Writers > Autograph: Jacob ben Hayyim Zemah
ZEMAḤ, JACOB BEN ḤAYYIM (17th century).
Nagid u-metsaveh ‘im ketsat hagahot ha-Ramaz asher bo nikhlalim kol minhagim shel ha-rav .
Manuscript in Hebrew on paper.
Italy, ca. 17th century.
MS X893 Se5
Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Jacob ben Hayyim Zemaḥ was a doctor in his native Portugal before traveling to Safed and immersing himself in the mystical study of kabbalah. His work Nagid u-metsaveh, shown here with Zemaḥ’s original annotations, was published first in Amsterdam in 1712, and many times thereafter. The book contains an anthology of Lurianic Kabbalah, and was widely used by kabbalists.
There are approximately ten manuscripts in Jacob ben Ḥayyim Zemah's own hand in Columbia’s Judaica collection.
Gift of Congregation Temple Emanu-El, 1892.