Everything about Chaim Vital totally explained
Rabbi Chaim ben Yosef Vital (
1543 in
Safed-
23 April 1620 in
Damascus) was one of the most famous exponents of
Kabbalah.
Early life
As a young boy, Rabbi Chaim Vital was educated by the scholar, Rabbi
Moses Alshech. Other than that, most of his early life is full of legends. For instance, it's claimed that at the age of twelve, he was told by a
chiromancer that when he reached the age of twenty-four, he'd find himself standing before two roads, and would rise or fall according to his choice. Rabbi
Joseph Caro is said to have paid especial attention to Rabbi Chaim Vital's early talents and in 1557 requested that Alshech take special care in his education as he was destined to succeed his teacher in the world of Torah study. That same year, Rabbi Chaim Vital first became acquainted with the kabbalist Rabbi
Lapidot Ashkenazi, who would have a lasting influence on him.
Rabbi Chaim Vital apparently married at a young age. According to one legend, his first wife was Hannah, the daughter of a certain Moses Saadia. It was an unhappy marriage, and when he left his wife, the
prophet Elijah appeared to Rabbi Chaim Vital in a dream and led him to a beautiful garden, where he saw the pious of all ages, in the form of birds, flying through the garden and studying the
Mishnah. In the center of the garden was
God Himself, seated on a throne that was surrounded by the pious, resting on elaborate
tapestries. Convinced by this vision that he was destined to become a kabbalist, Rabbi Chaim Vital devoted the following two and a half years to the study of
alchemy. Upon completing his studies, Elijah appeared to him again in a vision, and told him that he'd succeed in his efforts and even write a commentary on the
Zohar.
Student of the Arizal
In 1570, Rabbi Chaim Vital became a student of Rabbi
Isaac Luria, the Arizal, the foremost kabbalist of the day. Within just a year, Rabbi Chaim Vital emerged as his leading student, so that when the Arizal died in 1572, at the age of thirty-eight, Vital succeeded him. Since the Arizal had left almost none of his teachings in writing, Rabbi Chaim Vital began to write down everything he'd learned from his master.
Exile and return
Rabbi Chaim Vital arrived in
Egypt in 1577, but soon returned to
Palestine, settling in the village of 'Ain Zaitun, and later in
Jerusalem. He remained there until the
Ottoman governor, Abu Saifia, requested that he use his powers to locate the
aqueduct leading from the River
Gihon to the city, which had been built in the days of King
Hezekiah. Unwilling to fulfill this request, he fled to
Damascus using the power of practical Kabbalah, where his master appeared to him and told him that he'd had a chance to bring the final redemption by releasing the waters of Gihon, and now the chance was lost. This grieved Rabbi Chaim Vital greatly. There he began writing his first work of his own, on
Abraham. The greater part of the book consists of an exposition on the conjuring of clouds and a discourse on the seven fixed stars (planets), the seven heavens, and their corresponding metals.
Upon completing his book, Rabbi Chaim Vital returned to Jerusalem, where his former teacher, Rabbi Moshe Alshech, appointed him rabbi in 1584. After a time, however, Rabbi Chaim Vital left Jerusalem for Safed, where he fell sick and was obliged to keep his bed for an entire year.
Etz Hayyim
During this illness Rabbi Yehoshua, his closest follower, who had accompanied Rabbi Chaim Vital on nearly every journey, managed to bribe Rabbi Chaim Vital's younger brother, Rabbi Moshe, with 500 gold coins, to lend him his master's writings, which were kept locked in a box. Rabbi Moshe accordingly brought Rabbi Yehoshua a large part of the manuscripts, and 100 copyists were immediately engaged: in just three days, they were able to reproduce more than 600 pages. Although according to some reports Rabbi Chaim Vital, upon learning of this, claimed that the papers which has been copied were not his own writings, they were rapidly disseminated under the title
Etz Hayyim ("Tree of Life"). In addition to a tribute to the Arizal, the work contains the assertion that it's one of God's greatest pleasures to witness the promotion of the teaching of the Kabbalah, since this alone can assure the coming of the
Jewish Messiah. Rabbi Chaim Vital stated that he'd received these teachings, like his other mystic theories, from his teacher the Arizal.
However, Rabbi Chaim Vital still held the teachings of his former teacher, kabbalist Rabbi
Moshe Cordovero, in high esteem. He maintained that Rabbi Moshe Cordovero often appeared to him in dreams. One of the most prominent of Rabbi Chaim Vital's opponents was
Menahem Lonzano, who publicly denounced him in his work
Imrei Emet.
Later life and passing
On 20 Elul, 1590, Rabbi Chaim Vital received rabbinical ordination from his teacher Rabbi Moshe Alshech. Four years later, in 1594, he settled permanently in Damascus, where he lectured every evening on the Kabbalah. In 1604 Rabbi Chaim Vital's sight began to fail; in 1620 he died while preparing to return to Safed.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Chaim Vital'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://hayyim_ben_joseph_vital.totallyexplained.com">Hayyim ben Joseph Vital Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
