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R' Luria's acronym is the AR"I. The Hebrew of that roughly translates to Godly Rabbi Isaac. Why is he called Godly, and many other great rabbis are not?

Related: Why refer to Isaac Luria as the Arizal, and not Arizatzal?

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  • Why the downvote? – Adam Mosheh Jul 16 '12 at 1:59
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I'm not sure the word means 'Godly' in the sense you are taking it. You seem to be taking in in the sense of 'the one similar to God,' while I think it might be meant to be taken as 'the God expert,' which would explain why the term is exclusively applied to him.

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  • Even so, then the Ramchal who wrote Derech Hashem could also be a God expert. – Adam Mosheh Jul 16 '12 at 0:02
  • @AdamMosheh "Ri" was already taken by the Ri of Orleans, so the Ari had to come up with another initial to put in there; Ramchal, on the other hand, was not already taken. – b a Jul 16 '12 at 1:15
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    How would that explain its exclusivity? – Double AA♦ Dec 3 '13 at 17:40

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