Letter to Netanel Trabotto: On Prayer

Samuel Corcos

Abraham Graziano

1645

Introductory Note by A. J. S. Graziano

A letter from his honor R. Samuel Corcos, son of his honor R. Abraham, of blessed memory, a teacher in the holy community of Senigallia, which he sent to the gaon, his honor R. Trabotto, of blessed memory, regarding the issue of singers [in the synagogue] who repeat the word crown several times and also the word God and the like, and they would sing the priestly blessing. He asked the gaon Trabotto to issue a ruling, as in his opinion this is prohibited, against the view of his honor the late R. Isaac Norzi of Ancona, who lived in Senigallia at that time.

The Text of Corcos

O Tree, whose strength is beautiful, whose shade is comely, and whose fruit is sweet!

Lest I be suspected by a man of God, I therefore decided to open the ear of your excellency, the honor of the Torah, in clear language, through brief words, especially as you have already heard the basic facts of what occurred from the beginning to the end. The reason for my writing is because I heard that the matter was not fully presented before our master by the opposition, as they did not relate things as they were. Rather, on the contrary, they filled the paper on every side with lies and falsehood. And who am I, for on the festival eve when they repeated the name of God several times, I remained silent . . . even though the lead singer was warned about this on the previous year. On the following day, I summoned him with a calling of love and fondness . . . I said to him that the entire congregation was offended by what they did, that they must not revert to folly (Psalms 85:9) and not repeat crown so many times, but nothing is of any use with him. . . . The honorable R. Samuel Norzi, who should have reproved him, supported his opinion, and today in Senigallia he is called “the sender of strife” . . . and every single member of our community . . . constantly and copiously speaks in praise of our master, the lord, his divine honor R. Shabbetai Raphael Ḥay of Mondolfo, may the Rock preserve him. His uncle (from Pisarro) sent him a letter full of insults and abuse, especially for failing to heed the voice of teachers [of halakhah] and yet he turned his back on him. . . . He claims that all the rabbis of Italy have permitted it, to make the melody fit, that one may sing the name of God a hundred times in a row, and all the more so one may repeat the word crown. In our sins he also added more sorrow and shame to the desecration of God’s name that he committed, for the nations of the world say things such as, “is it possible that you do not respect the honor of the rabbi?” . . . And now may the power of my lord be increased . . . to open the eyes of those who transgress a second time . . . and to extinguish the fires of controversy so that they will not sing the Name of Heaven so many times in vain, even though they say that they do so in order to make the melody fit. May the question be replaced by an answer with the signature of the excellent men of the yeshiva . . .

Senigallia today, Thursday 27 Heshvan. There is a well of living water (Genesis 26:19) (the parasha of Toldot), year 5406, Samuel, may the Rock preserve him, son of his honor R. Abraham Corcos of blessed memory, who writes out of need.

Translated by
Jeffrey M.
Green
.

Credits

Samuel Corcos and Abraham Graziano, “Letter to Netanel Trabotto, from Shmuel ben Abraham Corcos” (letter, Senigallia, 1645). Published as: “Letter to Netanel Trabotto with a Preface by Abraham Joseph Shlomoh Graziano” in La pratique musicale savante dans quelques communautes juives en Europe aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, ed. Israel Adler (Paris: Mouton, 1966), pp. 258–259, no. 158.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

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Creator Bio

Samuel Corcos

1500–1600

The Corcos family originated from the town of Corcos in the province of Valladolid, Castile. After the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, branches of the family became established in Fez and Italy. Very little is known about Samuel ben Abraham Corcos, who was rabbi of Senigallia, a port town on Italy’s Adriatic coast. In 1644, Corcos formally objected to the practice of his synagogue’s choir, led by Mordecai della Rocca, of embellishing prayers with additional repetitions, including that of God’s name, which had recently become popular in Pesaro.

Creator Bio

Abraham Graziano

ca. 1620–ca. 1684

Abraham Joseph Solomon Graziano was born in Pesaro. He subsequently studied in Rome and Modena and was ordained in 1647. He first served as a member of the rabbinic court (bet din) in Modena and later became the city’s rabbi. His lenient halakhic rulings at times aroused opposition. Graziano signed his name Ish ger (“a strange man”), an acronym of the first letters of his name to denote that he was a stranger in Modena. Graziano was a collector of books and manuscripts, and his signature appears in numerous books found in Jewish libraries around the world. Most of Graziano’s halakhic rulings, including one in Italian, remain in manuscript or are cited in other contemporary works. Graziano also wrote numerous poems and an elegy for his brother, who died in 1648. Graziano recorded the letters of Samuel Isaac Norzi, Samuel Corcos, and Netanel Trabotto on the choral controversy in Senigallia.

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