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Halachic Ruling Handwritten and Signed by Kabbalist Rabbi Shalom Buzaglo, Author of Mikdash Melech – Rabat, 1730 - Halachic ruling signed by R. Machluf Elmaliach and R. Avraham Rodriguez, with confirmation handwritten and signed by kabbalist R. Shalom Buzaglo, author of Mikdash Melech. Rabat, 3rd Nisan [1730]. Lengthy halachic ruling regarding a monetary dispute between R. Yitzchak Almalaki (Malaki) and R. Shlomo ibn Amor. The halachic ruling is in neat scribal writing (over about a page and a half), followed by a confirmation in a more cursive writing – the handwriting of R. Shalom Buzaglo, with his calligraphic signature: ”I was present while R. Yitzchak Malaki and R. Shlomo ibn Amor were being judged… and the matter passed as written in the truthful record… And as proof for R. Shlomo ibn Amor I sign here on the same day, Shalom son of Moshe Buzaglo”. (The scribal writing may also be that of R. Shalom Buzaglo). The incident discussed in this ruling involved leading Moroccan Torah scholars in Meknes, Salé and Rabat: R. Yitzchak Malaki, a merchant of Salé, sent a shipment of tobacco to R. Shlomo ibn Amor in Gibraltar, to be sold there. R. Shlomo sold the tobacco at high profit, but claimed that he had purchased the merchandise from R. Yitzchak Malaki and was not merely acting as his agent, hence he had only to pay the purchase price and not to share the profits. Known halachic rulings from this affair include: the halachic ruling of the Meknes Beit Din in favor of R. Shlomo ibn Amor, from Iyar 1729, signed by R. Yaakov Abensour (Yaavetz), R. Moshe Berdugo (Mashbir) and R. Moshe Adahan (printed in Responsa Mishpat UTzedakah BeYaakov II, 10); a halachic ruling written by R. Chaim ibn Attar, the Or HaChaim, in Adar 1730, in response to the Yaavetz's ruling, defending R. Yitzchak Malaki (first printed in Eretz HaChaim by R. Yaakov Halperin, Vienna 1933); and a letter written by the Mashbir and R. Moshe Adahan on 17th Adar 1730 to the dayanim of Salé, including the Or HaChaim, in response to the rulings they had sent them (appears in Ms. Wallach 10, based on which it was published in Kitvei HaOr HaChaim HaKadosh VeTalmidav, Bnei Brak 2023, pp. 157-181; see there for an extensive account of the affair). The present halachic ruling, by the rabbis of Rabat including R. Shalom Buzaglo, was heretofore unknown, and it is effectively the last known document involved in the affair, shedding new light on the unfolding of the incident. The famous kabbalist R. Shalom Buzaglo (Rashab; ca. 1700-1780; Malchei Rabanan, p. 112a), author of Mikdash Melech. Born in Salé near Rabat, where he studied Torah under his father the kabbalist R. Moshe Buzaglo, as well as the elder R. Chaim ibn Attar (grandfather of the Or HaChaim) in his final years. He served as dayan in Rabat and Salé (as evidenced by the present halachic ruling; in Responsa Mishpat UTzedakah BeYaakov II, 56, he is a signatory of a halachic ruling in Salé along with R. Machluf Elmaliach and R. Ayush Abuzaglo, in the same year, 1730). He was later a member of the circle of kabbalists in Marrakesh, where he was a disciple of R. Avraham Azulai, and a disciple and peer of R. Yaakov Pinto, R. Yeshayah HaKohen and R. Yaakov Gedaliah (on this circle see: R. Moshe Hillel, Teudah LeToldot Chug Mekubalei Marrakesh BaDor HaRishon, Min HaGenazim X, pp. 23-80). Ca. 1745 he was forced to flee Morocco due to persecution by the authorities, and he experienced great miracles, as he recounts in his introduction to Mikdash Melech: ”…'The heart of the king is in the hand of G-d'; He changed his attitude to me from an enmity to friendship… when I was but a step away from the burning for which I was bound and ready…”. He recounts in a letter: ”I was cast into fire for the sanctification of G-d's name and I sacrificed my life; G-d Who saved me then from the fiery furnace will assist me regarding the honor of His name…” (Meirat Einayim, second letter, 9th Tamuz 1751). In his introduction to Kise Melech he also signs: ”So says the one saved from fire twice, from the Arab king and his general, relying on the kindness of the Rock and Savior of Israel”. After leaving Morocco he arrived in London, where he was appointed rabbi of the Sephardic community in the city. He is particularly famous for his Mikdash Melech commentary on the Zohar which he edited and published (Amsterdam 1750-1752), and his other kabbalistic works: Hadrat Kise Melech – commentary on Tikunim (Amsterdam 1769), Hadrat Melech – on passages of the Zohar, Hadrat Hod Melech – on Sifra DiTzniuta, Hadrat Kevod Melech – on passages of Etz Chaim, and Hadrat Pnei Melech – on the Idrot (published in Amsterdam 1766 and London 1770-1773). He authored an introduction to the Zohar, first printed in the Zohar edition of Amsterdam 1772, which was reprinted in many Zohar editions up to this day. [1] double leaf (two written pages). 21 cm. Fair condition. Stains, including dampstains. Tears and wear. Folding marks.