Bidspirit auction | Magen David (by the Radvaz)

Magen David (by the Radvaz) – Amsterdam, 1713 – Dozens of Kabbalistic Glosses by an Unknown Kabbalist, Ca. 18th Century - Magen David, kabbalistic commentary on the Hebrew alphabet, by R. David son of Shlomo ibn Abi Zimra (the Radvaz). Amsterdam: Asher Anshel Shochet Kotnim, [1713]. First edition. This book features over 120 marginal glosses in Ashkenazic cursive script [ca. 18th or early 19th century]. Most glosses are lengthy, featuring profound kabbalistic content, commentaries and explanations. Some glosses begin ”it appears to me”; some conclude with a directive to ”understand”. A complete kabbalistic work of glosses. The content of the glosses mainly discusses the early kabbalah, but it also mentions kabbalistic teachings of the Arizal. Many glosses address the reader. For instance, on p. 30b: ”And as for you, reader, I now impart understanding to you as I have promised you…”. Several glosses also address the reader as ”my friend”. Some of the glosses announce he is revealing a secret, while in others he states that he is concealing or merely hinting at something (pp. 25a, 30b). In other glosses he expresses his displeasure at use of practical kabbalah and Holy Names (p. 15b), resolves an apparent discrepancy between kabbalistic authorities and the book's author (p. 17a), offers an original explanation (p. 22a), and questions a local custom based on kabbalistic and other premises (p. 13a). We have not identified the writer, but he is discernibly an eminent kabbalist. He may have been a kabbalist of Germany or Lithuania, possibly belonging to the school of the Vilna Gaon. Ownership stamps of R. Yosef Chaver on title page and last page [son of the kabbalist R. Yitzchak Eizik Chaver]; however, the handwriting appears to be from an earlier time. R. Yosef Chaver (d. Cheshvan 1875), son of the kabbalist R. Yitzchak Eizik Chaver, Rabbi of Tiktin and Shklow, served as Rabbi of Parysów, Knyszyn and Jedwabne (Łomża county, Poland). Author of Zeroa Netuyah on the Passover Haggadah, Nefesh Naki – a eulogy on his father, Shaar Yosef, Tzefirat Tifarah, and other books. His illustrious father highly esteemed him for his kabbalistic knowledge, and in his ethical will, R. Yitzchak Eizik Chaver requested that his son the Rabbi of Knyszyn ”study my homiletic writings – because he is very proficient in homiletics, and it is for him to select the good ones that tend towards Torah truth”. [5], 2-52 leaves. Approx. 20 cm. Varying condition, fair-good. Dampstains. Wear and tears. Margins of first three leaves torn, affecting text. Large open tear to inner margin of title page (replaced with paper at a later point in time, with handwriting from the 20th century). Original parchment-coated binding, with defects and wear, detached and torn. Open tears to spine. Provenance: Library of R. Shmuel Chechik (1927-1999), a leading Breslov Chassid in Jerusalem. A signed ownership inscription on the front endpaper expresses his heartfelt aspirations to serve G-d: ”I purchased it in honor of my Creator and Master, so that the teachings of this tzaddik may instruct me how to serve my Creator. Shmuel Chechik”.