Re’shit ḥokhmah (Beginning of Wisdom): On Love

Elijah de Vidas

1579

Love: Chapter One

The concept of Love is further explained in the Zohar [II, Ki Tissa, 190b], where it is stated as follows:

 

The Torah contains within it love and brotherhood and truth. Abraham loved Isaac, [and] Isaac [loved] Abraham—they embraced one another. As for Jacob, both of them seized hold of him with love and brotherhood, each having…

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Creator Bio

Elijah de Vidas

1518–1587

The kabbalist Elijah de Vidas was born in Safed, where he was a student of Moses Cordovero. He traveled to Poland but later returned to Palestine and died in Hebron. De Vidas composed a lengthy, encyclopedic work of ethics, Re’shit ḥokhmah (Beginning of Wisdom), which has been reprinted some forty times, in many languages. It is divided into five gates (sections): fear of God, love of God, repentance, holiness, and humility. De Vidas also included chapters from Israel al-Nakawa’s (d. 1391) Menorat ha-ma’or (Shining Lamp), as well as a collection of rabbinic sayings and moralizing maxims.

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