Prayers and Mystical Intentions for the Period from the Seventh Day of Passover to Shavu‘ot [Near East: late 17th-early 18th centuries]

72 leaves (4 1/4 x 3 in.; 107 x 76 mm).

A small-format compilation of kavvanot (mystical intentions) for prayers recited, and Torah study sessions conducted, on the seventh and eighth days of Passover, the holiday of Shavu‘ot, and during the period extending from the seventh to the forty-ninth day of Sefirat ha-Omer. Of particular note are two piyyutim (liturgical poems), one meant to be recited before Kiddush on the seventh night of Passover and the other before Kiddush on the night of Shavu‘ot, authored by Nathan of Gaza (1643-1680), the famous prophet of the false messiah Sabbetai Zevi (1626-1676) (see ff. 1r-2v, 9r-10r). Similar material appears in Sefer Hemdat Yamim, a kabbalistic and ethical work on the Jewish holidays and their customs, though here the kavvanot are spelled out much more clearly and without the intervening homilies and discussions.