Rabbi Nathan Schapira published this holy book in
1655. Rav Schapira made the arduous journey to Eretz Yisrael from Cracow during
the second quarter of the 17th century. He was the son of one of the
most prominent leaders of the community of Cracow. He himself was one of the
rabbinical leaders of that city as well. His uncle was a famed kabbalist of the
same name who is famous for his Magnus Copius the "Megaleh Amukos".
According to testimonial writings of the times, we
find that Rav Schapira was considered a venerable scholar upon his arrival in
Eretz Yisrael. He learned together with two other rabbis who themselves were
deeply involved with disseminating the writings of the Arizal, namely, Rav
Yaakov Tzemach and Rav Meir Paparush. Through them he had free access to a vast
array of manuscripts of the Arizal that they had been safeguarding.
Rav Schapira became the chief Ashkenazic Rabbi of
Jerusalem, shortly after his arrival. He assumed the responsibility of providing
for his constituents both spiritually and materially. Therefore, when the health
and finances of the community deteriorated to an overwhelming level, he took
upon himself the onerous burden of travelling throughout Europe to raise the
funds necessary to rehabilitate the city.
The financial straits were caused by a lack of
donations from Eastern Europe. This was due to the mass destruction and
annihilation of Jewry throughout the Polish and Russian communities in
1648-1650, by Bogdan Chmielnetsky and his revolution. Therefore, he traveled to
Italy, France, Germany, The Netherlands and possibly England to raise the funds.
It appears that this holy book was written during his
first journey to Italy. There he was encouraged and assisted by the Ramaz (Rav
Moshe Zaccuto) to print this treatise. The Ramaz not only edited the book but
raised the finances as well. It stands to reason that the Ramaz felt that this
very book would encourage people to contribute generously to allay the
difficulties in Eretz Yisrael.
Our translation and commentary is by R. David Slavin. To continue on to the first article in this series on the Land of Israel,
The Goodness of the Land, click here
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