Joseph ben Sliman. Likutim Nechmadim [“Pleasant Collections”]

(YEMEN)

Sa’ada, Yemen

1947

Colophon: “Joseph, son of the perfect sage Slim[an]…son of my grandfather Daud, head of the rabbinic court of Sa’ada, son of Yahia, son of Sa’adyah, son of Shalom…Thursday, 5 Kislev 2258 [1947].” The scribe Joseph ben Sliman signs on f.5v. as well

Collectanea of various halachic, aggadic and kabbalistic matters. The manuscript preserves compositions by the sages of the community of Sa’ada in northern Yemen. Entries include laws of ritual fringes, phylacteries, divorce, levirate marriage and chalitzah. On f.11r. there is a composition by “Jacob, head of the rabbinic court of Sa’ada” entitled “Hallel Na’eh.” Several pieces reflect the anxieties of Jews living in an Islamic land. In this vein, the author writes that the donning of phylacteries during the morning prayers, and not the afternoon and evening prayers, is directed against Ishmael. (Abraham, who instituted the morning prayer, was the progenitor of Ishmael.) See f. 53v. Likewise, the destruction of Mecca, it is predicted, will be followed by the advent of the Messiah. (See f.87v.)