Manuscript, Siddur Kavanot HaAri – Europe, 18th Century – Menorahs (Segulah Against Plagues), Tables and Ornaments ...

Manuscript, Siddur Kavanot HaAri – Europe, 18th Century – Menorahs (Segulah Against Plagues), Tables and Ornaments – Copied by a Scribe from the Siddur of "the Maggid of Skolye"

Manuscript, Siddur Kavanot HaAri, with kabbalistic commentaries and kavanot, following the redaction of R. Meir Poppers; prayers for weekdays, Shabbat, festivals and 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].
Neat Ashkenazic script (square, semi-cursive and cursive). Neat copying by a skilled scribe; [14] leaves at the beginning of the manuscript were presumably added by a different scribe.
On leaf 90, two menorahs which serve as segulah against plagues (as part of the Tikkun against plagues which begins on leaf 88): a LaMenatze'ach Menorah and an additional menorah comprising the initials of Psalm 91 (starting with Psalms 90:17 – Viyhi Noam).
On p. 60b, fine geometric ornament with kavanot for the Shabbat meals (the leaf was written upside down).
On p. 55a, the scribe writes at the beginning of one paragraph: "I copied this from the siddur of the maggid of Skolye, and he heard it from the maggid R. Chaim of Tarni…". He later writes again: "From R. Chaim of Tarni…". We were not able to ascertain the identity of the Maggid of Skolye who wrote a Siddur Kavanot HaAri, yet two suggestions can be considered: the inscription may be referring to R. Shlomo Lutsker (d. 1813), close disciple of the Maggid of Mezeritch, who edited and published his teacher's book Maggid Devarav LeYaakov. He reputedly served as maggid in Skol (Sokal). In his approbation to the book Dibrat Shlomo (Zhovkva, 1848), the Chozeh of Lublin refers to him as "R. Shlomo, maggid of Skol…". A second possibility is that the inscription is referring to R. Meir of Skolye (Skole; d. 1738), a Torah scholar in the famous Brody kloiz (see: Arim VeImahot BeYisrael, VI, Jerusalem 1955, pp. 60, 74, 340).
The identity of the maggid R. Chaim of Tarni mentioned here is likewise unclear (R. Yosef Yuspa Segal in his book Noheg KaTzon Yosef, laws of Shabbat, section 23, quotes teachings he heard from R. Chaim, reprover of Tarni).
P. 55b contains a prayer to be recited at the Western Wall – the scribe mentions his teacher's practice of visiting the Western Wall every Shabbat, a practice which drew the opposition of all the Ashkenazi rabbis of Jerusalem (this prayer was only copied in some of the Ashkenazi manuscripts of Siddur HaAri).

[14] leaves; 11-145, 145-157, [1], 158-201 leaves (original foliation ends with leaf 168, rest of foliation in pencil, from a later period). Leaves marked 198-200 erroneously bound at the end, originally intended to be before leaf 162. 18.5 cm. Overall good-fair condition. Stains, including dampstains. Worming. Marginal tears to some leaves, affecting text in several places, repaired in part with paper and tape. Early parchment binding, with worming and blemishes (repaired).

Reference: Batsheva Goldman Ida, Hasidic Art and the Kabbalah, Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2018. The present manuscript is photographed on pp. 47 and 50.
The manuscript is photographed in: Uri Kroizer, Yair Harel et al. (editors), 101 Sacred Hebrew Songs, All Times, Sabbath, Life Cycle, Year Cycle, Jerusalem: Snunit, [2017], p. 93.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, EE.011.032.

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.