Moshe Chaim Luzzatto

Not to be confused with Samuel David Luzzatto.

Tziyun of the Ramhal in Tiberias, ir hakodesh ttbb"a, Israel.

Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Hebrew: משה חיים לוצאטו, also Moses Chaim, Moses Hayyim, also Luzzato) (1707-1746 (26 Iyar 5506)), also known by the Hebrew acronym RaMCHaL (or RaMHaL, רמח"ל), was a prominent Italian Jewish rabbi, kabbalist, and philosopher.

Biography

Padua

Born in Padua at night, he received classical Jewish and Italian educations, showing a predilection for literature at a very early age. He may have attended the University of Padua and certainly associated with a group of students there, known to dabble in mysticism and alchemy. With his vast knowledge in religious lore, the arts, and science, he quickly became the dominant figure in that group. His writings demonstrate mastery of the Tanakh, the Talmud, and the rabbinical commentaries and codes of Jewish law.

The turning point in Luzzatto's life came at the age of twenty, when he received direct instruction from a mystical being known as the maggid. While such stories were not unknown in kabbalistic circles, it was unheard of for someone of such a young age. His peers were enthralled by his written accounts of these "Divine lessons", but the leading Italian rabbinical authorities were highly suspicious and threatened to excommunicate him. Just one hundred years earlier another young mystic, Shabbatai Zevi (d.1676), had rocked the Jewish world by claiming to be the Messiah. Although, at one point, Zevi had convinced many European and Middle Eastern rabbis of his claim, the episode ended with him recanting and converting to Islam. The global Jewish community was still reeling from that, and the similarities between Luzzatto's writings and Zevi's were perceived as being particularly dangerous and heretical.

These writings, only some of which have survived, are often misunderstood to describe a belief that the Ramchal and his followers were key figures in a messianic drama that was about to take place. He identified one of his followers as the Messiah son of David, but assumed for himself the role of Moses, claiming that he was that biblical figure's reincarnation.

After threats of excommunication and many arguments, Luzzatto finally came to an understanding with many of the Rabbanim, including his decision not to write the maggid's lessons or teach mysticism. In 1735, Luzzatto left Italy for Amsterdam, believing that in the more liberal environment there, he would be able to pursue his mystical interests. Passing through Germany, he appealed to the local rabbinical authorities to protect him from the threats of the Italian rabbis. They refused and forced him to sign a document stating that all the teachings of the maggid were false. Most of his writings were burned, though some did survive. From the Zoharic writings, the 70 Tikounim `Hadashim re-appeared in 1958 against all odds, in the Library of Oxford. "Arrangements" of thoughts, these Tikounim expose 70 different essential uses of the last verse of the Humash (the five books of Moses).

Taught word-by-word in Aramit by the maggid of the Ram`hal, they parallel the Tikouney haZohar of the Rashbi, which expose the 70 fundamental understandings of the first verse of the `Houmash.

Amsterdam

When Luzzatto finally reached Amsterdam, he was able to pursue his studies of the kabbalah relatively unhindered. Earning a living as a diamond cutter, he continued writing but refused to teach. It was in this period that he wrote what is his magnum opus the Mesillat Yesharim (1740), essentially an ethical treatise but with certain mystical underpinnings. The book presents a step-by-step process by which every person can overcome the inclination to sin and reach a level of prophecy. Another prominent work, Derekh Hashem (The Way of God) is a philosophical text about God's purpose in Creation, justice, and ethics. The same concepts are discussed in a shorter book called Maamar HaIkarim (the English translation of this book is now available on the Web). Da`at Tevunoth also found its existence in the Dutch city as the missing link between rationality and Kabbalah, a dialogue between the intellect and the soul. On the other hand, Derekh Tevunoth introduces the logic which structures Talmudic debates as a means to understanding the world around us.

One major rabbinic contemporary who praised Luzzatto's writing was Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna, the Vilna Gaon (1720 - 1797), who was considered to be the most authoritative Torah sage of the modern era as well as a great kabbalist himself. He was reputed to have said after reading the Mesillat Yesharim, that were Luzzatto still alive, that he would have walked from Vilna to learn at Luzzatto's feet;^[1][2] Vilna is not close to Italy, with an estimated distance of 2,050 km (1274 mi) separating the two.^[3] He stated that having read the work, the first eight chapters contained not a superfluous word. This is considered to be one of the highest praises that one sage can grant another.

Luzzatto also wrote poetry and drama, most of it seeming secular on the surface, but many scholars have identified mystical undertones in this body of work as well). His writing is strongly influenced by the Jewish poets of Spain and by contemporary Italian authors.

The cantor of the Sephardic synagogue in Amsterdam, Abraham Caceres, worked with Luzzatto to set several of his poems to music.^[4][5]

Akko

Frustrated by his inability to teach kabbalah, Luzzatto left Amsterdam for the Holy Land in 1743, settling in Acre. Three years later, he and his family died in a plague. It was only a century later that Luzzato was rediscovered by the Mussar Movement, which adopted his ethical works. It was the great Torah ethicist, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter (1810 - 1883) who placed the Messilat Yesharim at the heart of the Mussar (ethics) curriculum of the major Yeshivot of Eastern Europe.

The Hebrew writers of the Haskalah, the Jewish expression of the Enlightenment, greatly admired Luzatto's secular writings and deemed him the founder of modern Hebrew literature. His cousin, the poet Ephraim Luzzatto (1729-1792), also exerted genuine influence on the first stirrings of modern Hebrew poetry.

Though it is accepted by scholars that his tomb is in Kafr Yasif, his burial place is traditionally said to be near the Talmudic sage Rabbi Akiva in Tiberias, northern Israel. Luzzato's original synagogue in Akko was razed by the city's Bedouin ruler Daher el-Omar in 1758, who built a mosque on top of it. In its place, the Jews of Akko received a small building north of the mosque which still functions as a synagogue and bears the name of the Ramchal.[1]

Bibliography

These are some of the other books that RaMChaL wrote:

• Ma'aseh Shimshon ("The Story of Samson")
• Lashon Limudim ("A Tongue for Teaching")
• Migdal Oz ("A Tower of Strength")
• Zohar Kohelet ("The Zohar to the Book of Ecclesiastes")
• Shivim Tikikunim ("Seventy Tikkunim") which parallels the seventy Tikkunei Zohar
• Zohar Tinyanah ("A Second Zohar") no longer exists
• Klallot Haillan or Klalut Hailan ("The Principle Elements of The Tree [of Life]") a synopsis of the ARI's basic work of Kabbalah
• Ma'amar Hashem ("A Discourse on G-d")
• Ma'amar HaMerkava ("A Discourse on The Chariot")
• Ma'amer Shem Mem-Bet ("A Discourse on the 42 letter Name [of G-d]")
• Ma'amar HaDin ("A Discourse on [Divine] Judgment")
• Ma'amar HaChochma or Maamar Ha'hokhma ("A Discourse on Wisdom") focuses on Rosh Hashanna, Yom Kippur, and Passover from a Kabbalistic perspective
• Ma'amar HaGeulah ("A Discourse on The Redemption" or "The Great Redemption")
• Ma'amar HaNevuah ("A Discourse on Prophecy")
• Mishkanei Elyon or Mishkane 'Elyon ("Exalted Towers") a Kabbalistic understanding of the Holy Temple with a depiction of the third Temple's dimensions
• Ain Yisrael ("The Well of Israel")
• Ain Yaakov ("The Well of Jacob")
• Milchamot Hashem ("The Wars of G-d") which defends Kabbalah against its distracters
• Kinnaot Hashem Tzivakot or Kinat H' Tsevaot ("Ardent [Defenses] for The L-rd of Hosts") offers details about the redemption and the Messiah.
• Adir Bamarom ("[G-d is] Mighty on High") a commentary on the Iddrah Rabbah ("The Great Threshing Room") section of the Zohar
• Iggrot Pitchei Chochma v'Da'at or Klale Pit'he 'Hokhma Veda'at ("Letters [to Serve] as an Opening to Wisdom and Knowledge") spells out and explains certain erudite principles of the Jewish faith according to the Kabbalah
• Sefer Daniel ("The Book of Daniel"), an esoteric commentary to this Biblical work
• Tiktu Tephilot ("515 Prayers") focuses on prayers for the revelation of G-d's sovereignty
• Kitzur Kavvanot ("Abbreviated Intentions") allows the reader an overview of the ARI's recorded prayer-intentions
• Ma'amar HaVechuach ("A Discourse [that serves as] The Argument ") pits a Kabbalist against a rationalist as each tries to defend his way of thinking
• Klach Pitchei Chochma or Kala'h Pitkhe 'Hokhma ("138 Openings to Wisdom") one of Ramchal's most important works in that it lays out his thinking about the symbolic nature of the Ari's writings and Ramchal's own explanations of those symbols
• Areichat Klallot HaEilan ("A Dictionary of The Principle Elements to The Tree [of Life]")
• Klallim ("Principle Elements") a series of short and pithy presentations of the main principles of the Kabbalistic system said outright
• Da'at Tevunot or Da'ath Tevunoth ("The Knowing Heart" or "Knowing the Reasons"), a work that explains several of Maimonides's 13 Principles of the Faith according to Kabbalah
• Peirush al Midrash Rabbah ("A Commentary on Midrash Rabbah") that isn't Kabbalistic so much as symbolic
• Derech Hashem or Derekh Hashem ("The Way of G-d") one of his best known works: a succinct laying-out of the fundamentals of the Jewish faith touching upon mankind's obligations in this world and its relations to G-d
• Ma'amar al HaAggadot ("A Discourse on Aggadah") which is an explanation of how to understand Aggadic literature in a serious manner
• Ma'amar HaIkkurim or Maamar Ha'ikarim ("A Discourse on the Fundamentals") a short and succinct laying-out of the fundamentals of the Jewish religion like "The Way of G-d" that touches upon certain other themes
• Derech Chochma or Sepher Derekh 'Hokhma ("The Way of Wisdom"), which serves as a dialogue between a young person and a sage with the latter setting out a lifetime course of Torah study culminating in the study of Kabbalah
• Vichuach HaChocham V'HaChassid ("The Argument between The Sage and the Pious Man") which is actually a first draft of Messilat Yesharim that only resurfaced recently
• Messilat Yesharim or Mesilat Yesharim ("The Path of the Just"), his most famous work that enables its readers to grow in piety step by step, was written when he was 33 (in 1740)
• Sefer HaDikduk ("The Book of Grammar")
• Sefer HaHigayon ("The Book of Logic") lays out the correct way to think and analyze
• Ma'amar al HaDrasha ("A Discourse on Homilies") encourages the study of Kabbalah and Mussar
• Sefer Hamalitza ("The Book of Style") offers the art of accurate writing and expression
• Derech Tevunot ("the Way of Understanding") explains the Talmudic way of thinking.
• LaYesharim Tehilla ("Praise be to the Upright") is a poetical work

Most of the above information is from http://www.torah.org/learning/ramchal/classes/special2.html

See also

• Italian Jews
• List of Italian Jews
• History of the Jews in Italy
• Musar literature
• Mussar movement

References

1. ^ Rietti, Rabbi Jonathan, "Deepening one's relationship with God" lecture series, audio format
2. ^ Luzzatto, Moshe Hayyim (1997),The Way of God (Hebrew: Derech Hashem) (Sixth, corrected edition, 1998),Jerusalem,Feldheim Publishers,p 15,ISBN 978-0873063449
3. ^ Google Maps
4. ^ Alfred Sendrey The music of the Jews in the Diaspora (up to 1800) 1971 ".. Moses Hayyim Luzzatto, who lived in Amsterdam from 1736 to 1743, wrote the poems and Abraham Caceres the music. "
5. ^ Journal of synagogue music: 5 - 3 Cantors Assembly of America - 1974 "In the texts of poems composed for this occasion by the Amsterdam rabbis Isaac Aboab da Fonseca (see note ... later set to music by Abraham Caceres, also appears in this important musical manuscript, on fol. l5b-l6a, and on fol."

External links

• The official Ramchal site texts - Videos
• ramchal books
• About Luzzatto
• Biography of Luzzatto
• Current classes on RAMCHAL on the Internet
• His teachings
• Beit Ramhal, continuing his legacy
• The Kabbalah of the Ari za"l according to the Ram`hal
• Excerpt of Derech Etz Chaim by the Ramchal
• The purpose of life - based on the RAMCHAL
• MP3s of a class that is reading Derech HaShem ("The Way of G-d")

Persondata
Name	Luzzato, Moshe Chaim
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1707
Place of birth
Date of death	1746
Place of death