Emeth Ve’Emunah [Code of Jewish Law]

The author, Isaac, son of Hananiah Arobas, “Justice and Leader of various Communities of the Maghreb (Morocco),” sought to present the basic texts of Judaism in both Hebrew and the vernacular for the Jews of Italy. To this end, he gathered here a digest comprising the Thirteen Principles of Faith from Maimonides’ commentary to the Mishnah Sanhedrin; Maimonides’ Sepher HaMitzvoth (Book of Commandments); and a popularized version of R. Yoseph Karo’s Shulchan Aruch. Thus the layman is provided with the rudiments of Halacha, both dogmatic and practical. The book is prefaced with a laudatory poem by the Italian Kabbalist R. Moshe Zacuto. On the final leaf there is a recommendation by Solomon Chai Saraval, Chief Rabbi of Venice.