Isaac Luria
Rabbi Isaac Luria | |
---|---|
Title | Ha'ARI Ha'ARI Hakadosh ARIZaL |
Personal | |
Born | 1534 |
Died | July 25, 1572 (aged 37–38) (5 Av 5332 AM) Safed, Damascus Eyalet, Ottoman Syria, Ottoman Empire |
Religion | Judaism |
Signature | |
Buried | Old Cemetery of Safed |
Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi (Hebrew: יִצְחָק בן שלמה לוּרְיָא אשכנזי; c. 1534[1] – July 25, 1572[2]), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as Ha'ari[a], Ha'ari Hakadosh[b] or Arizal,[c] was a leading rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Syria, now Israel. He is considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah,[5] his teachings being referred to as Lurianic Kabbalah.
While his direct literary contribution to the Kabbalistic school of Safed was extremely minute (he wrote only a few poems), his spiritual fame led to their veneration and the acceptance of his authority. The works of his disciples compiled his oral teachings into writing. Every custom of Luria was scrutinized, and many were accepted, even against previous practice.[4]
Luria died at Safed, Damascus Eyalet on July 25, 1572, and is buried at the Old Jewish Cemetery, Safed.[4][2] The Ari Ashkenazi Synagogue, also located in Safed, was built in memory of Luria during the late 16th century.[6]
Early life
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Luria was born in 1534 in
Sefer HaKavanot U'Ma'aseh Nissim records that one day Luria's father remained in the
While still a child, Luria lost his father, and was brought up by his rich maternal uncle Mordechai Frances, a
At the age of fifteen he married a cousin, the daughter of Mordechai Frances, and being amply provided for financially he was able to continue his studies. Around the age of twenty-two he became engrossed in the study of the Zohar (a major work of the Kabbalah that had recently been printed for the first time) and adopted the life of a recluse. Retreating to the banks of the Nile for seven years, he secluded himself in an isolated cottage, giving himself up entirely to meditation. He visited his family only on Shabbat. But even at home, he would not utter a word, even to his wife. When it was necessary for him to say something, he would say it in the fewest words possible,[4] and then, only in Hebrew.[9]
Teachings
In 1569, Luria moved back to
Soon Luria had two classes of disciples: novices, to whom he expounded the elementary Kabbalah, and initiates, who became the repositories of his secret teachings and his formulas of invocation and
Many Jews who had been exiled from Spain following the Edict of Expulsion believed they were in the time of trial that would precede the appearance of the Messiah in Galilee. Those who moved to Ottoman Syria in anticipation of this event found a great deal of comfort in Luria's teachings, due to his theme of exile. Although he did not write down his teachings, they were published by his followers and by 1650 his ideas were known by Jews throughout Europe.[14]
Luria delivered his lectures spontaneously, without ever writing down his ideas (with a few exceptions, including kabbalistic poems in
Tzimtzum was one of Luria's most important ideas that he stressed in his lectures.[3]
Disciples
- Hayyim Vital
- Israel Sarug
- Samuel ben Isaac de Uçeda
Notes
Citations
- ^ a b Fine 2003, p. 24
- ^ a b Green, David B. (July 25, 2016). "1572: Father of Lurian kabbala and confidant of Elijah dies". Haaretz. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
- ^ OCLC 1120116712.
- ^ a b c d e f "Rabbi Yitzchak Luria Ashkenazi". Ascent of Safed. Archived from the original on January 8, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ISBN 1568713231. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
- ISBN 9780966087703.
- ^ a b Fine 2003, p. 29
- ^ Fine 2003, p. 31-32
- ^ "The Essence". Archived from the original on January 8, 2009.
- ^ Fine 2003, p. 1
- ^ a b c "Isaac ben Solomon Ashkenazi Luria (ARI)". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
- ^ Sambari 1673, p. 64
- ^ Fine 2003, pp. 80-81
- The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism. Ballantine Books. pp. 8–14.
References
- Fine, Lawrence (2003). Physician of the Soul, Healer of the Cosmos: Isaac Luria and His Kabbalistic Fellowship. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. p. 480. ISBN 0-8047-4826-8. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
- Klein, Eliahu (2005). Kabbalah of Creation: The Mysticism of Isaac Luria, Founder of Modern Kabbalah. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books. ISBN 1-55643-542-8.
- Avivi, Yosef (2008). Kabbala Luriana (in Hebrew). Vol. 3. Jerusalem: Ben Zvi Institute. ISBN 978-965-235-118-0.
- Joseph ben Isaac Sambari (1994) [1-23-1673]. Sefer Divrei Yosef. Jerusalem: Ben Zvi Institute.
- Dunn, James David (2008). Window of the Soul. The Kabbalah of Rabbi Isaac Luria. San Francisco, CA/Newburyport, MA: WeiserBooks. ISBN 978-1-57863-428-6.
External links
- Shaarei Kedushah - Gates of Holiness in English
- Orthodox Union page on Rabbi Isaac Luria – The Ari
- Short biography of Rabbi Isaac Luria – The Ari Hakodosh
- Video lecture on Rabbi Isaac Luria by Dr. Henry Abramson
- Letter, written and signed by Isaac Luria, from the Cairo Genizah
- Traditional Sphardi Singing of Luria's Yom Zeh L'Yisrael
- Centre for Lurian Kabbalah
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.