of printing activity."}
Origin
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Unknown |
Congregation
Unknown
Location
Unknown |
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Unknown
Period Detail
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Textual Content
Unknown |
Languages of inscription
Unknown
Shape / Form
Unknown
Material / Technique
Paper, Ink, Letterpress
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
Height
24.8 cm
Length
Width
18.2 cm
Depth
2 cm
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition
Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
Codicology
Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Coin
Coin Series
Coin Ruler
Coin Year
Denomination
Signature
Colophon
Scribal Notes
Watermark
Hallmark
Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance
Main Surveys & Excavations
Sources
Type
Documenter
|
Author of description
|
Architectural Drawings
|
Computer Reconstruction
|
Section Head
|
Language Editor
|
Donor
|
Negative/Photo. No.
The following information on this monument will be completed:
Unknown |