Or 17073

One of Hakham Ezra Reuben Dangoor’s (HED’s) compilations of sermons, homilies, essays, Torah thoughts, word studies, ethical stories, etc., including some of his original writings, writings published by others, many in Jewish religious periodicals, and items heard from others (including Rabbi Yosef Ḥayyim ben Elijah of Baghdad, author of Ben Ish Ḥay).

Detailed table of Contents on the inside of the front cover.

Folio 1r (= HED p. 7): End of discussion of the interrelated functions of “signs”, “wonders” and “trials” in verifying matters.

Folios 1 – 4 (= HED pp. 7 – 14): Genesis and the snake: the evil inclination and self-control. From the periodical Meged Yeraḥim / מגד ירחים, vol. 1 – 5615 [Anno Mundi = 1854/5 CE].

Folios 4v – 5r (= HED pp. 14 – 15): Pericope Mi-Ḳets / מקץ ‘Joseph was the governor’ (Genesis 42:6): homily on self-control over base instincts.

Folio 5 (= HED pp. 15 – 16): Babylonian Talmud Sota 5a, ‘a student must have an eighth of an eighth of pride’. From op. cit. vol. 2.

Folios 5v – 6 (= HED pp. 16 – 18): Word study: comparison of synonymous terms – “to desire”: חמד, אוה, חשק. From op. cit.

Folio 6v (= HED p. 18): Babylonian Talmud Yoma 9b, ‘the nails of the earlier ones are preferable to the bellies of the later ones’. From op. cit. vol. 3.

Folio 6v (= HED p. 18): Letter from Moses Montefiore regarding demands of the Russian government to reform Jewish education. From op. cit.

Folios 7 – top 9r (= HED 19 – 23): Brief exegetical insights on the Bible, many by HED (עש”יר), and one that HED copied from the manuscript of the sage Isaac Shohet.

Folio 9r (= HED p. 23): 2 riddles, from the “Ḥiḳre Milin” section of Ha-Magid / המגיד, year 13, no. 39 – 5629 Anno Mundi.

Folios 9 – 10r (= HED pp. 23 – 25): brief word studies and exegetical items: multiple meanings of לוה, לוץ, etymology of לחך and לז; ‘thorns and thistles’ / קוץ ודרדר of Genesis 3:18, from op. cit. year 14, no. 49 – 5631 Anno Mundi; ‘The custom of Israel is Torah’; on Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 22a, ‘If one’s first wife dies during his lifetime, it is as if the Temple was destroyed in his lifetime’, from ‘Ha-Tsofe’ / הצופה in ‘Ha-Magid’ / המגיד, year 7, no. 6; on the meaning of various acrostics: סג”ל, ס”ט, from op. cit. no. 18.

Folios 10v – 19r (= HED pp. 26 – 43): Extracts of the wise fables “Kalila and Demna” as serialized in Hebrew in ‘Ha-Magid’ / המגיד, with ethical excurses.

Folios 22v – 38r (= HED pp. 50 – 81): Stories, riddles and solutions, wise tales, letters, and perspectives on Rabbinic passages, from ‘Ha-Tsefirah’ / הצפירה.

Folios 38r – 47r (= HED pp. 81 – 99): Word studies, perspectives on various ideologies and trends such as Haskalah, perspectives on world history, exegesis of the Bible and Rabbinic texts, poems, etc. from ‘Ha-Magid’ / המגיד.

Folios 47v – 50 (= HED pp. 100 – 106): Brief exegesis of biblical and Rabbinic passages, from the following sources: heard from the representative / collector on behalf of the rabbis of Tiberias, the sage Abraham Daniel Tsvi, in 5659 Anno Mundi [= 1908/9 CE]; HED (עש”יר); ‘Ḥavatselet’ / חבצלת; Berit Maṭeh Mosheh / ברית מטה משה on the Passover Haggadah; and Otsar Kol Keli Ḥemdah / אוצר כל כלי חמדה on Proverbs.

Folio 51r (= HED p. 107): Items of folk wisdom: sources: oral transmission; and Haggadah yalḳuṭ ha-ro‘im citing Tsafnat pa‘neaḥ / הגדה ילקוט הרועים מפי’ צפנת פענח.

Folios 51r – 63r (= HED pp. 107 – 131): sermons an homilies: on the meaning of prayer, and on the weekly Torah portions, some with glosses by HED. Sources: Derushe Ḥefets / דרושי חפץ; Naḥale mayim / נחלי מים; Ḥen Ṭov / חן טוב on the Torah; and HED (עש”יר).

Folios 63v – 65r (= HED pp. 132 – 135): story condensed from ‘Ha-Tsefirah’ / הצפירה.

Folios 65 – top 67 (= HED pp. 135 – 140): interpretations of biblical and Rabbinic texts, from the work ‘Ir Daṿid / עיר דוד.

Folios 67v – mid 79r (= HED pp. 140 – 163): homilies on biblical and Rabbinic texts, from the following works: Toledot Ya‘aḳov Yosef / תולדות יעקב יוסף (the first Hasidic work to be published); HED ( in one place indicated by עש”יר); Meged Yeraḥim / מגד ירחים, vol. 3; Ha-‘Olam ha-nitsḥiyi ṿe-ha-’artsiyi / העולם הנצחיי והארציי; heard in person from the Sage Rabbi ReYaḤ Tov / רי”ח טוב (= Rabbi Yosef Ḥayyim ben Elijah of Baghdad, author of Ben Ish Ḥay / בן איש חי), which he delivered at the ‘groom’s banquet’ (סעודת חתן) (? and ?) Sassoon his brother, who took the daughter of his uncle Hakham Nisim; and Ḳol omer ḳera’ / קול אומר קרא. HED mentions that he delivered the one on the bottom of folio 76r at a ‘groom’s banquet’ (סעודת חתן).

Folios mid 79 – 82 (= HED pp. 163 – 170): Essay on Passover, from ‘Ha-Tsefira’ / הצפירה, year 27, numbers 78-79, Nisan 5660.

Folio bottom 82v (= HED 170): Homily on Proverbs 14:23, warning against indulgence in extras (Hebrew: motrot / מותרות).

Folios 83 – 85r (= HED pp. 171 – 175): Condensed from ‘Ha-Tsefirah’ / הצפירה, Yearbook for 5660 [Anno Mundi] = Sefer ha-shanah shenat T.R.S. / ספר השנה שנת תר”ס, essay on the greatness of the Torah.

Folios bottom 85r – mid 87v (= HED pp. 175 – 180): Essay and poem on the approach to God via the wonder of the natural world: Epigraph from Judah Ha-Levi's poetry, and drawing on Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed.

Folios mid 87v – 88 (= HED pp. 180 – 182): HED (עש”יר) on the blessings that Isaac intended to give to Esau (Genesis chapter 27).

Folios 89 – 90r (= HED pp. 183 – 185): ‘Sermon that I [HED] delivered on the Sabbath day of [the Torah portion] Ṿa-Yiḳra’ / ויקרא [in the year] 5658 [Anno Mundi = 26 March 1898 CE], at the Bar Mitzvah banquet of Reuben son of Elijah Ezra (?), may the Lord preserve him.’

Folios 90v – 95r (= HED pp. 186 – 195): Essay on Babylonian Talmud Megilah 7a, ‘Esther sent [a communication] to the Sages: Write me for [all] generations …’ [Either the entire essay or the end is by HED (עש”יר).]

Folios mid 95r – 96 (end of what survived) (= HED pp. 195 – 198): Short homilies, the first for marriage, on biblical and Rabbinic passages, from the following sources: HED (עש”יר); Yad Yosef on the Torah / יד יוסף עה”ת; K.N.H.G (?) le-shenat T.R.M.Ṭ / כנהג(?; = כנסת הגדולה) לש[נת] תרמ”ט (= Keneset ha-gedolah for the year 5649 Anno Mundi?).

[End of surviving pages]