Yehuda Ashlag

Yehuda Ashlag (1885–1954) or Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag (Hebrew: יְהוּדָה לֵיבּ הַלֵּוִי אַשְׁלַג), also known as the Baal Ha-Sulam (בַּעַל הַסּוּלָם, "Author of The Ladder") in reference to his magnum opus, was an Orthodox rabbi, kabbalist, social justice universalist, and altruistic communist born in Łuków, Congress Poland, Russian Empire, to a family of scholars connected to the Hasidic courts of Porisov and Belz. Rabbi Ashlag lived in the Holy Land from 1922 until his death in 1954 (except for two years in England). In addition to his Sulam commentary on the Zohar, his other primary work, Talmud Eser Sefirot is regarded as the central textbook for students of Kabbalah. Ashlag systematically interpreted the wisdom and promoted its wide dissemination. In line with his directives, many contemporary adherents of Ashlag's teachings strive to spread Kabbalah to the masses.