Obj. ID: 35924
Jewish printed books Shefa' Tal by Shabbtai Sheftel ben Akiva Horowitz, Hanau, 1612
This text was prepared by William Gross:
Shefa Tal – Hanau, 1612 – First Edition / Ginat Egoz – Hanau, 1614 – First Edition – Dozens of Important Handwritten Kabbalistic Notes Two Kabbalistic works bound together, with dozens of early Kabbalistic notes: · Shefa Tal, introductions and fundamentals of Kabbalistic teachings, by R. Shabtai Sheftel Horowitz. [Hanau: Joannis Jacobi Hennei, 1612]. First edition. One of the renowned basic Kabbalistic works. The Chassidic leaders and Ashkenazi Kabbalists quote it in their books and build upon its foundations. The Noam Elimelech refers to it as a holy book.
The first German edition of an important and popular introductory work on Kabbalah. Shefa Tal, index to kabalistic wisdom, by Rabbi Shabtai Sheftel Horwitz of Prague. Hanau, 1612. First edition. With many kabalistic illustrations. "Keys to open locked rooms… in the hidden treasures of the secrets of kabalistic wisdom…". Important kabalistic work, based on the kabbalah of Rabbi Moshe Kordovero and his book Pardess Rimonim. One of the first kabbalah books printed in Western Europe. Many approbations by leading Torah scholars. Amongst them: Rabbi Shlomo Efraim Luntshitz, Rabbi of Prague, author of Kli Yakar and Rabbi Yeshaya Horowitz author of Shnei Luchot HaBrit (Shla).
The work is organized as a commentary on the Iggeret ha-Te’amim of R. Aaron Abraham ben Barukh Simeon ha-Levy (16th C).The text of the Iggeret appears in the middle (in square letters), and that of R. Horowitz’s two commentaries, Shefa and Tal, on the sides (in rabbinic letters). Shefa is a brief commentary that explains allusions. Tal is a detailed explication of esoteric and concealed concepts.
Title page with historiated letters and framed with with verses.
Kabbalistic diagrams and drawings of crowns and hands (single and paired), each with twenty-eight letters (the numerical value of כח, strength). The letters at the bottom of the two hands combine to form the Divine Name.
Shabbtai Sheftel Horowitz (1565–1619) was a Kabbalistic author born in Prague, who flourished in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A physician by profession, he was a strong advocate of Kabbalah, and sought to make this esoteric wisdom available to others who might not otherwise have access to it. His work was one of the first on kabbalah printed in Western Europe, and included many approbations by leading Torah scholars, including: Rabbi Shlomo Efraim Luntshitz, Rabbi of Prague, author of Kli Yakar and Rabbi Yeshaya Horowitz author of Shnei Luchot Ha-Brit (Shla).
Hans Jacob Hena established his press in 1610, transforming the city of Hannau into a significant center of Hebrew printing. In his first year of activity he issued important collections of responsa and Jacob b. Asher's Arba'ah Turim. Employing both Jews and gentiles, his press produced a great number of rabbinic, kabbalistic, and liturgical items within about 20 years. Hena himself died in 1613.
[10], 87, 89-94 leaves