Known as the “Ari” (“the Lion”), an acronym for the Hebrew phrase “the divine Rabbi Yitzhak.” Considered to be the most profound thinker to emerge from Jewish mysticism, his teachings revolutionized the entire Kabbalistic tradition. Luria studied Jewish law and rabbinic literature in Egypt. When Luria was 15 years old, he married his cousin and together they moved to a secluded island on the Nile that was owned by his father-in-law. During this period, he concentrated his studies on the Zohar and the works of earlier Kabbalists. In 1569 he moved to Safed. He was particularly interested in the ideas of his contemporary, Moses Cordovero, and studied Kabbalah with him until Cordovero’s death in 1570. Initially Luria was famous as a mystical poet. Later, he started teaching Kabbalah in an academy, and would occasionally speak in synagogues. Luria himself never produced any written works, but his teachings were preserved in the somewhat conflicting and often unreliable accounts preserved by his disciples, primarily Rabbi Chaim Vital (1542–1620). Books on his teachings include Ez Hayyim, Shulhan Aruch shel R. Yitzhak Luria, Orhot Zaddikim, and Patora de Abba. Israel, Egypt (1534–1572).