Sha'arei Kedusha (Gates of Holiness) Hayyim Vital: Amsterdam, 1745

36 leaves (5 3/4 x 3 3/4 in.; 150 x 95 mm). FOLIATION: [2], 34. Lightly browned; a few passages underlined. Signature of Solomon Bueno da Mesquita on title page; inscribed and signed by Haim Yosef David Azulai on f. 34r. Later three quarter calf over decorated paper.

WITH THE WARM PERSONALIZED INSCRIPTION OF THE HIDA (RABBI HAYYIM YOSEF DAVID AZULAI)

Sha’arei Kedusha is an esoteric exposition of the ways in which one can acquire divine inspiration (ruah ha-kodesh), written by Hayyim Vital (1542–1620), who was the principal disciple of Isaac Luria and the primary disseminator of Lurianic kabbalah in the years after Luria’s death.

On its title page, this copy, a second edition printed in Amsterdam in 1745, bears the signature of its owner, Solomon Bueno da Mesquita, a member of a prominent Sephardic family who lived in Amsterdam in the mid-eighteenth century. The circumstances of how da Mesquita acquired the small volume are only made clear, however upon turning to the final leaf of the book. There, one finds a lengthy poetic inscription, signed by Rabbi Hayyim Yosef David Azulai. Also known by the acronym formed by his initials, as the HIDA, Azulai was regarded as one of the leading scholars of his generation. Born in Jerusalem, he spent most of his active years traveling abroad as an emissary of the communities of the Holy Land, collecting funds to maintain its yeshivot and scholars. Between 1753 and 1758 he visited Italy, Germany, Holland, France, and England as an emissary of the Hebron Yeshivah. According to his travel diary, entitled Ma’agal Tov, he was hosted by the da Mesquita brothers, Solomon and Aaron, on several occasions during his stay in Amsterdam in 1755. In the heartfelt inscription he penned on the last leaf of this book, Azulai graciously acknowledges the hospitality of not only the two brothers, but also warmly refers to their sister and grandmother.