(ChID”A). Sha’ar Yoseph [commentary to Talmudic Tractate Horayoth; final 40 leaves with responsa]

AZULAI, CHAIM JOSEPH DAVID.

Anton Santini

Livorno

1756

FIRST EDITION. With dedications in Spanish (floriated initial) and Portuguese.

Vinograd, Livorno 72; M. Benayahu, Rabbi H.Y.D. Azulai (1959), p. 185, no. 1.

The Chida’s first published work. Although aged 34 when Sha’ar Yoseph was published, it was written when the author was just 17. The lengthy approbation by the author’s father Raphael Isaac Zerahyah Azulai, as well as the introduction, both contain valuable biographical details. The peripatetic nature of the author (who was a shada”r, or rabbinic emissary dispatched to collect funds on behalf of the Jews of Eretz Israel) is reflected in the haskamoth provided from sages located in Jerusalem, Hebron, Cairo, Livorno, Amsterdam and Algiers. An incomparable bibliophile, Ch.J.D. Azulai made use in his writings of many rabbinic manuscripts that are now since lost.