Shir Hilulim

A rare 4-page poem in honor of the dedication of a new Torah Scroll. The first letter of each verse gives the name of the author, the Chief Rabbi of Amsterdam’s Aschkenazi Congregation. The printer Tartas records the name of his brother Isaac Tartas, who was burned at the stake during an Auto-da-fé. Isaac Tartas emigrated to Recife in Dutch Brazil in 1641. From there he moved to Bahia in 1644 which was under Portuguese jurisdiction. There he was seized as a judaizer and was sent to Lisbon to be tried by the Inquisition. After a lengthy trial, in which Isaac steadfastly refused to abjure his Jewish faith, he was executed. This resulted in diplomatic exchanges between the Dutch and Portuguese Governments on behalf of other Jewish captives in Brazil who originated from regions under Dutch sovreignity. See A. Wiznitzer, Isaac de Castro A Brazilian Jewish Martyr in: The Jewish Experience in America (1971) Vol. II pp.205-17. The last page of the poem records the name of the compositor: Jacob Haim ben Moses Raphael de Cordova of Brazil. A year later in 1681- and known simply as Jacob de Cordovera - he printed Rabbi Isaac Aboab da Fonseca’s Parafrasis Commentada sobre el Pentateucho. See R. Weinstein, Stones of Memory in: American Jewish Archives Vol. XLIV No.1 (1992) pp. 106-7