Bidspirit auction | Manuscript and signature of the

Manuscript and signature of the Holy Kabbalist Rabbi Yaakov Israel Algazi – Olalot Ephraim, Amsterdam, 1770. - Sefer Olalot Ephraim. Sermons for the festivals and simchas of the year, by Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim Luntshitz. Amsterdam, 1770. Printed by Shlomo ben Yosef Proops. On the title page is an ownership inscription and signature: '' God has been gracious to me and gave me this as well 18 Adar 1747. From the tithe I am Yaakov Israel, worm of the Admor Yom Tov Elgazi, of blessed memory.” The famous Gaon Rabbi Yaakov Israel Algazi (1704–1787), one of the leading rabbis and kabbalists of Jerusalem, originally from Izmir. He studied at the kabbalistic yeshiva Beit El and was among its heads. His teachers included Rabbi Chaim Abulafia (author of Etz Chaim) and Rabbi Yitzchak HaCohen Rappaport (author of Batei Kehuna). He served as Rosh Yeshiva of Neve Shalom Brit Avraham, where many of the great scholars of Jerusalem studied, and was a member of the rabbinical court of Rabbi Eliezer Nahcum. The Chida eulogized him. He served as Rishon LeZion from 1755 until his passing; his son, the Maharit Elgazi, succeeded him. He authored many works, including Shalmei Tzibbur, Ne’ot Yaakov, Ma’aneh Lashon, Emet LeYaakov, Ara’a DeRabbanan, Kehillot Yaakov, Magid Divrei Yaakov, and others. Rabbi Yaakov Israel Elgazi was responsible for printing the mystical work Chemdat Yamim, a controversial kabbalistic text discovered in Safed. The authorship of Chemdat Yamim remains disputed: some claim it was written by Natan Ezra, a student of the false messiah Shabtai Tzvi, while others assert the author was an important kabbalist (the work L’shem Shevo V’Achlama refers to the author as “one of the holy ones above”). The scholar Rabbi Yechiel Goldhaber argues that Rabbi Yaakov Israel Elgazi himself authored Chemdat Yamim but, out of extreme humility, did not publish it under his own name. On the title page of Chemdat Yamim, he also signs as ''Tola’at Yaakov beKhamar Yom Tov Algazi''. He passed away on 10 Tammuz 1787. Upon hearing of his death, the Chida wrote a letter of mourning and consolation to his son, the Maharit, saying: ”Our precious teacher, father of Israel, the Ark of God, crown of Israel, has been taken… darkness has fallen upon us… woe to the generation that lost its leader… woe to the ears that hear this… woe to the land of Israel… oh, what shall become of us…” [1], 1, 3-123 Leaves. 32.3 cm.