Vital, Chaim. Peri Eitz Chaim ["Fruit of the Tree of Life": Lurianic kabbalistic meditations]. Part II. Sha'ar ha-Shabbath ve-Yom Tov

(KABBALAH).

Eastern Europe

1764

Aschkenazic cursive script. Title within artistic surround. Numerous kabbalistic charts and tables, some most striking (see eg. f.114r.)

The present beautifully penned copy of Vital's Peri Eitz Chaim predates the first edition (Korets, 1782) by eighteen years. The arra ngement differs somewhat from that currently accepted. Our version begins "Ha-Hephresh she-yesh bein Shabbathle-Yom Tov." This becomes Chap. II of Sha'ar Mikra Kodesh in the popular Brandwein edition (Jerusalem 1988) of Peri Eitz Chaim (p. 483); whereas our Chap. II (f.2r.) corresponds to Chap. I of Brandwein's Sha'ar Mikra Kodesh (p. 482). We have Sha'ar Rosh Chodesh preceding Sha'ar ha-Shabbath, whereas in current editions Sha'ar Rosh Chodesh follows Sha'ar ha-Shabbath. These are but a few of the many differences in arrangement. There are also significant variants. For example, in the Brandwein edition we read in Sha'ar ha-Shabbat that in addition to four articles of white clothing, R. Isaac Luria wore in the winter, a "gibani" undergarment, due to the cold (p. 388); whereas in our copy the text reads a "gevani" undergarment, i.e. a colored undergarment (f.16v.). Ours would appear to be the correct reading