Drashoth Ha’Torah [sermons on the Pentateuch and on Repentance]

SHEM TOV BEN JOSEPH SHEM TOV

Cornelio Adelkind for Marco Antonio Giustiniani

Venice

1547

Second Edition. Letters of title historiated; title within wreathed architectural columns; printer’s mark. (Facsimile of title in Haberman, Title Pages of Hebrew Books (1969) no. 22). Opening word of each of Five Books of Moses within decorative border. Owner’s signature “Shelomo ben Emmanuel Peretz” on f. 46r

Vinograd, Venice 308; Adams S-1047

Spanish writer and philosopher, Shem Tov ben Joseph Shem Tov lived in Segovia and Almazan and flourished in about 1461-89. As a philosopher, he was a follower of Maimonides, even though his grandfather Shem Tov ibn Shem Tov, was one of Maimonides' most uncompromising opponents - indeed nor did his father agree with Maimonides on essential points in his philosophy. On f. 36r. the author records first his grandfather’s interpretation, second his father’s interpretation, and finally his own interpretation of the Talmudic adage, “Thoughts of sin are more severe than [actual] sin” (Yoma 29a). Drashoth Ha’Torah is Shem Tov’s only homiletical work. Written in 1489, it was printed three times during the sixteenth century (Salonika, 1525; Venice, 1547; Padua, 1567). It soon, however, fell into comparative oblivion