1. Baal HaSulam, "Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot", No. 8
Come and see how grateful we should be to our teachers, who impart us their sacred lights and dedicate their souls to do good to our souls. They stand in the middle between the path of harsh torments and the path of repentance. They save us from the netherworld, which is harder than death, and accustom us to reach the heavenly pleasures, the sublime gentleness and the pleasantness that is our share, ready and waiting for us from the very beginning, as we have said above. Each of them operates in his generation, according to the power of the light of his teaching and sanctity.
Our sages have already said, “You have not a generation without such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Indeed, that Godly man, Rav [teacher/great one] Isaac Luria [the ARI], troubled and provided us the fullest measure. He did wondrously more than his predecessors, and if I had a tongue that praises, I would praise that day when his wisdom appeared almost as the day when the Torah was given to Israel.
2. Baal HaSulam, "Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot", No. 8
There are not enough words to measure his holy work in our favor. The doors of attainment were locked and bolted, and he came and opened them for us. […] You find a thirty-eight-year-old who subdued with his wisdom all his predecessors through the Ge'onim [pl. for genius] and through all times. All the elders of the land, the gallant shepherds, friends and disciples of the Godly sage, the RAMAK, stood before him as disciples before the Rav.
All the sages of the generations following them to this day, none missing, have abandoned all the books and compositions that precede him: the Kabbalah of the RAMAK, the Kabbalah of the Rishonim [first], and the Kabbalah of the Ge'onim, blessed be the memory of them all. They have attached their spiritual life entirely and solely to his Holy Wisdom.
3. The RAMAK about the ARI
Know that there is one man who is sitting here, who will rise after me and enlighten the eyes of the generation in the wisdom of Kabbalah. For in my days, the channels were concealed, and in his days, the channels will be revealed. Know that he is a great man, a spark of the RASHBY (Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai).
4. Sefer Habrit HaShalem, Part 2, Article No. 12, Chapter 5
Know for certain that not as in the early generations and the first days that were in the fifth millennium, since in those days, the gates of this wisdom were closed and locked. For this reason, there were only few Kabbalists. It is not so in this sixth millennium, when the gates of light have been opened, the gates of mercy. Now it is of great contentment to the Creator to make known the glory of His kingdom forever and ever, especially now that all the holy writings of the ARI have been printed. He had opened for us the gates of light that had been closed and sealed by a thousand locks since days of old, and all his words are the words of the living God from the mouth of Elijah the prophet, and by his permission he revealed what he had revealed. Now there is no obstacle or danger, just as in the revealed.
5. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 38
I heard from the ADMOR of Kalshin. In earlier times, one had to first obtain all seven external teachings, called “the seven maidens that serve the king’s daughter,” as well as terrible mortification. And yet, not many gained favor in the eyes of the Creator. But since we have been rewarded with the teachings of the ARI and the work-ways of the Baal Shem Tov, it is truly possible for anyone, and the above preparations are no longer necessary.
6. Rav Chaim Vital, Pri Etz Chaim, Gate “Conducts of Learning,” Chapter 1
My teacher would say that the heart of the intention of reading in the Torah depends on aiming to connect one’s heart to its root through the Torah in order to complete the upper tree and complete the upper Adam [man] and correct him, for this is the whole purpose of man’s creation and the purpose of his engagement in the Torah.
7. Rav Chaim Vital, Shaar HaGilgulim, Introduction, 38
My teacher cautioned me and all the friends who were with him in that society to take upon ourselves the commandment to-do of “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and to aim to love each one from Israel as his own soul, for by this his prayer would rise comprising all of Israel and will be able to ascend and make a correction above. Especially, our love of friends, each and every one of us should include himself as though he is an organ of those friends. My teacher sternly cautioned me about this matter.
8. From the book, Praises of the ARI
One day, on the eve of Shabbat [Sabbath], the ARI went with his disciples for Kabbalat Shabbat [service beginning the Sabbath] as was his custom. He said to the friends: “Let us go now to Jerusalem […] and build the Temple, and make an offering of Shabbat, for I see that this time is truly the time of redemption. Some of the friends said, ‘How will we go to Jerusalem at this time, It is more than thirty parsas away (approx. 115 km)?’ Others said, ‘Very well, we are willing to go with you, but first we will go let our wives know so they will not worry about us, and then we will go.’” Then the Rav cried out and said to the friends, “How did the slandering of Satan succeed in revoking the redemption of Israel? I testify before Heaven and Earth that since the time of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai until today there has not been a better time for redemption than this time. Had you admitted this, we would have had the Temple, and the outcasts of Israel would have gathered into Jerusalem. Now the time had passed and Israel went into exile once again.” When the friends heard this, they regretted what they had done, but it did not help them.
9. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 39
At the time of his passing, Rav Chaim Vital was not by his side [the ARI’s]. These are his words verbatim: “Rav Itzhak HaCohen told me that at the time of my teacher’s passing, when I came out of his room, he (Rav Itzhak HaCohen) entered and cried before him saying, ‘Is this the hope that we all hoped in your life—to see great good, Torah, and wisdom in the world?’ He replied to him, ‘If I found even one complete righteous among you, I would not be taken away prematurely.’ While saying it, he asked about me (about Rav Chaim Vital). He said, ‘Where did Chaim go? Has he left me at such a time?’ He was very saddened. He understood from his words that he had some secret to pass on to me, so he (Rav Itzhak HaCohen) said to him, ‘What shall we do from now on?’ He (the ARI) replied: ‘Tell the friends in my name that from this day on they are not to engage at all in this wisdom that I taught, for they did not understand it properly. Only Rav Chaim Vital shall engage in it, alone, in a whisper, and in hiding.’ He (Rav Itzhak HaCohen) said, ‘But is there no hope at all?’ He said, ‘If you merit, I will come to you and teach you.’ He replied to him, ‘How will you come and teach us if you are now departing from this world?’ He replied, ‘You have no knowledge of the concealed, of how my coming to you will be,’ and he promptly passed away.”
10. Baal HaSulam. Letter 39
Know for certain that since the time of the ARI to this day, there has not been anyone who understood the method of the ARI to the fullest, as it was easier to attain a mind twice as great and twice as holy than the ARI’s than to understand his method in which many hands fiddled—from the one who first heard and wrote them through the last compilers, while they still did not attain the matters as they are in their upper root. Thus, each inverted and confused the matters.And now, by the Creator’s will, I have been rewarded with a conception [impregnation] of the soul of the ARI, not because of my good deeds but by a higher will. It is beyond me, too, why I have been chosen for this wonderful soul, with which no one has been granted since his passing until today. I cannot elaborate on this matter as it is not my way to discuss the concealed.
11. Baal HaSulam, "The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence"
I am glad that I have been born in such a generation when it is permitted to disclose the wisdom of truth. And should you ask how I know that it is permitted, I will reply that it is because I have been given permission to disclose. That is, until now, the ways by which it is possible to publicly engage and to fully explain each word have not been revealed to any sage [...] And this is what the Creator has given me to the fullest extent. We deem it as dependent not on the greatness of the sage, but on the state of the generation, as our sages said, “Little Samuel was worthy, etc., but his generation was unworthy.” This is why I said that my being rewarded with the manner of disclosing the wisdom is only because of my generation.
12. Baal HaSulam, "Introduction to The Book of Zohar", Letter 58
Faith has diminished in general, faith in the holy ones, the sages of the generations in particular, and the books of Kabbalah and The Zohar are full of corporeal parables. Hence, people are afraid lest they will lose more than they will gain since they could easily fail with materializing. This is what prompted me to compose a sufficient interpretation on the writings of the Ari, and now on The Zohar. And I have completely removed that concern, for I have evidently explained and proven the spiritual meaning of every thing, that it is abstract and devoid of any corporeal image, above space and above time, as the readers will see, to allow the whole of Israel to study The Book of Zohar and be warmed by its sacred light.
13.
Baal
HaSulam.
TES.
Part
4.
Inner
Reflection,
90
Know,
that
knowing
this
wisdom
depends
mostly
on
knowing
the
order
of
the
concatenation
of
the
Sefirot
and
the
Partzufim
in
the
Olamot
from
one
another
by
absolutely
necessary
cause
and
consequence.
The
sages
of
the
Zohar
explained
this
in
an
intimation,
but
no
one
understood
their
words
until
the
Ari
came
and
revealed
the
matters.
Know also that the whole innovation in the Kabbalah of the Ari, with respect to previous interpreters, is primarily in the disclosure of the Eser Sefirot de Ohr Hozer. Although the Eser Sefirot de Ohr Hozer in general were known to all the prior Kabbalists, their primary attainment and understanding was only according to the conducts in the Eser Sefirot de Ohr Yashar. When the Ari came and explained to us the knowledge in the ways of the Ohr Hozer in their every detail, he thus opened before us the hidden treasures, locked in the Holy book of Zohar.
14. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 102, "And You Shall Take You the Fruit of a Citrus Tree"
The ARI being Messiah Son of Joseph, which is why he could reveal such wisdom, since he had permission from the revealed world.
15. Baal HaSulam, "Disclosing a Portion, Covering Two"
Since the time of Rashbi and his disciples, the authors of The Zohar, until the time of the ARI there was not a single writer who understood the words of The Zohar and the Tikkunim [corrections] like the ARI. All the compositions before his time are mere inklings in this wisdom, including the books of the sage RAMAK.
And the same words that were said about the Rashbi should be said about the ARI himself—that his predecessors were not given permission from above to disclose the interpretations of the wisdom, and the ARI was given this permission. This does not distinguish any greatness or smallness at all, since it is possible that the merit of the ARI’s predecessors was much greater than his, but they were not given permission for it. For this reason, they refrained from writing commentaries that relate to the essence of the wisdom, but settled for brief intimations that were not in any way linked to one another.
Therefore, since the books of the ARI appeared in the world, all who study the wisdom of Kabbalah have left their hands from all the books of the RAMAK, and all the first and the great ones who preceded the ARI, as it is known among those who engage in this wisdom. They have attached their spiritual lives solely to the writings of the ARI in a way that the essential books, considered proper interpretations in this wisdom, are only The Book of Zohar, the Tikkunim, and following them, the books of the ARI.
16. Baal HaSulam," Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot", No. 9
We are privileged by Him to have been rewarded with the spirit of The Baal Shem Tov, whose greatness and sanctity are beyond any word and any utterance. He was not gazed upon and will not be gazed upon, except by those worthy that had served under his light, and they, too, only intermittently, each according to what he received in his heart.
It is true that the light of his Torah and Holy Wisdom are built primarily on the holy foundations of the ARI. However, they are not at all similar. I shall explain this with an allegory of a person drowning in the river, rising and sinking as drowning people do. Sometimes, only the hair is visible, and then a counsel is sought to catch him by his head. Other times, his body appears as well, and then a counsel is sought to catch him from opposite his heart.
So is the matter before us. After Israel has drowned in the evil waters of the exile among the nations, since then until now they rise and fall, and not all times are the same. At the time of the ARI, only the head was visible. Hence, the ARI had troubled in our favor to save us through the mind. At the time of The Baal Shem Tov, there was relief. Hence, it was a blessing for us to save us from opposite the heart, and that was a great and true salvation for us.
17. The Ari, The Tree of Life, Part One, Gate One
The Tree of Life – a Poem
Behold that before the emanations were emanated and the creatures were created,
The Upper Simple Light had filled the whole existence.
And there was no vacancy, such as an empty air, a hollow,
But all was filled with that Simple, Boundless Light.
And there was no such part as head, or end,
But everything was One, Simple Light, balanced evenly and equally,
And it was called “the Light of Ein Sof (Infinity).”
And when upon His simple will, came the desire to create the worlds and emanate the emanations,
To bring to light the perfection of His deeds, His names, His appellations,
Which was the cause of the creation of the worlds,
Then the Ein Sof restricted Himself, in His middle point, precisely at the center,
And He restricted that Light, and drew far off to the sides around that middle point.
And there remained an empty space, an empty air, a vacuum
Precisely from the middle point.
And that restriction was equally around that empty, middle point,
So that the space was evenly circled around it.
And after the restriction, when the vacant space remained empty
Precisely in the middle of the Light of Ein Sof,
A place was formed, where the Emanations, Creations, Formations, and Actions might reside.
Then from the Light of Ein Sof, a single line hung down from Above, lowered into that space.
And through that line, He emanated, created, formed, and made all the worlds.
Prior to these four worlds, there was one Light of Ein Sof, whose Name is One, in wondrous, hidden unity,
And even in the angels closest to Him
There is no force and no attainment in The Ein Sof,
As there is no mind of a created that could attain Him,
For He has no place, no boundary, no name.