Img. ID: 573924

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

Sar Shalom Sharabi (Hebrew: שר שלום מזרחי דידיע שרעבי), 1720–1777, was a Yemenite-Israeli Jewish Rabbi, Halachist, Chazzan and Kabbalist. In later life, he became the Rosh Yeshiva of Bet El Yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem. His daughter married Rabbi Hayyim Abraham Gagin of Jerusalem, making him the great-great-grandfather of Shem Tob Gaguine, the "Keter Shem Tob."

Sar Shalom Sharabi was born in Jewish Sharab, Yemen. He moved to Palestine, then under Ottoman rule, in fulfilment of a vow. On his way he stayed in India, Baghdad and Damascus. He was one of the earlier commentators on the works of the Ari, a major source of Kabbalah. His Siddur was known as the "Siddur Ha-Kavanot," and is the main siddur used today by Kabbalists for prayer, meditation and Yeshiva study. It is a Siddur with extensive Kabbalistic meditations by way of commentary.

This manuscript is a particularly nicely written Siddur Kabbalah (dup 135) with several illustrations. The prayers are for Sabbath night, dawn blessings and a few other prayer sections. Within the siddur are also some fine drawings.

Most of the manuscript was copied by R. Maud Hacohen Elhaddad except for folios 70a-80b and one section on folio 39b, which were written by R. Yihya Tzarum. The foios that he wrote were not part of the original manuscript, but were attached to it at a later stage.

Pages: 82.