Derashoth ha-Torah [sermons to the Pentateuch]

IBN SHEM TOV, SHEM TOV BEN JOSEPH

Lorenzo Pasquato

Padua

1567

Third edition. Title within architectural arch. Initial word of each Book within decorative surround. Printed in double columns

Vinograd, Padua 2; not in Adams

Though a prolific author of philosophic works, only two of the literary creations of Shem Tov (Spain, 15th century) were published - the present Derashoth ha-Torah and the commentary to Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed (which continues to this day to be reprinted in standard editions of the Guide). See EJ, Vol VII, col. 1199. Shem Tov’s Derashoth ha-Torah cites abundantly from his predecessors - Sa’adyah, Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Nachmanides, Gersonides - with constant referal to the Guide (“Ha-Moreh”). Appended are several sermons on the theme of Repentance (Derash li-Teshuvah). Despite the ancient presence of the University - one of the great institutions of learning in Europe - only two Hebrew books were printed in Padua throughout the 16th-century. See Amram, pp. 338-41 and 387-88