Obj. ID: 36236  Zer'a Berech by Berachiah Berech ben Yizhak Isaac, Cracow (Kraków), 1646

This text was prepared by William Gross:

Discourses on the weekly Torah readings from Bereishit through Numbers and on the Megillot by R. Berechiah Berakh ben Isaak Eisik Shapira (d.1663). Berechiah was a student of R. Nathan Spira, father-in-law of R. Yom Tov Lipmann Heller, and served as dayyan on the beit din of R. Joshua Heschel of Cracow. He was also the head preacher in Cracow. The present work includes his sermons.
In his introduction, Berechiah informs the reader that his discourses are according to the words of the sages, referencing not only Midrashim but also Megalleh Amukkot, a significant kabbalistic work. In a second complete edition of Zera Berakh (Amsterdam, 1662), Berechiah’s position on publishing kabbalistic interpretations has changed considerably. Berechiah has appended Ateret Tzvi, interpretations by his late brother-in-law R. Tzvi Hirsch ben Shalom.
Title page with architectural frame and the header “Then (Isaac) sowed in that land, etc. (and He blessed him)” (cf. Genesis 26:12).
Two text illustrations: 1. a depiction of the Akedah at the end of Vayehi. This illustration appeared in several earlier Cracow imprints, but here is larger than usual. 2. An image of a ship rowing towards a castle at the end of Pekudei.
Menachem Nachum Meisels, scion of a distinguished Cracow family, established a Hebrew press in this city in 1630 , acquiring the typographical equipment that had previously belonged to the Prostitz press. In addition, he had new letters cast in Venice. Nonetheless, his books reflect the Prague style, no doubt due to the influence of his manager, Judah ha-Kohen of Prague. Meisels was assisted in the press by his daughter Chernah and by his two sons-in-law, Judah Leib Meisels and Simeon Wolf ha-Kohen Ashkenazi. The Meisels press supplied books to Polish Jewry for several decades, publishing the necessary biblical and liturgical works, popular books in Yiddish, reprints of classical works, and new titles.