Bidspirit auction | Autograph Manuscript by the Mekubal

Autograph Manuscript by the Mekubal Eloki Rabbi Avraham Azulai, Baal Chesed L'Avraham ZYA”A - Commentary on the Prophecy of Yechezkel Remarkable insights in Toras HaNistar on the prophecy of Yechezkel ben Buzi concerning the destruction of Yerushalayim in the days of Tzidkiyahu (Yechezkel, chapter 4), entirely in the pure hand of the gaon hakadosh Rabbeinu Avraham Azulai, Baal Chesed L'Avraham ZYA”A, illustrious ancestor of the Chida ZYA”A. The present manuscript comprises the complete commentary authored by Rabbeinu on these passages in Sefer Yechezkel. It was later printed in his sefer Baalei Bris Avram (Vilna, 1874). Saved from the Earthquake The manuscript from which the work was eventually printed underwent a remarkable journey. Following the petirah of the mechaber, it remained in the possession of his descendants until reaching the hands of his grandson, the Chida ZYA”A. From there it eventually found its way to the ancient Beis Medrash of Maran the Beis Yosef in Tzfas. In 1837, the devastating earthquake that struck the city reduced the building to ruins, burying its treasured collection of seforim and manuscripts beneath the rubble. Chacham Shmuel ben Abbo succeeded in recovering the present manuscript from the debris and entrusted it to the gaon hakadosh Rabbi Shmuel Heller, Rav of Tzfas, who brought it to print in 1874. Yechezkel's Prophecy of the Destruction of Yerushalayim The commentators differed as to whether the acts Yechezkel was commanded to perform, engraving Yerushalayim upon a brick, lying on his side for many days, and similar actions, were carried out literally or appeared only in a prophetic vision. The Rambam, in the Moreh Nevuchim, maintains that these events took place only within the prophetic vision. Rabbeinu Avraham Azulai, however, explains in the present manuscript that these actions were performed in actuality, since the fulfillment of a prophecy requires a tangible act outside the realm of thought, thereby giving concrete expression to the prophetic decree. The mekubal Eloki Rabbeinu Avraham Azulai ZYA”A (1570-1643), among the greatest mekubalim of all generations, is renowned for his classic work Chesed L'Avraham. He was among the foremost transmitters of Toras HaArizal. It is related that shortly before his petirah he entered the Me'aras HaMachpelah and discovered the entrance to Gan Eden. Refusing to leave, he remained there until Avraham Avinu appeared and told him, ”Leave now, and tomorrow you shall be with us.” The following day, after immersing himself in holiness and delivering divrei Kabbalah, he was niftar and buried near the Me'arah (Zikaron Yerushalayim). The writings of Rabbeinu were especially cherished among the great tzaddikim of the Chassidish world. Among them was the Divrei Yechezkel of Shinova ZYA”A, who published Rabbeinu's Or HaChamah on the Zohar with the haskamah of his father, Maran the Divrei Chaim of Sanz ZYA”A, who bestowed warm brochos upon those involved in the publication.