Yihye Bashiri
Yihye Bashiri | |
---|---|
Born | 1661 |
Nationality | Yemenite |
Occupation | Rabbi
Professional Scrivener Sofer |
Yihye Bashiri (
Background
The son of Abraham ben Saadya al-Bashiri, Rabbi Yihye Bashiri lived with his family in the Yemeni territory of ar-Raḥabah near the village of al-Ḥema, a three-hour walking distance north of Sana’a.
As early as 1618, he compiled his Tiklāl Bashiri, the Baladi-rite prayerbook in
In 1623, he wrote a "Taj" (Codex) containing the first five books of Moses, now in a private collection in Israel.[13]
Rabbi Bashiri also made a handwritten copy of
The texts of old Yemenite Siddurs copied by Bashiri are an invaluable source for comparing the variae lectiones (Textual variations) of liturgy before the redaction of the
Enactment concerning Ketubbah
In the Yemenite
The nedunya, or what is often translated as 'the bride's outfit' (trousseau), is more effectually translated as 'largess,' or 'dowry,' since it is traditionally bestowed upon a man's daughter by her father before she marries (such as jewellery, clothing, household items, etc.), and she brings the same items and their value into the marriage, over which things her husband takes full responsibility, although they are deemed as merely a loan unto him; meaning, he is able to freely make use of them while married to her, but must return them unto her father in the event of his wife's early death. In Yemen, the standard value of a woman's nedunya was written in her ketubba as being "one-hundred qaflas" (the qaflah being a unit of weight that was equal to a dirham of about 3.0 – 3.36 grammes). If the woman's father were a liberal man, he would not demand the return of such items.
One of the enactments made in Sana'a in 1646, at the direction and insistence of Rabbi Yihye Bashiri, was to amend the
Blood libel
The Jews of Yemen have preserved a story relating to the community's deliverance in the mid-17th century. Some have doubted the historicity of these events, while others have avowed them to be true. The following story is said to have involved Rabbi Yihye Bashiri.
During the reign of the
The king, at hearing this, shouted in anguish to his servants, "Quickly! Gather together all the Jews at this place! I will be avenged by their blood! I shall not be appeased until I have utterly consumed them and their memorial from this earth! By my life, I shall not pity, neither shall I take mercy, but shall do away with them!"
The Jews of the city were then gathered together in haste, in the midst of that place called the Maidan,[25] both men, women and children. The king addressed them, saying: "If you presently, at this time, tell me who killed my son, all will be well. But if not, you shall not go unpunished by me!" They answered him, "Our lord, the king. Give us time." He replied, "I shall give you until tomorrow, but only I would that you sleep here, in close proximity to my dead son."
They sent from their numbers an emissary to the town al-Ḥema, to summon urgently Rabbi Yihye Bashiri. On the morrow, before the break of dawn, Rabbi Yihye Bashiri rose-up to go into Sana'a, as he had been bidden to do. When he came before the king, he said to him: "My lord, the king. Swear unto me by your life, and by the duration of your kingdom, that you shall acquit Israel of all guilt in this case, if your son shall rise up alive once again, in the presence of all the people, and shall declare with his own mouth who it was that killed him, so that you will be avenged of him." When the king agreed to this condition, Rabbi Bashiri is said to have stood-up in prayer before his God, and said: "Lord of the Universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, in whose hand are the souls of all the living, and the spirit of every man's flesh, today let it be known that you are God, and that there is none like unto you!" And with many like words of supplication, he asked God's intervention, concluding with the words: "Let your name be sanctified in the eyes of the nations, so that they might know that there is a God amongst your people Israel, and that you are the truth, and that your Law is the truth, and that Moses your prophet is the truth, and that your signet is truth! Moreover, that you have chosen your people Israel in truth, for you are a God of truth, and your word is truth forever! Blessed be you O Lord, who hears prayer!" At these final words, he wrote the word 'TRUTH' on a piece of paper (the
The king then sent unto that house and unto that room in order to make an inquiry there and they found as it was described unto him. The Rabbi then stood up and erased the letter Aleph from the word 'TRUTH', and there was left only the letters, Mim and Tau (which two letters when read consecutively have the meaning of "dead"), and he fell back to the ground, returning to his former state.[26]
The king, being filled with compassion for his son, said to the Rabbi: "I will give to you much silver that my son might stay alive!" Rabbi Yihye Bashiri, however, said to him: "It is impossible for it to be so! That is, to change the natural course of things and to make void the decree of the King who reigns over kings of kings, the Most Holy, blessed be He. Rather, these things happened only to show unto man his great powers, and that the blood of the souls of innocent men might not be laid to your charge." Forthwith, the king commanded to bury his son. Yet, before he was buried, he sent to kill those who had killed his son, with their wives and sons, and small children, and to make a full extermination of them from the face of the earth. They also burnt down their houses and left of them no remnant. He then sent away the Rabbi and all of Israel peaceably to their dwelling-places.[27]
Literary works
- Ḥavatselet ha-Sharon (Hebrew: חבצלת השרון), being a treatise on the shapes of the Hebrew letters written in the Torah scroll, crownlets (tagim), orthography and other kabbalistic matters. (By his own admission, this work was written by him when he was aged nineteen).[28][29]
- Even ha-Sharon (Hebrew: אבן השרון), being a commentary on Talmudic aggadah in Ein Yaakov, of which only the orders of Moed and Nashim have survived.[30]
- Commentary of the Passover Judeo-Arabic, and contained in a Tiklāl (prayer book) of his own writing.[31]
- The Gleanings (Hebrew: הלקט), being a commentary on the Torah (novellæ, numerical values of words, etc.)[32]
- Amirat Ha-Emunot (Hebrew: אמירת האמונות), being a commentary on Ein Yaakov, Seder Moed.[33]
- Chronicle of the Expulsion of the Turks from Yemen (events relating to the al-Qasimi rebellion against the Ottoman Turks in Yemen during the 1620s)[34]
- Ein Mishpaṭ (Sifrei, the Mishnahand the Talmud.
Selected manuscripts in public libraries
- Tiklal, at the Jewish Theological Seminary of New York, MS. 4550.[35]
- Tiklal (compiled in 1653), at National Library of Israel, MS. 4°1420 (microfilm # B-314)
- Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, MS. 764[36]
- Obadiah of Bartenura, at Hamburg State and University Library(Staats und Universitaetsbibliothek Hamburg), Germany, MS. Levy 40
- Midrash HaGadol on the Book of Numbers, at National Library of Israel, MS. Heb. 4°7121 (microfilm # F-40882)
- Maimonides' Judeo-Arabic Commentary on the Mishnah, Seder Zera‘im and Moed, at the Jewish Theological Seminary of New York, MS. JTS 5862; JTS Rab. 36; JTS Acc. 558
- Midrash HaGadol, on the Book of Deuteronomy, at Russian State Library in Moscow, MS. Guenzburg 869
- Midrash HaGadol, on the Book of Numbers (compiled in 1656), at Cambridge University Library, Add. 3407
- Commentary on Maimonides' list of the 613 biblical commands, at Cambridge University Library, Add. 1726, p. 1a[37]
References
- ^ Dr. Moshe Gavra corrects the date of Bashiri's death as being in 1664 (see: Moshe Gavra, Studies in the Prayer Books of Yemen [Heb. מחקרים בסידורי תימן], vol. 1, Benei Barak 2010, p. 68)
- ^ See Yosef Qafih, Agadata Depasḥa, Jerusalem 1959, p. 8 (Hebrew).
- ^ Judaeo-Yemenite Studies, Proceedings of the Second International Congress, (Ephraim Isaac & Yosef Tobi (ed.), Princeton University, NJ 1999, p. 41 note 1 (in Hebrew section).
- ^ Judaeo-Yemenite Studies, Proceedings of the Second International Congress, (Ephraim Isaac & Yosef Tobi (ed.), Princeton University, NJ 1999, p. 41 note 2 (in Hebrew section).
- ^ Cf. Catalogue of the British Museum, vol. 3, p. 206, no. 902.
- ^ Yosef Hubara (ed.), Sefer Ha-Tiklāl (Tiklāl Qadmonim), Copyist's Preface, Jerusalem 1964, folio opposite p. 1a.
- ^ Yosef Hubara (ed.), Sefer Ha-Tiklāl (Tiklāl Qadmonim), Jerusalem 1964, p. 14
- ^ Judaeo-Yemenite Studies, Proceedings of the Second International Congress, (Ephraim Isaac & Yosef Tobi (ed.), Princeton University, NJ 1999, p. 42 note 9 (in Hebrew section).
- ^ Rabbi Bashiri writes this explicitly, in his own opening statements written in Judeo-Arabic. See: Yosef Hubara (ed.), Sefer Ha-Tiklāl (Tiklāl Qadmonim), Jerusalem 1964, p. 1
- ^ Yehuda Levy Nahum, in Miṣefunot Yehudei Teiman (מצפונות יהודי תימן), Tel-Aviv 1986, pp. 191–192 (Hebrew); cf. Yosef Hubara (ed.), Sefer Ha-Tiklāl (Tiklāl Qadmonim), Jerusalem 1964, p. 3 note "aleph."
- ^ Encyclopedia of Yemen Sages (אנציקלופדיה לחכמי תימן), Moshe Gavra (ed.), vol. 1, Benei Barak 2001, p. 51; now at the Jewish Theological Seminary of New York, MS. # 36. The manuscript include certain emendations (proofreaders marks) made by the copyist in the glosses.
- ^ Encyclopedia of Yemen Sages (אנציקלופדיה לחכמי תימן), Moshe Gavra (ed.), vol. 1, Benei Barak 2001, p. 50. The MS. today is at the Jewish Theological Seminary of New York, MS. # 9864, and contains ninety-three pages.
- JSTOR 24161595. (Hebrew)
- ^ MS. at the National Library of Israel, Ms. Heb. 4°1190, or microfilm # B-314.
- ^ Today, the MS. is held at the Jewish Theological Seminary of New York, MS. no. 1767, which also includes Rabbi Hayyim ben Joseph Vital 's commentary on Isaac Luria's Ha-Idrat Ha'azinu, certain novellæ and the prayer of Rav Hamnona the elder, inter alia.
- ^ Cf. Maharitz, Questions & Responsa Pe'ulath Sadiq, vol. 1, responsum # 100 (101), Jerusalem 1979, where Maharitz writes that in the Torah scrolls written by Rabbi Yihye Bashiri the letter aleph was made without a yod at its upper shaft, and appeared simply as a dot which joined the roof of the aleph. See ibid. (vol. 1), responsum # 14, where he mentions "the Masorah of Rabbi Yihye Bashiri," and see ibid. (vol. 1), responsum # 24, where he writes: "And I shall take notice of the elders (Psalm 119:100), of our teacher and Rabbi, Yihye Bashiri, of blessed memory, and of our teacher and Rabbi, David b. Aaron Ha-Cohen Iraqi, in the generation that preceded us, the most-distinguished scribes, the leaders over the thousands of Israel, where no hidden matter was concealed from them, and even so, in their codices (tijan) they did not bring-up anything about this," i.e. in what concerns פרשת צו וידבר ה' דכל חלב (Lev. 7: 23), which, in the Yemenite tradition, is an Open Section. See also Maharitz's Ḥeleq ha-Diqduq, on the biblical lection, Noah (Genesis 9:29), concerning the last waw in the word ויהיו, of ויהיו כל ימי נח (Published by Shelomo Qareh in a facsimile edition, Jerusalem 1982), inter alia.
- ^ David Solomon Sassoon, Ohel Dawid - Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the Sassoon Library, London, vol. 1, Oxford University Press:London 1932, p. 202.
- ^ Moshe Gavra, Studies in the Prayer Books of Yemen (Heb. מחקרים בסידורי תימן), vol. 1, Benei Barak 2010, pp. 68, 260–261; Moshe Gavra, Studies in the Prayerbook - The Passover Haggadah, vol. 1, Benei Barak 1988, pp. 146–153. For the old version, see the Passover Haggadah published by Rabbi Yaakov Subeiri, where he brings down photocopies of one of Rabbi Yihye Bashiri's Siddurs, with the version גואל ישראל. Compare Jerusalem Talmud (Berakhoth 1:5) which brings down a statement to the effect that whenever one makes a blessing over "redemption," just as we do in those verses which succeed the recital of "Hear, O Israel," etc., he sometimes mentions God's future redemption (Go'el Yisroel), while at other times he mentions God's past redemption (Ga'al Yisroel).
- OCLC 31818927. (reprinted from Jerusalem editions, 1907, 1917 and 1988)
- OCLC 60034030., Bekhorot 8:7, s.v. במנה צורי
- Maria Theresa Thaler), each of which had a total weight of 28.0668 grammes, but a fine silver weight of 23.3890 grammes. This silver coin in Yemen was simply called riyal.
- ^ Yitzhaq Ratzaby, Ketubbah Format (טופס כתובות), Benei Barak 1995, p. 127 (Hebrew)
- ^ So-called after his eldest son, al-Qasim, who headed a dynastic branch that governed Shaharah District.
- ^ Thus is it conveyed in the book, Peri ha-Limood, published in Israel in the last decade of the 20th century (in Hebrew), whether it is to be regarded as fact or legend.
- ^ This was a large, open space directly outside of the city walls, facing the king's palace and the Mutawakillite Mosque, as one exits Bab al-Saba. Today, it is called "Tahrir Square," where Sanaa's Military Museum is now built. In 1926, this place was still called "Maidan al-Shararah."
- ^ This incident is reminiscent of the Golem of Chelm narrative, where the golem could be deactivated by removing the aleph (א) in emet, thus changing the inscription from "truth" to "death" (met = מת, meaning "dead").
- ^ Rabbi Avraham Al-Naddaf briefly makes mention of this miraculous episode in his book entitled, Ḥoveret (חוברת שרידי תימן), published in Jerusalem in 1928, s.v. חבצלת השרון (Hebrew), and containing an inventory of the books of Yemenite Jewish provenance, arranged in alphabetical order.
- ^ National Library of Israel, MS. Heb. 8°2428 (204 pages).
- ISBN 9789655553185
- ^ Four of the pages were published by Yehuda Levy Nahum in Sefer ha-Te‘udah Miḥasifat Ginzei Teiman (ספר התעודה מחשיפת גנזי תימן), Holon1996, pp. 221–225 (Hebrew).
- Ben-Zvi InstituteMS. 1194; cf. Yosef Tobi 1982, p. 82, §152.
- ^ Judaeo-Yemenite Studies, Proceedings of the Second International Congress, Ephraim Isaac & Yosef Tobi (ed.), Princeton University, NJ 1999, p. 41 (in Hebrew section).
- ^ Judaeo-Yemenite Studies, Proceedings of the Second International Congress, Ephraim Isaac & Yosef Tobi (ed.), Princeton University, NJ 1999, p. 41 (in Hebrew section).
- ^ Published by Yehuda Ratzaby in 1955, pp. 36–37; and also by Yosef Tobi in 1980, pp. 47–50.
- JSTOR 24164323. (Hebrew)
- ^ Microfilm available at the Jewish National Library in Jerusalem, microfilm # F-38354.
- ^ Being a copy of a commentary made by R. David b. Hayyim Halevi on Maimonides' Sefer ha-Mitzvot.