Detailed
Description |
|
Part two of the kabbalistic commentary on the Shulhan Arukh, Mekor Hayyim, by the renowned kabbalist R. Hayyim ben Abraham ha-Kohen. Mekor Hayyim is a detailed extensive kabbalistic commentary on the Shulhan Arukh. The sub-titles of the various parts of this work Tur Barekhet, Tur Piteda and Tur Yahalom, are taken from Exodus 28:17-18 and 39:10-11, which, referring to the gems in the breastplate worn by the High Priest, states, “You shall fill (They filled) it with stone mounting, four rows of stone: a row of odem, piteda, and barekhet - the one row; the second row . . . yahalom . . .” In a lengthy introduction to the first part we are told that one who studies this work will find that it is a source of life (mekor hayyim) for the body and for the soul, which is everlasting. Furthermore, doing so will arouse the Torah above, influencing this world for life, as it says, “For with you is the source of life” (Psalms 36:10). He emphasizes that all the deeds of a Jew in Torah and mitzvah make a great impression in all of the worlds, above and below. The consequences are everlasting, affecting a person in the present, after his death, as it says, “as you recline it will guard you” (Proverbs 6:22), and in the future, at the time of the resurrection. The Torah was given at Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting (Tabernacle), and at the plains of Moab, for the merit of a person at these three intervals, for the benefit of the body and the soul, as is explained in the Zohar. Mekor Hayyim was republished in Pietrokov (1878), and more recently in Jerusalem (1995).
R. Hayyim ben Abraham ha-Kohen (1585-1655), author of Mekor Hayyim, belonged to a family in Aleppo that traced its ancestry to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. A leading disciple of Hayyim Vital, R. Hayyim ha-Kohen served with distinction for two decades as rabbi in Aram Zova. During that time he wrote a number of books with kabbalistic content, among them sermons, Torat Hakham (Venice, 1654), Mekor Hayyim, and a number of works still in manuscript on various books of the Bible and on prayer. In the introduction to Torat Hakham, Hayyim ha-Kohen describes his travail in attempting to publish his works. Initially, he sent the manuscript of Ateret Zahav, on Esther, by sea to Europe to be printed. After several years, receiving no response, Hayyim ha-Kohen took all of his manuscripts, existing in single copies only, and embarked for Europe to have them printed. Encountering a storm the ship took refuge at Malta, where it was boarded by pirates. Seeing that all was lost and being in shallow water, Hayyim ha-Kohen jumped from the ship and made his way ashore, where he faced hunger and wild beasts prior to arriving at an inhabited area. All of his manuscripts, written over twenty years, were lost in one night. With thanks to the Lord for his salvation, Hayyim ha-Kohen rewrote his manuscripts from memory. In 1650 he was in Constantinople, where the first part of Mekor Hayyim was published. After further travels he returned to Aleppo, and, in 1654, the same year that Tur Bareket appeared in Amsterdam, set out for Italy, where he is credited with introducing individuals, among them R. Nathan Nata Hannover (d. 1663), author of Yeven Mezulah (Venice, 1653) and Sha’arei Zion (Prague, 1662) to Lurianic Kabbalah, and influencing, through the latter work, the contemporary prayer-book. Tur Piteda, the third volume in Mekor Hayyim, was first printed by La Stampa del Kaf Nahat in 1655-56. That the next part, Tur Yahalom, was begun but not completed may be attributed to the death of Hayyim ben Abraham ha-Kohen, printing having ceased with his demise. Hayyim ha-Kohen’s literary trials did not cease with his death. His commentary on Ruth, Torat Hesed, was reputedly published by David ben Aryeh Leib of Lida under his own name as Migdal David (Amsterdam, 1680). R. Hayyim ben Abraham ha-Kohen’s difficulties should not distract us from his great stature. No less a personage than R. Hayyim Yosef David Azulai (Hida, 1724-1806) writes that when he came to Livorno “I prostrated myself on the grave of Hayyim ha-Kohen [of blessed memory], author of Tur Barekhet, etc.” |
