Vital, Chaim. Eitz Chaim ["Tree of Life": magnum opus of Lurianic Kabbalah]. Part II (Gates XXVI-L only, i.e. Sha'ar HaTzelem through Sha'ar Kitzur ABI"A)

AUCTION 41 | Thursday, September 18th, 2008 at 1:00

Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, & Graphic Art

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Lot 331

(KABBALAH).

Vital, Chaim. Eitz Chaim ["Tree of Life": magnum opus of Lurianic Kabbalah]. Part II (Gates XXVI-L only, i.e. Sha'ar HaTzelem through Sha'ar Kitzur ABI"A)

Aschkenazic cursive script. Attractive title page displaying exquisite artistry; title between scalloped architectural columns, with eagle and two lesser birds at top. Final line of title reads: "Nichtav bi-shenath 5510. Sepher Etz Chaim ha-laz hi (!) k[ethav] y[ad] ha-rav ha-ma'or ha-gadol, butzina kadisha, ish Eloki, kadosh yomar lo, mohr"r Shabbethai me-Rashov" [Written in the year 1750. This Book of Etz Chaim is the manuscript of the Rabbi, the great luminary, the holy candle, the Godly man, said to be holy, our teacher, R. Shabbethai me-Rashkov]. The date 1750 is found also in the colophon at the end of the volume, this time in the form of a chronogram: "Ki yipale mimecha davar…ve-kamta ve-ALITH"A el ha-makom" (Deuteronomy 17:8). On the first and last pages there occurs the signature of a former owner which is illegible but for the fact that the individual's father was from "Greater Nemirov" [Nemirov Rabtha] ff. (219). 19 lines per page. Black ink on coarse paper. Foxed. Some minute marginal worming. Ex-library. Contemporary blind-tooled calf. Thick 4to

1750

Est: $4,000 - $6,000

PRICE REALIZED $30,000

Copy of R. Shabbethai Rashkover's Recension of Eitz Chaim R. Shabbethai Rashkover (1655-1745) is most famous for his kabbalistic prayer book with the kavanoth of R. Isaac Luria (Korets, 1794) which is held in the highest esteem by Chassidim. R. Shabbethai, of whom we possess but scant biographical details, was reputedly one of the closest disciples of R. Israel Ba'al Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement, and an accomplished kabbalist in his own right. Besides the Siddur, R. Shabbethai produced a brief distillation of Lurianic writings, Seder Kelaluth Tikun ve-Aliyath ha-Olamoth (Lemberg, 1788). Eitz Chaim was first printed in Korets in 1782; thus, our manuscript predates the first edition. As R. Shabbethai's biographers write that he passed away in 1745, we must assume that our copy is not in R. Shabbethai's own hand, but rather in the hand of a copyist, working from R. Shabbethai's recension of the Eitz Chaim, which would have been considered most trustworthy and reliable.