LIFE OF RABBI ABRAHAM ZACUTO

R. ABRAHAM ZACUT CALLED ZACUTO

OF BLESSED MEMORY

In order to present the tradition of the Law

From Moses our master, may he have peace

until the days of the author of blessed memory

Including question and answer by our master Rabbi Sherira

of blessed memory

On tradition of the Law of Torah

and some historical facts

about Kings of Israel and Gentile Kings

And the Prince which is called The Exilarch

And how he judged the people in the court of Sura

and in the court of Pumbeditha

And other things and separate events which occurred to our forefathers

And were found dispersed in various books

First of all in the great book of ben Gurion.

There is also a story of three sects of Israel

at the time of Destruction of the Temple:

One was called Pharisees, another called Essenes, the third was Sadducees,

Including customs and beliefs of the sects

So we can see that the Sadducees were not like Karaites of our days,

As Karaites believe in Paradise and Hell and Resurrection,

while Sadducees did not.

Printed through efforts of

The perfect sage and excellent doctor of medicine R. Samuel Sholem

in Constantinople, capital of the great King, our ruler,

mighty Sultan Suleiman,

God will return him peacefully to his capital and will crush all his enemies,

And all his deeds will succeed, amen, by God’s will,

The printing started on Wednesday, 25 Siwan 5326 <=God rose>

From His Holy Dwelling 

<The Hebrew title of the 1857 edition>

RABBI ABRAHAM ZACUT

OF BLESSED MEMORY

KNOWN ALSO AS ZACUTO

A NATIVE OF SALAMANCA IN THE LAND OF SPAIN

A RESIDENT OF TUNISIA IN THE LAND OF AFRICA

IN THE YEAR 5264 SINCE THE CREATION

THE MEMORIAL TO ALL GENERATIONS

FROM THE DAYS OF OUR MASTER MOSES

MAY HE HAVE PEACE,

TILL THE DAYS OF THE WRITER’S GENERATION

INCORPORATING THE WORDS OF WIZE

RABBI ABRAHAM IBN DAUD

OF BLESSED MEMORY

IN THE BOOK OF QABBALAH

AND BIGGER PART OF SEDER OLAM ZUTA.

HE INCLUDED DESCRIPTION OF DAYS AND RULE

OF GENTILE KINGS

(WHICH ARE NOT OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL)

AND COPIED THEM FROM THE GREEK BOOKS

EVEN FROM THE GREAT BOOK OF JOSEPHUS FLAVIUS

AND BESIDE ALL THAT HE COLLECTED KNOWLEDGE FROM MANY OTHER SOURCES.

The first edition appeared in Constantinople in the year 5326

The second edition appeared in Krakow in the year 5340

The third edition appeared in Amsterdam in the year 5476

The first publisher cut the manuscript to pieces

The second publisher abridged the book mercilessly

The third one decimated what the first two left over

THIS IS THE FIRST COMPLETE PUBLICATION

OF THE WRITER’S MANUSCRIPT

AS FOUND IN OXFORD

Including the marginalia of R. JACOB EMBDEN

As found written on a copy of the first edition of the BOOK OF YOHASSIN

published in Constantinople

And extant in the House of Study in London.

Prepared for the print by the perfect man of knowledge

Rabbi Zwi Herschel Filipowski

RABBI ABRAHAM ZACUTO

Native of Salamanca in Spain (AD1504) who lived in Tunis in Africa.

With additions by the same author of lives of illustrious men

from the histories of Persian, Egyptian, Babylonian and Roman kings

This is the first edition based of the author’s manuscript

Preserved in the Bodleian library in Oxford

Containing marginalia of

RABBI JACOB EMBDEN

On the margins of the Constantinopolitan edition

Edited by Herschel Filipowski

For the Society of Hebrew antiquities

DEDICATION

TO THE TEACHERS

Pull your bow and shoot your sharp arrows

unto me again

But you will not awake my anger

As flies prefer dead meat

And avoid live and wholesome

So you teachers are similar in your judgment.

You avoid all good and seek all bad things.

1. LIFE OF RABBI ABRAHAM ZACUTO

The family of the author of The Book of Yohassin is known under names of Zacut or Zacuto, Zakuto, Zakudo in various spellings. At first Zacut family resided in France. When in the year AM 5066 the Jews were expelled from France, they moved their tents to Spain. The Rabbi Abraham Zacuto the Elder was the descendant of those refugees, and he left his good name to his grandson R. Abraham Zacuto the Second. The latter’s son R. Samuel Zacuto was the father and teacher of the author of the Book of Yohassin.

R. Abraham Zacuto, the author of the Book of Yohassin, refers to his ancestors as to people that ‘withstood the Castilian persecutions for their faith in the Blessed Creator and His Torah’.

In the days of the persecutions in the year AM 5151, there was R. Moses Zakudo. His teacher, R. Judah, son of R. Asher <Ben Yehiel>, The Saint of Toledo, who was martyred for his faith, dispatched R. Moses Zakudo to Rabbi Isaac Ben Sheshet <Barfat>, the author of famous Responsa of that name. His mother’s family was of noble descent as well and ‘never left the study of the Torah since the days of old’.

Among his maternal ancestors there was renowned R. Samuel Balansi <Valenci> the greatest in knowledge and wisdom of the R. Isaac Abuhab’s disciples. He died five years before the Expulsion from Spain, being 52 years of age.

R. Abraham Zacuto ben R. Samuel ben R. Abraham was born in Salamanca in Castile about AM5200. In his youth, he studied Torah under guidance of his father Samuel, who was apparently a rabbi <haham> and received the tradition <of Oral Law> from the late ancestors and rabbis of blessed memory. R. Abraham quotes his father as the source, <for instance> why sons of R. Papa are mentioned after completion of a tractate? His father told him: he heard it is good for memory to invoke their names seven times, as we mention Elijah <the Prophet> of blessed memory following the end of Sabbath.

When R. Abraham was six or seven years old, he saw in person the old R. Isaac Kanfenton, the chief rabbi of the Castilian community, who was called 'Gaon' by his contemporaries (the usage of the title was not common in those days). The outlook of ‘the meek pious man with the Holy Spirit of God’ impressed the child greatly. In the old age he wrote, ‘Whoever saw him saw the face of Divine Presence’. But the real teacher of R. Abraham was R. Isaac Abuhab, ‘the sharp-wit innovator’. He had many disciples and authored a book on the Four Columns, which remained uncompleted. He was the source of R. Abraham Zacuto's knowledge of the Talmud, of Posekim <Rabbinical authority on halachic questions> and of the Qabbalah wisdom. R. Abraham Zacuto knew inside out all Babylonian and JT, as we see in the Sefer Yohassin. His greatness and wit are seen in his own replies in the discussion on Rambam <as quoted by Maharal ben Habib, Responsa 19>.

His native Salamanca was the capital of <mundane> learning of his days. R. Abraham read astronomy and mathematics in the Salamanca University. He succeeded in his studies and became a famous astronomer. The bishop of Salamanca, an adept of astronomy, became aware of his abilities and nominated him a professor of the Salamanca University. R. Abraham taught in the University and many of his disciples, Christians and Jews, became prominent scholars. One of them, Augustine Ricci, gained renown as a famous astronomer.

In those days R. Abraham Zacuto compiled his great work on astronomy by orders of the Bishop of Salamanca. His astronomic tables seemed miraculous to his contemporaries. His first publisher R. Samuel Sholem wrote in his introduction: ‘All preceding tables of Gentiles were as naught, and the Gentiles broke and discarded all previous tables, and adopted his wonderful creation forever and ever’. R. Abraham Zacuto also improved the astrolabe and made it of copper instead of previously used wooden astrolabes that were not precise enough. His innovations and discoveries made him well known.

It seems R. Abraham Zacuto had dealings with Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of America. Columbus stayed in Salamanca and apparently, R. Abraham Zacuto showed him some astronomic books including the book supposedly written by R. Abraham Ibn Ezra. R. Abraham Zacuto was among the very few scholars who believed in successful completion of Columbus' journey. The contemporary scholar Gaspar Correa quoted in his book the following opinion of R. Abraham Zacuto: ‘The Land of India is exceedingly remote and seas and lands separate us from it; still whoever will risk the journey unavoidably will reach it’. R. Abraham Zacuto's tables always accompanied Columbus in all his travels and once, during his last voyage to America in the AM 5264 they saved his life.

Columbus visited Veragua, where he found plenty of gold. After leaving Veragua, his fleet suffered from a terrible hurricane, and in terrible plight, he reached Jamaica. Caciques (native chiefs) were hostile and did not want to provide him and his people with food so they were on the edge of starvation. Columbus conceived a trick to save his life. R. Abraham Zacuto's tables told him there would be soon (on 29 of February 1504) a lunar eclipse. Columbus assembled the Caciques and promised he will put a spell on them by withdrawing the moonlight. During the eclipse the Cazics were frightened and prayed to Columbus to remove the spell. Columbus pretended praying to his God, the eclipse passed and since then the Caciques respected him and provided with all he needed. It is written in the book on Columbus' voyages.

The copy of R. Abraham Zacuto's tables with marginalia of Columbus could be found in the Colombian library in Portugal.

Besides his astronomical investigations, R. Abraham Zacuto dealt also with astrology that he trusted and believed in. He was not above belief in demons and other superstitions. In his book, he wrote about a Gentile, whom he met in Salamanca. The Gentile's voice was heard from the roof of the building though he sat quietly inside the house. He also reported that certain Jewish women could prophecy in his presence.

Later R. Abraham Zacuto apparently moved to Saragossa and taught in the University, while his wisdom and knowledge grew.

In AM 5252, the Castilian king Fernando ordered to expel all Jews of Spain. R. Abraham Zacuto was forced to leave his home country. He saw those righteous people who preferred to kill themselves and their children rather then be forced to transgress the commandments of the Lord. R. Abraham Zacuto moved together with his teacher R. Isaac Abuhab to Portugal and settled in Lisbon the capital of the country. Seven months later his teacher died and R. Abraham Zacuto lamented him by quoting the verse ‘See, I am sending an angel ahead of you’ (Ex 23:20).

The fame of R. Abraham Zacuto preceded his arrival to Portugal and King Joao II who was a keen adept of astronomy and engineering provided him with a university cathedra. The king liked R. Abraham Zacuto and gave him the honorable title The Royal Astronomer. When the king visited Turi di Tombo in AM 5254 he presented ‘Abraham the Astrologer’ with ten golden coins.

It is written in the book of Neshmat Haim: once the King Joao came to try R. Abraham Zacuto's wisdom by riddles. He said he intended to travel to Iborra and demanded to read by stars through which gate he will enter Iborra. R. Abraham replied, ‘Whatever I'll say, you will enter by other gate’. The King said, ‘No, put your divination in writing and seal it with your own seal’. He brought clean sheet of paper and wrote, ‘The King will open a new gate and enter through it’. So it was - the king wanted to prove that his fortune telling is false, and broke a new gate into the city and entered through it. As he entered he opened the R. Abraham Zacuto’s letter and read it out loud, and it was a miracle in his eyes.

Another time the King invited R. Abraham Zacuto to his room and enquired what is the distance between earth and heaven. He gave the answer. In a year time the king raised the roof of the room by one and a half amah and asked R. Abraham: tell me, Astronomer, what is the distance between the earth and heaven, as I forgot <your answer>. The wise man replied, <Since then> the earth was raised or the heaven descended.

After demise of Joao II his grandchild, Dom Manuel sat on the throne of Portuguese kings. He nominated R. Abraham Zacuto to be his astronomer and secretary. In AM 5256, the tables of R. Abraham Zacuto were published in Liria, in the printing house of Master Samuel di Ortas. They spread in all lands of East and West, 'in the countries of Edom and in the lands of Ishmael'. R. Abraham Zacuto wrote about it: 'I have been in the kingdom of Spain and in other Christian kingdoms when my books on Astronomy were published, and people said '<it is written by> R. Abraham Zacuto of Salamanca. I am entitled to be proud of it as our Sages of blessed memory said: 'What is the wisdom that the Gentile nations appreciate?' and they meant the calculations of stars of Zodiac and of periods of time. I bear witness to heaven that they glorified <the people of> Israel for it' It was said that R. Abraham Zacuto's advice on wisdom of stars to the Gentile nations and their kings is as good as Ahitophel's advice of old.

During his sojourn in Portugal R. Abraham Zacuto came to new conclusion about the origin of storms and gales in the equinoctial regions. His investigations proved it is possible to reach India by circumventing Africa. In AM 5257, King Manuel equipped the fleet under command of Vasco di Gama to search for the way to India. Before his departure, Vasco di Gama sought R. Abraham Zacuto's advice in presence of his sailors. King Manuel invited R. Abraham Zacuto to the city of Beja and the astronomer told him that India soon would belong to Portugal. It became true, as we know.

In AM 5257, the Jews of Portugal were expelled as well, and R. Abraham Zacuto left the country together with his son Samuel. R. Abraham Zacuto wrote about it: 'God granted me and my son Samuel the privilege (zechut) to glorify and sanctify His Name. We came to Africa, twice we were made prisoners. God in His great mercy to His pious ones will provide me and my offspring's posterity to worship His blessed Name'.

R. Abraham Zacuto went with many other exiles to Africa and settled in Tunis, there was 'a big community, rich people and great believers in the tradition <Qabbalah> of Torah'. Among the Portuguese exiles in Tunis, there was R. Moses Alaskar as well. The troubles and destitution caused by exile wore down the strength of R. Abraham as he admitted: ‘For my sins, for all these destruction and captivity and lack of food I have nor strength, no wisdom, neither sense of distinction’.

In Tunis, R. Abraham Zacuto completed his Sefer Yohassin, but he was short of <reference> books, as there were no books in Tunis but whatever the exiles brought with them. R. Abraham Zacuto stayed in Tunis for a few years, but apparently he could not find peace for his soul and left for the Middle East, to Turkey and in the end of his days to Syria. He settled in Damascus and died there in AM 5275.

Among friends of R. Abraham Zacuto there was the perfect scholar R. Abraham Halevy Bokart, mentioned by R. Abraham Zacuto in Sefer Yohassin. It appears he is identical with R. Abraham ben R. Eleazar Halevy, R. Abraham Zacuto’ brother in law, who wrote a few books on Qabbalah, including Galya Raza (Disclosing Secrets) and Sefer Zikaron (The Book of Memory). Among his better-known disciples, there was R. Joseph Vecinho, the physician to the King Joao III and a member of the Lisbon Junta. The Junta was the group of scientists, astronomers, and navigators. R. Joseph was a friend and an adviser of Columbus. He translated the explanation of R. Abraham Zacuto’s Tables into Latin. R. Abraham Zacuto’s grandson, R. Abraham Luzitanus, was a great physician and a wise man.

2. R. Abraham Zacuto’s books

A. Almanac Perpetuus

B. Tashlum Aruch

C. Otzar Haiim

D. Mishpatei Haetztagnin