Yehuda Ashlag

Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, also known as the Ba’al HaSulam, was a rabbi and kabbalist. Born in Poland, he emigrated to Israel in 1921 and was appointed rabbi of Givat Shaul, Jerusalem. He is best known for his work Talmud Eser Sefirot, a commentary on the work of Isaac Luria, as well as HaSulam, a commentary on the Zohar. While Kabbalah was traditionally treated as a body of secrets reserved for elite students, Ashlag believed it held the keys to finding meaning and achieving personal and social reform and should be made accessible to all. He and his students were instrumental in the contemporary popularization of the study of Kabbalah.