Hakohen, Benjamin Beinish ben Judah Leib. Amtachath Binyamin [kabbalistic meditations for various occasions]

(KABBALAH)

Hirsch ben Hayim of Fürth

Wilhermsdorf

1717

FIRST EDITION

Vinograd, Wilhermsdorf 76

Renowned for its homilies and kabbalistic interpretations, the work acquired for its author a reputation as a Ba’al-Shem, (a “wonder-worker.”) Practical Kabbalah, which was for the most part, virtuously motivated, is preoccupied with the manipulation of the spherical powers to affect the physical, not the spiritual world. Such magical operations are not considered impossible in the Kabbalah. Indeed, they are not categorically forbidden, although numerous Kabbalistic writings stress that only the most perfectly saintly individuals are permitted to perform them, and even then, never for their private advantage, but only in times of emergency and public need. See Immanuel Etkes, Ba’al Hashem: The Besht—Magic, Mysticism, Leadership (2000), pp. 35-41