Kenaf Renanim - Venice, 1626

Kenaf Renanim, songs, bakashot and piyyutim for various occasions, with explanations. By R. Yosef Yedidya son of R. Binyamin Yekutiel Karmi. Venice: Giovanni Caleoni, 1626.
Kenaf Renanim contains pleas and piyyutim to recite before sunrise on weekdays, Shabbat and Festivals. These piyyutim were composed by R. Yosef Yedidya Karmi, a kabbalist, poet and sage in Modena, Italy. Before this book was printed, a fierce polemic arose against these liturgical piyyutim which had spread among Italian sages. The author's brother-in-law the famed Kabbalist R. Aharon Berachya of Modena, author of Ma'avar Yabok, headed the conflict, opposing the premise of prayers composed by contemporaries, especially those which are not compatible with the Arizal's kabbalistic approach.
Nonetheless, the book received enthusiastic approbations by Italian sages [see: M. Benayahu, Haskamah V'Reshut B'Defusei Venitzia, Jerusalem 1971, pp. 103-105]. In his second introduction to the book, the author writes at length about the background of the polemic and explains the claims of both parties and his rejoinder. In support of his standpoint he writes: "I have heard that a disciple of his disciple was the R. [the Rama] of Fano who saw in the vidui in Kenaf Renanim good things and thereafter was fond of it".
12; [2] handwritten leaves; 107; [11] leaves. 19.5 cm. High-quality, thin paper. Wide margins. Good condition. Stains. Erased ownership signatures. Old, worn binding, lacking spine.
Two handwritten leaves are bound after leaf 12 containing Tikun Chatzot in vowelized Italian script.