(KABBALAH).

(Italy

16th century)

Kabbalistic commentary to passages in the Zohar pertaining to the various names of God, aspects of the soul and related topics. With an interpretation to the Book of Esther (ff. 5-10), a section on Yichud Hashem (letter combinations of the Tetragrammaton) (f. 13-14) and Talmudic passages.

Wherever the Zohar is referred to in this manuscript, the citation is: “Thus says R. Shimon Bar Yochai (see f. 1a and f. 3a). Among the novel explanations pertaining to God’s name “Sha-dai,” the author notes (f. 5) that the words “Mordechai HaYehudi” have the same Gematria as the name “Sha-dai” (= 314). In the discussion of how to appropriately compose the letter “Hey” of the Tetragrammaton (the smaller foot at the left should not be as thick as the right), the manuscript states that “HaGaon… R. Chaim” checked the writing of a Sofer to see if the Tetragrammaton was written in this manner (f. 14a).