Editing Yair Bacharach (section)

== Notable Views ==
Bacharachs' view of [[Kabbalah]] was nuanced. While he believed Kabbalah to be very holy, he maintained that it posed great theological danger, and should therefore only be studied by the extremely pious, and only with a teacher. In his responsa, Bacharach relates that a commoner asked him to explain the Kabbalistic formulas commonly printed in prayer books. Bacharach refused to answer, and when he was pressed, said only that he didn't know the explanation.  Although he discouraged in-depth study of Kabbalah, he encouraged simple reading of the ''Zohar'',<ref>{{cite web |title=''Chavos Yair, siman'' 210 |url=http://eph.sefaria.org/Havot_Yair.210}}</ref> and many of his writings contain Kabbalistic references, especially to explain communal customs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Berkovitz |first=Jay R. |date=2012 |title=Crisis and authority in early modern Ashkenaz |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23352432 |journal=Jewish History |volume=26 |issue=1/2 |pages=179–199 |issn=0334-701X}}</ref>