This beautiful siddur (prayer book), following the Roman rite, was written by the great Italian scribe, Abraham Farissol (ca. 1451- ca. 1525). Farissol performed many responsibilities in the Jewish communities of northern Italy, but he was particularly sought after as a scribe. This siddur is distinguished by Farissol’s magnificent writing, on fine parchment.  

Farissol’s style is clear and elegant, following forms that are easier to read and write than older scribal writing. This style is clearly influenced by the new “humanistic script,” invented in the early 15th century and used by Christian scribes for the writing of Latin. You can also see examples of the fine decorative penwork—red filagree—that is found on so many pages of this work. Such decoration was common in manuscripts of this period, and it is found even in copies of the Gutenberg Bible. 

The lines that take up most of this page are the “morning blessings,” thanking God for the restoration of our strength and capacities each morning. The ninth one from the top of this sequence thanks God for “making me a woman and not a man,” a version quite different from that of common traditional siddurim, in which women thank God for “making me according to His will.”