Yesod ha-Emunah [“The Foundation of Faith”]

YA’AVETZ, JOSEPH

Abraham ibn Usque

Ferrara

1554

FIRST EDITION. Title set within architectural arch with printer’s device of an armillary sphere resting on a scroll containing a verse from Psalm 130:5. On final page (colophon), former owner’s inscription: “Asher chanani E-lohim vayyiten li gam ken zeh, ani ha-tza’ir, askuphah ha-nidreseth, tole’ah ha-nirmeseth, achuz be-chavlei buz, ze’ira de-lo min chavrayya u-bote’ach bechesed shochen aliyyah, kemo ore’ach noteh la-lun” [This too was bestowed upon me, I the young, trodden floor, lowly worm, seized with shame, not counted among the learned companions, and trusting in the One Above, as a wayfarer seeking lodging]. There follows a most ornate Sephardi monogram

Vinograd, Ferrara 25; Mehlman 1205; not in Adams

Second Work in Trilogy by He-Chassid Ya’avetz. In Yesod ha-Emunah, Ya’avetz condenses Maimonides’ thirteen Articles of Faith into three: 1) Creation of the world; 2) Divine Providence; and 3) The Oneness of God (f.2r.). The author writes that these three articles of faith are the subject of the three Sabbath prayers, as well as of the three Sabbath meals (shalosh se’udoth). The evening prayer speaks of the Creation; the morning prayer touches upon the Giving of the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai, a prime example of Divine providence; while the afternooon prayer declares “Atah echad” [You are one] (f.8)