[“Delight of Days”: Kabbalistic homilies through the year]. Anonymous (Attributed to Nathan of Gaza)

Rarely has a single book generated such extreme controversy as the anonymous Chemdath Yamim (editio princeps Izmir, 1731). There are those who cannot lavish enough praise on the book’s superior literary style and content, which is held to be conducive to sincere piety. At the other extreme, there are those, especially in the Aschkenazic community, who regard the book with suspicion and disdain, viewing it as the illegitimate brainchild of some lingering post-Sabbatian elements, who managed to ensconce cryptic references to their supposedly fallen “Messiah” past internal rabbinic censorship. An anecdote concerning the great Sephardic luminary R. Chaim Yoseph David Azulai reflects this tension. When Azulai resided in Livorno, Italy, another - Aschkenazic - emissary sought to besmirch his name by bringing to the attention of the community that Azulai was fond of the disreputable work “Chemdath Yamim.” Azulai, knowing something of his opponent’s questionable mores, was quick to respond: “I may be busy with ‘Chemdath Yamim’ [Delight of Days] but my adversary is busy with ‘Chemdath Leiloth’ [Delight of Nights].” See M. Benayahu, Sepher ha-Chid”a (1959), p. 189. See further M. Benayahu, Rabbi H.Y.D. Azulai (1959), pp. 143-144, 167. This four-volume Venetian edition of Chemdath Yamim is by far the most elegant of the editions of this literary masterpiece