New York – A 13TH-CENTURY Jewish scripture in Spanish has been sold at auction in New York for 330,000 dollars.
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It is said to be one of just four surviving Jewish bibles, or law books, known as a Torah, in Spain.
Experts believe it was written in Soria between 1278 and 1295, and that it was circulated by mystics in northern Spain and southern France.
A unique example of its kind, it was sold at Sotheby’s in the Big Apple yesterday to a telephone bidder. Sotheby’s had placed a reserve of between 300,000 and 500,000 dollars on the script.
It belonged to a Spanish family who lived in Morocco and now reside in Israel. The script measures 58 centimetres in height and 36.65 metres in length.
Historians say very little is left in testimony to the Jews in Spain back in the 13th century, making this Torah particularly valuable.
Is this for real??? A Sefer Torah written in Spanish??
Is this a kosher Sefer or has it become posul over the centuries? I hope it was bought by a museum and not some private collector.
Klaf that old no longer absorbs ink very well, if at all. Anyone who has worked with old sifrai torah will probably tell you it would be unwise to play with one this old. You’d likely end up with a sefer that is still not usable and no longer very valuble as an antique.
I saw this sefer torah its kosher and authentic
Maybe it can be used for research regarding correct nusach.
It contains some unusual letters and taggin that don’t appear on other sifrei torah, and also had some strange markings between certain paragraphs that have been erased, but are still slightly visible.
it appears to be similar to the torah in the Touro shul in Newport. that one is most probably from Spain via Holland & also written on deerskin as were many sifrei torah from Spain (the 1 in Touro is possul)
This sefer has been repaired, kashered and the nusach altered and re altered dozens of times. The nusach is not that unusual (special tagins, and double peh’s etc.), and also appears in German Torahs from about 100 years ago. At least one modern sofer added familiar keterim to the letters. The only remarkable thing about this one is the Spanish pre-expulsion origin. The price is not all that expensive for a Torah of this size, considering the price to commission a high quality new one. Not such a big deal, just written according to the Sefer Tagey, al pi kabalah.
Along with many other antique Seforim and interesting Judaical items, it was on a preview for a week, including last Sunday in Manhattan. Cost nothing (i.e. free) to see such rarity first hand, besides a little effort. It’s a lot of interesting and kosher things out there.
a 700+ year old sefer torah…almost one of its kind…don’t u guys think it should be worth $1M? Sounds like somebody got a bargain…
The torah actually sold in the $398,000 range. The buyer pays more than the price listed to sothebys. It sold exactly in middle of thier estimate.