Vital, as recounted in Sefer ha-Hezyonot, dreamed of a very unusual Simhat Torah, the joyous holiday that celebrates the completion of the annual Torah reading cycle.
Imagine this: It's Simhat Torah in Safed, a center of Jewish mysticism in the Galilee. According to the dream, it's an ancient custom to bring the body of Moses himself to the synagogue. Why? Because Simhat Torah, the "Rejoicing of the Torah," is a celebration of the very Torah that was given through Moses. And, poignantly, on this day, we also read the portion from Deuteronomy that recounts Moses's death.
Now, picture the scene. It takes many men to carry the body of Moses into the synagogue. And this isn’t just any body; the Talmud (B. Berakhot 54b) tells us Moses was a giant, ten cubits tall! They place him on a long table, prepared specially. Then, something extraordinary happens. As soon as the body of Moses is stretched out, it transforms… into a Torah scroll.
Yes, the body becomes the scroll, unrolled like a long letter from the very beginning of Genesis to the very end of Deuteronomy. And in the dream, they begin to read, starting with creation and continuing until they reach the final words, displayed before all of Israel from Deuteronomy 34:12. As we find in Shivhei Rabbi Hayim Vital, this dream occurred on the 20th of Tevet, 1609.
During this entire dream-like ceremony, the rabbi of Safed sits at the head of the table, closest to the beginning of Genesis. Hayim Vital sits at the foot, closest to the account of Moses's death. And it occurs to him, in the dream, that because of his position, he is closest to Moses himself.
After the entire Torah is read, the scroll transforms back into the body of Moses. They clothe him, place a girdle around him, and at that moment, Hayim Vital awakens. But even after waking, he feels the very presence of Moses's soul in the room.
What does it all mean? This dream, as Lawrence Kushner writes in Tree of Souls, reveals the incredibly close connection in the Jewish mind between the Torah and Moses. The Torah isn’t just a book; it’s inextricably linked to the man who brought it to the people. In Vital's dream, they are one and the same.
It’s worth noting that the death of Moses is part of the Sephardic liturgy for Simhat Torah, which may have planted the seed for this dream in Hayim Vital’s mind. It seems Vital, who had one of the richest religious imaginations in Jewish history, saw no separation between the mythical and the real.
Hayim Vital even hinted in his writings that his master, the Ari, had a messianic role and, furthermore, attributed such a role to himself, too. He even explicitly stated, "This indicates there was a cleaving and connection between my soul and that of Moses."
So, what are we to make of this? Perhaps this dream invites us to consider our own relationship with the Torah. Is it merely a text to be studied, or is it something more? Could it be a living, breathing entity, embodying the spirit and legacy of Moses himself? Maybe, just maybe, if we open ourselves to the possibility, we too can feel the presence of Moses in the room as we read these ancient words.