Arba'a Turim - Cremona, 1558 - Copy of Rabbi David son of Rabbi Eliyahu Ba'al Shem of Worms, and of Rabbi Nathan ...

Arba'a Turim - Cremona, 1558 - Copy of Rabbi David son of Rabbi Eliyahu Ba'al Shem of Worms, and of Rabbi Nathan Adler of Frankfurt - With Glosses Handwritten by Rabbi Eliyahu Ba'al Shem
Arba'a Turim, by Rabbi Jacob ben Asher. Four parts: Orach Chaim, Yoreh De'ah, Even HaEzer and Choshen Mishpat. Cremona, 1558. Printed by Vincenzo Conti.
On the title page is an early handwritten ownership inscription of R. David son of R. Eliyahu Luantz of Worms: "G-d was gracious to me and gave me also this, David son of... R. Eliyahu Luantz of Worms". On the flyleaf is an ownership inscription that the book "Belongs to …R. Nathan son of R. Shimon Adler Katz" [R. Nathan Adler of Frankfurt]. On the sheets are about ten short glosses in early Ashkenazi script [16th/17th century], of rulings and customs, clearly written by a posek. Apparently these glosses are handwritten by R. Eliyahu Luantz, the "Ba'al Shem", Rabbi of Worms as evident from comparison to his handwriting; see previous item).
The kabbalist Rabbi Eliyahu Luantz (1664-1731), disciple of the Maharal of Prague was Rabbi and head of the yeshiva in Worms. Earlier, he had served in the rabbinate of Hanau, Fulda, Friedberg and Mainz. He became renowned as R. Eliyahu Ba'al Shem for his study of kabbalah and his writing of amulets according to practical kabbalah. One of his celebrated disciples was R. Yoel Ba'al Shem of Zamość, a leading kabbalist and hidden tsaddik, who was the teacher of the teacher of Rabbi Yisrael Ba'al Shem Tov of Medzhibozh, father of the Chassidic movement.
R. Nathan HaCohen Adler (1741-1800) was born in Frankfurt am Main to R. Ya'akov Shimon Adler. He was an outstanding Torah scholar and had vast knowledge of kabbalah. He headed the yeshiva he established in his home in Frankfurt and was the close teacher of R. Moshe Sofer, author of the Chatam Sofer who mentions his teacher frequently in his halachic and Kabbalistic books referring to him as "My close teacher, the famed pious Torah genius the great 'eagle'" ["eagle" is a poetic phrase alluding to the meaning of the name Adler], "My teacher, the pious Cohen", etc. Rabbi Adler was pursued by his fellow Frankfurt populace causing him great suffering. They even prohibited him to establish a minyan in his Beit Midrash which was conducted according to his special Kabbalistic customs. For a while, he served as Rabbi of Boskovice but afterwards he returned to his home and his Beit Midrash in Frankfurt.
[1 blank], 117 leaves; [1 blank]; 91 leaves; [1 blank], 54 leaves [a signature of 5 blank leaves was bound originally between leaves 55-59]; 139 leaves [leaves 133-139 are lacking and replaced with facsimiles]. Total of 12 missing leaves, 5 at the end of Even HaEzer and 7 at the end of Choshen Mishpat. 30 cm. Good-fair condition. Some leaves with open tears, restored with paper and facsimile. Stains, restored wear damages. New elaborate leather binding.