Img. ID: 577472

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

The Jewish mystical tradition is called "kabbalah". The followers of this way prayed using the basic Jewish prayers, but added certain elements according to their own special tradition. This Kabbalistic prayer book, or "siddur", has one of the most beautiful title pages among Persian Hebrew manuscripts as well as an exquisite foldout rendering of the menorah formed with the text of the 67th psalm.  The Koran-type illumination on the title page, so unusual for a Hebrew manuscript, along with the gold leaf frames for each and every page of text would suggest that the scribe purchased a blank book that had been prepared for a Koran and wrote inside his siddur, his daily prayer book.

All the prayers are according to the way of the Kabbalah, many with "Kavanot" (special devotional forms, meanings and mystical meditations). This manuscript covers the "winter" period, containing the daily, Sabbath and new month prayers from Chanukah to Purim, approximately December through March. This is a prime example of a manuscript prayer book according to the Kabbalah in the Eastern tradition. While the date of the writing is recorded as 1734, the scribe has not left us his name or location in a colophon.

Pages: 114