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The book Ma'agal Tov is essentially the personal diary of Rabbi Chida, in which he recorded the events that occurred during his travels to European countries on a mission from the Hebron community. This journey lasted for about five years, from 1753 to 1758. Later, he continued writing about his second trip to Europe, which took place from 1772 to 1778. The initial purpose of this diary was to document the miracles and kindnesses of Hashem that occurred during his mission. However, over time, he began to include other personal experiences and the journal expanded, especially when he wrote about his second journey, becoming more of a general diary. (Ma'agel Tov, Hakdamah, p. 13-14)

In my edition of the Ma'agel Tov of the Chida (Shira-Mishor, Rabbi Assaf Raviv), in the introduction, it does not give any information on why the Chida chose especially for his sefer to be called "the good circle" (English for Ma'agel Tov). Does anyone know why the Chida chose for this title and what the meaning behind it is?

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    Circuit is probably more of an interpretation than a translation so Ive edited to keep it simple: circle
    – Rabbi Kaii
    Commented Nov 17 at 21:19
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    journals.openedition.org/bcrfj/4702?lang=en here it's translated as "the good tour", which seems to indicate the journey recorded in the book.
    – Harel13
    Commented Nov 17 at 21:22
  • Thanks @RabbiKaii. That seems better yes. Maybe it lies in the word maagel
    – Shmuel
    Commented Nov 17 at 22:06
  • @Harel13 that sounds more logical tbh. But do you know why the Chida chose this as a title?
    – Shmuel
    Commented Nov 17 at 22:07
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    @Shmuel I don't understand the question. The book describes his travels, and it seems it's named after his travels. The "good" part probably refers to the journey being positive overall.
    – Harel13
    Commented Nov 17 at 22:14

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The name of the book is from Proverbs 2:9, and the literal meaning (in the Biblical Hebrew sense) is "good path" (not "good circle"). Since there is no further explanation of the name in the short introduction, I can only guess the reason is that a reference to a path is appropriate for a travelogue.

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  • Good find. The Lechem Shamayim explains Ma'agel Tov to mean: "מישרים כל מעגל טוב. זהו עיקר כל התורה וכל המדות אם אין יושר תפוג תורה ויצא משפט מעוקל. לכן צריך להזהר עוד בין בלימוד בין במעשה שלא לנטות מקו היושר ואגרא דשמעתא סברא ישרה' - do you maybe know how this fits in with writing a sefer with ones travels in it?
    – Shmuel
    Commented Nov 18 at 19:29
  • @Shmuel I don't see any specific connection there. (By the way - Lechem Shamayim is by Rabbi Yaakov Emden. Not the same as Lechem Min HaShamayim by the Chida. It might be interesting to find what the Chida says on this verse, but I found nothing in his Chomat Anach.)
    – b a
    Commented Nov 18 at 21:31

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