Tzror Hamor al HaTorah, Cracow, 1595
Kabbalistic commentary on the Chamishah Chumshei Torah by Rabbi Avraham Sava, one of the notable Torah sages during the era of the Spanish Expulsion.
One of the foundational commentaries on the Torah, Tzror Hamor is a compilation of explanations based on both pshat and kabbalah. Its significance is manifest from the fact that already by the 16th century it was reprinted no less than four times!
The sefer is bound in antique leather and features spectacular engravings!
Throughout the sefer the author conveys important facts on the whereabouts of the lives of Spanish and Portuguese Jews during the era of the Inquisition and Expulsion (see i.e. leaf 127a).
Cracow, 1595. Rare edition.
Page Count: 165, [1] leaf. Condition: Good, with stains. Antique leather binding with beautiful engravings and remnants of clasps.
This original manuscript of this sefer was buried by the author when he was forced to suddenly flee Portugal and was rewritten from memory!
The striking story of the sefer’s printing:
The author Rabbi Avraham Saba (d. 1509) originally composed the sefer Tzror Hamor while dwelling in Portugal. At the time of the expulsion, carrying Hebrew books was an offense, yet Rabbi Avraham managed to smuggle his writings, at great risk to his life, to the city of Lisbon. When he was in Lisbon, an edict was issued condemning anyone caught carrying Hebrew texts to death, and thus, with no choice, he buried his beloved manuscript. Eventually, he reached Morocco, where he sat and rewrote the entire sefer by heart, including quoting full sections from other noted sefarim!
Sadly, there were several sections that he was unable to fully reconstruct, and upon this, he bitterly laments, “In the Torah commentary that I left in Portugal during the expulsion, I found a different explanation…which I wrote there…but due to my sins, I do not recall it…” (leaf 23a).
