Auction 101 Part 2 Chassidut and Kabbalah | Jerusalem Printings | Letters and Manuscripts | Objects
Ginat Egoz / Shaarei Orah (Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla) – Kabbalistic Glosses – Zhovkva, 1771-1773 – Signatures and Glosses of Rabbi Mordechai Son of Yaakov of Persia
Opening: $300
Sold for: $400
Including buyer's premium
Two books by R. Yosef Gikatilla, bound in one volume, with many glosses with kabbalistic content:
1. Ginat Egoz, on kabbalah, by R. Yosef Gikatilla. Zhovkva, [1773]. "Amsterdam" emphasized on title page.
2. Bound with: Shaar Orah [Shaarei Orah], by R. Yosef Gikatilla, with commentary of R. Matityah Delacrut. Zhovkva, [1771]. "Amsterdam" emphasized on title page.
Lengthy ownership inscriptions on title page of Shaarei Orah: "I thank and praise G-d… This is the divine Gate that I had with the commentary of R. Matityah, and I sold it in a pressing time, and now I reacquired it… Mordechai [son of] Yaakov Mordechai"; "Holy to G-d, will not be sold or redeemed from M[ordechai] s[on of] Yaa[kov], but rather my sons and friends like me will study it…".
His ownership inscriptions also appear on the title page of Ginat Egoz: "Here, Herat. Which G-d granted to His servant… M[ordechai] s[on of] Yaa[kov], [1885], may it be G-d's will for me and my offspring to read from it…".
Throughout both books are tens of original glosses, some lengthy, with kabbalistic content, handwritten by this R. Mordechai (such as on leaf 22 of Shaarei Orah).
We do not know the biographical details of R. Mordechai son of Yaakov. The ownership inscription in the present book attests that he stayed in Herat (Afghanistan), and was apparently a rabbi of Hamadan, as he copied a book (Ben Zvi Institute Ms. 4617) for a friend in Hamadan and signed letters of the Hamadan community. The present glosses demonstrate that he was an expert in Torah and kabbalah. His glosses appear in other books previously sold by Kedem (see Kedem, Auction 27, Lot 377; Auction 34, Lot 104; Auction 49, Part I, Lot 120).
Ginat Egoz: 95, [1] leaf. Shaarei Orah: 10, [2], 14-83 leaves. Misfoliation. Leaves 74-75 misordered. 21 cm. Condition Varies; first and last leaves of volume in fair condition, most leaves in good-fair condition. Stains, including dampstains. Wear and creases. Tears, including open tears to title page of Ginat Egoz, affecting title frame. Worming, affecting text, mainly to first and last leaves. Stamps. Old leather binding, with damage.