Toldoth Ya'akov. FIRST EDITION [on the Jerusalem Talmud].

SASPORTAS, YA’AKOV.

Samuel ben Israel Soeiro

Amsterdam

1652

* With: Aaron Pesaro. Toldoth Aharon [Biblical concordance to the Talmud]. Third edition. Two works in one (as issued).

Vinograd, Amsterdam 205, 206; Fuks 191.

In his introduction, R. Jacob Sasportas (1610-98), a native of Oran, Algeria, bemoans the fate that forced him to take up the wanderer’s staff. On a brighter note, he expresses gratitude to Menasseh ben Israel who agreed to his suggestion to include in the present edition of Pesaro’s Toldoth Aharon, Sasportas’ supplement Toldoth Ya’akov, which provides valuable references to the Jerusalem Talmud. Sasportas would latter gain fame as the indefatigable foe of pseudo-Messiah Shabbethai Tzvi. See EJ, Vol. XIV, cols. 893-4. In 1651 Menasseh ben Israel’s printing office was taken over by his elder son Samuel ben Israel Soeiro. See Fuks, p. 110.