Ramak • Rabbi Moshe Cordoiero
Rabbi Moshe Cordovero
Era of the AcharonimRabbi Moshe Cordovero, known by his acronym Ramak, was one of the leading kabbalists of Safed in the sixteenth century and among the great formulators of the esoteric tradition. Born in 1522 to a family of Cordovan origin, he grew up and worked in Safed — the center of mystical T…
Biography
Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, known by his acronym Ramak, was one of the leading kabbalists of Safed in the sixteenth century and among the great formulators of the esoteric tradition. Born in 1522 to a family of Cordovan origin, he grew up and worked in Safed — the center of mystical Torah in his generation. He studied Talmud and halakhah under Rabbi Yosef Karo and was ordained to the rabbinate by Rabbi Yaakov Beirav; at the age of twenty he turned to the study of Kabbalah under his brother-in-law, Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz. His central work, Pardes Rimonim, is a systematic compendium that expounds and adjudicates among the paths of Kabbalah that preceded him, and is counted among the foundational works of the esoteric tradition. Among his disciples were Rabbi Chaim Vital, who would later edit the writings of the Arizal, and Rabbi Eliyahu de Vidas, author of Reshit Chochmah. He passed away on the 23rd of Tammuz 5330 (1570) in Safed, and was buried in the city's old cemetery, near the grave of the Arizal.
Life Story
Childhood
Born in 1522 to his father Rabbi Yaakov. His exact birthplace is uncertain, but his family name attests that his origins lay in the city of Cordoba in Spain, among the exiles who left after the Expulsion. He grew up and was educated in Safed, which in those days had become a Torah and spiritual center of the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel.
Teachers
In his youth he studied Talmud and halakhah under Rabbi Yosef Karo, the author of the Shulchan Aruch, and was ordained to the rabbinate by Rabbi Yaakov Beirav. At the age of twenty he turned to the study of Kabbalah under his brother-in-law, Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz — the author of the hymn Lekha Dodi — after marrying his sister. Thus two worlds were joined in his soul: halakhah and mystery.
Students
He headed a yeshivah in Safed, and from his academy came important disciples. The best known is Rabbi Chaim Vital, who would later become the editor of the Arizal's writings and the transmitter of his Torah. Another important disciple was Rabbi Eliyahu de Vidas, author of the book Reshit Chochmah. Even the Arizal himself regarded the Ramak as his teacher before coming to Safed.
Family
His father was Rabbi Yaakov. He married the sister of Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, thus binding himself to one of the leading spiritual families of Safed. His son, Rabbi Gedaliah Cordovero, continued his path.
Key Events
At twenty he began the study of Kabbalah, and after some years was appointed head of a yeshivah in Safed. In those years he composed his great works — Pardes Rimonim, Tomer Devorah, Or Yakar and Elimah Rabbati — which became cornerstones of the esoteric tradition. His relationship with the Arizal, who arrived in Safed at the end of his life, remains a mystery: when the Arizal came, the Ramak was ill, and it is not known whether they met.
Miracles
Later traditions attached to the Ramak stories of holiness and supernal providence. It is told that he saw in the holy spirit a pillar of fire accompanying the funeral procession of Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz as he left Safed, and from this he recognized that the divine presence rested upon his brother-in-law. At the Ramak's passing it was said that the pillar of fire ceased, revealing that a man of high degree had departed the world.
Influence
The Ramak's influence on the Kabbalah is immense. Pardes Rimonim is the first systematic work to summarize and expound the paths of Kabbalah that preceded it. Although the Kabbalah of the Arizal pushed his system aside, it was not rejected entirely; the Ramchal proposed to reconcile them, saying that the Ramak's Kabbalah is the study of the World of Tohu and the Arizal's is the World of Tikkun. Many see the study of the Ramak's books as a necessary introduction to understanding the Kabbalah of the Arizal.
Death
He passed away on the 23rd of Tammuz 5330 (1570) in Safed, at about forty-eight years of age. He was buried in the old cemetery of Safed, near the burial place of the Arizal. Upon his passing the Arizal inherited his place among the kabbalists of Safed, but their systems of Kabbalah are not alike.
Writings
Pardes Rimonim
16th centuryKabbalah
The Ramak's central systematic work, expounding and adjudicating among the paths of Kabbalah that preceded him. Counted among the foundational works of the esoteric tradition.
Tomer Devorah
16th centuryEthics and Kabbalah
A kabbalistic work of ethics founded on the thirteen attributes of mercy, dealing with the refinement of character according to the ways of supernal conduct. One of the most widespread works of ethics in Judaism.
Or Yakar
16th centuryCommentary on the Zohar
A deep commentary on the Zohar and on Tikkunei ha-Zohar, among the foundations of mystical commentary before the Arizal.
Elimah Rabbati
16th centuryKabbalah
A broad kabbalistic work treating foundational questions of the esoteric teaching.
Shiur Komah
16th centuryKabbalah
A work on the measure of stature and the unfolding of the worlds.
Or Ne'erav
16th centuryKabbalah
A work justifying the study of Kabbalah and explaining its obligation and rules.
Tefilah le-Moshe
16th centuryPrayer and Kabbalah
A prayer book with kabbalistic intentions, many of which entered the siddurim of the Arizal's disciples.
His Way and Views
Torah Study
The Ramak regarded the study of Kabbalah as an inseparable part of the study of Torah as a whole, and insisted on expounding the ways of mystery with order and system. In his work Or Ne'erav he justified the study of Kabbalah and explained its obligation, and in Pardes Rimonim he summarized and adjudicated among the methods of the earlier kabbalists.
Halacha
Although his main work was in Kabbalah, the Ramak was also a halakhic authority. He studied halakhah under Rabbi Yosef Karo, was ordained to the rabbinate by Rabbi Yaakov Beirav, and composed a prayer book called Tefilah le-Moshe, in which he wove kabbalistic intentions into the text of the prayer.
Faith
His teaching stands on the unity of God, on the unfolding of the worlds from the Infinite down to the world of action, and on the reciprocal bond between the sefirot and the partzufim. He saw in every detail of reality a reflection of the supernal, and in every human act an influence upon the higher worlds.
Ethics
His book Tomer Devorah is a kabbalistic work of ethics founded on the thirteen attributes of mercy. The Ramak taught that the refinement of character is not merely a moral matter but a spiritual act that rectifies the supernal worlds, and that a person must govern his traits according to the ways of supernal conduct.
Customs
In the siddur of the Ya'avetz, the widespread custom of reciting the chapters of Kabbalat Shabbat — Psalms 95 to 99 — at the onset of Shabbat is attributed to the Ramak. Likewise, most of the kabbalistic intentions in prayer that appear in his siddur Tefilah le-Moshe entered also into the siddurim of the Arizal's disciples.
Character
He was described as a man of holiness, humble and devoted. It is told that he grieved over the suffering of Israel and prayed for them, and that he would walk through the markets of Safed urging the people to refine their character.
Public Role
He stood at the head of a central Torah-spiritual enterprise in Safed, and was one of the spiritual leaders of the community of kabbalists. His ties with Rabbi Yosef Karo and with Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz made Safed a center of the esoteric tradition that influenced all the generations that followed.
Famous Quotes
"Everything that the Holy One, blessed be He, brought about in His world is for the good"
"Just as the Holy One is exalted in His attributes, so is man to be exalted in his attributes"
Famous Stories
It is told that when Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz left Safed on a journey, the Ramak saw in the holy spirit a pillar of fire accompanying him, and recognized that the divine presence rested upon his brother-in-law. When the Ramak passed away, the pillar ceased — revealing that a man of high degree had taken the divine presence from him.
The holy Arizal was exposed to the Ramak's books before he came to Safed, and regarded him as his teacher. When the Arizal arrived in Safed the Ramak was ill, and it is not known whether they met before his passing. Upon the Ramak's death the Arizal inherited his place among the kabbalists of Safed — but their systems of Kabbalah are not alike, and the Ramchal proposed to reconcile them: the Ramak's Kabbalah is the World of Tohu, and the Arizal's is the World of Tikkun.
Students
Teachers
Grave Site
Timeline
Birth; family of Cordovan origin
Beginning of Kabbalah study under Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz
Composition of Pardes Rimonim and appointment as head of yeshivah in Safed
Passing on the 23rd of Tammuz in Safed
Legacy
The Ramak's legacy stands at the foundation of the esoteric tradition of the later generations. Pardes Rimonim is the first systematic work of Kabbalah, and Tomer Devorah became a widespread work of ethics across all streams of Judaism. Although the Kabbalah of the Arizal pushed his system aside, the study of his books has not ceased to this day, and many see it as a necessary introduction to understanding the Kabbalah of the Arizal. His grave in the old cemetery of Safed, near the Arizal, is a pilgrimage site.