Maseches Makkos,
Venice, 1550
Exceptionally Rare Gemara That Survived the 1553 Burning of the Talmud!
Maseches Makkos with Commentary of Rashi and Tosafos, including at the end: Piskei HaTosafos, the Rosh, and Kitzur Piskei HaRosh.
Especially rare edition: The vast majority of copies of this edition were destroyed after just a few years, in the Talmud burnings that took place throughout Italy in 1553.
It is rare to find copies of this edition, let alone complete copies!
Rabbi Rafael Natan Rabinowitz writes about its immense rarity in his ‘Essay on the Printing of the Talmud’: "And it seems to me that the Justinian printing was almost entirely burned in the decree of the burning of the Talmud, because the printing was completed at the end of the year 1550 and burned at the beginning of the year 5314 [1553], before it had spread throughout the world…
Although books from the Bomberg Talmud are found around the world and in government book collections, only two or three Justinian printing exemplars have been found" (ibid., pages 13-14).
In this extremely rare edition, the famous ‘Mesoras HaShas’ references were printed for the first time, compiled by the Gaon Rabbi Yehoshua Boaz, author of ‘Shiltei HaGiborim’ (called here ‘Mesoras HaTalmud’), containing references to other places in Shas dealing with the same topic.
The following were also added here for the first time:
Ein Mishpat – containing references to the poskim’s words on the topic: the Rambam, Semag, or Tur;
Torah Ohr – containing Biblical source references for verses quoted in the Gemara;
Kitzur Piskei HaRosh at the end of the masechta, after the main text of the Rosh.
All the mentioned additions were written by Rabbi Yehoshua Boaz, author of ‘Shiltei HaGiborim’, as mentioned on the title page.
Venice, 1550. Printed by Marco Antonio Giustiniani.
Page Count: 24, 2 leaves.
Size: 34 cm.
Condition: Overall good condition; signs of use, and wear on margins (affecting a few words on margins of one page). Adhesions on inner margins. New leather binding.
Bibliography: Stefansky Sifrei Yesod, #41 in additions; The Printer Cornelio Adel Kind and his son Daniel, No. 83; About the edition see: Article on the Printing of the Talmud by Rabbi Rafael Natan Neta Rabinowitz, pp. 47-53.
"Akiva, you have comforted us, Akiva, you have comforted us":
Maseches Makkos ends with the immortal story about the Tanna Rabbi Akiva, who laughs upon seeing foxes coming out of the Holy of Holies. When his friends asked why he was laughing, he replied that if the bad prophecy about the destruction was fulfilled, surely the good prophecy about redemption will also be fulfilled.
How symbolic it is that this present Gemara, in which words of comfort about our nation’s revival and survival were written almost two thousand years ago, itself testifies before the entire world, by its rare existence on earth, that despite all persecutions, Klal Yisrael will always survive!!
The Burning of the Talmud and Giustiniani’s Edition:
In the mid-16th century, a dispute began between two Christian printers in Venice, the nobleman Antonio Giustiniani and his competitor Bragadin, regarding the printing. The dispute led to informing the Pope that the Talmud (particularly in the present Giustiniani’s edition) contained anti-Christian content.
Tragically, the Pope signed a decree to burn the Talmud, and from then on there were no Shas volumes of any edition available in Italy for many years.
In the burnings, almost all volumes of the Giustiniani and Bragadin editions, which had been printed only a few years earlier, were destroyed, and only individual volumes managed to survive the burnings or were taken to other countries.
