Sephardi Machzor for the High Holy Days and nighttime Selichot. Amsterdam: Uri HaLevy, [1679].
256 leaves. 15.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor wear to some leaves. Tears to leaves 113-114, slightly affecting text, repaired. Gilt edges. Early gilt-decorated leather binding, with a new leather spine. Minor damage to binding.

Collection of printed leaves – programs issued by German and Hungarian communities, listing the selichot to be recited on Yom Kippur. [Europe, 1916-1948].
In early machzorim, numerous selichot were printed for each prayer of Yom Kippur. Since the recital of all the selichot was not feasible, many communities would choose every year a number of selichot to be recited that year. The list of selected selichot was printed on handbills which they distributed to the members of the community. Occasionally, they would also include the schedule of Yom Kippur prayers, and some even printed the text of "El Melech Yoshev…" for convenience (the text of the El Melech prayer was not printed in the machzorim after each selichah, and the worshipper had to repeatedly leaf back to the page where it was printed).
The collection comprises the following orders of selichot:
• Printed leaf from the Moson community (Mosonmagyaróvár), 1916.
• Printed leaf from the Börneplatz synagogue, Frankfurt am Main, 1924. On verso – several Frankfurt customs for Yom Kippur, in German.
• Printed leaves from the Pressburg community, for 1926, 1934, 1936 (two different leaves), 1937 and 1938.
• Printed leaf from the Kehal Adat Yeshurun synagogue, Zurich, 1928.
• Printed leaves from the Beit Tefillah Yeshurun synagogue (community of R. Shimshon Refael Hirsch), Frankfurt am Main, 1932 and 1933.
• Printed leaf from the Pest community, Budapest, 1948.
• Six printed leaves, name of community not indicated, including: leaf for 1926, lithographed manuscript ("Order of Selichot and Prayer Schedule from Erev Rosh Hashana until Yom Kippur" – 2 copies); leaf for 1926, printed in Kunszentmiklós, close to Budapest; leaf for 1935; undated leaf, printed in Hamburg.
• Enclosed: printed leaf, order of lamentations for Tisha B'Av 1917 (the recital of lamentations that year may have been abridged due to WWI). With handwritten inscriptions, including: "Herrn Landrabbiner Dr. Gronemann" (R. Yitzchak Zelig Gronemann, Land Rabbi of Hanover, 1843-1918).
[19] leaves. Size and condition vary. Worming to some leaves, affecting text.

Maarechet HaElohut, kabbalistic principles, attributed to Rabbenu Peretz, a Tosaphist, with the Minchat Yehuda commentary, by R. Yehuda Chayat. Ferrara: R. Abraham ibn Usque, [1557]. First edition.
Maarechet HaElohut is a a classic Kabbalistic book. The identity of the author is subject to various conjectures, but it is clear that the book was composed after the passing of the Rashba (d. 1310), whom the author refers to as deceased – "zatzal".
Two commentaries accompany the work, one by an unidentified author, and the second – Minchat Yehuda, a famous and classic kabbalistic commentary, by the kabbalist R. Yehuda Chayat (a Spanish exile), known as "HaChayat". The publisher of this book was R. Yitzchak de Lattes, who inserted his notes in the Minchat Yehuda commentary (some are signed "A.Y.L."). The commentary also contains glosses by R. Chaim Ben Hassun of Ancona.
In his foreword, R. Yehuda Chayat describes the trials and tribulations he experienced during the Spanish expulsion, and his troubles in the following years, until he reached Italy. At the end of his foreword, he lists kabbalistic books, noting which books should be studied and which are not suitable (amongst others, he fiercely condemns the kabbalist R. Avraham Abulafia and his books).
This book was printed the same year the Zohar was printed in Mantua, and its publication even preceded that of the Zohar. Both books were printed amidst a great polemic between the leaders of the generation, regarding whether the generation was worthy of the printing of these books. R. Yitzchak de Lattes, publisher of the present work, issued a reasoned ruling in which he approves the printing of these books. In this ruling, which was printed in most editions of the Zohar at the beginning of the first volume, he refers the reader to R. Yehuda Chayat's foreword to this work.
Faded ownership inscriptions in Italian script on the title page. Kabbalistic glosses in Italian script in various places. Signature in Sephardic script on the title page: "Servant of G-d, Eliyahu Zerach".
[6], 286 leaves. Misfoliation. 22 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and wear. Worming, slightly affecting text in several places. Inscriptions. Censorship inscription on final page. Early leather binding, damaged.