Tsemaḥ David (The Sprout of David)

Thus spoke David, son of Isaac, son of Eliezer, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Menahem, son of Isaac, son of Obadiah, son of Isaac—known as “the wealthy one”—son of Elijah, known as “the holy one.” Due to Elijah’s tremendous purity and holiness, for seven nights after his death lamps were seen continuously burning over his grave. He was from the Tapuḥim family [“Apples”; an allusion to the name Pomis], of the tribe of Judah, from one of the four patrilineal families of distinguished lineage that the emperor Titus exiled from Jerusalem to Rome. After the death of that pious man, all the members of his household, every last one of them, left Rome and were scattered throughout the world. Nevertheless, most of them remained in Spoleto, a city in the region of Umbria. There the family grew, built houses and courtyards, planted vineyards, dug wells, and retained a broad patch of land for more than 420 years, according to an old book I found in the possessions of my father, of blessed memory.

However, in 5287 [the Hebrew numerical abbreviation for the year spells paz] [1527], two years after my birth, the gold [paz] ran out and only copper was left. For in this period, the Spaniards and Germans ransacked Rome, that proud and glorious city, and most of the surrounding area was likewise destroyed. From the sound of the terror, my father fell into the pit and was caught in the trap [see Jeremiah 48:44]. He planned to lead the exile and flee with all his possessions, on account of the desolation, destruction, famine, and sword [see Isaiah 51:19]. With the consent of the congregation of Spoleto, they sent forty mules loaded with goods to the fortified cities of Camerino and Civita: woolen garments, linen robes, as well as 700 litrin [a weight measure found in the Talmud] of highly purified silver, expensive vessels, delightful items [see Isaiah 2:16], precious stones, and pearls. However, his hopes were dashed, as the troops of Liga, led by the commander of Colona, plundered along every flight route, not letting any escape, and they raided all his goods, which were entirely lost. Had the Lord of hosts not left to us a remnant (Isaiah 1:9) of fields and houses, we would have been left crying out and begging for bread for our survival.

Those troops did not enter Spoleto, and nothing was taken from there. It was a day of trouble, and of trampling, and of perplexity (Isaiah 22:5) for my father, as all joy was removed from his heart, and he was left in a state of prolonged anguish. Despite all this, he did not sin [see Job 1:22] and never abandoned the fear of the Almighty [see Job 6:14]. Furthermore, he judged his deeds with righteousness [see Isaiah 11:4], and his feet did not slip [see Psalms 18:37] from the straight path, as he acted with truth and virtue; he was a righteous and whole-hearted man in his generations (Genesis 6:9). Even through the bad times, he remained quiet, trusting in the faithful God. I myself witnessed that those troubled days were like a hole of the asp [see Isaiah 11:8], a net spread for his feet [see Lamentations 1:13].

Following the sad events of my father’s life, all my days were full of hardship, [he was] a man of sorrows (Isaiah 53:3). For after the outbreak of troubles, he went to Bevagna, to inherit what was left of the property of his brother, of blessed memory. He ended up staying there for several years with all the members of his household, in a place where there were no Torah scholars other than himself, as he was proficient in the Talmud and an expert in all the Holy Scriptures, as well as a philosopher. O Lord, bind up the testimony, seal the instruction among my disciples (Isaiah 8:16). He also taught on occasion, albeit not regularly, due to the many distractions and quarrels with which he had to deal.

Eventually, I chose to pursue my studies by myself, both Hebrew and secular, and from my youth I was a large-boned ass, couching down between the sheep-folds (Genesis 49:14),¹ who analyzed halakhah without a study partner or a teacher.

Now, I had in my possession the great work, the Arukh,² in manuscript form on parchment, in an extremely old volume that was falling apart. The handwriting was the author’s, our honorable teacher and rabbi, Nathan, may his memory be for a blessing, who, according to tradition, was a scion of our family.³ Since I was able, through much hard work and effort, to understand this book, I agreed to publish a short version, in which I explained his words in three languages. I did something similar with R. David Kimḥi’s [1160–1235] Book of Roots, with its linguistic derivations. Afterwards, I got hold of Sefer ha-tishbi [a Hebrew lexicon; 1542] and Sefer ha-meturgeman [an Aramaic lexicon], both written by Elijah Ashkenazi [1469–1549], the great linguist, may he rest in peace. I extracted from these books all the useful material I could find, and out of all of it I composed this work, which I have called Tsemaḥ David, because I wrote it in my youth.

In 5292 [1532], my father left Bevagna and went to live in Todi, where he acquired fields and vineyards. There I studied all matters of secular knowledge for three straight years. I did not stray from the feet of my uncle, the great doctor, my rabbi and teacher, R. Yeḥiel Reḥavyah Alatino, of blessed memory. I gathered up his pearls of wisdom and from his wellsprings drew living water that can open the eyes of the blind. He was wise, mighty, and renowned in all lands; he had no equal. His maternal brother lives to this day in Ferrara; my teacher, R. Moses Alatino, may God protect him, a doctor and a genuine philosopher, who translated from the Holy Tongue into Latin the first part of [the Qanun of] Avicenna and Themistius’ paraphrase of [Aristotle’s] De Caelo. He has a wise son, who gives his father much joy; may God protect him, Amen.

In 5305 [1545], I went to the fine city of Perugia, to study and teach the words of the scholars and their puzzles, especially the works of Aristotle, Hippocrates, and Galen. I remained there for six and a half years until I was listed in the proclamations of the city and the university granted me the title of Artium et Medicinae Doctor. Immediately afterwards, I was called to Magliano, the major city of the region of Siena, which was ruled by Rome. I lived in that land—where I was paid a fair wage—for three consecutive years. During that period, Pope Paul IV came to power, and he issued decrees against our nation, for our sins. At this, my heart grew fearful and melted within me, and it felt like my soul had flown from me. For the pope’s commissaries quickly started a campaign against us; they entered Todi and sold and ransacked all they found in our house. They left me naked and plundered, as they perpetrated one breach after another. I was like a swallow or a bird that chatters; I was very angry, and my eyes failed with looking upward [see Isaiah 38:14]. My cry rose up to God [see Exodus 2:23], and He, blessed be His name, gave me an idea of how to obtain security, that I should enter the service of the great Conte Nicola Orsino, who was one of the mighty men of old, the men of renown (Genesis 6:4). I worked for him as a doctor for five years in three cities of refuge: Pitigliano, Sorano, and Sovana, an unhealthy place to live, due to its bad air. There I buried my queen, my right-hand side, the wife of my youth. She was the sister of men of piety and faith, who sat first in the kingdom (Esther 1:14) of knowledge and understanding. These were my teacher and rabbi, Eliezer, the scholar and excellent doctor, and my teacher and rabbi, his brother Isaac, the gaon and great philosopher, both of them heads of the priests from Viterbo. I also lost two sons in Sovana: my cords were broken and my tent spoiled [see Jeremiah 10:20], and I was left alone and desolate. [ . . . ] I subsequently had to enter the service of the ministers of the Sforza family, princes of the nation, a family from which cardinals emerged, and worked for them for three years.

After that, my services were requested by the community of Chiusi, a city under the command of the Grand Duke of Florence. However, the governor of that city prevented me from taking that position, by forbidding me from going there. Consequently, I went to Rome to ask for mercy and justice from Pope Paul IV [1476–1559], and I delivered my request in the form of a lengthy oration before him, the senior ministers, and many cardinals and countless other people. I found favor in his eyes and was granted all that I asked for. However, within a week the pope died in his sins, and Pius V, who replaced him, renewed all the enactments and appointments of Paul IV, thereby ruining the entire edifice I had constructed and nullifying everything I had achieved. Thus, in one moment I lost all that I had accumulated over many years. I was not at ease, neither was I quiet, [neither had I rest,] but trouble came (Job 3:26), and for a long period I was like a chased gazelle and like sheep that no one gathers (Isaiah 13:14), until I remarried in Ancona. My new wife came from a family of Kohanim [priests] from Lunel, a woman of valor, Speranza, who eased my suffering a little. However, the match was not successful in all respects, as I discovered that the dowry which her relatives had promised to give me, in the form of a trust, was in the possession of a certain merchant called Lewontim, who had betrayed us and fled. I pursued him from one place to another until I was able to bring him here, to the glorious city of Venice, which is full of people [see Lamentations 1:1] and full of justice [see Isaiah 1:21]. Yet I received from him only a very small sum and within a few days I was completely out of money. My deceitful enemies thought that I enjoyed an abundance of wealth and property, but God knows and He is witness that with my staff I passed over this Jordan (Genesis 32:11).⁴