Beschreibung:

Levush HaButz V'Ha'argaman, Even HaEzer. By Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe. [Venice, 1620. Printed by Pietro and Lorenzo Bragadini, Giovanni Cajon]. Copy of Rabbi Shmuel Vital, with dozens of glosses in his own handwriting. The book contains 74 glosses in the handwriting characteristic to Rabbi Shmuel Vital; 40 of them are long. 12 are signed at the beginning (Hebrew): A.S. = Amar Shmuel [Shmuel said]. There are also corrections and additions of subjects in the index at the end of the book, in his handwriting (19 additions). Most of the glosses have never been printed. Rabbi Shmuel Vital Rabbi Shmuel Vital (1598-1677), one of the leading disciples who copied kabbalistic teachings of the Ari and the great rabbis of the Ari's generation; a tsaddik and kabbalist, head of yeshiva and Av Beit Din of Damascus, one of the most prominent disciples of his father, Rabbi Chaim Vital . He copied and arranged his father's writings and the writings of his father's teacher, the Arizal. Son-in-law of Rabbi Yoshiya Pinto (the Rif) of Damascus (author of the Nivchar M'Kesef responsa, Rif commentary on Ein Ya'akov, etc.), and his successor as Rabbi of Damascus. An outstanding Torah genius of revealed and hidden Torah, he answered halachic questions sent to him from Eretz Israel, Egypt and other places (his responsa were printed in the Be’er Mayim Chaim responsa). A close disciple of his holy father Rabbi Chaim Vital, whom he calls in all his books “Mori” [my teacher]. His father held him in great esteem and praised him excessively. He said that his soul is from the root of the Ari’s soul and is a spark of the soul of Rabbi Meir, and Rabbi Chaim transmitted to Rabbi Shmuel kabbalistic hidden secrets. In Damascus, he headed the yeshiva in which he taught the Ari’s kabbalah and one of his disciples was Rabbi Ya’akov Tzemach [who arranged the writings of Rabbi Chaim Vital]. In 1663, Rabbi Shmuel Vital left Damascus and traveled to Egypt. Part of his possessions which were sent to Egypt before he arrived were lost or stolen on the way, together with a load of books and manuscripts. This caused Rabbi Shmuel great pain and he wrote: “Due to my sins, when I was expelled from my home and city and country and sojourned in a foreign land… I was robbed several times of my money and my books, both my responsa and books of poskim…”. He lived in Egypt until his death; there he began to arrange his writings. He signed Torah rulings together with the dayanim and Torah scholars of Egypt. His son, Rabbi Moshe Vital served as rabbi in Egypt. Rabbi Shmuel received the Ari’s Kabbalistic teachings from his father and he inherited his writings, thereby becoming one of the most important editors of the Ari’s kabbalah and among the foremost transmitters of the Ari’s teachings and conduct. From his father’s teachings, he arranged and edited the work Shmone She’arim (also called Etz Chaim) which was the first reliable composition officially published with the arrangement of the Ari’s kabbalah. The Chida (entry: Rabbi Chaim Vital) writes of this composition: “Thirty years and more have passed since Shmona She’arim has been published arranged by the Maharchav‘s son Shmuel and they can be relied upon…”. The subsequent editors also followed Rabbi Shmuel; amongst them are Rabbi Ya’akov Tzemach (his disciple) and his disciple Rabbi Meir Popers. Rabbi Shmuel also wrote works on the revealed Torah. Among them are Totzot Chaim on the Torah; Mekor Chaim – homiletics; Chochmat Nashim on the laws of Gittin, Yibum and Chalitza; Be’er Mayim Chaim responsa; Chaim Shnayim Yeshalem – novellae on the Talmud and Halacha; etc. The author of Kore HaDorot (Rabbi David Conforte) wrote about him: “Rabbi Shmuel Vital…wrote many books of homiletics and halachic rulings and he also wrote a book of responsa and was proficient in kabbalistic wisdom and was very virtuous and humble”. We can learn of the greatness and holiness of Rabbi Shmuel Vital from that which he himself relates to his father at the end of S