Bidspirit auction | A Powerful Segulah and Protective

A Powerful Segulah and Protective Amulet! Colorful Lamnatzeach Amulet on Parchment Handwritten by the Kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Petaya Jerusalem, 1906 * The Lamenatze'ach B’Neginos psalm intertwined with an illustration of the menorah, with the name of Hashem written in large letters, as well as sacred names and names of angels. It is written on parchment in the handwriting of the Kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Petaya z”l, whose amulets gained fame across the world as 'expert amulets.' The Lamnatze’ach is in the distinctive script of Rabbi Yehuda Petaya (see an amulet bearing his handwriting and signature in Genazym Auction 10), and was written in the holy city of Jerusalem in 1906. Between 1905–1907, Rabbi Petaya resided in Jerusalem, but due to frail health was compelled to return to Iraq, and immigrated once more to Eretz Yisrael only later in his life. On the lower right-hand side is inscribed: ”Written in the holy city of Jerusalem, may it be rebuilt and established speedily in our days, Amen. The year 'May your eyes behold Jerusalem' [1906].” Within the border of the amulet, sacred names are inscribed, among them the forty-two-letter Name which comes from the Ana B'Koach prayer, other sacred names, and names of angels. Rabbi Petaya composed this amulet for the nine-year-old son of his beloved friend, the great Kabbalist Rabbi Shimon Agassi of Baghdad, author of Bnei Aharon, as he wrote on the reverse within a menorah-shaped border: “As a token of affectionate friendship, I have written this for his beautiful and pleasant son, a precious and a delightful child, an honorable young man, a delight among young men, blessed among sons, a fruitful son, a flourishing olive branch, may he shelter under the shadow of the Almighty — Ezra ben Tzion, son of the honorable Rabbi Shimon Aharon, may he live and be preserved, may his name endure forever and ever [in health], so may it be His will.” In 1906, the year this amulet was written, the child Ezra ben Tzion was nine years old (see his father's sefer Imrei Shimon, p. 342, where a drasha for the hanachas tefillin of his son in 1910 is recorded). Gedolei Hador attributed great segulos to reciting Lamenatze’ach written in the form of the Menorah: One who recites it merits “abundant and tremendous reward” (the Chida in the name of sages of Kabbalah); “He will find favor and grace in the eyes of G-d and man” (Sefer Menoras Zahav Tahor by the Maharshal). The Avudraham writes: “One who recites it daily is considered as one who kindles the holy Menorah in the Beis Hamikdash!” The holy Kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Petaya (1859-1942) was one of the greatest Kabbalists of recent generations. He was renowned as a miracle worker whose prayers and blessings brought health and recovery to the ill, and children to the barren. He revived broken spirits, interpreted dreams and was an expert in writing amulets. He became especially famous for his remarkable ability to banish evil spirits and dibbukim, with whom he conversed, as described in his sefer Ruchos Mesapros. Rabbi Yehuda Petaya was a prolific author who authored many monumental kabbalistic works, foremost among them Beis Lechem Yehuda, a comprehensive commentary on Rabbi Chaim Vital’s Sefer Eitz Chaim, which remains a cornerstone text among Kabbalists. Jerusalem, 1906. Page count: [1] parchment leaf. Size: 16x11 cm. Most of it is written in Ksav Stam (Torah script) with crowns (tagim). The menorah and borders are painted in red, blue, green, and yellow. Condition: Good. Provenance: Descendants of Rabbi Yehuda Petaya zt”l.