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Country of Location:
Country of Location
Switzerland
Location:
Location
Zürich
Library / Collection:
Library / Collection
Braginsky Collection
Shelfmark:
Shelfmark
B133
Manuscript Title:
Manuscript Title
Tefillah le-Moshe (Moses' Prayers; mystical intentions)
Caption:
Caption
Paper · 249 ff. · 24.9 x 18.8 cm · Modena, copied by a copyist named AR”I · 1615
Language:
Language
Hebrew
Manuscript Summary:
Manuscript Summary
The author of the text of this manuscript, Moses ben Jacob Cordovero (1522-1570), was considered one of the leading figures of the kabbalistic movement in the city of Safed (Upper Galilee), which became the new center of the kabbalistic movement after the expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian Peninsula. One of the most important concepts among the kabbalists of Safed was that of mystical prayer, whilst the central concept in this doctrine was that of kavvanah (mystical intention; plural, kavvanot). The Tefillah le-Moshe (Moses' Prayers) contains kavvanot for weekdays and the Shabbat. The round Hebrew cursive, semi-cursive, and square scripts used in the manuscript are enhanced by a variety of pen-work foliage designs. On the title page the scribe referred to himself as “young and insignificant, worm and not a man, AR”I in the city of Modena.” Ari is the Hebrew word for “lion”, but should be understood here as an abbreviation of the copyist’s name, perhaps the well-known writer Juday Aryeh (Leone) Modena (1571-1648). (red)
DOI (Digital Object Identifier):
DOI (Digital Object Identifier
10.5076/e-codices-bc-b-0133 (http://dx.doi.org/10.5076/e-codices-bc-b-0133)
Permanent link:
Permanent link
https://e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/b-0133
IIIF Manifest URL:
IIIF Manifest URL
IIIF Drag-n-drop https://e-codices.ch/metadata/iiif/bc-b-0133/manifest.json
How to quote:
How to quote
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, B133: Tefillah le-Moshe (Moses' Prayers; mystical intentions) (https://e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/b-0133).
Online Since:
Online Since
10/13/2016
External resources:
External resources
Rights:
Rights
Images:
(Concerning all other rights see each manuscript description and our Terms of use)
Document Type:
Document Type
Manuscript
Century:
Century
17th century
Dated:
Dated
1615
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e-codices · 09/21/2016, 15:09:29

During the Middle Ages Spain was the Jewish world’s center of kabbalistic thought and practice. The classic kabbalistic text of the late thirteenth century, the Zohar (Book of Splendor), was written in Spain, where more controversial movements, such as Abraham Abulafia’s school of ecstatic kabbalah developed as well (see cat. no. 9). After the expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian peninsula at the end of the fifteenth century, the small city of Safed, Upper Galilee, soon became the new center of the kabbalistic movement; it was from there that Kabbalah conquered both the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds.
The leading figures in Safed were Moses ben Jacob Cordovero (1522–1570) and his pupil Isaac ben Solomon Luria (1534–1572). One of the most important concepts among the kabbalists of Safed was that of mystical prayer. For them prayer was not, as Gershom Scholem wrote, “merely the institutionalized acknowledgment and praise of God as Creator and King by the religious community.” Rather, “the individual’s prayers . . . are under certain conditions the vehicle of the soul’s mystical ascent to God.” The central concept in this doctrine was that of kavvanah (mystical intention; plural, kavvanot). Tefillah le-Moshe contains kavvanot for weekdays and the Shabbat. Its text was published in Przemysl in 1862, based in part, perhaps, on this manuscript.
The round Hebrew cursive, semi-cursive, and square scripts used in the manuscript are enhanced by a variety of pen-work foliage designs. On the title page the scribe wrote “copied by the young and insignificant, worm and not a man, AR”I, in the city of Modena.” Ari is the Hebrew word for “lion,” but should be understood here as an abbreviation of the copyist’s name; it is also the nickname of Isaac Luria (see cat. no. 33). It is tempting to identify this copyist with the well-known writer Judah Aryeh (Leone) Modena (1571–1648), who was at the height of his activity in 1615. Although Leone Modena’s hand resembles that of the scribe of the Braginsky manuscript, the paleographical evidence for such an attribution is unconvincing, as was confirmed by Benjamin Richler.

A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 94.

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A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 94-95.

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