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Ḥayyim Vital
Hayyim ben Joseph Vital (; Safed, October 23, 1542 (Old Style and New Style dates, Julian calendar) / October 11, 1542 (Gregorian Calendar) – Damascus, 23 April 1620) was a rabbi in Safed and the foremost disciple of Isaac Luria. He recorded much of his master's teachings. After Vital's death, his writings began to spread and led to a "powerful impact on various circles throughout the Jewish world."#FINE_2003, Fine 2003, p2/ref> Early life Born in Safed, as a young boy Hayyim Vital was educated by the scholar Moshe Alshich. Joseph Karo is said to have paid special attention to Vital's early talents and in 1557 requested that Alshich take special care in his education as he was destined to succeed his teacher in the world of Torah study. That same year, Vital first became acquainted with the Kabbalah, kabbalist Isaac Luria, who would have a lasting influence on him. Vital apparently married at a young age. It was an unhappy marriage, and when he left his wife, the prophet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Safed
Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortified town in the Upper Galilee mentioned in the writings of the Roman Jewish historian Josephus. The Jerusalem Talmud mentions Safed as one of five elevated spots where fires were lit to announce the Rosh Chodesh, New Moon and festivals during the Second Temple period. Safed attained local prominence under the Crusaders, who built a large fortress there in 1168. It was conquered by Saladin 20 years later, and demolished by his grandnephew al-Mu'azzam Isa in 1219. After reverting to the Crusaders in a treaty in 1240, a larger fortress was erected, which was expanded and reinforced in 1268 by the Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo), Mamluk sultan Baybars, who developed Safed into a major town and the capital of a new province spanning the Galilee. After ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elijah
Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worship of the Hebrew deity Yahweh over that of the Canaanite deity Baal. God also performed many miracles through Elijah, including resurrection, bringing fire down from the sky, and ascending to heaven alive. 2 Kings 2:11 He is also portrayed as leading a school of prophets known as "the sons of the prophets." Following Elijah's ascension, his disciple and devoted assistant Elisha took over as leader of this school. The Book of Malachi prophesies Elijah's return "before the coming of the great and terrible day of the ," making him a harbinger of the Messiah and of the eschaton in various faiths that revere the Hebrew Bible. References to Elijah appear in Sirach, the New Testament, the Mishnah and Talmud, the Quran, the Book of Mormon, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel Ben Isaac De Uçeda
Rabbi Samuel ben Isaac de Uçeda or Shmuel de Uzeda (; 1545 – 1604) was a Jewish commentator and preacher. Born in Safed, his name, Uçeda, originally was derived from the town Uceda in the archbishopric of Toledo. He was a pupil of Isaac Luria and Hayyim Vital, with whom he studied kabbalah and a friend of Rabbi Moshe Cordoviro. He became rabbi and preacher in Safed and, later, in Constantinople. Works Samuel was the author of the following works: * ''Iggeret Shemu'el'' (Iggeret Shmuel), a commentary and supercommentary on the Book of Ruth (published in 1557; together with the text and the commentary of Rashi, Kuru Chesme, 1597; Amsterdam, 1712; Zolkiev, 1800); * ''Leḥem Dim'ah'' (Lekhem Dim'ah), a commentary on Lamentations, with the text and the commentary of Rashi (Venice, 1600; Amsterdam, 1710, 1715); * ''Midrash Shemu'el'' (Midrash Shmuel), a detailed commentary on Pirkei Avot, (Venice, 1579, 1585, 1597; Cracow, 1594; Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1713). This work was h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 earlier Kabbalah of the Zohar that had disseminated in Medieval circles. Lurianic Kabbalah describes new doctrines of the origins of Creation, and the concepts of Olam HaTohu (Hebrew: עולם התהו "The World of Tohu-Chaos") and Olam HaTikun (Hebrew: עולם התיקון "The World of Tikun-Rectification"), which represent two archetypal spiritual states of being and consciousness. These concepts derive from Isaac Luria's interpretation of and mythical speculations on references in the Zohar.The Development of Kabbalah in Three Stages from inner.org: 1 [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tammuz (Hebrew Month)
Tammuz (Hebrew: , '), or Tamuz, is the tenth month of the civil year and the fourth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar, and the modern Assyrian calendar. It is a month of 29 days, which occurs on the Gregorian calendar around June–July. The name of the month was adopted from the Assyrian and Babylonian month ''Araḫ Dumuzu'', named in honour of the Mesopotamian deity Dumuzid. Holidays 17 Tammuz – Seventeenth of Tammuz – is a fast day from 1 hour before sunrise to sundown in remembrance of Jerusalem's walls being breached. 17 Tammuz is the beginning of The Three Weeks, in which Jews follow similar customs as the ones followed during the Omer from the day following Passover until the culmination of the mourning for the death of the students of Rabbi Akiva (the 33rd day of the Omersuch as refraining from marriage and haircuts.) The Three Weeks culminate with Tisha B'Av (9th of Av). :Ashkenazi communities refrain from wine and meat from the be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Ben Isaac Sambari
Joseph ben Isaac Sambari (Hebrew: יוסף בן יצחק סמברי; – 1703) also known as Qātāya (Arabic: قاطية) was a 17th century Egyptian Jewish historian and chronicler whose works provide important details about the affairs and conditions of 17th century Egyptian and Levantine Jewry. Biography Born around 1640 in Cairo, Egypt, very little is known about his family or his personal life, and that which is known solely derives from details he gives about himself in his works. In his early years he studied under Rav Hananiah Barhun, a student of the historian Abraham Iskandari. According to Sambari's own testimony, Iskandari's rich library aroused in him an intense curiosity in history, and later on he made extensive use of it in writing his works. Around 1660 he worked as a scribe for the minister of finance, and became a follower of Sabbatai Zevi. After the collapse of Sabbateanism, Sambari became extremely disillusioned and decided to begin chronicling the event ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elazar Ben Moshe Azikri
Rabbi Elazar ben Moshe Azikri (; 1533–1600) was a Jewish kabbalist, poet and writer. Biography Azikri was born in Safed to a Sephardic family who had settled in Ottoman Syria after the expulsion of Jews from Spain. He studied Torah under Yosef Sagis, Jacob Berab, and in the yeshiva of Moses ben Jacob Cordovero. He is counted with the greatest Rabbis and intellectuals of his time: Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz, Yosef Karo, Moshe Cordovero, Isaac Luria, and Israel ben Moses Najara, among others. He was one of a handful of rabbis to receive the renewed rabbinic ''semikhah'' initiated by Jacob Berab.Elazar ben Moshe Azikri sefaria.org In 1588 Rabbi Elazar founded the "Sukat Shalom" movement, which acted to arouse in Jews devotion to religion. His ''Sefer Haredim'' blends a [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abraham Ben Eliezer Halevi
Rabbi Abraham ben Eliezer Halevi the Elder (Hebrew: רבי אברהם בן אליעזר הלוי הזקן; - after 1528) was a Sephardic rabbi and kabbalist known for his apocalyptic treatises on Kabbalah and his beliefs regarding messianism. He was also an early member of the Old Yishuv, immigrating to Jerusalem in 1514. Biography Born in Toledo, Spain, to a distinguished family. In his early years, he studied under Rabbi Isaac Gakon. While in Spain, he wrote several kabbalistic treatises, the most famous of which is "Masoret ha-Hokhmah" a brief account of Spanish Kabbalism which he finished shortly before the Expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492. After said expulsion, Rabbi Abraham lived in Portugal for a short time, where he published "Meshare Qitrin". It was also during this time that he became affiliated with Abraham Zacuto and Isaac Abrabanel and was influenced by apocalyptic sentiment popularized after the Spanish inquisition. Like many of his contemporaries, he belie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abraham Ben Mordecai Galante
Abraham ben Mordecai Galante (died before 1589) was an Italian kabbalist born in Rome at the beginning of the 16th century. Abraham, like his father Mordecai and his brother Moses of Safed, is represented by his contemporaries as a man of high character who led a holy life. Being wealthy, he erected a splendid mausoleum over the tomb of Simon ben Yoḥai at Meron, which is still admired. He was the author of the following works: *''Ḳin'at Setarim,'' a commentary on Lamentations, based upon the Zohar The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material o ..., edited by his son Samuel in the collection ''Ḳol Bokim'' (Venice, 1589) *''Yeraḥ Yakar,'' a commentary on the Zohar, the first part of which ( Genesis) was abbreviated by Abraham Azulai and included in his ''Zohore Ḥammah'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eliyahu De Vidas
Eliyahu de Vidas (; 1518–1587, Hebron) was a 16th-century rabbi in Ottoman Palestine. He was primarily a disciple of Moses ben Jacob Cordovero and Isaac Luria. Fine 2003, pp81 "Cordovero was the teacher of what appears to have been a relatively loose knit circle of disciples. The most important Elijah de Vidas, Abraham Galante, Moses Galante, Hayyim Vital, Abraham ben Eliezer ha-Levi Berukhim, Eleazar Azikri, Samuel Gallico, and an important kabbalist who studied with Cordovero for a short while in the 1560s, Mordechai Dato." De Vidas is known for his expertise in the Kabbalah. He wrote '' Reshit Chochmah'' "Beginning of Wisdom," a pietistic work that is still widely studied by Orthodox Jews today. Just as his teacher, Moses Cordovero, created an ethical work according to kabbalistic principles in the '' Tomer Devorah'', de Vidas created an even more expansive work on the spiritual life with his ''Reshit Chochmah''. This magnum opus is largely based on the ''Zohar'', but also r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zohar
The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology. The ''Zohar'' contains discussions of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, redemption, the relationship of ego to darkness and "true self" to "the light of God". The ''Zohar'' was first publicized by Moses de León (c. 1240 – 1305 CE), who claimed it was a Tannaitic work recording the teachings of Simeon ben Yochai (). This claim is universally rejected by modern scholars, most of whom believe de León, also an infamous forger of Geonic material, wrote the book himself between 1280 and 1286. Some scholars argue that the ''Zohar'' is the work of multiple medieval authors and/or contains a small amount of genuinely antique novel mate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
