1 Adar · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Immanuel Hai Ricchi - Mishnat Chasidim
Mishnat Chasidim
Ricchi's most important work is "Mishnat Chasidim", a kabbalistic work begun in 1726 in Livorno - a concise summary of the wisdom of Kabbalah according to the Arizal.
The Vilna Gaon and several of his students wrote commentaries on this book.
Chasidic leaders also focused on this book when studying Kabbalah and kavanot in tefillah (the Divrei Chaim of Tzanz and others).
Like the Mishnah, it is organized into orders ("sedarim"), which are divided into tractates ("masechtot") and subdivided into chapters ("perakim"), with the names of the six orders of the Mishnah taken in a kabbalistic sense. However, the work has three main sections, called "maftechot" (keys), in addition to an introduction titled "Olam Katon" ("microcosm"), in which Ricchi seeks to popularize Kabbalah.
The first main section is "Mafteach HaOlamot" (Key of the Worlds), which deals with the worlds. It contains:
the order of Zeraim, covering kabbalistic cosmology and metaphysics, divided into seven masechtot and eighteen chapters;
the order of Kodashim, covering the sphere of emanation ("Olam HaAtzilut"), called "the holy of holies," and containing twenty masechtot and seventy-eight chapters;
the order of Tohorot, relating to the three other spheres, namely the spheres of creative ideas ("Beriah"), creative formations ("Yetzirah"), and creative matter ("Asiyah"), divided into nine masechtot and 27 chapters.
the order of Nezikin, dealing with demons and "klipot," divided into six masechtot and 17 chapters.
The second main section, titled "Mafteach HaNeshamot" (Key of the Souls), contains the order of Nashim, dealing with souls, in twelve chapters.
Throughout his life he endured suffering and wandering, until he was killed Al Kiddush Hashem.
May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael!
(https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/1285-Rabbi-Immanuel-Hai-Ricchi)