View Auction Listing - Sefer ha-Zohar Part III

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Bidding Information
Lot #		33820
Auction End Date		4/24/2012 10:18:00 AM (mm/dd/yyyy)

Title Information

Title (English)

Sefer ha-Zohar Part III

Title (Hebrew)

ספר הזהר על התורה חלק ג

Author

[Hasidim - Kabbalah] R. Simeon b. Yohai

City

Slavuta

Publisher

Samuel Abraham Shapira

Publication Date

1824

Collection Information

Independent Item

This listing is an independent item not part of any collection

Description Information

Physical
Description

309 ff., 4°, 213:172 mm., wide margins, light age and damp staining, stamps, initial and final few ff. repaired with small loss, scattered worming. A good copy loose in later boards, rubbed.

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 1791 R. Moses Shapira, son of the zaddik R. Phineas b. Abraham of Korets, founded the printing press Slavuta became known for. Later R. Moses' two sons, Samuel Abba and Phineas, took over the administration of the press. Three editions of the Babylonian Talmud, an edition of the Bible (with commentaries), the Zohar, and many other religious works, especially hasidic literature, were all produced handsomely and with great care by the press. In 1835 the press was closed down when the owners were arrested for the alleged murder of a worker who had supposedly denounced them for printing books without permission from the censor.

Paragraph 2

... כפי אשר נדפס בקושטאנדינא [תצ"ו-תצ"ז] דף על דף ... חלק א-ד. בשנת והמש'כילים יז'היר'ו כז'והר הרקיע' [4], רנב, ב-יז; [1], רעח; קטו; [1], קיז-שט דף.עם פסק ר' יצחק דלטאש. מעבר לשער חלק א רשיון הצנזור מיום 16 בפברואר 1824 ובו גם דברי-הסבר בלאטינית על מהות הזוהר. ראינו טופס שבו תאריך הרשיון הוא מיום 6 במאי 1819 ודברי ההסבר חסרים. בטופס זה [4], רנא, א-יז דף.

הסכמות: ר' אברהם יהושע העשיל מאפטא, מעזבוז, ט תמוז תקפ"ד; ר' חיים [ב"ר פרץ] הכהן, פינסק; ר' אפרים [וואהל], סדילקאב, טו תמוז תקפ"ד.

Reference
Description

CD-EPI 0129428; EJ; JE

Associated Images

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