Bidspirit auction | Sefer HaGilgulim. Frankfurt, 1684. First

Sefer HaGilgulim. Frankfurt, 1684. First Edition – Among the Earliest Printed Works of Rabbi Chaim Vital - Sefer HaGilgulim, by Rabbeinu Chaim Vital, as received from his master, the holy Isaac Luria, who transmitted his teachings according to the Kabbalistic tradition he received orally from Elijah the Prophet, who appeared to him while awake. Frankfurt, 1684. First edition. This is the first of Rabbi Chaim Vital’s works to be brought to the printing press. The book differs from Sha‘ar HaGilgulim, which was later printed in Jerusalem (1863), and represents an earlier and independent version of the teachings concerning the mystery of reincarnation. A foundational Kabbalistic work, addressing the “secret of impregnation” (sod ha-ibur) and yibbum according to the system of the Ari, as well as the mystery of the transmigration of souls. The second part is devoted to “minor reincarnations, ” detailed discussions of the processes and laws governing the cycles of souls. In his introduction, Rabbi Nathan Greenhut, the printer and editor, describes attempts made to obstruct the publication and prevent the book’s dissemination. Indeed, in 1682, the lay leaders and rabbis of Frankfurt issued a decree against the book—then already prepared for publication—prohibiting the author from selling or distributing it in Frankfurt “due to the danger.” See: M. Horowitz, Rabbis of Frankfurt, Jerusalem 1972, pp. 64–65. The printer’s remarks in the introduction apparently allude to this episode. Relevant material is attached. In his preface, the printer cites other Kabbalistic works previously printed in Frankfurt that had received approbations from leading local rabbis, in an effort to justify the publication of this volume. Despite this, part of Chapter 30 was omitted from the book due to the aforementioned opposition—an illuminating testimony to the tensions surrounding the publication of Kabbalistic works in Central Europe in the seventeenth century. Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod, no. 349. Good condition. Time stains. New half-leather binding.