PERUSH HA-BERAKHOT VE-HA-TEFILLOT

Abudarham, David ben Joseph

Numéro d'objet:	4181
Date:	1516
Genre:	Feuille volante
Lieu:	Fès
Sujet:	Commentaires religieux

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The first book printed in any language on the African continent is this volume in Hebrew dealing with Hebrew liturgy. It was printed in Fez, Morocco, in 1516, and is an almost exact copy of the Abudarham published in Lisbon twenty-seven years earlier. Samuel Nedivot and his son Isaac, who had learned the craft in Portugal, found haven in Fez after the expulsion of the Jews from Portugal, and established a Hebrew press there "to produce books beyond number."
In 1497, after a harsh campaign by king and Church to convert Portuguese Jewry to Christianity, the choice offered to Jews was apostasy or exile. Among those who chose the latter were Samuel ben Isaac Nedivot and his son Isaac, who had apparently learned printing in the publishing house of Eliezer Toledano in Lisbon. After they were able at last to reestablish themselves in Fez, Morocco, where many Spanish and Portuguese Jews had found haven, they returned to their craft because by 1515 the time and circumstances seemed propitious. The Jewish community of the city had increased to some ten thousand. The presses of the Iberian peninsula having closed down decades earlier, and those of Italy having not yet risen to eminence, the need for books was great. The father and son possessed the required skills, and in 1516 they published their first book, an exact copy of the Abudarham which they had initially helped to produce in Lisbon in 1489, twenty-seven years earlier. The only changes are in the colophon, which now celebrates the holy labors of "the honored and pious Samuel ... and his learned and wise son Isaac, whose desire it is to produce book, beyond number for all to study and read ... may God reward them for their beneficence ... and in their days may we see redemption ... [and alluding to the contents of the published volume] then we will sing a new song in the house of God."

The printed Abudarham was the first book in any language printed on the African continent. In the introduction, the publishers complain that they encountered great difficulty in obtaining paper because the Spanish government ordered that paper not be sold to them. But they persisted and in the course of a decade were able to print fifteen books. As the Library's copy bears witness, the prayerful resolve expressed in the colophon frustrated the malevolence of the "evil empire."

Historique:

First Book Printed in Africa!
Abudraham. Fez, 1517
Commentary on the prayers, blessings, versions and customs of prayer, and laws of prayers and blessings. By Rabbi David Abudraham
Sefer Abudraham is the foundational work on the customs and sources of prayers; formula of prayers; and laws of prayers and blessings.
The author was born in Seville, Spain, and is thought to be a disciple of Rabbeinu Yaakov, author of the Tur. The first edition of Sefer Abudraham was printed in 1490. Rabbi Yosef ben Naim, author of Malchei Rabbanan, wrote in his sefer Noheg Bechamah (p. 240) that the vast majority of prayer customs were recorded by the Abudraham. It is possible that this was the reason that the printers chose Sefer Abudraham as the first Jewish work to be published in Fez.
This Sefer Abudraham is exceptionally rare and was unknown for many years. In the introduction to his book Masa Beirab, Rabbi Shmuel Romanelli (Berlin, 1792) wrote that there was never a Hebrew printing press in Morocco. Rabbi Moshe Yaakov Toledano, an expert on Moroccan history, was likewise unaware of the printing press in Fez for many years until a bookseller informed him of a copy of Abudraham that he had purchased that bore a printing date of 16th century Fez. (See Ner Hama'arav page 327).
The book has 170 pages.
Exceptionally rare, There is no known complete copy in existence.

Hebrew Printing in Morocco
Many Spanish and Portuguese exiles immigrated to Morocco at the end of the 15th century, bringing with them a wealth of knowledge and skills that helped build and expand the country's economy.
Book printing was one of the most noteworthy skills imported to the African continent during this period of time, and the Portuguese exiles Shmuel (Nedivot) and his son Yitzchak were the first to establish a Hebrew printing press in Morocco.
Sefer Abudharam is undoubtedly the only known printed work with a colophon mentioning Fez and the printers' names. The printing press in Morocco was short-lived and close to 400 years would pass before another printing press opened in Morocco. (The next sefer printed in Morocco was in Tangier in 1891.)