Seder Hoshanoth Minhag APa”M.

(LITURGY)

Northern Italy

19th century

Manuscript in Hebrew, written in a square Italian hand on paper.

A pleasingly written Seder Hoshanoth including the Kedushah of Mussaf for Hoshanah Rabbah with a piyut that begins with the words “VeChayoth Bo’aroth LeKisei Ram.” The manuscript accords with the unique custom of the Jews in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy known as Minhag APa”M,” or “Minhag Tzorfat,” since its Jews arrived as refugees from France. The three Jewish communities referred to by the abbreviated expression “APaM,” are Asti, Fasano and Moncalvo. The term (more correctly, Afam) denotes the special ritual of prayers that was used by the Jews of these communities who originally settled there in the 14th century. Jews expelled during the years 1306 to 1394 from France moved steadily into the Piedmont region via the nearby alpine passes. See EJ, Vol. XII, cols. 240-41.