Shaar HaShamayim siddur – prayers for weekdays, Shabbat and festivals, Yotzrot, Passover Haggadah, piyyutim and Selichot for fast days, Tehillim and Maamadot. With Shaar HaShamayim – a kabbalistic commentary on the prayers, by R. Yeshayah HaLevi Segal Horowitz – the Shlah. Includes an anthology of laws and practices, by the editor and publisher R. Avraham Segal Horowitz of Posen, great-grandson of the author. Amsterdam, [1717]. First edition.
Complete copy containing all parts. Four title pages; on first title page, copper engraving with illustrations of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the festivals. Divisional title pages for Tehillim and Maamadot.
The Shlah writes in his introduction to the siddur: "Blessed is G-d… Who guided me on the true path… and brought me to the holy city of Jerusalem in 1622… to the gate where prayers ascend… through the gate of heaven (Shaar HaShamayim)". In the author's will printed at the beginning of the siddur, he adds that he decided to author this work "so that it would be printed and spread throughout the Jewish diaspora, so that I would have merit and a portion in all Jewish prayers".
Most of the prayers in this siddur follow the Ashkenazic rite, apart from some prayers which were printed side by side in both Ashkenazic and Sephardic rite, as the author requested in his will (although the editor and publisher did not in fact follow all the author's textual instructions for the siddur).
Praying from this siddur has the special segulah of the prayer being accepted, as the Bach writes in his approbation to this siddur: "We have no doubt that when it is disseminated throughout the Jewish people, whoever prays from it will not have his prayer go unanswered". This segulah is repeated by Rebbe Avraham Yaakov of Sadigura in his approbation to the third edition of the siddur (Warsaw, 1882). The kabbalist R. Naftali Katz, author of Semichat Chachamim, attributes this segulah to the author himself, the Shlah: "He was especially fond of this siddur, and he instructed his descendants to publish it in order to bring merit to the public by praying in this order with those kavanot. And there is a promise on his part that those who follow this order before Him Who hears prayer with all their strength and with those kavanot will not return emptyhanded…".
The Baal HaTanya reputedly followed the kavanot of the Shlah in this siddur for his prayer service during his youth (Beit Rebbe, Berditchev 1902, p. 2, chapter 1).
Birth and death inscriptions from late 1830s to early 1840s on front and back endpapers.
Ownership inscription (trimmed) on second title page at beginning of book: "This siddur [---] from my wealth, in honor [---] and to purchase other [---]. May G-d grant me the merit [---] everyone [---] Yehudah son of [---] Moshe Segal [---]. I purchased it for [---]".
Complete copy. [5], 4-335; 139; 130; [1], 52 leaves. 21.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, including dark stains. Wear and signs of use. Marginal tears and open tears in several places, last leaf repaired with paper filling. Tears and defects to inner margins of title page at beginning of book, slightly affecting illustrated frame. Close trimming, affecting page headers in several places (first line of header lacking on third leaf, headers entirely lacking on fourth leaf). Early wood and leather binding, with clasp (second clasp lacking), with new pastedowns and leather spine.
