First Printing: Siddur Rebbi Koppel - the Segulah Siddur Chassidic Patriarchs Used. Kabbalistic Glosses

First Printing: Siddur Rebbi Koppel - the Segulah Siddur Chassidic Patriarchs Used. Kabbalistic Glosses

Siddur HeAr"i Kol Ya'akov - known by its nickname, as Siddur Rebbi Koppel, after the name of its author, Rabbi Ya'akov Koppel Lipschutz, one of the leading disciples of the Ba'al Shem Tov. First edition. [Slavuta, 1804]. Kabbalistic glosses from an unidentified Kabbalist over the generations.

As stated, this is the first edition of the Chassidic segulah siddur that was most beloved by leading Admo"rim, from the first generation of Chassidism onward; it did not leave their desks. Leading Admo"rim even used rare expressions when describing this siddur's sanctity and segulah.

Among the Admo"rim known to have been particular to pray from Siddur Rebbi Koppel were: The maggid of Kozhnitz, the maggid of Chernobyl, the 'Arvei Nachal, ' Rabbi Avraham of Chechnov and many more. It is also known that Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin related about himself: "When I was 14 years old, I said to my brother, Rabbi Avrahamenyu of Probishta, 'Let's learn the sacred wisdom'  and Siddur Rebbi Koppel was lying on the desk - he would take this siddur and study it with me." The maggid of Kozhnitz also wrote a lot of glosses on the sheets of his Siddur Rebbi Koppel and these were later printed in his book Rimzei Yisrael.

This copy, too, is adorned with many Kabbalistic glosses from the time of printing, including Kabbalistic sacred Names. Unfortunately, the title page is lacking, and we don't know to whom this book belonged, but the deep glosses here certainly require profound expertise in the Ar"i's writings; and were written by one of the tzaddikim and Kabbalists of the wise generation in which the patriarchs of Chassidism lived, and he was influenced by their warmth. If only we could know who the writer was ...

The author noted on the title page of Sha'ar Gan Eden - another of his works - about this siddur: "As heard from one who speaks justice and truth, when ... the Ba'al Shem Tov was in [Mezeritch], healing herbs were brought to him ... from this siddur that he wrote, and he read from them two or three doors, hugged and kissed them, took these sacred words, raised them over his head and nodded, saying "Praiseworthy is the people who has this ..." There is further evidence about the Ba'al Shem Tov's attitude to Siddur Rebbi Koppel in the words of Rabbi Asher Tzvi of Ostroh in his approbation to the siddur: 
I heard a rumor that this siddur was seen by the ... Ba'al Shem Tov, and he found it suitable." The defender of the Jewish people, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev, was also known to have said about this author, "His great name is already known by the Jewish people, that he was a faithful Kabbalist, and everything he said was with Divine Inspiration."

Therefore, this segulah siddur, written with Divine inspiration, was preferred by Chassidic patriarchs as a segulah so that their prayers would be accepted. Even more so, this siddur was owned by someone from that wise generation, who even left his mark with sacred Names that cannot be copied here but can certainly be viewed on this siddur's sacred leaves!

Specifications: Siddur HeAr"i Kol Ya'akov Slavuta, 1804. Part I: Weekday prayers, with many Kabbalistic intentions [the mitzvah of mezuzah, intentions for blessings, for eating, the mitzvah of procreation, betterment of dreams]. Original pagination: [6], 156 leaf. This copy lacks ten leaves at the beginning of the siddur, including the title page. 19.5 cm. High-quality paper. Some of the leaves are bluish.

Fine condition. The siddur has been professionally restored and rebound. Aging stains. Restored worming perforations with damage to text. Tears with lack in several leaves.

See also:

Kovetz Siftei Tzaddikim, anthology 13, pp 77-83.

Kovetz Kiryat Melech - 19 p. 229.