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Hayyim ben Joseph Vital (1543 in Safed-6 May 1620 in Damascus) was one of the most famous exponents of Kabbalah.

As a young boy, Vital was educated by the scholar, Rabbi Moses Alshech. Other than that, most of his early life is full of legends. For instance, it is claimed that at the age of twelve, he was told by a chiromancer that when he reached the age of twenty-four, he would find himself standing before two roads, and would rise or fall according to his choice. Joseph Caro is said to have paid especial attention to Vital's early talents and in 1557 requested that Alshech take special care in his education as he was destined to succeed his teacher in the world of learning. That same year, Vital first became acquainted with the kabbalist Lapidot Ashkenazi, who would have a lasting influence on him.

Vital apparently married at a young age. According to one legend, his first wife was Hannah, the daughter of a certain Moses Saadia. It was an unhappy marriage, and when he left his wife, the prophet Elijah appeared to Vital in a dream and led him to a beautiful garden, where he saw the pious of all ages, in the form of birds, flying through the garden and studying the Mishnah. In the center of the garden was God Himself, seated on a throne that was surrounded by the pious, resting on elaborate tapestries. Convinced by this vision that he was destined to become a kabbalist, Vital devoted the following two and a half years to the study of alchemy. Upon completing his studies, Elijah appeared to him again in a vision, and told him that he would succeed in his efforts and even write a commentary on the Zohar.

In 1570, Vital became a student of Isaac Luria, the foremost kabbalist of the day. Within just a year, Vital emerged as his leading student, so that when Luria died in 1672, at the age of thirty-eight, Vital succeeded him. Since Luria has left none of his teachings in writing, Vital began to write down everything he had learned from his master. In 1576, he began goving public lectures, and declared himself the Messiah son of Joseph, the forerunner of the Messiah in Jewish tradition. He wandered through the region, supposedly performing miracles, and was said to be able to summon spirits to him by reciting certain formulas.

Vital arrived in Egypt in 1577, but he evidently faced a cool reception, because he soon returned to Palestine, settling in the village of 'Ain Zaitun, and later in Jerusalem. He remained there until the Ottoman governor, Abu Saifia, requested that he use his powers to locate the aqueduct leading from the River Gihon to the city, which had been built in the days of King Hezekiah. Unable to fulfill this request, he fled to Damascus, where he began writing is first work, on the Abraham. The greater part of the book consists of an exposition about the conjuring of clouds and a discourse on the seven fixed stars (planets), the seven heavens, and their corresponding metals.

Upon completing his book, Vital returned to Jerusalem, where his former teacher, Moses Alshech, appointed him rabbi in 1584. After a time, however, Vital left Jerusalem for Safed, where he fell sick and was obliged to keep his bed for an entire year.

During this illness Joshua, his closest follower, who had accompanied Vital on nearly every journey, managed to bribe Vital's younger brother, Moses, with 500 gold coins, to lend him hhis master's writings, which were kept locked in a box. Moses accordingly brought Joshua a large part of the manuscripts, and 100 copyists were immediately engaged: in just three days, they were able to reproduce more than 600 pages. Although Vital, upon learning of this, claimed that the papers which has been copied were not his own writings, they were rapidly disseminated under the title Etz Hayyim ("Tree of Life"). In addition to a tribute to Luria, the work contains the assertion that it is one of God's greatest pleasures to witness the promotion of the teaching of the Kabbalah, since this alone can assure the coming of the Messiah, but that the old teachings of the Kabbalah, passed down from the time of King David to Nacmanides, were valueless, since they were based entirely on human intellect, and was not aided by the higher spirits. Vital claimed that he had received these teachings, like his other mystic theories, from his teacher Luria.

Vital held the teachings of the kabbalist Moses Cordovero in similarly low esteem, though he maintained that Cordovero often appeared to him in dreams. One of the most prominent of Vital's opponents was Menahem di Lonzano, who publicly denounced him in his Sefer Imre Emet.

On 20 Elul, 1590, Vital received rabbinical ordination from his teacher Moses Alshech. Four years later, in 1594, he settled permanently in Damascus, where he lectured every evening on the Kabbalah and the imminent coming of the Messiah. Despite his large following there, Rabbi Jacob Abulafia successfully threatened him with excommunication unless he discontinue his lectures. In 1604 Vital's sight began to fail; in 1620 he passed away while preparing to return to Safed.

• 1543 births
• 1620 deaths
• Israeli people