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Comprehensive siddur (order of prayers) with halakhot and kavvanot from R. Isaac Luria (ha-Ari, 1534-72) by R. Meir ben Judah Leib Poppers. Or ha-Yashar has approbations from R. Yosha Heschel of Lvov and R. Nathanel Ashkenazi Weil, followed by verse and two introductions, the first by R. Hirsch ben Hayyim Hazzan, the second by R. Poppers from his book Or Zaddikim, kabbalistic customs and practices work based on the teachings of the Ari. The text includes detailed descriptions of the halakhot and customs of the Ari and encompasses prayers for weekdays, Shabbat and festivals, concluding with Tefillot ha-Derekh, hilkhot Seudah, and Gemilot Hassadim.
R. Meir ben Judah Leib Poppers (d. 1662) was a kabbalist of Ashkenazi descent who was active in Jerusalem after 1640. A pupil of R. Jacob Zemah, he became the last editor of the Lurianic writings. He divided the mass of R. Vital's different versions of R. Luria's teachings into three parts, Derekh Ez Hayyim, Peri Ez Hayyim, and Nof Ez Hayyim. R. Poppers' version became the one in most widespread use in Poland and Germany. After 1640 he composed a large number of his own kabbalistical writings in the vein of Lurianic Kabbalah. They are said to have comprised 39 books, each of which contained the word or ("light") in its title, the entire corpus being called Kokhevei Or. Several parts have been preserved (Ms. Jerusalem no. 101, Ms. R. Alter of Gur no. 170). They included commentaries on Sefer Bahir, on Nahmanides' Torah commentary, on the Zohar, and on Luria's writings according to his own edition (Ms. Jerusalem no. 102). In the latter manuscript Poppers reports that he had studied R. Luria's writings for 17 years. Only two of these books have been published, this work and Or Zaddikim (Hamburg, 1690), written in Jerusalem in 1643, and later incorporated in R. Moses Katz's compilation, Or ha-Yashar (Amsterdam, 1709); and Me'orei Or, a dictionary of kabbalistic symbolism, published with copious notes by Jacob Vilna and Nathan Neta Mannheim under the title Me'orot Natan (Frankfurt, 1709). In addition, Mesillot Hokhmah, a booklet summarizing Lurianic metaphysics in 32 paragraphs, later published under R. Poppers' name (Shklov, 1785), was first printed anonymously (Wandsbeck, c. 1700). R. Poppers is credited with the authorship of a graphic description and summary of the Lurianic system, in the form of a scroll, published under the title Ilan ha-Gadol (1864). This tree, however, shows the distinct influence of R. Israel Sarug's version of Lurianism, which is not to be found in Poppers' other writings. Part of his homilies on the Torah were published as Tal Orot (1911). He mentions as his teachers one R. Israel Ashkenazi and his father-in-law, Azariah Ze'evi (probably from Hebron). During the 1650s Poppers spent about two years in Constantinople. He died in Jerusalem. |
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... ובו נכלל ספר אור צדיקים שכב[ר] האיר במחנה העברים... אשר חיבר... ר' מאיר פאפרש זצ"ל... לפרט ז'את תורת' ה'ע'ו'ל'ה' היא' העולה קל המזבח
דף צו, בסוף סדר התפילות, נוספו: תפלות הדרך, עירוב תבשילין ועירובי חצירות, פסוקי תשליך לראש השנה. הסכמות: ר' יושע העשיל לבוב, שוואבך, ז' ניסן תקכ"ד;
ר' נתנאל אשכנזי ווייל, קארלסרוא, ראש-חודש אדר תקכ"ד. |