Imagine: A second century manuscript by Shimon bar Yohai faithfully handed down through the generations from master to disciple. And imagine more, that copies of selected portions are for sale at a modest price. A young Kabbalist named Isaac ben Samuel, fleeing the Mamaluk invasion of Acre by way of Italy, came to Castile in 1305. There Isaac learned that these tantalizing folios were of Moses ben Shem Tov de Leon. Isaac records the meeting in his diary. Moses promised Isaac that he did indeed possess a copy of the coveted ancient manuscript and he could examine it for himself. But alas, before Isaac arrived, de Leon fell ill and died. Saddened, Isaac sought out de Leon’s widow. The manuscript apparently vanished, the woman swore it never even existed. Professor Daniel Matt relates the account in the widow’s words: "When I saw him writing with nothing in front of him, I said to him, “Why do you say that you are copying from ...
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