Ohel Yakov Cracow 1599 – Rabbi Yaakov Koppelman of Brisk
Sefer Ohel Yaakov, commentary on the Sefer Ha’Ikarim, written by Rabbi Yosef Albo.
Printed at Yitzchok ben Aaron Prostitz printing house in Cracow 1599. Second edition.
Title within wreathed and garlanded architectural arch. Numerous woodcut charts, mathematical diagrams, and illustrations, with detailed engravings of constellations and orbits around the constellations. On pg. 12 is a drawing of a boat with two passengers. The boat is traveling east to west, and one passenger is walking west to east. This illustration has a deep philosophical meaning.
Rabbi Yaakov Koppelman wrote the Sefer during the time that he was in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1583; at that time, a terrible pandemic was raging in the city, the author wrote the Sefer, so in the chance that he would die in the pandemic, this sefer would commemorate him. In the introduction to the sefer written on Erev Pesach 1583 at the age of twenty-eight, the author wrote, "At this time I am in Frankfurt, and there is a terrible plague. I said in case I die in the city or if I leave the city and tragedy befalls me, as there is no entrance or exit from the city, I said to myself, I will turn to Hashem as he is the most merciful and author this sefer so that if I die, this should be a remembrance of my life. I intend that this sefer should educate those who study and enlighten my students who seek to understand the teachings of Rabbi Yosef Albo
Rabbi Yaakov ben Shmuel Bunim Koppelman of Brisk
of the gedolim of Ashkenazi Jewry (1555-1638), his contemporaries describe him as an outstanding Talmid Chacham and a true philosopher. In 1583, he authored this commentary on Sefer Ha’Ikarim, and in 1598, he wrote the Sefer Omek Halachah, a commentary on the Talmud that includes many detailed drawings to explain complex mathematical and difficult concepts, as well as a poetic translation of all five megillos into Yiddish. He also copied the sefer Mishlei Shualim.
His writings received the approbations of Gedolei Yisrael of his generation, amongst them the Maharsh"a and the Levush, two of the most influential Rabbonim of the generation.
