Role and importance of works of Ari z"l and his school - Part I

If I wrote everything that I have to say on this subject, I'd probably be labeled with all kinds of derogatory names by members of the entire spectrum - from the M"O and Dardaim and through the most kabbalistishe yerushalmis. Thus, I'll refrain from writing much but would still like to ponder some issues that I see important for establishing the contexts in which we all operate. I won't get into the subject of authorship and precedence, so those looking for that kind of a fight can move on.

First, let's rehash some history. If you remember, in the 1534's a scholar was born in Jerusalem to a mixed family - Ashkenazi father and Sephardic mother; his full name was R' Yitschak Ashkenazi z"l. After moving to Egypt with the family, he showed himself to be a prolific talmid chochom in Nigleh - under the guidance of R' Betzalel Ashkenazi z"l, author of Shita Mekubetzes and an important luminary of his generation. Later on in life (yet while still very young) , he chose seclusion and immersed himself in a very ascetic life and thorough study of Zohar ha"k.

At the age of about 35 years old, he moved to Tzfas where he founded a school of limudei Nistar, whose list of members reads like a "who is who" of the late Middle Ages and early modernity. The most famous and universally acceptable pupil of Arizal was perhaps R' Yosef Karo, z"l - Mechaber of the Beis Yosef, Kesef Mishne and Shulchan Aruch - the very foundation of Orthodox Judaism as we know it amongst almost all denominations of Judaism except a very tiny but important minority. Notably, he was fourty two (!) years older then R' Yitzchak. Other pupils in the circle are all venerable giants in every aspect of Yiddishkeit - nigle or nistar, halacha, piousness - you name it. Writings of Alshich and Ramak are a classic and a must have on shelves of people of any denomination. Therefore, people who attempt to outright dismiss what they dub "Kabbalah" and who disregard legacy of AR"Y z"l and his school are simply intellectually dishonest and can be safely disregarded.

When it comes to the actualy body of teachings that was formulated and presented in words by the AR"Y himself, situation isn't simple at all. First of all, as some have it, AR"Y insisted that nothing of the discourses that he delivered be written down at all. Then, it is more-less universally accepted that the only pupil authorized to disseminate the works was R' Chaym Vital z"l, on a condition of a severe punishment. Furthermore, anything that was written down was to be copied only in manuscript form and under no circumstances was to ever leave the boundaries of the Holy Land. So whatever did make it to our days, did so in violation of explicit directions of the very source of this wisdom.

One can speculate without end to the nature of all this secrecy. As I am not being meharher achar mitosom, I think it's safe to accept the simple and honest explanation. Most of the content that was delivered by AR"Y ha"K was very much a chiddush - concepts and statements that were revealled completely anew in this world, with no precedent, and he felt that it can be absorbed and understood properly only when delivered in the appropriate context, with all the "prefaces" and with the immense payload of classic unadulterated deep knowledge of Gufei haTorah - the vast ocean of wisdom passed down in the unbroken chain from Moshe to Neviim to Tanoim etc etc. The warnings and the threats weren't just empty words or attempts to draw attention and turn it into a forbidden fruit. They were very concrete and very real, and dangers weren't limited to drifting astray a la Shabbatai Zevi, but in a much broader and much likelier possibility of misunderstanding some detail in the writings that could render the entire mindset to turn to the opposite of the Holy.

For all intents and purposes, all these warnings and cherems were discarded time and again, and up until about a hundred years ago this material was available to pretty much anyone willing to invest time and mental effort, as well as risk being labeled a lunatic (that risk varied very much on the surroundings).

Now let's temporarily skip over the 1600's and most of the 1700's (we'll revisit the two grand heresies of those days and their connection on nidon didon); by the time of rise of Chassidus, core " Kisvei AR'Y Z'L " were almost unanimously accepted as a veritable source by the Lithuanian, Chassidic and Hungarian Jewry. Main disagreement was to what extent do the words of "mekubalim" trump normative halachah, but given that Ari z"l lived right on the boundary between Rishonim and Achronim, most felt that he deserved at least as much credence as his contemporaries. Yet, attempts to bring studying of his works to the mainstream public weren't undertaken, for a good reason, and even amongst Chassidim the most that one could find would be a recommendation to have a daily or weekly seder in "Etz Chayim" that would be pretty much "upgedavent" without investing much effort into it. Still, the works of R' Chaym Vital written down from his Rebbe were a strong source of inspiration for such a wide range of some of the best Jews to ever walk this Earth, that as I said before, anyone trying to simply write that off is deluding himself and his audience.

If you aren't bored deadly yet, hold on for the second part, where we'll try to see what does the subject of the works have to do with the simpler planes of existence ...