Manuscript – Shiur Komah – Decorated Title Page – Morocco, 1789 – Scribed by Rabbi Yehuda Elbaz

Manuscript – Shiur Komah – Decorated Title Page – Morocco, 1789 – Scribed by Rabbi Yehuda Elbaz

Manuscript, Shiur Komah – a Tikkun corresponding to the parts of the human body. [Morocco, 1789].
Colorful decorated title page – multifoil arch (inspired by Moorish architecture in Morocco) surrounded by a foliate border, topped by two pillars. Sephardic-Maghrebi semi-cursive and cursive script. At the foot of the title page, chronogram indicating the year 1789. Writer's colophon on final page: "I completed the copying on 17th Elul 1789, Yehuda Elbaz".
Shiur Komah is a kabbalistic tikkun originating from Italy. It is a compilation of passages from the Bible, the Zohar and Tikkunei Zohar, for each and every limb in the human body. It was first mentioned in print in the book Chemdat Yamim, Livorno 1764 (leaf 71), where the printer added an abridged version of this tikkun, containing only the references to the passages of the Bible, Zohar and Tikkunim, without quoting each passage in full. Only in 1825 was the tikkun printed in full by the kabbalist R. Yosef Corcos, as part of his book Yosef Chen (Livorno 1825). The present manuscript contains a complete copying of the tikkun, produced in Morocco before it was first printed in Livorno.
The manuscript opens with the following statement: "Found written in the book Chemdat Yamim, a tikkun for the soul, to cleanse it from its impurity – Shiur Komah… whoever performs this tikkun correctly is assured to merit the World to Come…". This is followed by a prayer to be recited before beginning the tikkun.

[74] leaves. 15 cm. Good condition. Stains, including dampstains. Wear. Marginal tears. Worming, affecting text in several places. New leather binding.

Exhibitions:
• Yeshiva University Museum, New York, "The Sephardic Journey: 1492-1992", 1990-1992. See exhibition catalog, p. 297, no. 400.
• Kabbalah – Om judisk mysticism (curator: Erika Aronowitsch), Stockholm Jewish Museum, April-December 2002. See exhibition catalog, p. 16.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, MO.011.008.