(BIBLE, Hebrew and English. PENTATEUCH). Torath HaElo-him - The Law of God. "Edited, and with Former Translations Diligently Compared and Revised” by Isaac Leeser

The First Translation into English of any part of the Bible by an American Jew. Specifically issued for the American-Jewish Community. From the Collection of the Yuly Family who Sired the First Jew to Serve in the United State Senate. This set of Chumashim was Isaac Lesser’s crowning literary achievement and remained the standard Jewish translation well into the 20th-century. See B.J. Bamberger, American Jewish Translations of the Bible in: The Jewish Book Annual (1957) pp. 33-40. Leeser himself writes, “I doubt whether the precious word of God ever appeared among us in a more beautiful form than the volumes in which I am now engaged...I thought, in all due humility, that I might safely go to the task, confidently relying upon that Superior aid, which is never withheld from the inquirer after truth” (p.vii). Leeser’s beautifully worded introduction recounts his desire to prepare a translation speciifically for an American Jewish readership. “My intention was to furnish a book for the service of the Synagogue, both German and Portuguese” (p. viii). - Leeser achieved this despite the inherent difficulties in undertaking such a monumental task due to the lack of Hebrew scholars resident in America sufficiently qualified to assist. Indeed, in describing the evolution of his translation and the reasons for endeavoring it, Leeser clearly enunciates his patriotism for America: “It has always appeared to me that such a labor ought to be accomplished in this very country" (p. v) - "I have to state I have not looked at a single work issued by the English Jews, and that hence I have not borrowed a single idea or suggestion from any one of them, living or dead” (ibid. p. x). Provenance: The American-Jewish family Yuly (also Yulee, Levy-Yuly and Aben-Yuly), originally stemmed from Morocco where they served as royal courtiers. Elijah Levy-Yuly (d. circa 1799), a vizier to Sultan Muhammad b. Abd-Allah (1757-1790), was forced to flee to England to escape a pending death sentence decreed by Sultan Moulay Yazid (1790-92). Elijah’s son Moses Levy-Yuly (b. circa 1782), emigrated England in 1800 to the Caribbean island of St. Thomas. In 1819, he moved to America settling in Florida, where as one of the early pioneers, he acquired vast tracts of land. (According to some, it was his intention to establish there a colony for persecuted Jews from the Old World.) Moses' son David Levy-Yulee (1810-1866), was elected Florida's first U.S. Senator in 1845, thus becoming the first Jewish Senator in the United States Congress. Levy County, Florida, was named after him in tribute. See EJ, Vol. XVI, cols. 894-6