Megaleh Amukoth [252 Kabbalistic explanations to Moses’ prayer in the Biblical portion of “Va’ethchanan.”]

SPIRA (SHAPIRO), NATHAN NOTA BEN SHLOMO OF CRACOW.

(Menachem Nachum Meisels)

Cracow

1637

First edition of a fundamental mystical text by the most important Polish Kabbalist of the 17th-century. When traditional scholars wish to celebrate the infinite breadth of the Torah, the present text may be cited as a perfect example. The Chid”a cites R. Yechiel Heilperin – author of Seder HaDoroth – who studied 1,000 interpretations of the Megaleh Amukoth on the diminutive letter Aleph of the word “Vayikra.” His son, R. Shlomo, writes in his introduction that his father had actually composed 1,000 interpretations of Moses’s prayer in Va’ethchanan (Deut. 3:26)