Sefer ha-ḥezyonot (The Book of Visions): On the Afterlife

Ḥayim Vital

Second Half of the 16th Century

17

That year my wife, Hannah, became extremely ill and one Sabbath she was in a coma and close to death. At night, at the conclusion of the Sabbath, we approached her to witness the departure of the Soul. Suddenly, she opened her mouth, her eyes were closed and she recited the blessing for fragrant trees. We asked her, What is the reason for this…

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Creator Bio

Ḥayim Vital

1542–1620

A prominent kabbalist of the Safed circle and the most important disciple of Isaac Luria, Ḥayim ben Joseph Vital lived in Safed (where Moses Alsheikh and Moses Cordovero were among his teachers), in Jerusalem, and in Damascus, where he died. His ‘Ets ḥayim (Tree of Life) was a vast compendium of the collected writings of Luria—whose sole authoritative guardian Vital claimed to be. A second major work, Sefer ‘ets ha-da‘at (Book of the Tree of Knowledge), which appears to have included biblical commentary, is only partially extant. Ḥayim Vital also wrote commentaries to the Zohar as well as an autobiographical work, Sefer ḥezyonot (Book of Visions).

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