Sefer Yesod: Maggid Meisharim by the Beis Yosef.
First Edition. Venice, 1649
Very Rare!
Great mystical teachings, warnings and practices revealed by the Maggid – angel from heaven – to Rabbi Yosef Karo, author of the Beis Yosef and Shulchan Aruch.
“…I have come to enlighten you and to speak to you, not as if in a dream, but rather like a man speaking to his friend.” (Maggid Meisharim 9a).
Rabbi Yosef Karo merited having an angel sent to him to reveal the secrets of Torah and the wisdom of Kabbalah along with other “astounding teachings”. The Maggid told the Beis Yosef that Eliyahu Hanavi would appear to him to teach him Torah, and further described to him how they rejoice with him in the Heavenly Yeshivah.
The Maggid ordered Rabbi Yosef Karo to write down everything he would reveal.
Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488-1575) is renowned as the father of halachah and the Revealed Torah. In the present sefer, we are offered a wondrous glimpse into his genius in the realm of the Hidden Torah and mysticism, as well. He was acquainted with all the great Kabbalists of Tzfas of his era. He studied together with the renowned Kabbalist Rabbi Shlomo Elkabetz, maintained a connection with the Arizal — who arrived in Tzfas toward the end of the Beis Yosef’s life — and even conveyed a warning to Rabbi Chaim Vital in the name of the Maggid, the angelic messenger, to devote himself diligently to his studies, as Rabbi Chaim Vital recounts in Sefer HaChezyonos (p. 5).
This unique sefer, which has no equivalent, offers us a glimpse into the hidden personal world of the Gadol Yisrael, Rabbi Yosef Karo.
The first section of Sefer Maggid Meisharim containing Parshiyos Bereshis through Metzora, was first printed in Lublin in 1646. The present edition contains teachings from Parshas Acharei Mos onwards, with additional completions of sections that were not printed in the Lublin edition.
Venice, 1649. First edition. Page count: [2], 58 leaves. Page size: 18.9 cm.
Condition: Good to good-fair. The last four leaves are in fair-good condition with holes affecting the text, professionally restored. The border of the title page is slightly trimmed. Minor wear. New binding.
Bibliography: Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod, no. 343.
On the verso of the title page there is an early Ashkenazic signature (partially trimmed): "The words of the young one of his father’s house, Yissachar B…".
