Bidspirit auction | Kol Yaakov, by the author

Kol Yaakov, by the author of Kaf HaChaim – with the author’s handwritten glosses - Kol Yaakov, a work on the halachot of Sefer Torah, Mezuzah, Tefillin, and Megillah, by Rabbi Yaakov Chaim Sofer, author of the Kaf HaChaim on Shulchan Aruch. Jerusalem, 1904. First edition. In this work, similar to his monumental Kaf HaChaim, the author presents the rulings of early and later halachic authorities in accordance with the order of the Shulchan Aruch, including kabbalistic intentions and formulas from the Ari and the Rashash, and the customs of Baghdad. This was Rabbi Yaakov Chaim Sofer’s first published book and served as the foundation for his magnum opus Kaf HaChaim. It was published with the assistance and editorial work of Rabbi Ben Zion Chazan, a prominent rabbi of Baghdad and close disciple of the Ben Ish Chai, Rabbi Yosef Chaim. The copy before us contains handwritten glosses by the author himself. These emendations have been positively identified as his handwriting. In one of the notes he writes: “And see in Kaf HaChaim there, where I wrote…” The Gaon and kabbalist Rabbi Yaakov Chaim Sofer (1867–1939), halachic authority and mystic, was born in Baghdad and received rabbinic ordination from the head of the Babylonian exile, the Ben Ish Chai. He immigrated to the Land of Israel in 1904, joined the kabbalists of Yeshivat Rechovot HaNahar, and became a student-chaver of Rabbi Chaim Shaul HaCohen Dweck. He composed his works in the attic of the “Shoshanim LeDavid” synagogue, where he spent most of his time. His Kaf HaChaim became a seminal halachic work on Orach Chaim, akin to the Mishnah Berurah. Beyond his halachic authority, he was known as a miracle worker, mystic, and holy man—as Rabbi Yehuda Tzadkah attested, “On Shabbat, his countenance would change to the point of being unrecognizable!” [2], 60 leaves. 20.5 cm. Very good condition. Plain binding.