Moscato, Judah ben Joseph, 1530-1593.
Sefer Nefutsot Yehudah [Dispersal of Judah]
Venice: Asher Parenzo for Giovanni di Gara, 1589.

A collection of 52 sermons preached in Mantua, Italy, by Rabbi Moscato. He was a well-known author and preacher of the Italian Jewish Renaissance. In addition to rabbinics, he was well versed in medieval Jewish philosophy and literature and wrote a commentary on Judah ha-Levi’s Kuzari.

Isaac ben Elyakim of Poznan (17th century).
Lev Tov [A Good Heart]
Amsterdam: Hayim Druker at Moshe Diaz, 1706.

Rules of conduct in synagogue worship, customs of the various festivities, and religious ceremonies at home. Originally written in Yiddish and addressed to both men and women, the book counsels men to honor their wives—since they educate the children and keep the Jewish home. The popularity of the book can be judged from its more than forty editions.

Chotsh, Zevi Hirsh ben Jerahmeel, 17th cent.
Sefer Nahalat Zevi. [Tsevi’s legacy]
Frunkfurt am Main: Anton Heinschtat, 1711.

Chotsh was a kabbalist and itinerant preacher in Cracow. He published several books of his sermons and moral tracts, which influenced early Hasidism. Nahalat Zevi is a revised edition of the translation of the Zohar into Yiddish, made by his grandfather, Aviezer Zelig Chotsh of Lublin.

Duran, Simeon ben Zemah, 1361-1444.
Sefer ha-Tashbets [Teshuvot Shimon ben Zemah]
Amsterdam: Naphtali Hertz Levi, 1738-1741.

A book of responsa written by a prominent Spanish doctor, philosopher and rabbinic scholar, who was forced by persecutions to flee from Aragon to Algiers in 1391. Three hundred years after his death, his descendant, Rabbi Solomon ben Zemah Duran, printed his great-great grandfather’s manuscript and appended his own responsa as a fourth part.