Shnei Luchot Habrit, first edition, Amsterdam, 1648-1649

Shnei Luchot Habrit, first edition, Amsterdam, 1648-1649

Sefer Shenei Luchot HaBrit (the holy Shelah), words of ethics and fear of G-d, Kabbalah and Halacha, by Rabbi Yeshaya HaLevi Horowitz; with Vavei HaAmudim by his son Rabbi Sheftel Segal.

Amsterdam: Immanuel Benveniste, 1648. The Rare First Edition.

Vinograd Amsterdam 163. Stefansky Classics, no. 359.

Lacking copy: Old taping to title page not affecting text, tear to page 159 lightly affecting text, small hole to pages 164-5 lightly affecting text, taping to pages 225-7, missing text on page 227, tear affecting text to page 245, taping to page 418-9, lacking last 2 pages of Shelah & first 4 pages of Vavei HaAmudim, tapings to first 5 pages of Vavei HaAmudim affecting text to first 2 pages tears, water stains & rubbing, old detached binding.

Fair condition.

 A native of Prague, Rabbi Isaiah Halevi Horowitz (1565-1630), was educated in the talmudic academies of Poland. After a stint as Av-Beth-Din of Frankfurt a/Main, he served as Rabbi of Prague. In 1621, he settled in Jerusalem, where he became Rabbi of the Aschkenazic community of the city. In Eretz Israel he availed himself of the esoteric teachings of the Ar’i (1534-1572) and his disciples.

These Kabbalistic teachings, only recently revealed, were duly incorporated into Rabbi Horowitz's magnum opus, Shnei Luchoth HaBerith. Part Halachic code and part Kabbalistic treatise, the Shnei Luchoth Habrith exerted tremendous influence upon the Aschkenazi Jewish world and helped more than any other work to introduce the Kabbalah into daily religious life. The SHela”H HaKadosh is the source for many of the fundamental teachings of the early Chassidic Movement. See M.J. Heller, The Seventeenth Century Hebrew Book, Vol. 1, pp. 654-655.

The Sefer was received with awe throughout the Jewish world, and its teachings are quoted in the books of leading poskim and kabbalists. Many renowned Chassidic leaders were extraordinarily devoted to the study of the books of the Shelah.

The Bach - Rabbi Yoel Sirkis, notably acclaimed the author and his works in his approbation to the Shaar HaShamayim siddur: "R. Yeshaya HaLevi… he left behind blessing in his holy compositions, and upon seeing or reading them, we sensed the outpouring of holiness in all our limbs, and this is the sign that his works were composed for the sake of heaven, to elevate future generations…". The Tosafot Yom Tov in his approbation to the siddur writes: "He is a holy, awe-inspiring man… no doubt he was invested with a heavenly spirit".