Commentary on the Legends of the Talmud, Solomon ben Abraham Ibn Adret (Rashba), [15th century]

Solomon ibn Adret (ca. 1235–1310), known by his initials as the Rashba, was one of the foremost scholars of his time. He studied under Jonah Abraham Gerondi and Nahmanides, becoming one of his outstanding students and a principal exponent of his school in the interpretation of the Talmud. He served as a rabbi in Barcelona for more than forty years and by the age of forty, was recognized as the leading figure in Spanish Jewry. Questions were addressed to Adret from all parts of the world, including Germany, France, Bohemia, Sicily, Crete, Morocco, Algiers, Palestine and Portugal.

This volume contains Adret’s commentary on the legends of the Talmud from tractates Berakhot, Ta’anit, Megillah, Avodah Zarah, Hullin and Nedarim.  The present volume consists of fols. 174-220 (old Hebrew foliation) of an originally larger volume.

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

Provenance

Solomon Halberstam (shelf no. 74)

Physical Description

47 leaves on parchment, 9 ½ x 6 ¼ inches; 242 x 159 mm, written in brown ink in Sephardic semi-cursive script, foliation in Hebrew in ink, modern foliation in pencil; small marginal repairs to fols. 34-47, text of several leaves faint, fols. 8-10 stained in upper outer corners. Modern half green morocco, later paper wrappers bound in.  

Literature

Hirschfeld (ms. no. 77); the present manuscript, among 26 others, was used in establishing the text of the edition by A. L. Feldman (Jerusalem, 1991)