Derashoth HaTorah [sermons to the Pentateuch].

IBN SHEM TOV, SHEM TOV BEN JOSEPH

Lorenzo Pasquato

Padua

1567

Third edition. Title within architectural arch.

Vinograd, Padua 2.

Though a prolific author of philosophic works, only two works by ibn Shem Tov (Spain, 15th century) were published - the present Derashoth HaTorah and the commentary to Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed - which continues to this day to be reprinted in standard editions of the Guide. Derashoth Ha-Torah cites abundantly from the author’s predecessors: Sa’adyah, Rashi, ibn Ezra, Nachmanides, Gersonides - with constant referral to the Guide (“HaMoreh”). Appended are several sermons on the theme of Repentance (Derash LeTeshuvah). Despite the ancient presence of the University - one of the great institutions of learning in Europe - only two Hebrew books were printed in Padua throughout the 16th-century. See Amram, The Makers of Hebrew Books in Italy, pp. 338-41 and 387-88.