{ "language": "en", "title": "Sha'arei Kedusha", "versionSource": "https://www.sefaria.org", "versionTitle": "Sefaria Community Translation", "actualLanguage": "en", "languageFamilyName": "english", "isBaseText": false, "isSource": false, "direction": "ltr", "heTitle": "שערי קדושה", "categories": [ "Kabbalah", "Arizal and Chaim Vital" ], "text": { "Introduction": [ "Thus said the young Chayyim son of the honorable Rabbi Yoseph Vital ZLH\"H (may his memory be for life in the world to come).", "I saw ascenders (mystical students), and they were few, craving to ascend, and the ladder was hidden from their eyes, and they contemplated the primordial books, to seek and find ways of life, the path they would go and the work that they would do, to raise their souls to its lofty root, and to cleave to the Blessed One, for he is the permanent wholeness in the same way as the prophets (OR that is the fulfillment of Netzach - one of the qabbalistic pillars of prophecy - in the way of the prophets), for all their days they were cleaved to their creator, and by this cleaving she, the Holy Spirit, ministered to them, to teach them what is the way they would bring down (lit. seat) light, to light up their eyes with the secrets of Torah, as David the King, peace be upon him, prayed, \"uncover my eyes and I will behold wonder from your Torah,\" and to teach them the right path, to go to the city dwelling prepared from them with the ascenders, and after them came the first Hasidim, called \"Separated ones,\" and they sought to follow on the heels of prophets and their circles, and to imitate them, in the rocky caves and wildernesses, and they separated themselves from the ways of human beings, and some of them cloistered in their houses as if they were in the wilderness, all day and all night continually and unceasing, praising their creator with immersion in Torah, and with songs of David the King peace be upon him, which are gladdening to the heart, until it [the heart] would cleave their contemplations with strength and vigorous zeal to the supernal lights. They continued like this all their days, until the ascended to the rung of the Holy Spirit, and they prophesied and did not cease, as Targum Onqelos says, \"and they did not break.\" And even though each individuals experience was different, we have not found a guideline or handbook which describes how these holy ones served Hashem Yisborach in order that we can too:", "Therefore, the hearts have been weakened, as have the knowledge, of the generations that follow, and no longer are there masters of Divine Inspiration. They traveled to their resting places (passed away), and left us sighing, hungry and thirsty, until despair as grown within man [holding them] from seeking this awesome wisdom. And if a few grains can be found within the bushes, one in a city or two in a family, who seek out water and it is not found, because all vision has been blocked, for sole reason that a practical guide has not been written to approach the holy and enter:", "There were also those who would make oaths with the power of holy names of angels, they hoped for light but behold darkness, because they were very low-level angels, who were appointed on the work of this world, and they are composed of good and evil, they themselves [the angels] will not grasp the truth and the supernal lights, rather they reveal to them mixed up revelations, [a mixture of] good and evil, truth and falsehood, false healing techniques, alchemy, sorcery, actions through charms, and oaths. These people (are likened to those who) have gone wrong with wine, and astray with beer. If only their hearts would have brought them to toil in torah and mitzvos. They should have learned from the concept of \"kal v'chomer\" (all the more so) from the 4 great leaders of Israel who entered the Pardes (lit. garden - the upper realms) and not one was spared except for the great \"saba kadisha\" holy one Rabi Akivah (and even him, the ministering angels tried the harm him, if not for Hashems help), he entered in peace and left in peace:", "The truth is, that they sought high levels, close to prophecy, and therefore took risks. However, for us, if only we would merit a small amount (low-level) of Ruach Hakodesh, like the revelation of Elija the Prophet z\"l, who many have merited, as is known, and (the level of) revelation of the souls of tzaddikim, as is mentioned many times in the tikunim (tikunei hazohar). Not only that (not only in the times of the zohar), but even in this day and age I've seen holy people who have attained all this. There are those for whom their own awesome soul, through extreme purification, would be revealed to them, and will guide him in all his ways. And all of these close paths can be attained even in this day and age to those who are fit for them. However, a person needs to go through many tests, trials, and tribulations, to come to the Truth, because perhaps a strange and impure would come to him (while he thinks it is pure and true). All that will be explained in the third part of this book in the eighth gate:", "Therefore, the spirit of my soul has justified for me to permit [this wisdom] to the separated ones, to support their struggle, to teach them the path. With that intent I put together this book, it's small in quantity but great in quality, the wise will be enlightened. I called the book \"Shaarei Kedusha\" the Gates of Holiness, in it I will reveals secrets, that the generations before us did not lay out, for I have received all this from the mouth of a holy man, an angel of God, my master the Ari Luria z\"l (Arizal). But since they are the secrets of the world, and hidden wonders, I will reveal and handsbreath but conceal 2000 amot (about a km), I will force open (or barely open) the gates of holiness, a crack the size of a needle, and whoever is fit will merit entering deeply within. Hashem who is Good will not hold back good from those who walk with sincerity. ", "Its partition is four parts:", "The First Part, instruction on the path of Hassidut and Pirshut (Interpretation), which is brought about by the agency of the Holy Spirit, and it is further divided into six gates. The Second Part, rebukes, and elucidation of the punishment and the reward for positive and negative mitzvot (commandments), and it is divided into seven gates. The Third Part, instruction on attainment to the Holy Spirit itself, and it is divided into eight gates. The Fourth Part, the operations of yichudim (unifications) themselves, whereby one will attain to the Holy Spirit, which I have examined, tried and perfected on my own.", "", "The First Part is divided into six gates. The first, to make known the enormity of the defect caused by human sin relative to the mitzvot. The second, how the defect is perpetuated by various middot (emotional characteristics or intelligences). The third, explanation of a righteous or beloved name. The fourth, explanation of the level of the tzaddiq (righteous person, saint) in detail. The fifth, explanation of the level of the hasid (beloved or loyal person) in detail. The sixth, a very brief explanation of the meditation of hasids, summarizing each of the gates which are in this part.", "The Second Part..." ], "Part 1": { "": [ [ "The first part:", "The first gate on the explanation of the defect caused by human sins relative to the mitzvot.", "", "", "It is found that the human body is fashioned from four mundane foundations (or elements), and they include both good and bad, and the human body is frashioned from the good that is within four foundations - fire, wind (air), water, dust (earth), their fashioning from the bad that is in them is fashioned from four biles which are - the white (phlegm), the black (black bile), the red (choler), and the yellow (yellow bile). Whenever any one of them is overpowered by the bad that is in them, according to the corresponding good that is within them, then sicknesses and plagues afflict the human being, and if it is overpowered too much, the human body will die. " ], [], [], [ "The fourth gate", "The explanation of the level of the tzadik in detail", "And one should be diligent with all one's strength to fulfill as much as possible of the 613 mitzvot at this moment in time. And since there are many opinions on how to count the mitzvot, I will order them first in the opinion of the Rambam, z\"l, and afterwards what other commentators added, as well as the Zohar, whether they are positive mitzvot from the Torah or of the rabbis, and I will divide them in 5 parts.", "The first part are the mitzvot that happen in the times of prayer on weekdays. The second are mitzvot dependent on time. The third are mitzvot that a person needs a certain circumstance to happen to fulfill them. The fourth are mitzvot that a person needs to pursue them in order to fulfill them. The fifth are mitzvot that a person can only fulfill them if the Holy One of Blessing brings them to that person's hand.", "The first [part of mitzvot] is to know that there is a Name of the Deity in the verse \"Listen, Israel, Hashem is our God\". To unify that Name when one says \"Hashem is One.\" And to make tzitzit and wrap oneself in them. And to tie tefilin both in the opinions of Rashi and Rabeinu Tam. And touch frequently the tefilin of the head. To tie the tefilah of the arm in the proper way. To read the Shema twice a day. To pray every day the 18 blessings. To remember every day what Amalek did to us, as one says \"amen yehe shemeh rabba\" as it is written \"because a hand in the throne of Y'ah\" and when one says \"and you brought us to Your Great Name\". ", "To confess every day after the Amidah and the brachah \"Listen to our voice\". And the kohanim should bless Israel every day.", "The second [part of mitzvot] is to sanctify Shabbat with wine on its entrance and with havdalah on its exit. And to stop working on Shabbat. To cancel the chametz from its returning on the night of the 14th of Nisan. To tell the exodus from Egypt in the Haggadah on the first night of Pesach. To stop working on the first day of Pesach. To eat matzah on the first day of Pesach. To stop on the seventh day of Pesach. To be happy on the three pilgrimage festivals, Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot, and to cause his wife, his children and the poor to rejoice, each with what is appropriate [to their case]. To count the Counting of the Omer for 49 full days from the beginning of the night of the 16th of Nissan. To stop on the Festival of Shavuot. To stop on Rosh Hashanah. To listen to the voice of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. To stop on Yom Kippur. To afflict oneself on Yom Kippur. To stop on the first day of Sukkot. To stop on the day of Shemini Atzeret. To sit in the Sukkah for the seven days of the festival. To wave the lulav and its species, [they should be] kosher, on the festival of the first day of Sukkot." ] ] }, "Part 2": { "": [ [ "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "How can you avert your gaze from death while it coils like a snake around your heel—while each night you lie like a corpse in bed, rehearsing the true death. Death is connected to the totafot between your eyes, it is like the slumber weighing down your eyelids. When you sleep, it watches over you; when you awaken, your eyes flick away from it to gaze upon the nonsenses of the world—money that isn’t yours, pleasures that aren’t yours, power that isn’t yours, a world that isn’t yours.\n" ], [] ] }, "Part 3": { "": [] }, "Part 4": { "": [] } }, "schema": { "heTitle": "שערי קדושה", "enTitle": "Sha'arei Kedusha", "key": "Sha'arei Kedusha", "nodes": [ { "heTitle": "הקדמה", "enTitle": "Introduction" }, { "heTitle": "חלק א", "enTitle": "Part 1", "nodes": [ { "heTitle": "", "enTitle": "" } ] }, { "heTitle": "חלק ב", "enTitle": "Part 2", "nodes": [ { "heTitle": "", "enTitle": "" } ] }, { "heTitle": "חלק ג", "enTitle": "Part 3", "nodes": [ { "heTitle": "", "enTitle": "" } ] }, { "heTitle": "חלק ד", "enTitle": "Part 4", "nodes": [ { "heTitle": "", "enTitle": "" } ] } ] } }