Hayyim Vital
1542 – 1620 Ottoman (Sephardic Jewish) Kabbalist, writer
Chief disciple of Isaac Luria who recorded and spread the Lurianic teachings.
- Religion
- Judaism (Kabbalah)
- Affiliations
- Safed and Damascus
Vital was the main student of Isaac Luria and set his master's oral teachings into writing after Luria died. His work 'Etz Chaim' (Tree of Life) became the primary source for Lurianic Kabbalah. He guarded these writings closely, and their gradual release shaped Jewish mysticism for centuries.
In the timeline
- 1573 Hayyim Vital records Luria's teachings central figure
- 1573 Hayyim Vital records the teachings of the Ari central figure