Career
He finally settled at Jerusalem and opened a yeshivah for the study of the Zohar and other kabbalistic works, David Conforte being for some time one of his pupils (Ḳore ha-Dorot, pp 36a, 49a). He produced twenty works, of which only two have been published. The first of these is the Ḳol ba-Ramah (Korez, 1785), a commentary on the Idra, which he began in 1643, and for which he utilized the commentary of Ḥayyim Vital.
His second published work is the Nagid u-Meẓawweh (Amsterdam, 1712), on the mystical meaning of the prayers, this being an abridgment of a compendium which Ẓemaḥ composed on the basis of a more comprehensive treatise.
Among his unpublished works, special mention may be made of the Ronnu le-Ya"aḳob, in which he calls himself "the proselyte" ("ger ẓedeḳ". Cat Oppenheimer, Number 1062 Q).
This treatise consists of notes recorded while studying under Samuel Vital and supplemented by his own additions. In his compilation of Ḥayyim Vital"s writings, Ẓemaḥ pretended to have discovered many works of Vital which were unknown to the latter"s son Samuel.
He died at Jerusalem in the second half of the 17th century.
