Hatsa'ah 'al odot ha-get
[An Account of the Bill of Divorce Given by Samuel Vintoroso]
Venice: Giorgio de Cavalli, 1566.

A detailed account of a bitter controversy between Samuel Vintorotso, of Perugia, who in 1560, became engaged to Tamar, daughter of Dr. Joseph Tamari of Venice. The bridegroom reneged on his commitment to marry. Therefore the father of the abandoned betrothed asked the rabbinate in Venice to issue a Herem [ex-communication] decree against the bridegroom, the most severe punishment at the disposal of the rabbinic courts.

Alexander Suesslin, ha-Kohen, of Frankfurt, died 1349
Sefer ha-Agudah [Book of Compilation]
Edited by Joseph ben Mordecai ha-Kohen, of Cracow (1510-1591)
Krakow: Isaac Prostitz, 1571.

A compilation of halakhic decisions derived from the Talmud, written by a German rabbi, who was born in Erfurt, taught in Worms, Cologne and Frankfurt, and died a martyr’s death. Edited by Joseph ha-Cohen, brother-in-law of Moses Isserles (1525-1572) and printed with an ornate title page showing King David at prayer.

Luria, Solomon ben Jehiel, 1510?-1573 or 1574
Hokhmat Shelomoh [Wisdom of Solomon]
Krakow: Isaac Prostitz, 1582.

A Commentary on 19 Talmud tractates by the renowned MaHaRShal, who was related to many prominent rabbis and was one of Strashun’s ancestors.

Adarbi, Isaac ben Samuel, 1510? -1584?
Divre Shalom [Words of Peace]
Venice: Giovanni Di Gara, 1586 or 1587.

Adarbi was the rabbi and halakhic authority of the Portuguese Jews who found refuge in Salonika, Greece. This book contains 430 of his responses on matters of Jewish law sent to him from all over the Jewish world.

Joseph ben Moses, of Kremenetz, 16th cent.
Be'ur al Sefer Mitsvot Gadol. [Commentary on the Great Book of Commandments]
Venice: Giovanni di Gara, 1605.

Sefer Mitsvot Gadol, or SeMaG, was compiled in the middle of the thirteenth century by rabbi Moses ben Jacob of Couci, a well-known French preacher who took part in the disputation on the Talmud in Paris (1240). He wrote his book as a temporary substitute for the Talmud, the study of which was banned by Pope Gregory IV (1242). Joseph ben Moses of Kremenets was a Polish Talmudist in Krakow and a student of Moses ben Israel Isserles (1530-1572).

Jacob ben Asher, 1270-1340
Tur Orah Hayim
Arba'ah Turim [The Four Rows]
Hanau: Hans Jakofa Hena, 1610

Ben Asher, the great codifier of Jewish law, was born in Cologne, Germany. Together with his famous father, Asher ben Jechiel, they fled to Spain in 1303. He is surnamed Ba'al ha-Turim for his magnum opus, Arba'ah Turim. A compendium of Jewish law, it is divided into four parts: Tur Orah Hayim—laws of daily life; Tur Yoreh De'ah—rules of kashrus and rituals; Tur Even ha-'Ezer—marriage and divorce; Tur Hoshen Mishpat—Jewish civil and criminal law. Many commentaries and glosses had been written over the years on this monumental work, all of which eventually became the basis of the four volumes of Shulhan 'Arukh, by Rabbi Joseph Karo (1488-1575). The edition presented here includes glosses by the MaHaRaL of Prague (1525-1609).

Jacob ben Asher, 1270-1340
Tur Hoshen Mishpat. With a Commentary by Rabbi Joel Sirkes
Krakow: Menahem Nahum Meisels, 1631.

A commentary on Jacob Ben Asher’s code of Jewish law by one of the greatest Talmudic scholars of Poland, Joel Sirkes (1561-1640). Sirkes was born in Lublin and served in a number of Polish communities, including Belz, Brest-Litovsk, and Krakow. The book is printed in the special Yiddish fonts called vayber-taytsh.

Arobash, Yitshak ben Hananyah
Emet ve-Emunah [Truth and Faith]
Venice: Nella Stamparia Bragadini, per Cristopho Ambrosi, 1672.

A book of Jewish law, listing the commandments of the Bible as arranged by Moses Maimonides in his monumental Mishneh Torah, and the laws of prayer as arranged by Joseph Karo, author of the Shulhan Arukh. The text is in Hebrew with Italian translation.

Lima, Moses ben Isaac Judah, 1605-1658
Helkat Mehokek [Legal Ground]
Vilhermersdorf: Hirsh ben Hayim, 1739

Commentary on Shulhan 'Arukh, Even ha-'Ezer by Rabbi Joseph Karo

Moses Lima was a famous Lithuanian rabbi, who served in Slonim and in Vilna. Helkat Mehokek is a commentary of Shulhan 'Arukh, Even ha-'Ezer by Rabbi Joseph Karo (1488-1575). Because of its difficult style, the book required a commentary, Bet Shemu'el, written by Samuel ben Uri Shraga Phoebus (1650-1705).

Talmud Bavli. Yoma. 1740
Masekhet Yoma im Perush Rashi ve-tosafot
Amsterdam, Proops, 1740.

The printing of the Talmud was always a lucrative business and therefore a source of fierce competition. When Solomon ben Joseph Proops (died 1734) started to print the Talmud in Amsterdam, he was forced to stop by a rabbinic injunction obtained by competitors. The edition displayed here, printed by his heirs, has a different layout than the standard Talmud—each page of one Talmud text is given here on two pages.

Talmud Yerushalmi. Nashim. 1757.
Talmud Yerushalmi 'im perush Korban ha-'Edah
Berlin, [s.n.], 1757.

The Jerusalem Talmud, or Talmud Erets Yisrael, was compiled in the 4th century C.E., one hundred years before the Babylonian Talmud. It includes only four orders, as compared to the six orders of the Mishnah, upon which it is based. This is why it was considered the lesser of the two Talmudim. Korban ha-Edah, the commentary by David ben Naphtali Hirsch Frankel (1704-1762) is one of the first complete commentaries to this Talmud.