In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “foremost exponent of kabbalah”. Today it says “rabbi in safed and the foremost disciple of isaac luria”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2025 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2025
Rabbi and foremost disciple of Isaac Luria (1542–1620) tomb in Kiryat Malachi Sefer HaGilgulim, Frankfurt Hayyim ben Joseph Vital ( Hebrew : חַיִּים בֶּן יוֹסֵף וִיטָאל ; Safed , October 23, 1542 ( Julian calendar ) / October 11, 1542 (Gregorian Calendar) – Damascus , 23 April 1620 ) was a rabbi in Safed and the foremost disciple of Isaac Luria . He recorded much of his master's teachings. After Vital's death, his writings began to spread and led to a "powerful impact on various circles throughout the Jewish world." Kaplan, Aryeh (January 1985). Prevalent opinion for this date is 3 May 1620, corresponding to the Hebrew date of 30 Nisan 5380, consequently Vital's yahrzeit is celebrated on the 30 Nisan of each year. 23 April 1620 is the same date according to the Julian calendar, which was then still in use in Damascus.
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1290555375.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Hayyim ben Joseph Vital ( Calabria , 1543 – Damascus , 23 April 1620) was a foremost exponent of Kabbalah .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 371191548.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
He recorded much of his master's teachings.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 663893674.
The opening as it stood in 2020
He recorded much of his master's teachings.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965010517.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
He recorded much of his master's teachings. After Vital's death, his writings began to spread and led to a "powerful impact on various circles throughout the Jewish world." Kaplan, Aryeh (January 1985).Prevalent opinion for this date is 3 May 1620, corresponding to the Hebrew date of 30 Nisan 5380, consequently Vital's yahrzeit is celebrated on the 30 Nisan of each year. 23 April 1620 is the same date according to the Julian calendar, which was then still in use in Damascus.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177018580.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “foremost exponent of kabbalah”. Today it says “rabbi in safed and the foremost disciple of isaac luria”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
foremost exponent of kabbalah
Now
rabbi in safed and the foremost disciple of isaac luria
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
