[Fragments, Jacob bar Samson, selections of the Mahzor].
[קטע כת"י, יעקב בר שמשון, פירוש למסכת אבות וקטעים של מחזורו].

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Author/Creator:

Jacob bar Samson, of Troyes, active 1070-1140.

Language:

Hebrew

Subjects (All):

Maḥzor--Liturgical use--France--Troyes--11th century.

Maḥzor.

Mishnah. Avot--12th century--Commentaries.

Mishnah.

Jews--France, Northern--13th century--History--Sources.

Jews.

Jews--France, Northern--14th century--History--Sources.

Genre:

Manuscripts, Medieval.

fragments (object portions)

Manuscripts, Hebrew -- 13th century.

Manuscripts, Hebrew -- 14th century.

Manuscript waste.

Penn Provenance:

Bound as bindings on printed editions of Janus Gruterus; f. 1 binds Delitiae poetarum Germanorum, huius superiorisque æui illustrium : pars III ; f. 2 binds Delitiae poetarum Germanorum, huius superiorisque æui illustrium : pars V ; f. 3 binds Delitiæ CC. Italorum poetarum, huius superiorisque æui illustrium, likely during the first half of the 17th century.

Formerly owned by "Emt. Lubeca" (Lübeck, Germany), 1688 (typed report in German, housed in the curatorial file).

Formerly owned in Mainz, Germany (typed report in German, housed in the curatorial file).

Sold by Kestenbaum & Company (New York, N.Y.), Auction 76 (14 June 2018) lot 321.3

Physical Description:

3 leaves : parchment ; 245 x 125 mm.

Place of Publication:

[France?], [1250-1350].

[צרפת-אשכנז?], [1250-1350].

Language Note:

Hebrew.

Biography/History:

Exegete from the School of Rashi; transferred from Paris to Troyes following the departure of Shemaiah of Troyes after 1105 (see Grossman, Hakhme Tsarfat ha-rishonim (Jerusalem: Magnes, 2003), p. 414-416, citing Meir of Rothenberg), known for his composing a treatise on the calendar, with astronomy and astrology (part of which was known as Sefer ha-Elkoshi (ספר האלקושי), surviving only partially, and סוד העיבור) and a Mahzor (surviving in minute fragments, aside from his commentary to Tractate Avot, which was solidified in the Mahzor Vitry).

Summary:

Three leaves originally from a parchment codex manuscript, consisting of Jacob bar Samson's Mahzor, including his commentary on Avot; the attribution for the Avot commentary originates with a citation by Moses ben Ḥisdai Taku (13th century; his Ketav tamim, printed in Ozar Nechmad, briefe und abhandlungen (ed. Ignaz Blumenfeld), 3 (Wien: J. Knopfelmacher & Sohne, 1860), p. 59-60; the commentary is included in the Mahzor Vitry (in the Nuremberg, 1923 edition, page 461)); in this manuscript, that commentary is introduced in the first person ("ואתחיל לפרש ה' פרקים", f. 3) indicating that this is the original text of Jacob bar Samson's Mahzor, thus far lost (see Grossman, ibidem; the Mahzor is quoted in Mahzor Vitry, 92 (p. 73) and contained both legal and exegetical material in his specific style, reflected in this manuscript). The first leaf is from portions from the Month of Tishre; the second from the Piyutim following the Hoshanot (including אל נא תעינו כשה אובד) with commentary interspersed; and the third contains what was likely the Order of the Sabbath Day, continuing with the beginning of the Commentary to Tractate Avot. At the beginning of the 17th century it was dismembered and used for bindings; the lines of text on the binding are paralell to the spine, and continue on the lower cover; at the edges, they are folded inward (as a notch); the printed books within date from Frankfurt am Main, 1609 and the pasted endpapers are contemporary to the book, suggesting that this manuscript was in Frankfurt am Main at the beginning of the 17th century.

Contents:

1. f. 1: [Month of Tishre]

2. f.2: [Hoshanot commentary]

3. [Sabbath Day order and beginning of Commentary to Avot].

1. f. 1: [חודש תשרי]

2. f.2: [פירוש על פיוטי ההושענות]

3. [יום של שבת והתחלת פירוש מסכת אבות].

Notes:

Ms. fragments.

Title supplied by cataloger.

Layout: Written in two columns of 44-45 lines (upper and lower margins visible on f. 2), with bold script built-in to column; visible portions flesh side only.

Script: Written in a medieval Ashkenazic semicursive script (text) and bold scripts written in a medieval Ashkenazic Gothic square script.

Origin: Written in likely in Northern France (script), likely between 1250 and 1350.

Related Collections:

Jacob bar Samson's calendrical works and commentary on Tractate Avot survive in a contemporary Ashkenazic miscellany (dated 1315-1336), shelfmark The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, Oxford, England Ms. Opp. 317.

Cited as:

Fragments, Jacob bar Samson, Selections of the Mahzor. Library at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania.

[Fragments, Jacob bar Samson, selections of the Mahzor]. (UPenn CAJS Rar Ms 681). Library at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania.

OCLC:

1418780464