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Kabbalistic commentary by R. Raphael Abraham Shalom ben Hezkiah Isaac Mizrahi Sharabi, a descendant of the Sar Shalom, on the Etz Hayyim of R. Hayyim Vital. There is an introduction from Samah Gagin who notes that the previous edition, printed by his father, had errors too numerous count and therefore this edition has been well corrected. It is followed by a listing of 101 customs of the community of Bet El יכבץ. The text follows in two columns, concluding with an index.
Etz Hayyim, the basis of this work, is the inclusive name for all those writings in which R. Vital elaborated on the teaching of R. Isaac Luria (ha-Ari). These works went through several versions and adaptations, for R. Vital began to arrange what he had heard from Luria immediately after his death, and, according to R. Meir Poppers , remained absorbed in this task for more than 20 years. This first edition of Etz Hayyim was organized into eight sections, called "gates" (she'arim in Hebrew). "Gate" one contains everything in R. Luria's own handwriting that R. Vital could find; no published version of this "gate" exists but it was preserved in several manuscripts; "Gate" two, Sha'ar ha-Hakdamot, includes the doctrine of emanation and the creation of the world; in "Gate" three, Sha'ar Ma'amerei Rashbi ve-Razal, R. Vital's commentaries on the Zohar and on talmudic tractates according to Lurianic principles are arranged; "Gate" four, Sha'ar ha-Pesukim, contains commentaries on all parts of the Bible; "Gate" five, Sha'ar ha-Kavvanot, covers mystical customs and meditations on prayers; the reasons for the mitzvot according to the order of the sections of the Torah are set out in "Gate" six, Sha'ar ha-Mitzvot. "Gate" seven, Sha'ar Ru'aḥ ha-Kodesh, deals with meditation, customs, acts of magical contemplation (called "unification," yiḥudim), the tikkun of sins, and the principles of physiognomy; "Gate" eight, Sha'ar ha-Gilgulim, covers the doctrine concerning the soul and its transmigrations. The first version (mahadurah kamma) remained in Damascus with R. Vital's son, who did not permit it to be copied for many years. He himself reedited and rearranged the Shemonah She'arim and this version was widely circulated from around 1660. The Middle Eastern kabbalists, especially those in Palestine, considered this the most authoritative version of Lurianic Kabbalah, and some confined their studies to this version only.
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