Seder Sefirath Ha’Omer [Laws, customs, prayers and kabbalistic kavanot pertaining to the counting of the Omer]

(LITURGY)

Ansbach(?)

1737

Manuscript on vellum. 36 leaves.In an exquisitely neat square and cursive Ashkenazic hand. Tooled calf with a gilt design on front and back covers. Contains three exceptional, charming illustrations - 1. A skillfully rendered pen and ink depiction of the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem (f. 5b) following the text for the First day of the Omer. 2. A captivating interior scene portraying a finely dressed barber cutting the hair and beard of a seated customer. This intersting scene also depicts a table with haircutting and shaving instruments (f.31 a) following the text for the final 49th Day. 3. The final leaf depicts an angelic winged figure

MINUTE, EXQUISITE ILLUSTRATED MANUSCRIPT. SCRIBE: The colophon states that the scribe was Yonah B.Shlomo. The inscription on the front endpaper reads Haketanah Rivkah b. Kevod Harav Reb Yonah Zecher Tzaddik Lebracha of Ansbach, Yahrzeit the third day of Sivan. It is not clear whether the yahrzeit refers to the father or the daughter. It is conceivable that this manuscript was written by the scribe for his daughter. KABBALISTIC KAVANOT: Each page contains a rendering of the divine name with different kavanot. The scribe also included Psalm 67 in the form of a seven-branched Menorah (f. 4a). This chapter has seven verses with 49 words . Reciting it in the form of a menorah was said to have a kabbalistic amuletical implications. The rhymed title reminds the user not to forget to recite the Omer on time!