Sefer Shemen Zayit Zakh: Rabbi Shlomo ben David Molcho - “Ba’al HaShemanim" Paperback – December 15, 2025

Sefer Shemen Zayit Zakh first appeared in Salonika in the year 5539 (1779 CE), at a time when the study of the Arizal’s Kabbalah flourished throughout the Sephardic communities of the Ottoman Empire. Its author, Rabbi Shlomo ben David Molcho, was among the distinguished kabbalists of the 18th century—shaped in the Torah centers of Izmir and Salonika, and later counted among the scholars of Yeshivat Beit El in the holy city of Jerusalem.Rabbi Shlomo ben David Molcho was born into the respected Molcho family of Salonika, whose members preserved with profound reverence the name and spiritual legacy of the earlier Rabbi Shlomo Molcho, the fiery martyr who sanctified the Name in Mantua in 5293 (1533 CE). Although the Rasham left no known descendants, his influence never ceased. In Salonika his memory and devotion were guarded as a sacred trust, and families who bore the Molcho name carried this spiritual inheritance forward, generation after generation. It was in this environment—alive with longing for redemption and awe for the Rasham—that Rabbi Shlomo ben David Molcho was raised, forming within him a spirit of humility, fear of Heaven, and a deep reverence for the hidden Torah.Over the course of his life, Rabbi Shlomo attached himself to the leading transmitters of the Rashash’s Kabbalistic system. His primary teacher was Rabbi Chaim de la Roza, one of the most authoritative disciples of Rabbi Shalom Sharabi (the Rashash) and a central figure among the Beit El mystics. Through him, Rabbi Shlomo received the precise, authentic tradition of kavvanot and yichudim as arranged by the Rashash. Testimonies from the period confirm that Rabbi Shlomo later settled in Jerusalem, where he became one of the regular members of Yeshivat Beit El, the spiritual heart of Lurianic practice in that generation.At the opening of this sefer, Rabbi Shlomo ben David Molcho teaches that it is a great mitzvah to reveal the secrets of Torah, and that through their illumination, the coming of Mashiach is hastened. His aim was not merely to write a commentary, but to clarify, preserve, and illuminate a living mesorah of sod, ensuring that the profound teachings of the Ari and the Rashash remain unclouded by error, confusion, or neglect. In this mission he stands firmly within the Beit El tradition, for whom the elucidation of Kabbalah was regarded as part of the cosmic labor of preparing the world for redemption.Now, for the first time, Shemen Zayit Zakh is presented in a complete English translation, set side-by-side with the fully vocalized Hebrew and Aramaic original. This edition includes diagrams and tikkunim designed to guide the earnest student of Torah through the spiritual architecture of the supernal worlds. Faithful, precise, and accessible, this translation opens the gates of one of the great works of Lurianic Kabbalah, inviting a new generation to enter its light with reverence and understanding. Read more