Berit Avraham ... etc. [ברית אברהם] ... [וכו'.]

Library at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, CAJS Rar Ms 482. 1800. This is a multi-part manuscript consisting of a number of works, with many of them specifically narrative-aligned, mystical, and some of them being somewhat controversial. The first work is a prayer for the success of Napoleon Bonaparte; it begins (while the first folio is clearly missing) with a prayer for Napoleon's success in battle, and so that he should sit on the throne of France and Italy; f. 3v-4r; possibly, this is coming on the heels of a decree by Napoleon in approximately 1808 for synagogues to recite prayers on his behalf. Following this is the work Berit Avraham, authored by [Gedaliah? manuscript damaged on writing] b. Avraham, who 'at 28 years old converted to Judaism from Christianity, and authored the text so God will grant him forgiveness and destroy the enemies of Israel' (translation of f. 7r); it is a variant of the recensioned texts among the Toledot Yeshu manuscripts, including the birth narrative of Jesus being from an illegitimate union, a presentation of Jesus as a scholar and sorcerer (ṿekishe-hayah Yeshu ben h. shanim halikho le-bet midrash ve-yatsa ḥarif 'ad me'od ... ve-lamad kol ḥakhmot she-ba'olam uve-milekhet kesafim [i.e. keshafim] hitsliaḥ me'od...; 'and when Jesus was five years old, he entered the house of study, and returned very sharpwitted ... and he studied all wisdoms in the world, and [specifically] the wisdom of sorcery', f. 9r); that Jesus stole the Ineffeble Name of God ('ve-hayah shem ha-meforash yoda'a kemo she-hem yod'im', and [Jesus] knew the Ineffable Name as they (i.e. the Elders of Egypt) knew it..., f. 9v); finishing with a prayer by the author for vengeance against the enemies of Israel and enemies of His (i.e. God's) name, such as Jesus and his disciples ('kemo Kriśṭuś Yeshu ṿe-Yoḥanan ṿe-Luḳ̣i (?) ṿe-Avi (?) ṿe-Mati ve-Eliaḳi ṿe-Paluś ṿe-Netser ṿe-Neoi (?) ṿe-Todos; f. 33r), after which a sacrifice will