Moses ben Jacob Cordovero
Encyclopedia
Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, (1522–1570) , was a central figure in the historical development of Kabbalah
, leader of a mystical school in 16th-century Safed
, Israel
. He is known by the acronym
the Ramak.
After the Medieval flourishing of Kabbalah
, centered around the Zohar
, attempts were made to give a complete intellectual system to its theology, such as by Meir ibn Gabbai. Influenced by the earlier success of Jewish philosophy
in articulating a rational study of Jewish thought, Moshe Cordovero produced the first full integration of the previous differing schools in Kabbalistic interpretation. While he was a mystic inspired by the opaque imagery of the Zohar, Cordoverian Kabbalah utilised the conceptual framework of evolving
cause and effect
from the Infinite
to the Finite
in systemising Kabbalah, the method of philosophical style discourse he held most effective in describing a process that reflects sequential logic and coherence. His encyclopedic works became a central stage in the development of Kabbalah.
Immediately after him in Safed, Isaac Luria
articulated a subsequent system of Kabbalistic theology, with new supra-rational doctrines recasting previous Kabbalistic thought. While Lurianism displaced the Cordoverian scheme and became predominant in Judaism, its followers read Cordoverian works in harmony with their teachings. Where to them, Lurianism described the "World
" of Rectification, Cordovero described the pre-Rectification World. Both articulations of the 16th century mystical Renaissance in Safed gave Kabbalah an intellectual prominence to rival Medieval Rationalism
, whose social influence on Judaism had waned after the Expulsion from Spain.
, Spain
and perhaps fled from there during the expulsion of 1492 during the Spanish Inquisition
. His Hebrew signature, however, [Cordoeiro] strongly suggests a long-lasting residence in Portugal.
The Ramak was either born in, or moved to Safed
in the Land of Israel
, the city that was soon to become famed as a center of Kabbalah
and mystical creativity. Albeit not involved in mystical studies until his twentieth year, RaMaK soon after gained a reputation of an extraordinary genius and a prolific writer. Besides his knowledge in Kabbalah, he was a Talmud
ic scholar and a man of commanding mastery in Jewish philosophical
thought who was respected in these fields. Contrary to popular belief, however, Ramak was not one of the rabbis who received the special semicha
("ordination") from Rabbi Jacob Berab
in 1538, alongside Rabbi Yosef Karo
(Cordovero's teacher in Halakha
), Rabbi Moshe of Trani, Rabbi Yosef Sagis, and Rabbi Moshe Alshich
. As a whole, Ramak's future posterity was in speculative and performative Kabballah, but during his own lifetime he was the renowned head of the Yeshiva for Portuguese immigrants in Safed.
. The young Ramak not only mastered the text, but decided to organize the Kabbalistic themes leading to his day and present them in an organized fashion. This led to the composition of his first book, Pardes Rimonim
("Orchard of Pomegranates"), which was completed in 1548 and secured Ramak's reputation as a brilliant Kabbalist and a lucid thinker. The Pardes, as it is known, was a systemization of all Kabbalistic thought up to that time and featured the author's attempt at a reconciliation of various early schools with the conceptual teachings of the Zohar in order to demonstrate an essential unity and self-consistent philosophical basis of Kabbalah.
His second work - a magnum opus
titled Ohr Yakar ("Precious Light") - was a 16 volume commentary on the Zoharic literature in its entirety and a work to which Ramak had devoted most of his life (the modern publication of this great work has started during the mid 1960s and reached partial fruition in 2004 Jerusalem, though the 23-volume set left out about two-thirds of the Tikkunei Zohar; additional volumes are still being published). Some parts of Ohr Yakar have been published under separate titles, such as Shiur Qomah, Tefilah le-Moshe etc.
Some other books for which the Ramak is known are Tomer Devorah
("Palm Tree of Deborah"), in which he utilizes the Kabbalistic concepts of the Sephirot ("Divine attributes") to illuminate a system of morals and ethics; Ohr Neerav, a justification of and insistence upon the importance of Kabbalah study and an introduction to the methods explicated in Pardes Rimonim; Elimah Rabbati, a highly abstract treatise on kabbalistic concerns revolving around the Godhead and His relationship to the Sefirot; and Sefer Gerushin, a short and intimate composition which features the highly devotional slant of Ramak, as well as his asceticism and religious piety. Certain parts of Ramak's works are still in form of manuscripts, whereas his existing writings suggest many other compositions which he either intended to write or had actually written - but were lost.
, Israel
, which he led for twenty or so years, until his death. According to Jewish legend, it was reported that the prophet Elijah revealed himself to him. Among his disciples were many of the luminaries of Safed, including Rabbi Eliyahu de Vidas, author of Reshit Chochmah
("Beginning of Wisdom"), and Rabbi Chaim Vital, who later became the official recorder and disseminator of the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria
.
Ramak was survived by a wife whose name remains unknown (it is known that she was Solomon Alkabetz' sister) and by a son named Gedaliah (1562–1625). Gedaliah was the impetus behind the publication of some of Ramak's books in Venice, Italy circa 1584-7. Gedaliah was buried in Jerusalem, where he had spent most of his adult life after returning from Venice.
(known by the acronym "Ari" or "Arizal") arrived in Safed on the exact day of the funeral of Moshe Cordovero in 1570. When he joined in the funeral procession, he realised that only he saw a pillar of fire following the Ramak's presence. The Zohar
describes this spiritual revelation as a sign to the individual who sees it, that he is meant to inherit the succession of leadership from the departed person. However, as Luria had been instructed to find his chosen disciple in Safed, Haim Vital, to reveal his new teachings to, he avoided accepting Kabbalistic leadership until six months later, when Rabbi Haim Vital approached him. The Ari only lived for two years after this, until 1572, but in those few months he revolutionised the conceptual system of Kabbalah, with his new doctrines and philosophical system.
The two schools of Cordoveran and Lurianic Kabbalah give two alternative accounts and synthesis of the complete theology of Kabbalah until then, based on their interpretation of the Zohar
. After the public dissemination of the Zohar in Medieval times, various attempts were made to give a complete intellectual system of theology to its different schools and interpretations. Influenced by the earlier rational success of Jewish philosophy
, especially the work of Maimonides
, in producing a systematic intellectual articulation of Judaism, the Ramak achieved the first accepted systemisation of Kabbalah
, based on its rational cattegorisation and study. Subsequent followers of the Ari saw their teachings as harmonious with, and a deeper interpretation of the Zohar and the Ramak's system, but the new system of Isaac Luria revealed completely new doctrines, as well as new descriptions of the earlier ideas of Kabbalah. In time, Lurianic Kabbalah emerged as the dominant system; however, the works of the Ramak are still highly esteemed and widely studied, as well.
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
, leader of a mystical school in 16th-century Safed
Safed
Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. He is known by the acronym
Hebrew acronyms
Acronyms are a common part of the Hebrew language, with many organisations, places and people known by their acronyms.-Typography:Hebrew typography uses a special punctuation mark called Gershayim to denote acronyms, placing the sign between the second-last and last letters of the non-inflected...
the Ramak.
After the Medieval flourishing of Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
, centered around the Zohar
Zohar
The Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. 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...
, attempts were made to give a complete intellectual system to its theology, such as by Meir ibn Gabbai. Influenced by the earlier success of Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
in articulating a rational study of Jewish thought, Moshe Cordovero produced the first full integration of the previous differing schools in Kabbalistic interpretation. While he was a mystic inspired by the opaque imagery of the Zohar, Cordoverian Kabbalah utilised the conceptual framework of evolving
Emanationism
Emanationism is an idea in the cosmology or cosmogony of certain religious or philosophical systems. Emanation, from the Latin emanare meaning "to flow from" or "to pour forth or out of", is the mode by which all things are derived from the First Reality, or Principle...
cause and effect
Ohr
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
from the Infinite
Ein Sof
Ein Sof , in Kabbalah, is understood as God prior to His self-manifestation in the production of any spiritual Realm, probably derived from Ibn Gabirol's term, "the Endless One"...
to the Finite
Four Worlds
The Four Worlds , sometimes counted with a prior stage to make Five Worlds, are the comprehensive categories of spiritual realms in Kabbalah in the descending chain of Existence....
in systemising Kabbalah, the method of philosophical style discourse he held most effective in describing a process that reflects sequential logic and coherence. His encyclopedic works became a central stage in the development of Kabbalah.
Immediately after him in Safed, Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria , also called Yitzhak Ben Shlomo Ashkenazi acronym "The Ari" "Ari-Hakadosh", or "Arizal", meaning "The Lion", was a foremost rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Palestine...
articulated a subsequent system of Kabbalistic theology, with new supra-rational doctrines recasting previous Kabbalistic thought. While Lurianism displaced the Cordoverian scheme and became predominant in Judaism, its followers read Cordoverian works in harmony with their teachings. Where to them, Lurianism described the "World
Four Worlds
The Four Worlds , sometimes counted with a prior stage to make Five Worlds, are the comprehensive categories of spiritual realms in Kabbalah in the descending chain of Existence....
" of Rectification, Cordovero described the pre-Rectification World. Both articulations of the 16th century mystical Renaissance in Safed gave Kabbalah an intellectual prominence to rival Medieval Rationalism
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
, whose social influence on Judaism had waned after the Expulsion from Spain.
Early life
His birthplace is unknown, but the name Cordovero indicates that his family originated in CórdobaCórdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and perhaps fled from there during the expulsion of 1492 during the Spanish Inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
. His Hebrew signature, however, [Cordoeiro] strongly suggests a long-lasting residence in Portugal.
The Ramak was either born in, or moved to Safed
Safed
Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
in the Land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
, the city that was soon to become famed as a center of Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
and mystical creativity. Albeit not involved in mystical studies until his twentieth year, RaMaK soon after gained a reputation of an extraordinary genius and a prolific writer. Besides his knowledge in Kabbalah, he was a Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic scholar and a man of commanding mastery in Jewish philosophical
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
thought who was respected in these fields. Contrary to popular belief, however, Ramak was not one of the rabbis who received the special semicha
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
("ordination") from Rabbi Jacob Berab
Jacob Berab
Jacob Berab, also spelled Yakov Berav or Bei Rav, was an influential rabbi and talmudist, born at Moqueda near Toledo, Castilian Spain, in 1474; died at Safed, Ottoman Palestine April 3, 1546.-Chosen rabbi at eighteen:Berab was a pupil of Isaac Aboab...
in 1538, alongside Rabbi Yosef Karo
Yosef Karo
Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro, was author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, which is still authoritative for all Jews pertaining to their respective communities...
(Cordovero's teacher in Halakha
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
), Rabbi Moshe of Trani, Rabbi Yosef Sagis, and Rabbi Moshe Alshich
Moshe Alshich
Moshe Alshich, also spelled Alshech, , known as the Alshich Hakadosh , was a prominent rabbi, preacher, and biblical commentator in the latter part of the 16th century....
. As a whole, Ramak's future posterity was in speculative and performative Kabballah, but during his own lifetime he was the renowned head of the Yeshiva for Portuguese immigrants in Safed.
Scholarship
According to his own testimony in the introduction to "Pardes Rimonim", in 1542, at the age of twenty, Ramak heard a "Heavenly voice" urging him to study Kabbalah with his brother-in-law, Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, composer of the mystical song Lecha Dodi. He was thus initiated into the mysteries of the ZoharZohar
The Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. 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 young Ramak not only mastered the text, but decided to organize the Kabbalistic themes leading to his day and present them in an organized fashion. This led to the composition of his first book, Pardes Rimonim
Pardes Rimonim
Pardes Rimonim is a work composed in 1548 by the Jewish Mystic Moses ben Jacob Cordovero.The Pardes Rimonim is a Kabbalistic work. Cordovera was part of a group of mystics of Safed in Galilee. Cordovera indicates in his introduction that the work is based upon notes he took during his study of the...
("Orchard of Pomegranates"), which was completed in 1548 and secured Ramak's reputation as a brilliant Kabbalist and a lucid thinker. The Pardes, as it is known, was a systemization of all Kabbalistic thought up to that time and featured the author's attempt at a reconciliation of various early schools with the conceptual teachings of the Zohar in order to demonstrate an essential unity and self-consistent philosophical basis of Kabbalah.
His second work - a magnum opus
Masterpiece
Masterpiece in modern usage refers to a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or to a work of outstanding creativity, skill or workmanship....
titled Ohr Yakar ("Precious Light") - was a 16 volume commentary on the Zoharic literature in its entirety and a work to which Ramak had devoted most of his life (the modern publication of this great work has started during the mid 1960s and reached partial fruition in 2004 Jerusalem, though the 23-volume set left out about two-thirds of the Tikkunei Zohar; additional volumes are still being published). Some parts of Ohr Yakar have been published under separate titles, such as Shiur Qomah, Tefilah le-Moshe etc.
Some other books for which the Ramak is known are Tomer Devorah
Tomer Devorah
Tomer Devorah was written in Hebrew in the middle of the 16th century by Moses Cordovero, a Jewish kabbalist in Safed, Israel. This short text deals mostly with the Imitation of God through the acquisition of divine traits, especially those of the sephirot. The first edition was published in...
("Palm Tree of Deborah"), in which he utilizes the Kabbalistic concepts of the Sephirot ("Divine attributes") to illuminate a system of morals and ethics; Ohr Neerav, a justification of and insistence upon the importance of Kabbalah study and an introduction to the methods explicated in Pardes Rimonim; Elimah Rabbati, a highly abstract treatise on kabbalistic concerns revolving around the Godhead and His relationship to the Sefirot; and Sefer Gerushin, a short and intimate composition which features the highly devotional slant of Ramak, as well as his asceticism and religious piety. Certain parts of Ramak's works are still in form of manuscripts, whereas his existing writings suggest many other compositions which he either intended to write or had actually written - but were lost.
Disciples
Around 1550, the Ramak founded a Kabbalah academy in SafedSafed
Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, which he led for twenty or so years, until his death. According to Jewish legend, it was reported that the prophet Elijah revealed himself to him. Among his disciples were many of the luminaries of Safed, including Rabbi Eliyahu de Vidas, author of Reshit Chochmah
Reshit Chochmah
Reshit Chochmah is an important book of Kabbalah , ethics and morality , written by the 16th century scholar Rabbi Eliyahu de Vidas. It is based largely on the Zohar...
("Beginning of Wisdom"), and Rabbi Chaim Vital, who later became the official recorder and disseminator of the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria , also called Yitzhak Ben Shlomo Ashkenazi acronym "The Ari" "Ari-Hakadosh", or "Arizal", meaning "The Lion", was a foremost rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Palestine...
.
Ramak was survived by a wife whose name remains unknown (it is known that she was Solomon Alkabetz' sister) and by a son named Gedaliah (1562–1625). Gedaliah was the impetus behind the publication of some of Ramak's books in Venice, Italy circa 1584-7. Gedaliah was buried in Jerusalem, where he had spent most of his adult life after returning from Venice.
Succession of Kabbalistic interpretation after the Ramak
According to tradition, Isaac LuriaIsaac Luria
Isaac Luria , also called Yitzhak Ben Shlomo Ashkenazi acronym "The Ari" "Ari-Hakadosh", or "Arizal", meaning "The Lion", was a foremost rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Palestine...
(known by the acronym "Ari" or "Arizal") arrived in Safed on the exact day of the funeral of Moshe Cordovero in 1570. When he joined in the funeral procession, he realised that only he saw a pillar of fire following the Ramak's presence. The Zohar
Zohar
The Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. 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...
describes this spiritual revelation as a sign to the individual who sees it, that he is meant to inherit the succession of leadership from the departed person. However, as Luria had been instructed to find his chosen disciple in Safed, Haim Vital, to reveal his new teachings to, he avoided accepting Kabbalistic leadership until six months later, when Rabbi Haim Vital approached him. The Ari only lived for two years after this, until 1572, but in those few months he revolutionised the conceptual system of Kabbalah, with his new doctrines and philosophical system.
The two schools of Cordoveran and Lurianic Kabbalah give two alternative accounts and synthesis of the complete theology of Kabbalah until then, based on their interpretation of the Zohar
Zohar
The Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. 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...
. After the public dissemination of the Zohar in Medieval times, various attempts were made to give a complete intellectual system of theology to its different schools and interpretations. Influenced by the earlier rational success of Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
, especially the work of Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
, in producing a systematic intellectual articulation of Judaism, the Ramak achieved the first accepted systemisation of Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
, based on its rational cattegorisation and study. Subsequent followers of the Ari saw their teachings as harmonious with, and a deeper interpretation of the Zohar and the Ramak's system, but the new system of Isaac Luria revealed completely new doctrines, as well as new descriptions of the earlier ideas of Kabbalah. In time, Lurianic Kabbalah emerged as the dominant system; however, the works of the Ramak are still highly esteemed and widely studied, as well.
Among the Ramak's most visible books
- "Pardes RimonimPardes RimonimPardes Rimonim is a work composed in 1548 by the Jewish Mystic Moses ben Jacob Cordovero.The Pardes Rimonim is a Kabbalistic work. Cordovera was part of a group of mystics of Safed in Galilee. Cordovera indicates in his introduction that the work is based upon notes he took during his study of the...
" ("An Orchard of PomegranatePomegranateThe pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...
s") - Ramak's first book, which secured his reputation as a mystical genius. - Ohr Yakar ("A Precious Light") - A Magnum opusMasterpieceMasterpiece in modern usage refers to a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or to a work of outstanding creativity, skill or workmanship....
of some 16 volumes in its extant manuscript form, which had occupied Ramak throughout his adult life - a classic commentary on the Zohar, Sefer YetzirahSefer YetzirahSefer Yetzirah is the title of the earliest extant book on Jewish esotericism, although some early commentators treated it as a treatise on mathematical and linguistic theory as opposed to Kabbalah...
and the Zoharic literary offshoots. Its publication ended around 2005 in Jerusalem (some 22 volumes). Certain parts of it - such as Tefilah le-Moshe and Shiur Qomah - were also published independently. - Tomer DevorahTomer DevorahTomer Devorah was written in Hebrew in the middle of the 16th century by Moses Cordovero, a Jewish kabbalist in Safed, Israel. This short text deals mostly with the Imitation of God through the acquisition of divine traits, especially those of the sephirot. The first edition was published in...
("Palm tree [of] Deborah"), a popular work of Musar LiteratureMusar literatureMusar literature is the term used for didactic Jewish ethical literature which describes virtues and vices and the path towards perfection in a methodical way.- Definition of Musar literature :...
, which exists in an English translation by Rabbi Moshe Miller (1993). - "Eilima Rabbati" - of which 2/3 are still unpublished!
- Ohr Neerav ("A Pleasant Light" - can also mean "a mixed light" and "a darkened light")- exists in an Annotated English translation by Ira Robinson (1994).
- " Sefer Gerushin" ("The Book of Banishments") - a disclosure of Ramak's fellowship and their devotional piety in the Galilean outskirts of Safed. A highly informative texts in regard to RaMaK's devotional piety and the use of landscape as the negotiator between heaven and earth.
External links
- Rabbi Moshe Cordovero
- Tomer Devorah (The Palm Tree of Deborah) - Cordovero's classic text
- Moses Cordovero's Meditations for the Ten Days of Repentance
- The Ramak
- Jewish Encyclopedia article
- "The Unity of God" - from The Garden of Pomegranates