''Etz Chaim'' (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: עץ חיים, "Tree of Life") is a
literary work
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
that deals with the
Kabbalah
Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "receiver"). The defin ...
, the book was written in 1573. The book of Etz Chaim is a summary of the teachings of the
Rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
Isaac Luria
Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi (1534 Fine 2003, p24/ref> – July 25, 1572) ( he, יִצְחָק בן שלמה לוּרְיָא אשכנזי ''Yitzhak Ben Sh'lomo Lurya Ashkenazi''), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as "Ha'ARI" (mea ...
, the ''Arizal'' (1534-1572). The ''Arizal'' was a rabbi and a kabbalist who created a new tendency in the study of the Kabbalah.
The book was published thanks to the student and disciple of the ''Ari'', the Rabbi
Chaim Vital
Hayyim ben Joseph Vital ( he, רָבִּי חַיִּים בֶּן יוֹסֵף וִיטָאל; Safed, October 23, 1542 (Julian calendar) and October 11, 1542 (Gregorian Calendar) – Damascus, 23 April 1620) was a rabbi in Safed and the foremo ...
, who wrote the teachings of his master, during the lessons that the ''Arizal'' taught, to his disciples that were part of his study group of Kabbalah, in the city of
Safed, in
Ottoman Palestine. The Rabbi Chaim Vital compiled the teachings of the ''Ari'', in a book that deals with the
Lurianic Kabbalah
Lurianic Kabbalah is a school of kabbalah named after Isaac Luria (1534–1572), the Jewish rabbi who developed it. Lurianic Kabbalah gave a seminal new account of Kabbalistic thought that its followers synthesised with, and read into, the earlie ...
.
The book talks about the divine order and the existence of the things. The work deals with
revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities.
Background
Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
and the perception of the
reality
Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...
by the man of our time. The first fragment of the book makes reference to the
tree of life
The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A Hist ...
, which is where the book gets its name from: "You know, before the beginning of the Creation there was only the highest and fullest light. The description of the creation process starts from that point, especially".
The book marks the beginning of the Lurianic Kabbalah,
but it was Rabbi Chaim Vital who revealed the content of the work to the World. Before the ''Arizal'', the Kabbalists revealed in their books, the development of reality from its origin to our world (from the understandable light). The ''Arizal HaKadosh'' discovered a method to understand the reality better.
References
Kabbalah texts
1573 books
{{Judaism-book-stub