A Rare Document from One of the Greatest Jewish Mystics

In his short life, Isaac Luria (1534–1572) managed to become one of the most consequential figures in the history of Jewish religious thought, cultivating a novel approach to kabbalah that became immensely popular among rabbis from Iran to Amsterdam and that had a profound role in shaping Hasidism as well as both Ashkenazi and Sephardi liturgical practices. Luria wrote very little; it was his disciples who put his teachings on paper. Like many of his contemporaries, he held no official rabbinic position but supported himself through his business endeavors.