Sifte Kohen 'al ha-Torah
Hamburg: Yitzhak b. Eliezer Lipman, 1690. Second edition. Hardcover. Large 4to. 192 leaves. Three quarter ivory leather over black marble paper boards. Red speckled edges. Illustrated title page. Tailpiece. A popular kabbalistic biblical commentary printed in double columns and in Rashi script. This work was first printed in Venice in 1605. R. Mordacai Cohen was a late 16th century kabbalist from Safed, who served as a rabbi in Aleppo. He was a student of R. Joseph Karo. Works like "Sifte Kohen" are important for understanding the spread of Lurianic Kabbalah. It relied less on converting the masses of Jews to a highly esoteric doctrine that few understand than on the printing of books in traditional genres like biblical commentaries. This served to cover the radicalness of the new works, which were suffused with a kabbalistic worldview. This made Lurianic Kabbalah the presumed dominant theology within Judaism without many people being aware that a major change had taken place. Text in Hebrew. Head of spine split. Edges chipped. Closed tear on title page. Foxing and creasing to leaves. Final leaves strengthened. Overall in fair to good condition. fair to g. Item #37838
Price: $750.00