Avodath Hakodesh

AZULAI, CHAIM JOSEPH DAVID (CHYD”A).

Israel Bak

Jerusalem

1841

FIRST EDITION. Additional title within decorative woodcut architectural frame

Vinograd, Jerusalem 1-9; Halevy, Jerusalem 1; Benayahu, Rabbi H.Y.D. Azulai (1959), p. 197, no. 21

The First Book Printed in Jerusalem. A collection of seven small treatises on Halachah, Minhag and Nussachoth of Prayer. In the Printer's Preface, Israel Bak tells of the misadventures that befell him since his arrival in the Holy Land, where he first settled in Safed. He was the witness to a calamatous earthquake that struck in 1837 and murderous riots by the local Arabs the following year. Bak travelled to Alexandria in order to petition the authorities to restore looted Jewish property, but to no avail. While in Alexandria he learned of the infamous Damascus Blood-Libel Affair. Bak takes credit for having been the intermediary between the beleaguered Jews of Damascus and their saviour in the person of Sir Moses Montefiore of London. Eventually, Bak reestablished his press in Jerusalem, the first in the Holy City.