Etz Chaim – the Ar”i’s writings by Rabbi Chaim Vital. Shklov, 1800. Along the leaves the book, there are dozens of glosses, some lengthy, of deep kabbalistic matters, handwritten by the gaon Rabbi Zundel of Salant.
Before us is the most important kabbalistic work. As is known, after the Ar”i illuminated the world, Jewish sages determined not to rely any longer on the books which preceded him due to errors over time as well as those by the transcriptionists, but solely on the Ar”i’s writings, and only as written by his great disciple, Rabbi Chaim Vital.
The gaon Rabbi Yosef Zundel of Salant [1786-1865] was a disciple of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin and teacher of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter. His son-in-law Rabbi Shmuel Salant, rabbi of Jerusalem, wrote startling things about him: “His greatness in character is matched by his greatness in Torah, his expertise in the revealed [Torah] is matched by his expertise in hidden [Torah]. He was as much a ‘Gadol HaDor’ in Torah as in character, yet in his great and wondrous humility, he managed to hide his greatness from people.” Due to his tremendous humility, he refused to accept any Torah position, and served as a library assistant at the Menachem Tziyon study hall in the Churvah courtyard, which is the reason for the ‘Churvah’ stamp on the copy before us. Towards the end of his life, he served as a rabbinic instructor in the Ashkenazic community of Jerusalem.
3-145 leaves. 31 cm.
Moderate condition. Aging stains. Worming damage. Detached leaves. Lacking title page. Lacking several leaves. Without a binding.