Preface by the Printers

A large, decorative woodcut initial letter 'Aleph' (א) begins the first word of the text, "Amru" (אמרו).

We, the printers, have seen a great necessity and much benefit in providing as a preface to this book, Ein Yaakov Well of Jacob, several matters concerning the life of the Rabbi, the author, of blessed memory, in general, and his book, Ein Yaakov, in particular. We also wish to recount the efforts we have expended for the benefit of this book in this current printing at our press. We say: the Rabbi, the author, is our Master Rabbi Jacob son of Solomon, of blessed memory, Ibn Habib, of blessed memory, from the city of Zamora, which is Zamara on the Duero River in the province of León in the north of the land of Spain. He was among those who were exiled from Spain with the exiles who were expelled along with Rabbi Isaac Abarbanel and Rabbi Isaac original: "R. Y.", author of the Akedat Yitzchak, etc., whom Ferdinand, King of Spain, exiled in the year "He scattered Israel" original: "mazreh Yisrael" (numerical value 252), which corresponds to the year 5252 (1492 CE). He chose the city of Salonika in the land of Turkey as his dwelling place. There, in his old age, he composed the book Ein Yaakov, which he had long desired to write but was unable to do so because he did not possess all the six orders of the Mishnah and the Talmud with all the commentaries. This was until he came to Salonika to the home of the complete and elevated sage, Don Judah, son of the Prince and pious leader Don Abraham ben Benna ben Benesht, of blessed memory. He found in his house many books of the Mishnah and Talmud written by expert scribes who were provided for at his table for many days, and they wrote all these for him to provide merit for the public. He also found the books of the innovations original: "chiddushim" of the Rashba, the Ritba, the Ran, and others like them, written in the house of the noble, righteous, and wise Don Ben Benna Benesht (a relative of the aforementioned Don Judah), who also expended great efforts in the copying and correction of books, and he made a covenant with them to provide merit for the public (this is all explained in the author’s preface). Based on those books, he gathered and collected the Aggadot homiletic passages and the Midrashim expository teachings from the entire Babylonian Talmud and some also from the Jerusalem Talmud. From these, he selected all the passages worthy of forming the twelve pillars upon which he established the foundation of his book (as explained in his preface), and he adorned them with the commentaries of Rashi, the Tosafot, and the explanations of the sages of old, and those of the Ritba, the Ran, the Rashba (and the Rosh), and other Geonim, of blessed memory. To these, he added his own wondrous innovations (which he refers to as "The Author Says"), and he joined all these together into this holy volume. In the year 5276 (1516 CE), he offered it upon the altar of the press of Don Judah Gedalia in Salonika. The author, of blessed memory, himself labored and studied to proofread it and cleanse it of errors and inaccuracies. When he intended to print the first two orders, God took him. His son, the brilliant and wise Master Levi ibn Habib, of blessed memory (author of the Responsa of the Maharlach, who had been exiled from Spain together with his father), completed his father’s work. He also labored greatly on the proofreading of the book and its utility. However, he did not find his father’s innovations for the final four orders; therefore, they are missing. Furthermore, the collection of commentaries and innovations of the Geonim for those four orders, which his father had gathered, could not be found. Consequently, the Maharlach, of blessed memory, strove to transcribe everything he could find from the commentaries of the early masters, of blessed memory, in the city of Haya (as explained in the Maharlach's preface to the Ein Yaakov). But it appears he was unable to gather as much as his father had for the first parts. Therefore, their commentaries and innovations are fewer in the final four orders. Additionally, the Aggadot of the Jerusalem Talmud are missing from the last four orders, and it seems that at that time, they did not have the books of the Jerusalem Talmud for those orders. The Rabbi, the author, of blessed memory, wrote in his apology at the end of the Aggadot of the Jerusalem Talmud for the order of Moed: "And I still do not know what will be added to the four coming orders, for I have sent and requested from the princes and the wise governors who sit at the head of the kingdom everything possible to be found of the Jerusalem Talmud, etc." It appears the Jerusalem Talmud was not available even to the Maharlach, and therefore he gathered nothing from them.

The author, of blessed memory, named his book Ein Yaakov for its first part and Beit Yaakov for its second part. In the year 5313 (1553 CE), three apostates slandered the Talmud before Pope Julius III, inventing false accusations, saying it was full of blasphemy and insults against their religion. On the tenth of August of that year, a decree was issued to burn all books of the Talmud and Aggadah (after this decree had already been issued in the year 5039 (1239 CE) by Pope Gregory IX, when thousands upon thousands of Talmudic books were burned in the countries of France and Italy. The decree was repeated later in the year 5224 (1464 CE) by Pope Clement IV, but it was repealed in the year 5280 (1520 CE) when Pope Leo X allowed the Talmud to be printed). On the New Year of 5314 (1554 CE), they were burned in Rome, and afterward in Venice and most of the cities of Italy—thousands upon thousands of books of the Talmud and Aggadah. In the month of May 5314, the Pope decreed that anyone who did not bring all the books of the Talmud and Aggadah in their possession to the committee of religious investigators (the Inquisition) within one month would be punished in both body and property. In the year 5319 (1559 CE), the decree for the burning of the Talmud was also issued in the state of Milan through the efforts of two apostates and one convert; more than ten thousand books of the Talmud were placed on the pyre. The great yeshiva that existed at that time in Cremona under the brilliant Rabbi Joseph Ottolenghi, of blessed memory (author of the laws in the Mordechai and Semag), which was printed in Riva...

...in the year 5318 (1558 CE), along with the Alfasi and the Rosh during their printing, was silenced. From then on, almost all books of the Talmud and Aggadah perished and were finished in all the lands of Italy, and they were also greatly diminished in other lands, for nearly all printing presses for Jewish books were located in Italy. That decree remained in force until the year 5324 (1564 CE), at which point the Jewish leaders of Italy pleaded their case before Pope Pius IV, and also exerted strenuous efforts before the great committee that gathered for religious affairs in the city of Trent in 5324. They obtained the favor of mitigating the severity of that decree and were permitted to print the books of the Talmud and Aggadah after they passed under the rod of the censor in Rome, and on the condition that the names of those books be changed and their original names not be mentioned. However, before they began the printing of the Talmud in Italy, that Pope died, and those who sat on his throne after him did not allow the Talmud to be printed, even with the censor's review and a name change. Thus, its printing was halted for another fourteen years until it was printed in Basel, in the country of Switzerland, as noted below. However, they allowed the Ein Yaakov to be printed then (with the censor's review and a name change). Thus, the Ein Yaakov was printed in Venice in the year 5326 (1566 CE) under the censor's review, and its name was changed, and they called it Ein Yisrael (for part 1) and Beit Yisrael (for part 2). On the title page of that Ein Yaakov in part 1, it is written: "And he called it a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name, Ein Yisrael." On the title page of the second part, it is also written: "And he called it a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name, Beit Yisrael." This was also done for the Babylonian Talmud that was printed later in the city of Basel in the years 5330–5341 (1570–1581 CE), as it was printed under the censor's review and was marred by him with many omissions, additions, and changes. Because it was also forbidden to mention the name "Talmud," the censor forbade the printing of the word "Talmud" even within the Gemara and its commentaries. Therefore, in the Beit Yisrael and in the Talmud, the word "Talmud" was printed as "Gemara" or "Shas," and even in places where the word "Talmud" did not appear as a proper noun but as a verb for "learning," it was also forbidden. They printed the word "Limud" study/learning in its place (for example, in Tractate Sukkah 28, "the conversation of students requires Talmud," it was printed as "requires Limud," and similarly in many places).

At the beginning of the aforementioned Venice Ein Yaakov, these things were printed that mention the aforementioned events, and they read: "Thy name shall no longer be called Ein Yaakov, but Ein Yisrael shall be thy name. Beit Yaakov, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord; let the Torah go forth from its brilliance, without a barrier, on all the words of the Aggadah in the order of the Gemara with the commentaries of the Rashba, and with it, he adds much of his own, until the words emerge arranged and explained with excellent clarity. And the word of the Lord, which was very precious at a time when its hands were bound in shackles in Babylon, and there was no exile from it... this has now emerged for us in faith from the furnace of iron... this is the light from the fire of the mouth with which the House of Israel blessed the Lord... to give you a blessing today by placing wisdom in the hearts of the princes and governors to bring to light the stories of this book with a change of its name, and everything is corrected. And far be it from us to lay hands upon the Lord's anointed to return and erase the name of its holiness with the name 'Ein' Eye/Well... one thing we say, the verse is complete, 'Jacob shall no longer be called thy name, but Israel, for thou hast contended with other books and hast prevailed,' so that its light may shine, and peace shall rest upon it... and Ein Yisrael shall dwell in safety, alone with Beit Yisrael, the second part. Let Israel see the great hand that the Lord has performed for us, for His mercy is with us forever. We extend gratitude to the man of valor, a man of many deeds, a prince and a great man in Israel, a lover of Aggadot in the heart of the seas... whose spirit prompted him to draw near to the work, the holy work, for he had a hand and a name in the printing of this volume. His name in Israel is the honored Rabbi Chaim ibn Saruq, may his merit be great... for from the good comes the good... And we, the printers, arose and strengthened ourselves with the help of the Rock of Israel and its Redeemer, and through the intermediary of this prince, to add perfection to this work, etc." (and they conclude there with praise for their printing).

At the conclusion of that aforementioned Ein Yaakov, these things were printed, and they read: "If we had come only for the sake of this book, which is lauded with many praises in its own right, which conducts its world with kindness and its creatures with mercy—the mercy of God upon us regarding the rest of the remnant remaining from the many and honored books—it would have been enough for us all our days to thank the Lord for all the good He has bestowed upon us, etc." (and they spoke at length in praise).