[1], 29 ff., quarto, 211:175 mm., wide margins, light age and damp staining, paper repairs. A good copy bound in modern cloth over boards.

Kabbalistic commentary to the five scrolls by 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 died soon after at a venerable age.

Hebrew Description

 ביאור מגלת שיר השירים [עם הפנים] למרנא ורבנא... ר’ משה אלשיך זצלה"ה...

Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1470-1960 # 000305234; EJ; Rosanies, Togarmah, 3 (1938), 276 ff.