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Bidding Information
Lot #    13431
Auction End Date    1/24/2006 2:35:09 PM (mm/dd/yyyy)
          
Title Information
Title (English)    Me’orei Or
Title (Hebrew)    מאורי אור
Author    [Kabbalah - Only Ed.] R. Meir Ben Halifa Bikayam
City    Salonica
Publisher    Bezalel Ashkenazi
Publication Date    1752
          
Collection Information
Independent Item    This listing is an independent item not part of any collection
          
Description Information
Physical
Description		    Only edition. [4], 106, 20 ff., 204:150 mm., wide margins, usual age and damp staining, old hands, corners rounded. A good copy bound in contemporary half leather boards.
          
Detailed
Description		    Commentary on the Pentateuch, based on Lurianic Kabbalah by R. Meir Ben Halifa Bikayam (d. 1769), kabbalist and crypto-Shabbatean. The family name is rare, and the origin of the family is unknown. R. Bikayam lived in Izmir (Smyrna). He studied Kabbalah under R. Jacob Wilna, belonged to his circle, and was initiated by him into the “mystery of the Godhead” revealed by Shabbetai Zevi. R. Bikayam received from his teacher the kabbalistic works of R. Solomon ha-Levi which the latter had received from his father, R. Benjamin ha-Levi. Some of the most learned and pious of the Izmir community belonged to his circle. R. Bikayam was a close friend of R. Hayyim Abulafia and R. Isaac ha-Kohen Rappaport, the rabbis of the community. One of the wealthy Jews of the town, Solomon Ardit, supported him and his circle, and even in his old age (c. 1745) the latter studied Kabbalah under him. The wealthy leader of the Constantinople community, R. Samuel ha-Levi, and R. Moses b. Joshua Soncino of Izmir supported and financed the publication of Bikayam’s books. When he went to Salonika in 1747, Abraham Enriques Miranda and Joseph Enriques Miranda, wealthy men of the community, welcomed him with great honor. There R. Bikayam also taught Shabbatean Kabbalah to a group of devotees and published two of his books. He returned to Izmir about 1747. His books are all concerned with Kabbalah; his Shabbatean leanings are hinted at, but never explicitly revealed. R. Bikayam also wrote, Golel Or, on the doctrine of gilgul (transmigration), according to the teachings of R. Isaac Luria, R. Hayyim Vital, and R. Azariah of Fano (Izmir, 1737); Me’ir la-Arez, on the portions of the Pentateuch, according to the principles of Lurianic Kabbalah (Salonika, 1747); Magen Avot, a kabalistic commentary on Pirkei Avot (Salonika, 1748); Me’orei Or, on the Pentateuch, based on Lurianic Kabbalah (Salonika, 1752); and Kera Mikreh, on atonement for sexual impurities (Salonika, 1752).
          
Paragraph 2    והוא חיבור ... על חמשה חומשי תורה ודברי חכמים וחידותם ... עם הקדמות ... האר"י ז"להה ... אשר פעל ועשה ... כמהר"ר מאיר בקייאם נר"ו ... ובקרבו ישים אור"בו הני מילי מעלייתא אשר אזן וחקר ... כמה"ר שלמה ארדיט תנצב"ה הן הן חידושי תורה ... והוא צוה לפני מותו לתת לכסף מוצא להעלות על מזבח הדפוס האי ספרא ... לסדר ולפרט ויברך אלהים את' י'צחק' ב'נו

כ דף האחרונים כוללים: לחם שלמה [חידושים בדרך הקבלה, מאת ר' שלמה ארדיט], עם הקדמת המעתיק: ר' נסים ב"ר אליהו הכהן. עם הסכמות רבני שלוניקי: ר' יצחק הלוי, ר' יצחק ן' שאנג'י, ר' שמואל פ'לורינטין, ר' יוסף הכהן ן' ארדוט, חשון תקי"א; ר' יעקב שאול, [שאלוניקי], ואתחנן תקי"א.

          
Reference
Description		    CD-EPI 0112687; JE
        
Associated Images
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Listing Classification
Period
  
18th Century:    Checked
  
Location
Greece-Turkey:    Checked
  
Subject
  
Kabbalah:    Checked
  
Characteristic
First Editions:    Checked
Language:    Hebrew
  
Manuscript Type
  
Kind of Judaica