Shaar HaShamayim siddur – Weekday, Shabbat and Festival prayers, Yotzerot, Passover Haggadah, piyyutim and Selichot for fasts, book of Tehillim with Maamadot. With a kabbalistic commentary to the prayers entitled Shaar HaShamayim – by R. Yeshaya HaLevi Horowitz – the holy Shelah. Includes an anthology of laws and customs, by the editor and publisher R. Avraham Segal Horowitz of Posen (Poznań), great-grandson of the author. Amsterdam, [1717]. First edition. Complete copy comprising all the parts. With four title pages, including an additional, copper-engraved title page depicting the figures of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov and illustrations of the Festivals. Separate title pages for the book of Tehillim and Seder Maamadot.
The Shelah wrote in his foreword to the siddur: "Blessed be G-d… who guided me in the correct path… and brought me to the holy city of Jerusalem, on Friday of Parashat Vayetze 1621… the gate through which prayers rise… via Shaar HaShamayim (the gates of Heaven)". In his will, printed at the beginning of the siddur, he added: "I thought to compose this holy work, in order to print it and distribute it throughout the Jewish world, so that I may have a merit and share in all the prayers of the Jewish people".
The text of the prayers in this siddur on the whole follows Ashkenazi rite, apart from some prayers which were printed in both Ashkenazi and Sephardi rite, side by side. This was done following the author's will printed at the beginning of the siddur (though in practice, the compiler and publisher did not incorporate all the author's instructions regarding the textual variations in the body of the siddur).
Praying from this siddur bears the special segulah of the prayer being accepted and not going unanswered. As the Bach wrote in his approbation to the siddur: "We have no doubt that when it will become widespread amongst the Jewish people, whoever prays from it will not have his prayer rejected". R. Avraham Yaakov, first Rebbe of Sadigura, mentions this segulah in his approbation to the third edition of the siddur (Warsaw, 1882): "Siddur Shaar HaShamayim by the holy Shelah, as the renowned scholar, the Bach, testified… there is no doubt that whoever prays from it, his prayer will not be rejected". The holy kabbalist R. Naftali Katz, author of Semichat Chachamim, ascribes this segulah to the author himself, the Shelah, as he writes: "…order of prayers… from the beginning of the year until the end of the year, arranged and composed by R. Yeshaya Segal author of Shenei Luchot HaBrit, and he was very attached to this siddur, and directed his descendants to publish it, to give the public the privilege of praying in this order, with these kavanot, and pledged that whoever prays with all his might in this order with the kavanot, his prayers will not go unanswered. Go out and see how people practice, and the approbations of the great Torah scholars of that generation… R. Yoel Sirkis author of Bayit Chadash, and R. Yaakov Rabbi of Lublin… R. Yom Tov Lipman Heller author of Tosfot Yom Tov… and they all concur that whoever prays with these kavanot, his prayer will not be rejected".
The Baal HaTanya reputedly prayed in his youth utilizing the Shaar HaShamayim siddur, and following the kavanot of the Shelah (Beit Rebbi, Berdychiv 1902, p. 2 chapter 1).
Signature on leaf [3]: "Elchanan Henli Segal". Lengthy inscription in Ashkenazic script on p. 286b, completing the text of Avinu Malkenu.
Complete copy. [5], 4-335; 139; 130; [1], 52 leaves. 21 cm. Overall good-fair condition. Most leaves in good condition, several leaves in fair condition. Stains and wear. Dark stains, wear and distinct signs of use to some leaves. Tears to first two title pages, mostly to margins, professionally restored with paper. Damage and tears to last leaves and several other leaves, affecting text, some professionally restored. Leaves trimmed, affecting headings of some leaves. New, elegant leather binding.

Orchot Chaim – Five books of the Torah, with Targum and the Rashi commentary, including the Or HaChaim commentary by Rabbenu Chaim ibn Attar – The Or HaChaim HaKadosh. Venice, [1741]. Two parts in one volume, of the first edition of the Or HaChaim commentary on the Torah.
The title page reads: "…a new commentary on the five books of the Torah… was prepared and researched… by the scholar who is complete in wisdom, fear and humility, R. Chaim ibn Attar, a resident of the Maghreb, who went to set up his study hall in Jerusalem… innovative novellae which our predecessors did not envision…". The author begins his commentary with the statement: "The skies opened up and I perceived heavenly sights…".
This book was accepted in the entire Jewish Diaspora and became a classic commentary in Chumash editions. This composition was especially sacred to the leaders of the Chassidic movement. The book became instantly recognized, due to the Baal Shem Tov's praise of the preeminence of the author's soul, as the Chida, disciple of the Or HaChaim, relates in his book Shem HaGedolim: "The commentary on the Torah by the outstanding and holy R. Chaim ibn Attar, was printed in Venice in the Chumash edition with Targum and Rashi. And we heard that it is now held in high regard in Poland, and was printed there in another two editions. And this was due to the praise of the holy R. Yisrael Baal Shem Tov on the greatness of R. Chaim's soul" (Maarechet Sefarim, I, 54).
Chassidic leaders describe the importance and holiness of the book in effusive terms. Rebbe Yisrael of Ruzhin stated that learning the Or HaChaim commentary purifies the soul. His son, Rebbe David Moshe of Chortkov (Chortkiv) related that after hearing this, he began learning the Or HaChaim commentary on the weekly portion consistently. R. Pinchas of Korets testified that he was the one who publicized the Or HaChaim, through an episode which occurred in Tcherin (Chyhyryn), when he exclaimed that he could see a great light in the city and he inquired whether anyone held a book of the Or HaChaim commentary in their possession. When the book was found, he asserted that it was what was illuminating the whole town. On a different occasion, his son took ill, and he undertook to learn a page a day of the Or HaChaim commentary (Imrei Pinchas HaShalem, I, p. 281).
The Arvei Nachal, in one instance, before elucidating an ambiguous passage of the Or HaChaim commentary, described it as unfathomable without Divine Inspiration. The author, R. Chaim ibn Attar (1696-1743), known as the holy Or HaChaim, was a Torah scholar from Salé, Morocco, who spent the years 1739-1741 in Livorno, Italy, on his way to Eretz Israel. He completed his composition Or HaChaim while in Livorno (on Av 15, 1741), and sent it to Venice to be published. The book was printed in autumn 1741.
In his biographic description of the Or HaChaim, his disciple the Chida wrote: "R. Chaim ibn Attar, a holy man from Salé, came to Jerusalem in the summer of 1742. And I merited to be a member of his elevated yeshiva, and my eyes saw the greatness of his Torah, he uprooted mountains, and his holiness was wondrous… he was like an ever-gushing fountain… and in Tammuz 1743 he was called up to Heaven at the age of 47. He authored Chefetz HaShem, Rishon LeTzion, Or HaChaim and Pri Toar, and his sagacity is discernable in his books, yet this is only a tenth of his wisdom… his sharpness was unbelievable, he exercised continuous separation from materialism …" (Shem HaGedolim, Maarechet Gedolim, 8, 42).
Rebbe Yitzchak Isaac of Komarno, in his book Netiv Mitzvotecha, quotes the exalted terms the Baal Shem Tov used to describe the soul of the Or HaChaim, "…every night he heard Torah from G-d, most of his holiness is not possible to describe in words, and he descended from the Merkava…".
R. Efraim Zalman Margolies, the Beit Efraim, also described him in superlative terms, as a heavenly being, father of all Torah bearers in the Western countries.
On both title pages, the title was originally printed as "Orchot Chaim", and only in the author's preface and in the body of the book is the commentary named Or HaChaim.
A censor inscription in Italian from 1875 appears on the verso of the title page. Inscriptions and glosses in Italian script (mostly consisting of references to the Haftarot at the end of the weekly portions).
Two parts in one volume. [4], 86; 78; [2], 60; 72; 58; 8; 12 leaves. 32 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Dampstains. Worming to several leaves. Worming slightly affecting text to approximately four leaves (in upper-left corner). Minor tears and damage to first title page and other leaves, repaired. Tears to six leaves (Bamidbar, leaves 28-33) affecting text, professionally restored, with photocopied replacement. Fine leather binding.

Avodat HaKodesh, laws, practices, segulot and Tikkunim, by R. Chaim Yosef David Azulai – the Chida. Jerusalem: R. Yisrael Bak, 1841. Two title pages, the first one with a woodcut border.
The first book printed in Jerusalem. The book begins with a foreword by the printer (leaves [2b]-[4]). This foreword is a renowned and notable source documenting the history of Eretz Israel, of the Galilee and of Damascene Jewry. R. Yisrael Bak relates of his travels before reaching Jerusalem: His immigration to Eretz Israel and establishment of the printing press in the Galilee; the earthquake of 1837 which claimed the lives of thousands of Jews; the riots in Galilean towns in 1834-1838 by rebels who renewed their attacks on the earthquake survivors, plundering and destroying their remaining possessions. R. Yisrael relates of his involvement in the 1840 Damascus affair, reporting that he urged Moses Montefiore to get involved, by sending him letters to London from Alexandria, where he was residing at that time. He acclaims the Sephardi Torah scholars and investors who assisted him in reestablishing his printing press in Jerusalem.
The famous printer R. Yisrael Bak (1797-1874) was a disciple of leaders of the Chassidic movement, Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev and R. Yisrael of Ruzhin. Born in Berditchev, he was involved in the printing profession already in his youth, and in 1815, he established the (second) printing press in Berditchev, where he printed some 26 books before immigrating to Eretz Israel. Reputedly, he designed the Slavita typeface. Following his immigration to Eretz Israel, ca. 1831, he settled in Safed, where he established a printing press which operated for a short while, until the great 1837 earthquake which completely destroyed the town (see item 99). In 1841 he established a printing press in Jerusalem – the first printing press in Jerusalem to print Hebrew books and the only press in the city until the 1860s.
[Regarding R. Yisrael Bak and his printing press in Safed and Jerusalem, see: Sh. HaLevi, Sifrei Yerushalayim HaRishonim, Jerusalem 1976, pp. 15-27; Meir Benayahu, R. Yisrael Bak's Printing Press in Safed and the Beginning of Printing in Jerusalem, Areshet 4, Jerusalem 1966, pp. 271-295].
[4], 111 leaves. 15 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and wear. Marginal creases to several leaves. Minor damage and tears. Marginal dampstains to last leaves. Worming to margins of first title page and last leaves. Handwritten inscriptions. Owners' signatures in Oriental script on second title page ("Yaakov Tzribis"; "Yaakov Tribis"). Stamp on title page. New leather binding.
The first Hebrew book printed in Jerusalem. Sh. HaLevi, no. 1.