Hok le-Yisrael (Law for Israel), Hayyim Vital, Cairo: Abraham ben Moses Yatom, 1740

2 volumes (8 x 6 in.; 205 x 150 mm). FOLIATION: [6], 116, 112 [2],102, 102, 116= 566 leaves. Lightly browned and stained in parts; corners rounded; trace wormed; minor marginal tears; edges show some wear; scattered marginalia, owners' notations and pen/pencil markings. Modern half vellum over brown gilt stamped cloth; titles gilt on spine.

Vinograd, Cairo 3; See also: Diana Rowland-Smith, “The Beginnings of Hebrew Printing in Egypt, ” British Library Journal, 1989, pp. 16-22.

Hok le-Yisrael comprises readings from the Bible, Mishnah, Talmud and Zohar, arranged by the kabbalist Hayyim Vital in sections to be read each day of the week. The text is printed in two columns set within black ink rectangles, an unusual characteristic for Hebrew printed books—but found in some oriental manuscripts. For members of the 18th century Cairo Jewish community, whose busy daily lives did not allow for comprehensive study of the Talmud, Hok le-Yisrael afforded them the opportunity to balance their obligation to work and their desire to study. Cairene housholders habitually recited selections from the work while still wrapped in their talit and tefilin at the conclusion of their morning prayers. Hok le-Yisrael enjoyed great popularity in the latter half of the eighteenth century when it was frequently reprinted: in Venice (1777), in Korets (1785), Lemberg (1788), and several times (1788, 1797-8, 1843, 1866) in Livorno.