Especially powerful amulet, extremely lengthy [140 lines, about 3/4 of a meter long] and very rare, designated for a woman to wear for: fertility, marital harmony, protection, success, etc. The amulet was completely written and signed by the G-dly Kabbalist Rabbi Avraham Barzani, a disciple of the G-dly Kabbalist Rabbi Yehudah Pattiyah, who even took him as a bridegroom for his niece. Ink on light, high-quality parchment, well-preserved over the years. Jerusalem, 1943.
The amulet was made in the format of the well-known amulets by his teacher Rabbi Pattiyah, but it is far more detailed and does not resemble standard amulets, not in length nor in the tremendous detail of the wide range of protection it provides for the woman who wears it, for her husband and her children. The huge investment in this amulet indicates that it was evidently written for an upcoming marriage or for a prominent personality, or someone important to the Kabbalist.
The top of the amulet is cut in the shape of a cone, with the word “בהנו” etched at the top of the cone [ב’שם ה’שם נ’עשה ו’נצליח]. Afterwards, at the top of the amulet, its purposes are written in Rash”i script, along with the tzaddik’s prayers that the amulet effect its purpose. After that it is written in Assyrian script – a long list of sacred Kabbalistic Names, which give the amulet its spiritual powers, like a soul in a body. The specific protections listed in the amulet are: To be saved from damagers, physical and spiritual recovery, to be relieved of anxiety, a regular menstrual cycle, conception, a successful pregnancy, an easy pregnancy, health for mother and baby, and more. The amulet is signed at the end: “Friday, 22 Sivan 1943, Avraham bh”r Ch’ Ya’akov Ch’ Moshe Brazani, S”T.”
Although the amulet is designated for protection and success in a range of matters for a married woman, it primarily focusses on fertility and pregnancy, and the Kabbalist lists the precisely detailed oaths for the angels in the amulet, the female anatomy connected to fertility and conception, as well as the related spiritual and mental components.
Writing amulets requires great expertise and precise tradition, down to the details of the letters and the vowels. Without these, such an amulet is like an inert stone that has no influence (there are those who compare it to a typo or mistaken letter in an email address or a digit in a telephone number). Not only does such an amulet not help at all, but it is very dangerous and could cause damage. Hence it is important to receive amulets only from authorized Kabbalists. This amulet was written by one of the leading Kabbalists of recent generations, whose signature is displayed right on it, constituting the best possible original confirmation of authenticity.
The Talmud in Tractate Shabbat (page 61b) sets clear rules as to how one can know which amulets are indeed effective: “Rav Papa said: ‘It is clear to me that when a person who has written three amulets, for three people, three times …” and the amulet has indeed performed as desired, “the person is expert and his amulets are expert.” Only then is it established that the writer’s amulets have spiritual powers and they will always perform their desired action.
This amulet certainly qualifies according to this definition. It was written, as mentioned, by a leading Kabbalist of recent generations. Not only did just three of his amulets perform as desired, but so did hundreds and thousands of amulets that he wrote over the more than one hundred years of his life qualify as “the person is expert and his amulets are expert” that they are guaranteed to be effective. It is noteworthy to emphasize that in the discussion in Tractate Shabbat, it elucidates that used amulet such as this one here, even if it was written for someone else, is a greater segulah than a new amulet because then the double effect of “the person is expert and his amulets are expert.”
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of the G-dly Kabbalist Chacham Avraham Barzani .
[1] long narrow amulet, 78×5.5 cm. Ink on parchment. Block (partially vowelized) and semi-cursive scripts.
Overall fine condition. Minimal blemishes in the margins with damage to individual letters. Slight ink fading. Stains. Slight shrinkage (typical of parchment leaves) at the top of the leaf.