Tapuchei Zahav [“Golden Apples” - abridgment of Elijah de Vidas’ Reishith Chochmah].

The author was from a family of rabbinic scholars, whose name derives from the village of Melli in the province of Mantua. R. Yechiel Melli served as rabbi of Mantua in the seventeenth century. Besides the present work, he also authored a commentary to the Pentateuch entitled Sepher HaNimukim (Hirschfeld, Cat. Montefiore, no. 479/11). It is believed that in addition to his rabbinic and literary activities, he was also engaged in banking. Tapuchei Zahav enjoyed wide popularity in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, going through several editions. This first edition was published by the author's son-in-law David ben Moshe Portaleone. See S. Simonsohn, History of the Jews in the Duchy of Mantua, pp. 30, 619, 629, 720; JE, Vol. VIII, p. 455.