Sha’ar HaKavanos by Rabbi Chaim Vital
Written by Rabbi Yosef Edrei, Scribe of the Rashash
With Handwritten Glosses by the Great Kabbalists of the Beis El Kabbalists’ Yeshiva
Jerusalem, c. 1760
‘Sha’ar HaKavanos’ Part 2 by Rabbi Chaim Vital on the prayers of Shabbos and Festivals, edited by his son Rabbi Shmuel Vital. It was handwritten by Rabbi Yosef Edrei, the renowned scribe of the kabbalist the Rashash. It was specially copied for Rabbi Raphael Moshe Galico, a disciple of the Rashash and among the great kabbalists of the Beis Midrash HaChasidim ‘Beis El’.
It contains handwritten glosses by Rabbi Raphael Moshe Galico and the kabbalist Rabbi Yaakov Shaltiel Ninio, author of ‘Emes Le’Yaakov’.
These glosses were never printed, and they are of profound importance for those who study the Arizal’s Kabbalah and the Rashash’s kavanos!
The Annotators
The kabbalist Rabbi Raphael Moshe Galico annotated the text and added his analytical notes in the margins. In several of them, he mentions ‘my teacher, may his light shine’ (the Rashash), during the Rashash’s lifetime. (See in the margins of leaves 265,2 272,1). In the margins are 14 notes in his handwriting, and on leaf 289b there is a note beginning: "Says מג"ן" [=Moshe Galico Nero].
Rabbi Raphael Moshe Galico (d. 1771) was among the important scholars of Midrash HaChasidim ‘Beis El’ during the period of the Rashash. He was a signatory on the first and second ‘Shitrei Hiskashrus’ of ‘Chevras Ahavas Shalom’. These were documents signed by the kabbalists’ of this group where they took upon themselves mutual commitments of practices, stringencies and safeguards to reach together a high spiritual level.
Rabbi Galico also studied in the Damesek Eliezer yeshiva of Rabbi Yehuda Navon, author of ‘Kiryas Melech Rav’ (son of the Machaneh Ephraim) and mentions him in a note on leaf 266a. In 1757 he wrote his sefer ‘Oros HaMitzvos’ on the kavanos of mitzvos (printed in Jerusalem 1979). He died at a young age on 21 Shevat 1771.
After about two generations, the copy came into the possession of the kabbalist Rabbi Yaakov Shaltiel Ninio, and in its margins, he wrote 18 glosses in his holy handwriting. On the first leaf he signed his name with the initials בר"ת היש"ן. The second leaf features his ornate signature. His notes usually begin with his name’s initials: איש"ן [=Said Yaakov Shaltiel Ninio].
Rabbi Yaakov Shaltiel Ninio (c. 1800-c.1845) was born in Jerusalem and from a young age was close to the kabbalists of ‘Beis El’. After his marriage, he moved to Tiberias and in 1840 was sent on a fundraising mission as a shadar (emissary) of Tiberias. In 1843 he printed his fundamental work on Kabbalah, ‘Emes Le’Yaakov’. He passed away in Tiberias in 1845.
The Scribes
The first half of the manuscript (62 leaves) was written in the beautiful, neat, and precise handwriting of Rabbi Yosef Edrei, scribe of the Beis Midrash HaChasidim Beis El.
In the colophon at the end of his copy (254b), Rabbi Yosef wrote:
"I, the undersigned, wrote this Sefer HaKavanos for the upright sage, the chassid, our teacher Rabbi Moshe Galico, may his light shine… The young Yosef Edrei."
The second half was completed by two scribes from the same period. The handwriting of these scribes is recognized from the earlier copies of the Rashash’s siddurim that were written in his lifetime and are adorned in the margins with notes in the Rashash’s own handwriting. (For full details see the attached research.)
Jerusalem, c. 1760
Page Count: Approx. 165 leaves. The original numbering of the manuscript is: 193-254, 2, 255-351, 5 leaves.
Size: 17 x 21 cm.
Condition: Tiny holes, water stains, paper fragment damage to leaves 338-351. Original leather binding.
