Prayer Book (Siddur) with the Kavvanot (Intentions) of the ‘Ari ‘
Satanów, Poland (today Sataniv, Ukraine) 1749
Ink on paper, leather binding, boards of colored leather and gold leaf
Gift of Elliot N. and Renee Schreiber and family in memory of Adolph H. Schreiber
Rabbi Yitzhak Luria – Known as ‘Ari Ha-Kadosh’ was active in sixteenth-century Safed and is considered one of the greatest kabbalists. His teaching revolutionized Jewish mysticism, and his influence is felt to this day. Among other things, he composed ‘kavvanot‘ (‘intentions’ or ‘meditations’), whose purpose is to guide thoughts during prayer and while performing commandments, based on the belief that doing so can influence the divine and ,consequently, the whole world.
