Luchos HaIbbur
A Rare Work on the Hebrew Calendar, with Author’s Signature
Leiden and Hanover, 1756
Two parts of the sefer ‘Luchos HaIbbur’, containing explanations and calculations for times of the Hebrew calendar: times of the molad, leap year calculations, solar eclipses and more, following the Rambam’s system.
Written by the scholar Rabbi Raphael HaLevi of Hanover,
"who had virtually no equal among the Jewish people in matters of this science, from the days of the Rambam, of blessed memory, until now" (from the introduction to Sefer ‘Naveh Kodesh’, Berlin 1786).
The sefer contains dozens of diagrams and is laden with details and numbers.
This is one of the fundamental works on astronomy, which is known to be an extremely complex subject, causing many to refrain from studying it. Rabbi Raphael’s words on this subject are cited in halachic works to this day.
Even today, in the computer age, it is not easy to create such a calculated and precise work. One can easily understand that a person capable of composing such a sefer nearly 300 years ago must have been an extraordinary genius!
On the back of the title page is the author’s handwritten signature:
"Raphael HaLevi", as a mark and sign that this sefer was sold by him legitimately.
Rabbi Raphael HaLevi of Hanover was among the greatest experts in astronomy in past generations. In 1756, his sefer ‘Techunas HaShamayim’ was printed in Amsterdam, where it was said of him: "The paths of the heavens are clear to him." A long excerpt from ‘Techunas HaShamayim’ is printed today in editions of the Rambam’s ‘Mishneh Torah’ in the laws of Kiddush HaChodesh.
He was a student of the world-famous philosopher and mathematician, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. He passed away in 1779 at the advanced age of about 94.
Two parts in one volume. First editions.
Part One: Leiden, 1756
Part Two: Hanover, 1757
Handwritten numerical corrections in several places.
Page Count: 36; 38, [1] pages.
Size: 26.6 cm.
Condition: Good, some wear and corner folds. Creases in several pages. Small holes. Soft cardboard binding with impressive pattern (slightly worn).
Provenance: William Gross Collection, Tel Aviv.
"The complete sage and Torah scholar, the late Rabbi Raphael Hanover of blessed memory, whose great wisdom in this subject was well known,
and his reputation of creating wonderful treatises… had already spread throughout the world." (Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch, Av Beis Din of Berlin, from his approbation to the sefer ‘Naveh Kodesh’, Berlin 1786)
