Manuscript, Siddur Kavanot HaAri – Zaloshitz, 1746 – Decorated Title Page – Menorahs (Segulah Against Plagues) and ...

Manuscript, Siddur Kavanot HaAri – Zaloshitz, 1746 – Decorated Title Page – Menorahs (Segulah Against Plagues) and Ornaments

Manuscript, Siddur Kavanot HaAri, with kabbalistic commentaries and kavanot, based on the redaction of R. Meir Poppers; including: prayers for weekdays, Shabbat, festivals and the High Holidays; daily conduct; kavanot for ritual immersion; order of study and Tikkun Chatzot; Passover Haggadah; counting of the Omer and order of Hakafot; kavanot for marriage, Brit Milah and other mitzvot; and more. Zaloshitz (Działoszyce, Poland), 1746.
Neat Ashkenazic square and cursive script. Decorated title page in color. Illustrations and diagrams, some colored (in several places, the Name of G-d is written within a diagram of circles and lines, colored in yellow and red; on p. 96b, diagrams of kavanot for the Shabbat meals in various colors; and more).
On p. 5b, LaMenatze'ach Menorah (base colored in green and yellow); another LaMenatze'ach Menorah on p. 36a; on leaves 80-81 a LaMenatze'ach Menorah and a menorah comprised of the initials of Psalm 91 (starting with Psalms 90:17 – Viyhi Noam), as a segulah against plagues (as part of the "Pitum HaKetoret order for times of plague" which begins on p. 79b).
The decorated title page states: "Siddur with prayer kavanot based on kabbalah, secrets and combinations of Holy Names by R. Yitzchak Luria, 1746, here Zaloshitz".
Writer's colophon on p. 168b, indicating that the writing was completed on Sunday 12th Tevet 1746, by Yehuda Leib son of R. Yeshaya Katzenellenbogen of Żabno. The writer apologizes for any errors, explaining that he has no understanding of kabbalah, and that this manuscript was simply copied letter by letter from a manuscript produced by R. Yitzchak son of R. Alexander Siskind of Ir Chadash.
Ownership inscriptions on the blank pages at the beginning of the manuscript: "This holy siddur of the Ari Luria belongs to my father-in-law, copied by my father-in-law's grandfather, following Sefardi rite, the rite of R. Chaim Vital"; "The siddur of the Arizal was written and copied by my grandfather R. Yehuda Leibush Katzenellenbogen and belongs to me, Chaim Shlomo[?]… 18th Kislev 1841, Zaloshitz".
Emendations and glosses in several places.
On p. 6b: "What R. Yehuda Chassid would recite each weekday at the end of the Amidah prayer of Shacharit and Arvit before Yihyu LeRatzon".
Sections from the teachings of the Shelah on Tikkun Leil Shavuot were integrated on leaf 166.
On the verso of the title page, copying from the book Emek HaMelech.

[169] leaves. 18 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, including dampstains (dark stains affecting text in several places). Worming, affecting text, repaired in part with tape. On leaf 6, tears due to ink erosion, slightly affecting text on verso. Tiny marginal tears, not affecting text. On leaf 8, open tear affecting text, repaired with paper. Upper margin of many leaves trimmed, with damage to original leaf numbers. New binding (with a bound bookmark).

Provenance:
1. Collection of Dr. Israel Mehlman, Jerusalem, no. 8.
2. The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, EE.011.027.

Manuscripts of Siddur HaAri from Ashkenazi Countries in the Gross Family Collection
One of the works which assumed a unique style in Ashkenazi countries was the siddur with kavanot of the Arizal. This siddur was brought to print, and the editions issued by Chassidic kabbalists gained special prominence: Siddur HaAri, Zhovkva 1781 – printed by the Torah scholars of the Brody Kloiz; Siddur R. Asher Margaliot – printed in Lviv 1788; Siddur R. Shabtai of Rashkov – printed in Korets 1794; and others.
There is an interesting difference between the printed siddurim and the manuscript siddurim known to us (our acknowledgments to R. Yosef Avivi who raised this distinction): the printed siddurim all follow the version of the Zhovkva 1781 edition, which is the text from Mishnat Chassidim. In contrast, the manuscript siddurim comprise the text with the redaction of R. Meir Poppers from the Siddur Or Penei Melech, compiled in 1654. This siddur is actually the prototype of Ashkenazi Arizal siddurim in manuscript form.
Despite their similarities, there are differences between the various manuscripts of Siddur Kavanot HaAri, and occasionally significant ones. These differences are seen in the various additions which the writer – a kabbalist in his own rite in most cases – chose to include, and sometimes in the glosses which were added over the course of the years, and obviously also in the layout, the illustrations and the like.
Presented here is an impressive collection of 18th-century manuscript siddurim with kavanot of the Arizal, from the Gross Family Collection. These manuscripts were scribed in the geographic region and during the era of the advent of Chassidut, and serve as prominent and impressive exemplars of the Ashkenazi Arizal siddurim copied in manuscript at the time.