Bidspirit auction | Sefer HaKuzari with the Kol

Sefer HaKuzari with the Kol Yehudah Commentary, Venice, 1594. With the Signature of Rabbeinu the Chavos Yair ZYA”A Sefer HaKuzari, the classic work of emunah and mesorah by Rabbeinu Yehudah HaLevi, presenting the renowned dialogue with the king of the ancient Khazar kingdom and the story (according to some, allegorical) of the conversion of his people. Accompanied by the Kol Yehudah commentary by Rabbi Yehudah Moscato, mechaber of Nefutzos Yehudah. Venice, 1594. - First edition of this commentary - the first peirush ever printed on Sefer HaKuzari. The volume bears the signature of the gaon Rabbi Yair Chaim Bacharach, the Chavos Yair ZYA”A. It would appear that he learned this sefer extensively, as he devoted much attention to matters of emunah and hashgochah and frequently cites the Moreh Nevuchim in his writings. He likewise refers to the present work on several occasions. The Influence of the Kuzari on the Writings of the Chavos Yair Sefer HaKuzari occupied an important place in the thought of the Chavos Yair. In his famous responsum dealing with matters of hashkafah (Chavos Yair, siman 210), he includes an entire passage praising the approach of the Baal HaKuzari, and several of his remarks there are clearly based upon the present work. See the parallel passages in Sefer HaKuzari (Maamar I, end of siman 26) and in the Kol Yehudah commentary (beginning of Maamar V, and simanim 18 and 21). These correspondences were noted by the editors of the new edition of Chavos Yair (Akad Sefarim, 1997). In siman 94, the Chavos Yair discusses and questions a point raised by the Baal Kol Yehudah. In siman 234, he refers to the commentary's discussion of incantations and sorcery, and in siman 238 he cites the introduction to the sefer. Rabbeinu Yair Chaim Bacharach, the Chavos Yair (1638–1702), was among the foremost gedolei Ashkenaz and one of the great poskim for generations. He served as Rav and Av Beis Din of Worms and other communities, and was renowned for his extraordinary breadth in all areas of Torah. Among his many works was Mekor Chaim on Orach Chaim, originally composed in the style of the Magen Avraham and Taz and later revised after those seforim appeared in print. His most celebrated work, Shu”t Chavos Yair, is cited thousands of times throughout the seforim of the poskim and appears frequently in the Pischei Teshuvah.