The author of the text of this manuscript, Moses ben Jacob
Cordovero (1522-1570), was considered one of the leading figures of
the kabbalistic movement in the city of Safed (Upper Galilee),
which became the new center of the kabbalistic movement after the
expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian Peninsula. One of the most
important concepts among the kabbalists of Safed was that of
mystical prayer, whilst the central concept in this doctrine was
that of kavvanah (mystical intention; plural, kavvanot). The
Tefillah le-Moshe (Moses' Prayers) contains kavvanot for weekdays
and the Shabbat. The round Hebrew cursive, semi-cursive, and square
scripts used in the manuscript are enhanced by a variety of
pen-work foliage designs. On the title page the scribe referred to
himself as “young and insignificant, worm and not a man, AR”I
in the city of Modena.” Ari is the Hebrew word for “lion”,
but should be understood here as an abbreviation of the copyist’s
name, perhaps the well-known writer Juday Aryeh (Leone) Modena
(1571-1648).
