Rare Sefer from a Disciple of the Rema
Commentary on Targum Yonasan and Yerushalmi
Singular edition. Prague, 1609
Commentary on Targum Yonasan and Targum Yerushalmi on the Torah, as well as on Targum Sheini to Megillas Esther, by Rabbi Dovid ben Yaakov of Shebreshin.
The texts of Targum Yonasan and Targum Yerushalmi contain difficult words and cryptic passages that are often incomprehensible without familiarity with Midrashei Chazal. This sefer offers a detailed elucidation of the above tirgumim, and has been cited by every later commentary on these texts.
Rare!
Rabbi Dovid of Shebreshin (d. 1604) was one of the great sages of his generation. He is a signatory on the famed rabbinic takanah prohibiting the purchase of rabbinic posts and appears in approbations alongside the giants of his time, including the Maharal of Prague, the Sema, the Olelos Ephraim, the Maharsha, the Shelah Hakadosh, and others (Tikkunei Zevach, Prague 1604; Kitzur Abarbanel, Lublin 1604).
He was a disciple of the Rema and the Maharshal, from whom he received many teachings and customs. Yet his personal path was deeply rooted in the way of Kabbalah, “for all his conduct was generally refined and grounded upon the foundations of Kabbalah and Sod, drawn from the sweet flow of the words of the Rashbi in the Zohar and Tikunim, in which he was most proficient” – as testified by his disciple, Rabbi Ephraim Yabrover of Chelm (Cracow 1608, leaf 6a–b).
Over the years, his name faded into near obscurity, yet "his lips continue to move" in the beis medrash through his sole work, a foundational commentary for all who study Targum Yonasan and Targum Yerushalmi.
Prague, 1609. Singular Edition. Page Count: 59 leaves.
