Mikdash Melech – Amsterdam, 1752 – Kabbalistic Glosses Handwritten by Rabbi Moshe Shlomo of Tolochin, Disciple of ...

Mikdash Melech – Amsterdam, 1752 – Kabbalistic Glosses Handwritten by Rabbi Moshe Shlomo of Tolochin, Disciple of the Gaon of Vilna, Some Signed – Gloss Mentioning His Teacher the Gaon of Vilna – Unpublished Glosses
Mikdash Melech, commentary on the Zohar, Part III (Vayikra), by R. Shalom Buzaglo. Amsterdam, [1752]. First edition.
Copy of the kabbalist R. Moshe Shlomo of Tolochin, disciple of the Gaon of Vilna, with dozens of his handwritten kabbalistic glosses, some lengthy. Most of the glosses appear in the margins; the particularly lengthy glosses were written on the blank leaves at the beginning of the book (four handwritten pages). The glosses were never published.
Some of the glosses are signed with initials: "N.L.M.Sh." = so it seems to me, Moshe Shlomo.
In one of the lengthy glosses at the beginning of the book, R. Moshe Shlomo mentions his teacher the Gaon of Vilna: " And see in the writings of my teacher R. E. of Vilna in the commentary on…".
R. Moshe Shlomo son of R. Yitzchak of Tolochin, a maggid in Vilna and an outstanding kabbalist, a disciple-colleague of the Gaon of Vilna in Kabbalah and the one who arranged his kabbalistic writings. In the list of their father's prominent disciples in the foreword to Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim, the sons of the Gaon of Vilna rank R. Shlomo of Tolochin as the fifth. They relate that their father taught him Zohar and Sefer Yetzirah, and explained to him anything he found difficult in the writings of the disciples of the Arizal. They also mention that there were teachings the Gaon of Vilna did not reveal to him, and that the Gaon later regretted this, saying that R. Shlomo was exceptionally G-d fearing from youth. R. Avraham Danzig, author of Chayei Adam, attested that R. Moshe Shlomo was extremely well versed in Kabbalah, to the extent that the Gaon of Vilna declared him fitting to be taught Torah secrets.
R. Moshe Shlomo was an outstanding kabbalist even before coming to Vilna. After he began studying under the Gaon of Vilna, he became his close disciple in kabbalah, meriting to receive oral teachings from him, to the point that R. Shmuel Luria, who published his book Shaar HaShirim (Warsaw 1890), called him "a disciple-colleague of the Gaon of Vilna in Kabbalah". Apart from being one of the closest disciples of the Gaon of Vilna, he was very active in disseminating his teachings, transcribing the writings of the Gaon of Vilna on kabbalah from the original manuscripts, arranging them and complementing them with his glosses. In fact, there is almost no composition by the Gaon of Vilna on Kabbalah to which he did not add his notes.
One of the prominent works of the Gaon of Vilna on Kabbalah is the book Hadrat Kodesh, which was compiled and arranged by R. Moshe Shlomo. This work is the source of kabbalistic teachings brought in the name of the Gaon of Vilna in many books. It was recently published based on a manuscript by R. Dovid Kamenetzky (Mossad HaRav Kook, Jerusalem 2014; see introduction there, see also: R. Dovid Kamenetzky, Torat HaGra, pp. 605 onwards).
Most of the teachings of R. Moshe Shlomo remain in manuscript. His book Shaar HaShirim – songs for meals of Shabbat and festivals (part of a larger manuscript which was lost), was printed in Warsaw, 1890. His supercommentary to the commentary of the Gaon of Vilna on Chad Gadya was printed at the end of the Passover Haggadah, Jerusalem 1863 (see item 151). For more information about R. Moshe Shlomo of Tolochin, see: R. Dovid Kamenetzky, Torat HaGra, pp. 712-714; R. Dovid Kamenetzky, R. Moshe Shlomo of Tolochin – Disciple-Colleague of the Gaon of Vilna, Yeshurun, 29, 2013, pp. 831-840.
[1], 183 leaves (lacking first title page and leaf of approbations) + 4 handwritten leaves. Fair condition. Stains. Detached leaves and gatherings (including handwritten leaves at beginning of book). Binding damaged, with loss.