Bidspirit auction | Of Utmost Importance and Exceedingly

Of Utmost Importance and Exceedingly Rare: Me’ah Brachos with a Pesach Hagaddah, Edited by Rabbi Moshe Zacuto, the Great Italian Kabbalist – Venice, 1658 * Seder Me’ah Brachos, containing numerous tefillos together with a Pesach Haggadah and various tikkunim. It was compiled by the holy kabbalist Rabbi Moshe Zacuto (the Ramaz). He added many additional prayers, as well as “notes and glosses from the Ohr Haganuz (hidden light) reserved for tzaddikim, from the holy Arizal.” This sefer is of immense importance, for it appears to be the very first comprehensive prayer book ever printed according to the Kabbalah of the Arizal. Although several individual tefillos of the Arizal — such as piyutim and Seder Krias Shema — had been printed earlier, these were not general prayer books. Here, however, the nusach is extraordinarily precise and meticulously arranged according to Kabbalah. As an example, one may see what the Ramaz writes following the text of Kiddush for Friday night: “Every person must take care not to add to and not to detract from this nusach… and its secret is known to the enlightened” (leaf 11b). The sefer is exceedingly rare in its own right. It is a completely intact copy that is almost impossible to find! In the National Library of Israel, there are two copies, both incomplete, one of them originating from the Valmadonna–Lunzer collection. To the best of Zaidy's knowledge, only a single copy has appeared at auction in the past, some twenty-three years ago. Owing to its heavy use and its miniature size of just 10.3 cm, the sefer has scarcely survived at all. The sefer includes the following tefillos: Birkas Hamazon (leaves 2–11), Kiddush and Havdalah (11–17), Birkas HaLevanah (18–21), blessings for the lighting of Chanukah candles (21), Pesach Haggadah (22–44), and Sefiras HaOmer (44–45). Thereafter, there are many additional tefillos and brachos, including: Kiddush and Havdalah for Rosh Hashanah, blessing of the sukkah, blessing of the lulav, a mizmor for marriage, blessings of eirusin and nisuin, bris milah, Birkas Hanehenin, Hagomel, eiruvin, Tefillas Haderech, the order of levayah from the Arizal, Tefillas Hayam, a blessing for bloodletting, mezuzah and ma’akeh, pidyon hakerem, and pidyon haben (45–70). The volume includes Tikkun Chatzos (70–78, [1] leaf), a tikkun which the Ramaz received from the kabbalist Rabbi Binyamin HaLevi, primary disciple of Rabbi Chaim Vital, who was at that time residing in Italy. Printed on the final leaf are concluding words of the Ramaz himself; this leaf is lacking in some of the few known copies (see below). On leaf 19a, there is a piyut composed by the Ramaz, opening with the words “Ani mafkid yechidasi.” The holy kabbalist Rabbi Moshe Zacuto (1625–1697) was the leading Italian kabbalist of his generation. A lot of his Kabbalah was learnt from Rabbi Binyamin HaLevi, a disciple of Rabbi Chaim Vital. As such, he was one of the principal transmitters of the chain of the Kabbalah of the Arizal. His beis medrash in Mantua was the largest center for the study of Kabbalah in Italy, and the primary center for the editing and compilation of the writings of the Ari. Venice, 1658. First edition of the sefer edited by the Ramaz. Page Count : 56, 58–78, [2] leaves. A completely intact copy. Pocket format. Condition : Good, with light signs of use and a few small holes. Antique binding (with numerous holes). ------------------------- Rarity of Sefer and Extremely Rare Final Leaf Seder Me’ah Brachos was distributed in two forms: as a standalone sefer, as in the present copy, and it was also appended to the end of a siddur according to the Sephardic rite, with the glosses of the Ramaz, printed in Venice in 1657. The Institute for Hebrew Bibliography recorded the sefer twice: once as a standalone volume, in which the final leaf in the present copy was not listed, and a second time as bound together with the siddur, where this leaf was recorded. In the National Library of Israel, there exists a copy of the standalone sefer, but it lacks several leaves, including the final one. Only in recent years did a copy from the Valmadonna collection arrive, consisting of the siddur bound together with Me’ah Brachos, in which the final leaf does appear, though other leaves are missing there, both from the siddur and from Me’ah Brachos. In the international WorldCat database, apparently only two copies are recorded: the copy of the National Library of Israel and another copy, which is the one that appeared at auction some twenty-three years ago. In addition, another copy is known to be in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.