Sha’arei Orah . [On the title page: Sha’ar Orah ] lives up to its name, it is a gate and entryway into learning the wisdom of kabbalah, by Rabbi Yosef Gikatilla, one of the great kabblists of 13th century Spain.
Seligman Reis Press, Offenbach [on the title page: Ovibach]. Dated owners’ stamps and notations on the page before the title page: “בתרין בשבא דהוא שתת עסר יומין לחודש אלול שנת תרין אלפין ומאה ותמנין” (“for documents, 5629 from the creation of the world” [1869]).
Leaves 41-68 are a hand-written completion in precise scribal script, clear and straight, in Oriental writing, including a kabbalistic picture.
From the time of the Ar”i, there was a preference to not study from earlier kabbalistic works, with the exception of Sha’arei Orah , which the Ar”i himself approved, saying that it is the key to the hidden Torah. Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, senior disciple of the GR”A, once expressed that in order to fulfill one’s obligation to learn kabbalah, one should study the Zohar and Sha’arei Orah .
[4] 1-41, [42-68], 69-112 leaves. 19 cm.
Fine condition. Aging stains and dampstains. Worming perforations. New binding.