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Rabbi Moshe Cordevero or RAMAK 5282-5330 (1522-1570) He who was the head of the Tzefat school of Kabbalah before the Ari
One of the greatest of all Kabbalists. His birthplace is unknown, but the name Cordovero indicates that his family originated in Cordova and fled Spain during the expulsion of 1492. The Ramak lived in Tzefat, the city that was soon to become famed as a center of Kabbalah. At a young age, he already gained a reputation as an extraordinary 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 semicha - ordination from Rabbi Yaakov Beirav in 1538, along with Rabbi Yosef Karo (Cordoveros teacher in Jewish Law), Rabbi Moshe of Trani and Rabbi Yosef Sagis, all of whom were much older and better known than the young prodigy.
In 1542, at the age of twenty, the Ramak heard a heavenly voice urging him to study Kabbalah with his brother-in-law, Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, composer of "Lecha Dodi". He was thus initiated into the mysteries of the holy Zohar, of 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 16 volume 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 Zohars teachings, demonstrating the essential unity and self-consistent philosophical basis of Kabbalah.
Three 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, Ohr Neerav, a justification of and insistence upon the importance of Kabbalah study, and an introduction to its methods, and Elimah Rabbati is a treatise on kabbalistic problems.
Around 1550, the Ramak founded a Kabbalah academy in Tzefat (Safed), which he led for 20 or so years, until his death. It is reported that the prophet Elijah revealed himself to him. Among his disciples were many of the luminaries of Tzefat, including Rabbi Eliyahu di Vidas, author of Reshit Chochmah (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.
His books:
- Zohar Ohr Yakar - A classic commentary on the Zohar.
- Tomer Devorah (Palm tree of Deborah)
- Ohr Neerav
- Reshit Chochmah
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