Manuscript, Siddur Gadol with Commentary of Rabbi Yitzchak Wanneh – Yemen, 1698 – Written in Ma'bar, Where Author ...

Manuscript, Siddur Gadol with Commentary of Rabbi Yitzchak Wanneh – Yemen, 1698 – Written in Ma'bar, Where Author Officiated as Rabbi in Early 17th Century

Mansucript, "Siddur Gadol" with abridgement of commentary by R. Yitzchak Wanneh, author of Paamon Zahav. Ma'bar (South-Central Yemen), 1698.

Written in the city of R. Yitzchak Wanneh, author of Paamon Zahav siddur, who served as head of the Ma'bar Beit Din several decades before the writing of the present siddur. R. Yitzchak Wanneh lived in the city ca. 1570-1655, and was a leading Yemenite rabbi. His Paamon Zahav siddur was frequently copied and became one of the primary Tiklal siddurim in Yemen (before the diffusion of the Etz Chaim siddur by the Maharitz nearly two centuries later).

Neat Yemenite script, partially vocalized (supralinear). Commentaries and halachot were added by the scribe in "windows" inside the text. On p. [217a], colophon of scribe Zechariah son of Saadiah dated 1698, who wrote the siddur in "the town of Ma'bar", for R. Gavriel son of R. Yosef HaKohen al-Iraqi: "This siddur has been completed by the kindness and mercy of G-d today, Thursday, 5th Adar [1698]… written in the town of Ma'bar, may it be destroyed and barren, and may the holy city of Jerusalem be rebuilt in our lives and days, Amen, for the sake of the one who granted the merit, the Gaon of lofty repute, R. Gavriel son of R. Yosef al-Iraqi, who dispensed gold from his purse and [had it] written. May it be a good sign for him, us and for the entire people of Israel, and may the writer and the one for whom it was written merit to see the pleasantness of G-d… so says the writer, whose eyes hope for G-d's kindness… Zechariah son of Saadiah" (the HaKohen-Iraqi family was one of the distinguished and wealthy families of Sanaa and Yemen, whose members include R. Shalom son of Aharon HaKohen Iraqi al-Usta, president of the Sanaa community in the early 18th century, and other prominent Torah scholars in the 18th and 19th centuries; the present document's attestation of a "Gaon of lofty repute" R. Gavriel HaKohen Iraqi in the late 17th century is unknown from any other source).

There exist other known manuscripts of the scribe R. Zechariah son of Saadiah, written in Ma'bar ca. 1696-1704 (see enclosed material). He appears to also be the scribe of the Siddur Gadol – Paamon Zahav, written in Ma'bar in 1696 (see description in Schwarz's catalog of the Austrian National Library, 1931, Ms. 162, pp. 108-117). The present manuscript was written about two years after the above manuscript. For other Siddur Gadol manuscripts, see Sassoon collection (Ohel David, II, no. 634, dated 1778 – pp. 932-944; no. 635, pp. 948-951).

At beginning of siddur, [6] leaves: "Order of bakashot and additions customarily inserted before the morning prayers, in accordance with the rite of Yemen…". On p. [7a], poem about the siddur, with acrostic "Yachya" (this poem also appears in the above Austrian National Library manuscript; see also: Davidson, Otzar HaShirah VehaPiyyut, IV, p. 205). The heading "Siddur Gadol" appears on p. [7b], as well as the title of the commentary: "Abridgement of the commentary by R. Yitzchak Wanneh".

The siddur includes: Order of weekday prayers, Shabbat prayers, Pirkei Avot with commentaries, Shabbat songs by the Arizal, order of Motzaei Shabbat; Rosh Chodesh prayers; Passover Haggadah; prayers for Pesach and Shavuot; Azharot by R. Shlomo ibn Gabirol; prayers for fast days and Tishah BeAv; Book of Eichah with Judeo-Arabic translation and Kinot; prayers for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret, with Hoshanot and Simchat Torah piyyutim; blessing for the community; order of Chanukah and "Megillah of the Hasmoneans"; Tikun Purim by R. Yehudah HaLevi and Purim prayers; dirges for the dead, Hakafot, Tziduk HaDin, Ashkavot and prayers for the deceased; Selichot; Keter Malchut; E-l Melech and Maran prayers; Avodah for Yom Kippur; blessings (including Birkat HaMazon, wedding blessings, Kiddush Levanah, Tefillat HaDerech, circumcision blessing) and laws of commandments (including: Pidyon HaBen and Peter Chamor, separation of Challah, Maakeh, Mezuzah, Tzitzit and Tefillin, Shabbat candle-lighting, Sukkah, Lulav, Biur Chametz, Eruvei Tavshilin, Eruvei Chatzerot and Eruvei Techumin); blessings for betrothal and marriage; order of intercalation and Tekufah charts covering 1696-1731; formulae for ketubah, get and halachic documents, charity collection, visiting the sick, deathbed confession, and nighttime reading of Shema.

At the end of the siddur, after the scribe's colophon, on p. [217a], additional piyyutim copied by another scribe: Hoshanot and more. On margins of leaves throughout the book, several glosses and additions by other writers.

Ownership inscriptions from various periods: On p. [7a], ownership inscription of Saadiah son of Avigad, and ownership inscription of Jamil son of Salim Chala. On p. [217a], after colophon, ownership inscription (in blue ink): "This siddur is my ancestral heritage from my father Jamil son of Salim Chala, a descendant of Harun Charizi[?], I Yosef son of Jamil Chala". On p. [4a], ownership inscription of Yosef son of Jamil Chala. On p. [192a], birth inscription for Musa son of Yosef Chala, born on Yom Kippur 1945.

[219] leaves. 28 cm. Varying condition. Overall good-fair condition on most leaves. Stains, including dampstains, wear and tears. Open tears, affecting text, to first 6 leaves and several other leaves at middle and end, repaired with paper filling. New binding, with parchment spine.