Etz Chaim (Hebrew: עץ חיים, "Tree of Life") is aliterary work that deals with theKabbalah, written in 1573. It is a summary of the teachings of theRabbiIsaac Luria, theArizal (1534-1572), a rabbi and a kabbalist who led a study group on Kabbalah in the city ofSafed, inindigenous Israel.[1]
Luria did not publish any works of his own.Etz Chaim was compiled by his student and disciple, RabbiChaim Vital, who wrote down the lessons taught by Luria to his study group on Kabbalah.[citation needed]
The book talks about the divine order and the existence of things, and deals withrevelation and the perception ofreality by human beings. The first fragment of the book makes reference to thetree of life, which gives the book its name: "You know, before the beginning of the Creation there was only the highest and fullest light. The description of the creation process starts from that point, especially."[This quote needs a citation]
The book marks the beginning of the school of thought known as theLurianic Kabbalah.[2] Before Luria, Kabbalists revealed the development of reality from its origin to our world (from the understandable light). According to Rabbi Chaim Vital, Luria discovered a method to better understand this reality.
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