Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Marginalia

A 15th century Byzantine manuscript with many kabbalistic items. In the margins of Azriel of Gerona's commentary to Sefer Yetsirah, someone wrote:
גוזר אני עליך שלא תלמוד בו עד היותך בן ל' שנים
I forbid you to study this until you are 30 years old.

Maybe he had someone specific in mind. Maybe it was just a general warning. Especially since the manuscript used to belong to an Italian Jewish community.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

See:
מ' אידל, "לתולדות האיסור ללמוד קבלה לפני גיל ארבעים", AJSR, 5 (1980), עמ' א-כ

7:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have nothing to add on the topic of your post, but... Mazal tov MB! Now maybe you can change your name to manuscriptPAPA!

4:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mazel tov! Boy or girl? Ktavyaddad.

10:40 PM  

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