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Bidding Information
Lot #    19373
Auction End Date    11/13/2007 12:04:00 PM (mm/dd/yyyy)
          
Title Information
Title (English)    Shulhan Arukh al Derekh ha-Emet
Title (Hebrew)    שלחן ערוך על דרך אמת של האר'י ז'ל
Author    [Kabbalah] R. Isaac ben Solomon Luria (ha-Ari)
City    Jerusalem
Publisher    Israel Bak
Publication Date    1867
          
Collection Information
Independent Item    This listing is an independent item not part of any collection
          
Description Information
Physical
Description		    52 ff., 171:101 mm., nice margins, usual age staining, minor worming. A good copy bound in contemporary boards, rubbed.
          
Detailed
Description		    Customs and rules of R. Isaac ben Solomon Luria (ha-Ari, 1534–1572). This edition is totally revised from prior editions with many textual changes. Also provided are the notes of R. Jacob b. Zemah again with many changes. The Ari revolutionized the study of Jewish mysticism through Kabbalah. He was born in Jerusalem in 1534 to Ashkenaz parents. His father died when he was young, and Luria was brought up by his mother in the house of her brother, Mordecai Frances, a wealthy tax-farmer. In Egypt, Luria studied Jewish law and rabbinic literature under Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra and Zimra's successor, R. Bezalel Ashkenazi. Luria's teachers considered him outstanding in non_mystical study and he collaborated with Ashkenazi on shitah mekubbetzet, a work on Jewish law based on Tractate Zevachim in the Talmud. In addition to study, Luria earned a living through commerce. When the Ari was 15 years old, he married his cousin. He spent approximately six years studying with R. Ashkenazi, then moved to Jazirat al-Rawda, a secluded island on the Nile that was owned by his father-in-law. He visited his family only on the Sabbath and the few words he spoke were always in Hebrew, directed solely to his wife. During this period, he concentrated his studies on the Zohar and the works of earlier Kabbalists. He was also particularly interested in his contemporary, Kabbalist R. Moses Cordovero. It was at this time that Luria wrote his commentary on the Sifra Di-Zenivta section of the Zohar. Luria believed that deceased teachers of the past spoke to him and that he had frequent interviews with Elijah the prophet. In one of these "interviews," Luria believed that Elijah instructed him to move to the land of Israel, so, in 1569, he moved to Safed where he studied Kabbalah with Cordovero until Cordovero's death in 1570.

Ha-Ari originally won fame as a mystical poet. He later started teaching Kabbalah in an academy, and would occasionally speak in Ashkenazi synagogues. He was friendly with other Safed scholars, and formed a group of Kabbalists who met each Friday to confess their sins to each other. He revealed to his disciples the locations of graves of rabbis that he claimed to have discovered through spiritual revelations. He taught his students orally, teaching both theoretical Kabbalah and methods to communicate with the souls of tazddikim (righteous people). He felt that he could see people's sins by looking at their foreheads. On the Sabbath, he dressed in white and many followers considered him a saint. Some say he believed himself to be the Messiah, the son of Joseph.

Ha-Ari was known for his innovative ideas in understanding creation and various other metaphysical concepts. He created the idea of zimzum, the belief that G-d in a way "shrunk himself" to leave a void in which to create the world. He was conservative in interpreting Jewish law and believed that each commandment had a mystical meaning. He respected all strains of tradition and customs in Judaism and although he was of Ashkenazic descent, preferred Sephardic prayer liturgy. Lurianic Kabbalah refers often to Messianism and many say that his Messianic ideas paved the way for the false Messiah, Shabbetai Zvi. Ha-Ari died in an epidemic in the summer of 1572 and was buried in Safed. His teachings were recorded by his disciples, particularly Rabbi Chaim Vital.
          
Paragraph 2    על דרך אמת של האר"י ז"ל... ונתוספו בו הגהות מהרב... ר' יעקב חיים צמח זלה"ה מכתבי מוהרח"ו [ר' חיים וויטאל] זלה"ה... שנת מה' רב' טובך' אשר' צפנת' ליראך

ספירת-דפים משובשת. מעבר לשער: הקדמה מאת המביא לבית הדפוס [ר' חיים יהודה ב"ר יוסף מלאנצקרינא], ששמו נרמז בפסוקים שבסופה. על-פי לבוב תקמ"ח, בהשמטת "אגרת שבת". החלק "מצאתי בשאר שלחן ערוך" הוכנס לפנים הספר, כל עניין במקומו. כן שונה סדר הדברים בכמה מקומות ובמקומות רבים נערך הספר עריכה לשונית. הגהותיו של ר' יעקב צמח נדפסו בשינויים מרובים ונוספו עליהן הגהות חדשות מתוך ספרו נגיד ומצוה, אמשטרדם תע"ב ("שולחן ערוך האר"י" עצמו הוא עיבוד של "נגיד ומצוה"). דף ח,ב-ט: "זאת מצאתי בס' זר זהב של הרב יעקב צמח לענין הנחת תפילין". הועתק, בשינויים, מתוך ספר גולל אור, לר' מאיר ביקייאם, אזמיר תצ"ז, דף נו,ב-נז. דף מא-מב: "התעוררות לתשובה. מצאתי כתוב בס' נהר שלום מהרב שמ"ש [שלום מזרחי שרעבי. בתוך ספרו אמת ושלום, שאלוניקי תקס"ו, דף עב, ב-עד, א] אשר נכון לומר קודם תקיעת שופר".

          
Reference
Description		    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Luria.html; CD-EPI 0143738
        
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Listing Classification
Period
19th Century:    Checked
  
Location
Israel:    Checked
  
Subject
  
Kabbalah:    Checked
  
Characteristic
First Editions:    Checked
Language:    Hebrew
  
Manuscript Type
  
Kind of Judaica