Tikkun Yissachar [ Ibur Shanim ] calculation of leap years and tekufot from 1564 to the end of the world, with customs for Torah reading and haftarot for all types of year arrangements, with customs of veteran residents of the Land of Israel, by Rabbi Yissachar ibn Sussan. Constantinople, 1564. First edition. Incomplete copy.
Fundamental book of the customs of Torah readings and haftarot, authored by Rabbi Yissachar ibn Sussan of Safed, who was a tremendous expert in community customs and their roots, and would deliberate various customs with the Beit Yosef. The book is known as Ibur Shanim .
Detailed book, including breaks in the Torah reading, and differences in customs among various communities, according to all the types of arrangements of years. There is special importance to the book for the customs of veteran residents of the Land of Israel, including a detailed halachic discussion of Purim Meshulash, a topic almost never discussed until then, with the different customs of Jerusalem and Safed. The book also contains early customs of the Safed community and of the Jerusalem community.
This book is one of the first sources to bring the custom of eating fruits on Tu BiShvat: “Tu BiShvat … Rosh HaShanah for trees, so Tachanun is not recited … and the Ashkenazim customarily eat various types of tree-fruits in honor of the day.” We note the the Admo”r Rabbi Aharon of Belz indicated that the author said specifically “types of fruits” and learned from this that the custom is not just to eat a lot of fruit, but to eat many types.
With charts for year-arrangements, and a diagram of a ‘circle’ for insight into the cycle of years.
The author [c. 1610-1683] was a Fez sage who ascended to Jerusalem and became the foremost disciple of the Ralba”ch. He moved to Safed and led communities of Jews from the West in that city, and was one of the Beit Yosef’s close associates.
Refer to Yosef Hacker, Yissachar ibn Sussan, Mancheh L’Menachem – anthology of articles in honor of Rabbi Menachem HaKohen, Jerusalem, 2008, pp. 79-89, for more about this author and his book.
Particularly rare book. Most of those who cite this book saw the second edition, called Ibur Shanim . Several of the known bibliographies, Steinschneider, Friedberg in his book Toldot HaDefus B’Italiah , and others, wrote erroneously that this book was apparently printed in Salonika. The fact that it was printed in Constantinople being written in large letters the colophon, yet the bibliographers writing that apparently it was written in Salonika, reveals the extreme rarity of this book.
To the best of our knowledge, a complete copy has never been seen at auction.
Ya’ari Kushta 166, listed there as 94 leaves. For another variant, see: Areshet Part V, 10. Hacker, Defusei Kushta 166.
Ginzei Ysrael 1334, listed there from an incomplete copy.
Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod 509 .
In the copy before us: 58 and a half leaves, out of 96.