Rabbi Chaim Vital, a prominent Safed kabbalist in the 16th through 17th centuries, is best known for recording and editing the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria, better known as the Arizal, a founder of modern Kabbalah. Chaim Vital’s youngest son, Rabbi Samuel Vital, organized a collection of his father’s writings into eight “gates,” each of which “opens” up a particular topic. The third of these is Sha’ar Ma’amarei Razal (Gate of the Sayings of the Sages), kabbalistic expositions on a selection of passages from the Talmud and Midrash.