Seder Tephiloth mi-Kol ha-Shanah al-pi Nusach ha-Ari za”l [Prayer book for the entire year according to the rite of R. Isaac Luria). Includes Passover Hagadah.

Exceptionally rare first edition of the Alter Rebbe's siddur. During the life-time of The Alter Rebbe, R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1813), his unique text of the prayers - based upon the rite of Rabbi Isaac Luria - was published in a very condensed format in Shklov in 1803 (see Habermann, Sha’arei Chabad, no. 135). However, this earlier prayerbook was devoid of Chassidism per se, offering only general instructions and “pesakim” (legal decisions). Following the death of R. Shneur Zalman, his son and successor, R. Dov Baer (1773-1827), referred to as the “Mitteler Rebbe,” issued for the first time what has come to be known among Chabad Chassidim as the “Siddur ‘im Da”ch” (Siddur with Chassidic discourses; Da”ch initials “Divrei Elokim Chaim,” or Words of the Living God) - or more simply, “Der Alter Rebbe’s Siddur.” Prof. Moshe Rosman sees in the flurry of publishing that took place at Israel Jaffe’s Kopyst press in the wake of R. Shneur Zalman’s passing, an attempt on the part of his son, R. Dov Baer to surpass his rival, R. Aaron Halevi Horowitz of Staroshelye, a contender for the throne of the Alter Rebbe. (See M. Rosman, Founder of Hasidism (1996), pp. 201-202). Additionally, perhaps, this was a sincere attempt to fill the vacuum left by the passing of the founder of Chabad Chassidism. The Kabbalistic discourses contained in the Siddur are highly recondite. In his Introduction, Rabbi Dov Baer relates that the teachings were transmitted by R. Shneur Zalman to his sons every Shabbat. Many of the discourses were taken from Rabbi Dov Baer’s own transcriptions, indeed some of those very manuscripts had been proofread and approved by R. Shneur Zalman himself. This volume may be said to rank among the most important of chassidic printed books - and certainly the most significant within Chabad philosophy.