Auction 153
Exclusive Pre-Passover Sale Important Rabbinic Letters · Rare Books · Manuscripts · Judaica
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Mar 22, 2026
Jerusalem, Israel
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LOT 18:
An Exceptionally Rare Segulah Treasure: A complete autograph booklet in the holy hand of the Exilarch of his ...
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Sold for: $6,500 (₪20,215)
Price including buyer’s premium:
$
8,125 (₪25,268.75)
Calculated by rate set by auction house at the auction day
Start price:
$
4,000
Estimate :
$6,000 - $10,000
Buyer's Premium: 25%
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Item Overview
Description:
An Exceptionally Rare Segulah Treasure: A complete autograph booklet in the holy hand of the Exilarch of his generation, Maran the Ben Ish Chai — containing blessings for marriage matches, worthy offspring, opening of mazal, and more
A Wonderous Treasure – Complete Autograph Kabbalistic Booklet of the Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad (“Ben Ish Chai”)
A Wonderous Treasure – Complete Autograph Kabbalistic Booklet of the Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad (“Ben Ish Chai”)
Baghdad, circa 1900 (late years of his life)
Before us stands an extraordinary treasure: a complete manuscript booklet of rare kabbalistic–segulah content, extending over fourteen written pages (approximately 19 lines per page; c. 2,000 words in total) — entirely in the sacred autograph hand of the “Lion of Babylon, ” the foremost rabbinic authority and kabbalist of the East, Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, reverently known as the Ben Ish Chai.
[Baghdad, circa 1900; after 1897.]
A Complete Autograph — Including the Title Page
Not only is this a full autograph booklet, but in a most unusual and significant feature, it includes an original title page — likewise entirely in his own hand — bearing the heading: “Mizkeret BeS”D” (“A Memorial, with the help of Heaven”).
The manuscript was written in the final years of the author’s life (after 1897), and as he himself notes on the title page, its contents draw from discourses delivered in the years 1892, 1894, and 1897. We thus have before us a distilled summary of his Torah teachings and blessings from his final period.
A Segulah Manuscript of Exceptional Power
Among the Jews of Babylonia, autograph manuscripts of the Ben Ish Chai were traditionally regarded as possessing special segulah for success, protection, and deliverance for those who held them in their possession.
This manuscript, saturated with verses of blessing and Divine Names — all in his own holy hand — carries particular resonance.
More than that: the pages are filled with sacred Names, letter permutations, kabbalistic allusions, and gematriot — the very spiritual foundations from which amulets derive their power to operate beyond the bounds of nature. In essence, this manuscript approaches the character of an actual amulet.
Selected Themes from the Segulah Content
Blessing & Protection:
“Kel Sha-dai yihyeh be’ezrateinu veyishmerenu veye’azrenu, amen ken yehi ratzon” — the famed blessing formula of the Ben Ish Chai appears twice: in the margin of the title page and at the conclusion of the booklet.
Marriage & Harmony:
“Motza isha matza tov” — the perfection of letter combinations as a sign of blessing (p. 1).
“Eshet chayil ateret ba’alah” (p. 5).
The teaching that when husband and wife merit, the Divine Name Y–H rests between them (p. 1).
Children & Continuity:
The letters Y–H of the Divine Name are called “fathers, ” and V–H are called “children.” When one merits the first half of the Name (Y–H), one merits the continuation (V–H) — namely, fruitful offspring (p. 1).
Further elaboration on the primacy of conception and inner spiritual precedence (p. 5).
Transformation of Mazal:
The mystical principle of letter substitution according to the סדר אבג"ד — a change of letter alters its numerical value and thus spiritual influence (p. 2).
Divine Protection:
Israel and the Holy One, blessed be He, are likened to husband and wife — the meaning of “Shomer Yisrael” (p. 7).
Blessing for Abundance:
The mystical secret of “Mi” and “Mah, ” containing connotations both of humility and expansion;
“And the Lord blessed Abraham with everything” (p. 8).
Redemption:
Future redemption will come through humility and charity, alluded to in the letters ג and ד — gomel dalim (ibid.).
“Your eyes shall behold the King in His beauty” (p. 10).
“After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us” — interpreted as the Third Temple (ibid.).
Physical Description
Complete booklet, approx. 15 × 12 cm.
[16] pp., of which [14] pp. written (approx. 2,000 words), entirely autograph.
Very fine condition. Bound in an ornate leather binding and housed in a matching embossed leather case.
The Sanctity of Objects Used for Holiness
In his work Ben Yehoyada (Sanhedrin 95a), Rabbi Yosef Chaim writes that any physical object regularly used for sacred purposes acquires an enduring measure of holiness. He cites, among other examples, the staff of a prophet used in holy unifications and even the donkey of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair, which acquired spiritual quality through constant association with holiness.
These words take on palpable meaning when contemplating this sacred booklet — wholly written in the holy hand of one of the greatest kabbalists of all generations.
The Author
Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad (1833–1909), known as the Ben Ish Chai, was the preeminent leader of Babylonian Jewry and one of the greatest Eastern sages of his era. A disciple of Rabbi Abdallah Somekh, he was renowned from youth for his genius and righteousness. At age 26 he began delivering sermons in the Great Synagogue of Baghdad, continuing for approximately fifty years, drawing thousands who listened for hours to his discourses.
Celebrated worldwide as a singular authority in both revealed and hidden Torah, he journeyed to the Land of Israel in 1869, where he perceived himself as rooted in the soul of Benaiah ben Yehoyada — a name reflected in many of his works: Ben Ish Chai, Ben Ish Chayil, Ben Yehoyada, Rav Pe’alim, and many more.
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