Birkat Eliyahu – sermons according to the weekly Torah portion, by Rabbi Eliyahu Dwek HaKohen [Constantinople, c. 1785]. Rare first edition. With very lengthy dedication handwritten and signed by the author, addressed to the minister Yitzchak Tzavkan – the philanthropist who assisted with the book’s printing. There are also glosses, apparently also from the author.
This book, in the rare first edition before us, was not completed in print – only the sermons from the weekly Torah portions of Bereishit through the middle of Tetzvah were printed. This edition was also printed without a title page. The book was printed in its entirety only in 1793 in Livorno.
The leaf before the numbered text bears a lengthy dedication in the author’s handwriting. The dedication was to the minister of the tafsir, Sheik Yitzchak Tzavkan … and he blesses those who give money to him for the completion of the printing with Eliyahu HaNavi’s blessing. Handwritten glosses on the leaves of the book, apparently by the author.
The author, Chacham Eliyahu Dwek HaKohen , scion of a family of rabbis and Kabbalists (his brother was Rabbi Shimon, author of Re’ach HaSadeh ). Chacham Eliyahu was a rabbi and a dayan in Halab, and ascended to Jerusalem, where he served in the rabbinate. The sermons in his book are the ones he delivered weekly, on Shabbats. He is mentioned in the book Machaneh Yehudah by Rabbi Yehudah Katzin. He signs together with the sages of Aleppo.
72 leaves, 32 cm. Fine-Moderate Condition.