Siddur 'im Kavanot ha-Ari (Prayer Book with Lurianic Intentions), Scribe: Moses of Pinczow [Jerusalem]: 1713

304 leaves (8 x 6 1/2 in.; 202 x 162 mm). Written in brown ink on paper in semi cursive Ashkenazic Hebrew script, headings and running titles in square script. Original foliation in ink in Hebrew characters: 11-46, 48-314 [1] = 304 leaves, ff. 1-10 wanting, 20v-23v blank. Lightly soiled and stained, moreso  on ff.132r-143r, 228v-230v; one quire browned, ff. 177-188; central tear, ff.101-105. Modern blind tooled half calf over gilt stamped morocco.

Yosef Avivi, Kabbalat ha-Ari (Hebrew), Jerusalem: 2008. 

AN EARLY KABBALISTIC PRAYER BOOK

Rabbi Isaac Luria, the innovator of the kabbalistic movement that bears his name, is frequently referred to by the acronym, Ari. His mystical interpretation of the standard Jewish liturgy calls for worshippers to have the proper intentions (kavanot) when reciting each prayer. The Ari himself did not record these teachings in writing and they have been preserved primarily through the efforts of his principal disciple, Hayyim Vital, in such works as Sha'ar ha-Kavanot. Those individuals who wanted to incorporate the teachings of Luria in their own worship were in need of a siddur in which the kavanot were written together with the prayers. The task of compiling these prayer books was undertaken by the kabbalists of succeeding generations, among them Yaakov Zemah, Hayyim Cohen and others.

This manuscript siddur is most likely based on the most important and most popular version of the Lurianic liturgy, which was composed by Meir Poppers in 1654 and called Or Pnei Melekh.  Poppers (d. 1662) was a kabbalist of Ashkenazi descent who was active in Jerusalem after 1640.  A pupil of Jacob Zemah, he became the last editor of the Lurianic writings. It was he who divided the mass of Hayyim Vital's different versions of Luria's teachings into three parts, Derekh Ez Hayyim, Peri Ez Hayyim, and Nof Ez Hayyim. Poppers' version became the one in most widespread use in Poland and Germany. After 1640 he composed a large number of his own kabbalistical writings in the vein of Lurianic Kabbalah. The present prayer book is exquisite in both script and layout and is among the finer examples of the genre.