Shaar HaShamayim Siddur – Siddur of the Shlah – First Edition – Amsterdam, 1717 – Segulah Book – Tehillim Volume ...

Shaar HaShamayim Siddur – Siddur of the Shlah – First Edition – Amsterdam, 1717 – Segulah Book – Tehillim Volume Belonging to Rabbi Shmuel Salant

Shaar HaShamayim siddur – prayers for weekdays, Shabbat and festivals, Yotzrot, Passover Haggadah, Tractate Avot, Tehillim and Maamadot. With Shaar HaShamayim – a kabbalistic commentary on the prayers, by R. Yeshayah HaLevi Horowitz – the Shlah. Includes an anthology of laws and customs, by the editor and publisher R. Avraham Segal Horowitz of Posen, great-grandson of the author. Amsterdam, [1717]. First edition. Two volumes, with siddur in one volume and Tehillim and Maamadot in a second volume.

Incomplete copy – both volumes lack leaves in several places (including approx. the first 20 leaves of the siddur, including the title page and approbations, as well as the last 139 leaves of the siddur, comprising the Torah readings, Shir HaYichud and Selichot for Monday and Thursday).

Most of the prayers in this siddur follow the Ashkenazi rite, apart from some prayers which were printed in both Ashkenazi and Sephardi rite side by side, as the author requested in his will (however, the editor and publisher did not in fact make all the changes to the text of the siddur requested by the author).

Praying from this siddur has the special segulah that the prayer will be accepted, as the Bach writes in his approbation to this siddur: "We have no doubt that when it is disseminated throughout the Jewish people, whoever prays from it will not have his prayer go unanswered". The kabbalist R. Naftali Katz, author of Semichat Chachamim, attributes this segulah to the author himself, the Shlah: "He was especially fond of this siddur, and he instructed his descendants to publish it in order to bring merit to the public by praying in this order with those kavanot. And there is a promise on his part that those who follow this order before Him Who hears prayer with all their strength and with those kavanot will not return emptyhanded…". This segulah is repeated by Rebbe Avraham Yaakov of Sadigura in his approbation to the third edition of the siddur (Warsaw 1882) and others including R. Yaakov Rabbi of Lublin and R. Yom Tov Lipmann Heller, the Tosafot Yom Tov.

The Baal HaTanya reputedly followed the kavanot of the Shlah in this siddur for his prayer service during his youth (Beit Rebbe, Berditchev 1902, p. 2, chapter 1).

The Tehillim volume belonged to R. Shmuel Salant, Rabbi of Jerusalem. His stamps appear on the title pages (two different stamps: one in square type and the other in the form of his signature). R. Shmuel Salant (1816-1909), known as a genius from his childhood. At the young age of seven, he travelled to study in the Torah centers of Lithuania. He studied in his youth in Salant together with R. Yisrael Salanter (founder of the Musar movement). At the age of 14, he was forwarded a letter discussing a complicated question pertaining to a divorce by his teacher R. Abele Poswoller head of the Vilna Beit Din, demonstrating the high regard leading rabbis had for his opinion already then. After his marriage with the daughter of R. Yosef Zundel of Salant, he immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1841 to serve as posek and rabbi of the Perushim community of disciples of the Vilna Gaon in Jerusalem. In his capacity as rabbi of Jerusalem, a position he held for close to seventy years, he founded the educational and charitable institutions in the city, established the Beit Din and strengthened the Ashkenazi community. He was renowned for his brilliance and his pragmatic approach to running all communal matters in Jerusalem and worldwide.

Stamps on leaves 34-35 of Tehillim: "Shmuel Kimchi".

Two volumes. Incomplete copies. Volume I (Siddur): 21-48, 50-335 leaves. Lacking 22 leaves at beginning (including title pages, approbations and introductions), leaf 49 (supplied by hand), and 139 last leaves with Torah readings, Shir HaYichud and Selichot for Monday and Thursday. Volume II (Tehillim and Maamadot): 2, 7-38, 43-46, 39-42, 47-109, 111-130; [1], 48 leaves. Lacking 9 leaves: leaves 3-6, 110 of Tehillim (with photocopy replacements), and last 4 leaves (49-52) of Maamadot. Leaves 39-42 of Tehillim bound out of sequence, after leaf 46. 21-21.5 cm. Varying condition of volumes. First volume in overall fair condition, some leaves in fair-good condition. Second volume in fair-poor condition. Many stains, including dark stains and wax stains. Traces of past dampness with mold in second volume. Heavy wear and many signs of heavy use to some leaves (mainly to first volume). Tears and open tears, affecting text of some leaves, partially repaired with tape. Large open tears to title page of Tehillim and other leaves, affecting title frame and text in many places, mostly repaired with paper filling (photocopy replacement for frame of Tehillim title page). Extensive worming to second volume, heavily affecting text, repaired with paper filling. New bindings.