Moses ben Jacob Cordovero

For the 17th-century physician, seeMoses Cordovero.

Cordovero's grave inSafed

Moses ben Jacob Cordovero(Hebrew:משה קורדובירוMoshe Kordovero‎; 1522–1570) was a central figure in the historical development ofKabbalah,leader of a mystical school in 16th-centurySafed,Ottoman Syria.He is known by theacronymtheRamak(Hebrew:רמ״ק).

After the Medieval flourishing ofKabbalah,centered on theZohar,attempts were made to give a complete intellectual system to its theology, such as byMeir ibn Gabbai.Influenced by the earlier success ofJewish philosophyin 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 Kabbalahutilised the conceptual framework ofevolvingcause and effectfrom theInfiniteto theFinitein 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 Luriaarticulated 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"ofRectification,Cordovero described thepre-RectificationWorld.Both articulations of the 16th century mystical Renaissance in Safed gave Kabbalah an intellectual prominence to rival MedievalRationalism,whose social influence on Judaism had waned after theExpulsion from Spain.

Biography

Early life

The name Cordovero indicates that his family originated inCórdoba,Spainand perhaps fled from there during the expulsion of 1492 ensuing from theSpanish Inquisition.His Hebrew signature, however (Cordoeiro), strongly suggests a long-lasting residence in Portugal.

Moses was either born in or moved toSafedin theLand of Israel,the city that was soon to become famed as a center ofKabbalahand mystical creativity. Albeit not involved in mystical studies until his twentieth year, he soon after gained a reputation of an extraordinary genius and a prolific writer. Besides his knowledge in kabbalah, he was aTalmudicscholar and a man of commanding mastery inJewish philosophicalthought who was respected in these fields. Contrary to popular belief, however, he was not one of the rabbis who received the specialsemicha( "ordination" ) fromJacob Berabin 1538, alongsideJoseph Karo,Cordovero's teacher ofhalakha,Moses ben Joseph di Trani,Yosef Sagis,andMoshe Alshich.As a whole, Moses' contributions to posterity were in speculative and performative Kabbalah, but during his lifetime he was the renowned head of the Yeshiva for Portuguese immigrants in Safed.

Scholarship

According to his testimony in the introduction toPardes Rimonim,in 1542, at the age of twenty, Moses heard a "heavenly voice" urging him to study Kabbalah with his brother-in-law,Shlomo Alkabetz,composer of the mystical songLecha Dodi.He was thus initiated into the mysteries of theZohar.The young Moses 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 his reputation as a brilliant Kabbalist and a lucid thinker. ThePardes,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 theZoharto demonstrate an essential unity and self-consistent philosophical basis of Kabbalah.

His second work, amagnum opustitledPrecious Light(Hebrew:אור יקר,romanized:Or Yāqār), was a 16-volume commentary on the Zoharic literature in its entirety and a work to which Ramak had devoted most of his life. Some other books for which he is known are theTomer Devorah( "Palm Tree of Deborah" ), in which he utilizes the Kabbalistic concepts of theSefirotto 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 its relationship to the sefirot; and theSefer Gerushin,a short and intimate composition which features the highly devotional slant of Cordovero, as well as hisasceticismand religious piety. Certain parts of Moses' works are still manuscripts, whereas his existing writings suggest many other compositions which he either intended to write or had written, but were lost.

Disciples

Around 1550 he founded a Kabbalah academy in Safed in theDamascus Eyaletof Ottoman Palestine, which he led for approximately twenty years until his death. He is buried in Old Cemetery of Tzfat / Safed. His disciples includedEliyahu de Vidas,author of theReshit Chochmah"Beginning of Wisdom", andChaim Vital,who later became the official recorder and disseminator of the teachings ofIsaac Luria.

Moses was survived by a wife, the sister of Solomon Alkabetz, whose name remains unknown and by his son Gedaliah (1562–1625). Gedaliah was the impetus behind the publication of some of Moses' books in Venice c. 1584–7. Gedaliah was buried inJerusalemin the Damascus Eyalet, where he had spent most of his adult life after returning from Venice.

Succession of Kabbalistic interpretation after the Ramak

According to tradition,Isaac Luria(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.TheZohardescribes 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 theZohar.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 ofJewish philosophy,especially the work ofMaimonides,in producing a systematic intellectual articulation of Judaism, the Ramak achieved the first accepted systemisation ofKabbalah,based on its rational categorisation 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

1. Pardes Rimonim( "An Orchard ofPomegranates") - Ramak's first book, an encyclopedic synthesis of the main trends of kabbalistic thought with numerous diagrams,which secured his reputation as a mystical genius.
2. Ohr Yakar( "A Precious Light" ) - aMagnum opusof some 16 volumes in its extant manuscript form, which had occupied Ramak throughout his adult life - a classic commentary on the Zohar,Sefer Yetzirahand the Zoharic literary offshoots. Its publication ended around 2005 in Jerusalem (some 22 volumes). Certain parts, such as Tefilah le-Moshe and Shiur Qomah, were previously published as separate works.
3. Tomer Devorah( "Palm tree [of] Deborah" ) - a popular work ofMusar Literaturebased on kabbalistic principles. It was translated into English byLouis Jacobsas "Moses Cordovero, The Palm Tree of Deborah", New York Sepher-Hermon Press, 1960, BJ1287.C8T61J2; and later by Rabbi Moshe Miller (1993). First chapter was also translated with an extensive commentary byHenry Abramsonunder the titleThe Kabbalah of Forgiveness: The Thirteen Levels of Mercy in Rabbi Moshe Cordovero's Date Palm of Devorah (Tomer Devorah)(2014)
4. Eilima Rabbati- of which 2/3 is still unpublished.
5. Ohr Neerav( "A Pleasant Light" - can also mean "A Mixed Light" or "A Darkened

Light ") - translated to English and annotated by Ira Robinson (1994).

1. 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 text concerning 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
• Video Lecture on Rabbi Moshe CordeverobyHenry AbramsonofTouro College South
• Translation of First Chapter of Tomer Devorahexcepted from Henry Abramson's The Kabbalah of Forgiveness.