Manuscript, anthology of practical Kabbalah – Shorshei HaShemot and Taalumot Chochmah. [Meknes, 18th century].
Neat Western script. The first part of the manuscript contains Sefer HaShemot (see below), with a colophon by the scribe, R. Yosef Toledano. Afterwards he goes on to copy Taalumot Chochmah, another work of practical Kabbalah (printed Venice, 1667).
The scribe, R. Yosef son of Moshe Toledano, was a Torah scholar of Meknes, Morocco (died 1788).
Several leaves in later scripts are bound at the end of the manuscript, also on practical Kabbalah.

Sefer HaShemot, also known as Shorshei HaShemot, is a comprehensive work on the Holy Names, with detailed descriptions of their functions and use in hashbaot and amulets. The work is composed as an encyclopedic lexicon, and includes thousands of Holy Names and name combinations, as well as much practical Kabbalah. The core of the work was composed by the kabbalist R. Moshe Zacuto (the Ramaz), and it includes kabbalistic secrets he received from his teachers. R. Zacuto's work was of limited scope, but it was later expanded significantly by the Polish kabbalist R. Eliyahu Shapiro, author of Birkat Eliyahu. Due to a libel he fled to Amsterdam and later moved to Italy, where he met the Chida, who praises him in Shem HaGedolim. He later moved to Tunisia, where he passed away ca. 1760. The book thus reached the kabbalists of the Maghreb who copied it and expanded it. The present item is an early copy of the work.

10, 13-19, 22-23, 25-29, 31-58 leaves (leaves missing in Sefer HaShemot and Taalumot Chochmah) + [16] leaves in later scripts not belonging to manuscript. 19 cm. Fair condition. Stains, including dark stains to several leaves slightly affecting text. Wear and tears. Open tears to several leaves, affecting text. Old binding, damaged.

Provenance: Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, MO.011.083.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.