Bidspirit auction | Rare and Precious: Siddur Sha’ar

Rare and Precious: Siddur Sha’ar HaShamayim [Shelah]. Amsterdam, 1742. Signed Copies - Siddur Sha’ar HaShamayim, for the entire yearly cycle, authored by the holy Rabbi Yeshaya Halevi Horowitz – the Shelah HaKadosh. Amsterdam, 1742. A rare and significant prayer book sought after by great tzaddikim and kabbalists for their prayers. Listed in the 'Rare Collections' of the National Library. This is the second edition of the significant kabbalistic siddur compiled by the Shelah. It includes new additions: “Printed with many enhancements in supreme beauty and corrections of errors found in earlier editions” (as stated on the title page). This edition was printed for the first time in a smaller format (the first edition was printed in a larger format), and it is sometimes referred to as the ”First Edition of the Small Shelah Siddur.” A voluminous siddur containing: all weekday and Shabbat prayers, prayers for the High Holy Days and the Three Festivals, zulat hymns, piyutim, yotzerot, and selichot, as well as the Haggadah for Pesach with commentary by the Shelah and kabbalistic intentions. It also includes Perek Shira, various customs, and ethical teachings from the Shelah, along with additional material as outlined in his will. This siddur is fully intact, except for Tehillim and Ma’amadot, which were printed separately. At the tops of several pages at the beginning of the siddur, remnants of an ancient owner’s signature appear, with one word of the owner’s name on each page: ”...son of Rabbi Yehiel Michel Segal? From Debhart? (Dwart, Poland?).” At the margin of leaf 284r, a Hungarian owner’s stamp reads: ”Grünwald Juda.” 28 leaves, 528 numbered pages, 15 cm. In some copies, Tehillim and Ma’amadot were added, printed separately. Condition: Good. Time stains. Repaired tears along the edges of a few pages. Professional and artistic restoration of the title page and the following leaf. Segulah Book The Shelah compiled this siddur upon his arrival in Jerusalem in the year 1622 and cherished it greatly. This is the only book he instructed his children to print after his passing. He wrote: “I thought to compose this holy work so that it would be printed and distributed among Israel, to merit a share and merit in all prayers of Israel” (his will, with detailed instructions regarding the printing of the siddur, is printed on leaf 3 in the first page numbering). “And a covenant was made with him: if this order is followed with all one’s strength and the appropriate intentions, the prayers will not return empty-handed” (S’michat Chachamim quoting the Shelah HaKadosh). Since the siddur’s initial publication, great tzaddikim and kabbalists have endeavored to pray specifically from this siddur, as a segulah for the acceptance of prayers, following the words of the great sages regarding its sanctity. “There is no doubt among us that as it becomes widespread among Israel, whoever prays from it will find their prayers never return empty” (Rabbi Yoel Sirkis, the Bach, in his approbation of the siddur). “Go out and see what people say… Rabbi Yoel Sirkis, the author of Bayit Chadash, the great and renowned sage Rabbi Yaakov of Lublin, and the great and famous sage Rabbi Yom Tov Lipman Heller, author of Tosafot Yom Tov, all the prophets speak in one voice, these great sages affirm that those who pray with these intentions will find their prayers do not return empty” (S’michat Chachamim in his approbation).