Creator Bio
Elijah de Vidas
1518–1587
The kabbalist Elijah de Vidas was born in Safed, where he was a student of Moses Cordovero. He traveled to Poland but later returned to Palestine and died in Hebron. De Vidas composed a lengthy, encyclopedic work of ethics, Re’shit ḥokhmah (Beginning of Wisdom), which has been reprinted some forty times, in many languages. It is divided into five gates (sections): fear of God, love of God, repentance, holiness, and humility. De Vidas also included chapters from Israel al-Nakawa’s (d. 1391) Menorat ha-ma’or (Shining Lamp), as well as a collection of rabbinic sayings and moralizing maxims.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
Primary Source
Re’shit ḥokhmah (Beginning of Wisdom): On the Synagogue
Furthermore, with regard to a synagogue, one should be careful when leaving the synagogue not to leave with one’s back to the altar, where the Torah scroll is placed. Rather, one should face the holy…
Primary Source
Re’shit ḥokhmah (Beginning of Wisdom): On Love
The concept of Love is further explained in the Zohar [II, Ki Tissa, 190b], where it is stated as follows: The Torah contains within it love and brotherhood and truth. Abraham loved…