Ohr Yisrael by Rabbi Yisrael Yaffe. Singular Edition. Frankfurt d’Oder, 1702
This fundamental kabbalistic work by Rabbi Yisrael Yaffe, Av Beis Din of Shklov, presents the secrets of Atzilus; explanations of Zohar and Kisvei Ha’Ar”i; teachings of Chazal based on kabbalistic works; and laws of
Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim based on kabbalah.
In his will which was printed in the preface to his sefer
TiferesYisrael (Frankfurt am Main, 1734), the author explains that three Sabbatean allusions that entered the text of his sefer were introduced by others. Gedolim in later generations, among them Rabbi Chaim Sanzer of Brod and Rabbi Aryeh Leib Epstein, author of the Pardes, exonerated Rabbi Yisrael Yaffe of the suspicion that he was affiliated with Shabsai Tzvi, as expressed in their enthusiastic approbations to the sefer. Rabbi Refael Hakohein of Hamburg writes that the author was “great and famous in Torah, piety and abstention.”
Frankfurt d’Oder, 1702. Singular edition; never reprinted. Page Count: [1], 7, 187 leaves. Page Size: 32 cm. Impressive title page fully illustrated by a master artist.
Provenance: William L. Gross Collection
Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod #336.
Distinguished provenance!
The title page features a lengthy handwritten note by the owner R’ Eliezer Fernbach, son of Rabbi Leib Fernbach of Fürth , who served as a dayan on the Beis Din of the Zichron Yosef of Fürth. It also features a stamp of its subsequent owner, the Admor Rabbi Yisrael Shapira of Grodzisk Hy”d.
