Testament (Verona)

We, the undersigned, came in to visit the honorable lady Rosa Romanina, widow of R. Moses Guastalla of blessed memory, a resident of Rivarolo, and found her sick, lying on her bed, but her words and declarations were all straightforward, correct, and well ordered. She heard and responded with a clear and settled mind. And we questioned her, and she responded both affirmatively and negatively as appropriate. All her words were uttered with knowledge, understanding, and discernment. She spoke thus with her mouth and endorsed it with her hand [by appending her signature], saying to us:

“I am the unfortunate woman present here with you. I am laid out here on a sick-bed, faint and desolate all day long. My soul draws near to the grave and my life force is ebbing away in the manner of all the earth; and accordingly, as I sense the severity of my illness and know not the day of my death, with a view to settling my affairs, I wish to charge my household by reason of impending death, and now request you be witnesses to my will in relation to the following matters which I shall explain verbally and have already arranged to tell others to implement my desire”; and this is what initially emerged:

1. I order, by reason of impending death, that on the day of my demise, immediately after my funeral, my son Solomon—may his Rock protect him—together with the honorable guardians whom I shall be appointing for him, shall kindle for me—in my name—as many oil-lights in the synagogue as may be purchased for one scudo; and a further ten scudi shall be divided up by them into five cashboxes, namely, for the school of Torah study, the land of Israel, the poor of Jerusalem, the ransom of captives, and the Shomrim la-boker (early morning penitent prayer group)—two scudi for each. And as for the charity-boxes in the synagogue, one scudo for each, and whatever remains, up to a total of twenty-five scudi [ . . . ] shall be divided up by them for such paupers within the holy community as are in greatest need; that is to say, twenty-five scudi as between the oil-lights, the charity boxes and the poor, in the manner indicated above, to be expended forthwith after my funeral. They shall take these funds from my alms box, which I have kept in a chest, into which I was accustomed to place the tithe of all the various sources of income and collections received by me daily, for acceptance on my behalf by the Almighty.

2. And I further order, by reason of impending death, that my son Solomon shall be obliged to maintain a permanent light for me to be lit in the Verona synagogue throughout the year, until the conclusion of twelve months, and on the final day of the twelve months, he shall be obliged to kindle oil-lights up to a value of one scudo as a memorial for my soul, at which time he shall set up the tombstone over my grave, as is incumbent upon him to honor a mother.

3. And I further order, by reason of impending death, that the sum of sixty scudi be given to my sister’s daughter Bianchina—may she be blessed above women in the tent [ . . . ], but that she may not receive these unless she is married, at the time of the marriage and on the day of the nuptials, and meanwhile, the honorable guardians shall lend the aforesaid sixty scudi out for interest until the fixed date aforementioned, and the principal and interest accrued up to that date shall all be hers. These monies shall likewise be taken by them from the aforesaid alms box, and any existing shortfall they may take from elsewhere. And if, heaven forbid, the girl, my niece, dies before her marriage, I leave and donate the sixty scudi, along with the interest accrued thereon up to that time, to the neediest young maidens of the Verona congregation; namely, to assist with their dowries when the time for their marriages arrives, at the guardians’ discretion.

4. And I further order, by reason of impending death, that fifteen scudi—subject to the same arrangements as before—be given to Madame Reichle who resides in my house, which I leave to her in recognition of the benefit I received from her during my illness, but she may receive them only on marriage and at the time of the wedding.

5. And I further order, by reason of impending death, that three guardians be appointed for my son as I know that the lad is still of tender years and requires supervisory assistance and support; he needs someone to guide him along a good path and to oversee his affairs so that the money does not get dissipated, lest, after my death, he destroys that for which I labored and toiled, but is retained for a time of need, so that he does not have to depend on others. And to this end I hereby designate three guardians for my aforesaid son with immediate effect, namely our teacher, the Sage R. Moses Rava, R. Immanuel Tzemah, and R. Joseph, son of R. Isaac Marini, known as Fiorentin. They shall assist my son Solomon and act for his benefit; all my son’s affairs shall be handled in accordance with their word, and he shall be subject to their orders up to the age of twenty-five. Even though he may have married at the age of twenty, this remains my desire and order, so that he does not cast off the yoke of the ubidienza [obedience] and “loosen the straps,” heaven forbid! By way of clarification, should the guardians, in conjunction with my son’s uncles resident in Rivarolo, honestly perceive that, at the age of twenty, my son is fit, alert, and prudent in regard to the management of his own affairs and in caring for his property, they may at their discretion permit him to exercise control over his property, and the guardians shall be discharged from any further responsibility for it. Should they see, however, that he is not yet fit and suitable, he shall remain subject to them up to the age of twenty-five. And whereas my son has already attained the age of bar mitzvah, so as to be counted among adults, and has already left the jurisdiction of the guardians appointed after the death of his late father, my husband, R. Moses Guastalla of blessed memory—insofar as it would have been appropriate for him to have personal control of his property had I not feared that he might go against my views, I hereby make clear that my son and his uncles, the sons of Guastalla resident in Rivarolo, jointly with him, may request and view the accounts relating to his affairs from the guardians at any time they wish, either from all three of them jointly or from each alone. The exalted R. Immanuel Tsemaḥ shall be the treasurer and also R. Moses Raba, and also R. Joseph Fiorentin shall each hold one key [to my son’s property] in his possession, and no single guardian shall be able to carry out any act relating to my son’s affairs alone without the concordemente [agreement] of all three. And I acknowledge that rightly it was proper to appoint one of his uncles of the Guastalla resident in Rivarolo as his guardian because they are kith and kin [ . . . ], but since it is a long way from there to Verona and my son’s affairs need daily supervision, I saw that they would not be able to take care of them, and I finally made a supervisor [for his accounts].” [ . . . ]

And this will was made today, on Tuesday, 8 Nisan, in the year 5402, here in the holy community of Verona.