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Sha'ar ha-Pesukim, R. Hayyim Vital, Jerusalem 1912-13

שער הפסוקים - ספר הליקוטים - Kabbalah - Only Edition

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Details
  • Lot Number 52942
  • Title (English) Sha'ar ha-Pesukim
  • Title (Hebrew) שער הפסוקים - ספר הליקוטים
  • Note Kabbalah - Only Edition
  • Author R. Hayyim Vital; R. Shalom Sharabi
  • City Jerusalem
  • Publisher דפוס לעווי ושותפיו; דפוס "האחים ליפשיטץ"
  • Publication Date 1912; 1913
  • Estimated Price - Low 200
  • Estimated Price - High 500

  • Item # 2276716
  • End Date
  • Start Date
Description

Physical Description

First edition. [2], 94; [2], 53 ff., folio, 345:240mm., wide margins, light age staining. A very good copy bound in contemporary boards, rubbed.

 

Detail Description

Also know as gate four of the Ez ha-Hayyim, Sha'ar ha-Pesukim contains kabbalistic commentary and interpretations of all parts of the Bible by R. Hayyim Vital. R. Vital was born in Safed and studied in yeshivot there, especially under R. Moses Alshekh, his teacher in exoteric subjects. In 1564 he began to study Kabbalah, at first according to the system R. Moses Cordovero, and, after R. Isaac Luria’s (Ari) arrival in Safed, under the latter, becoming the Ari’s principal disciple. After the Ari’s death, R. Vital began to arrange the Ari’s teachings in written form, elaborating on them according to his own understanding, becoming the primary transmitter of the Ari’s teachings. R. Vital later moved to Jerusalem, serving as rabbi and head of a yeshiva from late 1577 to late 1585, where he wrote the last version of his presentation of the Lurianic system. In 1586 he returned to Safed, remaining there until 1592. In 1590 R. Vital was “ordained” as rabbi by his teacher R. Moses Alshekh, and then returned to Jerusalem in 1593 remaining several years, occasionally returning to Safed. His last move was to Damascus where he died. R. Vital was a prolific writer, his works encompassing Talmud, response, homilies, and even astronomy. R. Vital assembled his major writings into two vast works Ez ha-Hayyim and Ez ha-Da’at. The former is the inclusive name for all those writings in which he elaborated on the teaching of R. Isaac Luria. These works went through several versions and adaptations, for R. Vital began to arrange what he had heard from Ar'i z'l immediately after his death, and remained absorbed in this task for more than 20 years.

R. Shalom Sharabi (1720–1777), Jerusalem kabbalist. Sharabi was born in Sana in Yemen, where the study of Kabbalah and mysticism was widespread. in his youth, he emigrated to Erez Israel via Damascus. In Damascus he was involved in a controversy with the local rabbis concerning the meaning of the minimum quantity ("the size of an olive") prescribed for the eating of mazzah on Passover night. When he arrived in Jerusalem, he prayed and studied at the kabbalistic yeshiva Bet El, which was founded in 1737 by the kabbalist Gedaliah Hayon. There the prayers were held in accordance with the mystical meditations of Isaac Luria. Like the Jerusalem kabbalists, he studied only the Lurianic Kabbalah, as transmitted through the works of R. Hayyim Vital. Soon he became widely known as a man of outstanding piety and as a kabbalist. R. Sharabi succeeded Gedaliah Hayon as head of the yeshiva after the latter's death (1751). During his leadership, he did much for the yeshiva, initiated important regulations and arranged the order of prayer. He became known as one of the greatest rabbis in Jerusalem and his signature appears on several documents preserved from this period. In 1754 and 1758, he and other rabbis of Jerusalem signed the note binding the association of kabbalists, Ahavat Shalom. In 1774 he signed next to the leaders of the community of Jerusalem on a letter for emissaries to Western Europe.

R. Sharabi's life was embellished by legends even from his youth, and in Erez Israel he was famous as a saint and miracle worker. Popular tradition links his departure from Yemen with a miracle that occurred after a rich Muslim woman tried to seduce him. In Bet El he worked as a servant and hid his learning from others; only miraculously was his deep knowledge of Kabbalah discovered and he became a member of the kabbalistic circle. According to legend, the prophet Elijah appeared to him and he was an incarnation of Luria. After his death, his name became greatly revered among the Jews of Jerusalem and among the kabbalists of Bet El. The members of Bet El used to prostrate themselves on his grave on the Mount of Olives on the commemoration of his death. His signature was Shalom Mizrahi di-Ydi'a Sharabi and his titles Ha-Reshash or Ha-Shemesh (both are Hebrew acronyms of Shalom Mizrahi Sharabi).

 

Hebrew Description:

שער הפסוקים  ... נדפס פעם ראשון בפעה"ק ירושלם [תרכ"ג] ... עם ספר הלקוטים ביחד, פסוק ... ופסוק ... הוצאנו לאור פעם שנית והדפסנו רק שער הפסוקים לבדו, עם הוספות כמה פסוקים ... העתקתי אותם מכמה כתבי ידות .. ובהגה"ה מדויקת עם תוספות: הגהות וחידושים, והם מראה מקומות (בדברי רבינו האר"י ... בתלמוד ובמדרשים) וחידושים רבים אשר לקטתי מכמה וכמה ספרים ... והגהות נכונות מכ"י ... עם תוספות נופך משלי ... זאב וואלף אשכנזי בלא"א מוהר"ר צבי הירש זלה"ה ... יצא לאור על ידי השותפים זאב וואלף הנ"ל והרב ר’ ראובן האאז נ"י ב"ר ברוך ז"ל ...

דף [2]: הקדמת ר’ שמואל ויטאל; הקדמת המחבר והמאסף את הגהות וחידושים.

"מראה מקום" של ר’ חי רפאל ידידיה אבואלעפיה נדפסו כאן בתוך "הגהות וחידושים" בשולי העמודים.

ספר הליקוטים   והוא חלק שני משער הפסוקים [לר’ חיים וויטאל]... דרושים... ופניני אמרים ורמזי סודות... על כל התנ"ך להתנא... רבינו האר"י... לקטו תחילה הרב... מאיר פאפירש זלה"ה מדרושי הרב האמתיים, ואח"כ סדרו מורינו הרב שר שלום [מזרחי שרעבי]... נדפס פעם ראשון בפעה"ק ירושלם [תרכ"ג]... עם ספר שער הפסוקים ביחד, פסוק... ופסוק... הוצאנו אותו לאור פעם שנית... שער הפסוקים חלק ראשון לבדו [ירושלם תרע"ב], וספר הלקוטים חלק שני לבדו. עם תוספות הגהות וחידושים, והם מראה מקומות וחידושים רבים אשר לקטתי מכמה וכמה ספרים... והגהות נכונות ממהרח"ו עצמו עם תוספות נופך משלי... זאב וואלף אשכנזי בלא"א מוהר"ר צבי הירש זלה"ה... נדפס בהשתדלות זאב וואלף הנ"ל וראובן האז ב"ר ברוך ז"ל...

 

 

References:

BE Ayin 1017b; JE; Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1470-1960 #000130766