Ashmoret HaBoker. Collection of Kabbalistic Prayers
First edition. Mantua, 1624
An order of tefillah for the entire year, arranged in accordance with the teachings of Kabbalah, instituted by the kabbalist Rabbi Aharon Berachiah of Modena to be recited in his community by the Chevras Me’irei Shachar.
The sefer opens with an introduction and concludes with an extensive epilogue by the author, discussing the custom of praying during Ashmoret HaBoker (pre-dawn hours) along with many additional insights.
It includes tefillos and piyutim for weekdays and Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh, Chanukah, Purim, Pesach, Shavuos, fast days, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Succos, and “days without supplication [prayers]”; as well as special prayers for drought and for excessive rain, prayers on behalf of the sick, upon the passing of a great individual, for the night of a wedding, pizmonim for a bris milah, for one who recovered from illness, and for a chuppah.
A very significant and early tefillah compilation which was widely accepted among the kabbalists of Italy.
Mantua, 1624. First edition. Printed by the author himself. Page Count: [31], 219, 225–274 leaves.
Size: Small format, 15.2 cm.
Condition: Margins of the first four leaves have been restored, with some loss of text and part of the title-page border. Several holes and typical signs of use. Antique parchment binding (with new endpapers).
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Corrected Copy:
Throughout the sefer there are numerous glosses in Italian script, by two or perhaps three different writers. In one place, it is written: “Copied from the Ashmoret of the esteemed Rabbi Shlomo Chizkiyah Yechya, of blessed memory” (leaf 1a), and elsewhere: “… so I saw in the Ashmoret of the esteemed Rabbi Yitzchak Berachiah of Pano, of blessed memory” (leaf 21a).
Most of the glosses contain kabbalistic kavanot (intentions), while others offer corrections to the text.
Without a doubt, this copy is of significant value for a future edition of ‘Ashmoret HaBoker’ and for establishing its accurate version.
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As can be seen from the page count, the present copy, like all other known copies (except for one), is missing leaves 220–224. These missing leaves are preserved in a single surviving copy housed in the Eitz Chaim Library in Amsterdam, and examination of that copy reveals that they contain tefillos for the salvation of those imprisoned by the Inquisition, against apostates, and against decrees concerning Jewish books. These pages were removed from all printed copies by order of the censor.
See Yitzchak Yudlov’s article in Alei Sefer, vol. 10, pp. 113–117.
