Ahavat Shalom

R. Yaakov Moshe Hillel (b. 1945) is the leading living Sephardic master of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) and a senior halachic authority (posek). He founded and heads Yeshivat Ahavat Shalom in Jerusalem, the world's premier institution for studying Kabbalah in the tradition of the 16th-century mystic the Arizal ("Lurianic" Kabbalah). Born in Bombay to a Baghdadi-Indian family, he made aliyah and studied with the senior Sephardic kabbalists of postwar Jerusalem. Three of his works are core modern Sephardic kabbalistic references: Vayashav HaYam, a multi-volume work blending Kabbalah and Jewish law; Sefer Faskol Tov; and Sho-Shanat HaAmakim, on the mystical intentions (kavanot) recited during Lurianic prayer. He is also known for Ad HaGal HaZeh, a sharp critique of what he saw as deviations from authentic Lurianic-Sephardic tradition.