Sepher Ibronoth [astronomy and calculations of intercalation and the Jewish calender]
AUCTION 55 |
Thursday, June 21st,
2012 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts Autograph Letters, Graphic & Ceremonial Art
Lot 70
BEILIN, ELIEZER.
Sepher Ibronoth [astronomy and calculations of intercalation and the Jewish calender]
Frankfurt on der Oder: Johann Christoph Beckmann 1691
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
PRICE REALIZED $1,500
The Jewish calendar is lunisolar; the months are reckoned by the moon and the year by the sun. Thus, the expertise required to make the necessary calendrical adjustments, mandated for religious Jews a proficiency in astronomy. Indeed Maimonides devotes an entire section of his Mishneh Torah to what he lists as a positive commandment “to know how to determine which is the first day of each month of the year.” Consequently, Sepher Ibronoth was prepared by Beilin as a manual “to help an individual fulfill these commandments.” See A. J. Karp, From the Ends of the Earth-Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress, (1991) pp. 197-8.