Novellae on tractates Berachot, Shabbat, Horiyot and Chullin, authored by (many praises) Rabbi Chaim ben Atar.
Specifications: [2], 71 leaves. 30 cm. First edition.
Unique features: This was the first work of the Ohr HaChaim to be printed, hence its extreme rarity. It includes approbations from the sages of his homeland, Morocco: Rabbi Yehuda ben Atar; Rabbi Yaakov ben Tzur (the Ya’ave”tz); his brother-in-law Rabbi Shmuel Di Avila, author of Keter Torah and Ozen Shmuel; Rabbi Chanina Ibn Zichri and the rabbis of his hometown, Salé. With owner signatures: הק’ שמואל בהר”א ז”ל מפלאצק יע”א, שלמה מיכאל…סג”ל מיאסטראווע.In his introduction to the work, the Ohr HaChaim describes his unique way of learning. He labored to understand the words of the Talmud without looking in other works. Only after much study did he sometimes refer to works of Rishonim and Achronim, and then found that he often had parallel ideas.
Background: The author was only 36 years old when this work was printed, that’s why he’s called “Yanik V’Chakim” on the title page. He sent his work to be printed in Amsterdam from his home in Salé.These were the first novellae that he innovated in his youth, as he writes in his introduction. In his Ohr HaChaim on Parshat Yitro, he notes, “refer to what I wrote in Chefetz Hashem, that I wrote on a few tractates in my youth.”
Condition: Very fine. Old binding. Minimal aging stains.