The publication of a landmark code of Jewish law attests to a widow’s grit and determination in the face of recurring tragedy

The dawn of Hebrew printing naturally followed hot on the heels of the earliest books published in Europe, circa 1455. The first year to figure in Hebrew print was 1475, beginning with Rashi’s Bible commentary, which rolled off the presses February 17 (10 Adar) in Reggio di Calabria, at the southern tip of Italy.

Arba’a Turim (Four Columns), a code of Jewish law written in Spain in the early 14th century, was published just a few months later in northern Italy. Though the printing is neat, straight, and attractive, conveying order and stability, a tragic story looms behind it.

The book’s content, like its appearance, suggests order and control. Composed by Rabbi Jacob ben Asher and completed in manuscript form around the year 1430, the Arba’a Turim is an important and ambitious four-volume work that organizes and summarizes all Jewish law relevant in the author’s day, and in a unique order. In his introduction to the fourth volume, Rabbi Jacob ben Asher explains his goals:

When I, Jacob, son of our teacher Rabbi Asher of blessed memory, saw that due to our sins the Temple was destroyed […] and that there is no righteous judge, [but rather] each does what is right in his eyes […], I decided to compose a compendium of civil law […] that a reader could easily read through and follow exactly, without straying right or left. And I called the book Hoshen Mishpat (The Breastplate of Judgment).

Unlike many early Hebrew works, the Tur – as it’s known for short – listed its date and place of publication as well as its publisher. At the end of the fourth volume, a copy of which is housed in the National Library of Israel, this information appeared in verse:

The holy work was completed
On Monday, the twenty-eighth of the month
Of Tammuz, which is the fourth month,
5,235 years on the calendar,
In Piove di Sacco, in the home of our teacher, Rabbi Meshullam,
Who is called Kuzi. May [this home] be blessed now and forever!