(The Physician). Kether Torah [“Crown of Torah”: summary of the precepts, based on Maimonides]

VITAL, DAVID BEN SOLOMON.

Eliezer Soncino

Constantinople

1536

FIRST EDITION. Title within historiated woodcut border, surmounted by coronet. Illustration of hand (relating to calendar) on f.14v, illustration of cow’s lung (relating to dietary laws) on f.92v

Vinograd, Const.154; Mehlman 705; Yaari, Const. 120; not in Adams

David Vital was among the Spanish exiles who migrated to Turkey and later Greece. He settled in Patras and after the Turko-Venetian war of 1532, moved to Arta where he was accepted as halachic authority. Kether Torah is a rhymed summary of the 613 commandments in accordance with Maimonides’ enumeration, together with the seven rabbinical commandments. Hence, the numerical value of the title, “kether,” 620; - the 620 letters of the Ten Commandments, refer to the 620 commandments. The work is a commentary to Maimonides’ Sefer ha-Mitzvoth . Each commandment begins with Maimonides’ formulation and concludes with an explanation it, occasionally responding to Maimonides’ critics. Despite the poetic form in which the book is cast, Kether Torah remains an important halachic source frequently quoted in the rabbinic literature