30 Nisan · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Chaim Vital
Rabbi Chaim ben Yosef Vital - a disciple of the Arizal-Kadosh
Yahrzeit - 30 Nissan
Burial place - Kiryat Malachi
Alsheich
Rabbi Chaim Vital was born in Tzfat, and as a child he was educated by Rabbi Moshe Alsheich. There is a tradition that Rabbi Yosef Karo paid special attention to Vital's early talents and in 1557 asked Alsheich to take special care in his education, since he was destined to succeed his teacher in the world of Torah study. That same year, Vital first met the kabbalist Isaac Luria, who had a lasting influence on him.
Rabbi Chaim Vital married at a young age. It was an unhappy marriage, and when he separated from his wife, the prophet Eliyahu appeared to him in a dream and led him into a beautiful garden, where he saw the righteous of all generations in the form of birds flying about the garden and studying Mishnah. In the center of the garden, on a throne, sat G-d, surrounded by righteous people resting upon exquisite tapestries. Convinced by this vision that he was destined to become a kabbalist, Vital devoted the next two and a half years to the study of Kabbalah. Upon completing his studies, the prophet Eliyahu appeared to him again in a vision and told him that he would succeed in his efforts and would write a commentary on the Zohar.
Cordovero
By the time the Arizal arrived in Tzfat, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero had already been the leading figure of the kabbalistic community for many years. "Cordovero was the teacher of a rather scattered circle of disciples. The most important of them were Rabbi Eliyahu de Vidas, Rabbi Avraham Galanti, Rabbi Moshe Galante, Rabbi Chaim Vital, Rabbi Avraham Berukhim, Rabbi Elazar Azikri, Rabbi Shmuel Gallico, and the noted kabbalist who studied briefly under Cordovero in the 1560s, Mordechai Dato."
There is evidence that the Arizal also regarded Rabbi Moshe Cordovero as his teacher. Rabbi Yosef Sambari (1640-1703), a major Egyptian chronicler, testified that the Ramak was "the Ari's teacher for a very short time." The Arizal apparently arrived at the beginning of 1570, and the Ramak passed away on June 27 of that same year (the 23rd of Tammuz). Having lost their most eminent authority and teacher, the kabbalists sought new leadership, and the Arizal helped fill the void left by the Ramak's passing.
The Arizal
In 1570, Vital became a disciple of the Arizal, the outstanding kabbalist of the time. In his study of Lurianic mysticism, Lawrence Fine writes:
"Vital gives us the names of 38 men who, he says, made up Luria's circle of disciples... According to him, the fellowship was divided into four hierarchically ordered groups. The first and most important consisted of 11 men, listed in the following order: Chaim Vital, Jonathan Sagiz, Yosef Arzin, Isaac Cohen, Gedaliah HaLevi, Shmuel Uzeda, Yehuda Mishan, Avraham Gavriel, Shabbetai Menashe, Yosef ibn Tabul, and Elijah Falco (or Falcon)." It is widely acknowledged that within a year Chaim Vital had become the leading disciple, so that when the Arizal passed away in 1572 at the age of 38, Vital succeeded him. Since the Arizal left almost nothing of his teachings in writing, Vital began to record everything he had learned from his teacher.
Rabbi Chaim Vital arrived in Egypt in 1577, but soon returned to Ottoman Syria, settling in the village of Ein Zeitim (near Tzfat), and later in Jerusalem. After this he went to live in Damascus, where he became the head of the Sicilian Jewish community.
In Damascus he began writing his first original work. Much of the book consists of a description of cloud incantations and discussions of the seven wandering stars (planets), the seven heavens, and their corresponding metals. Upon completing his book, Vital returned to Jerusalem, where his former teacher Rabbi Moshe Alsheich ordained him "in the 1590s."
However, some time later Vital left Jerusalem for Tzfat, where he fell ill and was bedridden for an entire year.
During this illness, Rabbi Yehoshua, his closest follower, who accompanied Rabbi Chaim on almost every journey, managed to bribe Vital's younger brother, Rabbi Moshe, with 500 gold coins to lend him Vital's writings, which were kept locked in a chest. Accordingly, Rabbi Moshe brought Yehoshua most of the manuscripts, and 100 scribes were immediately put to work: in just three days they managed to reproduce more than 600 pages. Although, according to some accounts, when Vital learned of this he declared that the copied papers were not his own writings, they were quickly disseminated.
The Arizal
"When I [first] came to my teacher, may his memory be a blessing (the Ari), to study this wisdom under his guidance, he was about to set out for Tiberias. He took me with him. We got into a boat, and as we sailed [across the Kinneret] to a point opposite the arches of the Old Synagogue of Tiberias, my teacher dipped a cup into the water and gave it to me to drink. He told me that I would now be able to grasp this wisdom [the teaching of Kabbalah], because I had just drunk water from the well of Miriam [which is in the Kinneret]. From that time on I began to penetrate the depths of this wisdom."
When the Ari passed away just two years after Rabbi Chaim began studying with him, Rabbi Chaim was already regarded as his successor.
In 1594 he moved to Damascus, where he passed away in 1620 at the age of 77. His grave was later moved to Kiryat Malachi.
The Ari revealed that Rabbi Chaim Vital's soul was a very lofty soul, from the same soul-root as Rabbi Akiva and King Chizkiyahu;
and his father (Rabbi Yosef Vital), as well as his son (Rabbi Shmuel Vital), were sparks of the soul of the great Tanna, Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes.
His son, Rabbi Shmuel Vital, put the finishing touches on the "Eight Gates" of the Ari's writings and published them. Some other manuscripts (mainly "Etz Chaim") Rabbi Chaim Vital chose not to publish and took with him to the grave.
Years later, Rabbi Avraham Azulai and Rabbi Yaakov Tzemach, through "yichudim" (special kabbalistic meditations) and sheelot chalom (dream inquiries), obtained permission from Rabbi Chaim Vital to retrieve these works from his grave.
When the Shoulder Aches
One day Rabbi Chaim Vital's shoulder began to hurt badly. The holy Ari asked him: "Do you always recite Birkat HaMazon immediately after washing your fingers after eating (mayim acharonim)?"
Rabbi Chaim Vital admitted that he did not always pay attention to this. The Arizal answered him: "That is precisely why your shoulder hurts, for the letters of the word 'shoulder' (KaTeF) are the same as those in the word 'immediately' (TeCheF), as the Sages teach in Berachot (42a); and since you violated the rule that the blessing must follow immediately after the washing, you were given a hint of this through the pain in your shoulder." (Shaar HaMitzvot, Eikev, p. 106)
The Waters of Gichon
The following story took place after the Arizal's passing, when Rabbi Chaim Vital was living in Jerusalem. One day the Sultan of Jerusalem came to him and ordered him to open the waters of Gichon.
The Gichon was an underground water source flowing beneath Jerusalem. King Chizkiyahu had sealed it, as stated in the Talmud, against the will of the Sages of that generation.
Evidently, the sealing and opening of these waters carried a far deeper significance than mere technical considerations.
The Sultan knew that the great kabbalist Rabbi Chaim Vital possessed enough power to "unseal" a source hidden many centuries earlier. Rabbi Vital was afraid to carry out this order, but he knew he faced death if he refused. So, using a special kabbalistic technique, he instantly transported himself to Damascus. That same night his Rav, the Arizal, appeared to him in a dream.
"Why did you refuse to open the Gichon today?" he asked his disciple.
"I was afraid to use the holy names of G-d to carry out this order," answered Rabbi Chaim.
"And how did you end up in Damascus?"
Rabbi Chaim apparently found nothing to say, and the Arizal continued: "Do you know that your soul is a 'gilgul' of King Chizkiyahu, and that you came into this world in order to reopen this source, which was sealed many years ago?"
Rabbi Chaim answered: "I will go back there tomorrow and do it all."
The Arizal said: "No, now there is nothing you can do. Today was the day, but the opportune moment has been irretrievably lost."
Yichudim
One day, Rabbi Chaim Vital was sent by his teacher the Arizal to perform a "Yichudim" meditation at the graves of Abaye and Rava in Ovnit. When he returned, he was surprised that the Arizal stood up in his honor, greeted him, extended his right hand, and was very glad to see him. When Rabbi Chaim Vital asked the reason for his teacher's unusual behavior, the Arizal answered that he had stood up in honor of the soul of Benayahu ben Yehoyada, which had been accompanying Rabbi Chaim Vital.
Three months later, the Arizal and his disciples passed by a certain place, and the Ari pointed to a pile of stones, saying that he saw with Ruach HaKodesh that the grave of Benayahu ben Yehoyada was there.
Rabbi Chaim Vital recalled that on his way to the graves of Abaye and Rava, needing to rest, he had sat down on this very same pile of stones and practiced the "Yichud" his teacher had given him. As the Arizal said, it was through the power of that "Yichud" that Benayahu had joined himself to Chaim Vital.
Theft
One day, when Rabbi Chaim Vital came to his teacher, the holy Ari said to him:
"The letter ג (gimel) is now shining on your forehead — that means you have stumbled in the fulfillment of the commandment against גזל 'gezel' (theft)." And Rabbeinu the Ari continued:
"How do you earn your living?"
The disciple answered: "I trade in thread. Several old women spin it for me, and I sell it."
"Then check whether you have ever cheated them."
Rabbi Chaim went to the old women and asked:
"Have I ever cheated you?"
The youngest of them answered:
"You have taken from me. I make finer, better thread, and you pay me the same as everyone else."
Rabbi Chaim accepted this, paid her double, and returned to his teacher.
The holy Ari said:
"Now the mark has disappeared from your forehead — this means you have corrected the sin of theft."
Of course, Rabbi Chaim had no wish to steal, and had he known she was doing better work, he would gladly have paid her what was due. Yet still the mark of theft appeared on his forehead.
Rabbi Chaim Vital wrote "Shaarei Kedusha" ("Gates of Holiness"), as a guide to attaining ruach hakodesh (divine inspiration) and nevuah (prophecy).
The text (in its fourth chapter) even teaches how to use the holy 72 names. Nevertheless, most of the book is devoted to preparation for these holy acts. The lion's share of this material is mussar (ethics), which teaches us how to correct and elevate our middot (character traits). It is precisely these teachings that made "Shaarei Kedusha" a classic in the world of yeshivot.
"Etz Chaim" - עץ חיים - (Tree of Life) - a book of Kabbalah written by Rabbi Chaim in 1573, based on the teachings of the Arizal.
May the merit of the tzadik Rabbi Chaim Vital protect our people and bring the redemption!
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Grave: Chaim Vital