A handwritten siddur rooted in the teachings of Harav Yitzchak Luria, zt”l — the Arizal – will be displayed publicly for the first time beginning Lag B’Omer at the ANU Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv.

The 16th-century manuscript, reproduced in the museum’s 18th century copy, is particularly fitting for the Lag B’Omer season. It was the Arizal who is chiefly credited with emphasizing the importance of the day, and the siddur preserves his kavanos — the meditative intentions composed to direct one’s thoughts during tefillah.

The siddur contains detailed written instructions for the kavanos alongside visual elements including diagrams and tables intended to guide the mispalel.

Written in ink on paper and bound in an ornate leather cover adorned with leather panels and gold leaf, the manuscript was copied by hand in 1749 in the town of Stanov — then part of Poland, today within Ukraine — by the sofer Yisrael ben Raphael Segal.