In the Middle Ages and the early modern era, Spain and Italy were important centers of kabbalistic learning. Spain was the birthplace of the systematized Kabbala in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. There the well-known commentaries were written that developed Kabbala into a complete theoretical system. In later centuries, Italy took the place of Spain and became a hub of kabbalistic thought and creativity, chiefly following the school of the Ari, which originated in Safed.

Born in Italy, Rav Menaĥem Recanati (1250–1310) was one of the earliest Italian kabbalists. He wrote Peirush Recanati LaTorah, a kabbalistic commentary on the Torah that cites long passages from the Zohar, some of which would have been unknown today were it not for this work. He also wrote the halakhic work Piskei Recanati, which contains concise halakhic rulings, and the book Ta’amei HaMitzvot. He was known to be an expert in Kabbala and philosophy, and his books influenced many scholars. Some of his works were translated into Latin, and as a result they influenced gentile scholars as well.

From Rav Menaĥem Recanati:

All wisdom is alluded to in the Torah, and there is nothing other than the Torah…. If so, the Holy One, blessed be He, is not separate from the Torah, nor is the Torah separate from Him; there is nothing extrinsic to the Torah. Therefore, the kabbalists said that the Holy One, blessed be He, is the Torah.

Rav Yosef Gikatilla (1248–1310) was born in Castile, Spain, and was a student of Rav Avraham Abulafia. His most influential work was Sha’arei Ora, which explains the names of God and the ten sefirot, the instruments of Creation. He also wrote other works of Kabbala and aggada: Ginat Egoz, on gematriya, the system in which each Hebrew letter is given a numerical value, which often highlights connections, sometimes mystical ones, between words; Sefer HaNikkud, which explains the Hebrew vowel signs in accordance with Kabbala; Kelalei HaMitzvot, a halakhic and aggadic explanation of the mitzvot, arranged alphabetically; and Sefer HaMeshalim, which teaches moral lessons through analogies, such as: “To what is the effect of drinking wine similar? If one drinks a little, this is like when a spy comes to a city, and the inhabitants sense what he is and they are cautious. If one drinks a lot, this is like an enemy conquering the city” (85).

From Rav Yosef Gikatilla:

The early Sages possessed the holy divine names, which they received from the prophets…. Through these names they could create signs and wonders. They did not use them for their own needs, but only when there was a decree against the Jewish people, and it was therefore necessary, or in order to sanctify God’s name…. One must know that each one of these names is like a key, which can access anything a person needs in this world.

Rabbi Yosef Irgas (1685–1730) was born and died in Livorno, Italy. His book Shomer Emunim is an explanation of the foundations of Kabbala. He wrote it in straightforward terms and intended it for the general community. It takes the form of a debate between two individuals: She’altiel, who learns the revealed Torah, namely, Talmud and halakha, and Yehoyada, who believes that one must also learn the mystical aspects of the Torah.

Rabbi Irgas publicly opposed Sabbateanism, a movement that began in the seventeenth century, whose followers proclaimed Shabbetai Tzvi as the messiah. Rabbi Irgas wrote short essays against that movement, called Tokhaĥat Megula and HaTzad Naĥash.

His explanation of tzimtzum, the notion that God contracted Himself in order to create the finite world, was that God’s contraction was not a literal contraction. Rather, God can be found in the world after Creation just as He was found prior to Creation. This went against the explanation of Rabbi Irgas’s teacher, Rabbi Emanuel Hai Ricci, who held that tzimtzum was an actual contraction. This dispute endured; it was even a point of disagreement, to a certain extent, in the famous dispute between the Ba’al Shem Tov and the Vilna Gaon.

From Rabbi Yosef Irgas:

It is true that the foundation of Kabbala is faith in the early Sages, whose wisdom, piety, and traditions we see to be true. But we must not, as a result, prevent ourselves from examining and challenging their words and assumptions. On the contrary; our way is to analyze kabbalistic matters just as we do halakhic matters.

Rabbi Moshe Ĥayyim Luzzatto (1707–1747), a prolific writer, was born in Padua, Italy, and moved to Mantua, and later to Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and ultimately Akko. He is buried in Tiberias. His best-known works of Kabbala are: 138 Pitĥei Ĥokhma, which discusses the foundations of Kabbala; Da’at Tevunot, written as a discussion between the mind and soul; and Ĥoker UMekubal, a proof of the truth of Kabbala.

His most famous works are Mesilat Yesharim, a book of Musar that teaches the reader how to progress from one level to the next in one’s service of God and ultimately attain divine revelation; and Derekh Hashem, which is about the foundations of faith. He also wrote books of logic, rhetoric, and grammar: Leshon Limudim and Sefer HaHigayon, as well as plays written in the Italian dramatic style: Migdal Oz and LaYesharim Tehilla.

Some rabbis of his generation suspected him of heresy and Sabbateanism. He was excommunicated and made to take an oath that he would not study or teach Kabbala, and his works were even confiscated. He earned his living as a diamond cutter. He was eventually suspected of violating his oath, and he was compelled to immigrate to the Land of Israel. He settled in Akko, where he died in a plague.

From Ramĥal:

The foundation of piety, and the root of pure complete service of God, is that one clarifies and ascertains his obligation in this world, and determines where his gaze and purpose need to be directed in all his life’s endeavors.