(SheLa”H HaKadosh). Shnei Luchoth HaBerith ["Two Tablets of the Law"]. Issued with Vavei Ha’Amudim by the author's son, Shabthai Sheftel Horowitz.

This edition of the Shnei Luchoth HaBerith, an extensive work on Halachah, Kabbalah and moral philosophy, is considered one of the most beautifully produced Hebrew printed books. Furthermore, Chassidim consider this 1698 edition especially noteworthy, as it was published in the year "Nachath," the year R. Israel Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement, was born. Part halachic code and part Kabbalistic treatise, the Shnei Luchoth HaBerith (abbreviated to SheLa”H), exerted great influence on the spiritual life of the Jews of Eastern Europe, and more than any other book was responsible for the introduction of Kabbalah into daily ritual. A native of Prague, R. Isaiah Halevi Horowitz (1565? -1630), was educated in the talmudic academies of Poland. After a stint as Av-Beth-Din of Frankfurt am, Main, he served as Rabbi of Prague. In 1621, he settled in Jerusalem, where he became Rabbi of the Aschkenazic community of the city and availed himself of the esoteric teachings of R. Isaac Luria (1534-72) and his disciples.