Shalom Ben Moses Buzaglo

Who was Shalom Ben Moses Buzaglo?

Shalom Ben Moses Buzaglo was a Moroccan kabbalist born in Marrakesh, student of R. Avraham Azulai, Yaakov Pinto and Yeshayahu HaKohen. He was tortured by the Sultan and left for England in 1745, where he remained until his death.

He authored a number of commentaries on Zohar:

⁕מקדש מלך "Mikdash Melech" – published in Amsterdam in 1750; etc.

⁕הדרת מלך "Hadrat Melech" – published in Amsterdam 1766; in London 1770; etc.

⁕כסא מלך "Kiseh Melech" – published in Amsterdam in 1769; etc.

⁕פני מלך "Pnei Melech" – published in London in 1773; etc.

This is the first systematic commentary on the Zohar to be published.

"These were based mainly on Lurianic Kabbalah, including all the scattered work of Isaac Luria's disciples, which Buzaglo usually copied word for word, occasionally quoting other opinions. Although this book does not convey the literal meaning of the Zohar, it has continuing value for scholars." Encyclopaedia Judaica. Scholem, Bib. Kabbalistica, 188:15. Vinograd, Amsterdam, 1633. Zedner 163.