To continue his Talmudic studies he went from Amsterdam to Poland, as is clear from the letter of recommendation which he gave at Venice in 1672 to the delegates who had come to Italy to collect money for the oppressed Polish communities.
[5] Rabbi Zacuto applied himself with great diligence to the study of the Kabbalah under Ḥayyim Vital's pupil Benjamin ha-Levi, who had come to Italy from Safed; and this remained the chief occupation of his life.
He established a seminary for the study of the Kabbalah, and his favorite pupils, Benjamin ha-Kohen and Abraham Rovigo, often visited him for months at a time at Venice or Mantua, to investigate kabalistic mysteries.
He composed forty-seven liturgical poems, chiefly Kabbalistic, enumerated by Landshuth[6] Some of them have been printed in the festal hymns Hen Kol Hadash, edited by Moses Ottolenghi (Amsterdam, 1712), and others have been incorporated in different prayer-books.
[citation needed] He also wrote penitential poems (Tikkun Shovavim, Venice, 1712; Leghorn, 1740) for the service on the evening before Rosh Hodesh, as well as prayers for Hosha'na Rabbah and similar occasions, all in the spirit of the Kabbalah.