Q&A: Sources for Examples of Delusions in the Writings of the Ari and His Student
Sources for Examples of Delusions in the Writings of the Ari and His Student
Question
Hello Rabbi. In the past I asked a question here: https://mikyab.net/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%A4%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%9E%D7%96%D7%A2%D7%96%D7%A2%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%91%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%91%D7%99-%D7%94%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%B4%D7%99/
I don’t know whether it’s possible to keep commenting on that same thread after time has passed, so I’m opening a new question.
There you answered that although you don’t know the quotation that was brought, there are things of that kind in the words of the Ari, so it’s reasonable that this is there too.
I wanted to ask where the Rabbi saw other things like this in the writings of the Ari himself (or Rabbi Chaim Vital)? After checking that source carefully (Toledot HaAri and Sefer HaPe’ulot), it seems that these sources are not reliable at all, and that there is really no source for these things. Sefer HaPe’ulot is a nonsense book that is not by Rabbi Chaim Vital, and explicit Torah prohibitions are written there, such as shaving with a razor.
Toledot HaAri by Meir Benayahu (the rabbi?) is, all in all, just a scholar’s book, and even he himself claims that it is based on letters that are not by the Ari and not by Rabbi Chaim Vital, but by someone named Rabbi Shlomil, and there is great doubt as to who he even was.
Therefore I would be glad to know which other examples like these the Rabbi knows of that have a verified and authoritative source.
Answer
The topic does not interest me, and I see no point in discussing it. In the future, comment in the original thread.
I’m not asking to discuss it; I only wanted to know what you meant when you said that there are such things there. I’m not trying to challenge you; I just want to be exposed to more examples like these, if there are any.