(SeMa”K). Amudei Golah-Sepher Mitzvoth HaKatzar [abridgment of Moses of Coucy’s Sepher Mitzvath Gadol]

ISAAC BEN JOSEPH OF CORBEIL

Isaac Prostitz

Cracow

1596

Third edition. Divided into seven daily parts. Opening words within decorative woodcut border

Vinograd, Cracow 187; Mehlman 736; not in Adams

The French Tosafist, Isaac of Corbeil, was both son-in-law and disciple of R. Yechiel of Paris. He also studied at the academy of Tosafists at Evreux. This compendium lists all the Mitzvoth applicable in the present post-Temple era, and gives an excellent short synopsis with pertinent halachic details. It is divided into seven parts, corresponding to the seven days of the week, so that it could be reviewed regularly. The Author intended his Code to be of popular usage, thus he interspersed within it many Agadic passages, moral maxims and ethical teachings which enhanced its appeal. The work gained broad popularity (especially in Germany) and was accepted as an authoritative halachic source and much cited by later Codifiers - including the Tur. Indeed the title page reads “short in quantity but long in quality.”