Bidspirit auction | Mafte'ach HaZohar, with New Passages

Mafte'ach HaZohar, with New Passages of the Zohar! Venice, 1566 * Sefer Mafte'ach HaZohar, true to its name, is a key to the Sefer HaZohar printed in Mantua a few years earlier. The sefer contains two distinct kinds of indexes. The first follows the order of the pesukim of Tanach. The second is arranged according to twelve “pillars” — that is, categories — including matters of tefillah, Torah, the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash and its rebuilding, “stories and aggados that occurred to the holy ones, ” and other subjects. The work was authored by the young gaon Rabbi Moshe Galanti of Tzfas, who in later years became one of the greatest sages of Eretz Yisrael and served as head of the mesivta in Tzfas, and is the author of Shu”t Maharam Galanti. Printed at the end of the sefer are nearly six pages containing new passages from the Zohar that were not included in the Mantua edition (although some did appear in the Cremona edition printed in those same years). These passages were taken from “old sefarim of a certain great kabbalist.” Printed at the beginning of these leaves are the words: “This belongs to the Sefer HaZohar.” The author’s brother, Rabbi Avraham Galanti, had already mentioned such a passage from the Zohar in his sefer Kol Bochim, writing: “This will be understood according to what is explained in the Zohar, in a handwritten passage… which is lacking in the printed sefarim; and my wise teacher and brother brought it at the end of the indexes of the Zohar that he printed” (Venice 1589, leaf 49b). A rare sefer. In earlier generations, it was nearly impossible to learn effectively in sefarim without an orderly index. As the author himself writes on the title page: “Sefer HaZohar without indexes is like a body without a soul!” Indeed, in the present copy, one can see that alongside many of the index references, a small dot was added in early handwritten script — evidently a mark placed by the owner of the sefer as a reminder that he had examined that referenced passage in the Zohar (or that he still needed to do so, and the like). Maharam Galanti (niftar after 1612) was one of the greatest poskim of Eretz Yisrael. At the age of 22, he received semicha from his rebbi, Rabbi Yosef Karo, and from 1600 onward served as Av Beis Din of Tzfas. Hundreds and thousands of his descendants served in rabbinical positions, including the Galanti, Chagiz, and Meyuchas families, among others. Venice, 1566. First edition. Page Count: 34 leaves. Size : Approx. 19 cm. Condition : Good; some stains, primarily on the final leaves. Antique leather binding, its surface softened through years of use, now supple and velvety to the touch. Bibliography : Sefer Mafte'ach HaZohar LeMahadurasav by Meir Benayahu, Asufot 10, pp. 37–40. ---------------------------- Printed on the title page is an impressive illustration of a war elephant bearing a tower with soldiers upon it — the emblem of the printer Di Cavalli. See: Diglei HaMadpisim HaIvri’im, p. 20.