Surprising Ramchal Facts

Many know R' Moshe Chaim Luzatto, known as the Ramchal, from his sefer Mesillas Yesharim. However, here are some facts that many may not know.

1. The Ramchal wrote a sefer on Koheles which is just on a small portion of Koheles. Yet, the sefer spans a thousand pages. He also authored a work on Chumash written in the style and language of the Zohar. This work was known as Zohar Tinyana (“The Second Zohar”). Unfortunately, it has not survived and is no longer extant.
2. It is known that our teacher the Ramchal had an angel, who would reveal supernal secrets to him. Even his own Rabbeim treated him with great honor, and they would send him questions. The kabbalist R' Binyomin Hakohen (1651-1730), known as the Raba”ch, was a student of R' Moshe Zacuto and the father-in-law of R' Yeshaya Bassan, who was the Rebbe of the Ramchal. Despite being an elderly sage while the Ramchal was still in his twenties, the Raba”ch held the young Ramchal in extraordinary esteem. In a letter that he sent to him (printed in Igros Ramchal), the Raba”ch even requested that the Ramchal reveal the root of his soul (shoresh haneshamah), a striking indication of the regard in which he held him.
3. Among those who corresponded with him was his Rebbe R' Yeshaya Bassan (1673-1739), author of the work Shu”t Lachmei Todah, who wrote to him asking that he reveal to him the root of his soul and what he needed to rectify regarding it. The Ramchal responded to him with a detailed letter dated Sunday, the 18th of the month of Shevat, in the year 1730 when the Ramchal was just 23 years old (and still single as he didn’t get married until a later point) and R' Yeshaya Bassan was 57: “I have already informed l’kavod toraso (referring to his Rebbe, R' Yeshaya Bassan) regarding your root soul is from Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef…and the main rectification is to engage with halachic rulings based on rigorous analysis (pilpul). Therefore it is good for you to specifically author writings of laws filled with much pilpul. And I will say more about all this with you bez”H.
4. The Ramchal founded a special yeshiva in Padua called Mevakshei Hashem. Membership entailed exceptionally demanding standards. The group sought to maintain continuous Torah study, with one member taking over whenever another needed to eat or sleep so that the learning would never cease. The members also strove to learn purely l’shem shamayim, solely for the sake of Heaven, without any expectation of personal reward. They would dedicate the merit of their Torah study to the benefit of Klal Yisrael to hasten the coming of Mashiach.
5. R’ Yekusiel Gordon of Vilna arrived in Padua to attend the University of Padua and study medicine with the goal of becoming a physician. However, after developing a close relationship with the Ramchal (1707-1746), he asked to be accepted as one of his disciples. He became so attached to his teacher that he no longer wished to pursue his university studies. The Ramchal, however, instructed him to continue, explaining that this was the will of Heaven as conveyed by the Ramchal’s malach who taught him.