Shoresh Yishai [Kabbalistic commentary to the Book of Ruth, with text].

ALKABETZ, SOLOMON HALEVI.

Solomon ibn Usque

Constantinople

1561

FIRST EDITION. Title within architectural arch.

Vinograd, Const. 221.

Solomon Alkabetz (c. 1505-84) was a liturgical poet and Kabbalist, venerated today as the composer of “Lechah Dodi,” a mystical love-song to the Sabbath Queen chanted at sundown on the Sabbath Eve. Alkabetz, emigrated from the Balkans to the Land of Israel in 1535, settling in Safed, then the center of Kabbalistic learning. There, he was part of an extraordinary fraternity of mystics that included R. Joseph Karo and R. Moses Alsheich. Alkabetz was a prolific author, producing commentaries on Song of Songs, Ruth, Esther, the Minor Prophets, Psalms, Job and the Passover Haggadah. R. Moses Cordovero was Alkabetz’s brother-in-law and initially his disciple, although it seems that eventually their relationship was reversed with Alkabetz becoming a student of Cordovero.