(of Prague). Vayakhel Moshe [kabbalah]

GRAF, MOSES BEN MENACHEM

Moses ben Simcha Bunim Dasah

Dessau

1699

FIRST EDITION. Title within woodcut architectural arch. Elaborate Woodcut Kabbalistic Spherical Illustration Depicting the Thirteen Divine Attributes, in the form of the Symbolic Thirteen Rows of Hair in the “Holy Beard”

Vinograd, Dessau 27

The Author was one of the great Aschkenazic Kabbalists of his time. He gained fame through his public exorcism of a Dybbuk in the town of Nikolsburg in 1696 upon the instruction of R. David Oppenheim. The event is described in fascinating detail in an appendix to the first edition of Graf’s Zera Kodesh (not included in subsequent editions). See: Important Hebrew Printed Books & Manuscripts From the Library of the London Beth Din, Kestenbaum & Company, November 28th, 2000, Lot 42. The introduction of the present work contains a lengthy exposition on the importance of studying Kabbalah and berates the “fools who oppose its study.” The book contains significant approbations and an historically important introduction containing information about the Rabbis and communal leaders of Nikolsburg including R. Elazar Mendel, R. David Oppenheim’s predecessor to the post of Chief Rabbi, as well as details of Graf’s Kabbalistic study group in Prague, the town of his birth and of the great fire which forced him to flee “naked, with only my soul.” Also with wo acrostic poems and a special dedication to the authors’ benefactor and patron, Moses Austerlitz from the exiles of Vienna, “who opened his house like our father Abraham whose influence is felt in the four corners of the world.” Interestingly, R. David Oppenheim’s approbation states that he had accepted the post of Chief Rabbi of “Brisk and its environs”. However, he never actually served in this prestigious post.