Derashot (sermons) by Rabbi Ya'akov Antebi, which were delivered by him in Damascus before a large audience ...

Derashot (sermons) by Rabbi Ya'akov Antebi, which were delivered by him in Damascus before a large audience, halachic responsum, halachic novellae and novellae on the Shas and separate Torah novellae on the books of the Poskim. A manuscript that has never been printed. A historical and religious discovery! Includes biographic information which was unknown so far.
264 leaves written on both their sides. A large, thick volume. 16x23 cm.
The manuscript and the background for its writing
Rabbi Ya'akov Antebi started writing the manuscript in Damascus and completed it after immigrating to Jerusalem. When he was still in Damascus, he wrote his sermons and responsum, including "the version of the Prozbul that I had done here in 1820 the year of the Shemitah in Damascus".
After the "Damascus Affair" of 1840, he left Damascus and immigrated to Jerusalem. He took the manuscript with him as well as some other separate leaves with sermons he had written.
In Jerusalem, he organized the Sermons he had delivered in Damascus and wrote them down. In addition, he added to the manuscript halachic responsum he had written in Damascus and Jerusalem, Halachic novellae, novellae on the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch and novellae on the Poskim, Rishonim and Achronim, novellae on the Shas, Aggadah and Midrash, different Segulot and more.
The content of the manuscript
Forty one long sermons that he had delivered in Damascus
In some of the sermons for Sabbath, in several places, Rabbi Ya'akov notes were the sermon was delivered and that "a large audience" was present. Long sermons, some of them of 20 pp. some contain a poetic preface with the topic of the sermon. Some of them are dated. His handwritten signatures appear at the end of some of the sermons and responsum. On esignature is in the initials "Y.A.K". on leaf [49] his handwritten signature with a calligraphic curl.
Sermons for Shabbat Ha'Gadol: 1815, 1825, 1826, 1827, 1829.
Sermons for the Sabbath before Rosh Ha'Shana: 1828, 1829, 1831.
Sermons for Shabbat Teshuvah: undated, 1826, 1828.
Sermons for Shabbat Zachor: 1822, 1827 (about 30 pp.), 1828, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1834.
Sermons for weddings.
Sermons about respect for one's parents.
Sermons for eulogies: the anniversary of Ezra's death, the anniversary of Menachem Farkhi's death (on the virtue of those who suppert learners of the Torah), sermon about the day of death and the importance of repentance, sermon about the death of the pious which granst atonement, eulogy for his father a month after his death, eulogy for his father a year after his death, eulogy for Rabbi Bechor Laniado (1817), eulogy for his mother a month after her deat, sermon about the virues of the elderly.

Twelve long halachic responsum
Among them: a responsum about the holiness of writing God's name, a halachic responsum regarding the Cultural Mandate, a polemic responsum regarding a Yevamah who came to him and the Rishon Le'Zion Rabbi Moshe Suzin – in his responsum, the rabbi recalls his dispute with the Rishon Le'Zion, responsum regarding an apartment Rabbi Ya'akov had rented in Jerusalem – a polemic responsum with his biography and his adjustment to Jerusalem and more.
In addition: dozens of halachic and Aggadic novellae, novellae on the Shas and many other matters.
A full description of the content of the manuscript, leaf by leaf, will be given upon request.
A special historical discovery!
The Torah of Rabbi Antebi that appears in this manuscript has never been printed!

The quill pen and the script
In the manuscript, we find changes in the quill pen and times of writing. Sometimes, the script is small and dense and sometimes it is spaced. Throughout the manuscript, there are erasures and corrections, footnotes and various additions (as detailed in the attached list), which clearly indicate that all that was written is in the author's handwriting (except for single pages, as detailed hereinafter).
Th ewriting of the manuscript was done during the years 1815-1846.
On leaf [8] to leaf [9] on the lower third of the page, stylish script that differs from Rabbi Ya'akov's handwriting. It is most likely the script of a scribe or the handwriting of his son.
In several places in the manuscript, there is different script (see leaves [18] first page, [21] second page and onwards and the title on page [26]), most likely, his son's handwriting.

The importance of the manuscript
We can learn many important things from the manuscript, things which so far had been unknown regarding his personality and doctrine. We will note two of them here:

Personal and historical information
The manuscript contains personal and historical information.
For example, on the inner side of the binding: "year 5602 to the creation [1842], I have left Damascus for a good life and peace … and I have come, me and the members of my household … to the holy city of Jerusalem on the 25th of Sivan 5602. And today the 13th of Elul was the wedding of my daughter Esther with the groom Shmuel Akiva Ben Reb Yesha'aya and he travelled abroad on Motza'ei Pesach 5604 may it be God's will that he returns …" Under this inscription, his son wrote: "The death of my father and teacher Wednesday the 8th of Tishrei 5607 [1847] the young Moshe Chaim Antebi S.T".
In the sermons, we find his relationship with the respected Farkhi family.
From the last responsum of the manuscript, regarding an apartment rented by Rabbi Ya'akov in Jerusalem, which recalls how evil people came to throw him out of the apartment and to blackmail him, we learn about Rabbi Ya'akov's attitude towards the Rishon Le'Zion Rabbi Avraham Chaim Gagin and how he coped with those who slandered him.

His style of learning Halacha and Aggadah
The manuscript teaches us about Rabbi Ya'akov style of learning Halacha and Aggadah. The style of the sermons is similar to that of Sephardic rabbis in general and the rabbis of Aleppo in particular – to question the Midrash or verse and then explain it according to prefaces of Sugiyot Ha'Shas or halachic prefaces of books by the Poskim and halachic responsa.
The responsum demonstrates Rabbi Ya'akov's insistence to get to the bottom of things and his vast knowledge of the books of the Rishonim and Achronim and responsa books.
It also demonstrates that his piety preceded his wisdom since he ends each responsum with a sentence like the following: "and may God direct me in finding the truth and save me from mistakes and will show me the wonders of His Torah and will illuminate my heart with it…"

At the beginning and end of the manuscript he introduces several Segulot that he had copied from different books. At the beginning of the manuscript: "a prayer to be said before a sermon". At the end of the manuscript, a Segulah he had copied from a manuscript "of Rabbi Shmuel Pinto in the name of Rabbi Chaim Vital Segulah against illness… and he cursed in that manuscript anyone who revealed the secret to a gentile".

Another interesting thing is that despite the torments and suffering Rabbi Ya'akov had gone through, he continued to study and teach Torah in Jerusalem and wrote responsum on complicated halachic matters and novellae on the Shas and Aggadah.
On leaf [49] it is written "and I have added now a little frro what is written in my small book" indicating that Rabbi Ya'akov had authored another book of novellae which has not been discovered.

Rabbi Ya'akov Antebi – his life, greatness and holiness and the "Damascus Affair"
Rabbi Ya'akov Antebi, the Chief Rabbi of Damascus for thirty years, a Torah, Kabbala and Hassidism genius, who had gone through great torments and suffering.
He was born in Aleppo in 1787 to his father Rabbi Yitzchak Antebi. In his youth he was ordained as a "Posek" by Rabbi Yosef Chazan author of "Chikrei Lev". After his marriage to the Rebbetzen Mazal Tov, he left Aleppo and moved to Damascus.
At the time, there was an intense dispute between the community leaders regarding the position of Chief Rabbi of Damascus, which opened up at the time. The wealthy men of the community believed that he who pays the piper calls the tune and therefore did not want a rabbi who was economically self-sufficient and will therefore also be politically self-sufficient. The favorite candidate at the time was the prominent Rabbi Chaim Nissim Abulafia, who was wealthy, old and a great Torah scholar. However, the wealthy men of the community preferred a poor, modest and inexperienced person – Rabbi Ya'akov Antebi - not because of his modesty or erudition but because they wanted a person they thought will be submissive to their authority because of his economic dependence on them. In 1809, when he was only 22 years old, Rabbi Antebi became the Chief Rabbi and Av Beit Din of Damascus.
Yet to the bitter surprise and disappointment of the wealthy leaders of the community, and despite his poverty, Rabbi Ya'akov remained loyal to his principles, to Din Torah and to the Halacha. The wealthy men did not cease to abuse him by holding back his wages for years, as indicated by a letter he sent to Sir Moses Montefiore in 1841 in which he describes three of the leaders of the community of Damascus: "these are my enemies, since they do not follow in God's footsteps and I admonish them and therefore they have been holding back my wages for the last two and a half years".
Rabbi Ya'akov was not intimidated and continued to serve as the Chief Rabbi of Damascus for more than thirty years.
When he was Chief Rabbi of Damascus, there was a scandal in the Farkhi family due to a struggle over the estate of the wealthy Reb Chaim Farkhi between the sons of Chaim Farkhi and his brother.
The scandal preoccupied the Beit Din of several large Jewish communities: Damascus, Aleppo, Jerusalem, Tiberius, Turkey and more. Against his will and despite his inconvenience, Rabbi Ya'akov was asked to rule how to divide the estate – emotions were stirred up so much so that Rabbi Ya'akov was cursed and disgraced and was even informed on to the government. All these upset him yet he continued to observe the commandment of "do not be afraid of the face of any man".
The affair accompanied Rabbi Ya'akov even after he immigrated to Jerusalem.

The "Damascus Affair"
Rabbi Ya'akov was titled "the well-known holy and pious rabbi" for sanctifying God's name by being tortured for months during the "Damascus Affair". The Damascus affair of 1840 refers to the arrest of thirteen notable members of the Jewish community of Damascus who were accused of murdering a Christian monk for ritual purposes. The anti-semitic blood libel resulted in the accused being imprisoned and tortured by the Ottoman authorities and the populace attacking and pillaging a local synagogue.

The background of the blood libel was the disappearance of Father Thomas, a French citizen originally from Sardinia, and the superior of a Franciscan convent at Damascus.
Upon Thomas' disappearance the French consul at Damascus, Ulysse de Ratti-Menton, who supported Christian merchants and advisers over Jewish ones, and Christian families seeking economic ascendancy over the formerly empowered Farkhi family, instituted investigations in the Jewish quarter giving rise to the suspicion that Jews were behind the priest's disappearance. The Egyptian governor of Syria, Sherif Pasha, wishing to court French sympathies engendered by relations between the French government and the Egyptian pasha, Muhammad Ali, allowed the accusations to take root. A confession was extorted by torture from a Jewish barber named Negrin, who claimed he had given a bottle with Thomas' blood to the Chief Rabbi of Damascus Rabbi Ya'akov Antebi. He also claimed that Rabbi Antebi was the one who had planned the murder and agreed to translate several verses of the Talmud that might explain the behavior of the Jews who committed the ritual murder. Thus, Rabbi Ya'akov Antebi became the major culprit of the affair.
On the 28th of February, bones "were found" in a canal of the Jewish Quarter. They were declared as the remains of Father Thomas and were buried in a festive ceremony. The authorities started looking for the blood that the Jews had taken. They used all the means they had and 63 Jewish children were captured and tortured.

The imprisonment and letter to Montefiore
Rabbi Ya'akov was imprisoned and suffered indescribable tortures (described in his letter to Montefiore).
In time, Rabbi Ya'akov's letter to Montefiore served as the main source for describing and documenting the affair. The letter was printed in the book "Be'Or Ha'Chaim", published by Rabbi Ya'akov's grandson, Rabbi Avraham Ya'akov Antebi (Jerusalem, 1929).

The struggle, release and immigration to the Land of Israel
The rumor about Rabbi Ya'akov's imprisonment reached the Jewish world, which was shocked. The Rothschild family, the French lawyer Adolphe Crémieux and of course, Sir Moses Montefiore acted to release the prisoners.
With his release from the prison of Damascus, Rabbi Ya'akov decided to leave the town and immigrate to Jerusalem, to spend the rest of his days in holiness and purity. He packed his belongings and left with his family on the long journey to the Land of Israel. On his way, he visited all the graves of the Tzaddikim in the Land of Israel, saying "Birkat Ha'Gomel" and "Mi She'Berach" for Sir Montefiore and his wife.
When he arrived in Jerusalem, he wrote a Piyut expressing his gratitude for his release and noting Sir Montefiore's assistance.

Rabbi Ya'akov showed kindness to all the residents of Jerusalem and did not discriminate against any of them, wealthy or poor, Jews or gentiles, Sephardic or Ashkenazic. Actually, he befriended the Ashkenazic rabbis. About this friendship, Rabbi Eliyahu Mordechai Eisenstein, the scribe of Rabbi Shmuel Salant, wrote: "… that deep love existed between Rabbi Ya'akov Antebi and Rabbi Moshe Maggid, the leader of Adat Ha'Prushim, their love was such that even in their death they did not separate and died in the same month, one after the other".

His death and gravestone
During the last years of his life, Rabbi Ya'akov lived with his family in Jerusalem, where he ruled and wrote responsum to questions on different matters.
He died in 1846 and was buried in Jerusalem on the 7th of Tishrei (27.9) 1846.
On his gravestone it was written: "Here is buried the great rabbi, well-known for his holiness and piety, who sanctified God's name with his body and soul and suffered bitter torture due to the known affair … in 1840".

His holy customs
When Rabbi Ya'akov died in Jerusalem, everyone talked about his greatness. Only then did his wife, the Rebbetzen Mazal Tov, tell what she had not dared to tell when he was alive: the Rabbi used to fast during the Shovavim days from Sabbath to Sabbath, for six consecutive days. She said that on Sabbath, Rabbi Ya'akov used to eat three meals and then the "Melaveh Malka" meal; however, after Havdalah, he would eat only a little and then start his fast until the next Sabbath. His wife, who fully understood him, would respect his wishes and not object.

Sources: "Chayav U'Fo'alo shel Ha'Rav Ha'Rashi Le'Damesek Ha'Rav Ya'akov Antebi" by Dr. Elioz Chefer Antebi, a descendant of the author. "La'Kedoshim asher Ba'Aretz", "Mamlechet Olam Ha'Halacha", "Arzei Ha'Levanon", different archives and websites.

His teachings
Much was written about Rabbi Ya'akov's Torah greatness.
For example, the fact that his great uncle, Rabbi Avraham Antebi, asked him to express his halachic opinion on one of the questions he was asked is mentioned in the book "Mor Ve'Ohalot". The book "Poel Tzeddek" by Rabbi Avraham Dayan present his responsum regarding the law of Moredet. His responsum on the matter of an Agunah was printed in the book "Zerah Ya'akov" by Rabbi Ya'akov Ninio. In addition, in his youth, Rabbi Ya'akov corresponded with the "Chikrei Lev", a correspondence that remained a manuscript (the Ben Zvi Institute).
He wrote a preface to the books "Mo'adei Hashem Ve'Kriei Kodesh" and "Chibat Yerushalayim", an important preface to the book "Nava Tehilah" on the Book of Psalms, with several Segulot, one of which was later cited by the "Ben Ish Chai".
There are several books which were printed with his glosses such as "Yad Malachi" and "Zechor Le'Avraham".
Rabbi Ya'akov wrote many songs and Piyutim that were printed in Sifrei Bakashot and were sung by the Jews of Damascus on Sabbath and Holidays.
Several of his teachings were printed in the book "Be'Or Ha'Chaim" as well as a halachic responsum titled "Abir Ya'akov" (the book is added, as follows).

And now, to all his known teachings is added a complete manuscript of his teachings. Our generation has merited discovering teachings by him which have never been printed, which have been unknown until now and which indicate his Torah greatness.


Imrei Ya'akov
Added is the book "Be'Or Ha'Chaim" (Jerusalem, 1929, first edition) – Derashot on the Torah by the kabbalist Rabbi Chaim Capoussi, the disciple of the Ari. At its end, "Imrei Ya'akov" – Divrei Torah by Rabbi Ya'akov Antebi. With the detailed letter written by Rabbi Ya'akov to Sir Moses Montefiore regarding the Damascus Affair.
The book was published by Rabbi Ya'akov's grandson, Rabbi Avraham Ya'akov Antebi and was prepared for printing by Rabbi David Zion Laniado.
On the reverse side of the title page, hand-filling by Rabbi Avraham Ya'akov Antebi with his signature.
Condition: Very Good. Original binding. Detached leaf.

Rabbi Avraham Ya'akov Antebi was born in Safed to his father Rabbi Yehuda Shabtai Raphael. He died in Cairo on the 17th of Shevat 1923. Was known for his piety and holiness. During World War I, he moved to Cairo and published the book "Be'Or Ha'Chaim".

Condition: Fair. On most of the leaves at the beginning of the manuscript, moth damage to the inner margins, with damage to text; however, it is readable. Detached leaves and damaged margins due to wear. Worn, original leather binding.