Auction 72 Rare and Important Items
Jul 7, 2020 (your local time)
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LOT 145:

Kabbalistic Manuscript – Etz Chaim by Rabbi Chaim Vital – "Maamar HaKadosh" of the Ari with Commentary of Rabbi ...

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Kabbalistic Manuscript – Etz Chaim by Rabbi Chaim Vital – "Maamar HaKadosh" of the Ari with Commentary of Rabbi Yaakov Temerles – Early Version of the Segulah Letter by Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli – Kabbalistic Illustrations – Europe, 17th/18th Century
Manuscript volume, Etz Chaim – teachings of the Ari, by R. Chaim Vital (Maharchu), and other kabbalistic compositions. [Europe, 17th/18th century].
Large format manuscript in neat Ashkenazi script, written by several scribes.
Most of the volume is comprised of the book Etz Chaim by R. Chaim Vital, which is the book Derech Etz Chaim compiled by R. Meir Poppers – second redaction (from which several editions of Etz Chaim were printed, see: Y. Avivi, Kabbalat HaAri, II, pp. 643-647). Shaar HaKlalim appears at the end (leaf 191 and on).
This text differs from the printed version. The manuscript bears many glosses by several writers, most of them completions of omissions and corrections.
The following interesting gloss appears on p. 83b: "Upon the Arizal's revelation of this homily, his son Moshe died, and upon revealing another homily, his daughter died" (similar statements regarding the death of his son and the death of the Ari himself appear in Shivchei HaAri, Letter 3, but the death of his daughter is not mentioned there). A gloss appearing on p. 100b next to a textual correction reads, "So it seems to my teacher to correct". Two marginal notes on p. 109a: "So it seems to me to correct", "This proves my correction above".
Several more kabbalistic compositions appear at the end of the volume:
• "Maamar HaKadosh" by R. Yitzchak Luria – the Ari. Written at the end: "The commentary to this Maamar HaKadosh… was endowed by G-d to my teacher and rabbi, the pious kabbalist R. Yaakov Ashkenazi Temerles…". Two kabbalistic illustrations accompany this essay (on the next page and the one that follows): one of a pair of hands with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet divided among the finger joints, and the second is an illustration of an "ilan" with the order of the progression of the sefirot drawn in both straight and slanted lines.
This essay was first published (in a different version) under the title: "Maamar Kaddishin by the holy Ari, containing all the principles of Sefer HaYetzira". It was printed at the end of Sefer HaYetzira with the Gaon of Vilna's commentary (Warsaw, 1884), from a manuscript which had belonged to the Gaon of Vilna. The commentary of R. Temerles was printed there as well, however, it was printed without the illustrations.
The kabbalist R. Yaakov Temerles (d. 1666) was the author of the kabbalistic Torah commentary Sifra DiTzniuta D'Yaakov. Born in Worms, he moved to Poland at a young age, settling in Lublin and later in Kremenets. Towards the end of his life he moved to Vienna, where he passed away. R. Temerles had vast knowledge in both the revealed and hidden realms of Torah, and fasted daily for forty years. He taught kabbalah to several leading rabbis of his generation, including R. Shmuel Kaidanover, author of Birkat HaZevach and R. Gershon Ulif Ashkenazi, author of Avodat HaGershuni. For further information, see: Dembitzer, Klilat Yofi, II, pp. 117, 123-124.
• Commentary of the Ari on Sifra DiTzniuta. Many textual corrections in the margins and between the lines. One correction is signed: "Yosef" (p. 15b of the second sequence). The following copier's note appears at the end of Chapter 1: "Until here I have found of R. Yitzchak Luria's commentary to Sifra DiTzniuta – copied letter by letter". At the end of Chapter 2: "Until here I have found, also in Etz Chaim there is no more".
• "Sod Etzba Elokim" – the famous segulah letter by the kabbalist R. Shimshon of Ostropoli which explains kabbalistic ideas relating to the Redemption and the Ten Plagues. The letter contains a commentary to an enigmatic essay by the Arizal discussing the names of the angels assigned to smite the Egyptians during the Ten Plagues, and who are responsible for the Future Redemption of the Jewish people.
For many years, the letter of R. Shimshon of Ostropoli was copied and passed on in manuscript format. It was first printed only in the second half of the 18th century, and since that time the letter has appeared in many printed editions of the Passover Haggadah and Passover Machzor up until today. In this manuscript, the letter appears in a different and earlier version than the printed one (without the added sections at the beginning and end).
Reading this holy letter on Erev Pesach is reputed as an exceptional segulah for protection, as stated explicitly at the end of the letter. Chassidim and pious men customarily recite this letter on Erev Pesach. It is recorded in the customs of the Beit El yeshiva for kabbalists, printed at the beginning of the book Divrei Shalom (Jerusalem, 1883, section 50), that "on Erev Pesach, each person arranges the Seder plate in his home before Mincha, and then comes to the synagogue where everyone individually studies the letter of R. Shimshon of Ostropoli". The following is related about R. Chaim Palachi: "On Erev Pesach, he would call his grandsons to read with them the letter of R. Shimshon of Ostropoli" (Tzavaa MeChaim, II, section 28). Rebbe Yochanan Sofer of Erloi would describe the special powers of this letter, attributing his miraculous survival of the Holocaust to its recital. The following wondrous story is quoted in his name in a footnote to the Chatam Sofer Haggadah (Jerusalem, 1992, p. 25): His grandfather, R. Shimon Sofer – author of Hitorerut Teshuva, was particular to recite this letter every Erev Pesach after noon. On Erev Pesach 1944, however, he was so preoccupied due to the German invasion of Hungary, that he forgot to read the letter. That year, R. Shimon Sofer was murdered on 21st Sivan 1944. R. Yochanan relates that he himself also forgot to read the letter on Erev Pesach that year, yet remembered on Rosh Hashanah 1944 and read the letter then. In that merit, he was saved from the Nazis and was granted longevity.
• A leaf from a different manuscript of Etz Chaim by the Maharchu appears at the end of the volume.
A trimmed stamp of "Jews' College, London" appears at the top of the first page.
191, [12], 20, [3] leaves + [1] piece of paper bound between leaves 28 and 29 of the first sequence + [1] piece of paper bound between leaves 10 and 11 of the second sequence. Leaves 17-18 were bound upside-down. 32.5 cm. Good condition. Stains and wear. Tears, affecting text in several places. Wormhole to several leaves at the end of the volume. New binding.
Provenance:
1. The Beth Din & Beth HaMidrash Collection – London, MS 81.
2. Christie's, New York, June 1999, lot 127.