Sod HaTzelem - Kabbalistic Essay by the G-dly Kabbalist Rabbi Yehudah Pattiyah

Sod HaTzelem - Kabbalistic Essay by the G-dly Kabbalist Rabbi Yehudah Pattiyah

Lengthy manuscript covering two large pages (approximately 1800 words). Entirely handwritten by the "Lion of Babylon, " the gaon Rabbi Yehudah Pattiyah. Autograph from his important Kabbalistic work, Beit Lechem Yehuda. [Baghdad], Sunday, 25 Nissan, 1929. These are the first pages of the manuscript [pages 1 and 2] and this is the reason they also include the date it was written and the title.

The manuscript includes "Sha'ar 16- Sha'ar HaTzelem, chapter 1" (the first essay of the second part of the book, printed in the author's lifetime, in 1936). A careful comparison has not been made between the manuscript and the printed version, but four lines of the manuscript are crossed out, and they are not included in the book.

It is told that manuscripts by rabbinic leaders - on any topic - are considered amulets for protection and success. How much more so a manuscript by the leading Kabbalist of his generation, known for his extensive use of practical Kabbalah and amulet-writing, as broadly elaborated in his books. And even more so, this Kabbalistic manuscript that deals with the secret of the tzelem. This refers to the shadow that accompanies a person throughout his life, and by which, at specific times, (such as the night of Hoshanah Rabbah), the future can be predicted, as extensively discussed in Beit Lechem Yehuda.

Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of Rabbi Yehudah Pattiyah.

[2] large leaves, approximately 32x20 cm. Tiny, dense script. Characteristic chatzi-kolmus script in ink, with minimal supplements in pencil. Autograph script with many erasures, revisions and supplements.

Fine condition: Aging stains. Isolated worming perforations. Slight wear in the margins, with damage to individual words.

The lot includes a transcript of the manuscript from the book Beit Lechem Yehuda.