Kessef Mezukkak by the Kabbalist Rabbi Yeshayahu Pinto – Venice, 1628 – First Edition.

Kessef Mezukkak by the Kabbalist Rabbi Yeshayahu Pinto – Venice, 1628 – First Edition.

Sefer Kessef Mezukkak (Refined Silver) – Sermons on the Torah, by the divine kabbalist Rabbi Yeshayahu Pinto, known as the RIF (Rav Yeshayahu Pinto), one of the great sages of Syria in the 17th century, and a disciple & Mechutan of Rabbi Chaim Vital.

First Edition. Venice, 1628 Printed by Giovanni Ca’Lioni.

Rare! Only four copies have ever appeared in public auction.

Rabbi Yeshayahu Pinto (the RIF; 1566–1648) was one of the leading Torah scholars and kabbalists in 17th-century Syria. He was born in Damascus to Rabbi Yosef, a descendant of Spanish exiles. In his youth, he studied in the yeshiva of Rabbi Yaakov Abulafia and later studied Kabbalah under Rabbi Chaim Vital. Notably, Rabbi Chaim Vital’s son, Shmuel, eventually became both a student and the son-in-law of Rabbi Pinto.

In 1625, Rabbi Pinto immigrated to the Land of Israel with his family and settled in Jerusalem, later moving to Safed. However, following the death of his son Rabbi Yosef after only a year, he returned to Damascus. Shortly after his return, he was appointed chief rabbi of the community.

Among his descendants, members of the family migrated to North Africa, giving rise to the renowned Pinto family of rabbis and kabbalists who flourished in Marrakesh during the 18th century. Among them: Rabbi Yaakov Pinto of Marrakesh, one of the teachers of Rabbi Shalom Buzaglo, author of Mikdash Melech,   His son, Rabbi Avraham Pinto I, Av Beit Din of Marrakesh, author of Hadrat Kodesh. To this day, this family is known as a dynasty of rebbes and kabbalists.

Rabbi Pinto authored numerous works, including: Kessef Nivchar (Venice, 1621), Kessef Mezukkak (Venice, 1625) – collections of sermons on the Torah. Me'or Einayim – Commentary on Ein Yaakov by Rabbi Yaakov ben Haviv (Vol. 1 Venice 1625; Vol. 2 Mantua 1740). Kessef Tzaruf (Amsterdam, 1729) – Commentary on the Book of Proverbs, Nivchar MiKessef (Aleppo, 1869) – Responsa arranged by the order of the Shulchan Aruch. Two of his works remain in manuscript: Kessef Namas – Commentary on the Book of Lamentations, Kibbutz Kessef – A work on laws and halachic rulings.

Antique signatures: Yehuda Leib of Berlin. Mendel Leibsdorf?

A member of the Alfandari family.

231, [9] Leaves. 28.5 cm.

Overall Good Condition, stains & water stains, one page and tape repair, new binding.