Meeting the Ohr HaChaim

There are different traditions about how and when Rav Gershon of Kitov met Rav Chaim ben Attar, the Ohr HaChaim, in Eretz Yisroel. One account says that after the chumashim Ohr HaChaim were printed in Venice in 5502, they reached the Baal Shem Tov, who rejoiced in them. He found an author whose heart and soul burned with emotion for avodas Hashem, and he sent his brother-in-law to visit the yeshivah of Rav Chaim ben Attar in Yerushalayim.

The Baal Shem Tov told Rav Gershon that the Ohr HaChaim had two yeshivos, one where they learned nigleh (the revealed Torah) and one for nistar (the hidden secrets of Kabbalah). He told him to try to attend the second, and not to reveal who he was, until the Ohr HaChaim sensed it and understood on his own.

When Rav Gershon arrived, he asked permission to hear a derasha from the Ohr HaChaim and learned in the yeshivah for nigleh for about a week. Then he asked to be admitted to the yeshivah for Kabbalah. "Who told you that I have a yeshivah for nistar?" the Ohr HaChaim asked. Rav Gershon answered that his brother-in-law, the Baal Shem, had told him. The Ohr HaChaim did not know him, but he examined Rav Gershon from head to toe and declared him fit to learn Kabbalah.

After three days of learning there, the Ohr HaChaim sent word that Rav Gershon should not return, and his way was blocked at the entrance. When Rav Gershon went to the Rav's house to ask why, the Ohr HaChaim saw him and said, "I am angry at you. Why did you not say that your brother-in-law is the Baal Shem Tov? You said only, 'Rav Yisroel Baal Shem.' I do not know any Rav Yisroel Baal Shem, but I know the Baal Shem Tov. I know him from seeing him in the supernal worlds." He explained that a person who already has the Baal Shem Tov needs no other Rebbe or Rav, and he did not allow Rav Gershon back into the yeshivah.