WHO WAS MENAHEM DE LONZANO

Menahem de Lonzano (1550 – 1624) was a scholar who was well- versed in many fields. Born in Italy or in Istanbul, Turkey, he moved to the Land of Israel, first to Jerusalem in 1575, then to Safed, and again toTurkey, Egypt and Italy, only to return to Jerusalem in 1618, where  he died in 1624. Although ill, crippled and almost blind, he was not deterred from composing books in which he attacked his fellow Rabbis. He was therefore often censured, and constantly wandered destitute from one place to the other. He was especially known as a scholar of the Mesorah- a tradition aimed at determining the precise text of the Torah- and was the author of many original compositions related to Jewish sources, Kabbalah, and Hebrew poetry and grammar. 

  • THE BOOK OF "DERUSHIM"

    De Lonzano's manuscript contains "Derushim" or  lessons which he recorded from the writings of two famous Kabbalists from Safed, R. Hayyim Vital and R. Joseph b. Tabul, who passed on the mystical teachings of their teacher, the famous Rabbi Isaac Luria also known as The Ari. The book, 200 pages long, is full of De Lonzano's often quite critical comments. One of the newly discovered lessons, which is especially important, is Luria's Lesson on the Primordial Man as passed on by Rabbi Hayyim Vital.

    De Lonzano, 'Avodat Mikdash' (Temple Worship), manuscript, 1768, NLI
    De Lonzano, 'Avodat Mikdash' (Temple Worship), manuscript, 1768, NLI
    De Lonzano, 'Derushim', detail with 'Bereshit' (Genesis), Fol. 218, detail, NLI
    De Lonzano, 'Derushim', detail with 'Bereshit' (Genesis), Fol. 218, detail, NLI
  • WHAT IS THE LESSON ON THE PRIMORDIAL MAN

    This lecture is a basic exposition of the Ari's philosophy regarding the process of creation.  According to this lecture God began the process of creation by "contracting" (tzimtzum) his infinite light to allow for a vacuum in which finite and seemingly independent realms could exist. At this point, time began and the root of “strict justice” (din) was secreted into this vacuum, mixed with the remnants of the Divine Light still remaining in it. The goal of humanity is to salvage these spiritual lights and in doing so, to bring about the restoration (tikkun) of the spiritual lights which have fallen under the dominion of the forces of evil called “shells” (kelippot).

    The Kabbalistic Cosmos as the Primordial Man, (Isaac Myer)
    The Kabbalistic Cosmos as the Primordial Man, (Isaac Myer)