NATHAN OF GAZA. Zemir Aritzim (et al)

(SABBATIANA)

Salonika (?)

late 17th century

Manuscript on paper. 145 leaves (lacking first leaf) with marginal notes in two distinct Sephardic cursive hands (p. 82b to the end in a clearer, more precise hand). With Kabbalistic diagrams on pp. 98b,133a,138b. Signature of previous owner “Ha-K[atan] Mayer Charleville” in Sephardic script on inside of front cover. (See biographical details below.)

M. Benayahu, HaTenuah HaShabtait BeYavan, Sefunot, Vol.14 (1978) pp. 345-350; A. Elqayam, The Mystery of Faith in the Writings of Nathan of Gaza (Doctoral thesis) Jerusalem, 1993, pp.107-118

THE MOST COMPLETE COPY OF THIS RARE, UNPUBLISHED WORK WITH ADDITIONAL MATERIAL NOT FOUND IN OTHER COPIES. According to Benayahu, “very few copies were made of this work and the small number of manuscripts which have reached our hands are all incomplete” (Sefunot 14, p. 346). Very few Sabbatian scholars have studied this work in depth. Chaim Wirszubski in his pioneering study, Ha-Theologiah Ha- Shabtait Shel Nathan Ha- Azati”, Knesset, vol. 8,1943-44, pp.210-246 bemoans the fact that he could not obtain a copy of the Zemir Aritzim. According to Benayahu, this work is “extremely important for an understanding of Sabbatian theology and it was not for naught that R. Moshe Zacuto requested a copy of the Zemir Aritzim.” (Sefunot,pp. 346-347). Nathan explains the kabbalistic meaning of the Sabbath and its relationship to the Messiah. The additonal material commences on p. 66b (“Ad kan mah she-katav mori batechila be-Zemir Aritzim ve-achar kach chidesh zeh”) with an explanation of the “Or Kadmaah” and other matters pertaining to partzufim, tzimtzum etc. The Bodleian Library ms. 1796/3 [Mich. 494] does not contain the additional 79 leaves of important material found in this manuscript. It ends with the same words found here on p.66b. Another manuscript of this work (containing only 58 leaves and lacking much of the additional material), originally housed in the Library of the London Beth Din, is presently at the Jewish Theological Seminary Library. G. Margoliouth in his detailed Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the British Museum noted that the British Museum copy, ms.856 (Or.4536), dated 1701, has two leaves missing in the middle of their manuscript. Our manuscript contains the text of these missing leaves on ff.97b-101a. This would seem to indicate that it predates the British Museum copy. These leaves contain, in part, an in-depth exposition of the Lurianic doctrine of Iggulim and Yosher (found at the beginning of Etz Chayim). Nathan writes that those souls who derive from the Straight Line (Yosher) continue to exist eternally, while all the calamities visited upon the world are occasioned by the opposite cosmic scheme of Iggulim (Circles). Of late, the doctrine of Iggulim ve-Yosher as expounded in the writings of R. Moses Chayim Luzzatto, the Vilna Gaon, R. Isaac Haver (Wildmann) and R. Abraham Isaac Kook, has been examined by Prof. Mordecai Pachter of Haifa. See M. Pachter, “Iggulim ve-Yosher le-Toldotheha shel Idea,” in: Da’at, Winter 5747 (1987), pp. 69-83. The final leaf of this manuscript ends exactly as ms. 856 in the British Museum, but without a scribal colophon of “Tam Ve-nishlam”. However, in many cases the text here is fuller and more exact with fewer abbreviations and other variances. The diagrams are slightly different and the diagram on p.98b does not appear in the British Museum text at all.The additional material in this ms. starting on p. 66b differs substantially from the additional material found in the British Museum ms. (which starts on p. 49b of that ms.). Regarding the former of the presnt manuscript: Charleville is the name of two prominent Alsatian rabbis: The grandfather “Mayer Charleville" (1730-1812) was the first Chief Rabbi of Metz appointed by Emperor Napoleon I. He studied under Rabbi Nathanel Weil (of Karslruhe), Rabbi of Bohemia, and author of the commentary “Korban Nethanel" on Asheri’s code. Charleville served as rabbi of Metz from his appointment in 1810 until his death in 1812. He was married to the daughter of R. Isaac Coblentz, who in 1751, in his role as “ne’eman" (today a “notary public") of the Jewish community, validated the amulets which served as evidence against Metz’s former rabbi, Jonathan Eybeschütz. (One will recall that after his departure from Metz and arrival in Altona-Hamburg-Wandsbeck, Eybeschütz’s enemy R. Jacob Emden produced the amulets from Metz to allege that Eybeschütz was a crypto-Sabbatian). Seminaire Rabbinique, Paris, possesses manuscript “hidushim" (novellae) of R. Mayer Charleville. The grandson Mahir Charleville (1814-1888), born in Metz, served with distinction as the rabbi of several communities in France and North Africa. Further research is required to determine whether M. Charleville I or II is the owner signed on this Sabbatian manuscript. See Richard Ayoun, Typologie d’une carrière rabbinique: L’exemple de Mahir Charleville (Nancy, 1993), pp. 32, 35, 38, 40, 51, 654-5; Arthur Hertzberg, The French Enlightenment and the Jews: The Origins of Modern Antisemitism (New York, 1968), p. 369. With thanks to Dr. B. Ogoreck and Prof. Paul Fenton of the Sorbonne, Paris for their research assistance