Rav Yosef Irgas of Levarno

Early years

Rav Yosef Irgas zt"l, one of the greatest Italian Kabbalists, was born in Livorno (Leghorn), Italy, in 1685. His father, Rav Emanuel Irgas, was the rav of the community.

He studied in his native city at the yeshiva of Rav Shmuel di Fass and became known for his brilliance while still young. He later settled in Pisa, where he founded a yeshiva named Neve Shalom.

Torah and leadership

Rav Yosef was a talmid of Rav Binyamin Kohen of Regio, who had received the tradition from Rav Moshe Zechut, a student of Rav Yisroel Saruk, who was himself a talmid of the Arizal. He was known for his mastery of the revealed Torah, as his responsa, Shu"t Divrei Yosef, show, yet his piety was greater even than his learning. As he grew in saintliness, he received from his rebbes the tradition of the hidden secrets of Kabbalah, and he became a recognized authority in Kabbalistic teaching in his hometown of Livorno.

He is also remembered for his struggle against the Sabbateans, the followers of the false messiah Shabsai Tzvi, and above all against the false Kabbalist Nechemia Chiya Chayun. Chayun presented himself as an elder Kabbalist and a master of rabbis from Eretz Yisroel, dressed in white and wearing a long white beard. He distributed amulets together with his sefer Mehemenusa D'Kola, which disguised his real aim, to spread the teachings of Shabsai Tzvi under a new name.

Although Rav Yosef was only half Chayun's age, he saw through the deception and exposed it. His reputation was strong enough that Chayun was driven out of Livorno in disgrace. Chayun then went from town to town and misled many Jews, even Rav Naftali HaKohen Katz of Prague, the Semichas Chachamim. When the Chacham Tzvi discovered the deception, he wrote to Rav Naftali, who realized that he had been fooled and withdrew all his earlier support. By then Chayun had reached Amsterdam, where he stirred up a dispute against the Chacham Tzvi himself and wrote many harsh letters and treatises against the rabbanim who opposed him.

Rav Yosef took up the challenge again, in defense of the honor of the Torah and of true Kabbalah. He denounced Chayun in a series of seforim, among them Tochachas Megula (An Open and Revealed Rebuke) and Tzad Nachash (Hunting the Serpent), in which he exposed his false claims. In time Chayun was driven out of Amsterdam as well, and word spread that he was a liar and a wicked man. He then threatened the Jewish communities that if they withdrew their financial support, he would convert publicly to Christianity and inform against them. His own end is unknown, but his son did convert and became an informer against Jews and a denouncer of Torah.

Teachings and seforim

Rav Yosef is best known for Shomer Emunim HaKadmon, a major work of Kabbalah written in the form of an argument, in which he explains Kabbalistic concepts and defends them against their critics. In it he disputes with Rav Emanuel Chai Riki on the nature of tzimtzum (the Divine contraction), taking the opposite side. The sefer is regarded as a basic work of Kabbalah. It is called HaKadmon (the ancient) to tell it apart from another sefer named Shomer Emunim, written by Rav Aharon Rata.

His other seforim include Shu"t Divrei Yosef, his responsa, Mavo Pesachim, and Minchas Yosef on Kabbalah, as well as an introduction and rules for studying the writings of the Arizal. He also wrote Tochachas Megula and Tzad Nachash against Chayun and the Sabbateans.

Later years and passing

Rav Yosef passed away in Livorno on 3 Sivan 5490 (1730), at the age of forty-five. His talmid, Rav Malachi, collected and edited his writings and helped bring the works of his rebbe into the form that we have today.