Manuscript, Kanfei Yonah, Lurianic Kabbalah Edited by the Rema of Fano - Europe, 17th Century - Previously Unknown ...

Manuscript, Kanfei Yonah, Lurianic Kabbalah Edited by the Rema of Fano - Europe, 17th Century - Previously Unknown Glosses by the Kabbalist Rabbi Naftali Bachrach Ashkenazi, Author of Emek HaMelech
Manuscript, Kanfei Yonah, Lurianic kabbalah edited by R. Menachem Azariah (Rema) of Fano; with various compositions from the writings of the Ari. [Europe, 17th century].
Complete manuscript, fine copying in ancient Ashkenazic script, with textual variations from the printed edition. The scribe included many glosses in "windows" in the text and in the margins, including many unprinted glosses and glosses by the Kabbalist R. Naftali Bachrach Ashkenazi, author of Emek HaMelech, which were previously unknown and have not been printed.
Kanfei Yonah is the first composition that collected and summarized the teachings of the Ari, R. Yitzchak Luria. It was compiled by several of the Ari's disciples, and later edited several times by the Rema of Fano, with many additions and glosses. The work as it is known today, first printed in Korets, 1786, is the version edited by the Rema of Fano, with additional glosses by German and Polish Kabbalists.
This manuscript contains the complete text of Kanfei Yonah, including all five parts, with many variations and additions from the printed version (the Korets edition has only four parts, and the fifth part was printed in Warsaw, 1899). The first paragraph of the manuscript differs markedly from the printed version as well as from other known manuscripts.
Additionally, this manuscript includes many glosses and textual variations which have not been printed. In some places, the scribe determines which is the correct version of the text (at times he compares the text with a manuscript written in Venice).
The manuscript was evidently copied after 1620, the year of the Rema of Fano's passing, since the colophon at the end of the fifth part ends with the words: "These are the words of the great author of blessed memory".
The previously unknown glosses of R. Naftali Bachrach Ashkenazi of Frankfurt, author of Emek HaMelech, add great importance to this manuscript. One of the glosses (part II, section 109), is signed with his full name: "Naftali Bachrach Ashkenazi", and two further glosses (part IV, section 12; kavanot of the "V'Lameshumadim" blessing) are signed "in my humble opinion, Naftali". It is possible that some of the other unsigned glosses were also authored by him.
Two glosses contain particularly fascinating content. One (part II, section 109) states, "It seems to me that this is from the teachings of R. Moshe Cordovero through his disciple R. Avraham HaLevi, and thus states R. Chaim Vital in his writings…". A second (ibid, section 115) states, "The rabbi wrote in Kavanat HaMitzvot that the Ari said that these verses… should not be said, and he almost doubted them being of the tradition from R. Shimon bar Yochai, and I am surprised that Rema of Fano included them here".
Several essays from the writings of the Ari were copied at the end of the manuscript, following "Kanfei Yonah":
· Essay regarding Shevirat HaMelachim, copied from the Ari's own handwriting. Printed with variations in Shaar Maamarei Rashbi and Sefer HaLikutim.
· Maamar HaMilluim by Rema of Fano. Printed at the end of the fifth part of Kanfei Yonah, Warsaw, 1899.
· "Sod HaMargala Maamar Olam Katan", from the school of R. Yisrael Sarug. Unprinted.
· Derush A.T. B.Ch. (mystical arrangements of the Hebrew alphabet). Printed in Etz Chaim, chapters 4-5.
· "Maamar HaMilluim" - kavanot (hidden meanings) for the weekday morning prayers and the Shabbat prayers, by R. Yehuda Romano, a disciple of the Ari. The first half of this essay has not been printed, while the second half, beginning with the kavanot of the Shemoneh Esrei, was printed in Sefer HaKavanot (Venice, 1620). This copying is, however, more accurate than the printed version.
Sod HaMargala and Drush A.T. B.Ch. are written in a different handwriting, evidently by a different scribe.
R. Naftali Bachrach Ashkenazi of Frankfurt, author of "Emek Hamelech" (Amsterdam, 1648), was a descendant of Rabbenu Gershom Me'or HaGolah, and considered among the greatest of the German kabbalists. He studied Kabbalah from a young age, and travelled great distances in order to acquire rare Kabbalistic texts, even reaching Eretz Israel. His book Emek HaMelech contains the first exposition of the teachings of Lurianic Kabbalah in Germany and Poland, over 130 years before the printing of Etz Chaim, R. Chaim Vital's exposition of the same subject matter. Emek HaMelech is based on the teachings of R. Yisrael Sarug, the teacher of Rema of Fano, and therefore aroused the criticism of the Sephardic kabbalists, led by R. Chaim Cohen, disciple of R. Chaim Vital (see Chida, Shem HaGedolim, Maarechet Sefarim, additions to letter Kuf), who forbade studying Lurianic Kabbalah from any source other than the teachings of R. Chaim Vital. On the other hand, the teachings of R. Naftali Bachrach were widely acclaimed by the Ashkenazic kabbalists, both Chassidim and Mitnagdim. His work has approbations from the "Pnei Yehoshua" and the "Tosfot Yom Tov". The author of the "Leshem" wrote in a letter: "When comparing the works of R. Chaim Cohen and Emek HaMelech, it is difficult to ascertain who was greater and if it is right to dismiss the Emek HaMelech…" (Yeshurun, 22, p. 842). The Leshem further wrote there: "R. Shmuel Chassid… quoted the Gra as stating that Emek HaMelech is an extremely important work".
Among the important sources of Emek HaMelech are the writings of the Rema of Fano, especially his book Kanfei Yonah, which R. Naftali Bachrach refers to as "finely-sifted flour… the greatest of his works widespread in the Diaspora". Entire paragraphs from Kanfei Yonah are copied into Emek Hamelech, occasionally without specifying their source. Nevertheless, until now it was unknown that any writings of the Ari or Rema of Fano were annotated or edited by R. Naftali Bachrach, and these glosses are the first discovery of his annotations to Kabbalistic works.
[199] leaves. 20 cm. High-quality paper. Good condition. Stains. New binding.