Bidspirit auction | The Personal Kabbalistic Prayer Book

The Personal Kabbalistic Prayer Book of the Hidden Tzaddik and Kabbalist Rabbi Avraham Chai – Preserved Exactly as It Remained on the Last Day He Used It | With Handwritten Leaves and Amulets - Statements by the tzaddikim of the generation about him (during his lifetime): ”Kaddisha U'Prisha... of him it is said, fortunate is he... a faithful friend” (his close friend, the Kabbalist Rabbi Yehudah Ze'ev Leibowitz) ”And it is impossible for me to describe his lofty stature, a shining aspaklaria, no secret is hidden from him, a pillar of prayer, a lover of Israel” (the Kabbalist Rabbi Chaim David Stern, son-in-law of Rabbi Mendel) ”The wise tzaddik... an exalted tzaddik... solely for Hashem alone” (the Gaon Rabbi Nissim Peretz, Rosh Yeshivah of Mesillat Yesharim) ”The Kabbalist, Kaddisha U'Prisha... Kvod Torato Chacham Avraham Chai shlit”a” (Rabbi Shalom Arush, Rosh of the Chut Shel Chessed institutions) The personal prayer book, which was used for decades by the hidden tzaddik and Kabbalist Rabbi Avraham Chai, known as ”the Kabbalist of Pardes Katz”; while conducting circumcisions, engagements, weddings and other sacred ceremonies included in its services. The book remains exactly as it was on the last day he used it – with all the leaves, notes, amulets and records preserved between its leaves. On the front and back flyleaves, the Kabbalist wrote dozens of words in his sacred handwriting – names for blessing, gematriot, Kabbalistic allusions and various records. The book's extraordinary uniqueness is intensified sevenfold by the dozens of items preserved between its leaves – amulets, notes for salvation, rare prayers, Kabbalistic Torah novellae, lists of names and leaves in the Kabbalist's sacred handwriting – all preserved in their original places, exactly as they were placed between the book's leaves during his decades of sacred service, and the book remains as it was on the last day he used it. Dozens upon dozens of items – close to fifty in number – were preserved between the book's leaves, exactly as they remained after his passing: amulets, notes for salvation, rare prayers, Kabbalistic Torah novellae, lists of names, segulah leaves, leaves in the Kabbalist's sacred handwriting and prayer passages accompanied by notes and additions in his handwriting, receipts and much more. Thus, for example, one envelope was found between the leaves, on the back of which the Kabbalist wrote dozens of names for blessing. On its other side is the heading ”Prayer on the day of the circumcision”, beneath which is a mysterious line in his sacred handwriting that has not yet been deciphered. Inside that very envelope were preserved three different amulets which he used at the time of the circumcision: ancient prayers and segulahs, among which he added in his handwriting sacred Names, gematriot and Kabbalistic notes. This is but one item among many. Among the other items are leaves containing Kabbalistic Torah novellae in his handwriting; rare printed prayers with dozens of additions in his handwriting; ”Shiviti” leaves with sacred Names and names of angels; segulah notes; as well as an unfamiliar prayer written entirely in his sacred handwriting, at the end of which he wrote: ”And this is a wondrous counsel.” Before us is, in effect, the Kabbalist's personal archive within his prayer book. Not an organized collection assembled after his passing, but the book itself, with all its contents, as it remained in his hands on the last day he prayed from it. Every leaf remained in its place, every note remained between the same leaves in which he used it, and every amulet lies exactly in the place where the Kabbalist placed it. An extraordinarily rare Kabbalistic sacred item – including, in addition to the Kabbalist's personal prayer book, dozens upon dozens of authentic remnants of his sacred service, all preserved in their places, providing a rare window into the inner world of one of the hidden tzaddikim and greatest miracle workers of the last generation. Sefer Brit Olam, including the order of Zohar study for the night of a circumcision, the order of circumcision, redemption of the firstborn, Zeved HaBat, Bar Mitzvah, engagements and weddings, a table for the names of newborns, the order of Chanukat HaBayit according to the Chid”a, orders of study for age seventy and age eighty and more. Jerusalem, Tzalach bar Yaakov Mansour Press, 1968. 128 pages, 16 cm. Between the leaves: over fifty paper items from the Kabbalist's estate. [See partial details above] Overall fine condition. Many years of usage marks on each and every leaf, including tear stains and remnants of wine from the cups of blessing. .......................................... The Kabbalist and tzaddik Rabbi Avraham Chai (”the Kabbalist of Pardes Katz”) (1920–2016), one of the leading Kabbalists and miracle workers of the last generation. He was born in Baghdad and in 1951 immigrated to the Land of Israel,