Manuscript, Siddur Kavanot HaAri – Europe, 18th Century – Menorahs, Illustrations and Decorations

Manuscript, Siddur Kavanot HaAri – Europe, 18th Century – Menorahs, Illustrations and Decorations

Manuscript, Siddur Kavanot HaAri, with kabbalistic commentaries and kavanot, according to the redaction of R. Meir Poppers; prayers for weekdays, Shabbat, festivals and 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. [Europe, ca. 18th century].
Neat Ashkenazic script (square and cursive). Impressive copying by a skilled scribe, in neat layout (the kavanot and commentaries were mostly written in separate columns and in "windows" within the text). The manuscript opens with an illustrated title page (mounted on paper, with the addition of the inscription "Year-round prayers by the Arizal"). On p. 15a, LaMenatze'ach Menorah. On p. 120b, 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 for times of plague – which begins on the preceding page). Decorated borders in several places (leaf 89 and more). On p. 98a, illustration of hands with kavanot for the Torah reading.
The writer included his original glosses in several places. Many marginal glosses, some in different hand. A gloss on p. 15a signed "Y.Sh.[?]"; on p. 178a: "Therefore it appears to me to recite it twice…".
The manuscript includes various additions, including: Sefer Yetzira and Sifra DeTzniuta – copied at the beginning of the manuscript; p. 37a – teaching of the Arizal quoted by R. Y. Arzin (disciple of the Arizal); p. 107a – Yichud for fear of G-d; p. 107b – segulah for times of trouble, to transform enemies for the good; p. 109a – prayer to be recited at the Western Wall, citing the practice of visiting the Western Wall daily, a practice which drew the opposition of all the Ashkenazi rabbis of Jerusalem (this prayer was only copied in some of the Ashkenazi manuscripts of Siddur HaAri); leaves 121-122 contain laws of Brit Milah, copied from Kitzur Shelah (Amsterdam 1701).

[1], [3-267] leaves. 18.5 cm. Good condition. Stains, including dampstains. Closed and open tears to a few leaves, affecting text, repaired in part with paper. Leaves trimmed close to text in some places, affecting text. New leather binding.

Exhibition: Kabbalah – Om judisk mysticism (curator: Erika Aronowitsch), Stockholm Jewish Museum, April-December 2002. See exhibition catalog, p. 44.
See also: Yohanan Fried and Yoel Rappel (eds.), Siddur Klal Israel, Jerusalem: Mesora Laam, 1991, p. 243.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, EE.011.001.

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.