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Bidding Information
Lot #    16769
Auction End Date    1/23/2007 10:04:00 AM (mm/dd/yyyy)
          
Title Information
Title (English)    Sefer ha-Zohar
Title (Hebrew)    ספר הזהר על התורה
Author    [Hasidim - Kabbalah] R. Simeon b. Yohai
City    Zhitomir
Publisher    Hanina Lipa and Joshua Heschel Shapira
Publication Date    1863
          
Collection Information
Independent Item    This listing is an independent item not part of any collection
          
Description Information
Physical
Description		    Three volumes, [4], 251, 17; [1], 278; 309, 9 ff., 218:165 mm., wide margins, usual light age staining, stamps. A very good set bound in modern half leather boards.
          
Detailed
Description		    The Zohar, is arranged according to the weekly portions of the Torah, up to and including the portion Pinhas. From Deuteronomy there are only Va-Ethannan, a little on Va-Yelekh, and Ha'azinu. Basically it is a kabbalistic Midrash on the Torah, mixed with short statements, long expositions, and narratives concerning Rebbe Simeon b. Yohai and his companions. Some of it consists also of common legends. The number of verses interpreted in each portion is relatively small. Often the exposition digresses to other subjects quite divorced from the actual text of the portion, and the interpretations are skillfully constructed. The expositions are preceded by petihot ("introductions") which are usually based on verses from the Prophets and the Hagiographa, especially Psalms, and which end with a transition to the subject matter of the portion. Many stories act as a framework for the homilies of the companions, e.g., conversations while they are on a journey or when they rest for the night. The language is Aramaic, as it is for most of the other sections of the work. Before the portion Bereshit there is a hakdamah ("preface"), which would appear to be a typical collection of writings and not a preface as such, unless perhaps it was intended to introduce the reader to the spiritual climate of the book.

In 1847 the Shapira printing press was established by the three brothers Hanina Lipa, Aryeh Leib, and Joshua Heschel Shapira, sons of R. Samuel Abraham Abba Shapira, the printer in Slavuta. Until 1862 this was one of the only two Hebrew presses the Russian government permitted to operate in the whole of Russia, the other being in Vilna. This press had 18 hand presses and four additional large presses. In 1851 Aryeh Leib broke away and established his own printing press in Zhitomir. In these two establishments only sacred books of every kind were printed.

          
Paragraph 2    ... כפי אשר נדפס בקושטאנדינא [תצ"ו-תצ"ז] דף על דף ... ועתה הוספנו ... הגהות מהרח"ו ... [חלק א-ד]. בשנת והמשכילים יזהירו כ'ז'ו'ה'ר' ה'ר'ק'י'ע'

עם "מפתחות מזוהר גדול ומזוהר חדש ומתיקונים", מדפוס קראטאשין תר"ד-תר"ה. ב"דבר אמת" בראש חלק א אומרים המדפיסים, שהלכו בעקבות "אבותינו ... מדפיסי סלאוויטא. בהדפיסם ספרי הזוהר בשנת תקפ"ז ... ראו ... להדפיס כתבנית דפוס קונשטאנטינא", אלא שהוסיפו "הגהות מהרח"ו" הנמצאים "בספר מקדש מלך מה שמצא כתוב בכת"י מהרח"ו עצמו" [שנדפסו בדפוס קאפוסט תקס"ט-תק"ע]. ו"עוד דרכה נפשנו עוז. לחפש בכמה ספרי זוהר. ומצאנו בהם נוסחאות ישרות ... ושמנו ... על הגליון בשם ס"א [ספרים אחרים". הסכמה: ר' אהרן ב"ר מרדכי [טבערסקי], טשרנאביל, יג סיון תרכ"ג.

          
Reference
Description		    CD-EPI 0129444; EJ; JE
        
Associated Images
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Listing Classification
Period
19th Century:    Checked
  
Location
Russia-Poland:    Checked
  
Subject
Hasidic:    Checked
  
Kabbalah:    Checked
  
Characteristic
Language:    Hebrew
  
Manuscript Type
  
Kind of Judaica