Bound manuscript by Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh of Modena:ֲ History of Jewish Rites. Printed in Paris in 1637 in French; Venice 1638 in Italian; Vienna 1667 in Hebrew. Translation by Shlomo Robin.
The book was originally written in Italian for non-Jewish readers. In Hebrew translation, the book was called Shulchan Aruch al Chukei HaYehudim L’Minhagei Chayeihem.
The transcript before us is dated 17th-18th century, and was written in the period close to the first printing of the book.
Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh of Modena [1571-1648] was a rabbi, a darshan, a writer and a poet. Yehudah Aryeh was known as a prodigy in his youth; when he was three years old, he already knew how to translate passages from the Torah into Italian. He was a disciple of the Maharshi”k. He was known as a superb sermonizer, and his many disciples included Christians. This is apparently the reason for writing the book before us. Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh was a strong opponent of kabbalah, and he wrote books on this topic. The Darda’im, with Rabbi Yichye Kapach at their lead, used his works in their battle against kabbalah.
[132] leaves. 19×15 cm. Italian script on thick high-quality paper. Fine condition. Aging stains. Isolated worming perforations in the flyleaf. Cardboard binding.