(1522-1570). Kabbalist. Born into a family of Spanish origin, he was a disciple of R. Solomon Alkabets in Safed. He worked with R. Joseph Caro and may briefly have taught Isaac Luria, who arrived in Safed in the year Cordovero died. He had several disciples in Safed, among them R. Elijah de Vidas, author of the important kabbalistic ethical work Reshit Ḥokhmah.
Cordovero's most influential work is Pardes Rimmonim, one of the most profound works of the
Cordovero de-emphasized the Zohar's mythological symbolism, especially the sexual elements and the myth of the powers of evil, the Sitra Aḥra, substituting for it a view that sees the Godhead as completely free of evil tendencies while the roots of evil are to be found within the cosmos and in man's ethical choices. Cordovero's concepts of the relationship between God and the world may have some pantheistic inclinations, though mostly it can be described as panentheistic, signifying the presence of God in everything.
Cordovero's most extensive work is the multi-volume commentary on the Zohar, Or Yakar. He also wrote commentaries on the prayers and monographs on other kabbalistic subjects, among them a brief ethical treatise, Tomer Devorah, which was the first to link kabbalistic symbolism to man's everyday ethical behavior. Cordovero's concept in this work is one of imitatio dei (Imitation of God), maintaining that man's deeds should reflect his adherence to and imitation of the conduct of the Divine Sefirot and that his whole life should reflect the inner structure of the Divine world. This idea had a profound impact on subsequent works of kabbalistic ethics.
