Sefer Emek HaMelekh

About this sefer

A monumental transmission of Lurianic Kabbalah

From the days that the holy light of our master, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria Ashkenazi, the Ari of blessed memory, illuminated the world, the inner wisdom of Torah began to shine with renewed brilliance. The secrets that had been concealed among select companions were gathered, clarified, and transmitted through faithful disciples and holy sages whose entire lives were devoted to preserving the mysteries of the Divine Chariot, the structure of the worlds, and the unfolding of redemption.

Among those entrusted with this sacred inheritance was Rabbeinu Naftali Hertz Bacharach, author of Emek HaMelekh.

Though he did not stand physically before the Ari, he stood within his house. Though he did not hear these teachings directly from the mouth of the holy master, he drank from the streams that flowed forth from his disciples and their disciples. Through the traditions preserved in the schools of Rabbi Chaim Vital, Rabbi Yisrael Sarug, and the early transmitters of Lurianic Kabbalah, he gathered scattered treasures and fashioned from them one of the most influential works in all of Kabbalistic literature.

When Emek HaMelekh first appeared in Amsterdam in the year 5408 (1648), it was unlike anything that had preceded it.

Its pages opened before the reader the mysteries of Adam Kadmon, the Tehiru, Olam HaTohu, the breaking of the vessels, the worlds of rectification, the supernal configurations, the hidden channels of Divine providence, and the pathways through which creation itself unfolds from the Infinite Light. Here the teachings of the Ari, the language of the Zohar, and the traditions of the ancient sages are woven together into a single tapestry whose threads extend from the beginning of creation until the final redemption.

For generations this work remained the possession of those able to approach it in its original language. Its Hebrew and Aramaic, its dense allusions, and its profound concepts placed it beyond the reach of many sincere seekers.

For the first time, this holy work is presented in a comprehensive interlinear format, preserving the original Hebrew and Aramaic text together with a faithful English translation. The sacred text appears with full Nikkud, allowing students to hear, read, and contemplate the words as they were transmitted, while simultaneously entering into their meaning.