SEFER OLELOT EFRAYIM (SERMONS FOR THE FESTIVALS AND OTHER OCCASIONS), RABBI SOLOMON EPHRAIM BEN AARON OF LUNTSHITS, LUBLIN: KALONYMUS BEN MORDECHAI JAFFE, 1590

The first edition of a frequently-reprinted sermon collection.

Rabbi Solomon Ephraim of Luntshits (1550-1619), famed author of the Keli yakar commentary on the Pentateuch (Lublin, 1602), gained a reputation early on as a gifted preacher, delivering sermons in Lublin, Lvov, Jaroslaw, and elsewhere before moving to Prague in 1604 and there serving as head of the rabbinical court and yeshiva. His many homilies shed light on the religious, social, and communal life of contemporary Polish Jewish society and have been published in a number of collections, including the present title. Sefer olelot efrayim is divided into four parts. The first contains ethical discourses suitable for any day, the second comprises sermons for the festivals, the third consists of homilies for lifecycle events, and the last focuses on certain key elements of pious religious life, like charity, visiting the sick, and burying the dead. An appendix at the volume’s close includes a commentary on the famously perplexing tales of Rabbah bar Bar Hannah found in Tractate Bava batra 73b-74a.