Tephilah le-Moshe [sermons and homilies]

ALMOSNINO, MOSES.

Joseph Ya’avetz

Salonika

1563

FIRST EDITION. A wide-margined copy. Inscriptions on title include Shimshon Cohen Modon, (author of Kol Musar,1725) with his scattered marginalia; signature of Yoseph ibn Shushan on f. 2a

Vinograd, Salonika 63; Mehlman 900; not in Adams

Born in Salonika, Moses ben Baruch Almosnino (c. 1515-c. 1580) hailed from a distinguished Jewish family originally from the Spanish town of Aragon. He was renowned for his knowledge of rabbinical matters and for his scholarship in the sciences, particularly natural physics and astronomy. In 1565, he formed a delegation to petition Sultan Selim II for a confirmation of the privileges previously granted to the Salonika Jews in 1537. His efforts procured a favorable decision and in 1568 the Salonika community were granted the status of a self-governing entity, a prerogative it enjoyed for centuries thereafter. See EJ, II cols. 669-71