Lida, David. Shir Hilulim [poem in honor of the dedication of a new Torah Scroll].

(BRAZIL)

David (de Castro) Tartas

Amsterdam

(1680)

Vinograd, Amsterdam 460; Fuks, Amsterdam 472 and see p. 340.

The printer David Tartas records on the title-page the name of his brother Isaac Tartas, who was burned at the stake during an Auto-da-fé. Isaac Tartas immigrated to Recife, Dutch Brazil in 1641. In 1644, he relocated to Bahia, which was under Portuguese jurisdiction. There, he was seized as a Judaizer and sent to Lisbon to be tried by the Inquisition. After a lengthy trial, in which Isaac steadfastly refused to abjure his Jewish faith, he was executed. This resulted in diplomatic exchanges between the Dutch and Portuguese Governments on behalf of other Jewish captives in Brazil who came from regions under Dutch sovereignty. The book has another Brazil-related association: The last page records the name of the compositor: “Jacob Haim ben Moses Raphael de Cordova of Brazil,” - Also known as Jacob de Cordovera, he was the printer in 1681 of “Parafrasis Commentada sobre el Pentateucho” composed by Isaac Aboab da Fonseca, one-time Haham to Recife.