The Montefiore Endowment: Hebrew manuscripts and papers
Item
Country
GB
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
eng
Contact information: postal address
London School of Jewish Studies, Schaller House Campus, 44a Albert Road, London NW4 2SJ
Contact information: phone number
0044 020 3637 5530
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
administrator@montefioreendowment.org.uk
Title (official language of the state)
The Montefiore Endowment: Hebrew manuscripts and papers
Language of title
eng
Creator / accumulator
Sir Moses Montefiore
Language(s)
ara
heb
ita
por
Extent
c. 100 storage units
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Satisfactory
Scope and content
This collection is composed of over one hundred rare Hebrew manuscripts gathered during the 19th century. This rich collection holds manuscripts of diverse subjects, covering all branches of Jewish learning. The manuscripts originate mostly from Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Greece, North Africa, and Yemen. The collection includes a significant number of volumes dating from the Medieval Ages, as well as from later periods. Among its holdings, there are several manuscripts produced in Sephardic contexts. The following items are of particular interest:
Hirschfeld 12: Jacob ben Asher's Commentary on the Pentateuch, written by Isaac ben Josef of Portugal in Aveiro (Portugal) and finished on December 6, 1388.
Hirschfeld 20: Nissim Ben Reuven Gerondi's Commentary on the Pentateuch. This manuscript contains Gerondi's commentary on Genesis until parashat Hayyei Sarah (Genesis 23).
Hirschfeld 37: Joel Ibn Shuaib's Nora Tehillot (Commentary on the Psalms).
Hirschfeld 128: This volume contains a letter sent by the Jews of Spain to the French and German rabbis, including the reply (fol. 103v).
Hirschfeld 229: Collection of piyyutim by several poets, such as Aaron Elijah, David Abbas, Judah Abbas, Moses Abbas, Elijah Walid, Isaac Amigo, Zerahyah hal-Levi, among others. The collection was owned by Hayyim Pardo.
Hirschfeld 283: This volume is composed of a Hebrew translation of Meir ben Jacob's Ezer ha-Dat (fols. 1r-102r), and of a part of the preface to Moses Kohen of Tordesillas' Ezer ha-Emmunah (fols. 10v-11v).
Hirschfeld 284: a 17th-century copy of the Ezer ha-Emmunah, a polemical anti-Christian tractate by Moses Kohen of Tordesillas.
Hirschfeld 285: an 18th-century copy of Ezer ha-Dat (Support of Faith), a polemical anti-Christian tractate by the 14th-century Spanish philosopher and scholar Isaac Polegar.
Hirschfeld 298: Oróbio de Castro's Prevenciones divinas contra la vana idolatria de las gentes (book one).
Hirschfeld 299: Oróbio de Castro's Certamen Philosophicum... translated into Spanish by Christoval de la Torre, dated April 8, 1721.
Hirschfeld 301: This collection of short philosophical and polemical works includes a letter from Joshua Lorki to Don Solomon ha-Levi (fols. 27r-35r). Both Lorki and Solomon ha-Levi converted to Christianity, adopting the names of Geronimo de Santa Fe and Pablo de Santa Maria respectively. The collection also contains a letter from Astruc Rimoch to Shealtiel Bonafos (fols. 35r-40v). Rimoch was a physician from Fraga, Aragon, who converted to Christianity, adopting the name Franciscus de Sant Jordi. After his conversion, he tried to convince Bonafos to follow the same path, as shown in this letter. This volume also includes a letter composed by Solomon Bonafed, a friend of Bonafos', in reply to Rimoch's one. Also within this volume are Profiat Duran's Iggeret Al Tehi ka-Avotekha, the anti-Christian polemical letter sent to David Bonet Bonjorn (fols. 40v-47r); as well as an anonymous polemical work in Spanish in Hebrew characters posing 29 questions that a Jew asked a Christian (fols. 48v-50v).
Hirschfeld 363: Collection of letters and poems by Benveniste ben Labi, Solomon Bonafed, Solomon Dafieira, Baruch Almonsino, Solomon Carcassoni and Solomon ben Josef.
Hirschfeld 368: This collection comprises elegies on the destruction of the Temple, by Isaac bar Sheshet, Joseph ben Ha-Kadosh, Abraham Almonsino, and Abraham Tawil (fols. 1r-5r); as well as riddles and poems by Elijah ha-Levi (fols. 8r-10v), including a poem in Portuguese in Hebrew characters (fol. 10r), a poem for the beginning of Maimonides' commentary on the Mishnah, and a poem for R. Samuel.
Hirschfeld 445: Treatise by Joshua ben Harofe Ibn Vivas al-Lorqi. This work was written in Arabic at the request of Benveniste ben Solomon ha-Levi de la Cavalleria, and translated into Hebrew by the latter's son.
Hirschfeld 446: This volume contains selections from Isaak Akrish's Iggeret Ogeret, as well as some polemical letters by Profiat Duran and Astruc Rimoch. The manuscript also includes a one-thousand-word poem composed in 1308 by Joseph ben Sheshet Ibn Latimi.
Hirschfeld 462: This volume contains a collection of letters from different authors, for instance, Josef Rabinno to Judah Monte Santo; Josef Rabinno to Jacob Rabinno in Modena; Moses de Castro, attendant of Rafael of Forli, to Ben Sion of Norzi in Ferrara; or Abraham de Rossi, precentor in Lugo, to Josef in Fano, among others.
Hirschfeld 465: Collection of letters written on behalf of the poor in various Spanish and Portuguese places, for instance, Zikri ben Sahl in Gibraltar, 1356 (fol. 1); Moses of Lisbon in Zaragoza, 1410 (fol. 15); and Jom Tob Levi and his daughter in Zaragoza, 1303 (fol. 17v). The collection also contains the copy of a letter by Meir ha-Levi ben Todros in Burgos, mentioning Bonfed in Barcelona; dated Zaragoza, 1406.
Hirschfeld 493: Collection of poems composed by medieval Hebrew poets, such as Abraham ibn Ezra, Judah ha-Levi, and Solomon ibn Gabirol.
Hirschfeld 12: Jacob ben Asher's Commentary on the Pentateuch, written by Isaac ben Josef of Portugal in Aveiro (Portugal) and finished on December 6, 1388.
Hirschfeld 20: Nissim Ben Reuven Gerondi's Commentary on the Pentateuch. This manuscript contains Gerondi's commentary on Genesis until parashat Hayyei Sarah (Genesis 23).
Hirschfeld 37: Joel Ibn Shuaib's Nora Tehillot (Commentary on the Psalms).
Hirschfeld 128: This volume contains a letter sent by the Jews of Spain to the French and German rabbis, including the reply (fol. 103v).
Hirschfeld 229: Collection of piyyutim by several poets, such as Aaron Elijah, David Abbas, Judah Abbas, Moses Abbas, Elijah Walid, Isaac Amigo, Zerahyah hal-Levi, among others. The collection was owned by Hayyim Pardo.
Hirschfeld 283: This volume is composed of a Hebrew translation of Meir ben Jacob's Ezer ha-Dat (fols. 1r-102r), and of a part of the preface to Moses Kohen of Tordesillas' Ezer ha-Emmunah (fols. 10v-11v).
Hirschfeld 284: a 17th-century copy of the Ezer ha-Emmunah, a polemical anti-Christian tractate by Moses Kohen of Tordesillas.
Hirschfeld 285: an 18th-century copy of Ezer ha-Dat (Support of Faith), a polemical anti-Christian tractate by the 14th-century Spanish philosopher and scholar Isaac Polegar.
Hirschfeld 298: Oróbio de Castro's Prevenciones divinas contra la vana idolatria de las gentes (book one).
Hirschfeld 299: Oróbio de Castro's Certamen Philosophicum... translated into Spanish by Christoval de la Torre, dated April 8, 1721.
Hirschfeld 301: This collection of short philosophical and polemical works includes a letter from Joshua Lorki to Don Solomon ha-Levi (fols. 27r-35r). Both Lorki and Solomon ha-Levi converted to Christianity, adopting the names of Geronimo de Santa Fe and Pablo de Santa Maria respectively. The collection also contains a letter from Astruc Rimoch to Shealtiel Bonafos (fols. 35r-40v). Rimoch was a physician from Fraga, Aragon, who converted to Christianity, adopting the name Franciscus de Sant Jordi. After his conversion, he tried to convince Bonafos to follow the same path, as shown in this letter. This volume also includes a letter composed by Solomon Bonafed, a friend of Bonafos', in reply to Rimoch's one. Also within this volume are Profiat Duran's Iggeret Al Tehi ka-Avotekha, the anti-Christian polemical letter sent to David Bonet Bonjorn (fols. 40v-47r); as well as an anonymous polemical work in Spanish in Hebrew characters posing 29 questions that a Jew asked a Christian (fols. 48v-50v).
Hirschfeld 363: Collection of letters and poems by Benveniste ben Labi, Solomon Bonafed, Solomon Dafieira, Baruch Almonsino, Solomon Carcassoni and Solomon ben Josef.
Hirschfeld 368: This collection comprises elegies on the destruction of the Temple, by Isaac bar Sheshet, Joseph ben Ha-Kadosh, Abraham Almonsino, and Abraham Tawil (fols. 1r-5r); as well as riddles and poems by Elijah ha-Levi (fols. 8r-10v), including a poem in Portuguese in Hebrew characters (fol. 10r), a poem for the beginning of Maimonides' commentary on the Mishnah, and a poem for R. Samuel.
Hirschfeld 445: Treatise by Joshua ben Harofe Ibn Vivas al-Lorqi. This work was written in Arabic at the request of Benveniste ben Solomon ha-Levi de la Cavalleria, and translated into Hebrew by the latter's son.
Hirschfeld 446: This volume contains selections from Isaak Akrish's Iggeret Ogeret, as well as some polemical letters by Profiat Duran and Astruc Rimoch. The manuscript also includes a one-thousand-word poem composed in 1308 by Joseph ben Sheshet Ibn Latimi.
Hirschfeld 462: This volume contains a collection of letters from different authors, for instance, Josef Rabinno to Judah Monte Santo; Josef Rabinno to Jacob Rabinno in Modena; Moses de Castro, attendant of Rafael of Forli, to Ben Sion of Norzi in Ferrara; or Abraham de Rossi, precentor in Lugo, to Josef in Fano, among others.
Hirschfeld 465: Collection of letters written on behalf of the poor in various Spanish and Portuguese places, for instance, Zikri ben Sahl in Gibraltar, 1356 (fol. 1); Moses of Lisbon in Zaragoza, 1410 (fol. 15); and Jom Tob Levi and his daughter in Zaragoza, 1303 (fol. 17v). The collection also contains the copy of a letter by Meir ha-Levi ben Todros in Burgos, mentioning Bonfed in Barcelona; dated Zaragoza, 1406.
Hirschfeld 493: Collection of poems composed by medieval Hebrew poets, such as Abraham ibn Ezra, Judah ha-Levi, and Solomon ibn Gabirol.
Archival history
In 1869, Sir Moses Montefiore (1784-1885) founded the Judith Lady Montefiore College in Ramsgate, England, in memory of his wife. Montefiore then empowered Louis Loewe (1809-88), the first principal of the College, to gather a collection of Hebrew manuscripts for the new institution.
Moses Gaster (1856-1939), the second principal of the College, continued the work started by his predecessor by expanding the collection in 1892, with the acquisition of 412 manuscripts from the Polish scholar and bibliophile Solomon Halberstam (1832-1900). Halberstam's library included valuable codices from the estate of the renowned Italian philologist, poet, and biblical exegete Samuel David Luzzatto (1800-65), and from the private library of the German historian Leopold Zunz (1794-1886). Zunz's extensive library also came to integrate the Montefiore collection. Aside from these acquisitions and from the manuscripts belonging to Sir Moses Montefiore, the collection continued to grow with later additions. In 1904, a catalogue of the Montefiore manuscripts produced by Hartwig Hirschfeld was published.
In 2003, the trustees of the Montefiore Endowment decided to sell part of this collection in order to comply with Sir Moses’s expressed wish that his legacy should be used primarily to promote Torah education. Manuscripts that once belonged to Sir Moses were not sold but retained permanently and now form the basis of the Montefiore Endowment core collection. Another part (mostly the Zunz collection) went to the library of the Oxford Centre of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, where it is known as The Foyle-Montefiore Collection. At present, over 100 manuscripts remain in the ownership of the Endowment.
Moses Gaster (1856-1939), the second principal of the College, continued the work started by his predecessor by expanding the collection in 1892, with the acquisition of 412 manuscripts from the Polish scholar and bibliophile Solomon Halberstam (1832-1900). Halberstam's library included valuable codices from the estate of the renowned Italian philologist, poet, and biblical exegete Samuel David Luzzatto (1800-65), and from the private library of the German historian Leopold Zunz (1794-1886). Zunz's extensive library also came to integrate the Montefiore collection. Aside from these acquisitions and from the manuscripts belonging to Sir Moses Montefiore, the collection continued to grow with later additions. In 1904, a catalogue of the Montefiore manuscripts produced by Hartwig Hirschfeld was published.
In 2003, the trustees of the Montefiore Endowment decided to sell part of this collection in order to comply with Sir Moses’s expressed wish that his legacy should be used primarily to promote Torah education. Manuscripts that once belonged to Sir Moses were not sold but retained permanently and now form the basis of the Montefiore Endowment core collection. Another part (mostly the Zunz collection) went to the library of the Oxford Centre of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, where it is known as The Foyle-Montefiore Collection. At present, over 100 manuscripts remain in the ownership of the Endowment.
Administrative / Biographical history
Moses Montefiore Bart was born in Livorno in 1784, but he moved to England with his family at an early age. As a young man, his uncle Moses Mocatta (1768-1857) secured him a position as one of the only twelve brokers allowed to practise on the London Exchange. He married Judith Cohen, sister-in-law of Nathan Meyer Rothschild (1777-1836); and that connection helped him to make his fortune before the age of forty when he retired from the Stock Exchange and devoted the rest of his long life to the interests of poor and oppressed fellow Jews.
Montefiore's charities and benevolent foundations in London were on a large scale; and in visits to Palestine, Morocco, Rome, Russia, and Turkey, he did what he could to relieve the persecution of Jews in those places. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1837 for these noble services and was made a Baronet in 1846.
Sir Moses Montefiore’s love of Zion was demonstrated by his seven visits to the Holy Land, undertaken at a time when such journeys were difficult and dangerous. He actively encouraged agriculture there and endowed hospitals and almshouses. When in London, Montefiore worshipped at the Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Synagogue in Bevis Marks, a congregation to which he was devoted and which he served for many years as President of its Board of Elders.
In 1835, Montefiore was elected Sheriff of London and Middlesex, only the second Jew to occupy that position; and in 1837 he became President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, a position he held for 39 years.
In 1833, he opened his own synagogue in Ramsgate, close to his country house. His house has long since disappeared; but his synagogue and the adjacent mausoleum in which he and his wife are buried still stand, carefully maintained by the trustees of his Endowment.
Moses Montefiore died in 1885, aged 100.
Montefiore's charities and benevolent foundations in London were on a large scale; and in visits to Palestine, Morocco, Rome, Russia, and Turkey, he did what he could to relieve the persecution of Jews in those places. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1837 for these noble services and was made a Baronet in 1846.
Sir Moses Montefiore’s love of Zion was demonstrated by his seven visits to the Holy Land, undertaken at a time when such journeys were difficult and dangerous. He actively encouraged agriculture there and endowed hospitals and almshouses. When in London, Montefiore worshipped at the Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Synagogue in Bevis Marks, a congregation to which he was devoted and which he served for many years as President of its Board of Elders.
In 1835, Montefiore was elected Sheriff of London and Middlesex, only the second Jew to occupy that position; and in 1837 he became President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, a position he held for 39 years.
In 1833, he opened his own synagogue in Ramsgate, close to his country house. His house has long since disappeared; but his synagogue and the adjacent mausoleum in which he and his wife are buried still stand, carefully maintained by the trustees of his Endowment.
Moses Montefiore died in 1885, aged 100.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
Access, restrictions
The items are available for inspection and study by scholars by arrangement. Where precious manuscripts are involved, a charge will be made for supervision during such visits.
Finding aids
Existence and location of copies
Other extant copy of Meir ben Jacob's Ezer ha-Dat (Hirschfeld 283) is at the Bodleian Library (Ms. Mich. 49). The British Library holds a copy of Isaac Polegar's Ezer Ha-Dat (Or 10664).
Author of the description
Joana Rodrigues, 2022
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