The Holy Reb Gershon KItover brother in law of the Baal Shem Tov
Handwritten annotations on Shaar Hakavanos by the Holy Kabbalist Harav Avraham Gershon Ashkenazi Kitover
Folio from sefer Shaar Hakavanos by Harav Chaim Vital with glosses by the holy kabbalist Harav Avraham Gershon Ashkenazi Kitover, famed brother-in-law of the Baal Shem Tov and one of the progenitors of Chassidus. The folio includes the sacred kavanos (intentions) for Tachanun.
This page is filled with lengthy marginalia, as well as amendments and proper order of the Holy Names of Hashem that combine different spellings to create more meaning.
Sacred folio! Kabbalistic secrets, holy intentions and distinct kavanos of Tachanun which includes exalted concepts in the wisdom of kabbalah that empower one to elevate holy sparks from the darkest klipos of the physical world to the loftiest heavenly spheres.
The holy Harav Avraham Gershon Ashkenazi Kitover was one of the greatest kabbalists of all time. Harav Yehonasan Eibschutz described him as
“A G-dly kabbalist, ” (Luchos Eidus p. 57) and the Noda B’Yehudah wrote that he was
“Wondrous and unparalleled in Torah and Chassidus…the complete sage; pious and holy, the candle of Israel!” (Shu”t Noda B’Yehudah Ch. 73)
Harav Avraham Gershon Ashkenazi Kitover (circa 1696-1761) is numbered among the holy sages in Brod where he delved into the Revealed and Hidden Torah together with his colleagues Harav Chaim of Sanz, the Noda B’Yehudah and Meir Nesivim.
Harav Kitover’s sister Leah was married to the Baal Shem Tov. Following the revelation of the Baal Shem Tov, Harav Kitover became one of his prime disciples and even relocated to Mezhibuz to settle nearby to his sister and her holy husband. They appointed Harav Kitover to teach their son Rabbi Tzvi (his nephew), and subsequently charged him with the formidable task of teaching and spreading Chassidus in Yerushalayim.
In 1747, Harav Kitover journeyed to the Holy Land where he settled in Chevron, yet following repeated appeals from the Ashkenazic community, he relocated to Yerushalayim to serve as spiritual leader of the Ashkenazic Yishuv until his passing in 1761. Throughout the years, he corresponded frequently with his brother-in-law the Baal Shem Tov, and many of these letters are famous. In one letter, he writes,
“Your name is already renowned throughout Yerushalayim, and the sages here have requested that I urge you to settle permanently here, as they yearn to see your face.”
The Baal Shem Tov held his brother-in-law in mutual esteem and often quoted his divrei Torah. In one of many letters sent to the Holy Land, he writes,
“My beloved brother-in-law, dear and close as my own soul and heart, ” expressing his deep longing for him and the agony of their separation. He signs the letter,
“Your brother-in-law who loves you and waits to see you face to face.”
Letters sent by the Baal Shem Tov to his brother-in-law Harav Avraham Gershon Kitover are replete with marvelous pearls of wisdom and are a primary source of the Baal Shem Tov’s Torah.
Harav Kitover passed away in 1761, in the same year as his brother-in-law the Baal Shem Tov. In their passing, they embodied the famous words, “Beloved and pleasant in their lives, and in their deaths they did not diverge.”
Jerusalem. Double-sided folio. Glosses inscribed during the period when he dwelled in
Jerusalem between 1747-1761. Preserved in attractive leather binding.
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