Physical Description

[5], 202, [i. e. 200] ff., octavo, 210:125 mm., nice margins, light age staining. A very good copy not bound.
                      

Detailed Description   

Psalms with two Kabbalistic commentaries.

R. Moses b. Hayyim Alshekh (c. 1520-1593), rabbi and Bible commentator, born in Adrianople or Damascus. He studied in Salonika under R. Joseph Taitazak and R. Joseph Caro, and then emigrated to Erez Israel, settling in Safed, where he gained prominence as an halakhic authority, a teacher in two talmudic academies, and a preacher. He was active in communal affairs and was a member of the rabbinical court of R. Joseph Caro, who conferred upon him the full ordination which had been reintroduced by R. Jacob Berab. The Alshekh in turn ordained in 1590 R. Hayyim Vital, who was his disciple in halakhah. His major field of interest was halakhah but, acceding to requests to preach on Sabbaths, in the course of preparing his sermons he occupied himself also with Bible exegesis. He also engaged in the study of the Kabbalah, from which he derived the fundamentals of his religious philosophy. According to one tradition, R. Isaac Luria sought to dissuade him from pursuing kabbalistic studies. About 1590 The Alshekh visited the Jewish communities of Syria and Turkey, and perhaps also of Persia, in the interests of Safed Jewry. He also sent an appeal on behalf of the Safed community to Italy and other countries. The last information about him was from Damascus. He participated there in a rabbinical court session in the spring of 1593. He passed on soon after at a venerable age.

R. Hayyim Joseph David Azulai (known by his Hebrew acronym HIDA, 1724–1806), halakhist, kabbalist, emissary, and bibliographer. The Hida was born in Jerusalem; he was descended on his father's side from a prominent family of rabbis and kabbalists from Spain while his mother was a daughter of Joseph Bialer who had gone to Erez Israel with R. Judah Hasid in 1770. He studied under some of the outstanding Jewish scholars of his age including R. Jonah Navon, R. Isaac ha-Kohen Rapoport, and R. Hayyim ibn Attar. R. Azulai attained early eminence in Jewish studies and was regarded by the Jewry of the Ottoman Empire and of Italy as the leading scholar of his generation. He was highly esteemed, too, by the Jews of Germany, especially after the publication of his works. Possessed of great intellectual powers and many-faceted talents, he combined a religious and mystical ardor with an insatiable intellectual curiosity. Added to these were critical ability, a facile pen, and a boundless capacity for work. He spent most of his active years traveling abroad as an emissary of the communities of Erez Israel for the collection of funds for the upkeep of the academies and scholars. He ended his mission in 1778 in Leghorn, where he spent the rest of his life. Many stories are related of the wonders and miracles he performed. Pilgrimages were made to his tomb at Leghorn until 1960, thereafter in Jerusalem where his remains were reinterred.

The work was assembled by the rabbi of Chernovtsy, R. Isaac Samson Horowitz-Meisels.

The recital of the whole Book of Psalms is widespread, whether as an act of piety by saintly individuals, or by groups of unlearned people. For this purpose "societies of reciters of Psalms" (hevrot tehillim) were and continue to be formed, and in recent times a special society has been formed in Jerusalem whereby two separate groups recite the whole Book of Psalms daily at the Western Wall. The Psalms are included in their entirety in all large prayer books.
 
           

Hebrew Description

עם שני פירושים... האחד קיצור פירש"י [פירוש רש"י]... ופירש[!] המלות... השני... קצור פירוש מהר"ם (ר’ משה) אלשיך... מספר... רוממות אל [ויניציאה שס"ה] ... גם הצגנו כל הבקשות המיוחדים לאומרי תהלים ולהמתפללים בעד נפטר ולרפואת חולה ולהושענא רבה, וגם שמושי תהלים ומעלות... אמירת תהלים (הועתק מספר יוסף תהלות) מהגאון... מוהרחי"ד (רבי חיים יוסף דוד) אזולאי... הובא לבית הדפוס ע"י... משה ליב הלוי איש הורוויץ... וגיסו... ישעיה אשר הורוויץ מייזליש...

בראש הספר הקדמת "הרב המאסף" ר’ יצחק שמשון ב"ר אביגדור הורוויץ מייזליש. בה הוא כותב ש"ימים מקדם... הופיע בדפוס ק"ק לבוב ספר תהלים עם פירש"י ז"ל וגם קצת פירושי המלות ולעומתו קיצור הפירוש רבינו משה אלשיך" וכן עוד כמה הוצאות "כתבנית ההוא", אולם נמצאו בפירושים אלו השמטות ושיבושים רבים ולכן החליט לערוך אותם מחדש.

בסוף: רשימת המזמורים לומר בשעת הוצאת ספר תורה; "סדר ליל הושענא רבה" (תפילות "יהי רצון").

Reference  

Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1470-1960 #000305455