ALKABETZ, SOLOMON HALEVI. Shoresh Yishai [Kabbalistic commentary to the...

ALKABETZ, SOLOMON HALEVI.
Shoresh Yishai [Kabbalistic commentary to the Book of Ruth, with text].

FIRST EDITION. Title within architectural arch.
ff. 96. Title trace wormed repaired on verso, lightly stained in places, hinges split. Later blind- tooled calf over thick wooden boards, gilt spine worn, later clasps. 4to. Vinograd, Const. 221.
Constantinople: Solomon ibn Usque 1561

R. Shlomo Alkabetz (c. 1505-84) was a liturgical poet and Kabbalist, venerated today as the composer of “Lechah Dodi, ” the mystical love-song to the Sabbath Queen chanted at sundown on the Sabbath Eve. R. Alkabetz, emigrated from the Balkans to the Land of Israel in 1535, settling in Safed, then the center of Kabbalistic learning. There, he was part of an extraordinary fraternity of mystics that included R. Yoseph Karo and R. Moshe Alsheich. R. Alkabetz was a prolific author, producing commentaries on Song of Songs, Ruth, Esther, the Minor Prophets, Psalms, Job and the Passover Haggadah. R. Moshe Cordovero was R. Alkabetz’s brother-in-law and initially his disciple, although it seems that eventually their relationship was reversed with Alkabetz becoming a student of Cordovero.