Rabbi Yosef ibn Tabul

The Work, Torah Teaching and Kabbalistic Legacy of Rabbi Yosef ibn Tabul

Introduction: The Struggle for Hegemony over Lurianic Transmission

The kabbalistic teaching founded in Safed in the 16th century by Rabbi Yitzchak Luria Ashkenazi (the holy Ari) changed Jewish and cosmological thought beyond recognition.^[1] Historians and kabbalists alike have at times tended to identify the Kabbalah of the Ari almost exclusively with the enterprise of his central disciple, Rabbi Chaim Vital.^{[2, 3]} Nevertheless, a careful study of the historiography of the Safed circle reveals that the years after the death of the Ari in 1572 were characterized by fierce struggles for authority over the exclusive right to teach and to write down his teaching.^{[2, 3]}

At the center of these struggles stood Rabbi Yosef ibn Tabul, called "the Maaravi" (the Westerner) or "the Mughrabi."^[2] Ibn Tabul, alongside other prominent kabbalists such as Rabbi Israel Sarug, refused to subordinate himself to the total authority of Rabbi Chaim Vital.^[3] Vital demanded an absolute monopoly on the editing of the writings and on their teaching, whereas Ibn Tabul chose to continue teaching independently and to disseminate the teaching of the Ari in writing and orally.^[3] This independent channel of transmission laid the foundation for the alternative Kabbalah of the Ari, which was characterized by a bold and uncensored theological approach, and which spread mainly in the communities of North Africa and Italy.^{[2, 3, 4]}

Biography and Path of Geographical Wandering

The life story of Rabbi Yosef ibn Tabul reflects the cultural and geographical routes of passage that linked the communities of North Africa, the spiritual center in the Land of Israel, and the Egyptian community in the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century.

His North African Origins and the Safed Period

Rabbi Yosef ibn Tabul was born around 1545 in the Maghreb region of North Africa, with many scholarly estimates pointing to the Draa region of Morocco as his presumed place of origin.^[2] This background gave him the epithet by which he is commonly known in the sources, "Rabbi Yosef HaMaaravi" (Rabbi Yosef the Westerner).^{[2, 5]} In the middle of the 16th century he immigrated to the Land of Israel and joined the closed circle of kabbalists in Safed, where he became one of the choicest disciples of the Ari.^{[1, 2]}

After the death of the Ari in 1572, while some of the fellows dispersed in all directions or accepted the leadership of Rabbi Chaim Vital, Ibn Tabul chose to remain in Safed.^{[2, 3]} He established there an independent study hall for Kabbalah and raised prominent disciples, among them Rabbi Shimshon Bak and Rabbi Israel Binyamin.^[2] This activity continued for several decades, while maintaining a Torah standing entirely independent of that of Vital, who in that period moved to Jerusalem and Damascus.^{[2, 3]}

The Egyptian Period and the Burial Traditions

Between 1602–1608 Ibn Tabul moved to Egypt and settled in Alexandria.^[2] The transfer of his residence to Egypt enabled him to disseminate the teaching of the Ari in the vibrant Jewish center of Cairo and Alexandria, where he maintained ties with the local sages.^[2] He died in Alexandria in the summer of 1616, at about 71 years of age.^[2]

Alongside the historical documentation of his death and burial in Egypt, a strong popular tradition has been preserved among the Jews of Tunisia according to which the grave of Rabbi Yosef HaMaaravi lies near the village of El-Tmama in the Gabès district of south-eastern Tunisia.^[2] This tradition attests to the deep spiritual affinity that the Jews of North Africa felt toward the figure of Ibn Tabul, and to the attempt to appropriate his memory for the geographical sphere from which he sprang.

A Synoptic Comparison of the Channels of Transmission of the Kabbalah of the Ari

The theological and textual map of the Kabbalah of the Ari was shaped to a great extent by three parallel channels of transmission run by his prominent disciples, as presented below:

His Thought: The Cathartic Model of the Tzimtzum

The most important intellectual contribution of Rabbi Yosef ibn Tabul lies in his interpretation of the uniqueness of the Lurianic cosmology of the tzimtzum (contraction).^[2] Whereas in the writings of Rabbi Chaim Vital the tzimtzum is presented mainly as a teleological explanation – that is, acts intended from the outset to enable the creation of the world in order to benefit the creatures and to reward the righteous – Ibn Tabul formulates a much deeper and bolder explanation, called in research "the cathartic explanation."^[2]

According to the teaching of Ibn Tabul, before the creation of the worlds the forces of judgment (the gevurot and the tzimtzum) were mixed within the light of the Ein Sof (the Infinite), which was wholly simple mercy.^[2] In order to enable the revelation of absolute mercy and the creation of the purified worlds, God was required to perform an act of catharsis (purification and self-refinement).^[2] By means of the act of the tzimtzum, the harsh roots of judgment were separated out from the divine light and concentrated in a single point, which is the vacated space (ha-chalal ha-panui).^[2]

This concentration of the separated forces of judgment created the foundation for the existence of metaphysical evil in the world.^[2] The task of creation and of man, according to this model, is to work for a continuous cosmic repair (tikkun), whose aim is to sweeten those harsh judgments and return them to their source in a purified form, in the sense of "light that emerges from evil."^[2]

Prominent scholars of Kabbalah, foremost among them Gershom Scholem and Isaiah Tishby, emphasized the enormous importance of Ibn Tabul's writings as preserving an original and uncensored version of the teaching of the Ari.^[2] According to their view, Rabbi Chaim Vital sought to blur and disguise this bold cathartic teaching in his works because he feared its theological implications, since it assumes that the root of judgment and evil preceded the tzimtzum within the Godhead itself.^[2]

In contrast, later scholars, such as Moshe Idel, Yehuda Liebes and Ronit Meroz, proposed reading the differences not as an act of deliberate censorship, but as an expression of the dynamic and layered character of the teaching of the Ari.^[2] In their view, the Ari himself transmitted different traditions and versions to his disciples at different times, and the various writings reflect different stages in the development of his oral thought.^[2]

His Literary Enterprise and the Manuscript Tradition

The scope of the writing of Rabbi Yosef ibn Tabul attests to an extraordinary breadth of Torah horizons. He left behind a series of fundamental works that shaped the kabbalistic library, although they at times suffered from severe problems of attribution because of the dominance of the school of Vital.^{[2, 5]}

Derushei Chefzi Bah

This is the central and best-known kabbalistic work of Ibn Tabul, presenting in a structured and clear way the stages of the tzimtzum and of emanation (atzilut).^{[2, 5]} The homily "Chefzi Bah" was first published in print in Jerusalem in the year 5681 (1921) within the book "Simchat Kohen" by Rabbi Masoud HaKohen Haddad.^[5] Owing to a bibliographic deficiency at that time, the homily was mistakenly attributed in this book to Rabbi Chaim Vital, and only modern manuscript research restored the crown of the true author to the head of Ibn Tabul.^[5]

Further Kabbalistic Works

• "Derushei HaKavvanot": a systematic collection dealing with the kavvanot (mystical intentions) of prayer and of the commandments according to the way of the Ari, which was published and annotated by the kabbalist and bibliographer Yosef Avivi.^[2]
• "Derush HaTanninim": a work analyzing the secret of the creation of the great sea monsters and the accusation of the moon.^[2] The work, which exists in both a long version and a short version, was edited and published by Rabbi Moshe Hillel.^[2]
• "Perush HaIdra Rabba": an in-depth commentary on one of the most obscure and important parts of the Zohar, which constitutes the basis of the Lurianic model of the partzufim (divine configurations), edited by Israel Weinstock.^[2]

Letters of response on the wisdom of Kabbalah: a series of kabbalistic responsa that Ibn Tabul wrote in direct reply to the penetrating questions of Rabbi Avraham Monzon, one of the great sages of Egypt and a judge in Constantinople, who turned simultaneously to him and to Rabbi Chaim Vital in order to clarify intricate topics in the teaching of the Ari.^{[2, 6]}

The Manuscript Tradition in North Africa: The Test Case of the Tunisian Manuscript

Fascinating physical and historical evidence of the dissemination of Ibn Tabul's teaching is found in a unique manuscript of "Sefer HaDerushim" written in Tunis in the 18th century.^[5] This manuscript, whose dimensions are 17X25 centimeters, reflects the way in which his writings were preserved and copied in the communities of the Maghreb.^[5]

The copy includes a combination of Ibn Tabul's "Sefer HaDerushim" alongside selected quotations from the book "Etz Chaim" of Rabbi Chaim Vital, and at its end there is a careful summary of the works of Rabbi Israel Sarug.^[5] This mixture of the three Lurianic schools under one textual roof teaches that for the kabbalists of North Africa the different channels were not perceived as contradicting one another, but as complementary parts of one great cosmic teaching.^[5]

The manuscript is also characterized by unique bibliographic and physical details: owing to a scribal error in the numbering of the folios, folio 18 was omitted from the count, without harming the continuity of the text.^[5] In the margins appear many glosses, the last gloss ending with the signature and the spiritual aspiration of the corrector and copyist: "That I may merit to return and go up to the holy city of Tiberias, may it be rebuilt and established speedily in our days, amen. Aharon Meir Moyal, S"T."^[5]

In addition, in the margins of the manuscript the writer recorded a fascinating personal story describing how he was miraculously saved from an act of sorcery that had been cast upon him.^[5] This detail sheds light on the spiritual and existential world of the copyists of the writings in North Africa, who lived in a sphere in which the boundaries between speculative kabbalistic study and magical practice were extremely fluid.

The Relations with Rabbi Chaim Vital and the Controversy over the Leadership of the Kabbalists

The complex relationship between Rabbi Yosef ibn Tabul and Rabbi Chaim Vital greatly occupies scholars of Kabbalah, and its interpretation ranges over three different historiographical approaches presenting varied social and religious dynamics ^[2]:

• The approach of tension and mutual rivalry: Gershom Scholem points to a severe creative tension and a rivalry that pushed both personalities to the extreme.^[2] Ibn Tabul's rejection of Vital's deed of association (shtar hitkashrut), and his independent activity in Safed while Vital was trying to establish his exclusivity, attest to a real power struggle over the leadership of the Ari's disciples and the shaping of the memory of his teaching.^{[2, 3]}
• The approach of relaxed and collegial relations: Yosef Avivi proposes a more moderate reading of the relations.^[2] He emphasizes that alongside the theoretical differences, the two worked side by side in relative harmony.^[2] Notable evidence of this is their joint and parallel writing of the letters of response to Rabbi Avraham Monzon, which shows that in the face of inquiries from the Diaspora the two knew how to present a coordinated and respectful scholarly front.^[2]
• The approach of reconciliation and spiritual friendship: a unique family tradition passed down from generation to generation in the Ashkenazi-Tabul family, and transmitted by the kabbalist and thinker Rabbi Yehuda Léon Askénazi (Manitou), claims that despite the sharp theological disagreements at the beginning of the way, the two were eventually reconciled and became close friends.^[2]

Manitou himself was raised on the tradition of his ancestor, Rabbi Yosef ibn Tabul, which was transmitted to him in Algeria by his grandfather, the kabbalist and judge Rabbi Chaim Tabul, and by his father Rabbi David Ashkenazi, who was the last chief rabbi of Algerian Jewry.^[7] This family tradition offers a narrative of reconciliation and appeasement, in which the dispute between the two methods is perceived not as a personal rift but as a dispute for the sake of Heaven that unites the two ends of the spectrum of the divine world of emanation.

Ibn Tabul's Legacy in the Mirror of the Generations

The work and Torah teaching of Rabbi Yosef ibn Tabul teach that his thought did not remain enclosed within the walls of the study hall in Safed, but sent out deep roots that influenced the development of Kabbalah in the following generations. The existence of this alternative channel of transmission prevented Lurianic Kabbalah from becoming a monolithic system guided by Vital, and enabled the preservation of a more mythical, dynamic and radical cosmological conception.^{[2, 3]}

The transfer of his writings to North Africa and their preservation among families of kabbalists created a living and vibrant path of tradition, which reached the threshold of modern Jewish thought in the twentieth century.^{[2, 7]} The cathartic model that Ibn Tabul developed offers an essential intellectual tool for coping with the question of the existence of evil in the world, while making evil part of the general process of repair and refinement.^[2] Thanks to the devotion of copyists and correctors to his teaching over the generations, the Kabbalah of the Ari was preserved in all its complex aspects, as living testimony to the spiritual polyphony that characterized the golden age of Safed.^{[2, 5]}