Or 17099

Compilations of interpretations on select words and verses of the Pentateuch, according to the “plain” sense, along the lines of the sort of localised interpretation that Hakham Ezra Reuben Dangoor (HED) gives in his ‘Adi zahav. Some interpretations given in these compilations are used in ‘Adi zahav, while many are not. These compilations may represent HED’s background research for ‘Adi zahav. However, they contain indications that they were intended to have been disseminated in their own right. (For example, in Or 17099 (2), folio 3v, he captions the upcoming explanations with the header: ‘I bring to you …’, implying a reader other than himself.) In these compilations, HED runs through the book of Genesis several times, each time offering interpretations on various but not all passages. A a rule, HED summarises one source at a time, noting the source either at the beginning or the end of the summary. After the summaries, HED brings a digest of explanations on localised passages and topics. Some comments are HED’s own. In some cases, the beginnings or ends of extracts are not extant, and thus the attributions are missing. Note: Some degree of speculation has been used in reconstructing these fragments.

Or 17099 (1): [1] folios 1 – 9r contain one run through the book of Genesis. [2] Folios bottom 9r – bottom 10r contain supplementary comments. [3] Bottom 10r: another brief supplement, on verses from chapter 24. [4] Folios 10v – 12r contain an additional cycle through the entire Genesis. [5] Mid 12r contains selections from the work Apiryon / אפריון (presumably the work by Rabbi Solomon Ganzfried, 1804-1886, author of the Ḳitsur Shulḥan ‘Arukh / קצור שולחן ערוך = concise code of Jewish Law). [6] Bottom 12r – from ככבי יצחק / Kokheve Yitsḥaḳ. [7] Top 12v – from שרשי לבנון / Shorshe Levanon. [8] Mid 12v – from Bet ha-Otsar / בית האוצר. [Additional small pieces] Names of some of the sources have become illegible, but towards the bottom of 13r a section is from Or Ḥadash / אור חדש.

Or 17099 (2): Fragment. Beginning missing. [1] Folio 1 begins with Pericope Lekh Lekha / לך לך, Genesis chapter 12; and that run through the Book of Genesis ends on folio 3, mid verso. [2] Folios mid 3v - 7, summaries from Botser ‘olelot / בוצר עוללות (I bring to you spoils, some summaries from the commentary Harvest of Gleanings (Botser ‘olelot), a little balm, and a little honey’). [3] Folios 8 – 11v, 2/3 of the way down, gleanings from Naphtali Herz Homberg’s commentary Ha-Korem / הכורם (Prague, 1817). [4] Folios bottom 11v (– top 12r?), from HED (indicated by ממני איש עש”יר). [5] Short piece from Keli Yaḳar / כלי יקר.

Or 17099 (3): [1] Recto, top 2/3: On Jacob’s dissimulating wording to receive the blessings from his father, from Bikure ha-‘itim / בכורי העתים (year 5589 Anno Mundi). [2] Bottom of recto and verso: fragment of commentary on the opening verses of Genesis.

Or 17099 (4): [1] Folios 1 – close to the bottom of 6v, ‘[…]She’erit Yehudah / שארית יהודה on the Torah, which contains a number of explanations on the Torah, I copied a summary of the […]’. Many passages are highlighted by total encirclement or enclosure in parentheses. [2] Folios bottom 6v – 8r, digest of short, localised comments on passages from Genesis, plus a paragraph on supplementing HED’s extract elsewhere [MS Or 17099 (6), from Tsohar la-Tevah / צהר לתיבה] on the musical notes for correct chanting of the Torah (שייך לתשלום כ”י הנגינות והטעמים). Sources include: HED (indicated by עש”יר); oral transmission (‘I heard [it]’); Mishnat Rabi Eli‘ezer / משנת ר’ אליעזר; Kokheve Yitsḥaḳ / ככבי יצחק, no. 19; Ṭal Orot / טל אורות; and Yalḳuṭ Ḥa-TsaL / ילקוט חצ”ל (by Rabbi Ḥayim Tsevi Lerner, 1815-1889).

Or 17099 (5): [1] Folios 1 – top 2r: one summary of commentary on the Book of Genesis, but part of paper where source is given is disintegrated. [2] Folios 2 – 4: digest of localised comments on individual or several passages of Genesis. Sources include: HED (indicated by עש”יר); R-Y-B-’Alef / רי”בא; the periodical Otsar Ḥokhmah / אוצר חכמה; Bikure ha-‘itim / בכורי העתים (years 5586 and 5588 Anno Mundi);

Or 17099 (6): Fragment of larger notebook. [The paper resembles that of MS Or 17099 (1).] [1] Digest of comments on localised passages in Genesis. Sources include: HED (indicated by עש”יר); various parts of Tsohar la-Tevah / צהר לתיבה, including Tevat ha-Melitsah / תיבת המליצה, Tevat ha-shemot / תיבת השמות, and מכסה לתיבה / Mikhse la-tevah. [2] ‘Table of the Musical [Notes] / כ”י לוח הנגינות, from the above-mentioned work’ [Tsohar la-Tevah / צהר לתיבה], for supplemental material to which, see MS Or 17099 (4), folio 7r.

Or 17099 (7): Explanation on Genesis 1:11-31.

[End]