Rabbi Refael Immanuel Chai Ricchi

Introduction: The Theological and Historical Sphere of Italian Kabbalah in the 18th Century

The eighteenth century confronted the Orthodox world of Torah, and especially the mystical sphere of the Kabbalists of Italy and the Land of Israel, with complex theological and methodological challenges. In the wake of the Sabbatean crisis, an urgent need arose for the reorganization, systematization and defined conceptual consolidation of the hidden teaching, while distancing it from the realms of spiritual anarchy ^{[cite: 1, 2]}. Against this historical and intellectual background stands out the figure of Rabbi Refael Immanuel Chai Ricchi (5447–5503; 1687–1743) ^{[cite: 1]}. As a rabbi, Kabbalist, commentator on the Mishnah, grammarian and liturgical poet, Rabbi Immanuel Chai Ricchi served as a bridge between the meticulous Italian tradition of scholarship and the mystical center of Safed and Jerusalem ^{[cite: 1, 3]}. His literary work not only made the Kabbalah of the Ari accessible to the broad public by means of an unprecedented literary structure, but also gave rise to one of the formative theological controversies of the modern era around the question of the essence of the tzimtzum (divine contraction) ^{[cite: 2, 3]}.

Comprehensive Biography and Life Story: Wanderings, Activity and the Sanctification of God's Name

The life of Rabbi Refael Immanuel Chai Ricchi was a constant chain of geographical movement, existential struggles, personal tragedies and halakhic and spiritual self-sacrifice ^{[cite: 1, 3]}. He was born on 15 Tammuz 5447 (26 June 1687) in the city of Ferrara in the Papal States, to his father Avraham and his mother Miriam ^{[cite: 1]}. While he was still an infant his family moved to Rovigo, his mother's native city ^{[cite: 1]}. At the age of only six he was orphaned of his father, and his maternal uncle, Rabbi Yedidiah Rabbeno, supported the family and raised the orphans ^{[cite: 1]}. At the age of 19 the uncle who supported them died, and Rabbi Immanuel was forced to set out on a long journey of wandering in order to earn his living as a teacher of young children ^{[cite: 1]}.

In the course of his wanderings he came to the city of Fiorenzuola, where he worked as a teacher, and later moved to Florence, where he married Mrs. Miriam ^{[cite: 1, 4]}. From there he moved to Gorizia, where he was ordained to the rabbinate in the year 5477 by Rabbi Hillel Ashkenazi ^{[cite: 4]}. However, his tenure in Gorizia was quickly cut short because of a halakhic dispute of principle; Rabbi Immanuel held the firm position that Ashkenazi Jews should not put on tefillin on the intermediate days of the festivals (chol ha-moed), even if they live within a Sephardic community (in which it was customary to put on tefillin) ^{[cite: 1, 5]}. The local Sephardic community refused to accept this ruling, and because of the tension he was forced to leave his post ^{[cite: 1, 5]}.

After this he came to Venice, where he continued to teach until he fell gravely ill and his students dispersed ^{[cite: 1, 3]}. Upon his recovery he was called to serve as a teacher in Trieste for about four years ^{[cite: 4, 6]}. In Trieste his unique pedagogical ability found expression; in order to illustrate to his students the structure of the Tabernacle and its vessels as they are described in Scripture, he created a three-dimensional model out of cardboard ^{[cite: 1, 5]}. This visual work served as the inspiration for the writing of his first scientific-halakhic work, "Ma'aseh Choshev" ^{[cite: 1, 6]}. In his books Rabbi Immanuel named Rabbi Natan Pincherle (son of Rabbi Yoel), the halakhic authority (moreh hora'ah) in Alessandria della Paglia, as his principal teacher and master in Torah ^{[cite: 1, 3]}.

At the age of thirty (5478) Rabbi Immanuel immigrated to the Land of Israel for the first time and settled in Safed, where he devoted himself to the study of the Kabbalah of the Ari from the original writings ^{[cite: 1, 4]}. In Safed he re-edited the draft of his halakhic work "Dikdukei Aniyut" and gave it the symbolic name "Hon Ashir" ^{[cite: 3, 5]}. His stay in Safed was cruelly cut short after about two years because of a severe plague that raged in the Upper Galilee, in which his daughter died ^{[cite: 4, 5]}. Rabbi Immanuel and his family were forced to flee the Land by ship, but on their way the ship was attacked by pirates ^{[cite: 3, 5]}. He and his family were taken captive to the shores of North Africa, and after forty harrowing days of captivity they were ransomed for a large sum and reached the city of Livorno in Italy ^{[cite: 3, 4, 5]}.

In Italy he was called to serve as rabbi in Florence, a post in which he served for four years (5478–5483) ^{[cite: 4, 5]}. In the year 5483 he decided to retire from the establishment rabbinate and moved to live in Livorno, where he lived for about twelve years and served as head of the "Beit ha-Ne'arim" yeshiva and the "Orach Chaim" yeshiva ^{[cite: 4]}. In this period he composed his monumental work "Mishnat Chasidim" ^{[cite: 3, 5]}. In order to print and distribute his books, Rabbi Immanuel made long journeys throughout the great Jewish communities of Europe and the Ottoman Empire, and visited Amsterdam, London, Constantinople, Salonika and Izmir ^{[cite: 1, 3]}.

At the end of his days he decided to return permanently to the Land of Israel ^{[cite: 1, 3]}. On his way back he stayed for about two years in Aram Tzova (Aleppo) in Syria, where he traded in goods that his partners sent him from Livorno, with the aim of accumulating independent capital that would allow him to study Torah in Jerusalem without becoming a burden on the public ^{[cite: 1, 3]}. After he had achieved his goal, he went up to Jerusalem and settled there ^{[cite: 1, 3]}.

Out of the aspiration to establish in Jerusalem a yeshiva for select students called "Chaverim Makshivim," Rabbi Immanuel again went abroad to raise donations and to print the rest of his manuscripts ^{[cite: 1, 7]}. After about two years of wandering in Europe, while he was making his way back to the Land of Israel, he was attacked by armed robbers (gentile soldiers) on Rosh Chodesh Adar 5503, on the road between Modena and Bologna ^{[cite: 1, 8]}. The murderers tried to force him to transgress his religion and to eat forbidden foods (pork), and when he refused with all his might, they strangled him to death with the straps of his tefillin and robbed the yeshiva funds he had collected ^{[cite: 4, 8]}. His body was found a week later intact and without any sign of decay ^{[cite: 4]}. On 7 Adar 5503 he was brought to burial in Cento near Bologna, where a new tombstone was erected on his grave in 2011 on the basis of ancient municipal burial maps ^{[cite: 1, 4]}.

The Geographical Sphere of Rabbi Immanuel Chai Ricchi

The geographical network woven by the figure of Rabbi Immanuel Chai Ricchi spread over three continents and a large number of countries and communities, as described in the following table:

"Mishnat Chasidim": The Mishnaic Structure of Lurianic Cosmology

Rabbi Immanuel Chai Ricchi's most revolutionary contribution to Jewish thought lies in his Kabbalistic work "Mishnat Chasidim" ^{[cite: 1, 3]}. Until the appearance of this work, the study of the Kabbalah of the Ari was scattered, contained in long and intricate collections (such as the Shemoneh She'arim of Rabbi Chaim Vital) that made it difficult to attain a systematic and comprehensive theological view ^{[cite: 1, 2]}. Rabbi Immanuel solved this pedagogical and structural difficulty by reorganizing Lurianic cosmology, anthropology and practice in the format of the six orders of the Mishnah ^{[cite: 1]}.

The book imitates completely the laconic, concise and authoritative style of the Mishnah of the Tannaim, and it is divided into orders, tractates, chapters and mishnayot ^{[cite: 1]}. This division enabled the student to receive a clear cognitive map of the upper worlds and of the intentions (kavanot) of the commandments ^{[cite: 1, 11]}. The work is divided into three conceptual "keys" ^{[cite: 11, 12]}:

The Key of the Worlds (Part One)

This key is devoted to cosmology and to the order of the chain of descent of existence from the Infinite (Ein Sof) down to the material World of Action (Asiyah) ^{[cite: 2, 13]}. Rabbi Immanuel divided the cosmic stages into orders parallel to those of the Mishnah ^{[cite: 1]}:

• Order Zera'im: deals with the first tzimtzum, the light of the Infinite, the reshimu (residual impression), and the partzufim (configurations) of Adam Kadmon (A"K) and the World of Akudim ^{[cite: 1, 2]}.
• Order Mo'ed: discusses the World of Tikkun (rectification), the breaking of the vessels and the upper partzufim of the World of Atzilut (Emanation) (Atik Yomin, Arikh Anpin, Abba and Imma, and Ze'ir Anpin) ^{[cite: 1, 2]}.
• Order Kodashim: focuses on the lower system of worlds – Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah (BY"A) – and on the manner of their descent from Atzilut ^{[cite: 1, 2]}.
• Order Tohorot: describes the ascent of the worlds on Shabbatot, on festivals and in the time to come ^{[cite: 1]}.

The Key of the Souls (Part Two)

This part focuses on mystical anthropology and psychology, and parallels the Order Nashim of the Mishnah ^{[cite: 1, 13]}. It deals with the structure of the human soul (nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah, yechidah), the manner of its coming into being, the pairings of souls, the sin of Adam and its consequences, the secret of reincarnations (gilgulim), impregnation (ibbur) and spiritual levirate (yibbum) ^{[cite: 1, 14]}.

The Key of the Intentions (Part Three)

A detailed practical guide to all the intentions (kavanot) of prayer and of the commandments throughout the cycle of the year and of life ^{[cite: 11, 15]}. This part parallels mainly the Order Nezikin (which deals with the clarification of the sparks from the husks and the subjugation of the Sitra Achra) and the system of daily and festival kavanot ^{[cite: 1, 13]}.

The Reception of the Book "Mishnat Chasidim" in the World of Torah and Hasidism

The influence of the book "Mishnat Chasidim" was broad and deep, and crossed various communities and schools of thought:

The Attachment of the Baal Shem Tov and His Disciples to the Book

The founder of the Hasidic movement, Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov (the Besht), saw "Mishnat Chasidim" as an authoritative and holy source for understanding the kavanot of the Ari ^{[cite: 3, 16]}. Many Hasidic traditions link the Besht with the study of this book ^{[cite: 16, 17]}. Thus, for example, it is related that the Besht put into practice what is brought in "Mishnat Chasidim" (in the tractate "Tikkun ha-Magefah," chapter 1) concerning the special virtue of the herb "ruta" (rue) (whose numerical value is 216, the number of the letters of the Name of Seventy-Two, and which is an acronym of "Refa'enu Hashem ve-nerafe," "Heal us, O Lord, and we shall be healed") as a protection against plagues ^{[cite: 18, 19, 20]}.

Another Hasidic story describes how Rabbi Eliyahu, a close associate of the Besht, who used to pray with him word for word, noticed that the Besht repeated many times the verse "A horse is a vain thing for safety" during Pesukei de-Zimra ^{[cite: 17]}. Rabbi Eliyahu opened the book "Mishnat Chasidim" to search whether there were special kavanot for this verse, and when he did not find any, he stopped praying at the Besht's pace ^{[cite: 17]}. Later the Besht turned to him and remarked to him that he had abandoned him in the middle of the prayer ^{[cite: 17]}.

Likewise, Ricchi's pedagogical recommendation in "Mishnat Chasidim," according to which a person who refrains for forty consecutive days from idle talk merits the attainment of divine inspiration (ruach ha-kodesh), became a very widespread ethical principle in Hasidic literature and was accepted as a practical way of refining the soul ^{[cite: 21]}.

His Standing among the Circles of the Kabbalists of Vilna and Eastern Europe

The Vilna Gaon (the Gra) studied the book with great care and even composed glosses and comprehensive Kabbalistic explanations on it ^{[cite: 1, 22]}. The disciples of the Gra, headed by Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Shklov, printed their Kabbalistic works interwoven with the Gra's explanations on the pages of "Mishnat Chasidim" ^{[cite: 23]}. Despite the theological controversy over the tzimtzum, the book was accepted as a canonical foundational book in all the yeshivot of the Kabbalists in Europe and in the Land of Israel ^{[cite: 3]}.

The Commentators and Expounders of the Book "Mishnat Chasidim"

Around the unique structure of "Mishnat Chasidim" an extensive commentarial literature developed, intended to connect Rabbi Immanuel's brief words back to their sources in the writings of the Ari and in the Zohar, or to simplify them for young students ^{[cite: 1]}:

• Ta'am Etzo: a comprehensive and profound explanation of the "Key of the Worlds" in the book, composed by the Kabbalist Rabbi Pinchas Eliyahu Horowitz of Vilna (author of "Sefer ha-Brit") ^{[cite: 1, 24]}.
• Maggid Mishneh: a broad commentary on four orders of the Mishnah in the book, by Rabbi Yosef Moshe Eisenberg of Drohobych (or Działoszyce) ^{[cite: 1, 23]}.
• Maggid Sheni: a special explanation devoted to the tractate "Nashim" (which deals with the world of the souls) in "Mishnat Chasidim," composed by Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Leib Frankel ^{[cite: 1]}.
• Beit Sha'ar: comprehensive explanations, notes and sources by Rabbi Michael Bornstein ^{[cite: 1, 25]}.
• Pri ha-Gan: notes, comments and sources on the five orders of "Mishnat Chasidim" (which include the Key of the Worlds and the Key of the Souls), composed in our generation by Rabbi Nir Golan ^{[cite: 1]}.
• Kesef Mishneh: a Kabbalistic explanation by the Kabbalist Rabbi Naftali Hertz HaLevi, rabbi of Jaffa, which explains Ricchi's doctrine in the light of the path of the Gra ^{[cite: 23]}.
• Ateret Yosef: a commentary by Rabbi Yosef, av beit din of Liskova, which was printed alongside editions of the book ^{[cite: 23]}.

The Tzimtzum Controversy: The Thought of "Yosher Levav" versus "Shomer Emunim"

Alongside his pedagogical work in "Mishnat Chasidim," Rabbi Immanuel Chai Ricchi was a daring thinker who defined one of the greatest theological controversies in the history of the Kabbalah ^{[cite: 2, 3]}. In his book "Yosher Levav" (Amsterdam, 5502) Rabbi Immanuel formulated in the most systematic and detailed manner the conception of "literal tzimtzum" (Literal Tzimtzum) ^{[cite: 1, 3]}.

The question of the tzimtzum touches on an existential and theological problem: how was the material world created out of an infinite divinity that filled all of reality ^{[cite: 2, 26]}? In the writings of the Ari it is said that the Creator "contracted Himself to the sides and a vacant space remained," within which the worlds were emanated ^{[cite: 2]}. The Kabbalists disagreed in understanding this definition ^{[cite: 26, 27]}:

The Doctrine of Rabbi Immanuel Chai Ricchi in the Book "Yosher Levav"

Rabbi Immanuel argued that the words of the Ari must be understood literally ^{[cite: 28, 29]}. In his view, the Creator removed His essence and His light in a physical and actual manner from the place of the vacant space, and He governs and supervises the world "from above" by way of individual providence alone ^{[cite: 2, 3]}. Rabbi Immanuel presented two central arguments for his doctrine ^{[cite: 2]}:

Preventing corporealization and desecration of the holy: Ricchi argued that if we assume that the tzimtzum is not literal, and that the infinite divinity continues to be present within this world in all its force, we are forced to assume that the divinity is found also within material, lowly, filthy and despicable things, which constitutes a grave and intolerable degradation of the Creator's exaltedness ^{[cite: 2, 27]}.

Free will as the source of the limitation: In response to the claim that an actual tzimtzum attributes limit and deficiency to God, Ricchi explained that a limit is considered a deficiency only when it stems from the weakness of the thing that is limited ^{[cite: 2]}. However, when the limit is made by the free will of the Creator, who can annul it at any moment He wishes, there is no deficiency in it at all, but rather an expression of His absolute ability ^{[cite: 2, 3]}.

He compared this to a king who looks out of his window at something filthy – the king remains pure and separate in his palace, and only his gaze and his supervision reach the lowly reality outside ^{[cite: 2, 3]}.

The Theological Opposition and the Doctrine of "Non-Literal Tzimtzum"

This conception aroused fierce opposition among thinkers from the stream of metaphysical and Hasidic Kabbalah ^{[cite: 2, 27]}:

Rabbi Yosef Ergas ("Shomer Emunim"): He launched a sharp polemic against his cousin Ricchi, and argued that whoever wishes to understand the tzimtzum literally falls into grave errors of faith that attribute bodily qualities to God, such as place, motion and change ^{[cite: 2, 26]}. Ergas demonstrated that the tzimtzum is nothing but a pedagogical parable for the concealment of the light and not for its actual withdrawal ^{[cite: 26, 29]}.

The Alter Rebbe of Chabad (Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi): He completely rejected the approach of "Yosher Levav" and founded Hasidism on the principle that there is no place devoid of the Shekhinah ("leit atar panui minei," "there is no place devoid of Him") ^{[cite: 3, 27]}. In the Tanya he determined that the opinion that the Creator withdraws and only supervises from above is "the error of some who are wise in their own eyes... they speak without knowledge" ^{[cite: 2, 3, 27]}.

The Gra and his disciples: The Gra sided with a position close to literal tzimtzum (in the sense of the withdrawal of the infinite will and its replacement by limited providence) ^{[cite: 2, 27]}, but his distinguished disciple Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, in his book "Nefesh HaChaim," found a middle path bridging the extremes, emphasizing that from the Creator's side there is no change at all and the tzimtzum exists only from the perspective of the creatures' perception ^{[cite: 2, 27]}.

A Conceptual Comparison of the Schools of Tzimtzum in the 18th Century

The differences between the various doctrines in the tzimtzum controversy are presented in the following table:

The Paradox of the Mutual Approbations

Despite the depth of the theological controversy that divided the world of the Kabbalists into two camps, Rabbi Immanuel Chai Ricchi and Rabbi Yosef Ergas maintained ties of family friendship and enormous mutual esteem ^{[cite: 1]}. A distinct expression of this can be found on the pages of the books themselves: Rabbi Yosef Ergas gave a warm approbation (haskamah) to Ricchi's book "Hon Ashir" ^{[cite: 1]}, while Rabbi Immanuel Chai Ricchi gave an enthusiastic approbation to Ergas's book "Shomer Emunim" ^{[cite: 1]}. This cooperation highlights the splendid culture of Torah discourse of Italian Jewry, in which debates over the attributes of the Divinity and the essence of creation were conducted out of absolute mutual respect and without bans ^{[cite: 1]}.

The Body of Literary Work of Rabbi Immanuel Chai Ricchi

Rabbi Immanuel left behind a rich and varied literary corpus encompassing all parts of the Torah, as detailed in the following table:

His Legacy for the Generations: The "Knesset Yisrael" Yeshiva and the Revival of His Thought

Rabbi Immanuel Chai Ricchi's vision of establishing a great Torah center in Jerusalem did not die with him on the road from Modena to Bologna ^{[cite: 1, 7]}. The large courtyard that Ricchi had purchased within Jerusalem for the purpose of establishing his yeshiva "Chaverim Makshivim" became, a short time after his death, the physical base of one of the most famous yeshivot in the history of the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel ^{[cite: 7, 10]}.

In the year 5502 (1742) the Kabbalist Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar (the holy "Or HaChaim") went up to Jerusalem at the head of a large group of students from Italy and Morocco ^{[cite: 10]}. With the encouragement of the leaders of the Livorno community, who served as financial patrons both of Rabbi Immanuel and of the Or HaChaim, the group settled in the spacious courtyard that Rabbi Immanuel Chai Ricchi had purchased ^{[cite: 3, 10]}. In this place the "Knesset Yisrael" yeshiva (known also as "Midrash Knesset Yisrael") was established, which existed there throughout the 18th and 19th centuries (at least until 1866) ^{[cite: 1, 10]}. Among the great students of the yeshiva in this courtyard were counted the central Kabbalists and halakhic decisors of Jerusalem, among them Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai (the Chida), Rabbi Yonah Navon and Rabbi Yehuda Ayash ^{[cite: 10]}. Today the historic building serves as the "Or HaChaim" synagogue and the Old Yishuv Court Museum in the Old City of Jerusalem ^{[cite: 10]}.

In the twenty-first century the teaching of Rabbi Immanuel Chai Ricchi is enjoying a renewed flourishing ^{[cite: 35, 36]}. Wide-ranging Torah projects have worked on the precise proofreading of manuscripts, the rearrangement of the commentaries and the illuminating design of all his works ^{[cite: 35, 36]}. The publication of the books "Mishnat Chasidim" and "Hon Ashir" in splendid editions enables students from all over the world to become acquainted anew with the clear and systematic teaching of one of the great Kabbalists and scholars of Italian Jewry ^{[cite: 15, 36]}.