Rabbi Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi, known as "HaARI Hakadosh" in Jewish religious circles, is considered one of the most influential Kabbalists in Jewish history, despite not having left any of his own writings on the Kabbala.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
To study Ha'ARI's Kabbalistic views, one must study the work of his disciples, such as Rabbi Hayyim Vital, who summarized his ideas.
But now the National Library of Israel has revealed a letter sent to the rabbi during his sojourn in Egypt in the 16th century that discusses everyday matters, providing new first-hand evidence about Ha'ARI's life, both in the Land of Israel and in Egypt.
The writer, a man named David, wrote to HaARI to enlist his support for an emissary who had been dispatched from Safed to raise money among Diaspora Jews for Jews living in the Holy Land. Although the Kabbalist was known for his simple, even ascetic, lifestyle, he was an important figure whom Jews asked for advice, even on financial and national matters.
The letter was preserved because it had been used to bind another book, a common practice before the invention of cardboard. Bookbinders would take paper or vellum pages from worn-out volumes and stick them together into dense stacks that would serve as stiff enough material for book covers.
The National Library is making the letter to HaARI public for the first time in honor of the late Jerusalem collector Ezra Gorodesky, who devoted his career to the painstaking work of picking apart the old bindings and revealing the treasures within. Gorodesky, who died of COVID-19 in 2021, would frequent the National Library to donate pages form his collection. The letter to HaARI is one of his most significant finds.
"This letter, which is worth its weight in gold, is part of the precious collections in the National Library, which comprises a national source of information about the Jewish history of Israel," said curator of the library's Judaica collection Dr. Yoel Finkelman.
"The letter, which was preserved in an unusual manner in the binding of old books, is a major discovery about the influence HaARI had, not only in the field of Kabbala but also worldly matters," Finkelman said.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
