Obj. ID: 37384 Darchei No'am by Mordekhai ben Yehudah Halevi, Venice, 1697
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This text was prepared by William Gross:
First edition of the Responsa of R. Mordechai b. Judah HaLevi, chief rabbi in Cairo.
R. Mordechai Ha-Levi (1600 – 1684) was born in Egypt, and served as rabbi and dayan there for more than forty years. In 1674, he settled in Jerusalem, but did not live out the year. Darchei Noam is his only published work. It is supplemented with the only edition of the kuntres "Milchemet Mitzvah” (Venice, 1697) by his son, Rabbi Avraham Ha-Levi, and concerning the calculation of the day of circumcision.
Title page with ornate architectural frame. On its verso is an illustration of the plan of the Temple, entitled “Tzurat HaBayit”.
In 1550 Alvise Bragadin established a Hebrew press in Venice, thus ending a brief monopoly in Hebrew printing in Venice enjoyed by Guistiani (after the closing of the Bomberg press). This press continued as one of Venice’s leading Hebrew print-shops, issuing Hebrew titles in the 18th C under several generations of Bragadins (the last of whom was Alvise III). Throughout the years, the output of the Bragadini press was considerable, and covered the gamut of Hebrew works. The press was somewhat unusual, however, in that the Bragadins themselves did not always take an active role in their printing-house, leaving its operation to other printers, and lending their name to other presses.