[Tefilot u-fiyuṭim al derekh ha-ḳabalah]. [תפלות ופיוטים על דרך הקבלה]. [Fragment of Mystical Prayers, Hymns, Psalms].

English title supplied from Roth, “Catalogue”, in Alexander Marx: Jubilee Volume, vol. 1 (New York, 1950), no. 54.

Fragment from a very small prayer 'notebook' which fits easily into the palm of a hand.

Contains psalms and prayers, some of them kabbalistic in nature. The tiny booklet begins with Psalm 91, also known as 'Shir ha-pegaʻim' (שיר הפגעים) which is traditionally recited for the protection against evils spirits or real-live catastrophes like plagues. The version contained in MS Roth 54 pairs every verse of Psalm 91 with divine or angelic names. Then follows the prayer 'Melekh kitro gavoha' authored by the Italian kabbalist Mordekhai ben Yehudah Daṭo (1525–1591/1601?). After that, the piyut 'Ha-yom te’amtsenu' is copied, a prayer which is traditionally recited on Yom Kipur. The last part of the booklet contains the 'Order of the piṭom ha-ḳeṭoret recitation' according to the version of the sages of Mantua as it was laid out by Aharon Berekhyah ben Mosheh mi-Modinah (1549-1639) in his book 'Maʻavar Yaboḳ' which was printed for the first time in Mantua in 1626 (see Aharon Berekhyah ben Mosheh mi-Modinah, Sefer ma’avar Yaboḳ (Mantua: Yehudah Shemu’el mi-Perushah, 1626), 121v–122r). The last textual unit in MS Roth 54 is incomplete and breaks off at the end its last preserved folio (the last words are ואת משחית) which shows that at least one folio of the manuscript is missing (this is also indicatied by the collation of MS Roth 54). According to Kabbalistic tradition the correct recitation of “Seder piṭom ha-ḳeṭoret” protects against the plague.

Contents: 1. folio [1v]–1v: ''יושב בסתר עליון'' . 2. folio 2r: blank. 3. folio 2v: ''מלך כתרו גבה". 4. folio 4r: blank. 5. folio 4v–5r: "היום תאמצנו". 6.folio 5r–9v: סדר פטום הקטורת הנעתק מספר רב בעל מעבר יבק מגירסת גאוני מנטובה'' (בלתי שלם) ''.

State of text: Ink is faded and parts of the text is rubbed illegible. The parchment is worn but in a relatively well preserved state.

Bibliographical note: Roth, “Catalogue”, in Alexander Marx: Jubilee Volume, vol. 1 (New York, 1950), no. 54. National Library of Israel (NLI), Online Catalogue, system-no. 000185658. The NLI’s description is based on the microfilm of Ms Roth 54 made on behalf of the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts of the NLI during the 1960s. The microfilm can now be downloaded in a digitised form from the NLI-webpage. Davis, Handlist 164 (Leeds, 2005), no. 54.