About This Text
Author: Chaim Vital
Composed: c.1570 – c.1620 CE
Rabbi Chaim Vital, a prominent Safed kabbalist in the 16th-17th centuries, is best known for recording and editing the teachings of the Arizal (Rabbi Isaac Luria, a founder of modern kabbalah). Chaim Vital’s son, Rabbi Shmuel Vital, organized a collection of his father’s writings into eight “gates,” each of which “opens” up a particular topic. The eighth of these is Sha’ar HaGilgulim (Gate of Cycles), a discussion of the mystical concept of reincarnation known as “gilgul” and related topics, such as reward and punishment.