Kabbalah has long been practiced in Israel since 10th century and for that it attracted and invited several followers and proponents that were tasked to spread the teachings and doctrines of Kabbalah. They are also responsible for securing that all these principles are enacted and performed in accordance to what has already been established. When Israel was at the brink of destruction from foreign colonizers, the followers from Kabbalah thought of keeping this school of thought from these colonizers. They believe that Kabbalah contains the highest form of knowledge and it would be a disaster if it falls in the wrong hands. They have decided to hide all these teachings from everyone especially those that were captured and taken into another place.

Some of the Kabbalists that have made their own name and reputation in every parts of the world includes Isaac Luria, Rabbi Nehunya ben Ha-Kana, Eleazar Rokeach, Rabbi Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, Akiba ben Joseph, and Moses de Leon. Let us give you a comprehensive description of the contributions of each of these great Kabbalists to the development of Kabbalah in its modern time.

The primary book of Kabbalah is in the form of Zohar, which lay down the foundation of Kabbalah teaching. It is the summation or totality of all primary texts and books pertaining to Kabbalah. The vastness and greatness of this book is clouded by the controversy regarding its real writers. According to historians, Moses de Leon was the one who authored the book but then with the recent developments in research, it was found out that Zohar is not written by only one man instead by different people who have rewritten it several times already. These individuals have contributed to the completion of Zohar and every doctrine written on it. Some of these other writers are Rabbi Joseph of Hamadan, Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla, and Bahya ben Asher.

On the other hand, Isaac Luria, the father of contemporary Kabbalah, he is known for giving revolutionary accounts on Kabbalah teachings that is why he was given such name as Arizal or Ari which signifies the “lion.” When he died in 1572, he passed his knowledge to his followers and one of them is Rabbi Hayyim ben Joseph Vital who became the interpreter of Lurianic system.

In contrary, Cordoverian Kabbalah is an opposition to the Lurianic Kabbalah and this was founded by Rabbi Moses ben Jacob Cordovero. He also wrote Pardes Rimonim as the basis of Cordoverian system with regards to its teachings and doctrines.

Ha-Kana wrote the Book of Illumination called Bahir while Judah wrote Raziel Ha-Malakh in 13th century. Both of these texts have contributed a lot to the development of Kabbalah to what it is now.