Manuscript, Responsa Pundak DeAvraham, novellae on the Talmud and Rambam in question and answer form, by R. Avraham Avrel Yosef of Metz and Worms, disciple of the Pnei Yehoshua and Rabbi Yehonatan Eibeshitz. [Metz, Cheshvan 1781].

At the beginning of the volume, on the verso of the title page, is mounted an original letter of ordination handwritten and signed by R. Yehonatan Eibeshitz, Rabbi of Metz, who praises the yeshiva student R. Avraham Avrel and ordains him with the title "chaver". Metz, Av [1745].

"I elevate a young man from the nation… who studied with us in our yeshiva… and did not budge from the tent of Torah, and he dwelled between my shoulders in the inner dwellings and chambers of knowledge, until his Torah study reached the level of the expert young men. And Avraham will certainly be like one of the respected early authorities, for his teaching is clear and his dialectical ability is strong, posing deep questions and answering them. And therefore I saw fit to honor him before my people's elders and to give him a certificate to glorify and honor him so that it be known that he is worthy of honor and has an understanding and examining heart. So his name will no longer be called Avraham, but rather the chaver R. Avraham Avrel son of R. Meir…
Yehonatan son of R. Nata, dwelling here in Metz and its suburbs".

On top of the letter by R. Yehonatan Eibeshitz and the leaf the letter is mounted on, appear inscriptions handwritten by the famous R. Aharon Worms, son of R. Avraham Avrel, telling of his deceased father and his greatness in Torah study. He also writes that he published a few of his Torah novellae in his name at the end of Part I of his Meorei Esh (printed in Metz, 1790; see there, leaves 76-77). In the middle of his inscription he copies the text of the author's gravestone, which states that he passed away in Cheshvan 1786 at the age of 67.

Neat Ashkenazic cursive script, with titles in square script (copied by a scribe, or by the author himself). Marginal glosses in several places (by the author or by his son R. Aharon Worms). The present work is an edited work prepared for press, including an index at the end of the book with references to page numbers of the manuscript, including a table of contents, and an index of references to Talmudic passages, Rashi and Tosafot, both with rhyming titles. At the beginning of the manuscript is a decorated title page, with rhyming text.

Pundak DeAvraham includes clarifications of Talmudic passages and novellae on the Rambam, in styled prose, presented as a dialogue between two brothers. In fact, both questions and answers were written by the author, as alluded to in the rhyming text on the title page: "Avraham is one and there is no second to count; the work was constructed doubly from his spirit, as two brothers…". Each section of the work is titled with abbreviations, the key to which is given in the preface: "Tell me, Avraham", and "Avraham said". The author's son R. Aharon Worms (dayan and yeshiva dean in Metz, author of Meorei Esh) is referred to in the introduction by his initials "Eshel – Aharon Shalman Lieberman".

In his interesting introduction, the author gives a brief and enigmatic account of the history of his family, parents, relatives, wife and offspring. At the end of the introduction, he signs with a chronogram for Parashat Lech Lecha (Cheshvan) 1781 – "Avraham, called Avrele, son of R. Meir of Worms, my city of birth and home of my fathers, the great attendants and officials who performed public service faithfully, family and parents. May the important woman be blessed beyond women in the tent… my mother, aunt of the deceased… communal leader of the region… R. Moshe Blin".

In the work, he deals at length with the positions of his great teacher R. Yehonatan Eibeshitz, quoting both from his books and his oral teachings which he heard firsthand, for example: "I remembered that I heard this reasoning firsthand – as printed in his novellae to the laws of Niddah – from our master and teacher, the true Gaon R. Yehonatan, to explain the topic…" (p. 2b). Likewise, he quotes other contemporary rabbis and his peers.

The author,
R. Avraham Avrele Yosef Worms, was born ca. 1720 in Worms and studied in Metz, while the Pnei Yehoshua and R. Yehonatan Eibeshitz were serving as Rabbi and yeshiva dean. In the introduction to the work, he tells of his great masters in the Worms, Fürth and Metz yeshivas: "Ever since I matured, I studied under my teachers, going from one yeshiva to another in my youth and serving the great rabbis, namely R. Baruch Charif of Fürth, the author of Pnei Yehoshua Rabbi of Metz, where I was one of a number of his close students in the great yeshiva in this land to which I came from Worms…" (i.e., he was one of the yeshiva students that the Metz community arranged to support at public expense; the Pnei Yehoshua served as Rabbi and yeshiva dean of Metz between 1734-1741, and was succeeded by R. Yehonatan Eibeshitz between 1741-1750).

He goes on to tell of his intimacy with his great teacher R. Yehonatan Eibeshitz, "head of the entire diaspora, Yehonatan who very insightfully spread Torah throughout the Jewish people. And I merited a portion from the heavenly table, I tasted of the honeycomb of Yehonatan and my eyes were enlightened with his true Torah teachings, and with effort I succeeded…".

Following his marriage, R. Avrele lived in Metz for the rest of his life. He was a great Torah scholar, but always concealed his wisdom. His teacher R. Yehonatan Eibeshitz alludes to this in the present letter of ordination. The author himself tells in his introduction of his practice to conceal his efforts in Torah study: "Since then I have never stopped studying, dwelling in the depths of halachah with intense love and desire, but my efforts were always private; no man [Adam] knew hiding [Chava], and I concealed myself in apparent laziness, not even revealing from my heart to my mouth…". His son R. Aharon Worms also writes of "the reason why he concealed his Torah, as he writes in the introduction… It was not known that he was sharp and proficient, and his inside was not apparent on the outside, as externally he appeared like any totally unlearned layman, because he profited from his own labor from his marriage until his death… If he had seen that he could support leaving business to study constantly he would have enjoyed it more, and he would doubtless have attained a rabbinic position and been a famous halachic decisor…". His grave in Metz states: "A righteous man who studied Torah for its own sake; this one has acquired wisdom; he delved into its depths and his arms held faithfully… His name is R. Avraham Yosef son of R. Meir of Worms… His years were sixty-seven… and he passed away on the 21st of Cheshvan of this year, 1786".

To the best of our knowledge, the present work has never been published.