Eitz Ha’chaim [Kabbalah]. Penned by the scribe Abraham ben Isaac of Vilna

(VITAL, CHAIM).

Petrikov, near Pinsk

1771

Hebrew manuscript in clear, neat Ashkenazic rabbinic script. Black ink on paper

The Eitz Ha’chaim compendium includes all of Vital’s writings in which he elaborated upon the teachings of Isaac Luria (the AR”I). This manuscript has an elaborate title page praising the AR”I, who “had the soul of Bezalel ben Uri ben Chur” - the architect of the Tabernacle - and “to whom Elijah the Prophet revealed the secrets of the Torah.” It is interesting to note that this manuscript indicates the spread of the study of Kabbalah in Lithuania in the 18th century