(Brith Avraham)-Chesed Avraham [commentary to Maimonides introduction to Ethics of the Fathers]

HOROWITZ, ABRAHAM BEN SHABTHAI SHEFTEL.

Tzvi Jaffe

Lublin

1622

Vinograd, Lublin 137 (unseen); St. Cat. Bodl. 4233,4.

Highly scarce. Unseen by Vinograd. JNUL only has a microfilm copy from the Bodleian Library, Oxford. One of the great Talmudists of his day, the author (1550-1615) was a disciple of Moses Isserles (the Rema), affectionately known as R. Abraham R. Sheftel’s. His son was the revered SHeLa”H HaKadosh. The author originally published two separate works: Brith Avraham and Chesed Avraham in Lublin 1577. The present edition of Chesed Avraham carries changes, as the author writes here (f. 4b): “In the commentary that I published in my youth in 1577 I explained this differently, what I now record here is the corrected and more accurate understanding.” Hence, this 1622 version is what Talmud publishers from the Frankfurt a/Main edition and onwards have presented alongside the text of Maimonides.