Tophteh Aruch

ZACUTO, MOSES.

Goettschlik Speier

Metz

1777

FIRST EDITION with Yiddish translation (printed in Wayber-taytsch type). Prepared by Moses Segal. *WITH (As issued): Olmo, Jacob Daniel. Eden Aruch [sequel to the first, on the joys to come in Paradise]. Title within elegant typographic frame. The Judah A. Joffe copy

Vinograd, Metz 42

Apparantly inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy, this is Zacuto’s dramatic poem on the affliction of the soul in hell. NOT USED: Born in Amsterdam in 1625, Kabbalist Moses Zacuto, also known as the “ReMeZ,” was a student of Saul Levi Morteira and fellow student of Baruch Spinoza. He studied kabbala with Benjamin HaLevi, a student of Rabbi Chaim Vital. He later traveled to Posen to further his Talmud learning. Although intending to make a pilgrimage to Palestine, instead Zacuto accepted a rabbinical post in Venice, and in 1673, was appointed rabbi of Mantua where he remained until his death in 1697.