The Hidden Master from Warsaw

Rav Ashlag never learned the name of the man who first taught him Kabbalah. The only account of this meeting is in a letter he wrote himself.

He wrote: "On Friday, the twelfth of Cheshvan, 1919, a certain person visited me... I immediately sensed that he was a holy man. He promised to reveal to me the wisdom of Kabbalah in all its facets. I studied under him for about three months...

"As I became more proficient, my saintly master gradually withdrew, until at the end of three months he disappeared altogether. I went looking for him, but could not find him. On the morning of the ninth of Nissan I found him, at which time he revealed to me a deep mystery, which made me ecstatic... Since he appeared to be very faint I stayed with him and did not leave his house. The next day, the tenth of Nissan, 1919, my saintly master passed away.

"He was a prominent Warsaw businessman, admired for integrity, but no one knew that he was a great Kabbalist. He made me promise not to reveal his identity to anyone."