The First Book Printed in the Holy Land
This commentary on the Book of Esther has the honor of being the first book printed in the Holy Land. It was published during the author’s own lifetime in Safed, a small town in the northern Galilee that witnessed a cultural renaissance in the sixteenth century after becoming home to some of the most eminent Jewish scholars and mystics in the world, many of them exiles from Spain and Portugal, or their descendants. The printer, Eliezer ben Isaac Ashkenazi of Prague, came to Safed via the print shops of Lublin and Constantinople. Despite his best efforts—including the use of a famous old printer’s mark from Venice depicting the ancient Holy Temple in Jerusalem—Ashkenazi only printed nine books before his press closed down.
This commentary on the Book of Esther has the honor of being the first book printed in the Holy Land. It was published during the author’s own lifetime in Safed, a small town in the northern Galilee that witnessed a cultural renaissance in the sixteenth century after becoming home to some of the most eminent Jewish scholars and mystics in the world, many of them exiles from Spain and Portugal, or their descendants. The printer, Eliezer ben Isaac Ashkenazi of Prague, came to Safed via the print shops of Lublin and Constantinople. Despite his best efforts—including the use of a famous old printer’s mark from Venice depicting the ancient Holy Temple in Jerusalem—Ashkenazi only printed nine books before his press closed down.