The Baghdad kabbalist Judah Ftayya (1859–1942) was a principal student of Rabbi Joseph Ḥayyim al-Ḥakam, the Ben Ish Ḥay. He eventually took up residence in Jerusalem, where he exerted great influence through his writings, activities, and the illustrious family he founded. Ftayya studied there with Ḥayyim Saul Duwayk, who after succumbing to blindness dictated his commentary on Ḥayyim Vital’s Oṣrot Ḥayyim, Efah Shelema to Ftayya and Joseph Ḥayyim Sofer. Ftayya cared for Duwayk in his infirmity, aided by Sulaymān Moṣfi.

A visionary who left a record of his communing with the …