Sha'ar ha-Shamayim (Commentary on the Siddur by Isaiah Horowitz), Amsterdam: Aaron de Solomon Antones, 1717

659 leaves ( 8 1/2 x 6 3/4 in.; 216 x 172 mm). FOLIATION: [2], 335, 139, 130 (1), 52= 659 leaves. Four title pages: engraved title with vignettes of the three Patriarchs and the festivals of the year; an additional letterpress title; and two divisional titles for Psalms and Ma'amadot. Library stamp on first title.Some browning and occasional light staining. A marginal tear, f.123; tape repairs to foot, ff 212-17; small burnhole on f. 246, affecting a few letters. Remains of original elaborately blind-tooled binding preserved over heavy wooden boards. Rebacked.

Vinograd, Amsterdam 1114

first edition of siddur ha-shelah

Isaiah ha-Levi Horowitz (1556-1630) is best known by the appellation "The Holy Shelah" (SHeLaH being the acronym for the title of his magnum opus Shnei Luhot ha-Berit.) His encyclopedic compilation, blending ritual, ethics, and mysticism into a seamless whole, made kabbalah broadly accessible for the first time beyond the narrow confines of the scholarly elite. It is not surprising that when his prayerbook was published by his great-grandson, Abraham Segal, it too was received to great acclaim. Rabbi Joel Sirkes, a leading halakhist of the period attests in his approbation (f.2v), "I have no doubt that whomsoever prays from this siddur, his prayers will not go unanswered." It is known that among the great kabbalistic luminaries who would pray using this siddur was the founder of the Lubavitch (Chabad) dynasty of Hassidism, R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi.

The present copy includes the will of Sheftel Horowitz (son of the author), absent in most copies.