Testament (Verona)

We the undersigned went in to visit R. David ben R. Moses Verlengo, may God preserve him, and found him ill, lying on his bed, but his words and speech were lucid and correct and orderly in his mouth, with a clear mind and intention, hearing and answering, and we asked him, and he responded both affirmatively and negatively as appropriate, so that he spoke all his words with consciousness and intelligence, speaking fully with his mouth and [endorsing it with] his hand. And he said:

“Behold I am lying on my deathbed, and I do not know the day of my death, and I feel the gravity of my illness, and so as to order my affairs, I want to make a will for my household for the case of death; therefore, I request of you: be the witnesses to my will, about all the following things.”

And this is what came first:

“Because of my impending death, I order the appointment of guardians for my son, and from now henceforth, according to his coming and going, to supervise and oversee my son’s affairs, and I appoint you as guardians, the honorable R. Samuel ben R. Abraham Aboab, may God preserve him, and the splendid R. Abraham Israel Ashkenazi ben R. Joseph, may God preserve him, and my wife Mistress Colomba, blessed among women in the tent, these three guardians shall do as you see fit regarding the affairs of my son, may God preserve him.

And in truth I was of a mind to appoint another person, his honor R. Moses Verlengo, may God preserve him, because he is the guardian by right, but he is an old man, heavy in days, and I did not wish to perturb him, to give him the heavy burden of guardianship, to come and go on my son’s behalf, and for the same reason I did not appoint as guardian my dear beloved friend, the honorable R. Judah ben R. Solomon Candia of blessed memory, who is occupied with supporting his household and providing for his sons and daughters, to give them their portion, and it was not worthy that he should lose his time with this.

And I also order on account of my death that immediately after my demise, before I am buried, Mistress Colomba my wife will pay out and deposit with the honorable trustees everything in her possession belonging to the orphan Mordechai Isaac Anav, my grandson, may God preserve him, and this will be coin of the realm or a secure deposit, and the term of this deposit will be up to one month after my demise, and afterward it will return to Mistress Colomba my wife, and as the honorable trustees, may God preserve them, may see fit, because everything that I am doing is to keep gossip away from her, so that the aforementioned deposit will return to my wife, since there is a lien on it, with respect to her and with everything that was done between me and the aforementioned orphan.

And I also command in light of my impending death, that immediately after my death, accounts shall be settled with my aforementioned orphaned grandson. And he will defray the expenses of the new wooden ponticello [little bridge] for me, which was made for his house by me and on my orders. And their honors the trustees shall implement the rental contract for the house and the bottega [shop], made on the twelfth of Adar in the year 5399 [1639], and there I obligated myself and accepted a lien to provide his expenses at my table for seven years, as noted there according to every detail in every respect, and he will be paid for the rent of the aforementioned house and bottega, so that not a parcel of it falls to the earth, and my wife, Mistress Colomba, will obligate herself to it all, to ratify and implement that contract, so it will remain in its validity and power, especially to provide for the expenses of that orphan until the end of the aforementioned seven years, but on condition that the orphan Mordechai Isaac Anav, my aforementioned grandson, will submit to my wife’s discipline and do what she sees fit.

And I also order because of my death that immediately after my burial all my debts shall be paid, to the community endowment, to the synagogue, and to Jews as well as to gentiles, so that no person might have thoughts about me regarding money in my possession or in the possession of my heirs, that it is not my own, perish the thought, and my wife, blessed among women in the tent, shall make contributions for the repose of my soul.

And I also command because of my death, that all the time that Mistress Colomba my wife remains a widow and wishes to remain in my house without marrying another man, she will be sustained by my property, all her days of living in her widowhood in peace and tranquility and with her sons, may God preserve them, and I order them to submit to her discipline and heed her voice, whatever she commands, to be scrupulous in obeying the commandment of honoring their mother properly, and she has permission to continue the business of the bottega or other commerce, and another business if she wishes. From now and henceforth I leave her in control, and there is no one who can tell her what to do, only their honors, the guardians, may examine the accounts from her business whenever they wish, in order to supervise and oversee the affairs of the aforementioned orphans, and in the language of entreaty and request I ask in the way of grace and mercy from my wife and my children, that as long as they can, they will never make any partnership with anyone on the world, in any business or commerce that may be, as long as Mistress Colomba my wife continues the business of the shop as before, and I ask her not to sell the capital for less than it is worth, so as not to damage the orphans in their property, and I also ask her not to undertake any guarantee or security for any person for any sum at all, and if Mistress Colomba, my aforesaid wife, does not wish to remain a widow and marries another man, then she shall take and retain 500 scudi of the coin of Verona from my property, in addition to the sum of her marriage contract and dowry and the additions, and she has the right to do with them what she wishes.

And I also order, because of my death, that if, perish the thought, my wife Mistress Colomba, blessed among women in the tent, should die, and the children, my children, are young and unused to earning their livelihood, I request of my dear friend his honor R. Judah ben R. Solomon Candia, of blessed memory, that my orphaned children will eat at his table and pay for their expenses, and he, the merciful, will make them accustomed and educate them and lead them in the right way, and they will be properly respectful of his honor, and for that purpose the aforementioned R. Judah shall pay for twenty-two years of sustenance, as shall be arranged by their honors the trustees, and if the aforementioned R. Judah does not wish to or cannot support my orphaned sons, may God preserve them, for the expenses of his household in his house and within his walls, he has the right to leave them with whom he pleases, by his word they shall sojourn and by his word they shall travel, since I know the goodness of R. Judah’s heart, may God preserve him, that he would only leave them with a worthy and decent man, to supervise and keep an eye out for his good care of them, and with words of request, may my beloved and my companion, the honorable R. Judah, watch over my sons, may God preserve them, and supervise their affairs, as the hand of God is favorable for him, and may his full recompense be from the Lord.

And I also command, in light of my impending death, that their honors, the trustees, should make a just accounting of the expenses incurred because of the young man from the holy community of Kraków, by the name of Zalman Romanik, may God preserve him, with the arrival in Italy of the people from Ashkenaz who import lulavs, that they will return him and bring him to his home safely, and the young man Simon, my son, may God preserve him, if he is suitable and prepared to study Torah there in the holy community of Kraków, he should be permitted while he is there to study Torah and the commandments, and as see fit their honors the trustees and my honorable wife Mistress Colomba, blessed among women in the tent.”

Everything on the preceding page was commanded by his honor David ben Moses Verlengo, may God preserve him, because of his impending death, and he ordered that no man in the world should have the right, no single person or no group of people, to oppose or quarrel or doubt this entire will of his, neither all of it nor any part, and this is what we heard from the mouth of the testator the aforementioned R. David, and therefore we have written all of the above, to be a true testimony and justification; we have written it and signed our names here, in witness and in validation and in evidence to show the truth, with the agreement of the aforementioned R. David and with his knowledge, in that he wishes it to be strong and valid as a will according to the laws of the Jews, as though enacted with all the regulations of the sages of blessed memory and according to the laws of the nations, as if it had been enacted with all of their regulations and customs, which must be observed in their laws, and its validity will not be infringed upon or canceled because of any flaw in the world, with the cancelation of any law or ruling or custom that opposes this will, and with the support and authorization of every party to it with great strength and peace, and this was on Tuesday, 13 Iyar 5416 [May 17, 1656], here in the holy community of Verona, and everything is valid and current.