In the preface he states that he desired to afford the people, whom he found lacking in knowledge, the means of using the liturgy intelligently, and for this purpose he collected, from both the Babylonian and the Jerusalem Talmuds, from the Geonim and all the commentators down to his own time, the material for the explanation of each portion of the prayer-book. In order to elucidate the meaning and origin of each observance connected with divine worship throughout the year, he made use of all the works concerning the rites he could obtain, some of which were very rare.
He aimed to provide people lacking in knowledge with the tools to understand the liturgy effectively, and he accomplished this by compiling material from various sources like Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds, Geonim commentaries, and his own time's works. He sought to clarify the meaning and origins of each religious observance throughout the year by utilizing a wide range of resources, some of which were quite rare.