Archivio di Stato di Modena, Archivio per Materie, Inquisizione, Causae Hebreorum, busta n. 247, fascicolo n. 25 –December 3 and 10, 1636.

Excerpt from the verbal evidence by Aaron Berechia da Modena, December 3

Never would I have believed that these books were forbidden and that it is not possible to own them, because for hundreds of years we have owned them, as have many of Inquisitors throughout many Inquisitions; and never have we seen their confiscation.  The same books are in Rome; and there are Christians and Neophytes who know Hebrew very well, and we never heard of such prohibitions as in Rome or that these books were considered evil, not just books that contain Talmudic teachings, but the majority of books, for example Rav Alfasi, Turim, Rabot, Mishnayot, Maimonides, Kim<h>i and Rabbi Salomone Attias, as widespread in the world before the burning of Talmud.

Excerpt from the verbal evidence by Aaron Berechia da Modena, December 10.

I do not have anything else to say, but because the Holy Inquisition tolerates us in its States, consequently we are also allowed to own these books, which deal with our ceremonies, because it is impossible for us to live in these countries if we do not have books that teach us the principles of our faith, and although Vostra Signoria told us that Clemente VIII promulgated the bull that banned a number of books from the Jews, to my knowledge this bull has never been enforced, neither were the books confiscated from the Jews. Furthermore, even [Christian] preachers sometimes cite the Shulchan Aruch, Rav Alfassi, or similar books to convince the Jews [to convert] and they could not do this if we would be prohibited to read or to own these books.

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