Prayers to Stop a Hail Plague!
Rare Manuscript on Parchment, in Hebrew and Spanish
Amsterdam? Before 1735
A miniature manuscript of 18 parchment leaves, containing in its entirety a special order of prayers to stop destructive hail!
The entire order of prayers is written in Hebrew and its Spanish translation ("Español"), arranged side by side on opposite pages.
In the Netherlands, particularly in Amsterdam, there was a large community of Jews descended from the conversos (Anusim) of Spain and Portugal, some of whom did not know Hebrew and required a Spanish translation.
The first page of the manuscript features the owner’s signature:
“Yaakov Henriquez de Souza, who purchased the book on the date 17th of Tammuz 5495 (July 7, 1735).”
On the second page, the scribe writing the manuscript recorded his name in Spanish: “David de Matos”, as well as the name of the prayer order’s author, “Rabbi Yitzchak Adan”.
Contents of this Unique Order of Prayers:
- Pages 1–12: All verses from Sefer Tehillim that begin with the letter Beis (ב) (as a reference to the word barad – "hail").
- Pages 13–14: A Selichah beginning "Shevet Yehuda Bedochak U’veTza’ar, " followed by the prayer "Kel Melech Yoshev Al Kisei Rachamim."
- Page 15: Verses for prayer, forming an acrostic of the name of the angel "in charge of hail" (Maseches Pesachim 118a).
- Page 16: A heartfelt prayer: "That You remove hail from upon us, and fulfill in us the scripture: ‘And the thunder and the hail ceased…’" (Shemos 9:33).
An order of prayers to stop hail is a rare and unusual occurrence!
Amsterdam? Before 1735. Hebrew and Spanish.
Page count: [18] parchment leaves. Miniature
size: 6.7 x 9.2 cm.
Condition: Large tear on page 14 with missing text. One missing corner on the last page. Otherwise in good condition, showing signs of use. Original parchment cover.
Provenance: Judaica Auction, Jerusalem (1988).
