Rabbi Ya’aqob Yehuda León (1602-1675) and his translation of Tehilim

Today we will learn about Rabbi Ya’aqob Yehuda Leon. Born in 1602. Some say he was born in Hamburg, which at the time belonged to the Netherlands, and some say he was born in Coimbra, Portugal. We will follow this second opinion. His grandfather and great-grandfather came from the city of Leon, in Spain, where they practiced Judaism in secret. His father, Simaõ de Leão was born in Portugal. He was a trader in Tavarede and Buarcos, near Coimbra. His mother was Felipa de Fonseca. In 1605 his entire family fled Portugal and openly embraced Judaism once they came to the Netherlands. There Ya’aqob studied with a great Tora scholar Rabbi Isaac Uziel (died in 1622), which besides being a distinguished Talmudist, was a physician and an expert in diqduq, Hebrew grammar.
In 1628 he moved to Hamburg, to the Sephardic synagogue “Cardozo” to replace Rabbi Isaac Attias, who was the first rabbi of Hamburg, and who also a student of Rabbi Uziel. In 1635 he returned to Amsterdam as Hakham of one of the three Portuguese Jewish communities.
Nothing about this Rabbi is simple. His life and works are fascinating. Let’s start with his name. His original name was Ya’aqob (he wrote it “Yahacob”) Yehuda Leon, but he called himself and signed, “Yahacob Yehuda, Leon Hebreo” ( “Hebreo”, Hebrew,  means “Jew”). In many circles, he was known simply as “Leon Hebreo”. But in most encyclopedias his name is Ya’aqob Yehuda Leon “Templo”. Tomorrow we will explain why he was given this second surname.
One of the most important things he did was the vocalization of the Mishna, with Rabbi Menashe ben Israel . This was a monumental project, because as anyone familiar with Rabbinic literature knows, the Mishna was never vocalized. The vocalization of the text was received by tradition. In this case, these two Rabbis were students of the same eminent teacher Rabbi Isaac Uziel, who belonged to the uninterrupted chain of Sephardic Rabbis, whose tradition dates back to the times of the Geonim.
We can see above an image of one page of that Mishna (If you zoom you can read some marginal notes in Spanish to explain some difficult words).
It appears that Rabbi Leon also translated the Mishna into the Spanish, along with Rabbi Menashe ben Israel, but I think that that Mishna is lost…. Something else that is lost are the illustrations made by Rabbi León to the Mishna. Let me explain: aside from being a great Talmudic scholar and an expert in grammar, Rabbi Leon was also an artist. His specialty was “heraldry”, namely the design and manufacture of “coats of arms”, something very fashionable in those days for noble families. Rabbi Leon then illustrated some texts of the Mishna, which obviously allowed a better understanding of the issues at hand. B’H tomorrow we will continue explaining how Rabbi Leon used his artistic talents for ‘abodat haQodesh.
Perhaps the most significant contribution made by Rabbi Leon for Spanish-speaking Jews was his translation of the Book of Tehilim. We live in privileged times. One of the privileges we have today as Yehudim is that we can now access from our computers, virtually all Tora books that have ever been published. Most of these books can be found in the website “www.hebrewbooks.org”and many others in “google books”. In the latter server is where I found the book of Tehillim by Rabbi Leon. To my knowledge, this is the first Jewish translation of the Tehillim to Spanish (there were probably other translations to Ladino). He called this book KODESH HILULIM (Praises of Holiness). In this book  Rabbi Leon does three things: 1. He translates literally the text of Tehilim from Hebrew into Castilian. 2. He paraphrases it, i.e., extends the translation to facilitate its understanding. 3. Writes a brief commentary on some words and ideas.
I will transcribe a few paragraphs for the reader who wants to practice reading old Spanish. (Please note that the ancient script of “s” looks very much like an “f”).
On the cover, it says:
“Las Alabanzas de la Santidad, traducción de los Psalmos de DAVID por la misma phrasis y palabras del hebraico, ilustrada con su paraphrasis que facilita la inteligencia del texto y anotaciones de mucha doctrina , sacadas de los mas graves autores, dirigida al ilustrísimo señor Ishak Senior Teixeyra residente de su majestad, la reina de Suedia,  por el Haham Yaacob Yehuda, León Hebreo,  autor de las obras del retrato del tabernáculo de Moseh, y del templo de Selomoh y de todas sus circunstancias, en Amsterdam, año 5431. “
“, Translation of the Psalms of David for the same syntax and words of Hebrew, illustrated with paraphrases to facilitate its  understanding, with text and annotations of doctrines, drawn from the most serious  authors,  dedicated to the illustrious Mr. Ishak Senior Teixeyra [son of Abraham senior Teixeyra, a nobleman and a famous Jewish philanthropist. Isaak was the ambassador of the Queen of Sweden, Christine, in Hamburg] residents of her majesty, the queen of Suedia [Sweden],  by Haham Yahacob Yehuda, Leon Hebreo, author of the Portrait of the tabernacle of Moseh and the temple of Selomoh, and all its circumstances, in Amsterdam, the year 5431 [1670]. “
To download Rabbi Leon’s Tehilim click here


SEPHARDIC RABBIS: Rabbi Hayim Carigal (1732-1777) and Yale University

The first Jews who came to America in colonial times, were Sephardic Jews who had escaped from Recife, Brazil, where they were persecuted by the Portuguese Inquisition. In September 1654 a group of about 25 Jews arrived as refugees at the port of New York, which was then called New Amsterdam. Over time other communities were formed in the American colonies. The most important of these communities was established in the city of Newport, Rhode Island.
Newport Jewish community flourished especially in the eighteenth century, with the leadership of Aaron Lopez. Aaron Lopez arrived in Newport in 1752. He was originally from Lisbon, Portugal. There, he was known as Don Duarte Lopez. For 150 years his ancestors had lived in Portugal as “Marranos”, i.e., pretending that they were Catholics, to escape the Inquisition, which forbade the practice of Judaism. Aaron Lopez became an important and very successful businessman. At one point he had his own fleet of 80 merchant ships.
Rabbi Hayim Rafael Carigal (or Karigal) was born in 1732 in the former Sephardic Kehilá of Hebron. He studied at the Yeshiba of Hebron, founded and maintained by Abraham Israel Pereira, from Amsterdam. Rabbi Carigal was a prodigious student and was ordained a rabbi at the age of 17. Although it was the spiritual center of the Jews throughout the world, the Jewish community of Israel, was very poor. And it needed the ongoing support from the Jews of the diaspora. Rabbi Carigal was appointed by his colleagues to be a “Shaliach deRabanan” a representative of the Rabbis, to raise funds to help the Yehudim of Israel. In those days, the rabbis assigned to these missions were chosen based on their erudition. The wisest men were elected for the mission because it was expected of them not only to raise funds for Israel, but also to teaching Tora to the Jews of the diaspora.
Rabbi Carigal reached Newport, Rhode Island, in 1773. He was welcomed and hosted by Mr. Aaron Lopez, who said that Rabbi Carigal was the most prominent Jewish scholar who has ever reached the Americas.
Ezra Stiles was a Protestant Minister, friend of Aaron Lopez. Stiles fervently loved and admired all matters related to Judaism, and especially the Hebrew language. He said that without a solid knowledge of Hebrew language, it was impossible to understand the Bible.
When Stiles learned of the arrival of Rabbi Carigal to Newport, he came to the famous “Touro” Synagogue to hear the sermon of Rabbi Carigal. According to Stiles memoirs, it was on the day of Shabuot, May 28, 1773. Rabbi Carigal, as was the custom in the Sephardic communities, delivered his sermon in Spanish, with a few words in Hebrew. Stiles was fascinated with the personality and erudition of Rabbi Carigal and asked to meet with him. Ezra Stiles and rabbi Carigal met 28 times. Stiles became one of the greatest admirers of Rabbi Carigal. He asked the rabbi many questions about the Jewish religion and the Hebrew language, and carefully recorded all the answers he received. Before leaving Newport, Stiles commissioned a portrait or Rabbi Carigal.
In 1778 Ezra Stiles was appointed as the 7th president of Yale University. Stiles established that all freshman students take a Hebrew language course. And while this course is no longer mandatory, much remains in Yale of what Rabbi Carigal taught Ezra Stiles. Among other things, the seal of Yale University, who reads the Hebrew words URIM VETUMIM.

 



Rabbi Yishma’el haCohen (1723-1811)

Rabbi Yishma’el haCohen was born in the city of Modena, Italy, in 1723. He was considered the most important rabbi (poseq) of his generation in Italy.  He was also a very beloved rabbi by all his congregants. Despite his great intellect, he used to speak to his congregants in a simple language and at their level of understanding.
Rabbi Yishma’el served as the rabbi of Modena for more than 30 years, but practically speaking he was the main rabbinic referent  of Italy during his lifetime. He wrote thousands of Teshubot (Rabbinic Responsa) answering to Halakhic questions sent by Italian Jews from all the corners of the country.   He was highly praised by all his contemporary colleagues, among them the famous rabbi Hayim Yosef David Azulai, the Hida.
The times of rabbi Yishma’el, were the times of the first reformers in Europe.  Many “enlightened” Jews were proposing radical changes in Judaism, to reform the Tora to modern times and remove from Judaism its national dimension. Rabbi Yishma’el stood at the vanguard on the battle against reform, safeguarding traditional Judaism against the new waves of assimilation.
He wrote many religious poems (pizmonim, baqashot), some of them were sung every shabbat in his Synagogue.He also wrote:

Sefat emet: a collection of his speeches on the Parasha of the week.
Shebah Pesah. A book that explains the Hagada of Pesah and the laws of the holiday.
His most famous book is zera’ emet.  This is a collection of hundreds of Responsa on many different Halakhic subjects. It is also very important because it is one of the first books to address questions that arose in modern times which required a respected  Halakhic authority to set new legal precedents.
The name of the book, zera’ emet (“True descendants”) requires some explanation. Rabbi Yishma’el did not have children. And although, as he mentioned in his book, he loved and care for every one of his students as if they were his own children, he considered this book his true legacy for posterity.  In the introduction of zera’ emet he quotes the beautiful analogy our Rabbis wrote to express the “immortality” acquired by a Torah Scholar who writes a relevant book. They said that when the readers read the words of a Torah scholar who passed away, “his lips move in his grave”, (siftotav dobebot baqaber), in other words, the act of reading revives the words of the Torah scholar, bringing  his legacy and memory back to life.
Rabbi Yishma’el passed away in Modena, 1811



Rabbi Moshe Chefetz (or Hefes) 1663-1711

Rabbi Moshe ben Gershom (1663-1711) known as Rabbi Moshe Chefetz (of Hefes)  was a rabbinic scholar from Italy. Born in Trieste, raised in Venice, he lived as a private tutor teaching Talmud and Midrash. He wrote poetry, and dealt with philosophy, math, and natural sciences.
A member of the prominent Chefetz family (or Gentili, in Italian) of Northern Italy, he was considered a child prodigy and studied under the renowned R. Solomon Nizza. One of his poetic works written at age 13, appeared in the famous Venice edition of the Bible (1675-78).
Among the writings of Rabbi Chefetz we could mention:
  • Chanukkat HaBayit (lit. Dedication of the Temple), a book that details the construction of the Second Temple and all of his vessels and utensils (Venice, 1696). The book includes illustrations and tables by the hand of the author.
  • Melekhet Machasebet (Intentful Work), a superb commentary on the Torah (Venice, 1710) based on traditional interpretations but also upon the principles of secular science. The book includes a portrait of the author.  His portrait  in Melekhet Machashebet (see below) was the first ever published in a Hebrew book (first edition, 1710). The name of the book, Melekhet Machashebet was also a sophisticated way to seal the name of the author, common practice among Sephardic Rabbis of the time: the word machasehbet in Hebrew is the acronym of: Moshe Chefetz shokhen be’ir Trieste, Moshe Chefetz, who lives in the city of Trieste.
At the bottom of the portrait it says: “ben me-a shana… anokhi hayom”, which literally means: “I’m one today hundred years old”. When you see the portrait you notice that rabbi Chefetz was obviously younger. The numerical value of the Hebrew wordme-a (=40, 1, 5)) is 46, i.e., the real age of rabbi Moshe Cheftez in this portrait.
A philosophical study on the five books of the Torah, by Rabbi Moshe Chefetz. Impressive complete copy containing a detailed copper engraving frontispiece, a leaf with the portrait of the author, clean-shaven and ministerial, and a leaf with geometric sketches. Another sketch on leaf 57.
Moses b. Chefetz (1663-1711) was born in Trieste and raised in Venice. Considered to be a child prodigy, he studied under the renowned R. Solomon Nizza, and developed into a fine rabbinic decisor as well as a scholar familiar with the disciplines of mathematics and the sciences. His best-known for this philosophical commentary.
His age at the time of printing is written in a colophon under his portrait, “ben me’ah shana” (literally 100 years old) the gematriya value of me’ah being 46. Many misunderstood that this was a gematriya and thought that he was 100 years old at the time he wrote the book. Unfortnaltelly, rabbi Mishe passed away when he was just 48 years old
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.
[8], 98 leaves three illustration plates.
Melechet Machshevet, on the Five Books of the Torah, based upon natural sciences and philosophy, by R. Moshe Chefetz. Venice: Bragadin, [1710]. First edition. Complete wide-margined copy on high-quality paper. Includes an engraved frontispiece, a leaf with an engraved portrait of the author, and a leaf with geometric diagrams. Another diagram on leaf 57. The following caption appears beneath the portrait, alluding to the age of the author at the time of the printing: “Moshe Chefetz here in the picture, in 1710, at the age of me’ah” – at the age of 46 (numeric value of me’ah), though some misunderstood it to mean one hundred years of age (see below). R. Moshe Chefetz (1664-1711, Otzar HaRabbanim 14709), Italian rabbi, researcher and philosopher. Born in Trieste, he was raised in Venice, where he later disseminated Torah. He possessed wide ranging knowledge of Torah, G-d and nature, as is portrayed in this book – Melechet Machshevet. He composed this book to find solace for the untimely passing of his son R. Gershom, author of Yad Charuzim. R. Moshe died at the young age of 48 on 30th Cheshvan 1711 (R. Chananel Nepi in his book, printed as part of Toldot Gedolei Yisrael of R. M.Sh. Ghirondi, Trieste 1853, p. 239). Samuel David Luzzatto (Shadal) quotes a tradition transmitted by Italian Torah scholars, which maintains that the sages of his generation, upon hearing of the text of the caption R. Moshe intended to place beneath his portrait in his book, tried to dissuade him from doing so, warning him that it is not something one can make jest of. He did not heed their warning, and passed away within that year (Igrot Shadal, VII, p. 1013).
With numerous illustrations of the Temple’s structure and its vessels and a large folding map of the Temple’s structure. Chacham Moshe Chefetz was born in 1663 in Trieste, Italy. He studied under the sages of Venice, including Chacham Shlomo ben Yeshaya Nitza. Was a Talmid Chacham who was proficient in philosophy and nature as well as music. In 1678, the Bible was printed in Venice. Printed on its first page was a poem by Chacham Moshe Chefetz. The book Machbarot Emanuel by Chacham Emanuel ben Shlomo of Rome, which was hand-copied in the same time in Venice, included a short commentary by Chacham Moshe Chefetz on the poem ‘לשוד ולרש ילעג ישחק’. In (1699) he published his book Chanukat HaBayit – the form of the Temple, in Venice. In (1699) his son, Gershom, passed away during a plague. In that year, Chacham Moshe Chefetz published his son’s book Yad Charuzim which inlcuded a eulogy by his Rav, Chacham Shlomo NItza, for his son, Gershom Chefetz. In (1710) he published in Venice his book Melechet Machshevet – on the Torah, which had many following editions. Chacham Moshe Chefetz passed away in 1711, when he was only 48 years old. The book was printed in two stages. Initially, the text of the book was printed with blank pages left for the illustrations. These were later added by embossing.

el rabino Moshé Jefetz sobre la creación del “segundo día”

En su comprensión de la creación, el rabino Moshé Jefetz ofrece una de las explicaciones más lúcidas y cercanas a lo que hoy denominamos ciclo del agua. Basado en el Midrash, en la Guía de Perplejos de Maimónides y en los Sabios del Talmud, Jefetz afirma que la separación entre “aguas superiores” y “aguas inferiores” no describe una división mística en planos cósmicos, sino la diferenciación entre el agua en estado líquido y el agua en estado gaseoso. Esa separación —dice— es la creación del ciclo natural del agua.

Maimónides ya había señalado que, en el segundo día, Dios estableció las leyes físicas que gobiernan el comportamiento del agua. En Guía de Perplejos 2:30 explica que el rakia fue creado a partir del agua, y que parte de esa agua “se separó, de algún modo, y quedó sobre el aire” (חלקם הובדל בצורה כלשהי מעל האויר). De acuerdo con esto, los “cielos” del segundo día no son los shamaim de Génesis 1:1 —que alude al universo entero— sino el cielo visible, la zona atmosférica donde se forman nubes y vapores.

El rabino Jefetz desarrolla este concepto en su obra Melejet Majashebet (Venecia, 1710; Varsovia, 1914, pp. 10-11). Identifica las “aguas superiores” con vapores y nubes, surgidos por la evaporación del agua terrestre. Siguiendo la etimología talmúdica, señala que la palabra shamaim es la unión de esh (fuego o calor) y maim (agua). Para Jefetz, el cielo es literalmente el producto del calor que actúa sobre el agua.

Explica así el versículo “Que haya un rakia en medio de las aguas” (Gn 1:6). Según su lectura, la orden divina puede parafrasearse como: “Que haya dentro del agua (betoj hamaim) un cuerpo sutil, móvil y expansivo, que ascienda por su liviandad” —es decir, vapor. Este es su texto original:
“…יהי בתוך המים אויר וגוף מתנועע דק ומתפשט”.

Para Jefetz, rakia no significa la expansión del espacio, sino la expansión del agua convertida en vapor. “Así como el agua puesta sobre fuego se transforma fácilmente en vapor —escribe— ese vapor, al encontrar frío, vuelve a convertirse en agua”:
“כאשר יעשו המים על האש בנקל יתהפכו לאויר והאויר ההוא הנהפך אם ימצא קור בנקל ישוב למים כבראשונה”.

De este modo, Jefetz interpreta que en el segundo día fueron puestas en funcionamiento las leyes físicas que permiten que el agua exista simultáneamente como líquido y como gas. La “separación entre las aguas” es, para él, la primera descripción bíblica de la evaporación y la condensación. Allí comienza el ciclo del agua: las aguas inferiores (océanos) liberan vapor; ese vapor asciende y forma las aguas superiores (nubes); luego, al enfriarse, retorna a la tierra en forma de lluvia.

Esta identificación fue compartida por otros sabios. Ribbí Itzjak Samuel Reggio escribió: “Parte de las aguas se congregó arriba y se convirtieron en nubes” (Torat haElohim, Viena, 1821, p. 4). Ribbí Menashé ben Israel explicó que la división del segundo día condujo directamente a la formación de la lluvia (El Conciliador, p. 3).

La ciencia moderna confirma esta lectura: las nubes son “masas visibles de gotas de agua o cristales de hielo suspendidos en el aire”. El geógrafo John Lynch lo expresó de manera sorprendentemente acorde con la Torá: “Vivimos en un planeta de agua… existe un océano alrededor nuestro y otro sobre nosotros”. Difícil encontrar una formulación más precisa de las “aguas inferiores” y “aguas superiores”.

Así, según Jefetz, el segundo día no describe solamente una división metafísica, sino la creación del mecanismo esencial que hace posible la vida en la tierra: el ciclo del agua.

https://works.hcommons.org/records/z7w6w-09k12?utm_source=chatgpt.com#description-heading
See  HERE  the book Chanukkat haBayit

 



Emmanuel Hai Ricci (1688-1743)

Rabbi Ricci (or Riqi) was born in Ferrara, Italy. When he was six his father died and his mother’s brother, Jedidia Rabbino, undertook to provide for the family and the education of the children. On Rabbino’s death his son took charge of the family and married Ricci’s sister. At the age of 20 Rabbi Ricci began to travel around various Italian cities, making his living as a teacher.  In 1717 he was ordained rabbi in Trieste by R. Hillel Ashkenazi.
He then settled in Israel but because of a plague that ravaged the country, in which his daughter died, Rabbi Ricci left Eretz Israel. On his way back to Italy, his ship was captured and taken to Tripoli, but he was released after 40 days. He settled in Leghorn, but later journeyed to Smyrna, Salonika, Constantinople, and London. He spent two years in Aleppo and in 1737 he arrived in Jerusalem, where he stayed for three years. In 1741 he returned to Leghorn to settle business matters connected with his books. While on one of his trips he was murdered by robbers.
His books, in the order in which they were written, are
(1) Ma’ase Chosheb (Venice, 1716), a commentary on the building of the Mishkan, the tabernacle built in the desert
(2) Chosheb Machashabot (Amsterdam, 1727), on the technical Halakhic issues which bear no Biblical textual source,  known as Halakha leMoshe miSinai, like the size of a mikveh or some specifics of the Tefilin, etc. The book also analyzes homiletic commentaries on the Bible and Talmud;
(3) Hon ‘Ashir (Amsterdam, 1731), this is probably his main work, a commentary on the six orders of the Mishna, written in Gorizia and completed and expanded in Safed.
Click here Download Rabbi Ricci’s main work, HON ASHIR, on the Mishna, from Hebrewbooks.org 
See a new edition here
Rabbi Ricci also composed a famous Kabbalistic work: Mishnat Chasidim (Amsterdam, 1727), a book modeled on the six orders of the Mishnah, with each order divided into tractates. Rabbi Ricci considered that the act of Creation lies beyond the power of human understanding and arrived at the conclusion that the Kabbalistic idea of tzimtzum (withdrawal) is essentially metaphorical, based on the pasuq: melo kol ha-aretz kebodo as referring to the providence of God, which is found everywhere.