Early Modern Musar in Print

Early Modern Musar in Print (EMMIP) is an online tool developed to grant easy access to bibliographical data about Jewish moralistic literature (musar) printed during the early modern period. It is a powerful resource that allows scholars both to find quick answers to precisely defined questions and to browse the data without determining the specific parameters of a query.

Currently, the EMMIP database comprises the basic bibliographical data of ca. 500 original compositions and over 2,100 entries for editions that fall under the rubric of musar. It is therefore the most comprehensive bibliographical list of Jewish moralistic writings to date.

The database is compatible with all major browsers. For best performance, we recommend using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Currently, the website is not optimized for mobile devices.

Defining the Corpus

The working hypothesis used for the compilation of the entries in the EMMIP database suggests that musar constitutes first and foremost a mode of thinking and a means of communication and not, as is commonly maintained, a literary genre. Accordingly, “books of musar” (sifrei musar) are considered very much like their verbal counterpart (divrei musar or “words of rebuke”) as literary expressions of what a particular author recommends as morally appropriate or inappropriate in a certain setting and for a certain target group.

The ideals conveyed in sifrei musar are therefore strongly determined by particular geographical, socio-historical, linguistic, and aesthetic contexts. At the same time, however, they frequently employ a certain standard repertoire of themes (such as repentance, the fear and love of God, humility, or holiness), topics (such as individual and communal conduct, the ritualization of everyday life, or emotional management), and rhetorical means that often adopt a didactic and intimidating tone.

Type and Scope of the Bibliographical Data

Early Modern Musar in Print is:

derivative, as it obtains its information from other bibliographical sources. These are mainly Yeshayahu Vinograd’s Thesaurus of the Hebrew Book (Jerusalem 1993–1995) and the National Library of Israel’s Bibliography of the Hebrew Book online catalogue, but it also includes information found in additional (early) modern works such as Shabbtai Bass’s Siftei Yeshenim (Amsterdam, 1680) and its second expanded edition by Uri Zvi Rubinstein (Żółkiew, 1805), Yehiel Ben Solomon Heilprin’s Seder ha-Dorot (Karlsruhe, 1769) and Ḥayyim Yosef David Azulai’s Shem ha-Gedolim (Livorno, 1774 and 1786), Isaac Benjacob’s Oṣar ha-Sefarim (Vilnius, 1880), Bernhard Friedberg’s Beit ‘Eqed Sefarim (Tel Aviv, 1960–?), and Marvin J. Heller’s multi-volume works The Sixteenth Century Hebrew Book (Leiden, 2004) and The Seventeenth Century Hebrew Book (Leiden, 2011). When digitised copies were available, or when the bibliographies provided unclear information regarding language(s), place of printing, year of publication, or author(s), original copies were consulted in various libraries.
enumerative, meaning that it refrains from more detailed descriptions and only offers the data that enables users to identify the precise edition of a work.
comprehensive, which is particularly the case due to the above-mentioned more inclusive understanding of musar. This definition is not intended to be final, but aims to create a basis for discussion to be negotiated and refined in exchange with the users of the database.
retrospective, as it documents works created in a closed timeframe. In its present form, the EMMIP database comprises musar books that were printed during the early modern era, as well as several works that were composed in early modernity but published only at a later stage. The earliest record is Jedaiah ben Abraham Bedersi’s didactic poem Beḥinat Olam (Mantua, 1474); the latest is Moshe Ḥayyim Luzzatto’s Yalkut Yedi’ot ha-Emet (Warsaw, 1936). The database contains works in Hebrew, bilingual editions, and both translations into and original works in vernacular languages, such as Yiddish, Judeo-Spanish, French, Latin, Portuguese, and Italian.