Kairo. Iz putničkog pisma R. Obadja de Bertinoro iz 1489. godine

Abstract

Članak o Jevrejima Kaira deo je putopisa napisanog 1489. godine koji je pisao rabin Obadja de Bertinoro (1455-1520) na svom putu za Jerusalim. Putopis je 1863. godine u Lajpcigu objavio Senior Sachs pod nazivom "Zwei Briefe Obadja‘s aus Bartenuro aus dem Jahre 5248 und 5249" u Jahbuch für die Geschichte der Juden und des Judenthums, III. Bertinoro je bio gradić u provinciji Flori, u Italiji, koji je imao nekoliko stotina jevrejskih stanovnika. U toj maloj zajednici bilo je mnogo talmudskih učenjaka. Rabin Obadija (ime znači "sluga Boga") vrlo mlad je postao rabin i učitelj . Bio je nadaren govorničkom veštinom i umeo da piše lepo pa je tokom nekoliko godina postao poznat daleko izvan granica svoje rodne zemlje. U svojim ranim tridesetim godinama rabin Obadija odlučio je da se naseli u Svetoj zemlji. Pre odlaska 1486. godine već je napisao svoj komentar na svih šest odeljaka Mišne. Komentar daje tako potpuno i jasno objašnjenje svake Mišne pa su skoro sva naredna izdanja Mišne objavljivana sa ovim sjajnim komentarom. Rabin Obadija je krenuo put Svete zemlje u jesen 1486. godine i stigao na odredište 18 meseci kasnije. Sačuvan je izveštaj o njegovom živopisnom putovanju u obliku pisma koje je ovaj veliki učenjak poslao ocu u Bertinoro nakon dolaska u Jerusalim 1488. godine. Zbog iscrpnog opisa zemalja i njihovih jevrejskih stanovnika koji je posetio na putovanju, ovaj izveštaj je postao jedan od najvrednijih dokumenata o srednjovekovnom jevrejskom životu.

The article on the Jews of Cairo is part of a travelogue written in 1489 by Rabbi Obadiah de Bertinoro (1455-1520) on his way to Jerusalem. The travelogue was published in Leipzig in 1863 by Senior Sachs under the title "Zwei Briefe Obadja’s aus Bartenuro aus dem Jahre 5248 und 5249" in Jahbuch für die Geschichte der Juden und des Judenthums, III. Bertinoro was a small town in the province of Flori, Italy, which had several hundred Jewish inhabitants. There were many Talmudic scholars in that small community. Rabbi Obadiah (the name means "servant of God") became rabbi and teacher at a very young age. He was gifted with speaking skills and could write beautifully, so in a few years, he became famous far beyond the borders of his native country. In his early thirties, Rabbi Obadiah decided to settle in the Holy Land. Before leaving in 1486, he had already written his commentary on all six sections of the Mishnah. The commentary gives such a complete and clear explanation of each Mishnah that almost all subsequent editions of the Mishnah have been published with this great commentary. Rabbi Obadiah set out for the Holy Land in the fall of 1486 and arrived at his destination 18 months later. A record of his picturesque journey in the form of a letter sent by this great scholar to his father in Bertinoro after his arrival in Jerusalem in 1488 has been preserved. Due to the exhaustive description of the countries and their Jewish inhabitants he visited on the trip, this report became one of the most valuable documents about medieval Jewish life.