Shelah Siddur - Amsterdam, 1742 - Segulah Book - Handwritten Kabbalistic Glosses

Shaar HaShamayim - German rite, year-round siddur with commentaries, laws and customs, by R. Yeshaya HaLevi Horowitz, author of the Shelah. Amsterdam, [1742]. Second edition. Handwritten Kabbalistic glosses from the 19th/20th century, on pp. 68a; 68b; 224b; 254a; and more (glosses slightly trimmed). Explanation of the prayers by the Shelah, mostly according to Kabbalah (based on various books, especially the Arizal's writings which he had in manuscript), with an anthology of laws and customs which the publisher, his grandson, compiled from Shnei Luchot HaBrit. The Shelah wrote his siddur with the intention of printing and distributing it, as he wrote in his will to his sons: "I thought to compose this holy work, in order that it be printed and distributed throughout the Jewish world, so that I may have a merit and share in all the prayers of the Jewish people". Praying from this siddur bears the special Segulah of the prayer being accepted and not going unanswered. As the Bach wrote in his approbation to the siddur (in the first edition): "We have no doubt that when it becomes widespread amongst the Jewish people, whoever prays from it will not have his prayer rejected". R. Avraham Yaakov, first Rebbe of Sadigura, mentions this Segulah in his approbation to the third edition of the siddur (Warsaw, 1882): "Siddur Shaar HaShamayim by the holy Shelah, as the renowned Torah scholar, the holy Bach, testified… there is no doubt that whoever prays from it, his prayer will not be rejected". The holy kabbalist R. Naftali Katz, author of Semichat Chachamim, ascribes this Segulah to the author himself, the Shelah, as he writes: "…order of prayers… from the beginning of the year until the end of the year, arranged and composed by R. Yeshaya Segal author of Shnei Luchot HaBrit, and he was very attached to this siddur, and directed his descendants to publish it, to give the public the privilege of praying in this order, with these Kavanot, and pledged that whoever prays with all his might in this order with these Kavanot, his prayers will not go unanswered. Go out and see how people practice, and the approbations of the great Torah scholars of that generation… R. Yoel Sirkis author of Bayit Chadash, and R. Yaakov Rabbi of Lublin… R. Yom Tov Lipman Heller author of Tosfot Yom Tov… and they all concur that whoever prays with these Kavanot, his prayer will not be rejected". 28, 528 leaves. 15.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, minor tears and wear. Minor tears and damage to approx. ten leaves, repaired with acidic tape, affecting text (title page; leaves 76-80, 113, 134-136, and more). New binding. From leaf 365 onwards (gathering 92), the word "Ashkenaz" is printed at the foot of the first leaf of each gathering. Another edition was printed concurrently, identical until leaf 364 (apart from the title page), with Polish-rite piyyutim. In that edition, from leaf 365 onwards, the word "Polish" was printed at the beginning of each gathering.