Letter to Netanel Trabotto: On Prayer

Introductory Note by A. J. S. Graziano

A letter from his honor R. Samuel Corcos, son of his honor R. Abraham, of blessed memory, a teacher in the holy community of Senigallia, which he sent to the gaon, his honor R. Trabotto, of blessed memory, regarding the issue of singers [in the synagogue] who repeat the word crown several times and also the word God and the like, and they would sing the priestly blessing. He asked the gaon Trabotto to issue a ruling, as in his opinion this is prohibited, against the view of his honor the late R. Isaac Norzi of Ancona, who lived in Senigallia at that time.

The Text of Corcos

O Tree, whose strength is beautiful, whose shade is comely, and whose fruit is sweet!

Lest I be suspected by a man of God, I therefore decided to open the ear of your excellency, the honor of the Torah, in clear language, through brief words, especially as you have already heard the basic facts of what occurred from the beginning to the end. The reason for my writing is because I heard that the matter was not fully presented before our master by the opposition, as they did not relate things as they were. Rather, on the contrary, they filled the paper on every side with lies and falsehood. And who am I, for on the festival eve when they repeated the name of God several times, I remained silent . . . even though the lead singer was warned about this on the previous year. On the following day, I summoned him with a calling of love and fondness . . . I said to him that the entire congregation was offended by what they did, that they must not revert to folly (Psalms 85:9) and not repeat crown so many times, but nothing is of any use with him. . . . The honorable R. Samuel Norzi, who should have reproved him, supported his opinion, and today in Senigallia he is called “the sender of strife” . . . and every single member of our community . . . constantly and copiously speaks in praise of our master, the lord, his divine honor R. Shabbetai Raphael Ḥay of Mondolfo, may the Rock preserve him. His uncle (from Pisarro) sent him a letter full of insults and abuse, especially for failing to heed the voice of teachers [of halakhah] and yet he turned his back on him. . . . He claims that all the rabbis of Italy have permitted it, to make the melody fit, that one may sing the name of God a hundred times in a row, and all the more so one may repeat the word crown. In our sins he also added more sorrow and shame to the desecration of God’s name that he committed, for the nations of the world say things such as, “is it possible that you do not respect the honor of the rabbi?” . . . And now may the power of my lord be increased . . . to open the eyes of those who transgress a second time . . . and to extinguish the fires of controversy so that they will not sing the Name of Heaven so many times in vain, even though they say that they do so in order to make the melody fit. May the question be replaced by an answer with the signature of the excellent men of the yeshiva . . .