Booklet, Amal URe'ut Ruach VaCharamot UTeshuvatam - Tel Aviv, 1914 - First Edition - Polemic Regarding the ...

Booklet, Amal URe'ut Ruach VaCharamot UTeshuvatam - Tel Aviv, 1914 - First Edition - Polemic Regarding the Authenticity of the Zohar and Kabbalah - With Glosses by the Author Rabbi Kapach
Booklet, Amal URe'ut Ruach VaCharamot UTeshuvatam, polemic regarding the authenticity of the Zohar and Kabbalah, by R. Yichye Kapach (Qafih) of Yemen. [Tel Aviv, 1914?]. First edition.
The booklet contains glosses and additions handwritten by the author. At the end of the booklet, he added: "At the head of noisy streets she calls out etc. but the word of our G-d shall last forever".
In the first part of the booklet, the author printed the excommunications issued by the Ashkenazi and Sephardi rabbis of Jerusalem against the Yemenites who rejected the Zohar and Kabbalah. The second part of the booklet contains the detailed response of the author, R. Yichye Kapach, in which he attacks the rabbis of Jerusalem, and argues that the excommunications were incorrectly issued. Further in his response, he excoriates the foundations of Kabbalah and the Zohar, and concludes by excommunicating the rabbis who excommunicated and ostracized him.
Background: A great controversy broke out in Yemen in the early 20th century, between those who believed in the authenticity of the Zohar and Kabbalah (the "Ikshim") and a small sect who rejected the Zohar and Kabbalah (the "Darda'im"), headed by R. Yichye Kapach (1850-1931). R. Kapach and his followers contended that the Oral Law is limited to what was received by the Talmudic sages and the Rambam, whilst anything discovered thereafter does not have any validity. According to them, Kabbalah is foreign in its spirit to Judaism. R. Kapach later substantiated his approach in his books Milchamot Hashem (Jerusalem, 1931) and Daat Elokim (Jerusalem, 1931), printed in his final year. He was excommunicated in Shevat 1914 by the Jerusalem rabbis for these views. This booklet was authored by R. Kapach as a response, and it contains his counterattack on his opponents, including excommunications he issued in return.
15, [1] pages. 20 cm. Fair condition. Stains, dampstains, tears and wear.