Yahrtzeit
Rav Chaim Vital
30 Nisan
1543 – 1620
Role
Kabbalist
Location
Tzefat / Damascus
Works
Eitz Chaim, Sha'arei Kedushah, Kitvei Arizal
Rav Chaim Vital (1543-1620), the foremost student of the Arizal and the primary transmitter of Lurianic Kabbalah. He authored Eitz Chaim, Sha'arei Kedushah, and edited the Kitvei Arizal (writings of the Arizal). Born in Tzefat, he died in Damascus. Without his meticulous recording of the Arizal's teachings, Lurianic Kabbalah would have been lost to posterity.