“How precious is Your kindness, O God” (Psalms 36:8). Eternal kindness builds, making second and third levels, and before mountains were born and the earth and its fullness were brought forth, His name alone was exalted. There was no one to call upon His blessed name, and there was no person to serve God. God saw that there was no man, and He was astounded that there was no one who recognized the power of His blessed kingdom. Upon whom would the Divine Presence rest, and to whom would God’s arm be revealed? Then it arose in His blessed will to create with His utterance the heavens and all their hosts, and He established His assembly upon the earth’s foundation. In every generation and dwelling place are His servants who do His will, and in every place, offerings and presentations are made to His blessed name by those who see the King’s face. And among the lower beings, He chose for Himself the human whom He formed with wisdom, whose wisdom exceeded all the ancient ones who preceded them in creation. And last but most beloved is humanity, who was created in the image and likeness of their Creator’s form, to whom He granted understanding with greater elevation and might. From among them all, God chose Jacob, the seed of Abraham His beloved, who would call out loudly in the name of the eternal God, saying “This is our God, our Lord who guides both the upper and lower realms; there is none besides Him.” From him, the whole earth was illuminated, for he lit up the righteous one of the world from the east, and the people who walked in darkness saw God’s light. They held fast to this faith generation after generation, and the face of the world was filled with knowledge and fear of God from Jacob, His inherited portion, the threefold cord, and God’s throne stands on three legs. This is my discourse and the opening of my words from the beginning of faith, to sing God’s song like the Song of Songs which is Solomon’s (Song of Songs 1:1).

The word of God was precious in those days, as vision was not widespread. For two thousand years there was chaos among the nations without Torah, and it was sealed in the treasure houses of the few remaining individuals of the generation. Then God passed a spirit of rest over the earth, a spirit of knowledge and fear of God, and He became a guardian of His good word to the seed of Abraham His beloved, to give them a beautiful inheritance — pleasant words, the Torah of truth and upright laws in which the righteous walk with increasing light. Those who desire will fill their hand with God’s blessing and the will of Him who dwells on Sinai. And those whose feet stood steadfast at Mount Sinai — their eyes saw all precious things that even Ezekiel did not see, for a sage is superior to a prophet who sees divine visions. And every wise-hearted person — the Torah is their own, from their soul’s labor they will be satisfied with joyful abundance, pleasantness in the right hand of the fiery law. To them are revealed the hidden depths of wisdom, judgment is revealed to them and no secret confounds them. This is Torah and this is its reward — those who love it will eat its fruit, holy praiseworthy fruit, to eat of its fruits in this world while their honor is exalted. That which the wise will inherit when they come to their rest and to the inheritance of 310 worlds, there David’s horn will sprout forth, and He will arrange the lamp of mitzvah and the light of Torah for all the children of Israel in their dwellings. For the pure words of God give honor to their owners — masters of Scripture, Mishnah, Talmud, and Aggadah, their union is founded on earth, to feed them from the fruit of their deeds in this world, and to those without strength He will increase might, and it will be like the mighty one of Ephraim.

More precious than wisdom and honor is bearing a little burden — one who inclines their shoulder to bear the burden of God’s word. Indeed, it is but a small matter that gives us life, for although God’s commandments are broader than the sea, they are actually easy to perform, as God has not placed upon us a heavy burden. God asks but a small thing from us: to fear Him and walk modestly with Him, that we may live as we do today. Nevertheless, Israel does not distinguish between the light and the heavy, My people do not understand the difference between future and past, between the simple and the wise. They cast off the yoke of Heaven’s kingdom, preferring lawlessness. This is a generation that seeks love in pleasures, and the burden upon their shoulders is to seek greatness for themselves, as each attacks their fellow, and God’s face has divided them. None seek or search [for Him], as each person turns to their own profit. Therefore, they were exiled without knowledge. For God said, Lest the people regret when they see that God fights with them face to face and they return in repentance. So He gave them into the hands of plunderers, cutting down Israel’s pride like an asherah tree. He saw their distress when they returned to God, and they cried out saying, Restore us, God of our salvation, for we have sinned against You! Swiftly He would relent from the evil and send His word to heal them. But when Israel saw that there was relief, they became hard of hearing, turning backward, and God too turned away from them. Indeed, God does all these things two or three times with an arrogant person who will not settle in His holy dwelling. He casts them to another land, taking their flesh and their covering, leaving them stripped of all success. Israel became very poor, growing increasingly impoverished throughout this present exile, for their days there grew long, saying “Perhaps after all this, someone might be found who will repent of the evil, and God too will turn from His fierce anger.” And those who walked in darkness like the tents of Kedar will become like the curtains of Solomon (Song of Songs 1:5).

A man of understanding is of a precious spirit (Proverbs 17:27). Let one understand and comprehend, gain insight into the conduct of a people without understanding — how far their ways are from the ways of the Lord, in a generation of perversity that turns the dish upside down and wipes its face, judging good as evil and evil as good, placing the lowly on high, while those rich in wisdom sit in lowliness, calling the scoundrel noble to seat him among the nobles of God’s people, the God of Abraham. And among the Lord’s people, they are divided into sects and groups: some are lovers of money, some are lovers of imaginary honor, some are lovers of pleasurable delights, some are masters of evil speech with every blemish in them. And the lovers of truth among the elevated ones are few and countable, and they are nullified in their minority for the breach is greater than what stands. This one says “I belong to the Lord and holiness is within me,” yet he will not enter the city to sit at the heights of the town. That one calls himself by the name of Israel, saying: I have strived with God and men and prevailed (Genesis 32:29). Another writes his hand to the Lord saying “The light is mine and I created it,” and “my hand is in all wisdoms and who can compare to me in declaring and arranging it.” Yet another says “The world and its fullness are mine,” and “who can sense and who can act besides me in working with silver and gold and in the craftsmanship of the tree of life.” And there are those who grasp this and that, not letting go of either. All these and their like are destroyers of the city — they demolish and do not build. The breach rises before them and the wall of its builders is torn down. The spirit within my belly pressures me, and my heart trembles within me like a coin rattling in a flask, like a bell and pomegranate I cannot contain, and my words are upon my tongue like burning fire saying: “How long will you judge unjustly, placing light for darkness and darkness for light? Will you gouge out people’s eyes to deny what is known? Let the heavens be appalled at this! Has there ever been such a thing, that a nation in exile, turned aside and greatly despised among the nations, does not repent of several well-known abominations that all acknowledge?” And the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed (Hosea 7:1).

It is precious in the eyes of God to place upon His pious ones the yoke of learning, burdens, and silence. And this I shall take to heart: Why do you cry out about the deterioration of the generations from the beginning? Are you better than the many prophets who called out until their throats were hoarse, yet [the people] refused to listen, mocking God’s messengers, cursing and despising them? And you would be like one of them? Rise up! Why do you lie dormant, sitting and wondering about matters you cannot fix? Will you remain anchored, refraining from being a person of valor, accomplished in many ways, working toward salvation and seeking good for their people time after time? Let their souls be precious in your eyes, speaking to their hearts words of goodness and comfort, through God’s straight commandments that gladden the sorrowful and aching heart. Do not worry about a world that is not yours to control. Gird your loins like a warrior and be diligent and rewarded to explain to them, according to God’s word, that which your intellectual net shall catch. For if you say you will worry about things you cannot fix, there will be no end to your toil and worries. Rise and act, for this matter is upon you! And if they mock and despise you, saying “How can this one save us?” — be as one who is deaf and do not abandon your place. And as they speak to me day after day, I said, “Surely one who withholds grain will be cursed by the nation.” I will extend my hand a second time, time after time, to set a table in the wilderness, for the benefit of these words of mine will be like a set table for many, a bed for many — Behold, it is Solomon’s bed (Song of Songs 3:7).

The Torah of the Lord is more precious than pearls, for if one has gold and many pearls, as they increase, so do one’s inheritance and sickness increase. All day one is distressed and worried about not achieving double what one already has, and the person will not rest until they have wasted their days in vanity and their years in terror, as is the way of all who are hasty for wealth, who bear many troubles and bundled tribulations on their shoulders. Not so with the word of the Lord, for they provide rest to the weary, like cold water to a tired soul — they neither tire nor grow weary. And this is the comfort: for her breasts will satisfy you at all times, finding in her new insights that no ear has heard and no eye has seen, and the words of love are sweet to those who seek to be covered in a new garment, until the observer says “Look! This is new!” — something the ancients did not conceive. And if, due to the poor order of this perverse generation, one’s heart burns within them, seeing that they cannot repair and patch the breaches in the House of Israel for they are too many, this is my comfort in my affliction: to seek from the book of the Lord, to make it my daily delight, and to divert worry from the heart away from worldly vanities and transfer it to the labor of Torah which gladdens the human heart, and thus the envy of Ephraim shall depart (Isaiah 11:13).

The lips of knowledge are a precious jewel (Proverbs 20:15) — their words are clear, bringing forth from the lips outward all the hidden treasures within the chambers of one’s heart, to teach the children of Judah the difficult and obscure matters of the Torah, each according to their understanding, revealing hidden and concealed things that were only revealed to the unique individuals of each generation and to the remnants whom God calls, and in whom He placed an understanding heart and a learned tongue with greater strength and might. However, in these generations, the gates of wisdom have been locked and they are closed — that which God opened. For if God grants wisdom, knowledge, and understanding from His mouth to some known person and places words in their mouth saying “Thus shall you speak to the children of Israel,” they close the doors of their lips, and they are forced to place their hand over their mouth. For in their opinion, God chose what they choose, and anyone whom they do not approve of, God also does not approve of. But this is not so, for usually they themselves are not even content with what they choose. Most choices are made out of jealousy of one’s fellow, and their only desire is to contradict their fellow’s opinion so that their fellow should not have any satisfaction in their choice. The selection depends on corrupt matters, as each person chooses their relative or acquaintance, whether or not they are suitable for God’s work, like the incident of Yehoshua ben Gamla (Yevamot 61a). They never choose a person for the work that is appropriate for them. For since the day that flattery and arrogance descended into the world, the poor are not recognized before the noble. Even if all agree that this is the person of whom God said He shall release my exile from the pit of hardships and I have placed My Torah within them to bring joy to the people who walk in darkness — they reject them and cast aspersions upon them, forcefully distancing the one whom God has brought near and to whose palate God has attached a learned tongue. They say to wood, You are my father. Let the heavens be appalled at a blind nation that has eyes, whose judgment contradicts what their senses tell them, denying what they themselves know. Therefore, I said, let be what may be, here is my tongue — God has given me the pen of a swift scribe, to write with my pen what God has graciously given me, to bring forth the wine preserved in its grapes from the vineyard that belonged to Solomon.

More precious than me (Esther 6:6) — God has granted me favor, for I have a treasure house of precious interpretations and expositions, both new and old, which I have stored up for those who fear God and contemplate His name, who love truth and acknowledge it. They comfort me from my labor’s sorrow, and daily they seek me, saying “Arise, for this matter falls upon you,” because in our sins, day by day, the Torah of truth diminishes and hearts grow smaller, truth becomes scarce, and the wise men of the generation — whose least is greater than I — sit in lowliness. And you shall be as one of them, and you shall not withhold the utterance of your lips that is good from its owners, when your intellect has the power to produce refined wine from the grapes of your understanding. Therefore, I will stand at my watch as before, to compose on the Torah a precious commentary, from it comes the cornerstone, from it the peg upon which everything hangs, for it contains explanations of many obscure and sealed matters which most commentators came to gather but found no sufficient explanation and satisfactory reasons. It also includes many words of moral instruction for those who love rebuke and accept reproach. The benefit of this composition will be very precious to those who acknowledge the truth, which is why I called it Kli Yakar [Precious Vessel], for everyone who reads it will respond and say, Is Ephraim not my precious son? (Jeremiah 31:19)

How precious are Your thoughts, O God (Psalms 139:17), those who gave their souls for God’s Torah, toiling in it day and night without cease, to bring to light the hidden wisdom with double understanding — both simple interpretations and novel expositions that gladden both God and man, with its inner meaning wrapped in hidden love and revealed rebuke. Behold, I am Shlomo Ephraim, son of my master and father, the Gaon Rabbi Aaron of blessed memory. Being troubled and pursued for many days, my main consolation in my poverty has been engaging in composing several books. In my youth, I composed the book Ir Giborim [City of Heroes], and as I grew older, I composed Olelot Ephraim [Gleanings of Ephraim]. Most of my work was devoted to Rivevot Ephraim [Myriads of Ephraim], which due to its great size, I cannot afford to bring to print because of financial constraints. Now, in the year 5361 (1601), before the days of Purim, I fell ill with a dangerous sickness for several weeks, until they added to me the name Shlomo. Through God’s mercy, He brought me out from this upheaval to give me life as of this day. I made a vow to God, which I shall fulfill, to compose this work for the honor of God and His Torah and to reveal its hidden meanings. The leaders of the three lands [may their Rock and Redeemer protect them], who sit first in the kingdom of heaven and are known in the gates for name and praise, have strengthened my hand with their power and assisted with the printing costs from their pockets. May God reward their deed and may their reward be complete. I called it Kli Yakar [Precious Vessel] after the verse Is Ephraim my dear son (Jeremiah 31:19), and the verse Precious vessel are the lips of knowledge spoken by Solomon (Proverbs 20:15), thus including both my names. In many places where I felt the simple interpretation was superior to others, I wrote “this is a precious interpretation,” for this is indeed the truth. Occasionally, I bring the opinions of other commentators and write “some say.” The reason I didn’t explicitly mention the author’s name is because I saw a disturbing thing in the words of most commentators who approach explaining the Torah — that there is almost nothing new in their words. In most places where there is some reasonable interpretation, that same interpretation can be found in several commentators. I don’t know if they all intended the same thing or if some wrapped themselves in a tallit that wasn’t theirs. Therefore, I didn’t know how to credit the original author since there are many who say it, and I’m not a merchant who should list and go on mentioning all who say it, so I simply wrote “some say.” However, in places where I found that interpretation in only one or two sources, I wrote the name of who said it. Nevertheless, I decided to greatly abbreviate the words of others so as not to expand my book with matters I didn’t toil in. All my words are very close to the simple meaning, and sometimes they contain some hints, as I have seen in all commentators. This is my portion from my labor, and the work was established in Solomon’s hand.

My eyes have seen something precious, for there is still a vision for an appointed time of which God spoke to have mercy on the poor of His people who are scattered to all ends of earth and distant seas, who go from one hardship to another. Israel has spent many days in the crucible of hardships which refines and purifies our impurities like a furnace. And although according to our limited understanding we do not know how long these hardships and wonders will last, God knows that it is all intended for good — why should I question the hidden ways of the Merciful One? Surely God will fulfill His good word which He spoke concerning the House of Israel when the appointed time arrives or when Israel improves its ways. For they will see that strength has diminished and troubles are increasing — who is the person who would not see this, and which soul would not be afflicted? He will take it to heart to return to God wholeheartedly. God too will grant good, return the dispersed of His people, and raise the horn of His anointed one, whose horns are like the horns of a wild ox — they are the multitudes of Ephraim (Deuteronomy 33:17).