The Arizal’s Kabbalah
Five Handwritten Manuscripts
from the Legacy of the Arizal and Rabbi Chaim Vital
Ashkenaz, circa 1700
A complete handwritten volume in Ashkenazic script which presents an anthology of manuscripts with the teachings of the great kabbalists among them the Arizal, Rabbi Chaim Vital, the Rema of Pano and Ramaz. This manuscript was written in Germany in approximately 1700 and contains numerous marginalia.
1. Pri Eitz Chaim by Rabbi Chaim Vital – A kabbalistic interpretation of the 613 mitzvos, both imperative commandments and prohibitions (leaves 1a-67a).
The manuscript is according to the version edited by the famed kabbalist Rabbi Meir Poppers. The present manuscript is the second part (Nof haSheni) of Pri Eitz Chaim and was published under the title Taamei Hamitzvos together with Likutei Torah Zolkova, 1775).
2. Iggeres HaRamaz L’Rabbanei Cracow – This letter discusses the kabbalistic aspects of writing of a Sefer Torah, tefillin and mezuzos (leaves 76a-83b).
3. Nof Eitz Chaim by Rabbi Chaim Vital – “commentary based on the legacy of the Arizal on several verses in the Torah and teachings of our Sages” (leaves 87a-133b).
The manuscript is according to the version edited by the famed kabbalist Rabbi Meir Poppers. The present manuscript is the second part (Nof haSheni) of Nofi Eitz Chaim and was published under the title Likutei Torah (Zolkova, 1775).
4. Third Nof of Sefer Eitz Chaim by Rabbi Chaim Vital – This manuscript, called Nof Eitz Chaim, is a commentary of several Aggados in the Gemara as taught by the Arizal (leaves 136a-150a). This is the third section (Nof) of Nof Eitz Chaim; and it has never been printed. The third Nof printed in Likutei Hashas (Koritz, 1785) contains other commentary.
5. Kan Tzipor by Rabbi Menachem Azarya of Pano – This manuscript is an abridged version of the sefer Kanfei Yonah (Kortiz, 1786) by the Rema of Pano the sefer Kan Tzipor has never been printed.
The leaves of this epic manuscript include many variances in the nusach and additions, as well as marginalia that were obviously inscribed by a great scholar.
This manuscript was originally discovered in the beis medrash of the prominent Jewish officer Rabbi Daniel Jaffe of Berlin (1723-1799) which was the preferred study hall of many rabbis and scholars, among them the Admor Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Riminov and the Author of Pri Megadim. The author of Pri Megadim attests in his preface that he authored the Pri Megaim in the said beis medrash. “And many thanks to the exalted and famous honorable philanthropists Rabbi Daniel Jaffe of Berlin who generously bequeathed from his wealth a fixed sum to support Torah scholars in his beis medrash. And also I established my [fixed place of study] here in his beis medrash where I found a house filled with sefarim and authored this composition. Hashem should reward his kindness.”
Manuscript. Ashkenaz, circa 1700. Page Count: [180] leaves (12 leaves blank).
Page Size: 20×16 cm. Attractive volume with neat, round Ashkenazic script. Margins were straightened by binder who preserved the marginalia in folds. The beginning of Vol. 1 and Vol. 5 features an aesthetic border used in Berlin presses of that era, with text inscribed in boxes on the title page. Condition: Good with new leather binding.
Provenance: London Beth Din Library. This manuscript is described in the Neubauer Catalogue, Genazym 2020.
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