Commentary on Esther, Zechariah Saruk, 1585

A note on the front flyleaf by Solomon Halberstam identifies the work with an edition printed in Venice in 1565. A note on the title-page in the hand of M. S. Ghirondi reads: “By Rabbi Zekharia who taught Torah in the Kingdom of Spain in the early years.” On fol. 1 is a table of contents and on fol. 16r is a colophon, which dates the manuscript to Sivan, 1585. The colophon mentions the exiles [ha-peletah ha-nisharah ha-mefoarah ha-megorashim]. It seems that this is the colophon of the author, suggesting that he both composed and copied this work in Sivan, 1585.

Sotheby’s is grateful to Menahem Schmelzer z”l and Benjamin Richler for cataloguing this manuscript.

Provenance

Hayyim ben Yisrael — Solomon Halberstam (shelf no. 93)

Physical Description

16 leaves on paper, 10 3/8 x 7 1/4 inches; 264 x 184 mm, written in dark brown ink in Sefardi semi-cursive script, catchwords, modern foliation in pencil; dampstaining, especially on margins, some margins repaired, minor loss of text on outer margin of fol. 2, mounted fragmentary colophon on fol. 16r. Marbled paper over boards.

Literature

Hirschfeld (ms. no. 43); B. D. Walfish, Esther in Medieval Garb, 1993, pp. 228, 329