Manuscript, Siddur Kavanot HaAri – Europe, 18th Century – Glosses and Corrections

Manuscript, Siddur Kavanot HaAri – Europe, 18th Century – Glosses and Corrections

Manuscript, Siddur Kavanot HaAri, with kabbalistic commentaries and kavanot, following the redaction of R. M. Poppers; including: prayers for weekdays, Shabbat, festivals and the High Holidays; daily conduct; kavanot for ritual immersion; order of study and Tikkun Chatzot; Passover Haggadah; counting of the Omer and order of Hakafot; kavanot for marriage, Brit Milah and other mitzvot; and more. [Europe, ca. 18th century].
Ashkenazic semi-cursive and cursive script, typical of the 18th century. Close writing, with deletions and interlinear emendations and additions (some of these emendations and additions are in a different hand to that of the scribe). The siddur was written by a kabbalist who used it frequently (as evident from the many stains and candle wax stains).
Leaf 167 (added later by the owner of the siddur, before Seder HaAvodah) contains a note regarding a common error found in siddurim of the Arizal, where there are four stages in the service of the High Priest on Yom Kippur, instead of three, as appears correctly in the present manuscript.
Between the leaves pertaining to Seder night is a folded leaf with additional kavanot for the Four Cups and more, presumably used by the kabbalist who owned the siddur.
The manuscript ends with: "Sod HaSefirah" (pp. 178a-181a), a prayer to be added by the prayer leader in Shema Kolenu in a besieged town (pp. 182a-182b), an amulet for a difficult labor (p. 183b), and a prayer for a barren woman (p. 184a).
[185] leaves (penciled foliation. Unnumbered leaf between leaves 105-106. Leaves 52 and 177 blank). 20.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains, including dampstains. Closed and open tears and worming to several leaves (two leaves with blemishes and large open tears), affecting text, repaired in part with paper. On first leaf, stamp of "Jews' College London". New leather binding.
Provenance:
1. Jews' College London, Ms. 99. See: Catalogue of the Hebrew Manuscripts in the Jew's College, London, Oxford, 1886, p. 30.
2. Christie's New York, 23 June 1999, lot 109.
3. The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, EE.011.025.

Manuscripts of Siddur HaAri from Ashkenazi Countries in the Gross Family Collection
One of the works which assumed a unique style in Ashkenazi countries was the siddur with kavanot of the Arizal. This siddur was brought to print, and the editions issued by Chassidic kabbalists gained special prominence: Siddur HaAri, Zhovkva 1781 – printed by the Torah scholars of the Brody Kloiz; Siddur R. Asher Margaliot – printed in Lviv 1788; Siddur R. Shabtai of Rashkov – printed in Korets 1794; and others.
There is an interesting difference between the printed siddurim and the manuscript siddurim known to us (our acknowledgments to R. Yosef Avivi who raised this distinction): the printed siddurim all follow the version of the Zhovkva 1781 edition, which is the text from Mishnat Chassidim. In contrast, the manuscript siddurim comprise the text with the redaction of R. Meir Poppers from the Siddur Or Penei Melech, compiled in 1654. This siddur is actually the prototype of Ashkenazi Arizal siddurim in manuscript form.
Despite their similarities, there are differences between the various manuscripts of Siddur Kavanot HaAri, and occasionally significant ones. These differences are seen in the various additions which the writer – a kabbalist in his own rite in most cases – chose to include, and sometimes in the glosses which were added over the course of the years, and obviously also in the layout, the illustrations and the like.
Presented here is an impressive collection of 18th-century manuscript siddurim with kavanot of the Arizal, from the Gross Family Collection. These manuscripts were scribed in the geographic region and during the era of the advent of Chassidut, and serve as prominent and impressive exemplars of the Ashkenazi Arizal siddurim copied in manuscript at the time.