Sefer Yesod from Era of Rishonim: Yad Ramah on Bava Basra
First edition. Salonika, 1790
Two Volumes
"In his day, there was none like him among all the sages of Spain!"
This two-volume set presents the Yad Ramah on Maseches Bava Basra by Rabbi Meir HaLevi Abulafia of Toledo, Spain (the Ramah), one of the eminent Rishonim.
For centuries, this sefer remained in manuscript form and it was printed here for the first time from a manuscript preserved in the archives of the Rishon LeZion, Rabbi Yom Tov Algazi of Jerusalem (Maharit Algazi).
The author composed commentaries on several masechtos; however, only his commentaries on four masechtos have survived. His commentary on Bava Basra is the most extensive of them.
At the end of Volume II, thirty-five leaves were printed containing Shitah Mekubetzes by Rabbi Bezalel Ashkenazi on the last two and a half chapters of Maseches Bava Basra. The commentary on the rest of the masechta had been printed earlier (Livorno, 1778), and here the commentary is completed, hence it is referred to as "Shiyur Shitah Mekubetzes" (the supplement to the Shitah Mekubetzes).
The author,
Rabbi Meir HaLevi Abulafia (d. 1244), known as the "Ramah", was among the leading Rishonim and stalwart of Torah and halacha in Spain. He was widely respected by great sages such as the Ramban, who referred to him as "the prince of princes of the Levites… the great prince." Just fourteen years after the Ramah’s passing, one of the sages of the generation, Rabbi Yonah ibn Bahalul, described him with great reverence: "And the Toledan, Rabbi Meir, illuminated our exile with his wisdom; in his days, there was none like him among all the sages of Spain…"
Both volumes are bound in antique 19th-century leather bindings, engraved with the name of their owner—the renowned philanthropist Rabbi Chaim Yisrael Romano, a supporter of Torah whose beis medrash included among its scholars the Sdei Chemed. He immigrated to Chevron in the 1870s and became a pillar of the community, working for communal needs alongside Rabbi Eliyahu Saliman Mani, Av Beis Din of Chevron. He built the famous "Beit Romano" which was later acquired by the Rebbe Rashab of Lubavitch and still stands today.
Salonika, 1790–1791. First edition in two volumes. Page Count: Vol. I: [2], 157 leaves; Vol. II: [3], 158–274, [1], 35 leaves.
Condition: Generally good. Several holes. Slight wear on bindings.
Signatures on title pages: "The young Meir HaLevi" (same name as the author).
Bibliography: Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod, no. 49 (Yad Ramah); no. 62 (Shiur Shitah Mekubetzes).
Provenance: Ahavas Torah Auction – Baranovitch no. 10 (2004).
