A SERMON FOR SHABBAT SHUVA, HANDWRITTEN BY THE KABBALIST, HOLY OF HOLIES, RABBI CHAYYIM VITAL

Shabbat Shuva (Sabbath of Penitence) Sermon in the Very Handwriting of the Divine Kabbalist, Holy of Holies, Rabbi

Chayyim Vital

A long excerpt from the Shabbat Shuva sermon by the illustrious rabbi and greatest pupil of HaAri and exponent of

his Torah, the divine kabbalist Rabbi Chayyim Vital, author of ‘Etz Chayyim’, with eight sha’arim and more – all in his

own handwriting.

Apart from his numerous writings on kabbalah based on the teachings of his Rabbi HaAri for posterity’s sake, Rabbi

Chayyim Vital would preach to those who came eager to hear his holy words. Sometimes he would teach them ethics

and ways to mend their ways in order to attain complete repentance. Here you have before you the major part of a

sermon he delivered on Shabbat Shuva, when rabbis customarily preached morals and ethics to their congregations.

The highlight of the sermon was a detailed explanation of the ‘Shuva Yisrael’ haftarah read by all Jewish communities

between The New Year and the Day of Atonement. Inter alia, Rabbi Chayyim Vital explains that when a person sins,

‘the light of the shechina leaves him and he falls into the darkness of the klipot, but if he repents, he once again

receives the hidden light from under the heavenly throne.’

On the leaf, side A on the left, is a comment in the handwriting of his son, Rabbi Shmuel Vital: ‘This sermon was copied

in ... sermon ....’ Indeed this sermon exists in the book ‘Totsaot Chayyim’ of Rabbi Shmuel Vital, Cambridge manuscript,

and there he writes that it was copied from the handwriting of my father and teacher (see the introduction to ‘Etz

HaDaat’ mentioned below, p. 15, comment 25).

It consists of [1] page 21*16 cm, written on both sides; 38-40 lines to a page. There are a few light stains. There is

artistically styled paper at the margins, without any loss of text. The sermon was printed based on this manuscript in

the book ‘Etz HaDa’at Tov’ of Rabbi Chayyim Vital, Part 3 (Jerusalem 2006), letter 471.

Illustrious Rabbi Chayyim Vital (Safed, 1543 – Damascus, 1620) the foremost pupil of HaAri z”l; his neshama was the

highest of his generation. His rabbi HaAri gave him to drink from Miriam’s Well in the Sea of Galilee. Thus, the gates of

wisdom opened up before him and he was merited to receive most of HaArI’s wisdom and disseminate it throughout

Israel. Beyond his greatness in the Torah’s secrets, he was a great person in every way and well versed in every

wisdom.