| Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz was one of the great kabbalists
living in Safed during the time of the great luminaries of Kabbala, Rabbi Moshe
*Cordovero ( Ramak) and Rabbi Yitzchak
*Luria (Arizal). Rabbi Shlomo was born
in Salonica c. 5260 (1500 CE) (according to some authorities he was born in 5265).
He studied Torah under Rabbi Yosef Taitatzak. In 5289 (1529 CE) he married the
daughter of one Yitzchak Cohen, a wealthy householder living in Salonica. Instead
of giving his wife a more traditional wedding gift, he gave her his newly completed
work Manot HaLevi. His father-in-law and brother-in-law apparently revered Torah
scholars greatly for "their delight in receiving this gift was many times
greater than if he would have sent them jewelry and precious stones of great monetary
value." Shortly afterwards, Rabbi Shlomo and his wife decided to settle
in the Holy Land. On the way there, the young Rabbi and his wife stopped over
in Adrianople, Turkey. The townsmen, including a group of kabbalists, begged him
to instruct them in the spiritual life and his methods of serving G-d. He agreed
and wrote several works during his stay in this town - Beit Hashem, Avotot
Ahava, Ayelet Ahavim and Brit HaLevi. This latter work he dedicated
to his admirers in Adrianople. Rabbi Shlomo eventually continued his journey,
teaching wherever he went. Several men who were later to become great kabbalists
themselves were deeply influenced by Rabbi Shlomo. Among them were Rabbi Shmuel
Ozida (author of Midrash Shmuel on Pirkei Avot), Rabbi Eliezer *Azikri,
author of Sefer Chareidim, a kabbalistic treatise on the correspondence
of the limbs and organs of the human body to the 613 mitzvot of the Torah; Rabbi
Avraham *Galante, author of Yareach Yakar on Zohar and other works. Rabbi
Shlomo arrived in Safed around 5295 (1535 CE) where he settled. Only in the Holy
Land, he was insisted, could one fathom the secrets of Torah. Rabbi Shlomo attributed
much of his depth of understanding to his custom of prostrating himself at the
graveside of tzadikim. Many students gathered around him, including Rabbi Moshe
Cordovero (Ramak), who married Rabbi Shlomo's sister. It seems, however, that
Rabbi Shlomo later became the student of Ramak, a testimony to his humbleness.
Rabbi Yosef Caro was another student
of Rabbi Shlomo. Rabbi Shlomo tells the
story that he was once studying with Rabbi Yosef Caro when the latter's Maggid
(an angelic teacher) appeared to them. Rabbi Caro once asked his teacher to explain
the kabbalistic meaning of the verse "the two great luminaries" (Genesis
1:16) which he did in a lengthy dissertation. It seems that he served as the head
of a yeshiva in Meron, which lies across the valley from Safed. He also appears
to have served as a Rabbi in Safed.
Rabbi Shlomo is most renowned for his Lecha
Dodi hymn, sung at the inauguration of the Sabbath. It was composed
according to kabbalistic teachings regarding the ascent of the sefira
of malchut (which represents both the Shechinah and the Jewish soul) on
the Sabbath, and it therefore expresses the yearning of the Shechina and
the Jewish soul for the redemption. The hymn became so popular that it
was incorporated into the Sabbath liturgy of every community. Rabbi Shlomo
passed on in 5340 (1580 CE) and is interred in Safed.
NEW! translation-commentary for Lecha
Dodi of Rabbi Shomo Alkebetz
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