I
A system of religious philosophy, or more properly of theosophy, which has not only exercised for hundreds of years an extraordinary influence on the mental development of so shrewd a people as the Jews, but has captivated the minds of some of the greatest thinkers of Christendom in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, claims the greatest attention of both the philosopher and the theologian. When it is added that among its captives were Raymond Lully, the celebrated scholastic, metaphysician and chemist (died 1315); John Reuchlin, the renowned scholar and reviver of oriental literature in Europe (born 1455, died 1522); John Picus di Mirandola, the famous philosopher and classical scholar (1463–1494); Cornelius Henry Agrippa, the distinguished philosopher, divine and physician (1486–1535); John Baptist von Helmont, a remarkable chemist and physician (1577–1644); as well as our own countrymen Robert Fludd, the famous physician and philosopher (1574–1637), and Dr. Henry More (1614–1687); and that these men, after restlessly searching for a scientific system which should disclose to them “the deepest depths” of the Divine nature, and show them the real tie which binds all things together, found the cravings of their minds satisfied by this theosophy, the claims of the Kabbalah on the attention of students in literature and philosophy will readily be admitted. The claims of the Kabbalah, however, are not restricted to the literary man and the philosopher: the poet too will find in it ample materials for the exercise of his lofty genius. How can it be otherwise with a theosophy which, we are assured, was born of God in Paradise, was nursed and reared by the choicest of the angelic hosts in heaven, and only held converse with the holiest of man’s children upon earth. Listen to the story of its birth, growth and maturity, as told by its followers.
The Kabbalah was first taught by God himself to a select company of angels, who formed a theosophic school in Paradise. After the fall the angels most graciously communicated this heavenly doctrine to the disobedient child of earth, to furnish the protoplasts with the means of returning to their pristine nobility and felicity. From Adam it passed over to Noah, and then to Abraham, the friend of God, who emigrated with it to Egypt, where the patriarch allowed a portion of this mysterious doctrine to ooze out. It was in this way that the Egyptians obtained some knowledge of it, and the other Eastern nations could introduce it into their philosophical systems. Moses, who was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, was first initiated into it in the land of his birth, but became most proficient in it during his wanderings in the wilderness, when he not only devoted to it the leisure hours of the whole forty years, but received lessons in it from one of the angels. By the aid of this mysterious science the lawgiver was enabled to solve the difficulties which arose during his management of the Israelites, in spite of the pilgrimages, wars and the frequent miseries of the nation. He covertly laid down the principles of this secret doctrine in the first four books of the Pentateuch, but withheld them from Deuteronomy. This constitutes the former the man, and the latter the woman. Moses also initiated the seventy elders into the secrets of this doctrine, and they again transmitted them from hand to hand. Of all who formed the unbroken line of tradition, David and Solomon were most initiated into the Kabbalah. No one, however, dared to write it down, till Simon ben Jochai, who lived at the time of the destruction of the second Temple. Having been condemned to death by Titus, Rabbi Simon managed to escape with his son and concealed himself in a cavern where he remained for twelve years. Here, in this subterranean abode, he occupied himself entirely with the contemplation of the sublime Kabbalah, and was constantly visited by the Prophet Elias, who disclosed to him some of its secrets which were still concealed from the theosophical Rabbi. Here, too, his disciples resorted to be initiated by their master into these divine mysteries; and here, Simon ben Jochai expired with this heavenly doctrine in his mouth, whilst discoursing on it to his disciples. Scarcely had his spirit departed, when a dazzling light filled the cavern, so that no one could look at the Rabbi; whilst a burning fire appeared outside, forming as it were a sentinel at the entrance of the cave, and denying admittance to the neighbours. It was not till the light inside, and the fire outside, had disappeared, that the disciples perceived that the lamp of Israel was extinguished. As they were preparing for his obsequies, a voice was heard from heaven, saying, “Come ye to the marriage of Simon b. Jochai, he is entering into peace, and shall rest in his chamber!” A flame preceded the coffin, which seemed enveloped by, and burning like fire. And when the remains were deposited in the tomb, another voice was heard from heaven, saying, “This is he who caused the earth to quake, and the kingdoms to shake!” His son, R. Eliezer, and his secretary, R. Abba, as well as his disciples, then collated R. Simon b. Jochai’s treatises, and out of these composed the celebrated work called Sohar (זהר) i.e., Splendour, which is the grand storehouse of Kabbalism.
From what has been said, it will be seen that the followers of this secret doctrine claim for it a pre-Adamite existence, and maintain that, ever since the creation of the first man, it has been received uninterruptedly from the hands of the patriarchs, the prophets, &c. It is for this reason that it is called Kabbalah (קבלה from קבל to receive) which primarily denotes reception, and then a doctrine received by oral tradition. The Kabbalah is also called by some Secret Wisdom. (חכמה נסתרה), because it was only handed down by tradition through the initiated, and is indicated in the Hebrew Scriptures by signs which are hidden and unintelligible to those who have not been instructed in its mysteries. From the initial letters of this name, this theosophic system is also denominated Grace (ח״ן = חכמה נסתרה). Vague and indefinite as this name may seem to the uninitiated, inasmuch as it conveys no idea whatever of the peculiar doctrines of the system, but simply indicates the manner in which they have been transmitted, it is nevertheless the classical and acknowledged appellation of this theosophy. The difference between the word Kabbalah (קבלה receptio) and the cognate term Massorah (מסורה traditio, from מסר to transmit)—which denotes the traditionally transmitted various readings of the Hebrew Scriptures—is, that the former expresses the act of receiving, which in this technical sense could only be on the part of one who has reached a certain period of life, as well as a certain state of sanctity, implying also a degree of secrecy; whilst the latter signifies the act of giving over, surrendering, without premising any peculiar age, stage of holiness, or degree of secrecy. The name, therefore, tells us no more than that this theosophy has been received traditionally. To ascertain its tenets we must analyze the system itself or the books which propound it; and to this task we now betake ourselves.
The cardinal doctrines of the Kabbalah are mainly designed to solve the grand problems about (I) The nature of the Supreme Being, (II) The cosmogony, (III) The creation of angels and man, (IV) The destiny of man and the universe, and (V) To point out the import of the Revealed Law. Assenting and consenting to the declarations of the Hebrew Scriptures about the unity of God ( Exod. xx, 3; Deut. iv, 35, 39; vi, 4; xxxii, 39 ), his incorporeity ( Exod. xx, 4; Deut. iv, 15; Ps. xiv, 18 ), eternity ( Exod. iii, 14; Deut. xxxii, 40; Isa. xli, 4; xliii, 10; xliv, 6; xlviii, 12 ), immutability ( Mal. iii, 6 ), perfection ( Deut. xxxii, 4; 2 Sam. xxii, 31; Job xxxviii, 16; Ps. xviii, 31 ), infinite goodness ( Exod. xxxiv, 6; Ps. xxv, 10; xxxiii, 5; c, 5; cxlv, 9 ), the creation of the world in time according to God’s free will ( Gen. i, 1 ), the moral government of the universe and special providence, and to the creation of man in the image of God ( Gen. i. 27 ), the Kabbalah seeks to explain the transition from the infinite to the finite; the procedure of multifariousness from an absolute unity, and of matter from a pure intelligence; the operation of pure intelligence upon matter, in spite of the infinite gulf between them; the relationship of the Creator to the creature, so as to be able to exercise supervision and providence. It, moreover, endeavours to show how it is that the Bible gives names and assigns attributes and a form to so spiritual a Being; how the existence of evil is compatible with the infinite goodness of God, and what is the Divine intention about this creation.
In our analysis of the Kabbalistic doctrines on these grand problems, we shall follow the order in which they have been enumerated, and accordingly begin with the lucubrations on the Supreme Being and the Emanations.
I. The Supreme Being and the doctrine and classification of the Emanations, or Sephiroth.
Being boundless in his nature—which necessarily implies that he is an absolute unity and inscrutable, and that there is nothing without him, or that the τὸ πᾶν is in him,1—God is called En Soph (אין סוף) = ἄπειρος Endless, Boundless.2 In this boundlessness, or as the En Soph, he cannot be comprehended by the intellect, nor described in words, for there is nothing which can grasp and depict him to us, and as such he is, in a certain sense, not existent (אַיִן), because, as far as our minds are concerned, that which is perfectly incomprehensible does not exist.3 To make his existence perceptible, and to render himself comprehensible, the En Soph, or the Boundless, had to become active and creative. But the En Soph cannot be the direct creator, for he has neither will, intention, desire, thought, language, nor action, as these properties imply limit and belong to finite beings, whereas the En Soph is boundless. Besides, the imperfect and circumscribed nature of the creation precludes the idea that the world was created or even designed by him, who can have no will nor produce anything but what is like himself, boundless and perfect. On the other hand, again, the beautiful design displayed in the mechanism, the regular order manifested in the preservation, destruction, and renewal of things, forbid us to regard this world as the offspring of chance, and constrain us to recognize therein an intelligent design.4 We are, therefore, compelled to view the En Soph as the creator of the world in an indirect manner.
Now, the medium by which the En Soph made his existence known in the creation of the world are ten Sephiroth5 (ספירות) or intelligences, which emanated from the Boundless One (אין סוף) in the following manner:—At first the En Soph, or the Aged of the Aged (עתיקא דעתיקין) or the Holy Aged (עתיקא קדישא), as he is alternately called, sent forth from his infinite light one spiritual substance or intelligence. This first Sephira, which existed in the En Soph from all eternity, and became a reality by a mere act, has no less than seven appellations. It is called—I, the Crown (כתר), because it occupies the highest position; II, the Aged (עתיקא), because it is the oldest or the first emanation—and this name must not be confounded with the Aged of the Aged, which, as we have seen, is the appellation of the En Soph; III, the Primordial Point (נקודה ראשונה), or the Smooth Point (נקודה פשוטה), because, as the Sohar tells us, “When the Concealed of the Concealed wished to reveal himself, he first made a single point: the Infinite was entirely unknown, and diffused no light before this luminous point violently broke through into vision;” (Sohar, i, 15 a). IV, the White Head (רישא הוורה); V, the Long Face, Macroprosopon (אריך אנפין), because the whole ten Sephiroth represent the Primordial or the Heavenly Man (אדם עילאה), of which the first Sephira is the head; VI, The Inscrutable Height (רום מעלה), because it is the highest of all the Sephiroth proceeding immediately from the En Soph. Hence, on the passage “Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold the King of Peace6 with the Crown!” ( Song of Solomon iii, 2 ) the Sohar remarks, “But who can behold the King of Peace, seeing that He is incomprehensible, even to the heavenly hosts? But he who sees the Crown sees the glory of the King of Peace.” (Sohar ii. 100 b.) And, VII, it is expressed in the Bible by the Divine name Ehejeh, or I Am (אהיה Exod. iii, 4 ), because it is absolute being, representing the Infinite as distinguished from the finite, and in the angelic order, by the celestial beasts of Ezekiel, called Chajoth (חיות). The first Sephira contained the other nine Sephiroth, and gave rise to them in the following order:—At first a masculine or active potency, designated Wisdom (חכמה), proceeded from it. This Sephira, which among the divine names is represented by Jah (יה Isa. xxvi, 4 ), and among the angelic hosts by Oplianim (אפנים Wheels), sent forth an opposite, i.e. a feminine or passive, potency, denominated Intelligence (בינה), which is represented by the divine name Jehovah (יהוה), and angelic name Arelim (אראלים), and it is from a union of these two Sephiroth, which are also called Father (אבא) and Mother (אמא), that the remaining seven Sephiroth proceeded. Or, as the Sohar (iii, 290 a) expresses it, “When the Holy Aged, the Concealed of all Concealed, assumed a form, he produced everything in the form of male and female, as the things could not continue in any other form. Hence Wisdom, which is the beginning of development, when it proceeded from the Holy Aged, emanated in male and female, for Wisdom expanded, and Intelligence proceeded from it, and thus obtained male and female—viz., Wisdom, the father, and Intelligence, the mother, from whose union the other pairs of Sephiroth successively emanated.” These two opposite potencies—viz., Wisdom (חכמה) and Intelligence (בינה)—are joined together by the first potency, the Crown (כתר); thus yielding the first triad of the Sephiroth.
From the junction of the foregoing opposites emanated again the masculine or active potency, denominated Mercy or Love, (חסד), also called Greatness (גדולה), the fourth Sephira, which among the divine names is represented by El (אל), and among the angelic hosts by Chashmalim (חשמלים, Comp. Ezek. i, 4 ). From this again emanated the feminine or passive potency, Justice (דין), also called Judicial Power (גבורה), the fifth Sephira, which is represented by the divine name Eloha (אלה), and among the angels by Seraphim (שרפים, Isa. vi, 6 ); and from this again the uniting potency, Beauty or Mildness (תפארת), the sixth Sephira, represented by the divine name Elohim (אלהים), and among the angels by Shinanim (שנאנים, Ps. lxviii, 18 ). Since without this union the existence of things would not be possible, inasmuch as mercy not tempered with justice, and justice not tempered with mercy would be unendurable: and thus the second trinity of the Sephiroth is obtained.
The medium of union of the second trinity, i.e. Beauty (תפארת), the sixth Sephira, beamed forth the masculine or active potency, Firmness (נצח), the seventh Sephira, corresponding to the divine name Jehovah Sabaoth (יהוה צבאות), and among the angels to Tarshishim (תרשישים, Dan. x, 6 ); this again gave rise to the feminine or passive potency, Splendour (הוד), the eighth Sephira, to which answer the divine name Elohim Sabaoth (אלהים צבאות), and among the angels Benei Elohim (בני אלהים, Gen. vi, 4 ); and from it again, emanated Foundation or the Basis (יסוד), the ninth Sephira, represented by the divine name El Chai (אל חי), and among the angelic hosts by Ishim (אישים, Ps. civ, 4 ), which is the uniting point between these two opposites—thus yielding the third trinity of Sephiroth. From the ninth Sephira, the Basis (יסוד) of all, emanated the tenth, called Kingdom (מלכות), and Shechinah (שכינה), which is represented by the divine name Adonai (אדוני), and among the angelic hosts by Cherubim (כרובים). The table on the opposite page exhibits the different names of the Sephiroth, together with the several names of God and the angels, which correspond to them.
From this representation of each triad, as consisting of a threefold principle, viz., the two opposites, masculine and feminine, and the uniting principle, the development of the Sephiroth, and of life generally, is symbolically called the Balance (מתקלא), because the two opposite sexes, are compared with the two opposite scales, and the uniting Sephira is compared with the beam which joins the scales, and indicates its equipoise.
Before we enter into further particulars about the nature, operation, and classification of these Sephiroth, we shall give the Sohar’s speculations about the Supreme Being, and its account of the origin of the Sephiroth, and their relationship to the Deity.
The prophet Elias having learned in the heavenly college the profound mystery and true import of the words in Isa. xl, 25, 26, “To whom will ye liken me, and shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who (מי) hath created these things (אלה),” revealed to R. Simon b. Jochai that God in his absolute nature is unknown and incomprehensible, and hence, in a certain sense, non-existent; that this Who (אלה unknown subject) had to become active and creative, to demonstrate his existence, and that it is only by these (אלה) works of creation that he made himself known to us. It is therefore the combination of the unknown Who (מי) with these visible (אלה) works that showed him to be God (אלהים which is produced by מי transposed, i.e. יﬦ, and united with אלה). Or, as it is in the language of the Kabbalah;—
“Before he gave any shape to this world, before he produced any form, he was alone, without a form and resemblance to anything else. Who then can comprehend him how he was before the creation, since he was formless? Hence it is forbidden to represent him by any form, similitude, or even by his sacred name, by a single letter or a single point; and to this the words ‘Ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you’ ( Deut. iv, 15 )—i.e. ye have not seen anything which you could represent by any form or likeness—refer. But after he created the form of the Heavenly Man (אדם עלאה), he used it as a chariot (מרכבה) wherein to descend, and wishes to be called by this form, which is the sacred name Jehovah. He wishes to be known by his attributes, and each attribute separately; and therefore had himself called the God of Mercy, the God of Justice, Almighty, God of Sabaoth, and the Being. He wishes thereby to make known his nature, and that we should see how his mercy and compassion extend both to the world and to all operations. For if he had not poured out his light upon all his creatures, how could we ever have known him? How could the words be fulfilled, ‘The whole earth is full of his glory’ ( Isa. vi, 3 )? Woe be to him who compares him with his own attributes! or still worse with the son of man whose foundation is in the dust, who vanishes and is no more! Hence, the form in which we delineate him simply describes each time his dominion over a certain attribute, or over the creatures generally. We cannot understand more of his nature than the attribute expresses. Hence, when he is divested of all these things, he has neither any attribute nor any similitude or form. The form in which he is generally depicted is to be compared to a very expansive sea; for the waters of the sea are in themselves without a limit or form, and it is only when they spread themselves upon the earth that they assume a form (דמיון). We can now make the following calculation: the source of the sea’s water and the water stream proceeding therefrom to spread itself are two. A great reservoir is then formed, just as if a huge hollow had been dug; this reservoir is called sea, and is the third. The unfathomable deep divides itself into seven streams, resembling seven long vessels. The source, the water stream, the sea and the seven streams make together ten. And when the master breaks the vessels which he has made, the waters return to the source, and then only remain the pieces of these vessels, dried up and without any water. It is in this way that the Cause of Causes gave rise to the ten Sephiroth. The Crown is the source from which streams forth an infinite light: hence the name En Soph (אין סוף) = infinite, by which the highest cause is designated: for it then had neither form nor shape, and there is neither any means whereby to comprehend it, nor a way by which to know it. Hence it is written, ‘Seek not out the things that are too hard for thee, neither search the things that are above thy strength.’ ( Ecclus. iii, 21.) He then made a vessel, as small as a point, like the letter י, which is filled from this source (i.e. the En Soph). This is the source of wisdom, wisdom itself (חכמה), after which the Supreme Cause is called ‘wise God.’ Upon this he made a large vessel like a sea, which is called Intelligence (בינה): hence the name ‘intelligent God.’ It must, however, be remarked that God is wise, and through himself, for wisdom does not derive its name through itself, but through the wise one who fills it with the light which flows from him, just as intelligence is not comprehended through itself, but through him who is intelligent and fills it with his own substance. God needs only to withdraw himself and it would be dried up. This is also the meaning of the words, ‘the waters have disappeared from the sea, and the bed is dry and parched up.’ ( Job xiv, 11.) The sea is finally divided into seven streams, and the seven costly vessels are produced, which are called Greatness (גדולה), Judicial Strength (גבורה), Beauty (תפארת), Firmness (נצח), Splendour (הוד), Foundation (יסוד), and Kingdom (מלכות). Therefore is he called the Great or the Merciful, the Mighty, the Glorious, the God of victory, the Creator, to whom all praise is due, and the Foundation of all things. Upon the last attribute all the others are based as well as the world. Finally, he is also the King of the universe, for everything is in his power; he can diminish the number of the vessels, and increase in them the light which streams from them, or reduce it, just as it pleases him.” (Sohar, i, 42 b, 43 a, section בא.)
In another place again the same authority gives the following description of the Deity and the emanation of the Sephiroth. “The Aged of the Aged, the Unknown of the Unknown, has a form and yet has no form. He has a form whereby the universe is preserved, and yet has no form, because he cannot be comprehended. When he first assumed the form [of the first Sephira], he caused nine splendid lights to emanate from it, which, shining through it, diffused a bright light in all directions. Imagine an elevated light sending forth its rays in all directions. Now if we approach it to examine the rays, we understand no more than that they emanate from the said light. So is the Holy Aged an absolute light, but in himself concealed and incomprehensible. We can only comprehend him through those luminous emanations (ספירות) which again are partly visible and partly concealed. These constitute the sacred name of God.” (Idra Suta, Sohar, iii, 288 a.)
Four things must be borne in mind with regard to the Sephiroth. I. That they were not created by, but emanated (נאצל) from, the En Soph; the difference between creation and emanation being, that in the former a diminution of strength takes place, whilst in the latter this is not the case.7 II. That they form among themselves, and with the En Soph, a strict unity, and simply represent different aspects of one and the same being, just as the different rays which proceed from the light, and which appear different things to the eye, form only different manifestations of one and the same light. III. That since they simply differ from each other as the different colours of the same light, all the ten emanations alike partake of the perfections of the En Soph; and IV, that, as emanations from the Infinite, the Sephiroth are infinite and perfect like the En Soph, and yet constitute the first finite things.8 They are infinite and perfect when the En Soph imparts his fulness to them, and finite and imperfect when the fulness is withdrawn from them, so that in this respect these ten Sephiroth exactly correspond to the double nature of Christ,—his finite and imperfect human nature and his infinite and perfect divine nature.
In their totality and unity these ten Sephiroth are not only denominated the world of Sephiroth (עולﬦ הספירות) and the world of Emanations (עולﬦ אצילות), but represent and are called the Primordial or Archetypal Man (אדﬦ קדמון = πρωτόγονος), and the Heavenly Man (אדם עילאה). In the figure, the Crown (כתר) is the head; Wisdom (חכמה), the brains; and Intelligence (בינה), which unites the two and produces the first triad, is the heart or the understanding—thus forming the head. The fourth and fifth Sephiroth, i.e., Mercy (חסד) and Justice (פחד), are the two arms of the Lord, the former the right arm and the latter the left, one distributing life and the other death. And the sixth Sephira, Beauty (תפארת), which unites these two opposites and produces the second triad, is the chest; whilst the seventh and eighth Sephiroth,—i.e., Firmness (נצח) and Splendour (הוד), of the third triad,—are the two legs; and Foundation (יסוד), the ninth Sephira, represents the genital organs, since it denotes the basis and source of all things. Thus it is said “Every thing will return to its origin just as it proceeded from it. All marrow, all sap, and all power are congregated in this spot. Hence all powers which exist originate through the genital organs.” (Sohar, iii, 296 a.) Kingdom (מלכות), the tenth Sephira, represents the harmony of the whole Archetypal Man. The following is the archetypal figure of the ten Sephiroth.
It is this form which the prophet Ezekiel saw in the mysterious chariot, and of which the earthly man is a faint copy. Moreover, these Sephiroth, as we have already remarked, created the world and all things therein according to their own archetype or in the likeness and similitude of the Heavenly Man or the World of Emanations. But, before we propound the Kabbalistic doctrine of the creation of the world, it is necessary to describe a second mode in which the trinity of triads in the Sephiroth is represented, and to mention the appellations and offices of the respective triads.
Now in looking at the Sephiroth which constitute the first triad, it will be seen that they represent the intellect; hence this triad is called the Intellectual World (עולם מושכל). The second triad, again, represents moral qualities; hence it is designated the moral or Sensuous World (עולﬦ מורגש): whilst the third triad represents power and stability, and hence is designated the Material World (עולﬦ המוטבע). These three aspects in which the En Soph manifested himself are called the Faces (אנפין and פרצופין = πρόσωπον, the two words are identical, the former being pure Aramaic, and the latter from the Greek). In the arrangement of this trinity of triads, so as to produce what is called the Kabbalistic tree, denominated the Tree of Life (עץ חיים), or simply the Tree (אילן), the first triad is placed above, the second and third are placed below, in such a manner that the three masculine Sephiroth are on the right, the three feminine on the left, whilst the four uniting Sephiroth occupy the centre, as shown in the following diagrams:—
The three Sephiroth on the right, representing the principle of mercy (חסד), are called the Pillar of Mercy (סטרא ימינא עמודא דחסד); the three on the left, representing the principle of rigour (דין), are denominated the Pillar of Judgment (סטרא דשמאלא עמודא דדינה); whilst the four Sephiroth in the centre, representing mildness (רחמיﬦ), are called the Middle Pillar (עמודא דאמצעיתא). Each Sephira composing this trinity of triads is, as it were, a trinity in itself. I, It has its own absolute character; II, It receives from above; and III, It communicates to what is below it. Hence the remark, “Just as the Sacred Aged is represented by the number three, so are all the other lights (Sephiroth) of a threefold nature.” (Sohar, iii, 288 b.) Within this trinity in each unit and trinity of triads there is a trinity of units, which must be explained before we can propound the Kabbalistic view of the cosmogony.
We have seen that three of the Sephiroth constitute uniting links between three pairs of opposites, and by this means produce three triads, respectively denominated the Intellectual World, the Sensuous or Moral World, and the Material World, and that these three uniting Sephiroth, together with the one which unites the whole into a common unity, form what is called the Middle Pillar of the Kabbalistic tree. Now from the important position they thus occupy, these Sephiroth are synecdochically used to represent the worlds which by their uniting potency they respectively yield. Hence the Sephira, Crown (כתר), from which the Sephiroth, Wisdom (חכמה) and Intelligence (בינה), emanated, and by which they are also united, thus yielding the Intellectual World, is by itself used to designate the Intellectual World (עולﬦ המושכל). Its own names, however, are not changed in this capacity, and it still continues to be designated by the several appellations mentioned in the description of the first Sephira. The sixth Sephira, called Beauty (תפארת), which unites Sephiroth IV (הסד, Love) and V (פחד, Justice), thus yielding the Sensuous World, is by itself used to denote the Sensuous World, and in this capacity is called the Sacred King (מלכא קדישא), or simply the King (מלכא); whilst the Sephira called Kingdom (מלכות), which unites the whole Sephiroth, is here used to represent the Material World, instead of the ninth Sephira, called Foundation (יסוד), and is in this capacity denominated the Queen (מלכתא) or the Matron (מטרוניתא). Thus we obtain within the trinity of triads a higher trinity of units,—viz., the Crown (כתר), Beauty (תפארת), and Kingdom (מלכות),—which represents the potencies of all the Sephiroth.
II. The Creation or the Kabbalistic Cosmogony.
Having arrived at the highest trinity which comprises all the Sephiroth, and which consists of the Crown, the King, and the Queen, we shall be able to enter into the cosmogony of the Kabbalah. Now, it is not the En Soph who created the world, but this trinity, as represented in the combination of the Sephiroth; or rather the creation has arisen from the conjunction of the emanations. The world was born from the union of the crowned King and Queen; or, according to the language of the Kabbalah, these opposite sexes of royalty, who emanated from the En Soph, produced the universe in their own image. Worlds, we are told, were indeed created before ever the King and Queen or the Sephiroth gave birth to the present state of things, but they could not continue, and necessarily perished, because the En Soph had not yet assumed this human form in its completeness, which not only implies a moral and intellectual nature, but, as conditions of development, procreation, and continuance, also comprises sexual opposites. This creation, which aborted and which has been succeeded by the present order of things, is indicated in Gen. xxxvi, 31–40. The kings of Edom, or the old kings as they are also denominated, who are here said to have reigned before the monarchs of Israel, and are mentioned as having died one after the other, are those primordial worlds which were successively convulsed and destroyed; whilst the sovereigns of Israel denote the King and Queen who emanated from the En Soph, and who have given birth to and perpetuate the present world. Thus we are told:—
“Before the Aged of the Aged, the Concealed of the Concealed, expanded into the form of King, the Crown of Crowns [i.e. the first Sephira], there was neither beginning nor end. He hewed and incised forms and figures into it [i.e. the crown] in the following manner:—He spread before him a cover, and carved therein kings [i.e. worlds], and marked out their limits and forms, but they could not preserve themselves. Therefore it is written, ‘These are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.’ ( Gen. xxxvi, 31.) This refers to the primordial kings and primordial Israel. All these were imperfect: he therefore removed them and let them vanish, till he finally descended himself to this cover and assumed a form.” (Idra Rabba, Sohar, iii, 148 a.)
This important fact that worlds were created and destroyed prior to the present creation is again and again reiterated in the Sohar.9 These worlds are compared with sparks which fly out from a red hot iron beaten by a hammer, and which are extinguished according to the distance they are removed from the burning mass. “There were old worlds,” the Sohar tells us, “which perished as soon as they came into existence: were formless, and they were called sparks. Thus the smith when hammering the iron, lets the sparks fly in all directions. These sparks are the primordial worlds, which could not continue, because the Sacred Aged had not as yet assumed his form [of opposite sexes—the King and Queen], and the master was not yet at his work.” (Idra Suta, Sohar, iii, 292 b.) But since nothing can be annihilated—“Nothing perisheth in this world, not even the breath which issues from the mouth, for this, like everything else, has its place and destination, and the Holy One, blessed be his name! turns it into his service;” (Sohar, ii, 110 b.)—these worlds could not be absolutely destroyed. Hence when the question is asked—‘Why were these primordial worlds destroyed?’ the reply is given—“Because the Man, represented by the ten Sephiroth, was not as yet. The human form contains every thing, and as it did not as yet exist, the worlds were destroyed.” It is added, “Still when it is said that they perished, it is only meant thereby that they lacked the true form, till the human form came into being, in which all things are comprised, and which also contains all those forms. Hence, though the Scripture ascribes death (וימות) to the kings of Edom, it only denotes a sinking down from their dignity, i.e., the worlds up to that time did not answer to the Divine idea, since they had not as yet the perfect form of which they were capable.” (Idra Rabba, Sohar, iii, 135 b.)
It was therefore after the destruction of previous worlds, and after the En Soph or the Boundless assumed the Sephiric form, that the present world was created. “The Holy One, blessed be he, created and destroyed several worlds before the present one was made, and when this last work was nigh completion, all the things of this world, all the creatures of the universe, in whatever age they were to exist, before ever they entered into this world, were present before God in their true form. Thus are the words of Ecclesiastes to be understood ‘What was, shall be, and what has been done, shall be done.’” (Sohar, iii, 61 b.) “The lower world is made after the pattern of the upper world; every thing which exists in the upper world is to be found as it were in a copy upon earth; still the whole is one.” (Ibid., ii, 20 a.)
This world, however, is not a creation ex nihilo, but is simply an immanent offspring and the image of the King and Queen, or, in other words, a farther expansion or evolution of the Sephiroth which are the emanations of the En Soph. This is expressed in the Sohar in the following passage—“The indivisible point [the Absolute], who has no limit, and who cannot be comprehended because of his purity and brightness, expanded from without, and formed a brightness which served as a covering to the indivisible point, yet it too could not be viewed in consequence of its immeasurable light. It too expanded from without, and this expansion was its garment. Thus everything originated through a constant upheaving agitation, and thus finally the world originated.” (Sohar, i, 20 a.) The universe therefore is an immanent emanation from the Sephiroth, and reveals and makes visible the Boundless and the Concealed of the Concealed. And though it exhibits the Deity in less splendour than its parents the Sephiroth, because it is further removed from the primordial source of light, yet, as it is God manifested, all the multifarious forms in the world point out the unity which they represent; and nothing in it can be destroyed, but everything must return to the source whence it emanated. Hence it is said that “all things of which this world consists, spirit as well as body, will return to their principal, and the root from which they proceeded.” (Sohar, ii, 218 b.) “He is the beginning and end of all the degrees in the creation. All these degrees are stamped with his seal, and he cannot be otherwise described than by the unity. He is one, notwithstanding the innumerable forms which are in him.” (Ibid., i, 21 a.)
Now these Sephiroth, or the World of Emanation (עולם אצילות), or the Atzilatic World, gave birth to three worlds in the following order:—From the conjunction of the King and Queen (i.e., the ten Sephiroth) proceeded—I. The World of Creation, or the Briatic World (עולם הבריאה), also called The Throne (כורסיא), which is the abode of pure spirits, and which, like its parents, consists of ten Sephiroth, or Emanations. The Briatic World, again, gave rise to, II. The World of Formation, or the Jetziratic World (עולﬦ היצירה), which is the habitation of the angels, and also consists of ten Sephiroth; whilst the Jetziratic World, again, sent forth, III. The World of Action, or the Assiatic World (עולﬦ העשיה), also called the World of Keliphoth (עולﬦ הקליפות), which contains the Spheres (גלגלים) and matter, and is the residence of the Prince of Darkness and his legions. Or, as the Sohar describes it—“After the Sephiroth, and for their use, God made the Throne (i.e., the World of Creation), with four legs and six steps, thus making ten (i.e., the decade of Sephiroth which each world has).… For this Throne and its service he formed the ten Angelic hosts (i.e., the World of Formation), Malachim, Arelim, Chajoth, Ophanim, Chashmalim, Elim, Elohim, Benei Elohim, Ishim, and Seraphim (מלאכיﬦ אראליﬦ חיות אופניﬦ חשמליﬦ אליﬦ אלהיﬦ בני אלהים אישים שרפים), and for their service, again, he made Samaël and his legions (i.e., the World of Action), who are, as it were, the clouds upon which the angels ride in their descent on the earth, and serve, as it were, for their horses. Hence it is written—‘Behold the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt.’” ( Isa. xix, 1.) (Sohar ii, 43 a.) There are, therefore, four worlds, each of which has a separate Sephiric system, consisting of a decade of emanations. I. The Atzilatic World, called alternately the World of Emanations (עולם אצילות), the Image (דיוקנא = εἰκών with ד prefixed), and the Heavenly Man (אדם עלאה), which, by virtue of its being a direct emanation from God and most intimately allied with the Deity, is perfect and immutable. II. The Briatic World, called the World of Creation (עולם הבריאה) and the Throne (כורסיא), which is the immediate emanation of the former, and whose ten Sephiroth, being further removed from the En Soph, are of a more limited and circumscribed potency, though the substances they comprise are of the purest nature and without any admixture of matter. III. The Jetziratic World, called the World of Formation (עולם היצירה) and the World of Angels (מלאכיא), which proceeded from the former world, and whose ten Sephiroth, though of a still less refined substance than the former, because further removed from the primordial source, are still without matter. It is in this angelic world where those intelligent and uncorporeal beings reside, who are wrapped in a luminous garment, and who assume a sensuous form when they appear to man. And IV. The Assiatic World, called the World of Action (עולם העשיה) and the World of Matter (עולם הקליפות) which emanated from the preceding world, the ten Sephiroth of which are made up of the grosser elements of all the former three worlds, and which has sunk down in consequence of its materiality and heaviness. Its substances consist of matter limited by space and perceptible to the senses in a multiplicity of forms. It is subject to constant changes, generations, and corruptions, and is the abode of the Evil Spirit.
Before leaving this doctrine about the creation and the relationship of the Supreme Being to the universe, we must reiterate two things. I. Though the trinity of the Sephiroth gave birth to the universe, or, in other words, is an evolution of the emanations, and is thus a further expansion of the Deity itself, it must not be supposed that the Kabbalists believe in a Trinity in our sense of the word. Their view on this subject will best be understood from the following remark in the Sohar—“Whoso wishes to have an insight into the sacred unity, let him consider a flame rising from a burning coal or a burning lamp. He will see first a twofold light, a bright white and a black or blue light; the white light is above, and ascends in a direct light, whilst the blue or dark light is below, and seems as the chair of the former, yet both are so intimately connected together that they constitute only one flame. The seat, however, formed by the blue or dark light, is again connected with the burning matter which is under it again. The white light never changes its colour, it always remains white; but various shades are observed in the lower light, whilst the lowest light, moreover, takes two directions—above it is connected with the white light, and below with the burning matter. Now this is constantly consuming itself, and perpetually ascends to the upper light, and thus everything merges into a single unity (וכולא אתקשר ביחודא חד Sohar, i, 51 a).10 And II. The creation, or the universe, is simply the garment of God woven from the Deity’s own substance; or, as Spinoza expresses it, God is the immanent basis of the universe. For although, to reveal himself to us, the Concealed of all the Concealed sent forth the ten emanations called the Form of God, Form of the Heavenly Man, yet since even this luminous form was too dazzling for our vision, it had to assume another form, or had to put on another garment which consists of the universe. The universe, therefore, or the visible world, is a further expansion of the Divine Substance, and is called in the Kabbalah “the Garment of God.” Thus we are told, “when the Concealed of all the Concealed wanted to reveal himself, he first made a point [i.e. the first Sephira], shaped it into a sacred form [i.e. the totality of the Sephiroth], and covered it with a rich and splendid garment that is the world.” (Sohar, i, 2 a).
III. The Creation of Angels and Men.
The different worlds which successively emanated from the En Soph and from each other, and which sustain the relationship to the Deity of first, second, third, and fourth generations, are, with the exception of the first (i.e., the World of Emanations), inhabited by spiritual beings of various grades. “God animated every part of the firmament with a separate spirit, and forthwith all the heavenly hosts were before him. This is meant by the Psalmist, when he says ( Ps. xxxiii, 6 ) ‘By the breath of his mouth were made all their hosts.’ (Sohar, iii, 68 a.) These angels consist of two kinds—good and bad; they have their respective princes, and occupy the three habitable worlds in the following order. As has already been remarked, the first world, or the Archetypal Man, in whose image everything is formed, is occupied by no one else. The angel Metatron (מטטרון) occupies the second or the Briatic World ( עולם בריאה), which is the first habitable world; he alone constitutes the world of pure spirits. He is the garment of שדי i.e., the visible manifestation of the Deity; his name is numerically equivalent to that of the Lord. (Sohar, iii, 231 a.) He governs the visible world, preserves the unity, harmony, and the revolutions of all the spheres, planets and heavenly bodies, and is the Captain of the myriads of the angelic hosts11 who people the second habitable or the Jetziratic World (עולם היצירה), and who are divided into ten ranks, answering to the ten Sephiroth. Each of these angels is set over a different part of the universe. One has the control of one sphere, another of another heavenly body; one angel has charge of the sun, another of the moon, another of the earth, another of the sea, another of the fire, another of the wind, another of the light, another of the seasons, &c. &c.; and these angels derive their names from the heavenly bodies they respectively guard. Hence one is called Venus (נגה), one Mars (מאדמים), one the substance of Heaven (עצם השמים), one the angel of light (אוריאל), and another the angel of fire (נוריאל.) (Comp. Sohar i, 42, &c.) The demons, constituting the second class of angels, which are the grossest and most deficient of all forms, and are the shells (קליפות) of being, inhabit the third habitable or Assiatic World (עולם עשיה). They, too, form ten degrees, answering to the decade of Sephiroth, in which darkness and impurity increase with the descent of each degree. Thus the two first degrees are nothing more than the absence of all visible form and organisation, which the Mosaic cosmology describes in the words תהו ובהו before the hexahemeron, and which the Septuagint renders by ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος. The third degree is the abode of the darkness which the book of Genesis describes as having in the beginning covered the face of the earth. Whereupon follow seven infernal halls (שבע היכלות) = Hells, occupied by the demons, which are the incarnation of all human vices, and which torture those poor deluded beings who suffered themselves to be led astray in this world. These seven infernal halls are subdivided into endless compartments, so as to afford a separate chamber of torture for every species of sin. The prince of this region of darkness, who is called Satan in the Bible, is denominated by the Kabbalah, Samaël (סמאל) = angel of poison or of death. He is the same evil spirit, Satan, the serpent, who seduced Eve.12 He has a wife, called the Harlot or the Woman of Whoredom (אשת זנוניﬦ), but they are both generally represented as united in the one name of the Beast (חיוא. Comp. Sohar, ii, 255–259, with i, 35 b.)
The whole universe, however, was incomplete, and did not receive its finishing stroke till man was formed, who is the acme of the creation, and the microcosm uniting in himself the totality of beings. “The Heavenly Adam (i.e., the ten Sephiroth), who emanated from the highest primordial obscurity (i.e., the En Soph), created the Earthly Adam.” (Sohar, ii, 70 b.) “Man is both the import and the highest degree of creation, for which reason he was formed on the sixth day. As soon as man was created, everything was complete, including the upper and nether worlds, for everything is comprised in man. He unites in himself all forms.” (Sohar, iii, 48 a.)13 Man was created with faculties and features far transcending those of the angels. The bodies of the protoplasts were not of that gross matter which constitutes our bodies. Adam and Eve, before the fall, were wrapped in that luminous ethereal substance in which the celestial spirits are clad, and which is neither subject to want nor to sensual desires. They were envied by the angels of the highest rank. The fall, however, changed it all, as we are told in the following passage—“When Adam dwelled in the garden of Eden, he was dressed in the celestial garment, which is a garment of heavenly light. But when he was expelled from the garden of Eden, and became subject to the wants of this world, what is written? ‘The Lord God made coats of skins unto Adam and to his wife, and clothed them’ ( Gen. iii, 21 ); for prior to this they had garments of light—light of that light which was used in the garden of Eden.” (Sohar, ii, 229 b.) The garments of skin, therefore, mean our present body, which was given to our first parents in order to adapt them to the changes which the fall introduced.
But even in the present form, the righteous are above the angels,14 and every man is still the microcosm, and every member of his body corresponds to a constituent part of the visible universe. “What is man? Is he simply skin, flesh, bones, and veins? No! That which constitutes the real man is the soul, and those things which are called the skin, the flesh, the bones, and the veins, all these are merely a garment, they are simply the clothes of the man, but not the man himself. When man departs, he puts off these garments wherewith the son of man is clothed. Yet are all these bones and sinews formed in the secret of the highest wisdom, after the heavenly image. The skin represents the firmament, which extends everywhere, and covers everything like a garment—as it is written, ‘Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain.’ ( Ps. clv, 2 ) … The flesh represents the deteriorated part of the world;… the bones and the veins represent the heavenly chariot, the inner powers, the servants of God.… But these are the outer garments, for in the inward part is the deep mystery of the heavenly man. Everything here below, as above, is mysterious. Therefore it is written—‘God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him’ ( Gen. i, 27 ); repeating the word God twice, one for the man and the other for the woman. The mystery of the earthly man is after the mystery of the Heavenly Man. And just as we see in the firmament above, covering all things, different signs which are formed of the stars and planets, and which contain secret things and profound mysteries, studied by those who are wise and expert in these signs; so there are in the skin, which is the cover of the body of the son of man, and which is like the sky that covers all things, signs and features which are the stars and planets of the skin, indicating secret things and profound mysteries, whereby the wise are attracted, who understand to read the mysteries in the human face.” (Sohar, ii, 76 a.) He is still the presence of God upon earth (שכינתא תתאה), and the very form of the body depicts the Tetragrammaton, the most sacred name Jehovah (יהוה). Thus the head is the form of the י, the arms and the shoulders are like the ה, the breast represents the form of the ו, whilst the two legs with the back represent the form of the second ה. (Sohar, ii, 42 a.)15
The souls of all these epitomes of the universe are pre-existent in the World of Emanations,16 and are without exception destined to inhabit human bodies, and pursue their course upon earth for a certain number of years. Hence we are told that, “When the Holy One, blessed be his name, wished to create the world, the universe was before him in idea. He then formed all the souls which are destined for the whole human race. All were minutely before him in the same form which they were to assume in the human body. He looked at each one of them; and there were some among them which would corrupt their way upon the earth.” (Sohar, i, 96 b). Like the Sephiroth from which it emanates, every soul has ten potencies, which are subdivided into a trinity of triads, and are respectively represented by (I) The Spirit, (נשמה), which is the highest degree of being, and which both corresponds to and is operated upon by The Crown (כתר), representing the highest triad in the Sephiroth, called the Intellectual World; (II) The Soul (רוח), which is the seat of good and evil, as well as the moral qualities, and which both corresponds to and is operated upon by Beauty (תפארת), representing the second triad in the Sephiroth, called the Moral World; and (III) The Cruder Spirit (נפש), which is immediately connected with the body, is the direct cause of its lower functions, instincts, and animal life, and which both corresponds to and is operated upon by Foundation (יסוד), representing the third triad in the Sephiroth, called the Material World.
In its original state each soul is androgynous, and is separated into male and female when it descends on earth to be borne in a human body. We have seen that the souls of the righteous, in the world of spirits, are superior in dignity to the heavenly powers and the ministering angels. It might, therefore, be asked why do these souls leave such an abode of bliss, and come into this vale of tears to dwell in tabernacles of clay? The only reply to be given is that these happy souls have no choice in the matter. Indeed we are told that the soul, before assuming a human body, addresses God—“Lord of the Universe! I am happy in this world, and do not wish to go into another world, where I shall be a bond-maid, and be exposed to all kinds of pollutions.” (Sohar, ii, 96.)17 And can you wonder at this pitiful ejaculation? Should your philanthropic feelings and your convictions that our heavenly Father ordains all things for the good of his children, impel you to ask that an explanation of this mystery might graciously be vouchsafed to you in order to temper your compassion and calm your faith, then take this parable. “A son was born to a King; he sends him to the country, there to be nursed and brought up till he is grown up, and instructed in the ceremonies and usages of the royal palace. When the King hears that the education of his son is finished, what does his fatherly love impel him to do? For his son’s sake he sends for the Queen his mother, conducts him into the palace and makes merry with him all day. Thus the Holy One, blessed be he, has a son with the Queen: this is the heavenly and sacred soul. He sends him into the country, that is into this world, therein to grow up and to learn the customs of the court. When the King hears that this his son has grown up in the country, and that it is time to bring him into the palace, what does his love for his son impel him to do? He sends, for his sake, for the Queen and conducts him to the palace.” (Sohar, i, 245 b.)
As has already been remarked, the human soul, before it descends into the world, is androgynous, or in other words, consists of two component parts, each of which comprises all the elements of our spiritual nature. Thus the Sohar tells us—“Each soul and spirit, prior to its entering into this world, consists of a male and female united into one being. When it descends on this earth the two parts separate and animate two different bodies. At the time of marriage, the Holy One, blessed be he, who knows all souls and spirits, unites them again as they were before, and they again constitute one body and one soul, forming as it were the right and left of one individual; therefore ‘There is nothing new under the sun.’ (Eccl. i, 9.)… This union, however, is influenced by the deeds of the man and by the ways in which he walks. If the man is pure and his conduct is pleasing in the sight of God, he is united with that female part of his soul which was his component part prior to his birth.” (Sohar, i, 91 b.)18 The soul carries her knowledge with her to the earth, so that “every thing which she learns here below she knew already, before she entered into this world.” (Ibid., iii, 61 b.)
Since the form of the body as well as the soul, is made after the image of the Heavenly Man, a figure of the forthcoming body which is to clothe the newly descending soul, is sent down from the celestial regions, to hover over the couch of the husband and wife when they copulate, in order that the conception may be formed according to this model. “At connubial intercourse on earth, the Holy One, blessed be he, sends a human form which bears the impress of the divine stamp. This form is present at intercourse, and if we were permitted to see it we should perceive over our heads an image resembling a human face; and it is in this image that we are formed. As long as this image is not sent by God and does not descend and hover over our heads, there can be no conception, for it is written—‘And God created man in his own image.’ ( Gen. i, 27.) This image receives us when we enter the world, it develops itself with us when we grow, and accompanies us when we depart this life; as it is written—‘Surely, man walked in an image’ ( Ps. xxxvii, 5 ): and this image is from heaven. When the souls are to leave their heavenly abode, each soul separately appears before the Holy King, dressed in a sublime form, with the features in which it is to appear in this world. It is from this sublime form that the image proceeds. It is the third after the soul, and precedes it on the earth; it is present at the conception, and there is no conception in the world where this image is not present.” (Sohar, iii, 104 a b.)19
All human countenances are divisible into the four primordial types of faces, which appeared at the mysterious chariot throne in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel, viz., the face of man, of the lion, the ox and the eagle. Our faces resemble these more or less according to the rank which our souls occupy in the intellectual or moral dominion. “And physiognomy does not consist in the external lineaments, but in the features which are mysteriously drawn in us. The features in the face change according to the form which is peculiar to the inward face of the spirit. It is the spirit which produces all those physiognomical peculiarities known to the wise; and it is only through the spirit that the features have any meaning. All those spirits and souls which proceed from Eden (i.e., the highest wisdom) have a peculiar form, which is reflected in the face.” (Sohar, ii, 73 b.) The face thus lighted up by the peculiar spirit inhabiting the body, is the mirror of the soul; and the formation of the head indicates the character and temper of the man. An arched forehead is a sign of a cheerful and profound spirit, as well as of a distinguished intellect; a broad but flat forehead indicates foolishness and silliness; whilst a forehead which is flat, compressed on the sides and spiral, betokens narrowness of mind and vanity. (Comp. Sohar, ii, 71 b, 75 a.)
As a necessary condition of free existence and of moral being, the souls are endowed by the Deity, from the very beginning, with the power of adhering in close proximity to the primordial source of infinite light from which they emanated, and of alienating themselves from that source and pursuing an independent and opposite course. Hence, Simon ben Jochai said, “If the Holy One, blessed be he, had not put within us both the good and the evil desire, which are denominated light and darkness, the created man would have neither virtue nor vice. For this reason it is written—‘Behold, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil.’ ( Deut. xxx, 15.) To this the disciples replied, Wherefore is all this? Would it not be better if reward and punishment had not existed at all, since in that case man would have been incapable of sinning and of doing evil. He rejoined, It was meet and right that he should be created as he was created, because the Law was created for him, wherein are written punishments for the wicked and rewards for the righteous; and there would not have been any reward for the righteous and punishment for the wicked but for created man.” (Sohar, i, 23 a.) So complete is their independence, that souls, even in their pre-existent state, can and do choose which way they intend to pursue. “All souls which are not guiltless in this world, have already alienated themselves in heaven from the Holy One, blessed be he; they have thrown themselves into an abyss at their very existence, and have anticipated the time when they are to descend on earth.… Thus were the souls before they came into this world.” (Ibid., iii, 61 b.)
IV. The Destiny of Man and the Universe.
As the En Soph constituted man the microcosm, and as the Deity is reflected in this epitome of the universe more than in any component part of the creation, all things visible and invisible are designed to aid him in passing through his probationary state here below, in gathering that experience for which his soul has been sent down, and in returning in a pure state to that source of light from which his soul emanated. This destiny of man—i.e., the reunion with the Deity from which he emanated—is the constant desire both of God and man, and is an essential principle of the soul, underlying its very essence. Discarding that blind power from our nature, which governs our animal life, which never quits this earth, and which therefore plays no part in our spiritual being, the soul possesses two kinds of powers and two sorts of feelings. It has the faculty for that extraordinary prophetical knowledge, which was vouchsafed to Moses in an exceptional manner, called the Luminous Mirror (אספקלריא נהרא = specularia), and the ordinary knowledge termed the Non-Luminous Mirror (אספקלריא דלא נהרא), respectively represented in the earthly Paradise by the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil; and it possesses the higher feeling of love and the lower feeling of fear.20 Now the full fruition of that higher knowledge and of that loftier feeling of love can only be reaped when the soul returns to the Infinite Source of Light, and is wrapped in that luminous garment which the protoplasts forfeited through the fall. Thus we are told, “Come and see when the soul reaches that place which is called the Treasury of Life (צרורא דחיי), she enjoys a bright and luminous mirror (אספקלריאה דנהרא), which receives its light from the highest heaven. The soul could not bear this light but for the luminous mantle which she puts on. For just as the soul, when sent to this earth, puts on an earthly garment to preserve herself here, so she receives above a shining garment, in order to be able to look without injury into the mirror whose light proceeds from the Lord of Light. Moses too could not approach to look into that higher light which he saw, without putting on such an ethereal garment; as it is written—‘And Moses went into the midst of the cloud’ ( Exod. xxiv, 18 ), which is to be translated by means of the cloud wherewith he wrapped himself as if dressed in a garment. At that time Moses almost discarded the whole of his earthly nature; as it is written,—‘And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights’ (ibid.); and he thus approached that dark cloud where God is enthroned. In this wise the departed spirits of the righteous dress themselves in the upper regions in luminous garments, to be able to endure that light which streams from the Lord of Light.” (Sohar, i, 65 b, 66 a.)
The two feelings of love and fear are designed to aid the soul in achieving her high destiny, when she shall no more look through the dark glass, but see face to face in the presence of the Luminous Mirror, by permeating all acts of obedience and divine worship. And though perfect love, which is serving God purely out of love, like that higher knowledge, is to be man’s destiny in heaven, yet the soul may attain some of it on earth, and endeavour to serve God out of love and not from fear, as thereby she will have an antepast on earth of its union with the Deity, which is to be so rapturous and indissoluble in heaven. “Yet is the service which arises from fear not to be depreciated, for fear leads to love. It is true that he who obeys God out of love has attained to the highest degree, and already belongs to the saints of the world to come, but it must not be supposed that to worship God out of fear is no worship. Such a service has also its merit, though in this case the union of the soul with the Deity is slight. There is only one degree which is higher than fear: it is love. In love is the mystery of the divine unity. It is love which unites the higher and lower degrees together; it elevates everything to that position where everything must be one. This is also the mystery of the words, ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one God.’” (Sohar, ii, 216 a.)
Hence it is that these two principles play so important a part in the devotions and contemplations of the Kabbalists; Love is made to correspond to Mercy, the fourth Sephira, whilst Fear is made to answer to Rigour, the fifth Sephira; and it is asserted that when these two principles are thoroughly combined by the righteous in their divine worship and acts of obedience, the name Jehovah, which comprises these two principles, and which is now rent in twain by the preponderance of sin and disobedience, will be re-united. Then, and then only, will all the souls return to the bosom of the Father of our spirits; then will the restitution of all things take place, and the earth shall be covered with the knowledge of God even as the waters cover the sea. This is the reason why the Kabbalists utter the following prayer prior to the performance of any of the commandments: “For the re-union of the Holy One, blessed be his name, and his Shechinah, I do this in love and fear, in fear and love, for the union of the name יה with וה into a perfect harmony! I pronounce this in the name of all Israel!”21 In order to represent this union to the senses the words Fear יראה and Love אהבה, are divided, and so placed above each other that they may be read either across or down, as follows:—
| יר | אה |
| אה | בה |
When thus fulfilling the commandments the pious not only enjoy a prelibation of that sublime light which shines in heaven, and which will serve them as a garment when they enter into the other world and appear before the Holy One (Sohar, ii, 299 b), but become on earth already the habitation of the Sephiroth, and each saint has that Sephira incarnate in him which corresponds to the virtue he most cultivates, or to the feature most predominant in his character. Among the patriarchs, therefore, who were the most exalted in piety, we find that Love, the fourth Sephira, was incarnate in Abraham; Rigour, the fifth Sephira, in Isaac; Mildness, the sixth Sephira, in Jacob; Firmness, the seventh Sephira, in Moses; Splendour, the eighth Sephira, in Aaron; Foundation, the ninth Sephira, in Joseph; and Kingdom, the tenth Sephira, was incarnate in David. Hence all the righteous who constitute the emanations, of the ten Sephiroth are divided into three classes corresponding to the three principles or Pillars exhibited in the Kabbalistic Tree, viz.:—I. The Pillar of Mercy (חסד), represented by the Patriarch Abraham (comp. חסד לאברהם Micah, vii, 20;) II. The Pillar of Justice (פחד), represented by Isaac (comp. פחד יצחק Gen. xxxi, 42 ); and III. The Middle Pillar, represented by Jacob (comp. אמת ליעקב Micah vii, 20 ), which is the connecting or uniting principle. (Sohar, i, 146 a; 148 b.) It is for this reason that the patriarchs are denominated the Chariot-throne of the Lord.
Following the paths of righteousness, the saints on earth enjoy the protection of heaven in an especial manner, by virtue of the divine wisdom inherent in them, for they are able to decipher the signs which God has put in the firmament to shield them from accidents. “In heaven above, that surrounds the universe, are signs in which the deepest mysteries are concealed. These signs are constellations and stars, which are studied and deciphered by the wise.” (Sohar, ii, 76 a.) Hence the admonition—“He who has to start on a journey very early, should rise at daybreak, look carefully towards the east, and he will perceive certain signs resembling letters which pierce through the sky and appear above the horizon. These shining forms are those of the letters wherewith God created heaven and earth. Now, if man knows the secret meaning of the sacred name, consisting of forty-two letters, and meditates on it with becoming devotion and enthusiasm, he will perceive six Jods (יוד״ין) in the pure sky, three to the right and three to the left, as well as three Vavs (וו״ין), which hover about in the heavenly arch. These are the letters of the priestly benediction (ברכת כהנים).… In the bright morning he will perceive a pillar towards the west, hanging perpendicularly over the earthly paradise, and another pillar hanging over the centre of paradise. This luminous pillar has the three colours of a purple web: three birds stand on it, singing in the following manner. The first sings, ‘Hallelujah! Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord’ ( Ps. cxiii, 1 ); the second, ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore’ (ibid., v. 2 ); and the third, ‘From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, the Lord’s name is to be praised’ (ibid., v. 3 ). This is the time when the pious traveller is to offer up his morning prayer, in order that he may secure heaven’s blessings and the sublime and divine mercy as his sure guide.” (Sohar, ii, 130 b.)
Now since it is an absolute condition of the soul to return to the Infinite Source from which it emanated, after developing all those perfections, the germs of which are eternally implanted in it; and since some souls do not at once develope these fruits of righteousness, which precludes their immediate reunion with their Primordial Source, another term of life is vouchsafed to them, so that they may be able to cultivate those virtues which they stifled in their former bodily life, and without which it is impossible for them to return to their heavenly home. Hence, if the soul, in its first assuming a human body and sojourn on earth, fails to acquire that experience for which it descends from heaven, and becomes contaminated by that which is polluting, it must re-inhabit a body again and again till it is able to ascend in a purified state through repeated trials. Thus we are told that22 “All souls are subject to transmigration (עאין בגלגולא), and men do not know the ways of the Holy One, blessed be he; they do not know that they are brought before the tribunal, both before they enter into this world and after they quit it, they are ignorant of the many transmigrations and secret probations which they have to undergo, and of the number of souls and spirits which enter into this world, and do not return to the palace of the Heavenly King. Men do not know how the souls revolve like a stone which is thrown from a sling; as it is written—‘And the souls of thine enemies them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.’ ( 1 Sam., xxv, 29.) But the time is at hand when these mysteries will be disclosed.” (Sohar, ii, 99 b.)
The transmigration of the soul into another body, however, is restricted to three times; and if two souls in their third residence in human bodies are still too weak to resist all earthly trammels and to acquire the necessary experience, they are both united and sent into one body, so that they may be able conjointly to learn that which they were too feeble to do separately. It sometimes, however, happens that it is the singleness and isolation of the soul which is the source of her weakness, and she requires help to pass through her probation. In that case she chooses for a companion a soul which has more strength and better fortune. The stronger of the two then becomes as it were the mother; she carries the sickly one in her bosom, and nurses her from her own substance, just as a woman nurses her child. Such an association is therefore called pregnancy (עיבור), because the stronger soul gives as it were life and substance to the weaker companion.23
As the world, like all other living beings, is a further expansion of the Deity’s own substance, it too must ultimately share that blessedness which it enjoyed in its first evolution. This is indicated in the letter ב with which the history of the creation begins (i.e. ב״ראשית), and which is also the first letter in the word blessing (ב״רכה).24 Even the archangel of wickedness, or the venomous beast (חוייא בישא), or Samäel (סמאל), as he is called, will be restored to his angelic nature and name, inasmuch as he too, like all other beings, proceeded from the same infinite source of all things. The first part of his name (סﬦ), which signifies venom, will then be dropped, and he will retain the second part (אל), which is the common name of all the angels. This, however, will only take place at the advent of Messiah. But his coming is retarded by the very few new souls which enter into the world; as many of the old souls which have already inhabited bodies have to reenter those bodies which are now born, in consequence of having polluted themselves in their previous bodily existence, and the soul of the Messiah, which, like other souls, has its pre-existence in the world of the Sephiroth, cannot be born till all human souls have passed through their period of probation on this earth, because it is to be the last born one at the end of days. Then the great Jubilee year will commence, when the whole pleroma of souls (אוצר הנשמות), cleaned and purified shall return into the bosom of the Infinite Source; and they shall be in “the Palace which is situate in the secret and most elevated part of heaven, and which is called the Palace of Love (היכל אהבה). There the profoundest mysteries are; there dwells the Heavenly King, blessed be he, with the holy souls, and is united with them by a loving kiss. (Sohar, ii, 97 a.) “This kiss is the union of the soul with the substance from which it emanated.” (Ibid., i, 168 a.) Then hell shall disappear; there shall be no more punishment, nor temptation, nor sin: life will be an everlasting feast, a Sabbath without end. Then all souls will be united with the Highest Soul, and supplement each other in the Holy of Holies of the Seven Halls (שבע היכלות). Everything will then return to unity and perfection—everything will be united into one idea, which shall be over, and fill the whole universe. The basis of this idea, however (i.e., the light which is concealed in it), will never be fathomed or comprehended; only the idea itself which emanates from it shall be comprehended. In that state the creature will not be distinguished from the Creator, the same idea will illuminate both. Then the soul will rule the universe like God, and what she shall command he will execute. (Sohar, i, 45 a and b.)
V. The Kabbalistic view of the Old Testament, and its relation to Christianity.
We have already seen that the Kabbalah claims a pre-Adamite existence, and asserts that its mysteries are covertly conveyed in the first four books of the Pentateuch. Those of us who read the Books of Moses, and cannot discover in them any of the above-mentioned doctrines, will naturally ask for the principles of exegesis whereby these secrets are deduced from or rather introduced into the text. These principles are laid down in the following declaration:—“If the Law simply consisted of ordinary expressions and narratives, e. gr., the words of Esau, Hagar, Laban, the ass of Balaam, or of Balaam himself, why should it be called the Law of truth, the perfect Law, the true witness of God? Each word contains a sublime source, each narrative points not only to the single instance in question, but also to generals.” (Sohar, iii, 149 b.) “Woe be to the son of man who says that the Tora (Pentateuch) contains common sayings and ordinary narratives.25 For, if this were the case, we might in the present day compose a code of doctrines from profane writings which should excite greater respect. If the Law contains ordinary matter, then there are nobler sentiments in profane codes. Let us go and make a selection from them, and we shall be able to compile a far superior code.26 But every word of the Law has a sublime sense and a heavenly mystery.… Now the spiritual angels had to put on an earthly garment when they descended to this earth; and if they had not put on such a garment, they could neither have remained nor be understood on the earth. And just as it was with the angels so it is with the Law. When it descended on earth, the Law had to put on an earthly garment to be understood by us, and the narratives are its garment. There are some who think that this garment is the real Law, and not the spirit which it clothed, but these have no portion in the world to come; and it is for this reason that David prayed, ‘Open thou mine eyes that I may behold the wondrous things out of the Law.’ ( Ps. cxix, 18.) What is under the garment of the Law? There is the garment which every one can see; and there are foolish people who, when they see a well-dressed man, think of nothing more worthy than this beautiful garment, and take it for the body, whilst the worth of the body itself consists in the soul. The Law too has a body: this is the commandments, which are called the body of the Law. This body is clothed in garments, which are the ordinary narratives. The fools of this world look at nothing else but this garment, which consists of the narratives in the Law; they do not know any more, and do not understand what is beneath this garment. But those who have more understanding do not look at the garment but at the body beneath it (i.e., the moral); whilst the wisest, the servants of the Heavenly King, those who dwell at Mount Sinai, look at nothing else but the soul (i.e., the secret doctrine), which is the root of all the real Law, and these are destined in the world to come to behold the Soul of this Soul (i.e., the Deity), which breathes in the Law.” (Sohar, iii, 152 a.)
The opinion that the mysteries of the Kabbalah are to be found in the garment of the Pentateuch is still more systematically propounded in the following parable. “Like a beautiful woman, concealed in the interior of her palace, who when her friend and beloved passes by, opens for a moment a secret window and is seen by him alone, and then withdraws herself immediately and disappears for a long time, so the doctrine only shows herself to the chosen (i.e., to him who is devoted to her with body and soul); and even to him not always in the same manner. At first she simply beckons at the passer-by with her hand, and it generally depends upon his understanding this gentle hint. This is the interpretation known by the name רמז. Afterwards she approaches him a little closer, lisps him a few words, but her form is still covered with a thick veil, which his looks cannot penetrate. This is the so called דרוש. She then converses with him with her face covered by a thin veil; this is the enigmatic language of the הגדה. After having thus become accustomed to her society, she at last shows herself face to face and entrusts him with the innermost secrets of her heart. This is the secret of the Law, סוד.27 He who is thus far initiated in the mysteries of the Tora will understand that all those profound secrets are based upon the simply literal sense, and are in harmony with it; and from this literal sense not a single iota is to be taken and nothing to be added to it.” (Sohar, ii, 99.)
This fourfold sense is gradually disclosed to the initiated in the mysteries of the Kabbalah by the application of definite hermeneutical rules, which chiefly affect the letters composing the words. The most prominent of these canons are—
I. Every letter of a word is reduced to its numerical value, and the word is explained by another of the same quantity. Thus from the words “Lo! three men stood by him” ( Gen. xviii, 2 ), it is deduced that these three angels were Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, because והנה שלשה and lo! three men, and אלו מיכאל גבריאל ורפאל these are Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, are of the same numerical value, as will be seen from the following reduction to their numerical value of both these phrases.
| ה | ש | ל | ש | ה | נ | ה | ו | |||||||||
| 5 | + | 300 | + | 30 | + | 300 | + | 5 | + | 50 | + | 5 | + | 6 | = 701 | |
| ל | א | כ | י | מ | ו | ל | א | |||||||||
| + | 30 | + | 1 | + | 20 | + | 10 | + | 40 | + | 6 | + | 30 | + | 1 | |
| ל | א | י | ר | ב | ג | |||||||||||
| + | 30 | + | 1 | + | 10 | + | 200 | + | 2 | + | 3 | |||||
| ל | א | פ | ר | ו | ||||||||||||
| 30 | + | 1 | + | 80 | + | 200 | + | 6 | = 701 |
This rule in called גמטריא = גרמטיא which is a metathesis of the Greek word γράμμα, γραμμεία, or γραμματεία in the sense of numbers as represented by letters.
2. Every letter of a word is taken as an initial or abbreviation of a word. Thus every letter of the word בראשית, the first word in Genesis, is made the initial of a word, and we obtain בראשית ראה אלהים שיקבלו ישראל תורה in the beginning God saw that Israel would accept the Law. This rule is denominated נוטריקון = notaricun, from notarius, a shorthand writer, one who among the Romans belonged to that class of writers who abbreviated and used single letters to signify whole words.
3. The initial and final letters of several words are respectively formed into separate words. Thus from the beginnings and ends of the words מי יעלה לנו השמימה who shall go up for us to heaven? ( Deut. xxx, 12 ) are obtained מילה circumcision and יהוה Jehovah, and inferred that God ordained circumcision as the way to heaven.
4. Two words occurring in the same verse are joined together and made into one. Thus מי who and אלה these are made into אלהיﬦ God by transposing the י and מ. Vide supra, p. 94.28
5. The words of those verses which are regarded as containing a peculiar recondite meaning are ranged in squares in such a manner as to be read either vertically or boustrophedonally, beginning at the right or left hand. Again the words of several verses are placed over each other, and the letters which stand under each other are formed into new words. This is especially seen in the treatment of three verses in Exod. xiv, (viz., 19–21 ), which are believed to contain the three Pillars of the Sephiroth, and the Divine Name of seventy-two words. The following tables will illustrate this principle of interpretation. The first of these three verses ויסע מלאך האלהים ההלך לפני מחנה ישראל וילך מאחריהם ויסע עמוד הענן מפניהם ויעמד מאחריהם, and the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them ( Exod. xiv, 19 ), is read boustrophedonally, as follows:—
I
| ו | א | ל | ש | א | ע | מ | מ |
| י | ל | פ | ר | ח | ע | פ | ד |
| ס | ח | נ | א | ר | מ | נ | מ |
| ע | י | י | ל | י | ו | י | א |
| מ | ם | מ | י | ח | ד | ח | ח |
| ל | ח | ח | י | ם | ח | ם | ר |
| א | ח | נ | ל | ו | ע | ו | י |
| ך | ל | ח | ך | י | נ | ח | |
| ה | ך | י | מ | ס | י | ע | ם |
The second of these three verses ויבא בין מחנה מצרים נבין מהנה ישראל ויהי העגן והחשך ויאר את הלילה ולא קרב זה אל זה כל הלילה, and it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but gave light by night to these, so that the one came not near the other all the night ( Exod. xiv, 20 ), is in the first place divided, and read from right to left, beginning at the top, as exhibited in the following diagram.
II
| ו | י | ב | א | ב | י | ן | מ | ח |
| נ | ה | מ | צ | ר | י | ם | ו | ב* |
| י | ן | מ | ח | נ | ה | י | ש | ר |
| א | ל | ו | י | ה | י | ה | ע | נ |
| ן | ו | ה | ח | ש | ך | ו | י | א |
| ר | א | ת | ה | ל | י | ל | ה | ו |
| ל | א | ק | ר | ב | ז | ה | א | ל |
| ז | ה | כ | ל | ה | ל | י | ל | ה |
It is then divided in the following manner, and read from left to right, beginning at the bottom.
III
| ה | ל | י | ל | ה | ל | כ | ה |
| ז | ל* | א | ה | ז | ב | ר | ק |
| א | ל | ו | ה | ל | י | ל | ה |
| ת | א | ר | א | י | ו | ך | ש |
| ח | ה | ו | ן | נ | ע | ה | י |
| ה | י | ו | ל | א | ר | ש | י |
| ה | נ | ח | מ | ן | י | ב | ו |
| ם | י | ר | צ | מ | ה | נ | ח |
| מ | ן | י | ב | א | ב | י | ו |
Whilst the third of these three verses ויט משה את ידו על הים ויולך יהוה את הים ברוח קדים עזה כל הלילה וישם את הים לחרבה ויבקעו המים, and Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided ( Exod. xiv. 21 ), is divided as follows, and read from the right, beginning at the bottom.
IV
| י | ב | ק | ע | ו | ה | מ | י | ם |
| ה | י | ם | ל | ח | ר | ב | ה | ו |
| י | ל | ה | ו | י | ש | ם | א | ת |
| י | ם | ע | ז | ה | כ | ל | ה | ל |
| ה | י | ם | ב | ר | ו | ח | ק | ד |
| ו | ל | ך | י | ה | ו | ה | א | ת |
| ד | ו | ע | ל | ה | י | ם | ו | י |
| ו | י | ט | מ | ש | ה | א | ת | י |
The three verses which have thus yielded the three Pillars of the Sephiroth, are then joined together in groups of three letters in the order in which they are read in diagrams ii, iii, and iv, and they then yield the seventy-two divine names which the Kabbalah assigns to the Deity,29 as follows:—
| כהת Adorandus. | אכא Longanimis. | ללה Annunciatus. | מהש Quæsitus. | עלם Salus. | סיט Spes. | ילי Auxiliator. | והו Exaltator. |
| הקם Advocatus. | הרי Ens. | מבה Sublevator. | יזל Decantatus. | ההע Opportunus. | לאו Exultabundus. | אלד | הוי Recordabilis. |
| חהו Expetendus. | מלה Custos. | ייי Dexter. | נלך Fortis. | פהל Ervens. | לוו Exauditor. | כלי Justitin. | לאו Dominator. |
| ושר Rector. | לכב Solus. | אום Adolescentia. | ריי Sanator. | שאה Festinus. | ירת Salvator. | האא Invocandus. | נתה Mirabilis. |
| ייז Propulsator. | רהע Adivtor. | חעם Refugium. | אני Facies. | מנד Gloria. | כוק Deprecatio. | להח Expectatio. | יחו Cogitabundus. |
| מיה Revelator. | עשל Magnificus. | ערי Operator. | סאל Compatiens. | ילה Doctor. | וול Matutinus. | מיך Custos. | ההה Liberator. |
| פוי Erector. | מבח Aeternum. | נית Regnator. | ננא Verus. | עמם Altissimus. | החש Lætabundus. | דני Clemens. | והו Maximus. |
| מחי Mercator. | ענו Laudabilis. | יהה Amabilis. | ומב Benedictus. | מצר Justus. | הרח Oriens. | ייל Animus. | נמם Protector. |
| מום Requies. | חיי Multus. | יבם Deus. | ראה Præmium. | חבו Bonus. | איע Dator. | מנק Assisteus. | דמב Deprecabilis. |
6. The letters of words are changed by way of anagram and new words are obtained. This canon is called תמורה or חילוף אותיות, permutation, and the commutation is effected according to fixed rules. Thus the alphabet is bent exactly in the middle, and one half is put over the other, and by changing alternately the first letter or the first two letters at the beginning of the second line, twenty-two commutations are produced ex. gr.:—
| 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||
| [ | כ | י | ט | ח | ז | ו | ה | ד | ג | ב | א | ] | |
| מ | נ | ס | ע | פ | צ | ק | ר | ש | ת | ל | |||
| [ | ל | כ | י | ט | ח | ז | ו | ה | ד | ג | א | ] | or |
| מ | נ | ס | ע | פ | צ | ק | ר | ש | ת | ב |
These anagramic alphabets obtain their respective names from the first two specimen pairs of letter which indicate the interchange. Thus, for instance, the first is called Albath אל״בת from the first words, the second Abgath אב״גת, and so on. The following table exhibits the established rules of the alphabetical permutations.
| כם | ינ | טס | חע | זפ | וצ | הק | דר | גש | בת | אל | 1. | Albath. |
| לם | כנ | יס | טע | חפ | זצ | וק | הר | דש | גת | אב | 2. | Abgath. |
| במ | לנ | כס | יע | טפ | חצ | זק | ור | הש | דת | אג | 3. | Agdath. |
| נמ | לס | כע | יפ | טצ | חק | זר | וש | הת | בג | אד | 4. | Adbag. |
| גנ | מס | לע | כפ | יצ | טק | חר | זש | ות | בד | אה | 5. | Ahbad. |
| נס | מע | לפ | כצ | יק | טר | חש | זת | גד | בה | או | 6. | Avba. |
| דס | נע | מפ | לצ | כק | יר | טש | חת | גה | בו | אז | 7. | Azbav. |
| סע | נפ | מצ | לק | כר | יש | טת | דה | גו | בז | אח | 8. | Achbaz. |
| הע | ספ | נצ | מק | לר | כש | ית | דו | גז | בח | אט | 9. | Atbach. |
| עפ | סצ | נק | מר | לש | כת | הו | דז | גח | בט | אי | 10. | Aibat. |
| ופ | עצ | סק | נר | מש | לת | הז | דח | גט | בי | אכ | 11. | Achbi. |
| פצ | עק | סר | נש | מת | וז | הח | דט | גי | בכ | אל | 12. | Albach. |
| וצ | פק | ער | סש | נת | וח | הט | די | גכ | בל | אמ | 13. | Ambal. |
| צק | פר | עש | סת | זח | וט | הי | דכ | גל | במ | אנ | 14. | Anbam. |
| חק | צר | פש | עת | זט | וי | הכ | דל | גם | בנ | אס | 15. | Asban. |
| קר | צש | פת | חט | זי | וכ | הל | דמ | גנ | בס | אע | 16. | Aabas. |
| טר | קש | טת | חי | זכ | ול | המ | דנ | גס | בע | אפ | 17. | Afba. |
| רש | קת | טי | חכ | זל | ומ | הנ | דס | גע | בפ | אצ | 18. | Azbaf. |
| יש | רת | טכ | חל | זמ | ונ | הס | דע | גפ | בצ | אק | 19. | Akbaz. |
| שת | יכ | טל | חמ | זנ | וס | הע | דפ | גצ | בק | אר | 20. | Arbak. |
| כת | יל | טמ | חנ | זס | וע | הפ | דצ | גכ | בר | אש | 21. | Ashbar. |
| כל | ימ | טנ | חס | זע | ופ | הצ | דק | גר | בש | את | 22. | Athbash. |
| To this list is to be added— | ||||||||||||
| שת | קר | פצ | סע | מנ | כל | טי | זח | הו | גד | אב | 23. | Abgad. |
| כת | יש | טר | חק | זצ | ופ | הע | דס | גנ | בם | אל | 24. | Albam. |
Besides these canons the Kabbalah also sees a recondite sense in the form of the letters, as well as in the ornaments which adorn them.
As to the relation of the Kabbalah to Christianity, it is maintained that this theosophy propounds the doctrine of the trinity and the sufferings of Messiah. How far this is true may be ascertained from the following passages.30 “We have already remarked in several places that the daily liturgical declaration about the divine unity is that which is indicated in the Bible ( Deut. vi, 43 ), where Jehovah occurs first, then Elohenu, and then again Jehovah, which three together constitute a unity, and for this reason he [i.e., Jehovah] is in the said place called one (אחד), But there are three names, and how can they be one? And although we read one (אחד), are they really one? Now this is revealed by the vision of the Holy Ghost, and when the eyes are closed we get to know that the three are only one. This is also the mystery of the voice. The voice is only one, find yet it consists of three elements, fire [i.e., warmth], air [i.e., breath], and water [i.e., humidity], yet are all these one in the mystery of the voice, and can only be one. Thus also Jehovah, Elohenu, and Jehovah constitute one—three forms which are one. And this is indicated by the voice which man raises [i.e., at prayer], thereby to comprehend spiritually the most perfect unity of the En Soph for the finite, since all the three [i.e., Jehovah, Elohenu, Jehovah] are rend with the same loud voice, which comprises in itself a trinity. And this is the daily confession of the divine unity which, as a mystery, is revealed by the Holy Ghost. This unity has been explained in different ways, yet he who understands it in this way is right, and he who understands it in another way is also right. The idea of unity, however formed by us here below, from the mystery of the audible voice which is one, explains the thing.” (Sohar, ii, 43 b.)
On another occasion we are informed that R. Eleazar, whilst sitting with his father R. Simeon, was anxious to know how the two names, Jehovah and Elohim, can be interchanged, seeing that the one denotes mercy and the other judgment. Before giving the discussion between the father and the son, it is necessary to remark that whenever the two divine names, Adonai (אדוני) and Jehovah (יהוה), immediately follow each other, Jehovah is pointed and read (יְהֹוִה) Elohim. The reason of this, as it is generally supposed, is to avoid the repetition of Adonai, Adonai, since the Tetragrammaton is otherwise always pointed and read (יְהֹוָה). The Kabbalah, however, as we shall see, discovers in it a recondite meaning,31 “R. Eleazar, when sitting before his father R. Simeon, said to him, we have been taught that whenever Elohim (אלהיﬦ) occurs, it denotes Justice. Now how can Elohim sometimes be put for Jehovah, as is the case in those passages wherein Adonai (אדוני) and Jehovah (יהוה) stand together (Comp. Gen. xv, 8; Ezek. ii, 4, &c.), seeing that the latter denotes mercy in all the passages in which it occurs? To which he replied, Thus it is said in the Scripture, ‘Know therefore this day and consider it in thine heart, that Jehovah is Elohim’ ( Deut. iv, 19 ); and again it is written ‘Jehovah is Elohim.’ (Ibid., ver. 35.) Whereupon he [i.e., the son] said, I know this forsooth, that justice is sometimes tempered with mercy and mercy with justice. Quoth he [i.e., the father], Come and see that it is so; Jehovah indeed does signify mercy whenever it occurs, but when through sin mercy is changed into justice, then it is written Jehovah (יהוה), but read Elohim (אלהיﬦ). Now come and see the mystery of the word [i.e., Jehovah]. There are three degrees, and each degree exists by itself [i.e., in the Deity], although the three together constitute one, they are closely united into one and are inseparable from each other.” (Sohar, iii, 65 a.)
We shall only give one more passage bearing on the subject of the Trinity.32 “He who reads the word (אחד) One [i.e., in the declaration of the divine unity שמע] must pronounce the Aleph (א) quickly, shorten its sound a little, and not pause at all by this letter, and he who obeys this, his life will be lengthened. Whereupon they [i.e., the disciples] said to him [i.e., to R. Ilai], he [i.e., R. Simeon] has said, There are two, and one is connected with them, and they are three; but in being three they are one. He said to them, those two names, Jehovah Jehovah, are in the declaration ‘Hear O Israel’ ( Deut. vi, 4 ), and Elohenu (אלהנו), between them, is united with them as the third, and this is the conclusion which is sealed with the impression of Truth (אמת). But when these three are combined into a unity, they are one in a single unity.” (Sohar, iii, 262 a.) Indeed one Codex of the Sohar had the following remark on the words “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts” ( Isa. iv, 3 ); קדוש זה אב קדוש זה בן קדוש זה רוח הקדש, the first holy refers to the Holy Father; the second to the Holy Son; and the third to the Holy Ghost.33 This passage, however, is omitted from the present recensions of the Sohar. Some Jewish writers have felt these passages to be so favourable to the doctrine of the Trinity, that they insist upon their being interpolations into the Sohar, whilst others have tried to explain them as referring to the Sephiroth.34
As to the atonement of the Messiah for the sins of the people, this is not only propounded in the Sohar, but is given as the explanation of the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah.35 “When the righteous are visited with sufferings and afflictions to atone for the sins of the world, it is that they might atone for all the sins of this generation. How is this proved? By all the members of the body. When all members suffer, one member is afflicted in order that all may recover. And which of them? The arm. The arm is beaten, the blood is taken from it, and then the recovery of all the members of the body is secured. So it is with the children of the world: they are members one of another. When the Holy One; blessed be he, wishes the recovery of the world, he afflicts one righteous from their midst, and for his sake all are healed. How is this shown? It is written—‘He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, … and with his stripes we are healed.’ ( Isa. liii, 5.) ‘With his stripes,’ i.e., healed, as by the wound of bleeding an arm, and with this wound we are healed, i.e., it was a healing to each one of us as members of the body.” (Sohar, iii, 218 a.) To the same effect is the following passage.36 “Those souls which tarry in the nether garden of Eden hover about the world, and when they see suffering or patient martyrs and those who suffer for the unity of God, they return and mention it to the Messiah. When they tell the Messiah of the afflictions of Israel in exile, and that the sinners among them do not reflect in order to know their Lord, he raises his voice and weeps because of those sinners, as it is written, ‘he is wounded for our transgressions.’ ( Isa. liii, 5.) Whereupon those souls return and take their place. In the garden of Eden there is one palace which is called the palace of the sick. The Messiah goes into this palace and invokes all the sufferings, pain, and afflictions of Israel to come upon him, and they all come upon him. Now if he did not remove them thus and take them upon himself, no man could endure the sufferings of Israel, due as punishment for transgressing the Law; as it is written—‘Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows,’ &c. ( Isa. liii, 4, with Rom. xii, 3, 4.) When the children of Israel were in the Holy Land they removed all those sufferings and afflictions from the world by their prayers and sacrifices, but now the Messiah removes them from the world.” (Sohar, ii, 212 b.)
That these opinions favour, to a certain extent, the doctrines of the Trinity and the Atonement, though not in the orthodox sense, is not only admitted by many of the Jewish literati who are adverse to the Kabbalah, but by some of its friends. Indeed, the very fact that so large a number of Kabbalists have from time to time embraced the Christian faith would of itself show that there must be some sort of affinity between the tenets of the respective systems. Some of these converts occupied the highest position in the Synagogue, both as pious Jews and literary men. We need only specify Paul Ricci, physician to the Emperor Maximilian I; Julius Conrad Otto, author of The Unveiled Secrets (גלא רזיא), consisting of extracts from the Talmud and the Sohar, to prove the validity of the Christian doctrine (Nürenberg, 1805); John Stephen Rittengal, grandson of the celebrated Don Isaac Abravanel, and translator of The Book Jetzira, or of Creation (ספר יצירה), into Latin (Amsterdam, 1642); and Jacob Frank, the great apostle of the Kabbalah in the eighteenth century, whose example in professing Christianity was followed by several thousands of his disciples.37 The testimony of these distinguished Kabbalists, which they give in their elaborate works, about the affinity of some of the doctrines of this theosophy with those of Christianity, is by no means to be slighted; and this is fully corroborated by the celebrated Leo di Modena, who, as an orthodox Jew, went so far as to question whether God will ever forgive those who printed the Kabbalistic works.38
The use made by some well-meaning Christians of the above-named Kabbalistic canons of interpretation, in controversies with Jews, to prove that the doctrines of Christianity are concealed under the letter of the Old Testament, will now be deprecated by every one who has any regard for the laws of language. As a literary curiosity, however, we shall give one or two specimens. No less a person than the celebrated Reuchlin would have it that the doctrine of the Trinity is to be found in the first verse of Genesis. He submits, if the Hebrew word ברא, which is translated created, be examined, and if each of the three letters composing this word be taken as the initial of a separate word, we obtain the expressions בן רוח אב Son, Spirit, Father, according to Rule 2 (p. 131). Upon the same principle this erudite scholar deduces the first two persons in the Trinity from the words—“the stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner” ( Ps. cxviii, 22 ), by dividing the three letters composing the word אבן stone, into אב בן Father, Son (Comp. De Verbo Mirifico, Basel, 1494). In more recent times we find it maintained that the ‘righteousness’ spoken of in Daniel ix, 24, means the Anointed of Jehovah, because the original phrase, צדק עלמים is by Gematria, = numerical value, (which is Rule 1, given above, p. 131), the same as משיח יהוה. So pleased is the author with this discovery, that he takes great care to remark—“It is a proof which I believe has hitherto escaped the notice of interpreters.” Such proofs, however, of the Messiaship of Christ bring no honour to our religion; and in the present day argue badly both against him who adduces them and against him who is convinced by them.
Comp. Alexander’s edition of Kitto’s Cyclopædia of Biblical Literature, s. v. Lyra.
| ה | י | ר | א | and | ק | ו | ק | ב | ח | |||||||||
| 5 | + | 10 | + | 200 | + | 1 | = 216 | and | 100 | + | 6 | + | 100 | + | 2 | + | 8 | = 216 |
(See the Commentaries of Rashi, Ibn Ezra, and Kimchi on Isa. xxi, 8.) Again, in the fact that Jacob made Joseph ‘a coat of many colours’ ( Gen. xxxvii, 3 ), as the Authorised Version has it, or ‘pieces,’ as it is in the margin, the Midrash or the ancient Jewish exposition, sees the sufferings of Joseph indicated; inasmuch as פסים according to rule ii, is composed of the initials of פוטיפר Potiphar, who imprisoned Joseph; סוחרים merchants ישמעאלים Ishmaelites and מדינים Midianites, who bought him and sold him again as a slave. ( Gen. xxxvii, 25–28; xxxix, 1; comp. Rashi on Gen. xxxvii, 3.) For more extensive information on this subject, we must refer to Ginsburg’s Historical and Critical Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Longman, 1861, p. 30, &c.
Notes
1 דע כי אין סוף לא יכנס בהרהור וכל שכן בדבור אף על פי שיש לו רמז בכל דבר שאין חוץ ממנו ולכך אין אות ואין שם ואין דבר אשר יגבלנו, Commentary of the ten Sephiroth, ed. Berlin, p. 4 a. This doctrine, however, that everything is in the Deity is not peculiar to the Kabbalah, it has been propounded by the Jews from time immemorial, before the Kabbalah came into existence, as may be seen from the following passage in the Midrash. “The Holy One, blessed be he, is the space of the universe, but the universe is not his space (הקב״ה מקומו של עולם ואין העולם מקומו). R. Isaac submitted: from the passage מעונה אלהי קדם ( Deut. xxxiii, 27 ), we do not know whether the Holy One, blessed be he, is the habitation of the universe or the universe his habitation; but from the remark אדני מעון אתה Lord thou art the dwelling place ( Ps. xc, 1 ), it is evident that the Holy One, blessed be he, is the dwelling place of the universe, and not the universe his dwelling place.” (Bereshith Rabba, § lxviii.) To the same effect is the remark of Philo, “God himself is the space of the universe, for it is he who contains all things.” (De Somniis, i.) It is for this reason that God is called מקום or המקום = ὁ τόπος, locus, and that the Septuagint renders ויראו את אלהי ישראל וגו׳ ( Exod. xxiv, 10 ), by καὶ εἶδον τὸν τόπον, οὗ εἱστήκει ὁ θεὸς, which has occasioned so much difficulty to interpreters.
2 לא ידע ולא אתידע מה דהוי בראישא דא דלא׳ אתדבק בחכמתא ולא כסוכלתנו ובגן כן אקרי אין (Sohar iii, 283 b.) To the same effect is the ancient expository work on the doctrine of the Emanations which we quoted in the preceding note, comp. מה שאינו מוגבל קרוי אין סוף והוא ההשואה גמורה באחדות השלמח שאין בה שנוי ואם הוא מבלי גבול אין חוץ ממנו, Commentary on the ten Sephiroth, ed. Berlin, p. 2 a.
3 דע כי אין סוף אין לומר כי יש לו רצון ולא כונה ולא חפץ ולא מחשבה ולא דבור ומעשה ibid., 4 a.
4 אם האמר כי הוא בלבד כיון בבריאח עולמו יש להשיב על זה כי הכונה מורה על הסרון המכון, Commentary on the ten Sephiroth, p. 2 b. Again, says the same authority, ואם תאמר שהגבול הגמצא ממנו תחלה היה העולם הזה שהוא (העולם) חסר מהשלמותו חסרת חכוח שהוא ממנו.… ואם תאמר שלא כיון בבריאחו אם כן היתה הבריאה במקרה, וכל דבר הבא במקרה אין לו סדר, ואנו רואים כי הנבראים יש לחם סדר, ועל סדר הם מתקימים, ועל סדר הם מתכטלים, ועל סדר הם מתחדשים, ibid., p. 2.
5 Both the etymology and the exact meaning of the word ספירה (plural ספירות) are matters of dispute. R. Azariel, the first Kabbalist, derives it from ספר to number, whilst the later Kabbalists derive it alternately from ספיר Saphir, from השמים מספרים כבוד אל ( Ps. xix, 1 ), and from the Greek σφαῖραι, and are not at all certain whether to regard the Sephiroth as principles (ἀρχαὶ), or as substances (ὑποστάσεις), or as potencies, powers (δυνάμεις), or as intelligent worlds (κόσμοι νοητικοί), or as attributes, or as entities (עצמות), or as organs of the Deity (כלים).
6 The Sohar, like the Talmud, generally renders the words מלך שלמה King Solomon; while verses in the Song of Songs, by מלכא די שלמא דיליה the King to whom peace belongs.
7 כי כל בריאה כשנוטלין ממנה תתמעט ותתחסר.… כח האצילות שנוטלין ממנו ואינו חסר, Commentary on the ten Sephiroth, 2 b; 4 a.
8 הספירות שהם כח השלם וכח החסר כשהם מקבלים מהשפע הבא מהשלמתו הם כח שלם ובהמנע השפע מהם יש בחם כח חסר לכך יש בהם כח לפעול בהשלמה ובחסרון.
9 The notion, however, that worlds were created and destroyed prior to the present creation, was propounded in the Midrash long before the existence of the Kabbalah. Thus on the verse, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good” ( Gen. i, 31 ), R. Abahu submits א״ר אבהו מכאן שהקב״ה היה בורא עולמות ומחריבן ובורא עולמות ומחריבן עד שברא את אלו אמר דין הניין לי יתהון לא הניין לי from this we see that the Holy One, blessed be he, had successively created and destroyed sundry worlds before he created the present world, and when he created the present world he said, this pleases me, the previous ones did not please me. (Bereshith Rabba, section or Parsha ix.)
10 The question, however, about the doctrine of the Trinity in other passages of the Sohar will be discussed more amply in the sequel, where we shall point out the relation of the Kabbalah to Christianity.
11 The Kabbalistic description of Metatron is taken from the Jewish angelology of a much older date than this theosophy. Thus Ben Asai and Ben Soma already regard the divine voice, the λόγος (קול אלהים) as Metatron. (Beresh. Rab., Parsha v.) He is called the Great Teacher, the Teacher of Teachers (ספרא רבא), and it is for this reason that Enoch, who walked in close communion with God, and taught mankind by his holy example, is said by the Chaldee paraphrase of Jonathan b. Uzziel, to ‘have received the name Metatron, the Great Teacher’ after he was transplanted. ( Gen. v, 24.) Metatron, moreover, is the Presence Angel (שר הפנים), the Angel of the Lord that was sent to go before Israel ( Exod. xxiii, 21 ); he is the visible manifestation of the Deity, for in him is the name of the Lord, i.e., his name and that of the Deity are identical, inasmuch as they are of the same numerical value (viz.:—שדי and מטטרון are the same according to the exegetical rule called Gematria, י 10 + ד 4 + ש 300 = 314; ן 50 + ו 6 + ר 200 + ט 9 + ט 9 + מ 40 = 314. See Rashi on Exod. xxiii, 21, רבותינו אמרו זה מטטרון ששמו כשם רבו מטטרון בגמטריא שדי and Sanhedrim 38 b). So exalted is Metatron’s position in the ancient Jewish angelology, that we are told that when Elisha b. Abaja, also called Acher, saw this angel who occupies the first position after the Deity, he exclaimed, ‘Peradventure, but far be it, there are two Supreme Powers’ (שמא חס ושלום שתי רשויות הן Talmud, Chagiga, 15 a). The etymology of מטטרון is greatly disputed; but there is no doubt that it is to be derived from Metator, messenger, outrider, way maker, as has been shown by Elias Levita, and is maintained by Cassel (Ersch und Gruber’s Encyklopädie, section ii, vol. xxvii, s.v.; Juden, p. 40, note 84). Sachs (Beiträge zur Sprach-und Alterthumsforschung, vol. i, Berlin 1852, p. 108) rightly remarks that this etymology is fixed by the passage from Siphra, quoted in Kaphter-Va-Pherach, c. x, p. 34 b אצבעו של הקב״ה נעשה מטטרון למשה והראהו כל ארץ ישראל the finger of God was the messenger or guide to Moses, and showed him all the land of Israel. The termination ון has been appended to מטטר to obtain the same numerical value, as שדי. The derivation of it from μετὰ θρόνος, because this angel is immediately under the divine throne (כורסייא), which is maintained by Frank (Kabbala, p. 43), Graetz (Gnosticismus, p. 44) and others, has been shown by Frankel (Zeitschrift, 1846. vol. iii, p. 113), and Cassel (Ersch und Gruber’s Encyklop. section ii, vol. xxvii, p. 41), to be both contrary to the form of the word and to the description of Metatron.
12 The view that the serpent which seduced the protoplasts is identical with Satan is not peculiar to the Kabbalah. It is stated in the Talmud in almost the same words הוא יצר הרע הוא השטן הוא מלאך המות כמתניחא תנא יורד ומטע עולה ומשטין יורד וממים the evil spirit, Satan, and the angel of death, are the same. It is propounded in the Boraitha that he descends and seduces; he then ascends and accuses, and then comes down again and kills. Baba Bathra, 16 a.
13 כיון דנברא אדם אתתקן כלא וכל מה דלעילא ותתא וסלא אתכליל באדם … איהו שלימותא דכלא. זוחר חלק ג׳ דף מ״ח א׳
14 That the righteous are greater than the angels is already propounded in the Talmud (גדולים צדיקים יותר ממלאכי השרת Sanhedrim 93 a); and it is asserted that no one angel can do two things (אין מלאך אחד עושה שתי שליחות Bereshith Rabba, section 1), for which reason three angels had to be sent, one to announce to Sarai the birth of Isaac, the other to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and the third to save Lot and his family; whilst a man can perform several duties. The superiority of man over angels is also asserted in the New Testament. ( 1 Cor. vi, 3.)
15 The Karmarthi, who interpreted the precepts of Islamism allegorically, also maintained that the human body represents the letters in the name of God. When standing the human body represents an Elif, when kneeling a Lâm, and when prostrated on the ground a Hê, so that the body is like a book in which may be read the name Allah. De Sacy, Introduction à l’Exposé de la Religion des Druzes, pp. 86, 87. Comp. Frank, Die Kabbala, p. 32.
16 The pre-existence of the human souls in the celestial regions was believed by the Jews before the Kabbalah came into vogue. We find this doctrine in the Book of Wisdom (viii, 20); in Josephus, where we are told that the Essenes believed ‘that souls were immortal, and that they descended from the pure air, συμπλέκεσθαι ὥσπερ εἰρκταῖς τοῖς σώμασι, to be chained to bodies’ (de Bell. Jud. ii, 12); by Philo, who says ‘the air was full of them, and that those which were nearest the earth κατίασιν ἐκδεθησομέναι σώμασι θνητοῖς, descending to be tied to mortal bodies, παλινδρομοῦσι αὖθις, return back to bodies, being desirous to live in them.’ (De Gignat. p. 222, C.; De Somniis, p. 455, D. Comp. Arnald on the Book of Wisdom, viii, 20, and Whitby on John ix, 2., where these quotations and others are given); and in the Talmud where it is declared that the human souls which are to be born (רוחות ונשמות שעתידין להבראות), have their abode in the seventh heaven (Chagiga, 12 b); that they leave gradually the storehouse of souls to people this earth (עד שיכלו כל הנשמוה שבגוף Jebamoth, 62; Aboda Sara, 5; Nidda, 13); and that the Holy One, blessed be he, took counsel with them when he was about to create the world כנפשתן של צריקין נמלך הקב״ה וברא את העולם (Bereshith Rabba, section viii).
17 The notion about the reluctance of the soul to enter into this world is also not peculiar to the Kabbalah. The most ancient tract of the Mishna thus speaks of the soul: “Against thy will thou becomest an embryo, and against thy will thou art born” (על כרחך אתה נוצר ועל כרחך אתה נולד Aboth, iv. 29); on which Bartenora, in his commentary, remarks: “The soul does not wish to quit the pure abode of the curtain which encloses the Holy of Holies.”
18 כל אינון רוחין ונשמתין כלהו כלילן דכר ונוקבא דמתחברן כחדא ואתמסרן בידא דההוא ממנא שליהא דאתפקר על עדואיהן [עיבוריהן] דבני נשא ולילה שמיה ובשעהא דנחתין ואתמסרן בידוי מתפדשין ילזמנין דא אקרים מן דא ואחית להו בבני נשא וכד מטא [מחא] עידן דזווגא דלהון קב״ה דידע אינון רוהין ונשמהין מחבר לון כדבקדמיתא ומכרזא עלייהו וכד אתחברן אתעגידו חד גופא חד נשמתא ימינא ישמאלא כדקא חזי ובגין כך אין כל חדש תחת השמש. ואי תימא הא תנינן לית זווגא אלא לפום עוגדוי ואורהוי דבר נש הכי הוא ודאי. דאי זכי ועובדוי אתכשרן זכי לההוא דיליה לאתחברא ביד כמה דנפיק. זוהר חלק א דף צא ב
19 בספרא דשלמה מלכא אשכחנא דבשעתא דזווגא אשתכח לתתא שדר קב״ה חד דיוקנא בפרצופא ד״נ רשימה חקיקה בצולמא וקיימא על ההוא זווגא ואלמלי אתיהיב רשו לעינא למחמי חמי ב״נ על רישיה חד צולמא רשימא כפרצופא דבר נש ובההוא צילמא אתברי ב״נ ועד דלא קיימא [ס״א ועד לא קיימא] ההוא צולמא דשדר ליה מאריה על רישיה וישתכח תמן לא אתברי ב״נ הה״ד ויברא אלקים את האדם בצלמו. ההוא צלם אזדמן לקבליה עד דנפיק לעלמא כד נפק בההוא צלם אתרבי בההוא צלם אזיל הה״ד אך בצלם יתהלך איש להאי צלם הוא מלעילא בשעתא דאינון רוחין נפקין מאתרייהו כל רוחא ורוחא אתתקן קמי מלכא קדישא בתקוני יקר בפרצופא דקאי׳ בהאי עלמא. ומההוא דיוקנא תקונא יקר נפיק האי צלם. ודא תליתאה לרוחא ואקדימת בהאי עלמא בשעתא דזווגא אשתכח ולית לך זווגא בעלמא דלא עלם בגווייהו. זוהר חלק ג דף קד א,ב
20 The two kinds of faculties, as well as the two sorts of feelings, are also mentioned in the Talmud. Thus it is said—“All the prophets looked into the Non-Luminous Mirror, whilst our teacher, Moses, looked into the Luminous Mirror.” (כל הנביאים נסהכלו באספקלריא שאינה מאירה משה רבינו נסתכל באספקלריא המאידה Jebamoth, 49 b). And again—“Also the divine service which is engendered by fear and not by love, has its merit.” (Jerusalem Berachoth, 44; Babylon Sota, 22 a.)
21 לשם יחוד קב״ה ושכינתה ברחימו ודחילו וברחילו ורחימו ליחרא שם י״ה בו״ה ביחודא שלים בשם כל ישראל
22 כל נשמתין עאלין בגלגולא ולא ידעין בני נשא אורחוי דקודשא בריך הוא והיך קיימא טיקלא והיך אתדנו בני נשא בכל יומא ובכל עידן והיך נשמתין עאלין בדינא עד לא ייתון להאי עלמא והיך עאלין בדינא לבתר דנפקי מהאי עלמא. כמה גלגולין וכמה עובדין סתימין עבידן קודשא בריך הוא בהדי כמה נשמתין ערטילאין וכמה רוחין ערטילאין אזלין בההוא עלמא דלא עאלין לפרגודא דמלכא. וכמה עלמין אתהפך בהו ועלמא דאתהפך בכמה פליאן סתימין ובני נשא לא ידעין ולא משגיחין וחיך מתגלגלן נשמתין כאבנא בקוספתא כמה דאת אמר ואת נפש אויביך יקלענה בתוך כף הקלע השתא אית לגלאה דהא כל. זוהר חלק ב׳ דף צט ב׳
23 According to Josephus, the doctrine of the transmigration of souls into other bodies (μετεμψύχωσις), was also held by the Pharisees (comp. Antiq. xviii, 1, 3: de Bell. Jud. ii, 8, 14), restricting, however, the metempsychosis to the righteous. And though the Midrashim and the Talmud are silent about it, yet from Saadia’s vituperations against it (אבל אומר שמצאתי אנשים ממי שנקראים יהודים אומרים בהשנות וקוראים אותו ההעתקח Emunoth ve-Deoth, vi, 7; viii, 3) there is no doubt that this doctrine was held among some Jews in the ninth century of the present era. At all events it is perfectly certain that the Karaite Jews firmly believed in it ever since the seventh century. (Comp. Frankel, Monatschrift, x, 177, &c.) St. Jerome assures us that it was also propounded among the early Christians as an esoteric and traditional doctrine which was entrusted to the select few, (abscondite quasi in foveis viperarum versari et quasi haereditario malo serpere in paucis. Comp. epist. ad Demedriadem); and Origen was convinced that it was only by means of this doctrine that certain Scriptural narratives, such as the struggle of Jacob with Esau before their birth, the reference about Jeremiah when still in his mother’s womb, and many others, can possibly be explained. (περὶ ἀρχῶν i, 1, cap. vii; Adver. Celsum, i, 3.)
24 The notion that the creation is a blessing, and that this is indicated in the first letter, is already propounded in the Midrash, as may be seen from the following remark. The reason why the Law begins with Beth, the second letter of the Alphabet, and not with Aleph, the first letter, is that the former is the first letter in the word blessing, while the latter is the first letter in the word accursed, למה בבית מפני שהוא לשון ברכה ולא בא״לף שהוא לשון ארירה (Midrash Rabba, sec. i).
25 This view that the mere literal narrative is unworthy of inspiration, and that it must contain a spiritual meaning concealed under the garment of the letter, is not peculiar to the Kabbalah. Both the Synagogue and the Church have maintained the same from time immemorial. Thus the Talmud already describes the impious Manasseh, King of Israel, as making himself merry over the narratives of the Pentateuch and ironically asking (מנשוה בן חזקיה שהיה יושב ודורש בהגדות של דופי אמר וכי לא היה לו למשה לכתוב אלא אחות לוטן תמנע והמנע היתה פלגש לאליפז וילך ראובן בימי קציר חטים וימצא דודאים בשדה), whether Moses could not find anything better to relate than that “Loton’s sister was Timna” ( Gen. xxxvi, 22 ); “Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz” (ibid., v. 12 ); that “Reuben went in the days of the wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field” (ibid., xxx, 14 ), &c, &c. And it is replied that these narratives contain another sense besides the literal one. (Sanhedrim, 99 b.) Hence the rule (כל מה שאירע לאבות סימן לבנים), what happened to the fathers is typical of the children.
26 Origen’s words are almost literally the same—“Si adsideamus litterae et secundum hoc vel quod Judaeis, vel quod vulgo videtur, accipiamus quæ in lege scripta sunt, erubesco dicere et confiteri quia tales leges dederit Deus: videbuntur enim magis elegantes et rationabiles hominum leges, verbi gratia vel Romanorum vel Atheniensium, vel Lacedaemoniorum.” Homil. vii, in Levit. Again, the same erudite father says, “What person in his senses will imagine that the first, second, and third day, in connection with which morning and evening are mentioned, were without sun, moon and stars, nay that there was no sky on the first day? Who is there so foolish and without common sense as to believe that God planted trees in the garden eastward of Eden like a husbandman, and planted therein the tree of life, perceptible to the eyes and senses, which gave life to the eater thereof; and another tree which gave to the eater thereof a knowledge of good and evil? I believe that everybody must regard these as figures, under which a recondite sense is concealed.” Lib. iv, cap. ii, περὶ ἀρχῶν. Huet, Origeniana, p. 167. Comp. Davidson, Sacred Hermeneutics, Edinburgh, 1843, p. 99, &c. It must, however, not be supposed that this sort of interpretation, which defies all rules of sound exegesis and common sense, is confined to the ancient Jewish Rabbins or the Christian fathers. The Commentary on Genesis and Exodus by Chr. Wordsworth, D.D., Canon of Westminster, may fairly compete in this respect with any production of bygone days. Will it be believed that Dr. Wordsworth actually sees it “suggested by the Holy Spirit Himself,” that Noah drunk, exposing his nakedness, and mocked by his own child, Ham, is typical of Christ who drank the cup of God’s wrath, stripped Himself of His heavenly glory, and was mocked by his own children the Jews? But we must give the Canon’s own words. “Noah drank the wine of his vineyard; Christ drank the cup of God’s wrath, which was the fruit of the sin of the cultivators of the vineyard, which he had planted in the world. Noah was made naked to his shame; Christ consented for our sake to strip Himself of His heavenly glory, and took on him the form of a servant. ( Phil. ii, 7.) He laid aside his garments, and washed his disciples’ feet ( John, xiii, 4.) He hid not his face from shame and spitting. ( Isa. 1, 6.) When he was on the Cross, they that passed by reviled Him. ( Matt. xxvii, 39.) He was mocked by His own children, the Jews. He deigned to be exposed to insult for our sakes, in shame and nakedness on the Cross ( Heb. xii, 2 ), in order that we might receive eternal glory from His shame, and be clothed through His weakness with garments of heavenly beauty.” (Commentary on Genesis and Exodus, London, 1864, p. 52.)
27 The notion that the Bible is to be explained in this fourfold manner was also propounded by the Jewish doctors generally, long before the existence of the Kabbalah (Comp. Ginsburg, Historical and Critical Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Longman, 1861, p. 30), and has been adopted by some of the fathers and schoolmen. Origen, although only advocating a threefold sense, viz.:—σωματικὸς, ψυχικὸς, πνευματικὸς, to correspond to the Platonic notion of the component parts of man, viz.:—σῶμα, ψυχὴ, πνεῦμα, almost uses the same words as the Kabbalah. “The sentiments of Holy Scriptures must be imprinted upon each one’s soul in a threefold manner, that the more simple may be built up by the flesh (or body) of Scripture, so to speak, by which we mean the obvious explanation; that he who has advanced to a higher state may be edified by the soul of Scripture as it were; but he that is perfect, and like to the individuals spoken of by the Apostle ( 1 Cor. ii, 6, 7), must be edified by the spiritual law, having a shadow of good things to come. περὶ ἀρχῶν, lib. iv, cap. ii. Comp. Davidson, Sacred Hermeneutics, p. 97. Whilst Nicholas de Lyra, the celebrated commentator and forerunner of the Reformation (born about 1270, died October 23, 1340), distinctly espouses the Jewish four modes of interpretation, which he describes in the following couplet—
“Littera gesta docet, quid credas Allegoria,
Moralis quid agas, quo tendas anagogia.”
28 The above-mentioned exegetical canons, however, are not peculiar to the Kabbalah. They have been in vogue among the Jews from time immemorial. Thus the difficult passage in Isa. xxi, 8, ויקרא אריה which is rendered in the Authorised Version, and he cried, A lion! or ‘as a lion,’ as the margin has it, is explained by the ancient Jewish tradition as a prophecy respecting Habakkuk, who, as Isaiah foresaw, would in coming days use the very words here predicted. (Comp. Isa. xxi, 8, 9, with Hab. ii, 1 ); and this interpretation is obtained by rule i; inasmuch as אריה lion and חבקוק Habakkuk are numerically the same, viz.:—
29 The limits of this Essay preclude the possibility of entering into a disquisition on the seventy-two Divine names. Those who wish to examine the subject more extensively we must refer to the Commentaries on the Sohar ( Exod. xiv. 19–31 ), mentioned in the third part of this Essay; and to Bartolocci, Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica, Pars iv, p. 230 seq., where ample information is given on this and kindred subjects.
30 יחודא רכל יוכמא איחו יחודא למנרע ולשואח רעותא. יחודא דא חא אמרן בכמח דוכתי יחודא דכל יומא איחו יחיד דקרא ידו״ד קימאה אלחינו ידו״ד חא כלחו חד וע״ד קרי אחד. חא תלת שמחן חיך אינון חד ואף על גנ דקרינן אחד חיך אינון חד אלא בחויונא דרוח קרשא אתידע ואינון בחיזו דעינא סתימא למנדע דתלתא אלין אחד. ודא איחו רזא דקול, דאשתמע קול איחו וזר ואייחו תלתא גוונין, אשא ורוחא ומיא וכלחו חז ברזא רקול ולאו אינון אלא חד. אוף הכא י״י אכהינו י״י אונון חד, תלתא גוונין ואינון חד. ורא איהו קיל דעביד בר נש ביחודא ולשואח רעותיה ביהודא דכלא מאין טות עד סופא. דכלא באאי קול דקא עביד בחני תלתא דאינון חד, ודא איהו יחודא דכל יומא דאתגלי ברזא דרוח קדשא. וכמה גוונין דיחודא אתערו וכלהו קשוט מאן דעביד האי עביד ומאן דעביד האי עביד, אבל האי יחודא דקא אנן מתערי מתתא ברזא דקול דאיהו הד, דא הוא ברירא דמלה. זוהר הלצ ב׳ דף מ״ג ב׳
31 רבי אלעזר הוה יתיב קמיה דר״ש אבוי אמר ליה הא תנינן אלהים בכל אתר דינא הוא, יו״ד ה״א וא״ו ה״א אית אתר דאקרי אלהים כגון אדני יהוה, אמאי אקרי אלהים והא אתוון רחמי אינון בכל אתר אמר ליה הכי הוא כתיב בקרא, דכתיב וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך כי י״י הוא האלהים, וכתיב י״י הוא האלהים. אמר ליה מלה דא ידענא דבאתר דאית דינא אית רחמי, ולזמנא באתר דאית רחמי אית דינא אמר ִיה תא חזי דהכי הוא ידו״ד בכל אתר רחמי ובשעתא דמהפכי חייביא רחמי לדינא כדין כתיב יהוה וכרינן ליה אלהים, אבל תא חזי רזא דמלה ג׳ דרגין אינון וכל דרגא ודרגא בלחודוי ואענ׳ דכלא חד ומתכשרי בחד ולא מתפרשי דא מן דא: זוהר חלק ג׳ דף ס׳ה א׳
32 מאן דאמר אחד אצטריך לחיפא אל״ף ולקצרא קריאה דילה ולא יעכב בהאי אות כלל. ומאן דעביד דא יתארכון חייו אמרו ליה תו אמר תרינאינון וחדא אשתתף בהו ואינון תלתא וכד הוו תלתא אינון חד. אמר לון אלין תרין שמהן דשמע ישראל דאינון יהוה יהוה אלהינו אשתתף בהו ואיהו חותמא דגושפנכא אמת, וכד מתחברן כחדא אינון חד ביחודא חדא: זוהר חלק ג׳ דף קס״ב א׳
33 Comp. Galatinus, De Arcanis Cathol. lib. ii, c. 3, p. 31; who says that some Codices of the Chaldee paraphrase in Isa. vi, 3, had also קדיש אבא קדיש בריא קדיש רוחא קדישא the Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Ghost; see also Wolf, Bibliotheca Hebreca i, 1136; Graetz, Geschichte der Juden vii, 249.
34 Comp. Joel, Die Religionsphilosophie des Sohar. Leipzig, 1849, p. 240 ff.
35 בשעתא דיתפסין צדיקייא במרעין או במכתשין בגין לכפרא על עלמא היו, כדין יתכפרון כל חובי דרא. מנלן מכל שייפי גופא. בשעתא דכל שייפין בעקאו ומרע סגי שרייא עלייהו שייפא חדא אצטריך לאלקאה בגין דיתסון כלהו. ומנו דרועה. דרועא אלקי ואפיקו מניה דמא כדין הא אסוותא לכל שייפי גופא. אוף הכי בני עלמא אינון שייפין דא עם דא. בשעתא דבעי קב.״ה למיהב אסוותא לעלמא אלקי לחד צדיקא בינייהו במרעין ובמכתשין ובגיניה יהיב אסוותא לכלא מנלן דכתיב והוא מחולל מפשעינו מדוכא מעוונותיינו וגו׳ ובחברתי נרפא לנו ובחברתו אקזותא דדמא מכאן דאקיז דרועא, ובההוא חבורה נרפא לנו אסוותא הוא לנו לכל שייפין דגופא: זוהר חלק ג׳ דף רי״ח א׳
36 אנון נשמתין דבגנתא דעדן לתתא.… משטטי ומסתכלן באינון מאריהון דכאבין ובני מרעין ואנון דסבלין על יחודא דמאריהון ותאבין ואמרין ליה למשיהא בשעתא דאמרין ליה למשיחא צערא דישראל בגלותהון ואינון חייביא די בהון דלא מסתכלי למנדע למאריהון׳ ארים קלא ובכי על אינון חייבין דבהו הה״ד והוא מחולל מפשעינו מדוכא מעונותינו. תייבין אינון נשמתין וקיימין באתרייהו. בגנתא דעדן אית היכלא חדא דאקרי היכלא דבני מרעין׳ כדין משיח עאל בההו היכלא וקארי לכל מרעין וכל כאבין כל יסוריהון דישראל דייתון עליה וכלהו אתיין עליה ואלמלא דאיהו אקיל מעלייהו דישראל ונטיל עליה׳ לא הוי בר נש דיכיל למסבל יסוריהון דישראל על עונשי דאוריתא. הה״ד אכן חליינו הוא נשא וגו׳ … כד הוו ישראל בארעא קדישא באינון פולחנין וקרבנין דהוו עבדי הוו מסלקין כל אינין מרעין ויסורין מעלמא. השתא משיח מסלק לון מבני עלמא: זוהר חלק ב׳ דף ריב א׳
37 Comp. Peter Beer, Geschichte der religiösen Secten der Juden. Berlin, 1822–23, vol. ii, p. 309, &c.
38 ולא ידעתי אם ימחול יי לאשר הדפיסם אותם הספרים Comp. ארי נוהם ed. Fürst, Leipzig, 1840, p. 7.