Siftei Da’at by the ‘Kli Yakar’, First Edition – Prague 1610
Clear and illuminating explanations on the order of the Five Books of the Torah, divided into short and concise articles.
This work is second to his ‘Kli Yakar’ and contains new Drashot,
Composed by Rabeinu Shlomo Ephraim of Luntschitz, author of ‘Kli Yakar’, whose sweet innovations are "pleasant to the heart of all who hear them… as if they were given at Sinai".
The author himself writes in his introduction:
"This composition is second to the composition Kli Yakar", and therefore he called it ‘Siftei Da’at’, in the language of the verse in Proverbs (20:15):
ישׁ זָהָב וְרָב פְּנִינִים,
וּכְלִי יְקָר שִׂפְתֵי דָעַת
( "There is gold and a multitude of rubies, but lips of knowledge are a Kli Yakar.")
These Drushim were delivered between the years 1607-1610, while he served as the Av Beit Din and head of the illustrious Prague Yeshiva, still during the lifetime of the Maharal of Prague.
The author of ‘Kli Yakar’, Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim of Luntschitz, Av Beit Din of Prague (Niftar 1619), was a student of Maharshal, one of the greatest preachers, whose work ‘Kli Yakar’ is one of the most important Torah commentary books of all generations, and was greatly appreciated, to the extent that in an unprecedented move, the rabbis of the ‘Council of Four Lands’ decided to finance its printing in order to distribute it to all Jewish homes!
One of the sages of his Beit Din in Prague was the Shelah Hakadosh, The Shelah’s son – Rabbi Sheftel, was his Talmid Muvhak.
Prague 1610, First Edition, printed during the author’s lifetime. Page count: 106, 108-121, 121-122 leaves. Size: 29.5 cm. Condition: Stains and some signs of age. Adhesions, few holes.
On page 2b, appears a large emblem of the printer, with the inscription "Mishpachat Hagershuni", and the symbol of the hands of a Kohen blessing with the Birkat Cohanim.
