Chok LeYisrael – Zhitomir, 1865 – Five-Volume Set

Chok LeYisrael – Zhitomir, 1865 – Five-Volume Set

Chok LeYisrael, daily study in Torah, Neviim, Ketuvim, Mishnah, Gemara and Kabbalah, based on the Arizal's study routine, with Yosef LaChok by the Chida. Zhitomir: Chanina Lipa and Yehoshua Heshel Shapiro, 1865. Complete five-volume set.

Two title pages for each volume (except for the Devarim volume, which is missing the first title page). Some words on first title pages printed in red ink.
Signatures and inscriptions of "Yosef Motetz of Bila Tserkva". Stamps of "Aharon Shlomo Lieberman, Jerusalem". Ownership inscriptions in various places. Study routine and family inscriptions.

Five volumes. Bereshit: 5, 5-252, 257-259 leaves. Shemot: 244 leaves. Vayikra: 239 leaves. Bamidbar: 226 leaves. Devarim: 2-246 leaves. Missing first title page. 19.5-20 cm. Overall good-fair condition. Some leaves in several places in fair condition. Stains, including dampstains. Wear. Tears, including open tears in several places, affecting text, partially repaired with paper. Part of margins of title page and other leaves repaired with paper. Stamps and handwritten inscriptions. Old, uniform bindings, with leather spines. Heavy wear and damage to bindings.

Vayikra and Devarim volumes not recorded in Bibliography of the Hebrew Book. Bereshit recorded based only on photocopy of title page.

The Significance and Segulah of Reciting Chok LeYisrael Daily
The custom of reciting passages daily from the Bible, Mishnah, Talmud and Zohar was established by the Arizal, who observed this custom himself. The order printed in Chok LeYisrael is for the most part based on the writings of the Arizal in various places. The Chida added to this regimen daily halachic passages, taken from the Rambam's Mishneh Torah and Shulchan Aruch, as well as passages from ethical books. The Chida's additions are called Yosef LaChok. The purpose of the Chok LeYisrael order of study, as explained in the writings of the Arizal, is both for the perfection and tikkun of the soul, nourishing it through the study of the various parts of the Torah, and for effecting tikkunim and yichudim in the upper spheres.
Many prominent Chassidic leaders, and especially the Tzaddikim of the Chernobyl dynasty, spoke in sublime terms of the segulah of the Chok LeYisrael study regimen, and attested that it provides a tikkun for sins in matters of holiness. Rebbe Yisrael Dov of Vilednik writes in his book She'erit Yisrael (Shaar HaShovavim, homily I) that studying Chok LeYisrael serves as Tikkun HaBrit, "as I received from my master [Rebbe Mordechai of Chernobyl], that true tikkun is achieved by attaching oneself to both the Written and Oral Law, through Chok LeYisrael… and therefore in these times with the approach of the Messiah, the Yosef LaChok book has been published, authored by the Chida, disciple of R. Chaim ibn Attar the Or HaChaim, who embodies the lights of both Mashiach ben David and Mashiach ben Yosef, akin to the kabbalistic concept of an all-encompassing Tzaddik capable of effecting a tikkun for the imperfections of the entire Jewish people".

Rebbe Avraham of Trisk, son of Rebbe Mordechai of Chernobyl, writes: "And following the prayers, one should recite Chok LeYisrael, every single day unfailingly… and through this he causes G-d to be filled with mercy for the Jewish people" (Magen Avraham, 96a).
Great rabbis of previous generations have spoken of great segulot attained by reciting Chok LeYisrael. Some wrote that it is also a segulah for livelihood (the Rebbe of Shinova is said to have based this on the statement of the Talmud, "Chok means sustenance"). R. Yaakov Rokeach, in his foreword Maaseh Rokeach to Chok LeYisrael, wrote: "It is a mitzvah for every Jew to buy himself a Chok LeYisrael, to read from it every day…".