Manuscript. Contains an early Midrash about King Solomon and Asmodeus and halachic rulings. Sephardic script. The 15th century.
The Midrash about King Solomon and Asmodeus
Among the legends about the figure of King Solomon, there is a well-known one about the King's relationship with Asmodeus (the king of demons). As the legend goes, Asmodeus tossed King Solomon far away and ruled instead of him. The Midrash tells about King Solomon's travels and more. This Midrash appears already in the Talmud (Gittin 68) and during the Middle Ages, was developed and expanded. There are approximately sixty (!) different versions of the Midrash. In all these versions of the Midrash, the legend appears alone. However, in the manuscript before us, immediately after this legend, there is an additional one about a two-headed man whom Asmodeus pulls out of the ground and introduces to King Solomon. This attaching of the two legends parallels only the two versions that were recently found in the Cairo Geniza (from the 12th century); these versions however are written in Judeo-Arabic while the version before us is in Hebrew! An important revelation!
There are textual variations between the version before us and other versions of the legend (see Hebrew catalog).
The Midrash is written on a folded leaf (three pages). 18.5 cm.

Halachic rulings
The last page contains Halachic rulings handwritten in different script from the 15th century. On the margins of the page, two short comments, maybe by the writer himself. There is also an inscription that looks like an ancient signature. Condition: fair. Stains and tears.

Ancient leaves that had been taken out of the bindings of books. Originally, they were taken from the book 'Tikkun Yissachar' which contains laws and customs of various stimes of the year, the months and the holidays, the readings of the Torah and the Haftarot for all year, referring to the different customs of the communities of Safed. By Rabbi Yissachar Sussan Ma'aravi, a prominent rabbi of Safed of the 16th century. It is most likely that the leaves are from the first, extremely rare edition of the book which was printed during the author's lifetime in Constantinople in 1564. There are two leaves from the aforementioned book and on their reverse side there, an additional leaf is glued with handwritten novellae on the Avodah Zara Tractate, leaf 35. The script is not easily read and required the study of an expert in the field.
Another leaf which might also have been bound in the book, empty on one side (with single words in mirror writing). On its reverse side, long Ladino inscriptions which have not been studied.