One of the greatest of all Kabbalists was Rabbi Moshe Cordovero.
He was born in 1522 in Safed, the city that
was soon to become famed as a center of Kabbalah. At a young age, he already
gained a reputation as an extroardinary genius. Besides his knowledge in
Kabbalah, he was a Talmudic scholar and philosopher of the highest rank, and was
widely respected in these fields. He was even one of the four to receive the
special semichah-ordination from Rabbi Yaakov Beirav in 1538, along with Rabbis Yosef Caro (Cordovero's teacher in Jewish Law), Moshe of Trani and Yosef Sagis, all of whom were much older and better known than the young prodigy.
But Rabbi Moshe's main interest was the systematization of the Kabbalah, setting
it into a philosophical structure. So respected was he in this endeavor that he
was the first Kabbalist honored by having the word "the" added before his
initials, and even today is known as "The RaMaK."
In 1542, at the age of twenty, the Ramak heard a heavenly voice urge him to
study Kabbalah with his brother-in-law, Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz (author of
the L'cha Dodi prayer sung to welcome the Shabbat on Friday evening). He was
thus initiated into the mysteries of the Zohar, the teachings of the
seminal kabbalist and Mishnaic sage, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. The young
"Ramak" mastered the text completely. This failed to satisfy him, however,
since its teachings are often vague, without discernible structure. In order to
clarify them in his own mind, he began writing two books. The first was Ohr
Yakar ("The Precious Light"), a voluminous commentary on the Zohar. The
second, Pardes Rimonim ("Orchard of Pomegranates"), completed in 1548,
secured his immortal reputation. The Pardes, as it is known, was a
systemization of all Kabbalistic thought up to that time. Especially important
was that in it the author reconciled many early schools with the Zohar's
teachings, demonstrating the essential unity and self-consistent philosophical
basis of Kabbalah.
Two other books for which the Ramak is known are Tomer Devorah
("The Palm Tree of Deborah"), in which he utilizes the Kabbalistic concepts of the
Sephirot ("Divine attributes") to illuminate a system of morals and
ethics, and Ohr Ne'erav, a justification of and insistence upon the
importance of Kabbalah study, and an introduction to its methods.
Around 1550, the Ramak founded a Kabbalah academy in Safed, which he led
for 20 or so years, until his passing. It is reported that the prophet Elijah
revealed himself to him. Among his disciples were many of the luminaries of
Safed, including Rabbi Eliyahu di Vidas, author of Reshit Chokhmah
("Beginning of Wisdom"), and Rabbi Chaim Vital, who later became the
official recorder and disseminator of the teachings of the "holy Ari,"
Rabbi Isaac Luria.
This group of mystics adhered to the methods of the author of the Zohar, and
engaged in various acts of penance order to bring about the Redemption. They
would spend long hours in the fields meditating and praying, and they would
visit the nearby ancient graves of different scholars of the Mishna. When
the "Ari" arrived in Safed, he joined this group of Kabbalists, behaving
with the utmost modesty, hoping to conceal his greatness. Only the Ramak
with his pure vision realized who he was.
Before his passing in 1570, the Ramak said: "I shall soon leave this
earth. Yet after my passing, someone will replace me. And even though many of
that person's statements may seem to contradict mine, do not oppose him and do
not argue with him, for they stem from the same source as do mine and are
absolutely true. His soul is a spark of Shimon bar Yochai's, and whoever
opposes him opposes the Shechinah (the Divine Presence)."
"What is his name?" the disciples queried.
"I cannot tell you. At this point, he doesn't want his identity made known.
This, though, I can say: He who sees the cloud which at my funeral will precede
my bed, will be my successor."
A few weeks later, on the 23rd day of the month of Tammuz, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero
passed on to his Heavenly reward.
Stunned by the news of this great loss, the entire community mourned. At his
funeral, which was attended by all of Safed's Jews, many eulogies were recited.
Among the eulogizers was the Ari, who described the Ramak as totally free of sin.
As the throng accompanied the Ramak on his last earthly journey, all wept
bitterly. When the bearers of the his holy body reached the cemetery, they continued
walking a long while, until reaching a certain site. Then, turning to the
following crowd, they said: "We shall bury him here, beside one of Israel's
greatest sages."
However, the Ari stopped them, crying out: "Don't bury him here. The
cloud which is preceding him has continued on its path. Surely it will
indicate where the Ramak desires to be buried."
Hearing these words, all were stunned. Now they knew the identity of their new
leader.
That very day, the Ari's fame began to spread, and scores of great
scholars began clustering around him.
The Ari lived only two short years longer, and was snatched from
this world at the age of 38 in a plague which struck the city of Safed in 1572.
But in this short time, he revolutionized the study of Kabbalah. He was the first to explain the concept of the
tzimtzum
(G-d's "contraction" of His infinite light to make "place" for creation) and many other Kabbalistic concepts. As predicted by the Ramak, although many of the Ari's teachings seemed to contradict those of his predecessor, eventually all realized that
the views of the two really concurred.
