(RO”SH). Rabbeinu Asher [commentary to Masechta Bava Kama]

ASHER BEN YECHIEL.

Spain

c.1380

Manuscript in Hebrew, written in semi-cursive Sephardic hand on paper.

AN EARLY SPANISH MANUSCRIPT OF A CLASSIC COMMENTARY TO THE TALMUD. Written in two rows with large square headings, this manuscript comprises Tractate Bava Kama, from the middle of the 7th chapter until the end of the tractate. R. Asher ben Yechiel (c.1250-1327), a student of R. Meir of Rothenburg, was forced to flee his native Germany, eventually seeking asylum in Spain, where in 1305, he was appointed Rabbi of Toledo. Thus, the Ro”sh, as he is referred to in rabbinic literature, represents a unique phenomenon: An Aschkenazic halachic authority who took up permanent residence in Sepharad, with its very different halachic tradition. What resulted was a fascinating synthesis of the Franco-German and Spanish School