הרדב״ז

The Radbaz, Rabbi David ben Zimra, is the leader of Egyptian Jewry in the generation after the expulsion from Spain, and one who united in his hand law, Kabbalah and communal leadership. Expelled from Spain as a child, he wandered to Safed and to Egypt, and in Cairo stood at the head of the community for decades, a decisor and leader to whom people turned from all the lands of the East.

His thousands of responsa are spread across every question in the world, from monetary law to the secrets of Kabbalah. But one of them is famous above all: when asked about a Jew required to violate a 'be killed rather than transgress' law in order to save his fellow, the Radbaz answered with the eternal phrase 'her ways are ways of pleasantness,' that the whole Torah is peace and pleasantness, and this is a key to understanding all of it.

At the end of his days, when he was already exceedingly old, he left Egypt and went up to Safed, to be in the Land of Israel. Even after a whole life of leadership in the diaspora, his heart drew him to the Land, and he spent his final years among the kabbalists of Safed, closing a circle that had opened with the expulsion.

What do we learn from him? That a great leader holds together the dry ruling and the secret of Kabbalah, and both out of 'ways of pleasantness.' The Radbaz teaches that all of the law strives toward peace and kindness, and that even after a whole life in the diaspora, the longing for the Land of Israel does not fade but intensifies, until a person rises and ascends.