Shaarei Rachamim Siddur – First Arizal Siddur to be Printed – Salonika, 1741 – Kabbalistic Glosses

Shaarei Rachamim Siddur – First Arizal Siddur to be Printed – Salonika, 1741 – Kabbalistic Glosses
Arizal Siddur – Shaarei Rachamim, "compiled from the writings of R. Chaim HaKohen, who drew from the writings of the Arizal", with Part II – Shaarei Tzion. Salonika, printer not indicated, [1741].
This is the first siddur with kavanot of the Arizal to be printed. The siddur is compiled from the writings of the kabbalist R. Chaim HaKohen of Aleppo (1585?-1655), author of Tur Bareket (close disciple of R. Chaim Vital). With prayers and kavanot by R. Shlomo Abadi (rabbi of Damascus, he immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1740 and reestablished the Jewish settlement in Kafr Yasif). The book includes practices of the Arizal taken from the siddur of R. Chaim HaKohen, with quotations from the book Chemdat Yamim, presumably added by R. Binyamin Kimchi.
Forewords by the editor and publisher R. Shlomo Abadi, and by the proofreader R. Binyamin Kimchi.
The first part – Shaarei Rachamim, comprises prayers for weekdays and Shabbat; study order; order for meals, blessings and birkat hamazon; kavanot for fast days; Hatavat Chalom; bedtime Shema service; Tikkunim and prayers for various times, including for a difficult labor and brit milah; Tikun Rosh Chodesh, Chanukah and Purim. Various segulot on leaf 146, including the Rambam's secret formula for being invisible.
Part II, with a divisional title page: Shaarei Tzion – prayers for the three festivals; order for Passover night (Haggadah); practices, laws and prayers for Elul and the High Holidays, Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur; practices for Sukkot and Hoshana Rabba.
The kabbalist R. Chaim HaKohen of Aleppo (1585?-1655) was a close disciple of R. Chaim Vital in the latter's final years in Damascus. After his teacher's passing, R. Chaim served as one of the rabbis of Aleppo. For twenty years, he toiled on composing many works. Upon completing them, he took all his compositions and travelled by ship to Venice, Italy to have them published, yet during the course of the voyage, his ship was attacked by pirates, and R. Chaim escaped the ship together with his son, leaving all his works behind. When R. Chaim reached Venice, he began reconstructing from memory some of the works he had lost. In his final years, he printed some of them, including Tur Bareket, Mekor Chaim and Torat Chacham. In his works, R. Chaim explains the laws in the four parts of Shulchan Aruch according to Kabbalah, Derush, Musar and inspiration to service of G-d (in a somewhat similar style to Likutei Halachot by R. Natan of Breslov). Many of his works are still unpublished. In his final year, he settled in Livorno to oversee the printing of his books. There, he made acquaintance with the kabbalist R. Natan Natta Hanover, author of the famous kabbalistic siddur Shaarei Tzion. In his preface to his siddur, R. Natan Natta writes: "and a holy man, R. Chaim, close disciple of R. Chaim Vital came here, and I received from him this splendid wisdom first hand, and he transmitted to me several good topics, novellae which he received from his teacher which are not recorded in Etz Chaim, and all his teachings are as if written from Sinai". The Chida quotes the manuscript writings of R. Chaim HaKohen extensively in his books, and even purchased some of his manuscripts (see for instance Ms NY JTS 1185, autograph of R. Chaim HaKohen which was in the possession of the Chida, and compare to Shem HaGedolim in the Ateret Zahav entry). The Chida refers to him as an exceptionally holy kabbalist.
The siddur contains handwritten kabbalistic glosses (some trimmed), in Sephardic script, by an unidentified writer. Several handwritten leaves were bound at the beginning of the siddur, with ownership inscriptions, signed by "Avraham Alfasi", who mentions "the rabbi who has experienced many miracles, our relative Rambam Alfasi". Inscriptions of names of prominent rabbis, alongside names of various figures (from Tunisia?), and selections copied from kabbalistic works. Signature (partly faded) on title page: "Binyamin son of D.Ch. Pereira".
[7], 146; 55 leaves. Lacking final two leaves of part II. Leaf 73 of part I (mistakenly marked 76), is bound out of sequence, after leaf 76. [1] blank leaf bound between leaves 1-2 of part II. 16.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, including minor dampstains and traces of past dampness. Wear. Tears, including open tears affecting text, and minor marginal tears, repaired with paper (with some handwritten text replacement). Worming affecting text, repaired with paper. Leaves trimmed with damage to headings and to border of title page of part I. New leather binding.
Yaari 120; Otzar HaHaggadot 193.