Pentateuch with the commentary 'Or Ha-Hayyim Ha-Kadosh'. First edition, printed during the lifetime of the author. ...

Pentateuch with the commentary 'Or Ha-Hayyim Ha-Kadosh'. First edition, printed during the lifetime of the author. Impressive and beautiful copy.
Venice, 1741.

An impressive copy with high-quality, new leather binding with clasps.

This first edition is called the 'Orchot Chaim' as indicated on its title page. However, the author wrote in his introduction that the name of the book is 'Or Ha-Chaim', a title which appears inside the book, above the commentary.

In subsequent editions, the book was issued as 'Or Ha-Chaim'.

There is no Torah commentary as rich and varied as the Or Ha-Chaim of Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar, ztz"l, who, besides explaining the simple meaning of the text, according to his understanding, also offers psychological analyses of the Torah's main personalities and their motives, supplies an abundance of ideas, explanations of statements of Talmudic sages, mussar and rebuke, allusions and gematria, innumerable principles and foundational concepts of Kabbalah, and a solid philosophy and worldview.

This book was accepted throughout the Diaspora and quickly became one of the most popular commentaries on the Pentateuch. It was especially revered by the great leaders of the Hasidic movement. The book's rise was immediate, largely due to the Baal Shem Tov's great admiration for the author, as recalled in the book Shem Ha-Gedolim written by the Chida, a student of the 'Or Ha-Chaim'. He describes the book as follows: "Commentary on the Torah by the wonderous Rav, Holy Chassid, our teacher Chaim ibn Attar and printed in Venice around the Chumash with Rashi. And we have heard that now in Poland it is highly regarded and has been printed two more times. This thanks to fact that the Holy Baal Shem Tov praised the greatness of the author's soul" (Ma'arechet Sefarim, I: 54).

Many of the great Hassidic Rebbes hailed the importance and sanctity of this work. The Rebbe Yisrael of Ruzhin said that studying the Or Ha-Chaim purifies the soul. His son, Rebbe David Moshe of Chortkov, said that from the time he heard these words from his holy father, he was obligated to study the Or Ha-Chaim on the Torah portion every week. Rabbi Pinchas Makoritz testified that he was the one who published the Or Ha-Chaim, and that he "was once in the Holy Community of Tcherin and said: 'I see a great light in the city.'' He asked if there was a copy there of the book Or Ha-Chaim, and there was indeed in someone's hand a Chumash with the Or Ha-Chaim, and it illuminated the whole city ... and once the son of the late Rabbi (Rabbi Pinchas) fell ill, and he took it upon himself to learn a page of the Or Ha-Chaim every day... "(Imrei Pinchas Ha-Shalem, I:281).

In his book "Aravei Nachal", Rav David Shlomo Eibshitz writes, before interpreting an obscure passage: "See what he (the breath of our life) wrote on this in the book Or Ha-Chaim, and his words can only be grasped through Ruach Ha-Kodesh [the Divine Spirit]."

Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar is known as the 'Or Ha-Chaim' after this seminal work. He was born on the 16th of Av (1696) in the city of Salé in Morocco and died in Jerusalem on the 15th of Tammuz (1743). He was one of the greatest commentators on the Bible in recent times. The Ibn Attar family traces its ancestors to the Exiles from Spain who settled in Morocco.

Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar began to study Torah at a very young age from his grandfather, Rabbi Chaim the Elder, after whom he was named. He was considered in Morocco as a "Natural Spring" and a "Mover of Mountains", meaning that he focused sharply on the issue at hand, and dismantled all obstacles for the purpose of understanding it.

A fine copy. The final pages are in fair-good condition, but the book overall is in very nice condition.

Impressive copy in a quality leather binding with closures. It is rare to find a copy in such fine condition.