Tomer Devorah (The Palm Tree of Deborah)

Moses Cordovero

Mid–16th Century

For man to resemble his Creator according to the secret of the Supernal Crown he must possess, too, many of the chief qualities of the divine providence.

  1. The quality of humility includes all qualities, for it belongs to the Crown, which is the highest attribute. It does not raise nor exalt itself upwards; on the contrary, it descends to look…

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Creator Bio

Moses Cordovero

1522–1570

Moses Cordovero was a leading kabbalist in Safed, a disciple of Joseph Karo, and a teacher of Isaac Luria. Although his birthplace is unknown, he was probably of Spanish origin. He began studying kabbalah at age twenty and completed his first large systematic work, Pardes rimonim (Garden of Pomegranates), at twenty-seven. Cordovero synthesized the different trends of kabbalah up to his time, endeavoring to construct a speculative kabbalistic system. He was also influenced by medieval philosophers and acknowledged the utility of philosophy in other works, such as Elimah rabbati. His Tomer Devorah (The Palm Tree of Deborah) laid the basis for the kabbalistic ethical literature that flourished in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries and influenced many later kabbalistic moralists. In another work, Or ne‘erav (Pleasant Light), Cordovero explained the importance of studying kabbalah and censured those who studied it without the necessary prior knowledge. His commentary on the Zohar, Or yakar, remained unpublished until the twentieth century.

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