“Prayer is the instrument with which the soul repairs the worlds that she fractured it.”
— Central principle of the system of the Rashash, where each prayer acts as a tikún (repair).

Shalom Sharabi (“the Rashash”): life, work and teachings — complete Study

1) Identity and context

Shalom Mizraḥi Deyedi'to Sharabi (1720-18 January 1777), known as Sar Shalom or Rashash (acronym Rabbi Shalom Sharabi), was a rabbi and kabbalist yemeni which became the rector of the Yeshiva of the mekubalim Beit El in Jerusalem (then under the Ottoman Empire). He is buried in the Mount of Olives, and his yahrtzait it commemorates the 10'shevat.

Born in Shar'ab as-Salam (Yemen)he emigrated to the Holy Land, fulfilling a vow, after a journey from eastern traditions placed via India, Baghdad, and Damascus; once in Jerusalem, he joined in Beit El, and, by his genius, came to direct it.

“There is No word without consequence, or intention without resonance in the higher worlds.”

2) Chronology essential

• 1720 — Born in Shar ab (Yemen).
• 1740s — Comes to Jerusalem; it is integrated in Beit El.
• c. 1750-1777 — Leads Beit El and fixed the order, mystical prayers and kavanot that will make to the school.
• January 18, 1777 (10'shevat) — Dies in Jerusalem; buried on the Mount of Olives.

3) Beit el, and The intellectual project of the Rashash

Beit El (founded in 1737) was the house of study kabbalistic for excellence in the Jerusalem of the XVIII century. With Sharabi as Rosh Yeshivabecame a daily regimen focused in prayer, tikunim and study of the corpus luriánico (Ari–Chaim Vital), articulated by a siddur of kavanot and internal regulations. Your seal (s): prayers, meditation techniquesyijudim, permutation of divine Names and structures of partzufim and sephiroth).

“The prayer without kavaná is a body without a soul.”

4) major Works and his character

The Rashash was a commentator on early and systematizer of the Cabal luriánica. His writings —in a good part operating manuals for the practice— circulate in editions partial and anthologies. Among the titles and sets the most cited:

• Siddur ha-Kavanot / Siddur ha-Rashash: rearrange the order of the prayers with meditations luriánicas own circle of Beit El. It is the siddur-reference for mekubalim sephardi until today. There are preserved fragments and editions of the NINETEENTH century.
• Nahar Shalom (printed in Thessaloniki in 1806): presents a compendium of the seder of kavanot according to the Rashash, continuing the path of Ari. Was the text internal policy of Beit El.
• Rechovot (Rejovot) ha-Nahar: sections of the siddur, and notebooks dedicated to kavanot specific (e.g., eating, Birkat Hammazón, jupá), edited, and reprinted in separate volumes in modern for practical use.
• Emet va-Shalom, Derech Shalom: responsa and developments around the issues kabbalistic and halájicas; in Nahar Shalom we keep your answers to the 70 questions of the wise Tunisia, reflecting his authority among the sephardi of the EIGHTEENTH century.
• Minhagei Rashash: remarks halájicas and usual (especially for the nusaj Shami yemenite) is derived from their criteria; used as a reference community.

several names appear both as a securities self-employed as sections within the siddur; the material of the Rashash, was transmitted in the books of his circle and in printed later, there are certain overlaps between the “siddur”, “Nahar Shalom” and “Rechovot ha-Nahar”

5) Core doctrinal: what is taught by the “system Rashash”

Although anchored in the Arizal, the Rashash brings order, precision, ritual and method. Their axles:

1. Kavanot techniques
   Meditations with Divine Names, combinations of letters, values, and settings (yijudimassociated with each section of the prayer (Pesukei deZimrá, Shema, Shemoné Esrei), to blessings everyday and mitzvot (specificeat, marriage, jupá, etc). The prayer becomes action teúrgica that repairs (tikún) structures of the spiritual world.
2. Architecture luriánica applied
   Operational use of sephiroth and partzufim (Abba, Imma, Ze'go Anpin, Nukvá) and states (katnut/gadlut), to guide the intentions and “raise” sparks. The siddur has mapped out every step of the prayer to a sequence unication.
3. Seder ha-Yeshiva
   Regulations of Beit El: hours of study, tikún chatzot, order tefillah and practices hitbodedut and "mikveh, always with kavanot encoded. The purpose is to form a college orantes acting in synchrony.
4. Halachah and custom
   Selection and annotation of uses sephardi-yemeni (Minhagei Rashash), and decisions that reflect mystical sensibility in practice (e.g., modulations in zemanim, piyutim, and rituals of Shabbat and holidays).

“Who knows the Name, he knows the ways of the light; but who pronounces it with purity, turns himself in light.”

6) Contributions distinctive compared to other teachers

• Ari's a manual operating: where Chaim Vital systematized the doctrine, the Rashash teaches how to operate with it in real time liturgical. Your siddur it is a control board the mystical luriánica.
• Uniformity of the prayer ritual: fixed a standard pattern of kavanot for prayers and mitzvot common, which facilitates the continuity of school.
• Bridge Sefarad–Yemen–Jerusalem: integrates traditions yemeni with the school sephardi Jerusalem, and their influence is projected to centers sephardi later. (Summary from his role in Beit El and the survival of the siddur).

“The secret lies not in the name pronounced, but in the heart that holds it.”

7) Influence and reception

In the tradition of sephardic contemporary, Sharabi is described as “father of the kabbalists sephardi” by their imprint on the practice and the study of the Kabbalah, especially in Jerusalem and its irradiation to other communities.

Beit El he continued his line of kavanot (the Nahar Shalom as the inner canon). In the TWENTIETH century it was rebuilt, the yeshiva —after the war of 1947-49— and maintained its program mystical; among its figures, modern, highlighted rabbis of renown, and the method continued in force.

8) Family and networks

His daughter married Rabbi Chaim Abraham Gagin, later chief Rabbi of Jerusalem; its lineage includes Shem Tob Gaguine (Keter Shem Tob). This fabric shows the insertion of the Rashash in the elite rabbinic sephardi-jerusalemita.

“Kabbalah is not a theory: it is architecture divine in action.”

9) Texts and issues — how to study today at the Rashash

• Primary sources
  • Fragments Siddur ha-Rashash in archives and libraries; there is digitized materials.
  • Sets practical Rechovot ha-Nahar to kavanot specific (eating, Birkat Hammazón, Jupá, etc..), employees in the batei midrash of the mekubalim.
  • Assemblies Nahar Shalom (printed from the NINETEENTH century) as the backbone of the tradition of Beit El.
• Literacy studies and reviews
  • Synthesis biographical and focus doctrinal portals encyclopedic and disclosure.

10) Traits of method for the practitioner kabbalist (according to the school of the Rashash)

Warning methodological: the following describes the -historical approach doctrinal, is not a guide to spiritual practice.

1. Prayer as engineering sacred: every blessing has a array of names and unication accurate to activate tikunim in worlds and partzufim.
2. Full cycle: the kavanot include daily prayers, Shabbat and holidays, and extend to acts of life (food, marriage).
3. Discipline community: the efficiency depends on the order referee (Beit El), synchronizing hours, texts and yijudim.
4. Continuity of the Ari- it is assumed cosmology luriánica as operating mapnot only speculative.

11) spiritual Legacy and memory

• Mount of Olives as a place of pilgrimage; his tomb is the focus of devotion on their anniversary.
• The survival of the siddur and the kavanot in circles sephardic yemenite and the Yeshiva of Beit El testifies to an living tradition more than two centuries later.

“The soul of the righteous continue to pray even when your voice has ceased in the land.”

Conclusion

The Rashash consolidated mode sephardi-jerusalemita practice the Cabal luriánica: transformed doctrine in liturgy operational, formed a school of prayer with discipline and manuals precise (siddur and kavanot), and left a legacy institutional (Beit El) and textual (Nahar Shalom, Rechovot ha-Nahar) that lingers in schools mekubalim until today. To “know everything essential” on it, look at it as architect of the prayer ritual back to Ari.

“The universe was made with names; who understands your order, you may return the world to its root.”