Title

Description

This ledger contains the record of 146 circumcisions, spanning close to sixty years, in which Rabbi Mazal-Tov Sanguineti participated either as mohel (circumciser) or as sandek (the person honored with holding the baby boy in his lap during the circumcision). Written in poetic Hebrew, the entries record 143 circumcisions which he himself performed in Modena and neighboring towns and three circumcisions in which he served as the sandek [image 5-7]. The entries record the name of the child being circumcised, the child’s father’s name, and the name of the sandek. Many of the circumcisions recorded were performed upon members of Rabbi Mazal-Tov’s family, including his own sons and grandsons.

The first entry is dated 25 Tamuz, 5509 [July 11, 1749], and the final entry is dated 24 Tishrei, 5569 [October 15, 1808]. Rabbi Mazal-Tov Sanguineti first records those circumcisions in which he served as the sandek [Images 5-7] and those in which he served as the mohel [Images 53-99]. He only used the word sandek once, preferring to write that the circumcision was performed “on the lap of” and then naming the sandek.

The record of the first circumcision he performed describes his initiation into the profession:

Blessed is the L-rd who created us for his honor… And generation after generation we accepted this commandment with joy… My master my father my esteemed noble teacher, the crown of my head, with great self-sacrifice performed this commandment from his youth into his old age. He also wished to initiate me to perform this commandment in his lifetime. And he placed me in his stead to circumcise the son of Aharon Neḥemiyah on the lap of my brother-in-law Morenu [Our Teacher] Yom-Tov Sanuiniti. And I am obligated to bless He who sustained me and gave me life that I reached this milestone, today, the 25^th of Adar, 5511 [March 11, 1751]. And this is a good sign for the child bears the same name as me Mazal-Tov.... [Image 53]

Azariyah Ḥayim Sanguineti’s brother Morenu Avraham Netanel Sanguineti is mentioned, and it is through these entries that we learn the surname of the circumciser. [Image 66 & 91]

Rabbi Mazal-Tov records the birth of his children:

• His son Rabbi Azariyah Ḥayim who was named after Rabbi Mazal-Tov’s father [who was the author of Olah Ḥadashah (Leghorn, 1838) and was apparently at one time the rabbi of Modena]. [Image 67]
• His son Refael who was circumcised on the lap of Rabbi Mazal-Tov’s brother-in-law Elazar Rivigo. [Image 76]
• His son Aharon Berakhiyah, whom he named after the Kabbalist, Rabbi Aharon Berakhiyah of Modena. The circumcision was done on the lap of his brother Mordekhai [Images 77-78].
• His daughter Brakhah Luna who died as a child. [Image 62]

Rabbi Mazal-Tov mentions his brother-in-law Imanuel Formiggini [Image 57], and his brother-in-law Shmuel Norzi of Mantua [Image 61].

Rabbi Mazal-Tov’s brother-in-law Yom-Tov Sanguineti was supposed to perform a certain circumcision. Since his arm was broken, it was performed by Rabbi Mazel-Tov himself. It was apparently common for a mohel who filled in for another mohel to reciprocate by allowing the other mohel to perform a circumcision that he was supposed to do. Here Rabbi Mazal-Tov explicitly writes that he did not have such an agreement with his brother-in-law. [Image 75, Entry 65]

Among the family names mentioned in the ledger are: Archivolti (ארקיוולט), Corinaldi (קורינאלדי), Lattes (לאטיס), Nachmani (נחמני), Norzi (נורצי), Raba (רבא), Tisa (טיסאו/טיסא), Vitali (פיטאלי), ,פאניאה, ריויגו ,פומיזני קינטו, and Urbani (אורבני).

Apparently, two of the circumcisions were performed outside of Modena, in the following towns: Novellara (נובלארה), 25 km. from Modena [image 61]; and Mortantio(?) (מורטאנטיוא) [image 85]. The following additional localities are mentioned, apparently as the places of origin of some of the fathers: Ferrara (פירארהא), Mantova (מנטובה), Reggio Emilia (ריגיו), and Torino (טורינו).

A product of a cooperation agreement between the Russian National Library and Touro University’s Project Zikaron in 2019. This pinkas is part of the Günzburg Manuscript Collection at the Russian National Library in Moscow. This overview and the accompanying annotated transcription were made by Rabbi Yitzchok Stroh of Brooklyn, New York, in 2022.

Category

Year of Publication/Creation

1749-1808

Language(s)

Hebrew

Geographic Places

• Modena, Italy (image 1)
• Novellara, Italy (image 61)