Mishneh Torah by the Rambam – First Edition of Kesef Mishneh – Volume Three – Venice, 1574 – Copy of the Kabbalist ...

Mishneh Torah by the Rambam – First Edition of Kesef Mishneh – Volume Three – Venice, 1574 – Copy of the Kabbalist Rabbi Gedalia Hayon, Head of the Beit Kel Midrash HaChassidim in Jerusalem
Mishneh Torah by the Rambam, with the comments of the Raavad, and with the Kesef Mishneh commentary by R. Yosef Karo. Third volume (out of four), parts Haflaa – Tahara. Venice: Bragadin, 1574. First edition of Kesef Mishneh.
Copy previously owned by the kabbalist R. Gedalia Hayon, father-in-law of the Rashash, founder of the Beit El kabbalists' yeshiva. A handwritten inscription occupies the center of the title page: "This belongs to the chief rabbi Gedalia Hayon". An inscription was added beside the year of printing: "Here Jerusalem". Another inscription (partly deleted) in the upper margin of the title page: "This book of [--] R. Gedalia [Hayon]…".
R. Gedalia Hayon (d.1751) was a G-dly kabbalist and wonder-worker. He was the teacher and father-in-law of the prominent kabbalist R. Shalom Sharabi (the Rashash). He founded the Beit El yeshiva for kabbalists in Jerusalem in 1737, and headed it until his passing in 1751. The leading Jerusalem kabbalists studied there, including R. Gershon of Kitov, brother-in-law of the Baal Shem Tov. The Chida was also his disciple, and describes his holiness and piety: "R. Gedalia Hayon, he is the holy one… he would always increase in holiness, and he delved into Kabbalah and the kavanot of the Arizal with all his strength… in holiness, seclusion and asceticism, and in our generation he was exceptionally pious, and he would pray for the sick, and occasionally, a sick person would be informed in a dream that he had been saved through the prayers of the pious one" (Shem HaGedolim, Maarechet Gedolim, Gimmel). The Chida quotes his teachings in his books, referring to him as "the exceptionally pious rabbi" and other such titles.
The comments of the Raavad in this volume were numbered in early Sephardic script (654-1577).
[20], 451, [1] leaves. 28 cm. Good condition. Stains. Dampstains to some leaves. Worming to some leaves. Tears to title page, not affecting text, repaired with paper. Title page and last leaf reinforced with tape. Part of the printer's device (an illustration of a woman) on verso of title page partially scraped off. Some darkened and stained leaves. New binding.