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LOT 27:
Commentary on the Zohar, Sefer Bereishit, by the Early Kabbalist Rabbi Shimon Lavi, Author of the Hymn "Bar ...
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Commentary on the Zohar, Sefer Bereishit, by the Early Kabbalist Rabbi Shimon Lavi, Author of the Hymn "Bar Yochai." Livorno, 1795. Part II. First Edition. This Book was Printed by the Chid"a. The Hymn Bar Yochai is Printed at the Book's Conclusion
Kabbalist Rabbi Shimon Lavi was born c. 1485 in Castile, Spain. During the Spanish expulsion, he traveled with his parents to Morocco. He began a journey to the Land of Israel in 1549. On his way, he stopped in Tripoli, where he came upon a Jewish community in a sorry state. The Chid"a, in his book Shem Gedolim, wrote: He planned on traveling to the Land of Israel, but when he arrived in Tripoli, he saw that the community there was deeply unfamiliar with Jewish law and did not even know how how to pray or make blessings properly. He decided that it would be appropriate to draw them close to Judaism and teach them Torah and fear of G-d, and that this takes priority over going to the Land of Israel - he followed up with this decision and was successful.
Rabbi Shimon Lavi authored the renowned hymn "Bar Yochai, " yet his magnum opus on the Zohar remained in manuscript and was almost completely unknown. The Chid"a stayed in Tunisia in 1734, where he saw the manuscript of this book at Rabbi Yeshua Tanuji's. In 1795, the book was brought to print from that same manuscript. The Chid"a knew this work, but at that time, he had already stopped giving approbations, so he did not write an approbation, but he did call the work Ketem Paz (the work was not given a name by its author).
In the introduction here, the proofreader, who was also a Kabbalist, Rabbi Ya'akov Ben Na'im, wrote: "Days and years of life will be added for the renowned rabbi, wonder of the generation, our teacher ... the Chid"a, who called this work Ketem Paz ..." In his book Shem Gedolim, the Chid"a wrote a hint that the book was called Ketem Paz [כתם פז] per gematria and abbreviations, but he does not explicitly write that it was he who chose this title. An article discussing said topic is included with this lot.
[2], 281-448 leaves, 22 cm. High-quality paper.
Very fine condition with the exception of tears in the final forty leaves, without lack to the text.
