QABBALAH.
The Philosophical Writings
OF
Solomon Ben Yehudah Ibn Gebirol
OR
AVICEBRON
And their connection with the Hebrew Qabbalah and Sepher ha-
Zohar, with remarks upon the antiquity and content of
the latter, and translations of selected
passages from the same.
ALSO
An Ancient Lodge of Initiates,
TRANSLATED FROM THE ZOHAR,
And an abstract of an Essay upon the Chinese Qabbalah, contained in the book called
the Yih King; a translation of part of the Mystic Theology of Dionysios,
the Areopagite ; and an account of the construction of the an-
cient Akkadian and Chaldean Universe, etc. Ac- . <• companied by Diagrams and Illustrations. By ISAAC MYHR. LL. B., Member of the Numismatic and Antiqiurian Society of Philadelphia ; La Society Koyalc de Numi>-
matique de Belgique ; Corresponding Member of the American Numismatic and Archxo-
logical Society, Historical Society of the State of Pennsylvania, etc.
350 Copies Published by the Author.
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INTRODUCTION.
«
God hath spoken once ; two-fold is what I heard.*’
THE following pages are devoted to a short account of the life and
writings of the philosopher, Solomon ben Yehudah Ibn Gebirol
or Avicebron ; proofs of the antiquity of the Zoharic writings
and the Qabbalah^ a condensed statement of some parts of the Qabba-
listic philosophy, quotations from the Zoharic books, and various articles
pertaining to the same, in Appendixes.
The investigation of the antiquity and content, of the Qabbalah and
Zoharic writings, has been neglected by the learned, and, with the excep-
tion of a very few in England, Germany, Russia and France, has been
almost wholly ignored by the writers of this century. To the student of
the origin of religions or their philosophy, especially of the origin of the
formulations, dogmas and doctrines of early Christianity ; a study of the
Hebrew Qabbalah and of the Zohar is of great value and importance, and
has not received the attention it justly merits and demands. It is appa-
rent from the many similarities in this Qabbalistic philosophy, to the doc-
trines in the New Testament and early Patristic literature ; that both of
the latter, most probably, have had a common germ and origin in the
esoteiic teachings of the Israelites, as well as in the more open and exo-
teric teachings of the Hebrew Holy writings.
It was these striking similarities which struck my thought in the course
of my reading, and caused an examination of the subject ; the more the
investigation proceeded the more manifest to me appeared many of these
similarities, and the more satisfied I became, that a common origin
existed. Many learned theologians have endeavored, without much suc-
cess, to find these origins in the Talmud, but the latter treats almost en-
tirely of the Ha-la’khah or Common Law, Customs and Ritual, consid-
ered essential to the outward life of the Israelite ; however it sometimes,
vii
Vlll
gives in explanations, short Ha-gadic statements, which most probably,
were taken from the Secret Learning, the ancient Sod, t\ ^., Mystery, of
the Hebrews ; but one might as well study the English Common Law
Reports and the Digests of the same, in order to ascertain the content of
English philosophy, as to expect to find the full content of the inward
esoteric metaphysics and philosophy of the ancient Israelites, in the Tal-
mudic writings. It was through the spirituality of the doctrines of the
Secret Learning, that many of the ideas and dogmas, set forth by the
Evangelists in the New Testament as those of Jesus and his Apostles,
found so ready an entrance and acceptance, in the Jewish thought of their
period.
The New Testament taken in connection with cotemporary writ-
ings, especially those of Philo Judaeus, many of whose writings have
reached our day ; shows that the Jewish mind at the epoch of its formula-
tions, was prepared to accept, without much questioning, many of its
doctrines and conclusions. At that period, many of the Jews were daily
expecting the appearance of a Messiah, coming to them through the
generations from David ; but all did not accept Jesus as that Anointed
One, as that Messiah who was daily expected. It is in the study of the
Jewish Disciplina Arcana^ that we must hope to find the higher spiritual
ideas of the cotemporaries of Jesus and the Apostles, and not in the out-
ward law, ritual and forms, of the Pharisees ; whose religious convictions
stuck too much in the bark, and did not penetrate very deeply, into the
heart and core of the tree of spiritual religious truth. But outside of the
importance of the Qabbalistic philosophy to the theologian, to the philo-
sophic mind; *’ Any form of speculation which has at any time powerfully
influenced human thought, will repay the study which is spent in under-
standing it, and, sooner or later claim fresh regard. The variations of
human nature are too limited, to place any of its developments wholly
beyond the pale of interest.”*
At the present time, the great foes to any rapid advance in the spiritu-
ality of religion, are materialism and formalism. The first tends to merge
itself into agnosticism, pantheism or atheism ; the latter, into the formu-
ations in creeds and dogmas, and in ritualism. Like the formalism of
* Canon Brooke F. Westcott, Contemporary Rev., Vol. v, May-Aug., 1867.
the Pharisees in the time of Jesus, the second would see in the mere per-
formance of ritual, the repetition of creeds or fixed forms, the letter of
the law ; and through mere attendance at the house of worship, a com-
pliance with the true inner faith and requirements of real spiritual devo-
tion. Against these phases of so-called religion, the free inward con-
sciousness and liberty of the true spiritual and higher man, always rebels ;
the inner man, drawn by the Deity, desires to see, a worship from the
heart, sentiment and soul, and not a mere formal observance of creeds
and books, a mere repetition of words and genuflexions of the body as a
saving Grace and a true road to Salvation. To such, the spiritualistic
philosophy of the higher phases of the Qabbalistic system, when truly
searched for, contemplated, and understood ; opens her arms, and from
its great height in the Unknown Essence of the Supreme Deity, the Eter-
nal Boundless One, to its depth, in the lowest materialism of evil ; gives
an opportunity for the reception, and acquisition of the grandest and
noblest ideas, to the highest and most subtile order of religious spiritual
thought. The greatest Mystics of the past, be they John Tauler, Thomas
A’Kempis (Hamerken), Saint Theresa, or Dionysios, the Areopagite, have
all been under the influence of ideas which are fully included in those of the
Qabbalistic philosophy. As to the materialists : ” What are they finding,
more and more below facts, below all phenomena which the scalpel and
the microscope can show ? A something nameless, invisible, imponder-
able, yet seemingly omnipresent and omnipotent, retreating before them
deeper and deeper, the deeper they delve, namely ; the life which shapes
and makes. * * * More and more the noblest-minded of them, are
engrossed by the mystery of that unknown and truly miraculous element
in nature, which is always escaping them, though they cannot escape
it.”*
It is my desire to awaken a higher spiritual feeling towards the investi-
gation of the Mysteries of Ancient Israel, in which, the Mysteries of the
New Covenant lie hidden ; Which shall help to awaken in Christian Mys-
ticism its fundamental elements, faith and belief in the True ; to animate
it to study the metaphysics of the great Fathers of the Church, especially
the great Greek Fathers, the most erudite thinkers of the early Christian
• Kingsley. Pref. to Westminster Sermons, pp. xxvii-xxviii.
church ; and establish the vast edifice of theology on deep philosophical
principles and belief in the True, and not on man’s alterable creeds and
formulations : and by so doing ; prepare a common centre for the re-
union of all the, at present divided, religious sects. I also believe that such
researches and investigations are calculated to pave the way to an under-
standing of the true principles in the primitive history of mankind, and
be an assisting guide, in the dark labyrinth of myths, mysteries and
archaic religions ; and that they will place much, which is nbw uncertain,
on a firm foundation and in a stronger and clearer light, and so prepare
the way, for that which the Deity never intended should be separated,
the union of sound reason and correct philosophy with true religion.
We cannot in this connection forbear quoting the words of a great
German thinker : ” Whenever in religion, or polity, or civilization, in
art or science ; the inner element is developed most strenuously in its
outward productions and tJie spiritual earnestly sought after, be it with
more or less modifications of existing institutions, there is progress at
hand ; for it is from within that life issues forth into the external, from
the centre to the circumference. This therefore is the pathway which
leads to life, that on which there are ever opening new outlets for the
Spirit, and on which Genius, can unfurl its wings with god-like self-
assurance. ‘ If this be true, the contrary result must also happen, wher-
ever the external or material life is continually exalted, — wherever the
symbol supersedes and stands more and more for the essence ; a form of
words or an external work for the mental act or for conscience ; where
the symmetrical superfices is accepted for the inner content, and the outer
uniformity for vital unity, and appearances for truth. In every such hap-
pening the luckless future must be impending whatever be the aspect of
the present. * * * When such a path is once entered upon, the
necessity very soon becomes apparent, of treating the dictates of the com-
mon conscience as apostacy, of putting down conscientious objections as
insubordination, and suppressing personal freedom as sedition. And then
tyranny, either ecclesiastical or political, becomes a necessity, etc.”*
To-day around us this latter feeling appears to be getting the upper hand,
* Gott in der Geschichie 1857-8, by Christ. Karl Josias Baron yon Bunsen, Vol. iii,
Bk. vi, c. iii, thesis 6,
XI
there is too much desire for wealth and the gratification of the present
and not enough of the Divine Afflatus. Too much of the spirit of Vol-
taire, Condillac and Descartes, and not enough thought of our fut\ire
existence, nor of the feelings which animated the Qabbalists, true Theo-
sophists and Mystics, of the past. We want more men influenced with
the same feelings as were Savonarola, Tauler and Jacob Bohme.
In the Hebrew Holy Scripture, the visible or creation, is regarded as
the manifestation of the Divine Glory or She’kheen-ah. The attributes
of the Deity are therefore seen through His works, so St. Paul says : ” For
the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal
power and glory.” (Rom. i, 20.)
But the human mind obtaining its ideas in this matter-world, can
never whilst existing in it, raise the veil to its full height nor thoroughly
understand in their full purport, the mysteries concealed behind it.
Even the words used in the most abstract sciences and in religion
and philosophy, to signify the most perfect abstractness, have only
a partially definite meaning, and in most minds, are vague and tinc-
tured by the grasp of individual intellect, surroundings, modes of
thought, imagination, experience; yes, even by the prejudices, dislikes
and sentiments of thought, in the minds of those who use them; and
so mar the tendency to the true, the abstract, and the real. There
is an endeavor on the part of enlightened abstract thinkers to avoid
this as much as possible, and they frequently seize upon foreign words
and the “mixed modes” of one tongue, to express through them the
pure simple ideas of another language, for in their new position these
words are clear of the alloy of experiences and the mistakes caused by
the senses of their old masters. The naturalism therefore of the Hebrew
Old Testament has been largely merged into the Greek language, as a
greater idealization and abstraction ; first we see this in the Septuagint
or Greek translation, and then, more thoroughly, in the New Testament,
a fusion of Hebrew and Hellenic thought. We can imagine a language
in its first beginnings, in which every act and operation of the mind,
every idea and relation, was expressed by a matter-image or symbol, a
language at once based purely on the senses and the material, its words
Xll
only mental pictures like its written symbols, of which, the archaic Egyp-
tian hieroglyphics may be considered as example ; higher than this we can
imagine a language with the world of mind and the world of matter dis-
tinct, but such cannot in this matter-world, exist. All language exists
between two extremes and is passing continually from one to the other, it
is never, no more than are the stars and the universe at anytime standing
still.
The language and words in the Holy Scripture are intermediaries be-
tween the seen and the unseen, thoughts are the winged angels which par-
take of both the visible and invisible as did the angels of the Bible.
They are spirits which may be clothed in the aether of man’s breath and
so become visible, but not always, for language cannot alwa3rs define and
formulate, those things which are within the veil ; there are things we feel
which we cannot formulate into words, the sigh of sorrow, the cry of
despair, the exclamation of anger, the ecstasy of heavenly bliss, of love
and hope and earthly happiness, are a few of the thoughts we can never
formulate into words.
The nearest approach that man can make to the unseen, is that inner
communion which works silently in his soul but which cannot be expressed
in absolute language nor by any words, which is beyond all formulations
into word symbolism yet is on the confines of it and the unknown spirit-
ual world. This is conceptualism. We experience these feelings only in
our hearts and inner thoughts, that which strikes our consciences as right
or wrong comes unbidden to us and without any logical sequence, is like
a dream. The more intensely man feels the highest intellectuality, the
more thoroughly does his spirit enter into this spiritual communion and
the more difficult is it to express to others, these emotions and this unde-
fined consciousness, this converse with another world ; formulate them,
express them, in words ; and we draw them down to a gross, dark and
material plane. Silence, meditation, intercommunion with self, this is
the nearest approach to the invisible. They are sublimations. Many of
our ideas are only negations, the Highest Deity is clothed, as to Its essence
and appearance, in darkness to the finite thought. Yet even these nega-
tions are affirmations and we only leave the opposition to the negation, a
condition to our thoughts, of vagueness and uncertainty. *’ There is a
xm
^iritual body and there is a natural body,” but this does not take us out
of the material-world, a spirit can only be conceived of as something
vague, dim, in opposition to matter, yet the inner motor of us, is spirit.
The Deity and Its attributes cannot be defined, they are to us an abso-
lute negation of all our so-called absolute knowledge, for all our absolute
knowledge is based, raised upon, centred and carried on, through our
matter-world knowledge and symbolism, e. g.. Eternity is not the past,
present, future, these are in Time, Eternity can be conceived of, only as
an absolute negation of all thought of Time, so only can spirituality by
the absolute negation of all matter-world thought and matter- world exist-
ence. The Non Ego is the nearest approach to the invisible, the Ego is
a manifestation.
From a want of knowledge of the Qabbalistic philosophy, the transla-
tions of many statements in both the Old and New Testaments are fre-
quently erroneous, and this is especially evident in numerous of the
asserted improvements in the revised versions, e, g,, Ephesians iii, 15, the
older versions of which evidence the fact, that it is in agreement, with both
the Qabbalah and Talmud, in the use of the words ” family in heaven : ”
to signify, the Upper angels and spirits who are near the Deity ; also Matt,
vi, 13, where the desire to be delivered from the Ye’tzer ha-rah, t\ e,, the
evil inclination, which is asserted in the Qabbalah to accompany every
human being through life, is referred to the Devil.
The reader may be sometimes startled by my statements, which may
be at times contrary to his conventional religious ideas, as to this I can
only say, that I have stated the subject as I have found it, and, as this is
not a polemical work, do not criticize it.
The student of Assyriology and ancient Babylonian thought, will find
many similarities between it and the ancient Hebrew Qabbalah. Both
are Semitic but in germ derived, I think, from other sources. The stu-
dent of archaic Hindu Aryan thought will also notice many similarities,
especially in the Upanishads of the Vedas, in old Hindu Mythology,
also in the Bhagavad-Gita and the Vedantas. Much of the mystery of
the Practical Qabbalah will be undoubtedly discovered in the Tantras,
but I have not as yet had an opportunity of seeing any of the latter.
The study of the Qabbalah in the disfigured condition which the powers
XIV
of evil have succeeded in placing it, is one of extreme difficulty, and
I have appreciated the full force of the words of the German historian
I. M. Jost, when he says :
** Whoever desires to fathom all this, must give up the entire present
and bring himself into a world of thought which stands absolutely alone.
* * * As the work of an elevated observing understanding accom-
panied by phantasy, she awakens admiration, and this, more on account
of the purpose, * * * for the purpose declares, that the Kabbalah
brings the soul of man into undoubted communion with God, which en-
tirely sanctifies his thoughts and walk.” (History of the Jews. Leipsic,
1859, p. 146.)
The Zohar is a very difficult book to translate, as it is full of strange
words in Aramaic, Syriac, Hebrew and Chaldee; also, many formed
from Greek, Persian, Sanskrit and Syriac roots : besides it has many dark
and veiled suggestions and hints, which require explanations, as one pro-
ceeds with the setting forth of its system.
I also ask the indulgence of the critic for any errors in this new expo-
sition of a difficult subject. Unable to find a publisher, because of the
timidity of those engaged in the business of publishing resulting from
their unfamiliarity with the subject, and fears for its financial success ; I
have been compelled at considerable expense and extra work, to take the
risk of publishing upon myself and of getting a return for my outlay in
printing, etc., and therefore became my own publisher.
No. 929 Clinton Street,
Philadelphia, Penna.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Introduction pp. vii-xiv
Tablb of Contents pp. xv-xix
A Short Description of the Plates pp. xix-xxiii
Table of the Diagrams, etc p. xxiv
I.
Ibn Gebirol’s Life and Writings pp. 1-9
II.
The Sephsr ha-Zohar; Writings as to, its Bibliography,
Authors and Antiquity ‘ pp. 10-54
III.
Antiquity of the Zoharic Writings, continued. Objec-
tions to their Antiquity by Dr. Hirsch Graetz, Dr. Christian
D. Ginsburg, and others, considered. Some quotations
from the Zoharic Writings, elucidating passages in the Old
and New Testaments pp. 55-100
IV.
Further excerpts from the Zohar. Parables. Explana-
tion of New Testament passages. The Basic element in
Religions. Herbert Spencer cited. Ancient Chinese
Taoism. Meaning of Idea, anciently. New Testament
and Pagan writers on the Invisible and Visible. The Ideal
and Real, etc pp. loi-i 15
V.
Pastor of Hermas, etc, on the Nature of Christ. The
Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, on the Kosmic Mystery.
The Oppositions and Harmony. Three Conceptions of
Jesus pp. 1 16-1 20
XVI
«
VI.
The Secret of the account of Creation in Genesis. Ex
nihilo nihil fit. Doctrine of the non-annihilation of mat-
ter. Some Qabbalistic accounts of the Creation. The
Heavenly Adam. Creation by the Word. The Zohar
sets forth the circular movement of the Earth many centu-
ries before Copernicus. Opinions of the Ancients on the
circular movement of the Earth pp. 121-141
VII.
An Analysis of the Me’q6r ‘Hay-yIm, of Ibn Gebirol . . .pp. 142-157
VIII.
The theory as to Ecstasy. The writers who mention Ibn
Gebirol, or make use of his philosophy. The so-called
Arabic philosophers pp. 158-164
IX.
The Antiquity of the Qabbalah. Books and writers in
which the Qabbalah is referred to. Letter of St. Jerome
on the Divine Names. Connexion with early Christianity.
Ancient thought, language, symbolism and tradition.
High position claimed for the Qabbalah. The Ideal Man
and the great Brotherhood of Humanity. Free-will, the
Good and Evil. The Oppositions and Harmony pp. 165-187
X.
Similarities in the writings of Ibn Gebirol, the Zoharic
writings and the Qabbalah pp. 188-218
XL
The Hebrew Qabbalah and its origin. Its content and
the problems it seeks to solve. From the Visible ascer-
tain the Invisible. The several divisions of the Qab-
balah. The four animals of the ancient Chaldean and
Hindu religions and those of the Merkabah, their colors,
etc. The Speculative Qabbalah. The Qabbalah of the
Roman Catholic Church and of the Law. Curious par-
• •
xvu
allels regarding the Serpent, the World-tree and the Seven
kings of Edom ; in the Zoharic books and the Cuneiform
Tablets pp. 219-236
XII.
Further parallels between the Cuneiform and the Qab-
balah. Account of the Akkadian and Semitic Babylonian
religion and temples and those of the Israelites. Of the
Akkadian and Babylonian Cosmogony. Of the Demiurge.
The Dust Body of Man. Of Lil-ith. The Ancient
Zodiac pp. 237-250-
XIII.
Of Ain Soph and the Ten Sephiroth pp. 251-273
XIV.
The Ain Soph and the Sephiroth continued. Of the Ayin.
Views of the Ancients as to Ideas. Of the True and of
Illusion. Sound, color, rhythm. Quotations from the
Zohar as to the Sephiroth. The Prototypic Man. The
Sephiroth as between themselves. The Sephirothic Pillars.
Of Azriel and his writings. Analysis of his Commentary
on the Sephiroth pp. 274-288
XV.
The Sephiroth As Between the Deity and Among Them-
selves. The Prayer of Eliyah pp. 289-294
XVI.
Of the meaning of the words Sephirah and Sephiroth.
Origin of the ideas as to the Sephiroth. Decadal division
of the Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer pp. 295-319
XVII.
The Four Worlds. Of Prana. Of Pan as the Makro-
kosmos. Other ideas of the Makrokosmos. Asserted Ori-
gin of the Idea of the Four Worlds pp. 320-334
xvm
XVIII.
Excerpts from the Zohar : as to the man with the heavy
burden. Vicarious Atonement by the Messiah. The She-
‘kheen-ah. A formula of the Great Names. Original sin.
Power of Satan. Free Will. The heavenly Mediatrix
between God and man. Necessity of Repentance for Sal-
vation. Eternal Reward and Punishment in the Future
Life. Resurrection of the dead in the body. Judgment
of the souls of the wicked, etc pp. 335-358
XIX.
Excerpts from the Zohar continued. The Holy, with the
She’kheen-ah created the universe. Reason of the exist-
ence of Good and Evil. Of Metatron. Messiah ben
Joseph and Messiah ben David. Description of, and the
Triadic Idea as to, the Deity. The Names. Creation.
Souls, spirits, etc pp. 359-414
XX.
Structure of the Universe. Stability of the Oppositions.
The Lower world like the Upper. The Makrokosm and
Mikrokosm. The Upper Adam. The Makrokosm as the
Great Tree, and as Man. Creation of Adam and ‘Havah.
Their condition before and after their Fall. Four ways of
seeing the Deity. The permanence of Spoken Words.
Love and Fear. Entire dependence should be on the
Deity when man is in trouble. Paradise and Hell. Sama-el
and Lil-ith, etc. The Angel of Death, etc. Coming of
the Messiah and the Kingdom of the Supreme Deity upon
Earth, etc pp. 415-438
Appendix A. An Anqent Lodge of Initiates pp. 439-443
Appendix B. Synopsis of the Chinese Qabbalah pp. 444-447
Appendix C. Construction of the Akkadian, Chaldean
and Babylonian, universe pp. 448-455
XIX
Appendix D. Mystic Theology of Dionysios, the Areo-
pagite pp. 45^45^
Appendix E. The Dogmas in the Nicene Creed and the
Qabbalah pp. 459-460
Appendix F. Antiquity of the Hebrew vowel points, .pp. 460-470
Index p. 471, etc.
A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.
No. I. p. 45. This engraving is described on page 45 note.
No. 2. p. 45. This engraving is described on page 46 note.
No. 3. p. 116. This figure is a copy of one found in the ruins of an
Egyptian Temple at Luxor, and represents the oppositions and har-
mony, under the form of two wings with a circle or globe between
them. Similar symbols are frequently found on the walls and over
the door-ways, of the ancient Temples of Egypt.
No. 4. p. 1 20. Represents Arddha-nari, a Hindu androgenic deity and
is from a Hindu drawing. See Moor’s Hindu Pantheon.
No. 5. p. 121. Is a representation said to be of the Vedic deity Indra
but, I think, it is undoubtedly a representation of the three Upper
Sephiroth and the efflux. Notice the position of the hands as
‘Hokhmah and Binah.
No. 6. p. 141. Is a Qabbalistic portrayal of the universe, as if a species
of armillary sphere, sustained by three hands, and inscribed with
three Hebrew letters, k Aieph, stands for r\DK A’meth, (E’meth)
/. e,f Truth, i Daleth^ for pi Din^ i. ^., Judgment, and bt Shitty
for diSbt Shalom, /. ^., Peace.
The saying in the Pirq6 Aboth is : *’ Rabban Shim-on ben Gam-
(a)liel {circa 164 A. D.) said : * On three things the world stands;
on Truth, on Judgment and on Peace.’ ” (i, 19.) These are a system
of internal energies through which the world exists. So the
XX
heavenly bodies are kept in their places by mon ^Hem-dah^ i. ^.,
Desire, and ruiDK Amun-^hy i, e, , Faith, which draw them to ri’TW
Eh^yehy t\ e., I Am. Peace is an important word in the New Testa-
ment. (Eph. ii, 14; Micahv, 4; Rom. xvi, 20.) It is a Talraudic
Name for God. “Everything is perfected by Peace.” (Comp.
Eph. iv, 3; Col. iii, 14; Col. iii, 15, with Zech. viii, 16.) With the
Qabbalists, Peace = ^Hes-ed Love or Mercy ; Judgment = Pa^had
Fear; Truth =: Ge’dooi-ah Greatness. These are severally made equiv-
alent to the Ineffable Name, and therefore one to the other. Sepher
B^rith Menoo^hahy /.^., Book of the Covenant of Rest. (Amsterdam
Ed., 1648, fol. 3a.)
No. 7. p. 142. A Hindu androgenic deity termed Arddha-nari, From
a Hindu drawing. See Moor’s Hindu Pantheon.
No. 8. p. 157. A Representation of the ancient Mexican Makrokosmos.
To be found in Lord Kingsborough’s great work on Ancient Mexico,
Vol. ii, plate 75, which is copied from an Ancient Mexican MSS. in
the Library of the Vatican. In Vol. vi, pp. 222-223 is a description
of the plate. In a note is : ” In a Missal entitled Heures a Vusiage
de Ramey 14^8 y is the figure of a man with his principal viscera ex-
posed, and from the heart, liver, etc. , lines are drawn to the symbols
of the ruling constellations. In the XV century astrology had the
sanction of the Church.*’
The ancient Mexicans appear to have believed in 9 heavens, a
Mexican king built a tower with 9 stories as emblems of the 9
heavens, in which to worship the Creator of all things. Their sol-
emn dance also represented the motion of the heavens. Ibid. pp.
155-156. They also had a symbolism of colors. Ibid, p. 157 note.
Consult as to the Mexican signs of the Zodiac. Transact, of the
American Ethnological Society, 1845, h 57-305 i “> S^^* See also
the works of Captain Dupaix, John L. Stephens, Charles Rau, Ed.
S. Holden, Cyrus Thomas, Leon de Rozny, D6sir6 Charney, etc., on
Ancient Mexico and Central America.
No. 9. p. 158. From an old Hindu drawing. This I think is intended
to represent, the Sephirothic Tree rooted in the World-egg and
floating on the Chaotic Sea.
XXI
No. lo. p. 164. Is a representation of the Egyptian Makrokosm and
Mikrokosm from an ancient Egyptian picture.
No. II. p. 165. This is an attempt to show the Ark of the Covenant in
the Hebrew Tabernacle with the Cherubim and She’kheen-ah. We
do not offer this as the actual. Modem discoveries have given to us
somewhat different ideas.
No. 12. p. 187. A figure of Buddha probably under the Bo tree or Tree
of the Sephiroth. The original of this is in possession of a friend
in Philadelphia.
No. 13. p. 188. The decadal division of man.
No. 14 to 19. p. 218. Occult Qabbalistic representations of the Triad,
No. 15 is also the Jewish priests method of holding the hands when
giving the blessing. No. 16 is a Qabbalistic method of holding
the hands.
No. 20. p. 219. Sephirothic Tree from the ruins of Carthage.
No. 21. p. 219. Sephirothic Tree from ruins in Scotland. As to both
of these, see. The Early Races of Scotland, by Forbes Leslie, Edin-
burgh, 1866, Vol. i, pp. xvii, xix, 178, 181, plates iii, iv and vi, p.
46; also. Ancient Faiths embodied in Ancient Names, etc., by
Thomas Inman, London, 1868, Vol. i, p. 79.
No. 22. pp. 228-229. The explanation accompanies the engraving.
Nos. 23 and 24. p. 236. Are representations of the method of holding
thQ hands used by the Jewish Kohanim or Priests, in giving the
blessings.
No. 25. p. 237. Copy of an intaglio signet of Babylonia. Talisman
with the Triad, on sard. See p. 249 note.
No. 26. p. 249. Copy of an intaglio signet cylinder of Assyria with the
Triad, on amazon stone. See pp. 249-250 note.
No. 27. p. 251. The Hindu Makrokosm from a Hindu drawing.
No. 28. p. 273. The Hindu Makrokosm as Krishna, with the Bull, Pea-
cock and Crocodile.
No. 29. p. 274. The Hebrew letter Shin, a symbol of the Triad. Comp.
Supra p. 366.
No. 30. p. 321. The Four Worlds of the Hindus. The Head, is the
Upper Spiritual, Brahman neuter. The Breast, the creative or Soul
Principle, Brahma. The Heart. The Stomach, vitality, Vishnu as
XXll
Krishna. The Navel, etc. Power of Generation and Destruction.
Siva. Comp. figure 27 Ante p. 251.
No. 31. p. 322. Prana, the Hindu Makrokosmos, description is on pp.
321-323.
No. 32. p. 325. Pan, the Greek Makrokosmos. Description pp.
324-326.
Nos. 33 and 34. pp. 326-327. The Medieval Makrokosmos. We have
engravings similar to figure 33, in our almanacs.
No. 35. p. 334. Hindu Qabbalistic symbol of the four worlds. The
everlasting arms holding up the world. See my description in, The
Path, Vol. i, p. 370 sq.
No. 36. p. 414. An occult representation of the Point, Ten Sephiroth,
Four Worlds, Ineffable Name, etc.
No. 37. p. 438. Man as the dwelling of Brahma, the Creating-deity, a
form of the Hindu Makrokosm. The original of this drawing was
made by a Brahmin after the ideas in the Vedas. In it man is rep-
resented as in Brahma-loka, the city of the Creator-god, as the
Mikrokosmos. A, is a water-fosse, extending around and between
the walls of the fortress as if surrounding a citadel, this is to represent
the outer man and the fluctuating passions of the soul, Bhut-atma.
In this quarrel and surge, lashed by the storm-winds of evil, the
waves of passion and the evil thoughts. There are 11 gates and
draw-bridges ; these are the 1 1 openings of the senses, they lead over
the fosse, i . The gate of the mouth. 2 and 3. The gates of the
nose. 4 and 5. The gates of the eyes. 6 and 7. The gates of the
ears. 8. The skin with its many openings. 9. The gate of the
heart. 10. The rectum. 11. The lingam or yoni. B, is rejuvena-
tion and immortality, in lake Behra near by is C, the phallic tree.
Then comes the fortified city, Sabeh, to it belongs all within the
wall line D. In Sabeh is Apradyat, the impregnable castle E. £, is
inhabited, protected and illuminated, by the spirits of perception or
Indra and Prajipati. It has a second story F. This is the Intellect
and Light out of atma, /.^., soul. Above this is G, which resting on
the wreath around the roof of the citadel F, is the radiating light-
throne of Hiranyagarbha, 1.^., the golden embryo, which symbolizes
the Primary Form. Here is seated H, Mansi or Brahma-sakti, the
XXIU
mistress of the Beauty of the Mind indeed Brahma himself, but con-
sidered as Brahma-Maya, mistress of the Imaginative-world. I^ above
her crown, is the Brahma-sun, the sun of Truth, illuminating all ; but
between her head and Truth, the veil of Maya or Deceptive Illusion
intervenes and envelopes, everything Below.
No. 38. To face p. 439. This is an occult representation of the Makro-
kosm as if in the Noa’hic Ark, which contained in itself and pre-
served, according to the Hebrew Sacred Writings, the ancestors of all
existing animal life, and therefore had a close resemblance to the Qab-
balistic ideas as to the Upper Adam. In this engraving, the length
centre would answer to the Ecliptic of the Zodiac with the Decans
upon either side, together 30. The ten compartments of the Zodiac
are given excluding Scorpio-Virgo, which is androgenic, and con-
sidering, the first of the last five, as if the tail of Scorpio ; Scorpio
taking up, as the ancient astronomers inform us, all that space from
which the Balance was afterwards made. When the androgenic Scorpio-
Virgo was separated and the Balance or Harmony made from Scor-
pio, and placed between Scorpio, /. ^., male, and Virgo, /’. ^., female,
then appeared the 1 2 constellations or signs, as we now have them.
The ark is three stories high (perhaps to symbolize Heaven, Man,
Earth). In the figure of the Man, notice the parting of the hair in
the middle of the forehead and the arrangement of the beard, whisk-
ers, moustache and the hair, on the back of the neck and shoulders.
See Ante p. 370. Compare this with the statements in the Siphrah
D’Tznioothah, Idrah Rabbah and Idrah Zootah, as to Ze’ir An-peen,
/. ^., Small Faces. Note also the stigmata, and that nj 50 + 8 = 58
Noa*h and |n ‘Hen 8 + 50 = 58, /. ^., Grace (Salvation ?), have the
same number.
Compare, Antiquitaium Judaicarum Libri ix, etc. , auctore Bene-
dicto Aria Montana^ Hispalensi. Lugduni Batavorum^ etc., 1593, pp.
74-77. Plate L. The Rosicrucians their Rites and Mysteries, etc.,
by Hargave Jennings, New York, 1879, pp. 35o-353i 3^8.
No. 39. p. 447. A representation of Brahma-Maya, Mahat-Maya or
Brahma Viraj, the Great Androgenic Illusion Deity of the Hindus.
See my Articles in. The Path, Vol. i, upon Hindu Symbolism.
XXIV
TABLE OF THE DIAGRAMS, ETC.
Frontispiece. The Upper or Celestial Adam with the Ten
Sephiroth.
•^ Sephirothic Tree of Life with the Columns, etc Facing p. i
Diagram I. Table of the Sephiroth, in Circles, with the Ineffa-
ble Name p. loo
Diagram II. Table of the Divine Names and the Sephiroth
with their Channels or Canals p. 169
^ Diagram III. Table of the Sephiroth with the Channels, the
Ineffable Name and the names of the Planets. . . .Facing p. 251
Diagram IV. The Universe according to the Ptolemaic sys-
tem p. 295
Diagram V. The idea of the Universe in the Middle Ages. .p. 319
Diagram VI. The Universe according to the Akkadians,
Chaldeans, Babylonians, etc p. 448
A Formula of the Divine Names, etc p. 342
The Ineffable Name reversed p. 446
The Me’norah or Candlestick, and Chinese symbols pp. 446, 447
B’LEE RAI-SHEETH,
Without Beginning.
BIN-AH.
UnderatafMSfie
COLUMN OF THE LEFT.
B’LEE SAKH-LEETH.
Without End.
AIN SOPH.
OR
AYIN.
KETHER EL’YON.
Upper Crown.
9
TIPH’E-RETH
Beauty.
“TIB”
YE’SOD.
Basis or Foundatibn
10
•HOKH-MAR
Wiidofli.
1
SEVERITY OR
JUDGMENT.
MAL-KHUTH.
Kingiloni.
COLUMN OF THE CENTRE.
Harmony.
COLUMN OF THE RIGHT.
GRACE OR
MERCY.
The Sephirothic Tree of Life viewed from the Back.
I.
IBN GEBIROL’S life AND WRITINGS.
SOLOMON ben Yehudah Ibn Gebirol, of Cordova * called by the
Jews, Solomon the Sephardi, /. ^., Spaniard, the Hymnologist, and
by acrostic from the initials of his name, Ra S H Ba G. ; by the
Arabs, Abu Ay}’ub Suleiman ben-Ya’hya Ibn Djebirol, and by the schol-
astics, Avicebrol, Avicebron, Avicembron, etc., was bom at Malaga about
1 02 1, educated at Saragossa, and died at Valencia, 1070. It is said, in
a legend, that he was killed by a Mohammedan who was jealous of his
great talents, that the murderer buried him under a fig tree^ in the for-
mer’s garden ; the tree bore so much fruit, of such extraordinary sweet-
ness, that the king, informed of the phenomena, made the proprietor of
the garden come before him, and being pressed by questions, the mur-
derer ended by avowing his crime, and expiated it with his life. Ibn
Gebirol may be considered as the greatest philosopher of his century.
Towards the middle of the Xlth century, Ibn Gebirol began to make
himself known, as a philosopher and poet, notwithstanding the repugnance
towards each other, which these two branches of human thought gener-
ally evince; so as rarely to be found united in the same individual. How-
ever in Ibn Gebirol’s poetry are most profound philosophical meditations,
and in his philosophical works are to be found traces of the rhetoric,
lively imagination, and inspiration, of the poet. The philosophical works
he wrote in Arabic, his poetry in Hebrew. In poetry, he occupied a
first rank among the Jewish poets of the Middle Ages, and was, we think
we are justified in saying, among all contemporary poets, the greatest
poet of his time.
The Jewish poetry of the Middle Ages was much more elevated than
♦Note. — A portion of this Paper was read by me, before the Numismatic and Anti-
quarian Society of Philadelphia, at its Hall, on March 4, 1886. A synopsis has been
published in the Proceedings of the Society.
the Arabic; it was founded upon the magnificent imagery of the ancient
Hebrew prophets and poets, was based on the memories of their wonder-
ful past, the sufferings of the present, and the hopes of a more glorious
future. It was more universal. The elegies of the Jewish writers of this
period were full of a sombre melancholy, their hymns and prayers full of a
profound religious sentiment, and a touching resignation ; and their lessons
of morality and wisdom, gathered in the midst of ruins and tombs, found
a reverberation in the hearts of all men, at all times ; because in them
were thoughts, sentiments, and emotions, for men of all countries, and of
all centuries. The vanity of terrestrial things is the ruling thought, which
reproduces itself under a thousand forms, in the Jewish poetry of this
period. Ibn Gebirol especially, always directed his regards towards
heaven, the earth had not offered him many charms, happiness had flown
from him without cessation, and a settled sadness, proceeding out of all
he saw, made him refuse the most legitimate and purest jo)rs. This
melancholy is apparent in writings by him, when only i6 years of age.
The Kether Malkhuth or Crown of the Kingdom, was given by him the
first place among his hymns, and he tells us in it, that it was written in
his declining years. It is a hymn celebrating the only one and true God,
and the marvels of His creation. The veil, which covers the mysteries of
Nature, the poet seeks to fathom and unravel, by means of the scientific
knowledge of his time. The task is divided between the spirit and the
heart, between intelligence and sentiment, between knowledge and the
imagination. It is not only a religious poem, but a poetical resume of
the Peripatetic, Oriental, Alexandrine and Qabbalistic cosmology ; and
in it he endeavors, in magnificent language, to unite religion and philos-
ophy or the spiritual and physical, in a perfect harmony, so as to glorify
and praise the only True Being.
We here give a few lines from it :
“Thou art God, and all creatures are Thy servants and adorers;
Thy Glory is not diminished in any way, should they adore others than
Thee, because their aim is entirely, to come nearer unto Thee ; but they
are as the blind, it is towards the Royal route that they direct themselves,
but they have strayed from the right road ; one has fallen into an abyss of
destruction, the other fallen into a pit. They believed that they had
wholly reached the desired aim, Lut they have labored in vain. But Thy
true servants are as those travelers who, marching in the right road, turn
neither to the right nor to the left, until they enter into the court of the
palace of the King.
” Thou art God, who supports, by Thy Divinity, all the Things formed,
and sustains all the existences by Thy unity. Thou art God, and there
is not any distinction established, between Thy Divinity, Thy Unity, Thy
Eternity, and Thy Existence ; because all is only one mystery, and, al-
though the names may be distinct, all have only one meaning. Thou art
Wise, Wisdom which is the fountain of life, floweth out from Thee, and
compared with Thy Wisdom, all the knowledge of mankind is foolishness.
Thou art Wise, being from all eternity, and Wisdom was always nour-
ished by Thee. Thou art Wise, and Thou hast not acquired Thy Wis-
dom from another than Thyself. Thou art Wise, and from Thy Wisdom
Thou hast made a determining Will, as the workman or artist does, to
draw the Existence from the No-Thing, as the light which goes out of
the eye extends itself. Thou didst draw from the Source of Light with-
out the impression of any seal, /. ^., form, and Thou madest all without
any instrument.” This theory of the Divine Will limiting the faculty of
the Highest Deity, which, unlimited, produces only the Infinite, is largely
set forth in his Me’qor ‘Hayyim, /. e., The Source of Life. This Upper
Will is, we think, in the Ideal Man, the Adam Qadmon of the Qabbal-
ists, and is in the Kether of the Sephiroth, /. ^., the highest point of the
brain or head, of the Ideal Man. In the Kether Malkhuth, Ibn Gebirol
also says: “Thine is the Might, in the mystery of which our contempla-
tions are too feeble to stay.’* “Thine is the hidden Name, from the
habitations of Wisdom.** “Thine is the Existence, from the shadow of
the light of which all existence came.*’ “Thou art One, and the mys-
tery of Thy Unity confounds the wise in heart, for they do not know
what it is.** “Thou art the Living One, and he who reaches to Thy
mystery, findeth eternal delight, he eats and liveth forever.** He illus-
trates the work of creation by the simile of ” the extension of light which
proceeds from the eye ;* * and he says : ” The exalted Name which is girded
with Might, is one in all Its forces, like a flame of fire in Its various ap-
pearances, like the light of the eye, proceeding from the blackness of the
eye, one emanating from the other, like smell from smell, light from
light.”
Ibn Gebirol wrote poems and hymns as early as the age of i6 years,
and a Hebrew grammar in verse at the age of 19. A writing called
Choice Pearls, composed of moral maxims, is attributed to him. It is in
64 paragraphs. A Latin edition was published in Frankfurt on the Oder,
in 1630, by Ebert, and it has been printed several times since in various
languages. Another writing attributed to him, is, On the Soul, a Latin
translation was made of it, by Archdeacon Dominic Gundissalimus, or
Gundisalvi.* Gebirol says he wrote, a special treatise, ** On the Will ;**
this is lost. In 1045 A. D., he wrote the ethical-philosophic work, called
Tiqqun Middoth han-Nephesh, /. ^., The Correction of the Manners (Fac-
ulties, Qualities), of the Soul (or Vital Spirit, the Nephesh). In the latter
work man is contemplated as the Mikrokosm, and viewed in his relation
to the Makrokosm, the entire Universe, considered as the Great Universal
Ideal Man or Adam Qadmon of the Qabbalah. In it, he quotes
the Old Testament, the Talmud, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the
Arabian philosophers, and especially the maxims of a Jewish phi-
losopher called Chefez Al-Kuti.f In consequence of some personal
allusions in this work, the author was obliged to leave Saragossa in 1046,
and wandered about Spain, until he obtained recognition and encourage-
ment, from Samuel ha-Levi ben Josef Ibn Nagr^la, also called Nagdilah,
and by the Jews, han-Nagid, /. ^., the Prince; the celebrated Prime Minister
of Moorish Spain. J
Before the voice of the Jewish prophets had ceased to guide that people,
the Interpreters of the Thorah ; /. ^., the Law, or Pentateuch, the Sages,
Wise-Men, and Doctors of the Mishnah and the Talmud, had began their
labors, and before the great Oriental Jewish universities and schools of
Mesopotamia and Babylonia were closed, centres of Jewish thought were
flourishing in the West, in Italy, France, and especially, in Spain.
* Munk, Melanges^ Philos, juive ei arabt, pp. 170-173.
f Steinschneider. Jewish Literature. Longmans. London, 1857, p. loi.
J See Lindo*s History of the Jews in Spain, p. 50; a’so Publications of the Society of
Hebrew Literature, London, vol. i, pp. 1-12.
\
«
t
s
Rabbi Abraham ben David Ha-Levi, or Hallevy, of Toledo, Spain (d.
1180), in his Sepher haq-Qabbalah, written in 11 60,* says :
“After the death of the last rector, ‘Hiz*qee-yah,t Head of the Academy
and Prince of the Exile, called the Rosh Hag-golah or Resh-^alutha, the
Academies were closed and no new Ge’onim appointed. But long before
that time,^ a ship sailing from Bari was captured by Ibn Romahis, com-
mander of the naval forces of Abd-er-rahman al-Nasr (A. D. 912-961).
In this ship, were four distinguished rabbins of the celebrated Babylon-
ian Jewish school of Sura, these were R. ‘Hushiel, father of R. ‘Hana-
nel; R. Moses, father of R. ‘Ha’noch; R. Shemaryahu, son of R.
Erhanan, and a fourth whose name is not given. They were sold as
slaves; R. ‘Hushiel was carried to Kairuan, (in Africa) ; R. Shemaryahu
was left in Alexandria; R. Moses was brought to Cordova; he was
there ransomed as a supposed uneducated man. In that city was a syna-
gogue known by the name of Keneseth ham-Midrash, /. ^., assembly
for study, and a certain R. Nathan, renowned for his great piety, was
the head (or judge) of the congregation. The members held meetings
at which the Talmud was read and discussed. One day when R. Nathan
was expounding a Talmudic passage, he was not able to give a satis-
factory explanation of it. R. Moses spoke, and at once removed the
difficulty, and answered several other questions which were submitted
to him. Whereupon R. Nathan thus addressed the assembly : ‘ I am no
longer your leader; that stranger in sackcloth shall henceforth be my
teacher, and you shall appoint him your chief.* The admiral upon
hearing of the high attainments of his late prisoner, desired to revoke
the sale, but the Khalif would not permit this, being pleased to learn,
that his Jewish subjects were no longer dependent for their religious in-
struction on the schools of the East.”
The knowledge of Ibn Gebirol, was undoubtedly fostered by the
patronage and erudition, of the before-mentioned Samuel ha-Levi ben
Joseph Ibn Nagr^la, or han-Nagid, who was bom about 993 A. D., died
about 1055, aged 62 years. This great scholar, usually called Samuel han-
♦ Edition of Bisel, 1580, p. 6ga.
t Killed by orders of the Khalif.
X In the X century.
N
Nagid, /. e,y the Prince, supported Ibn Gebirol after his banishment from
Saragossa in 1046. And our author has dedicated to Samuel many of his
verses. Samuel han-Nagid was educated at Cordova, in Spain^ in the Jew-
ish school of that place, by R. *Ha’noch, son of R. Moses of Babylonia,
whom we have just mentioned, in the Talmud and the history of his peo-
ple, and was taught Hebrew by R. Yehuda ‘Hayyug, one the most erudite
founders of Hebrew grammar. At the age of 20, owing to a revolution, he
was obliged to quit his studies, for a fearful conflict between the Berbers,
Arabs and Sclavonians, who composed the bodyguard of the Khalif,
brought desolation on Cordova in 10 13. Samuel escaped to the seaport-
town, Malaga. Here he continued his former studies, and entered into
others, applying himself especially to philology. He knew six languages ;
besides Hebrew, Chaldee or Aramaic, and Arabic, he understood
Berber, Latin and Castilian. This evidences great application, mental
power, and perseverance, for there was not at that time any method
to facilitate the study of languages. The educated Arabs seldom knew
Latin, and the Christians of Spain Seldom acquired much knowledge of
Arabic. In 1027 Samuel was appointed Grand Vizier and Minister of
State to the Khalif Habus, the monarch of Moorish Grenada. For nearly
30 years he occupied this position in that kingdom. During this period he
found time, to write several books on the Talmud, a Jewish history, and
books on proverbs, maxims, prayers, poetry, a grammar, etc. He shared
his riches with every disciple of Jewish erudition, not only in Spain, but
in Babylonia, Judaea, Sicily, and Africa. He kept up a thorough corre-
spondence with all the distinguished Jews of Syria, Egypt, Irak, and
Africa, took the greatest interest in their studies, and was in close
relations with the African authorities on Judaism. He also employed
transcribers to make many copies of the Talmuds and Holy Scriptures,
which he presented to poor students.
Can we wonder if we find, that Ibn Gebirol living under the influences
and learning of so great a scholar, had at the basis of his philosophical
knowledge, an acquaintance with the ancient Midrashim treating on
the Sod or Mysteries, the Secret Learning, afterwards termed the Tra-
dition or Qabbalah, and which we believe, were afterwards redacted into
the Zohar and the Zoharic books? Is it surprising that we find him in his
Me’q6r ‘Hayylm, /.^., Source of Life, and in the Kether Malkhuth, antici-
pating many of the statements subsequently to be found in the Zohar and
Zoharic writings, if he received a knowledge of these ancient writings in
their early, disconnected, Midrashic form, before they were collected and
redacted in Spain ? The Zohar and the books bound up with it, were
accepted by the Jewish learned men, almost immediately upon their
publication in MSS., as a verity, if not by the Qabbalist, R. Shim-on
ben Yo’hai, at least, as containing an accepted ancient secret tradition,
part likely coming through him. Everything points to this, and denies
the authorship and forgery imputed by many critics, to R. Moses ben
Shem-Tob de Leon of Spain, who only claimed in his writings, to be a
copyist and redactor of older Qabbalistic works, and not their author.
These strange, wonderful, weird writings, required more than one intel-
lect to produce them, and contain a mine of ancient Oriental philosophi-
cal thought.
Ibn Gebirol’s process of treating his philosophical system, however,
differs from that pursued in the Zohar and the Zoharic books. The
Zohar proper, is a running commentary on the Five Books or Pentateuch,
touching at the same time, upon numerous problems of philosophical
speculation of the deepest and most sacred import, and propounding
many ideas and doctrines, with an acumien, worthy to proceed from the
greatest intellects. It, and the Zoharic books, support their statements
by continual references and quotations, from the Old Testament. Ibn
Gebirol in his, ” Source of Life *’ does not follow this course, and differs
from almost all other Jewish philosophical authors of the Middle Ages,
in not quoting Scripture ; nevertheless, from their similarity, his writings,
and the Zohar and Zoharic books, are most probably, offshoots from the
same ancient roots.* The Zohar, and the fragments contained in it,
were not made public in MSS., for over 225 years after Gebirol’s death,
but it does not follow that its secret traditional sources, were not open
to the friend of that great Jewish scholar and patron of learning, upon
whose shoulders fell the traditions, learning and mantle ; of the Rectors of
the Babylonian schools; the erudite and celebrated, Samuel ha-Levi
ben Joseph Ibn Nagr^la, also called Nagdilah, and han-Nagid, the Prince
• Mank, Melanges de Philos. juive el arabey pp. 275, 276.
8
of the Jews, and Grand Vizier, under two Mohammedan Khalifs, of
Moorish Spain.
It was after his recognition by Samuel han-Nagid, and about 1050,
that Ibn Gebirol wrote, in Arabic, his great philosophical work, Me*q5r
‘Hayyira, /. ^., Fountain of Life, called in Latin, De Materia Universali
and Fons Vitce, which is really a philosophical Qabbalistic work. He is,
however, mostly known by his coreligionists, from his Kosmic Qabbalistic
hymn, founded on Aristbtle’s De Mundo, and based on the Ptolemaic
astronomical system : the Kether Malkhuth, the Royal Crown, perhaps not
incorrectly, from its referring to the highest and lowest Sephiroth, Crowned
Kingdom, which we have above mentioned. We shall refer hereafter in
this essay, more especially to his Me’qor ‘Hayyim and its connection with
the wonderful Sepher haz-Zohar, or Book of Splendour, the text-book of
the Hebrew Qabbalists. The Me’qor is one of the earliest exposures of
the secrets of the Speculative Qabbalah. It was first translated into He-
brew by Shem-Tob ben Joseph Ibn Falaquera.* A MSS. of this transla-
tion was discovered by the learned Arabic and Hebrew, German scholar,
Salomon Munk (b. 1802), one of the Librarians of the French Imperial
Library, at Paris, in the ^^ Bibliothique Impiriale^^ whilst redacting
its Hebrew MSS. This, he found, was almost in the words of the Latin
Fons Vitce, attributed by the scholastics to Avicebron. After this he
found in the same Library a MSS. in Latin of the Fons Vitce. After-
wards in the ^^ Bibliothique Mazarine ^’^ a second Latin MSS. of the same
work, was discovered by Dr. Seyerlen, of Germany. M. Munk, in 1859,
in his Milanges de Philosophie juive et arabey\ published the Me’qor
‘Hayylm, in French, from the Hebrew MSS. translation by Falaquera,
supplementing omissions by statements from the Latin MSS. We
acknowledge obligations to M. Munk’s work, for assisting us in this
essay, as to the contents of Ibn Gebirol’s philosophical writings.
Sometime between 11 67 and 11 86 R. Yehudah Ibn Tibbon, called
“Father of the Translators,” in conjunction with R. Joseph Ibn Qimchi,
translated, from the Arabic into Hebrew, the writings of Ibn Gebirol
* B. circa 1 224-1 228. Was translating in 1264, and subsequently. He died after
1280.
t Paris. cAcx A, Franck.
for the Qabbalist Asher, son of Meshullam ben Yacob, of Lunel (d. 1170
A. D.). The name of Asher has been confounded with that of the great
Qabbalist Azriel, and the translation may have been for the latter, who
has given us, in his : — ” Questions and Answers as to the Ten Sephiroth*’
one of the most scientifically philosophical expositions of these Qabbalistic
intermediaries, between God and all the existences, ever published.
Meshullam was teacher of the celebrated Qabbalist, R. Abraham ben David,
junior, of Posquieres, France (d. 11 98), called acrostically R A Ba D.
In the XII century, Joannes Hispalensis, or, of Seville, also called
Abendehut, perhaps the same as Ibn David and Andreas, whom Roger
Bacon says, was the real Author of that, which Michael Scot, called the
Wizard (d. circa 1290), published as his own writing; made a transla-
tion from the Arabic of some of Albenzubrun’s (Ibn Gebirors) works.
Abraham ben David (called Ibn Daud by the Arabs, also called Ben
Dior) ha- Levi, or Hallevy, the Elder ; of Toledo, Spain, who died ajnartyr
in 1 180; in 11 60 A. D., in Spain, attempted with bitterness, a refutation
of Ibn GebiroFs philosophy in his writing called The Sublime Faith, in
which Abraham b. David tries to put the Jewish religion in accord with
Aristotelian ism. He wrote the Sepher haq-Qabbalah above mentioned.
In 1209 the Fons Vita^ of our author, and the celebrated book, De
Causisy were interdicted by the University of Paris, as Aristotelian.*
In 1502 the Neo-Platonic Jewish Qabbalist, of the School of Count Gio-
vanni Pico della Mirandola, R. Yehudah Abravanel, also known as Messer
Leone Hebreo, and Leo Hebrseus, is acquainted with our author, but
only from Christian authorities, and calls him, Albenzubrun. Ibn
Gebirol’s writings are of great importance to Oriental scholars, from
the assistance they render to the settlement of questions as to the authen-
ticity, authorship, and authority of the Zoharic writings, the antiquity of
the Qabbalistic philosophy, its earliest formulated ideas, and its origin.
* Hanreau, Fhilos. scholastique. I, p. ii, p. 46, ed., Paris.
II.
THE SEPHER HAZ-ZOHAR, WRITINGS AS TO, ITS BIBLIOGRAPHY, AUTHORS,
AND ANTIQUITY.
AS we have already stated, the Zoharic writings were not published
as MSS. to the uninitiated, until some 225 years after the death of
Ibn Gebirol ; his writings, however, when compared with them, tend
to confirm the opinion, that they have an older common source, and the
learned German Jewish orientalist, Salomon Munk, is compelled to acknowl-
edge, that after investigation, the Zc^har, and the fragments bound up with
it, entire, are neither the work of a simple cheat, nor a pure invention, but
the editor or compiler used very ancient documents, among others, cer-
tain Midrashim, which we do not possess to-day,* and Falaqu^ra says,
that Ibn GebiroFs Me*qor *Hayylm, contains an antiquated or ancient
system, going back to philosophers of the highest antiquity. f R. Moses
Shem-Tob de Leon, who has been termed, by most of those opposed to
these writings, their forger, expressly tells us, that he only edited and
compiled them from the works of older writers, among others, from
those attributed to the School of the Tannaite, R. Shim-on ben Yo’haT.
A large room could be filled with the books written upon the validity or
forgery of the Zoharic writings. In our time. Dr. Adolph Jellinek, Drf
Hirsch Graetz, Dr. A. Tholuck, Dr. Abraham Geiger, Dr. Leopold Zunz,
S. D. Luzzatto, Dr. Christian D. Ginsburg, and earlier, the French ec-
clesiastic Jean Morin, Lewis Cappelus, Jacques Basnage de Beauval,
Frederick Strunz, Gabriel Groddeck, Buxtorf, the Elder, Scaliger and
Winder, among others, think they were written by R. Moses de Leon.
The learned M. H. Landauer was just as positive, that they were written
by R. Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia. The erudite Samuel Cahen, in his
Great French Bible, is sure that they were composed by a convocation
♦ Melanges eU phihs. juive et arabe^ etc., par Munk. Paris, 1859, pp. 275-6.
t /Wrf., p. 274.
II
of Christianized Rabbins, sitting together for the purpose, in a monas-
tery in Spain, and employing R. Moses de Leon, to publish their work.
In favor of their antiquity, and that they were not written by Moses de
Leon, in modem times, are, Franz Joseph Molitor, Dr. Adolphe Franck,
Dr. D. H. Joel, Salomon Munk, Dr. J. W. Etheridge, David Luria, Dr.
J. M. Jost, Dr. John Gill, M. H. Landauer, Ignatz Stem, Leopold Low,
John Allen, Jacob Frank, Joh. Ant. Bemh. Lutterbeck, Eh’phas Levi
(Abbe Louis Constant), Moses ben R. Me’na-a’hem Mendel Konitz, etc.
Earlier, Raymond Lully, John Reuchlin, Pico della Mirandola, the
learned Jesuit Athanasius Kircher, Dr. John Lightfoot, Giulio Bartolocci
(de Celano), Augustus Pfeiffer, Valentine Ernest Loescher, Christian
Knorr von Rosenroth, Henry Cornelius Agrippa, of Nettesheim, John
Baptist van Helmont, Franz Mercurius van Helmont, Dr. Robert Fludd, Dr.
Henry More, Buxtorff, the Youngeis Rev. John Francis Buddaeus, Dr.
Johann Friedrich von Meyer, the Cardinal ^gidius of Viterbo, Christian
Schoettgen, Rev. John Christopher Wolff, Jacques Matter, and many
others.
Uncertain as to the author, but opposing the books, are many of the
orthodox Jewish Talmudists, also the learned bibliographer M. Stein-
schneider, although he acknowledges a deficiency of thorough study upon
the subject. R. Jacob Emden, named acrostically Ya Be T Z, started out
to oppose them, using Morin*s arguments. From the very excellent intro-
duction of Dr. Adolph Jellinek (or Gellinek), to his German translation
of Prof. Adolphe Franck*s La Kabbaie,^ we condense the following :
There are three names under which more especially the wonderful monu-
ment of the Qabbalah appears. I. Midrash of the Rabbi Shim-on ben Yo’hai.
^’This name,’* Jellinek says; ” speaks for the genuineness of the work.*’
IL Midrash va-Ye*hee Or, /. e,, “Midrash; let there be light ! *’ So
called because in some of the MSS. the explanation to the verse in Gen-
esis i, 3, Yehee or, forms the beginning of the work, or which is more
probable, because it leads the reader to the light imparted to him
through this book. IIL Zohar, /. ^., Splendour or’ Light, called so after
Daniel xii, 3. This last name has become the governing one since the
* Du Kabbala oder die Religiansphilosophu der Hebraer von French, Aus dem Fran-
idsischtn ikbersetzty verbessert und vermehrt, Mit einer Abbildung : Leipziq^ 1844, 8vo.
12
compilation called Yu*hazin, which was published in Constantinople 1502
A. D. It is so called, either because it begins with the theme as to the light,
or because the word Zohar frequently occurs on the first page. In the work
itself it is also sometimes called by this name. (Comp. Rayah Me’hemnah
III, 153 b.) Mena’hem di Recanati of Italy, circa 1 290-1320, com-
mented upon it as undoubtedly genuine and calls it : The Book of Zohar,
The Wonderful Book of the Zohar, Book of the Great Zohar. R. Isaac Ibn
Minir (1330) terms it, the Midrash Haz -Zohar, also Midrash of R. Shim-
on ben Yo*hai. Other early.Qabbalists call it, Book of the Holy Zohar by
R. Shira-on ben Yo*hai. The Zohar is also quoted by R. Moses de Leon,
the alleged forger, in his other writings ; it is referred to by name by Yo-
seph ben Abraham Ibn Wakkar of Toledo (flour. A. D. 1 290-1 340), refer-
ring as a Qabbalist to the Ten Sephiroth, he recommends as reliable guides :
the Talmudim, Midrash Rabboth, Siphra, Siphree, Bahir, Peraqim of R.
Eliezer, the opinions of Nachmanides and Todros Ha Levi Abulafia, also
the Zohar, but says the latter has some errors.* The reason of this re-
mark was, Ibn Wakkar desired to introduce Aristotelianism into the Jewish
philosophy and found the Zohar in his way.f The Zohar is mentioned,
with favor, by Todros (Theodorus) Ha-Levi Abulafia (b. circa 1 204, died
1283 A.D., at Seville). We have not space in this writing to go fully into
the subject, but it is certain that the Zohar was accepted as a correct expo-
sition of orthodox Hebrew Qabbalism, immediately upon its publication,
which universal reception is strong proof for the antiquity of its doctrines.
Its opponents were almost universally Jewish Aristotelians, who therefore
opposed the ancient Secret Learning of the Israelites, because it was more
in accord with the Philosophy of Plato and Pythagoras, and indeed most
likely originated from the “same sources, the Aryan and Chaldean esoteric
doctrine.
The book Zohar proper, is a Qabbalistic commentary on the Penta-
teuch, wherein the entire system of the Hebrew Qabbalah is compiled.
It is written partly in Hebrew and partly in Chaldee or Aramaic, and is
a mine of occultism, *giving the mystical foundation of the Mosaic ordi-
nances, poetical and philosophical views on the Kosmogony and Kosmol-
* Comp. The Kabbalah, etc., by Christian D. Ginsburg, London, 1865^ p. 119 et seq,
f Compare Steinschneider*s Hist, of Liter., Eng. ed., p. 114.
13
ogy of the Universe, soul, redemption, triad, sin, evil, etc. ; mystical ex-
positions of many of the laws and appearances in nature, e, ^., light,
elements, astronomy, magnet, etc. ; explanations of the symbolism of
the Song of Solomon, of the construction of the Tabernacle, etc. ; form-
ing a complete Qabbalistic Theosophy. In its present form in the edi-
tions as hereinafter set forth, there are imbedded in the Zohar proper,
the following independent works.
The books bound together and generically termed the Zohar are : —
1. The Zohar properly so-called. That is a running Commentary on
the first Five books of the Old Testament, or the Peptateuch.
2. Siphrah D’Tznioothah,t Book of Mystery, Concealment or Modesty.
3. Idrah Rabbah, The Great Assembly (of the Threshing-floor).
4. Idrah Zootah, The Small Assembly (held in the house of R. Shim-
on ben Yo’hai). •
*5. Sabah D’Mispatim, The (discourse of the) Aged One in Mish-
patim. (Exodus xxi-xxiv inclusive.)
* 6. Midrash Ruth, (Fragments).
* 7. Sepher Hab-bahir, Book of Brightness.
8. Tosephthah, Addendum or Additions.
9. Rayah Me’hemnah, The Faithful Shepherd.
* 10. Haikhaloth, Mansions or Abodes.
11. Sithrai Thorah, Mysteries (Secrets) of the Thorah.
12. Midrash Hanne-e’lam, The Hidden Midrash.
* 13. Raz6 D*Razin, Secret of Secrets or Original Secrets.
* 14. Midrash *Hazeeth, A Midrash to the Song of Solomon.
* 15. Ma-a*mar To-*hazee. Discourse (beginning with) Come and See!
* 16. Ye’nooqah, The Discourse of the Youth.
* 17. Pe*qoodah, Explanation of the Thorah or Law, (the Pentateuch).
* 18. ‘Hibboorah Qadma’a, The Primary Assembly or Society.
19. Mathanithan, We have learned, or Traditionally received, (the
Doctrines). J
According to John Christopher Wolf, there are ap^jarenlly two editio
princeps of the Zohar — that of Cremona and that of Mantua. The
f Pronounced, Seeph*rah Detz*neeoothah.
\ All of these are in the Sulzbach edition. The Mantua edition contains only those
not marked with an asterisk.
14
Cremona edition is in folio, and is called the Great Zohar (Zohar hag-
gadol) and is used by the more modern and Occidental Jews. It was
published 155S-60 and is the one of the greatest authority among the
Qabbalists. It contains all of the books above mentioned and was cor-
rected by ‘Hayim (b. Samuel) Gatino, and Vittoris Eliano. Vincensio
Conti., pp. 400. The entire introduction, which is in Hebrew, is only a
page and a quarter. There is not any introduction by Isaac de Lattes or
others, as stated by many European bibliographers. The editions of
Cremona and Mantua sometimes differ in the reading.
The other editio princeps is in quarto, in three volumes, and is called
the Little Zohar. It is used more by the Oriental and ancient Italian
Jews. It was published at Mantua by R. Meir b. Ephraim Da Padova*
and Jacob b. Napthali. I vol., pp. 251; II, 269; III, 300. It has an
important introduction by Isaac de Lattes, dated 1558.
A Hebrew MSS. edition of the Zohar of as early as 1506, has been men-
tioned as now in existence, f Bartolocci also mentions a Venetian edition
of about 1558, but it has not been found. J Likely several volumes of the
Zohar appeared about i558.§ The publisher of the Cremona edition, whom
it would appear from an acrostic poem attached to it, may have been one
Joseph Onkel (or Winkel) from Germesheim, in Germany, therefore most
likely a German or of German descent, says in his preface, that he : ‘* Exe-
cuted this work under the most invaluable help and supervision of a highly
learned Jew, unsurpassable in all the branches of knowledge required * * *
so that this present edition should be the absolutely correct one, free from
all errors and corrupt readings, which abound in the various other editions
heretofore offered to the public. And besides, there are some on whom the
spirit of men rests, who continually soar towards heaven ; these are the
s^r^ wise men of Egypt, and others again who are pervaded with the heavenly
light which gives wisdom ; both are equally competent in their sublime
* Jellinek, in his German edition of Prof. Franck’s La Kabbale, p. 293, says it
was by Asrayisn.
f M. Steinschncider’s Jewish Literature. London, 1857, p. 228. Jellinek*s Franck,
p. 294.
X Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica Pars. IV, p. 446.
2 Comp. Steinschneider, Jewish Liter., p. 227.
15
sphere, and with the learning of both we have associated ourselves * * * .
We must also make mention of some others thoroughly conversant with
the spirit of the Zohar, who assisted us and thus were co-instrumental in
issuing this work * * . In interesting these great lights in our enter-
prise and by making their unanimous judgment the sovereign rule, we
have succeeded in the establishment of the only correct version^ while
other particular versions emanating from single sources, are not omitted,
they are printed with Spanish Rabbinical types, whereas the usual square
Hebrew type (commonly called Ashoorith) is adopted in general. And all
the books, joined to the principal book, follow in proper order along with
the text, so that they may easily be found in this succession : Tosephthah
(Addition), Sabah (Senior), Siphrah D’Tznioothah (Book of Hidden
or Secret Things), Ye’nooqah (the Youth), Pe*qoodah (Commandant or
Statute), Midrash Hanne-e’lam (Midrash of the Hidden Thing), Midrash
‘Hazeeth (Midrash on Canticles), Midrash Ruth, Bahir (Brightness),
Ma-a’mar To’hazee (Treatise beginning with ” Come and See ! **), Rayah
Me’hemnah (Faithful Shepherd), Haikhaloth (Halls). * * We de-
termined upon a folio, and saved neither money, time or trouble, not
even space, for the accomplishment of the work to perfection : not a word
is missing of the various texts in existence, but it is properly marked,
etc.” Therefore we “need not fear the adverse opinions of our competi-
tors, who would fain belittle our work and find fault with the execution
thereof, and thus prevent the public from buying it, forgetting at the
same time, that the purchaser of such a book will be able to judge for him-
self by examining it, and has certainly not the intention to place it into
his library for self- adulation. Still we admit that all of us, as children of
one Father, are liable to make mistakes in thousands and ten thousands ;
but theirs are the ten thousands and the thousands are ours« etc. ‘ ‘
In 1623 the edition of Lublin was published in folio after the Cremona
edition, by Levi b. Kalonymos, with a few notes by R. Nathan Spira. It
follows the paging of the Cremona. I vol., pp. 132; II, 122; III, 146.
Baron Rosenroth considers it most defective and inaccurate.* In 1684
the Sulzbach edition was published, edited by Baron Christian Knorr von
Rosenroth, assisted by Dr. Franz Mercurius van Helmont, with types set
*Comp. his Theairo, Anon Pltuciano, p. 691.
i6
by Moses Eloch, wherein with the book Zohar were intermingled, the
Midrash Ruth, Extracts from the book Hab-bahir, Tosephthah or an Ad-
dition to some legal sections, Rayah Me’hemnah, Hibboorah Qadma*a, Hai-
khaloth, Sithrai Thorah, Midrash Hanne-e’lam, Raze D’Razin, Sabah,
Ye*nooqah, Midrash ‘Hazeeth, Ma-a’marTo ‘hazee, Mathanithan, Piqqoo-
din. Here and there are seen extracts from the books of Adam, *Ha*noch
(Enoch), Abraham, Solomon, R. Cruspedia, and R. Akibah, together
with three treatises by R. Shimon ben Yo*haT, viz : SiphrahD’Tznioothah,
Idrah Rabbah and Idrah Zootah. The text itself is in the square letters,
but the various readings are from the writings of R. Isaac Loriah, R. Moses
Cordovero, MSS. of the Wise-Men of the Earth, and from printed edi-
tions, together with corrections from the book Derekh E*meth, /. e,, Way
of Truth, and are in round (Rabbinical) characters. Under the text are
scattered explanations of the more diflScult words, from the Commentary of
Issachar Ear (b. Petachja) under the title of Imrai Beenah, /. ^., Words of
Understanding. Within the open spaces of the columns, the pages of the
prior Mantua and Cremona editions are carefully noted down : at the end
there is subjoined an index of the Biblical expressions in the Zohar, ex-
plained here and there, which was published once in Cracow separately,
1647, 4to, under the title of Petha*h Ainayim, /. ^., Opening of the Eyes.
The dissertations which in the former editions had been placed in a less
suitable place, have herein been restored to one suitable, as also others
which were omitted have been added. In the opening, after the new
preface of R. Moses ben Uri Sheraga Bloch, the old introduction by
Isaac de Lattes is to be found. The Amsterdam edition is first of 1714,
4to, of a small form, in three volumes and is after, and paged as, the
Mantua edition. In the margin are the corrections from R. Isaac
Loriah’ s book. Way of Truth, also passages from the Old Testament and
an Index of places by Meir Cordovero, also explanation of difficult words
from the Imrai Beenah, /. ^., Words of Understanding, by Issachar Bar
(b. Petachja), which appear evidently to have been done after the exam-
ple of the Sulzbach edition. Finally at the end of each volume are added
those things which are wanting in the original Mantua edition, but are
found in those of Cremona and Lublin. At the end of the third volume
appears a good index to the Zohar, arranged according to the names of
17
the letters of the alphabet (I, 251 pp. ; II, 270; III, 299 + 10). Other
editions have been published at Amsterdam, 1 728, 8vo, with notes by Schal
Bosoglio, 3 vols., 1740; 1772, 8vo; 1805, 8vo. This edition has been
reprinted at Constantinople, 1 736, Yonah b. Yakhob ; Krotoschin, 1844-5,
8vo, edited by Bar Monash; ibid,^ 1858, 8vo; Brody, Galicia, 1873, ^ vol.
Svo; Przemysl, Galicia, 1880-1, 4to ; Wilna, Russia, 1882. An edition,
with points, is now going through the press of Signor Elia Benamozegh,
the great Qabbalist, of Livorno (Leghorn), Italy. A folio edition, with
points, on vellum paper, in three volumes, with comments by Massud Alfassi
and Moses Salum, also Livorno, 1872. Other editions of the Zohar
have been published at Salonica, Koenigsberg, Zolkiew and other places.
Rabbi Shim-on ben Yo*hai lived in the period of the destruction of the
second Temple, at Jerusalem, from about 95 to about 190 A.D. His whole
life was spent in the study of the Hebrew Secret Science, since called Qab-
balah, of which he has ever been regarded as one of the most eminent
masters. A thorough ascetic, he lived in a world of his own, beyond the
regions of ordinary life, in the full flood of a religious metaphysic, peopled
with the creation of his imagination, and that which had been handed
down to him by the preceding masters in the science. Feared by his co-
religionists from his asserted connection with the spiritual world, contem-
plative and secluded in his disposition, evidently of strong will and relig-
ious feelings, and not understood by those around him, he was not an
affable companion, but an uncompromising and strong opponent in
carrying out that which he thought was right. In the reign of the Roman
Emperor Antoninus, when the School at Jamnia or Jabneh was watched
with the greatest suspicion by its Roman rulers, so much so, that its stu-
dents were prohibited by the Jewish Patriarch from even taking notes
of the lectures, R. Shim-on was rash enough to speak against the op-
pressors in public. It happened one day while he, Yehudah b. Illay, and
Yo-seh b. Haleftah were holding a rabbinical exercise in the congregation,
the comparative characteristics of the Jews and the Romans arose ; aware
of the danger of the subject, Yehudah commenced with an eulogium of
the Romans. But we will quote from the Talmud, (Treatise, Shabbathy
fol. 33, col. 2.)
” Once upon a time R. Yehudah, R. Yo-seh, and R. Shim-on b. Yo*hai
2
i
i8
were re-united and sitting together discoursing, and near by was found a
certain R. Yehudah ben Gerim. (This name signifies, says Rashi, de-
scendant of the proselytes.) During the discourse R. Yehudah, speaking
of the Romans, said : ‘ This nation is great in all that which it builds.
See how it has constructed everywhere bridges, and markets, and erected
public baths ! ‘ At these words R. Yo-seh kept silent ; but R. Shim-on
responded * Yea, indeed ; but it has not made anything which has not for
an aim its own advantage, it has constructed the markets so as to draw
thereto the lost women, the baths so as to refresh themselves, and the
bridges in order to gather from them the imposts.’ R. Yehudah ben
Gerim went directly (to the authorities) and informed against them that
which he had heard, and it reached the ears of Csesar. The latter at once
rendered an edict, that, *R. Yehudah, who has exalted me, be raised
in dignity, R. Yo-seh, who kept silent, be exiled to Sepphoris; R.
Shim-on, who has held me in contemptuousness, must be seized and
put to death.* Immediately upon hearing of this decree, the latter,
accompanied by his son (El’azar), managed to conceal himself in the
House of Study, to which his wife (some say a guardian) brought to them
each day, a loaf (of bread) and a porringer of water. But the proscription
which weighed upon him being very severe, R. Shim-on said to his son,
* Women are of a feeble character ; it is then for us to fear that, pressed
by questions (probably, the question, a mode of punishment,) our guar-
dian may finish by denouncing us ! * Upon these reflections they quitted
that asylum and secretly stole away to another place, and concealed them-
selves in the bottom of a cave. There a miracle operated in their favour,
God created a carob bean tree (St. John’s bread tree) bearing fruit through
all the year for their support, and a perpetual spring of water for their
refreshment. To save their clothes they stripped themselves and laid
them aside, except when at prayer, and at other times, to protect their
naked bodies from exposure, sat up to their necks in the sand wholly ab-
sorbed in study. After they had passed twelve years thus in the cave,
Eliyah was sent to inform them that the Emperor was dead, and his de-
cree powerless to touch them.*
* R. Shim-on b. Yo’ha! was sentenced about i6i A. D. by Lucius Aurelius Vems,
co-regent of the Emperor Marc Aurelius Antoninus, and dwelt in the cave about thir-
19
On leaving the cave, they noticed some people ploughing and sowing,
when one of them exclaimed ‘ these people neglect eternal things and
trouble themselves with those which are only temporal.* As they fixed
their eyes upon the place, fire came and burnt it up. Then a Bath Qol was
heard, saying : * What ! are ye come forth to destroy the world that I have
made? Get back to your cave and hide yourselves.’ They returned to
it, and after remaining in it for twelve months longer, they remonstrated,
pleading that even the judgment upon the wicked in Gehenna, lasted no
longer than twelve months ; upon which a Bath Qol was again heard from
heaven, which said : * Come ye forth from your cave.* Then they arose
and obeyed it.** *
Owing to those indiscreet remarks of R. Shim-on, the Jewish school at
Jamnia was put under interdict, license was granted however to R. Yehu-
dah, to exercise the office of preacher to the synagogue. After the death of
the Emperor Antoninus, R. Shim-on re-appears as the founder of a school
at Teqo*a, now called TekCl’a, a city of the tribe of Judah almost south of
Jerusalem and Bethlehem ; the prophet Amos was of this place, and Isaiah
is said to be buried there. f About 300 magisterial sentences by R. Shim-on
b. Yo*hai are recorded in the Talmud. The Idrah Zootah of the Zohar
gives an account of his death and burial. He is said to have been buried
at Meiron to the north-west of the Lake of Tiberias, and his monument
still exists. At Ain-etam, a few miles north-west of TekCl*a, are the ruins
of an ancient synagogue attributed to R. Shim-on, who is said to have built
teen years, until after the death of Lucius Verus in 169 A. D. During this time he and
his son devoted themselves to the study of the oral Talmud, Asceticism, the Secret
Learning and Mysticism. Before this, R. Shim-on had been sent as a delegate to Rome
and found favour with the Roman government. Talmudic Miscel. by P. I. Hershon,
London, 1880, p. 64 et seq,
* Comp. Talmud, Yerush. Treatise She’bee-ith ix, i ; Menachoth. fol. 72 ; Me^ee-lah 7
and 17; B*reshith Kabbah c. Ixxix; Midrash Koheleth, x, 8; Midrash Esther, i, 9.
t The cave in which R. Shimon hid himself, may have been in the neighborhood of
Tekii’a, where he was so appreciated and known that he founded his school. In its
vicinity are numerous caverns and deep ravines; some of the former will hold hundreds
of men, and can be defended by a few against any number. One has numerous intri-
cate passages, and Tobler found in it a number of sarcophagi and inscriptions in the
Phcenician character. Diet, of the Bible by Dr. Wm. Smith, New York, p. 3189-90.
20
24 on the Lake of Tiberias ; at Tebarieh is another. Carmoly gives a
drawing of his tomb.* When the disturbance which caused the suppres-
sion of the school at Jamnia had subsided, a new school, which became cel-
ebrated, was founded at Tiberias by Shim-on b. Gamaliel about A.D. 165.
Among the published books favoring the antiquity of the Zohar, we
call the reader’s especial attention to the two following books on the subject,
although many others have been written to the same effect, one is by Konitz,
the other by Luriah. f The first is ” The Book, Ben Yo*haT, explaining the
Hidden Things, in the sayings of the divine Than-nah Rabbi Shim-on
ben Yo’hai, his memory be a blessing, which are written in the entire
Babylonian and Yerushalemitic Talmud, and in (the books) Siphra,
Siphree, and Thosephthah, in the laws, rules and narratives, in which oc-
cur the words of this sainted man, whether spoken of as R. Shim-on ben
Yo*hai, or only as Rabbi Shim-on; and the distinguished position occu-
pied by him, before he sojourned in the cave and after his leaving it > fur-
thermore unassailable proofs, that the books: the Holy Zohar, Rayah
Me’hemnah, Midrash Hanne-eMam, and the Tiqqoonim, are the literary
works (of the school) of R. Shim-on b. Yo*hai; also refutations of the
objections raised against that authorship, etc.; finally the decisions in
matters of casuistry given in the Zohar, either independently of or in ac-
cordance with, the Talmud; by Moses ben R. Me’na’him Mendel Konitz
of Ofen (/. ^., Buda-Pesth, Hungary), Vienna, 1815.’* This book is a
large folio of 149 pages of two columns each, and is divided into seven
Gates {She^arim)j spread over the first 62 pages. As the book is in Rab-
binical text and not easily obtained, we will give a short analysis of its
contents. Gate i. Whenever the name R. Shim -on simply, occurs in
the Talmud, R. Shim-on ben Yo’hai is meant. Gate 2. R. Shim-on
* Itiniraires de la Terre Sainte des xiii, xiv, xvi et xvii siecle^ etc. Bruxelles, 1847,
p. 451.
f Articles showing the antiquity of the Zohar have also appeared in many other writ-
ings, books and periodicals, too numerous to mention now, but we cite Kerem Chemed^
Vienna edition, 1836, T. ii, ep. 25 ; also a criticism on Dr. H. Graetz’s positions in his
History of the Jews, which might be made much stronger, written by Dr. Leopold L6w,
late chief Rabbi of Szegedin, on the Danube, and published in the periodical Ben
Chananjat M(matichrift fUr judische Theologie^ vol. vi, pp. 725-733 ; 741-747 ; 785-795;
805-809; 821-828; 933-942. Szegedin, 1863.
21
was his name prior to going into the cave, after leaving it he was called,
in addition, Ben Yo’hai. Gate 3. The reverence and sublime distinc-
tion shown and assigned to him throughout his life, substantiated by quo-
tations from the Talmud. Gate 4. After leaving the cave, (/. ^., his ascetic
life), his decisions were accepted by the Wise-men of the Talmud as final.
Gate 5. Even the great Rabbenu Haq-qadosh bases his own decisions
upon those of R. Shim-on, speaking in the latter* s name. So also does
R- Yo-*ha*nan (ben Zakkai), and more than 50 quotations are given from
the Talmud, that ” R. Yo-*ha*nan said, in the name of R. Shim-on b.
Yo’hai.” Gate 6. In which it is shown, that where R. Shim-on b. Yo’ha!
differs from the other Rabbins, the latter always submit to his opinion
as final. This gate has 145 doors, in which 145 Talmudic passages are
cited in support of this assertion. Gate 7. In this Konitz speaks of “the
Holy Zohar** as the spiritual fruit of R. Shim-on ben Yo’hai, and refers
to R. Yakob ben Z’vee (or Tze’vee, the initials of YaBeTZ) of Emden, as
the assailant of the antiquity of the Zohar, and as author of the book
NRtpa^hath se^pharim^ /. e,. Wrapper of books,* out of which Dr. Graetz
gets most of his objections to the Zohar. f Yabetz has borrowed largely
firom the objections made by Jean Morin, a French ecclesiastic, b. 1591, d.
1659 A. D., in a book published by the latter, first in 1631, and after his
death with his Exercitationes BibliccBi in 1669. J Yabetz gives 132 objections
to the antiquity of the Zohar, in the above-cited book, which Konitz says
he will refute, in the second part of his book which is called Ma-a’noth
u-Afitpd’ hoth, i. e,y Replies and Precious Wrappers. Gate 7th closes at
page 149 and bears on its back§ the ** Keys of the Gates/* /. e.y an Index
of the books quoted from, and matters treated of as above mentioned.
In Gate i many passages from the Talmud are quoted, evidencing that
R. Shim-on ben Yo*hai before his entrance into the cave, the latter without
doubt referring to his ascetic life, was called Rabbi Shim-on, and that after
♦Written 1758-1763; published at Altona, 176S, 4to, 2 vols.
^Geschi€ktedgrJuden,yo\,y\\,i^^.TZ-‘)\\ 185,186; 193,194; 217-256; 326-328;
442-459; 487-507.
X Morin’s anti-Massoretic zeal, ** was not according to knowledge, as later investiga-
tions in the same field have abundantly proved.” Kitto*s Cyclop. Bib. Liter., ed. 1876,
Vol. iii, p. 217.
J pp. 150-2.
22
his re-appearance he is spoken of as “Ben Yo’hai/* or “Rabbi Shim-on
ben Yo*hai.” In Gate 2, Full reasons are given for this change of names.
Gate 3 Explains the difference between the ordinary Rabbi Shim-on prior
to the time he passed in the cave, and the completed man, Rabbi Shim-on
ben Yo*hai after leaving it. The interval, some twelve years, had served
to endow him with a heavenly superiority and sublimity, of which the
two Talmuds and the Midrash Rabbah give us striking instances. In the
Talmud (Treat. Shabbath 33^.) we are told, the prophet Eliyah sent him
word of the death of his persecutor, the Roman Emperor Antoninus. He
is also said to have annihilated wicked men by his breath (^Ibid, 34 d).
In the Talmud Ye*rushalmi it is stated, a man was bitten by a serpent,
through the mere prediction of R. Shim-on ben Yo*hai (Treat. She^bee-ifh^
ch. 9). Upon leaving the cave he had an apparition in the shape of a
bird, and a Bath-Qol as to it {Ibid.), A prophecy and miracle in connec-
tion with the cemetery in Tiberias, is given {Ibid.), Konitz cites numer-
ous other instances which we have not now space to give. Konitz says:
“The wise men of the A’mora-im testify to his standing as exceeding
that of the Men of the Great Assembly, and say : * What distinction in
the ages of the world is there between the age of R. *Hiz’qee-yah and the
ages of the Great Assembly? * The age of R. ‘Hiz*qee-yah closes that of
the Great Assembly and opens that of R. Shim-on ben Yo’hai.’* {Be^ –
reshith Rabbah, ch. 35. See also Miz-ra-hee 58, c. 9 and 12.) Lastly,
” The sages of the Talmud distinguished the rank of R. Shim-on ben
Yo’hai above all the heads of the entire congregation of Israel, and said :
‘ All Israel is bound to interrupt the study of the Thorah, so as to read the
She*mah and the Prayer of Eighteen Benedictions at the prescribed time,
except R. Shim-on ben Yo*hai, the only one excellent from world to
world, and from his learning (or study) he shall not pause for the reading
of the Shemah, and the Prayer of Eighteen, for his whole life is exclusively
devoted to heavenly interests, etc.** *
*Sec Midrash She’moth Rabbah, middle of Chap. 52. Talm. Yerushalmi, Treat.
Be’rakhoikt chap. i. Shabbath ii a. M. Schwab’s French ed., vol. I, pp. 15-16,
51-52. Ibid* vol. iv, p. 13. This shows the divinely sublime study and teaching, in
which he was engaged, which was, the oral tradition as to the Secret Learning, the Sod
or M3^tery, afterwards called Qabbalah, f. e., that received (by oral tradition).
23
It is also said of him in the Talmud ” He saw the future by means of
the Holy Spirit.’* (Talm. Ye’rushalmi: Shabbath 89 ; Babli : Me’eelah
17^.) Konitz also gives many passages from the Talmudim and Mid-
rash Rabbah, containing R. Shim-on ben Yo’hai’s sayings about himself,
his visions, supernatural powers, etc., and the statements of others to the
same effect, and as to the sternness, integrity, and severity of his charac-
ter, so tliat he even deemed himself competent to pass an adverse criticism
on King Solomon, and to rebuke his own mother for conversing too
much on the Sabbath day. This is continued in many quotations to show
how, living on earth, he was yet a citizen of heaven, unconcerned about
earthly things, wholly ingrossed with the study of the Thorah, his thorojugh
penetration with the spiritual life, and his identification with the minister-
ing angels of God, who see His glory and carry out His will. In Gate
4, Konitz shows how the opinions of this great man, no matter how con-
trary to or against whom pronounced, always prevail, and that his decisions
on all casuistic discussions and questions are considered as final, whenever
his name is mentioned in full, which was only after his return from his
ascetic life in the cave. He overwhelmed the celebrated R. Eli-ezer b. R.
Yosc, with cutting reproaches for contradicting him, and is reported to have
contradicted his Rabbi (Master) the celebrated Qabbalist R. Akeebah,
and insisted he was right. He is quoted as explaining four things con-
trary to his teacher Akeebah. Gate 5, gives many instances to show, that
even the great redactor of the Mishna, Rabbenu Haq-qadosh, gave his
decisions in the name of R, Shim-on ben Yo*hai, and that the great
scholar R. Yo-hanan b. Zakkai gives 62 decisions in Ben Yo’haT’s name.
Gate 6 has 145 doors, through each of which a Talmud ic quotation is
given, in corroboration of, that wherever a decision of R. Shim-on b.
Yo’hai occurs, the sages of the Talmud lay down a binding law according
to it. In Gate 7, Konitz introduces ist. The book Zohar, a production of
R. Shim-on ben Yo*haT, and his school ; and 2d. A venerable man named
R. YAkob BEn Tz*vee, the anagram of which is (YABETZ), who raises
his voice 132 times in denunciation of this book, alleging it to be spuriously
shouldered on R. Shim-on b. Yo*haT. In answer to which, Konitz replies
with 132 very profound, learned, and convincing explanations and eluci-
dations ; among them are the following : The disciples say ; — ” All thy
24
males shall appear before the face of Adonai Elohim.*’ * — Zohar ii ^Sa,
refers to R. Shim-on b. Yo’hai before whom all men must appear. The
Gaon Yabetz is indignant at the words in the Zohar ii ^Sa: ** What is
the meaning oi pe’ nai ha-a-don YHVH, /. ^., ‘ the face of Adonai YHVH’f
This is Rabbi Shim-on ben Yo-hai/* and Yabetz called this “Blasphemy on
the part of a later writer, and R. Shim-on could not have been the author,
God forbid that he should have thought to put himself as God ! ‘* Konitz
says : — ” It seems to us that the proper meaning of the words quoted is: ‘ the
face of the lord of YHVH,’ that is, of the man whom YHVH has chosen, and
so made him adon^ /. ^., a lord of YHVH, as: *the mountain of YHVH;* ‘ the
Messiah of YHVH,’ etc. Although not thoroughly grammatical accord-
ing to the more modern grammar, in its position in the Zohar it is in ac-
cord with : — * R. Akeebah said to R. Shim-on : It may suffice thee to know
that I and thy Creator recognize thy power,’ (Talmud Ye’rushalmi : Treat.
Sanhedrifty c. i) ; so R. Shim-on himself says, ‘ I have seen the sons of the
Upper-room, they are few, and if they are two, it is I and my son.* (Tal-
mud Babli : Succah 45^, Ye’rushalmi : Be’rakhoth c. 9.) Midrash B’resh-
eeth Rabbah (c. 35,) completes this with the words ‘ And if it is One, it
is I, myself.’ See also Rashi’s Commentary on the Talmud, Treatise
Sanhedrin 98a — from which it appears that Rashi had, through Qabba-
lah from his teachers, many sayings and sentences of the Zohar, orally
delivered from Rabbi to disciple, from and after the existence of the
school of R. Shim-on ben Yo’haT. (Comp. Konitz. Reply 24, which is
on page 73, col. i.)
As to the Gaon’s objection to Zohar ii, 132^, Idrah Rabbah ; viz.: “R.
Shim-on said : ‘ I call the upper heavens and the upper earth as witness, that
I see at present, what no son of man ever saw since Mosheh went upon the
mount of Sinai the second time, for I see my face shining as brilliantly as
the light of the sun when it descends as a healing for the world ; as it is
written : — ‘ To you who fear My Name shall shine the Sun of Righteous-
ness with healing in his wings ‘ (Mai. iii 20, iv. 2). Yea more, I know
that my face is shining, but Moses did not know it or understand it ; for
* Exod. xxiii, 17.
fExod, xxiii, 17. “The Master, the Eternal,” Onkclos says “The Master of the
world.” Cahen’s French Bible, Vol. ii, p. 105, note.
25
it b written ‘ Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone.* “* (Exod.
xxxivy 29.) and Und, 144a, “That is revealed to and by us, which was
never revealed since Mosheh stood upon the mount of Sinai, “f For the
* The idea of the face shining is a metaphor to express the celestial and spiritual
expression of the countenance. Comp., however, as to “face” Kitto’s Cyclop. Bib.
Liter., Ed. 1876, v. ii, p. 2.
t We will here give, from the Zohar, the whole passage : — ” Thus far go the words
which are hidden (abstruse), and the clear and choice meaning in them (which is set
forth in many particulars) ; blessed is his lot who knows and attends to those things and
errs not therein I Because these words are only given to the Masters of the Masters, and
Reapers of the fields, who have entered in and gone out again (f. ^., ascended steadily).
As it is written (Hos. xiv, 10) : * For the ways of YHVH are right, and the just walk
in them, but the transgressors shall stumble therein.’ We have learned, R. Shim-on
wept and raised his voice, and said : If with these our words, which are here disclosed,
our companions were gathered up, to be within the assembly-room of the world to come,
and are raised up from this world, it is all right and well; for they (the words)
were not revealed to any one of the children of the world. Again he said : I
come back to myself, for truly I have revealed in the presence of Atikah D’Atikin,
f. e., the Ancient of the Ancients, Hidden through all Concealment ; but / Aavi not
done so for my own glorification^ nor that of the house of my father^ nor for yours,
my companions, but solely, that men might not stray in His paths, nor yearn to
enter shame-faced into the gates of His Palace, nor be destroyed by their own
errors. Blessed is my lot with them in the world to come ! We have learned, before
our companions went forth from this place, 1. e., the Great Assembly of the Threshing-
floor, R. Yo-seh bar Yakob^ R. *Hiz’qce-yah and R. Yez-zah died; and the companions
saw that the holy angels took them away by that expanded veil. R. Shim-on spoke and
was finally prostrated. He cried out and said : Perhaps, which the Holy One forbid !
a decree has been pronounced upon us to punish us, because of something which has
been disclosed by us, which had not been disclosed since the day on which Mosheh stood
upon Mount Sinai, as it is written (Exod. xxxiv, 28) : *And he was there with the Lord
(YHVH) 40 days and 40 nights, etc’ Why then do I Urry here; if on that account
they were punished ? He heard a voice saying : Blessed art thou, R. Shim.on, and
blessed is thy lot and that of those companions who are with thee ; for that has been
revealed to (all of) you which is not revealed to the whole upper army, i, e., the angels.
Come and see ! It is written (Josh, vi, 26) «And he shall lay the foundation thereof in
his first bom, and with his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it,’ much more so
here, because with vehement and too much study they (the three dead companions)
applied their souls at this time and they were accepted. Blessed is their portion, truly
they have been taken up (when) in perfection ; which was not the case with those who
26
argument that it was not possible that R. Shim-on would speak thus of
himself, Konitz refers the reader to that which he has already said in
Gate 3d, and concludes, ” Our Rabbi’s of both Talmudim, have placed
R. Shim-on ben Yo*haT, above all the learned men, praised him and his
character, and wonderful deeds in unbounded terms, revered him as they
did the patriarchs Mosheh and Ahron, put him on a level with the prophets,
and exalted him above the men of the Great Assembly, speaking of him
in even more extended terms of veneration, than the Zohar represents
him as having spoken of himself; does not this certify to the veracity of
the above words in the Zohar?’* (Comp. 66th Reply, p. 87, col. 2, p.
SB, col. I.)
In the Tiqqooneh Zohar ja we read : ” The masters (teachers) of gram-
mar {diqduq, properly, subtilty, or accurate distinction) have established
the Qamets, which is a long vowel.’* Which according to Yabetz is proof of
the comparatively recent period of the production of the Zohar, the phrase
”masters of grammar,” belonging to a much later period than that in
which R. Shim-on flourished, even to that of the Ge’onim, ** the originator
of this science having been a certain R. Yehudah ‘Hiyug of Pas.” In
refutation of this, Konitz refers to what he has before said in Gate 3, add-
ing: *’ Nearly in the above quoted language of the Zohar you will find it
distinctly stated in the Talmud, that the vowels, far from being the in-
vention of R. ‘Hiyug and those who lived after him, area Ha’lakha (/*. <r., rule), given to Mosheh on Sinai.’ Thus we read in.the Talmud — Treatise were before them. Why did they die? We have learned: When as yet the words were being revealed, the upper and lower of those of the chariot f merkabah), were in movement, and a voice sounded through 250 worlds because ancient words (matters of antiquity), were being revealed below. And before they could again gather their breaths (souls) by these words, their life went forth in a kiss, and they were wrapped up in that expanded veil, and the angels above carried them away. * * R. Shim-on said, how blessed is the lot of those three, and blessed is our lot on their account. A voice went out a second time and said : * But ye who cleave unto the Lord (YHVH), your Elohim (God), are all alive to-day.* (Deut. iv, 4.) They arose and from every side a sweet odour proceeded. R. Shim-on said : Henceforth, I perceive, that the world will receive blessings because of us. And all their faces shone so that men could not look on them. We have learned : Ten went in and seven came out, etc.** Idrah Kabbah. Zohar iii, 144 a et seq, Mantua Ed. Cremona Ed., col. 271-2. 27 Ne^dareem 37^ — R. Yits’haq said : * The reading of the scribes {Miqrah S(hfhe*nm, u e., the manner in which words and sentences are to be pronounced), and the omitting by the Scribes {Jttur So-phe’rim, /. e.y the omission of certain letters in writing and speaking), what is to be read {Qe*ree) though not thus written (A? Ke’thib), and what is written {Ke’thib) and not thus read (ve-ioh Qe’ree) is a Ha’lakha to Mosheh on Sinai.* ‘* * Instances of the Miqrah So-phe’rim are ; Where to read, ah-rets, instead of eh-rets, sha-mo-yim, instead of sha-ma-ytmy namely, where there is the accent (called) Ethna’ Utah ; as R. Nathan^ author of the book A-rookh states ; or where to read Mitsreem, Egyptians, or Mits-rdyim^ Egypt, etc., which early distinctions must certainly have been pointed out at the time by signs or marks. The Ittur So-phe’rimy chiefly refers to the use or omission of the letter \ (vav) as a vowel ^, 00 ; or i, o, or as a consonant with the meaning of a conjunctive ” and ‘* ; e.g,. Genesis ™^> 55- “Let the maiden stay with you a year or ten months, dhar^
ue,, then (not * andthtn ;* a-har, and not ve’ a-har, properly: and SLfter-
wards) she may go !” Another instance (previous to this). Genesis xviii, 5,
” /hen or afterwards {a-har^ not ve a-^har, and afterwards or and then)
ye may pass by.*’ Again, Numb, xii, 14, ‘* then (a-‘har) she shall be gath-
ered in (as it is quoted in the Talmud, though our version has ve a-‘har).
Further a- harm Ps. Ixviii, 26, and the omission of ^ and, before mish-pate-
kha, thy judgments. Ps. xxxvi, y.f Note especially 5a«//<r//r/« 99^, where it
is plainly said : — ” And though one say, the whole Thorah is from heaven,
except this grammar {diqduq),^^ the laws and rules of which are referred to
in the Talmud as well as in the Zohar, as above quoted, as also other early
books. J From the examination of which writings the difference may be
seen between the Diqduqeh Thorah and the Diq-duqeh So-phe’riniy as it is
stated in the Talmud, Treat. B^khoroth 30^. See also Rashi on Treat. Succah
♦Scribes means here, the authorities on the correct reading and writing of the Holy
Scriptures. As to the Scribes or So-phc’rim, see Kitto’s Cyclop. Bib. Liter., Ed. 1876,
vol. iii, pp. 783-792. Massorah. Ibid., pp. 103-105.
t Comp. Rashi on Ziba-‘^him 115^, ^Ha^geegah dh.
% Comp. the book Beth Yoseph ; Toor Ora*h ^ Hayyim § 142 ; Response of R Sh B
A. (Adereth) { 43; Response of R. Yitz’haq b. Shaisheth, disciple of R. Nathan (author
of A-rookh) { 284 ; Response of R. David b. Simrah of Saragossa, part iii, \ 594 and
J 643-
28
2Sa, viz : ” This is what they (the Rabbins) say in the Talmud, Treat.
Shabbath 37^, R. Nathan was a master of the work,* which means, he
was accurate y /. ^., me^daqdeq = diqduq^ in his work.’* This is to show
the application of the word diqduq to other things, in the sense in which
it is originally used with regard to grammar. In favour of the antiquity
of the accents is : — ” The words in Nehemiah viii, 8, viz : *And they were
intelligent in the reading {bam- Miqrahy *’ f ^^e to be understood as refer-
ring to the distinction of the sentences indicated by the accents, which
Rashi on Talmud, Treatise Ne’dareem 37^, properly explains, as *’ the
pointing and accents.** And we learn in Massekheth, Treat. So-phe^rim,
c. iii, rule 7 : “A Sepher (Thorah)J which is pointed and accented,
must not be used for reading;** for, says the book Beth Yoseph^ in the
name of R. Moses ben Na’hman (Nachmanides), a Sepher Thorah must
be written in the same way that it was given on Sinai ; and R. Ye*ru*ham
writes : ” For we have it by tradition that there is an aim ie’miqrah, a
mother to the reading, and an aim ie* massoreth, i. e., a mother to the
tradition, and pointing would do away with the latter.** In this connec-
tion the points over the letters of ten words in the Pentateuch are to be
noted, the antiquity of these cannot be disputed. These points served to
direct the attention of the reader to the respective word as requiring a
definition, e, g,, Numb, ix, 10, where the n of the word ripnn re*hoqah,
i, e.y distant, is so pointed as to indicate that the distance need not be
large, etc. Konitz says : (Reply 119, p. 103, col. 2, Zohar *Hadash 6^d)
” It is necessary to know that the Talmud was already in existence in the
times of the The*na-im, and Rabbenu Haq-qadosh — ^Yehudah the Holy,
redactor of the Mishnah — was himself a disciple of R. Shim-on ben
Yo*hai, he, his companions and teachers, studied the Ge*marah, which
was not completed, however, until a long time after it, i.e,, the Mishnah.**
Yabetz asserts that the phrase ” to become like an ass of burden carry-
ing books,** occurs in Zohar *Hadash 77^, and is not to be found in any
* See quotation before given from Tiqqoonim ya,
t Talmud, Treat. Meghillah 3a.
\ A synagogue roll of the Law or Pentateuch, which is always written by hand with-
out points, except as hereafter mentioned, on skin.
2 Comp. The Toor Yoreh Dai-ah, J 274.
29
other book except the Sepher ^Hoboth Halle ^baboth^ /. ^., The Book
of the Duties of the Heart, in the section *’ Gate of the Service of
God/* the author of which was the R. Be’hai b. Yosef Ibn Bakoda, or
Pakoodah, of Saragossa — flour, circa A. D. 1050 — who was almost a con-
temporary of R A B a D,* from whence, Yabetz asserts, R. Moses de Leon
has copied the original and given it a Zoharic dress. Yabetz does not see
its connection with one of the Fables of -^sop. Konitz (p. 104, col. i.
Reply 120) says: — ” Rabbenu Be’hai, the author of the book ^Hobotk
Halle ^babothf was nearly a cotemporary of R A B a D, the author of a
commentary on the Sepher Ye’tzirah, and borrowed many things from the
Zohar under the name of the Midrash of Rabbi Shim-on ben Yo’hai, The
author of ” the Duties of the Heart ** undoubtedly borrowed his expres-
sion from the Zohar. There lived not much later also Rabbenu Be’hai
b. Asher, flourished circa 1291 A. D., author of the book Be*hai on the
Pentateuch, he wrote frequently in the name of his teacher, who had seen
the book Zohar, and he also quoted from the Zohar, for instance on Exod.
xxi, xxii, etc., calling it, the Zohar, the Midrash of R. Shim-on b. Yo’hai.f
This also is the name by which it was called by the first Qabbalists, the
authors of the A’bodath Haq-qodesh and of Be’rith Me*noo-*hah.
In Reply 87, and in 125, p. 106, col. i, Konitz gives examples which
show the existence of the vowel points now termed Paiha *h — and Qamets
— and Dagesh, in the Talmud. J In Reply 126, p. 106, col. 2, he supports
the use of the Hebrew tongue among the Aramaic writings of the Midrash
Hanne-e’lam by giving analogous instances in the Talmud. In Reply 128,
p. 107, col. I, Konitz distinctly says : ** All these books of the Zohar (/.^.,
* R. Abraham b. David of Beaucaire, in France, lived circa A. D. 1125, died 1199.
t He was pupil of the erudite R. Salomo b. Abraham b. Adereth, circa 1234-13 10 A.D.,
acrostically called Ra Sh B A. Be’hai’s commentary is of 1 291 A.D. He quotes also Levit.
xxi-xxii; comp. Zohar ii, p. 114, Rayah Me’hemnah, Zohar i, p. 46^. Salomon b.
Adereth did not oppose the Theoretical or Speculative Qabbalah, like Maimonides he
held it in great veneration. They both opposed talisman, amulets, and the Practical
Qabbalah. See Joel, Die Religions-philosophic des Sohar, Leipzig, 1849, P* 6’» ^’ 4*
J Sec on this subject: — Genesis with a Talmudical Commentary by Paul Isaac Her-
shon. London. 1883. p. 92, v. 4, ii; p. 16, n. 4; p. 17, n. 8 ; p. 99, n. 13; p. 185,
n. 6; p. 200, n. 28; p. 207, v. 8; p. 242, n. 3; p. 311, n. 2; p. 374, n. 133; p. 452^
n. 7. These arc only a few which may be given from the Talmud,
30
the Zohar proper, and the Rayah Mehemnah, Midrash Hanne-e’lam, also
the Tiqqoonim and the Zohar *Hadash) are the composition by either the
Thannah R. Shim-on ben Yo’hai, or his son R. El’azar and their colleagues
and disciples, and the disciples of their disciples, the bearers of the sheaves
of their traditions. He, ben Yo’haT, is the celebrated Than-nah of the
Mishnah, two Talmuds, the books Saphra, Siphree, and Tosephthah, under
the name of R. Shim-on, disciple of R. Akeeb’ah, and colleague of R.
Yehudah b. Illay, and R. Yo-seh b. ‘Ha’leftah. He is the author from
their beginning and no one else, he the exalted and wonderfully endowed
teacher of occult science, the distinguished Qabbalist and possessor of
supernatural and miraculous powers, in which sublime capacities he ap-
pears in hundreds of instances in the Rabbinical literature, as is shown in
the first Six Gates of this book.” We would here say, R. Shim-on was
never claimed in the Zohar to be an author of any part of it, but only
taught the oral tradition as he received it, and it was written down after-
wards. Then follow over a hundred parallel passages from the Talmud
compared with those in the Zohar, from the sayings of R. Shim-on b.
Yo’hai (pp. 107-114).
In the Zohar ‘Hadash 77^, occurs a reference to two kinds of Phylacter-
ies which Yabetz thinks, proves the late period of the entire book, although
it may have been interpolated in that place only, as it was consequent
upon a controversy, between the different opinions of Rashi (R. Solomon
b. Yitz*haqi, b. 1040, d. 1105 A. D.),* and R. Tam (b. circa iioo, d.
1 171 A. D.)t, concerning the arrangement of the Scriptural quotations
in the Te’phillin or Phylacteries, from which dispute two kinds came
into use, called, those of Rashi and those of Tam. Konitz says,
as early as the Talmudic period (perhaps before), differences of opinion
existed as regards the Scriptural passages to be used in the Phylac-
teries, which resulted in the Talmudic times in the use of two kinds.
In the Talmud, Treat. A^bodah Zarah 44a, it is said: *’ R. She-moo-el
b. R. Yitz’haq says: There is a spot on the head fit to have two
kinds of Te’phillin to be placed on it.*’ Which implies two kinds of
Te’phillin then existed, based on differences between the religious
♦ As to this author, see Kilto’s Biblical Cycl., Ed. 1876, iii, p. 643.
t /3»V/., p. 945.
31
leaders of Israel. It is also said in the Talmud, Treatise Erubin
95^, and later in the book Toor Ora’h ^ Hdyyim § 34, that there is
also such a place on the arm. These prove that two kinds were in use
among the adherents of either one or the other opinion, whereupon R;
She* moo-el b. Yitz-haq, in order to reconcile both opinions, pointed out
that second “spot on the head,” beside that already described by the
Rabbins, to place the Phylacteries on, certainly including a second place
on the arm, as is plainly stated in the before quoted book Toor. Konitz
in this place (Reply 121, p. 104, col. i) also quotes various other passages
from the Talmud, and other authorities, even from Hay Gaon, who lived
about 100 years before Rashi and Tam, in support of his confutation of
Yabetz.
If the book Zohar, the Rayah Me’hemnah, the Tiqqoonim and the Mid-
rash Hanne-e*lam, were really the work of R. Moses de Leon, and he the
originator of the words put into the mouth of R. Shim-on b. Yo*haT, his
son, and the companions, he would have been careful not to have men-
tioned the names of A’mora-im who lived at a later period ; and if he was
an eminent scholar and familiar with the words of all the The*na-im and
A’mora-im occurring in the Babylonian and Ye’rushalemitic Talmud, in the
books Saphra, Siphree, and the Midrashim, so as to be able to quote
them fluently and correctly, how would the folly of quoting posterior
authorities agree with his great learning ? This naming of the later Rab-
bins testifies to the originality of these books, as being the original works
of those very remote times, whicfi embraced the period of all the authori-
ties quoted therein, at the expiration of which they were completed.
All the Hebrew Sacred Writings, it is asserted by the sages of that peo-
ple, were not completely penned and their canon fixed, until the lapse of
a considerable time after the deaths of their authors, and the heroes men-
tioned therein, as is set forth in the Talmud*. They assert, the Penta-
teuch was completed by Joshua, Joshua was partly by him, but was finished
by El’azar and Pin* has, after his death. Samuel was partly written by
him, but finished by Gad and Nathan, the prophets. Isaiah was written by
Hezekiah (*Hiz*qee-yah) and his assistants. Jeremiah, Kings and Lamenta-
tions, in part by Jeremiah and then by Barukh, his secretary. Ezekiel was
* We will give the names, with the usual spelling of the King James’ Version.
32
written by the Men of the Great Assembly, who also wrote the Twelve minor
prophets, Daniel and Esther. The Psalms were some by David and
others by the Ten Elders, who lived before and with him, and also by
others. Proverbs, Canticles and Ecclesiastes, were written by Hezekiah’s
Society; Job by Moses; Nehemiah by Ezra, and Ezra by Nehemiah.
Chronicles partly by Ezra, was finished by Nehemiah, Ruth by Samuel,
Esther by the Men -of the Great Assembly. So also, the Mishnah, the
Be’ray-tha, Talmud Ye’rushalmi, Talmud Babli, Masse’kheth Sophe’rim,
Me’sekhtoth qe’tannoth (t, e., Small Treatises), Saphra and Siphree,
Tosephthah, Midrash Rabbah, Pirq^ d’Rabbi EH-ezer, Targum Jonathan,
in much of their content, date far back of the time they appeared in com-
pleteness. It took centuries after the death of their authors or starters,
before they were finished, and in them all were embodied many oral tra-
ditions of a far more remote time. So the Zohar was not completely
written until about 80 years after the death of R. Shim-on ben Yo’hai,
and its books, called Rayah Me’hemnah, i. e., The Faithful Shepherd,
Midrash Hanne-e’lam, i. e., Hidden or Secret Midrash, and the Tiqqoo-
nira, I. e., Rules or Regulations, were the work of succeeding A’mora-im,
and were not finished for 200 years later, about the time of the comple-
tion of the Talmud Ye’rushalmi. The Zohar ‘Hadash appeared 100 years
later, /. e., 300 years after the Zohar Haq-qadosh, at the time of the com-
pletion of the Babylonian Talmud. Besides these supplementary works,
there are even some additions in the body of the book from later disci-
ples, who in the fullness of the wisdom (liey received by tradition, did not
hesitate to transmit their knowledge to successive generations, by giving
it utterance and noting it, on the margins of the pages. As to the ” In-
troduction (^HaqdamaK) to the Zohar;” the Hebrew term of which being
a production of later times, it is necessary to know, that the Zohar has,
as do even the Midrashim and other contemporaneous writings, the word
“Opening” {Pe’ thee’ ha/i) instead oi Haqdamak, e. g., “R. ‘Hiz’qee-yah
patlia’k,” i. e., opened or began, and later writers substituted the word
haqdamah, i. e., preface or introduction.
The reader must not forget that R. tfhim-on b. Yo’hai did not writ&
anything himself, his oral traditions were written down by his school, 1
by R. Abbah and then by others who came after liim.
32
written by the Men of the Great Assembly, who also wrote the Twelve minor
prophets, Daniel and Esther. The Psalms were some by David and
others by the Ten Elders, who lived before and with him, and also by
others. Proverbs, Canticles and Ecclesiastes, were written by Hezekiah’s
Society; Job by Moses; Nehemiah by Ezra, and Ezra by Nehemiah.
Chronicles partly by Ezra, was finished by Nehemiah, Ruth by Samuel,
Esther by the Men of the Great Assembly. So also, the Mishnah, the
Be*ray-tha, Talmud Ye’rushalmi, Talmud Babli, Masse*kheth Sophe*rim,
Me’sekhtoth qe’tannoth (/. ^., Small Treatises), Saphra and Siphree,
Tosephthah, Midrash Rabbah, Pirq6 d* Rabbi Eli-ezer, Targum Jonathan,
in much of their content, date far back of the time they appeared in com-
pleteness. It took centuries after the death of their authors or starters,
before they were finished, and in them all were embodied many oral tra-
ditions of a far more remote time. So the Zohar was not completely
written until about 80 years after the death of R. Shim-on ben Yo’hai,
and its books, called Rayah Me’hemnah, /. ^., The Faithful Shepherd,
Midrash Hanne-e’lam, /. ^., Hidden or Secret Midrash, and the Tiqqoo-
nim, /. e»f Rules or Regulations, were the work of succeeding A’mora-im,
and were not finished for 200 years later, about the time of the comple-
m
tion of the Talmud Ye’rushalmi. The Zohar ‘Hadash appeared 100 years
later, /. ^., 300 years after the Zohar Haq-qadosh, at the time of the com-
pletion of the Babylonian Talmud. Besides these supplementary works,
there are even some additions in the body of the book from later disci-
ples, who in the fullness of the wisdom fliey received by tradition, did not
hesitate to transmit their knowledge to successive generations, by giving
it utterance and noting it, on the margins of the pages. As to the ” In-
troduction {Haqdamah) to the Zohar;*’ the Hebrew term of which being
a production of later times, it is necessary to know, that the Zohar has,
as do even the Midrashim and other contemporaneous writings, the word
** Opening*’ {Fe’ ihee’ hah) instead oi Haqdamahy e, g., ”R. *Hiz*qee-yah
patha^h^^^ /. ^., opened or began, and later writers substituted the word
haqdamah, /. ^., preface or introduction.
The reader must not forget that R. Sbim-on b. Yo*hai did not write
anything himself, his oral traditions were written down by his school, first
by R. Abbah and then by others who came after him. Referring to the
33
book Shalsheleth Haqqabbalah, i. ” We read : Some say of the book Zohar, that R. Moses de Leon was a
very learned man, and made these expositions for mercenary purposes, sus-
pending them on the great tree, R. Shim-on b. Yo*hai; which the book
Yu’hazin gives at greater length in the Edition of Constantinople, (1566^
A. D.)* How utterly unfounded these surmises are, shall be proved by
draughts from the wine of the sainted rabbins, who lived before the pub-
lication of the Zohar in the Xlllth Century.*’ To this he devotes :
Reply 130, p. 120, col. 2, and shows that the Zohar was known long
before R. Moses de Leon. That R. Sa-adyah Gaon — 892-942 A. D. —
was a great Qabbalist, knowing by tradition from his father and his
teacher, the mysteries of the Pentateuch, which were in the Midrash of
R. Shim-on b. Yo*hai, as they are now found in the Zohar, and the latter
transmitted them to his disciples. The Zohar was made public about 300
years after this Gaon, not as a new production, but as a work of earlier
days. Rab Tsema’h Gaon of Pumbeditha, son of R. PaltvT Gaon, was
Gaon of Pumbeditha, 871-876 A. D., over 400 years before the publica-
tion of the Zohar, he laid down a rule in the Codex of the Jewish Cere-
monial Law, the Toor Ora^h ^ Hayiniy in connection with the morning
prayers, of which no trace can be found in the Talmud, and the Masse-
kheth Sophe’rim has the very opposite, but we find the Zohar § Te’ rumtnah^
is quoted in the book Beth Joseph § 59, as his authority. R. Sar Shalom
Gaon, an eminent Qabbalist according to ‘Hayim Vital, decided that the
custom of not studying the Law at the MirChah^ i. e., Vesper time, was
because the Talmudfsays: — ‘*A11 the schools are to be closed at the
death of a *Ha-kham, /. Moses died. This usage is not mentioned in any of the text books, and
to the contrary the death of Moses is said to have occurred on the evening
of the Sabbath, but in the Zohar § Te*rummah 156^5, we find a statement
* This refers to the account said to have come from Isaac of Acco, which has been
left out all the editions since, until replaced by the Edition of London, England, by
Filipowski. 1857, pp. 88 et seq. This account Dr. Graetz admits, Isaac of Acco evi-
dently either did not write or did not believe, for the latter copied Zoharlc passages in
his subsequent writings. — Geuhichte der JudeUf vol. vii, p. 492.
t Treatise Afotd Qa/on, 22b.
3
i
34
of the custom, and the death of Moses on the afternoon of the Sabbath.
So in the Targum Ye’rushalmi, usually called the Targum of Yonathan
ben Uziel, which is said to have been written by a disciple of Hillel I.,
therefore about 50 B. C. to 10 A. D., are many statements evidently taken
from the Zohar, or coming from the same mystical School, of which our
author gives the quotations. So in the book Arookh by R. Nathan —
b. 1030, d. about 1106 A. D. — which was finished iioi A. D., about 200
years before the publication of the Zohar, are statements to be found only
in the Midrash of R. Shim-on b. Yo’hai, which was one of the names of
the Zohar before its redaction. Rashi (1040-1 105 A. D.), a giant among
the learned of his race, quotes and uses statements, the same as are in the
Zohar, of which Konitz quotes numerous examples. The authors of the
Thosaphoth also received from the Midrash R. Shim-on b. Yo*haT, as we
find it now redacted in the Zohar. Maimonides even quoted from the
Zohar in his Ye’sodeh Hat-thorah, t, e,. Cardinal principles of the Law.
Nachmanides or R. Moses b. Na*hman — 1 200-1 272 A. D. — was certainly
acquainted with the Midrash of R. Shim-on b. Yo’haT. In this way Konitz
proceeds, quoting from these authors and showing, that all the prominent
learned men among the Jews of this period, were familiar with this Midrash
of Shim-on b. Yo’haT, which has been since redacted into the book called
the Zohar, giving among others the names of the celebrated R. Salomo b.
Adereth (Ra SH B A), a disciple of Nachmanides; R. Abraham b. David
(R A Ba D) d. 1198; Rabbenu Ye’ru’ham and many others; he brings
numerous quotations from the two Talmuds, to show that the Midrash of
R. Shim-on b. Yo*hai was known by the Rabbins of the Talmuds, and
that the Zohar, containing the identical words and sentiments of those
quotations, is only a later name for this Midrash. Rabbenu Hag-gadol,
/. e.y the Great Rabbin, shows in his writings that he and his teachers must
have received — qibbel — all the words of the The*na-im and A’mora-im,
contained in the Zohar, in their purity, and all of his disciples were great
Qabbalists. The book Toor Ora’h ^Hayim is the statute book of orthodox
Israel, and it decides according to the teachings of the Zohar. Konitz
then quotes numerous laws and rules from this, and twenty-five other,
thoroughly orthodox Jewish books, as in accord with the teachings in the
Zohar, and enumerates the disciples of the authors of these books who
35
were all great Qabbalists. On page 130, col. i, line 51, after a quotation
from Yabetz’s book Mit-pa*hath Se’pharim, Part i, fol. 4^, confirming
the antiquity and sanctity of the Hebrew Qabbalah, he shows that in
this very book, Part i, fol. 5a, Yabetz says: — “The Zohar is truly the
adorning crown of the Qabbalists, as R. Yitz’haq Luriah has testified
concerning it, who himself was a holy and divine man with the holy
spirit resting upon him, and upon it — the Zohar — was his sublime and
tremendous wisdom built and founded. God forbid that any one should
doubt his words.*’ Konitz then shows the distinctions between the
Zohar and Talmud very fully, and among other things says: ” Legislation
on the Mosaic law and its traditions, pure and simple, is one thing ; phil-
osophical and metaphysical contemplation and discussion with regard to
this written and traditional law, is another. The latter, entering into the
spirit and hidden meaning, is for the initiated few, the former for the
general masses. This explains the language and dress of each, circum-
scribed, nay merely fragmentary in the one ; distinct, clear, elaborate, in
the other ; allegorical and speaking in parables here, plain and intelligi-
ble there. The Qabbalah and the Zohar allow a great margin to
speculative thought, the Talmud deals with every-day life, and humanity
under the Law ; the former — the Qabbalah — starts from a spiritual point
of view, contemplating a spiritual finality as regards the Law and its ex-
planation, while the latter — the Talmud — is eminently practical in both its
starting point and end, and having, in the face of the ignorance, want of
perception and natural waywardness of the masses, nothing but the strict
observance of the Law in all its details in view. This explains the hesi-
tancy of the Qabbalistic Rabbins, to impart the mysteries of the Ma-a*seh
Be’resheeth and Ma-a*seh Merkabah, to even the ordinary learned and
certainly to the many, who were obviously unfitted for such knowledge ;
and thus we must understand and appreciate their advice to their disci-
ples in general, not to give themselves up to these studies.” In ancient
times when education was much less diffused, the original Qabbalistic
companions led an ascetic and holy life, separated from the unlearned
and unwise, such a life being required, and lest this mysterious and occult
science might prove injurious to all concerned ; admission and initiation
were required to be granted, but even these were only to a few wise, elect.
36
discreet and worthy disciples^ who had arrived at full years of discretion
and were of known formed character. This period of ascertained wisdom
and discretion was fixed at 40 years of age and over. At a very early date
it was called by the The*na-im and A*mora-im, a ”Science,” as may be
seen in the Talmuds Babli (^Be^rakhoth 33a) and Ye’rushalmi {Be^ rakhoth
85) and in other earlier books. The secrecy of this oral traditional
” Science/’ is evidenced in the Talmud Ye’rushalmi : * ‘* R. Shim-on b.
Laqish said : On the Jordan the children of Israel received and accepted the
‘hidden things’ or the nistaroth, i.e,, mysteries. f Joshua said unto them^
unless ye accept the nistaroth, the waters shall drown you. R. Levi said :
In Yabneh this obligation was rescinded by a Bath-Qol exclaiming : Ye
have nothing to do with the nistarothJ’^ Yabetz again contradicting his
own theories, says : ” The words of the Zohar are the words of the living
God, very profound, who can find them ? It took even, as we know, R.
Yitz’haq Luriah a long time of due and steady preparation until he reached
his glory in this science, a small portion of which, he said in his dying
hour, his disciple, R. ‘Hayim Vital only possessed.” % This chapter of
Konitz closes with a quotation from the Midrash Mishleh (Proverbs) ac-
cording to which, one of the questions asked of every Israelite when his
soul is before the judgment seat on high will be : ” Hast thou contem-
plated {tsa-pheetha, /. <f., glanced at) the Merkabah? Hast thou looked
at (Jsa-pheetha) my Shee-oor Qo-mah — i.e.. Measure or Proportion of Stat-
ure ? ‘ ‘ Not : Hast thou learned or occupied thyself with this Science ?
Because this Science — the Qabbalah — requires open eyes and open intel-
lects, and not merely mechanical learning, as does the Law and its execu-
tion. In Reply 132 he shows that the teachings of the Zohar are in per-
fect conformity with passages in the four Toorim or four law books, by
which the entire life of the Israelite is regulated in all its relations, citing
from the Zohar, 90 quotations which are in the Ora’h ‘Hayim; 31 in the
Yoreh Daiah ; 6 in the ‘Hoshen Ham-mishpat ; and 8 in the Eben Ha-
ezer, in all 135. This followed by an index closes his book.
* Treatise Axlo» ne-e’marimt from whence it is quoted in Those’photh Sotah. 34a.
f Comp. Deut. xxix, 29. The idea of the Secret Learning belonging to the Sacer-
dotal Class, and the legal precepts which are revealed, appear in this verse. See next
page.
\ Book Mit-pa’hath Se*pharim, end of chap. 86.
37
Dr. Hirsch Graetz, although bitterly opposing Konitz and Luriah
and everything showing the antiquity of the Qabbalah or the Zohar, is
obliged to acknowledge,* that when Mohammedanism spread in the days
of the Ge’onim — 657-1038 A. D. — a, book became known, the author of
which, he says, was unknown, called : ” Nistaroth\ a^ Rabbi Shim-on ben
Vo’kai, i, g,j the Mysteries of R. Shim-on b. Yo’hai, in which among
other things, R. Shim-on is stated to have complained : ” In addition to
our sufferings from the government of Edom (Rome, /. Theil, pp. xix, 7&-82, and the Zohar, ii, 32a,
f Sec ante, p. 36.
X Se« his Gischichte der Juden, Vol. vii, p. 495.
J Ibid, pp. 495-^-
38
poses of the antiquity and authorship of the Zohar with the pen of an auto-
crat, basing many of his ideas on those of Dr. Adolph Jellinek, of Vienna,*
who is disposed to assert that it was entirely written, out of his own head,
by R. Moses b. Schem-Tob de Leon of Spain, as before him did the Roman
Catholic Jean Morin,t and as Yabetz started out to do, but changed his
views as they became more enlightened by an examination of the subject.
Dr. Graetz cuts away the bridge of historical continuity an^ separates by a
vast abyss, all the Qabbalists of the Xlllth century, from all preceding
Israelitish Secret Learning, Theosophy, and Mysticism. Dr. Jellinek
does not go so far, but acknowledges a Qabbalistic knowledge in the Xth
and Xlth centuries, by R. She’reerah Gaon, Eliyah ha-Zaken, R. Hay
Gaon, R. Yekhutiel of the Babylonian School at Pumbeditha. One of
the first Qabbalists in Spain, was R. Chasdai (or Chisdai) Ibn Shaprut ben
Yitz’haq ben Ezra ha-Nazi or Nagid, i, e.y Prince or temporal head of the
Jews in Spain. His Arabic name was Chasdai Abu Jusuf Ibn Shafruth.
His father was Yitz’haq Ibn Shafruth, of Jaen. Chasdai lived in Cordova,
Spain, in the time of the Khalif Abderrahman III who reigned 912-961
A. D., and his successor Hakem — 961-976 A. D. — and was Grand
Vizier of Moorish Spain — 961-976 A. D.J We have not space in this
writing, to give his doctrines, but will say they are in agreement with
those we know of other early Qabbalists, e, g., Hay Gaon and Ibn Gebirol.
Then came Ibn Gebirol, Spain, Jacob Nazir, of Lunel, Abraham Ab-Beth-
Din, Abraham ben David, of Posquieres, (Isaac) Yitz-haq, the Blind, of
Beaucaire, Azriel and Ezra, Yehudah b. Yakar, Jacob b. Shesheth, which
brings the Qabbalah, in Spain, down to 1270 A. D., and the period of
Todros b. Joseph Hallevy Abulafia, Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia, the
♦Sec, Afosfs Ben Schem- Tob de Leon undsein VerhSltniss zum SoAar, etc. Von Adolph
Jellinek. Leipzig. 1 85 1. And Supra^ p. 39, note.
t J. Morin’s object was to prove that the Jews had falsified the Hebrew Old Testa-
ment, and that the only correct version was the Greek Septuagint. Modem scholarship
has not adopted his views. See Kilto’s Cyclop. Biblical Lit, Ed. 1876, Vol. i, p. 582.
et seq,
JSec, Pub. of the Soc. of Hebrew Liter. London. 1872, Vol. i, pp. 63-112. Also
Carmoly’s Itinbraires de la Terre Sainte des xiii, xiv, xvi, et xvii siecle etc. pp. i-iii.
Jellinek’s Auswahl KabbaliitUcher Mystik, second part, pp. iii-v. Also the book Khu-
sari or Cosri, of R. Yehudah Hallevy. David Cassel’s ed., Leipzig. 1869. Also the
cd. by H. Hirschfeld, Leipzig, 1886, 2 Thle.
39
learned Nachmanides, and other Qabbalists about the time of the appear-
ance in public of the Zoharic MSS. Into Germany Dr. Jellinek traces it
from the Jewish Universities of Babylonia. Hay and Ibn Gebirol also,
he says, used the expression Hokhmath haq-Qabbaiahy t. e,, Wisdom of
the Qabbalah. Dr. Jellinek also asserts the great influence of R. Azriel
b. Mena’hem of Valladolid, b. circa 1160, d. 1238 A. D. The book
Ye’tzeer’ah, Dr; Jellinek admits, was known in the Xth century, we
note here, that St. Agobard, b. circa 800, d. 840 A. D., notices this
and other mystical Jewish books ; * which takes it before and into the
beginning of the IX century. Jellinek also gives a short account of
mystical Jewish sects before Saadyah Gaon — 892-942 A. D. — taken
from Shahrestani,t who flourished circa 1090-1125 A. D. According
to Dr. Graetz’s hypothesis, the Qabbalah sprung up as a new thing, from
the school of R. Abraham b. David, of Nismes, and Beaucaire, called
Rabad ; whose teacher was a certain Jacob Nazir, of the Xllth century. J
And that this school sprung up in opposition to the newly asserted
philosophy of Maimonides, which was considered as Aristotelian. Mai-
monides, however, was very favorable to the Speculative Qabbalah,
as will appear from his book Moreh Ne*boo-kheem, and especially from
his writing “Introduction to the Talmud,” where ** in the fourth place * *
speaking of Rab Ashi and his great undertaking, the drawing up of the
Babylonian Talmud, he also speaks in the highest terms of the Hebrew
Secret Learning and Science, afterwards generally called in Europe, the
Qabbalah. In another writing his words are : — *’ If I had acquired this
species of knowledge (the Qabbalah) sooner, I would have given the
world so many a production more.” §
* Sec Basnage’s Hist, of the Jews, Taylor’s English trans, of 1708, pp. 598-99.
t Sec BeUrage tur Gesthichte der Kabbala^ von Adolph Jellinek, First and Second
Parts. Leipzig, 1852. Adolph Jellinek und die JCabbala, ein Literatur- Bericht von
Dr. J. M. Jost, Leipzig, 1852. Thomas von Aquino in der jUdischen Literature von
Adolph Jellinek, Leipzig, 1853, ^^^ Auswahl Kabbalistischer Mystik, by Adolph Jellinek,
Leipzig, 1853, Erstes Heft, p. 27 et seq, and notes.
X Comp. Auswahl Kabbalistischer Mystik, by Adolph Jellinek, Leipzig, 1853, Part
i, pp. 1-6 and notes; Karpeles, Geschichte der Judischen LUeratur, Berlin, 1886, Vol.
ii, p. 669 et seq, ; Graetz, Geschichte der Juden, Vol. vii, p. 73 et seq.
2 See Jerusalem, A treatise on Ecclesiastical Authority and Judaism, by Moses Men-
delssohn. Samuel’s English Ed., London, 1838, Vol. ii, p. 306.
41
twigs. Written by David Luriah (of Buchau).*’ Julius Furst* says, it was
published at Johannisburg in 1857.
Tlie Branches are, I. Proof that R. Moses de Leon did not compile the
Zohar. 11. The Ge’onim in Babylonia cite from the Zohar and Midrash
Hanne’elam, under the name of, Midrash Ye’rushalmi. III. The Zohar
must have been compiled before the completion of the Talmud. IV.
Proof that a great part of the Zohar, was written in the period of R.
Shim-on b. Yo’hai and his pupils. V. As to the Aramaic language of
the Zohar. Branch I. This he divides into three arguments, i. From
that which appears in Moses de Leon’s book, Sepher Has^shem^ i, e.y
Book of the Name, and from the book Pardes and other writings of R.
Moses Cordovero, it is evident that R, Moses de Leon did not write after
the style of the Zohar, and in many places contradicts it. 2. It is evi-
dent from his book Nephesh Hah- hokhmah^ i, e.y Vital Soul of Wisdom,
called also Sepher-Ham’tnishkal^ i. ^., Book of the Balance, in which he
quotes from the Zohar, that de Leon either mistook the sense of the Zohar
or had an incorrect edition of it. In but few places does he follow the
drift of the Zohar, and in his style and manner, he follows the words of the
antecedent and contemporary Qabbalists. He has, however, mixed some
words of the Zohar with his own, without crediting the source, but he
often contradicts the Zohar. Luriah gives quotations proving this.
3. From the contents of the books written before the time of R. Moses
de Leon, or by his contemporaries of greater age and standing, who quote
passages from the Zohar, the greater antiquity of the latter cannot be
questioned. The earlier Ge’onim quote from the Zohar, as the Midrash
Ye^rushalmi. David Luriah cites many proofs from early books to sup-
port this, his third proposition. He shows that there are in the book
0*tzar hak’Kabodt i, e,. Treasure of Glory, by R. Todros (Theodorus) ha-
Levi or Hallevy (died 1283, nephew of R. Me-ir Hallevy), quotations from
books in the name of Midrash, which quotations are to be met with only
in the Zohar. In the time of R. Moses de Leon, Todros was an old man,
and his standing was such, that he certainly would not have quoted as an
ancient Midrash, a book newly written by R. Moses de Leon, his contem-
* Bihlioth : Judaica, Vol. iii, p. 332.
42
porary.* The Zohar was also cited under the nzmt Nistarve’tte-e’lamy
I. e,y The Mysterious and Hidden Midrash, by the author of the book,
Migdai Ozy i. e.y Towers of Strength. Its author was a contemporary of
R. Moses de Leon. The celebrated Italian Rabbi Recanati, living in Italy,
cites in his Commentaries on the Pentateuch and in his other writings, many
passages from the Zohar. He was a contemporary of R. M. de Leon. Tlie
last named frequently quotes passages which are now to be found in the
Zohar, as from ** the earlier sages,” also as from the Sithrai hat-Thorahy
/. e,y Secrets of the Thorah. Recanati writing ii^ Italy, cites other and
frequently the same passages, as from **the earlier sages,’* and from the
Sithrai hat’ Thorah. These facts tend to prove the existence of a book on
the Mysteries of the Thorah, prior to Recanati, Moses de Leon, R.
Shalomo ben Adereth, or Ra SH B A, and other contemporaries, from
which they quote.
Branch II. In this Luriah asserts and shows by proof through quota-
tions, that the earlier Ge’onim — 657-1038 A. D. — discussed Qabbalistic
matters under the name of “Midrash Ye’rushalmi,” which were in the
language and content of the Zohar, that these were simply quoted as from
the A’mora-im — 220-540 A.D.— or from ancient sources without any
especial reference, which were the words of the Midrash Hanne-e’lam of
the Zohar, which though now in the Zohar only in some sections, was
undoubtedly written, at first, on the whole Pentateuch. It can be satis-
factorily shown, that the Ge’onim had a Midrash Ne-e*lam, by tradition
in the Aramaic tongue, in the form and character of the present Zohar
and Midrash Hanne-e’lam. This Branch is divided into, i. What exists
of the explanations of the Ge’onim in other ancient works, under the
name of ** Midrash Ye’rushalmi.’* 2. What is published of the same by
Luriah. 3. What is discussed in other ancient writings under the name
of Ye’rushalmi, without mention of the Ge’onim, but which justify the
supposition of transposition from the Ge’onim, and that they have quoted
as Ye’rushalmi, the contents of the Midrash Hanne-e’lam in the Zohar.
4. What in the writings of the Ge’onim — 657-1038 A. D. — is simply
quoted from the A*mora-im — 220-540 A. D. — or from very ancient
* We shall find Todros again referred to when we come to the account by Isaac of
Acco (Acre, Palestine).
43
sources, etc., without any special reference; which also may be unhesitat-
ingly ascribed to the Midrash Hanne-e’lam. The early Ge’onim dis-
cussed Qabbalistic matters, under the name of a secret book apparently
called ” Ye’rushalmi,*’ referring to, as named therein, many of the com-
panions, whose names are now to be found in the Zoharic writings, as au-
thority for what is therein decided. The language, content and sages
referred to, are mostly those to be found in the Midrash Hanne-e’lam in
the Zoharic writings, and are not to be found in the Talmudim and other
Midrashim outside of the Zohar. This secret book was from the earlier
Ge’onim, or other even earlier sources. Hay Gaon, b. 969 — d. 1038 A. D.,
and other Ge’onim often quote from the Midrash Ye’rushalmi, Hay
also quotes from the Noosa^h Ye’rushalmiyt. ^., copy or transcription of
the Ye’rushalmi, and this quotation is not to be found in the Talmud
Ye’rushalmi nor in any of the Midrashim, but we find it in the Zohar,
Para’shath Te^rummah (Exod. xxv-xxviii), in the Aramaic language, and
the Gaon Hay translated it into Hebrew ; this may explain why he says :
^^ Noosa^h Ye’ rushalmiy^ /. ^., a copy or version, Ye’rushalmi; which he
uses to signify, that it was translated into his own language. Luriah cites
other Ge’onim, who quote from the ” Ye’rushalmi,” matters which are now
to be found only in the Midrash Ne-e’lam of the Zohar. He then shows by
quotations from ancient books, that much was taken in early times from
the Midrash Hanne-e’lam or Secret Midrash, which is now among the Zo-
haric books. There is good reason to believe that the book Zohar, the
contents of which were considered more profound and sublime than those
of the Hanne-e’lam, was not even mentioned by name, it being quoted
from, in phrases only understood by the initiates ; e.g.^ ** thus we learned,”
or, “in the name of the ancient ones they said,” without mentioning it
as a book, so that the uninitiated should remain in ignorance of its exist-
ence, and only that, which they deemed proper to be known, should be
made known. The very meaning of the name, Siphrah D’Tznioothah, of
the Zoharic writings, is : that it is the book kept modestly or secretly from
the gaze of the public. It was doubtless known at this period, not in writing
but only orally. The Babylonian initiated Jews were very strict in keeping
secret from the uninitiated, the theosophical traditions or Secret Learn-
ing, which they had inherited from their ancient masters and the sue-
44
cessors of those masters. We will give an instance: Rab She’reerah
Gaon* having been asked a question regarding the book Shee-oor Qo-mah,
/. e,y Proportion of the Height, a very mystical book, as it is found
in the Bo-rai’toth of the Pirkqeh Haikhaloth, /. ^., Halls, of R. Yish-
ma-el, said: “This matter cannot possibly be explained in its particu-
lars, but merely (by hints) in an abstract way ; for R. Yishma-el has
not originated this matter, nor does it come from any human mind.
Besides, God forbid ! that man should speak of the Creator, as if He had
bodily members and dimensions. The ‘ Proportion of the Height ‘ are
matters of a Qabbalah, superior to the conception of mankind, of which
not anything more mystical can be said, for not any likeness can give a
description of Him, only the sages, familiar with this profound and sub-
lime science, can occupy themselves therewith. But they are strictly pro-
hibited from delivering these secrets and mysteries to any man, except he
possess the characteristics and qualifications imparted to us. Even not a
summary, how much less any particulars, shall be revealed to any one ;
for with regard to this matter, and to what is below it of the Ma-d’seh
Merkabahy i, e,, Chariot Throne, f our sages have said: J R. ‘Heeyah
said : It is not permitted to impart the summaries, Rasheh F*raqitn, i,e,y
Headings of the Chapters, except to an Ab Beth Din, /. ^., the head of a
court of justice, whose heart is solicitous (careful) within him, as regards
matters inferior to all these. R. Immi said :§ It k not permitted to impart
the Mysteries of the Thorah, except to a ‘ counsellor, cunning artificer,
and skillful orator* (Is. iii, 3), (properly “skillful orator” nabon l(u’hash
means to one who understands in ia-‘hash, i. e,, silence or secret), to him it
is permitted to impart generalities, he will understand them, and will be
enlightened from heaven in the hidden recesses of his heart. As is said in
the Midrash : || Nabon la- hash, i.e., a skillful orator, is he who draws his
♦ B. 930, d. 1000 A. D., was one of the last Ge’onim of the University of Pumbe-
ditha, in Babylonia. He was Gaon from 967 to 997. His father was ‘Hanina Gaon
and his son was Hay Gaon, Co-gaon with him from 987. Hay was full Gaon from 997
to 1037 A. D.
t Comp. Ezekiel i, 10.
I Talmud, Treatise ‘Ha’geegah 13. J Ibid,
II Also in the Talmud Treatise, ^ Ha^geegah^ which is here called Midrash in the
sense of de ^rashah, t\ e., exposition.
46
are partly communicated in : * this is the book of the * generations of
man/ (Gen. v, i) and partly in the next verse: * male-female created he
them.’ ** This is the answer of Rab She*reerah Gaon, Head-master of this
great Babylonian Jewish school, which Nachmanides quotes in his Com-
mentary on the Thorah, adding these words : ” We have not been able to
reach that far.*’* So the Babylonian Rabbenu Hag-gaon Abraham, f
No 2. Is similar to the former, only that the five potentialities of Brahman, neuter ^
are given in animal types. Man is the symbol of wisdom, the Lion of strength, the
Eagle of ubiquity, the Bull of the generative potentiality in its highest idea, and the
Goat as sensual affection. The animals have wings to signify their divine character, the
human figure as the symbol of Brahman, is surrounded by a halo. We also refer the
student to the valuable article in Kitto’s Cyclop. Biblical Liter., Ed. 1876, i, pp. 484-
493; Handbook of Christian Symbolism, by W. & G. Audsley, London, pp. 97-110;
Histoire et Thiorie du Symbolisme Reltgieux avant et depuis le Christianisme^ etc., par
M. PAbbi Auber^ Paris, 1870-72, 4 vol., 8vo; Symbols and Emblems of Early and Me-
diseval Christian Ait, by Louisa Twining, London, 1852, 4to; Christian Art and S3rm
holism, by R. St. J. Tyrwhitt, London, 1872; (Euvres de Saint Deny 5 l”* Artopagite
traduites du Grec en Frant^ais, etc., par VAbbi J, Dulac^ Paris, 1 865, 8vo, p. 390-1,
385, 328. St. Dionysius does not appear to know of the creatures we have named as
symbolical of the four evangelists. St. Dionysius has done much, through his writings,
to bring into early orthodox Christianity the doctrines of the Hebrew and Jewish Qab-
balah. St. Synesius — flour, eirca 370-413 A. D. — sumamed the Philosopher, in his
writing. On Dreams — 404 A. D.^-also shows considerable knowledge of the Qabbalah.
Jerome Cardan has written a long commentary upon the ** Dreams.’* The doctrine of
sympathy between the spiritual man, his body, etc., and all parts of the universe, as
the affinity between the Makrokosm and Mikrokosm, was taught by the learned among
the archaic Hindus, Chinese, Egyptians, Chaldeans, Hebrews, Greeks, etc., and by
Moses, Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, the Qabbalists, Neo-platonists, etc. It appears in a
number of places in the New Testament. It is the doctrine of the Paradigmatic Celes-
tial Ideation, or the Perfect Upper Heavenly Man and the visible Terrestrial realization.
The Perfect Kingdom or Place, of the Deity, the Celestial and Heavenly Government,
and its imperfect shadow, the visible universe in its entirety. The Ideal Kingdom of
God and the Kingdom of the visible matter-world. Compare also the Moreh Ne’boo-
kheem. Vol. iii, p. I et seq,, i, c. Ixxii.
* These matters are further enlarged up>on in the 2^har { Yithroh. 1. e., Exod. xviii to
XX, and in the Zohar ‘Hadash in the same place, and in the Tiqqoonim, f. e.. Rules
(or Regulations) of the Zohar, Tiqqoon. 70. The Tiqqooneh Zohar was edited and
printed as early as Novem. 9, 1557, 4to, Mantua, by Jacob b. Naphtali, and compiled
by Imm. di Benevento after an MSS.
f Quoted by Luriah, p. 12, note i.
45
inferences and conclusions from teachings received, in silence, /’. e., secret,
such a one is worthy of receiving Mysteries of the Thorah, given him tit
silence, i. e., in secret. Therefore the sages imparted one to the other, the
knowledge of physiognomy and the lineaments of the features,* which
‘Hie Zobar treats on physiognomy quite fully. HuniaD counlemuices are divided
into fom primordial types of faces luch as appeared at the Chariot Throne oi Sfa-a’siA
MtriadaA of Eiekiei’s vision, chap, i, lo-the face oF a man, lion, ox and eagle, and
ituys: our faces reiemble these according to the rank which the soul occupies in the
ioiellectual or mural worlds. ” Physiognomy,” it says, ” does not consist in the external
lineaments, but in the feBiures which ore mysteriously drawn within us. The features
of Ihe face *«ry, following the form which is impressed or. the inward face (or pretence)
of the spirit. The spirit only produces all those physiognomical peculiarities, which
the Wise know: and it is through the spirit thai they (the features) have any meaning.
When the spirits and souls go out of Eden, i. e., the Place of the Supreme Wisdom,
(bey hftve entirely ■ certain form which later reflects itself in the face.” It then treats
of the different forms of forehead, face, etc., and Iheir indications. Comp. on this
Zotiar ii, 71 J, 7511, 73^. In the Neniologicat System of Anthropology, etc., hy Dr. Jos.
R. Buchanan, Qncinnati, lSS4, Part iv, on Satcognomy, a curious theory is advanced,
in regard to the sympathy existing between the different parts of the human tiody and
the inner spiritual man, and that one may judge of the inner man from the outward
shape. We give two Hindu symbolic pictures, which are of interest in thU connexion,
from Kiklas Mailer’s GiaiUen, fViisen and Kunsi der alien Hindus, Enter Band,
Maim, iSaz. Tab. I, fignrel II3 and 113; and
refer the reader to figures iz and noon the same
plate, and Tab. II, figure 59. Compare also Dan
vii, and La CUf dis Grand Myslh-cs iuivanl, Ht-
ntch, Ahraham, Htrmts Trismfgiilus, el Saiemen,
par Eliphas Uvi (PAMii Alphonie Louii Censtant).
Paris, 1 861 , p. 443 it seq.
No. I. Is a Brahma image, with its four princi-
pies, and four wings encircled three times l>y Ananta
or Shesha, the Serpent of Eternity. In this we find
the prototype of the symbols of the Divine pei
tion as in the symlx)ls of the Merkabah, i. e.. Chariot Throne, and of the four Evangel-
ists. The fonr figures represent the four Vedas. Here we have the Eagle of St. John,
the all-piercing eje, also the sablimsled ether, the spirit ; the Bull of St. Luke, Ihe all-
generating, also the sublimated water or humidity ; the Lion of St. Mark, the symbol of
nnrettrained strength and potentiality, the sublimated fire; and the Human Face, Ihe
symbol of St. Matthew, the fruition of the Intellect of the Supreme Brahman, netiitr.
46
are partly communicated in : * this is the book of the * generations of
man/ (Gen. v, i) and partly in the next verse: * male-female created he
them.’ ‘* This is the answer of Rab She’reerah Gaon, Head-master of this
great Babylonian Jewish school, which Nachmanides quotes in his Com-
mentary on the Thorah, adding these words : ** We have not been able to
reach that far.”* So the Babylonian Rabbenu Hag-gaon Abraham,!
No 2. Is similar to the former, only that the five potentialities of Brahman, neuter ^
are given in animal types. Man is the symbol of wisdom, the Lion of strength, the
Eagle of ubiquity, the Bull of the generative potentiality in its highest idea, and the
Goat as sensual affection. The animals have wings to signify their divine character, the
human figure as the symbol of Brahman, is surrounded by a halo. We also refer the
student to the valuable article in Kitto’s Cyclop. Biblical Liter., Ed. 1876, i, pp. 484-
493; Handbook of Christian Symbolism, by W. & G. Audsley, London, pp. 97-1 10 ;
Hiitoire et Thiorie du Symbolisme Rehgieux avant et depuis le Christianismet etc., par
M, VAbbk Auber^ Paris, 1870-72, 4 vol., 8vo; Symbols and Emblems of Early and Me-
diaeval Christian Art, by Louisa Twining, London, 1852, 4to; Christian Art and Sym
holism, by R. St. J. Tyrwhitt, London, 1872; (Euvres de Saint Denys VArtopagite
traduites du Grec en Frant^aiSf etc., par VAbbi J, Dulac^ Paris, 1865, 8vo, p. 390-1,
385, 328. St. Dionysius does not appear to know of the creatures we have named as
symbolical of the four evangelists. St. Dionysius has done much, through his writings,
to bring into early orthodox Christianity the doctrines of the Hebrew and Jewish Qab-
balah. St. Synesius — flour, eirca 370-413 A. D. — sumamed the Philosopher, in his
writing. On Dreams — 404 A. D.— also shows considerable knowledge of the Qabbalah.
Jerome Cardan has written a long commentary upon the ** Dreams. ‘^ The doctrine of
sympathy between the spiritual man, his body, etc., and all parts of the universe, as
the afHnity between the Makrokosm and Mikrokosm, was taught by the learned among
the archaic Hindus, Chinese, Egyptians, Chaldeans, Hebrews, Greeks, etc., and by
Moses, Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, the Qabbalists, Neo-platonists, etc. It appears in a
number of places in the New Testament. It is the doctrine of the Paradigmatic Celes-
tial Ideation, or the Perfect Upper Heavenly Man and the visible Terrestrial realization.
The Perfect Kingdom or Place, of the Deity, the Celestial and Heavenly Government,
and its imperfect shadow, the visible universe in its entirety. The Ideal Kingdom of
God and the Kingdom of the visible matter-world. Compare also the Moreh Ne*boo-
kheem, Vol. iii, p. i et seq,, i, c. Ixxii.
♦ These matters are further enlarged upon in the 2^har J Yithroh. t. e., Exod. xviii to
XX, and in the Zohar *Hadash in the same place, and in the Tiqqoonim, f. e,. Rules
(or Regulations) of the Zohar, Tiqqoon. 70. The Tiqqooneh Zohar was edited and
printed as early as Novem. 9, 1557, 4to, Mantua, by Jacob b. Naphtali, and compiled
by Imm. di Benevento after an MSS.
f Quoted by Luriah, p. 12, note i.
47
says: “And as they imparted these secrets, only to persons considered
worthy by virtue of the signs mentioned^ we will tell you that we deem you
worthy in our heart, but we cannot impart them to you before you have
lived the life of a recluse for fully three years ; in the meanwhile we pray
that heaven may enlighten your eyes, etc.’* The initiated only imparted
Qabbalistic matters to men personally known to them as discreet, intelli-
gent and worthy of such a distinction, and then only under promise of
secrecy. The same idea is in the Zohar § Yithroh.,* that every feature,
of the (man’s) face, shows whether he may be initiated or not, into
these sublime divine secrets, and into matters of magic,t concerning
which the Gaon Rab She’reerah, writes: “Under penalty of excom-
munication, it is forbidden to reveal these matters except to re-
liable persons, and only to such whose physiognomy speaks in their
favour.” So as to the pronunciation of the Ineffable Name YHVH, the
Shem Hamme’phorash or Tetragrammaton, pronounced only by the High
Priest on the Day of Atonement, She’reerah says : ” It was delivered by
Qabbalah only to the Heads of the College,” not to all, but only to the
Heads of the Ye^sheebah, It appears, from his “Responses,” that Hay
Gaon imparted some of this Secret Science to a trusted few of his contem-
poraries, who lived at a great distance from Babylonia, and most proba-
bly this included parts of the Zohar and the Hidden {Hanne-e’ lam) Mid-
rash. As it is stated in the beginning of the Tiqqooneh haz-Zohar J that the
book Zohar has existed from immemorial time at Fez in Africa, § we
may assume that it most likely came there from the men who imbibed a
knowledge of it from Rab Hay, the Gaon of the sages of Chirvan, on the
Caspian sea, and from Rab Nissim and the other great theosophists of the
Babylonian schools, who obtained their knowledge from very old sources,
either Semitic or the archaic Aryan Wisdom religion of Central Asia.
This secrecy accounts for any differences in the first published versions
♦ Comp. Zohar ii, 71 3, 73^, 75a.
t Magic had a very different meaning in early times, from that which it has acquired
since the Middle Ages, in the minds of most modern readers. Comp. Franz von Hart-
man’s, Black and White Magic, 2nd Ed., London, 1886.
% Amsterdam Ed., 17 18, by Prophos.
2 Some writers state, that originally the complete Zohar was more than a camePs load.
Most of it has been lost or destroyed.
48
of the Zoharic writings, and also for the late period at which the learned
world had any knowledge of these secret and revered writings. Fur-
ther, as regards the name “Ye’mshalmi,” by which the Zoharic writings
are called, though several of the earlier sages used to call the Midrashim
thus, the Ge’onim did not, but called them by their respective names ;
they also did not call the actual Talmud Ye’rushalmi, by that name,
but “Talmud of the B’nai Ma-arbah, /’. ^., Talmud of the Sons of the
West” or “Talmud ehretz (land of) Yisra-el,** with but few exceptions.
The Talmud Ye’rushalmi was edited, by the pupils of R. Yo’ha’nan ben
Eliezer (d. 279), in the school of Tiberias, on Lake Gennezareth, 45 miles
north of Jerusalem, and not in the latter city. It was not compiled
into its present written form until the latter half of the IV century
A. D. The Babylonian Talmud, or the Babli, was composed principally
in the V century, from old oral sources, by Rab Ashi bar Simai (d. 427
A. D.), Head Master of the Academy at Sora. He did not complete it.
Its final redaction was by R. Yosseh, the last of the A*mora-im, and really
belongs to the VI century A. D. The Talmuds are compends of the
Halakha, and written legal digests of the oral common law or customs and
ritual, of the Israelites ; they were not compiled as exponents of their re-
ligious metaphysical or natural philosophy. The Babylonian is four- fold
larger than the Ye’rushalmi, and is called ShaS^ by the Jews, who prefer
it to the Palestinian. The latter, which is shorter, also more difficult to
understand, has been preferred by Christian Orientalists, but the Babli is
the most important.
The The’na-im were altogether from Palestine. In the time of R. Yo’-
ha*nan, Jerusalem was not a seat of learning for the Palestinian Jews, but
Tiberias was. R. Shim-on b. Yo’hai’s school was near Jerusalem, f this
would account for the productions from that school having the name,
“Midrash Ye’rushalmi.” Luriah asserts through quotation, that the
Zohar was known to R. Ne’hunyah, the pious, of Jerusalem, who deliv-
ered a great many Qabbalistic discussions, which were arranged for him
since the days of the The*na-im, and these were the Zohar, and when he
brought the Zohar and Qabbalistic Midrashim along with him from Jerus-
alem, they obtained the name, ” Ye’rushalmi.” The book Bahir, is also
* The initials of 5’^ishah SeMarim, i. e,. Six arranged books,
t AnU, p. 19.
49
called ** Yerushalmi,” in a commentary written by the great Qabbalist
R. Azriel (or Ezrah), pupil of R. Yehudah, son of R A Ba D, on Canti-
cles.* Recanati quotes sentences as from ” Ye’rushalmi ‘* and at first
thought they were in the Talmud Ye’rushalmi, but they were in the book
Bahir, which he afterwards discovered. The Bahir was called thus be-
cause it came from Palestine and Jerusalem.
Branch III. Luriah in this, shows by quotations from older writings,
that the ideas in the Zoharic writings were in existence long prior to the
redaction and publication of the Talmudim. He gives these statements
with great care and exactness, quotation after quotation, but they are too
extensive to give in this writing.
In Branch IV, Luriah gives logical inferences so as to show, that the
origins of many portions of the Zohar were contemporaneous with the
period of R. Shim-on b. Yo’hai. He cites the prediction as to the sov-
ereignty which is to arise for the ** Sons of Yishmael,** the Arabs, after 400
years, and that they should then have possession of the holy land. Omar,
Khalif of the Arabs, conquered Jerusalem and the holy land about 637
A. D. — 397 of the fifth thousand. This was 569 years after the destruction
of the second Temple, which took place 173 before the close of the fourth
thousand of years, and Luriah shows this statement is a proof of the an-
tiquity of the Zohar. He also says : in the Zohar § Shemoth (Exod : i
sqq) 6c, we read : **R. Eliezer b. R. Shim-on, said : A Roman king will
conduct to and lead over the land of Egypt a government of severity, and
appoint armed princes over it.” This actually occurred in the days of R.
Eliezer b. R. Shim-on, who was contemporary with Rabbi ; viz : when An-
toninus, the Roman Emperor waged war against Egypt. The Talmud
says,t that one of Joseph’s treasuries was shown to Antoninus ben Asverus J
after the conquest of Egypt, in the days of Rabbi and R. Eliezer b. R.
Shim-on. §
Luriah says, those who object to the antiquity of the Zohar, say,
* P. 20i/, Altona Ed. It has been incorrectly ascribed to Nachmanides.
f Treatise Pg^sa^Aim, c. x, p. 119.
J L. Aurelios Verus, b. 130 A.D., Emperor with M. Aurelius, of the Roman Empire,
161 to 169 A. D.
J Comp. the book M^khiltha^ in the Para’shah of the Song on the Red Sea, 87.
4
50
that the modern author went cunningly to work in shaping matters of the
past, and described them as if going to happen in the future, the authors
of the Zohar had not any such deceptions in view, if such attempts had
been in their minds, then, if modern, they or he, would surely have been
more careful in wording and quoting that which subsequently appears
in the Talmud. “And the great men, says Luriah, who at and after
Moses de Leon’s time, read and understood the Zohar with rever-
ence, did not discover the forgery, not even that in his endeavors
to strengthen his own inventions, he (M. d. L.) overdid it to his own
injury; but it was reserved to the modern quarrelers to discover the
fraud and expose it, but no fair-minded man or impartial thinker, will
agree with them.’* He asserts, that the period of the The’na-im (200
B. C. to 200 A. D.) prior to the close of the Talmud, was the age of the
birth of the Zohar, that it is highly probable that the very essence of the
Zoharic writings was prepared during their time, and during and after
that of R. Shim-on b. Yo’hai, by his disciple, the Babylonian writer R.
Abbah, as will be shown hereafter. But there are also discussions in the
book Zohar, which took place in the school of R. Shim-on b. Yo’hai* by
his pupils and the pupils of his pupils, at the time of the A’mora-im ;
which are quoted by the scholars as the ” Learnings in the Beth-Hammid-
rash of R. Shim-on b. Yo’hai,” and these received in some parts slight
additions by subsequently initiated Wise-men. Luriah says *’ This occurs
in all the books of the The’na-im, which we now possess, and is espe-
cially evident in the Zoharic book, Midrash Hanne-e’lam; the majority
of the authorities therein cited being of the A’mora-im, it surely dates
from those times, (which were prior to the closing of the Talmud.)” The
Gaon R. Abraham, called by the Jews, our great Rabbi, says, ** this was
his opinion.” Luriah then gives numerous authorities proving his asser-
tions.
Branch V. Concerning the Aramaic language in the Zohar. As to
this, he says, the modern quarrelers argue, that in the times of the The’-
na-im, matters relating to the Thorah were written in the Hebrew, like the
Mishnah, Thosephthah and all the Midrashim of the Thorah ; the Ara-
maic having been in those days the vernacular, which was not used in re-
* Likely that at Tekft’a ; anUy p. 19.
51
ligious writings, and especially not, in writing the Mysteries of the Thorah.
This branch also treats of the style, diction and tenor, of the Zohar and
Zoharic books. He says, it is evident from the Zohar, that the \iTiter
who took down R. Shim-on b. Yo’hai’s oral teachings, was Rabbi Abbah.
The Master R. Shim-on says in the Idrah Zootah* “R. Abbah shall
write;” and at the close of the Idrah Zootah is: ” R. Abbah said : I
wrote, believing to have to write much, etc.,’* and also in the Zohar, t ” ^
wrote from the sacred lamp (/. ^., R. S. b. Y.), etc.’* J This R. Abbah
was a Babylonian, and as such, thoroughly conversant with the Chaldee
or Aramaic language, as all the Babylonians were ; consequently he wrote
the Zohar in his own language, which was also that used by the Wise-
men of Babylonia, who occupied themselves in these matters, and who
much more than those of Palestine gave attention to mysticism. The
Babylonian Jews also gave considerable attention to the Practical Qabba-
lah.§ He was the same R. Abbah, who is mentioned in the Zohar as a
* Zohar § Na-a^uenu, i. e., Deut. xxxii, p. 287^.
f Para’shath, Mishpatim, i. g., Exod. xxi-xxv, p. 123^.
J The Idrah 2^otah, says: (Zohar, Mantua Ed., § Ha-a^zeenu^ Vol. iii, 287^;
Cremona Ed., part iii, fol. 140, col. 557 et seq.) ; when the companions were gathered
together in the house of R. Shim-on, and he arranged his words of departure, he, R.
Shim-on, said : — ” Now this is my arrangement concerning you, R. Abbah shall be the
scribe^ and my son EPasar shall set forth my vieivSy but the others shall meditate in their
hearts. R. Abbah arose from the place behind him, and R. El’azar his son sat down in
front of him. He said to him : Arise, my son, for some one else shall sit in that place,
and R. El’azar arose. R. Shim-on having veiled his head, sat down, began and said.”
Further, ” R. Abbah, said : Scarcely had the sacred lamp finished the word *life,’ when
his words ceased. But I was writings and thinking I was to write more, heard noth-
ing. I did not however raise my head, because the light was too much, and up to this
time I had not been able to look in that direction. I trembled therefore, when I heard
a voice,” etc. (/<5/V., Mantua Ed., fol. 296. Cremona Ed., col. 599.) \ Comp. Layard’s Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, etc. New York. 1853, pp. 509-526. Bowls similar to those mentioned, may be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Essai sur la propagation de P Alphabet Phinici^n dans Vancien monde, par Franc^ois Lenormant, Paris. 1 875, Vol. i, pp. 271 et seq.f and Wcssely in The Expositor, No. XXI, Sept., 1886, 3d series, pp. 194-204. On the Spread of Jewish-Christian Ideas among the Egyptians, which shows the early Ebionites gave attention to the Practical Qabbalah. 52 Babylonian, and as superior to R. ‘Heeyah, but he is of course not the R. Abbah of the Babylonian Talmud. R. Abbah was especially selected by R. Shim-on b. Yo’hai to write down his words, because of his attain- ments as a student and a master, both in the Qabbalah and the Chaldaic language, a language spoken and understood by all the students of the occult science, the Divine Qabbalah. Abbah* s father-in-law appears to have been a resident of the Babylonian city called Tarsha, which was also called Sora, in which was a celebrated Jewish Academy of Science and seat of Theosophical Secret Learning. It was the residence of many of the friends and companions of R. Shim-on and his colleagues. The colleagues or companions in Babylonia, were, as is stated in the Zohar, very careful to conceal the mysteries of the Secret Knowledge, the Qab- balah, under a peculiarity of language, terms and phraseology, and by symbols, so that they could study and converse on the mysteries in even a public assembly, in a language and by methods understood by the initiates, and adapted to conceal the precious mystical doctrines, from the mental grasp of the uninitiated, the ignorant and foolish masses around them, and so keep their pearls from the swine, who would have trampled them under their feet, and then perhaps, have turned and destroyed the masters in the Secret Science.* This is frequently set forth in the Zohar, and its justice and wisdom must be appreciated even to this day, by the learned. The open revelation of R. Shim-on b. Yo*haT*s wisdom was too sublime for the/ general public, to be given in an open language intelligible to everybody; this appears in the Talmud. f R. A’keebah, the master of R. Shim-on, said to the latter: ” It may suffice that I and thy creator know thy power,** which means, it is not advisable to reveal thy doctrine and great wisdom to the public. Hence R. Shim-on chose R. Abbah to do the writing, and as to whom in another place in the Zohar he says ; J ” Abbah ! Abbah ! loosen the knot and con- sign this to thy bag. * * Loosen the knot wherewith thou hast already tied fast the mysteries received, and receive also this additional mystery, to * Comp. Matt, vii, 6; Acts xiii, 45-52; John xvi, 12, 25, 29; Mark iv, 2, ii, 12, 33, 34; Luke viii, lO; Matt, xiii, 34, 35. t Treatise Sanhedrin, c. i. X Comp. Para*shath Pe’qudeh, Exod. xxxviii sqq. 53 hide it among the rest, in thy collection. This systematic secrecy be- came a line of guidance to the companions in Babylonia, and they trans- mitted it to the generations of Ge’onim who came after them, binding them to strictly observe it in all the times to come. The Zohar is writ- ten in the Aramaic, the Targumatic language, and the Targums them- selves are mystical; to intimate that it is not delivered for a revelation of its contents to mankind in general, but is covered in its appearance, as it really is, and is in the dress of the lower degrees, that of the ” a’hora- yim, i.e., the hinder or back part, as distinguished from the face or front, the Sacred or Hebrew tongue ; in other words, the doctrine contained in the Zohar is the manifestation of God by the exterior or visible word, but the divinely mystical and concealed, is to be ascertained and read between the lines of the same.* As the Gaon R. Abraham, called the Great Rabbi, states in his Commentary on the Siphrah D’Tznioothah, at the end, ” Even in our age we have only been able to reach to the heel of the World of ‘A*see-yah, /. e., the World of Action or Making, the lowest ; hence the great number of skeptical adversaries, etc. , and what- ever we speak in regard, to Adam Qadmon, /. e., the Primordial Ideation Adam, and of A’tzeelah, /. e.y World of Emanation, of Bree-ah, /. e., World of Creation, of Ye’tzee-rah, /. e.y World of Formation, and of A’see-yah, continually takes place in all the Worlds of the universe ; and so all the investigations are in conformity therewith and merely investi- gations of the extreme a^ hora-yim, i, e., back, and not clearly defined; hence the parabolical and allegorical language, which the opponents (the uninitiated) do not in any way understand. ‘ ‘ The same is in Daniel. Its beginning is in Hebrew, like all the writings of the Prophets, till chapter ii, 4, where ” the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic,** for that which follows are the words spoken in the presence of the king, the words of the kings and the dreams are written in Ara- maic, in the tongue in which they were spoken. So in Ezra iv, v and vi, the words of the kings being there literally quoted, all matters con- nected therewith are in Aramaic. In Daniel, the words of the Prophet are in Hebrew, as was usual with the words of all the Prophets, except * Comp. Exod. xxxiii, 23. A similar word in Latin, is Tergum^ the back, that opposite to the face or front. 54 in the vii chapter, where Daniel’s dream is related in Aramaic, the recital of the dream over, the language again is in Hebrew. This Luriah explains, as in full accord with that which he has before stated. Another reason for the Aramaic may be, the Siphrah D’Tznioothah and the Idroth Rabbah and Zootah, contain the fundamental principles of the entire Qabbalah, being, as it were, the Mishnah of the Zohar, and their very starting point is in Daniel, and in the verse ” The Ancient of Days did sit, and his garment was like white snow, and the whiteness of the hair of his head like pure wool.” These words being the basis of these three books are, so to speak, the text of the whole, and as they are in Aramaic, the whole structure, in conformity with this basis, is in Aramaic also, hence the Aramaic language of the Zohar. The Qabbalistic matters are discyssed in other books in Aramaic, as in the Sepher Ham-maggidi.e.^ the Reporter to the Beth Yoseph, and in the book B’ rith Me’ nu”‘ hah, i.e.. Covenant of Rest, so in many other books. Much more is said by David Luriah which space prevents our giving, but until the writings of Luriah and Konitz are fully disproved, most of the contents of the Zohar and Zoharic books may be considered, as indeed is evident from a comparison of their style and content, with the Sacred Books of other Oriental peo- ples, to be very ancient. The language of the Zoharic writings sometimes elevates itself to much grandeur of thought, but in other places it descends to sentiments and ideas’which reveal puerility, and alongside of ideas which by their simpli- city and enthusiasm, take rank with the highest period of Hebrew intel- lectuality as we find it in the Old Testament, is a knowledge which ap- proaches the ignorance of its lowest period. In its contents we will how- ever, discover much in accord with the Archaic Oriental thought-world, especially that of Mesopotamia, Persia, India, Egypt and China, as we now have their ancient literature in fragments. The two Talmuds do not mention the Zoharic writings by name, but frequently refer to the Secret Learning and to ideas, which we find in them ; so also many of the formulations to be found in the Talmudim are to be found in the Zoharic writings. III. ANTIQUITY OF THE ZOHARIC WRITINGS, CONTINUED. OBJECTIONS TO THEIR ANTIQUITY BY DR. HIRSCH GRAETZ, DR. CHRISTIAN D. GINS- BURG AND OTHERS, CONSIDERED. SOME QUOTATIONS FROM THE ZOHARIC WRITINGS, ELUCIDATING PASSAGES IN THE NEW AND OLD TESTAMENTS. WE will now cite from some additional authors upon the subject : “The Zohar of which the rays enlighten the world, which con- tains the most profound mysteries of the Thorah and Qabbalah, is not the work of R. Shim-on ben Yo’haT, although it has been published under his name ; but it is from his words that it has been redacted by his disciples, who themselves intrusted to other (subsequent) disciples the care of continuing their task. The words of the Zohar, from them, are most conformable to the truth, written as they are by men who have lived sufficiently late to know the Mishnah, and all the decisions, and precepts of the Oral Law. This book was not divulged until after the death of R. Moses ben Na’hman, or Nachmanides,* and R. Asher, who have not known it.*’ f A dispute has arisen as to the versions of the Yu’hasin. Franck J used the version of Cracow. A version was printed in 1566 at Constantinople. ♦Flourished circa 1200-circa 1272. fSepher Yu’hasin, i. c, Book of the Genealogies, pp. 42-43, translated from the French, as given by Franck, La Kabbahy p. 92. The author of this book was R. Moses Abraham b. Samuel Zakut or Sacuto. He was living at Saragossa in 1492. Compare Jerusalem and Tiberias, by J. W. Etheridge. London. 1856. pp. 451-2. Lehr- buck der j&dischen Geschichte und Liter atur von David Cassel, Leipzig. 1879. PP* 330, 397, 449. Geschichte der judischen LiUratur von Gustav KarpeUs. Berlin. 1886. p. 863, sqq, John Christ. Wolf, Bibliotheca Hebroca^ Vol. i, p. 104 et seq. X La KabbaUf p. 92, etc. 56 E. Carraoly* takes Franck to task for not using the edition of 1566, and gives an alleged version of that edition in French, f Dr. Hirsch Graetz J gives a version in Hebrew, from the reprint of the Constantino- ple edition, by Filipowski, London, 1857, of this Dr. Christian D. Gins- burg, § gives a very one-sided and mutilated translation. Dr. Graetz’ s quotation in Hebrew, is much more extensive and favorable to the antiquity of the Zohar, than Carmoly’s French translation. Since then, Heinrich Ellenberger has taken Dr. Graetz to task for his unfair arguments against the Qabbalah and the Zohar, || and among other things, says : ** The appeal by Dr. Graetz to the Sepher Yu’hasin, where it says : p. 42 : * He (Shim-on b. Yo*hai) has not made the Zohar,’ is not tenable, for in the following sentence it, the Sepher Yu’hasin, says: * But his disciples, his son, and the disciples of his disciples, were the authors according to the tradition descended to them !’ *’ The whole passage quoted by Dr. Graetz from the book Yu’hasin, ed. 1857, London, is one of the main points against the antiquity of the Zohar, yet Dr. Graetz is compelled in his history to say :^ *’ How the credibility of Isaac of Acco has contented itself with these evidences, cannot be decided, as the end is missing. Apparently he was in the end convinced of the genuineness of the Zohar ^ as he wove into his (book) Me*-irath Enayim, i. e,, Enlightenment of the EyeSf many Zoharistic ideas, *^ In the statement above cited Isaac of Acco is alleged to have said : that R. Moses de Leon told him at Val- ladolid in Spain, under oath, that he, de Leon, had the book Zohar in MSS. at his home in Avila, and would show it to him there. R. Moses de Leon started for his home, but on the way, died at Arevolo. Then Isaac goes to Avila, where he meets a relative of de Leon, but evidently an enemy, named R. David Rafon of Corfu, who says: ” R. M. de Leon is a spendthrift, who earns a great deal of money from his writings, but * Itiniraires de la Terre Sainte des xiii, xiv, etc. Hide, Bruxelles. 1847. p. 272 et seq, t Ibid, X Geschichte der fuden, vii, p. 490 et seq, I The Kabbalah, etc. London. 1865. pp. 90-91. I Offenbarung^ Kabbalah^ Magnetismus und Spiritumus^ etc, Euda-Pesth, 1880, p. 19. \ Work cited, vii, p. 492. 57 makes up the Zohar out of his head, and he treats his wife and daughter badly.” Finding de Leon had died, Isaac, with the assistance of a wealthy man, R. Joseph di Avila and his wife, tries to surreptitiously get the MSS. of the Zohar, from the widow and daughter of de Leon, but is not successful. He then leaves Avila and goes to Talavera, and at that place meets “R. Joseph Hallevy, son of Todros, the Qabbalist,” and asks him about the Zohar. The latter says: ” Know thou and believe, that the Zohar by R. Shim-on ben Yo’hai was in the hands of R. Moses, who copied from it for whomsoever he liked,” and tells Isaac, how he, Joseph^ had conclusively proved this fact. Isaac then goes to Toletola (Toledo) where he ** learned from some of the scholars, that they had seen an old man and prominent disciple of R. Moses de Leon, of the name of R. Jacob, who testified by heaven and earth, that the book Zohar y of which R. Shim-on b, Yo’hat is the author — ” This ends the statement. It must be noted that it commences ‘* R. Isaac of (the city of) Acco (in which the Jews were massacred 1291 A.D.) was in Novara, in Italy, after the capture of Acco, from which he escaped, where he heard that there was in Spain a Rabbin in possession of the book Zohar ; and having written a Qab- balistic book himself, he was anxious to see the Zohar written by R^ Shim-on b. Yo’hat, and R. EVazar, his son, in a cavern,^ ^^ If it is written in the Ye” rushalmetic idiom ^ he says, it is genuine ^ but if in Hebrew not.” Then he, Isaac, went to Spain. ” At last I learned that Moses Nachmanides had sent the book (Zohar) from Palestine to Catalonia to his son, but the wind carried it (the ship) to Aragonia (some say to Alicante) where the book fell into the hands of R. Moses de Leon.” We must not forget, Moses de Leon, born 1250, died 1305. Carmoly says: ” Here is what we find in the edition of Constantinople, year 5053 A. M., 1293 A. D. I do not cite the page because the first edition is not paged, the spoken of R. Moses de Leon was living at the time (1293).” t The statement in Yu’hasin also refers to a period after de *This statement of itself is curious, there is nothing in the Zohar to show that it was written in a cavern. The cavern was only the place in which they studied and hid themselves during the Roman proscription. The next statement is equally strange ;. indeed, the whole passage in Yu’hasin bears the appearance of untruth. t Carmoly says M. d. Leon died 1293. Itintraires^ etc., p. 278. 58 Leon’s death, 1305-1293=12 years. How does this accord with the account ? Isaac of Acco was a disciple of Nachmanides, and wrote little treatises on the miracles he performed as a Practical Qabbalist, by means of the transposition and combination of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which system he alleged he had learned from angels, who came to him with revelations of mysteries. He has had much to do with that part of the Practical Qabbalah, which asserts that wondrous results will follow from the use, by the adepts, of the Hebrew holy Names of the Deity.* Of the book ” Yu’hasin,” edition of Constantinople, 1566, Jost saysrf ”It is more complete than the Cracow and Amsterdam editions, but in- correct j and to be used only with the greatest circumspection,^^ Concerning the reproduction of Acco’s story in the Mitpa’hath Se’pharim, by Yabetz, which we have before mentioned, R. Azulai in his Ma-a’ rekheth Se’pha- rinty 2nd part of the book, of which the ist is called Ma-aWekheth ge^doliniy and above cited; p. zoa^ heading Zohar, says: “In looking over the contents of the Mitpa-hath Se’pharim, which I recently received, I was astonished to find, that the Than-nah (R. S. b. Yo*hai) should be asserted as not the author of any part of the Zohar, whereas our * lions of the Thorah,* R. Moses d. Cordovero and R. Yitz’haq Luriah, most strenuously contradict this, and are followed by many exalted saints. Therefore it seems to me, that also the Rabbi (Yabetz) himself was aware of the contents of the Zohar to be truth and perfection, but in his zeal against that accursed set of transgressors of the statutes of the Beth Din, which ‘ clings to the various expressions of the Zohar in a false and lying way, he chose to oppose it, in order to crush them, for God’s sake !” which view seems indeed very plausible. As regards the re-publication of Isaac of Acco’s story by a R. Elikom of Se’mila, in his book Rabiyah, at Ofen (Buda Pesth), 1837, we may remark that it contains alterations which suffice to show little dependence can be placed upon it. If we take the account from Yu’hasin, we have the following results : I. R. Isaac of Acco, believes in the antiquity and authenticity of that part of the Zohar written in Aramaic, and that it comes from R. S. b. Yo’haT, and his school. ‘ * See Ma-a’rekheth g^ doiim, by Azulai, 47^. \ Allgem, Geschichte d, Judischen Volkes^ Vol. ii, p. 420. 59 2. He was familiar with the existence of the book whilst in Novara, about 1 291 A. D., during the life-time of M. d. Leon, and from the statement just formulated, appears to have had knowledge of the Zohar in Syria. 3. He goes to Spain, to inquire how this book by R. S. b. Yo’hai has become known in his time. 4. Among the conflicting statements was also that of the alleged spu- riousness of the book. 5. He meets R. M. d. Leon in Valadolid, who^ on his oath, assures him that he, M. de L., possesses the original book of the Zohar, and was perfectly willing to show it to hiniy when he would visit Avila. This was shortly before M. d. LeoiTs death (1305 A. D.), at which time the 2k)har was so well known, and so thoroughly studied in countries foreign to Spain, that the belief in M. d. Leon’s authorship stands on a par with the statement in Yu’hasin, that he wrote it under the guidance of the Shem ko’thedy i. e. , the Writing Name, or the angel superintending writing. 6. The old man, R. David Raphon Ke’robo or Daphon Korpo, or Rafon of Corfu, who knew so much as to be able to say, *’ that the book Zohar does not anywhere exist,” is an imaginary figure in the story. 7. The trick that Isaac endeavored to play on the widow and orphan, with the aid of R. Joseph the rich man of Avila and his wife, is weak, and seems to have too many women mixed up >vith it.
8. Is it possible that the very M. d. Leon, who, according to this
account, neglected his wife and daughter, should have taken them into
the secret of the fraud he was daily committing, to get money to spend
and throw away upon himself without giving them any support?
9. If the wife and daughter did disclose this secret, why did they not
show the MSS. written by M. d, Leon himself? Why did the astute rich
man and the deceitful Rabbi not ask for it, so that they might be sure of
the forgeries and expose them ?
10. Who has ever seen this large MSS. ? Where is it?
11. The ending of the account in Yu’hasin is very strange, very sus-
picious. The whole story is only hearsay, weak, and crumbles into
nothing, like the other futile objections made against the antiquity of the
Zohar.
6o
It is alleged by those who say that Moses de Leon forged the Zohar,
that the five books undoubtedly written by M. d. L., do not show any
literary merit, that he does not in any of them enter into the depth or
spirit of the Qabbalah, that he was even deficient in a knowledge of the
Talmudim. That M. d. L. traveled very much in his life, having lived
in Guadalah, Vevira, Valladolid and lastly in Avila ; that he was a great
spendthrift, and very fond of worldly enjoyments, and he was so poor
that he was continually compelled to write for his daily bread. M. d. L.
first wrote the Shushan Ha-edooth^ i. e., Lily of the Testimony, 1285 ;
then the Sepher Ha-rimmon, /. ^., The Book of the Pomegranate, 1287 ;
three years later, 1290, the Nephesh Hah- hokhmah, i, e., The Soul of
Wisdom, also called, Sepher Hamrtnishqal^ i. e., The Book of the Balance,
which has been published in Basle, 1608. Sepher Sheqel Haq-qodesh^
t, e,y Book of the Sacred Shekel, 1292. Sepher Has-sodoth, />., Book of
the Secrets, Mishkan Ha-edoothy /. ^., Tabernacle of the Testimony,
1293. He appears to have also written a Sepher has-Shem.^ These were
written in Hebrew, but the Zohar and Zoharic books are mostly in
the Aramaic. Here we have numerous books written by this alleged
superficially learned man, and this ignoramus has also, it is said, the
ability to write the immense and very learned book on the Secret
Learning, the Zohar, and the other books bound up with it. The books
we have quoted as by M. d. L. were written by him, between 1 285 and
1 293, the period when the opponents of the antiquity of the Zohar say,
the author was living a reckless life, traveling from place to place. Let us
admit he was one year preparing the first book, it then took nine years
for him to write these works in Hebrew, the language in which the
Jewish learned men of this period usually wrote, the exception being
the Arabic. They never wrote books at this time in Aramaic, but
understood it as the language of the Talmudim. The Zohar is a volumi-
nous work, larger than all the books admitted to be by M. de Leon put
together, and they took nine years for their composition, and it would
have taken, had he the ability to have written it, twelve to fifteen years
♦ Comp. Pardes Rimmonun by R. Moses Cordovero, fol. i loa , col. I , in Sha-ar has-
Shemothf 1. ^., Gate of the Names, and Sha-ar hat-Tsinnoroth, i. e.. Gate of the Chan-
nels or canals.
6i
to have written the Zohar. M. d. L. died 1305, and he would have to
have begun it about 1290. Then he did not only write it in this time,
but according to Drs. Graetz, Jellinek, and Ginsburg, he ‘^copied and
sold it, to rich and learned men at a high price.*’ Now the art of print-
ing was not yet invented, yet a book written in Avila, in Spain, and
then secretly copied only by the author, for sale, occupies a prominent
place in the libraries of the rich and learned of other cities of Spain,
Italy and even Germany, at almost the same time. The rich were all
ready to pay M. d. L. money for his uncertain forged wares, the learned
were too credulous and too ignorant to discover his fraud, and expose
the forger. What a slur upon the learning of the Rabbins of the Xlllth
and XlVth centuries, who were led astray by this prodigal, this unlearned
and inferior writer, who was of such bad reputation and of such an
equivocal standing in the learned world around him ! The opposers also
strangely assert, that all passages where the name of ** Moses*’ is
-expressed or mysteriously indicated, are evidence that M. d. L. wanted
ihe intelligent reader to understand ^ that he, M. d, Z., was the author of
Zohar, and yet wanted to pass it off as the genuine work of R. Shim-on
b. Yo’hai. The learned historian. Dr. J. M. Jost says:* ”The passion
for systems aroused by the school of Aristotle, and the production of
many works on the philosophy of ethics and theosophy by the Rabbis in
general, seized the minds of the adherents of Occult Science very vividly,
especially during the Crusades. The Kabbalah began to be written down,
and the book Zohar, in its present form, a production of the XII century,
represented the Kabbalah more extensively in the usual way. The diffi-
culty in the understanding of the symbols and the terms therein, excited
the activity of many Rabbins, especially of Spain and France. ‘ ‘ He also
saysif *’AVhether the books, referred to in the Zohar, be merely ficti-
tious is not decided ; the work contains the most sublime symbolism and
develops in a very inferior language, and through an excessive amount of
symbol ization of the Jewish Laws, as well as of visible nature, an uncom-
monly profound religious doctrine, which it was the intention to protect by
that thick veiiy
Another writer, Gedalyah ibn Yachia ben Don Yosef, of Imola {circa
♦ Geschichte d, Jftdischen Volkes, ii, p. 293.
‘\ Ibid, p. 123.
62
1 5 23-1 5 88), in his ShahheUth haq-Qabdalah, i, e,, Chain of Tradition,
begun at Ravenna, 1549, says:* ”Towards the end of the year 5050 of
the Creation (1290 A.D,), several persons existed, who asserted that all
the parts of the Zohar, written in the dialect of Yerusalem (the Talmudi-
cal dialect), were the composition of R. Shim-on ben Yo*haT, but that all
which are in the sacred language (pure Hebrew) ought not to be attrib-
uted to him. Others affirmed that R. Moses ben Na*h-man (Nachman-
ides), having made the discovery of this book (the Zohar) in the holy
land, sent it to Catalonia (in Spain), from which it passed into Arragon
and fell into the hands of R. Moses de Leon. Finally several others have
thought that this Moses de Leon was a learned man, who found all these
commentaries in his own imagination, and that in order to draw by it
great sums from the learned, he published it under the name of R.
Shim-on ben Yo’haT and his companions. They add that he acted thus,
because he was poor and weighed down with expenses.*’ t
“As for me,’* says the author, Gedalyah, ” I think that all these opin-
ions have not any foundation, but R. Shim-on ben Yo’hai and his sacred
society have really said all these things and besides many others ; only
they were not able to have the same conveniently written down at that
time, but after having been disseminated a long time in several copies,
they were finally collected and put in order (redacted).’*
‘* This is not a matter to be surprised at ; because it was in this man-
ner that our master, Ye’hudah, the Holy, has redacted the Mishnah, from
different manuscripts which had been before this, scattered to the four
quarters of the earth. It was also in this manner that R. Ashi has com-
posed the Gemarah.**
♦ Ed. of Amsterdam, fol. 23 a and b,
f This may have been partly taken from the account said to have been given by
Isaac of Acco and published in Yu’hasin, originally to be found only in the ancient edi-
tion of Constantinople, which is exceedingly rare. It had been left out of all subsequent
editions, until Filipowski reintroduced it in 1857, in his London edition, pp. 85-95.
Comp. Landauer*s objection to this record. Literaturblatt des Orients^ 1 845, Vol. vi, col.
Til et seq. Dr. Graetz is compelled to acknowledge that Isaac of Acco : ” Was in the
end convinced of the genuineness of the Zohar as he wove into his Me’-irath Enayim, />.,
Enlightenment of the Eyes, manifold Zoharist ideas. His writings in which the above
record was originally imparted, appear to have been lost.’* The whole account by
63
The learned Dr. S. M. Schiller-Szinessy, Reader in Rabbinic and Tal-
mudic, in the University of Cambridge, in his late able essay on the
Midrashim,* which we have only at this moment seen, says : ‘* The nu-
cleus of the book (Zohar) is of Mishnic times, R. Shim* eon b. Yohai was
the author of the Zohar in the same sense that R. Yohanan was the author
of the Palestinian Talmud, /. ^., he gave the first impulse to the composi-
tion of the book. But R. Mosheh of Leon, on the other hand, was the
first not only to copy and disseminate the Zohar in Europe, but also to
disfigure it by sundry explanatory interpolations.*’ “The Zohar was
begun in Palestine late in the lid or early in the Hid century A. D. and
finished at the latest in the Vlth or the Vllth century. // is iftipossibU
that it should have been composed after that time and before the Renais-
sance, as both language and contents clearly show. * * This view is also
indorsed in The Speaker’s Commentary. It says,t among other things,
the language shows that the Zoharic writings were composed in Palestine,
but in the Jerusalem Talmud § Synhedrim iii, 9, Ed, princeps iii, 10, it
is forbidden to carry books belonging to Palestine unto places ” without
the land.** The Zoharic writings were without doubt sent by Nachman-
ides — flour. 1267 — to his son and to his disciples in Spain. On one of
Moses de Leon’s MSS. now in the Cambridge University Library, he, M.
de L., endorses “And I adjure every one who should deeply study this
book, or who should copy it, or read it, that he do not blot out my name
from my property (inheritance), iox I have composed it.” Is it likely,
says Dr. Szinessy, after such vanity he would have written the Zohar and
ascribed it to any one else? The Doctor also terms him, an “inferior
cabbalist.”
In the Zoharic writings it is rarely R. Shim-on who speaks, the Qabba-
listic doctrines come from the mouth of the companions, who after his
Isaac of Acco has the appearance of a forgery, but Dr. Graetz slaps at the Qabbalists by
saying: ” Possibly the Kabbalists destroyed them.” (Dr. Graetz, GeschichU dir Jtiden,
Vol. vii, p. 492.)
♦Encyclop. Britannica, 9 Ed. Edinburgh, 1883, Vol. xvi, p. 286 H seq.
fThe Holy Bible according to the authorized version (A. D. 161 1), with an Explan-
atory and Critical Commentary, and a Revision of the Translation by Bishops and other
clergy of the Anglican Church. Edited by F. C. Cook, M.A., Canon of Exeter, Chap-
lain in ordinary 10 the Queen, etc. New Testament, Vol. iv, p. 388.
64
death, again reunite themselves, to communicate to each other their recol-
lections, and to instruct themselves reciprocally in the Qabbalistic Secret
Science. To themselves they apply the Scripture verse ” How beautiful
it is to see the brothers remain united.*’*
The companions always have before them the Holy Writings of the
Thorah, when either rising up or lying down, f
The great critic R. Azzaryah Min Ha-adomim dei Rossi ox Rubeisy *’ of
the red ones,*’ of Ferrara — flourished 1513-1577 A. D. — author oi Me’or
Ainayinty i.e.y The Light of the Eyes, J followed the teachings of the Zohar
as regards the antiquity of the vowel points. He knew the book Yu*hasin,
for in his book Me’tsareph rkesephy /. e.y The Refiner of Silver, § i, ch.
2, he says : ‘* The book Shalsheleth Jfaq-Qabalah, /. e,y Chain of the Tra-
dition, /. e,, Qabbalah, was published at the time of the Sepher Yu^hasin,
which came from the great city Constantina.** Dei Rossi saw the un-
truthfulness apparent in the statement in the book Yu*hasin, as to the
modern composition of the Zohar, and therefore did not follow it.
The erudite Rev. Dr. Peter Allix,§ and the Rev. Thomas Maurice, ||
also favour the Zohar as an early book. We refer the reader to
the writings cited or which will be hereafter cited, also to the
work of Joel, Die Religionsphilosophie des Sohar, Leipzig, 1849 > ^^^
*Ps. cxxxiii, I. Zohar iii, 59^.
f Zohar, Part I, fol. 115^. The following additional writers favour the antiq-
uity of the Zohar : J. Satanow, in his, Kontros Sepher haz-Zohar^ i. e., Folio of the
Book Zohar. Berlin. 1783. J. Hamburger. Real- Encyclopadie fur Bibel und Talmud^
etc. Part i. 1870 Strelitz in Mecklenburg, ii. 1883 in same, Supplement, Leipzig,
1886. Be’hai ben Asher, pupil of R. Solomon b. Abraham ben Adereth (1234-13 10
A. D.), acrostically RaShBA, who in his Pentateuch Commentary of 129 1 A. D. quotes
many passages under the name of Midrash of Rabbi Shim -on b. Yo’haT, which may
be found in the Zohar. Comp. Lev. xxi, 22, and Zohar iii, p. 1 14. Rayah Me’hem-
nab. In the beginning of his Commentary, he says : ” And in the Midrash of R.
Shim-on ben Yo-hal I have seen « And a bird * this is Michael, * upon the earth * this
is Raphael. Compare Zohar i, p. 46^, and many other places.
X Mantua, 1574-75. See Kitto’s Cyclop. Biblical Liter., Ed. 1876, iii, pp. 702-3.
2 The Judgment of the Ancient Jewish Church against the Unitarians in the contro-
versy, etc. 2nd ed. Oxford, 1821.
Indian Antiquities, etc. London, 1800, Vol. iv.
65
learned Jesuit Athanasius Kircher’s (Edipi j^gyptiaci. JRomce, 1653 ;
Tomus SecunduSy Partis Prima ^ pp. 209-400 ; Dr. I. M. Jest’s Geschichte
des Judenthums und seiner Secten^ Leipzig, 1859, Vol. iii; and especially
to the greatest work on the Qabbalah of this cenfhry, the Philosophie der
Geschichte oder iiber die Tradition^ in four volumes, Vol. i, ist ed. 1827,
2nd ed. 1857 ; Vol. ii, 1834; Vol. iii, 1839; Vol. iv, Part i, 1853, 8vo.
Miinster, by the learned Roman Catholic Franz Joseph Molitor. The
fault of Molitor is, that he follows too closely the school of the Modern
Qabbalah, that of Yitz*haq Luriah, Cordovero, etc., and not that of the
school of the early Qabbalah and the Zohar, which is that in the greatest
accord with the New Testament, and writings of the Fathers of the
Christian Church. Baron Christian Knorr von Rosenroth*s great work,
the Kabbala Denudata, 167 7-1 684, is of value to the student, who has
mastered the rudiments of this philosophy. He also follows too closely
the Modern Qabbalah. There are a great many other works we can
refer to, but will, not weary the reader by a list.
Dr. Christian D. Ginsburg* has attacked the age and authenticity of
the Zohar, in thirteen objections, in which are condensed those of
Graetz, Beer, Jellinek, Steinschneider, Geiger, M. Sachs, Yabetz, Morin,
etc., etc. We will take up his objections seriatim.
I. The first has been partly answered by Konitz and our note to page
25 ante.’f Shim-on b. Yo’hai’ did not write the Zohar, it was the produc-
tion of his school, and because the disciples termed him in one or two
places BoO’tseenah Ke^doshah, i, e., the sacred light, that is not evidence
against the general authenticity of the Zoharic writings. Similar phrases
are very usual in Oriental imagery and are frequent in both the O. T. and
N. T. Compare Works of Rev. John Gregorie. 4th ed. London, 1684,
p. 109 et seq.^ and Kitto’s Cyclop. Biblical Liter., ii, 832 et seq.
IL That the Zoharic writings mention the Hebrew vowel points.
If the Zohar was not completely finished until about the Vlth or the
Vllth century, by the school of R. Shim-on b. Yo’haT, ample time
• The Kabbalah, its Doctrines, Development and Literature. An Essay, by Christian
D. Ginsburg, LL.D. Read October 19th, 1863; reprinted, London, 1865. Also Kitto’s
Cyclop. Biblical Liter. II, pp. 699-703. Encyclop. Britannica and other works.
I See our synopsis, ante pp. 23-26.
5
66
existed to put into it the results of the centuries previous. The subject of
the origin of the symbolism of the Hebrew vowel points, in the form we
now have them, is one of much difficulty, has caused great disputes among
the learned for centuries, and is not yet settled. The result we think may
be summed up: i. All Hebrew writing must have been in some way
vowelized from its commencement in the very earliest period. It is, as
are all the Semitic languages, written in consonantal form, and the vowels,
which are the life and soul of it, are necessary to every language. The
difficulty has been, that so far very ancient examples of pointed Hebrew
have not been found in any old MSS. dating before 916 A. D. nor any
* monuments of it before the Vlth century. It is asserted by Dr. Ginsburg,
that the Rabbins of the school of Tiberias invented the vowel points, and
that they were introduced for the first time by the Karaite R. Mocha, of
Palestine, whom, he says, flourished circa A. D. 570,* to facilitate the
reading of the Scriptures for the use of his students. We think that
they only applied and propagated, but did not invent the points. f The
subject is one of so much difficulty and of such a length, that we will put
it in an Appendix. See however, ante pp. 26-30.
III. The Zohar in the Rayah Me’hemnah, /. e,, Faithful Shepherd ;
§ Qe^doshinij Part iii, 82^, has nearly the same words, as are in the Kether
Malkhuth of Ibn Gebirol, which forms part of the Polish Jewish
Service for the evening preceding the day of Atonement, J as follows :
‘* And moon and sun remained like a body without a soul, the master
over them having darkened their lights.” Zohar. The Kether Malkhuth
merely says, ‘* But there is a master over them darkening their lights. *’§
Dr. Ginsburg quotes Michael Sachs || to show this, but he might also have
stated that the context of the Zohar is complete without these words, indeed
they appear as an addition out of place. If appropriate here, and Moses
♦Others say, 780-800 A. D.
f Com p. Des points-voyelles dans les langues Simitiques par Mohe Schiifab, in Ac Us de
la SocicU philologique^ torn, viii^ fasicuU ^, annie 1877. Paris, 1879, § v, p. 201-2.
Also Pinsker in Liqqute Kadmoniyoth. Vienna, i860, pp. 42-43 and Appendix.
X See ante p. 2 et seq,
\ See Dr. D. H. Joel. Die Religions-philosophie des Sohar^ etc. Leipzig, 1 849. p. 63.
II Die Relij^ose Poesie der Juden in Spanien, Berlin, 1 845, p. 229, Note 2.
67
de Leon was the author of the Zoharic writings, with intent to deceive^
would he not have turned these words into the Aramaic and made them
part of the original ?
The Rayah Me’hemnah, only a fragment bound up with the Zohar
proper, has been considered as one of the later books, and to have been
originally written in Hebrew and then translated into the Aramaic. We
have shown Ibn Gebirol lived 1020-1070 A. D., and had means of access
to the original Qabbalistic authorities, and we shall hereafter show, that
much in his philosophical writings is in accord with that set forth in the
Zoharic books. Admitting however, that the redactor of the Zoharic
manuscripts published with the Rayah a marginal note, it is evident that
it was not intended to deceive, for it- was given in the Hebrew and the
rest of the Rayah is in Chaldaic, nor is a mere interpolation, ad-
mitting that this is one, any evidence of modern authorship. Gebirol
lived over 225 years before the giving out to the uninitiated of the
Zoharic writings. Ibn Gebirol even alludes to the Qabbalah E’ eyooneth^
/. ^., the Speculative or Theoretical Qabbalah in his Tiqqoon Middoth
han-Nephesh, A. D. 1045, and Hay Gaon — 987-1038 A. D alludes to
the Qabbalah Ma-a’seeth, /. e., the Practical Qabbalah.*
IV. The Zoharf quotes and explains the in terchange, on the outside
of the Me’zuzzah,J of the letters ^m TDD1D3 ITD KhVZV Be’MVKhSZ
KhVZV instead of hct irnSx mn^ YHVH ELoHENU YHVH
introduced into Spain from France, at the end of the fifth Thousand
circa 1240. This is an instance of the permutation or transmutation of
letters according to the old system of Hebrew exegesis called Ab-bag’gad,%
which was known even in the time of the Old Testament, and hence was
♦ Landauer in the Literaturblatt des Orients. 1845. No. 13.
t Part i, 18^/ 23«.
X The Me’zuzzah is a piece of parchment upon which is written ; Deut. vi, 4-9; xi,
13-21, it is then put into a hollow cylinder or reed, which is affixed to the right hand
door-post of every door, in the dwelling-houses of the Jews. Comp. Kitto’s Cyclop.
Biblical Liter. Ed. 1876. s. v. Mezuza, pp. 152-3.
I Comp. Ginsburg,.work cited, p. 50 note, and p. 54-55. Kitto*s Cyclop. Biblical Liter.,
Ed. 1876, Vol. i, p. 258. Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica^ Pars, iv, p. 230^/ seq. Historical
and Critical Comment, on Eccle»iastes by C. D. Ginsburg, 1 861, p. 30 et seq, Molitor.
Philos. der Geschickte oder uber die Tradition^ Milnster, Ed. 1 857. Vol. i, p. 55 et seq.
68
not any innovation by the French Rabbins, who were in the Xlllth cen-
tury, antagonized by the Spanish Rabbins, and not likely to influence the
latter’s religious teachings. In the cited places in the Zohar* where these
letters occur, the Me’zuzzah is not spoken of at all ; and where the
Me’zuzzah as a Biblical commandment is spoken of in the Zohar,f there
is not any allusion to these letters. How the above statement came into
the learned Doctor’s mind we do not see, however he has cited an author-
ity which we have not at hand.
V. Another objection is that the Zohar J says : ” The She* kheen-ah is
light and light belongs to fire, whence it is that the house of meeting is called
Esh Nogahy />. , a shining fire, or, brilliant light. ‘ ‘ In the original there is a
transposition of letters, and without kn understanding of this, the logical
** whence*’ cannot be understood, it may be explained as follows : She’
kheen-ah, in Hebrew r^yyo reads in the Zohar KnjOB^ She” khintahy and
the ** house of meeting” is in Hebrew nDJDH n’3 Beth hak k’nesethy and
reads in the Zohar KnB^’JD ‘3 Bai k’ nishiah ; hence the transmutation of
She’kintah and K’nishtah, /. ^., KnrDBr and xna^^JD, from which Esh
nogah, L e,, shining light, as a name for the latter in consequence of its
being of the nature of the former. So it says in the Tiqqooneh haz-Zohar 6a :
** The * house of prayer * of above is * Esh nogah * and * My house ‘ below,
is, a meeting house.” Compare Isaiah Ivi, 7, ** Mine house,” ^n^a Bcu’thee
shall be called a ”house of prayer,” in Hebrew nSan rr2 Beth Te’-
phillahy and in the Zohar KnB^’JD “D Bat k’nishtah. We must take note
of the former explanation here. Compare also Jerem. xxiii, 29. Dr.
Ginsburg has not followed this out. The objection is based on the idea
that the word Esh nogah {Esnogd) is a Portuguese word, a corruption of
the word Synagogue, and therefore a mistake in the Zohar, coming
from Moses de Leon, as a Spaniard and the author of the Zohar ; but
the Portuguese word for synagogue is not Estioga but Synagogay and in
Italian Sinagoga. The word Esnoga, however, is a Portuguese Jewish
term for the Jewish ** house of prayer,” and as such, it passed over to and
is used also by the Portuguese Christians, In the same manner the
♦ Part i, p. 18^ and 23a.
f Part iii, 263^ and 269^. Deut. vi, 9; xi, 20,
X Part iii, 282a. The Rayah Me*hemnah
69
German Jewish Schule, and the Italian scuola^ i. e.y school for syna-
gogue (the synagogue being really a school for the adult, the Beth^
hammidrashy i, e,y House of Learning or School for Learning,
anciently, so Schule and scuold) passed over to and is used by, the Chris-
tians of Germany and Italy, to designate a synagogue. But in correct
German, synagogue is SynagogCy in Portugal and Spain synagoga, and in
Italy we have sinagoga,
VI. “The Zohar, Part ii, 32a, mentions the Crusades, the momentary
taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders from the Infidels, and the retaking
of it by the Saracens.***
In* the rVth Branch of Luriah’s book cited, f he shows from statements
in the Zohar, J ‘* after four hundred years shall exist (or rise) a sovereign
of the sons of Yishmael (the Arabs), etc, and it shall be given to him as
his portion (or, he shall have possession of) the holy land. * ‘ Omar, king
of the Arabs, conquered Jerusalem and the holy land in 397 of the fifth
thousand (4397 A. M. equals 637 A. D.), this happened 569 years after
the destruction of the second Temple, which occurred 1 73 years before
the close of the fourth thousand of years, hence there is 569 years be-
tween the destruction and that conquest, why did the Zohar say 400
♦ The Crusades were : — i. 1096: Jerusalem taken by assault, July 15. 1099: God-
frey de Bouillon, King of Jerusalem.
2. St. Bernard’s, 1 146, headed by Conrad II and Louis VII. Jerusalem lost to the
Crusaders, 1 187.
3. Frederick Barbarossa. Philip II, France; Richard I, England, 1 188- 1 190.
Ifruitless.
4. Henry VI. Successful 1195101197.
5. That of Pope Innocent III, 1 198. Baldwin of Flanders, attacks the Greeks and
takei: Constantinople (Byzantium), 120J.
6. 1 216: Frederick II obtains Jerusalem on a truce of 10 years.
7. St. Louis (the IX of France), 1248, defeated and taken prisoner at Mansourah,
April 8th ; 1250, ransomed; truce 10 years.
8. 1270, by the same, who died at Carthage, Aug. 2, 1270. Pnnce Edward (after
Edward I), of England, at Acre, 1 271. In 1291 the Sultan takes Acre and the Christ-
ians are driven out of Syria.
t Comp. ante p. 49.
X Part ii, end of \ Vayera, 32a, and compare what we have said anti p. 49.
70
years? Moses de Leon, if he wrote the Zohar, could have placed a
correct prediction in it, as the time of conquest, 637 A. D., was well
known in his day. Luriah says : The fact is, the passage in the Zohar
dates from the time of R. Shim-on ben Yo’hai and his companions. At
that time about 100 years had elapsed since the destruction of the second
Temple, hence there remained up to the Arab conquest 469 years, which
was taken at the round number 400 years. Those who endeavor to prove
the late writing of the Zohar from these facts, Luriah calls upon to explain
the other prediction in the same passage, *’ the holy land shall not be
delivered (or, remain) to the children of Edom,’* /. ^., the Christians.*
Would it have been difficult during the last centuries for the Christian
powers to have combined and conquered the holy land from the Turks,
had it not been intended by God that they should not have it ? We can
also say, would it not have been in accord with a writing by De Leon, to
have, from the evident to him growing power of the Christian sovereigns,
predicted such in the future ? Luriah says, it is evidently providential
that the sons of Yishmael (the son of Abraham) reign over Palestine, and
that the Christian powers of Europe should fail in reconquering and hold-
ing the holy land. Luriah says, the rest of the Yishmaelitic empire, and
the conquest from them by the branch of the Son of David, is mentioned
in the Firqeh (T Rabbi Eliezer^ which was written before the compilation
of either of the Talmudim.
The same idea is in the Mysteries of R. Shim-on b. Yo’hai.f In
La KabbalCfX Prof. Franck, alluding to the adverse criticisms as to
the antiquity of the Zohar and its authorship, says:§ ”Several
critics have thought that they observed, under the name Ishmaelites,
* Eklom at one time meant pagan Rome, then Byzantium, the capital taken for the
whole of the Eastern Roman Empire, then the Christians and modern Catholic Rome.
To this day, the people of Central Asia call the Sultan at Constantinople, the Sultan of
Rome.
t See Jellinek*s Bet ha-Midrasch. Dritter Theil^ p. xix et seq.
X La Kahbale ou la philosophie religietise des h^breux, par Ad, Franc k ^ prof esseur-
agtige a lafaailti des lettres de Paris ^ prof esseur de philosophie au colUge royal de Char-
lemagne, Paris, Libraire de P Hachette, Rue Pierre-sarratin, 12, 184.J.
{ P. 98 el seq.
71
a reference to the Mohammedan Arabs, whom all the writings pub-
lished by modern Jews designate under the same name * * *.
Here is that which a disciple of R. Shim-on b. Yo’hai claims to
have heard from the mouth of his Master : * Woe upon the moment in
which Yishmael saw the world, and received the sign of circumcision !
For what did the Holy One, whose Name he blessed ! do ? He excluded
the children of Yishmael {Be^nai Yishmael), from the heavenly union,
and gave them a portion below in the holy land on account of their cir-
cumcision ; thus the children of Yishmael are destined (or appointed,
ze^ mee-nin) to rule over the holy land, when it is vacated (or empty,
raiqua-yah) by all Israel, a long time, inasmuch (or, in proportion) as
their circumcision is also empty {raiqita-yahy i, ^., empty, imperfect) ;
and they will prevent the children of Israel {Be’nai Yisradl) from
returning to their place, until the merit of the children of Yishmael
(v. s.) shall be exhausted. And the children of Yishmael are destined
(ze^ mee-nin v, s.) to arouse terrible wars in the world, and to have the
children of Edom {Be’nai Edom^ gathered together against them, waging
war against them, one part at sea, another on land, and another near
Yerusalem ; and they will prevail one over the other, and the holy land
shall not be delivered to the children of Edom ‘* (Zohar ii, 32^?).
In order to understand the meaning of these lines, continues Franck,
it suffices to know, that the Jewish authors, /. e., those who wrote in
Hebrew, originally indicated by the name of Edom, pagan Rome, after-
wards Christian Rome and all Christian nations. As this passage cannot
refer to heathen Rome, the idea was to speak of the war of the Saracens
against the Christians, and even of the Crusades prior to the capture of
Yerusalem.’* So far Franck.* Franck is evidently inclined to ascribe
this to the interpolation of a later writer, for he finds R. Shim-on ben
Yo*hai*s teachings to be in the Zohar.
In the commentary by Abravanel, on Isaiah Ixiii, 6, is : ‘* Rabbi Yish-
maelf says : The children of Yishmael will wage three awful wars in the
latter days, as is said in Isaiah xxi, 15, * They flee from the sword.’
♦ Ibid. 99-1 cx).
f Who was a contemporary of R. Akecbah, the master of R, Shim-on ben Yo’hal.
72
The first war will be on land, as is said* ‘ from the drawn sword ‘; the
second will be at sea, according tof *And from the bent bow;’ and the
third will be in the Ke^ rakh gadol Shebba-Romi, /. ^., in the great city of
the Roman Empire, as it issaidj ‘and from the grievousness of war.’ ”
That the Zoharic version, substituting Jerusalem for Rome, is very similar
to this early prediction of R. Yishmael is quite apparent to the mind, but
in the latter, the reference also is apparently to Catholic Rome, or at
least Byzantium, for it is *’in the latter days;” /. e.^ it is at the time of
the redemption of Israel and her restoration to the holy land, that these
three wars are to occur. The Zohar may refer to pagan Rome or to
Byzantium, the Holy City of the Greek Church, but not necessarily to
the Mohammedans, for in the days of R. Yishmael the Mohammedans
did not exist. The ”children of Yishmael ” were the asserted descend-
ants of Abraham through the son of Hagar ; the ” children of Israel” the
descendants of Abraham through Isaac. The Mohammedans as ” children
of Yishmael” do not app)ear in history until centuries, some 500 years,
after R. Yishmael’s prediction, why apply the Zoharic prediction neces-
sarily to the Crusades ? The empire of Yishmael is mentioned in the
Talmud, which was redacted long before Mohammedanism ; it says : “It
is good to live under the government of Yishmael. Ҥ The name has
been applied to the Turks in Europe since 742 A. D., but long before
Mohammed, the Yishmael ite, the name “children of Yishmael ” desig-
nated all the asserted descendants of Yishmael, son of Abraham. This
fact must be kept in view by the student, for a proper understanding of
the Zoharic passage. Dr. Ginsburg makes this error, he quotes the
Zohar as saying, “descendants of Ishmael, /. ^., the Mohammedans,”
assuming the Zoharic reference to be to the followers of that religion, call-
ing them by the latter name no less than three times ;|| also always saying :
” the descendants of Ishmael ” instead of “children of Yishmael ” as it
“is written in the Zohar, his object apparently being, to convey the idea of
a more recent period in the history of this branch of Abraham’s children.
*Ibid. \Ibid. Xlbid.
\ Treatise Shabbaih, lia»
II The Kabbalah, its Doctrines, etc., p. 87 et seq.
73
He also translates ” the children of Edom ” as *’ the Christians.” But
this does not necessarily follow, ‘* Be’nai Edoni *’ now means Christians,
it was originally a Jewish designation of the Pagan Romans, for we may
read in Abravanel’s book, Ma-ye^ nai ye’ shoo-ah^ i.e., Fountains of Salva-
tion, and R. Liva’s Ne-tza’h Yisrael, i. e., Victory of Israel, that the
words of Rab in the Talmud* refer to the kingdom of Edom, i.e., Rome.
In the Midrash Vay-yiqrah Rabbah,\ ” Edom *’ is mentioned in connec-
tion with the vision of Daniel (vii, 7), on which the commentary Math-
noth Ke’hunnahy i. dominion of Edom exceeding the other three.’* J Ibn Ezra, says:
*’ There were few people believing in that man (Jesus) who was taken for
a deity ; but when Rome, at the time of Constantine,§ who renewed the
whole religion and put the image of that man on his banner, believed in
him, there was nobody in the world keeping the new law except a few
Edomites, therefore Rome is called, the kingdom of Edom.” These
quotations show the antiquity of the names ‘* children of Yishmael*’
and ** children of Edom,” and that the first was applied to the Arabs
long before their becoming followers of Mohammed, and the latter was
first applied to the pagan Romans. Further, the passage quoted by Dr.
Ginsburg, is only a fragment selected to attack the antiquity of the Zohar.
The following is a translation of the whole passage :||
” Rabbi Yoseh and Rabbi *Heeyah were walking together, said R.
Yoseh to R. ‘Heeyah: Why art thou silent? a road can only appear
straight by (a conversation on or an explanation of) matters of the
Thorah. R. ‘Heeyah aroused himself and wept. He began and said :
We read in Genesis (xi, 30), ‘And Sarah was barren, she had no child.*
* Treatise Sanhedrin, 98^.
fCh. 13, p. 2, col. 2.
% Comp. Exposition of the Thorah by R. Be’hal, Gen., 36^/ BeWaisheeth Rabbah^ 15^,
and \ 16; fol. 40</, 41^, J 43, fol. 59a, and \ 65. She’ moth Rabbah (Exodus) fol. 124^,
?35-
\ This is evidently a reference to Byzantium, as Rome, it was then in the Eastern
Empire, and is to the Greek Church.
II Zohar ii, 32a. Brody and Amsterdam editions, which follow the Constantinople
and Mantua editions.
74
Woe on account of this ; woe upon the time when Hagar gave birth to
Yishmael ! Whereupon R. Yoseh said to him : Wherefore, did not she
(Sarah), herself afterwards bear a son, a holy branch? Said R. *Hee-
yah to him : Thou shalt see it as I see it, and so I have heard it from
the mouth of Rabbi Shim-on (b. Yo*hai), and I cried — ^Woe upon that
time ! For since Sarah was childless, ‘ she said to Abraham : Go in, I
pray thee, unto my maid,’ (Gen. xvi, 2), in consequence of which, Hagar
succeeded in replacing Sarah, her mistress, and having a son from
Abraham. And Abraham said (to God) : ‘ O that Yishmael may live
before thee!’ (Gen. xvii, 18.) And though the Holy One, blessed be
He ! had given him assurance about Yitz’haq, Abraham clung to Yish-
mael, until the Holy One, blessed be He ! answered him,* * As for Yish-
mael, I have heard thee !’ Afterwards he (Yishmael) was circumcised and
admitted into the holy covenant, until Yitz’haq went forth into the world.
Now, Come and see ! 400 years had the guardian -angel of the * children of
Yishmael ‘ thus existed, when he (the angel of Yishmael) asked the Holy
One, blessed be He ! saying : Has he, who is circumcised, a share in thy
Name ? He answered him : Yes. He then said to Him : Yishmael is
circumcised (and at his thirteenth year), why has he no part in Thee like
Yitz’haq? Said He to him: Because the latter has been given the sign
of the covenant according to the rules, and the other one is not so. And
not only this, but the sons of Yitz’haq are joined to Me at the proper age
of eight days, while the sons of Yishmael remain distant from Me a long
time (13 years). Said he to Him: Though this be so, should he, be-
cause of his having been circumcised, remain without a good reward ?
Woe upon the time, when Yishmael was born in the world and was cir-
cumcised !” With this ‘* Woe ” begins the portion we have before quoted ;
read in this connection, the **Woe” has quite a different meaning and
bearing, from that of a first sentence of an exclamation and peroration,
uttered by the writer of the Zoharic passage, as those opposed to the
antiquity of the Zohar desire it to appear. Further the paragraph does
not end where the fragment quoted by Dr. Ginsburg apparently ends
*’and the holy land shall not be delivered to the children of Edom,” it
goes on : “At that time, a people from the extremes of the world shall
♦ Ibid,, 20.
75
arise against the guilty Rome, and prosecute a war against her for three
months, and many peoples shall be gathered together there and fall into
its hands, until all the children of Edom shall be gathered against it from
all the ends of the world,^ and then the Holy One, blessed be He ! will
arise over them, according to, and in fulfillment of, Isaiah (xxxiv, 6)
* For YHVH has a slaughter in Bots-rah.’ ‘*
What has such a war to do with the crusades? Bots-rah means Rome.f
** The great city in the Roman Empire ‘* is to be visited by Tohoo vab-Bo-
hco, in the Messianic time. This ”great city” is Bots-rah, so says
Abravanel in his Mash-mee-ah ye’ shoo^h, /. e,, Herald of Salvation, fol.
17^. All the best Hebrew commentators agree upon this, that Bots-rah
means Rome, and it is against Rome that the Zohar says, a destructive
war is to be waged simultaneously with that predicted war ** in the holy
land, both on land and at sea, and near Yerusalem, as a great slaughter
(or Ze-bahy i.e., sacrifice), to YHVH, etc., to seize the corners of the earth,
etc.” The Zohar terminates this prophecy with ‘* And He will destroy
the children of Yishmael from it (the holy land), and break every
superior army (or strength), and there shall not remain a superior
army (or strength) over a people in the world, except the army {or
strength) of Israel alone. This is the meaning of the Psalm (cxxi, 5)
‘YHVH is thy keeper, YHVH is thy shade upon thy right hand.’ ”
This ends the quotation of which the adverse critics Ginsburg, Graetz,
etc., have only used a small portion, applying the mutilated fragment to
an event in history with which, when the whole passage is read in full, the
paragraph quoted by them has not any connection, or is it a fact, that
after the Crusades, the armies of the contending nations were annihilated
and those of Israel alone preserved ? How about the great slaughter at
Rome at the time of the war of the Crusades in the holy land, previous to
the victorious preservation of Israel? But our critics have apparently not
seen and have not given any attention, to these questions which may be
founded on the final portion of the prediction. Further, the Zohar has
* Evidently not the Crusades.
f Comp. Ibn Ezra on Is : xxxiv, 6, and Amos i, 12; R. D. Qim’qee on Is : Ixiii, i.
Abravanel on the same, and on Is: xxxiv, 6, and Jer. xlix, 13. Targum Jonathan on
the latter verse. In the Talmud, Treatise, /V*w-*^«/w, 118^.
76
not exhausted this subject in the place before quoted ; if we consult the
III Part* we will find the relative position of Israel and Yishmael, in the
symbolical Sarah and Hagar, as mistress and maid, is there discussed,
and the conclusion reached, that though the position of the mistress
(Israel) may, under the temporary prominence of the maid (Yishmael),
be pitiable, in the future the mistress will be restored to her former emi-
nence. The essential parts of this last reference are : *’ We have learned
elsewhere : Once, during a walk with his disciples, R. Shim-on said to the
latter : I see all the nations above, and Israel beneath all of them, what
is the reason ? It is because the King has dismissed the Matronitha, and
given her place to her maid. Therefore it is said : ‘* For these things
the earth is disquieted, etc.,t * for * * an handmaid that is heir to her
mistress. ‘ What does * handmaid * mean ? It is the alien crown, the first-
bom of which the Holy One, blessed be He, killed in Egypt, as it is
written : * Even unto the first-bom of the maid-servant that is behind the
mill.* (Exod. xi, 5.) Formerly she sat behind the mill, and now that
maid-servant is heir to her mistress. R. Shim-on wept and said’: The
King without the Matronitha cannot be called *King;’ the king who
joins the hand-maid of the Matronitha — where is his dignity ? There is,
however,’ a mystery in the matter, explained by the fact, that a voice is
appointed to announce to the Matronitha and to tell her ; ‘ Rejoice
greatly, O daughter of Zion ! Shout O daughter of Yerusalem, behold,
thy king cometh unto thee, he is just and having salvation, lowly and
riding upon an ass.’ “J (Zechar. ix, 9.) * * ** And again, we have
learned elsewhere : That maid-servant is appointed to rule over the holy
land below, as the Matronitha used to do formerly, and now it is the
maid-servant who has become heir to her mistress over all; but the
Holy One, blessed be He ! has resolved to return the Matronitha
to her place as heretofore. The king rejoices on account of his return to
her and his separation from the maid-servant, and the Matronitha is
* p. 69a of the Brody or the Amsterdam Ed.* Paroshath A-ha^raiMoth^ fol. 31, col.
3-4 of the Cremona Ed,
f Comp, Prov. xxx, 21-23.
X Interpreted by most Hebrew commentators as referring to the Messiah, who, from
a Hebrew, and consequently Zoharic, point of view, still is to come.
n
overjoyed at her reunion with the king; hence: Rejoice greatly, O
daughter of Zion, etc.,” as above. This portion, from the Zohar iii, 69a,
explains and completes the other portion from ii, 32^?. The Mysterien
des R, Simon ben Jochai^ undoubtedly written long before the Crusades,
appears to refer to the same subject, f We think these remarks dispose
of the adverse criticism.
VII. Dr. Ginsburg has made use of writings by Drs. Adolph Jel-
linek, B. Beer, and Zuckerman, formulated by them in their futile en-
deavors to show the modern time of the authorship and content of the
Zoharic books. We will hereafter give these, and it will be seen that
they all differ among themselves, and that history does not support their
statements as applied to their theme. Dr. Ginsburg says : J
** 7. The Sohar records events which transpired A.D. 1264. Thus on
Numb, xxiv, 1 7, which the Sohar explains as referring to the time pre-
ceding the advent of Messiah, it remarks, * the Holy One, blessed be
He, is prepared to rebuild Jerusalem. Previous to the rebuilding thereof
He will cause to appear, a wonderful and splendid star, which will shine
seventy days. It will first be seen on Friday, Elul ^ July 25 th, and
disappear on Saturday or Friday evening at the end of seventy days.
On the day preceding [its disappearance, /. ^., October 2nd] when
it will still be seen in the city of Rome, on that self-same day three
high walls of that city of Rome and the great palace will fall, and the
pontiff ruler of the city will die.’ {Sohar iii, 212^.) Now the comet
here spoken of appeared in Rome, July 25th, 1264, and was visible till
October 2nd, which are literally the seventy days mentioned in the Sohar,
Moreover, July 25th, when the comet first appeared, actually happened
on a Friday ; on the day of its disappearance, October 2nd, the sovereign
pontiff of Rome, Urban IV, died at Perugia, when it was believed that
the appearance of the comet was the omen of his death, and the great
and strong palace (kdidi k^th) Vincimento, fell on the self-same day,
October 2nd, into the hands of the insurrectionists.’*
♦ Jellinek’s Bet ha-Midrasch, etc., Dritter TheiL Leipzig. 1855.
f Sec ante, p. 37.
X The Kabbalah, etc., before cited, p. 88.
78
The portion referred to is Numbers xxiv, 17, and reads in full as fol-
lows :*
**I see him, but not now. These words were partly fulfilled in that
time, and partly afterwards, and partly (they will be fulfilled) in the time
of King Messiah. We have learned, the Holy One, blessed be He 1
resolved upon rebuilding Yerusalem, and will cause to appear a fixed star
scintillating in 70 flaming channels, and 70 shining beams, in the centre
of the firmament ; and 70 other stars will borrow their light from it.
And it is to shine and flame seventy days ; on the sixth day it will be
seen on the 25th day of the 6th month, and on the 7th day, it will dis-
appear at the expiration of 70 days. On the first day it will be seen in
the (or, one) city (of the Empire) of Rome ; f ^.nd on that day the three
prmcipal walls of Rome and the great temple (or, hall), will fall, and
the ruler of that city will die, thus that star will be extended to be seen
in the world. And at that time, mighty wars will be waged in all the
four sides of the world, and no faith (faithfulness) will be found among
them, and in the middle of the world. When that star shines in the
middle of the firmament, a great king will arise and rule in the world,
and proudly look down upon all the kings, and make war in two direc-
tions and be victorious over them. But on the day of the disappearance
of the star, the entire holy land will quake in 45 miles circumference
round about the spot where the Temple stood. And a cave from beneath
the earth will be opened^ and a fire will burst forth from it, with a bright
conflagration (or general burning). And from that cave a large and
powerful birdj will grow supreme and rule over the world, and to
him the government shall be given, and the exalted saints will disappear
as naught before him. And thus King Messiah will be revealed in all
the world, and to him the government will be given ; and on his appear-
ance, the children of the world will meet with trouble after trouble, and
Israel’s adversaries will grow strong ; thus the spirit of the Messiah will
*In the Brody and Amsterdam editions, iii, J Balak, p. 212^/ in the Cremona ed.
J Balak, fol. 98, col. 3.
f In the Cremona Edition, ” Rome ” is omitted.
\ One version says *]1^ oph^ i. ^., bird, doubtless meaning a great angel^ another
says ^yj^ anaph^ i, e,, branch.
79
be aroused against them, and he will make an end of the guilty Edom,
and all the land of Edom he will burn in fire. Thus it is written : ‘ And
Israel shall do valiantly.* ■** (Numb, xxiv, i8.) Or as this passage says
in full, • And Edom shall be a possession and Seir also a possession as his
enemies (the enemies of Israel), and thus Israel will do valiantly.* And
at that time the Holy One, blessed be He ! will resurrect the dead of his
people, and make death forgotten among them, and thus * the right hand
of YHVH does valiantly ; I shall not die but I shall live * (Ps. cxviii, 15).
*And Saviours shall come upon Mount Zion,* etc. (Obadiah i, 21.)
‘ And YHVH shall be king over all the earth, etc.* ** (Zechar. xiv, 9.)
Now from this quotation in full from the Zohar, it is evident that the
prophesying writer had in view a very distant future, in which all these
particulars were to be fulfilled^ and that all of them had to come to pass for
the verification of the prediction ; so that the occurrence of one or two of
the events indicated, could not be looked upon as satisfying the require-
ments of the whole. The number 70 is prominent therein, and is in the
manner of Daniel (ix, 24) and other places in the Old Testament, in
which 70 is a prominent figure ; the 6th and 7th day, /. ^., the Sabbath
eve and Sabbath day, terminate the Hebrew week and complete in them-
selves the end, content, and object, of all the days of the week ; and so
they do as regards the ten weeks := 70 days ; the 6th month ends the
civil year, and the 25th of that month is not a more definite number
than 70 is, but as all these events are to happen in \\it future ^ the date as
to month and day, may be considered as gratuitously admitted and
made use of, in the same sense, as if the 25 th of the 6th month,
/. ^., Elul, of the year. The Zohar does not fix it. But some of the
critics adverse to the antiquity of the Zohar assume to find in the above
quoted Zoharic passage, or a garbled statement of part of it, a reference
to incidents which have occurred in past history, if not in one century,
then in another, from one or two minor items therein, admitting of a
forced interpretation, on the ground of similarity. They point to three
or four different events, in as many different periods, in which these
things are said to have happened ; and although each differs from the
other in his surmises, their followers accept their various distorted and
differing statements instead of rejecting them, and indeed the entire
8o
criticism founded thereon ; on the ground of its uncertainty, apparent
bias and forced construction. Instead of this, among others Dr. Gins-
burg, seizes on the various statements and endeavors to formulate from
them a most plausible one against the Zoharic writings, and exclaims,
Here is the unassailable evidence, “that this Thesaurus of the Kabbalah
is the production of the thirteenth century.*’* He states as if an uncon-
troverted fact, that ‘* the Sohar (Zohar sic) records events which tran-
spired in 1264 A.D.,’* and then endeavors to support this by a mutilated
fragment of the above quotation, intermixed within the quotation marks,
with statements not in the original. This writer in this and in other
places in his work on the Qabbalah, seems to speculate upon the credu-
lity and want of expert knowledge of the subject, in the reader, using
. garbled and detached fragments from the Zohar, to evidence its being a
modern book of the Xlllth century, and everywhere showing an evident
bias against it. We call attention, among others, to the mistranslation of
yomah qadma-ahy i. e., ** on the first day ” by ** On the day preceding [its
disappearance, /. ^., October 2nd],*’ the verse concluding **thus that star
will be extended to be seen in the world ” for 70 consecutive days.
Dr. Adolph Jellinek’s statement is : ‘* As many scholars still ascribe to
this book (the Zohar), a great antiquity, I will show there is mentioned
in it the date of August 22nd, 1280. We read Zohar iii, 212^ as follows:
‘ God is prepared to rebuild Jerusalem, and shall let a wondrously bright
star be visible — which shall be seen for seventy days. It shall be visi-
ble on Friday, the 25 of Elul, and disappear on Saturday, at the end of
seventy days. On the first day (/. e,, 25th of Elul), it shall be visible in
Romef — and on that day three high walls and a great temple shall fall and
the Regent shall die.* This passage is made plain from the following
calculation: In the year 1280, Rosh ‘Hodesh Elul (the new moon of
Elul) happened on Sunday and Monday — on the 29th of July— conse-
quently the 25th of Elul = 22nd day of August fell on Thursday, on the
evening of which the star became visible — the seventy days of which
*Dr. Ginsburg, work cited, p. 85.
f In the Cremona Edition of the Zohar, Rome is omitted, probably from regard to
the Censorship. This reference in the MSS. was probably to Pagan Rome, the Zohar
has however, been printed in the time of Catholic Rome.
8i
-ended Friday evening — which evening is counted in the day following,
/. ^., Saturday, and on Thursday, the 25th of Elul, 1040 (?504o) A.M.,
or the 22nd August, 1280, Pope Nicholas, III, died in Rome. His
successor was Martin IV, whom Abraham Abulafia endeavored to con-
vert the following year.***
In January, 1856, Dr. B. Zuckermann,t referring to this statement by
Dr. Jellinek, says : ” On the one side are those who ascribe great age to
the Zohar, on the other those who claim for it a late origin. The proofs
are taken by the respective sides, either from external marks or the dates
alluded to in the Zohar itself, as to the latter, they are not anywhere
given in such an unequivocal manner as not to admit of various construc-
tions. They have therefore to be confirmed by other well-known histori-
cal facts, and without a full confirmation of them, the door is open to
hypothesis, and even the latter is subject to limitation. From such
statements we must be able to deduce the facts under investigation in a
plain manner, if not with mathematical certainty, at least with some
probability. If an historical mark is given, at the very least the most
important indicia must find an explanation, if they are to lead to a result.
If we only take one solitary instance out of it, without considering the
rest, then the hypothetical construction is founded on a very feeble basis
and soon crumbles.*’ Dr. Zuckermann then cites the Zoharic passage
given by Dr. Jellinek, and continues : ”Several facts are asserted : ist.
The rebuilding of Jerusalem. 2nd. The appearance and disappearance
of certain natural phenomena. 3rd. The falling of three high walls and
a great temple. 4th. The death of a ruler. The explanation of Dr.
Jellinek does not mention in what relation the year 1280 stands to the re-
building of Jerusalem ; and it further omits the phenomena of Nature.”
Dr. Zuckermann then advances a new hypothesis, and says : ”In the
year 4127 A.M., 367 A.D., the 25th Elul, fell on Thursday. In this
year mention is made by three authors, Hevel, Lubinczki and Casius, of
the appearance of a comet (in splendour) like the light of the planet
* Bet ha-Midrash. Leipzig. 1855. Vol. iii. Introduction pp. xxxvii-xxxviii.
f Frank el’s Afonatschri/t filr Geschichie und Wissenschaft des Judenthums. Vol. v.
Leipzig. 1856. p. 27.
6
82
Venus, which was visible in the daylight.* About this time the Roman
Emperor Julian, the Apostate, issued a commandment for the rebuilding
of the Temple in Jerusalem, and as history tells us, many labourers went
there, and when the construction was commenced, it was prevented by
the sudden falling of several walls. Further commands of the Emperor
were now looked for, but he fell in battle against the Persians. Here
upon comparison the date corresponds, as the 25th Elul fell on Thursday,
and the most important event, the natural phenomena, is without doubt
that in relation to Jerusalem, it and the death of the Roman emperor
about this time are ascertained, the objection is, historians give the date
of the death of Julian as in the year 363 A. D. This could be met, in
that in the (book) Zemach David by David Gans, it gives 367 as the year,
and the author of the Zohar, whoever he may be, might have taken the
same date, therefore with greater justice the year 4127 A.M. or 367 A.D.
could be used for the explanation of this passage. * ‘
In the same year Dr. B. Beer, noticed thesef statements of Dr. Jellinek
and Dr. Zuckermann, and says of the latter, that he admits Julian was
dead when the comet mentioned appeared — Julian died far from Rome,
June 26, 363 A.D., the comet appeared 367 A.D. — so that we have to go
to the very uncertain source of David Gans, to suppose that both events
occurred at the same time, and that such an exact designation of the
days, as it has been assumed we find in the Zohar, is not likely to refer
to the time of Julian. Either the Zohar is older than the IVth century
or it is, as some critics suppose, a great deal later, and therefore this
allusion to an occurrence a long time past is not to be thought of.
The walls of the Temple of Jerusalem did not, according to the ac-
counts, fall, but flames broke out of the ground and prevented the
prosecution of rebuilding. The passage in the Zohar must be taken in
its true spirit, it is not expressed that * just at that time * Jerusalem
shall be rebuilt, in the introduction it is said, that some (of that which
is narrated) will occur in this time, some later and some, only in
the days of the Messiah. Dr. Beer, seeing that the old are without
* As Venus sometimes is. Myer.
t Comp. Frankel’s Monatschrift f&r Geschichte und Wissenschaft des fttdenthums.
Vol. V. Leipzig, 1856, pp. 158-160.
83
support, now advances a new theory, saying : ” According to my view
the passage refers neither to 1280 or 367, but to 1264. In the last men-
tioned year, the great comet became visible from the end of July to the
2nd of October, especially in Rome, which comet is again expected in
our days. It showed itself magnificently with a sabre-like tail 100° long,
and appeared on the same day on which Pope Urban IV died — Compare
scientific appendix to the Official Leipzig Gazette, of 17th January, 1856,
p. 19. — It was believed that this large comet was a precursor of his death.
At the time, there occurred several insurrections and fights in and about
Rome, the insurgents looked for the flying Pope in Orvieto, and the
large and firm castle of Vincemento fell finally into their hands, the Pope
had to be carried away in a sedan chair to save his life, became sick on
the road and died on the 2nd day of October.* After his (the Pope’s)
death, a relaxation in the Roman Catholic belief took place, even the
festival of Corpus Christi, introduced by him, fell into oblivion. The
cardinals were a long time choosing a successor, the Ghibellines seriously
thought of wresting from the Papacy the temporal power. The Latin
Empire a short time before had fallen into the hands of the Greeks, in
Germany no Emperor existed, and great confusion reigned ; not long
afterwards Jerusalem was wrested from the Christian crusaders. The
comet disappeared October 2nd, if we count back seventy days, then it
first became visible the 25th of July. This day in 1264 fell on Friday.
The 2nd of October, 1264, when the comet was seen for the last time, fell
on Thursday, therefore it had disappeared on Friday evening. On the
2nd of October, when it was yet visible, the strong castle fell into
the hands of the insurgents, whereby possibly some walls might have
fallen yet this is not mentioned, and Pope Urban IV died.’* So Dr.
Beer.
Now we say, against this statement, the great comet of 1264 was dis-
covered July 14th, some say July ist, 1264.! The duration of visibility
* Muratori, Hist, of Italy. Part viii, p. 72. Hist, of the Popes, iii, 235. De la
Gournerie, Rome ckretienne tome i, p. 425, and other authentic sources, especially
Raomer. Hist, of the HohenstaufTen’s. Part iv, p. 491. Ed. 1824.
f See Cometographte, 4to, Paris.
84
was three months. Some say fo\ir months. Its tail was ioo° long.* It
was seen in China on the 26th July, and was visible four months, f
Watson says the comet of 1264 was first seen about July ist, and attained
its greatest brilliancy, in the latter part of August and beginning of Sep-
tember, and that it was last seen the evening of the 3rd (2nd ?) of Octo-
ber, the date of the death of Urban IV.
Urban IV had declared a holy war against Manfred, king of Sicily.
The papal army at first was successful, but finally Manfred was victorious
and laid siege to Rome. His army was composed almost entirely of
Saracens. The Pope retired to Orvieto, fifty miles from Rome. This
was in 1261. He was afterwards driven from that city by the citizens,
and although sick, was transported in a litter as far as Perugia, where he
died October 2nd, 1264. J
We have now seen that three attempts, all differing, made by Drs.
Jellinek, Zuckermann, and Beer, to prove a modern date for the Zohar,
from the passage cited, are not warranted by historical data. The comet
appears to have been visible according to some astronomers as early as
July ist, the latest say July 17. Chinese and European observers noted
it. The duration was either ninety or one hundred and twenty days.
Pingre says the latter. The day of the death of Urban IV appears to
be fixed, but not the exact day of the appearance and disappearance of
the comet, all astronomers agree it was visible not only during the seventy
days mentioned in the Zohar, but for a longer time. If the Zohar was
written after these facts, why did it not state the facts as they had actually
occurred ? Does anything given, support an hypothesis as to any of the
dates given by the three writers mentioned ? What as to the rebuilding of
* Chamber’s Astronomy. Bk. iv. c. 6. p. 338. c. 3. p. 308. Cometic Orbits, etc.,
by Edward J. Cooper. Dublin. 1852. pp. 14-15, 37, 68, 173. Memoires de rAcademUy
by Pingre. Paris. 1760. pp. 179-203. Delambre. Vol. 3, p. 418.
f Cooper, work cited, 68. Zach’s Correspondence, Vol. 5, p. 342. Philos. Trans.
Vol. 10, p. 209-210. Also Treatise on Comets, by James C. Watson, Philadelphia.
1 86 1, pp. 86-88, 90-^4, 95, 96.
t Life and Times of the Roman Pontiffs by Artaud de Montor. Eng. Trans. New
York. 1867. pp. 435-438. Bower’s Hist, of the Popes. Dublin. 1768. pp. 353-
361. Complete Hist, of the Popes of Rome, &c., by Louis Marie de Cormenin. Eng.
trans. Philadelphia. 1851. Vol. ii. p. 6-8.
85
Jerusalem, the advent of the Messiah, the appearance of the star for
seventy days, the disappearance on Thursday, October 2nd, 1264, not
Friday or Saturday, at the end of seventy days, the falling of the three
high walls of Rome, and of the great palace, (of Rome) ? Is it not likely
that the prophecy is a false one or is yet to be fulfilled ?
It may be interesting to the reader to know that the idea of a new star
to appear in the heavens, to precede the coming of the Messiah is very
ancient; the Aggadoth Meshiach, t.e.y Messiah Haggadoth, commences : —
” ‘A star shall come out of Jacob.’ There is a Ba*rai-thah in the name
of the Rabbis : As to the heptad (seven) in which the Son of David
Cometh: — in the first year, there will not be sufficient nourishment ; and
in the second year the arrows of famine will be launched ; in the third
great famine ; in the fourth, neither famine nor plenty ; in the fifth, great
abundance, and the star shall shine forth from the East, and this is the
Star of the Messiah. And it will shine from the East for fifteen days,
and if it be prolonged, it will be for the good of Israel ; in the sixth, will
be sayings (voices) and announcements (hearings) ; in the seventh, wars,
and at the close of the seventh, the Messiah is to be expected.*’* A simi-
lar statement is in the Apocalypse of Elijah. f Also the Chapters about
the Messiah ; J and, The Mysteries of Shim-on ben YochaT, § where we
read of a Star in the East, to appear two years before the birth of the
Messiah.
So also the Zohar says, concerning the appearance of the Messiah, R.
Shim-on (b. Yo’hai) lifted up his hands, wept, and said : “Woe to him
who shall live to see the time (of the Messiah) ! salvation to him who
shall live to see it ! For when the Holy Blessed One shall come, to con-
sider the Unfruitful One, He will see, who has remained true to her, who
is still found by her, and what have been the individual deeds of each
one : but He will not find any just one, as it says : — ‘ And I looked,
and no helper was there.* (Is. Ixiii, 5.) And then affliction upon
* From the Aggadoth Meshiachy i. e., Messiah Haggadoth ; cited in Dr. Adolph
]^\\\nt\i*s Bft ha-AfiJrash. Leipzig. 1855. Part iii, p. xxviii, 141-143.
t Ibid,, pp. 65-68.
X IbU., pp. 68-78.
{ Ibid., pp. 78-82.
86
affliction will come upon Israel. ‘ Happy lot to him who shall live to
see that time !’ Because he who is persistent in the faith shall attain to
the joy of the King. Of that time it says : ‘ I will refine them as silver
is refined, and try them as gold is tried.’ (Zech. xiii, 9.) After those
tribulations have been poured out over Israel, and after the nations,
together with their kings, shall have taken common counsel over the same,
and have devised many pernicious precepts, in which all will coincide, so
that such distress shall follow, that the last (distress, on account of its
severity), shall cause the first to be forgotten ; then a pillar of fire shall
appear, which shall, for forty days, reach from heaven to earth, and be
visible to all the nations of the earth. On this day will the King, the
Messiah, come forth from the Garden of Eden, from the place called
iifly jp, qan tzippor^ i, ^., the Bird’s Nest, and will appear in Galilee.
And on the day of his arrival there, the whole world shall tremble, and
all the children of the world shall hide themselves in the holes and caves,
because they cannot any more think of salvation. As to this it says :
‘ And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the
earth, for fear of YHVH, and before the Glory * of His Majesty, when
He arriveth to terrify the earth ‘ (Is. ii, 19). * For the fear of YHVH,’
that is the trembling of the whole world, ‘ Before the Glory of His
Majesty y that is, the Messiah; ‘ WJien He ariseth, to terrify the earth,’
that is, when he (the Messiah) shall arise and appear in Galilee. For the
reason, that Galilee was the first destroyed of the provinces of the holy
land, he will therefore first reveal himself in it. From thence he will
stir up war against the whole world. After the expiration of the forty
days, in which will be visible before tl^ eyes of the world the pillar of
fire, reaching from earth to heaven, and the Messiah shall have revealed
himself, there shall become visible a star from the East, shining in all
colours t beside seven other stars surrounding it. From all sides they
will carry on war with it, three times a day for seventy days, which all
the inhabitants of the world will see. But the Star (in the East) will
*TheShe’kheen-ah.
f The Old Testament, Bileam, son of Beor, says : ” I shall see him, but not now ; I
shall look upon him, but not nigh. There will come a Star out of Jacob, And a Scep-
tre will rise out of Israel, etc.”
87
fight against the others, with beaming sparks of fire, flaming and spark-
ling, and will force itself against them so violently upon all sides, that it
will swallow them every night, but eject them again every morning, so as
to renew the war before the eyes of the entire world. This shall continue
for seventy days. After these seventy days shall expire, the star with the
Messiah shall become invisible for twelve months. Then shall the pillar
return as before, and the Messiah will hide himself in it, but (the pillar)
itself shall be invisible. After twelve months the Messiah, hidden in the
pillar of fire, shall be taken into heaven, where he will receive power and
the Crown (Kether) of the Kingdom (Malkhuth). But when he again
descends, then that pillar of fire will again become visible before the eyes
of the world. Then the Messiah will reveal himself, and many nations
will gather themselves to him, and he will cause war on the whole world.
About this time that the Holy Blessed One shall stir up His power against
the nations of the world ; the King, the Messias, will become known in
the world, and all the kings of the world will mutually band together, to
fight against him. But also many nations, descended from the rejected
Jews, shall come up united with them (the nations) to carry on war
against the Messiah, the King. Then for fifteen days the world shall be
in darkness, in which a great many of Israel shall die.***
This refers to ”the latter days.** The reference has therefore been
applied to the coming of the Messiah. The celebrated astronomer Kepler
formed a theory, that Jupiter and Saturn were in conjunction in the
Zodiacal Constellation of Pisces, the Fishes, and the fish is the astrologi-
cal symbol of Judea, in the latter half of the year of Rome 747, and were
joined to Mars in 748. This would be about six years before the com-
mencement of our common era. Wieselerf has applied the theory of
Kepler, in conjunction with a discovery that he has made from Chinese
astronomical tables, which show that in the year of Rome 750, a comet
appeared in heavens, and was visible for seventy days. J
* Zohar ii, fol. 7, col. 2, Amsterdam Ed. ; idid. ii, fol. 53, Sulzbach Ed.
f Chronolog, Synopse der 4. Evangelien. Hamburg. 1843.
X Compare Kitto’s Biblical Cyclop., Ed. 1876. Vol. iii, pp. 890-891. Rev. Wm.
Hale’s Chronology. I^nd., 1830. Vols, i, 74; ii, 199-209. Cahen’s Great French
Bible. Vol. 4, p. 122, Note 17. Our Christian era was introduced by Dionysius
88
” The King, the Messiah, shall appear in the land of Galilee. A star
in the eastern heaven, shall swallow (or absorb) seven stars in the north,
and a flame of black fire* shall hang in the heavens for sixty days, and
there shall be wars towards the north carried on in the world, two kings
perishing in the north in these wars. Then all the nations shall combine
•
together against the dominion (palaces) of Jacob, in order to expel it
from the world. **t
VIII. In this objection Dr. Ginsburg says: “The Sohar, in assigning
a reason why its contents were not revealed before, says that the ‘ time in
which R. Simon ben Jochai lived was peculiarly worthy and glorious, and
that it is near the advent of the Messiah,* for which cause this revelation
was reserved till the days of R. Simon, to be communicated through him.
Yet, speaking elsewhere of the advent of the Messiah, the Sohar, instead
of placing it in the second century when this Rabbi lived, forgets itself y
and says — * When the 6oth or the 66th year shall have passed over the
threshold of the sixth millennium (A. M. 5060-66 = A. D. 1 300-1 306) the
Messiah will appear* {Sohar x, ii6a, iiy^j comp. also iii, 252a) ; thus
showing that the author lived in the XIII century of the Christian era.’*
The numbers 6 and 7 were favored by the ancient Rabbis as alluding
to the sacredness of the Sabbath eve and the Sabbath day. If Dr. Gins-
burg had looked a little further in the paragraph, from which he takes
the quotation just given, he would have found : ” In every six J of the sixth
Exiguus, a Roman abbot in the Vlth century (525 A.D.), and came into general use
two centuries later, during the reign of Charlemagne. This put the nativity of Jesus as
happening upon December 25, 754 Anno C/rHs, 1. f. , after the founding the City of
Rome. The early patristic writings distinguish between the Conception or Annuncia-
tion, with which they identify the Incarnation, and the Nativity (Matt, i, 18). Since
the time of Charlemagne, the two appear to have been used synonymously. Comp.
Ideler. Chronology, ii, 381 ff seq, Gieseler. Church History. New York. 1857.
Vol. I, ^^et seq. This date is wrong by at least four years. Jesus can < therefore be
considered as having been bom A. U. 750 or B. C. 4, and likely earlier. See Hist.
of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff. New York. 1882. pp. 111-127, and
Gieseler. Church History last above cited.
♦ Black fire is visible light, as distinct from ” white fire,” diaphanous light.
f Zohar i, fol. 119, Amsterdam Ed. ; ibid, i, fol. 74, Sulzbach Ed.
X 1 Vau (V) = 6, separated from the H Heh (H) of nm^ 1. ^., YHVH during Israel’s
dispersion.
89
thousand (year) the n increases in strength until it recovers its former
degrees, and then in the six hundredth year of the sixth (thousand) the
gates of Supreme Wisdom will be opened, and so shall the fountains of
the lower wisdom (/. ^., Malkhuth, /. ^., the Kingdom), and the world
will be suitably fitted to enter into, the seventh (thousand), like a man
who prepares himself on the sixth day at sunset, to enter into the Sab-
bath. So also here, and thy token* is to be found in Genesis vii, ii, viz :
* In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, etc., were all the fountains of
the great deep broken up, and the flood-gates of heaven were opened.’ **
A little further on R. Yo-seh approving of the interpretation above
given by R. Yehudah, ** as a very ingenious observation on the two let-
ters n (H = 5) and i (V = 6 of nin’ /.^., YHVH),” reminds his hearers
of the well-known fact, ‘* that the time of Israel’ s redemption is known only
to Gody and is entirely dependent on Him and also dependent on their good
or bad conduct, according to Isaiah Ix, 22. * I YHVH will hasten it in its
time.’ If they are worthy ‘ I will hasten it ! * If they are not worthy , * In
its time.* ”
This conclusively shows, that the Rabbins of the Zoharic writings did not
attempt to determine the time of the advent of the Messiah, and that the
remarks upon the letter T= 6, in connection with the time of the re-
demption of Israel, are to be considered only as complete at the close of
the six thousand of the years fixed, but not at a definite period. This
shows that the remark that ” the Sohar, instead of placing it in the second
century when this Rabbi (S. b. Y.) lived, forgets itself, etc.” is incorrect.
The Talmud, Treatise Sanhedrin 97^, supports our view: ** The disciples
of the house {or school^ of Eli yah teach, the world is to exist six thousand
years, two thousand ytzxs of which are to be desolate,t two thousand ytzxs
blessed with the Thorah, and two thousand years of the time of the Mes-
siah ; but on account of the multitude of our sins, there have passed away
from them that many that have passed : — ” on which Rashi comments:
“172 years before the completion of the 4000 years the Temple was
destroyed, and at the termination of these 172 years, the 2000 years ot
the Thorah (/. e,, 4000 years of the world) were completed, etc. But as
* Which may be used by thee to rely on, because of its being a Biblical verse,
t To-hoo, I. e.y without the Thorah, says Rashi, in his Commentary.
90
regards the 2000 years of the Messiah, these last ought to have come im-
mediately after the expiration of the 2000 years of the Thorah, and the
Kingdom of Wickedness ought to have ceased, and with it, also the servi-
tude of Israel. Our manifold sins, however, have caused the Messiah not
to appear at the end of 4000 years, and of the third 2000 years there
have already passed away those which belong to the past, and he is still
prevented from coming.** The same passage is in the Talmud, Treatise
Abodah Zarah 9^, Rashi on it, says : ” The world is destined to stand
six thousand years according to the number of the days of the week, but
the seventh day is the Sabbath, and in the 7000th year, the world shall
rest. The first 2000, etc ;*’ as above. The Zohar says the period of R.
Shim-on was “near the advent of the Messiah,*’* and the Talmud
describes the 2000 years following the period of the Thorah, as the Mes-
sianic period ; consequently ” the Zohar does — not — forget itself,’* when
speaking of the emancipation of Israel as to happen at a favourable
moment, prior to the expiration of the 2000 years of the Messianic period,
which period is still in existence, nor is the Zohar mistaken in mention,
ing the Messianic period as that near which R. Shim-on lived. The
Temple was destroyed A. D. 70 + 172 = 242 A.D. as the completion of
the 4000 years according to Rashi. R. Shim-cTn lived circa 190 A. D.,
therefore near 242 A.D., the beginning of the Messianic period of 2000
years, the last third of the 6000 years of the world’s standing at any
period of six, or sixty or six humlred days or years, which the Zohar
terms an ”outpouring of heavenly wisdom upon the world,” and which
the Talmud calls : “the emancipation of Israel.” St. Paul and the early
Christians were also daily expecting such a second advent, and the whole
orthodox Christian and Jewish world are still expecting every day an
advent, the last of a Messiah, the first of a second coming of Christ.
How this Zoharic statement shows that the Zohar was written in the
Xlllih century we do not comprehend.
IX. This includes several objections which will be answered more fully
in the body of this writing. The doctrine of transmigration of souls is
undoubtedly very old among the Jews, we note especially the Levirate
* We adopt the reading ” of the Messiah ” although this word does not occur in the
passage quoted.
91
Marriage, and it is mentioned, either positively or inferentially, in a
number of places in the New Testament as if an undoubted tenet. We
also refer the reader to Dr. Ginsburg’s own note, on his work cited,
page 43. The Midrashim and Talmud are not altogether silent about it.
St. Jerome says : ‘* H Orientis partibus versabatur, and nunc absconditty quasi in foveis viper-
arum apud pUrosque versatury illarumq partium polluit puritateniy ana
quasi lusreditario maio, serpit in paucis, ut perueniat ad plurimosy etcV^
Showing us that it was an esoteric doctrine among the early Christians^ but
was considered as traditional and intrusted only to the select few, Origen
believed in it. See his writings which are full of it. It existed for cen-
turies before the time of Jesus among many of the Oriental peoples, and
is notably to-day to be found among the followers of the Buddhistic and
Brahminical religions.
X. Objection is answered in the general statements in this book.
XI and XII. These objections have been and will be further answered,
in this book.f
XIII. ^the Zohar contains passages which are similar to those which
M. d. Leon has in his own writings, it is only evidence that he copied
them from the original Zoharic MSS., which he then had in his posses-
sion. The passage quoted from Ps. xlvi, 8, by M. d. Leon, is correctly
quoted, and is also to be found in the MSS. cited in Dr. Kennicott’s
large work: Vet, Test, Jfebr., Cum, variis Lectionibus, Oxford, 1776-
80. 2 vols., folio, in a number of MSS. cited by him, and in Rossi’s Varia
Lectiones to the Hebrew Bible, J also in the edition of the Psalms, in
Hebrew, published by Elia Benamozegh in Livorno, in these Elohim is in
both Ps. xlvi, 8, and Ps. xlxvi, 5.
In the Commentaries on the Pentateuch, by the great Qabbalist Elia
♦ Epistol, Hieronymaus ad Demetriadem, de seruanda virginiiate. Hieronymi Stri-
donensUy Opera omnia qua: extant ^ etc, Paris, 1^46, Tom, 1, /. 22 ^ E.
f Ante, pp. 56 et seq. and in other places.
X See Biblia Hebraica a Benj, Kennicotto ; andy. B, de-Rossiy by Christopher Doeder-
lein. Halle. 1818.
92
Benamozegh of Leghorn,* are statements favorable to the antiquity of
the Zohar, we here give some of them in a condensed form, adding some
comments of our own.
Genesis xxxvii, 36, is : Joseph was sold by the Yishmaelites to Potiphar
se^ris Far-oh, i, ^., a se*ns of Pharao/’ /. ^., a prominent officer of the
household, who by the ancient custom of archaic Oriental countries, was
a sa-ras, /. e., eunuch ;t in the Syriac, sa-ri-so. So the Talmud ists use
the verb oiOD me’sa-res, to geld, emasculate, eradicate, in the meaning
of the kindred verb ^’VO sha-raish, to pull up by the roots, to extirpate.
Jj ri ^ Onkelos — flourished r/r^tf 50 B.C. — 10 A^D. — says, in his Targum as
to this : rabba d* Phar-oh, a prince of Pharaoh, leaving undecided the
question, whether he was an eunuch or not. However, in the East, a
sense of importance, dignity and eminence, was connected with being an
eunuch, and the Zohar looking upon celibacy as a meritorious things if its
motive be a spiritual one y calls the Talmidai ^ Hakhameemy /. ^., Disciples
of the Wise, those who occupy themselves with the study of the Word of
God, sd-ri-sim, i. e., eunuchs. This designation is never found in the
Talmud, but we find it in the New Testament, Matt, xix, 11-12, spoken
of as if an esoteric thing. This passage in the New Testament, can only
be thoroughly understood from a Zoharic point of view. J It is quite evi-
dent, that the Zoharic passage which uses the term under discussion, in
the same secret sense which underlies it in the words of Jesus, must have
been in existence in his time if not before, and the Zohar cannot be
assumed to have copied it from Matthew. Most likely Jesus of Nazareth
and Shim-on b. Yo*hai received many of their teachings from the same
school, that of the Secret Learning, which accounts for the fact that the
Zoharic writings have so many points in common with the New Testa-
ment, Philo and the early Patristic literature.
^ Le Pentateuque avec comment, aim le^miqrah^i.e.^ mother to the reading, et aim
le*massoretht t\ ^., mother to the tradition; iiiusir, et recherches philol., critiques,
archiol. et scientif. par Elia Benamozegh, 5 vol. Livorno, 1862.
t Comp. Is. Ivi, 3, 4, 5 ; Dan. i, 3, 4, 7, 1 1, 18 ; II Kings xx, 18 ; I Kings xxii, 9 ;
II Kings viii, 6; Ibid, xxv, 19, etc. Kitto’s Cyclop. Bib. Liter., Ed. 1876, iii, 358;
i, 848-9.
X Comp. Josephus. Antiq. iv, c. 8, { 40.
93
The Church Father Origen followed this text literally.* Indeed this
Father adopted many of the opinions of the older Qabbalists.
Exodus ii, 6, lo. The Hebrew periodical Bikku-reh Ha-ittiniy i. e,y
The First Fruits of the Times, Ed. Vienna. 1829. p. 18, says: **As
to the opinion that Moses occurs in the ancient history of Egypt under
the name of Typhon, we are unable for the present to examine into the
correctness of; we will however say, that Typhon was said to be red
hatred (ArtaLpanus, Eusebius Prep, Ev. Ed. Paris, Vol. ii, p. 35), but
we do not know from what source it has been taken, that Moses was red.”
If the writer had consulted the Zohar, he would have found. Vol. i, p. 28,
B^sar d^ Mosheh soomaq^ /. ^., the flesh of Moses was deep red, and to it
refers the saying : The face of Moses was like the face of the sun. No-
where else in Hebrew literature does this or a similar statement occur.
The statement is a proof in favour of the asserted fact, that the Egyptians
embodied the life of Moses in the history of their Typhon, and also
shows the remote age from which the Zohar obtained its ideas.
Leviticus xxiv, 15. ” Whosoever curseth his God, shall bear his sin.**
Josephus,t Philo Judaeus and the Essenians, who were all under the in-
fluence of the Secret Learning, agree in this, that this law also prohibits
men reviling the gods of the heathens. Strange to say, the Zohar, and
no other Hebrew writing, explains this passage in the same way, J it dis-
tinctly states that whosoever curses strange gods, which ** God has im-
parted to all nations,** § shall bear his sin. The same idea is in Ecclesi-
asticus xxi, 30, not to curse Satan *Mest one would forfeit his own life.**
So in Jude, verses 8-10. Michael dared *’ not bring against him (Satan)
a railing accusation, but said: the Lord rebuke thee.*’|| Here is an
instance of similar interpretations by these authorities and the Zohar,
* Mosheim Institutes of Eccles. History, etc., by James Murdock, D.D., nth Ed.
Tendon. 1880. Illd century, ch. ii, p. 93, N. 3. Smith’s Diet. Greek and Roman
Biog. iii, pp. 46-55. Kitto, work cited, i, 849.
f Antiq. Bk. iv, c. viii, § 10, and contra, Apion Bk. ii, \ 34.
X Zohar iii, p. 106^.
\ Deut. iv, 19.
ji Comp. Zech. iii, 2. II Peter ii, 10-12. Comp. The Speaker’s Commentary, before
cited, N. T. iv, pp. 251-2 and notes ; also Jude. 9.
94
from which we conclude, that the Zoharic ideas were in existence at the
time of these authorities, most likely all being part of the Secret Tradi-
tion. Even the Talmud has been influenced, for we read:* “Satan
appeared one day to a man who used to curse him daily, and said to him :
Why dost thou this ? Consider that God himself would not curse me,
but merely said : ‘ The Lord rebuke thee, Satan ! ‘ ‘ ‘
We know that many parts of the Qur’an, especially that regarding the
Pentateuch and its interpretations, were delivered by the Jews to Moham-
med, who likewise prohibits the cursing of strange gods in the Qur*an.
Is it reasonable to suppose, that the Zohar borrowed from the New Testa-
ment and the Qur’an, for the benefit of the most secret and philosophical,
and in some cases, the most pious and bigoted, of the Church of Israel,
which is distinguished in the Zohar as, the very beloved daughter of
YHVHy His only beloved one ? The New Testament borrowed from the
Traditional Secret Learning, the Metaphysical side of Judaism, and the
Qur’an borrowed from the Jewish Secret Tradition and the Old and New
Testaments.
Numbers xii, i. ‘* He (Moses) had married an Ethiopian woman.’*
The very rare and ancient \)od)L Dtbreh hayyamtm I’ Mosheh, /. ^., The
Chronicles of Moses, and Josephus in his Antiquities,! from whom Irenaeus
cites in his Fragments, relate in the History of Moses, that he was a gene-
ral of the Egyptians against the Ethiopians, J whom he conquered, and
that he married the king’s daughter, none of which is in the Old Testa-
ment. Nor does the latter make mention of the father of Moses, called
Amram, as having been a judge in Israel, a prophet, and a seer of visions ;
as Josephus does in his first chapter of the Antiquities. Neither do we
find this in the Talmud or the Midrashim, but it is in Maimonides, who
lived in Egypt, and it is in the Zohar. The Zohar never copied it from
Maimonides, and it is doubtful from Josephus, whose writings were not
known among the Jews for many centuries after, and when known, in
comparatively recent times, were not considered as an authority of much
weight. We must look for the Zoharic statement as belonging to the age,
♦Treat. Kiddmhceniy p. 8i.
f Bk. ii, c. X.
\ Comp. Acts vii, 22.
95
when such traditions were in the custody of the initiated in the Sacred
Secret Learning, the source of which was undoubtedly ancient. They
were among .• ** The secret things belonging unto YHVH our Elohim.”
(Deut. xxix, 29. Numb, xi, 16-17, 24-30. Exod. xxxv, 31,32.)
Deuteronomy vi, 8. “And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine
handy and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, * * This law was
considered by the ancient Israelites as literally to be followed, hence was
the custom of wearing of the phylacteries or tephillin. Choirilos of Samos,
(lived about 468-405 B.C.), in his Epos ” Persica,** in which he immortal-
izes the victory of the Athenians over Xerxes, writes of the Jews in the
Persian army *’ And behind them came a numerous host of people, dis-
tinct from all other people in their bearing and wearing apparel. Their
language is like that of the Phoenicians, and they inhabit the mountains
of Jerusalem. ” This ” wearing apparel ‘ ‘ by which they were distinguished,
undoubtedly refers to the phylacteries, “the sign upon the hand’* and
the ” frontlets between the eyes,” and “the fringes on the borders of
the garments.’* * These were constantly worn by the males of the
Israelites prior to the destruction of their Temple by the Romans. Sub-
sequently the Rabbins limited the wearing of these external symbols of
distinction, to the time and service of the morning prayer, and the former
literal application of the Law was soon entirely forgotten. The Zohar,
however, corroborates the statement by Choirilos, mentioning,t that
” R ‘Heeyah and R. Yo-seh met a man in the garments prescribed by
the Thorah, and carrying arms (weapons) below them.** This is also a
proof of the antiquity of the book ; for unless this R. *Heeyah and R.
Yo-seh lived in the very remote times, they hardly would have mentioned
this incident which was lost and unknown, shortly after the destruction of
the Temple, and is not mentioned in the Talmud.
II Timothy iii, 8. “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses ^
so do these, etc.” Comp. Exod. vii, 11, 12. The Talmud speaks of
two Egyptian magicians : ” Yo-haneh and Mareh ;** and in the Zohar we
have them as : ” Yonos and Yombros.’* Champollion-Figeac in Egypte
Ancienne, p. 100 et seq.y mentions two magicians by the name of : Necepso
♦ Numb. XV, 38, 39.
t Zohar i, 204^.
96
and Fetosiris, who lived in the time of Sesostris (i.e., Rhameses II), from
which two names the above two Talmudic names are perhaps a transla-
tion: *^ Fgt-Osiri^’ means sacred to Osiris, as ^^ Poti-phera or Fete-
phe^re^^ means, sacred to Phe’ri ; so Yo-haneh means, the favorite of God
(“jnv Yohaneh = pnv Yo-hannan or Joannes, Greek), and Nicepso has
been considered the same name as Ne*kho* (Pharao Necho) which occurs
in Jeremiah.
We see the Zohar differs from the Talmud in the names. The two
magicians who rose against Moses existed, and what the Talmudf says of
them is also true. J The Zohar mentions them twice; first as two magi-
cians § and then as Bala-am*s sons.|| A marginal note to the first quota-
tion, suggests them to be the same as the Yo-haneh and Mamreh of the
Midrash She^moth Rabbahy ch. ix, 73^ — and so they are. From all which
we deduce.
1. That the authorities of the Midrash, Talmud and Zohar, gathered
from ancient trustworthy sources, that which was also gathered from such
sources and not rejected, by such men as Paul, Pliny and Eusebius. The
latter two of whom had not any dealings with the Rabbins.
2. Placing the two names according to the Midrash and Talmud, /*. ^.,
Yo-haneh and Mamreh^ on one side, and the other two of the Zohar,
Yonos and Yombros, with the readings of Paul, Pliny and Eusebius, on
the other, the comparison will result in showing the correctness of the
Zoharic version in opposition to that of the Midrash and Talmud.
3. The Zohar not agreeing with the Midrash and Talmud regarding
these two names, had either not seen or known them from these as its
sources, or it would not have deviated from such great authorities in Juda-
ism (first, because the matter does not involve any question of such
moment as to add any importance to it as a difference of opinion ; and
second, because in agreeing with the Talmud, the Zohar would have had
* IbU.t 102.
f Treat. Sanhedrin,
X Comp. Eusebius Prep, evangel^ Hvre viii, ch. ix, liv, ix, ch. xxvii ; Pastoret, Ilistoin
de la legislation Egypte^ ch. xix; Pliny, the elder, in Ilistoria naturalis^ lib, xxx, c. i.
He calls thcm,yi2wif^ 2Xi^ Jotape,
\ Zohar ii, 191.
II Zohar iii, 194, also fol. 90, col. 2.
97
the benefit of the undisputed authority of the former). Consequently the
Zoharic statement is of greater antiquity than the Talmud and Midrashi
The Zohar in the main, agrees with the other statements, but it is not
probable that the writers of it knew of them, or even if they did, they
would not have copied from them as their sources. It, the Zohar, re-
ceived the tradition from the more ancient sources, at the time when the
names had not yet been corrupted, and were as yet even without the
Talmudic adjustment of Yo-haneh and Mamreh. The Zohar does not
endeavor to give them a Hebrew or Aramaic appearance, // leaves them
in the original Egyptian garb and shape, because it had them from an orig-
inal source, prior to the Talmud, So says Benamozegh. This appa-
rently insignificant item, is a strong piece of evidence for the antiquity
of the Zohar.
These names occur in other ancient Rabbinical literature as Yo-hanna
and Mamreh, and as Yanes and Yambres, even as Yoannes (J.e,, Yohn =
John) and Ambrosius. The latter in the Shalsheleth Haq-qabbalah, fol.
13^. The Targum known as that of Yonathan ben Uzziel from a pre-Tal-
mudic time,* invariably has, Yannes and Yambres,t the Zohar, also pre-
Talmudic, always, Yonos and Yombros ; the Midrash Vay-yosah^ like the
Talmud, Yohaneh and Mamreh. The latter are evidently Hebraized, from
the original Egyptian Yanes and Yambres or Jannes and Jambres, as
Yonathan and St. Paul have it, whereas the Zoharic version may be
ascribed to the predilection of the Syriac language for the vowel instead
of a. As to Champollion-Figeac’s Nicepso and Petosiris, they designate
the position of the two magicians rather than signify the names of the
bearers. Pliny’s yb///«^ and Jotape are undoubtedly a Latinized corrup-
tion ; compare Jamnes of the Vulgate. As to their having been Bala-am’s
two sons, see the Targum of Yonathan in Numbers xxii, 22, where ** his
two boys,** {ne’arav) is taken in the sense of ** his two sons.** This also
accounts for the statement in Ambrosius : ^^ Jamnes et Jambres fraires
erant Magi. * *
The names of the magicians who opposed Moses, are also mentioned in
* Mo^t probably of the time of Jesus. Kitto*s Cyclop. Biblical Liter., ii, 304. See
however, ibid.f iii, 954 et seq.
t Comp. Exod. vii, 11, i, 15, and Talmud, treatise, Sanhedrin, c. 9.
7
98
the Gospel of Nicodemus, formerly called, the Acts of Pontius Pilate,
(c. V, 5) as Jannes and Jambres.
Apulius makes mention of Joannes, a great magician mistaken by Pius
for St. John. In the book Dibreh hay-yamim V Moshehy Chronicles of
Moses, fol. 56, they are called Yanne and Mamre, and are said to have
been the two sons of Bala-am.
Numenius Apamensis, a Greek philosopher of the Platonic-Pythagorean
school, lived in the Ilnd century of our era. He preceded Ammonius
Saccas, and belonged probably to the age of the Antonines. He is men-
tioned by Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Theoderet and Eusebius. In
his book on the Good, Numenius relates the history of Moses and men-
tions by name, Jannes and Jambres as the magicians, which is also stated
by Aristobulus in his book dedicated to Ptolemy Philometer.*
Gen. V, 24. ‘* And Enoch walked with God, and he was noty for God
took himy The ancient Rabbins of the Talmud and Midrashim disagree
in their descriptions of ^ Ha-nokh (Enoch) the son of Ye-red ; some even
place him among the wicked, whilst others rank him with the pious, and
a third class place him as intermediate between both. The Pe^siqthah pro-
nounces him a “Saint who entered Paradise alive,” so does Ben Sirach,
and in the Targum Onkelos are two versions of the passage we have above
quoted, apparently contradicting each other and yet both confirmatory of
the opinion of Enoch’s transportation into eternal life. One reads;
‘* And he was, for the Lord did not let him die,” and the other ** And he
was noty for the Lord did not let him die.” Josephus says: **And
indeed as to Eliyah, and as to Enoch, who was before the Deluge, it is
written in the Sacred Books that they disappeared, but so that nobody
knew that they died.” f
In the M.\dxa&\i Firqeh R, Eliezery ch. 8, it says: ** ‘Ha-nokh trans-
* See Talmud, Treatise Menachoth^ fol. 85a, Origen contra. Celsus. Bk. iv, c. xi.
Eng. Ed., vol. ii, p. 218. Eusebius Pamphilus Prap. Evattg,, Book ix, 8; especially
upon this subject. Kitto*s Biblical Cyclop. Ed. 1876, ii, p. 464, and the authorities there
cited. Apocryphal New Testament. Rev. Dr. Peter Allix, in his : Judgment of the
Jewish Church against the Unitarians, also the valuable article by the Rev. John Greg-
orie, in his works before cited. London. 1684. pp. 61-63.
t Antiq. ix, 2.
99
mitted the knowledge of computing the seasons to Noah/* and the Book
of ‘Ha-nokh is referred to, as that of which it is said, Gen. v, i ; *’ This is
the book of the generation of Adam. * ‘ The Zohar (Part I, 36^) says :
** ‘Ha-nokh had a book which was identical with the ‘book of the gene-
ration of Adam ;* this is the mystery of wisdom.” It is frequently and
elaborately quoted in the Zohar. In the 14th and isth verses of Jude, is
a reference which is in the Book of Enoch we now have. Enoch was
quoted by the Fathers of the Christian Church, but from the Vlllth to
the XVIth century it was lost sight of. Jellinek* gives several ^Ha-nokh
pieces. The book was in existence at the time of Jude and up to 300
A.D.; it disappeared about the Vlllth century and re-appeared about the
XVIth. These facts tend to show, as the Zohar frequently quotes, ‘Ha-
nokh, that it, the Zohar, most probably was not written between the
Vlllth and XVIth centuries, it is therefore, from this evidence highly
probable, that the Zohar was written before the Vlllth century A. D.f
Exodus iii, i. “The mountain of God, Horeb,” Moses and Eliyah
alone, says the Zohar, came down together to learn and teach the Mys-
teries of the Thorah. This Qabbalistic sentiment, says Benamozegh,
found its application in Mark ix, 4, 5 ; Matt, xvii, 3, 4.
Exodus xiv, 30. “And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-
shore.” In that hour, says the Zohar, the patron-prince (jar) of Egypt
was reduced from his prominence and made prince of the Gai-hinnom
{sar she! gai-hinnom). Not stated anywhere else in Hebrew literature,
but verified by modern Egyptologists, who tell us that Egypt gradually
lost her pre-eminence after the downfall of the XVIIIth dynasty, under
which the Exodus took place. It is known that Osiris was the patron-
prince of Egypt, and became the prince of the Gai-hinnom, i. e., the
abode of the dead, by the name of Serapis. It would appear that the
Zohar had knowledge of this part of ancient Egyptian mythology, by tra-
dition.
Exodus XX, 18. **And a/t the people saw the voices (ox sounds, qo-
loih^y In the Zohar ii, 81^, ** voices” are interpreted as the ” Sephi-
* In his Bet ha-Midrasch,
f As to the Book of Enoch see : The Book of Enoch translated from the Ethiopia
vith Introd. and notes, by Rev. Dr. Geo. H. Schodde. Andover. 1882.
lOO
roth,” hence they “saw” them, and did mt “hear” them. Note
R. El-azar’s words there. Philo says : ” Likewise when the Thorah was
promulgated on the Mount Sinat, it is not said, that the voice had been
‘ heard,’ but according to the text, it had been ‘ seen ‘ by all the assem-
bled people,” in a spiritual way,*
(^U^ofyu,SEPHIROTH, m^du.
Diagram 1.
The above diagram will give the reader, some idea of the arrangement
and names, of the intermediaries between the Upper and Lower worlds,
termed by the Qabbalists, Sephiroth, We shall explain them more futly
hereafter.
♦Comp. Philo. Of the Migration of Abraham, Bobn’s Ed., Vol, ii, p. 53 ttuq.;
Fnnck, La Kabbatt, p. 314, 315.
IV.
FURTHER EXCERPTS FROM THE ZOHAR. PARABLES. EXPLANATION OF
NEW TESTAMENT PASSAGES. THE BASIC ELEMENT IN RELIGIONS.
HERBERT SPENCER CITED. ANCIENT CHINESE TAOISM. MEANING OF
IDEA, ANCIENTLY. NEW TESTAMENT AND PAGAN WRITERS ON THE
INVISIBLE AND VISIBLE. THE IDEAL AND REAL, ETC.
AS an introduction to the Siphrah D’Tznioothah is the following
parable : ” What is the Book of Mysteries? It consists, said R.
Shim-on ben Yo’hai, of Five Chapters, contained in a grand pal-
ace and filling the whole universe. If, replied Rabbi Yehudah, they con-
tain the fundamental ideas, they would be the most excellent of all
things ! And so they are, replied R. Shim-on, for the initiated ; but he
who is unacquainted with that book, is in this respect like a mountaineer
who has always dwelt in the wilds of the mountains, and who is a
stranger to the usages of civilized life. He sows wheat, but is accu^
toraed to partake of the same, only in its natural condition. One day
this barbarian came into a city, and whilst there, good bread, a food
until then unknown to him, was placed before him. He asked : What
does one do with this? He was told that it was bread to eat. He took
it and tasted it with pleasure. He then inquired, of what material is it
made ? It was answered that it was made of wheat. Afterwards a per-
son offered to him a fine cake kneaded in oil. He partook of it, and
again asked : And this, of what is it made ? He was told of wheat.
Finally one placed before him, the royal pastry, kneaded with oil and
honey. He again addressed the same question as at first and obtained
the same reply. Then he said : At my home I am in possession of all
these things, I partake daily of them in their root, and cultivate the
wheat from which they are made. In this crudeness he remained a
stranger to the delights which one draws from the wheat, and the
Cderived) pleasures are lost to him. It is the same with those who stop
I02
at the general principles of knowledge, because they are ignorant of the
delights which one may draw from the further investigation and applica-
tion of those principles.”*
The Qabbalah holds, that there is a hidden, secret meaning, concealed
imder the words of the Hebrew Holy Writings, and the Zohar supports
this idea :t **Woe, it says: to the man who sees in the Thorah, /. e.y
Law, only simple recitals and ordinary words ! Because, if in truth it
only contained these, we would even to-day be able to compose a Thorah
much more worthy of admiration. For if we find only the simple words,
and we would only have to address ourselves to the legislators of the
earth, to those in whom we most frequently meet with the most grandeur.
It would be sufficient to imitate them, and make a Thorah after their
words and example. But it is not so ; each word of the Thorah contains
an elevated meaning and a sublime mystery. * * The recitals of the
Thorah are the vestments of the Thorah. Woe to him who takes this
garment for the Thorah itself ! It is with this meaning that David has
said : * O YHVH ! open my eyes, to the end that I may contemplate the
marvels of Thy Thorah * (Ps. cxix, i8). David wished to speak of that
which is concealed under the vestment of the Thorah. There are some
foolish people, who seeing a man covered with a beautiful garment,
carry their regard no further, and take the garment for the body, whilst
there exists a still more precious thing, which is the soul. The Thorah
also has its body. There are some of the commandments that one can
call the body of the Thorah. The ordinary recitals therein mingled, are
the vestments by which the body is covered. The simple take notice
only of the garments or recitals of the Thorah, they know no other
thing, they see not that which is concealed under the vestment. The
more instructed men do not pay attention to the vestment, but to the
body which it envelops. Finally, the Wise, the servitors of the Su-
preme King, those who inhabit the heights of Sinai,J are occupied
only with the soul, which is the basis of all the rest, which is the
Thorah itself; and in the future time they will be prepared to con-
* Zohar ii, 1 76^7, Mantua Ed.
t III, fol. 152^, J Beha-alotheha,
fNum. xi, 24 ei seq,; Exod. xxiii, 9-1 1.
I03
template the Soul of that Soul (/. e., the Deity,) which breathes in the
Thorah.** It also says : “If the Thorah was composed only of ordinary
words and recitals, as the words of Esau, Hagar, and Laban, as those which
were pronounced by the ass of Bala-am, and by Bala-am himself, where-
fore would it be called, the Thorah of Truth, the Perfect Thorah, the Faith-
ful Witness of God ? Wherefore would the Wise esteem it more precious
than gold or pearls ? But no ; in each word (of the Thorah) is concealed
a more elevated meaning ; each recites to our understanding, other things
than the events which it appears to contain. And that superior and most
holy Thorah is the True Thorah. * ‘* Origen uses almost the same language,
saying : “If we take our stand on the literature (according to that which
seems good to the Jews or to the crowd generally), let us receive what has
been written in the Law, and if we do this, I blush to say and confess that
God has given us such laws ; for the laws of man will appear to be more
elegant and reasonable. Compare for example the laws of the Romans,
Athenians or Lacedemonians. *’t
He also says : ” What man who has any understanding will suppose
that the first, second and third day (of Creation), and the evening and
the morning, had been able to exist without a sun, and moon, and stars?
And that the first day was as it were, also without a sky ? Where can we
find a mind so foolish as to suppose that God acted like a common hus-
bandman, and planted a paradise in (the Garden of) Eden, towards the
East ; and placed in it a Tree of Life visible and palpable, so that one
tasting of the fruit by the bodily teeth obtained life? And again that one
was a partaker of good and evil by masticating what was taken from the
tree ? And if God is said to walk in the paradise in the evening, and
Adam to hide himself under a tree ; I do not suppose that any one doubts
that these things figuratively indicate certain mysteries, the history having
taken place in appearance, and not literally. Cain also, when going
forth from the presence of God, certainly appears to thoughtful men as
* Zohar iii, fol. 149^.
t Homil. vii, in Levit. See also to the same effect : The Writings of Origen. Clark’s
Edinburgh Ed., 1869, Vol. l. pp. 315, 316. Huet. Origmiana, p. 167. Philo, BohnVs
Ed., i, p. 422. Davidson, Sacred Hermeneutics, Edinburgh, 1843, p. 99.
I04
likely to lead the reader to inquire, what is the presence of God, and
what is the meaning of going out from Him,” etc., etc.*
A charming allegory in the Zohar also sets forth the same ideas. ” Like
unto a beautiful woman hidden in the interior of a palace, who when her
friend and beloved passes by, opens for a moment, a secret window, and
is only seen by him ; then again retires and disappears for a long time :
so the doctrine shows herself only to the elect (that is, to those devoted
to her with soul and body), but also not even to these always in the
same manner. In the beginning, deeply veiled, she only beckons to the
one passing, with her hand ; it simply depends (on himself) if in his un-
derstanding he perceives this gentle hint.f Later she approaches him
somewhat nearer, and whispers to him a few words, but her countenance is
still hidden in the thick veil, which his glances can hardly penetrate. J
Still later she converses with him, her countenance covered with a thinner
veil.§ After he has accustomed himself to her society, she finally shows
. herself to him, face to face, and intrusts him with the innermost secrets
of her heart. II He who is thus far initiated into the Mysteries of the
Thorah, easily comprehends, that all those profound secrets, are already
based upon the simple sense of the word and are in harmony with it, from
which (the literal sense of the word) not a single yod is to be taken
or added.’* ^
Origen in his writings, also admits of the three meanings, an historical,
♦Origen’s works, Clark’s Ed. cited, i, 315 et seq.y Bk. iv, c. 2. Huet Origeniana^ p.
167. The Talmud al o holds to a spiritual or hidden meaning in the Hebrew Holy
writings, under ihcir letter. Treatise Sanhedrin 99^. In the Christian Church at pres-
ent this idea is carried to a great length. See, among others, the curious statements in
the writings of Dr. Christopher Wordsworth, Canon of Westminster, especially his
Comment, on Genesis and Exodus. London, 1864, p. 52.
f This is the species of interpretation of the Holy Scriptures called : Remez, 1. ^., in
dication, hint, known meaning.
X The species called : D’rash, i, ^., allegorical exposition.
2 This is the Haggadah, which is written in enigmatical language.
II This is the species called. Sod or Mystery, 1. ^., the Secret of the Thorah or Law ;
the ‘Hokhmah, 1. ^., Wisdom par excellence, the Secret Learning or Qabbalah. The
ordinary and usual intelligence of the words, etc., was called Pashut. The whole to-
gether forms the word PaRDeS, i. e,. Paradise, the Intellect.
^ Zohar ii, fol. 99, { MishpcUim, Comp. Matt, v, 18 ; Luke xvi, 14.
I05
a legislative or ethical, and the mystical sense. The first he compares to
somatikos, /. ^., the body, the second to psychikos, i. e,, the soul, the
third Xopneumatikos, /. ^., the spirit. These corresponding to the Pla-
tonic notion of the component parts of the man, somay body ; psyche^
soul ; pneuma, air or spirit. Origen* speaks of these in almost the very
words of the Qabbalah.f The learned Franciscan, Nicolas de Lyra, b.
^irca 1270, d. 1340 A. D., forerunner of the Reformation, and an erudite
commentator on the Bible,! adopts the four Jewish modes of interpreta-
tion OTIS PaRDeS =- niD Sod, secret, mystical ; Vrash, allegorical, Re-
mezy spiritual or moral, and DM Pashut literal. In his first prologue, he
says : ” The letter teaches the things which are done, the allegory those
which you believe, the moral the things which you are to do, the anagog-
ical (the mystical interpretation), that to which you tend.’* § The word
PaRDeS, /. ^., Paradise or the Intellect, covered the same ground in the
mind of the Jewish exegetists.||
Matt. V, 22, ” Whosoever shall say. Thou fool, shall be in danger of
hell fire.”
The Zohar says :^ ” R. ‘Hiz’qee-yah, said: He who calls his fellow-
man wickedy him they will bring down to the Gai-hinnomy t\e,y hell fire,
and they bring him down ‘i;rS;rS Wil-oyy literally * to his ribs,* /. ^., by
scourging him on his bare skin, or by subjecting him to want and starva-
tion, until he is nothing but a skeleton. The above quoted verse from
St. Matthew, comprises the Talmudical meanings. The Talmud says :**
”He who calls his fellow-man wicked yored immo le^hdyyavy^ i, e,, he
goes with him to his life, or, he may, or will, punish him to his very
life, even injuring him in his means of earning a living. On these words
Rashi commenting, says : ** It seems hard to me, that the ‘Hakhameem,
* Clark’s Ed. cited, Vol. i, p. 294-315. Homil. v, in Lcvit.
f Compare Davidson, Sacred. Hermeneutics, p. 97.
X Postilits perpetua in universa Biblia; first printed at Rome 1471-5 in 5 vols.
I Compare Kitto*s Cyclop. Bib. Lit., Ed. 1876, iii, pp. 869-70.
II Comp. Talmud Ye’nishalmi, French Edition, by M. Schwab, Paris, Vol. i, Introd.
Talmudic Miscel. by Hershon, p. 75, § 33.
li” \ Miskpatim, Part ii, p. 1 22a.
** Treatises, Baba Me’tzeeah 71^, Kiddushin 2Sa, Ke^tubboth 90^, Yomah 75^.
io6
/. ^., Wise-men, should have permitted Israel to take revenge and retali-
ate.” The termination ‘i oy of ‘i;rS;rS ie’tl-oy, /.^., to his ribs^ answers to
the Hebrew v av of v^nS le^hdy-ydv, /. the noun in the plural ; the first S in both words means to; hence there
remains in the word of the Zohar yhv ill'(^i which is the same as the He-
brew j;S3f tzelah, /. Leon, who did not understand the Talmudic sentence and the word le^hay-
yav, but thought it was derived from ^nS le*hee, i.e., the cheek or Jaw-bone.
The Zoharic critic, however, did not himself apparently know that Wil-oyy
i. e,, to his ribs, is not derived from j;iS io-ah, /. e., jaw or cheek.
n Peter ii, 4. ” For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast
them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be re-
served \mto Judgment.^* It has been generally held that this statement
applies to Genesis vi, 4, and that the angels referred to are those called
D’hSkh ‘•ja B*nai ha-Elohim, i. e.. Sons of Elohim, but no account is to
be found in Genesis of any punishment of the offenders, and it is the
punishment that is especially dwelt on in the Epistle of Peter. Reference
is made to them in the Book of Enoch.* The parallel passage is Jude vi.
“And (the) angels which kept not their own dignity (principality, do-
minion), but forsook their proper habitation, he hath kept in everlasting
bonds under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day.’*t From such
passages as Ephesians i, 21, we can see, that the celestial world was con-
ceived and spoken of by the Apostles, as arranged according to the dig-
nity of its inhabitants, t
The Zohar states : *’ R. Yitz*haq began and said : * What is man that
thou rememberest him ‘ (Ps. viii, 4). This was said at the time when it
came into the Will of the Holy One to create man. He called before Him-
self many hosts of the upper angels and said unto them : * I wish to create
man. * Then they replied : ‘ Man will not continue one night in his glory *
(Ps. xlix, 12). Then the Holy One stretched forth his finger and burned
them. After that he called other hosts before him, and said unto them :
‘ I wish to create man.’ And they said before Him ‘ What is man, that
♦vii, I, 2; X, 6, 15; xxi, 6; cc. 1-36,
f Comp. Gen. vi, 2; I Pet. iii, 19; Tobit vi, 14.
t Comp. Col. ii, 18.
I07
Thou rememberest him ? ‘ ‘ What is the good of this son of man ? * And
He said unto them : ‘ This man shall be in our image so that his wisdom
shall be superior to your wisdom.’ When Elohim had created man, and
man had committed a sin, and gone forth as a culprit, there came Uzza
and Azael and said to the Holy One, * We have cause of complaint (liter-
ally an opening of the mouth, accusation) against Thee. Here is the
son of man whom thou hast made; he has sinned before Thee.’ And
He said unto them : ‘ If you had been among them, you would have done
worse than they.* What then did the Holy One? He threw them down
from the holy position that was theirs, even from heaven. * * *
After YHVH had thrown them down from their holy place, even from
heaven, they erred after the women of the world, and caused the world
to err. Here is a subject worthy of our meditation. Surely it is written
* He maketh His angels spirits,’ (Ps..civ, 4) and surely these were not the
angels ? How could they exist upon the earth ? Come and see ! All
these angels above do not exist and cannot exist, except in the Upper
Light that shines unto them and preserves them, and if this Upper Light
is cut off from them they cannot exist. How much less can those whom the
Holy One has thrown down, and from whom that Light of Above has
ceased ? For their glory was altered, and when they came down and the
air of this world obtained rule over them, they were changed into another
(lower) degree. Here is an explanation. The manna that came down to
Israel in the wilderness sprang originally from the dew above,* which
comes down from the Ancient One, the Hidden of all the Hidden Ones.
And when it comes down its Light shines through all the (created) uni-
verse, and from it is fed the field of the apples, and the upper angels.
But when it came down here below and the air of this world had rule
over it, it became congealed and its splendor was changed, becoming only
like coriander seedfand nothing more. How much more so with the angels.
When they came down the air had power over them, they were changed from
their former degree in which they had been. What did the Holy One then
do? He saw that they were misleading the world, so He bound thera^in
iron chains in the mountain of darkness. In what place do they sit ? In
* Song of Songs v, 2.
fNum. xi, 7. .
io8
the depths of the mountains He placed Uzza, and cast darkness into his
face, because at that time when the Holy One bound them, Uzza har-
dened himself and rebelled against the Highest. So the Holy One threw
him down into the abyss up to his very neck and cast darkness into his
face. Now Azael, who did not harden himself, the Holy One placed
near his fellow, but let the darkness be light to him.”* Again, the Zohar
says : ” They, the spirits of Light and Darkness, dive into the great sea, and
when they have arrived at the chain of Uzza and Azael, they rouse them,
and these spring into the mountains of darkness and think that the Holy
One is going to cite them to judgment.** f
In Luke viii, 31, we have the devils saying: “They besought Him
that He would not command them to go out into the deep,’* (the
abyss).
The basic element of most of the ancient, and to this day, of many of
the modem religions of the world is, the idea of a perfect invisible uni-
verse above, which is the real and true paradigm or ideal model, of the
visible universe below, the latter being, the reflection, simulacrum or
shadow, of the invisible perfect ideal above. This idea was fully under-
stood by the Ancient Egyptians, as was shown in their deities Nut or
Neith, the Upper World, Shu or Ma, the Intermediary, and Seb, the
Earth. In India, the same idea is fully set forth in the esoteric books of
the Vedas, called the Upanishads. It is The Supreme Ideal Brahm which
is the only True. It manifests Itself first in Brama, Vishnu and Siva,
past, present and future, time, and through these in the visible, the last
being Maya or Illusion. The temples of most of the archaic peoples
of Asia and of Egypt, were intended to be visible copies of the heavenly
Temple, the starry firmament called Templum^ and the same idea is
visible in those of the Hebrews. Philo and Josephus, represent the
Temples of the Israelites, as typical of the visible universe, and this
was based on an invisible universe. The archaic heathen free-masons
had for their special deity, Jupiter Megalistor, or, the Jupiter of the
Universe.
* Zohar, Ed. of Zolkiew, iii, 20&z. The Splhrah DTznioothah and the Idroth have
much upon the angels called B’nai ha-Elohim.
f Zohar, i, 9^. ^
I09
** And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in
his temple the ark of his testament. * * *
The idea of the Upper ideal but real and true, and the Lower appa-
rently real, but in truth changeable and untrue, goes through the entire
Apocalypse of St. John, is in St. Paul, and in the Epistle to the He-
brews.
The Zohar also says : ” All that which is found (or exists) upon the
Earth, has its spiritual counterpart also to be found on High, and there
does not exist the smallest thing in this world, which is not itself attached
to something on High, and is not found in dependence upon it. When
the inferior part is influenced, that which is set over it in the Superior
world is equally (influenced), because all are perfectly united together, “f
We can compare this with the doctrine to be found m the New Testa-
ment. J And an old Jewish Commentator has said : ” Know that we
have to make a separation between those that are hidden from us, and
those (things) that are manifest to us.** § The Talmudic maxim is : *’ If
thou wilt know the invisible have an open eye for the visible. * ‘
” All that which is contained in the Lower World is also found in the
Upper (in prototype). The Lower and Upper reciprocally act upon each
other.*’ II
** All that which is on the earth, is also found above (in perfect proto-
type), and there is not any thing so insignificant in the world, that does
not depend upon another above; in such a manner, that if the lower
moves itself the higher corresponding to it moves towards it. As to the
number therefore of the different species of creatures, which are enumer-
ated below, the same number is to be found in the upper roots. ^
♦Rev. xi, 19. Comp. ibid, 1-2. Exod. xxv, 8, 9, 40; especially Heb. viii, 5, ix, i.
Acts vii, 44; I Chron. xxviii, 12, 13; Ezek. xi. Compare The Speaker’s Commen-
tary, on these verses.
t Zohar, i, \ Vaya’hee, Ibl. 156, col. 6, 158^, 205^.
J Matt. X, 29-31 ; Luke xii, 6-7.
J Recanati in his Taamey ham-Mitz’voih, i, e,, Meaning of the Commandments ad
init.
II Zohar, J Vayd’hee^ fol. 156, col. 2.
\ Sepher Shephaihal, fol. 1 1, col. 2. Comp. Matt, x, 29, 30, 31 ; Luke xii, 6, 7 ;
Matt, xviii, 10.
no
This is also the view of R. Yitz’haq Luria. ” All the creatures in the
world have each a superior above. This superior, whose inner pleasure it
is to emanate into them, cannot impart efflux until they have adored.** *
According to the Qabbalah, the emanated in its inner being, does not
in reality proceed from the emanating one ; that which is produced is
only an appearance,t and the real (or true) nature remains in the inner
upper one.
” From the Great Light of the being of Ain Soph and its A*tzeeluth,
after It had emanated the A’tzeeluth from Itself, nothing was withdrawn :
Its powers which expand and reveal themselves, are affixed and inter-
woven in It, and in Its being.*’ J
A curious idea of the Qabbalists is, that as to emanation stated in the
book, Nobeleth ‘Hokhmah:
‘* The Qabbalists say, that the entering into existence of the worlds,
happened through delight, in that Ain Soph, rejoiced in Itself, and flashed
and beamed from Itself to Itself; and from these intelligent movements,
and spiritual and divine scintillations, from the parts of Its being to Its
being, which are called delight, Its sources have spread themselves toward
the outside, as seeds for the world, etc.*’ These movements are called
the Upper Ziwug.g
The soul has its origin in the Supreme Intelligence, in which it is as-
serted, the forms of the coming existences already can be distinguished
from each other, and this Supreme Intelligence can be termed the Uni-
versal Soul. From thence, if it is a masculine soul, it passes through the
principle of Grace, the Expansion (Right side) ; if a female, it impreg-
nates itself from the principle of Justice, the Concentration (Left side),
finally it is born into this world in which we live, through the union of
the King and Queen who are, as regards the generation of the soul, like
the human species in the generation of the body.|| So the soul is as-
* Sepher AVbo Sha-arim^ near the end.
f Similar to the idea of Maya or Illusion of the Hindu philosophy.
X Sepher Shephathal^ fol. 2$.
§ Comp. The Eme*h ha-MeWh^ f. ^., Valley of the King, fol. i, in Shaar Shashuah
(the Delight). Sheber Joseph yio\. 6l.
II Zohar iii, fol. 7.
Ill
serted to descend here below, and so, it is asserted, it is restored to the
bosom of the Deity when it has fulfilled its mission, and adorned by its
virtues, is prepared for heaven ; and raising itself by its own action and
the assistance of the Divine Love, which it incites by that which it feels,
to the highest degree of emanation, to the real existence^ thus places
itself in harmony and affinity with the ideal form. This is what the
Qabbalah undertakes to support, with what basis we do not know.* “In
that manner, says the Zohar,t life is drawn at the same time from on
High and from Below, the source renews itself, and the sea always full,
distributes its waters in all places.”
This idea of the perfect invisible and the reflection or imperfect visi-
ble, Herbert Spencer places among the primitive ideas of mankind. J
We find these ideas in the archaic literature of China. Dr. De Groot
saj’s:
” The Tao-teh-King, /. ^., The Book of the Perfection of Nature, at-
tributed to Laou Tsz*, contains the following principles: There was a
time when Heaven and Earth did not exist, but only an unlimited Space
in which reigned absolute immobility. All the visible things and all that
which possesses existence, were born in that Space from a powerful prin-
ciple, which existed by Itself, and from Itself developed Itself,§ and which
made the heavens revolve and preserved the universal life ; a principle as
to which philosophy declares we know not the name, and which for that
reason, it designates by the simple appellation Tao, which we may nearly
describe as the universal soul of nature, the universal energy of nature,
or simply, as nature. Tao manifested itself in Heaven and Earth,
with which it is, so to say. One. If man reaches to purity and rest, he
* See the Pardes Rimonim, fol. 60-64.
1 1, fol. 60-70.
J The Principles of Sociology, 3d Ed. New York. 1886. Vol. i, c. viii, \ 53, p.
105 et seq,
§ Compare : ” The Holy One, Blessed be He ! created and destroyed several worlds
before the present one was made, and when this His last work was nigh completed, all
the things of this worlds all the creatures of the universe^ in whatever age they were to
exist t before even they entered into this worlds were present before the Deity 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.’ ” — Zohar iii, dib, Comp. the Sayings of the Jew-
bh Fathers, by Charles Taylor, p. 70, note 36, end.
112
will be not only one with the Heaven and Earth, the former being the
ideal of purity and the latter of passivity or rest, but his entire existence
even, may be absorbed into the great principle Tao. Purity and rest
or peace, imply the return into the maternal breast, into that principle
which is the source and foundation of all felicity. We have to attain pu-
rity, through the exercise of virtue, and repose, by freeing ourselves
from the anxieties of the world and the inquietude of the human spirit.
These principles will be able to conduct, following the manner of their
application, perhaps to a moral epicurianism or a moral asceticism, and
at the same time to the belief in the possibility of acquiring immortality.
This is the superior part upon which has been constructed the entire sys-
tem of Taoism.” * Of the writings of Laou Tsz* the celebrated French
Sinalogue Pauthier, has said : ‘* Human wisdom cannot ever use language
more holy and profound.” f
The Asiatic Journal says : ** By the Chinese, man is considered as a mi-
krokosm ; the universe is man, on a large scale : this is all we find posi-
tively stated upon the subject. Human reason is the reason of the uni-
verse. The holy-man, or sage by eminence, is like the great pinnacle,
and spirit. He is the first of all beings. His spirit is one with the
heSivens, the master work of the Supreme Reason, being perfectly unique.”
(Asiatic Journal, No. xxxvi, New Series, Dec, 1832, p. 306.)
Dr. Medhurst quotes from one of the disciples of Laou Tsz* : ” What
is there superior to Heaven and Earth, and from which Earth and Heaven
sprung ? Nay, what is there superior to Space and which moves in Space ?
The great Tao is the parent of Space, and Space is the parent of Heaven
and Earth, and Heaven and Earth produced men and things * * *
The venerable Prince (Reason) arose prior to the Great Original, standing
at the commencement of the Mighty Wonderful, and floating in the ocean
of Deep Obscurity. He is spontaneous and self-existing, produced before
the beginning of the void, commencing prior to uncaused existences, per-
* Annales du MusSe Guimet. Tome OttzUme et Douzihne. Les F^tes annuelUment
ciUbries d Emoui (Amoy) Etude concernant la religion populaire des Chinois^ P^^^ J’ J*
M, De Groot^ etc, Traduite du Hollandaist etc., Paris, Ernest Leroux, iditeur iSSb^
a vol. ; Vol. ii, p. 692 et seq,
\Ibid., p. 695.
113
vading all Heaven and Earth, whose beginning and end no year can cir-
cumscribe.” *
Laou Tsz* (b. circa 604 B. C.) in his Tao-teh-King, by Dr. Williams
translated, Canons of Reason and Virtue, ch. xlii, says : ” Tao produced
one, one produced two, two produced three, and three produced all
things.” t An examination of the writings of this ancient Chinese phi-
losopher and their comparison with the Qabbalah, will show many points
of similarity. J
The Chinese believe, as do many other peoples, that each created being
or thing has a double. §
The ^^ ideas ^^ of these early thinkers, especially Plato, were not intel-
lectual ** ideas ” or conceptions, as we, in our day, usually understand the
word, idea, they were more properly specific essences or the absolute reali-
ties of things; this the Pythagoreans meant by their Real-forms, of which
the material forms are only the illusions, and are nothing but fleeting,
changeable images. This was the view taken by Aristotle and Plato. The
latter sought to consider them as entities^ noumcna, of which all individu-
alities were only t\it phenomena, Philo also says: “God, intending to
make a visible world, first formed an intelligible one ; that so having an
incorporeal and most god-like pattern before him, he might make the
corporeal world agreeable to it.”
Still Plato has some thoughts which evince that they are like our ordi-
nary ideas, as, e, g,, goodness, justice, beauty.
The idea of the visible declaring the invisible, is very old, and in the
Psalms we find it beautifully described : ” The heavens declare the glory of
Elohim ; and the firmament showeth His handiwork.”
* Cited in The Middle Kingdom, etc., by Prof. S. Wells Williams, LL.D. New
York. 1883. Vol. ii, p. 214.
t Ibid,^ 210.
J Comp. Dr. Williams’ work cited, pp. 206-217, 246.
\ Herbert Spencer, The Principles of Sociology, Vol. i, c. viii, \\ 53, 57, 58; c. xiii,
\ 96. Musie Guimet. Tome Douzu^me, p. 621 et seq.^ pp. 648-49.
II Ps. xix, I ; see also ibtd.^ viii, i ; c. xiii, 4; xxxiii, 6; Ixviii, 4; Ixxxix, II ; Prov.
iii, 19.
8
114
Xenophon says, ” The Supreme God holds himself invisible^ and it is
only in his works that we are capable of admiring him.” *
Plato tells us, God the eternal, the Chief Ruler of the universe and its
creator, the mind alone beholds ; but that which is produced we behold
by sight, t So Cicero, “Though you see not the Deity, yet by the
contemplation of his works, you are led to acknowledge a God.” X
And St. Paul, speaking of Christ, saj-s : ” For M^ inrisibU things of
him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by
the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead.” § ” For
in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain of your own
poets have said. For we are also his offspring^ (Acts xvii, 28.)
The type and anti-type of the first and second Adam is to be found in the
Rabbinical writings. In reading the first and second chapters of Genesis,
a distinction was made by the learned of the Israelites, between the higher
Adam, /. e., the Adam Qadmon, or first Paradigmic Ideal Man, — who
was the Light of the World, and had created and hcul control over, all the
things, spiritual or material, and who was mystically referred to where it
b said, they two shall bp one flesh; and the inferior (the terrestrial)
Adam, who was lord only of the visible creation, who had only ** the
breath of life ” but not ” the living soul.” ||
The Zohar says: “Man, /. e., the Spiritual Man, is both the import
and the highest degree of creation, for which reason he was formed on the
sixth day. As soon as the Man was created, everything was complete, in-
cluding the Upper and Lower worlds, for everything is comprised in the
Man. He unites in Himself all the forms ^ \ This is a reference to the
Primordial Celestial Ideation Man, the Adam Illa-ah or Adam Qadmon,
* Memorabilia, Bk. iv, c. 3.
f Timaeus.
J DUp. Tusc, Bk. i, c. 28.
2 Rom. i, 20. Comp. Origen’s works, English Ed., Vol. ii, 129.
II Christian Schoettgen, Ilora Hebraica et Talmudica in Universum Novum Testa-
mentum, etc. Dresden and Leipzig. 1733. Vol. i, 512-514, 670-673. Schoettgen
gives this in explanation of I Cor. xv, 45, and Rom. v, 12.
^ Zohar iii, 48a.
i»5
not to the terrestrial Adam made of dust. The first is called the Bolt or
that which unites Heaven and Earth, the Invisible and Visible. It is He :
” Who is the Image of the Invisible God (Elohim), the first-bom of
every creature. For by him were all things created, that are in heaven,
and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or do-
minions, or principalities, or powers, (/. e,, the Sephiroth) : all things
were created by him, and for him, * And he is before all things, and by
him all things consist {exist). And he is the head of the body, the Church :
who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead ; that in all {things) he
might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should
all fullness {the pleroma) dwell,* ^ f “Are not five sparrows sold for two
farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God. But even the
very hairs ‘of your head are numbered. Fear not therefore ; ye are of
more value than many sparrows. ‘ ‘ J
” Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only Wise God
(Elohim), be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.Ӥ
The Mohammedans say, the first thing God created was a pen. *’ In-
deed the whole Creation is but a Transcript, and God when He made the
World, did but write it out of that Copy which He had of it in His Divine
understanding from all Eternity. The Lesser Worlds (Mikrokosmos) or
Men, are but transcripts of the Greater (the Makrokosmos), as Children
and Books are the copies of themselves. ” ||
*Comp. Schoettgen, work cited, i, pp. 662, 807-8; also Plato’s Timseus.
fl Col. 15-19. Comp. Schoettgen, work cited, i, 807 et seq., 812.
X Luke xii, 6-7. Malt, x, 29-31. Comp. Schcaettgen, work cited, i, p. 103 et seq.
\ I Tim. i, 17. See also Heb. i, 3, xi, 27. I Cor. xii, 12. To the student who may
wish to be learnedly informed on the origin of Christianity ^ we especially recommend,
in connection with a study of the Qabbalah, ihe learned work of Christian Schoettgen,
Horn Hebraicee et Talmudicce in Universum Novum Testa mentuntt etc,
II The works of the Rev. Mr. John Gregorie, etc., 4th Ed. London. 1684. To the
Reader. Compare for further knowledge upon the content of chapters iv, v, The Jewish
and Christian Messiah. A study, etc., by Prof. Vincent Henry Stanton, Edinburgh
1886, and the writings cited by him, pp. xi-xii ; also, A Hist, of the Jewish People in
the time of Christ, by Dr. Emil Schiirer, Edinburgh, 1885, and the works cited by him ;
also, St. Synesius, on Dreams.
Figure 3.
V.
PASTOR OF HERMAS, ETC., ON THE NATURE OF CHRIST. THE TEACHING
OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES ON THE KOSMIC MYSTERY. THE OPPOSI-
TIONS AND HARMONY. THREE CONCEPTIONS OF JESUS.
IN the Pastor of Hennas {circa 138 A. D.) the Holy Spirit, the Jewish
She*kheen-ah, which came to live in Christ, that is, the Divine Nature
of the Christ, is at once the Holy Spirit above ail and the true Son of
Goti before the Creation of the Universe, and the author of the Universe.
He is identified in Hermas with the arch-angel Michael, who is the Great
Angel of Israel, and is Metatron, the Presence Angel of the Covenant.
Above all and infinitely superior to all other angels. The writers of the
New Testament call Christ i^e first-born of Creation.* Justin Martyr,
says, the Son of God is an angel ; f as also do Clement of Alexandria,
(Pedag. Bk. i, c. 7) and Origen contra Celsus, (Bk. v, 53, ibid, viii, 27).
Lactantius {Inst, div, Bk. ii, c. viii) makes the Word, the first-born brother
0/ Satan, and the first 0/ all creatures. According to Hermas, the Son of
God is the Thorah. J
The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, chap, xi, has this curious expres-
sion. ** And every approved tn4e prophet doing {what he doetJi) with ref-
erence to the Kosmic mystery of the Church,^’* What is the meaning of
” the Kosmic mystery of the Church ? ‘* Clement of Alexandria uses the
same expression of Christ, ” being not Kosmic, he came to men as Kos-
mic.*’ (Strom, vi, 15). There is an archetypal Church and its ” Kosmic ”
♦Colos. i, 15; Ileb. i, 6; Apocal. iii, 14.
1 1 Apol. 6 and 63 ; Tryph. 93, 34, 56, 60-61.
J Le Pasteur a^ Hermas, Paris, 1880, pp. 88-93.
117
manifestation ; (Heb. ix, i) so the Qabbalists say, to ever}’ ” Upper Mys-
tery’* corresponds a mystery in our, the “Lower” world, which is the
Kostnos,
By the Hebrews the Church of Israel was called the mystic Bride, but
among the early Christians the Church of Christ being considered as the
true Israel ; the ancient prophets may be said to have acted and spoken with
reference to the ” Kosmic Mystery,*’ which in our ” Lower ” world, is the
counterpart of the celestial mystery of Christ and the Christian Church in
the “Upper.” As the Kosmic sanctuary or temple, was a pattern of the
Heavenly or Upper, so a ” Kosmic Mystery ” is, a spiritual idea symbol-
ized in the matter-world. The Zohar says hkS;; KoSj,n kt*i rd-za de’alma
illa-ah, /. ^., a Mystery of the Upper fVorlrl (Exod, , fol. 90^, end). So
a few lines further it says, “On this o^K a-noMee, i. e., I, depend mys-
teries of Above and Below j’Knm ynh); pn rdzin illa-in u-te’ tha-in,^
The pseudo- Clement of Rome, writes: “God made man male and fe-
male. The male is Christ: the female, the Church.” The Qabbalists
called the Holy Spirit, the mother ; and the Church of Israel, the
Daughter. Solomon engraved on the walls of his Temple, likenesses of
the male and female principles, to adumbrate this mystery; such, it
is said, were the figures of the cherubim. f This was, however, not
in obedience to the words of the Thorah. They were symbolical of
the Upper, the spiritual, the former or maker, positive or male, and
the Lower, the passive, the negative or female, formed or made by
the first. J The oppositions, the positive and negative, conditioned by
the harmony, govern, as far as man can ascertain, throughout the entire
universe. In it everything is in motion, in opposition, yet held in combi-
nation. This applies to the mental as well as the physical world, and from
* The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, with illustrations from the Talmud. Two
lectures * * given at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, by C. Taylor, D.D.,
Master of St. John’s College, Cambridge. Cambridge, 1886. See pp. 82-91, 104, 133
and notes. This book is also termed, the Didach6 or Teaching. See also The Oldest
Church Manual called, the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, etc., by Philip Schafi.
New York. 1885. 201-202 and notes.
t I Kings, vi. See Talmud Babli. Yomah, 54^ ; Exod. xxxvii, 9.
J Comp. Taylor’s Didach^, cited, 84 ei seq.
ii8
these oppositions, controlled by the peace or harmony, proceeds the new
productions. The ancients knew this and placed it among the zodiacal
signs. Scorpio, the male or positive, is in opposition, to Virgo, the virgin,
the negative, but between is Libra, the scales or balance, the harmony.
The idea is set forth throughout the ancient Qabbalistic book Ye*tzeer’ah.
It is especially noticeable in our own earth, through the difference of sex
and the tendency to unification, by which the existence itself is preserved.
Among the Qabbalists, this necessity to continued creation and existence,
is called the Balance, and the oldest book of the Zoharic writings, the
Siphrah D’Tznioothah, treats especially upon this subject, but its explan-
ation is continued in the Idroth. The D’Tznioothah begins: ‘* We have
learned (by oral tradition) : that the Book of Mystery, is the book which
describes the equilibrium of the Balance. Before the Balance existed.
Face could not view Face,* and the primordial kings died, (comp. Gen.
xxxvi, 31 ^/ seg.) and their sustenance was not found, and the earth was
desolate until the Head, the Delight of all Delights, prepared, perfected
and imparted the garments of costliness. This Balance hangs in the
Place (^Maqom) which is No-Thing {Ay in). In the same were brought
into equilibrium those who did not yet exist. The Balance exists through
the At-tee’qah, /. e,. Ancient One. Is not held anywhere and is in-
visible. In it, ascended, and in it, do ascend, things which were not,
which are, and which will be. In the Concealed of the Concealed, there
is formed and prepared, the representation of a cranium f full of crystal-
line dew, a membrane of air. Transparent and hidden filaments of pure
wool are hanging in the Balance. J And they manifest the Good Will
of Good Wills through the prayers of the lower ones, by a look of the
open eye which never sleeps and is always watching. The Providence
below by the light (or eye) of the Providence above,” etc.
* The Parzuphim, Intellectual, Moral and Material Worlds, of which more hereafter.
t The immense cranium is the representation of the Makrokosm, the arched firmament
above and surrounding us, called Heaven. The Makrokosm is usually represented as
an immense man, but sometimes as an immense head, the head of man containing the
intellectual part of man.
X Hanging threads of pure wool, are a symbol among some of the Orientals for the
efflux of wisdom and vitality.
119
There seem to be three conceptions of Jesus in the N. T.
I. As a prophet favoured with a full flow of the Holy Spirit. This we
find in the Synoptics and Acts of the Apostles. We mxist, however, dis-
tinguish passages, where the name Son of God, is given metaphysically,
they are Mark xiii, 32 ; Matt, xi, 27, with Luke x, 22 ; and Matt, xxviii,
19. The recitals of the miraculous conception also tend to put the son of
Mary outside of humanity.
II. As a Great angel, the instrument of the Creation of all the Things,*
abased momentarily in the position taken by him as Redeemer, then
raised to the Throne of God in recompense for this sacrifice, f
III. The Johannic theology, the most metaphysical and mystical of all,
which makes Jesus a being positively participating in the Divine Nature, %
who descends upon our earth without any loss of glory,§ but full of grief,
and this glory is again found in him after his death, which is for his glori-
fication, || as that which it was before, his death.^ St. John makes no allu-
sion to the eternity of the Son, but solely to his pre-existence through af-
finity with the world, and he aflBirms frequently the inferiority and subordin-
ation of the Son to the Father. The first Christians believed in their time,
in an impending return of Jesus in a second advent, as the Christ, and
the hope of a reign of 1000 years for the elect. This has not a little con-
tributed to the success of early Christianity and the enthusiasm of the
then faithful. It is to be found in the N. T. in many places.** The idea of
the immediate second advent of Jesus as the Christ and as the Messiah
coming in the glory of Malkhuth, /. ^., his Kingdom, is therein fully set
forth, ft The same idea runs through all the Apocalypse, which was
* I Cor. viii, 6 ; Col. i, 16; Heb. i, 2, xi, 3.
fll Cor. viii, 9; Phil, ii, 5-1 1 ; Heb. ii, 6-1 1, 17, iii, 3; Apocal. v, 9.
J Gospel i, I .
\ Ibid, i, 14.
II Ibid, xii, 23-28 ; xiii, 31, 32.
\ Ibid, xvii, 4, 5.
** Comp. Matt, xvi, 27-28; Mark viii, 38, ix, I ; Luke ix, 26-27.
ft See Matt, xxv, 64 ; Mark xiv, 62 ; Matt, xxiv, 3-36 ; compare Mark xiii, 1-32 ;
Luke xxi, 5-33; I Cor. xv, 51-53 ; I Thess. iii, 13, iv, 13-18; II Thcss. ii, 6; Act» ii,
15 et seq,; Rom. xvi, 20; I Cor. vii, 26, 29, x, II ; Philip, iv, 5; Heb. i, 2, ix, 26, x
25, 27; James v, 4, 8, 9; I Pet. i, 5, 20, iv, 7, 17; I Epist. John ii, 18, 28, especially
Apocal. xi, 15.
written about 68 or the beginning of 69 A. D. In it are references as to-
the 1000 years*, and the vanquishing of Anti-Christ.f
■ 4-S-
\nid. xii, 11, II. See in Ihis connection I Cor. iv, 23-18; and The Hidden Wis-
dom of Christ and the Key of Knowledge or the History of the Apocrypha, by Emest
De BoDsen. London. 1865. a vols. The Angel-Meiniah of the Buddhists, Essenes,
and Qirislians, by Emest De Bunsen, London. 1880. Compare also tbe Keys of St.
Feter, by tbe same author; Hamack on, The Puloi of Hennas, Vis. Ji, 4, i ; Exod.
ixv, g, 40; xivi, 30; XKvir, S; Numb, viii, 4.
^’f’^T’-h..
VI.
THE SECRET OF THE ACCOUNT OF CREATION IN GENESIS. EX NIHILO NIHIL
FIT. DOCTRINE OF THE NON-ANNIHILATIOM OF MATTER. SOME
QABBALISTIC ACCOUNTS OF THE CREATION. THE HEAVENLY ADAM.
CREATION BY THE WORD. THE ZOHAR SETS FORTH THE QRCULAR
UOVEHENT OF THE EARTH MANY CENTURIES BEFORE COPERNICUS.
OPINIONS OP THE ANCIENTS ON THE CIRCULAR MOVEMENT OF THE
EARTH.
WE have referred to the ancient Asiatic idea, that above the earth,
in the heavens, existed a true and perfect ideation of everything
created in the universe, visible or invisible. That this perfect
ideal, true and real paradigm, was in opposition to yet in harmony with,
its imperfect shadow, the changeable — by man considered, real — universe,
but the really, untrue and unreal. The unseen universe was a Makro-
kosm, to the visible, and the latter was, in comparison with the former, a
Mikrokosm, the latter was also as to the inferior copies of it in the de-
scending scale, a Makrokosm, and yet when compared with the higher
beings of which it was a copy, it was a. Mikrokosm, and this was so in
the ascending or descending scale depending on position. This view
is shown in both the New and Old Testaments, which are Semitic and
Oriental books. The Qabbalah holds fully to this idea. It also claims.
122
that the first account of the Creation in Genesis, referred exclusively to
this ideal world and to an ideal man. The ten ” saids “* or desires, under
the Will of the Deity, made this perfect ideal paradigm of the universe.
In the first account in Genesis, there is not any Garden of Eden, not any
Eve, and the Ideal Man is created as an Androgene but in the similitude
of Elohim. The ten “saids’* are divided, seven are given to the lower
creation, three to the upper, the male-female. The account begins with
the lowest and goes up to the highest, the invariable procedure of the
Qabbalists. The vitality of this Man is to be supported on strictly vege-
tarian principles, animal death is not contemplated. We have not space
at this time, to go into an extended analysis of this first account, we have
many new views of it in writing, and an analytical examination of it which
is very curious.
We now advance for the consideration of the reader some thoughts we
have worked out, as to the account in Genesis, in connection with modern
scientific physics. It will be noticed in reading the first account of the
Creation, that in the first place it is Elohim, which creates the duality,
/. ^., heaven and earth, the active and passive, positive and negative.
The action of the positive or active, upon the negative or plastic, pro-
duced, by the Deity’s wish. Light ; but this was not fire or even daylight, it
was the white, hidden fire, which permeates all things and becomes visi-
ble through friction, the result being black fire or visible light. We may
call this white fire the energy of attraction, electricity, etc. Its compre-
hensive name we do not know. It exists as the affinity, vitalization
and bond, of all the atoms. The key of this chapter of Genesis is the
number four. This is the number of the letters of the Tetragrammaton
or Ineffable Name. Arranging the numbers of the days in this form :
I V
• •
V
3 – ^ 6
*As to the ten “saids” see: The Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, etc., by Charles
Taylor. London, 1877. p. 92, and notes.
123
and reading the account of the Creation in the first and second chapters
of Genesis, we have the following result :
I. I. The creation of Light, the hidden principle of attraction. Force
or vital energy, the bond of all the atoms.
II. 4. The creation of the sun, moon, planets and stars, in the firma-
ment of heaven.
III. 2. The division of the firmament in the midst of the waters, the
crystalline sea of the sky. The crystalline sea under the firmament, was
divided from the waters, the crystalline sea above the firmament.
IV. 5. The waters still cover the earth. The lower have their crystal-
line sea and its fish, the birds which float in it ; the fish are also created
to inhabit the lower waters.
V. 3. The dry land now appears and vegetation sprouts forth.
VI. 6. The animals appear and finally, the androgenic Man, created in
the similitude, image and likeness of Elohim, which is to reproduce,
through a copy of itself, its own species.* On the seventh day appears
the rest point in the centre. ** Elohim ended His work.’* Then comes
the account of “the generations,’* by YHVH Elohim to be created
materially. The earth was covered with a mist or nebulous matter.
In the second account of the Creation, the terrestrial man is “formed of
the dust of the ground, and has breathed into his nostrils the Nephesh,
/. e.^ breath of life, and becomes a living soul.” The Garden of Eden,
the Neshamah or intellect is then planted, and the man is put into it; man
has however, as yet no knowledge of good or evil, the Rua*h or ethical
spirit was not yet in the man, and the power of judgment of the good and
evil did not yet exist in Adam. The terrestrial Adam, like its predeces-
sor, the perfect paradigm or Celestial Man, was yet an androgene, and
whilst in this condition all the creatures are brought before man and
named, but “for Adam there was not found an help-meet.*’ Then
YHVH Elohim creates, from Adam’s side, woman. The latter however
existed in Adam, in potentiality, from the first. The serpent, which ” was
more subtile than any beast of the field which YHVH Elohim had made,”
now appears and a dialogue ensues, it will be noticed that neither the woman
* The Androgenic being, as the first human existence, appears in nearly all the ancient
religions.
124
or the serpent use the Ineffable Name YHVH. After eating of the fruit of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, having made conscience and
the ethical, part of themselves, the still small voice of YHVH Elohim
appears to them in the intellect, to accuse them. We cannot for want of
space continue this subject, but it will be noticed, that the creation fol-
lows a philosophical sequence.*
Not only does the Qabbalah repudiate the adage ex nihilo nihil fit. ^ i. e,,
“From nothing nothing is madef*’ that is, nothing can come from
nothing, but it does not believe in the absolute annihilation of anything
which has ever existed. ” There is not any thing new under the sun.’* J
*’ Not any Thing,*’ says the Zohar: “is lost in the universe, not even
the vapour which goes out our mouths, as all things, it has its place and
its destination, and the Holy One, blessed be It ! makes it concur to
Its works; not anything falls into the void”, not even the words and the
voice of man, but all has its place and its destination. **§ This is one of
the most mysterious of the doctrines of the Qabbalah, and the Zohar
makes it proceed, from the lips of an unknown aged man, who is imme-
diately interrupted, by several of the companions exclaiming : ” Old man !
what hast thou done ? Would it not have been of greater value to have
kept silence ? Because now thou art carried away, without any sail and
without any mast, upon an immense sea. If thou desirest to mount thou
wouldst not be able, and in descending, thou wilt meet an abyss without
* As to the Celestial Adam compare : The Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, by Charles
Taylor. London, 1877. pp. 70, n. 36; 72, n. 37.
t See Lucretius De Rerum Natura^ Bk. i, 151-265. The ancient Hindu philosophi-
cal system, termed Sankhya, holds to the same idea; Indian Wisdom, etc., by Prof.
Monier Williams. London, 1875. P* ^9 ^^ ^’9′
X Comp. Eccles. i. 9, 10.
2 Zohar, Part ii, fol. loo^, { Mishpatim, Comp. As to the ancient Hindu idea of
non-annihilation; Indian Wisdom, before cited, pp. 62-63. As to the Eternity of
Sound; Ibid,^ pp. no, III. For the curious theory in regard to the latter, see;
Christianity contrasted with Hindu Philosophy, etc., by Prof. James R. Ballantyne.
London. 1859. pp. 177-195. The statement of this author as to America, on page
193, exhibits so much prejudice and ignorance, that we have great doubts as to his
truthfulness, in many of his statements.
125
any bottom.** * The companions then cite to him, the example of their
Master — R. Shim-on ben Yo*hai— who, reserved in his expressions, would
not venture upon that sea, without being careful to have a means to
return, that is, R. Shim-on would conceal his thoughts under the veil of
parable or allegory. Shortly after, however, the same principle is set
forth plainly : ” All things of which this world is composed, spirit as well
as body, will again enter into the Principle, and into the root from which
they went out.*’t “The Holy One, blessed be It I is the commence-
ment and end of all the degrees (Sephiroth ?) of creation ; all these
degrees (Sephiroth ?) are marked with Its seal, and we cannot denomi-
nate It except through the unity ; It is the sole Being in spite of the
innumerable forms with which It is clothed.** J
The Qabbalist Abram ben Dior, says: ” When they (the Qabbalists)
affirm, that All Things have been drawn from No-Thing, they do not wish
to speak of nothing properly to say, for never can being come from Non-
being, but they understand by Non-being, that, which one can conceive
of, neither by its cause or its essence ; it (the No-Thing) is in a word, the
Cause of Causes; it is It whom we call the Primordial Non-being,
because It is anterior to the entire universe ; and we understand (by
the Adam Qadmon or Celestial Man or Adam) not only the material
objects, but also Wisdom, (/. ^., the Word) by which the Universe has
been founded. If now it is demanded : What is the essence of Wisdom^
and pursuant to what mode is it contained in the Non-being, or in the
Supreme Kether (Crown), nobody will be able to respond to that question,
for, in the Non-being , there is not any distinction, not any mode of existence,^
They also will not be able to comprehend how Wisdom is found united to
Vitality (or Life).’* II
* Zohar, Ibid.
t Zohar, Part ii, fol. 218^.
X Zohar i, fol. 2ia,
§ We shall frequently apply in our translations, the neuter^ It, to the Supreme Deity,
instead of using He, which indicates the masculine gender. The Deity not having any
sex. If we depart from this in any place, it is in deference to usual and familiar Bible
quotations, which use the masculine gender, or where such a distinction is important
for the more complete understanding of the subject matten
•I Comment on Sepher Ye’tzeer’ah, see Rittangel’s Edition, p. 65 et seq.
126
Notwithstanding the idea of the non-annihilation (and absolute non-
destruction of matter) except by the decree of the Deity, who is the
Principle of the oppositions and of the harmony, the tendency in nature,
to dissolution, death and change, as well as to vitality, life, and the
building up into new forms, is apparent throughout the Qabbalah. This
is shown in the ideas of the angels and of the demons or shells.
If we look at the principles of this metaphysical religious philosophy
in one of its simplest forms, we shall see that in each of all the objects
of nature, the Qabbalists recognize two distinct elements ; one is the
interior, incorruptible and life-giving principle, which reveals itself in
the spiritual, e. ^., in vital energy or the Form; the other, is the purely
exterior, plastic and material, which is considered as inert and without
life or vitality, always tending to dissolution and a return to its original
atoms. These two are considered as existing, in all the created, in a
greater or less degree. The first as a symbol of Blessing and life, the
latter as a symbol of Curse and death. The first, is the Qabbalistic
hierarchy of the angelic host and good spirits, the latter, that of the
demons or Klippoth^ /. ^., shells and evil spirits. The Deity has created
both the good and the evil, and one is absolutely necessary to the exist-
ence of the other (Isa. xlv, 7). It considers that each human being is
accompanied throughout its life on earth and is influenced spiritually, by
two spirits, the good and the evil.* These are the oppositions, but the
Free Will of the individual is the harmony, by which he exercises the
Divine Power of Judgment^ and accepts the one or the other as his
master. This idea is in the Talmud and especially in the Zohar, also in
the celebrated Qabbalistic book, called the Sepher Ye’tzeer’ah or Book
of Creation. The latter says (Mishnah, ii, § i): “Twenty-two letters:
three mothers, seven double and twelve simple ones. The three moth-
ers, BTDK (/. <f., K Aleph, air, d Mem, water, ly Shin, fire) their basis, the
vessel {i. e.y the scale-pan or receptacle of a balance or scales for weigh-
ing) of purity, and the vessel (scale-pan) of guilt, and vibrating between
each, is the tongue of the Law.’* That is, the index hand of the Balance.
♦See; The Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, by Charles Taylor, pp. 142-145; 51 ;
76-78; 96, n. II ; 99, n. 21 ; ill, 112. Comp. Ephes. iv, 22, 23; Luke xi, 21-26; Ps.
xxxvii; Deut. iv, 9.
127
The Zohar also says: “Until Elohim created the universe, It was
alone, and then it went forth from Its Will to create the universe.** * *’ At
the time that the Holy One : Praised be Its Name ! desired to create the
universe, it (the universe) was present before It in the Idea. **t ” Before
the At-tee’kah D*At-tee*keen, /. <f., the Ancient of all the Ancients, had
prepared the Royal Form, the Crown of Crowns, there could be neither
beginning nor ending. Then It first spread out a carpet (veil, or tapestry)
before Itself, and in this inscribed the Crowns (/. ^., the Worlds).** J
“When the Unknown of the Unknown wished to manifest Itself, It
began by producing a point ; as long as that luminous point had not
gone out of Its bosom, the Infinite was still completely unknown and
diffused no light. **§
This emanated point is the Kether or Crown, the first Sephirah, which
crowns the Ego or I, abstract thought, simple thought, the innate conscious-
ness of being or existence. “It is the Principle of all the Principles, the
Mysterious Wisdom, the Crown of all that which there is of the Most High,
the Diadem of the Diadems.** || The point represents the Infinite distin-
guished from the finite, and its name in the Scripture signifies, “I am,*’
i.e.,, n’HK, Eh’yeh, because it is the existence in Itself, the existence con-
sidered in the point of view, that analysis cannot penetrate it, and to
which not any qualification is permitted and which absolutely does not
admit of any. Above Kether is the Ayin or Ens (]’K ) /.^., Am, the No-
Thing. ” It is so named because we do not know, and it is impossible to
know, that which there is in this Principle, because it never descends as
far as our ignorance and because it is above Wisdom itself.**^ This view
was held by many of the early Church Fathers.** It is fully set forth in
the writings of the pseudo-Dionysius, the Areopagite, especially in his
♦ Zohar, i Part, 29^7.
f Zohar, ii, fol. 96^.
X Zohar, iii Part, 128a. For a representation of this veil in Hindu symbolism, see
my essays upon that subject in The Path, New York, 1886.
2 Zohar, i, fol. 2a,
II Zohar, iii, fol. 288^.
■f Zohar, iii, fol. 288^.
♦* History of Christian Doctrine, by Prof. Henry C. Sheldon. New York, 1886, Vol.
i. pp. 53-63; 187-194.
128
Mystic Theology, and in his Divine Names. This writer is an acknowl-
edged authority in the Roman Church, and is in many of his statements,
fully in accord with many of the doctrines of the Qabbalah. With this
description of the Deity, among the great metaphysicians, the philosopher
Hegel coincides. The Zohar alluding to the Ego, also says : ” This was
the Light which Elohim created before everything.” *
The Deity may be considered from four points of view, following each
other: i. As the Ain Soph, the Without End, the Eternal which is
neuter, is above man’s comprehension and to man’s thought is as the No-
Thing. 2. Eh’yeh, the I or, I Am, abstract thought. 3. YHVH, It,
who was, and is, and will be, therefore in Time. 4. Elohim, the Deity
in Nature, therefore used in connection with the Qabbalistic ideas as to
the She’kheen-ah, the Matroneetha, Metatron, Adonai, Malkhuth, etc.
” Before Elohim manifested Itself (in the Universe), w^hen all Things
were yet concealed in It, It was the least known among all the Unknown.
In that condition the Supreme Deity has not any other Name than that
which expresses interrogation (/. ^., Who?). It began (the Creation) by
forming an imperceptible point ; f this was Its own Thought ; then It
turned Itself to construct with Its own thought, a mysterious and holy
Form \\ finally It covered this (Ideal) Form, with a rich and shining
(visible) garment ; that is, the entire universe, of which, the name neces-
sarily enters into the Name of Elohim. ‘*§ The Divine Name in Kether
is Eh’yeh, /*. ^., I Am. The grandest and most elevated designation of
the manifestation of the Supreme Unknown to man’s mind. Deity ; the
♦Zohar i, 31^, 32^.
t The first Sephirah Kether or the Crown, represented by the letter Yod ‘ = 10.
This Sephirah represents the entire content of abstract simple thought or idea, i. e.^
Ma^hshabah^ i. ^., imagination or idea, which being in It, is called, the crowned
Thought. Kether is the Ego or I, that is consciousness of existence, and contains in
germ, all things.
J The totality of all the Sephiroth, the Mikrokosm to the Deity, the Makrokosm to
mankind and creation, the Adam Illa-ah or Heavenly Adam, the Celestial Adam or
Upper Man, also called Adam Qadmon, the Archetypal Primordial Ideation Man in
whom were the perfect models of all forms,
§ Zohar i, fol. i and 2; ii, fol. 105^. Comp. Franck, La KabbaU, p. 177, note I ;
Ginsburg’s Kabbalah, p. 12; also Joel, AV/^j-. Philos. Sohar.
129
ego coming from the Non-ego ^ from the No-Thing because it is impossible
for man’s intellect to know the Supreme God in Its essence. Above all
manifestations of the Supreme Deity, man can only express himself as to
the unknown, by, Who ? To which question no clear, formulated reply
ever comes.
As this subject is quite difficult, and is also tersely stated in the philos-
ophy of Ibn Gebirol, we will endeavor to explain it to the reader. In the
introduction to the Brody edition of the Zohar, at the beginning, is an
explanation of this Qabbalistic theory of the formation of the word Elo-
him, which word is translated in the English version of the Bible, God,
although in the Hebrew Sacred Writings, our Old Testament, the word
holds an inferior position to rtsrVj YHVH, which is translated into English
from Adonai, /. e,y Lord, its Hebrew equivalent. This introduction
says: R. EFazar quotes from Isaiah xl, 26, “Lift up your eyes on high,
and behold, who has created these things.” If you ” lift up your eyes on
high,” R. El’azar continues, “you will behold (that it is) who^ (that)
has created all these things,” (that) it is our pronoun Who? which is an
interrogative, and thus alludes to something hidden and unknown, which
thus symbolizes and represents, the original Creator of all things in the
upper world, as Who ? But as to the things below, from which a superior
and higher knowledge cannot be derived, the exclamation ‘* What, no
Maah, doest thou know !”t is to be applied to them. ‘* What doest thou
know, O son of man ? What canst thou see ? What hast thou been
able to search ? Everything is hidden from thee, as // was before /’ *
And with reference to this mystery it is said : ” What is my witness for
thee, what shall I liken unto thee ?” J Which means when the (first) Tem-
ple was destroyed, a voice (or, Bath Qol) exclaimed : ** What, no Maah
— is my witness for thee ?’ * it (What) testifies with reference to thee daily
from the earliest days (when heaven and earth were created) ; as it is
said: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day.”§
” Whaty HD Maah, I shall liken unto thee?” says the Holy One, blessed
* According to the original ‘D Mi, pronounced Mee, 1. ^., Who.
t Job XV, 9.
J Lament, ii, 13.
2 Dent, iv, 26.
9
I30
be It! By all that is comprised in ” JVhaf,** I have crowned thee, O
daughter of Jerusalem, with sacred diadems and made thee ruler over the
world, as it is said : ” This is the city, of which they say ; it is the crown
of beauty.*** They called thee “Jerusalem built as a city to be associ-
ated with.*’t ” IVAaf I shall equal unto thee,**J in the way thou art sit-
uated, not visited by multitudes as formerly, when the holy people came
in sacred sections, hence ” thy breach is great like the sea.**§ And if
thou wilt say that thou art without help and health, I assure thee, that,
” Who ? (‘D Mee) can heal thee ;**|| surely, the Supreme Degree, hidden
from thee, whereby everything exists, shall heal thee and lift thee up.
*^Who?^* Oo Mee) points *’to the end of heavens,*’ Above, and
W?iat? (no MaaK) “to the endoi heavens,** Below; and this is the in-
heritance of Jacob, which represents the axis around which the entire
spheres of the universe revolve from end to end ;^ from the first, upper,
or original end ‘d Mee, /. e,, Who ? to the lower or latter end no Maah,
I. e,y What? because it is in the midst.**
“And with regard to “^r^ Mee, /. e,, Who? created these, ^^ said R.
Shim-on: “Erazar, my son, stop thy words, and the hidden mysteries
unknown to men shall be revealed. * ‘ Whereupon El’azar was silent. Then
R. Shim-on, with tears in his eyes, said: “Erazar, what is the mean-
ing of ‘ these /* If thou shalt say, the stars and planets, truly, they are
constantly visible, and they were created by no Maah, What? (not by
Mee, Who ? see ante) : As it is said : * By the Word, (/. e,, the Targumic
Memrah,) of YHVH were the heavens made. ‘ft ^^t as regards hidden
things, the reference * these* is not applicable, for ‘ these,* i. e., the stars
and planets, are open to the sight of man, and consequently are not in’
* Lament, ii, 15.
f Ps. cxxii, 3.
X Lament, ii, 13.
I Ibid,
II Ibid.
^ This is taken from Exod. xxvi, 28, where the **bar” nn3 (Bar^ia^A) is spoken of
as *< reaching from end to end/’ and it is applied here as just stated, Bar-id h, meaning
in the rabbinical language axis,
** Comp. Exod. xxvi, 28, begitming.
ff Ps. xxxiii, 6.
131
eluded in the hidden tilings Above. This mystery was however not revealed
until on a certain day, when I was at the shore of the sea, and the prophet
Eliyah came to me and said: ‘Rabbi, doest thou know the (hidden)
meaning of, Who (‘d Mee^ — created these ?* I replied to him : * These are
the heavens and their hosts,’ /. e,, the angels, the work of the Holy One,
blessed be It ! for it becomes the son of man to behold them, and bless
It, according to ‘ For if I see thy heavens the work of thy fingers, moon,
stars, etc.** ‘ O YHVH our YHVH ! how excellent is thy Name in all
the earth.’t Said he to me : ‘ It was a mysitxy with the Holy One and
revealed in the supreme place of learning, and here it is : At the time
when the ‘ Mystery of all Mysteries/ willed to reveal Itself, It made in
Its head a little point which became a thought (idea), wherewith It de-
signed all the Forms, carved out all the Engravings, and in that way
shaped a mysterious and sacred Lamp (Light) of every Form, which mys-
terious Light among the holy ones, is a profound construction going forth
from the (abstract) thought, and is called, ‘D Mee, i, e,, Who 9% The
very beginning of the construction whether visible or invisible, is pro-
found and m)rsterious, by its name (‘D Mee,) Who ?
Now intending to reveal Itself and assume a Name, It encompassed
Itself with dazzling Light and ‘created these ‘% which is £/e*h, the begin-
ning of the word tJ’f^*^}^ ELOHim, /. e,, God, and thus was created the
Name, Elohim, by the previous creation of n^K Ele’h, /. e,, these. And
those who trespassed by the worship of the Golden Calf, exclaimed on
the ground of this mystery, hSk £/e*h, i. <f., TTiese thy Elohim ! O Israel !|| (Exod. xxxii, 4.) And as ^O Mee, i. e,. Who, is here combined with n^K Ele’h, i, e,y these, we have thus the Name Q^H^K Elohim (made of the letters of these two words) resulting and established forever, and on the basis of this mystery the world exists ! ‘ Whereupon Eliyah disappeared, and * Ps. viii, 3 et seq, t Ibid., 9. X The two consonants ” ‘ ” and “D ” are the initials of n> n^l^nlD* ‘•^•» *^® thought
of God.
J \Vhich is in Hebrew hSk EUh,
II By this play of words the sin of that idolatry is to be looked upon as merely a mis-
taken view of Elohim, God.
132
I did not see him any more ; from him^ however, I have communicated to
you the revelation of the great mystery.” When R. Shim-on finished, R.
El’azar and his friends bowed down before him visibly affected and said :
” If we had come into the world merely to hear this, it would have been
sufficient !” Said R. Shim-on : ” The heavens and their hosts were created
by no JIfaah,** t\ e., Whaif which is evident, from *’For if I see thy
heavens, etc., how (no) excellent is thy Name, etc., who givest thy glory
upon (or, above) the heavens* which are above the earth by that Name,
since It created Light to Its Light, enveloped one in the other, and made
it ascend by the Supreme Name. And as, * In the Beginning created
Elohim,’ that is the Supreme Elohim, for no Maah, i. ^., What? was not
yet in existence, nor was it until the letters of n^K Ele*h were changed from
above to below ; I now ask : When did It adorn her thus? At the time
when all the males appeared before It,t then the n (Ji) of no Maah, What ?
disappeared, and the ^ yod, came into the place of n (^) and was (“d Mee)
Who ? and it adorned itself with garments of the males for the reception
of every male in Israel.
^ These hSk, /.^., Ele^h^ I remember ! * J I remember or mention with
my mouth and ‘shed* my tears. ‘As my soul wills it,* in order to
move those letters and ‘guide them* from above to the house of
Elohim, to be like Elohim himself, ‘ by the voice of joy and praise, a
feasting multitude!**’ R. El’azar said, referring to the foregoing:
” Without any sound or voice, /. ^., in silence. It built the celestial and
terrestrial temple, hence the truth of the adage (Talmud Babli, Me’ghillah
i8) : ‘ If a word costs one Sela, silence is worth two (Selas).* ‘ A word costs
one Sela,* when we have aroused ourselves and have said it : ‘ Silence is
worth two,* in that which we do quietly ; thus the two worlds (the Upper
and Lower), were created at the same time.** In accordance with which
*In Hebrew D’OB^n 7i^ plH H^n, the final letters of which four words, to wit:
Q^^^n ^^^’^cd constitute the word HDtD, Queen, an allusion to the Supreme Wis-
dom, as : Queen of the heavens.
t “Before the face of the Lord,” i. ^., jTWH ha-adon, YHVH, who is called {HK,
Adon, f. ^., Lord, according to Joshua iii: ” Behold the Ark of the Covenant of the
Lord piK Adon, t. ^., Lord, of all the earth.
X Ps. xlii, 4*
133
R. Shim-on said : ” This completes the meaning of Isaiah xl, 26 ; * Who ?
bringeth forth in numbers their hosts, ^ The two divisions of the Above
and the Below, one of which (the Upper) arises under ^d Mee, i. e,,
W%^ / and the other (the Lower) under no Maah, i.e., What? And
they needed corresponding designations; the first is designated by
* Who? bringeth forth (in numbers their hosts), ^ being known as such and
none other like, It, and the latter, the lower degree or created universe,
is indicated by ‘ Who ? bringeth forth, bread from the earth ;* both {pi the
^Who? bringeth forth, etc.)’ are however only, One. ‘In numbers’
of two myriads, which exist together and support the innumerable muUi-
tudes,^ ‘AH of them,’ whether numbered or not, ‘He (It) calls by
name * not by their names, but by Jlis (Its) own Name ; ‘ through the full-
ness of Power’ (potentiality or potency), /. e,, the Highest Degree,
from which, all powers and mysteries emanate the ‘ greatness of might *
peculiar to the Upper world. ‘ Not one man faileth ‘ of all the number
(neither Above or Below), they all proceed from one source a,nd exist after
one image, ‘^^ So R. Shim-on interpreted “Lift up your eyes on high, and
behold Who created these things. Who bringeth forth their host in num-
ber ! he called them all by their name, through the greatness of his might
and fullness of power, not one (man) faileth.”
The Zohar says: “It has been handed down: When Resha hivrah,
/. e,, the White Head, proposed to Itself to superadd an ornament to Its
ornament (or, willed to, manifest Its excellency) ; It appointed, prepared
and produced, a spark (scintillation) from the splendour of intense Light
(or, the Cardinal Lamp). It breathed on it and it cooled down (or, was
reduced to form) ; and Resha hivrah’s, i.e., the White Head’s, Will went
on, and the spark (scintilla) was extended into 370 currents (or, sides).
And the spark existed and remained (intact), and a pure air (azoth) came
forth rolling forward on every side, and there was extended and going
forth, a firm (or hard) cranium (the firmament) on four sides (the four car-
dinal points of the compass). And in that pure air (of the appearance as
it were of a skull) the spark (of vitality) was absorbed and taken up and
included ” in it”\ (or ” by it “). ” By it ” do you think? No, but it
*Ps. xlii, 4.
f n^3 baih, which ia Egypt meant, soul or spirit.
134
was hidden **in it” (the cranium, the luminiferous aether, the hard
skull). And therefore that cranium was expanded on its sides, and that
air (azoth) is the most hidden thing of the At-tee*kah Yo-men, /. ^.,
Ancient of Da)rs. In the Spirit, which is laid up in that cranium, are ex-
panded fire on one part (or, side), and air (aether) on the other (part or
side). And the subtile air (azoth) exists above it on this, and the subtile
fire (the white hidden fire) on that, side.* What is the fire in this place?
But indeed it is not fire, but that splendour which is included in the sub-
tile air, it (the Luminiferous iEther?) shines into 270 worlds * *. In
that cranium distills dew from Resha hivrah, /. ^., the White Head,
from which it is always full, and by that dew the dead will be brought to
life. And that dew has in itself two colours from the side of the Resha
hivrah ; there is whiteness (absolute transparency) within it, /. e., the dew,
which comprises every whiteness and it is entirely white. But when they,
the two colours, abide in the head of Ze’ir Anpen (/. ^., the short Face^
the Mikrokosm) redness appears in it, just as in a cr3rstal {bdellium)^ which
is white (or transparent), a red colour flashes in the white colour, etc.’*t
The Zohar says : It is handed down ; Before At-tee’kah D* At-tee’keen,
1.^., the Ancient of all the Ancients, the Concealed of all the Concealed,
had prepared the institutions (or, royal forms) of the King, /. ^., the Ze’ir
Anpen (or, Short Face) J under certain members, limbs and degrees, (or,
Sephiroth); and the Diadem of Diadems (/. ^., the various wrappers— or,
folds — by which the redundance of Light might be enveloped), there was
not as yet any Beginning nor Ending, /. e, , there was no imparting and
reception. Time had not yet begun to exist. It, the At-tee’kah, therefore
engraved, /. ^., made empty a space (void or vacuum), into which It
might impart Its efflux, and institute proportions in Itself (in as
many modes as the Light of Its wisdom could be received, whence
arose the gradation of the worlds), and It expanded over Itself a
certain veil, /. ^., produced a certain nature, through which Its Infinite
Light might be modified and imparted, which was the first Adam, /. e,y
* This hidden or white fire, shines night and day and yet is not ever seen, answering
to vital force, energy, electricity, etc., of which we have as yet but little knowledge.
f Idrah Kabbah, Zohar, Cremona Ed., col. 256 ; Mantua Ed., col. 135.
X The Heavenly Adam, Adam Illa-ah or Adam Qadmon.
135
the Celestial Adam, Adam Illa-ah or Qadmon ; and It, the At-tee’kah
D’At-tee’keen engraved in it, and by a certain proportion distributed
Kings and their forms, /. e,, all creatures under the condition of their
own especial activity ; by which they might be known and loved, but
they did not remain.* This is that which is said : *’And those were the
Kings such as reigned in the land of Edom, before a King reigned over
the sons of Israel, f
The primary Kings preceding the primary children of Israel. (By
the children of Israel are here meant, the Sephiroth of the restored
world.) And all those which were engraved and did not stand firm, are
called by their names, /. ^., were divided into fixed classes. “Nor yet
did they remain fixed, until It modified them (so that the Lights from
the vessels, /. ^., the Sephiroth, went upward and the vases were left
empty and became shells, and It set them down in rest from before them)
with a diminished Light. :|: All those loose formations were certainly
called by certain names, but they were not able to exist (keep themselves
up), hence It put them out of sight, and caused them to completely dis-
appear.
After some time It, At-tee’kah, looked contemplatively upon that
minute sketch (or veil) and formed on it according to Its own Forms.
And thus it is handed down : It proposed to Itself (or, it was Its Will) to
create a Thorah (Law) (/. e,, the letters of the alphabet, from the trans-
positions of which thenceforth, the Thorah was written, perhaps meaning
a plan or sketch) ; a Thorah hidden for 2000 years, and when It had pro-
duced it, the Thorah immediately addressed it (saying) : “It who wishes
* Here is hinted at the Fall of the creatures, partly in a condition of quietude as
(inert) matter is, partly into a state of inordinate motion, such as that of the evil spirits,
etc. Matter is now considered by physicists as always in motion.
f Gen. xxxvi, 29. A strange statement in Genesis, Saul was first king of the Israelites.
X Another translation is : *’ It caused sketches and outlines to appear in Its imagina-
tion (own substance ?) and then spread a veil (tapestry, carpet or cloth) before Itself, in
which It engraved (hewed or incised) and marked, the kings and their limits and
(royal) forms, but they did not have any duration; ” to this alludes the mention of, ” the
kings who ruled prior to the kings of Israel,” Gen. xxxvi, 31 ^/ seq, (f. ^., the primitive
kings and the primitive Israel).
136
to arrange and appoint other things should be first arranged Itself in Its
proper Forms.”
It is handed down in the Siphrah D’Tznioothah, that At-tee*kah
D’At-tee’keen, the Ancient of all the Ancients, the Concealed of all the
Concealed, arranged Itself into members and prepared Itself (for future
recognition). And it might as it were, be said. It is to be found (/. e.,
as far as It could be known), and yet is not found, for It could not be
clearly known, but It was arranged nor yet was It known to any one, since
It is the At-tee*kah D’At-tee’keen, /. e,y the Ancient of all the Ancients.
But It became known through Its conformations (or, revealed) as a cer-
tain Old Man of Old Men, the Ancient of the Ancient, a Concealed One
of the Concealed, and by Its symbols (manifestations) It became known
and yet It did not become known.*
The Zohar also says: ” The indivisible point (/. e., the Absolute) not
having any limits and not being able to be known, on account of Its energy
and Its purity, spread Itself outwardly, and has formed a canopy (or, veil)
which serves to veil this indivisible point. This canopy, although of a
Light less pure than the point, was still too bright to be regarded ; and it in
its turn spread outwardly, and that extension served It for Its vestment;
it is thus that all is made through a movement which always descends^ it
was thus, in a word, the universe was formed, “f
Another passage teaches, of the voice which goes out of the Spirit and
identifies itself with it in the Supreme Thought, that this Voice is, at the
*\^t have not any knowledge of Its Absolute Essence, and as far as this Essence is
concerned, the Supreme Deity does not exist in Its Elssence for man’s thoughts because
beyond them. To human inteUect It is as \i Ayin^ u e., No-Thing, and It can be de-
scribed only negatively. To manifest Itself to us to a certain extent, the Supreme Deity
made the alphabet, numbers and other forms, it is only through these that the materially
and fleshy enveloped, spiritual man, can have any knowledge of God. Man can only
conceive of the invisible, through the openings in his flesh called senses, by means of
the visible. The 2U)har says : It is the Lord whose dress is white (transparent), and so
also is the appearance of the veil of Its face. It sits upon a Throne of sparks (scintilla-
tions of Light or Flames) that it may subdue them, etc. Zohar, Cremona Ed., fol. 61,
col. 243. Mantua Ed., fol. 128, et seg. The reader will especially note the distinction
between ” the Ancient of all the Ancients ” and ” the Ancient of the Ancient.”
t Zohar. Part I, fol. 20a.
137
foundation^ no other thing than the water, air and fire, the North, South,
East and West, and all the Energies of nature,* but that all these ele-
ments and forces are blended in one sole thing, that is, in the Voice
which goes out of the Spirit. By this the Qabbalists intended to inforce
the idea that the universe was created by the Will, Memrahy Logos or
Wordy Wisdom, of the Invisible Absolute Unknown Supreme Being.
The Zohar also says: **We have learned: Before the Forms of the
Holy King, the At-teek, were prepared, It built worlds and made
Forms for their preservation, but the female principle was not joined yet
with the male principle, called * Grace,’ therefore they could not exist
until that was doije.” This is the hidden meaning of (Gen. xxxvi, 31 et
seq,^ “And these are the kings which ruled in the land of Edom,” the
place, where all Judgment is found, and which was fit for existence only
upon the appearance of ” Grace.** Up to that time we read repeatedly
in that chapter ” and he died,’* until we read : ” And in his place ruled
Saul from Re^hoboth han-nahary^ i, e,, Understanding with its fifty gates,
which shine and illumine the six sides (pillars) of the world. f We have
learned : Judgment was on all except one, who continued after them to
exist; and this “Saul from Re’hoboth han-nahar^^ is one side (pillar)
which extends and came forth from Re^hoboth han-nahar. Proper dura-
tion only came with the last, ” Hadad,” /. e., Supreme Grace, which
resides in the excellency of productive man, who is worthy of the Holy
Ghost. We read further. J ” And the name of his wife was Meheta-
bel,” the mentioning of the name of the wife points to the degree of per-
fection above explained,§ the daughter of Matred, /./., the assiduous
worker under the influence of “Strength,” the daughter of Mezahab,
/*. e,y the female principle together with the male, Mercy or Grace, and
Judgment or Strength.
♦Zohar, Part I, fol. 246^.
f That is, the positive and negative poles of the three dimensions, Length, Breadth
and Depth. J 3id.
2 The positive and negative principles, Grace and Punishment, good and evil, male
and female. The productive Man. The Balance. Compare in the Zodiac, Scorpio and
Virgo, and between them Libra, the Harmony.
Zohar iii, 142a. The Idrah Rabbah.
138
We also read in it : Because of the constitution of Man in Its Elohim’s
likeness, the Man, /. e.y the Perfect Primordial Ideation Man or Adam,
comprises (in itself as the similitude of Elohim) All Things and admits
All Things to settle (be contained or arranged) in it. And because that
constitution of (the Perfect Man) Adam was not at that early time found,
they (the Primitive Kings of Edom. Gen. xxxvi, 31 et seq.), could
not exist nor settle down : and they were made an end of. What were
they made an end of, notwithstanding that they were included in the
Man? They were made an end of so far as they were taken away from
that previous formation, until the complete formation of Adam came
forward. * But when that likeness (of the Perfect Adam) came, All
Things were reduced to shape (were combined) and turned in another
condition, etc.’*t
Man gives, in his own spiritual action, an example of the existence of
the potentiality and energy of the Deity throughout the imiverse. A
painter, say Raphael, makes a picture, or a sculptor, say Michael Angelo,
carves a figure, these artistic creations or works, contain a part of the
potential spiritual energy or force of the spiritual man, the real man, who
within the matter body, does the work. We call this genius or artistic
power. That is, by the vital, energetic arrangement of the particular atoms
which produce the shape, colour or effect, a part of the spirit of the artist
goes into his work, and is, so to say, crystallized or embodied with the
atoms which he combines or arranges in the picture or figure produced by
him. This work is not the result of the matter-man but of the spiritual
man, acting by means of the material man’s hands, eyes, etc., as his tools
or instruments. It is entirely by the action of the spirit that man origi-
nates and stamps his work, and enables other men, who have knowledge, at
sight, of this spiritual stamp of the artist, upon looking at the latter*s result-
*This refers to the Ideal Adam, the Adam Illaah or Qadmon, who is also Zc*ir
Anpen, t. e,, the Small Countenance, the Celestial Man as the producing male and
female, no longer an androgene. These kings of Edom were the pre- Adamite andro-
genic kings.
t The primitive kings were now carved out anew, from the likeness of the Perfect
Ideation Adam, who was at first an Androgene, but who had been separated into the
two sexes, and returned to a new existence. Zohar, Cremona Ed., col. 256. Mantua
Ed., fol. 135.
139
ing work, to say^ thousands of years after the dissolution of the artistes
material form^ that such a picture, figure, etc., was by this or that, man.
This applies to all the works of man, even to his handwriting, so with the
Creator, It has stamped into the entire universe a part of Its spiritual
potentiality and energy, and as to that much exists in it, but the universe
is not the Deity, any more than the picture, statue or handwriting, are
the man himself.
The Zohar, iii, gd, refers to the different races of men, which, it says,
do not all descend from Adam, and we especially call attention to the
fact, that many centuries before Copernicus wrote his work on the
”Revolution of the Heavenly Bodies,” which was about 1542 A. D.,
the Zohar stated, as to the cosmography of the Universe, that : ” In the
book of Hammannunah, the Old (or, the Ancient), we learn through
some extended explanations, that the earth turns upon itself in the form
of a circle ; that some are on top, the others below ; that all creatiures
change in aspect, following the manner of each place, keeping however
in the same position, but there are some countries of the earth which are
lightened, whilst others are in darkness ; these have the day when for the
former it is night ; and there are countries in which it is constantly day,
or in which at least the night continues only some instants.”* It also
sa)rs, race differences are to be ascribed to climate. Very singular is the
close : ” These secrets were made known to the men of the secret science
but not to the geographers. **t Where the first knowledge of this came
from it is difficult to say. The Church Father Lactantius — circa 290-325
A. D. — writes: “It is an absurdity to believe, that there are men
who have their feet above their heads, and countries, in which all
is inverted, in which the trees and plants grow from the top to the
bottom. We find the germ of that error among the philosophers, who
have claimed that the earth is round. “J St. Augustine holds to the same
view.g Aristotle says that : ” Almost all those, who affirm that they
have studied heaven in its uniformity, claim that the earth is in the cen-
* Zohar iii, fol. loa.
I Works, Bk. iii, c. 24*
{ Dg Civiiat Dei, Bk. xvi, c. 9.
140
tre, but the philosophers of the Italian School, otherwise called the Pjrth-
agoreans, teach entirely the contrary. In their opinion, the centre is
occupied by the fire, and the earth is only a star, which by a circular
movement around this same centre, produces night and day.”* Aristotle
opposed the Pythagorean idea and the Greeks, Romans, and Arabs fol-
lowed him. The Italic sect founded by Pythagoras, and the Ionic by
Thales, brought from either India or Egypt, the idea of the movement
of the earth about 600 B. C.
The following Greek philosophers believed in the rotundity of the
earth : Pythagoras of Samos, Anaximander, Nicetas of Syracuse, Hera-
clides of Pontus, Aristarchus of Samos, Seleneus and Ecphantus. Hera-
clides and Ecphantus only admitted the movement of the earth upon
its own axis, or the diurnal movement. The Pythagoreans held, that
each star was a world having its own atmosphere with an immense extent
surrounding it, of aether, f
Their ideas were considered visionary and not accepted as correct,
by the learned of their time. In India at a very early period the astrono-
mer, Arya-bhata (said to have lived, A. D. 476), held to the opinion
that the earth revolved upon its own axis, but all the later Hindu astron-
omers opposed his views. It is not yet known whether any Hindu held
to the theory of the earth’s revolution around the sun. The Egyptians
and Chinese may have arrived at that truth, and we know at a very an-
cient period, the Chaldeans calculated with certainty eclipses of the
moon, and very closely approximated the time of eclipses of the sun.
MaimonidesJ — 11 90 A. D. — holds that the earth has the form of a globe,
that it is inhabited at both extremities of a certain diameter, that the in-
habitants have their heads towards heaven, and their legs toward each
other, yet they do not fall off. §
*Z>^ Ccslo, Bk. ii, c. 13.
fComp. Aristotle de Cctlot Bk. ii, c. 13. Seneca, Qi^x/. natur,, lib. viii. Freret,
Academ. des Inscript,y torn, xviii, p. 108.
J Moreh Ne*boo-kheem. Eng. Trans. Vol. i, p. 336.
2 Dr. Schlegel, Uranographie chinois, pp. 55, 196, 494 et seq.y gives the great
antiquity of 18,000 years, to the Chinese astronomical sphere. Comp. Annales du
Musie Guimet, Tome DouzUnte, by J. J. M. De Groot. Paris, 1886. p. 436 et seq.
Ibid,, Tonie Ontiime, p. 368 et seq.
141
Pythagoras held, everything is the universe has been made, not through
the virtue of numbers, but following the proportions of numbers. The
Book of Wisdom holds to the same as regards our Universe.*
In the theory of the Mystic numbers, the unity is called the monad.
It is the first ring in the chain of existences, and one of the qualifications
which the ancient philosophers have given the Divinity. Its symbol is
the mathematical point. From this simple being emanates the duad)
represented by 2 and also by the line of geometry. This is the emblem of
matter or the passive principle and is the image of the contrasts, because
the line, which is its type, extends itself indifferently towards the right or ‘
left. 3 is the mysterious number figured as the triad, by the equilateral
triangle. It is the emblem of the attributes of God, and reunites the
properties of the first two numbers.t
• Wisdom, xi, 20. ” Thou hut ordered all tbinga in mttuure md nmmier and
vreig^;” and “mide Ihe world, of maaer with form.” Itid. 17. “For in tbegreal-
nesi and beauty of the crcatuies profotiitnalefy, the maker of them is seen.” Ibid.
xiii.S.
f Comp. Mart. Capella in Jt Nt^tOt PAehlegiiE tt Merairii, also the 30th chapter of
Anachanis.
1271&
AN ANALYSIS OF THE «E QOR B
tr-VtU, OF IBN GKBIROL.
THE system set forth by Ibn Gebirol, in the Me’qfir ‘Hay-jIm or
Fountain of Life, although Aristotelian in its form, is yet con-
trary to the doctrines of the Stagirite. The object of the writing
is to set forth ideas of form and matter, in connection with the Deity;
and singular to say, in many of its propositions it is in accord with the
writings of the early Christian Theosopher, the pseudo-Dionysius, the
Areopagite, (who is not later, and most probably much earlier, than S3i
A. D.) as well as with the Zohar and Zoharic books. Four influences are
shown in the Me’q6r : i. Gebirol’s theological belief. 2. Arabian peri-
pateticism. 3. Oriental philosophy, more especially that of the so-called
school of Alexandria. 4. The Hebrew Qabbalistic philosophy, which
had been brought into Spain from the Jewish Babylonian schools, being.
H3
however, not thoroughly Semitic in origin, but having an Aryan germ.
The following is a resunU of the Me’qor.
It conducts us to the ideas of a Universal Form and a Universal
Matter, embracing all things, except the Supreme Deity. Soul and
other created things are equally only one matter. The work is divided
into five books. In Book I, he says : Man’s desire is towards knowledge,
its final attainment should be, to obtain wisdom as to the final cause
of all that which is, viz : God. Doing this to the end, that man obtain the
Supreme Good, and that everything be in subjection to the Will of the Sole
Supreme Being. Psychology ought to be taken for the point of departure
from all philosophical studies. From the Supreme Will movement has
emanated, through movement all things are generated, and the work
of the human soul ought to be, to lead itself to affinity with the superior
world, from which it draws its origin. That knowledge man attains
through meditation and contemplation, and by practising pious exercises.
The proof of this is, that all in potentiality is destined to pass into action*
Man, however, as the finite, cannot know the Infinite, in Its essence.
Metaphysical science should have for its aim : i. Abstract knowledge of
matter and form. 2. Abstract knowledge of the Divine Will or Creative
Word. 3. Abstract information of the first substance, or God. The last,
man can only know imperfectly. He cannot reach to it by philosophical
speculation. The Will of the Deity is the highest knowledge to which man
can reach, it is the First Efficient Cause, it has in its essence, the Form
of All Things, and is the harmony between God and the universe. The
latter emanates from it. Creation is not a necessity, but a free act of
the Supreme. He gave to it the perfection He desired to give it. Matter
manifests itself in different hypostases proceeding from the simple to the
composite. We can begin with the Will, Desire, Wisdom or Word,
{Logos), of the Unknown.
The essence of the universe, in general, is passive, but it conducts us to
some knowledge of that Will, which emanates, embraces and sustains, all
the existing. This passivity embraces an Universal Form and an Univer-
sal Matter. These are, however, to be considered as purely ideal. They
are that which carries and that which is carried ; from these, we proceed
1
144
upward to the third, the Will, and downward to the material universe.
The destruction of form results in chaos.
He then defines matter and form, and endeavors to prove the existence
of an Universal Matter and an Universal Form. The former has but one
existence, that through itself; has only one essence, in that it bears (sup-
ports or carries) the diversity, and gives to all its essence and name.
The knowledge of this we obtain through reflection, and by sublimating the
forms, one after the other, and in passing from the visible to the invisible,
until we reach one last form, in which we are not able to recognize any
other, and it is by this means we shall find the absolute idea of the Uni-
versal Matter, e. g,, beginning with the celestial sphere, we can sublimate
the ideas until we come to the last, which is one that exists by itself
and carries all these forms. That is the Universal Matter ; above this we
find only the First Efficient Cause, the Will which is intermediary and
from the Supreme Deity. The diversity in the beings, whether spiritual
or corporeal, resides only in the form. The Universal Matter embraces
all the spiritual and corporeal worlds. The potentiality or faculty, to
become^ exists in all that which is, outside of the Highest Deity, who is
the Absolute Being, always in action. That Matter receives from the
Will, that existence, unity, and substantiality, which constitute the Uni-
versal Form. The Universal Intellect is a direct emanation from the
Will, and contains all form and universality. The second hypostate is
the Universal Soul. It manifests itself in the Makrokosm (/.^., the whole
Universe), also in the Mikrokosm (/>., Mankind), under different forms.
The Universal Form is founded in the Universal Intellect. It has
properties by which we recognize it in all that which exists : i. That of
the quality of to be, reached through its action on other things, and sub-
sisting in them, because if the form were not carried by them, they would
be chaotic matter. 2. That of perfecting the essence of the thing which
bears it, and giving to that thing its existence, because it is only through
its form that the thing is. Matter is only to be, in potentiality, the Form
of All Things is, to be, in action. Having in a general way established the
Universal Matter and Form, he seeks to base it on analysis. He calls this
the particular method, it consists in the consideration of things evident
to our senses, and individual things; going up, through them, to the spir-
145
itual and general. Animal existence and that of plants and minerals, are
composed of matter and form, the same as the artificial things, e, g,y a
statue. The last are composed of a particular matter and an artificial
form. The four elements have each a particular form, but also have a com-
mon form, that of element in general, for the particular forms of the ele-
ments do not exist of themselves, they are only accidents j they are to the
elements, that which the particular form is to the substance. All nature
resolves into the four elements, ^nd these resolve themselves into some-
thing, which is the substratum of their general form. They are qualities,
and a substratum is necessary to unite thfese qualities, e. g., generation, is
the result of the mixture of positive and negative or opposing elements ;
if a subtile substratum did not precede substance, the latter would pro-
ceed from non-substance. Beyond all usually called matter is the most
sublimated general substratum, this is the Universal Matter. Above the
elements are the heavens, but they also possess quantity and corporeality,
and from thence we may conclude, that they have form and matter. They
have not the qualities of the elements, and have not generation or de-
struction. The form of the heavens is, therefore, different from the ele-
mental form. There are four species of matter: i. Particular or artifi-
cial, e. g,, bronze. 2. Particular or natural matter, e, g,, that coming from
the mixture of the elements. 3. General natural matter, e, g., that which
is the element of the elements. 4. Matter of the heavenly spheres or or-
bits.*
The II Book treats of the place in the universe, of the Universal Mat-
ter which is the substratum of its corporeality. We reach this by subli-
mating from ordinary corporeality, color, etc. In sensible bodies that
which is visible and gross, serves to carry that which is more subtile ; sub-
limating this, we arrive at the sole substratum, the Universal Matter.
Above all the forms of the existences is that of the Intellect, which em-
braces everything by its knowledge, because its substance is the most
subtile and penetrating of all things. In the bond of the forms we pass
insensibly from the visible to the invisible, from the matter-world to the
spiritual world. The forms evident to the senses can be considered as the
images of the intelligible intellectual forms, the spiritual existences, and
♦ This may mean of the Sephiroth.
10
146
through the visible world one can form some judgment of the spiritual and
invisible world. The sensible forms are the symbols, which retrace in the
soul the intelligible forms; as the letters in a book bring back to the
reader the thoughts of the writer, which they carry and conceal. It is
through the substance which bears the nine categories, which he afterwards
more fully describes, that we ought to begin our researches for that which is
not evident to the senses. Our author then endeavors to establish a perfect
parallel between the superior and inferior world. The Will (j^a-tzon) of
the Supreme Deity emanates all forms, and makes them penetrate to the
lowest extremity of matter, and it draws together all the existences
d^endent upon it, and puts them in harmony and equilibrium, by a
wise distribution of the forms. The substance upon which this Will
acts, is Space thought of in its most sublimated abstractness. The other
simple substances are solely and only, in their causes, and are not in any
corporeal place ; together, they reside successively one in the other, and
together, in the Divine knowledge. The lower the existences descend
from the abstract or simple to the composite, the less sublimated and
grosser they become, and the higher they are, the more clear and subtile.
There are two Spaces, a corporeal and a spiritual; the first is a shadow
or image of the latter, as the inferior world is only an image of the supe-
rior world. He says much as to the divine Will, and that everything
comes from, lives and moves, in it. After having spoken of the Abso-
lute Unity above all number, and its passage into the lower Unity, that
of number, and thence into multiplicity, our author gives examples of
his views, by approximation. In his system he formulates four uni-
versal matters, placed in, yet above, each other, sublimating the more,
the higher they ascend, i. The absolute Universal Matter, or that em-
bracing at the same time, the spiritual and corporeal worlds, in the
most abstract sublimation. It is the substratum of all existing outside
of the Unity’s. 2. The corporeal Universal Matter, the sublimated
element of all the elements, or that which serves as the substratum
to the forms of corporeity and quantity, and which permeates at the
same time the celestial spheres and the sublunary world. 3. The Uni-
versal Matter common to all the corporeal celestial spheres. 4. The
Universal Matter of the sublunary world, that of the elements, and seat
H7
of the contingencies, and which he calls the general natural matter. To
each of these corresponds an Universal Form, and the Forms as the Mat-
ters, particularize and corporify themselves, in the measure that they
descend in the scale of existences. Forms in general, are of two kinds —
one, constituting the essence of all things, is common to all which has
directly issued from the Divine Will, the other, limited more and more,
varies in each degree in the ladder of the existences.
In the III Book, he undertakes to prove the existence of intelligible sim-
ple substances, which are intermediaries between the First Efficient Cause,
the Will, and the substance of the corporeal. The system of Gebirol is based
on the unity of form and substance, and the latter, is matter qualified to
receive all forms, qualities and accidents. He asserts two species of
proof to demonstrate the existence of such substances. The first is
founded on the absolute contrast or opposition, existing between the
abstract Deity and the corporeal universe. One is the First Efficient
Cause, most subtile and most noble, the other gross and vile ; one is
eternal, nay, above eternity, the other falls within the limits of time.
The Supreme Deity is Absolute Unity, the physical world, absolute
plurality. The universe, however, draws its existence from Absolute
Unity in spite of the abyss which separates it. It is necessary that
»this abyss be bridged by something intermediary, which resembles
on the one side, the one existence, the Supreme Deity, and on the
other, the two existences. Matter and Form, and which shall serve to
bind all together. Man as the Mikrokosm (Jia-olam haq-qatati)^ is
an image of the Universe, and the whole Universe forms one sole indi-
vidual (the Makrokosm), which is the prototype of the inferior; as in man,
the Mikrokosm, /. ^., the little world, the Intellect, Spirit or Neshamahy
which is the most simple, subtile, and sublime, of all the substances, is
not attached to the corporeal body, but the animal soul, Nepheshy and the
ethical spirit, Ru-a’h, are intermediaries between them, through the
inferior faculties of the animal soul : so in the Makrokosinos, the
Great World, ;. e., the whole Universe; the Great Paradigmatic Perfect
Man ; there are the divine Will, and nine intermediaries or categories,*
♦ This is evidently a reference to the Ten Sephiroth which form in their totality, the
Adam Qadmon. Comp. the Me’q6r, Bk. Ill, JJ 5, 8, 30, 44.
148
through which the Absolutely Existing who is above number, is
attached to Its corporeal universe. The activity of the First Efficient
Cause is to make proceed, or create, out of the No-Thing, Some-Thing ;
but the substance which contains the categories being composed of the
most simple, abstract, sublimated, elements, has not gone out or sepa-
rated, from the No-Thing, but its energies or rays extend. The latter are
under a dependence which comes through the divine Will. It is
then necessary, that there be an intermediary creation going out of
the Absolute No-Thing. Our author, however, admits, that it is an
absolute impossibility to demonstrate by metaphysics, the connexion of
the matter-world, with the Absolute Being of the Supreme Deity. The
simple substances communicate their essence, without any kind ot
diminution, and the Absolute Unity emanates through yet is immanent
in them. Their action consists in the gradual and successive commu-
nication of form, which has its primitive source in the Will. This is
by the Will’s rays and faculties, but not by any diminution of its es-
sence. As evidences of such an emanation without diminution, he
refers, to sight, through the eye, and to the rays which proceed from
the sun. Its first cause can be sought for, only in the Superior Faculty
and First Agent, who made All Things, put all in movement, and acts
upon all that, which is susceptible of receiving Its action. All the simple
substances obey Its action, and act by and through It, whenever they find
matter which has been deposited to receive Its action. All the impressions
come from the simple substances. The First Efficient Cause, however, is
the first emanation, which renders necessary the effusion of all the sub-
stances one into the other. The more the substance is simple, subtile, and
abstract, the more it possesses the power of penetrating. The rays of the
sun become perceptible to our vision, only when they touch a corporeal
substance, and the thickening of the same causes the shadow. The im-
pressions which the composite substance receives, become evident only,
because the matter which receives them, is essentially in contact with the
corporeal. The emanations of the simple substances only become evi-
dent, when in contact with the corporeal substance. We can recognize
that all the forms exist in the Will, in germ, in a more simple sublimated
manner than in the Universal Matter. The simple substances on the one
149
•side are receptive and passive, on the other side active ; they receive the
forms from the higher and communicate them to the lower. The sub-
stance which carries the categories is purely corporeal and receptive and
not any action emanates from it. The forms, evident in themselves,
such as quantity^ shape, color, etc., are in the essence of the simple sub-
stances, and Ibn Gebirol tries to show, that all the categories, which are
solely applicable to the corporeal, have their analogues in the world of
the spiritual substances. In it, he asserts, are the prototypes of all the
categories, which come to corporify themselves in the corporeal universe.
From this alliance between the spiritual and corporeal substance is bom a
form, which in its entirety, is neither one nor the other, because in gen-
eral, when two opposites are united, a third is born, which is neither of
the two opposites, thus results a triad. Gebirol says: ” If thou comparest
the spiritual form to the light which exists in the substance of the sun ;
the form, spread upon matter, to the light which exists upon the surface
of a body; and the color to the corporeal form, which is found, in
potentiality, in the corporeal matter (because color is found in a body,
in potentiality), thou wilt find, by the comparison of these different
forms, that the corporeal form, which exists in potentiality in the body,
manifests itself to our senses, when the form, emanating from the
spiritual form, comes to join itself to it, the same as color, which exists
in potentiality in a body, manifests itself for the senses, when the light
emanating from the light of the sun, comes to join itself to it. So then,
thou wilt find, that the form which emanates from the spiritual form, com-
ing to spread itself over matter, manifests itself to the senses, when it
joins itself to the corporeal form, which exists in potentiality in matter,
because the two (forms) become one, the same as the light spread upon
the surface of a body, manifests itself in the senses, when it joins itself to
the surface of the body and which itself identifies with the color. * ‘ Besides
the Will and the nine categories, he makes the simple substances or inter-
mediaries, three, i. The Universal Intellect. 2. The Universal Soul.
3. Nature or energy, which is more directly in affinity with the cor-
poreal world, which it more immediately produces and governs. This
is based on the idea of the triadic incorporeal in man. The intellec-
tual or rational, the vital, and the vegetative spirits, in the human being.
the rational being the highest, the vegetative, the lowest. The inferior
substances cloth the light of the superior to them, and all cloth the Light
of the First Agent.
The Universal Soul being considere4 as like the particular soul, is
viewed as vegetative, vital, and intellectual or rational. The impression
of the superior is shown in the inferior, e,g,y nature, the lowest of all sub-
stances, produces by the movement of attraction, transformation, reten-
tion, and expulsion. In the vegetative soul originates generation and
growth, the vital produces sensibility and locomotion of body, and in the
intellectual soul {nephesh hatn-me’ dabberetK) thought is produced. The
Intellect above it, produces the perception of intelligible things (Form),
without time, space, or proof of anything, because being in perfect com-
pletion, it perceives all in the true essence. A substance both moving
and being moved, like the Kosmic mind, souls, and nature, must be
ph)rsico-spiritual {pichni gashmee). The substance of the nine catego-
ries, is rather physico-passive, and not at the same time intirely active-
passive. As they descend they thicken, are enfeebled and in shadow,
and the density hinders them from rapid motion and penetrating into
other things. Whether the categories {sugheem) can be inferred as from
the spiritual, is answered by the axiom, — ” You can conclude from the
visible as to the invisible, from the compound as to the simple.”
The body of man, as the Mikrokosm, resembles that of the Malcro-
kosm, or Great World, the Universe, both in its course and construc-
tion. The forms of the purely spiritual substances become visible,
through the resistance of matter against the intrusion of that which is
more subtile, the latter therefore, is retained on the exterior and assumes
a kind of density. By the union of the spiritual and physical substances a
new form, neither totally spiritual or totally physical arises. The Divine
faculty is an extreme perfectipn, that cannot be enfeebled ; but the grad-
ual enfeeblement of the forms in the substances results from the fact, that
the light of the Divine faculty, nvhen concentrated in itself leaves these
substances more or. less in shadow (or image). Like sunlight penetrating
different media, the change is not to be attributed to its essence, but to that
of the thing which receives its action, and which cannot be manifested ex-
cept by partaking of its qualities ; but it partakes of these in different gra-
151
dations ; because the further that the thing is from the source of the Di-
vine faculty, the less it receives the former’s action. The higher existences
yearn after the Divine potentiality {b’hishtokek hak-kokhoth aiiav), the
lower are in the shadow {v^ hay ah hash-shafal tzail). The Divine power
never decreases. The mediative substances also never decrease in
power. They impart without any loss, like the sun, etc. The
inferior world is an image of the superior, and an analogy exists be-
tween the different parts of the two worlds. To arrive at a true knowl-
edge of the simple substances, man must throw off the bond of matter,
and by meditation transport himself into the intelligible world, and so
seek to identify his essence with that of the higher substances ; when in
that condition, man does not recognize anything of the world of the
senses. In that condition, man will find the evident bodies in
comparison with the intelligible substances, extremely insignificant,
and see, that the corporeal world is borne by the intelligible world,
as if it were a ship on the sea, or a bird in the air. Ibn Gebirol thought
he resolved the connection between the Infinite and the finite, by estab-
lishing, that the simple substances and the Will, are neither wholly
the one or the other, that the Will or Desire of the Supreme Deity,
is infinite in its essence, but through its action, is in affinity with the finite,
and that this action began at the instant of the creation, or rather emana-
tion, of the Universe. The intellect has had a commencement, has been
emanated or created, whilst its action, falls not in time but is eternal and
infinite. He then, to show the bonds existing between them, sets forth
the meaning we can infer, in his saying, that the simple substances, are
from and in the orbits or spheres which environ each other, and which
themselves wholly surround the composite substances, and these are evi-
dently those which the Qabbalists term the Sephiroth, and which, he calls,
spheres or circles. Properly they should be called, orbits. The essence
of the Will, he admits, is however impenetrable to man’s intelligence,
and we arrive at a knowledge of it only through ecstasy, which puts us
into the world of the Divinity. We know the essence of the Will, only
through the actions which emanate through the intermediary of the Will.
The IV Book. — This book treats of a subject of much importance, that
is, that all the simple substances are composed of form and matter. St.
152
Thomas Aquinas, Albert the Great, and other celebrated scholastics, con-
sider Avicebron, as the first, who has attributed matter to the soul and all
other simple substances, and that doctrine has been regarded by them as
the principal point of Gebirol’s system. Gebirol goes back to the idea of
the bonds, existing between the superior and inferior worlds, the superior
being a prototype of the latter. The simple substances have an affinity and
all form one sole unity ; they are distinguished only through the matter
they carry, which is more or less subtile ; as it approaches or recedes from
the first source of all perfection. Simple when in affinity with the corpo-
reity which is underneath them, composite relatively to that which is
above them, /. ^., the Will or first agent, which is Absolute Simplicity.
An effect is weaker than a cause, and junction is possible only through a
similarity. The simple substances, as between themselves, are different ;
this is the result of form, form is the realization of their existence, to
the latter, matter is indispensable. Matter has not any real existence
and is without form.* Most of this book is composed of demonstra-
tions, too numerous to be given in this writing, but he asserts that all the
Universe, which is outside of the Supreme Deity, from its superior ex-
tren^ity to its inferior, is yet in one continued unity, in which the Deity
is immanent yet transcendental. The Highest above All Things is an
Absolute Unknown Unity, the emanator of the created is a different Cre-
ator getting all potentiality from the former. The latter is the One in
number. There is therefore a two-fold Ens, Matter, in its greatest ab-
straction, is only being in potentiality, or, the simple power, to be. The
word designates at once that simple faculty in all its abstractness, that
ideal potentiality, which has not yet passed into action, and which is not
yet clothed with any form, either spiritual or corporeal. Matter is also
the composite matter, which may be spiritual or corporeal, and lastly,
it is that which holds the medium between them, that is, the elementary
matter and that of the spheres. This is the abstract matter of the corpo-
* ” The powers (potentialities) of matter we know and recognize in every phenomenon
of creation; the absolute matter in none.” Prof. Faraday, London and Edinburgh,
Philos. Journ., 1844. See also, “Curious Things of the Outside World,” etc., by Har-
grave Jenniilgs, London, 1861, Vol. ii, 32, 33. ” Solar Light and Heat,” by Z. Allen.
New York, 1879, p. 166.
153
reity, that of the latter in potentiality. In the higher world there is a
two-fold Ensy quality and that which bears it. Substratum is matter,
quality is form. Our author has some remarks as to the affinity which
exists between the to be^ and numbers, and shows the number 3 is the
root of all things, because Form represents the Unity, and Matter the
Duad, and together with the Will, the bond, results a Triad; and
his reasoning recalls that of the Pythagoreans, especially the state-
ments of the Arabian authors, upon the numbers of Pythagoras.
In the idea of to be, are the necessary, possible, and impossible,
or. Creator, created, and non-being. Intellect, Neshamah, represents
the monad, the ethical soul, Ru-a’h, the duad, the vital soul, Nephesh,
the triad, and Nature, the tetrad. All the existing are constituted after
the nature of numbers, which are considered as entities, and all are
dominated by the intellect, the same as all the numbers are comprised in
the unity. The Highest Abstract God is the indivisible, metaphysical
unity. The Will is a production, a secondary and divisible unity, the One,
the unity of number, which is in direct affinity with multiplicity. This
secondary unity, the One of number, is an immediate emanation of the
unity above all number, the Absolute Divinity. The Universal Form in
itself is a Perfect Light, which weakens in the measure it penetrates into
matter, just as physical light terminates after passing through several,
more or less, transparent bodies. The first Light is the creative Will,
the efficient faculty, which passes into the Universal Form, the poten-
tiality to act. Matter is the principle of unity, Form, of multiplicity.
There is Universal Matter and Form ; the former corresponds with unity,
the latter with two-foldness, hence not unity, but the Triad is at the root
of All. The Light in the Universal Matter, or in the Universal Form, is
insignificant when compared with the Light in the Will. There are three
forms. I. That which exists in the essence of the Will; this however
in reality is not form. 2. Form which is in action or reality and is at-
tached to matter, ;. ^., the Form of the Universal Intellect. 3. The
Ideal Form, the abstract of all matter and which is virtually attached to
matter. The other forms are contained in the Universal Form. If the
Will is an efficient cause, it has in its essence, the form of all the things,
because it is certain that the form of every effect exists in its cause, or
154
better, the effect (itself) exists in its cause through the form which it has.
ITiingH therefore exist in the essence of the Will only for so much as they
are itH effects. The effects of all of these may be included under the
term movement. The principle of this, not even the most subtile bodies
bears within itself. All motion comes therefore from above and is beyond
all comjAOsltc things.
Creation with Gebirol is only the impression of Form in Matter, an im_
pression emanating from the Will. Creation keeps within bounds the
Universal Matter and Universal Form. All the rest emanate from these.
Creation does not happen in time, but precedes it and is in eternity.
The V Hook. — In this the theme is, the Universal Matter and Universal
Form considered in themselves. These are the culminating points of the
whole work, and should serve as the ladder to rise to a knowledge of the
Will. Of the Will our author says, he would treat in another writing;
but this is now lost. In this Book, Gebirol sets forth the Will or Divine
Word, OS the intermediary and bond of the Universal Matter and
Form. Yet they also are bound together and exist in the Divine, for
they were born simultaneously. The Will is one, the Matter and Form
two, together the triad, but they have never been separated, and different
from the knowledge in man, knowledge in God passes from potentiality
to action, without the intervention of any time, all in the action of the
Deity is instantaneous. The knowledge of these things, he says, is the
most clrvatcil, man as a finite being, can attain. The Form and Matter are
08 an open book, they are the pages upon which are traced the lines of
letters. Those who know how to read that book, acquire the highest
knowlrilf^’e. The highest Intellect is without form, and therefore is en-
abled to ronreive all the other forms, which are contained in the Uni-
ver«ttl Koruj. The Matter peculiar to the Form of the Intellect {Se’khef)^
rereivrs its form from the Will. Matter is a spiritual power, existing
witiu)ut l”orm by itself, and the Form is a light which gives everything its
chttrttt’trristii’s and stamp. The Form, is in the knowledge of the Supreme,
yet nrprtmto. from whence it gets united with Matter. The Will (Memrah or
LogtM*), in a Divine faculty which emanates from the Deity and penetrates
the whole universe ; it has been called, the Creating Speech or the Divine
Wortl ; it is the first source of the movement which has created and vivi-
155
tied all, and communicates itself successively to all parts of the spiritual
and corporeal world as a vitalizing energy. From it, the Universal Form
emanates. The movement through the Will is not the movement of
physics, that is, the movement in inferior substances. The movement
through the Will is an energy and faculty which determines itself, freely
in itself, and communicates itself to the spiritual world, to which it gives
knowledge and life. From this Will the Universal Form emanates. We
call to the attention of the reader, that this Will or Word was most likely
in the mind of our author, the speech (“said “) of the creation, repeated
ten times in Genesis, Chapter i, which indicates the Will and Desire of
God, the Divine Potentiality, and manifests itself freely in the work of
our Creation.
We say God is in everything, because through and by Its Will, Desire,
or Word, Creation came into being and still exists. God’s Will is always
in everything in potentiality and action. This Will or Word is the action
of the Absolute manifested. Creation is like the word spoken by man,
as far as it enters the ear of the hearer ; it creates spiritual forms in the
latter. So the Creator ha:i spoken the Word, the intent and meaning, of
which became manifest in matter. Saadya Gaon (927-942 A. D.) had
already written, that the “He said” pf Genesis, meant ” He Willed” or
“Desired. ‘ * To know, and to will, are the two sides of the Deity, one latent,
the other active. The Absolute Supreme is the thinker, thought, and object
of thought ; with the Deity all of these are instantaneous. The Will acts be-
yond time, produces motion without being itself moved 3 Universal Matter
is like non-existence. Form is existence. Every existence tends towards the
higher, the first Unity, to obtain perfection. Reward is for the pious soul
in after life, punishment for the wicked; this refers only to the thinking,
intellectual soul, Neshamah, but not to the Nephesh, or animal soul.
In the Kether Malkhulh the pre-existence of the soul is referred to.
The whole universe is one complex, the lower emanates from the higher,
and is its image, but the Divine potentiality is active in each. Love
and yearning for the original source of being, and the desire of Divine
perfection, are the principles of motion, common to all the created.
The extent of attainment is various and depends on their capacities.
The emanations take place dynamically ; forces, scintillations and rays
156
issue from the categories, but the essence of the Supreme Unity, which is
transcendental to yet immaneht in them, never decreases. These are the
intermediaries which are neither absolutely limited, nor absolutely end-
less, but like the Will they partake of each, yet are still, in their kind,
different. They are evidently the Sephiroth of the Qabbalah. The same
view is in Philo, iii, p. 185 et seq. The Will is infinite in its essence, but
in its action, beginning with Time, it is finite. The spiritus mundi is, on
its created side, finite, but its actions also being beyond Time, it is in-
finite.
That Will, Memrah or Logos, has been considered by the Jewish theo-
logians, as a first hypostasis of the divinity, putting in direct affinity and
bond, the first and absolute substance, the Supreme Unity, with the uni-
verse; but really, at the foundation, the Will, Desire or Word, as a Divine
attribute, is inseparable from the Divinity, and is, as far as we can in this
world know, the Divine Essence.* Ibn Gebirors distinction is purely
ideal. This book may be summed up in three propositions: i* All
emanated or created things, that is, all beings outside of the Supreme,
have matter and form. 2. All movement and vital energy in the uni-
verse emanates from the Divine Will. 3. This Will is a Divine faculty,
which as the Divine Word or Speech, emanated, or immanently created,
and since has always penetrated and kept in existence, the whole universe.
Gebirol holds that the simple, abstract, highest unknown Being, corres-
ponds to Who? What ? to 2, How ? to 3, Why ? to 4. The Universal Perfect
Soul is the Makrokosm, Humanity is the Mikrokosm. The energy of the
universe begins at the highest celestial sphere, called by Gebirol, the envi-
roning sphere, but does not begin, as with Giordani Brimo and Spinoza,
in the Absolute Deity as a first substance. Our author’s idea of the Su-
preme Deity is similar to that of Ain Soph in the Hebrew Qabbalah, and
he takes refuge in the idea of the Will as the first expression, of the un-
numbered, unknown, primal Supreme Deity above all number ; the Will
being the unit of number, and the simple abstract idea ; and the Supreme
* Note. — See John i, 1-15, Prov. viii, Ps. xxxiii, and the writings of Philo Judaeus.
The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan ben Uzziel, etc., by J. W. Etheridge, London,
1865, as to the Memrah or Word, the Logos. Also writings of Rev. Peter Allix before
cited, and Jacob Bryant on Philo. Cambridge, 1797.
157
Deity being unknowable and above all finite number and idea. He holds
that one can only reach to the unknown Supreme Deity through the
ecstatic condition. Such is a short resume of the Me’q6r Hay-ylm.
Figure t.— The ancient Mciican undtogci
Zodiac, ffcrm an ^chaic, aboiigioal, Kfexicai
Figiire 9.— Hindu Tree of the Sephiroth.
VIII.
THE THEORY AS TO ECSTASY. THE WRITERS WHO MENTION IBN GEBIROL, OR
MAKE USE OF HIS PHILOSOPHY. THE SO-CALLED ARABIC PHILOSOPHERS.
THE doctrine of ecstasy as understood by the ancients was : The soul
was regarded as an emanation from the Divine Intelligence, but
being in a finite body, as if in a prison, it could only have
a knowledge of finite things ; for instance Plotinus held knowledge and
existence are identical, therefore human intelligence to comprehend
and know the Divine Intelligence, must become as if the Divine
Intelligence, arriving at that, the same plane, it is no longer an emana-
tion from it, but is an identification with it. In a word, the human
soul must lose its personality, and this is reached only through ecstasy.
When in this condition, the human soul is assumed to be separated from in-
dividual consciousness, freed from its fleshly prison, and absorbed into the
Divine Intelligence from which it emanated. The captive soul goes back
to its parent, the Supreme Deity. Among the Mohammedans this is the
effort of the Sufi ; the Hindus, the Yogin ; the Buddhists, tlfe S9raman. It
was the doctrine of the Neo-platonists, and probably of many of the He-
brew prophets. The early Qabbalists held this view, as also did Philo
Judaeus, also the Apostle Paul, who was frequently in trances. The same
idea is apparently in the Didach^ or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,
and is fully set forth in the pseudo-Dionysius, the Areopagite. Many of
the Early Fathers of the Christian Church, believed in it, and a thorough
examination by the student, of the real meaning of the ” Gift of tongues *’
of the New Testament, may reveal to him that it contemplated a similar
159
idea.* Gebirol was obliged to admit an emanating or creating Deity, a
manifestation of the Unknowable Supreme Unity, but, with him, this is
the impression of the Universal Form on Universal Matter, both of
which emanate from the Will. This preceded Time, is Eternal. With
the Qabbalah, he also insists upon a superior ideal paradigm, after which
the universe has been formed, and which is in affinity with the latter,
through the orbits or spheres. This is the Qabbalistic doctrine of the
Adam Qadmon or Adam lUa-ah, the Makrokosm, and the totality of
the ten Sephiroth. The doctrine of numbers and letters as entities,
enters into his system, and considered as sounds, we must admit, they
stand on the border land of the spiritual and physical worlds ; from the
spirit they resolve into a physical element, the breath, and are the symbols
indispensable to the communication of thought, and, indeed, are to us,
the best possible outward and also receptive, form of the spirit.
Gebirol must have known the celebrated Qabbalistic SepherYe’tzeerah,
I. e., Book of Creation, rather Formation, as he evidently quotes from.it
(Bk. II, § 27) : *’ It is wherefore it has been said that the construction
of the world was made through the inscription of numbers and letters in
the air.** The Ye’tzeerah reads: Edition of Mantua, c. i, § 10; c.
ii, §§ 2 and 3 — ” Two, it is the breath (air or azoth) which comes from
the spirit, in which It has engraved and sculptured the 22 letters. * *
The 22 letters It has graved, sculptured, weighed, transposed and com-
bined them, and It created through them, the soul of all that which is cre-
ated and all that which has been created. * ^rc * The 22 letters, which
are the foundation, are engraved in the voice, sculptured in the air, and
fixed in the mouth, in five places (organs of speech), etc.” R. Saadyah
Gaon in his writing — Bodleian Library, MSS. cod. Poc. No. 256 — upon
this Qabbalistic book, essays to make this its fundamental doctrine. Ibn
GebiroFs quotation is important for the completion of his system. Comp.
an/^f p. 141, note. The method of the Ye*tzeerah is analytical, that of the
Zohar is based on the analytical-synthetical process. The former uses the
letters and numbers as the principles of all the things, the latter uses the
inner forms of thinking, the ideas. The Ye’tzeerah is very old. See
*Comp. Dr. Schaafs Hist, of the Christian Church. New York, 1882, pp. 224 to
245-
i6o
antey page 39. It was doubtless the book mentioned in the Tal-
mud. *
Among the Jewish writers, whose writings we now have, the first who
mentions Ibn Gebirol, is Moses Ibn Jacob ben Ezra, of Granada, who
lived in the first half of the twelfth century (d. 1138); he eulogizes our
author. t In his Arugath hab-Bosem, /. o et stq. and Apoc-
ryphal New Testament. Philadelphia, p. 145, et seq,
f Kitto, Ibid.f II, p. 283 €t S€q, Apoc. New Test. Ibid,, p. 197 et seq.; also Le Pas-
teur d” Hernias. Paris, 1880.
J The arrangement according to Dionysius is —
1. Seraphim. 4. Dominations. 7. Principalities.
2. Cherubim. 5. Virtues. 8. Archangels.
3. Thrones. 6. Powers. 9. Angels.
In a writing of the Syriac Church, called ; the Testament of Adam, which is not later
than 300 A. D. and probably much earlier, and which lies outside of Greek and Latin
Christianity and is *’ an interesting monument of an almost unknown world of ancient
creeds.” Diet, of Christian Biog., by Smith and Wace, i, p. 38. Which has a con-
nection with the bojk, the Conflict of Adam, which may be much older than the N.
T. Ibid, 34 et seq. ; — we have a celestial hierarchy like that of Dionysius, beginning
with the 9. Angels, 8. Archangels, 7. Principalities, 6. Sovereignties, 5. Virtues, 4. Dom-
inations, 3. Thrones, 2. Cherubim, i. Seraphim. See Fragments du Livre Gnostique
intituU Apocal. d’Adam ou Penitence ou Testament d*Adam, public d*apres deux ver.
1 68
The works of* Dionysius have had great influence in the Roman
Church, especially with the Mystics. St. Jerome — circa 331-420 A. D. —
mentions the ten Divine Names, in almost the same order given in the
Qabbalistic writings,* and follows many Qabbalistic explanations.
siom Syriaque par Mons. Ernest Renan, youm, Asiatique^ Paris, 1 853. 5th Sir. torn, ii,
pp. 427-471 ; also his Veglise chritien^ 1879, p. 529 sq. Also Bulletin de PAthinie
Oriental 4^ Paris ^ 1 88 1, p. 191, and note. Ibid, 1882, p. 50 et ieq.
In the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church we have three divisions, the Princes
of the Church, the Bishops and Priests, arranged into nine orders, viz :
1. Cardinal Bishops. 4. Archbishops. 7. Rector Priests.
2. Cardinal Priests. 5, Bishops. 8. Ordinary Priests.
3. Cardinal Deacons. 6. Co-adjutor Bishops. 9. Deacons.
We find nearly all the divisions mentioned in Dionysius in St. Paul; see Col. i, 16 ;
Rom. i, 38, 39; Ephes. i, 21, iii, 10, 15 ; I Peter iii, 22, and other places, the balance
in the Old Testament. The angelus bell in the Roman Church rings every day 3 times,
and each time 3 times 3 = 9, for the celestial hierarchies, and then a number of times
for the spirits on earth.
* His epistle to M&rcella, is as to the ten Mystic Names {decern nomina mysiica) by
which the Hebrews designate God. We here note that this fragment resembles the ten
Names of the Deity — applied to the Ten Sephiroth by the Qabbalists. The following
is. a translation:
“St. Jerome to Marcella : — Thou mayest read in the xc (xci) Psalm, ‘Whoabideth in the
help of the Highest, shall dwell under the shelter of the God of Heaven,* I would say
that (in this quotation) with the Hebrews, forthe’God of Heaven’ is placed (substituted)
^IB^, J. ^., Shaddai (the Almighty); this (word) Aquila interprets as ikanon (j. ^., the
warlike, brave, powerful or strong), and we may accept its meaning for our purposes as
robust or all-sufficient, and that this (Name) is one of the ten Names by which God is known
(or called) among the Hebrews. Therefore as thou hast asked most earnestly that I should
demonstrate to thee, these many Names with their interpretation, I will do what thou
askest. The ist Name of God is /K El^ which is in the Septuaginla (translated) Theon^
I. e,, God. Aquila explaining the etymology of it, ischuron (/’. e.., interprets it), as the
‘strong.* Then (2d) is D’hSk Elohim, and (the 3rd) “hSk Elohai, which he translates
as meaning the word, God. 4th, mK3]f Tzabaoth which the Septuaginta (translates) *0f
the Forces (or Powers, virtutum)^ but Aquila, would translate it, of Hosts (the Energies
or Forces were considered by the Hebrews, as the Hosts of heaven, the angels, doing the
Deity’s Will.) 5th. jrS;; EVyon, which we call, the High. 6ih. H^HK 1W Ener Eh’yeh
(1. ^., *I shall be who I shall be’), of which we read in Exodus (iii) thus: — « Who
is, sent me.* 7th. ”J1K Adonai (or Adanoi) which we always term. Lord. 8th. H’
( YaH) Vhich is placed only as to God (in the expression of the tetragrammaton
169
Ain Soph.
THE WITHOUT END.
Diagram II. The Divine Names and the Sephiroth.
170
Many similar ideas were borrowed by the School of Alexandria and
the Neo-platonicians ; probably coming through the Aryan branch, the
Hindus, at least the profound Norwegian scholar, Christian Lassen, pre-
sents a strong argument for the Neo-platonic doctrine having originated in
India.*
The Gnostics, Manichaeans and other, so-called heretical, sects of their
time, have also borrowed from the Qabbalah. Earlier we find many of
the Hebrew Qabbalistic ideas in the Aryan writings, in the Vedas, espe-
cially their Upanishads, in the Bhagavadglta, the Tantras, etc. Among
the Chinese, in the Yih-King, the writings attributed to Laou Tze*, and
other secret philosophical books. We may also find many of them
in the Zend and other early Persian writings,t in the cuneiform texts
of the early inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Chaldea, Babylonia, and Assy-
ria ; on the monuments and papyrus of Egypt, and among the remains of
the archaic Buddhists and Dravidian races, of India, among others in the
cave temples of EUora, Elephanta, and the Sanchi and Amravati topes.
Name of the Deity usually mn’ YHVH), and which in (the word) a/Mu- YaH is
sounded as the final syllable, pthly. The Tetragrammaton, which they thought
anekphonhfton^ 1. ^., the Ineffable (Name, not to be spoken,) and it is written with
these letters TWTV Yod^ Heh^ Vav, Heh^ as lo which indeed those not learned
upon this (subject) on account of the similitude of the elements (letters), are accus-
tomed when they find ihem in Greek books, to read (as if Greek letters and pro-
nounce them) PIPI. loth. That which above is called “117 Shaddai (Almighty) and is
not interpreted in Ezekiel. But we ought to know that Elohim\% of the common number,
(t.^.y singular and plural) and that one God may be thus called, and many; by a similar
way * heaven ‘ is also designated, and also * the heavens,* i. e., D^D17 Shc^mayeem.
From whence and often interpreters vary, for an example of which, we have in our
language Athenas, Thcbas, and Salonica.” Epistol. Hieronymoust cxxxvi, ad Mar-
cellam. Opera omnia^ gtc.y Paris^ ^S4^- Tom, tit, p. ji. A, and B, Benedictine
Edition, xxv, Tom. 1, /. iji. Comp. Hist, of the Jews, by Basnage, trans, by Taylor
London, 1708, p. 198 and diagram. Kircher’s CEdipus JEgyptiacus^ Tom. ii^ P» 213
iq. Jerome in several of his writings speaks of certain Hebrew traditions upon Genesis,
which make Paradise or, as the Jews call it, Eden, more ancient than the world.
Compare the little work Quastiones sive traditiones kebralca, in Getiesim, Ekiition
of Paris, Tom. ut\ p. 65″, A. B. C, etc. That in parenihesis is not in the original, but
inserted by me for the more correct understanding of St. Jerome.
* See his, Indisc/ie Alterthumskunde. Leipzig. 1858. Vol. iii, pp. 353-441.
\ La Kabbale, p. 353 sq.
171
It is extremely probable that many reminiscences of them are in Thibet,
in the possession of the Buddhists.
Among the Medieval Christian scholars who have agreed with the
Hebrew Qabbalists, that their doctrines came from the Patriarchs, and
especially from Moses, are, Raymond Lully, Archangelus Burgonovensis,
the Prince Giovanna Pico della Mirandola, William of Postel, John
Reuchlin, John Stephen Rittangel, Paul Ricci, Julius Conrad Otto,
Henry Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, Rev. John Francis Buddaeus,
Dr. Henry More, Rev. John Lightfoot, the learned Jesuit, Athanasius
Kircher, Claudius Duretus, Christian Knorr, the Baron von Rosenroth,
Franz Mercurius van Helmont, Peter Galatinus, Johann Rhenferdius,
Augustus Pfeiffer, etc., etc. It largely influenced the Medieval Mystics,
especially Paracelsus, Jacob Bohmen, Henry Kuhnrath, Oswald Crollius,
Dr. Robert Fludd and the Rosicrucian Society, also the two Van Helmonts,
Henry Cornelius Agrippa, the Abbot Johannes Tritheim, Valentine Wei-
gel, Dr. Jerome Cardan, and Franc Giorgio Zorzi (Franciscus Georgius,
sumamed Venetus) ; and it has also influenced. Cardinal Nicolas Cusanus
(Cusani), Cardinal -^gidius of Viterbo, Pope Sixtus IV, Marsilius Fici-
nus, Theophilus Gale, Ralph Cud worth. Sir Isaac Newton, Baron Leib-
nitz and Barukh (Benedict) Spinosa , later, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Shel-
ling and other German philosophers. Sir Francis Bacon studied the
writings of Dr. Fludd the Qabbalist, and Sir Isaac Newton those of Jacob
Bohmen ; and the great Leibnitz became much interested in its study,
through Baron von Rosenroth. Upon the Practical Qabbalah, Abbe de
Villars (nephew of De Montfaucon) in 1670, published his celebrated
satirical novel, The Count de Gabalis, upon which Pope based his Rape
of the Lock.* Qabbalism runs through the Medieval poem, the Ro-
mance of the Rose, and permeates the writings of Dante.
Among those who ascribe it to the Egyptian metaphysics and philosophy,
are, Jacques Basnage de Beauval, who has written upon it, in his History
of the Jews, chiefly basing his assertions on the learned, but frequently
erroneous, writings as to the Qabbalah, of the erudite Jesuit, the Rev.
Athanasius Kircher in his, (Edipi jEgyptiaci, Tom. Secund, Romce, 1653.
Of those who say it came from Chaldean sources, from which they
♦ The Count de Gabalis, in English, was reprinted in England in 1886, at Bath.
172
claimed Plato and Pythagoras obtained their systems, are Richard Simon
and Paul Berger. Among those who claim it came from Gentile philosophy,
are John George Wachter, Joachim Lange, and the Rev. John Christo-
pher Wolff, who also claims a great antiquity for it. The Rev. Jean
Morin, as we have before shown, and Lewis Cappellus opposed it, especi-
ally the antiquity and doctrines of the Zohar. The learned German his-
torian of philosophy, Johann Jakob Brucker, has written much to prove
that it was brought from Egypt to Palestine, by R. Simeon ben Shetach,
about 100 years before the Christian era, but really appears to know very
little about it.*
John Frederick Kleuker, in his prize essay on the Qabbalistic philosophy, .
says it is akin to the Secret Teaching of Orpheus and Thales, and cer-
tainly came from Pythagoras. He also, with Reuchlin, thought that the
Secret Science was derived from the Patriarchs, and much cultivated in
ancient times in Chaldea, in which latter idea he is probably correct.
Osiander agrees with Kleuker; C. G. Bretschneider, Adolphe Franck,* and
some others, think it is to be fotind in the ancient doctrines of the Per-
sians, and Jacques Matter, seems to agree with them. Wilhelm G. Tenne-
mann, the German historian of philosophy, sides with Brucker. Steiger
confesses in his works its great importance, but does not investigate
it. Roth, in his writing on the Epistle to the Hebrews, says he will write
a special treatise upon it, but has not done so. Augustus Tholuck favors
the ideas of Jean Morin. Among the modern Jews, Munk, Jost, Stem,
Leopold Low, David Luriah, Dr. Schiller-Szinessy, and Konitz, among
many others, favor its antiquity. Dr. Hirsch Graetz, Dr. Leopold Zunz,
Dr. Michael Sachs, Dr. Abraham Geiger, we think as Talmudists and for
sectarian reasons, oppose it. The great German Hebrew bibliographer,
Dr. Moritz Steinschneider, says, its history has not yet been written by
any one. Dr. Adolph Jellinek started out in opposition, but a thorough
examination of his quotations^ tends to show its antiquity. Dr. Jellinek
deserves much praise for his labour upon the subject. Elia Bena-
mozegh of Livorno [Leghorn], Italy, whom we have previously men-
♦ Franck in his La Kabbale^ shows a similajily to the Qabbalistic philosophy in the
writings of Philo. The latter certainly has in his writings much of the Qabbalistic
philosophy, and in many places is in accord with the Zohoric writings.
173
tioned, one of the greatest Qabbalists now living, also a learned Talmud-
ist, favors its antiquity. The above are only a very few of those who
have given the subject attention.
The subject has much importance both from its content, and in the his-
tory of human thought ; in the words of a learned writer on the Hebrew
Qabbalah, “A doctrine, which has more than one point of resemblance
to the doctrines of Plato arid Spinoza; which, by its form, elevates itself
sometimes, as far as the majestic tone of religious poetry ; which has taken
birth upon the same land * * as Christianity ; which, during a period
of more than a dozen centuries, without other proof than the hypothesis
of an antique tradition, without other apparent motive than the desire, to
penetrate more intimately into the meaning of the Holy Books, has been
developed and propagated in the shadow of a most profound mystery,***
certainly has some claims upon our attention.
In the words of the distinguished German philosopher, Frederich Wil-
helm Joseph von Schelling,t the Qabbalah ”contains ruins and frag-
ments, if you will much distorted, but nevertheless remnants, of that
primitive system which is the key to all religious systems, and those do not
speak falsely, who say : that the Kabbala is the transmission of a dcSbtrine
which existed alongside, but outside, of the original (Holy) Writings, and
which was revealed, and therefore was also revealing, as a more compre-
hensive, but secret and not universally communicated, system. Very
gratifying to the scholar, must be the announcement just made (1815) in
Vienna, of a Jewish-Rabbinical work that is to appear, which promises to
collect the didactic opinions of Ben Yo’haT, the author of the Zohar, a
work as important as it is famed, from the original sources. Would that
a Jewish, or some other scholar, find enough support, to be able to edite
the whole Zohar and open up other sources ! It is almost sad to see
how scholars have turned wholly in their essays from the real sources. In
Egypt’s very dark and insoluble hieroglyphics, the keys to the archaic
religions have been sought, now nothing is spoken of save India’s lan-
guage and wisdom, but the Hebrew language and writings, especially
those of the Old Testament, in which the roots of the doctrines and even
♦ Preface by Prof. Franck in La KabbaU, Paris, 1843.
f beher die GoUheiten von Samothrace^ etc. Stuttgart und TUbingen, 1 81 5, p. 108.
174
of the languages, of all the ancient religious systems, even to details, are
clearly recognizable, lie uninvestigated. Very much is it to be wished
that these most reverend of monuments, should soon pass from the hands
of the mere Theologians into those of the purely historical investigator,
when we may dare hope, that they will obtain the same unstinted rev-
erence, and also be considered as sources of at least as much importance,
as the Homeric poems and the accounts by Herodotus. * ‘
With the appearance of Jesus, the Jewish thought-world became di-
vided. The Secret Doctrines were mostly under the guidance of a spirit-
ual faith of a high intellectual order ; the Pharisees, had made the Jewish
religious life, one of form and ritual, and had destroyed most of the in-
ward spiritual life of the Hebrew religion. Many of the higher spiritual
teachings of the Secret Doctrine were at this time, absorbed into the
formulations which resulted in the firm establishment of Christianity. In
the words of an erudite scholar of the Anglican Church :
** The germ indeed of the Cabbalistic doctrine regarding Shechinah,
and so forth (/’. ^., Metatron), may probably have existed in the time of
St. Paul and St. John, and the inspired writers may have been aided by
these forms of thought^ in setting forth the Christian Revelation^ just as
St. John was by the Jewish-Alexandrian doctrine of the Logos.”* Which
latter is also found in the Qabbalah, and Philo is one of the early expo-
nents of both.
The connection and relation of the invisible to the visible, must in the
most archaic times, have attracted the attention of human beings. To
the advanced thinkers, it must have appeared that in the treatment of
the Primal Cause, two things must be considered, the Primal Cause per
se, and the relation and connection of the Primal Cause, with the visible
and unseen universe. Both are still to us, as creatures sure to die, of
more profound importance than anything else, and both are to our in-
tellectual comprehension in this matter-body, of the most intricate and
difficult nature. The Arabian peripateticians, in order to give an explan-
ation of this most abstruse subject, were obliged to step into the mazes
of the Chaldean, Persian, Hindu, and the generally called, Oriental
♦The Jewish and the Christian Messiah, etc., by Vincent Henry Stanton. Edin-
burgh, 1886, p. 130.
175
philosophy. The Hebrews, at an early day did the same, and most proba-
bly designated the Primal Cause, at first by the triadic nisr Shaddai, the
Almighty, subsequently by the Tetragrammaton, nin’ YHVH, symbol of
the Past, Present and Future, and also the equivalent for the really high-
est name of the Deity riTiK Eh*yeh, i.e., I Am. Against the unnecessary
pronunciation of mn^ the Third Commandment was made, and an Israelite
always uses ‘3T« A Do Na Y, (Adonai) Lord, in place of it, hence the
rendering “Lord ” in the English version, whilst the lowest designation,
or the Deity in Nature, the more general term Elohim, is translated,
God. In the Qabbalah the Name mrr YHVH, expresses a He and a
She, two persons in one Deity, /. The Lord (YHVH) ; our God (Elohim) is One Lord (YHVH).” Mark xii, 29. This
is the famous Jewish Declaration of Faith, still used every day, called the Shemah.
f Zohar iii, { Shilakh Lekha^ fol. idia. We have numerous extracts in MSS. from
the Zohar to the same effect, but have not space for them in this writing. The same
idea is in Ibn Gebirol. See supra ^ and in Philo., Vol. i, pp. 61 jf., 219 if.
1 84
which the Deity produces originally, creatively, and by an efflux,
from and out of Its own autonomy, from Its fullness of mercy, grace and
love for Its creatures. The real man, the inner spiritual man, is simply
a receptacle for the impregnation and birth of ideas, an activity only
acting through a conditioned receptivity, yet with certain amount of
liberty, but not a perfect autonomy. His spirituality contains the sus-
ceptibility, content and living ability, to produce spiritual and material
births, but to be able to produce, requires an outside spiritual im-
pregnation and permission from the Deity. Each human being for its
formation and development, presumes others preceding it, who have
been to a certain extent developed and educated, so the first human pair
had a spiritual, developed educator, the Deity, and from this educator,
has proceeded in the chain of existences, all subsequent education. The
Qabbalah does not recognize in the Good and Evil, two independent,
autonomatic, opposing powers, but both are, according to it, under the
power of the Supreme Absolute Deity. It asserts that the Evil springs
out of the Good, and only originated from a diversion of the latter. Evil
exists, for God’s own wise purposes, by the sufferance of the Absolute
One, who gives us the blighting cold, frost, and night, and also, the
beneficent and blessed day-light, warmth, and sunshine. Man therefore
partakes of two regions, that of the external, visible, matter world, that
of Evil and Darkness, and that of the internal spiritual higher world, that
of Goodness and Light (Comp. Is. xlv, 6, 7).
The German philosopher Hegel, holds that a thing can only exist
through its opposite, that the thing and its opposite must arise together, and
that eternally y as the complements of a unity ; white is not without black,
nor black without white, good is not without evil, nor is evil without
good. This is the doctrine of the Siphrah D’Tznioothah and the
Sepher Ye’tzeer-ah. At the very beginning of the life germ, dissolu-
tion and death oppose its vitality and endeavor to destroy it, and the
whole existence of man in this world, is a continual struggle to pre-
serve his vitality. Isaiah says, in his magnificent language: **I am
YHVH, and there is none else, there is not any Elohim beside Me. I
girded thee, though thou hast not known Me ; that they may know from
the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me. I
i85
am YHVH, and there is none else. I form light and create darkness ; I
make safety and I create misfortune ; I YHVH do all these things ** (xlv,
5-8). The widow’s son, Hiram Abiff of Tyre, cast for the Qabbalistic
Temple of King Solomon, two high pillars or pylons of bronze, their
capitals were of pomegranites and lily work. The lily, most likely the
lotus, an emblem of life, white or male, on the right side, the pomegran-
ite, emblem of fecundity and plasticity, red or female, on the left side.
The first was called Ya-kheen, the latter Bo-az. These columns repre-
sented, Understanding, Binah, n, and Wisdom, ‘Hokhmah, i, and between
them was the Temple of Kether, % the Father. Here we see symbols of
the Former, the Harmony, and the to be Formed. All energy must have
resistance, all light must have darkness, all projecture or emanation, a hol-
low or excavation to receive efflux, affirmation supposes a negation ; if the
first androgene had not been separated into male and female, the result
would have been entire sterility, as was the result as to the Seven Kings of
Edom described in Genesis and the Qabbalah ; and the Balance not exist-
ing, the forms did not and could not, exist, and the emanation of the ex-
istences could not proceed and be manifest. The dogma of the Balance
being recognized and the application of its consequences having been made
universal ; by the law of analogies, there becom eevident to us the great
secrets of affinity and aversion, of natural sympathy and antipathy, as
discoverable in animal magnetism, homeopathy, love, moral or political
influence, etc. This law of analogy, carried out to its utmost extent in
the harmony of the equilibrium which springs out of the opposites, is that
which governs under the Deity, the entire physical, spiritual and moral
universe. This agent, is the universal alkahest, the universal law of vitality
and life, by which the animated beings, and the atoms of which the uni-
verse is composed, become magnetized, polarized and held together, and
is the foundation of Free Will. It is the Temple standing between Ya-
kheen and Bo-az which together with them, forms the Sacred Triad and
the Sacred Triangle. In the Hebrew alphabet k Aleph = i, the leader
of the letters, is the male, it is the letter of the Sephirah Kether, it is the
Alpha of the Greek alphabet. 3 Beth = 2, and is that of the Sephirah
Binah, the female; and from these result ^ Vau = 3, the Sephirah ‘Hokh-
mah or Wisdom, the Word or Son, yet the three are an unit. They form
i86
YH V of the Ineffable Name. In the Cubical Holy of Holies were the right
and left Cherubim and above them the She’keen-ah, a Holy Triad. The
female is taken from Adam but not produced by him, she existed in the
androgenic man from the beginning, so all the human organs are disposed
of in twos, and the anatomy of the female life organs shows, that they
are those of the male, reversed. The Zodiachas Scorpio, the male, and
Virgo, the female, but between these oppositions, is Libra, the Balance
or Harmony. The Divinity has two essential bases for Its existence.
Necessity and Liberty, but above all is Its independent autonomy, Its
Harmony. To manifest truth we must have doubt, destruction is regen-
eration, Evil is essential for the ascertainment of and existence of, the
Good. Error is necessary for the manifestation of Truth, the decay of
death gives us immortality. We prop ourselves on that which resists.
The shield of Satan stopped the progress of the spear of Michael and
prevented his destruction, Satan is necessary to bring out in the contrasts,
the goodness of the former, and is as necessary, as a base is essential
to the standing of a column. The Satan of Genesis and Job is not a
fallacy. The entire universe is balanced upon two opposing forces which
produce the equilibrium and harmony of All and so maintain it. The
opposing centripetal and centrifugal forces make that harmonious move-
ment, which is the path of all the stars and the life of all the universe.
These opposing energies are in all physics, all religion, all philosophy, all
intellect and are everywhere, except in the Deity, who is entire and per-
fect harmony. The ancient Greek represented these forces, by Eros,
Desire or Love, and its opposition by Anteros or Aversion. In science
we have the phenomena of polarity, in the heart, arterial and veinous
motion, and also the spiritual law of sympathies and antipathies. Even
the disciples of Zara-thrustra, although supposed to have only the Light
or Good and the Darkness or Evil for their deities, had yet a higher, a
harmony in which both merged and rested, known as Zervane Akerane
or Endless Time. The harmony is represented by the circle, by the ser-
pent, an emblem of both Satan and Wisdom, with its tail in its mouth.
In the physical universe it is the luminiferous aether, the vital caloric, the
electro-magnetic azoth. It is the ambient fluid which penetrates, per-
meates, vitalizes all Things, the ray detached from the glory of the sun,
1 87
fixed by the weight of the atmosphere and crystallized by the central
attraction, to our earth. In the words of the erudite Yehudah ha>Levi
(A. D. 1140) : ” There is not any life without motion, nor motion with-
out inspiration, no inspiration without struggle, no struggle without oppo*
ation, oppositions are everywhere essential, but the Divine power con-
ciliates every opposition ” (Sepher Khozari, Part iv, § 25).
if Buddh* ind ihe Tncof the SepU-
— –
‘
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
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10
b
-i^
^
^
u
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%<4tM ^ SIMILARITIES IN THE WRITINGS OF IB^ GEBEROL, THE ZOHARIC WRITINGS AND THE QABBALAH. WE will now give some quotations and references, to prove simi- larities exist between the Zohar, the Qabbalah and those writings of Ibn Gebirol, which have come to our day, similarities, we think, more frequent, close and precise; than any heretofore given ixQTa the writings of Moses de Leon, by those who assert the Zoharic books were forged by him, and we claim these are strong evidence of a knowl- edge in Gebirol, as early as 1050 A. D., of much that is in the Zoharic writings. This would be about 250 years before the time, it has been alleged, De Leon forged the Zoharic books. The student is also referred to our resumd of the Me’qdr ‘Hay-ytm. Ibn Gebirol teaches that all the Forms, reunited in the Will, compose an Unity of number, the One ; above which, is the Supreme Unknown Absolute Unity, without number. The Will, the One, subsequently emanated, multiplied and particularized Itself, gradually however, and thus emanated and produced the Intelligible World, and ultimately, the World of Action, that of the Senses. The Zoharic writings contain this idea and also, as we have shown, that an analogy exists, between the i89 Ideal prototypic and the Sensible, Worlds. This is archaic Qabbalistic doctrine as we have already shown. The Superior World in several places in the Zoharic writings, is asserted to be, the positive or male, the higher spiritual, the former ; and the Inferior World, to be, the negative, plastic, matter or formed. (Comp. Zohar ii, 144^, i, iS9^’ ^^^ same idea is in the Book of Enoch.) The different manifestations of existence from the Ayin or No-Thing, follow each other without interruption, surrounding themselves and mutually using, form and matter, for their development. The Zohar says : ” When Elohim wished to make the world, It made go out a con- cealed Light, from which afterwards, went out and rayed all the mani- fested Lights, from that first Light, formed and spread themselves, the other Lights which formed the Superior World (A*tzeel-ah). Afterwards, the Superior Light in it, spread itself, and gave birth to light without brightness, and thus formed the Inferior World. * * * That light without brightness, by its bonds with the Superior (World) produced all the celestial armies (Hosts of Angels), according to their numerous spe- cies, as it is written : ‘ How numerous are thy works O YHVH ! ‘ (Ps. civ, 24). All that which is found on earth can also be found (has its spiritual counterpart) on high, and there does not exist the smallest thing in this world which is not also itself attached to something on high, and does not find itself under its (the higher) dependence. When the infe- rior is influenced, that which is set over it in the superior world is equally (influenced), for all are perfectly united together.*’* Everywhere Ibn Gebirol insists upon this doctrine, and that such a connection, exists be- tween the Intelligible world and the Sensible world, or, Idea and Matter. (Comp. the Me’qor iii, § 21, et seq,^ and many other places.) A doc- trine of the Old and New Testaments is, that there is a heavenly ideal or prototype of all existing in the visible universe. This is also in Philo and the Talmud (see ante, p. 108 et seq,), and from it results the idea, that we must arrive at our knowledge of the invisible through a contem- plation of the visible. These doctrines are also in Gebirol (Me’qdr ♦Zohar, i, J Vaya’hee, 156^. Comp. i, 158^, 159a, 162^, 205^/ ii, 144^. Comp. Matt. X, 29; Luke xii, 7, 6 ; Acts xvii, 28 ; I Cor. xii, 12; Matt, xviii, 10; ante, p. 109, seq. ‘Hay-yim, i, § i et seq. ; ii, § lo, § 25, § 30 ] iii, § 21 ; iv, § 8, § 23). The Zohar (i, fol. 158^) says: ”The words YHVH! YHVH (Exod. xxxiv, 6) indicate (by repetition) two worlds, the one manifest, the other occult, it is wherefore there is between the two words the disjunctive sign. These two worlds however are together and . form one unity ” (Comp. Zohar, i, 159^, 162^/ ii, 144^). The intermediary between the two Worlds, the bolt which unites them is the decade, which is always looked upon, as in one totality and unity, and as forming in that unity, the Great Ideal or Heavenly Adam, also termed, the Adam Qadmon, the ‘ Man from the East ; in whom is contained the Tetragrammaton mn* YHVH, the Ineffable Name. Gebirol, the Qabbalah and the Zohar, assert, that ” the lower world is made after the higher world (its prototype), and that of everything in the former there is, as it were, an image in the latter, still all are one ‘ ‘ (Zohar, ii, fol. 20a). Gebirol also says: the higher soul is the prototype from which all human souls emanate, they having thus been in their real form already in the divine idea. The Zohar (ii, fol. 96) says: “Also all human souls, before coming down on earth, were present in the divine idea in the same form, which they afterwards had in the world.”* The Zohar (i, fol. 19^20^) comparing the universe to a nut, the ker- nel or almond of which is enveloped in several rinds or shells, says : “It is even thus with the entire universe, superior and inferior; from the mys- terious superior point, as far as the extremity of all the Degrees (Sephi- roth), all form one whole ; of which the parts are formed, one in the other, insomuch that they serve as shells, the one to the other. The first point (the Sephirah Kether, the Ego or Will) was an interior and incom- mensurable Light, so that we are not able to know its splendour, subtility and purity, until (we reach) that which has developed itself by expansion. *Comp. Franck, La Kabbah^ p. 228 sq. ; Zohar, i, 91^, 96^ / ii, 96; i, 245^ / iii, 61^, 104^ and b ; ii, 73^. The doctrine of the pre-existence of souls is in the Buck of Wisdom, viii, 20. Josephus tells us the Essenes believed in it; Wars, Bk. ii, c. viii, § li, Whis- ton’s ed. Philo holds to the same idea; On the Giants, i, pp. 330-331 : On Dreams, ii, pp. 321-322. So does the Talmud, treat. ^Ha^geegah 12b; Yevamoth^ 62; Avodah Zarahf 5 ; Niddah^ 13; and the B’resheeth Rabbah, § viii. 191 That expansion of the point, becomes a temi)le or palace,* enveloping this same point, that is, the Light which we cannot know because of its great splendour. But that palace (Sephirah) which serves as the envelope of that occult point, is itself an incommensurable Light, without con- taining equally the same sjabtility and splendour, as the first concealed and occult point. That sphere is again extended through a new expan- sion (forming) a first Light, an expansion which serves as an envelope of that subtile sphere (which is) clear and altogether interior. The portions of existence continued thus to develope, the one from the’other, and to envelope themselves the one in the other. So that they each and in totality, served as mutual envelopes, and that they (relatively the one to each and to all the others), are as the kernel and the shell, but yet all are one in totality, because that which is one envelope, is at the same time, a kernel for another degree. All absolutely occurs the same in these infe- rior regions ; and man in this world is made after that resemblance, being (composed) of a kernel and a shell, which are the spirit and the body. Such is in general the order of the universe.” Ibn Gebirol has the same idea (see, the Me’qor Hay-yim, Bk. ii, § i ; iii, § 41, etc.). With the Zohar the ” superior point,” as the germ emanating from the Supreme Unknown Deity, contains, as does the Universal Form and Mat- ter of Gebirol, both the spiritual and the corporeal worlds intact. Gebi- rol attributed a species of matter to everything beside the Supreme Deity, so many of the Qabbalists consider the Supreme Deity as alone the pure, simple, and absolute spirit, without any tincture of even spiritual matter ; and that all other existing, even tlie highest spiritual existences, which were the Supreme Deity’s energies, forces or angels, doing Its Will, had a sub- stance of some species. Philo Judaeus holds the same view. Gebirol thus defines the Will or Desire : ** The Desire is the executor (worker) of everything and mover of everything, and the simile is the creation by the creator, blessed be He ! of the Things (/*. ^., the formation of form) for the Primal Source, is the Desire. And the Desire is the Divine force (or ♦ The word Palace is used to indicate the different Degrees of Existence or the Ex- pansion of the Sephiroth, from the highest world A’tzeel-ah, to the lowest, A’seey-ah, which have* been presented as the spheres or orbits continued and contained, one in the other, as it asserts the Sephiroth are. Comp. the Me’qdr, iii, J 41. 192 energy) working in the elements and formations, and lying together, in them.” The great Qabbalist Azriel has the same view, he says: ” The Thought, which comes from Ain Soph, is both the essence and the reality, within the limitation which includes everything connected with thought or contemplation on earth ; which can come into existence by speech, and be known through any creation ; whatever comes within limits has dimension and is physical, for whatever can be taken hold of (compre- hended) by the thought of the heart, is called, a body. The metaphy- sicians say, every man has a limit, and we daily see, that everything, even the air, has limit, space and measure.” The Kether Malkhuth says of the angels : ” Some of them sheets of flames, and some of them breathing winds, some of them composed of fire and water, some Seraphim and some Cherubim.” So the Zohar (§ Va-yeek’ rehy p. 9), of the angels, says: “Some of them flaming fire, some of them water, some of them wind.” The B’resheeth Rabbah (300 A. D.) says : ** The flame of the turning sword, according to which He makes His messengers, /. ^., angels, of winds, His servants of flaming fire turning, since they turn sometimes into men, sometimes into women, sometimes into winds, sometimes into angels.” The Zohar also says : ” Come and see ! Thought is the principle (or beginning) of all that which is, but it is at first unknown and contained in itself. When thought begins to spread itself, it arrives at that degree in which it becomes spirit (or, where the spirit rests or lives), reaching to this point, it takes the name of intelligence (Binah, understanding), and is no more, as before, contained in itself. The spirit in its turn devel- opes itself, in the bosom of the mysteries by which it is yet surrounded, and from it goes out a voice, which is the reunion of all the celestial choirs j a voice (word) which spreads itself in distinct speech and articu- late words, because it conies from the spirit. (This refers to ‘Hokhmah, Wisdom, or, the Word.) But in reflecting on all these degrees, we see that the thought, intellect, that voice and that word, are only one thing, that thought is the beginning (principle) of all that which is, and that not any interruption can exist in it. The thought itself is bound to the Non- Being and it is not ever separated from It. Such is the meaning of these words: YHVH is One and His Name is One.” (Zohar i, 246^). This is a most important passage of the Zohar. 193 From the bosom of this Unity, the Thought, Consciousness, or Ego ; two parallel principles proceed in apparent opposition, but which in reality are inseparable ; one is female, passive, negative, called Binah, Understanding; the other male, active, positive, called ‘Hokhmah, /. ^., Wisdom. *’ All that which exists, all that which has been formed by the Ancient, whose Name is holy, can only exist through a male and female (principle).’* (Zohar iii, 290^.) That is the subjective and objective, coming into the matter world and comprehensible in it. The Zohar (ii, 179) says: ** Upon the one side, the sublimity of the Divine Existence, the contrast between Creator and creature, does not seem to admit of the idea of a special supervision on the part of the Supreme Holy One, May It be blessed ! especially as the possessor of infinite knowledge and felicity, cannot stand in any relation to unclean- matter; but on the other side, the admirable order and regularity throughout nature, presume a reasonable intention; which manifestly purposes, through every single member, to advance the plan of the whole, and points to an uninterrupted Providence and Government of the Uni- verse.” This idea runs through the Me’qdr Hay-yim. The Zoharic idea is ; that the Deity has given definite laws to nature, and the immediate and direct causes, are effective according to these laws ; but this efficacy is not ever independent of the Divine Will, which extends to the smallest change and action in the realm of nature ; and each natural effect, coin- cides with just so much of the Divine intention, as flows from the Omnipo- tence and Will of the Deity. The Qabbalah calls this, the coalescing of the Deity with the Universe, or the spiritual elements of the worlds {Ru^ha ye^sod ha- OlamaJi)^ by means of the Ten Sephiroth ; the Deity acting upon the whole content of the Universe, as it were, by an efflux through channels or canals, and thus remitting Its Will to all natural energies and forces. The Zohar teaches, an unceasing, in the Will of the Deity, conditioned, and through Its co-operation never dispensed with ; potential activity in nature, by means of and through the Sephiroth ; in which, though on the one side distinct from the Primitive Supreme Being, the Deity is always present ; this is also in the Modern Qabbalah as taught by Luriah and Cordovero. A miracle or change in the regulated course of nature, takes pla^e, only when the Deity undertakes a change in these high organs, the 13 194 Sephiroth, the Kaileem^ /.^., Vessels; by decreasing their number, weak- ing their potentiality or, vice versa, increasing it. It is understood how- ever at the same time, that this Divine co-operation, as it is only a norm of the activity of nature, is as it were, a natural law, which we do not understand. It also holds, that the Divine Will does not in any way abolish human Freedom of Will. The Zohar says that the Deity is com- pletely separated from Every-Thing, and is transcendental ; yet is not sepa- rated, for the Deity is also immanent in Every-Thing. The Deity ema- nates the Universe, has a form, and yet has not any form; by Its form It is manifest and potential, yet It has none as It does not in any way inhere in the Universe.- *’ The Holy One, praised be It ! gave heaven and earth, definite laws, as is written : ‘ He hath made a decree, which they shall not pass away ‘ (Ps. cxlviii, 6), but still It has not given them real freedom ; as a master who has fully liberated his servant, and left him, ‘ to his own free will ; but It gave them laws, which always depend upon Its concealed Will. And the Holy One, praised be It ! rules them according to the might of Its own Sacred Will, which makes itself known through the Holy One’s sacred Vessels.” In the Qabbalah, the original principle, symbolized by Kether, is called, Abbah or Father, and that which flowed out, the Son.* This original principle, is also called, Ra-tzon, t\ e., Absolute Will, or Ra-tzon al col Rtzoneem, i. e,, the Will above All Wills.t The Father is also called, Baal ha-Ra-tzonim, i.e., Master of the Will, when considered as the originator, and as on the side towards the Ain Soph. But in so far as by Baal, can be understood, the possessor who is held by a matter, e, g., Baal chay, a living being, possessor of life : the Son, is called Baal ha- Ra-tzonim, In the Tiqqooneh Zohar (V. Beginning, p. 15^/ xviii, 36^) we find : ** In the beginning was the Will of the King, in the light of the Quadrant (probably meaning; the four points of the compass, as the four quarters of the universe). When the Messiah measured therein, there went forth a mysterious line, which is referred to by the nebulous spark of matter, etc.” Further the Zohar says : ** In the beginning, was the Will of the King, ^ Sepher Shephathal^ fol. 9. Comp. Mark xiv, 36. Rom. viii, 15. Gal. iv, 6. \Sepher Shephathal^ fol. 51. Comp. Exod. iii, 14. % 195 prior to any existence which came into being, through emanation from this Will. It sketched and engraved the forms of all Things, that were to be manifested from concealment into view ; in the supreme and dazzling light o( the Quadrant. And there went forth, as a sealed secret, from the head of Ain Soph ; a nebulous spark of matter without shape or form, a centre of a circle, neither white nor black, neither red nor green, in fact without any colour ; but when It took the measure of the struc- ture to be erected. It made the colours to give light therein (Above), and one beam of the Supreme Light went forth for the production of colors Below — and thus the sealed secrets of the Ain Soph, It partly opened,etc.*’* The Zohar holds ; that no Thing can exist in which the Deity is not immanent to a certain extent, yet all together (all-Things) do not in any way, include the Deity ; who is transcendental to and above all, of the spiritually and materially emanated or created. f Gebirol has the same idea. He also says : ” The emanation which produced the creation of the universe, is like water gushing out from its source and spreading over everything near.” (Me’qor ii, § 27; v, §§ 64, 71.) The Zohar often uses this simile, e, g., ” Thus life is drawn from Below and from Above, thus the source renews itself, and the sea always full, spreads its water everywhere.*’ (Zohar iii, 290^, Idrah Zootah, and in many other places.) The first source with Gebirol is the Will or Wisdom, which the Zohar calls, ” the Source of Life.’* Gebirol, says: ** Thou art wise. Thy Wis- dom is the Source of Life which springs from Thee, etc.” (Kether Mal- khuth. Comp. Zohar ii, 261a,) The Zohar often uses this simile (Comp. Zohar iii, fol. 7). In the Kether Malkhuth is: *’ Wisdom, is the fountain of life.” The Zohar says : ** The seventh palace, the fountain of life, is the fii^t in the order from above, etc.” (ii, 261a.) ♦Zohar, Cremona ed., i, fol. 56. Comp. Joel, K^ii^. Philos. Sohar^ p. 312, etc. f The doctrine of emanation has been asserted to be in the Old Testament, and it is claimed by some writers to be set forth among other places, in the following verse; *• And he said. The Lord is come from Sinai, and has appeared from Seir to us, and has hasted out of the mount of Pharan, with the ten thousands of Kades (in the He- brew, satn/s); on his right hand were his angels with him.” Deul. xxxiii, 2. See the Septungint. Brenton’s English Trans., London, 1S44. Comp. Cahen’s Great French Bible, Vol. 5, p. 153 and note. 196 The Kether also says : “It (the Will) draws from the source of Light without a pail (bucket) and effects everything without a vessel.” (Comp. Me’qor iii, § 15). The Will or Divine Word, holds a high position in the Zohar: (see ante and Zohar iii, 17^/ i, 65a/ ii, 268^). Both have the doctrine of the pre-existence and reminiscence of the soul, which we also find in Plato. The Zohar says (iii, 61^) : ** The souls knew everything they learned on earth prior to their coming into this world.’* Yxdiiick’s La Kabbale, p. 242. Gebirol says: “Thou askest. Wherefore the soul becomes deprived of the impressions of knowledge, so that she has need to be instructed in order to remember ? Know then, the soul was created with the True knowledge, from which it follows, that she possessed in herself the knowledge which is proper to her. But when the soul unites with substance (matter) and confuses herself with it, by the mixture and union, she is removed from the perception of these im- pressions ; they remain concealed in her, because the darkness of the sub- stance covers her in such a way, as to obscure its light, and the substance dulls her : she then becomes as if a transparent mirror to which has been applied, a muddy and thick substance, etc.** (Meqor, v, § 65.) The ” higher soul,** according to Gebirol, is the prototype, from the treasury of which all human souls proceed ; they all having previously been there in their Real and True Form in the Divine Idea. (Comp. the Kether Malkhuth and the Me*q6r in many places,) The same idea is set forth with great distinctness in the Zohar (ii, fol. 96^) : ” All human souls before coming down on earth, were present in the Divine Idea in the same form, that they were to have in this world : ** (comp. Franck, La Kabbale^ p. 228 j^.). So the human soul was divided, by the Zohar and Gebirol, into three divisions, as we have above mentioned, these were the Neshamah, Intellect; Rua’h, Mind or Reason; and the Nephesh, Animal life. (See Meqor Hay-yim iii, §§ 27-30; Comp. Franck’s La Kabbale, p. 232.) Gebirol holds that the temporal union of the two superior principles of spirit, Neshamah, and soul, Rita^h, with the senses; that is, life itself, the Nephesh; must not be considered an evil, he did not see in life a lowering down, but a means adopted by the Deity for the education of the soul, a salutary trial. The task of the soul is to elevate matter, “to teach the body, the right path for the pre- 197 vention of evil.” (Kether Malkhuth). He sees in life, an opportunity for the exercise of the man’s Free Will to work out his salvation. ” Who can repay/’ he says, ‘* Thy love, in giving the body a soul to vivify it; that her light might guide and instruct it, and deliver man from evil. * * * Thou hast tried me in the pit of captivity ; Thou hast purified me from my abundant wickedness ; but hast not consumed me. I am also conscious that it is for my benefit that Thou hast tried me, and in faithfulness Thou hast afflicted me; and in order that it may be well with me in my latter days, hast Thou brought me into this trial of troubles : ” (see, the Kether Malkhuth). The Qabbalists have the same idea, they ** consider it a necessity for the soul, a necessity inherent in its finite nature, to play a role in the universe ; to contemplate the specta- cle which the creation presents to it, so as to have the consciousness of it- self and its origin ; in order to re-enter, without absolutely confusing itself with it, into that inexhaustible source of Light and Life, which they term the Divine Thought.” (Franck, La Kabbaky p. 236.) The Zohar says (i, fol. 62^) : ” The breath, Nephesh, and the spirit Neshamah, are united together; whilst the soul, Rua’h, depends upon the conduct of the man. * * * if the man purifies himself, he will receive the assistance of the holy soul which purifies and sanctifies it ; if he does not purify himself, he possesses the breath and the spirit, but not the holy soul.” This union is to be obtained, it says, on the man’s side by his piety and study of the Holy Scriptures ; on the other side, by assistance from on high. The three souls united, it frequently terms ; the three faculties. (Zohar iii, 24^/ 46^/ 70^)- The Qabbalists do not see in life a lower- ing down from a higher degree to an exile, as did the Gnostics, and as the Talmudists do in the Pirkey Avoth (Conip. Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, before cited, pp. 56-57), but consider its abode on earth as a means of trial and education. If the soul remains pure during this trial, “She obtains,” says Gebirol, ** God’s pleasure, and may anticipate the joys of the last day ; for then endless happiness will be her portion, then she will enter into the palace of the King, etc.” The same idea is in the Zohar, and is (i, fol. 245^. Franck, La Kabbah, p. 236 seq,^ given in a most beautiful parable which we have not space to repeat. The doc- trine of metempsychosis or transmigration of souls, is in both. The 198 Kether Malkhuth reads: “If she (the soul) be pure, then shall she obtain favour, and rejoice in the latter day ; but if she hath been defiled, then shall she wander for a time in pain and despair {tanood b’she-tzeph ke-tzepK)^ and in all the days of her uncleanliness she shall dwell alone, an exile, banished ; she shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification have expired.” The Zohar (ii, i993)says: “All souls are subject to revolution (metempsy- chosis aUeen b’gilgoolah) but men do not know the ways of the Holy One ; blessed be It ! they are ignorant of the way they have been judged in all time, and before they came into this world and when they have quitted it, etc.’* (Zohar ii, fol. ()()b sq, Franck, La KabbaU, p. 245 et seq. See an^^pp, 90-91.) The Kether Malkhuth, speaking of the eclipse of the sun, says : “And when in conjunction with the sun at the end of the month ; if the dragon be between them, and they are both in one line ; the moon appeareth before the sun as a black cloud, and intercepteth its light from every eye. That those who view her may know, that the Kingdom doth not belong to the host of heaven and their armies (/. ^., the angels), but that there is a Lord above them, who darkeneth their light.” The Zohar says : ” And the moon and sun remained like a body without a soul, the master over them having darkened their lights.” (Zohar, Rayah Me’hem- nah, iii, S2b, § Qado-sheem.^ The Qabbalah in presenting the earthly man, as the Mikrokosm or in- ferior copy of the prototypic Heavenly Adam, asserts the existence of four divisions or worlds ; which are to be found in a greater or less degree in each; basing this assertion on Isaiah (xliii, 7). ” For I bWee-ahy /. ^., created him for ATy Glory ^ I ye” tzar ^ i. e.y formed him, yea I a^seey-ahy i. e., made him.” On these words of Isaiah, Ibn Ezra (b. 1088-89, d. 1 1 76) in his Commentary on this passage, tells us, with disapproval, that Ibn Gebirol saw the Mystery of the Universe, that with him; “My Glory” stood for the Kosmic dynamos, which dwelt with God, and in the verse were intended the three Worlds called: B’ree-atic, Ye’ tzeer-atic and A’seey-atic, which follow the A’tzeel-atic world; (see Trans, of the Soc. of Hebrew Literature. Comment of Ibn Ezra on Is. xliii, 7. Comp. Philo, On Dreams, ii, pp. 292-343, especially §§ iii and viii.) We hope 199 to have space further on, to give further information on the Four Condi- tions or Worlds. Gebirol’s Supreme Unity above all number, who is unknowable to the mind of mankind, is evidently the Ain Soph of the Qabbalah and the Zoharic writings, termed also in them Ayin or No-Thing. Its first ema- nation is called, Abbah or the Father, and is the Will of the Zohar and Gebirol. It is the Unity of number, and among the Sephiroth it is the first, and as we said before, is called, Kether or the Crown. It is consid- ered as the One or the Harmony, Consciousness or Abstract Thought, the Ego, the Content of all the subsequent Sephiroth. The first emanation from Kether y the Will or Father, is the Sephirah Binah (Bee’nah), the Universal Intellect or Understanding, which is Gebirol’s first emanation. Universal Matter. It is also termed by the Qabbalah Immahy the Mother, and is considered as receptive, negative, feminine, plastic, and to receive form. The Universal Matter is with him the feminine or re- ceptive principle. ” Everything existing,*’ says the Zohar (iii, 290a), **can only be the work of the male and female (principles).*’ The Zo- har and Gebirol both hold, that everything must be of Form (male) and Matter (female). The second emanation from Kether, is the Sephirah (this word is pro- nounced Seph*ee-rah) ^ Hokhmah, Wisdom, the Word, also called, the Son ; the united complex of all forms. It is the male principle and that which gives existence to Every-Thing, by giving Form to the Universal Spiritual or other Matter. (Me’qor, v, §§ 11-12.) The Zohar says: “For it (^Jfokhmah) generates all Things ;’* also; ** By means of the Thirty-two paths by which ^ Hokhmah is spread throughout the universe, it {^Ifokh- mah) gives Every-Thing existing, shape (/. ^., form) and size.*’ (Zohar, iii, 290a.) It is the Universal Form of Gebirol, ** giving existence to Every-Thing by emanating and producing (the Form of) Every-Thing.” (Me’qor, v, § 12.) For ** Everything existing can only be the work of the male and female (principles) : ” (Zohar, Siphrah D’Tznioothah. Begin- ning). Form corresponds to the male or positive, Matter to the negative or female. Kether being called in the Qabbalah, Father, and Binah^ Mother, ^ Hokhmah is termed, the Son, sometimes, ” the Son of Elohim (God).” This Sephirah is the sptn’tus mundt. From ‘Hokhmah, Wis- 200 dom, proceed all the balance of the Sephiroth, the first six of which are called, the Sephiroth of Construction or Building, and refer to dimension, /. ^., to Length, Breadth and Depth, and their positive and negative poles, and so to the six days of Genesis i. The last Sephirah Malkhuth, i. e.y Kingdom, the 7th and loth, is the Harmony of all, the seventh day, the Sabbath or day of rest. These first three Sephiroth are called by the Qabbalists, Oiam ha- Moos’ kal; the Intelligible or Intellectual World. Gebirol places the Will, Universal Matter and Universal Form together, as a triad above all other emanations and this would be their abode. He tells us ” the Triad is the root of Every-Thing.” ‘* Descended two Ancient ones ; the Supreme Ancient One came be- tween them, saying : We were three, now in our connection we are One ;” (Tiqqooneh haz-Zohar, Tiqqoon^ No. xxi, beg.) ** And they make known, that in the vision of the closed eye, three are one ; so also : YHVH, our Elohim, YHVH, are one ; three variations of forms which are one.*’ (Comp. Zohar, ii, 43^.) ** And since the Holy Ancient is expressed and impressed by three, so also all the lamps that receive their light from the Holy Ancient are tri- adic.” (Zohar, iii, 188^.) The second triad of the Sephiroth, is called, Olam ha-Moorgash^ the Moral or Sensuous World. It is represented by Gebirol’ s, Soul of the World or Universal Soul, emanating from the spiritits mundi, and which he divides into the Intellectual or Rational, the Vital and the Vegetative. (Me’qor, iii, § 24 sq.) They are the male or positive principle, ^He-sed, i.e., Grace or Mercy, also called Ge\ioo/ah, Magnificence, and the nega- tive or female principle; Fa^hady i. e.y Punishment, also called Din (^Deeti)y i. e., Judgment, and Ge’ boorah, i. e.y Rigour or Severity. These two, unite in TiplC e-rethy i. e.y Beauty. According to our Gebirol, all human souls proceed from this Qabbalistic World, and each human being has, spiritually, the same Triadic division, as we have mentioned, termed Nesharnahy Rua^h and NeJ>hesh.*
* The word Nephesh is to be found in Genesis ii, 7, ha-adam Pne’phesh hay.yahy i. e,,
to man the breath of life. Neschamah and Nephesch are not the correct English spell-
ing.
20I
Tiph’r-reth, says the Idrah Zootah, is, ** the highest manifestation of
ethical life and perfections, the sum of all goodness, in short, the Ideal.”
This Triad is Gebirol’s Universal Soul, from which the human souls pro-
ceed. (Comp. Franck, La Kabbale, p. 228 et seq.^
The next, third. Triad of the Sephiroth is called Olam ha-Moota’bo, or
the Material World, it apparently accords with Gebirol’s, Spirit of Na-
ture ; with him it occupies the last degree of the simple substances, and
is the intermediary of the Material World ; through the energies or forces
of the Deity, and the contraction and expansion everywhere evident. It
is the Qabbalistic TzitrCtzum^ and the multiplication. These Sephiroth
are called, Ne-tza’h^ i. ^., Triumph, the male or positive, sometimes
termed Victory; and the female or negative, called, Hod^ i. e.. Glory or
Splendour ; by which two, sometimes termed by the Qabbalists, the arms
of God ; the Zohar intends the centripetal and centrifugal energies and
potentialities, in the entire universe.
The Zohar says: “All the energies, forces and increase in the uni-
verse, proceed through them.” (Zohar, iii, 296a.) These two opposite
Sephiroth unite in one harmonious principle, symbol of the principle of
all generation. Ye’ sod, /.^., Foundation or Basis. Together they represent
the Deity as the universal power, creator and generator of all the exist-
ences. Ibn Gebirol calls it te-bang^ i. e.y nature, the Qabbalists, Olam
Ha-mool-bang, i. contrast to the natura nafuraia, the Material World. (Comp. as to Geb-
irol’s views on the above, the Me’qor, v, §§ 38-40 ; iii, §§ 32, 33 ; iv,
§ 31 ; V, § 180
The last Sephirah, Malkhuth (Mal-khooth) or Kingdom, the Abode of
the She*keen-ah, does not in the Zohar and Qabbalah, represent any new
attribute, but symbolizes the harmony of all the others, and the kingdom
of that harmony, over the entire universe. Its name is also, She’kheen-ah,
the Divine Presence or Glory of the Deity, which sometimes visibly
manifests itself in the universe. *’ It is the sum total of the permanent
emanating yet immanent activity, of the totality of the entire Sephiroth,
and is Elohim’s (God’s) presence in Its creation.” As. such it is appa-
rently the same as Gebirol’s Divine potentiality, which he says: **Is
dominant in all the existing,” penetrating all by virtue of the Deity’s
202
everywhere-acting Will-power, and not leaving any vacuum within, but
establishing harmony everywhere and in all the existences. Here is the
idea of an Ideal Perfect Kingdom, which is in perfect prototype in the
highest world and which is to come on earth in the future, in perfection ;
and in which, the Messiah or Christ, is to govern over all the just or
pious ; which idea is to be found running through the entire Old and
New Testaments.
This Sephirah symbolizes the feet of the Heavenly Adam which rest
upon the world (comp. Ezek. xliii, 7). The head of this Adam reaches
up to heaven. The Name of the Deity in this Sephirah is Adonai, 1. ^.,
Lord, the equivalent for the ineffable Name YHVH. It may be, to the
ideas clustering around this Sephirah, that St. John alludes, when he says
in the Apocalypse ; that when the 7th angel sounded his trumpet, there
followed great voices in heaven, and they said : ‘* The Kingdom {Mai-
khutK) of this world is become the Kingdom (^Malkhuth) of our Lord
{Adonai) and his Christ (anointed One) : and He shall reigti forever and
ever,^ And the four and twenty elders which sit before God, on their
thrones, fell upon their faces, etc.” (Apoc. xi, 15-16. Comp. Ibid, i,
1-8; X, 7.) This grand, sacred and most mysterious, text, which we
have italicized, the foundation of Bible teachings, is said to have been ;
on account of its mystery and holiness ; omitted from some of the, printed,
Douay editions of the N. T. We here note that the Ineffable Name
YHVH, is frequently written by the Qabbalists crowned with 24 taggin,
i. e., crowns, each crown having three indentations equaling together
72, the number of the Elders of Israel, and of the Name of 72. f
* Note here, the Qabbalistic verse of the PaUr NosUr, ” For thine is the Kingdom
(^Malkhuth) and the Power {Giboorah) and ihe Glory {:she’ keen-ah) for ever. Amen.”
Matt, vi, 13. Which is left out of the new authorized version of the English Church.
In the Teaching of the XII Apostles (90-100 A. D.) it- is: “For thine is the Power
and the Glory for ever.” C. viii, 2. See The Oldest Church Manual called the Teach-
ing of the Twelve Apostles, etc., by Dr. Philip Schaff. New York, 1885, pp. 84, 189.
The Teaching the Twelve Apostles with illustrations from the Talmud, etc., by Dr. C.
Taylor. London, 1886, p. 64 sq. The Mysteries of Magic, etc., by Arthur Edward
Waite. London, 1886, pp. 283-4.
t See, Kircher’s CEdipi ^gyptiaci, Tom, Secundus, p. 267 ei seq. One of the Qab-
balistic formula of the Name of 72, is the Ineffable Name mH” arranged in the form
203
Malkhuth is also called the Queen, the Matroneethah and the Matron.
It represents the World of Matter. Its symbolic sphere is that of the
moon, its symbolic color, blue, its ancient metal, silver. It was also called,
the Church or Congregation of Israel, the Daughter, the Bride of the
Spouse, the She’keen-ah, /. the Sabbath or Rest day, the Harmony. It is considered by the Qabba-
lah, as the executive energy or power of the Sephirah Binah, the Holy
Spirit or Upper Mother. Its color is also, blue. Blue is a symbolic
colour of the Virgin in the Roman Church, who is usually covered
with a blue robe, as a red or yellowish-red robe is usually portrayed
around Christ. The Sephirah Tiph’e-reth is called, the King, and all
the existences proceed from the Union of the King and Queen. The
potencies of the Sephiroth are represented by the harmonies, /. e,y
Kether, the Crown, Tiph’ e-rethy the King, and Malkhuth, the Queen.
The first affects the Neshamah, /. ^., the Spirit, the head, the second, the
Rua’h, the Soul, the heart, the Nephesh, the animal life or materiality,
is in the third triad.*
We have shown, ante, p. 159, that Gebirol evidently knew the ancient
Qabbalistic, Sepher Ye’tzeerah, and the Zoharic writings have much the
same thoughts as those contained therein, although set forth in a
of the Tetrad of Pythagoras, which latter is very ancient and signifies the decade. It
is arranged thus :
1 ‘ = 10
2 The Ineffable H” =z= 15
3 Name, thus IH^ = 21
4 nin^ = 26
• •
• •
• •
10 72
The sacred Tetrad of the Pythagoreans appears to have been known to the ancient
Chinese. (Comp. Etnleilung in das Berstandnik der Wdtgeschichte^ von, Aug. Gla-
disch, etc. Die alien Schincsen und die Fyl/iagorees, Posen, 1841, p. 82, el seq. See
also upon the Tetrad, the valuable writing, Pylhagore el la Philosophie Fythagoricienne,
etc., by A. Ed. Chaignet, Paris, 1873, Vol. ii, pp. 96-128 and other places.)
*Comp. in this connection, the writings of Candlish, Davidson, Stanton, Drummond,
Schiirer, Edersheim, Ilausrath and others, who have written on the Messiah and the
coming Kingdom of Heaven upon our Earth, with the teachings of the Zohar and
Qabbalah upon this Sephirah.
204
different manner. With the Qabbalists, the Deity is above but not
4 completely outside of the numerals and letters ; as entities, they con-
stitute the 32 paths of that Wisdom, which is almost synonymous with
the Will, Word and Holy Spirit, which are with them a Triad yet a Unit.
With them, the vitalizing efflux of Elohim is in Every-Thing (see ante^
p. 141, note).
We do not know that Ibn Gebirol wrote any Commentaries upon the
Old Testament, at least not any have come to our day \ but his explana-
tions of certain texts, as cited by other authors, prove that he was fond
of allegorical interpretations. Ibn Ezra (b. circa 1088, d. 11 76 A. D.)
cites him, in his Commentary upon Genesis (xxviii, 12). He states, that
following Ibn Gebirol ; the ladder which Jacob saw in his dream, signified
the Superior (or rational) soul; ** the angels of Elohim ” which mount
and descend thereon, are ” the abstract thoughts of Wisdom,” which
attach themselves at the same time, both to a spiritual or superior subject,
and also to the corporeal and inferior. Gebirol defended the opinion of
Saadyah Gaon, that it was not intended in Genesis, to attribute in reality
the faculty of speech to the serpent ; and Ibn Ezra, in the Commentary
above cited, also quotes the following mystical and allegorical meaning
of the facts set forth in Genesis ii and iii, as by Gebirol: ** ‘Paradise* is
the superior world, the word ‘ Garden ‘ designates the inferior world, it is
full of a crowd of creatures (men), who are the plants; the River of Para-
dise, is the first matter, mother of all the corporeal ; * the four heads * or
branches, of the River, designate the four roots, or elements; ‘ the man ‘
(/. e., Adam) who names all the animals, is Wisdom. Havvah or Eve, is
the spirit of the living (the power of vitalization), which gives move-
ment, and all that follows from it. ‘The Serpent,’ in the meaning of
divination, is desire (comp. Gen. xliv, 5, to tempt, to incite). * The
Tree of Knowledge,’ is carnal gratification, the power of which comes
from * the Garden ‘ (desire or lust, comes from vegetation, or the products
of the dust in the Garden, therefore the serpent of desire is to eat dust *’ all
the days of (its) life”). The growth in the dust, is the seed of the
woman, which causes the end (destruction) of that which comes from
* the dust;’ and the end of the living (creature), is where the vegetation
begins (/. e.y the final end of the earthly man, is his return to the ground or
205
dust ; from which vegetation, the life of the animal, proceeds). * The
clothes of skin,’ is the body,* driven away from * the Garden,’ to culti-
vate the soil, from whence the terrestrial man was taken. ‘ The Tree of
Life,* is the higher knowledge, which is : ‘ A Tree of Life, to them that
lay hold upon it.* (Prov. iii, i8.) *The Cherubim ‘ are the angels. ‘The
flame of the sword,’ refers to the sun. From this mystery it appears,
that the higher intellectual soul, has its place at the Throne of Glory
(She’keen-ah), where it delights in the glorious and tremendous Name of
Elohim.” (Comp. Kether Malkhuth.) This passage evidently considers
Wisdom, doubtless the Higher Wisdom, as a separate potency ; and the
human body is a later condensation of the original body, which was first
composed of Light. Gebirol therefore places the corporeal body as a
minimum when comparing it with the spiritual body.
The Zohar calls Wisdom, the Divine Word, which announced and fin-
ished creation, and says; that it is the foundation of all spiritual and
physical life. It calls Wisdom, the Upper Paradise or Eden illa-ah.^
This Superior Eden, the Wisdom or the Ancient, is in the Zohar ** a
Form comprising all forms.” (Zohar, Ibid,^ 288^.) The idea of Wisdom
as the creating power, is in Proverbs, Psalms, St. Paul, St. John, Sirakh,
Wisdom, and other places in the Old and New Testaments. The Qab-
balists and many of the Talmudists make B^ raisheeih, i, e.f of Gen. i, i,
Be* Raisheethy i. e., through Wisdom, Elohim barah^ /. ^., God created.
The Sephirah ‘Hokhmah or Wisdom, as the Word ; the Logos of Philo
and St. John, and the Chaldaic, Memrah; has similar ideas clustering
around it, as do the Vach, i.e.j Word, of the Hindu, Rig Veda; Hoftover,
/. e., Word, of the Persian, Zend Avesta ; JV/sdom, of the Proverbs of
Solomon and of the later Book of Wisdom ; and the Avalokites’varay or
* ” The flesh of man is a garment,” etc. (Zohar i, 20^.) ” When man is taken away,
he rids himself of those garments in which he was dressed ; the (garments of) skin in
the which the Son of Man was dressed,” {^Ibid. 76a.) The learned Qabbalist Yehudah
b. Salomo Charisi, or, al-Charisi (i 170-1230), of Toledo, Spain ; also compares the body
of man lo a garment, which the soul takes off at death ; and to a prison, from which, at
that time, the soul is liberated. He says : “On the day it takes off the body, it puts off
its ornaments, and rids itself of the ganncnts of its captivity.”
t Comp, Zohar, iii, Idrah Zootah, ” The higher Wisdom is also called, the higher
Eden.”
2o6
Kwan-Ytn, the Sakti of Amitdbha, i. g,, boundless light, of the later
Buddhists.
Ne’bo, the god of Wisdom of ancient Mesopotamia and Babylonia,
was originally the deity of the visible universe, who was the bolt or binder^
of its several parts together. (See ante, pp. 1 15 ; 190.) He was ” the bond of
the universe,’* the ** overseer of the angel-hosts of heaven and earth.”
The ziggurrat or planet tower of his Temple at Borsippa, was called ;
**the house of the seven bonds (planets) of heaven and earth.” The
tower of the seven planets, or stations, attached to his house ; was in
seven stages, each of the astrological colour of the planet to which it was
devoted. Ne*bo was therefore at one time evidently a god of all the
heavenly bodies. His special planet in Babylonia was Mercury ; that of
Merodach, his father, who anciently was the Sun-god, was Jupiter ; his
mother was Zarpanitu. the Moon-god. Ne’bo is the Semitic Nabiu or
I^d’boOf a prophet or proclaimer, the K’^J of Exod. iv, 1-17. Ne’bo was
in Borsippa, considered the supreme god, the creator of the universe.
Moses, the Great Prophet, died and was buried, on mount Ne*bo.
Ne’bo was also adored as the god of wisdom and prophecy, by the Canaan-
ites, Moabites, and Assyrians, and in Palestine in general. Bo, Bod,
Boden, or Buddha, in China,. Fo ; is the ancient Buddhistic god of En-
lightenment and Wisdom ; his early worshippers, the aboriginal or Dra-
vidian races of India, erected the Great Topes of Amravati and Sanchi,
in Hindustan, to him. His especial day among the Buddhists and Brah-
mins was our Wednesday, which among the ancient Akkadians was, the
day of Ne’bo, and it is to this day, in India, the day of Buddha. His
name is in Wo, Wod, Wo*den, of the Scandinavians, from whom our
name Wednesday comes. He is the Thoth of the Egyptians, the Hermes
of the Greeks, and the Mercury of the Romans, who named our Wednes-
day, after him ; and it is on the fourth day, Wednesday, that Genesis
tells us; the planets, etc., were created as signs, for the wise. The Word
or Wisdom, represents, the Creator of the Universe and the Mediator be-
tween the Holy One and Its creation. In the Qabbalah it is called, the
Upper Wisdom ; to distinguish it from the Sephirah Malkhuth, Kingdom,
the Lower Wisdom, the manifested She’keen-ah or Glory of the Deity.
It is the Son of the Sephirah Kether, the Abstract Thouglit, the Ego or
207
Consciousness of existence ; and is the representative of the Association
of the Abstract Ideas which constitute Wisdom, and is looked upon as
the Former and Maker, of the existing content of the Universe. With-
out such Association of Ideas, the human mind could not compre-
hend. It is used almost synonymously, in many places, by Philo
and St. John ; by the first of the Messiah, by the latter of Christ ;
and by the Targum of Onkelos, as Wisdom, the Creator of all. In
the Targum Ye’rushalmi on Genesis i, i, it is said : “In (By) be- Hohk^
mahy Wisdom, the Lord created.” This view also supported by Mai-
monides in his Moreh Ne’boo-kheem {circa 1190 A. D. Comp. S.
Munk*s French trans., ii, pp. 232, 236 ; English Ed., ii, p. 143 sq.^ The
Targum above cited, also says: ** And the Mcmrah (Word) of the Lord
created man in Its likeness, etc.*’ The first word of Genesis B^raisheeth,
usually translated *’In the beginning;’* has had various meanings as-
signed to it. Maimonides, says ; it should be read as: Be-Ralsheeih^ i.e.,
by the Principle , and that the verse should be translated : ” /« (or. By) the
Principle, Elohim {God) created the height and the depth of the universe.
Principle meaning the Upper Wisdom, **a beginning not temporal.
The learned Beausobre says : * ‘* There is yet a reflection to be made
upon that matter. It resolves itself upon the explanation of the word
Raisheethy which is at the commencement of Genesis, and which ; if we
believe the ancient Jewish interpreters ; does not signify, the Beginning,
but the active and immediate Principle of all Things. Thus instead of
translating : • At the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth :’
they translate : * God made the heaven and earth by the Principle,^
that is; according to the Targum of Jonathan, ^By Wisdom,” Maimon-
ides supports the view ; that only this explanation, is the literal and true
one. It at first passed among the Christians. We find it not only in
Chalcidius ; who remarks that it came from the Hebrews ; but also in
Methodius, Origen, and in Clement of Alexandria ; who is more ancient
than either. * H^ * ^pj^e latter says, there is only one God, who has
made the Principle of all things ; signifying in that way, his first-born
Son. St. Peter (II Pet. iii, 5-6), who has very well understood, that word
* Histoire critique de Manic hie et du Manicheivne par M, De Beausobre, A. Amster-
dam, 1734, Vol. ii, Bk. vi, ch, i, p. 290-1. Comp. Bk. iv, c. vi, p. 89.
208
(/. ^., Wisdom), says : * God has made the heaven and earth by the Prin-
ciple.’ That principle is that which is called, Wisdom, by all the prophets.
The Christian philosophers adopted this explanation for two reasons.
I. They found the Trinity of the divine persons at the head of the
(Hebrew) scriptures. God, the Father, created the universe, but he cre-
ated by the Principle (Logos, Wisdom), which is His Son, and the Holy
Spirit inflamed and animated nature. It (the Holy Spirit) was borne
upon the waters, says Moses: ‘That explanation,* St. Augustine says:
‘ gives me so much the more pleasure, as in that way, I find the Trinity
established at the head of the Holy Book of Genesis.* II. The aforesaid
explanation favored the sentiment of the Christian philosophers, who be-
lieved in the pre-existence of the Intelligible world, because, if by Rat-
sheeih is understood the Active Principle of Creation, and not, the Begin-
ning ; then it has no more than said ; the Heaven and Earth were the
first works of God. And Moses has only said, that ‘ God created the
Heaven and Earth by ih^ Principle ^^ which is His Son. It is not the
epoch, it is the immediate Author of Creation, which it teaches. St.
Augustine has also said : * The angels have been made before the Firma-
ment, and even before that which is reported by Moses ; God made the
Heaven and the Earth by the Principle ; because by this word Principle
is desired ; not to express that the Heaven and Earth, were made before
all things, since God had already made the angels precedently; it means
to say : that God has made all things by Wisdom, which is His Word, and
which the scripture has called, the Principle.’ ‘* St. Paul (I Cor. ii, 7, 8)
says : “But we speak the Wisdom of God, in a mystery, even the Hidden
ivisdom, which God ordained before the worlds unto our glory. Which
none of the rulers of this world knew : for had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory.’* T\\\^ Hidden Wisdom is Christ
(I Cor. i, 21-24; Col. ii, 3), *’who of God, is made unto us Wisdom,
and Righteousness, and Sanctification (Holiness) and Redemption.*’
(^Ibid, 30-31.) ”Wherein He hath abounded towards us in all Wisdom
and Prudence,’ ‘ (One of the names of Binah, Understanding, the Rua’h
ha-Qadosh, i. e., the Holy Spirit.) (Eph. i, 8). “I Wisdom dwell with
Prudence; and the Knowledge of discreet Thoughts do I discover.”
(Prov. viii, 12.) “Christ in whom are hid all the treasures of Wisdom
209
^n^ Knowledge *^ (Col. ii, 3.) ”Now ye are the body of Christ, and
members in particular.** (I Cor. xii, 27 ; compare the whole chapter with
I Cor. XV.) St. Paul referring to Christ as the Son, says : ‘* Who is the
image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation ; for in him were
all things created^ in the heavens and upon earthy things visible and things
invisible, whether thrones ^ or dominions ^ or principalities y or powers ; all
things have been created through him and unto him, and he is before all
things y and in him all things consist, (exist?) And he is the head of the body^
the Church, * * that in all things he might have pre-eminence. For
it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fullness
dwell, etc.*’ (Col. i, 15-20.) Compare with this, there is a Heavenly
Adam and an Earthly Adam. (I Cor. xv, 45-49, 22-28 and I Cor. xii.)
“His Son * * by whom also he made the worlds.’* (Heb. i, 2.)
”We understand that the worlds were formed by the Word of God, so
that things which are seen, were not made of things which do appear.”
{Ibid, xi, 3.) ” For thy Almighty hand, that made the world of matter ^
unthout form,** (Wisdom, xi, 17.) ” And by his Memrah was the world
created.” Targum of Onkelos to Deut. xxxiii, 27. “The world was
made by him,” /. e,y the Word. (St. John i, 10.)*
Ibn Gebirol, says, in his Kether Malkhuth: “Wisdom is the fountain
of life.” The Zohar says : ” The seventh palace, the fountain of life, is
the first in the order from above, etc.*’ (Zohar, ii, 261a.)
To account for the construction of the world, Gebirol introduced simple
♦Compare with these : Eph. i, 18, 21 ; iii, 9, 10; Col. ii, 3 ; Rom. xvi, 25-27; Jude
25; James iii, 17; Prov. viii, ix ; Hebrews, St. John and, Philo : iii, 95, iv, 391-2;
Book of Wisdom, xviii, 14-15 ; i, 4, 5; and Sirakh xxiv, 3-9; Targum of Onkelos to
Deuter. xxxiii, 27; Book of Enoch, Schodde*s English trans., p. 208, c. 84; p. 137 ; c.
48, 50; c. 49 and other places; Apocryphal New Test., p. 174; Epist. of Barnabas
(Ibid.) iv, 7 ; v, 12. The Conciliator of R. Menasseh ben Israel, etc., London, 1842, p.
6. Basnage, Hist, of the Jews, Bk. iv, c. v, \ vii, English trans., p. 288, col. 2. Kircher*s
(Ed, yEgypti, Vol. ii, c. ix, g iv, p. 309. Anacalypsis of Godfrey Higgins, Vol. i, pp.
73» 75-Si, 122, 235, 250, 264-5, 3o8» 338, 348, 469, 5″» 5^41 769* 803, 806-7, etc., as
cited in index Vol. i, p. 862. Hidden Wisdom of Christ, by De Bunsen, i, p. 430. Tar-
gums by J. W. Elheridge, London, 1862, i, pp. 157, 160, 162. Bertholdt’s Chrisiology,
p. 131. As to the Talmud, Hershon’s Genesis, etc., p. 79; Hershon’s Talmudic Mis.,
p. 104. Heb. Mis. Society, Hebrew Liter., London, i, p. 40, note.
14
2IO
substances between the Godhead and the physical world , he does not
actually use the term Sephiroth, but his idea of the highest and simple
substances, evidently refers to them ; he also speaks of the spheres in the
same way as Philo (Philo, iii, 185-6) and the Qabbalists. The spheres,
or properly the orbits, of the planetary and astronomical universe, were
doubtless those which entered into the idea of the Sephiroth. This was
an ancient idea. And we think we may assert ; that the simple sub-
stances of Gebirol refer to tie orbits, called in his time, the spheres of
the planets, and to other ancient astronomical divisions of the heavens.
He speaks of the sensible spheres which emanate from the intelligible
spheres. (Me*q6r, iv, § 8.) Of the corporeal spheres emanating from the
spiritual spheres. {Ibid., §1.) That the simple substances are called
spheres or circles. (Ibid,, iii, §41 ; ii, § i, §§ 3, 4.) His nine categories
evidently refer to these spheres. {Ibid., §§ 11, 12, 23 ; iii, §§ i, 2, 8, 17,
36, 41 ; iv, §§ I, 8 ; v, 67, and other places.) The potential energy of
the Deity ; penetrates all, surrounds all, and acts in all, through all eternity.
{Ibid., iii, § 14; iv, § 23, § 29.) With Gebirol, the body of man as
the Mikrokbsm, corresponds to the concrete body of the perfect ideal
vitality of the universe, the Great Ideal or Forming Man, the Makro-
kosm {Ibid,, iii, § 44, § 6).
The connection between the Highest and the Lowest ; through the sur-
rounding orbits, spheres or coatings, supposed to surround our earth ; was
a very ancient idea, and is a reminiscence of the archaic astronomical
religious philosophy; of the Akkadians, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Babylo-
nians, Hebrews and Hindus, with some of these peoples, going back
thousands of years before the Christian era. Philo evidently has this
in his mind. (See his works, iii, pp. 177, 184-186, 190, 196; ii, 138,
208. Comp. his treat. On Fugitives, ii, 320-326, 136-139, and other
places.)
The Qabbalah frequently uses instead of the word Sephiroth, the word
kaileem, i. e., vessels, for the intermediaries, and thus indicates the
indirectness of their activity. Gebirol in his Kether Malkhuth says of
the Will, the emanation proceeding immediately from the Absolute :
** He (It) draws from the Source of Light without a pail (or bucket) and
effects everything without a vessel.*’ (Comp. the Me’qdr, iii, § 15.) In-
21 I
Stead of Sephiroth, he often uses, orbits or spheres, but generally, ” cate-
gories.*’ He tells us, the potentiality of the Holy One, is more visible
in some of the simple substances than in others. (73///., iii,§§ 32, 33.)
The same idea is in the Zohar and other Qabbalistic books, where this
greater or less potentiality; is sometimes called, Parzupheem, /. ^., Faces
(Visages or Aspects).
Referring to the idea of the divine power being weaker in some of the
simple substances than in others, depending on the distance from the
source. ” How is it possible,’* he asks, *’that the divine power should
weaken, alter, or materialize itself; and that the action of the First
Agent show itself, more in certain substances than in others, seeing that
it is the perfect completeness of all power, perfection and faculty?” and
he evades this by answering : ** It does not depend on the giver but on
the recipient ; for at a great distance from the source, the receiving mat-
ter, is less apt to receive the abundance, from the Forms of Light stream-
ing into it.” (Comp. Me’qor, iii, §§ 13, 32.)
In the Kether Malkhuth, he says : ‘* Thyself, thou art the Being, who
from the shadow of thy Light hast made the generation of all that which
is.” We may sum up Gebirol’s propositions to be; that the Infinite
Light, which at first filled all, retired itself into itself, that is, the Infinite
rays retired into a centre or point, and left Space, the Abyss, which is a
species of shadow or vacuum ; afterward, the Divine Light gradually com-
municated it^elf with more or less energy, into the Space or Abyss; ac-
cording to the receptibility of matter, and to the proportion of vitalizing
energy, which the Divine Will wished to impart to it. This is also a con-
densed statement of the Zoharic cosmogony, and the Qabbalistic theory
of Tzim-tzum, /. ^., expansion and contraction, or the symbolism used by
it, to set forth philosophically, the centrifugal and centripetal motion or
energy ; which, under the direction of God, made and maintains, the
universe. According to the Qabbalah the Light of the Infinite Being,
the Ain Soph, /, e,, the Endless One, the nevertheless to man’s finite
thought No-Thing or Non-Ego, originally filled All ; and in order to
manifest Itself, this Unknowable in its Essence Deity, made Space, and
in Space It developed or created gradually, through an emanation in
which It was immanent yet transcendental. At first It concentrated Itself
212
in Its own Essence, and that caused Space or a place for ihe universe to be
constructed in, this was the Abyss; It afterwards filled this Space success-
ively and in different gradations or degrees, with Its vitalizing Light.*
The Great Qabbalist^ Moses Cordovera (1522-1570 A. D.) in his
Pardes Rim-monim, /. ^., Paradise, or Garden, of Pomegranites, fol. 55^^
says : ** Elohim (God) is the prototype of all being, and all things are in
Him, in their purest and most complete Form ; so that the perfection of
the created, consists exactly in the existence, in which they find them-
selves (in affinity) with the original source of their being; and in propor-
tion to the distance of their departing from the Deity, they will sink
down from that perfect and sublime condition.’* The Qabbalists
hold, like Gebirol, the Supreme Deity alone, is absolutely simple ; and that
all the other simple, intelligible substances are composed of Form
and Matter. Joseph Chiquitilla, an erudite Qabbalist, says : ” Know
that in all created things, superior and inferior, there is not anything
absolutely simple. The Supreme Deity alone is pure simplicity, and a
Unit without any multiplication ; but, among all the other beings, com-
prising therein even the separate and superior intelligences which we call
angels, there is not one who is simple and without multiplicity. * ^ ^
They bear an occult matter, simple and superior, which does not resem-
ble our matter, etc/’ (see his Sepher ha-Nik-kood^ fol. 3^.)
In the system of Gebirol, as in that of the Zohar, and of almost all the
most archaic Eastern religious philosophy, the Triad holds a most important
position as the principle of the universe. Our author says : ‘* The Triad
is the root of everything *’ (Me*q6r, v, § 56, § 30; iv, § 32, §§ 17-20,
8). The Qabbalah and Zohar develope the Sephiroth in the Triadic
form, and the antient Akkadians, Chaldeans, Babylonians, Hindus,
Chinese, and Persians, arranged their heavens and deities in Triads. In
the Qabbalah each of the opposites, together a dualty, are united by a
harmony and make a triad, and together, they constitute but one unity.
The Idrah Zootah (Zohar, iii, fol. 288^) says: **The Ancient, whose
Name be Blessed ! has Three Heads which are yet One Head. And as
the Ancient is designated by the number three, so also, all the other
♦Franck, La Kabbale, p. 186. Zohar, Idrah Rabbah. See Joel, Relig, Philos.
Sohar,
213
lights (Sephiroth) with their scintillations, are comprised in the number
three.”
The idea that the Triad is the root of everything, is in a great number
of places in the Zohar, we have the quotations but not space to now
insert them. The Triadic idea of the Deity is also in Philo, but he says,
it is a great mystery not to be given to the uninitiated.
As to the creation out of nothing {creaiio ex nihilo) Gebirol appears to
agree with the Qabbalists. He compares creation to the water going out
of its source (Maqor, v, § 64) and to the impression of a form in a mir-
ror (73///., § 71 ; ii, § 27) God *’ has produced existence out of the No-
Thing.’* ”Thou drawest forth,” he says, “the Light from its source,
but not by any human means ; and hast produced all, without the means
used by man. Thou hast arranged and fixed, and purified and cleansed ;
and called unto the nonentity (? No-Thing) and it was dis-placed, etc.”
(Kether Malkhuth). The Qabbalists admit the objection to ex nihilo
nihil fit^ and declare the universe emanated from No-Thing, by the poten-
tiality of the Divine Will, and the Desire or Word. They however say :
*’ If the world came into existence, the nothing is meant as the No-
Thing, /. ^., it came from a spiritual source, which was not a Thing in
any sense which we can apply to a Thing.** This No-Thing is the ‘ Cause
of Causes,* the Ain Soph, the Endless, or the Ayin, /. /., the No-Thing.
The optical metaphor of the light, visible or invisible to the eye ; plays
a most important part in the Zohar and in Ibn Gebirol’s philosophy.
The former says : ” Come and see. There are four lights ! Three of
them are concealed and one is revealed, etc. In the eye there are three
colors, which are revealed and marked therein, and none of them are
guarded ; for they exist (stand), in the light that does not shine, etc.
And regarding this secret, close thine eyes and turn thine eye-balls ; and
those colors that are in that light and that are not guarded, will be re-
vealed, etc.” (Zohar, ii, 23^. Comp. Talmud, treatise Vevamolh, 49^).
Ibn Gebirol says : ” Thou art wise ; and being the architect of unbounded
might, hast from Thy own Wisdom imparted an immediate Desire
{Chephefz) to draw the emanation of existence from non-existence; * *
* as the ray of light which comes forth from the fountain of vision (the
eye), illumines obscurity, etc. * * * Thou drawest forth the light,
214
which comes forth from the eye, and attracts from the source of light but
not by human means.
And Thou hast hewn out and engraved,
And spoken to the non-entity (the No-Thing) and it unfolded (was
opened or displaced) ;
And to the existence, and it was fixed ;
To the universe, and it was expanded.” (Kether Malkhuth.) Ibn
Gebirol says : ”How wonderful are the words of the philosophers about
sense of the eye-sight when they say ; that the soul {nephesK) has spiritual
colours which appear in the motions of the eye-lids.” (Comp. his Tiq-
qooneh Middoth han-nephesh^ \a,) “The Deity made formations in the
light of above, etc. ; When he measured out the Messiah, It made colors
to shine inside, etc. It opened and did not burst (or split) its air (the
azoth). It did not make Itself in anyway known, until by emana-
tion from this opening, a point was lighted, etc.” (Zohar, i, 15^.)
**Thou art the Light which is hidden in this world, but which shall
be revealed in the Celestial World ; for on the mount of the Lord, shall
it be seen.” (Kether Malkhuth.) Human vision is also mentioned a
number of times with like purpose in the Me’qor. (Comp. v, § 62 and
other places.) Moses Cordovero uses the same simile: “The Holy
‘ One may he be Praised ! Who is the girdle of energy, who is One,
and in whom all the faculties form only One Unity : similar to the fiame
of the fire, which contains different colors, and of the light of the eye,
which goes out of the pupil ; these faculties emanate one from the other,
as the odor emanates from odor, and light from light,” (Fardes J^im-
monm, § 4). Hay Gaon (969-1038 A. D.) and Ibn Ezra (b. circa
1088, d. 1 1 76 A. D.), use the same imagery from the human power of
sight. In the Hindu mythology the eye of a deity never winks. (Indian
Wisdom, by Monier Williams, p. 16, n. 2.) The Zohar in the Idrah
Rabbah says ; the eye of Providence, like those of a fish, has not any lids,
but is always open : (see in this connection. The Path, New York, March,
1887). The Zohar uses the Light as an illustration of the Mediator be-
tween the Ideal and the Real. ” Let Light Be ! all that came forth, is
so by this mystery, etc. ” (Zohar i, i6<^.) The eye is also used in the
Zohar to explain the Divine illumination of man. (J^did. ii, 23^ and ^.)
2»5
In the Tiqqooneh haz-Zohar (Tiqqoon, 70), is this beautiful allegory of
the soul as it manifests itself through the light of the eyes : ” ‘ In the
beginning Elohira (God) created : ‘ This is the soul when it emerges
from the bosom of its mother, and it is taught of it ; * And the earth was
void and in confusion and darkness was upon the surface of the abyss ; ‘
for its eyes were closed. Has it opened its eyes ? ‘ And Elohim said :
Let light be !’ After this man is gathered in from this world, and what is
written about the soul ; ‘ And Elohim said : Let the water be gathered
from beneath the heaven to one place, and let the dryland appear 1′
When the soul is taken from the man, the body remains * dry land.’ ”
Ibn Ezra in his short Commentary to Genesis, says: “I will now
explain to you the mystery of the venerated and awful Name, and the
mystery of the angels; and I will make a simile for you, from the light of
the soul which comes forth from the eye. Know then that the eye con-
sists of seven degrees, and that the inside one, is the white point. And
behold the light is not a body (substance), and the light of the soul,
requires another light from the outside, etc.’* It was held by the ancient
anatomists and philosophers, that in seeing ; an intellectual force streamed
out of the eye, which came in contact with the objects observed, and
returned them to the eye. This was *’the light of the soul which
comes forth from the eye.” In Gerson ben Salomo’s writing, Sha-arek
has’shamayeemy /. called chutanoth, /.^., shirts or epidermis (in optics, tunica) or me^hiizoth^
/. <f., separations. Gerson and Samuel ^arga, quote the component parts
under different names. Three are fluid, seven, solid, together ten : viz :
1. The crystal, /. The seven solid parts (separations, shirts or degrees) are :
1. The net, /. necromancy and the Practical Qabbalah. It also contained secret doc-
trines, as to the creation and governance of the world by the Deity and
the spiritual energies, the angels ; and their relation to it, to man and to
nations; the interpretation of the Hebrew Sacred Writings, original sin,
sacrifice, atonement, forgiveness, redemption, retribution, the Md^iah
and his Kingdom on our earth; accounts of the Heavenly Jerusalem and
its Temple ; doctrines as to the soul, hell, death, heaven, the resurrection
from the dead, the judgment day, the kingdom of heaven, the future
world, etc., etc. These doctrines were kept secret to prevent any miscon-
ception and misuse of them, by the unlearned and unmetaphysical minds ;
who would, perhaps, have been led away by them from the truth ; and in
uneducated minds, they certainly would have tended to produce heterodoxy
from the formal Hebrew religion. From such incapacity and heterodoxy,
and from the Jewish mind becoming influenced by Persian and Hellenis-
tic thought ; after the conquests by Alexander the Great and his succes-
sors ; and the arising of the School of Alexandria, orthodox Judaism had
much to fear.
This apprehension finally became formulated into : ‘* Do not discuss
the Ma-a*seh Merkabah even in the presence of one pupil, except he be
a wise and intelligent man, and then, only the headings of the chapters
* Comp. F. Lenormant’s Chaldean Magic, London. Lectures on the Origin and
Growth of Religion, etc., of the Ancient Babylonians, by Dr. A. H. Sayce, London,
1887. The Ilibbert Lectures.
223
are to be given him.”* Such a student also had to be not under forty
years of age. Also ” Do not discuss the Ma-a’seh Be’resheeth in the
presence of two.^’f
The problems which the Qabbalah seeks to solve are those which pre-
sent themselves to all thinkers. How are we to grasp and represent to
ourselves, the transition and connection of the Infinite with the finite,
the Invisible with the visible, and spirit with matter? How proceeded
from Unity, the multiplicity. From a pure Intelligence a so different,
varied and material many? In what position does the Creator stand to
the created, so that we can rightly speak of the Providence and world-
government by the Deity, notwithstanding the infinite abyss between
them? How, correctly, can any name be imputed, any attribute ascribed
to, or any imagination portray any idea of, the Deity? How is the idea,
that man has been made in the similitude of Elohim (God), consistent
with man’s weaknesses and faults ? How, with the conception of a per-
fect, just and merciful Deity, can be reconciled the existence of the im-
perfect and the evil? What was the Divine intention through the
manifestation of the creation ? It asks : Is the universe made of nothing,
or out of an eternally original existing subtile matter, which may be
thought of as the no-thing ? Was the Deity before the universe, and
eternal ? Has the Deity, as a complete Being, through an inclination of
Its Will, created the universe ? If so, can the Deity be considered per-
fect, for has not something new arisen out of It ? If the Will of the
Deity did not emanate or create the universe, then we come to chance,
which is contradictory to the wisdom shown in and throughout, all the
works of nature? Is the Deity All-Knowing? Does the Holy One
know before the birth of men who are to be virtuous, and who will sin ?
Why docs the Deity permit sin and evil ? If the Holy One is the All-
good, why is there evil ? Why the sufferings of the innocent and the
escape of the guilty? Is the universe eternal? These are some of the
questions which arise in*the thoughts of man and which the Holy Scrip-
tures do not answer.
♦Talmud Babli, treatise ^ Ha^gcegah, \\b, Comp. Maimonide*s Moreh Nc’boo-
khcem, Englbh Ed., i, 7, and note pp. 8, 68, 1 16, 124 et seq. Sec ante^ p. 40, note,
f Talmud Babli, ^Ila^geegah Ii3, Maimonide’s Moreh, i, p. 68, and in other places.
224
The Hebrew Qabbalah bases itself upon the Hebrew Holy Writings as the
foundation of all the revealed Will of God, as the source of all wiscTom
and knowledge, and asserts, that the Deity’s Will is above all philosophy.
The Qabbalah offers, to explain the Holy Writings so as to clear away all
obscurity and difficulties in the way of understanding them, and endeavors
to do this, by trying to ascertain the hidden and subtile meanings contained
under the visible symbolic letter and word. In the Hebrew Practical Qab-
balah, she endeavors to find this in the order of the chapters, the manifold
Names and attributes of the Deity, in the composition of the Holy Writ,
its letters, words, their numerical value, larger and smaller size, uneven
forms, sound signs, signs of accentuation, etc. This brings into play,
deep investigations in regard to the doctrines delivered therein as to the
creation, of the relation of the unseen Deity to the visible manifestations
of Its potency, as also to the invisible, and as to the government of the
universe and this earth ; also, regarding the revelations by the prophets
and their workings upon man’s thoughts, as a means for his sanctification
and higher destiny. So in the reading of the Hebrew Holy Writings ; in
every letter, word, and form of the same, in every period and stroke thereof,
in the practice of every observance, in every view therein of the Deity and
of nature, etc. ; the Hebrew Qabbalah teaches the whole is as a symbolic
picture, and from this arises in the mind an infinitely extended view, pro-
ducing and extending, a greater and more exalted ideality. She acknowl-
edges the obligation of a moral law ; the doctrine that through the sin of
Adam, entire humanity descending from him, has degenerated ; and that
man must continually, through his individual work, and in himself, with
Divine assistance ; atone for his transgressions and sins, and endeavor to
better himself. Must repent and humiliate himself by continual penances
and chastisements ; but she also teaches the dignity of human nature and
admits Free Will. Out of the retirement of the Highest, in the mani-
fested central point, the monad ; she developes the Will, and from the
Highest emanates the Holy Spirit and also Wisdom, or the Word ; the
first-born Son, the Hea,venly Primordial Man, the Celestial Adam, the
executor of the creation, the totality of the ten celestial spheres (orbits);
in which, the Highest is immanent, yet as to which, the Highest is also
transcendental. The whole of the created from its very beginning, is
225
formed by the Qabbalistic philosophy; into one Great Ideal Man, a
Mkkrokosmos, a Great World, of which the terrestrial Adam was a copy ;
and who, with his descendants, are as a Mikrokosmos or Little World.
Man she teaches, is in continual danger from unclean spirits which
surround him, and who are ever seeking to seduce him to sin and fasten
themselves to his soul ; but by a perpetual struggle and conflict, he can,
with the Deity’s assistance, banish them or render them harmless ; oppos-
ing them through an incessant remembrance of the behests of the Holy
One ; and she asserts, that by God’s assistance, the regenerated man will
appear before the Deity at last, clean and spotless.
Among the cardinal doctrines of this theosophy are, those intended to
solve the grand problems, relating to: i. The Nature of the Supreme
Being, as the unity or trinity. 2. The Cosmogony of the universe and
its connection with the Deity. 3. The creation of angels and man. 4.
The destiny of man and the universe. 5. The investigation of the
meaning and import of the Revealed. 6. The unity of the Holy One.
(Ex. XX, 3 ; Deut. iv, 35, 39 ; vi, 4 ; xxxii, 39.) 7. The incorporeality
of the Deity. (Ex. xx, 4; Deut. iv, 15 ; Ps. xiv, 18.) 8. The eternity of
God. (Ex. iii, 14; Deut. xxxii, 40; Is. xli, 4; xliii, 10, 11; xliv, 6;
xlviii, 12.) 9. The immutability of the Highest. (Mai. iii, 6.) 10. The
perfection of the Deity. (Deut. xxxii, 4; 2 Sam. xxii, 31; Job xxxvii ;
xxxviii; Ps. xviii, 31.) 11. The infinite goodness of the Holy One. (Ex.
xxxiv, 6 ; Ps. xxv, 10 ; xxxiii, 5 ; c, 5 ; cxlv, 9.) 12. The creation of the
universe and this earth, in time, according to God’s free will. (Gen. i,
I.) 13. God’s moral government of the universe, special providence,
and creation of man in God’s similitude (Gen. i, 27), and the doctrine of
Rewards and Punishments ; as set forth in all parts of the Holy Writings.
14. The emanation and nature of the soul. 15. The nature of angels,
demons and the elementary spirits. 16. The transcendental meaning
and symbolism of numbers, colours, letters, etc. 17. The balancing or
equilibrium of the oppositions, etc., etc.
The theories of the Qabbalah usually proceed from the lowest to the
highest and it reasons largely by analogy. Its fundamental principle is,
to go from the visible to the invisible. Its maxim is : — *’ If thou wilt
know the invisible, have an open eye for the visible,” or in the words of
15
226
Mena’hem Reccanati, in his Taamey ham-Mitzvoth^ /. ^., Meaning of the
Commandments adinit.^ “Know that we have to divide, between those
that are hidden from us, and those things that are manifest to us. * ‘ In the
words of the same writer : — ” The perfection of the work points to the per-
fection of the master.** {Ibid,) All things of which we have knowledge
appear to make a gradual transition from the lower to the higher, and vice
versa. The idea is set forth in the Hebrew Holy Writings, and in Exodus,
(xxxiii, i8 to end.) Moses said to the Deity: — ” Let me see, I beseech
thee, thy Glory.** To which the Deity is said to have replied : — ‘ I will
make all My Goodness pass before thy face, and I will proclaim My
Name, YHVH, before thee ; and I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.* But also,
said : — ** ‘ Thou canst not see My face ; for no man can see me, and live.*
4nd YHVH said : ‘ Behold, there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand
upon a rock. And it shall come to pass, while My Glory passeth by, that
I will put thee in a cleft of the rock and I will cover thee with My hand
while I pass by. And then I will take away Mine hand, and thou shalt
see My a’hoor, /. ^., My back; but My face shall not be seen.* ** That
is, I will show you “My back,** /. ^., My visible universe, My lower
manifestations, but as a man still in the flesh, thou canst not see My in-
visible nature. So proceeds the Qabbalah.
The Qabbalists divide their system into two main divisions, included in
the Work of the Creation and that of the Chariot Throne. The first is
the Theoretic (^ly-yooneih) \ the second, the Practical (J/a*d:j^M). The
first named may also be divided into three branches. I. Symbolical.
II. Dogmatic or Positive. III. Speculative or Metaphysical. The first
has a peculiar and very ancient system of exegesis coming under the heads
of Temoorah, Gematria, Notarikon, Atbash, Albam, etc., which in this
writing we have not space to explain. The second comprises all those
beliefs and mystic dogmas engrafted on Judaism during and after its con-
nection with Babylonia, Chaldea, Assyria, India and Persia. It was
adopted in substance by the Pharisees, Essenes, Nazarites, etc., and ex-
isted probably before the formulations of the Speculative. It treats of
angels and demons and their hierarchies and divisions, of the depart-
ments in Paradise and Hell, the transmigration of souls, etc. Many of its
227
ideas have come from Aryan and Chaldean sources. Exodus (xxiv, lo)
gives a partial description of, and the visions of Isaiah, Daniel and Ezekiel,
further portray, the Deity as seated on a throne surrounded by angelic
creatures and winged animals ; and those given by the latter, have a close
analogy with those shown in the art of Mesopotamia, Persia and India.
Ezekiel’s vision ; which is also further carried out in the Apocalypse, and
of which traces may be found in the vii chapter of Daniel and earlier in
Isaiah; is more especially called by the Qabbalists the Merkabah or
vision of the Chariot-Throne, and is considered by them, as a representa-
tion of the Court of the Deity, in which, God is surrounded by the angelic
ministering hosts. The statements in the cited Hebrew Bible authorities,
are at the foundation of the religious metaphysics of the Ma-a’seh Merkabah.
The ancient followers of the Ma-a’seh Merkabah, may have been the
Rekhabites, Rekhab means a chariot, and this Israelitish sect was held in
high estimation by YHVH. (See Jerem. xxxv; II Kings, x, 15, 23; I
Chron. ii, 55 ; II Sam. iv, 2 ; v, 6 ; Neh. iii, 14.) They were of the fam-
ily of the father of Moses, and adopted the latter’ s religion. * There
were undoubtedly certain saintly sects at a very early period among the
Hebrews, at the time of if not before Moses, and later they came more es-
pecially into notice in the times of Judas Maccabaeus. They were asserted
to have power to perform miracles, exorcise evil spirits, etc., and it was
through these most likely, that the fragments of the Sod and the Secret
Learning have, as Qabbalah, come to our day. (Comp. Kitto’s Bib.
Cyclop, i, p. 475 et seq.^
In archaic Chaldea we find the protecting genii, which were those ap-
parently in the mind of Isaiah, and the same symbolical animals support
the Merkabah or Chariot-Throne of YHVH in Ezekiel : we also find a
somewhat similar statement in Daniel vii. Among the Chaldeans, were
the Kirub (Cherub ?), the Sed or Aiaph, which was sacred to Nebo, a
bull with a man’s face; Nergal or Lamas y a lion with a man’s face; Ustur,
after the human likeness, and the Nattig, with the head of an eagle.
Above these were the heavenly angels, the Igigiy and the earthly good
♦Judges i, 16; Exod. xviii, 9 <f/ Jif^. ; Numb, x, 29-32; Judges iv, 11, 17; Ibid, if
16 ; I Sam. xv, 6. Comp. The Angel Messiah, by Ernest dc Bunsen, London, 1880, pp.
II, 12, 86-87, 300-3; also Smith’s Diet, of the Bible, Title, Rediabites.
228
spirits, the Anunaki. The Hebrews were frequently in captivity in
Chaldea. Among these were those circa 732, 599, 588 B, C. Rcturni
were made in 536 and 458 B. C. The Assyrian, the language of Baby-
lonia, is naore closely related to the Hebrew than to any other Semitic
Tongue. The Jews derived much of their knowledge from the libraries,
learned men, and literature of ancient Chaldea ; and they pointed to the
valley of the Euphrates as the primaeval cradle of their race and of hu-
manity. Like the Fhc^niciansj they held, that their ancestors came from
the great alluvial plain of Babylonia. (Hibbert Lectures 1887, 40 sg.)
There were two periods when the Jews came under the influence of the
Akkadian and Chaldean thought ; one before the conquests and the
other, during and after. (See also the erudite essay on the Cherubim,
in Kitto’s Cyclop, of Biblical Lit., Ed. 1876, i, p. 484^4′.)
In the Zodiacal signs, we have Taurus, the Bull; Leo, the Lion ; Scorpio
which as a good emblem was symbolized by the Eagle, and as an evil
emblem, by the Scorpion or by the Goat, or as a winged snake partaking of
the nature of each. There is also portrayed Aquarius, the water-man. In
the Qabbalah we have the four worlds of Ezekiel’s vision ; A’tzeel-ah, the
Deific form, the abode of Adam Qadmon, the World Spirit ; B’ree-ah,
the Throne, the abode of the great angel Metatron; Ye’tzeer-ah, the
Firmament, the abode of the Spiritual Hosts ; A’seey-ah, the place of the
Ker-u’beem and the abode of the spirits united with the corporeity,
The accompanying engraving is from Niklas Milller’s work on the
229
Old Hindus, cited ante, p. 45, note ; and represents Yotma or Yotna
nephew of Maya, Illusion, father of Prakita (feminine) the Passive Prin-
ciple, Primary Creation or Nature. This figure typifies, the metaphysi-
cal ideas of the Veda’s and the philosophic systems of the Hindus. It
portrays a lion’s head with the horns of a bull, as the head of the Serpent
Ananda. In its mouth is Ananda’s tail. The latter is represented as the
Time-serpent who is eagle-winged. From the open mouth proceeds vach,
the cow, image of Prakita the great motherly preserver through the
Deity, she is also speech and the mother of the Vedas. Bees, the car-
riers of the honey of the goodness of the Deity, rapidly detach them-
selves from the breast of the cow. Here we also have, as in the symbols
mentioned ante, p. 45, note ; the lion, for fire ; the bull, for water; and the
«agle, for air ; united as the usual Oriental symbol of the divine potential-
ity. To be noted is the emanation of the sweetness from the mouth of
the lion or strength, which calls to mind Samson’s riddle, and also causes
us to think of the mystic bees and honey of the ancients ; of their Me-
lissa’s, Aristaeus’s, etc. Bees appear to have been considered by the
Greeks as emblems of purity, and as the symbol of nymphs, who are
sometimes called Mellissae, as were also priestesses in general, especially
those of Demeter, Persephone and she of the Delphic Apollo.
We may gather from Josephus, that four of the mystical colours of the
Jewish Church, were typical of the four elements. These colors were
Blue, Purple, Scarlet and White, the fifth mystical color Gold, he says ;
was typical of “the splendor by which all things are enlightened.”
Jerome {Epistola ad Fabiolam, written at Bethlehem 396 or 397 A. D.),
also speaks of this ancient Jewish Tradition. They can be arranged, we
think, according to the following table :
1. Gold, Splendor,
2. Blue, -^ther,
3. Purple, The Great Crystalline Sea
surrounding the Earth.
4. Scarlet, The Hidden Fire,
5. White (Linen), The Earth, Atomic Matter, The Goat.
Comp. ante, p. 45, note. The Bull is a symbol of the Sephirah ‘Hesed,
/. ^., Grace or Mercy; the spiritual Water or humidity. Hence Baptism.
Sun,
The Man.
Air,
The Eagle.
Humidity,
The Bull.
Warmth,
The Lion.
230
The Lion symbol of force, energy, justice, wrath, fire ; is a symbol of
the Sephirah G*bur-ah, the spiritual fire. Hence lights, coals of fire
and incense. The Eagle is a symbol of the Sephirah Tiph’e-reth, the
spiritual -^ther or Air. Hence the use of the voice and sound in hymns
and prayer. The Angelic Man is a symbol of the Sephirah Malkhuth,
the Kingdom, Government and Harmony ; the spiritual Earth. Hence
the products of the earth, the wine and bread, of both the Israelites and
Christians.
The four animals are also in the Apocalypse, c. iv, and the five colors
appear to be referred to therein. ** God doeth all things in number^ and
measure and weight :^^ says the Book of Wisdom, xi, 20. (Comp. H
Chron. iii, 10-14, and Josephus, Whiston’s Edition, v, p. 387.) “The
Religion of Jesus is the flower, of Which the Jewish Church is the bud,
and the Patriarchal the stem.’** With the first Christians the celebration
of the Mysteries of the Faith was accompanied by the burning of 7 lights^
(symbols of the Sephiroth ?) with incense, the Trisagion, and the reading
of the book of the Gospels ; upon which was wrought, both on covers and
pages, the winged man, lion, bull and eagle. The animals of the Merka-
bah of Ezekiel.
The third, the Speculative or Metaphysical Qabbalah is the one to-
which we will now give attention. It is a system of oriental philosophy ex-
plaining the connection between the Deity and the created, and tending
to harmonize monotheism and the Hebrew account of the creation of all
things, spiritual or material ; with the fundamental principle of ancient
philosophy ex nihilo nihil fit ^ i. <f., From nothing, nothing can come. It explains the existence of moral and physical evil by ascribing it to the grossness of matter, asserting that in the assertion of only one absolutely perfect principle the existence of evil would be incomprehensible. The doctrine of emanation, which existed in the archaic Aryan religious phi- losophy, was based upon the idea that all the created were effluxes from the Divine Light, and that the further away they were from the source, the nearer they approached the evil, matter and darkness, in that the latter two were the abode of evil. This is a doctrine not only of the Persians, the Hindus, the Qabbalah, and the School of Alexandria, but of Ibn Gebirol. Commencing with the indivisible, perfect, infinite unity, the * Hutching’s Lect. On the Person and Work of the Holy Ghost, p. 53. 231 Absolute Unknown Cause of All Causes, the Ain Soph, the Eternal All above All, a manifestation thereof comes freely through Its Will, which thus becomes the First Cause, the Cause of Causes. In this the Unknown Absolute, above all number, manifested Itself through an emanation in which it was immanent yet as to which it was transcendental. It first withdrew Itself into Itself, to form an infinite Space, the Abyss ; which It then filled with a modified and gradually diminishing Light or Vitaliza- tion, first appearing in the Abyss, as the centre of a mathematical point which gradually spread Its Life-giving energy or force throughout all Space. This concentration or contraction and its expansion, being the centripetal and centrifugal energies of creation and existence, the Qabbal- ists call Tzimtzum, The Will of Ain Soph then manifests Itself through the Ideal Perfect Model or Vitalizing Form, first principle and perfect prototype in idea, of all the to be created, whether spiritual or material. This is the Mikrokosm to the Ain Soph, the Makrokosm as to all the cre- ated. It is called the Son of Elohim, /. ^., God, and the Adam Illa-ah or Adam Qadmon, the Man of the East or Heavenly Adam. A similar figure is in Daniel (vii, 13, 14), but there it is a totality of ” the people of the saints of the Most High.*’ * Such a figure is also in the first chap- ter of Genesis and is in Ezekiel, and most likely is referred to in the vision in Daniel, of the Great Man (Dan. ii, 31 et seq,) made of metals, etc., symbolical of the Four worlds of the Qabbalists, of which more hereafter. The Adam Qadmon or Heavenly Adam is composed of a decade of potentialities or energies, termed the Ten Sephiroth, always considered as together they are a unit and the entire content of the Adam Qadmon, whose head is in the highest created heaven and whose feet rest on the lowest created matter, and who is the content of the Ineffable Name YHVH. From these came most likely the Intermediaries and Powers of Philo which are like the Sephiroth, f and the -^ons of the Gnos- tics. J The earthly man, a spirit covered with matter, lives in the lowest * Ibid. 27. Comp. The Jewish and the Christian Messiah, etc., by Vincent H. Stanton, Edinburgh, 1880, pp. 109, etc., 240. f See Philo iii, 184, etc. { Comp. on this the works of Matter, King, Mansel, Burton, etc., on the Gnostics, also Beausobre on the Manicbeans and the writings of Rev. John Francis Buddeus. 232 of the Four worlds, and is the Olam Qatan or Mikrokosm, for whatever the Heavenly Adam contains, is also in the earthly man, but in an imper- fect degree. The earthly man has the Nephesh, the living soul or vital principle, the animo; also the Rua’h, his conscience, the power of judg- ment or mind, the spiritus ; and an intellectual spirit, the Neshamah or animus. The last is considered a part of the Deity and as pre-existent and immortal. According to the Qabbalah, man is also composed of a good and an evil principle, and a harmony, his liberty or Free Will, and it de- pends on the latter, as to which shall b^ his master. After death comes judgment and retribution on his spirit according to man’s works, the Neshamah being immortal. The Roman Catholic Church claims to be the possessor of a Secret Tradition or Qabbalah, which is asserted as coming down orally through the Church, from Christ and the Apostles ; and from this it formulates many of the dogmas and mysteries of its faith. The science of the Law as administered in our Courts of Justice is divided into two branches ; the Written and the Oral. The first is termed Statute Law, the latter, the Common Law. The Common Law is deix>sited in the breasts of the
Judges and by a legal fiction, is assumed to be of great antiquity, and is
delivered orally, or, only for convenience, is put in writing in the opin-
ions; it also is based on precedent traditions presumably oral, which are
however generally to be found in the written or printed lx)oks of Law
Reports : when a new subject arises, e. g. , telephones, telegraphs, steam
engines, etc., which are not provided for in the written Statutes or prece-
dents in the Reports : the Judges apply the Oral Law to them out of their
skilled legal reason, based on an approach to precedents. This is a spe-
cies of Qabbalah. The Common Law, as administered to-day, is paral-
leled in Judaism, by the Talmudic Law in contrast to the written Penta-
teuch usually termed, the Thorah or Law.
We call the attention of the reader in this place to a coincidence of
agreement in the Zoharic writings, with the most ancient terra cotta tab-
lets of Babylonia. In the Siphrah D’Tnioothah, (c. i, § i6 sq.^ referring
to the creation and primeval chaos, we read :
^^ B’raisheeth barah elohim ath hashshama’yem v’ath haaWdZy /. ^.,
* In the beginning the God(s) created the heavens and the earth ‘ > (the
233
meaning of which is ;) the six (Sephiroth of Construction,) over which
E’raisheeth stands, all belong Below. It created six, (and) on these
stand (exist) all Things. And those depend upon the seven forms of the
Cranium up to the Dignity of all Dignities. And the second “Earth ‘*
does not come into calculation, therefore it has been said : * And from it,
(that E^rth) which underwent the curse; came it forth,* as is written
(Gen. V, 29) : ‘ From the Earth which YHVH cursed.’ ‘ It (the Earth)
was without form and void ; and darkness was over the face of the Abyss,
and the spirit of elohim (or, spirit of the God(s) ) was breathing, {me’-
racha^phethy i. e,, hovering, brooding over, moving. Comp. Deut. xxxii,
2) over the waters.* Thirteen depend on thirteen (forms) of the most
worthy Dignity. Six thousand years hang (are referred to) in the first
six words. The seventh (thousand, the millennium,) above it (the cursed
Earth), is that which is strong by Itself. And it was rendered entirely
desolate during twelve hours (one entire day, one whole period of va-
rious periods, of time:) as is written; * It was without form and void,
etc.* In the Thirteenth, It (the Deity) shall restore them (as from the
‘ beginning * ;) through ‘ Mercy * (or, Grace), and everything shall be
renewed as before ; and all those six shall continue, because it is written :
barahy i. e., create d^ and then it is written: hayethah, i. e., it was ^ for
truly, ‘ It was ‘ ; at the end of the * shapelessness and void and dark-
ness.’ And YHVH alone will be exalted in that day.*
** The engravings of the engravings,t under the form of a long serpent,
extended hither and thither, the tail (of the serpent) is in its head, the
head, backwards of the shoulders, it twists, it is wrathful (or, trespassing)
and it is angry (mutters, hisses). It watches and hides itself. Once, in
a thousand short days, (? years or periods of time) ; it is manifested. It
has a protuberance on its scales. A sapphire in ^ * * * * it has.
Its head (however) is broken in the waters of the Great Sea, as it is writ-
* For terseness and want of space we are obliged to leave out our many explanations
and long notes to these passages, so that as they appear in print, they are somewhat un-
intelligible.
t The engraved or excavated, which always leaves a hollow place, are the inferior
or plastic, in contradistinction to the superior things which fill the emptiness of the ex-
cavated;- with the form.
234
ten : ‘ Thou hast broken into pieces the heads of the Dragons in the
Waters/ (Ps. Ixxiv, 13.) There were two (male and female, positive and
negative, whence the text of the Psalm says ** Dragons’*). They were
reduced to one, for the word thanneenim (in the Psalm) is defectively
written : {tiim sing., not neem plural). It is also said (in the Psalm)
heads, as it is written ; (Ezekiel i, 22) : * And a similitude over the heads
of the animal, the firmament.* ** (Where ” animal *’ is in the singular, and
the heads, in the plural. The first to denote the race of the angels ; the
latter, to signify the species or numerous individuals.) Another read-
ing is : ‘* He made sketches and outlines of His creation in the shape of
a serpent, long and darting in all directions; and the tail was in its
head, and the head was seizing its hinder parts. It is twined backwards,
and is full of fury and anger. Once in a thousand years, a revolution in
its joints takes place, a violent commotion by the exertion of its fins, and
•
its head is broken in the waters of the ocean. As it is said : (Ps. Ixxiv,
13) * Thou breakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.’ There were
two dragons (serpents,) ///dr««// DTjn, spelled in full with two’»”j^.
den, they were turned into one, in Ibid, 14, where there is spoken of:
* the heads o{ Leinathan, i.e., one.* ** “And elohim said: Ye’hee or i.e..
Be Light ! and Light was. This is the meaning of that which is written :
* For JIoo (or, Hu), i.e., He, said, and vay-ye-hee, i.e., it was.’ (Ps. xxxiii,
9.) He {Hoo ox Hu) is by himself (alone).** The Siphrah D*Tznioothah
(c. V, § 33 sq.) also says: **The Serpent which runs with 370 leaps. It
‘ leaps over mountains and hastily runs up over hills * as it is written. (Song
of Songs, ii, 8.) The serpent holds its tail in its mouth with its teeth. It
is perforated on both sides. When the Perfect One {ox, the Arch-Angel
Metatron?) is raised up, the serpent is changed into three spirits, etc.”
These passages are important in the Qabbalistic hieroglyphics, we have
(Zohar ii, 34^) also: ** R. Shim-on (b. Yo’hai) said: The (account of
the”) work of the beginning, the companions study and understand it ;
but the little ones (the perfect initiates) are those who understand the
allusion to the work of the beginning, by the mystery of the serpent of the
Great Sea.”’ (/. e., Thanneen, Leviathan.) As to this Leviathan as the
symbol of the visible creation, comp. Zohar i, 35^, Talmud, treatise,
Bava Bathra. In India, Vishnu as Krishna, steps upon and crushes the
235
head of the Kolinagha, i. e,, the serpent of the Kali 2igty and thus illus-
trate the victory of Eternity over perishable Time. Perhaps Gen. iii, 15^
has some reference to this. This reference to the “serpent of the Great
Sea” is also explained by the ancient cuneiform tablets. Ea or Cannes,
was the ancient Akkadian god of the abyss or deep ; the Great Crystalline
Sea of chaos, oi Bohu, i. e.y emptiness or primeval Space. He was also
the deity of Wisdom, the culture god of primitive Babylonia. His sym-
bols were the fish, the serpent of the Great Sea, the antelope and the ga-
zelle. This gives us some insight into the passage quoted, and also into
Gen. iii, i, which gives to the serpent, the possession oi greater subtility
than any wild beast created by YHVH Elohim. (See especially in this con-
nection : The Hibbert Lectures, 1887, by Dr. A. H. Sayce, London, 1887,
pp. 279-283; 116-118; 133-139; 262; 200; 374 sq,; 391 sq,^ The
Akkadians and Chaldeans, believed the world to be encircled, by this
great serpent of the sapphire crystalline heaven sea, with seven heads,
perhaps the seven stars of the Great Bear, perhaps the seven planets.
(J[bid,j pp. 282-3.) It ^^^ ^^ **bond*’ or *’rope of the universe”
which held together the heavens and the earth, the ”golden cord” of
Homer. (Iliad viii, 19 j^.) It was also called the bar or bolt holding
heaven and earth, together. (Comp. ante, p. 115). Note in this con-
nection, the Great Azure Dragon of the Chinese.
Another similarity to statements in the same Zoharic book is the sacred
tree of the Akkadians and Chaldeans, which suggests to our thoughts, the
Tree of the Sephiroth ; which was freijuently portrayed by the Qabbalists,
as an ordinarily formed tree. It also suggests the Ygg-drasil of Norse
mythology, the world- tree, whose roots were in the death-world and
whose branches rise into Asgard, the heaven of the gods. With the
Babylonians, the sacred-tree was the ‘* tree of life,” the world-tree; the
roots were in the abyssmal deep, its seat was the earth, which stood mid-
way between the deep and Zikum, /. ^., the primordial heavens above.
Zikum rested upon its overspreading branches. Within it was the holy
house of Davkina, /. e., the Great Mother, and of Tammuz, the Sun-
god, her son. The fragment of a very old bilingual hymn reads : —
I. *'(In) Eridu (the garden of Eden?) a stalk grew over-shadowing;
in a holy place did it become green ;
236
2. its root was of white crystal which stretched towards the deep ;
3. before Ea (the deity of Wisdom) was ite course in Eridu, teeming
with fertility ;
4. its scat was the (central) place of the earth ;
5. its foliage (?) was the couch of Zilcum (the primeval) mother.
6. Into the heart of its holy house which spread its shade like a forest,
hath no man entered.
7. (There is the home) of the mighty mother who passes across the sky.
8. In the midst of it was Tamrauz, i. e., the Sun-god.
10. (There is the shrine?) of the two.”
D’Tznioothah (c. v, § 31 jy.) also says; “The Tree which has been ren-
dered mild, remains in the interior. In its branches dwell birds, 1. e.,
angels, and therein they make their nests. Under it, animals having power
(men ?) seek shelter. This is the tree which has two narrow paths for go-
ing upon. And it has seven columns around it, and four splendors are
rolled (revolve) around it on the /car sides.”
Important explanations of the curious passage, (Gen. xxxvi, 31-39 :)
as to the seven Kings of Edom ; to which is attached, as early as Genesis,
the statement of kings having reigned over the children of Israel ; are in
both the Zoharic writings and the cuneiform. (Comp. The Hibbert
Lect., 1887, by Dr. A. H. Sayce, pp. 53 sq., 181 sq., 373 J?-, 54 sq-, 209,
203 sq. : with the Siphrah D’Tznioothah and the Idroth.)
* Kttkir kihuttaath malkhuth, i. e,. Crown of Priestliood and RoyBltf.
t Me’remam, i. t.. Exalted.
Figure 25.
XII.
FURTHER PARALLELS BETWEEN THE CUNEIFORM AND THE QABBALAH.
ACCOUNT OF THE AKKADIAN AND SEMITIC BABYLONIAN RELIGION
AND TEMPLES AND THOSE OF THE ISRAELITES. OF THE AKKADIAN
AND BABYLONIAN COSMOGONY. OF THE DEMIURGE. THE DUST BODY
OF MAN. OF LILLITH. THE ANCIENT ZODIAC.
WE gather from the various writings upon the religions of the
ancient peoples of Mesopotamia, especially from the Hibbert
Lectures for 1887, by Dr. A. H. Sayce the well-known reader
of the cuneiform, the following facts. The priests of ancient Babylonia
delivered the philosophy of their religion esoterically. (Hibbert Lect.,
pp. 4, 16, 141, 142.) The true pronunciation of the Divine Names was
kept carefully concealed from the uninitiated.* Names and their true
pronunciation were considered of great value. (Hibbert Lect., pp. 113
note, 305-6, 385. See further as to the value of the Ineffable Names
among these nations, also the Egyptians, Journ. of the Royal Society of
Literature, 1865, p. 274 j^.) As in the Practical Qabbalah, numbers pos-
sessed great value with the ancient people of Babylonia. f The angels
* Ibid.f pp. 4, 141-2, 113, 302 sq.f 353-4, 405. Comp. Chaldean Magic, by F. Lc-
normant, Eng. Ed., pp. 19, 29, 41-44, 104-5, ‘O^-
f Chaldean Magic, F. Lenormant, Eng. Ed., pp. 41-42, 25-6, 113, 117. The ancient
civilization of Mesopotamia was likely I, Kushite; II, Turanian; III, Semitic. Essai
sur un monumint mathimatique chald^en^ etc., by F. Lenormant. Paris, 1868, p. 160 sq.
See also as to the wonderful discoveries at Tel-Ioh, the beautiful work : Dicouvertes en
238
were termed Igigi, /. ., face, to a masculine deity, the two however being thought of together
as one in content. The Israelites do not appear to have been an excep-
tion to this early Semitic tendency* and the Qabbalists trace this femin-
ine reflection in Elohim or the She*keen-ah, the visible glory of the
Supreme Deity upon the earth. The Akkadians appear to have made
their triads of deities, of both males and females, but the Semites appear
to have always made their feminine deities mere reflections of the male.
(Hibbert Lect., 1887, pp. iio-iii, 176-177, 112, 194, 346.)
Dr. Sayce gives (Hibbert Lect., 1887, pp. 104 j^., 304-5), a transla-
tion of a cuneiform terra-cotta tablet which shows that the ancient
Akkadians believed in an upper Ea, deity of wisdom, and a lower Ea, a
creating demiurge, which was a reflection of the upper Ea or Wisdom,
this idea has a similarity to the accounts in the Qabbalah of Ze’ir Anpeen
and of the Adam Qadmon or Adam Illa-ah. In the great work of M.
F6lix Lajardf are copies from signets, etc., showing Ea, the upper wisdom
and Ea, the demiurge. The tablet we have just before mentioned also
refers to the fifty sacred names of Ea. The Qabbalah also refers to ” the
fifty gates of understanding,” as to which it says, even Moses, the highest
prophet only reached to the forty-ninth.
Indeed the conception of a creating deity is a distinguishing feature of
the very early Akkadian religion of Babylonia. (^Ibid,^ pp. 142-144.)
In a hymn of the time of Sargon of Akkad, likely 3750 B. C. : we read ;
” The divine man on behalf of his son attends thee :*’ (p. 172). ” The
man, the son of his god, has committed sin, etc.” St. Luke iii, 38,
says, Adam was •’ the son of God.” (Comp. the Zend Avesta as to the
first divine man, Yima-Ksha8ta.)
The Akkadian Mul-lil means ” the lord of the ghost-world,” and has a
connection with a “dust-storm” or a *’ cloud of dust,” which was
applied to ghosts, whose appearance was thought of as similar to a dust-
cloud, and whose food was supposed to be dust. The Qabbalists hold
* See that said by us, ante^ pp. 128, 175. Note what is said by S. F. Dunlap in ;
Sod, the Son of Man. Ix>ndon, 1 861, ii, p. xix.
•\ Introduction a Vtttide du cu/te public et des my stores de Mithra en orient et en Occident
par M. F6lix Lajard, etc. Paris, 1847. Atlas of Plates. PI. xxxi. PI. xxxii.
248
that Adam was first created with a spiritual body, which is described in
the O. T. as ” of dust,” and that our present body was the coats of skin
given after the Fall. We read in ii Genesis : ” YHVH Eloheem,” vay-
ye^tzar^T”}. (with two yods) eth ha-adam aphar meen^ etc., ^^ formed the
man (of) dust from the ground.*’ Which may be explained by the dust
meaning the spirit body.
We also have in the archaic cuneiform tablets, the Lilatu or Lilith, the
female night demon of the Practical Qabbalah (Zohar ii, 255-9, i, 35^)
originally ” the handmaid of the ghost ; Lil was in Akkadian ” a cloud of
dust,” and the form of the incubus or Vampire ghost was like ” a dust-
cloudy It was thought of as male-female. The Semites made from this,
Ullum male and lilatu female. As lilatu represented kel-lillay ” the hand-
maid of the ghost,” it subsequently became confounded with lildtu ”the
night” and became the female night-demon, the vampire who sucked the
blood of her sleeping victims. It is in the Old Testament. (Is. xxxiv, 14.
See Hibbert Lect., 1887, pp. 103, 145-146. Chaldean Magic, by F. Le-
normant, Eng. ed.,*pp. 31, 38.)
Lillith in the demonology of the Israelites was called Agrath bcUh
Machlath, i, e,, female leader of demons. Myth makes her the wife of
Adam by whom she had Ka-yin and Hurmin (Ahriman ?). She was consid-
ered the mother of many demons and the Practical Qabbalah has much
to say about her. She is described in the Talmud as a beautiful and se-
ductive woman, having long wavy hair. Bath Machlath is said to mean,
“a dancing” woman, a dancing movement being ascribed to demons.
See Proc. Soc. Bib. Archaeol. 1887, p. 226.
We think that the Zodiacal constellations were at first ten and repre-
sented an immense androgenic man or deity, subsequently this was
changed, resulting in Scorpio and Virgo and making eleven, after this
from Scorpio, Libra, the Balance was taken, making the present twelve.*
The old boundary stones of Babylonia circa 1120 B. C. have symbols of
Virgo and Scorpio but none of Libra. They also have the Bull, a large
* Comp. Seyffarth, Trans. Acad. Science of St. Louis, Vol. i, No. 3, p. ix. Sod, by
S. F. Dunlap, i, p. 153 sq,; ii, xvii sq. The Rosicrucians, their Rites and Mysteries,
etc.: by Hargrave Jennings, Ed. 1879, pp. 47, 50, 62, 171, 297-309, 350 sq.
249
dog for the Lion, a dipper for Aquarius, etc. ; also the houses of the
planets, with their symbols.
The early inhabitants of Babylonia appear to have had three degrees of
leligious initiation,* the Qabbalists apparcndy had the same number as
did also the early Christiau church in its esoterism. The foregoing par-
allels are but a few of those which exist and are open, to the student who
especially devotes himself to the investigation.
We also call attention to the fact, that the Jewish names of the months
and many of the names of the angels and evil spiiits, in the Qabbalah,
the Apocrypha and the Talmud, are based on the ancient Chaldean lan-
guage. In the Practical Qabbalah this also appears in many of the names
of the demons, e. g., the Maskim. Comp. Chaldean Magic, pp. 8 ; 17
sg.; 191. t
•Mon. J. Menant, Rt^hertha mr la GlypHqut Orientalr, Paris, 1883, 1, pp.
“9-143-
f The engraving (Figure Z5) ax the head of this chapter is important, it is taken
from an impression of an old cornelian or sard signet, having a Phcenician inscriptioa.
The original signet is conoidic in shape with an elliptical seml-convei base. It is
pierced near the apex for the purpose of inserting a string or wire. The cagravinK ‘s
on the base, and upon the two sides, which are slightly convex. On one side is a wor-
shipper, probably a priest, standing before three differing upright athirai or columns,
likely representing (he androgenic moon deity Sin and the separate male and female
pnnciples. On the other side is a man drcsseil in the military costume usual with (he
Assyrians, also a crescent moon, to which he points. Behind him is a human lion or
demon-headed figure such as we often see depicted on the Assyrian monuments, his
arm uplifled, the band holding a weapon, as if about to strike. It nay be Ne^al. See
250
Layard’s Monuments of Nineveh, ist Series, PI. 82, for a similar figaxe. On the base
of the signet is a representation of the divine Triad, perhaps the supreme deity Ilu of
the Babylonians, or Assur of the Assyrians, and the Upper Triad contained in it.
Beneath this is a kneeling figure with both hands raised similar to the Egyptian picture
we have given ante^ p. 164. There are also two asheras, the male and female princi-
ples. The engraved letters are very primitive. It is from the collection of Rev. Dr. W.
Hayes Ward. Comp. the American Joum. of Archaeology, ii, p. 156. In Lajard*s
Culte de Afithra, PI. xxxii, fig. 3, is another representation of the Triadic deity from a
red jasper veined with green, signet. It is engraved with old Phoenician letters, and
from a collection of J. Robert Steuart. Cylinder signet, Figure 26, is portrayed in.
Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, etc. ; by Sir Austen H. Layard, New
York, 1853, p. 153. It was found at the foot of one of the colossal human-headed bulls
at the entrance to the Assyrian palace of Kouyunjik. It is of that translucent green
feldspar termed, amazon stone. Mr. Layard thinks it is the signet seal of Sennacherib,
which would fix it as of circa 705 B. C, but this is far from certain. It also contains,
a representation of the triune deity. The engraving on this hard stone is very graceful,
minute and beautiful. Compare upon this triadic representation of the deity: The
Babylonian and Assjrrian cylinder seals of the British Museum, by Theo. G. Pinches,
in the Journal of the British Archaeological Association. Read June 3, 1885. PI. Nos.
3 and 4. No. 4 is another signet representing the triadic deity and also has an archaic
Phoenician Inscription. Comp. C. W. King on. Antique Gems. London, 1872, pp. 44,
52. Empreintes de cylindres Assyro-ChaidienSt etc.: by J. Menant. Paris, 1880, pp.
49-50. Symboles Antiques employes eti Assyne, et conserves dafis les livres supposis a
tort propres a la Chines exprimant le nom du Dieu Supreme ^ Dieu du Ciel^ et celui des
trois personnes de la triniti Chriiienne, by M. le Cher de Paravey. In Annates de
philosophie Chrktienne^ Tomes vii et viii^ ^8jj, Comp. Les Achfmenides et les Inscrip-
tions de la Perse, by Joachim M6nant. Paris, 1872, p. 84 sq. and Ilibbert Lect., 1887,
pp. 192-3.
Aln Soph.
THE WITHOUT END.
Diagram III.— The Sephirothic Tree of Life, the Ineffable Name, and the Orbits of the Planets.
■■ -■»
XIII.
OF AIN SOPH AND THE TEN SEPHIROTH.
THE Ten Sephiroth or Intermediaries, between the unknowable and
invisible Deity and the, to man’s mind, knowable, visible and
material ; were portrayed, to assist the comprehension and mem-
ory of the disciple, in different diagrams.
We shall not have in this writing, space to devote to a full exposition
of the ancient origin, meanings, colours and symbols, of the Ten Sephi-
roth. Compare with this the Diagrams showing their arrangement. The
following is cited as of interest. R. Isaac of Akko, says : ” Illustrations
delivered orally, served to explain the mystery of the Unity of the Ten
Sephiroth in themselves, which is always concentrated in Ain Soph, from
Ain Soph to the Ain Soph. **¥**, Remember that some
of the Qabbalists compare it (the Unity) to a chain forming an uninter-
nipted unity by its joined links; others, to various wafers issuing from
one source, and separating into many rivers, which become (again) united
in the ocean ; from whence they return again, from beneath the earth, to
their former divisions ; and so on in an uninterrupted unity ; others com-
252
pare the matter of the union of Mercy and Severity ; to di precious stone^
which unites in itself, the various peculiarities of other precious stones of
different qualities (colours ?) and still remains a perfect unity ; others,
take as an illustration, the unity of the different colors in the flame pro-
ceeding from a burning coal, in which, both flame and coal, constitute a
unity ; and then again, there is the simile of a bunch of grape5^\ in which
both bunch and grapes are one. I have furthermore heard from the
mouth of the most prominent of our learned men, the metaphor of the
tree with its roots (the Ten Sephiroth) in the earth and its numerous
branches, twigs, leaves, veins, fruits, and their rinds and kernels, which
all are derived from each other, and yet all draw from the marrow of the
tree, and thus all collectively form a complete and unbroken unity, from
the roots to the very top of the tree, because they all are of, and point to,
one and the same essential source. “J
These illustrations of the relations of the Ten Sephiroth to the Ain
Soph, many of which are very old, may be found in the Zohar. The figure
of the bunch of grapes is in the Siphrah D’Tznioothah at the end and is
also in the writings of Ibn Gebirol. Another illustration is through the
sparks produced by steel from the flint, which are always hidden in
the latter as a potency and unity, and brought into visibility only by
friction. § Sometimes they were shown as a series of circular lines or con-
centric circles, one inclosing the other, as we have given in Diagram I,
antCy p. I GO. Sometimes they were arranged in columns and triads, as
given by us in Diagrams II and III. In the latter two they are pre-
sented as if one was looking at the back, the a’hoor, as opposed to
paneem the face. The perpendicular line on the Right, is termed,
♦Sapphir, a pearl, or bdellium, a crystal; in both of which, play the colours of the
rainbow, especially the white and red. One is transparent white, the other the ordinaxy
white, but in each, like in the opal, colours play.
t A golden vine and grapes were over the doorway of the Temple of Jerusalem, built
by Herod.
X From The Sepher AFerath Ainayeem^ i. ^., Enlightenment of the Eyes, on Deuter-
onomy vi.
\ Comp. Beitrd^e zur Geschichte der Kabbala^ von Adolph Jellinek. Leipzig, 1852,
p. 81.
253
Active, Male, Positive and the column of Grace or Mercy ; that on the
Left, is called, Passive, Female, Negative, and the column of Rigor, Jus-
tice or Punishment ; the Centre line is termed, the column of Harmony
or the column of the Centre. The Right was the column called Ya-
kheen ; the Left, that called Bo-az ; the Centre, the Harmony; that of the
Holy Temple. King Solomon placed the first two pylons before his
Temple to symbolize the opposing principles through which, with the
Harmony, the universe exists. The Sephiroth are also arranged as in the
Diagram given in the Frontispiece ; in which they are applied to the dif-
ferent members of the Adam Qadmon, of this we give a face-view : they
were also arranged as a tree having its roots in heaven, the trunk and
branches being the several Sephiroth, and in several other symbolic forms.
The arrangement as in the Ilnd and Illrd Diagrams, was called Etz
^Hay-yiniy i. e. , the Tree of Life or simply Eiieeriy the Tree. In the form
as given of the Adam Illa-ah in the Frontispiece, they were called An-
peen, Parzu-pheem or Ano-pheem, /. ^., the Faces. These are all refer-
red to in the Zoharic writings. The Modern Qabbalists have added to
the circles given in the Diagrams I, II and III, channels or canals, to in-
dicate all the affinities and effluxes between and in them, as a unit or to-
tality. We have shown these connecting channels in II and III.
It must be especially kept in mind, that in the Qabbalah the Ten Seph-
iroth are always thought of as a totality, a second divine unity, that of
number, yet as inherent in the Supreme Absolute Ain Soph in which
number does not exist ; and that they are always considered in this one
totality, as forming the Adam Illa-ah, the Heavenly Adam or Adam
Qadmon, the World of Perfect ideas. Philo evidently refers to this, iii,
pp. 184-6, 178 et seq.
Of sjiD |’« AiN Soph or |!W or Ayin (A’y-een). The Endless, Bound-
less, or No-Thing ; made Its existence manifest through the efflux, emana-
tion and development, of the entire universe spiritual and material ; this
was by and through the medium of the Ten Sephiroth or Upper Intelli-
gences. Ain Soph is called, At-tee*kah D*At-tee’keen, /. ^., the Ancient
of All the Ancient, also At-tee*kah Ka’doosha, /. e,, the Sacred Ancient,
and is considered as sexless and as the Non-Ego or Not I. A symbol of
Ain Soph is the human eye closed. Ain Soph manifested Itself by the
254
efflux of Its vitalizing energy or force, which the Qabbalists call Light.
Comp. Gen. i, 2. This being a product is not equal to the Ain Soph.
This Light is boundless on the side which produces it and is then called
Ain Soph Or, but it is bounded on that side by which it emanates or pro-
duces, it is then simply the Light. ^’ It (Ain Soph) is so named (Ayin,
/. ^., No-Thing) because we do not know, and also it cannot be known,
what was in this principle (the beginning of all Existence) as this, to our
understanding, yea, even by our Wisdom! is unattainable.** (Idrah
Zootah, Zohar iii, 288^.) ” Therefore the Sacred Ancient is called No-
Thing, since the No-Thing hangs on It.*’* The French Qabbalist
r Abbe Alphonse Louis Constant, writing under the name of, Eliphaz Levi
Zahed,t correctly says : ” The Kabbalists have a horror of all that which
resembles idolatry; they give however to God a human form, but it is as
a purely hieroglyphic figure. They consider God as the intelligent, loving
and living Infinite. He is for them neither the totality of the existences,
nor the abstraction of Existence, nor a Being philosophically definable.
The Deity, with them, is in All, yet is distinct from All and is greater
than All. Even Its Name is ineffable : and yet this Name only expresses
the human idea of the Deity’s Divinity. That which God is in Itself is
not given to the comprehension of man. God is the Absolute of faith
but the Absolute of reason is the Existing. The Existing is through itself
and because it is that which is. The reason of the being-hood of the
Existence is because, it is the Existence. We can ask : Wherefore does
something exist, that is to say : Why does such or such a thing, exist ?
But we cannot, without being absurd, demand : Wherefore is Existence
itself? That would be to assert Existence before Existence.** In another
placej he says : ” We do not discuss an article of faith, we believe it or
do not ; but it is faith because it escapes the examination of our knowl-
edge. * * * I will believe when the truth of the dogma has been sci-
entifically proved to me. That is to say ; I will believe when I shall have
^ nothing more to believe, and when the dogma shall be destroyed as a
* Zohar iii, 288^, Comp. Graetz, Geschichie der Juden^ Vol. vii, p. 240. Philo. i,
134; iii, 184-186, 467 ; iv, 260. See ante^ p. 118.
t Histoire de la Magie^ Paris, i860, p. 105 sq,
X Ibid., p. 183 sq.
255
dogma, by becoming a scientific theorem. That is to say in other words:
I will believe in the Infinite only when it shall be explained, determined,
circumscribed, defined ; in a word, when it is finite. I will believe then
in the Infinite when I shall be sure the Infinite does not exist. I shall
believe in the immensity of the Ocean when I shall have seen it put into
bottles. But, my good friends, as to that which we have clearly proved and
made you comprehend, you no longer believe it, but know it. * * *
The truth of science proves itself by exact demonstrations ; the truth of
religion proves itself by unanimity of the faith and the sanctity of its
works. * * * The proof of the faith is in the works.”
The celebrated German philosopher Hegel, uses almost the same words,
saying: “All begins through Pure Existence, inasmuch as it is, as well
as Pure Thought, that undetermined simple immediate Existence ; for the
first beginning cannot be another thing * * * . But that Pure
Existence is only the purest abstraction; it is an absolutely Negative
term, which can also, if we would conceive of it in an immediate man-
ner, be called, Non-Being.” *
From Ain Soph, flow out or emanate, she’phahy the Ten Sephiroth as a
totality. The decade by the Qabbalah is considered as a perfect number,
the total essence of all numbers, o-i ends with i-o. “The number ten
is an all-embracing number, outside of it none other exists, for what is
beyond ten, returns again to the units.” f
Ain Soph is considered in the Qabbalah as an Absolute Indivisible
Unity, above all unity of number. ” Thou art One but not in the num-
bers, thought cannot comprehend anything of Thee. In Thee no-Thing
exists which can be imagined neither shape nor form.” J In Ain Soph,
says the Zohar; “there is neither white nor black nor red, etc. There
is absolutely not any colour, /. ^., divisibility. (Zohar, § BWesheeih^ fol.
15.) The immanent diversity is not denied. ” Before the universe was
* Comp. Encyclopidie des sciences philosophiques^ \\ 86-87.
t Scpher Pardes Rimonim, ». ^., Paradise of Pomegranites, by Moses Cordovero, fol.
II, col. 3; comp. Philo. i, pp. 440-444, 12 sq, ; ii, 175 sq,, pp. 231-2 ; iii, pp. 92, 140,
270.
I Prayer of Eliyah in the Tiqqooneh haz-Zohar. Comp. Philo. iii, 184-186, 95, 467
and many other places.
256
made, the Most Blessed One and Its Name were One.” “Before the
Most Blessed One made its world, It was, and Its Name was hidden in
It.” (Zohar, Midrash HarNeelam, § Acharay Moth, fol. 40; Zohar
Chadash, fol. 11; comp. Zech. x, 12.)
As It measured the dimensions, It made colours (/. e., divisibilities, in
order to shine and be manifest) in the interior light of the Candlestick.
From thence proceeded a stream, from which the colours (diversities)
colour themselves Below, which are concealed in the concealments of Ain
Soph.” (Zohar, § B’resheeth.)
Creation is termed by the Qabbalah, the Shadow or Reflection of the
Upper World, in the latter, is everything Below, in perfect Zure, /. e,,
prototype. The Sepher Ye*tzeer-ah says : “It formed from the void, the
perceptible (essential) and made the No-Thing, Some-Thing.” (c. ii
Mishna, 5.) Further: “It (the Deity) made a reality out of No-Thing,
called the Non-entity into existence, and hewed as it were, colossal pillars •
from intangible air (i.e., azoth or aether).” “The point in the creation,
is called; the Shadow.” {Sepher Emek ha- Melekh, i, e,, Valley of the
King, fol. 12.) “In like manner, the creation is also called, the wife
(passivity, the plastic principle) of the A*tzeel-oothic World, /. e,, that
of the Deity. {Sepher ‘ Hadreth Melekh, fol. ZZ, col. 2.) “This (the
Upper) is the male, the other, is the female, world.” (Zohar, § Ther-
oomahy fol. 127, col. 2.) “When the Unknown of all the Unknown,
wished to manifest Itself, It began by producing a point, as long as that
Light point did not appear through its energy, the Infinite was still com-
pletely unknown and did not spread any Light.” (Zohar i, 2a, 15/7.)
•iro Kether, the Crown. The first efflux or emanation of Ain Soph,
the Non-Ego, was the Light, usually termed by the Qabbalah, Kether, i,e,,
the Crown. This symbolizes Abstract Thought, individual Consciousness
of being, the Ego or I. Within this Sephirah, the manifested Light of Ain
Soph in the germ as a first manifestation, the unit ; is asserted to be con-
tained in full content and perfect Harmony, all that has been emanated,
all that is, and all that man can possibly know upon this earth. Kether is
considered as sexless yet as androgenic and containing the sexes, as the
entire content of the positive and negative and their harmony. It is
called Abbah, /. e.. Father, and is “the living (manifested?) God the
257
pillar and ground of Truth:’ (I Tim. iii, 15.) Its letter is Yod ‘ =
10, but it contains in its full content the Ineffable Name YHVH,
which is the content of the principles of Mercy or Grace as well as
of Punishment and Rigor, and also signifies the past, the present
and the future, and is we think referred to in the Apocalypse in this
last connection. (Apoc: i, 8, 11; xxi, 6; xxii, 13.) But the special
Name of the Deity considered by the Qabbalah as most applicable to
Kether, is the Great Name, Eh*yeh, /. ^., I Am. (Exod. iii, 4.) Kether
represents the Desire and Will of the Deity. ‘* Kether is the prin-
ciple of all the principles, the Secret Wisdom, the Most Exalted
Crown, with which all crowns and diadems are adorned.” (Zohar iii,
fol. 288^.) It is even held as the Absolute Existence itself by some of
the Qabbalists, but we think as the Ego, it is in contrast with the Non-
Ego, which is Above, and is therefore to be accounted Below. Qualifi-
cations of Kether are not possible in man’s intellect, yet it is perceptible
to his thought in that it represents consciousness of being-hood. It is
wholly united as the one in number, in an indivisible point the circum-
ference of which is every-where and the centre of which is no-where. It
is therefore termed in the Qabbalah, not only I. Kether, but also II. Ne’-
qood-ah RaVshan-ah^ i, <f., the Primordial Point; III. Ne’ qood-ah Fe* –
shoot-ahy L e,y the Smooth Point, because when Ain Soph desired to man-
ifest Itself, It first made a point, {ante, p. 127.)
This is explained as follows ; the Ain Soph at first was filling All and
then made an absolute concentration into Itself which produced the
Abyss, Deep, or Space, the Aveer Qadmon or Primitive Air, the Azoth;
but this is not considered in the Qabbalah as a perfect void or vacuum, a
perfectly empty Space, but, is thought of as the Waters or Crystalline
Chaotic Sea, in which was a certain degree of Light inferior to that by
which all the created were made.
This idea of Kether as the representative of Existence, the Being or the
Absolute manifested, if we consider it from the point of view just taken,
constitutes a Perfect Form and Individuality, and this the Qabbalah calls
IV. At-teek, /. <f., the Ancient of the Ancients, the Ancient, the Aged, and V. the At-teek Yo-meen, /. ^., Ancient of Days. (Dan. vii, 9 sq.) This name must not however be confounded with At*teek-ah D’At’teck- 17 258 een, the Ancient o( A//the Ancients, who is Concealed. Kether is called the At-teek, because it is the oldest and first emanation from Ain Soph compared with whose splendid Light, Kether as manifested, is only as the Darkness and but a Shadow and a Reflection. This Sephirah is also termed VI. Resha Hiv’rah, t. g., the White Head, because it is the Light in which are all colours, /. ^., the diversities, conceptions, and definite models, of all the existences in germ or absolute totality. As the Head of the column of Harmony, or, of the Centre, of the Sephirothic Tree ; it is called VII. A*reekh An-peen or Appayeem, the Great Aspect, the Long in Visage or Face, also called, the Long Suff*ering, and VIIL the Makro- prosopon, which has the same meaning, because it contains all the quali- fications, intellectual and moral attributes; and because the totality of all the Ten Sephiroth, in germ, are contained in harmony in it, and so it represents, IX. the Adam Qadmon and X. the Adam Illa-ah, the Primor- dial and Heavenly Adam. We note however of A’reekh An-peen as in Kether, that the Qabbalah says of the A’reekh, in it is all Right side, the side of Mercy and not of Punishment. The remaining nine Sephiroth are known as Ze’ir An-peen, the Short in Visage, the Young One, the Son of A’reekh An-peen. In it is Right and Left side. “The first, says the Zohar, is the Ancient, beheld Face to Face, it is the Supreme Head, the Source of all Light, the Principle of all Wisdom, whose defini- tion is, the Unity.*’ (Zohar, iii, fol. 292^, 289^.) The A’reekh is then the One (i), the unity of number, and the second unity of Ibn GebiroFs phil- osophy. The symbol of Ain Soph is the O or circle beyond and above all number, which is also of as much importance in all numerical calculations, as the nine digits. Kether is also called XL jRum Ma-alehy i.e.. Inscruta- ble Height, because it is the highest of all the Sephiroth and proceeds, by emanation, immediately from the Unknowable Ain Soph. The Zohar therefore, commenting upon : ** Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and be- hold the King of Peace with Kether, />., the Crown.** (Song of Solomon
iii, 11) says: “But who can behold the King of Peace, seeing that It is
incomprehensible, even to the heavenly hosts ? But he who sees Kether^
the Crown, sees the She’keen-ah, /. ^., the Glory of the King of Peace.*’
(Zohar ii, 100^.) Kether is also called XII. ^Hokhmah illa-ah^ Heavenly
Wisdom, to distinguish it from the Sephirah *Hokhmah, which is simply
called, Wisdom.
/
259
In the angelic order, Kether is represented by the celestial beasts of the
vision o^Ezekiel the ‘Hay-yoth haq-Qadosh, ue.y the Holy living creatures,
of the Merkabah or Chariot-Throne. The Kerubim of Ezekiel and St.
John. These are in the Zodiac as Taurus the Bull, Leo the Lion, Scorpio
and the Eagle, and Aquarius the Man. Scorpio as a good emblem is sym-
bolized by the Eagle, as an evil by the Scorpion, as a good or evil by the
Eagle winged Serpent. (See antty p. 228.) Philosophically, Kether repre-
sents, the content of the simple abstract idea of individual consciousness
or being-hood, and therefore contains the entire emanated spiritual or
material, existing outside of the Unknowable Ain Soph yet in which, the
Ain Soph is both immanent and transcendental, in germ. Its symbol is
the human eye, open. Ibn Gebirol calls it : *’ The Form of all forms in
the Highest Potency.” Kether is likely, the One Head in which are
Three Heads. ” The Ancient, says, the Zohar ; Its Name be praised ! Has
Three Heads which are yet One Head. And as the Ancient is described
by the number Three, so also the other Lights, i,e,, Sephiroth, with their
illuminations (Lights, the other Sephiroth), are comprised in the number
Three.” (Zohar, Idrah Zootah iii, 288^.) Kether represents the stage
of developing existence, termed, the Universal, and is to be referred to
the dimension of Length. In the three-fold division of the spiritual in
the corporeal body of man, Kether represents the Neshamah, the immor-
tal spirit in man. The symbolic colour of Kether, says the great Qabba-
list R. Azriel ; “is like the concealed Light.” The Light that is wrap-
ped in Darkness.
From Kether, the one, the germ and harmony, the I, Ego, individual
consciousness and knowledge of being-hood and existence, therefore
in Time ; emanates the two oppositions, the female and male, the
negative and positive principles. We think that the first emanation from
the Ego or Abstract Thought, was that of Mind, the Sephirah Binah, to
which the Abstract Thought became wedded, the result being the Word
or Wisdom, the Son, or the Association of Ideas in the Mind, without
which. Wisdom or the Word, would not be manifest to mankind. The
letter of the Ineffable Name mrr in Binah, is the second n, the special
Name applied by the Qabbalah to Binah, is rx” YaH, a feminine Name,
and it is on the Left Column, to the Sephiroth of which, the feminine
26o
Name Elohim is applied. It is placed by many writers on the Qabbalah
as the Third emanation of Ain Soph, but we are inclined to the view that
it is the Second. Comp. Philo i, p. 3, § iii.
The old Qabbalists in writing down the Secret Learning frequently
misplaced letters, words, statements, etc., the proper position, meaning,
etc., of the same being taught orally to the initiate. This is evident in
many places in the written books of Judaism outside of the Mystical wri-
tings, and is especially evident in the Synagogue Rolls. Compare in this
connection what we quote from the Zohar, antCy p. 192, which sup|X)rts
our opinion. With Philo, the Logos or Word proceeds directly from the
Deity, so in the doctrines of Gentile Christianity coming as it does
through Jewish thought and Jewish Christianity ; the Son proceeds di-
rectly from the Father, yet in the account of the Incarnation of the
Word, the Holy Spirit is placed as the medium.
As THE Second Sephirah we place Binah (pron. Been-ah) nr3.
Binah is the abstract idea of the Intellect, nous the Mind or Understand-
ing, emanating from Kether or Consciousness of existence. It is considered
as feminine, negative and passive ; and receives and absorbs, the impression
of the simple abstract ideas from the androgenic Kether into itself. It is
called the Upper She*keen-ah or Glory, and Immah illa-ahy /. ^., the
Heavenly Mother; Immah, the Mother; Rua^h haq-Qadoshay i, ^., the
Holy Spirit, etc. It is written ” Thou shalt call Binah by the name of
Mother.*’ Prov. vii, 4. (Zohar iii, 290a.) Malkhuth, the tenth (or seventh)
Sephirah, is sometimes called, the Lower Mother, Lower Wisdom and sim-
ply, the She*keen-ah. The letter of the Tetragrammaton in Binah, is the
second, the n (Heh) = 5. *’ Binah, in it are engraven, the ways of the
letters ; in the original image of all details and species, etc. The (im-
printed) forms of all species and their details ; the (imprinted) form of
every herb, etc. ; and so also of the minerals, etc. And the ways of these
images are contained in the three letters of the Holy Name.” * The latter
part doubtless refers to \%\* the three letters of the Tetragrammaton which
are the symbolical letters of Kether, Binah and *Hokhmah. In the Mod-
ern Qabbalah, that of Yitz’haq Luriah, Moses Cordovero, etc., to escape
♦Comment, to the Sepher Ye*tzeer-ah ii and iii chapters, by R. Abraham b. David
(RaBaD) of Beaucaire (d. 1 198) fol. 8, 9.
26l
the consequence of the Christian Trinity in the Sephiroth, they make
proceed from ‘Hokhmah as the Father, assuming Kether to be the Ain
Soph, and Binah, the Mother; a Son whom they call Da-ath, /. ^.,
Knowledge or Science. The most Ancient Qabbalah does not know such
an emanation, and it is not one of the Sephiroth. The Triad of the An-
cient Qabbalah is Kether, the Father; Binah, the Holy Spirit or Mother;
and ‘Hokhmah, the Word or Son ; which three are distinguished from all
the other Sephiroth and are called the Upper Three or the Holy Sephi-
roth and together form the Intellectual World, and govern the head.
They are the Three Heads which are One Head, and are reunited in Ain
Soph. Sometimes they compare the Three Heads to the brain which,
without losing its unity, is divided into three lobes; and by means of the
32 pairs of nerves springing from them, spreads itself through the whole
human body. ** Every-Thing, that existeth, says the Zohar (iii, 290a/)
every-thing which At-teek : Blessed be Its Name ! has formed, can endure
only through the male and female (principles.)** The Modern Qabbal-
list Yitz-haq Luriah, says of this, that it means in the intellectual, the
subject and object, of the understanding. Binah is the Greek naus^ /. ^.,
mind, and as the feminine or passive principle is placed on the Left side
of the Sephirothic Tree. Its symbol is the brooding dove. It represents
the dimension of Depth. The Universal spiritual passive matter of Ibn
Gebirol is paralleled by Binah. In the Qabbalah matter always corre-
sponds with the female passive principle, fo be influenced by the active or
male, the forming. The symbolic colour of Binah according to R. Azriel,
is sky-blue. ”^ From its union with Kether, out which it is emanated and
to which it returns, proceeds ‘Hokhmah, /.^., Wisdom, the Word or Son,
the Logos, called the ‘* First-born,” which is also looked upon as ema-
nated from and as returning to, the androgenic Kether, the Father or
Harmony.
‘HoKHMAH HDDn, /. €,, WiSDOM : we place as the Third Sephirah,
♦ The colour of the Great Crystalline Sea, the Sky, is blue ; the color of the robe of
the Virgin Mary in the Roman Church is blue, and she stands, as depicted in its S3rm-
bolism, above the Sphere of the Active Intellect which was that of the moon, crowned
with the stars of heaven. As to this Sphere compare the notes of Solomon Munk to his
great Arabic and French edition of Maimonides, the Moreh ; before dted.
262
but it is generally termed by the Qabbalists, the Second. The Modem
or Lurian School calls it, the Father, but Abbah the Father, by the an-
cient Qabbalah, is Kether and ‘Hokhmah is the Son. This Sephirah, we
assert, proceeds from Kether the Father and Binah the Mother, for myste-
riously, each is in the other. It is the representative of the Association
of Abstract Ideas in the Intellect, its result being Wisdom or ICnowledge.
It is also called by the Qabbalah, *’ the Only begotten Son,’* “the first
bom Son of Elohim,*’ etc. ‘Hokhraah is the Word, the Greek Logos y and
the Memrah of the Targums. By it, says St. John, all things were made that
were made. According to a Talmudic explanation of Genesis i, i, B^res-
heethy i, e,y beginning, should be read Be-Raisheethy i. e,. Through Wis-
dom, the universe was emanated.* The letter of the Tetragrammaton in
‘Hokhmah is the third, that is i (Vav) ^6. “By means of the 32 paths,
Wisdom is spread throughout the universe, it gives to every-thing form and
measure.” (Zohar iii, 290^.) The 32 ways are generally assumed by the
Qabbalists to consist of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which are 22,
and the ten numbers or decade, together equaling 3Z. ‘Hokhmah is the
positive or male principle and is at the head of the Column of Benignity,
Mercy or Grace, in the Sephirothic Tree. It parallels the Universal
Form of Ibn Gebirol. “Wisdom generates all Things,’* says the Zohar.
(Comp. St. John i, 1-15.) It is the Greek Sophia, From it emanate the
seven other Sephiroth, the first six of which are called those of Construction
or Building. R. Azriel says : the symbolic colour of ‘Hokhmah is yellow^
perhaps a yellowish red would be more correct. This is the symbolic
color in the Roman Church of the robe of Christ.
The first Sephirah Kether, as we have stated, is the unit in number and
is the harmony of all and the content of all, the created. It emanates the
potentiality and energy it has received by immediate efflux from Ain
Soph, to the separated passive and feminine Sephirah, Binah the Holy
Spirit, and from the union is produced ‘Hokhmah, the Word or Son,
*Comp. Prov: viii ; St. John i, 1-13; Ps. xxxiii, 6, 9, and other places; Sentiments
of Philo Judeus concerning the Logos or Word, etc. : by Jacob Bryant, Cambridge,
1797. Christology of the Targums, by R. Young, London, 1853. The Targums by
Etheridge, London, 1865, Vol. i. The Moreh Ne’book-eem of Maimonides, and what
we have said antet p. 206 sq.
263
which is on the active or male side ; or it may be assumed, that both were
emanated at the same instant and that each exists in the other. The
letter of Kether is ^ (Yod), of Binah n (Heh), together YaH, the femi-
nine Name. (Comp. antey p. 175), the third letter, that of ‘Hokhmah,
is \ (Vav), making together, in^ YHV of mn” YHVH, the Tetragramma-
ton, and really the complete symbols of its efficaciousness. The last n
(Heh) of this Ineffable Name being always applied to the Six Lower and
the last, together the seven remaining Sephiroth ; and finding its resting
place in the last, Malkhuth or Kingdom, the loth Sephirah; the Har-
mony of all the Sephiroth. The first three Sephiroth as we have above
mentioned, are called ; the Holy Upper Sephiroth, and together form a
Triad which is a Unit and which is considered in the Qabbalah, in its
content, as the most sacred of all the Sephiroth, as including all the
balance — and is termed, the Upper Holy Triad, also Olam ha-Moos^kal^
the Intellectual World or Condition.
The Zohar says: ” The At-teek-ah Qadosha, /. ^., the Holy Ancient,
Its Name be Blessed I exists with Three Heads, which together form only
One (Head) and that Head is Itself, which is the most elevated among
the highest things. And because the At-teek-ah Qadosha, Its Name be
Blessed ! is represented by the Three, all the other Lights (Sephiroth)
which enlighten us by their rays, are equally comprised in the number
Three.*’ (Zohar, IdrahZootah, iii, 288^.) Another statement is : “There
are Three Heads engraved one within the other, and one above the other.
In this number, first count the mysterious Wisdom*, that concealed Wisdom
which is not ever seen without a veil. The Mysterious Wisdom, is the su-
preme principle of all other Wisdom. Above that first Head is the Ancient,
whose Name be Sanctified ! that which is the most mysterious among the
mysteries. Finally comes the Head which dominates all others ; a Head
which is not a Head. What it contains none know nor can know ; be-
cause it escapes our knowledge and our ignorance. It is for that reason
that the Ancient, whose Name be Blessed ! is called Ayin, /. e.y the No-
ITiing.** **Each point of matter has three directions, viz: Length, Breadth
and Depth; there does not exist any-Thing Below, whose root, /. ^., per-
fect prototype, is not above. Therefore it is necessary, that these three
have a spiritual root in the first point Above, they are therefore called in
264
their spiritual nature in the primitive Upper Point; Kether, ‘Hokhmah
and Binah.” {Sepher Shepathal, fol. 49, col. 3.) The Four-lettered
Ineffable Name is considered as triad ic and signifies the past, present and
future. Before the revelation of this Name, the Deity was known as njr
Shaddai, /.^., the Almighty, the Powerful One, the principle of Wrath and
Punishment and not of Mercy, and therefore the Deity not to be loved
but feared. In this Name, Br the symbol of fire, and also of the triad, is
the first letter. In the word Messiah, Br is in the middle, but in the word
Jesus, the letter of fire and punishment is reversed and placed last. In
Jesus as in mn” the yod, comes first. Ibn Gebirol says: *’The Triad is
the root of every-Thing.” It is in germ in Kether, the Will of Gebirol.
Philo holds it to be a great mystery * and even Maimonides hints at it.
In early Christianity the Trinity was likely an esoteric doctrine, it is not
in the Pastor of Hermas and the African, Tertullian, appears to have been
one of the first of the Fathers who refers to it by name, and then as if not
generally accepted. It however appears in Matt, xxviii, 19 and the
Teaching of the XII Apostles. .The subject requires a thorough separate
treatment for which we have not space in this writing. The Triadic idea,
we think undoubtedly existed in the Secret Learning, Philo who lived in
beginning of our present era {circa 20 B.C.-40 A.D.), holding to the same
view; but as a matter of course it was not the Trinity as it has been form-
ulated in Christianity by Athanasius and the Greek fathers. Some of the
theologians of the Middle Ages appear to have desired to prove that the
Greek religious metaphysical definition was in the Jewish thought. ” If thou
art attentive to that most excellent Name of the Deity : (That is the Te-
tragrammaton or four-lettered Name mn’ YHVH), as found explained in
the Mystery of Mysteries, thou beholdest, a Name of three letters, though
of four symbols, one of them a twin, being written twice, (that is, the n,
Heh.) If anybody examines them, he can see that the very same Name,
represents both one and three, truly each pointing to a oneness of the
substance, so that it shows certainly the Trinity of persons. ‘ * f And the
writer goes on to say, that the first and second letters n” form YH (YaH),
the second and third in (HV), and the third and fourth m (VH) ; joined
they form the one Name YHVH.
* Philo i, pp. 219 sq.i 61.
f Pugio Fidei, Leipzig, p. 707, by Petrus Alphonsus, b. 1062 A. D.
265
“And this is the mystery of the three sacred Names which teach the
Unity of three and the Trinity of One, by the allusion of Wisdom, Reason,
and Knowledge, and that all three are One. This is also alluded to in
the mystery of time, which is past, present and future, just the same ;
whence thou seest that the three souls or lives are one-threefold.** (Abra-
ham Abulafia.) ” It is said, Elohim created Man in His image and like-
ness and perfected him in the Supreme Form, as it is stated * And Elohim
created man (Adam) in His image.* Much has been sought and defined
on this subject of the mystery of man*s creation in the image of Elohim,
and we find in the Mysteries of the Thorah (Sithrai Thorah), that the in-
tellectual form of man is called Adam, /. ^., Man, for the skin, flesh, and
bones are merely the garment of the man ; and for this reason it is writ-
ten, (Job X, ii) : ‘Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh and inter,
woven me with bones and sinews.’ If skin and flesh are the clothing,
look for man within the clothing ! Observe, his completion is the result
of three arrangements united ; with reference to which I am going to re-
veal thee a most profound and sublime secret, according to that which is
said in the Sithrai Thorah. In Ezekiel i, 26, we read; *And upon the
likeness of the throne, was the likeness, as the appearance of a man upon
it, above.* What means the likeness of a man? Three degrees united
in one, and they are the Mystery of the Supreme Truth. Thus man here
on earth, is man, only by the union of three things which together con-
stitute man, viz : spirit (Neshamah) soul (Rua*h) and the breath of life
(Nephesh), and they really make the perfect man in the likeness of above,
by the mystery of the three degrees united as one, for they are the like-
ness of man (Adam). Such is man during his life on earth ; and when
he dieth, the man is not dead, he is only stripped of his clothing.** *
At the end, the same says : the trinity of Wisdom, Reason and Knowl-
edge, correspond to the three Names; YHVH, our Elohim, YHVH: in
the passage. Hear O Israel, etc. : called by the Israelites the She^mah,
citing for this the book of Rab Ham-m’noonah Saba, which is also men-
tioned in some of the oldest books bound up with Zohar. R. Moses de
* Sepher Shekel haq-Qadosh^ i. e,, the Holy Balance, by R. Moses de Leon, said to
have been written in 1292. Third gate of the Basis of the Parts, sha-ar ye^sod ha-
JChaUoieem,
266
Leon also says : ” These three lying at the well ;’* again : ” The mystery of
their order is, three in the mystery of three, each within and above the
other, according to the order of the tree on its roots and in its order,
which are also the mystery of three.*’*
Abraham Ibn Ezra in his book Zakooth, allegorized the three funda-
mental vowels ; ^Holeniy ^Heerek^ and Fatha’h gadoi, as a trinity of the
modes of motion, upwards, downwards, and in a circle. Joseph Chiqui-
tilla, or Gikitilla, has also developed the application of this vowel-allegory
to mystical objects.f The great Qabbalist R. Azriel said, that the bene-
dictions in which mention is made of the Deity’s government, are thus
formulated : ” Blessed art thou, O Lord our !Elohimy King (Ruler) of the
world.”!
This shows that the Qabbalists have not based their system only upon
the principle oi shepha, i. e,y emanation, nor upon the unity of substance
only, but that they have assumed an identity of thought and of existence,
of the ideal and the real. The world was to them only the expression of
the Ideas or Absolute Forms of the Intellect.
Moses of Cordova, although of the modern Qabbalistic school under-
stood the Ancient Qabbalah when he said ; “The first three Sephiroth, viz :
Crown, Wisdom and Intellect, ought to be considered as the sole and
same thing. The first represents. Knowledge (the Gnosis) or Science,
the second that which Knows, and the third, that by which it is Known. In
order to explain that identity, it is necessary to know that the knowledge
of the creator is not that of the creatures ; for with the latter. Knowl-
edge is distinct from the subject of the Knowledge and leans upon the
objects which, in their turn, are distinguished from the subject. It is
that which we describe by the three terms : thought, that which thinks,
and that which is thought of. On the contrary the creator is Itself wholly
at the same time. Knowledge, that which Knows, and that which is
Known. In effect. Its manner of knowing does not consist in the appli-
* Compare De Leon’s Sepker ka-Rimmon^ i, ^., Book of the Pomegranite, and his
Avodath kaq-Qadosh 123a. Cracow ed, Beitrage zur Geschichte der Kabbala, von
Adolph Jellinek. Leipzig, 1852, 2d part, pp. 53-56 and 69, etc.
t Sec Jellinck*s work, last cited.
J Ibid., p. xvii.
26;
cation of Its thought to the things which are outside of Itself; It is in
Itself Knowledge, and in Itself Knowing, and in Itself that It Knows
and perceives all that which is. Not anything exists which is not united
in It and that It does not find in Its own substance. It is the type
(dist typus) of all being, and all things exist in It under their purest and
most perfect form ; in such a manner, that even the perfection of the
creatures is iR that existence, through which, they find themselves united
to the source of their being ; and in the measure (or proportion) that
they are removed from It, they fall from that condition which is so per-
fect and sublime. It is thus that all the existences of this world have
their form in the Sephiroth and the Sephiroth in the source from which
they emanate.” (Pardes Rimonim, Paradise of Pomegranites, fol. 55<i.)
Aristotle, Averrhoes and Maimonides, had preceded Cordovero in this
idea, the latter says : ” The Holy One, Praised be It ! knows exactly and
recognizes Its true real being ; but it does not know a way of knowledge
separated from Itself, as we conceive a thing ; for we are not identical
with our knowledge, on the other hand the creator, whose Name be
Praised ! is with Its knowledge, as with Its life, absolutely one and the
same. Were we to think otherwise, and desire to distinguish the divine
substance from its knowledge or life ; we should affirm several Godheads,
to wit : God, God’s life, and God*s knowledge ; and thereby fall into
polytheism. Thou mayest say therefore : God is the Knowing One, the
Known, and also Knowledge itself, God is all in One, etc.***
The three Sephirothic hypostases contain and unite in themselves,
every-Thing that is, and are themselves united in the Ain Soph, the At-
tee*kah D*At-tee*keen, the Ancient of all the Ancients; for It is in every-
Thing and every-Thing is in It, and yet to the finite comprehension of
man, the Ain Soph is Ayin, /. ^., No-Thing. They are also united and
merged in the White Head, the At-teek or Ancient, which is the first unit
of number, the One, so that although described by the triad they are
nevertheless the unit. The unity of the first manifestation, that of exist-
♦ See Maimonides, Yad ha-chazakah^ i, e.j The Mighty Hand, also called Mishna
Thorah. The first name is in allusion to Deut. xxxiv, 12, and because the work con-
sists of 14 books. T YaD=i4. Comp. Yesod ha- Thorah ^ C. ii. Halak. 10. Joel.
Rilig, Philos, Sohar^ p. 8, and notes.
268
ence and being -hood, and the triad of the intellectual manifestations, the
ideas in it ; are the resume of All that which is, to man’s comprehension.
Symbolically they are applied entirely to the head of the Makrokosmos,
and may also refer to the three lobes of the human brain, the seat of
thought, which together make one brain.
The Upper Sephiroth are called by the Qabbalists, Olam ha-Moos^ kal^
I. ^., the Intellectual World. They together are the highesf, most subtle
and refined of all the Sephiroth. We can parallel them to Ibn Gebirors
Will, Universal Matter and Universal Form. (Comp. also the Moreh
Ne’boo-kheem of Maimonides, i, 228 sq. Munk’s edit, and notes.)
From the third Sephirah ‘Hokhmah, Wisdom or the Word, whose let-
ter \ equals 6, emanate the six following Sephiroth. These are consid-
ered as the efflux of the potentiality, energy and executive power, of
Ain Soph and the Upper Sephiroth, through the Son or Word. The
Qabbalah therefore calls the six sides of the entire universe, the six days
of building. They are the representative of the Special as the Upper are
of the Universal.
IV. Of the Sephirah ion ‘Hesed, Grace or Love. We will now
refer to the second three Sephiroth, which answer to the triad of Ibn
Gebirol’s soul of the world, which according to him emanated from the
spiritus mundi. According to the Zohar, from the breast of * Hokhmah,
the Word, the Divine Son; emanated six principles or Sephiroth, called:
Sepheeroth hab’Been-yany i. e., Sephiroth of Construction.* They sym-
bolize the dimensions of matter, be it an atom or an universe, viz :
Length, Breadth, Depth, and the positive and negative poles of each of
* ** This (our) universe consists of six dimensions: Above, Below, and the four sides,
in the mystery of Ze’ir An-peen, which contains six sides, etc.” See Sepher EH ha-
^Hay-ytmy i, e,, the Tree of Life by Hay-y!m Vital of the Lurian School, fol. 26. ** There-
fore there are six working days, for the six sides of Ze’ir clothe themselves in them.
But the Sabbath is Malkhuth, the wife ” (passivity or rest). (Sepher P’res Eiz ha-Hay-
yintf fol. 3, col. 3.) ** As the Upper Mother has brought forth six (an allusion to the 1
= 6 of ‘Hokhmah, Wisdom, the Son), so the Lower Mother, brought forth six vessels
of both, Genesis, says : * For in six days YHVH made heaven and earth.’ ” Tiqqooneh
ha-Zohar, fol. 22. At the Feast of Tabernacles, the Israelites waved branches of trees
before, to each side, behind, above the head and towards the feet ; to signify the three
dimensions. Length, Breadth and Depth, and their negatives and positives, together six.
I
269
these. The dimensions are only known through their extensions, the
positives and negatives, and the six-sided cube symbolizes them. The
upper three are as follows : on the Right or male side, is ‘Hesed, /. ^.,
Grace. It is also called Love, Mercy, or Compassion. This is the side
of the active principle and that of Life and Vitality.
This Sephirah is sometimes termed Ge*dool-ah or Greatness, also Mag-
nificence. It is considered as the Right Arm of the Makrokosmos and
as giving life. As Mercy it would be proper to have the color white as
its symbol. R. Azriel holds to this. It is questionable as to its symbolic
planet, if the androgenic Venus, its color should be green, its metal cop-
per, according to the ancient Chaldaic and astrological ideas.
V. Of the Sephirah in3 Pa* had. On the Left or female side, that
of Rigor, Punishment, Fear and Severity ; is the Sephirah termed Pa* had,
/. e,. Fear; Deen, /. ^., Judgment or Justice; Ge’boor-ah, /. ^., Judicial
Strength or Power.
This is the side of the Passive principle, that of Death and Corruption.
It represents the Left Arm of the Makrokosmos which symbolizes Death.
Its planet is Jupiter. Its metal, according to the archaic Chaldaic and
astrological idea would be tin. R. Azriel, says : its color is red. The
general opinion of the Qabbalists is, that it represents Punishment.
Jupiter however generally appears among the Jews, as Gad, and to have
been considered a lucky planet.* The Chaldean astrological color was
orange. The usual astrological color was, sometimes reddish-purple, or
a violet, also a reddish-green and a dark blue.
If the latter two Sephiroth, which are called ; ” the two arms of God,**
remained separated, some of the Qabbalists assert, the world could not
exist, indeed they do not act separately for Judgment is not without
Mercy. (Zohar iii, 143^.) They may perhaps be considered as the rep-
resentatives of the expansion and contraction, the centripetal and centrif-
ugal energies between the poles of the dimensions, acting under the Will
of the Deity. From the first are considered to go out the virile and male
souls, from the second, the female souls.
* Comp. Unheard of Curiosities concerning the Talisman ical Sculpture of the Per-
sians, etc., by James GafTarel, trans, into English. London, 1650, pp. 323-6, 292.
270
VI. Of the Sephirah n’^Kfln Tiph*e-reth. The two Sephiroth, last
mentioned, unite or merge in a harmony or common centre, Tiph’e-reth,
/. ^., Beauty. It symbolizes the heart and is therefore looked upon as a
great centre, and next to Kether, the head. Its symbol in nature is the
sun, which was considered by the ancient oriental thinkers, as the heart
of the universe ; the Qabbalah considers Tiph’e-reth as the heart of the
Heavenly Adam, and asserts that it rules over the heart of the earthly
Adam or man. Tiph’e-reth is the seat of sentiment and affection and is
considered as the expression and result of, all the ethical qualities and
affections and the sum of all Goodness. These three Sephiroth are the
representatives of all ethical life and perfections. They apparently coin-
cide with the Universal soul of Gebirol, with its separation into the
Neshamah, Rua’h and Nephesh. In the Sephirothic Adam, the first three
correspond to the Neshamah, the Spirit ; so the three we have just men-
tioned correspond to Rua’h, the Conscience or Ethical, called the
Soul. R. Azriel says, the color of Tiph*e-reth is white-red or pink,
perhaps a yellow-red. The white and red, may refer to its different
aspects. According to the ancient Chaldaic astrological system, its metal
would be gold, its color yellow or yellow-red, that of gold. The second
triad is called ; Olam ha-Moor^ gash, i, ^., the Moral, Ethical or Sensuous,
World.
The three Sephiroth next following, are of a dynamic nature; they
represent the Deity as the Foundation, Basis or General Potentiality of
all Things, the Energy and producing Principle of all existence.
Of Ne-tza’h nvj Triumph. The first, which is on the Right side, is
called: Ne-tza*h, /’. ^., Firmness or Victory, sometimes Eternity. It
represents the Right leg and thigh of the Makrokosmos. Its symbolical
planet is probably Mars. Its color would therefore, according to the
ancient Chaldaic astrology be red. , Its metal, iron. R. Azriel says its
color is, whitish-red.
Of Hod (pron. Hoo’d,) nn Splendor. The second is termed. Hod,
/.^., Splendor or Glory. It represents the Left leg and thigh of the Ma-
krokosmos. It is probable that its symbolic planet was Mercury ; if so,
astrologically according to the ancient Chaldaic system, its color should
be blue ; its metal, quicksilver or mercury. R. Azriel says its color is
271
reddish-white. ” By Triumph and Glory, we comprehend extension,
multiplication and force ; because all the forces which were born into the
universe went out of their bosom, and it is for this reason, that these two
Sephiroth are called; the armies (hosts) of YHVH.” (Zohar, iii, 2g6a.)
The two unite, merge, centre in and go out of, a harmony or common
principle, called Ye* sod.
Of Ye’sod (pron. Ye’soo’d,) “no’* Basis or the Foundation. This
Sephirah is sometimes termed by the Qabbalists the Hidden or Mysterious
Sephirah. It signifies th^ androgenic generative principle. It is the root
of continuing existence, the link in the chain of the existences. ” Every-
Thing shall return to its Foundation, from which it has proceeded. All
marrow, seed and energy are gathered in this place. Hence all the poten-
tialities which exist go out through this.” (Zohar, iii, 296^.) These three
attributes together, constitute only one side of the Divine Nature, namely :
that which the Holy Scriptures, calls : ‘* YHVH Tze’ba-oth.” All vitality
and life the Qabbalah considers as based on Ye’sod, the source of all
emanated and existing Things. Its planet probably was Saturn, the color of
which according to the ancient Chaldean astrology, i§ black, R. Azriel,
says : white — red — whitish — red — reddish — white. Its metal by the ancient
Chaldean system, would be lead. This people and the Hebrews, consid-
ered it as the oldest of the planets. Its spirit was feared by both nations,
and it was considered by both, as a star of ill-omen. The Assyrians
called it, ** the slow moving one.*’*
The three last mentioned Sephiroth, answer to Ibn GebiroFs triad,
called; Nature. Ne-tza*h and Hod, are understood by the Zoharic
writings, to be expansion, multiplication and potential energy, and that
all the energies, forces and increase, which have at any time emanated
into the universe proceed through these ; ” Theftfore these two Sephi-
roth are called : the armies of YHVH.** (Zohar, iii, 296^.) The Qab-
balists call them, when united with their harmony Ye’sod ; 0/am ha-
mutbangy i, 10; xxxiii, 2.
Malkhuth does not represent any distinct attribute but is the sum total
of all the Scphiroth, and the Divine Government over the universe, the
absolute Kingdom, the totality therefore unity, of all the Sephiroth over
the entire universe. It is similar to Ibn Gebirol’s Divine Power, which
he says ; is predominant in all the existences, penetrating them by virtue
of the potentiality of the Will and not leaving any vacuum, but establish-
J73
ing perfect harmony among them. It is also considered as the sphere or
orbit of the Moon, that is of the Active Intellect.’*’ Its colar is like the
light reflecting all colors. The transparent light of the universe around
us in which are all the prismatic colors.
Many of the Qabbalists claim, that the first chapter of Genesis applies
only to the Prototypic or Upper Adam, who was androgenic and made
in the image and likeness of Elohim. That the repetition of the expres-
sion ” said ” or desired, three times therein applied to the Man, refers to
the three spiritual natures of the Upper Adam which his copy, the
earthly Adam had from his creation. The last male-female creation, they
say, referred to the world-nature necessary for the mundane existence of
man and its continuance. The Upper Adam is not made of “the
dust,” and indeed the second account expressly says, the plants, i. e.,
man, were not yet on the eanh and the terrestrial man did not yet exist.
The entire earth was enveloped in a thick mist. Afterwards the earthly
man was made of ” the dust of the ground ” and ” the breath o( life,”
the Nephesh, was “breathed into his nostrils,” or /off, by YHVH Elo-
him, only then the dust-man “became a living souV A Garden of
Eden, according to the first account, did not exist for the Upper
Man. The Qabbalists say, the Garden or Paradise was pure ‘abstract
human thought in which was planted, the tree of the Good and Evil and
also therein was the tree of vitality, of life.
* As lo the diHerent spheret, conmll ihe vtluable NMes of Sotomon Monk, to kit
nufnificent edition of MumoDide’s Horeh in Arabic twd FreDch.
^^/
Figure 99.
XIV.
THE AIN SOPH AND THE SEPHIROTH CONTINyED. OF THE AYIN. VIEW
OF THE ANCIENTS AS TO IDEAS. OF THE TRUE AND OF ILLUSION.
SOUND, RHYTHM, COLOR. QUOTATIONS FROM THE ZOHAR AS TO THE
SEPHIROTH. THE PROTOTYPIC MAN. THE SEPHIROTH AS BETWEEN
THEMSELVES. THE SEPHIROTHIC PILLARS. OF AZRIEL AND HIS WRI-
TINGS. ANALYSIS OF HIS COMMENTARY ON THE SEPHIROTH.
THE Zohar(Idrah Zootah iii, 288^) says: “The Ancient of the
Ancients, the Unknown of the Unknown, has a form yet also
has not any form. It has a form through which the Universe is
maintained. It also has not any form as It cannot be comprehended.
When It first took this form * It permitted to proceed from it (Kether)
nine brilliant Lights, which illuminating through it (Kether) spread upon
all sides a brilliant light. Let us think of a light which is elevated and
which spreads its rays in all directions : if we desire to grasp these rays,
it will be impossible, as we will perceive they all proceed from the one
light. Just so the Holy Ancient is an elevated (Absolute) Light, but
completely hidden and incomprehensible in Itself, and we can conceive It
only through Its manifestation in these diffusing Lights (the Sephiroth)
which are however on the one side, only partly visible, and yet on the
other side, are partly concealed. These {in their totality) constitute^ the
Holy Name YHVHy *’It is the Ancient of the Ancients,t the Mystery
of the Mysteries, the Unknown of the Unknown. It has a form which
♦ Kether, the Crown. The Will in Ibn Gebirol.
t Not ” the Ancient of all the Ancients,” who is the Ain Soph.
275
appertains to It, since It appears (through it) to us, as the Ancient Man
Above All, as the Ancient of the Ancients, and as that which there is the
Most Unknown among the Unknown. But under that form by which It
makes Itself known. It however still remains the Unknown. Its vestment
appears white and Its aspect is that of a veiled face. It is seated upon a
throne of fiery sparks which submit to Its Will. * * * . From
Its head It shakes a dew, which awakens the dead and makes them re-bom
into a new life. It is because of this that it is written : * Thy dew is a
dew of the light.* It is that dew, which is the nourishment of the Holy
Ones of the Highest Order. It is the manna, prepared for the Just (Pious)
in the life to come. This dew descends imto the field of the sacred fruits
(the saints). The aspect of this dew is white as (the whiteness of) a crys-
tal, the color of which contains all colors * * * , The length
of the Face, from the top of the head is that of three hundred and seventy
times, ten thousand worlds. It is called the Long in Aspect (the Makro-
prosopos, or, A’reekh An-peen) for such is the Name of the Ancient of
the Ancients. * * *
The name Ayin, (A’y-een) No-Thing is said to come from Job (xxviii,
12) “And Wisdom, where (|;kd mai-a^ y-een, literally: from no- thing)
shall it be found? and where is the place, of Understanding ?^^\ The pas-
sage was only used by the Qabbalists to help the retention, by the mem-
ory, of the doctrine as to Ayin. The same system was used by the Rab-
bins in the Talmudic teachings. Beyond man’s comprehension is the
no-thing because man’s mind only comprehends the things, Ayin does not
mean, nothing in the sense of the absolute negation of everything, if it did
maid’y-een could not be translated where ? This interrogative where ? to
the mind of the questioner at once implies a negation of there, and con-
veys the idea of a not-knowing and the prompting of a question, which
may admit of an explanatory answer ; thereby proving that the Where f
points to an idea which on account of its apparent unreachableness, un-
knowable essence and real invisibleness ; is to the questioner immediately
as if a no-thing, but to the questioner only, for in reality an absolute noth-
ing or negation within the reach of man’s comprehension is impossible
* Zohar iii, fol. 1 2%a.
t See, Cahen’s Great French Bible, note to this verse.
276
and is entirely beyond his (limited) thought. The idea altogether excludes
the idea of a some-thing (otherwise it would be within his reach) and re-
fers to the absolute no-thing, in abstract and absolute endlessness and in-
comprehensibility, which exists and rules as the Supreme Deity ; therefore
the Qabbalists claim, that ** the highest degree * * of the Godhead is to man
as Ayin that is, not even an idea. This word Ayin is more properly a defi-
nition than name, and comes within the sphere of theosophical science^
intimately connected with the spirit of Divine wisdom, and breathes in
the Mosaic writings even above Eh’yeh and YHVH and God’s attributes ;
yet comes within the sphere of the Old Testament. Ayin is non ens but
not absolutely nan est^ and far from asserting a description of the Deity
as non-being, is abstractly to say, the Supreme is not a being {ens) among
known existing beings, but is a no- Thing among the world of Things ; the
Supreme is the uncreated as far as man in the matter-body can know, is
a non-something, opposed to and far above, the created some-thing, which
is physically and spiritually the Hebrew j’df/jA, Chaldaic eeth. The phrase
yaish maia^y-een^ /. e,, Some-thing out of No-thing, is the meaning of
creation ex nihilo.
Thought in the ancient world was realistic. Ideas must have a real ex.
istence, they were not mere form and opinions which might be changed,
this thought is especially evident in archaic Greek philosophy and it was
this that Parmenides and Plato sought to change. With Plato, in the
Parmenides, came the new thought that every subjective must have an ob-
jective. See anie^ p. 113. Ideas are only a material symbolism acting in
our minds. Realism is not the true, nor is nominalism the true, the near-
est approach to what is pure ideality is conceptualism. But even concep-
tualism is inferior to the infinite subtilety of language and thought, for
unformed ideas float in our minds which are too subtile even for concep)-
tion, which are only intuitions, and which cannot find any mental sym-
bolism nor absolute formulations, nor any means of visible expression.
The matter- world is perpetually changing and is therefore neither the
True nor the Real ; it presents to us nothing but uncertainty and mere
appearance, is the Hindu Maya or Illusion. But the prototypic ideals are
the True and the Real and are like the motionless shadows cast upon run-
ning water, they resist the force of change and motion, and aff’ord a true
277
basis for the understanding of the things. This conception is Oriental but
also that of Pythagpras and Plato. (Corap. Aristotle’s Metaphysics i, 6.)
This highest ideal world was called by the Jews, the Heaven of Heavens.
How are we to bridge this chasm between the Real divine and the
Un-Real human, the absolute ideas and the ideas in us? This is the
stumbling block of Kant, Hamilton and Plato, as it is of all philosophy.
The Theosophists and Mystics have endeavored to solve it through the
ecstatic condition, but how successfully is for the reader to judge.
** A hair, perhaps, divides the False and True,
Yes : a single Alif were the clue —
Could you but find it— to the Treasure-house
And peradventure, to the Master too.”
The Hebrew Qabbalah teaches, that sound is the inner soul of color,
and that the rhythmus is the inner spirit of all life, and for this reason,
the lower life by its conformity with the rhythmic motion of the upper
heavenly life, is drawn towards it and is merged in its prototype ; be-
cause similar affect similar, in a peculiar, unknown or magical manner.
For this reason not only among the Israelites but in the culte of all the
Pagan nations, the play of colors and the sounds of music act in accord ;
this is clearly set forth in the ancient books of the Chinese. So we have
the 7 colors, 7 in the musical scale, also 7 vowels, all apparently in affinity.
The Zohar also says : *’ ‘ To whom then will ye compare Me, or to
whom shall I be equal ? Says the Holy One ‘ (Is. xl, 25). Among all the
creatures, although created in my similitude, there is not one like Me. I
can even destroy the form, in which I may show Myself to the world,
and reproduce the manifestation of Myself, repeatedly in many different
(forms). No other Deity is above Me, who can destroy My form.
Therefore it is said in the Scripture ; * Our Rock (Deity) is not like their
rock (deity), our enemies may judge for themselves.* (Deut. xxxii, 31.)
But should some one say : It is said : * Ye have seen no manner of simili-
tude,* (Deut. iv, 15 ;) to him can be answered : In this one form, we have
seen YHVH, of which it is said of Moses, * the likeness of YHVH shall
he behold ‘ (Num. xii, 8), but not under any other similitude ; with
justice the prophet, says : ‘ To whom will ye compare Me ? * To whom
will ye compare YHVH? What form shall represent the Supreme?
278
(Is. xl, i8.) Because form is not an attribute of the Supreme in Its Place
(Ma-gom, t, ^., Abode or Reality), but the Holy One has condescended to
govern the universe and to spread Its Glory (She’kheen-ah) over all the
created (therein), It therefore appears (through the She’kheen-ah) to each
one, according to his (that man’s), comprehension, insight, and imagina-
tion. This is the meaning of the verse : ‘ Through prophetic images and
representations * (Hosea xii, lo). Elohim (God) therefore speaks in the
above text, as if saying : Although I represent Myself to you, in your
own form, yet you cannot compare me to any Thing. Before the Deity
had created any form in this (our) universe, before the Holy One had
brought forth any image. It was alone, without form, and without any
similitude whatever, who can conceive of the Supreme Deity as It was
before the creation, for It then was formless ? It is therefore prohibited
to represent the Supreme Holy One under any kind of image or under
species of form, yea even by Its Holy Name, by a letter or by a point.
To this refer the following words : * Ye saw no manner of similitude on
the day that YHVH spake with you ‘ (Deut. iv, 5). That is, ye saw not
anything, that ye could represent under any kind of form, or species of
image. But after the Deity had emanated the form of the Upper
Man (Adam Illa-ah), It used the same, as a chariot (Merkd)ah), so as to
descend (through it) ; It desired to be named after this fornix which is the
Sacred Name YHVH, It desired that it be known, according to Its
attributes, according to each attribute separately, and It permitted Itself
to be called: ‘Elohim of Mercy;’ ‘Elohim of Justice (or Righteous-
ness)*; ‘Almighty One’; ‘Elohim of Tze’ba-oth ‘ ; and the ‘ Existing
One.’* The Deity intended thereby, that Its attributes (qualifications)
be recognized by its creatures and that it be known, how Its Mercy and
Compassion extended throughout the entire universe, as well as Its poten-
tiality (energy and power). For if It had not diffused Its Light upon all
Its creatures how could we know the Deity ? How could be accom-
plished, that which is written (Is. vi, 3) : * The world is full of Its Glory ? ‘
Woe to the man who even compares the Holy One with Its own attri-
butes, much less with those of man himself, who came from the earth and
who falls into corruption. We must consider the Deity as exalted above
*Comp. with this the 13 Middoth. Exod. xxxiv, 5-8.
279
all creatures and all attributes, but beyond that which the attribute ex-
presses we cannot conceive of the Supreme. If we divest the Deity of all
these things, if we leave (to It), neither an attribute, nor an image, nor a
form, the remainder is like a far stretching ocean ; for the waters of the
ocean in and for themselves, are boundless and formless, and it is only
when they spread themselves upon the earth, that they assume an image
or a form {Ditnyon), We can now make the following calculation : the
source of the water of the ocean and the flume or stream of water proceed-
ing from the source, so to spread itself further, are two, A great reser-
voir is then formed, just as if a huge hollow or excavation had been
dug ; this reservoir is called, ocean, and is the third. This unfathomable
depth, ocean, then divides into seven streams, resembling seven long
Kailem, /. ^., Vessels (or Vases). The source, the flume or stream, the
ocean, and the seven streams {Kailetn) together make ten. And if the
Master breaks these vessels which he has made, the waters return to the
source, and then remain only the fragments of these vessels, dried up and
without any water. It is in this way, the Cause of All Causes, emanated
the Ten Sephiroth. Kether, the Crown, is the source from which streams
forth an unceasing infinite Light : hence the name Ain Soph (the End-
less, or Infinite) by which the Highest Cause is designated : for It (in its
Supreme Absoluteness) has neither form nor formation and there is not
any means whereby to comprehend it or in any way 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.) The
Deity then emanated a vessel, as small as a (mathematical) point, like the
letter ‘ (Yod) which is filled from this source (/. ^., the Ain Soph) by the
Divine Light. This is the source of Wisdom, nay it is Wisdom itself !
This was the Sephirah ‘Hokhmah, after which the Supreme Cause, allowed
Itself to be called : * Wise God.’ After this It made a great vessel resem-
bling the ocean, this is called (Binah) Intelligence (or Understanding) :
hence comes the name ‘ Intelligent God.’ But it must, however, be un-
derstood in this connection, that the Deity is Wise and Intelligent
through Itself alone, for Wisdom does not of itself deserve its name
through itself, but only through the Wise One, who has filled it with the
Light which flows from Itself; just so Intelligence is not comprehended
28o
through itself, but through the Being who is intelligent, and fills it with
Its own substance. The Deity needs only to withdraw Itself and Intelli-
gence would be dried up and useless. This is also the meaning of the
words * As the waters run out from the sea, (perhaps, lake) and the bed
of a river becomes dry and parched up. ‘ (Job xiv, 1 1 . Comp. Is. xix,
5.) The ocean is finally, divided as if into seven streams, and the seven
costly Vessels (^Kailem or the Sephiroth) are produced, which are called :
^Hesed Mercy or Grace, and Ge’dool-ah, /.^., Grandeur; Ge^boar-ah (Judi-
cial Strength); TipKe-reth (Beauty); Ne-iza’k (Triumph or Victory);
Hod (Glory) ; Ye’ sod (Foundation or Basis) ; and Malkhutk (Kingdom).
Therefore (answering to these attributes or Sephiroth) the Deity is called :
the Great or Merciful; the Mighty; the Glorious; the God of Victory;
the Creator, to whom all Glory appertains and Space belongs, and the
Foundation of all Things. Upon the last attribute all the others are based,
as well as the totality of the worlds. Finally, . the Deity is also King of
the Universe, for everything is in Its power ; It can diminish the number
of the Vessels, and increase in them the Light which streams from them,
or reduce it, just as it pleases the Holy One. For these Vessels, It made
subordinate to them and for their use, a Throne, which has four feet and
six steps, together ten. (Note. This is the second world, Beriah, or
B’ree-ah, see hereafter.) Subordinate to this Throne for its use, the Holy
One created, ten Hosts of Angels, finally It created Samael and his hosts,
which are used by the Angels as clouds, upon which they descend to
earth, or, as if horses, upon which they ride. So it is said in the Scrip-
ture : * Behold YHVH rides upon swift clouds, coming to Egypt, and
the gods (elohim) of Egypt tremble before Him.’ *’*
The Zohar calls the First World D’yook-nahy i. e., form or
image. It is that of Adam Illa-ah, the Celestial Prototypic Adam or
Man. The Second World Kur^sey-ah, t\ e., the Throne. The Third
World Mala’hay-ah, i, e., the Angels, and the Fourth, our Matter- World,
Galgooleeniy /. vestment or ” garment of God.*’ The Zohar tells us ; ” When the Hid-
den of all the Hidden, willed to manifest Itself, It first made a point
* Is. xix, I. Zohar ii, 42^3^ 2 Bo.
28l
(Kether, the first Sephirah also called A’reekh An-peen), shaped it into a
Sacred Form (/. e., the totality of all the Sephiroth, the Adam lUa-ah, or
Adam Qadmon) and covered it with a rich and splendid garment, that is
the universe.” Ibid,, i, 2«.) Ibn Gebirol starts out with this idea in the
commencement of his Me’qdr ‘Hay-ylm.
The idea of a first ideal or prototypic androgenic Man is of great an-
tiquity in the metaphysical religions of the Orient, and we think, may
be found in the oldest writings of the Akkadians, Babylonians, Chalde-
ans, Hindus, Chinese and Egyptians: even in the Greek philosophy,
especially in Plato, and in Philo Judaeus and St. Paul, and there are
images of the Great Man in Daniel and Ezekiel. (In Plato see the Sym-
posium. Prof. Jowett’s Plato, i, pp. 506-9. Geo. Burges* Plato, iii,
pp. 508-14.) It appears also among the aborigines of America. (Comp.
Plates a/i/^, pp. 120, 142, 157, 164.)
It must also be noted that each Sephirah of this trinity of triads is also
considered as containing within itself a triad, viz :
I. It has its own absolute characteristics; — ^Therefore is the Special.
II. Is passive and receiving that from above ; — ^Therefore is the Concrete.
III. It is active and emanating to that which is below ; — ^Therefore is the
Universal.
The Zohar (iii, 288^) says : ” Just as the Holy Ancient is represented
by the number three, so all the other lights (Sephiroth) are of a threefold
nature.” However within this triad in each Sephiroth is a unit, and in
this trinity of triads, there is also a trinity of units in the totality of all
the Ten Sephiroth. Three of the Sephiroth ; Kether, Tiph’e-reth and
Malkhuth, constitute, as we have seen, the uniting links or harmony be-
tween the three pairs of the oppositions, the male and the female, or the
positive and negative ; and thereby are produced, the Intellectual, Ethi-
cal, and Material worlds in unison as a triad ; and these three Sephiroth
together, form the Middle Pillar of the Sephirothic Tree or Diagram.
From the important positions they occupy, each of these Sephiroth is
considered, as representing the World or condition of which it is the
harmony. The division is perpendicular in three Columns or Pillars.
I. That on the Right, known as the Active, Positive Male side, or Pil-
lar of Mercy {Sithrai Yemeen-ah amoodah D’ Hesod) \ is composed of the
282
three Sephiroth on that side which are usually called, Wisdom, Mercy,
Firmness.
II. That on the Left, is the Passive, Negative, Female side, or Pillar of
Judgment {Sithrai D’samaiah amoodah D* DeenaK)^ representing the
principle of Rigor or Punishment. It is composed of the three Sephi-
roth on that side, usually called ; Intellect, Judgment (also Fear) and
Splendor.
III. The four Sephiroth in the Centre of the Tree or Diagram, repre-
senting Mildness {Ra^ ha-mayoon), composed of the harmonies of the
triads, is called the Middle Pillar {Amoodah D’ amzoothah),
I. Kether, the Crown, the Brain ; is used to designate the Intellectual
World, and represents, the Neshamah, the Spirit.
II. Tiph*e-reth, Beauty, the Heart ; is used to designate the Ethical world.
It is called the King or Holy King and represents Rua’h, the Soul.
III. Malkhuth, Kingdom, which unites and merges in itself all the Sephi-
roth, is used to represent the Material World, instead of Ye’sod,
Foundation, which is termed, the Hidden or Suppressed Sephirah.
Malkhuth in this capacity is called, the Queen {MaikhooihaK) or the
Matron {Matro’ neethaK). It represents Nephesh, the Animal Vitality
or Body. The energy, potency, and power of all the Sephiroth, are
therefore considered to be, in Kether, Tiph*e-reth, and Malkhuth ;
but Malkhuth, the Queen, theShe’kheen-ah, contains all in harmony.
Kether, the Crown, is the representative of the manifested spiritual
substance of the Absolute. Is the Unity in number, the Supreme One.
Tiph’e-reth, Beauty, the highest perfection of life and ethics, has its rep-
resentative in the planetary world in the spirit or energy of the Sun,
whose light gives vitality and preservation to all the created on this earth.
It is the representative of the Ideal Beauty or Goodness.
Malkhuth, Kingdom, is the re-united action of all the Sephiroth, the
Real Presence of the Deity in the midst of Its creation ; the She’kheen-ah
or Glory of YHVH Elohim, of Adonai, the Lord, and is the immanent
energy of all the emanated Things. Its representative in the planetary
world is the Moon. These three constitute the column of the Middle, a
Triad.
283
The Crown is always A’reekh An-peen, the Great Face or Long in
Aspect.
Beauty, is the Holy King, or, the King.
Malkhuth, Kingdom, is the She*kheen-ah, the Queen, the Matro’nee-
thah, the Divine Presence. Its representative is the spirit or energy of
the Moon, of the planet which obtains all its light from the Sun; the ruler
of the lowest planetary sphere in connection with the earth. The
existence on this earth the Qabbalah holds, is only a reflection or image,
of the great Ideal Beauty or Goodness in the Above.
As to the active energies of the King and Queen, whom the Qabbalists
frequently term, the T\uo Faces. (Zohar, iii, fol. lo^.) These form an
androgenic principle whose constant endeavor is to shed upon the world
new life and kindnesses and preserve and perpetuate, under the Will of
the Supreme Deity, the work of the original creation. The reciprocal af-
finity of the Two Faces, operates in two ways, sometimes it is from Above
to Below, then the existence and life go out of the Highest World affect-
ing the objects of nature ; sometimes on the contrary, it goes from the
Below to the Above, that is from this, our world of illusion, change and
unreality, to the real and true and Absolute, Above ; and takes back to
the Highest, the existences entitled to such a return.
One of the earliest writings after the period of Ibn Gebirol, which sets
forth the system of the Qabbalah philosophically ; that has escaped the
general destruction of the Hebrew writings in the Middle Ages, is the
Commentary on the Ten Sephiroth, by R. Azariel br Azriel ben Mena-
‘hem, perhaps, ben Solomon ; also called by some of the Jewish authors of
the XIII century, Ezra. He was bom in Valladolid, Spain, circa 1160
A. D. and is said to have died in 1238, aged 78. He was distinguished as
a Philosopher, Talmudist, Qabbalist, and Commentator on the Hebrew
Holy Writings, and he tells us, that he travelled much in search after the
Secret Wisdom. He is said to have been a pupil of the celebrated Qab-
balist R. Yitz-haq the Blind, and master of the erudite Qabbalist R. Moses
ben Na’hman (Nachmanides) called by the Jewish authors, acrostically,
RaMBaN. Azriel wrote a number of works, some of which have reached
our day in MSS. , others, which were printed at an early date. The one
we are most interested in is his : Sha-aloth u-ih^ shooboth al eser Sefhiroth,
284
/. ^., Explanation of the Ten Sephiroth in Questions and Answers. In
the edition of Warsaw of 1798, at the end, is : ** He who wishes to be-
come wise must turn towards the South,” 1. ^., towards the Sephirah
Tiph’e-reth, Beauty; symbolized by the spirit of the Sun, the potency of
the South. ” He who desires to become rich must turn towards the
Sephirah Tzad-dek, Righteousness ; which is the potency of the North,
and a memorial sign for thee is : The Table is in the North, the Candlestick
in the South. * And to my maker I will ascribe (give) righteousness/
(Job xxxvi, 3,) refers to the saying : ‘ The She*kheen-ah is in the West,’
which means that the West is awer-YaH^ /.^., the gether (azoth) of Adonai
(the Lord), and Or YaHy /. ^., the * Light of the Lord,’ and that is the
She*kheen-ah. As to the question whether (in this wisdom) there is a giver
and a receiver, the (position and work of the) Cherubim may answer, for
they appear like man and wife and such is the love for you which comes
from the Holy One, Blessed be His Name ! We read (Job xxiii, 13) *And
his soul desireth her and he acts * and in Isaiah vi, 3, ‘ And one calleth
to the other ‘ which the Targum translates : * And they receive one from
another.’ At times each doeth for himself, at times they do alike, at
•
times one doeth the work of the other, and at times they reverse their
work. (Job, xxiii, 8-10.) With reference to which the Rabbins say : Great
is the power of the righteous (j^^t) for they turn the quality of Severity
(Fear or Rigor) into the quality of Mercy (Grace), but the wicked do the
contrary and where there is a lacking the work is cut off, and such an one
is called Tumtum, /. ^., stopped up. Concerning such an one it is said :
(Job xxvi, 9,) * He closed the Face of the Throne, He spread His cloud
over it ‘ ; and it is also written : (Prov. xxv, 2,) ‘ The honor of Elohim
(God) is to conceal a thing. ‘ And these things are proceeded with in
the fourth wake of the night and in the fourth wake of the day of their
festival. So far the words of R. Azriel which he received from Moses ben
Na’hman.” Azriel tells us when he first expounded in Spain, the Secret
Wisdom which had been taught to him through Tradition, he was derided
by the philosophers under the influence of Aristotelianism, who only held
that to be true which could be expounded and proved, logically. For
their instruction, he therefore endeavored to give the Secret Wisdom a
285
logical dress. Azriel belonged to that Qabbalistic system which was ex-
pounded by the School of Gerona.*
The following is a translation of the condensed analysis of the, Com-
mentary on the Sephiroth, as made by Dr. Jellinek according to Spinoza’s
form of Ethics, t
Definition I. By the Being who is the originator and governor of all
Things, I understand the Ain Soph, /. ^., an infinite Being, unlimited
and with Itself absolutely identical, united in Itself; without attributes,
will, intention, desire, thought (idea), word or action. Answers 2
and 12.
Definition II. By Sephiroth, I understand the potencies emanating from
the Absolute Ain Soph, emanating as the by quantity limited entities,
which like the will, which without changing its nature, wills the different
objects that are the possibilities of the multifarious Things. (Ans. 3
and 9.)
Proposition I. The primary cause and governor of the world is Ain
Soph, who is as well immanent as transcendental. (Ans. i.)
Proof (a). Each effect is the result of a cause, and every thing that
has order and is according to a design (plan) has a governor. (Ans. i.)
Proof (b). Everything visible is limited, whatever is limited is finite,
whatever is finite is not absolutely identical ; the primary cause of the
♦ He is known to us principally by “The Commentary on the Ten Sephiroth by way
of Questions and Answers ” which first was made known in the Derekh Emoonah, f . ^.,
Path of Holiness, by Meier Ibn Gubbai, Padua, I563,and the Avodoth haq-Qadosli, f. g.,
the Service of Holiness, called also. The Vision of the Lord, Mantua, 1545; subse-
quently it is to be found in ” A Collection of Qabbalistic Treatises,*’ by Gabriel War-
schawer, Warsaw, 1798. It was republished, Berlin, 1850. Comp. also Dr. Hirsch
Graetz, Ceschichie der Juden^ vii, p. 448 sq, and Dr. A. Jellinek’s Beitrage lur Ge-
schichteder Kabbala. Leipzig, 1852, Vol. i, pp. 62-66, ii, 32 sq.
t See Beitrage, etc. ; just cited. Vol. i, p. 61 zq. The statement in. The Kabbalah Un-
veiled, etc.; by S. L. Mac-Gregor Mather, London, 1887, p. 38, as far as it implies the
origin of the subject matter as by Dr. Jellinek is not correct, Mr. Mather is also incorrect
(p. 15) in his statement as to the books contained in the Zohar ; ^ and e, 26 and 27, are
not in it. Nes^hamah and Nepesrh used by Mr. Mather are German, in English, the
extra c is not necessary.
286
world is invisible, consequently is unlimited, infinite, absolutely identical,
/. e,y it is the Ain Soph. (Ans. 2.)
Proof (c). As the primary cause of the world is infinite, so nothing
can exist outside (without, or extra) to It ; consequently It is immanent.
(Ans. 2.) ^
Scholion. As the Ain Soph is invisible and exalted, so also is it the
root of both faith (belief) and of unbelief. (Ans. 2.)
Proposition II. The mediaries between the absolute Ain Soph and the
material world, are the Sephiroth.
Proof. As the material world is limited and not perfect, therefore it
cannot proceed directly from the Ain Soph ; still the Ain Soph must
exert Its influence over it, for in the opposite case Its perfection would
cease. Consequently the medium must be the Sephiroth, for they in
their intimate connection with the Ain Soph are perfect, and in their sev-
erance, imperfect. (Ans. 3.)
Scholion. As all that exists originated by means of the Sephiroth, so
there is an upper, a central (higher), and a lower, degree of the material
world. (See below. Proposition VI.)
Proposition III. The mediating Sephiroth are ten.
Proof. Each body has three dimensions (length, breadth and depth),
each one of which repeats the other (3X3 = 9); and if we add thereto
the relation of Space in general, the result will be the number ten. As
the Sephiroth are the potencies of all that is limited, there must be ten.
(Ans. 4.)
Scholion (a). The number ten does not stand as a contradiction of the
absolute unity of the Ain Soph, as one is the basis of all numbers, plu-
rality proceeds from unity, the germ includes the development, just as
fire, flame, sparks and the color, have one basis, although each is different
from the other. (Ans. 6.)
Scholion (b). Just as all cogitation or thought and even the mind as a
cogitated object, is limited, becomes concrete and has a measure ;
although thought abstractly proceeds from Ain Soph ; so the attributes
of the Sephiroth are, limit, measure and concretion. (Ans. 7.)
Proposition IV. The Sephiroth are emanated and not created.
Proof I. As the absolute Ain Soph is perfect so also must the Sephiroth
28;
proceeding therefrom be perfect; therefore they are not created.
(Ans. 5.)
Proof II. All that is created decreases through abstraction ; the Sephi-
roth do not decrease, for their activity never ceases ; consequently they
cannot be created. (Ans. 5.)
Scholion. The first Sephiroth was in the Ain Soph as a dynamis (power)
before it became a reality; then the second Sephirah emanated as a
potency for the Intellectual World ; later the other Sephiroth emanated
for the Moral World and the World evident to our senses, /. ^., the Mate-
rial and Natural World. But this does not imply a prius and postertuSy or
a gradation in the Ain Soph, but just as an ordinary light contains, as in
an unity in itself, the lights kindled from it which also give light sooner
or later and differently, so the Ain Soph embraces all in a unity.
(Ans. 8.)
Proposition V. The Sephiroth are both active and passive {maqabel
v^meth-qabaf) emanating and receiving in themselves.
Proof. As the Sephiroth do not abolish the unity of the Ain Soph, so
each one of the preceding receives from its predecessor and imparts to
its successor, /. ^., is at the same time both active (imparting) and
passive (receptive). (Ans. iii)
Proposition VI. The first Sephirah is termed Rflm Ma’a-leh, /. ^.,
Inscrutable Height; the second ‘Hokhmah, /. ^., Wisdom; the third
Binah, /. ^., Understanding; the fourth ‘Hesed, /. ^., Love; the fiflh
Pa* had, /. <r., Fear; the sixth Tiph*e-reth, /. ^., Beauty; the seventh Ne-tza’h, /. ^., Firmness; the eighth Hod,/. ^., Splendor; the ninth Tzad-dek Ye’sod 01am, /. ^., the Righteous are the Foundation of the World ; the tenth Tzad-dek, /. ^., Righteousness. Scholion (a). The first three Sephiroth form the World of Thought (Idea) ; the next three, the World of Soul ; the last four, the World of Corporeity ; they therefore [correspond to the Intellectual, Ethical and Material, Worlds. (Ans. 10.) Scholion (b). The first Sephirah stands in relation to the Soul in so far as the latter is termed Ye*hedah, /. ^., Unity; the second, in so far as it is named *Hay-yah, /. e,y the Living; the third in so far as it is named Rua’h, /. ^., Spirit; the fourth in so far as it is named Nephesh, /. e,. 288 Vital Principle; the fifth in so far as it is named Neshamah, /. e.^ Soul ; the sixth acts upon the blood ; the seventh upon the bones ; the eighth upon arteries and veins ; the ninth upon the flesh ; and the tenth upon the skin. (Ans. lo.) Scholion (c). The first Sephirah is like the hidden (concealed) light ; the second like the blue of the firmament; the third like the yellow ; the fourth like the white ; the fiflh like the red ; the sixth like the white-red ; the seventh like the whitish-red ; the eighth like the reddish-white ; the ninth like the white-red-whitish-red-reddish-white; the tenth like the light reflecting all the colors which display light. (Ans. 9.)* Scholion (d). The gradation of the Sephiroth is as follows : Left. Rftm Ma’a-leh Right. Inscrutable Height. Binah, Understanding. Pa’ had, Fear. Hod, Splendor. Tiph’e-reth, Beauty. ‘Hokhmah, Wisdom. ‘Hesed, Love. Ye’sod Olam, Foundation Ne-tza’h, Firmness, of the World (Universe). Tzad-dek, Righteousness. This s)rstem of the Speculative Qabbalah, R. Azriel argues to prove, was contained in the Old Testament. The noticeable features of this early catechism of the Qabbalah, are : I. The different names and arrangement of some of the Sephiroth. IL That Sephirah is the metaphysical category of number. III. The decade of the Sephiroth is based upon the idea of Space with its three dimensions. Length, Breadth and Depth. IV. The metaphysical idea of limit he uses in explanation of the concretion of the potencies of numbers. * This may refer to the colors of Ze*ir An-peen of the Idroth. XV. THE SEPHIROTH AS BETWEEN THE DEITY AND AMONG THEBCSELVES. THE PRAYER OF ELIYAH. VITAL questions early arose among the Qabbalists as to the Sephi- roth, among these were : What is their affinity as between them- selves? What is their affinity with the Deity? The Zohar strongly implies that they are the Names of the Deity ; for the Names of the Deity are the only content in our minds of our ideas as to the Deity, and if the Deity could not be named, the Deity could not be known to r or grasped by man’s mind for the entirety of the Divine Names are only symbols of the Deity in the matter-world. If intelligent it must be assumed that the Deity has intellect ; if wise, Wisdom ; if active. Energy or Power, etc. The second question has caused more dispute. Some considering the Deity as immutable saw in the Ten Sephiroth only kailem vessels, organs or instruments ; of the Divine potentiality, energy and action ; creatures of a superior nature but wholly distinct from the Holy One. R. Azriel, before mentioned, holds they were not created but emanated, and although mediums, when separated, were not of value and were con- tained in Ain Soph. In his third Introduction to Canticles, he says : ” And He made them (the Sephiroth) measures (qualities) and organs, subjecting them to limits;” in his Commentary, p. 27^, he says; “The measures were completed and became organs.” His idea was, that the power of the Sephiroth came by emanation and existed, by it and imma- nation, through the potency of the Ain Soph in each and all ; when that was withdrawn they all became as empty shells or vases. In other words they were not essential attributes and did not destroy, the unity of Ain Soph. The learned MenaMiem Reccanati of Italy, is also a representative of 19 290 this School. Many others completely identified the Ten Sephiroth with the Divine Substance, considered them as mDVj» essences; and held, not anything comes from nothing. The Ain Soph, with them, is the total assemblage of all the Sephiroth. The author of the writing ; The Shield of David is a representative of this school. Between the two is a third, those who without considering the Sephiroth as only instruments or tools, do not wish to identify them with the essence of the Deity. The Absolute One, they say ; is immanent in all the Sephiroth and reveals Itself through them, but does not entirely dwell in them, they can never include the Infinite. Each Sephirah has a well-known name, but the Supreme Holy One has not any definite Name which expresses all the Deity really is. By this they endeavor to escape any reflection upon any asserted forgetfulness on their part, of the immutability of God. We must admit, the Sephiroth have not any positive reality, nor have they any existence peculiar to themselves, they only represent, symbolically,, the limits within which as ideality and spiritual potentiality and energy^ the unknowable to man’s mind Supreme Essence, chooses to manifest Itself to man’s intellect; they are only the different gradations and degrees of obscurity, in which, the Divine Light, has been willing to veil its dazzling, supreme and infinite splendor ; so as to manifest Itself partly to Its creatures and permit man to meditate upon and contemplate his Deity in his thought. We have therefore to recognize in each Sephirah two aspects; one, the exterior, the negative, the body or vessel itself; the other, the interior, the positive, which is assumed to be in perfect union or affinity with the interior Unknown Essence or Divine Light. The ” broken vases’* which have let the Divine Light escape, are there- fore spoken of. This is a view taken by both the Ancient and Modern Qabbalists.* The writing called, the Prayer of Eliyahf throws much light upon the subject we have just discussed, it says : ** Lord of the Universe, Thou • Comp. Yits-haq Luriah’s Sepher D^rushiniy Introduction. This writing may be found in the Kabbala Denudata of Baron Christian Knorr von Rosenroth ; see also Moses Cor- dovero’s Pardes Rimonimt 1. ^., Garden of Pomegranites, fol. 21-23. Cordovero is the most logical and profound philosopher of the Modem Qabbalistic School. f In the Tiqqooneh haz-Zohar, Pref. ii, ad init. 291 art One only, but not according to number.* * Thou art the most Exalted of all the Exalted, the most Hidden of all the Concealed : not any con- ception grasps Thee ; Thou hast brought forth ten forms {Jiq-qooneeni) which we call Sephiroth ; in order to guide by means of them, as well the unknown and invisible, as also, the visible worlds ; Thou dost Veil Thyself in them, and whilst Thou dost tarry in them, their harmony remains undisturbed ; and whoever shall represent them to himself, as divided, to him it shall be accounted, as if he separated Thy unity, f These ten Sephiroth, gradually develope themselves in degrees (or grada- tions), one is long, the second, short, the third, between them, J but Thou art He who guideth them whilst Thou Thyself, be it from Above or Below, art not guided by any one.§ For these Sephiroth Thou hast prepared garments, || which serve the human souls as points of transition.^ Thou hast also enshrouded them (the Sephiroth), in bodies so-called in *This refers to Ain Soph: the idea is also in Gebirol’s Me*qdr Hay-ytm. Comp. iv Bk. The Supreme Deity has not any number, unity of substance or inherence. f The Sephiroth are considered only as spiritual elements of the worlds, by means of which, the Deity came in connection with the entire universe. The Sephiroth later form one potential connected whole, the Makrokosm, Adam Illa-ah or Adam Qadmon, the Heavenly or Ideal Man; through the potentiality of the Deity pervading it. It is the same wisdom, which we admire in the construction of a worm, gaze at in the revo- lution of the planets, and find in the highest Seraph ; so it must, like the essential parts of an organism, reciprocally penetrate and complete itself in the Sephiroth as a totality. The Qabbalah teaches that each Sephirah contains, the principles of all the others, only in each separate Sephirah, a certain peculiar principle apparently preponderates, yoel^ Relig, Philos, Sohar^ p. 287. {The Commentators explain this, as the principle of Mercy i^Hesect)^ the Long Suffer- ing Divinity is the Long in Aspect ; that of Fear {Pa* had) or Strength (G^boor-ah) the opposition to the Divine Long Suffering, is the Anger, Judgment, and Punishment, and is the Short in Visage, between these is the Harmony, the Temperate, Judgment tem- pered with Mercy. §The Deity although immanent in is yet independent and distinct from, all the Sephiroth. II The Lower worlds considered as shells, covers or crusts, of the Upper. \ The soul before it descends into the matter body, passes through these different steps of development in the Sephiroth. Comp. Joel. Relig. Philos, Sohar^ p. 301. Comp. our Appendix. Supra. 292 comparison with the vestments surroimding them ;* but in the whole to- tality corresponding to the members of the human shape, etc.f Kether^ the Exalted Crown, is the Kingly Crown, of which, it is said : (Is. xlvi, lo) ‘ Knowing the end from the beginning.’ It contains, the Mystery of the Tephillin, /. ^., Phylacteries, J which obtains its true solu- tion in YHVH, which describes the manner of development (the A’tzeel- oothic). It is the source which fructifies the (Sephirothic) Tree§ and * As in the human organism, the Neshamah the thinking mind, which has its seat in the brain ; is sarrounded by the Rua’h, a spirit which dwells in the heart ; and this by the Nephesh, the life spirit permeating the entire body ; and finally all of these are cov- ered with flesh, skin, bones, and then clothing, so in the construction of the universe, the Makrokosmos, in the highest Sephirothic world, the A’tzeel-oothic, is surrounded by the B*ree-atic world, that of Creation or Emanation, the Soul and expressed Will of the Deity ; this by that of Ye’tzeer^h or world of Formation, i, e., the Life Force, and this finally by the world of Action, A’seey-ah, the world of Corporiety, which is the shell or cover. Joel, work cited, p. 273, note 3. Zohar i, 20a. f In the text follows the connection of the Seven Lower Sephiroth, viz : the Six, called the Sephiroth of Construction with the parts of the human body, these Sephiroth being really, the representatives of the dimensions of all matter, the content of the positive and negative poles or extensions of the dimensions. Length, Breadth and Depth, together six ; and the seventh as Malkhuth, t.^., the Kingdom, the rest point or harmony of all, which makes the last and the complement of the decade of the Sephiroth. Kether is applied to the highest point of the head or brain, ^Hokhmak^ to the brain, in general ; the heart as its Sephirah has Binah, Understanding ; the back and breast, Tiph*e-reth ; the arms ^Hesed and Pa’ had, etc. Upon these references the greatest part of the Practical Qab- balah is founded, and asserts magical eflfects, from the use of the Names of the Deity, as applied to the different Sephiroth. Joel. Ibid,, p. 303, note. Franck La KabbaU, p. 203. Zohar, iii, 296. Idrah Zootah. This idea runs through esoteric Hinduism. The works of Lenormant, Sayce and other Assyriologists, show that great similarities existed in the thought of the inhabitants of ancient Mesopotamia with the ideas in the Practical Qabbalah, and with the magic, angelology, demonology, etc., of the Israelites, especially of the Jews. The great colleges of this people in Babylonia probably served to perpetuate this. \ In the Kether, z. e,, the Primordial substance, is contained the germ of all that which has been or will be in the created, whether it be spiritual or gross. Comp. Joel. Ibid., pp. 217 and notes. The knots, etc., of the phylacteries partake of Chaldean Magic, see Lenormant’s Chaldean Magic. \ Joel, ibid., pp. 225, 216; Zohar, ii, 42^. 293 forces the sap through all of its branches and twigs. For Thou art the Lord of the Worlds. Thou art the Foundation of all Foundations, the Cause of all Causes, Thou waterest the Tree from that Source which, like the soul in the body, spreads life everywhere. Thou Thyself hast neither Image nor Form in all that is within or without. Thou didst emanate Heaven and Earth, the Upper and the Lower, the Celestial and the Ter- restrial hosts (angels and spirits.) Thou didst do all this, that the Worlds might know Thee, etc. But no one can conceive Thee in Thy Reality, we only know, that without Thee there is not any unity, neither Above or Below, and we know, that Thou art Lord of All. But beyond this we do not know anything of Thee. Each Sephirah has a destined name, after which also the angels are named, but Thou hast not any certain Name, for Thou art the One filling all Names and giving to them all value as Realities. If Thou shouldst draw back, they all would remain like bodies without souls. Thou art Wise, but not with positive Wisdom ; Thou art Intellectual but not with a fixed Intellect ; Thy Place (Ma-^am />.,
Abode) is not circumscribed, but all these things are (said of Thee) to
make known to man, Thy Power and Thy Omnipotence ; to manifest to
him, how the Universe is guided by means of Punishment (Judgment)
and Mercy (Grace.) If therefore (as to Thy attributes) a Right or Left
or Centre is mentioned, this is only done to show Thy government of the
entire Universe in opposition to ordinary human actions, but not that to
Thee could be imputed in Reality any attribute, one of which would be
Rigor, and another, Mercy ! Arise Rabbi (ben Yo’hai) see that these
doctrines are unveiled through you, for to you and not to any one else
has permission been given to reveal deep mysteries.”
That the totality of the Sephiroth is not the Deity, is set forth in
another place in the Tiqqooneh haz-Zohar. (Tiqqoon 21.) “Woe to
those whose hearts are so obdurate and eyes so blinded, as to consider
the Deity as the totality of Its attributes. Verily ! Verily ! they are like
the insane one, who describes a king as the totality of his insignia. For
behold a king wears his insignia, only so, that through them he may be
known ; Verily, so also, the King of Kings, the Concealed of all the
Hidden, and the Cause of all Causes, disguises Itself in a splendid gar-
ment (/. e,y the entire universe), only that It may be recognizable thereby.
294
so as to thereby, impart to the inhabitants of the earth, a conception of
Its sacred nature. ‘ ‘
We may therefore formulate as to the Sephiroth :
I. They were not created by but only emanated from Ain Soph ; for
by a creation, there would be a diminution of the creator, but by emana-
tion there is not any such diminution.
II. They form together with the Ain Soph an absolute unity, and only
represent different appearances of one and the same Being ; just as the
different rays which proceed from the sun appear different to the human
eye, yet are only different manifestations of one and the same light.
III. All of the Sephiroth alike, partake of the perfections of the Ain
Soph, and the latter is immanent in all of them ; and whilst It, through
them, emanates all the spiritually and materially made ; yet the Ain
Soph is transcendental to and above the totality of all of the Sephiroth and
all the emanated. On the one side they partake of the No-Thing-ness of
the Ain Soph, but on the other side, they emulate and keep in vitality, all
the existing.
IV. As emanations from the Infinite and Perfect Ain Soph, the Sephi-
roth are on the one side infinite and perfect like the Emanator, yet on
the other side, they are finite and through Ain Soph alone, the constitu-
tors and preservers of all the finite, spiritual and material, Things. They
are in the first condition when the Ain Soph imparts a portion of its ful-
ness to them ; in the second, when they impart the fulness Ain Soph has
given to them or as broken vases, when it is withdrawn. They appear to
have something like the double nature which the theologians ascribe to
Christ, who is thought of as having an Infinite and Perfect Divine Nature
on the one side ; and yet on the other side, at the same time, is considered
as having a finite and imperfect, human spiritual and fleshly nature.
V. Together the Ten Sephiroth in their manifestation, constitute and
merge in an unit, and form in their totality the Celestial Adam, the
Mediator; who is the content of the Name YHVH or Adonai, /. e,, the
Lord.
Diagram IV. The Ui
OK THE MEANING OK THE WORDS SEPHIRAH AND SEPHIROTH. ORIGIN OF
THE IDEAS AS TO THE SEPHIROTH. DECADAL DIVISION OF THE COM-
MANDMENTS AND THE lord’s PRAVER,
THE derivation and meaning of the word Sephiroth ; (pronounced,
S’ph-e’rah, sing., S’ph-e’roth, plur.) arc disputed. R. Azriel de-
rives it from 13D Sapheir, to enumerate, to number ;* whilst the
later Qabbalists say it comes from tad Saphtr brightness; (Ps, xix, i)
“The heavens declare the glory {brightneis) of Elohim,” Others derive
ii from the Greek sphairai, i. e., spheres, and are not sure whether to
consider the Sephiroth as principles, drckai, i. e., beginnings; or as sub-
• The Stfher Yt’iod Ha-‘ Hethmelh, p. 2$, also says ; “Sephtiro! arrives from Saphiir
to cnnmerale.”
296
stances, hypost&seis ; or as potencies, dun&metSy /. e.y powers; or as intel-
ligent worlds {kbsmoi noStikai) ; as attributes ; as A^tzamoth entities, or
essences ; or as KaiUm, vessels or organs, of the Deity.
The Sepher Avodoth haq-Qadosh, /. e.y Holy Worship, by R. Meier ben
Gubbai, fol. 16, col. 2, says: “And the author of the Book of Heaven,
Whose memory be blessed ! writes ; From Ain Soph are derived all the
Ten Sephiroth, so as to bring abundant influence upon the Lower World
and that portion to which we can attain by our understanding. The sin-
gular is called ni’flD Sephirah or Narratiotiy from mflD Siphoor which
means, // is permitted to Narrate as to it. For as to Ain Soph it is not,
as we have said, permitted to speak {narrate^. Or we may interpret Sephi-
rah as something ‘ dazzling pure ‘ according to Exodus xxiv, 10; ‘And
under His feet like a work of the whiteness of Sappir (Sapphir).** Or we
may say Sephirah means the end of a thing or its limit, as our Wise^men,
whose memory be blessed ! say : * The city which stands on the border,
Sephar.* To which (meaning) our father Abraham, peace be on him !
points in the Sepher Ye’tzeer-ah, when he says: ‘Sephir, Sephar and
Siphur.'” t
The Sepher Ye’tzeer-ah considers a Sephirah is a number, /. e,y one of
the ten numbers or figures (Sephiroth) instrumental in the creation of the
world. These must not however be considered as identical with the Deity.
It treats the ten numbers, as does the Zohar, as a complete totality, as to-
gether constituting a complete system designating the sum of all, a totality
in their individual quantitative distinction forming, in comparison with the
Supreme, the Mikrokosm or Adam Qadmon,the Primordial Man, the shadow
or manifestation, of the invisible Makrokosm, Ain Soph, who is above all
manifestation and all number to human thought ; the Adam Qadmon in
comparison with the terrestrial man or Adam, being the Makrokosm. The
number ten, from one downwards, together constitutes the whole numerical
* The word Sapphir does not mean according to the Hebrew Wise-men, blue ; but
the color of the pearly which is white and yet in which plays all the colors. It is iri-
descent. Jellinek, BeitrSge, before cited, ii, pp. 25-26. It is like a fine opal or a
crystal in the sun-light, in which all colors blend.
f Comp. BuxtorfTs Works on the term Sephirah, and the * Rabbinical Abbreviations *
under D”^ f. ^., Ten Sephiroth. D”^ equal T1D Sod, i. e.. Secret = 70. See also John
Reuchlin’s and Baron von Rosenroth’s Qabbalistic Writings.
297
system or the entities, from which a]l other numbers are derived ad inJU
niium. This according to the Ye’tzeer-ah is a whole and as a whole is a
mathematical instrument, as it were, in the hands of the Deity in Its
great work of the Creation. The Ye’tzeer-ah does not speak of one or a
first Sephirah^ etc., but always of the Ten Sephiroth, thus not admitting
of any equivocation as to its proper meaning, application and intention.
In the Old Testament the only place where it occurs is Psalm Ixxi, 15 ;
and there it is in the plural Sephoroth : the biblical Hebrew for the singu-
lar, would be Sephorahy i. e., number as the unit or one of number. The
author of the Ye’tzeer-ah uses the post-biblical Hebrew Sephiroth, derived
from Sephirahy numbering, numeration ; which does not occur in this
sense anywhere in the Old Testament, but is used in this meaning in the
Talmudic literature. Number^ as a designation of a quantity which is
more than one, in the Hebrew is mispar, and in the Mishnah and Ge-
mara, minyan. In the Talmud treatise Kil-ayimy beginning, and in sev-
eral other places, we find Sephir iflo also written TflD, as the singular ot
” number,” but ni’flD Sephirah we do not find. This explains the nn’flO
Sephirothy of the book Ye*tzeer-ah, but has not any bearing on the Qab-
balistic Divine Sephirothy which the Qabbalist R. Joseph Chiquitilla (or,
Gikatilla) b. Abraham in the preface to his book Sha-aWeh orahy /. e.y
Gates of Light, interprets as being called so ; “On account of the purity
and brightness of the Sapphire I’flD, from which this word is derived.”
In his preface to the Ta-amey ham-Mitz^ vothy i, e,y Meaning of the Com-
mandments, R. Mena’hem Reccanati, speaks of the Sephiroth as; ** The
attributes of the Holy One, being His own, as the flame is part of a glow-
ing coal, and emanating from Him and thus constituting the medium,
whereby he created the world (universe).” R. Isaac Euchel, (1756-1804
A. D.) rejects the Hebrew origin of the word Sephirah, and gives in its
place the Greek a most correct, for the system of the Sephiroth is delineated in the most
ancient Qabbalistic literature like the delineation of the Ptolemaic plane-
tary system, that is in ten circles or orbits each one surrounding the
other,* of which the first or outer, as the next to the Ain Soph the End-
less to man’s mind No-Thing, represents the ma^ hashab-ah, i, e,y Idea or
* See ante, pp. 100, 210, and the engravings to this chapter.
296
iiaxices, hyposl&seis ; 01 as potencies, duiUimtis, t. e., powere; orwe— •
ligent worids {iismoi noitikoi); as attributes; a& A’tzamoAtsal^ -‘^
essences; or as KaiUm, vessels or organs, of the Deity.
The Sepher Avodoth haq-Qadosh, i. e.. Holy Worship, by R. Mei.
Gubbai, fol. 16, col. 2, says : ” And the author of the Book of Hi
Whose memory be blessed ! writes ; From Aln Soph are di;rived a
Ten Sephiroth, so as to bring abundant influence upon the Lower ^
and that portion to which we can attain by our understanding. Th
gular is called m”DD Sephirah or Narration, from TWO Siphoor*
means, it is permitted to Narrate as to it. For as to Ain Soph it i,
as we have said, permitted to speak (narrate). Or we may interpret &
rah as something ‘dazzling pure’ according to Exodus ^.\iv, to; ‘
under His feet like a work of the whiteness oi Sappir (Sapphir).’* O
may say Sephirah means the end of a thing or its limit, a-^ our Wise-n
whose memory be blessed ! say : ‘ The city which stands on the bon
Sephar.’ To which (meaning) our father Abraham, peace be on hi
points in the Sepher Yc’tzeer^h, when he says: ‘Sephir, Sephar j
Siphur.'” t
The Sepher Ye’tzeer-ah considers a Sephirah is a number, 1. e., one
the ten numbers or figures (Sephiroth) instrumental in the creation oft
world. These must not however be considered as identical witli the Deit
It treats the ten numbers, as does the Zohar, as a complete lolality, as i
gether constituting a complete system designating the sum of all, a totaUl
in their individual quantitative distinction forming, in comparison with lit
Supreme, theMikrokosm or Adam Qadmon, the Primordial M.m, theshadrfT
or manifestation, of the invisible Makrokosm, Ain Soph, who is abovt A
manifestation and all number to human thought ; the Adam Qadmon i0
comparison with the terrestrial man or Adam, being the Makrokosm. Tha
number ten, from one downwards, together constitutes the wliole numerical
” The word Sapphir does not mean according lo (he Hebrew Wise-tiien, blae j btf
the color of (he pearl, whicli U white and ^el in which plays all the colurs, II it iif
descent. Jelljnek, BeilrSge, before cited, ii, pp. 25-36. It is like a fine op«l or
crystal in the sDn-!ight, in which all coloia blend.
f Comp. BuitorfTs Works on the leini Sephirah, and the ‘ Rabbinical AbbreTiitim
under C”” 1. 1., Ten Sephiroth. 0″^ equal US Sod, i. e.. Secret = 70. See rIso Jo
ReucUin’s and Baion von Rosenrolh’s Qabbalistic Writings.
298
I, the Ego, and the last, /.^., the inmost circle, encloses Malkhuth, King-
dom. The Hebraization of a^aXpat in the word nn^flO Sphairoth or as we
read it, Sephiroth, designating the plural ; far from being an isolated ex-
ample of philological license, in the Hebrew, is legalized by common
usage among the ancient Rabbins, and cannot be considered as objection-
able from that point of view.*
The ^^ Ehser Sephiroth b’iee-mah** of the Sepher Ye’tzeer-ah properly
means: ” the ten numbers (i to 10) without anything,” physical, palpa-
ble or visible, in their nature ; ” number** as an entity and abstract idea,
being formless and therefore absolutely endless, as far as man knows, as
Space J which, viewed by mortal eye, is endless and as the real *’ without
any-thing,” the real “no-thing.” Thus Job says: (xxvi, 7,) “He
hangeth (suspendeth) the earth upon b’ leemah” : that is, upon the abso-
lute form, which is equal to endlessness, f In the Qabbalah for the Eh-ser
Sephiros b*iee-mah, as applying to the “ten Sephiroth” (Spheres or
Orbits, Brilliancies, Attributes) of the Infinite, we find Ain Soph, /. ^.,
the Endless, substituted for -57^^-wtf A / but both designations represent
the Endless, Eternal, and therefore the Ineffable, as the Ayin or No-Thing.
Job says (xxvi, 7) the Supreme Holy One “suspendeth the earth upon
b^lee-mahf /. e., nothing or nothingness” equal to, No-Thing and No-
Thingness. Ain Soph is the Eternal but is also according to the Qabbalah,
Ayin or No-Thing, therefore the Eternal No-Thing. For over seven centu-
ries disputes have been maintained as to the meaning of the word, and
the antiquity and origin of the Qabbalistic ideas as to the Sephiroth.
We are of the opinion that Sephirah and Sephiroth refer to the maz-zoi,
i. ^., influences, effluxes or the energies, emanating from and through the
Spirits and Intelligences of the orbits or courses of the planets through
space, and to those effluxes proceeding from the highest heavens surround-
ing our earth, as they were understood to exist by the Akkadians, Chal-
deans, Ancient Hebrews, etc., and most of the Medieval astronomers be-
fore Copernicus. J R. Yekuthiel, Hay Gaon’s brother-in-law, as to whom
* See many such instances given by M. Schawb in a list attached to his French edi-
tion of the Talmud Ye’rushalmi now passing through the Paris press.
f Comp. notes on Job xxvi, in Cahen’s French translation from the original Hebrew.
% See Appendix as to the Chaldean Universe, and engravings to this chapter.
299
Ibn Gebirol wrote an elegy, has left some traces of his Qabbalistic
knowledge which gives us some of the ideas of the Qabbalists of the time
of Ibn Gebirol. He says : ” The seven nuptials of the righteous are
seven pearls, called by the mystics, Sephiroth, in the meaning of Sapphir,
/. ^., pearl, ‘Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and
Seventy elders of Israel ; and they saw the Elohim of Israel. And there
was under His feet, as it were, a paved work of sapphir stone, and as it
were the body of the heaven in its clearness.’ (Exod. xxiv, 9-10.) It
is also found in the version of Rabbin Qesheeshi, in the punctuation of
the book Ye’tzeer-ah, that the word Sephirah, has not anything in com-
mon with ‘Sapheir,’ /. e,y to number, and if thou thinkest there are ten
Sephiroth out of nothing, there would not be any end of their number.
As to the three (Upper), go back, be dumb, search not, for thy thoughts
cannot reach them. And let the opening of thy mouth not be led astray
by any Sephirah, for each Sephirah is a new world in itself and closely
connected with the other one like the flame of a fiery coal. Seven
pearls, with the seven mysteries of prophecies in the mirrors of the be-
holders, are in them ; full of brightness and receiving splendor from the
illuminating mirror (/. ^., the Godhead). Six Sephiroth are full of light,
they are all turned towards each other, and occupy the same throne, ex-
cept the three Supreme Ones. One Sephirah (Kether) is the Holy Inner
Palace of YHVH. And the three together with the six make nine and
constitute the Holy of Holies, and with the one in the middle (Kether)
constitute the entire Ten.”* Hay Gaon also says, the word Sephiroth
does not come from number, but is “analogous to the mystery of the
Ten Worlds, created by them.” f
Some Qabbalists therefore prefer to read : the Doctrine of the Sapphire
or, of the Precious Gem ; or from Exod. xxiv, 10 ; the Doctrine of
Purity or Splendor. The derivation of the name from ” Spheres,” is the
opinion of Yitz-haq Luriah, according to Dr. Henry More in his letter on
the Sepher D’rusheem, by Luriah. Dr. More says, ” He almost seems to
replace for the mysteries of the ancient Kabbala the Aristotelic worlds
(circles or spheres) with their Intelligences.”
♦Jcllinek’s Beitrdge zur Geschichte der Kabbala, Part ii, p. 24.
t Jbid.y p. 12 et seq.
300
Thomas Maurice”^ refers to the name Sephiroth and the offices of the
Sephiroth and says ; that they are called Splendors by the Qabbalists,
because they issue from Ain Soph as the blinding brilliancy of light issues
from the sun. In this connection we will say, that the Or Ain Soph or
Infinite Light, is the idealized blood of the universe, in which there is the
Nephesh, the Vital Soul or Life, of the entire universe. (Gen. ix, 4;
Levit. xvii, 11, 13, 14; Deut. xii, 23-25.) This Light is considered as
the Divine Life or Energy which at the creation and since, has always
permeated by emanation, the entirety of Space ; and which was thought
of as an immeasurable immovable Ocean without limits. Space is termed
by the Qabbalah Maqom, i. ^., the Place, and is a symbol of the Supreme
Deity. It was in use in Philo’s tirae.f It was thought of as the result
of a contraction or centripetal movement. At that instant the Universal
Prototypic Life Adam did not yet exist. To symbolize the beginning of
the existence of this Life Adam or energizing Light, a germ is created, a
vitalized mathematical point, the centre of which the human mind cannot
grasp, a resemblance to the germ life which is the beginning of all human
existence and of all vitality upon our earth. The womb of all vitality,
life and existence in the Universal or the Special, is Space. By a cen-
trifugal movement, the opposition to the centripetal, the energizing
Light, the Divine Life, was projected into and filled the Void, the Space ;
under new conditions and under the form of an immense stream, analo-
gou#to ” the waters of life which gush forth from the Throne of the
Eternal.”! This great source or fountain of the waters of life, becomes
the beginning of a number of vases, the Kailem^ i, ^., Vessels, which are
the Ten Sephiroth or Splendors, § through which, it was asserted, all the
energies, forms and exterior diversities, obtain manifestation ; in their
totality and perfection constituting the Adam lUa-ah, the Celestial
or Upper Adam.
•Indian Antiquities, etc. London, 1800. Vol. iv, p. 180 sq.
t See Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, by Charles Taylor. London, 1877, pp. 53 and
59 and notes.
JJer. ii, 13; xvii, 13; Ezek. xlvii, 1,5,9; Ps. xxxvi, 8, 9. See Cahen’s French
Edit, note to this Psalm, verse 10. Rev. vii, 17; xxii, I.
J These among the Israelites, were later thought of as attached by Twenty-two canals,
the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, making together the 32 Paths.
30I
m
We must note in this connection the three worlds existing in Space.
I. The terrestrial world in which the material man has his power of ac-
tion. II. The known or unknown astronomical world, beyond our field
of action yet within our power of thought and observation. III. The un-
defined world in which we have power to penetrate only in^ur imagina-
tion, in idea, and which is beyond our direct action and our power of
observation. The last may be ranked as the Neshamah, the second as the
Rua’h, and the first as the Nephesh, of the Great Ideal Man, of all coming
within the intellectual conception of the human spirit. The three were
held by the Hebrew mystics as bound together. The Ladder of Jacob is
an emblem of this i^^^-
Especially was this idea in the Primordial Adam, the content of the in-
visible and visible universe, the representative of the spiritual and mate-
rial content of all the brotherhood of spiritual humanity ; the Universal,
or Upper Wisdom or Word which created’ all Things, the Logos of St.
John which created all Things and without whom was not any Thing
made that was made. (John i, 1-3.) The same idea is given by this
Apostle, in the words of Jesus, in the parable of the vine. (Ibid, xv, i sq.)
Philo Judseus holds to the doctrine of Ayin, and that the Infinite Per-
fect Supreme Deity is as No-Thing, and that on the opposite side, appa-
rently far removed, is the visible universe which is imperfect and finite.
Yet that the first named fills and comprises every-Thing. He therefore, like
the Qabbalists, sets forth the intervention of intermediate causes or ener-
gies which are assumed to bridge the hiatus. Philosophy had, before his
time, endeavored to do the same and there existed in his period, the Pla-
tonic theory of Ideas ; the Stoic, of Active Causes ; the Jewish, of Angels ;
and the general Greek, of Daimons. Philo in his formulations used ele-
ments from all of these. He teaches, as does the Qabbalah, that before
the creation of the world of the senses the Deity created perfect spiritual
types, or ideas, of all Things ; these were also thought of as active causes
which brought disorganized matter into order. Through these spiritual
powers the Deity was asserted to act in the universe. They were his min-
isters, the iogoi; by Moses termed angels, by the Greeks, daimons; but these
energies of Philo, like the idea as to the Sephiroth, exist only in the Divine
Thought, are the infinite powers or potentialities of the Infinite God and
302
are an inseparable part of the Divine Existence. Yet we cannot deny
that Philo also gave a personality to the Xdj’ot Ibgoiox ffuvdfistq dunameis ;
he conceived them, both as independent hypostases and also at the same
time, as immanent determinations of the Divine Existence. They are
therefore considered by him on the one side as identical with the Supreme,
so as to make the efflux from the Infinite to the finite, and yet on the
other side as different from the Supreme ; so that the Deity, notwithstand-
ing this participation, might remain transcendental to the world. Philo
does not absolutely limit the number of these powers although he places
the idea of the decade in a very high position. In his treatise, Concern-
ing the Ten Commandments, he speaks of; ” the perfect number of the
decade, which contains every variety of number, both those which are
even and those which are odd, and those which are even-odd, etc. ‘ ‘ * He
also appears to have an idea of the Sephiroth.f
Philo appears to especially distinguish two powers. Goodness and
Might, which go out of and merge in, the Divine Logos ; which is the
root from which all proceed. (Philo., Bohn’s Ed. iii, 95.) The
Logos is with Philo, the potentiality of the Supreme and Its vice-gerent,
angel or arch-angel, which delivers the Deity’s Will, the instrument by
which the Supreme made the world and it is the Creative Word. The
Logos is not only mediator from the Deity to the universe, but it is also
from the world to the Deity. It is the High Priest who makes interces-
sion for the world to God, but although seemingly personal, with Philo
the Logos is also impersonal and neither one nor the other exclusively.
The subject of the doctrines of Philo is extensive and important, both to
the Qabbalah and Greek and Latin Christianity, but we have not space
to go into it in this writing and we refer the student to the admirable
work, A History of the Jewish people in the Time of Jesus Christ, by Dr.
Emil Schiirer, English Ed., before cited, 2nd Division, Vol. iii, p. 320
sq,y and the authorities therein cited ; also to Prof. Adolphe Franck’s La
KabbaUy p. 293 sq,<, for further investigations. Solomon says : ” Wisdom hath builded her house. She hath hewn out her seven pillars.”^ (Prov. ix, i.) *Coinp. Bohn’s Ed. iii, p. 140 sq.^ pp. 92, 97, i, p. 12. ^Ibid, ii, p. 136 iq,y p. 159, p. 320 j^., iii, 95 sq.^ 77-8, 185 sq,^ i, p. 180 j^., p. 426, ii, p. 213 sq. 303 St. John sees, *’sevtn golden candlesticks, and in the midst one like unto a son of man * * * his head and his hairs white like wool, and as white as snow. * * * In his right hand seven stars,” which are the angels of the seven churches and the candlesticks are seven churches. (Apoc. i, 12 sq.) There are also ^^ seven lamps of fire burning before the Throne” of the Supreme “which are the seven Spirits (powers or ministers) of God.” Ibid, iv, S> ^O Most likely, symbols of the seven
elementary and divine energies which control the movement in all
Things, the seven Lower Sephiroth, the seven cords of the lyre of the uni-
verse and the seven energies of the planets.
Before the Throne is the Great Crystal Sea, and in the Throne, but un-
der the Deity, the four animals ; the first like a Lion, the second like a
Calf (Bull ?), the third like a Man, the fourth like a flying Eagle, similar
to the account in Ezekiel, {Ibid, iv, S””^>) ^^^ ^^^ saints sing worthy is
the Lamb to receive Power, Riches, Wisdom, Might, Honor, Glory,
Blessing, the seven virtues. {Ibid, v, 12 sq,) The one on the Throne
has a book sealed with seven seals, which are successively broken by the
Lamb, and when the seventh seal was broken, it was followed by seven
trumpet sounds made by seven angels, and the seventh angets sounding,
produced the Eternal Kingdom (Malkhuth) of ” our Lord and his Christ ”
upon the earth. Apoc. xi, 15, which may be termed the most wonderfiil
and sacred text in the New Testament.
The idea of the Sephiroth of the Qabbalah, may also be found in the
word, Be’resheeth, of Gen. i, which instead of ” beginning ,” can be
read Be-raisheeth, the (Upper) Wisdom, the Word or Will. (See ante,
p. 205^17.) In the Ten ” Saids ” of the same chapter. Seven of which
are applied to the Lower creation, and three to the Spiritual man, the
Heavenly Prototypic or first Adam. The same idea as to the Word,
Will, or Wisdom, is in Proverbs (viii). Psalms (xxxiii, 6), St. John i,
1-15 ; in the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan ben Uzziel on the Pen-
tateuch, and in the Targum Ye’rushalmi.*
It is to be noted that Abraham did not go below 10 when interceding
for the righteous in Sodom. (Gen. xviii, 32-33.) We have already
* Compare notes and glossary to edition of the Targum, by J. W. Etheridge. London,
1865. See anie^ p. 205 sq.
304
referred {ante^ p. 167 and notes) to the 10 angelic divisions in the Tes-
tament of Adam, which is not later probably much earlier, than 300
A. D., and to the 10 angelic divisions in the writings of Dionysius, the
Areopagite; not later likely earlier than 532 A. D. To the 10 mys-
tical Names in Jerome {circa 331-420).*
The Talmud saysrf “With the utterance of ten words was the world
created;” also translated: “By ten sayings the world was created. “J
This refers to the statement in Genesis that the acts of creation are in-
troduced by ; “and Elohim (God) said,” ten times. (Comp. Ps. xxxiii,
6, 9.) In the Yalkut, which begins with, the above quotation from the
Avoth, nine occurrences, are reckoned, the tenth, it says ; is implied in
Be-resheeth, because it, says; “By the ^f^r// (Wisdom) of YHVH, were
the heavens made.” Ibid, In the Pirkey Rabba Eliezer iii, the ten va-
yomer’s, i.e., “He said ;” are reckoned as follows : Gen. i, 3, 6, 9, 11,14,20,
24, 29 ; ii, 18. In the Be’resheeth Rabbah, the first ” saying,” is implied
in the word Be-resheeth of Genesis i, i ; the second, in Gen. i, 2 ; then fol-
low the eight above specified up to Gen. i, 26, ending with the creation of
man. In the Talmud Babli, X.x^z.\Ssjt’^ Hd! geegah^ 12a, it is said : ” Rabbi
Zutrah, son of Tobiyah, said in the name of Rab (Rabbi Areka) : The
universe was created by means of ten words (jybarim)^ viz : ‘Hokhmah
(Wisdom), Binah (Understanding), Daath (Knowledge), Koah (Power or
Might), G’arah (Rebuke, Admonition or authority), Ge’boor-ah
(Strength), Tzad-dek (Justice), Mishpat (Righteousness), ‘Hesed (Grace
or Charity, Love or Compassion), and Ra’h-mim (Mercy). By Wisdom
and Understanding, as it says: (Prov. iii, 19), “YHVH by Wisdom
founded the Earth; by Understanding He (Hu) established the heavens.”
By Daath, as it says: {Ibid, 20), “By His Knowledge the Depths do
burst forth, and the Skies drop down the dew.” By Koa’h and Ge’boor-
ah, as it says: (Ps. Ixv, 7), “Who setteth firmly the mountains by His
♦ See also D. H. Joel, Die Religions-philosophie des Sohar, p. 70. M. H. Landauer.
Liieraturblatt des Orients, 1845. No 22 ; holds that the Zohar speaks less of the Sephi-
roth than other Qabbalistic writings of the time. The ten mystical Names speak for
the antiquity of the Qabbalah.
t PHrkey Avoth, c. 5. Mish. i. Hershon’s Talmudic Miscel. London, 1880, p. 144.
t Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, etc., by Charles Taylor. Cambridge, 1877, p. 92 sq.
3°5 .
Power, who is girded by Might.” By Ge’oroh, as it says : (Jobxxvi, ii),
” The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his Reproof.”
By Tzad-dek and Mishpat, as it says: (Ps. Ixxix, 15), ”Righteousness
and Justice are the prop of Thy throne, Kindness and Truth, precede
Thy presence.” By ‘Hesed and Ra*h-mim, as it says: (Jbid, xxv, 6),
” Remember, O YHVH ! thy tender Mercies; and thy Kindnesses; for
they are from (^Olam) everlasting.”* Hay Gaon (997-1037 A. D.) knew
of the Sephirothic symbolism of the Light and mention is made by him
of ‘Hokhmah, Wisdom; Ge’boor-ah, Strength; Ye’sod, Foimdation;
Ma’h-shab-ah, Thought, etc.f Elsewhere it is said : He created by the
letter n (Heh) the symbol of Binah, the Holy Spirit, />., ” By the breath
of His mouth.” (Ps. xxxiii, 6.) Sometimes n^iwi ‘3 Be-Raisheeth, /. ^.,
By Wisdom, is read; instead of Be’resheeth, Beginning (Gen. i, i).J
The Babylonian Talmud, treatise Be’ra-khoth, fol. 7^, has the follow-
ing : ” Rabbi Yo-‘ha-nan said in the name of Rabbi Yo-seh : How can it
be demonstrated that the Holy, Blessed be He ! {Haq-qadosh bfi-mkh
hu)y prays ? From the passage in Isaiah Ivi, 7 : * Even these will I
bring to My holy moimtain, and make them joyful in the house of My
prayer^ (^be’ baith Je’pheel-lathee, properly: My house of prayer ^ but used
* R. Samuel Edels in his Kheddusha Haggadoth, at this passage, identifies these with
the Ten Sephiroth. Comp. D. H. Joel, Die Religiom-philosophU des Sohar^ etc. Leip-
zig, 1849, p. 86. Lutterbeck, DU Neutestanuntlichen Lehrbegriffe, etc. Mainz, 1852,
p. 238, note 4.
fSce Moses ben Schem-Tob de Leon, etc., by Adolph Jellinek. Leipzig, 1851, p. 13,
note 5. S. Munk’s Melanges de philos. juive et arabe, p. 276, note I.
% See antet p. 205 sq. The Wise-men (‘Hakhamem) of Israel have divided this word
so as to read Barah Y6sh, t. ^., (Thou) hast created the Y£sh, the primordial essence of
the existence. It is from this YSsh, Elohim created from No-Thing, Being. M6-aIn
be-yesh. Existence comes from No- Thing. The Sepher Ye*tzeer-ah, says : ” It made
the No-Thing, Some-Thing ” and then ; ” It made from the Void that which is evident
to our senses,” 1. e.y It formed from To-hoc, regJl-ded as the primitive substance, the
Mammash, < . e.y the derived substance. Yalkut 2. Comp. Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, before cited, p. 92, note. Wisdom is sometimes identified with the Thorah and provides sustenance in a spiritual sense ; thus in Proverbs (ix, 5) « Come eat of my bread, and drink of the wine (1. ^., Mystery, for Wine = 70 and Sod, Mystery = 70) ; which I have mingled.” Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, by Taylor, p. 75 n., 43 ; p. 89 and notes. 20 3o6 here, and not less correctly, in the above rendering) ; not ‘ in the house of their prayer y as might be expected, but * of My prayer ^^ says God; which proves that God prayeth. What are the words of His prayer? Rabbi Zutrah, son of Tobiyah, said in the name of Rab : (The words are :) * Be it My Will that My mercy overcome My anger, and that My mercy manifest (itself above) My attributes, in order that I deal with My children by means of the attribute of mercy, and let them enter within the province of justice : (grant them indulgence above their merits).’ “* Touching the same subject the Bo-rahtha (a series of books written by the ancient Jewish Doctors, after the completion of the Mishnah but proba- bly of the same age), has the following : R. Yishma-el, son of Elisha^ said : ” Once I went into the innermost of the sanctuary (in his capacity as Highpriest. Comp. Lev. xvi) to burn incense, and I saw A-Ka THa- Ri-EL (composed of KeTHeR, /. ^., Crown, and EL or AiL, /. ^., God ; the Aleph prefixed points to the Unity of the Eternal), YaH, YeHoVaH, TZe’Ba-OTH, sitting on a high and exalted throne (copied from Isaiah vi, i), and He said to me : Yishma-el, My son, give Me a blessing. Aiid I answered Him (thus) : * Be it Thy Will that Thy mercy vanquish Thy wrath, and that Thy mercy manifest (itself above) Thy attributes in order that Thou deal with Thy children mercifully, and grant them a position within the boundary of justice (/. ^., beyond their merits) !* Hereupon He inclined (assentingly) His head (see Canticles v, ii).*’t * The Talmud represents the Beth Dinn or Tribunal of Heaven, as a circle, in the cen- tre of which, God is seated ; the first places, those nearest to Him, are reserved to Divine Mercy, the second to Divine Justice. f The Qabbalah, says Meharchah (Comp. Ein Jacob) explains ; YHVH, YaH, A- KaTHRi-El, as; the Aleph of A-KaTHRi signifying Ain Soph; KaTHaR as Ke- ther, 1.^., the Crown, the first Sephirah, and the words YHVH — £1 — ^YaH; as the three Ineffable Names, the three Divine Persons, the three Judges of the Celestial Beth Dinn.* See the following page. The Beth Dinn which R. Yishma-£l sees in the Holy of Holies, was a representation of the Heavenly Beth Dinn, because the Deity was looked upon as Himself holding it, seated and judging upon the propitiatory, as He is asserted to be seated and judging in Heaven. 307 Samuel Edels (1565-1631 A. D.,) explains the names in this passage and the prayer itself, thus : A-KaTHaRi-EL, YaH. The A (Aleph) points to the Ain Soph ; (of the Sephirothic Tree) KaTHaR (kS-ther), the Crown, the first of the Ten Sephiroth ; EL, or AiL, Mighty God, Omnipotence =: Justice and YaH (those letters of YHVH which signify Mercy to prevail in the midst of the other attributes). Why are these Divine Names distinctly mentioned ? A little reflection will explain. In these Names, the prayer of the (heavenly) High-Priest is still given : 1. A (Aleph) := Ain Soph ; KaTHaRi := Crown, /. e,, Thou, oh Ain Soph, who art still the concealed love, Thy mercy overcome (^yikh-b^shu ra-^ ha* ‘tnS’kha) Thy wrath (eth kchd* si-kha), on account of the offended majesty in Thy Kether. 2. And Thou EL, or AiL, (God) omnipotent, Thy Mercy reveal itself (jiggO’lu ra^* ha* -nU-khd) in its entirety over Thy wrath, whilst thou art as Ail (God), also the Judge. 3. And Thou YaH TZeBa-OTH, deal with Thy Children {tith-na-hSg im ba-fu-khd) in the attribute of Mercy {be* middath ha-ra- ha-mim) to demonstrate Thy love in its fullness in the perfect Name of YHVH. So long as we adore the Deity only in our thoughts, without the par- ticipation of the whole heart and the verification of the adoration in our deeds, our adoration is merely half (incomplete), and the Name of God is also incomplete for such worshippers. (Comp. Rashi on Exodus xvii, 16, and Ps. ix, 8.) But this Name (YHVH) shall become a complete one through the history of Israel and God’s guidance of that history. Therefore A^KaTHaRi-AiL YaH YHVH TZe^Ba-OTHis implored thus : Thou who art sitting on the throne {qur’ saiy-yafi) high and exalted, grant Thy children a standing within the lines of Justice, deal leniently with them, not according to their deserts, but according to Thy Mercy, which is demonstrated by Thy complete Name. 3o8 “God prayeth” is explained by: “Yishma-el, My son, bless me,” (both of them figures of speech) thus : Almighty love is through Its essence bound to manifest Its Mercy. It feels Itself blessed, as it were, at Its effective exercise of Mercy ; when man by his piety prepares himself to receive the Love of God, and thus 4ictuaUy blesses God, Therefore God prays, /. ^., Wills and Desires, that man fit himself to receive directly His bounties, whereby God feels Him- self blessed.* The Talmud also says, ” Seven attributes avail before the Throne of Glory and these are : Wisdom, Righteousness, Judgment, Grace, Mercy, Truth and Peace.” (Talmudic Miscel., by P. I. Hershon, p. 117.) St. John in the Apocalypse also says; ” From him which is, and which was, and which is to come.” That is the YHV in the three Upper Sephiroth ** and from the Seven Spirits which are before his Throne ” (i, 4). These are most probably the seven Lower Sephiroth. The idea of the Sephirothic Tree or Scale, appears to be in Jacob’s Dream of the Ladder which is set up on earth, the top of which reached to heaven; YHVH stood above it, (The Vulgate: “And the Lord (YHVH) leaning upon the ladder ^^ and the angels of Elohim ascended and descended on its rounds. (Gen. xxviii, 11 sq, John i, 51.) Mauricef connects this with the idea of metempsychosis and the Mithraic rites referred to by Origen. We find many Qabbalistic doctrines in early patristic literature, espe- cially in such of the writings of Origen which have reached our day. This Father of the Church lived 185-254 A. D. He was Praefect of the School of Alexandria. His principal disciple was Gregory, Bishop of Neo-c3esarea, called Thaumaturgus because of his Miracles. The Hebrew teacher of Origen was Yehudah II ben Simon III known as “Rabbi.” Yehudah was the first president of the Palestinian A’mora-im. Origen’s teachers in philosophy were Clement of Alexandria and the asserted founder of Neo-platonism, Ammonius Sakkas. Origen held to the doc- trine of emanation, that many other worlds existed prior to ours, that these had perished, that ours would also, and that after it many others would * Comp. as to R. Yishma-el ben Elisha, the High Priest, Yehudah Ha-Levi*s Sepher Khozari. Cassell’s Edition. Leipzig, 1869, p. 286 et seq, and notes, t Indian Antiquities, etc., iv, p. 189 sq. 309 come into existence and be destroyed. That all souls emanated from the Divine Nature long before the foundations of the world. God was the only existence free from any species of matter. Souls had freedom of will as to good and evil and this was exercised by them before the crea- tion of the universe ; some abused this freedom and were placed in this world, some were placed as spirits of the sun, others of the moon, etc., for he held that all the heavenly bodies had spirits ; other souls migrated into human bodies or into daimons. This was an imprisonment. All the souls were of an equal nature. The residence of the souls in this world was for trial and in order that the souls, by the exercise of their individual free will, might raise themselves to their original abode, heaven, and remain there. Those that did not emancipate themselves were trans- ferred into new bodies or were punished. When all the souls had regained their original goodness the end of this world would take place and a new world be created. The world was apportioned into districts each of which was governed by a special angel, there were also ministering spirits of different grades who watched over general and special interests. Christ was begotten before all creatures and ministered in the creation. (Comp. St. Paul, Col. i, 1 6-1 8. Origen, De PrincipiiSy Bk. i, c. vii.) There was an evil daimon surrounded by his own angels, whose constant aim was to lead men to sin. That the Holy Scriptures have an open and obvious meaning and also a hidden secret and recondite sense difficult to discover, which he terms, the Soui of the same. He holds that the Sacred Names of the Deity among the Hebrews, ” belong to a secret the- ology which refers to the Framer of all Things.” (Works, Vol. i, pp. 421 sq, ; ii, 315 sq,’) These doctrines are in the Qabbalah and the Zo- haric books. There are numerous other doctrines of Origen which are in accord with the Zoharic philosophy. He holds Philo as his model as did also Clement of Alexandria. Origen and St. Paul are in many things in unison especially as to the statements of the latter in i Cor. xii, 8-1 1. Origen also says, that the dress of Adam and Eve after the Fall are our fleshly bodies, and that the word Adam is a generic name for the whole of the human race as if One Man.* * Adv. Celsus. English Ed. Works, 1869-72. Bk. iv, c. xl. Comp. i Cor, xii, 12-28. See also Mosheim’s Comment, on the affairs of the Christians, etc., iii, { 26 sq. 3IO Origen in answer to Celsus asserts: ” The Scriptures which are current in the churches of God do not speak of ‘ seven ‘ heavens, or of any defi- nite number, but they do appear to teach the existence of ^ heavens,’ whether that means the ‘ spheres ‘ of those bodies which the Greeks call ‘ planets,* or something more mysterious. Celsus, agreeably to the opin- ion of Plato (in the Tiraseus), asserts that souls can make their way to and from the earth through the planets; while Moses, our most ancient prophet, says that a divine vision was presented to the view of our prophet Jacob — a ladder stretching to heaven, the angels of God ascend- ing and descending upon it, and the Lord (/.^., YHVH) supported upon its top ; obscurely pointing, by this matter of the ladder, either to the same truths which Plato had in view or to something greater than these. On this subject Philo has composed a treatise which deserves the thought- ful and intelligent investigation of all lovers of truth.*’* In adv Celsusf the latter, says Origen, quotes certain Persian mjrsteries as follows : ” ‘ These things are obscurely hinted at in the accounts of the Persians, and especially in the mysteries of Mithras which are cele- brated amongst them. For in the latter there is a representation of the two heavenly revolutions, — of the movement, viz., of the fixed stars, and of that which takes place among the planets, and of the passage of the soul through these. The representation is : There is a ladder with lofty gates, and on the top of it an eighth gate. The first gate consists of lead, the second of tin, the third of copper, the fourth of iron, the fifth of a mixture of metals, the sixth of silver and the seventh of gold. The first gate they assign to Saturn, indicating by the ‘ lead * the slowness of this star ; the second to Venus, comparing her to the splendor and softness of tin; J the third to Jupiter, being firm and solid; the fourth to Mercury; for both Mercury and iron are fit to endure all things, and are money- Alger : — Doctrine of a Future Life, p. 396. Kitto Bib. Cyclop. Title, Origen. Origen’s works in Ante-Nicene Library. Smith and Wace’s Biographical Diet., etc. We have not space in this writing to go further into the subject. * Adv, Celsus. Works, Ante-Nicene Christ. Liby., 1872, Vol. ii, p. 359 sq. t Ibid., 360 sq, X We think a mistake exists here, the metal of Venus always being copper, that of Jupiter, tin. 311 making and laborious ; and the fifth to Mars, because, being composed of a mixture of metals, it is varied and unequal ;* the sixth of silver to the Moon ; the seventh of gold to the Sun — thus imitating the different colours of the latter two.’ He (Celsus) next proceeds to examine the reason of the stars being arranged in this order, which is symbolized by the names of the rest of matter. Musical reasons, moreover^ are added or quoted by the Persian theology ; and to these, again, he strives to add a second explanation, connected also with musical considerations.” The arrangement given of the planets is not their natural arrangement, but the artificial arrangement by which they follow as the lards of the days of the week as we now have them, which requires that Venus and not Mer- cury should be placed next to the Sun. We think this is from the ancient Chaldaic system. If one wishes to obtain means, says Origen, ” for a profounder con- templation of the entrance of souls into divine things * * let him peruse at the end of Ezekiel’s prophecies, the visions beheld by the prophet, in which gates of different kinds are enumerated (Ezek. xlviii), which obscurely refer to the different modes in which divine souls enter into a better world : also let him peruse, in the Apocalypse of St. John, what is related of the city of God.” Referring to certain diagrams, Origen says: “In this diagram were described ten circles^ distinct from each other, but united by one circle, which was said to be the soul of all things (the Universe) and was called * Leviathan. ‘ This Leviathan, the Jewish Scriptures say, whatever they mean by the expression, was created by God for a plaything ; for we find in the Psalms : * In wisdom hast Thou made all things : the earth is full of Thy creatures ; so is this great and wide sea. There go the ships ; small animals with great ; there is this dragon, which thou hast formed to play therein ! ‘ (Ps. civ, 24-26.) Instead of the word ‘dragon* the word ‘Leviathan* is in the Hebrew. This impious diagram, then, said of this Leviathan, which is so clearly depreciated by the psalmist, that it was the Soul, which had travelled through all things (the Universe)!” In the dia- * We think an error is here, the usual metal of Mercury being quicksilver, that of Mars, iron. This has been supported by the discoveries in the planetary tower of Bor- sippa in ancient Babylonia by Sir Henry Rawlinson. 312 gram nnder the lowest circle is the word ” Behemoth.” The word Levia- than is inscribed on the diagram at its circumference and at its centre, thus placing the name in two separate places. The diagram was ** divided by a thick black line, and this line he Celsus, asserted, was called ” Gehenna, which is Tartarus.” Gehenna, says Origen, is mentioned in the Gospel as a place of punishment and the Jews considered it, the name of the place “intended for the purification of such souls as are to be purified by torments.” (Kitto Bib. Cyclop., ii, p. 307. Origen’s Works, ii, 362 sg.) Celsus says that of seven ruling daimons (angels?) ” * the goat was shaped like a lion ‘ whereas we discovered that he who is honored in the Holy Scripture as the angel of the Creator is called by this accursed diagram, Michael, the Lion-like. Again Celsus says that the ‘ second in order is a Bull.’ ” That is in the order of the seven ruling daimons, the word daimon among the Greeks being synonymous to our angel. We must not forget that the universe was supposed to have been created in the Zodiacal sign of Capricorn or of the Goat, the winter solstice sign. This second, the Bull, is called on the diagram ” Suriel, the Bull-like.” The third according to Celsus was ” an amphibious sort of animal, and one that hissed frightfully.” On the diagram it is ” Raphael, the Serpent-like.” Celsus said the ” fourth had the form of an Eagle,” on the diagram it is ** Gabriel, the Eagle-like.” The ” fifth ” according to him ** had the countenance of a Bear,” on the diagram it is ” Thauthabaoth, the Bear-like.” The sixth he says, ” has the face of a Dog,” and the diagram calls him ‘* Erataoth.” The seventh he says ” had the countenance of an Ass, and was named Thaphabaoth or Onoel,” but on “the diagram it is called Onoel or Thartharaoth, being somewhat asinine in appearance.”* * Origen’s Works, Vol. ii, pp. 362-369. Compare what is said upon this diagram, in Histoire critique de ManicJUe et du Manicheisme^ par M. de Beausobre. Vol. ii, pp. 63-66; also M. Jacques Matter’s Histoire critique du Gnosticism e^ etc. Vol. ii, pp. 221-237, 236-237, 242 ; iii, p. 9 and Plates I and D. The following book is valuable in connection with the antiquity of the Sephiroth : Codex Nasareus^ Liber Adami appellatus^ syriace transscriptus, loco vocaiiunif ubi vicem literarum guttura^-^ Hum prcBstiterintf his substitutus^ laiineque reddiius^ d Matth. Norberg, etc. Hafnia ; torn, i, 181 5, 330 pp. ; torn, ii, 1816, 320 pp.; tow. iii, 18 16, 320 pp., 4to. Lexidion Codicis Nasaraif cui Liber Adami , etc. Matth. Norberg. Ilafniie. 181 6, 274 pp. 3^3 ” Now in the diagram referred to, we found the greater and the lesser circle, upon the diameter of which was inscribed ‘ Father and Son ;’ and between the greater circle (in which the lesser was contained) and another composed of two circles, — the outer one of which was yellow, and the inner one, blue, — an inscribed barrier (was placed) in the shape of a hatchet. And above it, a short circle, close to the greater of the two former, having the inscription ‘Love ‘ (Charity or Grace?) and lower down, one touching the same circle with the word ‘ Life.’ And on the second circle, which was composed of interlaced lines and which in- cluded two other circles, with a figure like a rhomboid (entitled) ; * The foresight of Wisdom.’ And within their point of common section, was: •The nature of Wisdom.’ And above their point of common section was a circle, on which was inscribed ‘Knowledge;’ and lower down another, on which was the inscription, ‘Understanding.’ ” Celsus says ” there are between the upper circles — that are above the heavens — certain inscriptions, etc., ‘ a Greater and a Less ‘ which they refer to the * Father and Son.'” Origen attributes the formation of the diagram to the Ophites or Serpent worshippers, we have not been able, after search, to establish a connection between their doctrines and these delineations on the diagram. We are therefore inclined to agree with Beausobre (Jlis, des Manichians^ ii, p. 54) that it has the appearance of an ancient Jew- ish diagram of the Practical Qabbalah, representing some of the Ten Sephiroth, angels, etc. It certainly has the names of some of the Sephi- roth such as Love or Grace, Wisdom, Understanding, and also has Knowledge and Life.” (^Origen, Works cited, Vol. ii, p. 376 sq.) The Tree of the Sephiroth 1 esembles, says Calraet, that diagram which they call in the Schools, Porphyry’s Tree ; to show the different catego- ries of the EnSy 1. ^., Being-hood. The Sephirothic canals are usually portrayed as 22 which added to the 4to. Onomasticon Codicis Nasarai, cut Liber Adami nomeUf edidit, Matth. Nor- bcrg, etc. Londini Gothorum^ 181 7, 164 pp., 4to; and M. Silvestre De Sacy, in Journal des Savans, a Fart’s, 1819, fom. iii, pp. 343-364, 646-665, for a Criti- cism on same; also Sod, the Mysteries of Adonai, by S. F. Dunlap. London, 1861; and notes to The Book of Adam and Eve, etc. Translated from the Ethiopic, by Rev. Dr. S. C. Malan. London, 1882, for quotations from the Book of Adam. 314 10 Sephiroth equal 32. The Qabbalah also mentions 50 Gates of Under- standing, as to which Moses only reached and passed the 49th. These 50 Qabbalistic Gates are said to have been arranged as follows : The 50 Gates of Understanding were asserted to have 5 Chief Gates, each of which comprehended ten. The first three, included the knowledge of the first principles of the Things. At the Fourth Gate was the planetary world and all the wonders of astronomy, as far as they were then known. There we find the name of each of the seven planets and of the angel whom it was asserted directed its course. These are allotted to each of the seven Inferior or Lower Sephiroth. In Genesis it is upon the fourth day (our Wednesday ?) that the planets are created for signs and seasons, so we must note that this day is among most of the civilized Eastern peoples, the day of their week ruled by Wisdom. The whole Sephirothic Tree is most likely an astronomical chart or symbol, the oldest now in the world, and has some connection with the Seven Gates erected in the Caves, used as Celsus mentions, for initiation into the Mysteries of Mithra, and also with the Sacred Tree referred to in the cuneiform texts and shown on the ancient signet cylinders of the early inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Assyria and Babylonia. The Fourth Gate was called : Mundus Sphtrarum^ t,e.f World of the Spheres, i.e., the Sephiroth. Athanasius Kircher* gives the different Gates. That in which is the first Sphere is called by him Ccsbtm Empyreum; the second, Primum mobile; the third, Coslum firma$runt$. These are the three Upper Heavens and parallel the three Upper Sephi- roth of the Fourth World. The next seven of the decade, he states, are the Spirits of the seven planets and have their names. The scheme is, according to the system of Ptolemy and is Babylonian and Chaldean, as in also that set forth in the Sepher Ye’tzeer-ah, for it will be especially noted by the scholar, that Venus is placed next to the Sun instead of Mercury. Ibn Gebirol does the same in his Kether Malkhuth. This arrangement is also necessary to make the names of the days of the week follow each other, according to the artificial system in use among us, and among most of the civilized Asiatic peoples. This artificial arrangement, we think, was Akkadian and Chaldean. Each of the planets had a presiding angel, according to the Practical Qabbalah, whose name also is apparently of *CEdipi iEgyptiaci. Tom, ii, p. 319 sq. 315 Chaldean origin ; and these probably have something in common with the ministering angels of the Apocalypse. Besides Ibn Gebirol’s Kether Malkhuth, two other prayers exist in the service of the Sephardi Jews which are Qabbalistic. One is in the Daily Service, beginning with pnS tkdh “He lights the earth, etc.*** The other beginning p-m Sk El (Ail), Adon, /. ^., ” God, Lord.” f Both of these tend to show, that the Sephiroth apply to the angels of the heavenly Spheres, the orbits of the planets, and to the Spheres above them ; to the number of ten. The second, says : ” The luminaries which our God created are good : for He formed them with knowledge^ under- standing and wisdom : he hath endued them with power ^xid mighty to bear rule in the world. They are filled with splendor and radiate brightness : their splendor is graceful throughout the world. They rejoice when going forth, and are glad at their return : and with reverential awe perform the Will of their Creator. They ascribe glory and majesty to His Name, joy and song to the commemoration of His Kingdom^ etc.” These two prayers or songs of praise, are very ancient and have special reference to the creation and nature of the sun among all the other works of the universe. They probably have come down from the Essenes or the ‘Hasidim, who read the She’mah and sung songs of praise at the rising of the sun. (Comp. what is said by Josephusand Philo upon these sects.) The Zohar appears to have knowledge of the song El^ Adon (Zohar, ii, 132a), which we think was in use in the Synagogue long before the time of R. Moses de Leon. J One of the oldest references, beside those we have mentioned in Gen- esis, which is likely applicable to the Ten Sephiroth, is to be found in Isaiah (xi, i). We do not say that this is absolute evidence of the idea of the Sephiroth having been in existence under their subsequent names, in the time of Isaiah, nor do we assert that the Qabbalists based their subse- *Sce David Levi’s Form of Prayers. London (5549) 1789, Vol i. Daily Prayers, pp. 30 sq, \Ibid,f pp. 140 sq^ X The Talmud in B^rakhoth says : the song Ail Adon has been made by the angel Michael and that the angels sing it every Sabbath day morning before the Lord. 3i6 quent arrangement of the Sephiroth upon it — ^we offer it as it stands for the opinion of the student. Dividing the statements in Isaiah according to our idea upon the sab>
ject, we have the following result :
” But there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a
Branch shall grow out of his roots,’* (Comp. Zech. iii, 8, 9; vi, 12.) The
rod or branch is the Sephirothic Tree, the roots of Jesse, are Malkhuth,
Kingdom, the She’kheen-ah, the Presence or Glory of God, which was
asserted to remain with the Congregation of Israel in the Holy of
Holies.
” And /A^ ^/>/V ^ y^r^ shall rest upon him*’ (or it). This is,
Kether or the Crown, the ist Sephirah. (Comp. Is. xxviii, 5.)
“The Spirit of Wisdom,’* ‘Hokhmah, the 2d Sephirah. (Comp. Wis.
vii, 24-26, Heb. i, 2, 3.)
The Spirit of ^^ Understandings’ * Binah, the 3d Sephirah.
” The Spirit of Counsel,” nvj? Eitz-ah. Tzad-dek, Justice, the 5th Se-
phirah.
The Spirit of ” Might,” Ge*dool-ah, Greatness, the 4th Sephirah,
The Spirit of ” Knowledge,” Daath (? Hod, Splendor), the 8th Sephi-
rah.
The Spint of ” Fear” of YHVH, Ne-tza’h, Firmness also called Vic-
tory,* the 7th Sephirah.
The root as we have said is Malkhuth, Kingdom, Government ] the loth
Sephirah. The stem of Jesse, may apply to the 9th Sephirah, Ye* sod.
Basis or Foundation. f
The Talmud, treatise Sanhedrin, fol. 93 a and b, applies this quotation
to the Messiah.
In the Apocryphal Gospel of the Birth of Mary, almost the same is
repeated (c. v, 14-15). We will divide as before, viz :
* The Branch will answer to the Sixth Sephirah Tiph-eVeth, Beauty, that of the heart,
ethics and conscience. This is the Sephirah of both the heart and of the Sun as the cen-
tre of the Makrokosm. It is put in place of the one who will judge with Righteousness.
The Messiah (compare Is. xi, 3-16) is evidently referred to. He is the ” Sun of Right-
eousness.”
t See Cahen’s French Bible, Vol. ix, p. x, 3 note.
317
” For Isaiah saith, there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse.”
This is the Sephirothic diagram called : The Tree. ” And a flower shall
spring out of its root ^^^ the root is Malkhuth, Kingdom. The flower /\%
Kether, the Crown, which like a lily blooms on the top of the stem.
“And the Spirit of the Lord, etc.” That is, the Ain Soph. “The^W/
of Wisdom,” ‘Hokhmah, and the Spirit ^^ of Understanding,” Binah.
^^TYit Spirit of Counsel,” Ge*boor-ah, Judgment.
The Spirit of ” Might,” Ge’dool-ah, Greatness.
” The Spirit of Knowledge,” Perhaps Hod, /. e,. Splendor.
The Spirit of ” Piety.” Perhaps Tiph-e’reth, Beauty or Righteous-
ness, which is with the Hebrews, a synonym of Piety.
The Spirit ” of Fear of the Lord.” Ne-tza’h, Firmness. Perhaps
Victory, the same Sephirah.
The stem of Jesse. Ye’sod, Foundation or Basis, the Support of the
vitality of the Matter- World.
Here, if we are correct, are all the Ten Sephiroth and also the Ain
Soph.*
** And one of the elders saith unto me : Weep not : behold the lion of
the tribe of Judah, the root of Davidf hath prevailed to open the book,
and loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of
the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a
Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are
the seven spirits oi God sent forth into all the earth.” (Revelation v,
5-6.)
The following Diagram shows a parallel decadal division of the Com-
mandments and the Paternoster.
•See The Apocryphal New Testament, etc. Gebbie & Co., Philadelphia, pp. 21.
Compare also verse 17. Hone’s Ed. London, 1820, p. 21. Comp. Kitto*s Biblical
Cycl., Ed. 1876, Vol. ii, 161 ; i, 169.
fThe root of David, is taken from Isaiah xi, i. ” There shall come forth a rod out
of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.**
3i8
I.
2.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
TEN COMMANDMENTS OF THE THORAH.
Thou shalt have no other Elohim but Me.
Thou shalt not make any graven image
(of Me).
Thou shalt not take the Name YH VH in
vain.
Thou shalt sanctify the Sabbath day.
Honor thy father and thy mother.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness.
Thou shalt not covet.
TEN DIVISIONS OF THE LORD*S
PRAYER.
Our Father,
Which art in Heaven,
Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom Come;
Thy will be done on earth,
As it is done in heaven ;
Forgive us our trespasses and we
forgive those who trespass
against us ;
Give us this day our daily bread ;
Lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.*
It will be observed that the first three apply more especially to the
Deity, the fourth to God and man, and the last six, to mankind alone.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh Commandments relate to the affections —
filial, fraternal and conjugal. The infraction of which was punished
by the Hebrews with death. The love of man and the sacredness of
human life, is the harmony between filial piety and conjugal fidelity.
The Decalogue, if we consider the eighth and ninths inculcates honesty
in thought as well as in action. As applying to man’s actions in this
matter-world, we therefore have a symbolical diagram in this form :
1234
5 6 7
8 9
10
The reverse of the equilateral triangle of the sacred Tetrad of Pytha-
goras
o o
000
0000
which added any way makes the holy decadic number.
* As to the Lord’s Prayer and the Rabbinic writings, see Sayings of the Jewish Fath-
ers, etc., by Charles Taylor, p. 138 sq.
(Comp. ante, 203, note.) i, 4 and 10 are the outposts.* The 6th, the
order not to kill but to love man ; is in the centre ; it is for the protec-
tion of human life and without life the earth would be a sterile desert.
* The nnmben i, 4 and 10 = i; the T»lne of the letters of TV YaH = 15. With
thit word it is laid; ” Elohim formed tbe worlds.” See Ya’lknt ha-Zobar on ; ■• Fonn-
ing the Worlds.”
Rgun JO.— Hindn tjahai of the Pour Woildi.
THE FOUR WORLDS. OF PRANA. OF PAN AS THE MAKROKOSMOS. OTHER
IDEAS OF THE MAKROKOSUOS. ASSERTED ORIGIN OF THE IDEA OF
THE FOUR WORLDS.
IN the Speculative Qabbalah, four Conditions or Worlds are enumer-
ated. The first of these is termed, 0/am A’tzeel-ooth* or the A’tzeel-
atic World, the World of Emanation par excellence. This is the
most exalted of all the Conditions and is considered as containing only
the Holy Upper Ten Sephiroth ; the highest round of the ladder of In-
termediaries, which are nevertheless only an Unit, and are between Ain
Soph, the Primal Cause of All, and the inferior emanations which develope
the existences. As a totality in this Upper Condition, the Ten Sephiroth
represent the operative qualities of the Divine Will, considered as the
most abstract and spiritual of alt the emanations of the Ain Soph. This
” It is to be noted tbat the names of the Four Worlds, have Sanskrit roots.
321
Upper World is the abode solely of D’yooq-nah^ i. e.y the Image, Upper
Adam, or Adam Illa^h, the Archetypal Man; the totality of all the
Sephiroth, the Protogonos, Le,, first bom. This condition is also known
as Olam ha-Sephiroih, i, ^., World of the Sephiroth, it is considered firom
its nearness to and as the direct emanation of Ain Soph, as perfect and
immutable, an emanation in which Ain Soph is more immediately imma-
nent yet transcendental. It is not ever looked upon as in any way per-
fectly equal to the Eternal Boundless, which is concealed and hidden in
Its essence from the comprehension of man.
^^ A’ tzeel-ooth is the Great Sacred Seal, by means ^of which all the
Worlds are copied which have impressed on themselves, the image on the
Seal ; and as this Great Seal comprehends three stages, which are three
zures (prototypes) of Nephesh (the Vital Spirit or Soul), Rua’h (the Ethi-
cal and Reasoning spirit) and the Neshamah (the Highest soul of man)
so the Sealed, have also received three zures (prototypes) namely, B^ree-
ahy Ye^tzeer-ahy and Aseey-ah^ and these three zures are only One in the
Seal.’*
In this connection we present a Hindu figure. No. 31, which represents
Prana, the Hindu Spiritual or Ideal Androgenic Man, who is the Life
and Breath of all the existences, and evidently the Makrokosmos of the
created. It is portrayed as crowned by a sun, which is to represent the
subtile azothic life fire, and by two storks reaching upward for the higher
breath. The stork is in India a dweller on roofs and tree tops and the
tops of pillars, yet is also a water bird. It flies high and is considered to
bring good fortune. Storks are considered attributes of Vayu, the wind-
spirit. The remainder of the head-dress appears as if a crown with lapels
falling at the sides but not covering the ears, which have ornaments like
those of the Egyptian Sphinxes, and is something like the cap of the Phry-
gian Paris. The content of this crown, as an entirety, gives Prana a
majestic appearance. It has also a curious necklace and neck pendant
resembling an air tube tied at intervals. Prana supports, by its everlasting
arms, the veil of Maya or Illusion ; the mysterious veil of life embroi-
dered with stars. Upon the centre of its breast is the crescent moon in
the midst of the sun. In its right hand is a sceptre with 6 balls, which
appear flying around as if repelled by an electrical force, probably to rep-
21
323
resent the six poles of dimension. The fingers of its left hand are held
in the position frequently assumed by religionists in blessing. The arms
and legs are winged, and the former raised as if about lo fly. Around
its loins is a rich tegument composed of rhomboids, egg-like ellipses and
united circles. Its dress has four curious projections on each side over
the hips. There is a kilt having three symbolical birds and lines of stars,
above and below them, portrayed upon it. The lingam is also shown
with the life-spirit as a flame united with the crescent moon, the symbol
of purity and chastity. Over its head comes down the streaming efflux
of the Upper Life, It has not visible eye-pupils, its eyes appear as cor-
323
ruscations of light ; and streams of light and life proceed from the eyes,
ears, nostrils and mouth, in all 8.* Around its navel, the seat of embry-
onic life, is a circular cloud united with the necklace above and the lin-
gam life-spirit. “As the bee follows its queen so all the senses follow
Prana,** says a Hindu sacred book. So here we have the flying bees.t
The King of the Breath of Life, stands upon the world-egg, which is sur-
rounded by the Time serpent Ananta, and the Hindu Zodiac ; from it
burst five openings like the five senses of man, and from the Makrokosm,
the five senses spring out as the Mikrokosm or terrestrial earth spirit or
man.
Prana or the Life-spirit stands above all the creation inferior to it. It
is the soul of the Universe. The Atharva-veda says : ** Reverence to
Prana, to whom this universe is subject, who has become lord of all, on
whom all is supported. “;[ Prana is also Purusha or AU M,§and therefore
the totality of Brahma, Vishna and Siva, past, present and future. The
similarity of this symbol of the Makrokosm when compared to the 2^’ir
Anpeen or Appayim and the Archetjrpal Man, of the Zoharic writings, is
striking. II
Prana was to the Hindu the iEolomorphos or Plastic Form, the
Great Spirit of all Kosmic life, the hidden growth power, the content of
^Coinp. Indian Wisdom, by Monier Williams, notes to pp. 94, 126 and 190, as to
the 9 gated city of Brahma.
t Bees were a sacied symbol among some of the ancient Asiatic peoples and also
with the Greeks ; with the latter, new bom souls were called, bees. Bees were con-
nected with the spirit of generation and from this the name of the great nature deity
Pri-Apis^ Father Bee, may come. With the Egyptians, the sacred Bull was called Apis^
f. ^., Bee. Isaiah says : ” Behold, the young woman shall conceive, and bear a son, and
shall call his name Immanuel (God with us). Butter and honey shall he eat, thcU he
may know to refuse the evil and choose the good, etcP (Is. vii, 15 ; comp. ibid, 18.)
To those who wish to know more of the curious religious symbolism of, the bee ; we
refer to the learned statements in. The Book of God, hereafter cited. Vol. ii and iii ;
also to The Platonist, Vol. iv, (March, 1888,) p. 160 sq. See also ante, p. 228 sq,
X See Indian Wisdom, by Prof. Monier Williams. London, 1875, ?• 4^ ^’^^ note.
{ Ibid,, 103, Barth’s Religions of India. English trans., 1882, p. 71 et seq,
II For a representation of the Qabbalistic Prototypic Man, the Image, see Frontis-
piece.
324
the concealed plastic and the all-pervading vital energy of the growth and
existence of the created. The cause of destruction and change yet of
re-creation and life, of color, light, form, texture, substance, etc., which
has been going on from the beginning and will ever go on to the end.*
The Greeks crystallized this idea into the attributes of the deity whom
they called Pan, who was with them the same as rd izav the universe, or
we may say, Pan was the god of the uni verse. f They also identified this
deity with the Egyptian god, Khem. {Religions de l^aniiquiti considMes
principaletnent dans leurs formes symboliques^ etc., by Dr. Fred. Creuzer,
French ed. by J. D. Guigniaut, Paris, 1825, Vol. i, part ii, pp. 829 sq^
Ibid, part i, p. 451 note, 495 sq. 510 sq, Le Panthion, Bgyptien^ by M.
Paul Pierret, Paris, 1881, pp. 39, 46.)
Orpheus in one of his poems says: All things are full of Zeus, and in
him, sees the earth, water, fire, and day and night. Does he not by this
intend to describe the entire universe, its head sparkling with a golden
crown ? Does he not describe heaven glittering with the rays of the stars ?
Do not the beaming eyes represent the sun and moon and the broad chest,
the air ? And the shoulders, prominent by the wide extent of the wings,
do they not describe the velocity of winds and the rapidity shown by
God in acting. This image, thus set forth by Orpheus, is almost the same
as that by which in ancient times the Greeks described Pan and the 2ieus
who was called, the Pan Trav, /. ^., the whole, only because he represents
the universe^ a fact proved by the symbols. The horns, as Boccaccio
says, were given to him to signify the rays of the sun, moon and stars ;
the ruddy face means the setherial fire, the long beard the masculine ele-
ments, the skin covered with spots, the sphere of the fixed stars, the staff
with its crutch turned towards the rear, the power over things he owns
and the years that ever return to him. The heptaulus, or syrinx with
* The scholar will find many similarities to the Speculative Hebrew Qabbalah, espe-
cially as to the four worlds and ten emanations from the Deity, in the Upanishads of
the Hindu Veda’s, we refer him as to this, to the Sacred Books of the East, edited by
Prof. Max Muller, Vol. i, 236 sq, among the many places.
f The student will find a number of references, etc., upon this subject in the work,
entitled The Book of God, etc., by Dr. Keneally. London. We refer to Vol. i, pp.
88, 98, 294; ii, pp. 23, 104 j^., 348 J^., 540; iii, pp. 188, 210, 324, 734.
325
seven pipes, in his left hand, expresses the celestial harmony of the planets
which is shown by their motion more than by anything else. The lower
limbs, rough and hairy and with ram’s feet, mean only the hard, rough,
rugged earth ; covered with all kinds of trees, herbs and plants. The
ram’s feet, etc., signify the fecundity by which life in the universe is con-
tinued and preserved, in a mystical way. Both the Egyptians and Greeks
sometimes represented Pan or the Lyksean Zeus, under the form of a
male goat as the representative of continued creation and its preserver.
We give, Figure 32, from
the learned Jesuit, Kircher,
a representation of Pan or
Zeus Lykjeus, as the Makro-
kosmos. A. A ruddy face.
The power of astherial fire
or heat, in the universe. B.
The power of the celestial
rays on those things which
are under the moon. C. Masculine elements.
D. Power of the year and its return and of all
revolutions. £. All things are maintained by
its virility. F. Power of the Firmament, the
sphere of the fixed stars. G. The earth (the
feminine element) teeming with plants, seeds
and trees. H. Fountain of water and liquids
(of the feminine element) by irrigation fertilizing
the earth. 1. The fields, crops and Other vege-
Fipm ^ A Ua(«iyph[c rep- table matters. K, Harmony of the seven planets.
nMMuias or zeiu and Pin. ]___ Uncqual and rough mountains of different
heights. M. Power of fecundity. N. The cubical, or six-sided solid
foundation. 0. Power, energy and velocity of the winds and their rapid-
ity of action.
The ancients asserted that Pan dwelt in deserted places, so as to indi-
cate his loneness or unity, for the universe is one and created by One.
He is also clothed in the skin of a male spotted leopard or a fallow deer,
to signify the beautiful variety of things and colors, seen in the world.
326
These doubtless have an Asiatic origin,* The Roman Church has changed
the luptrcalia, one of the festivals to Pan on February isth, to the Pro-
cession of Lighted Candles.
In the Middle Ages the Makrokosmos was thought of as the Greek and
Roman, Atlas ; which was asserted, by these peoples, to support the uni-
-^^■”S*’^s^’
^^^
^&
^^kl
J_W^^^vT
%
^^^^^
».–*3 i
^^^P^
vcise. See Diagram V, ante, p. 319. It was also portrayed as in the fore-
going plate. Figure 33, an exact copy of one made in A. D. 1503. The
fonn and arrangement set forth in this drawing are of great antiquity.
This arrangement and form have been brought down to our own day and
are yet shown in the almanacs.
* Comp. (Edipi jEgyptiaci, Tomut Sttundia, c /■>, claiiii vi, { v, p. 43J sq. Ed.
RoiHti i6s3t
32?
We also give Figure 34, an exact copy of another engraving of the
same date.* It is most important to all occultists as containing an import-
ant occult meaning. We may explain this in a subsequent work and will
only say here, that it has much in common with the secret religious sys-
tems of the oldest peoples of the entire world, both the New and Old.
* Diagram V and Figures 33 and 34, are taken from the etrliett Encjclopntlia pnb-
lisbed ID the Middle Ages, viz: MargaHta phUstephita, totitu pkiletephia ratitmaSt
et maralit printipia duedteim liMt dialegict tempUelem. Friitirgi, Jeannts Sthttia,
‘JOS, it ^0-
The author was Prior of a Carthusian nunnery neat Pribnrg. Subsequent editjom
were Stnuburg, Grilninger, 1504, 1508, 1512, 1515 in 4I0; Basle, 1535, t;83, and an
Italian Ed., Venice, 1599. Panzer and Hain refer to an imprestion as early as 1496.
We also have a copy of an Anglo-Saxon almanac, said to be 1386 A. D., which faat a
Tciy similar figure to No. 33.
328
From the A’tzeel-oothic World, through the conjunction of the King
and Queen, proceeds the World of Creation, called, the B’ree-atic or
Olam E^ree-ah also Qur-saiy-ahy t\ e., the Throne. In this Condition,
creation as we understand the word, begun. It is considered as the abode
of only pure spirits. It also contains a continuation of the emanating
rays of the Ten Sephiroth of A’tzeel-ah, as a matter of course still further
removed from Ain Soph and the first Ten, but a continuation and not in
any way absolutely separate and distinct from them, but nevertheless of a
more limited and circumscribed potency. The purely spiritual substances
which it contains have not any admixture of matter, as we understand
matter ; but they are inferior to the First World and superior to the follow-
ing j that of the Powers, Intelligences or Angels, of the planets and celes-
tial spheres. As Uyooq-nah the Prototype, occupies the First World so the
great Presence Angel of the Covenant, Metatron ; occupies the Second
World. He alone constituting the entire World of Spirits or Angels. Me-
tatron is ” the garment,” or visible manifestation of the Ain Soph, and his
name = 314, is equal to Shaddai, /. ^., Almighty. (Zohar, iii, 231a.)
Metatron governs the visible world, preserves the unity, harmony and rev-
olutions of the spheres, planets and all the heavenly bodies ; and is the
Commander, under the Will of the Deity, of all the myriads of the angelic
hosts, of the next or Ye’tzeer-atic World. These are divided into ten
ranks answering to the number of the Ten Sephiroth.
Following, and also proceeding from Olam E^ree-ah by emanation, is
Olam Ye^tzeer-ahf i. e.y the World of Formation. It is the abode of the
Angels, the Intelligences of the Celestial planets and stars, and is also called
Mala^ hay-ahy /. ^., of the Angels. It has also Ten Sephiroth, which pro-
ceed from and are only continuations of, the Ten of the A’tzeel-atic World
through the Ten of the B’ree-atic, being only extensions of the first man-
ifestations of Ain Soph through the preceding Ten Sephiroth, but further
removed. The Zohar (ii, 43^) says : ” For the servants (Sephiroth) that
serve the Holy, Blessed be He ! It made the Throne (the B’ree-atic World)
with four supports (pedestals) and six steps (platforms, dias) to the
Throne, together ten. The whole is like a cup of blessing. That which
is in it is ten words, like the Thorah which is given in ten words ; and as
the universe, which is the Ma’a-seh Be’resheeth, which has been created
329
by ten sayings. The Holy, Blessed be He ! affixed to the Throne legions
to serve it, (the Ten Angelic Hosts, the Ye’tzeer-atic World.) These are ;
Malakheem, Areleem, ‘Hay-y6th, Ophaneem, Hash-maleem, E’leem, Elo-
heem, Benai Eloheem, Isheem and Serapheem. And for the service of
these, the Holy, Blessed be He ! made Sama-el and his legions, who are
as it were, the clouds to be used to come down upon the earth. And they
are their horses : and above the clouds is the Merkabah, /. ^., the Chariot
Throne, therefore it is said : (Is. xix, i) ‘ Behold YHVH rideth upon a
swift cloud and shall come into Misraim (Egypt).’ And so the Holy,
Blessed be He ! rules Mitzraim.” The Ten Sephiroth of this Condition
or World, are still contemplated as without taint of earthly matter, or
matter as man understands the word. In this World reside those intelli-
gent and incorporeal beings, each wrapped in a luminous vestment, which
are sexless and capable, by the Divine permission, of assuming a form
sensible to mankind when they appear to him. They are also ministering
spirits, energies or forces, which do the Will of the Deity.
The Zohar (iii, 6Sa) says : ” The Holy, Blessed be He ! animated every
part of the firmament with a separate spirit, and forthwith all the Heavenly
Hosts were standing and remained so before Him. This is meant by the
Psalmist (xxxiii, 6), ‘ By the breath of His mouth were made all their
hosts.* ” The angels are of two kinds — good and bad; and they have
their respective princes.
Among the angelic hosts which people the Ye’tzeer-atic World, one
angel has control over one sphere, another of another sphere, one has
charge of the sun, another of the moon, another of the earth, another of
the ocean, another of fire, another of the wind, another of the light,
another of the changes of the seasons, etc. These angels are only repre-
sentatives of forces or energies, they are named after the heavenly bodies,
etc., which they are supposed to rule, one is called Nogah^ t. ^., Venus,
one Ma-^ameem {dam^ /. ^., blood) Mars, one is Eizem hd-Sha^ mayeem^
i. f,, of the clearness (or, bone), of the heavens, (Ex. xxiv, lo, Ezek. x)
one is C/nW, t. ^., of light, another Nooriel^ /.^., of fire, etc. (See Zohar,
i, 42a, b; 43a et seq^)
The fourth and last Condition is termed ; the World of Action or Olam
A’ seey-ahy the A’seey-atic World, also called Oiam Q’Uppothy /. e,.
330
World of the Shells or Rinds, the Demons. It contains the actual mat-
ter of the planets or spheres {^gill-gooleem) and what man terms matter.
It is the residence of Sama-el, the Prince of Darkness and his legions. In
it is our sublunary world, which is subject to matter re-birth and the dis-
solution of the matter forms but not the destruction of the essential atoms.
It has the operative qualities of all the preceding Ten Sephiroth, but much
diminished because further removed from the original source, and is
merely an extension of their rays or energies to their last degree or point
of cessation. The Zohar (ii, 43^^), says : For the service of the Angelic
World “the Holy, Blessed be He ! made Sama-el and his legions, /. e.^
the World of Action, who are as it were, the clouds to be used (by the
Upper Spirits) to ride upon in their descent to the Earth, and serve, as it
were, for their horses. Hence it is written : ‘ Behold YHVH rideth upon
a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt,’ etc.” (Is. xix, i.)
The substances of this Condition or World, are considered to be of
matter, limited by the dimensions and perceptible to the senses, by means
of the multiplicity of forms. It is subject to change, birth, death, cor-
ruption and re-birth, yet not anything in it is considered as ever totally
annihilated or destroyed in essence or atom. It is the abode of the Evil
Spirit and his demoniacal forces.
It is a singular thing that in Genesis (i, 3-5), the production of light
is mentioned five times, the first and second times the Qabbalists refer to
the same light. This mention of light, four times, has been referred to
the Qabbalistic idea of the four Worlds. (Conciliator of R. Manasseh
ben Israel, etc. English Ed. by Lindo. Vol. i, p. 7.)
The expression ” Be Light ! and Light was,” is referred to the A’tzeel*
atic World. ” Elohim saw the light ^ that it was good;’* applies to the
B’ree^tic World, *’ Elohim divided the light from the darkness;” applies
to the Ye’tzeer-atic World, that of good and bad angels, those of light
and darkness. ” Elohim called the lighiy Day, and the darkness he
called. Night;” refers to the A’seey-atic or Matter-world, in which, is
Day and Night.
The demons, or bad angels, are considered as, the grossest and most
deficient of all forms, are called the Qlippothy or mere Shells or Rinds of
existence. They are thought of as energies or forces which are destruc-
33^
tive and injurious to man. They too form Ten Degrees answering to the
lowest extremity of the Ten Sephirothic emanative rays, and in these
Ten lower degrees, darkness and impurity increase the further they are
removed from the primordial source. Thus the first two demoniacal de-
grees are considered, as only the absence of visible form and organiza-
tion, which in Genesis is termed ; ^^Tohoo W’bohoo^^^ which preceded the
creation of the order of the Universe. The third degree is looked upon
as the abode of darkness, which Genesis says at first covered the face of
the earth. After this come the seven infernal halls {Sevwah HaikhalotK)
or hells, (^Gai-hinam,) the abode of the demons and their princes. Here
are tortured, the existences which were led astray on earth. These seven
halls or hells, are divided into numerous compartments, for the different
kinds of punishment apportioned for the different species of earthly sin.
The Prince of the whole region is Sama-el, /. ^., the Angel of Venom, Poi-
son, or Death.* He is thought of as the Satan of the Old Testament, who
therein plays more the part of deceiver and accuser than that of a pun-
isher. The Qabbalah however considers Sama-el as the Satan who seduced
Eve. The Talmud holds to the same view, it says ; “The evil spirit Satan
and the Angel of Death, are the same.” (Treatise Bavah Bathra, i6a.)
He has a female companion, called Esheth Zenooneemy i. ^., the Harlot.
They are usually represented as united under the name of ‘Ha-yoh, /.^., the
Beast. (Comp. Zohar, ii, 255-259; i, 35^.) Which therefore is an asser-
tion that the Great Power of Evil is androgenic. A dark shadow of the
manifestation of the Great Androgene of Good.
” The Ten Sephiroth of A’tzeel-ooth have scintillated and brought
forth the Ten Sephiroth of B*ree-ah, and from the energy of these Ten of
B’ree-ah, sparkled forth the scintillations of the World Ye’tzeer-ah, and
through these, the Ten Sephiroth of the World A*seey-ah were sealed,,
and all the Sephiroth of all the Worlds, divide themselves into fives.”
(^Etz ha-Jfay-yenij /. equally divine nature as those of A’tzeel-ooth. ” The KaiUmy i. e.y
Vessels, Vases, Sephiroth, of A’tzeel-ooth, htcomt Neshamah for B’ree-ah,.
♦ Sam, I. e.. Poison or Venom, and Ail or El, 1. ^., Angel, therefore the Angel of
Poison.
332
Ye’tzeer-ah and A’seey-ah, and these latter are not called truly divine ;
because even their Neshamah are Kailem and are not Lights from A’tzeel-
ooth.” These four Worlds form together an Unit, a single Great Man,
the Makrokosm or Adam Illa-ah. {Tiqqooneem haz-Zohar, TYqgaon,
70, also Sepher Kesai Malekh^ fol. 52.)
In the philosophy of Ibn Gebirol, these Worlds can be distinguished,
viz: — That of the Perfect Form or Will ; that of the Simple Substances
by which our creation begun ; that of the Heavenly Orbits or Spheres
and their Intelligences; and that of the Celestial Matter Spheres or
Planets and the Elements of our Matter-world or Universe. Ibn Gebi-
rol says ; it is necessary to consider matter as having two extremities, one
going upwards to the highest limit of creation, and as far as the limit of
conjunction of matter with form ; the other extending downwards to the
point of cessation; that is the extreme inferior limit in which all form
«nds. The highest ascends to the Spiritual, the Will ; which is above
the celestial spheres or orbits, and which descends as the Unity and Sim-
plicity, to the limit, the commencement of creation ; and then, below
the celestial spheres, takes a corporeal form, and as it descends, becomes
more and more corporeal, until it reaches the limit of cessation.
The doctrine of the Makrokosm and the Mikrokosm, is both in Ibn
Gebirol and the Zohar. Our author says : (Bk. iv, § 6 and § 44)
** The Little World (man, the Mikrokosm) bears a resemblance to the
Great World (the universe), through its order and construction. The
substance of the intellect, which is the most subtile, simple and sublime
of all the substances of the Little World, (Gebirol is referring here to the
Neshamah or Higher Soul) is not (directly) attached to the body ; because
the Spirit (/. ^., Rua’h) and the Soul (1. ^., the Vital Spirit, the NephesK) ;
are intermediaries between the two.” He then shows a similar order in
the construction of the entire universe, and afterwards says; if one
should wish to imagine the construction of the universe and the uni-
versal body, and the universal body and the spiritual substances which
surrotmd it, let him contemplate the construction of man, “in whom
thou wilt find an analogy.” The body of man corresponds to the uni-
versal body ; the spiritual substances which put it in movement, to the uni-
versal substances which put in movement the universal body ; among these
333
(spiritual) substances, those which are inferior obey the superior and
(successively) submit to them, until that which is movement goes back to
the substance of the intellect. The intellect governs and rules (these
substances), and all the substances in man’s body, follow and submit to
his intellect ; and he says : this is their master and judge. All is disposed
in the particular spirit, that of the man, as in the World of the universe,
and man is a Mikrokosm. Maimonides holds to the same idea, and has
said a great deal upon the subject. (Moreh Ne’boo-kheem, French Ed.
by S. Munk, I. c. Ixxii and notes. English Ed. I. Ixxii, p. 258, 276
and notes.) The theory, that the universe was one finite system regu-
lated by one and the same idea, was that of Aristotle, Plato and most of
the philosophers of the Middle Ages.
In Isaiah the Qabbalists find a reference to the Qabbalistic philosophy
as to the Four Worlds. *’ Fear not for I am with thee. I will bring thy
seed from the East, and gather thee from the west ; I will say to the
«
North ‘give up’ and to the south ‘Keep not back.’ ‘Bring My sons
from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth ; even every one
that is called by My Name I For I created {E* ree-oK) him for My Ghryy
\ formed {YeUzar) him; yea I made {A^seey-aK) him.* “*
A’tzeel-ah (said to be “^V^ from ^9 Atzal, to flow outf), is the World
of Emanation. B’ree-ah (said to be from barah^ to create or shape,
more likely from the Sanskrit Brih^ to expand), contains the World of
pure forms or simple substances (/. e,y ideas). These are thought of and
considered in the Qabbalah as spiritual, intelligent beings. Ye’tzeer-ah
(said to be from Ye* tzar, to form), the world of the Celestial Spheres, of
the Souls or Angels. A’seey-ah (said to be from A^sahy to make) the
World of Matter, of objects perceptible to the senses, which come into
^ii^gj grow, die and decay. (See ante, pp. 53, 198.)
They are also paralleled by the four divisions of Plotinus, viz : the
* Is. xliii, 5-7. Comp. Is. xlv, 6-7, 12. Philo Judseus in De Somnis, Bk. i (Bohn’s
Ed., Vol. ii, pp. 292-343) especially {{ iii, vii, xi, appears to refer to the Four worlds
of the Qabbalah.
f See what Joel says against this in his, Religions-phiiosophie des Sokar, p. 203 sq.
More likely it is from a Sanskrit root.
334
One, the Nous and its ideas, the Soul, and the Matter-kingdom. Neo-
platonism according to Lassen {ante, p. 1 70) came from India. *
The subtile distinctions between the Neshamah, Upper Soul or Spirit,
Rua’b, the Moral and Reasoning power, and Nephesh, the Vital or
merely Animal Life, of man’s Spiritual existence, as contained in the
Qabbatah, has been quite ably set forth by C. De Leiningen in an Essay
delivcrcd,March 5, 1887; before the Psychological Society of Munich,
Germany. \
* For a docription of FigUK 35, Me The Psih, New York, for Mftrch, 1887.
t.See DU Spkyiu:, Ldprig, 188? ; Li Lcha, Pwi*. Juiuaiy, 1888, p. 231 iq.
—Hindu Qibballilic lymbol of Itie Fout WoKdi.
XVIII.
EXCERPTS FROM THE ZOHAR : AS TO THE MAN WITH THE HEAVY BURDEN.
VICARIOUS ATONEMENT BY THE MESSIAH. THE SHE’kHEEN-AH. A
FORMULA OF THE GREAT NAMES. ORIGINAL SIN. POWER OP SATAN.
FREE WILL. THE HEAVENLY MEDIATRIX BETWEEN GOD AND MAN.
NECESSITY OF REPENTANCE FOR SALVATION. ETERNAL REWARD AND
PUNISHMENT IN THE FUTURE LIFE. RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IN
THE BODY. JUDGMENT OF THE SOX^^ OF THE WICKED, ETC.
IN the introduction written by R. ‘Hiz*qee-yah, which is very old,
and which forms part of the Brody edition of the Zohar (i, 5^ sq,)^
is an account of a journey taken by R. El’azar, son of R. Shim-on
b. Yo’hai, and R. Abbah ; to visit the father-in-law of the former. Whilst
on the way, they meet with a man bearing a heavy burden. They con-
versed together upon the Ma-a’seh Be’resheeth and the origin of the Sab^
bath : the explanations of the Thorah, by the man with the burden, were
so wonderful, that they asked him for his name ; he replied : ”Do not
ask me who I am ; but we will all proceed with the explanation of the
Thorah.** They asked, “Who caused thee thus to walk and carry such
a heavy load?** He answered: “The letter ^ (Yod, which := 10, and
is the symbolical letter of Kether, and the essence and germ of the Holy
Name mn^ YHVH) made war, etc.” “Ride on one of our mules, they
said, we will carry thy burden,” but he replied: ” Have I not told you,
that it is an order of the King, until, etc.*’ ” Tell us thy place of habi-
tation ? ** finally they said to him; he replied : ” The place of my abode
is good and sublime to me, and it is a tower, which hovers in the air,
grand and mighty, and the inhabitants of that tower are the Holy,
Blessed be He ! and a ‘ poor. * (This may refer to the Messiah, who is
called ‘ lowly, and rideth on an ass.* Zekh. ix, 9.) That place is my
residence, and we moved from there, and I carry that which is heavy
* * * They said to him : ‘ If thou wilt tell us the name of thy father,
336
we will kiss the dust of thy feet.* He replied : ‘And why? I am not
used to becoming haughty through the Thorah ; but as to my father ^ he
had his dwelling in the Great Sea^ and was a fish therein; which de-
stroyed the Great Sea from one end to the other, and he was great and
mighty and ‘Ancient of Days,’ until he swallowed all the other fishes
in the (Great) Sea ; and after that, he produced for us, the living and
existing beings, from all the best in the world ; and in his might he swims
through the (^Great) Sea in one moment. And then, he brought me
forth like an arrow in the hand of a powerful man, and hid me in that
place, of which I told you ; and then returned to his place and hid him-
self in theSea,^ R. El’azar listened to his words and said to him: * Thou
art the son of the Holy Flame, thou art the son of Rab Ham-‘«»/r-ah
Sabah, (the Old,)* thou art the son of the Light of the Thorah and thou
goest burdened behind us ! ‘ ” On page 9^ ibid,^ may be found other ref-
erences to the Great Sea and its inhabitants, f The feminine Sephirah,
Binah, is sometimes termed by the Qabbalists, the Great Sea. Among
her divine Names are YaH and Elohim. She is called the Great Mother,
the Upper Mother, the supernal n (Heh) of mrr. She is the Holy Spirit
and the Upper She*kheen-ah. Her symbol is the brooding dove, she
brooded over the face of the waters at the creation. The Great Fish is
in the mythology of the Akkadians and Babylonians and is likely the Le-
viathan in the Qabbalah. {Kab, Denud, Idrah Rabbah, § ^^Z-) Note
also the invocation by the Roman Church of the Virgin and her Son, of
‘Hokhmah, Wisdom or the Ligos, i, ^., Word ; and Binah, the Upper
Mediating Mother, Universal Intellect, the Great Sea or Holy Spirit.
Mary likely equals the Latin Mare^ i. ^., Sea. According to a hymn
of the Xth century sung at the Annunciation, she is ;
” Star of the Sea,
Gracious Mother of God
And always Virgo,
Happy Gate of Heaven.” %
* The Jlsh in Aramaic or Chaldee is |U nuttf pron. noon,
f See ante, p. 243 sq. as to the Great Sea among the Akkadians and Chaldeans, also
the Fish.god. Comp. Dr. J. P. Lundy’s Monumental Christianity, pp. 130 sq,, 368 sq,
X Rambach’s Collection, i, 219.
337
The Atonement. “When the righteous are afflicted by ilUiess or
sufferings in order to atone for the sins of the world, it is that all the
sinners of their generation (period) may receive redemption. How is this
proven ? By all the members of the animal (human) body. At the time
when all the members (of the animal, human body), suffer through an
evil illness, then one member must be beaten (operated upon,) so that all
the remaining (members) may recover. Which member? The arm. It
is beaten (operated upon) and the blood is drawn from it, and from this
results the convalescence of all the other members of the body. So it is
with the children of the world, its members stand towards each other
equally, like members (of the human body) each to the other.* At the
time that the Holy, blessed be He ! desires to give health (sanctification)
to the world. He afflicts a just (pious) one from the midst (of the world)
with sickness and pain, and through him He gives health to all the world.
How is this proven ? It is written : (Is. liii, 5) ‘ And he was woimded for
our transgression, he was bruised for our iniquities * * * and by his
stripes (wounds) are we healed, etc’ ‘ By his stripes (wounds) ‘ like the
bruises (operations) made by the bleeding of the arm, are we healed ;
that is there is brought to us, as members of the whole body, conva-
lescence.” t
* All mankind as the descendants of Adam, are looked upon in the Qabbalah, as one
great totality and brotherhood, one great imited stream of life. As the great universal
spiritual celestial man, the Upper Man, the Makrokosm, borne or carried in the ter-
restrial universal Adam, the Mikrokosra, in germ, and spiritually and still living in the
flesh; by, through and from the life-giving efflux of the Makrokosm, the Adam Illa-ah,
etc., as we before set forth. The Qabbalistic doctrine as to A’reekh An-peen and 2^’ir
An-peen, is also here to be noted.
f Zohar iii, fol. 21&7, { Pin^has. (Rayah Me’hemnah) Amsterdam Ed. iii, fol.
88, col. 2, Sulzbach Edition. Zohar, Cremona Edition iii, fol. loitf, col. 402. Among
the ancient Hindus, an atonement was asserted to be through the sacrifice of Purusha,
the Great Hindu Universal Ideal Man. (Indian Wisdom by Monier Williams. Lon-
don, 1875, P* ^* Hinduism, by the same author, pp. 36, 90.) Buddha is also reported
as saying : << Let all the evils (sins) flowing from the corruption of the fourth or degen-
erate age (the Kali) fall upon me, but let the world be redeemed.*’ (Indian Wisdom,
above cited, p. 55 note i.) As to the idea among the ancient people of Babylonia, etc.,
see ante^ p. 240.
22
33«
Atonement by the Messiah. ”Those souls (Neshmostn), which are
in the lowest Paradise (i. e., Gan Eden), hover about and look around
through the world * * * and when they behold suffering, ill, or
patient martyrs, and those who suffer for the unity of their Master, they
return and inform the Messiah. At the time when they inform him (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 lifts up his voice and
weeps because of those sinners, as it is written : * And he is wounded for
our misdeeds, etc.* (Is. liii, 5.) Whereupon the souls return and remain
in their places. In the Garden of Eden is a palace, which is called : the
Palace of the Wicked Children. The Messiah goes up into this Palace and
calls all the sufferings, pains and tribulations of Israel to come upon him-
self. And they all come upon him. If he had not thus taken upon him-
self the punishment of Israel for the transgressions of the Law, not any
man would be able to endure the sufferings (due for such transgressions),
as it is written: “In truth he took upon himself oiu: sickness, etc. *
* * :fj Whilst the children of Israel lived in the Holy Land, they kept
from the world, all pain and suffering by their prayers, worship and sacri-
fice ; but now the Messiah does it, and removes them (the sufferings,
etc.) from the world until the child of man departs from this world and
receives his punishment.” f
“The man pure of sin is himself a real sacrifice, which may serve as
an atonement ; therefore the righteous are the sacrifice and the atonement
of the world.’* (Zohar i, 65a.)
The Messiah as the Shepherd. The Rayah Me*hemnah, /. ^., Faith-
ful Shepherd (Zohar iii, fol.*2i8a, % Pin-‘ has. Amsterdam edition; Cre-
mona Ed. ii, 100^,) also says : ** This is also exemplified by the account
of Job : for the Holy, Blessed be He ! Seeing that the whole generation
was a sinful one, and Satan coming to accuse them. The Holy, Blessed
be He ! said to him (Job i, 8) : * Hast thou considered My servant Job ?
For there are none like him upon the whole earth,* to save through him,
(his) generation. This can be illustrated by the parable of the Shep-
* Is. liii, 4. Comp. Rom. xii, 3, 4.
f Zohar ii, fol. 212a and d, Amsterdam Ed. ii, fol. 85, col. 2, Sulzbach Ed«
Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 95^. Comp. 2 Cor. v, 21 ; I Ep. John ii, 2 ; iv, 10.
339
herd, who saw a wolf approaching to tear in pieces his sheep and destroy
them. What did the shepherd do ? He was wise, so he gave to him
(the wolf) the strongest and fattest bell-wether from all, which the
flock was in the habit of following. What then did the shepherd do?
Whilst the wolf was carrying this bell-wether off, the shepherd run with
his sheep and put them into a safe place and then (Jbid.y 218^) re-
turned and saved him (the bell-wether) from the wolf. In the same way
does the Holy, Blessed be He ! deal with a generation ; He delivers a
righteous man into the power of (Satan, the Wolf) the ‘accuser,’
for the salvation of the generation through him. But when he is as
strong as Jacob, it is said by him ; ‘ the man wrestled with him.’ (Gen.
xxxii, 24.) ‘But he will not be able to prevail, on the contrary he
will beg the righteous man to let him go* {Ibid,, 26) for the righteous
one, chosen by the Holy, Blessed be He ! is too strong for the adversary,
and he (the righteous one) willingly bears the bitterest afflictions for the
salvation of his generation, and is considered, as the saviour of them,
and the Holy, Blessed be He ! appoints him shepherd over all the flock, to
feed them in this world, and to rule over them in the world to come.”
The Atonement by the Messiah. ” The ancient pillars of the world
(the learned of Israel) differ as to the nationality of Job. One says,
that he was a pious Gentile, while another takes him for a pious Israelite,
who was smitten in atonement for all the world. Once R. Hamm’nun-
nah met the (prophet) Eliyah and said unto him : * How is it to be ex-
plained, that the righteous suffer while the wicked enjoys life?* He
answered him saying : ‘ The pious whose sins are few gets his pimish-
ment for them in this world, therefore it is that the pious suffers here, but
he whose sins are many, and whose good actions are but few, receives re-
ward for the latter in this world, this explains why ‘ the wicked enjoys
life.’ Said he to him the Judgments of the Lord of the universe are
deep, but at the time when the Lord desires to forgive the sins of the
world, the Holy, Blessed be He ! strikes one of their arms, and so re-
stores spiritual health to all. As a physician does, who strikes the arm of
a sick man, and thus relieves all the members of the body, accordingly
it is written ; (Isaiah liii) * And he was smitten for our transgressions.* *’ *
*Zohar 2 Pin* has, iii, 2310, Amsterdam Ed.; Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 106^. This
340
The Messiah washed in Wine. ” ‘ He washed His garment in wine/
(the Mystery?) (Gen. xlix, ii). He is ‘ Washing ‘ would be more correct.
But ‘ He washed ‘ since the day of the creation of the world. And who is
He? That is the King Messiah, Below. ‘In wine’ that is the Left
side; ‘ In the blood of the grape/ that is the Left side, Below. But the
King Messias is prepared to govern, (fol. 240^,) Above; over all the
idolatrous nations, and break their power from Above and Below.
Another meaning of ‘ He washed his garment in wine,* is that wine
gladdens externally, while in its nature it is ascerb, so also is the King Mes-
siah gladdening for Israel, and is all judgment on the idolatrous nations.
It is written: ‘The Spirit {Rua’K) of Elohim hovered over the waters/
(Gen. i, 2 ;) that is the Spirit of the King Messiah. And from the day of
the creation of the world. He washed His garment in the Upper wine.
Behold, what follows (on the first quoted verse ;) ‘ The eyes become red
from wine, and the teeth white from milk, (Gen. xlix, 12, Comp. Vul-
gate,) this is the Upper wine of which the lords of the Thorah, drink.” *
The Relation of The She’kheen-ah to The Holy Blessed.
” The She*kheen-ah although she stands to the other Lights of the Crea-
tion like the soul to the body, yet she still stands to the Holy, Blessed be
He ! like the body to the soul, but all are one ; therefore here, which is
not the case with man, body an4 soul are one : for the body (of man)
is earth (imn ‘homer, /. ^., clay or earth) and the soul is called hyd se-
khel, (1.^., reason.) The latter, is life; the former, death; but the Holy,
Blessed be He ! is Life and the She’kheen-ah is Life. Therefore it is
< section or parashath, of the Zoharic writings; comprises Volume iii from fol. 213a to fol. 259^, t. ^., 46 folios = 92 pages, and contains many more paragraphs of the same tenor as those before cited. Therein may be the great Secret of Vicarious Atonement for the wicked. Christianity nor Aristotelianism are not referred to in the Zohar. This is a proof of its antiquity and that it is an ancient Asiatic book. * Zohar i, fol. 239^ and 240a ; Amsterdam Ed. i, fol. 128^, Sulzbach Ed. Cre- mona Ed. i, fol. 127^. The Hebrew word IID 4 -f- 6 + 60 = 70 («*. ^., Sod, u e,. Mys- tery). So also docs j” 50 -j- 10 -j- 10 ya-yin, Wine = 70. The expression “Wine of the Thorah” would mean the Secret Mysteries of the Thorah (or Law). So the above expression may mean : * He washed His garment (covering) in the Mysteries of Wisdom ^Hokhmah Nistarah, 341 written : ‘ She is a Tree of Life to those who lay hold upon her, etc.”* (Prov. iii, i8.)t Of the She’kheen-ah. — “Because of (the attributes of) the Holy, Blessed be He ! being concealed in the Mysteries of the Thorah (Penta- teuch). By what is He known ? By the Commandments which are His She’kheen-ah which is His {Uyooq-naK) image. As He is humble so is the She’kheen-ah, humility; as He is benevolent so is she benevo- lence ; as He is strong, so she is the strength of all the nations of the world ; as He is the truth, so is she the truth ; as He is the prophet so is she the proplietess ; as He is righteous (just) so is she righteousness (just- ness); as He is King, so she is Queen ; as He is wise, so is she wisdom ; as He is intelligent, so is she His intelligence ; as He is the crown, so she is His diadem, the diadem of Glory. Therefore the Rabbins have decided, that all whose inner is not like the external, shall not have admittance to the Beth ha-Midrash, i, e,, House of learning. As the image of the Holy, Blessed be He ! whose interior He is, and whose external is the She’kheen- ah ; He, His interior internally, she. His exterior, externally, so that there is not any difference between she, the external, and He, the internal, as she (the She’kheen-ah) is an outflow from Him; and therefore every differ- ence of the external and internal is obviated, and as further the inner nature of YHVH is hidden ; therefore He (YH VH) is only named with the Name of the She’kheen-ah ^jik Adonai i. e,y Lord: J therefore the Rabbins say (of the name YHVH) ; Not as I Am written (/. ^., YHVH) Am I read. In this world My Name is written YHVH and read Adonoi, but in the world to come, the same will be read as it is written, so that Mercy (represented by YHVH) shall be from all sides. § *This shows that the body and soul are not one, but that Hu, i.^., He, and His She’- kheen-ah together, are One. t Zohar ii, fol. 1 18^, Rayah Me’hemnah. Amsterdam Ed. ii, fol. 49, col. I. Sulzbach Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 53a. X The two names are united, merge in and form, the Unit, in the Perfect Name Ado- noi or Adonai. 2 Zohar iii, fol. 230a, Amsterdam Ed. iii, fol. 93, col. I. Sulzbach Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. io6a, Rayah Me’hemnah. 342 The She’kheen-ah is the Highest Angel. The Image of Elohim AND One with Elohim. ** Come, See ! When Hillel, the elder, was rejoicing at that celebration (Festival of the House of Water-drawing) he said * When ^jk a^nee, i. e.y I am, is here all are here, but if ^jk a* nee lam, is not here, who is here?’ By this he signified and said : If the She*kheen-ah, which is called ‘JK a* nee * I am’ rests here. All are here. The place is called S”D Koil, All* for those who will unite themselves to her (the She*kheen-ah). But if ^jk a* nee ‘ I am ‘ is not here who is here ? Because happiness is not perfect, so long as the She*kheen-ah does not rest in the Holy Land. But when the number of steers shall be completed then will come to pass, that which is written : ‘ Ye shall draw water with joy from the well-springs of salvation.’ (Is. xii, 13.) What are they ? These are the six wells, which flow in this salvation. And so the whole world shall rejoice, because the She’kheen-ah shall be liberated from the midst of the nations living in wickedness, and therefore it is written ; ^ The eighth day shall be a festival to you.* (Numb, xxix, 35).” t A QABBALISTIC FORMULA OF THB GREAT NAMES, UNITY, ETC. ft/AALL VNITY MAI^ (//uj. • ni Shaddai, AWIGHTY ■=1^3 -yi^^l?,?/-. THE CROWN. n* – Yj/.fyaW. h’^’AiL(£lJ. NO BEGINNING. j NO END. ^^,^ ^g^, ^^.^ THE GREAT UNUTTERABLE NAME. The above Diagram shows the idea of the positive (male) and negative (female) merged in the unity or harmony. The Ineffable name mrr^ YHVH, divided in the Sephirothic Tree, at first makes m^ YHV of the Upper Three, the last n (Heh), being the symbol of the seven Lower * V’3 = 50, that is the 50 gates of Binah, UndersUnding. t Zohar i, Hashmutas, fol. 11^, Amsterdam Ed. i, fol. 16, coL 2, Sulzbach Ed. Cre- mona Ed. i, fol. 1 8/7. 343 Sephiroth and more especially of Malkhuth, the Harmony of all. ^ (Yod) is the letter of Kether, n (Heh) of Binah, i (Vav) of ‘Hokhmah, together, the Upper Three. Dividing the Tetragrammaton in half we have the above division n^ YH and m VH ; still further sublimated it is n’ YH, this divided, is ^ (Yod) the letter of Kether, the Father := lo, and the first n (Heh) the letter of Binah, the Holy Spirit or Upper She’kheen-ah, finally all take rise in the point, or ‘ (Yod) of Kether, which emanates immediately from Ain Soph. Under the Great Unutterable Name we have placed on the Diagram, the Great Name, the Shem-Hammephorash, which the Qabbalists assert, was that pronounced in the past by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies on the Great Day of Atonement, the pronunciation of which, it has been claimed, has been lost. Those of the initiates who can read the above formula knowingly, will understand it. The Talmud, Rashi its first commentator, and the orthodox Jewish Liturgy, hold that Hu^ /. ^., He, is a name of the Deity. The Qabbalists hold that the Ineffable Name, mrr YHVH, expresses a Duality in the Godhead, a He and a she, two persons in one God, the Holy, Blessed be His Name ! and His She’kheen-ah. The Daily Prayers of the Orthodox in Jewish Liturgy, before putting on the Tephillin and the Tallith, are : La^ shem ye’ hood qoodshah banik hoo ushe^ kheent-ah bed^heeloo ut^heemoo r yd! had shem xv YH to m VH b’y’hooda shlim, L e., ”To the One Name, the Holy, blessed be He ! (Hu) and His She’kheen-ah, with Fear and Mercy, to unite the Name YH to VH, so that it shall be in a perfect Unity.*** The two, HU and YaH, form iriK mrr, /. ^., One YHVH, accord- ing to the Qabbalists, One but of a Bisexual nature. The Karaites in- stead of mrr write in their Litany , v« Th^ Orthodox Israelites generally T \\, The former cannot be pronounced and is not communicable and is quite Ineffable. t * Comp. the ‘Tzee’nah Uree’nah. A Rabbinical Comment, on Genesis, English Ed., by P. I. Hershon. London, 1885, p. 138, note 2. \ Ibid.^ p. 302 note. 344 iriK E’had, i. ^., the, One. k = i, n = 8, 1 = 4. The k means the One Deity, n means the seven heavens and the one earth, equal eight. 1 signifies the four corners of the world. The Qabbalists think of this when repeating the She-mah, and pronounce the word E’hcui, One, in it, very slowly dwelling in their thoughts upon the above signifi- cation of its letters. The Creation of Man, and His Purity and Sinning. ” * And He blew into his nostrils (Philo says, face), a breath of Life,’ Vnepesh ‘hay-yah (Gen. ii, 7). That is the holy soul, which has its origin from that Divine (Upper) Life. * And thus man (Adam) became an animated rvry ^hdy-yah livings creature !’ That is man became endowed with a holy Life (M3 NephesK) from that heavenly creature n’n ‘Iiay-yah.^ Which the earth brought forth, as it is written ; ‘ The earth shall bring forth, th^ living creature f rvxy Brfl3 Nephesh ‘hdy-yah 1. e., living souL (Gen. i, 24.) A soul-life which is in the Divine Upper Life. Come, See ! All the time that that holy soul connects itself with the son of man, he is the beloved of his master. How many keepers watch and protect him from all sides ! He is the symbol for good. Above and Below, and the Holy She’kheen-ah rests upon him; and at the time man deviates from this way, the She’- kheen-ah departs from him, and the holy soul has not any longer a con- nection with him, and from the side of the mighty evil serpent f a spirit is stirred up, which (spirit) roams about in the world J and can only find rest in the places from which divine holiness has departed, § and thus the child of man becomes polluted and declines in flesh as well as in the whole countenance. || ♦ Comp. Ezek. i, 5-27 ; x, 27. t The left side the negative, destroying, female and evil side ; that of Sama-el. J ** Be sober, be watchful, your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour; whom withstand.” I Pet. v, 8. See Kilto’s Cyclop. Biblical Lit., iii, p. 773. sq. ibid., ii, p. 857. 2 Is. xxiv, 14, xiii, 21, Kitto’s work just cited, iii, p. 804. Ibid,, ii, p. 834. Lillith, see ante pp. 248, 331. II 2k>har iii, fol. 46^, Amsterdam Ed. iii, fol. 19, col. i, Sulzbach Ed. Cremona
Ed. ii, fol. 2ia,
345
Through Sin Man Lost the Image of Elohim. “*And your fear
and terror shall be over all the animals upon the earth.’ (Gen. ix, 2.)
That is, the sublime image of (the) man until now wanting, you shall now
bear. Come, See ! At first it is written : ‘ In the image oSva b^tzalem,
of Elohim, has He made (the) man,” (Gen. ix, 6;) and then again it is
written ; in the similitude niDia bid-moothy of Elohim, He made him. Be-
cause the image of man, in consequence of the sins committed, had
changed from the Upper one so that its condition became such, that man
feared before the beasts. In the first, all the creatures of the world trem-
bled and quaked at the sight of marCs sublime Upper Holy Image, but
after he had committed sin, his image disappeared and was changed into
another similitude, and a reverse condition, so that the child of man
feared and trembled before other creatures. Come, See 1 The features
of all those children of men, who do not sin before their Master and do
not transgress His law, have not changed in their (original) Upper Divine
Image, and all the creatures of the wdrld quake and tremble before them ;
but in time the child of man has transgressed the words of the Thorah
and their image is changed, and all quake and tremble before other crea-
tures, because this Divine Image has changed and disappeared from them.
And so the wild beasts govern over them, because they do not see the
Divine Upper Image * as it had been before, f
The Serpent (Sama-el) Brought Death into the World. ” * And
the serpent was cunning.* (Gen. iii, i.) It is the evil spirit, it is the
Angel of Death (Sama-el). And because the serpent is the Angel of
Death, it caused death to the whole world. This is the mystery of what
is written * The end of all flesh has come before Me.* This is the end
of all flesh, the serpent takes away the souls {NeshamotK) of all flesh. J
* The power of Daniel over the lions the Qabbalists say resulted from his having the
Divine Image.
f Zohar i, fol. 71a, Amsterdam Ed. Zohar i, fol. 22, col. 2, Sulzbach Ed. Cremona
Ed. i, fol. 53a.
X Zohar i, fol. 35a, Amsterdam Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 7&a. This meant, that the
serpent, as the Yetur-ha-rah, evil spirit or evil angel of man, causes man to sin, and
«
causes death to their (Neshamoih) heavenly souls.
346
Death Came Through the Serpent. ” R. Shim-on (ben Yo’hai)
began and said : ‘ And they transgressed the covenant like Adam, therein
they despise Me.’ (Hos. vi, 7.) Who can wipe the dust out of thine
eyes, O ! first man ? The Holy, Blessed be He ! gave thee one command-
ment only, still thou couldst not follow it, because thou didst suffer thy-
self to be seduced through the slanderous words of that wicked serpent,
of which it is written : * And the serpent was cunning;* therefore thou
hast caused death to thyself and to all descendants who come out from
thee. Come, See ! who suffers himself to be seduced by it (the serpent)
and follows it even for an instant will perish through it. ‘ ‘*
” R. Yitz-haq began and said : * And He drove Adam out and placed
him east of Gan-Eden, (Paradise.)* (Gen. iii, 24.) Come, See ! The
mystery of the word Adam ! The letters of which signify that the object
of his (Adam*s) sin was at the same time also his punishment, f And
caused death to himself and the entire world. And caused the Tree
through which he sinned to be banished from Paradise. But Adam
himself was the cause of the eternal banishment of his descendants.* ‘*J
Man is Born in Original Sin which Remains with Him until
Death. ” R. Yehudah began and said : * His angels He commanded that
they guard thee in all thy ways.’ (Ps. cxi, 11. Comp. Matt, iv, 6.) This
verse, the companionsg explain thus : At the time when man comes into
the world, at that instant appears in him the evil spirit (angel)|| which
* Zohar ii, fol. 106, col. 2, Sulzbach Ed. ii, fol. 262^7, Amsterdam Ed. Cremona
Ed. ii, fol. 115a.
o 00
f DflJlK Ktom nD3, be’Mah D’hata Athpas, 1.^., through that by which he sinrud^ he
was punished. The initials backwards DIK, Adam, and properly read KID, middah,
measure, according to the proverb: HID HJJD HID, middah k’neged middah, 1. e,,
measure for measure,
t Zohar i, fol. 2yja, Amsterdam Ed. ii, fol. 120, col. 2, Sulzbach Ed. Cremona
Ed. i, fol. 126^.
§The ” Companions” were those who had been initiated into the Sod or Secret Doc-
trine later termed Qabbalah.
II Known to the Israelites as Ye’tzer ha-rah, the Evil inclination or angel. It is this
Evil Inclination which is referred to in the Lord’s Prayer, not Satan. It is looked upon
as an angel which accompanies man during his journey through this life. Comp. Say-
ings of the Jewish Fathers {Pirqi Avoth), etc., by Charles Taylor, before cited, pp.
$if 76-78, 96, III, 112, 142-144 and notes.
347
always accuses him, as it is written : ‘ Sin lieth at the door, etc’ (Gen.
iv, 7.) What is ‘sin lieth’? It means * the evil spirit ‘ {ye^tter ha-
raH), David also calls it, (the evil spirit) sitiy as it is written ‘And
my sin is always before me ; (Ps. li, 6) because he daily seduces man to
sin against his Lord. This evil spirit never leaves man from the day he
is born into the world. And the good spirit {Ye^tzer ha-tob) comes to
the man from the day he becomes clean. And when does man become
clean ? As soon as he is thirteen years (of age). Then man connects
himself with both, one on the right and the other on the left. The good
spirit to the right and the evil spirit to the left. And these are the two
angels which are destined to always remain by man. If man strives after
sanctification the evil spirit is suppressed and the right governs the left,
and then both unite to guard man in all his ways and doings, as it is
written : * His angels shall He command, etc’ ” *
Free Will. ” * And dtiSk, i. e,, Elohim created the Man in His (Elo-
him’s) image,* (Gen. i, 27) that is in the image of Metatron : Who is the
Elohim, that created him ? He is the living Elohim and King of the
World. In the imagef of Elohim he created him, that is, Sama-el, from
whom are descended other elohim, of which it is written : ‘ Thou shalt
have no other elohim beside Me.’ (Exod. xx, 3.) If a man is worthy,
Elohim creates him in the image of Metatron, the servant under his mas-
ter, that is the meaning of, ‘ And Elohim created the Man in His im-
age : * namely ; in the similitude of Metatron ; but if man is unworthy,
he is created in the image of SamS-el, the Angel of Death, J who executes
* Zohar i, fol. 165^, Amsterdam, i, fol. 96, col. 2, Sulzbach E^d. Cremona £d. i,
fol. 95^.
f DtY^ be-tzeUm, which in the later Hebraic, the Chaldaic and Talmud, is DtY HeUm^
a simulacrum or shadow and signifies an idol, (Comp. Daniel) that is, in the image (of
SamS-el). The Rabbins sought to find in Gen. i, 27, a deeper meaning from the repe-
tition therein, asserting that the first part showed the inclination of man for good or his
good spirit and the repetition, that for evil, the evil spirit.
\ Thus is the second word to be read. SamS,-el has a female reflection called Lillith,
as we have said before. Comp. ante^ pp. 248, 331. United together they are called
‘Hayoh, the Beast and ^Hayoh Bishah, the Evil or Wicked Beast. Comp. Zohar ii,
255-59. Sama*€l is considered the same as the Satan of the Old Testament, also the
348
under the command of his Lord, ” the Judgment upon man in gdi-hinnom
(hell) if man has not been righteous. And therefore the word 12m vay-
ye’tzer, u e,, and he formed, is (written in Genesis with two ‘% yodeen.
See ante p. 248) to show (the two-fold nature in man and) that the man
created with the faculty for good (belongs) to Metatron, who also aids
him by inspirations {be^ phikkoodeen ‘ in the K:ommandments,’) in the
study of the Thorah, (that is, * to be a help from the Thorah, concern-
ing the obedience to the commandments:’) therefore it is written; *I
will make him a help-mate.’ (Gen. ii, 18.) But if unworthy, then
Ye*tzeer-ah, (/. e., the formation,) is that of the wicked Sama-el, who is
as to man k^negdo, 1. e,, against him, and seduces man to sin, so as to
condemn him into gdi-hinnom (hell). But both (Metatron and Sama-el)
accompany the son of man (through life) in a double image.” *
Nachmanides and R. Be’hai hold, the first word Elohim of the first
verse of Genesis is really e^lohim and only meant, energies or angels, and
not the Deity. That B’resheeth meant Be-raisheeth, /. ^., with Wisdom,
one of the Sephiroth, and that through it was emanated, that, the essence
of which is unknown, in three degrees or worlds : e^lohim (ailo-heem) re-
presenting the angelic world, and often so termed in the Divine words ;
Sha-mayeem, i,e., the heavens, the celestial world of the stars and planets ;
ha-AhHretz, i.e., the earth, the elemental world, and that this is the order
mentioned in Genesis. Maimonides translates the second as “angels”
not ‘* heavens,” and where Job says : ” the heavens are not pure in Thy
sight, etc.,” (xv, 15 ;) he says; *’ the angels, etc.” This is likely from
the word Sha-mayeem. The real meaning of Sha-mayeem is, that the
heavens are made of d”D1 IW, /. e,, esh fire, mayeem water; also soo ma-
yeem, the heaven carries the waters. See Rashi (Gen. i, 7-8), also Tal-
Angel of Death, or Poison of Death. Comp. Talmud, treat. Bava Bathra^ i6tf. As to
Lillith : See, Traditions of the Jews, etc., by Rev. John Peter Stehclin, London, 1742,
ii, p. iiosq. Of Sama-el, see ibid, i, p. 187 sq.; Allen’s Modern Judaism, p. 167 sq,
* Zohar i, fol. 26a, J B^resheeth. Cremona Ed. Rayah Me’hcmnah. Livorno Ed. i,
39^. i, fol. 25, col. I, Sulzbach Ed. That is as the evil inclination, called the YeUzer
ha-rahf and the good inclination, termed the Ye’tzer ha-iob. Both are Considered as
always present with each human being who is capable of witnessing between right and
wrong. Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, antty p. 346, note.
349
mud Babli^ treatise ‘HuHn, Sha-mayeem being taken as a compound
formed from iw esh fire, a symbol of the angels whose ministry is Sever-
ity, and D’D mayeenty water, equally proper for the angels charged with
Mercy.
Metatron is the First of the Creatures and the Reflection of
Elohim. ” When it is said : (Gen. xxiv, 2) * His najr av^doh, 1. e., ser-
vant,^ That is the servant of Ma-qam^ * The oldest of His house,’ to
serve Him. And who is he ? That is Metatron, who, as it has been said,
is destined to glorify the body in the graves. This is as it is written ;
‘And Abraham said to his servant,’ namely; to Metatron, the servant
oi Ma-qom, ‘ The oldest of His house,’ because he (Metatron) is i^t first
of the creatures of Ma-qom, who governs (rules) over all that belongs to
Him ! For the Holy, Blessed be He ! has given him dominion over all
His hosts, t And we have learned, said Rabbi Shim-on ; that R. Yo-seh
said ; that Rab said ; that all the Hosts of the Servant take delight and
enjoyment from the pureness of the soul, and we have learned, that the
Light of the soul in the coming world, is greater than the Light of the
Throne, and the soul took the Light from the Throne.”
The Matroneethah is The Mediatrix between The Deity and
Man. ** * And the Lord drove Adam out and placed * * * the Cheru-
bee’m * * * to guard the way to the Tree of Life.’ (Gen. iii, 24)
Where is the way to the Tree of Life ? This is the great Matroneethah,”
she is the way to that Great Tree, the Mighty Tree of Life. It is written :
* The word Ma-qom^ i, e.^ Place, is here ttsed as a Name of Elohim.
t Zohar i, fol. 126^, (Midrash Hanne-e’lam) Amsterdam Ed. i, fol. 77, coL I.
Sulzbach Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 76^. In the recent find at Constantinople called
the Didach6 or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, ante,^ p. 116 j^., Jesus is called,
” the servant of YeHoVaH.” David is also called the same. St. Luke, alone of the
Apostles, uses the word 7ra?c = son or servant, of both Jesus and David. Acts iii, 13-
26, iv, 25, 27, 30. Is. xlii, I. Matt, xii, 18. See Dr. Philip Schaffs edition of the
Didach6, New York, 18S5, P* ‘9’* ^^^ early writing called. The Pastor of Hennas,
represents Christ under the figure of a servant^ whom God has chosen and given the
Holy Spirit, because of his fidelity, to inhabit the flesh ; the moment of that union, he
appears to have considered, to have been at the baptism of Jesus by John, l^ Ptuteur
ePHermas^ Paris^ j880t p. I02.
350
* Behold, the bed of Solomon is surrounded by sixty valiant men from
the strongest of Israel.’ (Song of Songs iii, 7.) The Celestial Israel:
* They all hold swords.’ If the Matroneethah takes them up, then they
all take them up with her. This is that which is written ; ‘ The Angel of
Elohim which went before the host of Israel and passed behind them.’
(Exod. xiv, 19.) Dost thou call her the ‘Angel of Elohim?’ Yea ! Said
Rabbi Abbah ; ‘* Come, See ! so says : Rabbi Shim-on ; ‘ The Holy, Blessed
be He 1 has erected before Him a Holy Palace, a Celestial Holy Palace, a
Holy City, the Upper (Heavenly) City! Jerusalem is called the Holy
City, who enters to the King, can enter only from the Holy City, from
whence alone the road leads to the King, from here the way is prepared.
It is written ; ‘ This is the Gate to YHVH, the righteous shall enter
therein.’ (Ps. cxviii, 20.) All the services that the King desires are
attended to by the Matroneethah, and all services from here below go
first to the Matronethah, and from there to the King. And by her is
everything sent forth. This is what is written : * And the Angel of Elo-
him which went before the hosts of Israel,’ (Israel from Above.)
(Exod. xiv, 19.) He is the Angel of Elohim to where it is written:
* And YHVH went before them ! etc., ‘ (Ex. xiii, 21.) as it is explained.
But is it then becoming to the honor of the King, that the Matronee-
thah shall carry on war and be used as a Mediatrix? Represent to
thyself a King, who was espoused to an exalted Matroneethah. The
King recognizing her dignity as high, above everything, thus spoke : ‘ All
others appear like beasts in comparison with my Matroneethah, she shines
above all. What distinction shall I confer on her ? My whole house
shall be in her hands.* And the King had it proclaimed : ‘ Henceforth all
the affairs of the King are entrusted to the hands of the Matronethah.’
What did he (further) do ? He entrusted into her hands all his weapons,
all the lords of war, all the precious stones of the King, all treasures of
the King, saying : ‘ Whoever henceforth needs to speak to me, cannot
speak to me until it is first made known to the Matroneethah.’ Thus
it is with the Holy, Blessed be He ! and this on account of the great
friendship and love, which He cherishes for the Superior Congregation of
Israel. He delivered everything to the Matroneethah. Behold the idol
worshipping nations do not find any respect from her, who is mine only
351
one, my pious one, my dove ; what shall I do for her ? But this : I will
deliver my whole house into her hands.”*
Repentance Necessary so that Man may be Forgiven His Sins.
” When does man cleanse himself from his sins? When he does repent-
ance as it should be done. R. Yitz’haq said : * It is when he repents
before his King, Above ; and prays (fol. 70a) lo Him from the depths of
the heart ; as it is written ; ‘ Out of the depths have I called to the, YHVH. *
(Ps. cxxx I.) R. Abbah said: ^Out of the depths, etc.,’ that is a place
hidden Above, which has the depth of a well, and out of which flows,
brooks and streams for every passer by, and this depth of the deepest is
called Repentance, and whoever desires to repent and cleanse himself
from his sins must call upon the Holy, Blessed be He ! Therefore it is
written ‘ Out of the depths have I called unto Thee, YHVH.’ We have
learned, that if at the time man sins before his Lord, he offers a sacri-
fice upon the altar and the priest atones it, and he prays for forgiveness,
through these the Mercy in the Holy, Blessed be He ! is stirred up ; and
the judgments become modified and Repentance, full of blessing, flows
forth like gushing springs and bestows blessing upon all the Lights, and
thus man is cleansed from his sins.” f
On Repentance and Conversion. ” R. Yehudah began and said :
* YHVH trieth the righteous, but His soul hateth the wicked and he who
loveth violence (robbery).’ (Ps. xi, 5.) How well ordered are the works
of the Holy, Blessed be He ! And all that He has done, is entirely
founded on Truth and Justice ! As it is written : ‘ He is the Rock, His
* Zohar ii, fol. 51a, Amsterdam Ed. ii, fol. 21, Sulzbach Ed. Cremona Ed.
ii, fol. 22^. The Matroneethah is the She*kheen-ah, the Real Presence or Gloiy
of the Deity, which visibly rested, according to the O. T., over the Hebrew Ark of the
Covenant in the Holy of Holies. It is in Malkhuth, according to the Qabbalah, which
Sephirah is the Kingdom or Government of the Deity upon our earth. Its angel is
the Great Presence Angel called, Metatron, its Divine Name is the full Name Adonai.
In this Sephirah is the harmony and content of all the preceding Sephiroth. Its special
influence is over the Church or Congregation of Israel.
f 2^har iii, fol. 29a, Sulzbach Ed. iii, fol. 69, col. 2, fol. 70, col. I. Amsterdam Ed.
Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 32^. As to Repentance, see. Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, p. 84
note.
352
work is perfect ; for all His ways are with Judgment ; an Ail (El) of
Truth and without injustice, just and right is He !’ (Deut. xxxii, 4.) Come,
See ! The Holy, Blessed be He ! did not judge the first man* until after
He had first exhorted him, that his heart and will might not depart into
other ways and he become unclean. But he (Adam) did not fear but
transgressed the commands of his Liord. But afterwards He made known
to him His judgment ; yet did not judge him as he deserved, but re-
strained His anger for a long time, and suffered him to live one day,
that is 1000 years less yof which he gave to David, which really did not
belong to him (David). Likewise He does not judge the child of man
according to his evil doings, which he continually commits. If He did,
the world could not exist, but the Holy, Blessed be He ! restrains His
anger for a long time* with the just and the wicked, and waits as to
the wicked a longer time than with the just, that they may do full re-
pentance and be able to exist both in this world and in the fiiture world ;
as it is written: *Say to them: as true as ‘jk a^nee^ /. ^., I, live, says
YHVH, etc., I have not any pleasure in the death of the wicked, but
rather that the wicked turn from his evil ways and live. ‘ (Ezek. xxxiii,
II.) That he may live in this world and in the world to come. Therefore
He restrains His anger to them for a long time or also that there may shoot
from them a good scion in the world, like Abraham who descended from
Tarah. He was a good scion, a root and a good pearl to the world. But
the Holy, Blessed be He ! is always very strict with the just (pious) in all
their doings, so that they may deviate neither to the right or to the left.
Therefore He tries them, not for His, but their own sakes, because He
knows their thoughts and power of faith and will raise up their heads, as
it is written : * And Elohim put Abraham to the test, etc. (Gen. xxii, i.)
What does the word (no3 nis-saH) test, signify. Raising the banner ( OJ
nes standard) as it is written : * Raise the banner ‘ (Is. Ixii, 10), * Set up
the standard.’ (Jer. iv, 10.) And this is meant, that the Holy, Blessed be
He ! raised up Abraham’s banner in the eyes of the whole world, which
is hinted at in the word (nD3 nis-sah) test, (signifying, raised the standard.)
* That is the terrestrial or earthly Adam,
f Adam is said to have lived 930 years.
353
Thus also the Holy, Blessed be He ! tests the pious ones so as to raise
their standards, that is their heads, in the whole world.” *
The Bringing Forth of Man and of Repentance. ” It has been
taught us. At the time the Holy, Blessed be He ! created the world. He
also desired to create a man. He took counsel with the Thorah. She said
before him : ‘ Thou desirest to create a man, he will certainly sin before
Thee, he will certainly provoke Thee if Thou dealest with him accord-
ing to his doings ; the world cannot stand before Thee still less the man !
Said He to her : Am I then in vain called ; * Ail, merciful, gracious and
long-suffering?’ (Exod. xxxiv, 6.) Before the Holy, Blessed be He ! cre-
ated the world. He had already created Repentance,t to whom he said :
‘ I desire to create man in the world, but in such a way that thou art pre-
pared to forgive and reconcile him, when he turns from his sins to thee.’
Therefore Repentance is all the time prepared for men and when men
turn from their sins, she (Repentance) returns to the Holy, Blessed be
He ! and reconciles them all. And the judgments are all wiped out and
man is cleansed from his sins.” J
The Change Necessary for Sinners. “Those burdened with sin need
a change of place, a change of name, and a change of their doings ; like
it was said to Abraham ; * Go forth from thy country and thy place of
birth.* (Gen. xii, i.) Here is a change of place. And ‘ Thy name shall
no more be called Abram, but Abraham shall be thy name.’ (^Ibid, xvii,
5.) This is a change of name. A change of doings; he changed from
his former evil acts to good actions. Ҥ
*
The Deity Casts into Eternal Condemnation those who Do Not
Repent in Time. ” R. Yo-seh said : Woe to the wicked, who will not
do penance before the Holy, Blessed be He ! for their sins, while they are
still in this world, for when man repents and regrets for the sins he has
committed, the Holy, Blessed be He ! pardons him ; and all those who
* Zohar i, fol. 83a, Cremona Ed. i, fol. 139^, Amsterdam Ed.
t This may be a reference to the She’kheen*ah.
I Zohar iii, fol. 59, col. I. Sulzbach E^d. iii, fol. 69^, Amsterdam E^d. Cremona
Ed. ii, fol. 31^.
J 2k>har iii, fol. 217^, Amsterdam Ed. iii, fol. 88, col. I. Sulzbach Ed. Rayah
Me’hemnah. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 98^.
23
354
tarry in their sins, and will not repent before the Holy, Blessed be He ! for
their sins. He will hereafter be cast into gat-hinnom (hell) and they can
never come forth from there again.” *
On Reward and Punishment in the Future Life. ” R. Yehudah
said : The time when man departs from this life, is the day of the Great
Judgment, then the soul {NeshamaK) separates from the body. And
man does not depart from this world, until he has seen the She’kheen-ah ;
therefore it is written ; * No man can see Me and live.* (Ex. xxxiii, 20.)
With the She’kheen-ah comes three angels, to receive the soul {Nesha-
ffuth) of the Righteous : as it is written ; * And YHVH appeared to him,
etc.:* as the day was hot. (Gen. xviii, i.) That is the Day of Judgment,
which bums like an oven, to separate the soul {Neshamah) from the body.
* And he lifted up his eyes and saw three men,’ who investigate the deeds
he has done and through whom, by an oral statement, he acknowledges
(confesses). And when the soul {NeshamaK) sees this, it parts from the
body as far as the opening of the gullet and there waits, imtil it has con-
fessed all that which the body in this world has committed with her. Then
the soul {NeshamaK) of the Righteous b glad over her deeds and rejoices
that she was so faithfully preserved. We have learned, said R. Yitz-haq :
The soul of the just (pious) longs for the time, when it shall leave this
vain world, so as to rejoice in the future world, “f
The Rising of the Soul of the Dead. ” Said R. Yitz-haq : At the
time the soul {NeshatnaK) deserves it, and rises to her Upper place, the
body lies peacefully and rests in its bed, as it is written ; ‘ He shall enter
into peace, where they shall rest on their beds ; who walks in straightness. ‘
(Is. Ivii, 2.) ‘What does this mean ; * Walks in straightness?* Said R.
Yitz-haq : The soul {NeshatnaK) goes straight to the place reserved for
her in Paradise.” J §
* Zohar i, fol. 66a, Amsterdam Ed. i, fol. 49, col. 4. Sulzbach Ed. Cremona Ed. i,
fol. 51a.
f Zohar i, fol. 9&Z, Amsterdam Ed. i, fol 65, col. I, Sulzbach Ed. The Midrash
ha^Ne.eMam, i. e.^ the Hidden Midrash. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 65^.
1 Zohar i, fol. 122^, Amsterdam Ed. i, fol. 76, col. i, Sulzbach Ed. Midrash ha.
Ne-e’lam. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 75a.
2 When the body is deprived of all life, the vital soul (^Nepheih)^ it is called *]U Guff^
I. ^., body or corpse. The t/eshamah is frequently called by the Rabbins : the precious
soul, to distinguish it from the animal or vital soul.
355
The Resxjrrection of the Dead. ” R. Yitz-haq began : * The Du-
daim (Mandrin or Mandrakes) gives an exhalation of odor, etc.* (Song of
Sol. vii, 13) ; Our Rabbis have learned : In the future to come, the Holy,
Blessed be He ! will quicken the dead and awaken them from the dust,
that they be no more an earthly building. For formerly they were cre-
ated of real dust of matter, which is not lasting, as it is written : * And
YHVH Elohim formed the man (Adam) from the dustoi the earth.’
(Gen. ii, 2.) In the same time (that of the resurrection) they shall be
shaken out of the dust from that building and stand into a firm build-
ing, that it shall be to them lasting. Thus it is written : * Shake thy-
self from the dust arise captive of Jerusalem.’ (Is. lii, 2.) They shall
stand firm (lastingly) and rise from under the earth and receive their souls
{Neshamoth) in the land of Israel. For at that time the Holy, Blessed
be He ! will spread over them all kinds of odors from the Garden of
Eden; as it is written : ‘The Dudaim gives exhalation of odor.’ Said
R. Yitz-haq: * Do not call it * Dudaim’ but Dodim^ (/. ^., friendship.)’
This means body and soul {Neshamah) which are friends and companions
one to the other. R. Na’hman says : ‘ This word means real Dudaim as
the Dudaim bring forth love in the world.’*
So they bring forth love in the world ! And what does this mean ?
*They give a well-pleasing (nn rMK) odor?’ That is a description
of the integrity of their deeds, through which their Creator, becomes
known and comprehended to their generation. * And at * our doors ‘ are
all the precious fruits old with new.’ (Ibid.) * Our doors ‘ that is the doors
of heaven \ they are open, where from, the souls (Neshamoth) shall de-
scend into the corpses. * All the precious fruits.’ Those are the souls
{NeshatnotK). * New and old,’ are those, whose souls {NeshamoiK) had
parted from them many years, as also those, whose souls {NeshamotK) left
them but a few days past, and deserve through the honesty of their actions
to enter the world to come. All (these souls, NeshamotK) shall descend
simultaneously to enter the bodies destined for them.” f
* The Hebrew D^KHI, Duda-im (Gen. zxx, 14) is held by many, to be the love-
apple or mandragora. Comp. Kitto*s Bib. Cyclop. Ed. 1876, i, 707 sq,
fZohar i, fol. 154^7, Amsterdam Ed. i, fol. 81, ool. I, Sulzbach Ed. Midrash
Hanne-e’lam. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 80, col. 320.
356
The Resurrection in The Body. The Zohar holds to the Resurrec-
tion in the Body, as well as that nothing in the universe is lost. Joel*
quotes; ” If the naked soul is worthy to return to its former condition it
will newly arise in the body, * * * from Him it is written ; * These
to Eternal Life’ * * * and these are the Supreme Forces of the
Holy King, and nothing is lost.”
” While the soul {NeshatnaK) has its sustenance from the splendor of
the Above, the Holy, Blessed be He ! says to that angel called, Dumahf
* Go and announce to that body, that I am prepared to make it alive
(quicken it) at the time when I shall make alive the just (pious) in the
future time to come. But it, the body, answers : * Shall I have pleasure
after my being decayed?’ (Gen. xviii, 12.) After my being decayed in
the dust and dwelling in the earth where worms and moles have eaten my
flesh, shall it be able for me to be renewed? The Holy, Blessed be He!
says to the soul {Neshamah) : It is therefore written : * And YHVH said
unto Abraham, etc.,’ ‘Is anything difficult to YHVH?’ At a time
which is known to Me to revive the dead, I shall bring back to thee that
body, which is entirely renewed and as it was previously, that it may
be like the holy angels ; and that day is destined for Me to rejoice with
them ; as it is written : ‘ The Glory of YHVH is eternal ! YHVH shall
rejoice in His works. “J (Ps. civ, 31.)
The Future Happiness of the Righteous. *’ At that time, the just
(pious) shall attain full knowledge ; said R. Yo-seh; ‘ On the day on which
the Holy, Blessed be He ! shall rejoice over His works, the just will know
Him in their hearts, and their understanding shall be as great as if they
had seen Him with the eyes ; as it is written, (Is. xxv, 9) ; * And he will
say on that day : Behold ! this is our Elohim, etc’ And the joy of the
soul when dwelling in the body does surpass all, because they are both
constant and know and comprehend their Creator and rejoice in the
splendor of the She’kheen-ah. And this is what is meant by the Good
which is preserved for the just in the future to come. Thus it is written :
* ReligionS’philosophie des Sohar, p. 148 note.
t Silence, the angel which has charge of the disembodied spirits. Comp. Genesis
with a Talmudical Commentary, by Paul I. Hershon. London, 1883, p. 94, sq.
% 2^har i, fol. 102a, Amsterdam Ed. i, fol. 66, col. 2, Sulzbach Ed. Midrash Hanne-
e*lam. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 66, col. 264, and 67, col. 265.
357
‘ AiUh tho*l’doth Yitz-haq ben Abraham these are the generations oi Isaac
son oi Abraham,^ (Gen. xxxv, 19.) That is, these are the generations of
rejoicing and cheetfulness, which at that time shall be in the world, orriaK
p ben Abraham son of Abraham. ‘ That is the soul (^Neshamah) which
deserves such joy and is perfect in her elevation, pnv’ riK tSih DTTiaK
Abraham hoHd eth Yiiz-haq Abraham begat Isaac ! That is the soul
brought forth this rejoicing and cheerfulness in the world.’ Said R. Yehu-
dah to R. *He-yah: ‘This we have learned: a feast which the Holy,
Blessed be He ! will prepare for the righteous in time to come. What is
it ?’ Said he to him ; * When I came before those holy angels, the lords
of learning, I had only heard this which you have heard, afterwards I
heard the explanation of it by R. El’azar. This said R. El’azar : ‘ The
feast for the righteous in the future to come, will be like this, as it is writ-
ten; * They saw the Elohim and ate and drunk.* (Ex. xxiv, 11.) And
these are the foods, we have been taught. And R. El’azar said : ‘ In one
place we have learned : * We have rejoiced,’ in another place * We have
been fed. ‘ How do these two expressions differ ?
But thus said my father (R. Shim-on b. Yo’hai) ‘The just (pious)
who do not deserve so much shall only rejoice^ in the rejlection^ because
they cannot comprehend all, but the truly righteous shall be satiated until
they attain the fullest comprehension.’* This therefore is to be under-
stood by eating and drinking, and this is (also the meaning of) the feast
and the eating. And from where have we this? From Moses, as it is writ-
ten : ‘ He was with YHVH forty days and forty nights, bread he ate not
and water he drunk not.* (Ex. xxxiv, 28.) What was the cause, that
bread he ate not and water he drunk not ? It was ‘ he was fed by another
feast, by that celestial splendor from above. And such shall be the
feast of the just (pious) in the future to come.’ Said R. Yehudah ;
‘ The feast of the just (pious) in the future to come shall consist of re-
joicing in His joy, as it is written : ‘ The humble shall hear and rejoice.’
(Ps. xxxiv, 14.) R. Hunnah said, from this: ‘All shall rejoice who
trust in Thee, eternally shall they sing.’ Said R. Yitz-haq : ‘ This and
that shall come true in the future to come.’ And we have learned, said
* This probably refers to a comprehension of the highest ideality of the Deity sind its
attributes.
358
R. Yo-seh: ^Wine* which is guarded and kept in the grapes from the
first six days, means, the ancient mighty words that have not been re-
vealed to man (Adam) since the creation of the world, and they will be
revealed to the righteous in the future to come. And thus it is drinking
and eating, surely it is so.’ ” f
The Souls of The Wicked. ” Said R. Shemuel for R. Ya-kob ; ‘ The
souls of the wicked are given in the hand of this angel, named DumahJ to
be led to gai-hinnam (hell) and there judged. After they have been
delivered to him they are not released until they are taken into gcU-
hinnom: ” § »
Judgment of the Wicked and their Punishment. ”Thus it has
been taught us and thus we have heard it ; that man surely departs from
this world through judgment. But before he obtains entrance into the
dwellings of the just (righteous) he has to present himself before the tri-
bunal and there he is judged by that Heavenly Council. And there stands
the official of gdi-hinnom (hell) to accuse him. Happy is he who leaves
the tribunal acquitted ! If not, then the official who has charge of the
gSi’hinnom seizes him, and casts him from there. Above ; to down. Below;
as a stone is cast from a sling, as it is written ; ‘ And the souls {NephesK)
of their enemies, them He shall cast, as out of a sling.* (I Sam. xxv, 29.)
And he throws him into gdi-hinnom, and according to the judgment passed
upon him he receives his punishment. “||
♦ ” Wine ” is the mysterious vitality and spiritual energy of (Wine ^ 70 = Sod or
Secret) created Things. See ante^ p. 340 note. The ” grapes ” are the created Things
produced by the Deity who is likened to a vine.
f Zohar i, fol. 135a and b (Midrash Hanne-e*lam), Amsterdam Ed. Cremona Ed. i,
fol. 80, col. 320.
J The Angel of Silence, who has charge of the disembodied spirits. Talmud treatise
Sanhedriftf fol. 94, col. I, Ps. cxv, 17.
2 Zohar i, fol. 124a, Amsterdam Ed. i, fol. ^6, col. 2, Sulzbach Eki. Midrash
Hann-e*lam. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 75, col. 300.
II Zohar iii, fol. 185^ and fol. 186a, Amsterdam Ed. iii, fol. 75, col. 2, Sulzbach Ed.
Cremona Ed. Vol. iii, fol. 89, col. 353.
XIX.
EXCERPTS FROM THE ZOHAR CONTINUED. THE HOLY, WITH THE SHE-
‘kHEEN-AH created the universe. REASON OF THE EXISTENCE OF
GOOD AND EVIL. OF METATRON. MESSIAH BEN JOSEPH AND MES-
SIAH BEN DAVID. DESCRIPTION OF, AND THE TRIADIC IDEA AS TO,
THE DEITY. THE NAMES% CREATION. SOULS, SPIRITS, ETC.
THE Holy Blessed with the She’kheen-ah has Created the
Universe. The Reason of the Good and Evil. ** * And
Elohim said : Let us make a man.’ (Gen. i, 26.) (The Qabba-
lists say, that the creation of the universe was suggested by the manifesta-
tion of the Supreme Deity, Elohim.)
‘ The secret of YHVH is with those who fear Him.’ (Ps. xxv, 14.)
Began that Sabah {TSabin^ L e., old of the oldest, and said : ‘ Shim-on t
Shim-on ! who is he that said : ‘ And Elohim said : Let us make a man ? *
Who is this Elohim?’ Then the old of the oldest, disappeared and
nobody saw him. When Rabbi Shim-on heard, that he called him.
‘ Shim-on ! ‘ and not Rabbi Shim-on, he said to the companions : * It
surely was the Holy, Blessed be He ! of whom it says — ‘ The Ancient of
Days did sit.’ (Dan. vii, 9.) It is now the time to begin with this mys-
tery, for here there is certainly a mystery and its revelation until now has
not been permitted, but now it appears, permission has been given to un-
veil the same. ‘ He began and said : * Like a King who has many buildings
to build, he had a builder and this builder did not undertake an3rthing but
only with the permission of the King, as it is written : * I was to him an
architect.’ (Prov. viii, 30.) The *King’ is surely the Celestial Wis-
dom, Above, and the Pillar of the Centre is King, Below. * Elohim ‘ is
the architect, Above, and this is the Mother, Above. * Elohim ‘ is the
architect, Below, and this is the She’kheen-ah, Below. It is not permis-
36o
sible for a wife to do anything without the consent of her husband. And
all the works could only be in the way of efflux. The Father spoke
through His Amirah^ u ^., Word, to the Mother : * Let this or that be,’
and instantly it existed ; as it says : * And Elohim said : Let light be \
and it was light.’ (Gen. i, 3.) ‘ He said ‘ to Elohim : ‘ Let light be !’
The Lord of the Building, He said it, and the builder did it at once.
And so all the buildings arose by the way of the efflux. He said :
‘Let be a firmament.’ ‘Let be lights.’ And all has been done at
once. As He appeared in the Intellectual World, the architect (Elohim
said to the Master-builder, ‘ Let us make a man in our image, accord-
ing to our similitude.^ Said the Master-builder, ‘It is certainly well
to make him, but he is prepared to sin before Thee because he is
a fool ; as it is written : ‘ A wise son rejoices the father, and a foolish
son is his mother’s sorrow,^ (Prov. x, i.) She replied; ‘If he desires
to sin, let him fall on his Mother and not on his Father, and I will create
him in my image. Therefore it is written : ‘ And Elohim created the
man in his image. ‘ The Father did not desire to participate. In the
time he (the man) sins it is written of him ; ‘ For your transgression your
mother has been sent away.’ (Is. 1, i.) Then the King said to the
Mother ; ‘ Did I not tell you that he would sin ?’ At that time He drove
him out and drove his Mother with him, therefore it is written ; ‘ A wise
son rejoices the father, and a foolish son is the sorrow of his mother.’
‘ A wise son’ that is the Man (Adam) as the A’tzeel-atic Man, and ‘A
foolish son,’ that is the B’ree-atic Adam, /. e,, the man of creation.
Then the companions arose and said : ‘ Rabbi ! Rabbi ! Is there a dif-
ference between the ‘ Father’ and ‘ Mother,’ that man should belong on
the part of the ‘ Father ‘ to the efflux, and on the part of the * Mother ‘
to the creation ? He said to them : ‘ Companions ! Companions ! This is
not so ; for this A’tzeel-atic Man, male-female, was from both, the side of
the ‘ Father ‘ and from the side of the * Mother,’ and this is the meaning
of the words ; ‘ And Elohim said ; Let light be ! and it was light. ‘ ‘ Let
light be,’ on the part of the ‘ Father,’ and ‘ it was light,’ on the part of
the ‘ Mother.’ And this is the double-face formed Adam.* But this
* The first Adam, the Man, was an androgene and is the Primordial Ideation Adam
or protoplast. Gen. i, 2 ; ii, i and 2.
36i
(Man) had neither an image nor similitude, but the Celestial Mother
had a Name (^’loo 20 + 50 + 6 + lo = S&) whose numerical value
(S6) is equal to that of Elohim (d’hSk, i +30 + 5 + 10 + 40 = S6).
Light and Darkness are contained in this Name at the same time, and
on account of the Darkness contained in its Name, said the Father,
it would seduce into sin, the Man (Upper Adam) of the efflux,
who is the ‘ light ‘ of the Upper Garment,’ and this is the * light’ which
the Holy, Blessed be He ! created on the first day. And this Jirsf
created ^ lights He hid for the righteous, and the ^ darkness ^^ which
he created on the first day, He has destined for the wicked, as it is
written: ‘And the wicked shall be silent in darkness.^ (i Sam. ii, 9.)
And on account of this * darkness ‘ which will in the future sin to the
‘ light,’ the Father would not grant her any part in Him, Therefore Elohim
said : ‘ Let us make man in our image ^ that is in the ‘ Light,’ ‘ After our
similitude ^^ that is the Darkness, which is the garment of the ‘ Light,’ as
the body is the garmei^t of the soul, as it is written : * Thou hast clothed
me in 11;; Or^ skin\ and flesh.’ (Job x, 11.) Thereupon all rejoiced and
said : ‘ Happy is our lot, that it was granted to us, to hear words, which
until now, had not been heard.’ Began R. Shim-on fiirther and said:
^ Behold now, that ‘3K a^nee I, a^nee, I am, Kin Hu, i,e,y He, and there is
no elohim with Me, etc’ (Deut. xxxii, 39, comp. 37, comp. Ex. xxxiv, 9.)
Said he : ‘Companions the mighty words, which permission from Above
has been given to me to unveil, I shall reveal to you, who is it who says :
‘ Behold now I, I am He ! etc’ What is He? The Above of All the
Above, who is called ‘ the Above the Above,’ Above to those Above,
who not one of them can do anything till they^ake permission from this
Exaltation, as we have explained previously the words * Let us make a
man.’ * Let US make,’ surely it refers to two. He said to him above
him, * Let US make ‘ and nothing is done without permission and saying,
from Him who is above him, and He, the Highest, has not done anything
till He took counsel from His companion. But the ‘ He ‘ is called; the
Highest of all the highest, nothing is above Him, and not anything Below,
* Simulacrum or shadow ?
t ‘y^V or, f. e,, skin. The y and K are sometimes interchangeable, therefore read IIK
ohr^ t. ^., light, instead of “11 j^ or, skin. Both K and ^ are Tocal sounds.
362
resembles Him, as it says : ‘ To whom then will ye liken Me, that I shall
be equal to him? says the Holy.’ (Is. xl, 25.) He said : * Behold now
that I, I am He and no elohim is with Me/ whose advice I shall take^
like of whom it says : ‘ And Elohim said, Let us make man.* Arose all
the companions and said : ‘ Rabbi ! Give us permission to say something
at this place.* Said they: * Hast thou not before explained, that the
Most High, said to Kether (the Crown). *Let us make man?’ He
said to them; ‘Have your ears heard what is now spoken by your
mouths ? Have I not just told you /ha/ He^ is that which is called, the
Cause of Causes, but not Hey which is called, the Cause of ALL Causes?
For the Cause of ALL Causes has not any second Below from whom He
shall take advice, because He is One, is before ALL things^ and has not
any partner. And therefore He said ; ‘ Behold now that I, I am He and
no elohim with Me ‘ whose counsel He shall take, for He has not a
second and no partner and not anything by which He can be counted,
for instance a male and female, and of which it is said : ‘ But one I called
Him.’ (Is. li, 2.) But He is One, without numerical relation, (and) with-
out a partner, and therefore it is said; ‘And no elohim is with Me.’ All
arose and salamed before him and said : ‘ Happy is the child of man, to
whom the Lord, has given consent to reveal such great hidden secrets,
which were not revealed even to the holy angels!’ He (R. Shim-on)
said to them : ‘ Companions ! It is yet to us to explain the continuation
of the verse quoted; for there are hidden secrets in that verse; *I
kill and I make alive, etc’ (Deut. xxxii, 39.) By the Sephiroth
*I make alive.’ From the Right side is Life, and from the Left side
is Death. If these two do not agree with the Middle Pillar, Judgment
cannot be executed ; for also upon these the usual legal formula has its
application, which reads : * We three in this session have imanimously
concluded, etc’ Often all three agree to do the judgment. But the
Right hand appears, which is always open to receive the repentant, which
is Ye-dudy i. e., (mnO ^^^ KH vav 1K1 heh vtnyodiy. And this is the She-
*kheen-ah which is called the Right hand, from the side of Benevolence
QHesed\^ The Left hand, from the side of Strength {Ge’ boor-ah) ;
* ‘Hesed IDH 8 -f- 60 -f 4 = 72. This word contains the 72 Qabbalistic Names
which issue ont of YHVH.
363
the hand of Ite-dud^ from the side of the Middle Pillar, (the Pillar
of Harmony). If man repents, this hand releases him from the judg-
ment. But when the Cause of ALL Causes has passed judgment, of
it is said: ‘And none delivers from My hand.* The three- fold men-
tion in that verse; ‘^^iJ a’ nee I, ?jk (i’nee I, ^jk <Jf’«^^ 1/ there ap- pear in it, three kkk {Alephs) and three ‘” ( Yodeen)^ which point to the four-lettered Name (/. ^., the Tetragrammaton) ftp ifti KH ‘^^^ and there also appears in it, three wy ( Favin), in the words, and none J^en y^ and I Va^a^nee ‘jk? And I make alive Va-a^hayeh n^nKi> which are compre-
hended in this Name. And with all this, that verse, which said ; ‘ by
other elohim (gods),’ have the companions, explained, as it is says;
‘ Behold now that I, I am. He,’ that is the Holy, Blessed be He ! and His
She’kheen-ah, whereby it is said: VTii ^’3« a’ nee v’ku (J. e., I and He);
* And no elohim with Me,’ this is cmji S”KDD Sama-el and serpent.
*I kill and make alive,’ *I kill’ by means of My She’kheen-ah, he
who is guilty, and I ‘ make alive ‘ by her, he who is pure.* ‘And none can
save from My hand,’ that is from the hand of Y’IT Ye-dud which is YHVH
Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh, whose Name is complete, and this is YXO T”DD1D3
vnD . And all is E^meth Truth.
But what is said above of the Causes of Causes, as the Cause of All
Causes, is a Mystery, that has not been transmitted to all the prophets
and wise-men. Come, See ! How many secret causes exist, which are
hidden, disguised and interwoven in the Sephiroth, and the Sephiroth of
the Merkabah, which in them are hidden to the conceptions of the chil-
dren of man ! Of them it is said ; ‘ For a High One from above the High,
is keeper, etc’ (Eccles. v, 8.) There are Lights of which some shine
brighter than others, those receiving the Light from the others are darker
than those above them from which they receive. But before, the Cause
of All Causes, not any Light standeth, for all Lights darken before Him.
Another exposition of the words : ‘ Let us make man in our image after
our similitude,^ This the companions have applied to the serving angels,
they (the angels), said this verse. Said He to them ; as they know what
has been and will be, and they know that man will sin ; Why did they
desire to create him, and besides Aza and Azael have slandered him at
the time when the She’kheen-ah said to the Holy, Blessed be He ! ‘ Let
364
us make man ;’ said they (Aza and Azael, see ante, p. io6 sq.”) : ♦ What is
«
man that thou takest knowledge of him ?’ (?s, cxliv, 3. Vulgate cxliii.)
Why desirest thou to create man as thou knowest he will sin before thee,
through the woman which is darkness ? For the Light is the male, and
the Darkness, the female, from this (the female) is the darkness of crea-
tion. (See ante, p. 242 j^.)
At that time the She’kheen-ah said to them : The object of your accusa-
tion is the same which will cause you, in the future, to fall, as it is written ;
‘And the children of Elohim (Be’nai Elohim) saw that daughters of man
were fair, etc’ (Gen. vi, 2.) They lusted after them, confused themselves
through them, and the She’kheen-ah cast them from their holiness ! Said
the companions : ‘ Rabbi, Rabbi ! If so, Aza and Azael have not lied in
their words, for man was surely destined to sin through woman.’ Said
he to them : * Thus said the She’kheen-ah ; you, who are more prepared
to bring complaints before me than the entire celestial host, it would be
more seeming, if you were better than man in your own deeds ; but if it
is destined that he (man) shall sin through one woman, you will sin
through many women more than the children of man, as it is written :
‘The sons of Elohim saw that the daughters of man, etc’ It does not
say, the daughter, etc., but the daughters of man. Besides if man is
guilty, repentance is ordained which is to lead him back to his Lord, to
make amends for his fault.’ Said the companions to him ; * If this is so,
why all this ?’ said Rabbi Shim-on ; * Companions, if it had not been so,
if the Holy, Blessed be He I had not created good and evil spirits,
{Ye^tzer ha-iob and the Ye^tzer ha-raK) which are Light and Darkness,
neither purity nor guilt would have been for the B’ree-aiic man, but created
from both, (the good and evil) therefore ; * See, I have set before thee,
this day life and good, and death and evil.’ (Deut. xxx, 15.)* Said
they to him : ‘ Why is all this ? Would it not have been better, if they
had not been created, so as not to sin and cause all this which he has
caused Above, and so that there need not have been punishment or re-
ward ? ‘ Said he to them ; * He could have so created them, but as the
Thorah is created for his sake, as it is written in her (the Thorah) : Pun-
ishment to the evil and reward for the just, there would have been neither
* That is, the opportunity to exercise Free Will.
365
reward to the just (righteous) nor punishment to the wicked, but for the
sake of the BWee-aiic man, ‘ He did not create the world in vain.’ (Is.
xlv, 1 8.) Said they, ‘ We surely have heard that we have never heard
before, then surely the Holy, Blessed be He ! has not created anything for
which He has no need.’ * Besides the Thorah (Law) of the Creation is
the Garment to the She’kheen-ah. If man, had not been created to sin,
the She’kheen-ah would be without a Garment like a poor, therefore
every one who sins is like one who would disrobe the She’kheen-ah of
her Garment, and this is the punishment of man ; but whoever fulfills
the commands of the Thorah, is like he who would clothe the She’kheen-ah
in her Garment.”*
Metatron the Angel of the Presence. ** The Middle Pillarf is
Metatron, who places peace. Above, according to the way of Tiph’e-reth. J
His name is like the Name of his Master, § he was created in His image ^
and after His similitude^ for he embraces all the degrees from Above to
Below and from Below to Above. He is the uniting one in the Centre, as
is written : ‘ And the middle bolt, in the middle of the boards bolts from
one end to the other.” (Ex. xxvi, 28.) And this comprises four faces
and four wings to each hay-yah and hdy^yah (living ones and living ones)
from Above, which are n3Tn«\||
* Zohar i» fol. 22a, s^., Amsterdam, i, fol. 26, col. I, Sulzbach Ed. Cremona Ed.,
i, fol. 26a sq. As to the Master-builder and the architect of the world ; compare, Say-
ings of the Jewish Fathers, etc., by Charles Taylor, p. 26, note. As to the Upper and
Lower Adam, Ilfid» pp. 64, 70, 72 and notes, also Sol. Munk’s, Moreh, before cited, ii,
P* 253; Also English Ed., ii, p. 154. Woman regarded as the mediam of temptation ;
Sayings, etc., by Taylor, p. 45, note. As to the She’kheen-ah and Elohim, see the
Semitic idea of the feminine reflection, ante, pp. 246-7, and Sayings, etc., p. 57 note ;
also as to consultation with the Upper Family, ante, p. 246; Maimonide’s, Moreh, English
Ed., ii, p. 39 sq, ; and Sayings, etc., pp. 43, 64 and notes. As to Sam&-el, Maimonide’s,
Moreh, English Ed., ii, p. 155 sq, and notes.
f The Middle Pillar or Column of the Centre, in the Sephirothic Tree represents the
Harmonies and blending of all Oppositions.
X The Yalkut sa3rs, the highest angels must also have peace, it is written : ** He makes
peace in His highest regions.” If peace is needed in a place where there is neither
hatred nor enmity nor quarreler, how much more so here where all these passions exist.
§ Comp. Ex. xxiii, 20-31, 22-23, ^i”> 21-22, xi, 19.
11 2^har iii, fol. 227^1, Amsterdam Ed. iii, fol. 91, col. i, Sulzbach EA. Cremona
Ed., iii, fol. 104^, col. 416. ‘ «
366
Metatron. Of the Great Presence Angel, Metatron, who alone occu-
pies the B’ree-atic World, the Zohar says: ” The letter t8^ SMtn, in n»^
Shad’daly (J. ^., the Almighty, Gen. xvii, i,) has three branches, which
hint at the three Names mrr wtiSk mn% /. which are 14 letters in number. These signify the three branches of our
forefathers, and in it is 14 letters which correspond to the numerical value
of n dal, 4 + 10 = 14, from the word Shad-//a?. {Dal signifies, suffi-
ciency.) And all the letters of ^tbt (300 -f 4 + 10 = 314O which is equal
to the content of |no”00 Metatron* (40 + 9 + 9 + 200 + 6 -H 50 = 314)
which last is the Garment of Shad-dai.” f
The Messiah Ben Joseph and the Messiah Ben David, ” At the
time to come, when the King Messiah comes to take possession of the
highest eminences,! and penetrate into their wingsg so as to strengthen
and transpose himself into the Upper Life. From it the Messiah of David
will come out on that day, and this is the secret meaning of the words ;
* I will declare the decree : YHVH hath said imto me ; Thou art My son,
this day I have begotten thee.’ (Ps. ii, 7.) I am prepared to say to that
place which is called : pn hoq^ law, and bring him the joyful tidings, that
‘ He hath said to me ; Thou art My son, this day I have begotten thee.’
* As to the Great Angel, Metatron, see Genesis with a Talmudical Comment., by Paul
I. Hershon, etc., London, 1883, pp. 23 sq.^ 35 sq. The Angel, Messiah, etc., by Ernest
de Bunsen, London, i88o, pp. 91 sq.^ loi j^., 174-5, 303. The Life of Jesus, by Ernest
Renan. English Ed., 1870, p. 223. VEglUt Chritunne, by Ernest Kenan, Vol. iv,
c. ix, p. 212 j^., period 64 A. D.; Vol. vi, p. 66 sq., period 126 A.D. Beausobre, Hts-
toire Critique de Manichitt etc., ii, p. 269 j<^., period 45 A. D. Yalkut to Zechariah, by Edward G. King, p. 94 sq. Also, Traditions of the Jews, etc., by Rev. John Peter Stehelin, before cited, i, p. 213 sq,, p. 272; ii, p. 92 sq. Modem Judaism, etc., by John Allen. London, 1830, p. 160 sq,, 169. f Zohar iii, fol. 231a, \ Pin-* has, Rayah Me’hemnah, Amsterdam Ed. Cremona Ed. ill, fol. 106^, coL 423. X To judge the living and the dead, the seat of the Divine Court of Justice, is con>
sidered as situated on the highest eminence, as it reads, in few lines before T\y21 gib^oth^
heights, written defectively without 1 (vav) which would read with 1, r»lj?3JJ ; it means,
the superior height of the universe in the place of the firmaments.
2 Wings are an ancient emblem of the spiritual. See, Mythology among the He-
brews, etc., by Goldziher. English Ed. London, 1877, p« 115 sq.
367
On the same day He will “bring forth that hog from under the wings, in
many lives, in many crowns, in many blessings* as it ought to be. But
that hog, shall not remain alone. Another Messiah, the Son of Joseph^
shall join himself to it and there will he grow strong and not in another
place, and while it is the lower eminence which has no life in it, so this
Messiah shall be killed and remain dead, until this eminence shall gather
life from the Upper eminence, and rise again.” f J
Of the Deity. “We have learned, in the Siphrah D’ Tzniaoihah^
i.e., Book of Concealment, or. Modesty ; that At-tee^kah D” At-tee^ keen,%
/. e.y the Ancient of the Ancients, Hidden of the Hidden, Concealed of
the Concealed, prepared and arranged Himself. It may as it were be
said : He is to be found and not to be found. He is not to be found, in
reality, but is arranged, and He is not known because He is the At-tee^k
D* At-iee^ keen. He is known through His arrangements as a certain
SabaJi nSabin Oldest of the Oldest, AUtee’k H At-tee’ keen, Ancient
of the Ancients, Hidden of the Hidden. And by His arrangements
He became known and (yet) is not known.
The Lord whose dress is white and so also the appearance of the Light of
His Face. He sits upon a throne of scintillations of Light that He may
give Light to us. The whiteness of the Cranium of His Head is spread
over 400,000 worlds, and from the Light of this whiteness, the just (pious)
shall inherit in the world to come 400 worlds. Thus it is written : * Four
• See II Col. ii, 3, 9.
f Zohar iii, foL 203^, Amsterdam Ed. iii, fol. 82, col. 2, Sulzbach Ed. Cremona
Ed. ii, fol. 94^, 2 Baloq,
X As to Messiah ben David and Messiah ben Joseph, see, The Yalkut on Zechariah,
by Edward G. King, London, 1882, Aj^ndix A. Genesis with a Talmudical Com-
ment, by Paul I. Hershon, etc. London, 1883. The N. T. especially in the Pauline
writings, refers to two Messiahs, one who had come and been executed, the other who
was yet to come, in glory and full life. Justin Martyr, also speaks of the two comings of
Jesus, one, to suffer, the other, to be glorious. Judgment of the Ancient Jewish Church,
etc., by Dr. Peter Allix, p. 256 sq. Also The Jewish Repository, London, February,
18 14, pp. 72, 107. Trans. Society of Hebrew Lit. ; Essays on Writings of Ibn Ezra,
c. ii and notes, p. 98.
2 In the words At-te^k, At-te^kah, At-tt^keen, because of the difficulty of pronounc-
ing the D Q> in these words, the English language, we have spelled them with k«
368
hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.’ (Gen. xxiii,
i6 :) In the cranium dwell every day 13,000 m3rriads of worlds, which rest
upon It, and lean upon It. And from that Cranium drips a dew towards
him who is outside {ZeUr An-peen) and fills his head daily, as it is writ-
ten : * My head is filled with dew.* (Song of Songs, v, 2). And from that
dew, which He shakes from this Head upon that of him who is outside,
will the dead awake to the future world. As it is written : * My head is
filled with dew.’ It is not written : milUthi * I have filled,’ but nimlah * is
filled.’ It is written : (Is. xxvi, 19.) * The dew of lights (herbs?) is Thy
dew.’ The * Lights’ flow from the whiteness of the Ai’tee^kah, and from
this *dew ‘ are sustained the holy. Above. And this is the Manna prepared
for the just in the world to come. And that * dew ‘ drips down to the Field
of the Holy Apples, (or, Sacred Fruits.) This is that which is written :
* And when the dew that lay went up, behold on the face of the wilder-
ness lay a small round thing,’ (Ex. xvi, 14). And the appearance of this
dew is white like the color b^dola’h^ i. ^., crystal stone, in which can be
seen all colors, as it is written : ‘ And the color thereof as the color of
b’dolcCh (bdellium).’ The whiteness of this Cranium shines upon thirteen
different sides (surfaces) to four sides (surfaces) on one side and to four
sides (surfaces) on the side of the Face, and to four sides on the side of the
a^hoor hinder side (the back), and in one above the Cranium (/. ^., to the
side. Above.)* And from this the length of His Face is spread to 370
myriads of worlds, and this is called D”£3K i^K A’ reek Apa-yeem, i. e,, Long
Faces. And this At-tee^kah UAt-tee^keen Ancient of the Ancients, is called
A^reek-ah D* An-peetiy and he who is outside is called Ze* ir An-peen^ i.e,.
Small Faces, in contradistinction to the At-iee^kah Sabah Qad-doshy i.e.j
the Ancient Old Holy, the Holiest of the Holiest, and when ZeUr An-peen
looks to this, all things, Below, becomes arranged, and his Face spreads out
and becomes longer at that time, but not all the time like that of At-tee-
^kah. And from that Cranium comes forth a certain white side (ray,
efflux) towards the Cpanium of the Ze*tr An-peen for the forming of his
head, and from there to other craniums. Below ; which are innumerable.
And all the craniums reflect the whiteness to At-tee^ k Yo-men the Ancient
* The Qabbalistic Figure No. 36, based on one in the Cremona Edition; iii, fol. 116^,
may give the reader some idea of the above description.
‘ 369
of Days, when they are numbered under the sceptre, and opposite this is
an opening towards the craniums. Below ; when they proceed to the count.
In the cavity of the Cranium there is an aetherial membrane of the Hid-
den Wisdom, Above ; and this is not found and not opened. That mem-
brane covers over the Brain which is the Hidden Wisdom and because it
is covered by that membrane, this Wisdom is not opened and therefore it
is called, the Hidden Wisdom. And this Brain, which is the Hidden Wis-
dom, is silent and remaineth tranquil in its place like good wine upon its
lees. And this is what is said : An Old One, His Knowledge is Hidden
and His Brain is Hidden and Tranquil. And that membrane hath an out-
let from Ze^ir An-peen and therefore this brain is spread and goes out to
32 ways.* This is that which is written : * And a river went forth from
Eden.'” (Gen. ii, yOt X
“The Cranium of Resha ^ HivWahy i, e,. White Head, has no begin-
ning nor end ; it extends and shines as a cohesive reservoir which spreads
out and illuminates. And from it the just inherit 400 worlds of delights
in the world to come. From this cohesive reservoir which is the White
Cranium, dew drips daily to the Ze^ir An-peen Small Faces, to a place
which is called, Sha-mayeem (Heavens), and where, in time to come, the
dead shall be summoned to life. It is written : * Elohim shall give thee
of the dew of heaven, etc’ (Gen. xxvii, 28.) And the head shall be
filled, and from that Ze’ ir An-peen, it drips to the Field of Apples and the
whole Field of Apples (Sacred Fruits) flows from that dew. This At-tee-
^kah Qad’doshay i. e,, Holy Ancient, is Hidden and Concealed, and the
Wisdom from Above, is hidden in that Cranium, (is found and not
found. Cremona Ed.) Surely in that At-iee^kah nothing is revealed ex-
cept the Head alone, because He is the Head of all Heads. The Wisdom
Above, which is the Head, is hidden in it, and is called the Upper Brain,,
the Hidden Brain, the Brain which is Tranquil and Quiet, and none know
* That is, the means of knowledge and intelligence to man, looked upon as the 22
letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the decade united, as the 32 symbols by which, man
has any wisdom or any power of uniting with his fellows.
f Eden or Paradise was considered by the learned of the ancient Israelites as the
place of Understanding and Wisdom, the Intellect.
X Zohar iii, Idrah Rabbah. Brody, Amsterdam, and Mantua Ed., 12&1 and b» Cre-
mona Ed. iii, fol. 61, coL 243.
24
370
it but Himself. Three Heads are carved out, each within the other, and
each above, from the other. One Head is the Hidden Wisdom which is
covered up and not opened. And this Hidden Wisdom is the Head of
All the Heads of the other Wisdoms. The Upper Head is the At-tee’kah
Qad’dosha the Holy Ancient, the Concealed of all Concealed,* the Head
of All Heads, a Head which is not a Head^ nor does any one know nor
is it ever known, what is in that Head which Wisdom or Reason cannot
comprehend; and on this we read : * Flee Thou to Thy Ma-qom (/. ^.,
Place).’ (Num. xxiv, ii.) ‘And the ‘Hay-yoth, /. e.y living creatures,
run and return.’ (Ezek. i, 14.) And therefore At-iee^kah Qad-dosha the
Holy Ancient, is called Ayiuy (/. ^., No-Thing, or, Non ens) because in
Him depends Ayin {Non ens). And all these locks and all these hairs
come out from the Hidden Brain, f And all are even and smooth and in
equilibrium and hanging over the back of the neck which is not seen in
any way. Because the At-tee^kah Qad-dosha the Holy Ancient, is in one,
entire in happiness, and does not change from Mercy forever. In Thir-
teen channels of Mercies is He found J because that Hidden Wisdom in
Him is divided three times into four-fourths (/. ^., a quartenary, comp.
Figure 36, supra), and He, the At-tee^kah Ancient, comprises them and
rules over All. One way is illuminated in the middle (the parting) of the
Hair coming out from the Brain, this is the way by whose light the just
are led into the world to come. It is written : * And the way of the just
is like a shining light, etc. (Prov. iv, 18.) And of this it is written:
^Then thou shalt delight in YHVH.’ (Is. Iviii, 14.) And from that way
all the other ways which depend on Ze’ir An-peen are illuminated. That
At’tee^kah the Ancient, Oldest of the Oldest, is Kether El-yon the High-
est Crown, Above, by which are crowned all Diadems and Coronets.
And from Him the Lamps are Illuminated and Lighted and they send
• Comp. Zohar i, fol. 147, Amsterdam Ed. The Tosephthah.
f The locks and hairs are those which cover the back of the head and nap of the
neck, and in this is doubtless the hidden mystery of Ex. xxxiii, 20 sq. The Sphinx has
lapels covering the back of the head, neck and shoulders ; the priests of the Greek and
Russian Church are obliged to have the back of the head, neck and shoulders, covered
with their long flowing hair, and a similar arrangement is portrayed, in the ancient pic-
tures of Christ and of the Father. Note the same on the Hindu Prana, ante^ p. 322.
X Comp. Ex. xxxiv, 5-8, known to the Israelites as the Thirteen Middoth.
371
forth fiames and scintillate. And this is He, the Supreme Hidden Spark
which is not known, and all other Lamps are Lighted and Illuminated from
Him. This At-tee^kah the Ancient, is found in Three Heads and they
are contained in One Head. (Comp. Zohar iii, 291^.) And He is the
Upper Head, Above Above. And because At-tee’kah Qad^dosha the Holy
Ancient, is designated by Three, so here all the other Lamps which are
Illuminated from Him are included in Three. Furthermore, the At-tee-
^kah is designated by Two ; the complex of the At-tee^kah which is in
Two, is the Upper Crown of all the Upper Heads of all the Above, the
Head of all the Heads. And that which is above from this, is not known,
so all the other Lamps are hidden in Two. Further the At-tee’kah Qad-
dosha the Holy Ancient, is designated and hidden in One and is One
and everything is One, so all the other Lamps become sanctified and are
joined and knotted in One, are One and are All.” *
** He (Ain Soph) is beginning and end of all degrees (in the creation).
All these degrees are stamped with His image, and He can be called only
One, notwithstanding the innumerable images He is still only One, surely
He is so : the Above and the Below, depend on Him.” f
The She-mah, Triad and Unity. ** Whoever (in the j^dbt She-mah
* Hear O Israel, etc. Deut. vi, 4,) J says, inK E’hady One § should pro-
nounce the K Aleph quickly, somewhat shorten its sound and not
pause on it. Whoso doeth this, his life shall be prolonged. Said
they to him (R. Ilai) : He (R. Shim-on) has said : ‘ There are Two (m)
in conjunction with One ( k) and hence they are Three, and if they are
Three then they are One.’ (inK E’had, One.) Said he to them : * Those
two Names of the She-mah which are YHVHy YHVH^ Eiohainu connects
* Zohar iii, fol. 28&1 and b, Mantua Ed. Idrah Zootah. Cremona Ed. iii, fol. 140a, col.
558.
f Zohar i, 21^7, Biody Ed. Livomo E^. i, 36^ and 37a.
X ” Jesus answered him, Tike first of all the commandments is. Hear, O Israel ; the
Lord our God, the Lord is One.” Mark xii, 29, New Version. This is the great Jew-
ish Declaration of Faith used in the time of Jesus, and used by him, and now used by
the pious Jews, every day, and is most probably that referred to in Daniel vi, 10, 13,
and Peter, Acts iii, i, x, 3, 30.
{ The numerical value of in« i ^8-|-4^i3.
372
with them, and this is the seal of the (divine) inscription. It is Truth.*
But when these are connected together as one then they are One in
a Unity.’ ”t
” We have learned : In thirteen ways the knot of Truth is tied, for the
production of blessing to all, and all the E^methy /.^., Truth, of the Holy,
Blessed be He ! is hidden in Three ; therefore the Thorah is crowned in
thirteen ways.” J
We must not assume, from the preceding and following quotations,
that the ancient Israelites believed in a Trinity as understood in the
Christian Church ; the doctrines of the latter, upon this dogma, re-
quired a long time for their formulation, and the controversies between
Arrian and Athanasius, the theologians who preceded them, and those du-
ring the Middle Ages, will evidence this to the student. The Hebrews
in common with many other of the ancient Oriental peoples, believed in
a Triadic manifestation of the Supreme Deity, who nevertheless was a
Unit. The existence of the Triadic idea in the Zpharic writings, tends
to prove their antiquity as productions of the ancient Jewish Babylonian
Schools. It is not probable that a persecuted Jew of the Middle Ages,
one of the grounds of which, was his Unitarian belief, would have forged
and placed in these writings, any thing calculated to prove the antiquity
and correctness of the dogmas of the Greek Church or the Roman Cath-
olic Trinitarian ideas, or assist the Inquisition and the Christian Church,
in the punishment of his people.
** R. Yehudah said : * There are two beings, one in heaven and one on
• This means, that the repeating of the She-mah should conclude as if with a seal to
bind it, with the riDK E*meth Truth. When the She-mah is repeated, always before the
repetition must be said in a low voice p^j -t^q ^^ : *’ El Me’lekh ne’^mon.” The
first letters of the three words °m|J Amcfty have the same meaning as riDK E*fMth
Truth. The sentence should be repeated without a pause : I Am YHVH your Elo-
hainu in Truth.
f Zohar iii, fol. 1 62a, Amsterdam Ed. iii, fol. 67, Sulzbach Ed. Cremona Ed. iii,
fol. lib,
{Zohar iii, fol. 28, col. no, \ A’ha-rai Moth. Cremona Ed. iii, 62a, Amsterdam
Ed. In the 1 3 Middoth, attributes of Mercy, Ex. xxxiv, 5-7, the first three are :
*YHVH^ YHVH, Ail (God),’ and the ten following are attributes pointing to the first
‘ of TWsV (YHVH). The just pray every day the thirteen stems.
373
earth, and the Holy, Blessed be He ! unites them. ‘ R. El’azar said : * Three
Lights are in the Holy Upper which unite as One ; and they are the
basis of the Thorah and this opens the door to All. They open the door
to Truth and this is the house to All, and therefore is it called, n^a ba-is
house, because this is their house.’ ” *
” ‘ Behold a people dwelling alone.’ (Num. xxiii, 9.) That is, in unity
without (other) mixture. All the perfect unity is so, (and is expressed in) :
‘ YHVH Elohainu YHVH.’ This is the mystery in it, that Hu, u He, was before the beginning of all creation, f and unites Itself at the
head, at the stem, and on the way (place where it stands); * YHVH * that
is the Upper Head, in the in-itself concentrated aether. J * Elohainu,’ 1.^.,
our God, is the stem which is called, the ‘ Stem of Yishat (Jesse),’ (Is.
xi, i); and ‘YHVH’ is the way, from Below. Whoever in this manner
comprehends the mystery of the Unity, conceives it as it is proper. Ҥ
“The daily unity is the unity in this verse: ‘ Hear O Israel YHVH
Elohainu YHVH, ‘ They are all One : therefore it is called nnK E’had
One. Here are three Names, how are they One ? Artd although we
read E’had One, how are they One ? Only by the vision of RucCh Qad-
dosha, /. ^., the Holy Spirit, is this apparent and only then, with closed
eyes, 1 1 can we know how Three are One. And this is the mystery of the
voice which has been heard. The voice is only one yet it consists of
three elements, fire, air and water, and all are one in the mystery of the
voice (and this can only be considered as one).^ And so here, YHVH
Elohainu YHVH are One, three forms and they are One, and this is in-
* Zobar iii, fol. 3617 J Shim-inee. Cremona Ed., ii, foL i6<7, col. 61.
f The words of the. text, the author takes with the meaning of chief or head (prop-
erly, rosh tzoorim^ ue,, top or head of rocks, representing the deity;) of creations, before
the beginning of all creations, so that to Him was created ttoor or yeUnoor a created
thing, corresponding to tioor. The creature is form. (Ps. xlix, (14) 15.)
XAveer-ah cTsalkah the absolute aether, appears here the same as aveer-ah tTtnm’
tzum concentrated aether, or, perhaps IttiitXt ye*sod ha^tzim-tMum concentrated foundation.
2 Zohar iii, fol. 203^, Amsterdam Ed. iii, fol. 82, col. 2, Sulzbach Ed. Cremona
Ed., iii, fol. 94^, 2 Baloq.
II It is customary among the Israelites to put the hands over the eyes when repeating
the first verse of the She-mah, see the Ora*h ^Hay-yem, c 61, { 4.
\ Ibid. \ 3. The reason for speaking the name aloud is to awaken devotion.
374
dicated by the voice which man must use in the expression of the piayer
of unity, and put his will in unity, which is all from Ain Soph to the end,
since they are all in this voice which he makes in this Three, which are
One. And this is the daily (confession) of the Divine Unity which is
revealed in the mystery by the Holy Spirit. And in many ways the Unity
has been explained and all are true, who has done it in this way has done
right, and who has done it in another way is also right. But this unity
which we form, Below, in the mystery of the voice, which is one, explains
the Word* in general, f
” ‘ Hear O Israel YHVH Elohainu YHVH is One.’ (Deut. vi, 4.)
This is the One Unity and His Name is One. ‘ Praised be the Name of
the Glory (She’kheen-ah) of His Kingdom (Malkhuth) for ever and ever.*
This is the other Unity (see ante, p. 342 j^.) that His Name shall be One.
And this is the secret of YHVH Hu Eloheem, L And this mystery of the Unity is contained in the verse : * YHVH is
Elohim,* as it is above written, when they are conceived of in their
Absolute Unity. But if it is objected : Does it not contradict the verse :
*YHVH shall be one and His Name shall be One?’ (Zech. xiv, 9.)
This is not so, but * YHVH is Elohim.’ For if there was written;
YHVH is One and His Name, He, is One, we could agree with thee, but
it k not so written, only: * YHVH One, and his Name, One,’ ought to
be said like this, viz : YHVH Hu (He) Hu (He) Eiohim : and so it
would seem to be, YHVH is One, and His Name is One. But all is One
when these two Names are (in an abstract manner) united, the One, in
the one Unity, the other, in the one Unity, and the two Unities can be
comprehended in an Absolute Unity, so that together, they express the
complete conception of the Name in one Unity. And only in this way
*is YHVH Hu Elohim,’ because each is connected with the other so to
be Oiie. But before the Unity is united they are each One considered
absolutely by Itself, and the comprehension of the connection as an Ab-
• hSd MiUah Word, because according to an explanation in another place (Genesis
sidrah, Vay-^tze) the ” Word ” itself comprises a triad, that is will, voice and ar-
ticulated word.
f Zohar ii, fol. 43^, Amsterdam Ed. ii, fol. iS, col. 2, Sulzbach Ed. Cremona Ed.^
ii, fol. 19^, col. 75.
375
solute Unity, is not complete. This (comprehension of the Unity) is
the essence of the whole Thorah. For the Thorah embraces both the
written and oral : the written Thorah is this which is written YHVH, the
oral Thorah is that which is written Elohim : and because the Thorah is
the mystery of the Holy Name, therefore they are called the written
Thorah and the oral Thorah. This (the written) is the general, the
other (the oral) is the special. The general needs the special and the
special needs the general, thus one unites itself with the other, that all
may be One. And therefore the entire content of the Thorah is the
whole content of the Above and Below, because this Name (YHVH)
describes, the Above, and the other Name (Elohim), the Below. This one,
is the mystery of the Higher World ; the other, the mystery of the Lower
World, and as to this is written : ‘ To thee it has been shown that thou
mayest know, that YHVH is Elohim !’ This is the essence of the AUL,
and this must the son of man know in this world.”*
” Come, See ! The mystery of the word. There are Three degrees and
each exists by Itself, and yet all are One, and are knotted in One, nor are
they separated one from another, “f
” ‘ The Ail (pi, El, /. if., God) Eloheem YHVH^diber, /. ^., The God,
God YHVH spoke and called (the) earth, etc’ (Ps. 1, i.) Ail\^ the
Light of Wisdom and is called ^Hesed (Benevolence, Mildness) Elo-
hecm is Ge^boor-ah (Strength or Severity) and YHVH is the complete-
ness of all Mercy. Hence (the words) diber vafiq-rah eWetz, /. ^., He
* spoke and calUd (the) earth, etc.* ” (is in the singular.) (^Ibid,)
*’ And these are the Three degrees which are called by the name of
Din, /. e,y Judgment, and all are knotted in One without separation.”
(^Ibid,)
** ‘ And the righteous are the foundation of the world,’ (Prov. x, 25)
is written. Three come out from One, One exists in Three, it is the
force between Two, Two nourish One, One nourishes many sides, thus
*Zoharii, fol. i6i3, 16×0, Amsterdam Ed. ii, fol. iii, SnLzbach Ed. Cremona Ed.
ii, fol. 72/7, col. 285.
f Zohar ill, fol. 29^, col. 116, letter 3, Cremona Ekl. iii, fol. 650, Amsterdam Ed.
2 A^ha-rai Moth,
Z76
All is One, therefore it is written ‘ It was evening and morning one day/
the day of evening and morning joined, were one.” *
The Mystery of the Three Parts of Fire Which Are One.
” Began R. Shim-on and said : Two verses are written ; ‘ That YHVH
thy Elohim is a devouring fire, a zealous Ail (El);’t (Deut. iv, 24) again
it is written ; ‘ But you that cleave unto YHVH your Elohim, are alive,
every one of you, this day.’ (Deut. iv, 4.) On this verse * That YHVH
thy Elohim is a consuming fire.’ This we said to the Companions; That
it is a fire which devours fire, and it is a fire which devours itself and con-
sumes itself, because it is a fire which is more mighty than a fire, and it
has been so confirmed. But, Come, See ! Whoever desires to know the
wisdom of the Holy Unity should look in that flame arising from a burn-
ing coal or a lighted lamp. This flame comes out only when united with
another thing. Come, See ! In the flame which goes up are two lights :
one light is a bright white and one light is united with a dark or blue,
the white light is that which is above and ascends in a straight path, and
that below is that dark or blue light, and this light below, is the throne to
the white light and that white light rests upon it, and they unite one
to the other so that they are one. And this dark light or blue color,
which is below, is the precious throne to the white. And this is the mys-
tery of the blue. J And this blue dark throne unites itself with another
thing to light that from below, and this awakes it to unite with the upper
white light, and this blue or dark, sometimes changes its color but that
white above never changes its color, it is always white ; but that blue
changes to these diff*erent colors, sometimes to blue or black and some-
times to a red color, and this unites itself to two sides.’ It unites to
the above, to that upper white light, and unites itself below to the thing
which is under it, which is the burning matter, and this burns and con-
sumes always from the matter below. And this devours that matter
below, which connects with it and upon which the blue light rests, there-
fore this eats up all which connects with it from below, because it is the
nature of it, that it devour and consume everything which depends on it
♦Zohar i, fol. 22b, col. 87, Cremona Ed. i, fol. 32^, Amsterdam Ed.
f See Herder’s G^st der Hebrdischen Poesitt Vol. ii.
X The blue color of Heaven and the th^keiUth, i, e., blue, of the Tallith.
377
and is dead^matter, and therefore it eats up everything which connects
with it below, and this white light which rests upon it never consumes
itself and never changes its light, and therefore said Moses : ‘ That
YHVH thy Elohim is a consuming fire.’* Surely He consumes. It de-
vours and consumes everything which rests under it ; and on this he said :
‘YHVH is thy Elohim ‘ not ‘ our Elohim,’ because Moses has been in
that white light, Above, which neither devours nor consumes. Come,
See ! it is not His Will to light that blue light that should unite with that
white light, only for Israel ; because they cleave or connect under Him.
And, Come, See ! Although the nature of that dark or blue light is, that
it shall consume everything which joins with it below, still Israel cleaves
on Him, Below, 5|c * * and although you cleave in Him nevertheless
you exist, because it is written : ‘ You are all alive this day.’ And on this
white light rests above a Hidden Light which is stronger. Here is the
above mystery of that flame which comes out from it, and in it is the
Wisdom of the Above.” f See, Philo., Bohn’s Ed. iv, p. 44.
Thought and the Word. ” Come, See ! Ma’hshabah Thought, is
the first (principle) of all,J because Thought is, in itself hidden and not
known. When this Thought began to diffuse itself, it came to the place
where the Spirit rests, and when it has reached that place it is called ;
Binah Understanding, and is no more hidden like before, and although
it is hidden, that Spirit spreads itself and brings out a Voice§ embracing
fire, water and air, which are South, North and East, and this Voice com-
prises all the other For€es)\ (hosts, angels) and this Voice, speaks to the
Word.^ This Voice gives existence to the Word because, this Voice b
* Deut. iv, 24. Comp. Zohar ii, 226^. Hebrews xii, 29.
f Zohar i, 50^, Amsterdam and Brody Editions. Cremona Ed., i, 36/1, col. 141. See
Exod. iii, 2, 3 ; Acts vii, 30. Dr. Christian D. Ginsburg in : The Kabbalah, etc.
London, 1865, pp. 25, 26, applies the above to the Triadic idea of the Deity. His
translation of it and most of the other quotations from the Zohar, have been copied from
Prof. Adolphe Franck, and cannot be depended upon. Franck has been severely criti-
cised for his translations, by Dr. D. H. Joel in his Religions-phUosophie des Sohar, etc.
J Thought, is Kether Crown.
2 ‘Hokhmah Wisdom, or the Word.
II The Cremona edition does not have this word.
\ Comp. Is. vi, 3. The repetition is emphatic and expresses energy or force ; see
also II Sam. xviii, 33.
378
sent from the place of the Spirit and comes to speak a Word, to bring
out joyous words. And when they look in the degrees, this is the
Thought ; this is the Understanding ; ‘this is Voice ; this is Speech ; and
all are One. And this is the first Thought of All and not separated, but
all are One and in One bond. This is that which is the real Thought
bound in the Ayin and never separated, and this is * YHVH is One and
His Name One.’ ” (Zech. xiv, 9.)*
The Names of the Deity. ”The secret of this word rrmt Eh’yeh
I Am, comprises everything, when the ways are hidden and not separated
and together in one place, then it is called EKyeh I am, all hidden and
not revealed ; but after it goes out from its defined line and that
river bears in its bosom all things, then He is called riTTK “ibtk Asher
ElCyeh, i. <f., That I Am, that means ; I Am, prepared to bring forth all,
and after He revealed and brought forth all He is called by the above Name.
And after this when Moses desired to know what is the speciality of the
word. He said to him, YHVH and not Asher Eh’yeh That I Am. * * *
But after he brought everything out and put everything in its place,
He said YHVH, and at this time Moses knew the secret of the Holy
Hidden Name and there was revealed to him and he comprehended, that
which could not be comprehended by any other of the children of the
world.” t
The Names of the Deity are only abstract symbols and ideas necessary
to man’s mind in our matter-world so as to grasp in his thought that a
Deity exists. They do not describe God’s essence or content. The
Qabbalists found it necessary, in their subtile and abstract metaphysical
investigations, to invent a Name which would describe the Deity before It
created the universe, this they did by the term Ain Soph without end,
called also Ayin, i. e., No-Thing, which is nevertheless not an absolute
negative or void but an unknown to man, Some-Thing. Not that in these
Names any greater knowledge is contained but they point to a greater in-
comprehensibility of the Deity. Equaling these is the subtile and abstract
Qabbalistic Name -a Mee Who ? Without beginning or end. (See, ante^ p.
129 sq. and Zohar ii, fol. 105/1/ i, 2<z.) The Zohar holds that while Ain
♦Zohar i, 246^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed., i, fol. I3i<7, col. 519.
f Zohar iii, 65^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed., iii, fol. 29^, col. 116.
379
Sophy Ayin and Who ? describe the Deity, considered in Its greatest ab-
stractness, yet the latter is united with hSk Eif’h These, and in this matter-
world constitutes the Name d^-hSk Eloh-im, and therefore in the statement
in Genesis of the First Emanation or Creation, the Name Elohim is exclu-
sively used and not YHVH Elohim, as in the Second ; and that this union
still continues and Mee and Eie’h are still merged: (Zohar i, 2a)’, but
should they ever be separated, the universe could no longer exist as after
their connection. (Zohar ii, fol. io$a,) The Ain Soph received its full sig-
nificance as the. No End, through Its emanation of the Sephiroth. (Zohar
ii, 42^.) Springing out of Ain Soph is Keiher, whose Divine Name is
Eh^yeh I am, the Ego. Further considered, this is developed into
Asher Eh^yeh that I will be, (Comp. Rashi in this place) ; finally it passes
into reality for man, nin’ YHVH, the symbol of the Past, Present and
Future. The Existence which is Creator and Preserver, yet nevertheless,
for Its own wise purposes, the Destroyer of the matter-forms, but not of
their atoms or essence. YHVH is contained in the manifestation called
the Sephirothic Tree of Life. YHVH is ^:jy\ mjl TVJ} Hoyoh Hoveh
m
V^ye’hyeh He was, is, and shall be. (Rev. i, 4, 8 ; xxi, 6.) •Tl.n Hoveh
the present, may be added to ^jy^^ u^m-haveh causing to exist, the cre-
ating and maintaining.
Before the emanation of the universe the Qabbalists say ; ** He and His
Name were One.” Which may be paralleled in the time to come by
God’s KingdonA upon Earth : ” In that day shall there be one YHVH and
rom^ usKmah His Name, shall be One.” (Zach. xiv, 10.) Many of the
Qabbalists hold ri’in DB^ Shem Hava-yah the Existing Name (a«/ 342) as that embracing all the other Divine Names. Elohim is the prin-
ciple emanating the universe, but is that of Rigor. YHVH is that
maintaining it, and is the principle of Mercy and Harmony. In El Shad-
dai Almighty, the Sk El is the principle of Grace and Mercy and is par-
alleled with *Hesed; “?^ Shad-aaiy is that of Strength, and is paralleled
with Ge*boor-ah ; but YHVH unites both conceptions in a Harmony.
Elohim is more immediately identified with Nature, and the numerical
value of D^n^K Elohim (86) and nj^atD Tebah Nature (86) are the same.
YHVH is Elohim and the content of both Mercy and Rigor.
Kether Crown, is A^reekh An-peen or Appa-yem Long Faces. The
38o
eight Sephiroth following are Ze’ir An-peen Short Faces. In Kether is
the germ and content, in harmony, of the Sacred Form, the other Sephi-
roth surround it as if a rich and shining garment. In its narrowest sense
Kether EVyon Crown of the Highest, is this garment. Note however that
the word Kether Crown, is only used as a mere symbol of the King of All.
(Zohar iii, fol. 288^.) It is the representative of the coalescing of the High-
est with His creation and its preservation, through the efflux, to the utter-
most limits of entire nature and All. A clear knowledge of the essence
of Kether cannot be obtained by man in this world, it is to him even
as if Ayin No-Thing. (Zohar iii, 288^.) The Tiqqooneem haz-Zohar
says: *’That degree which is called Ayin comprises Kether, Binah and
‘Hokhmah.” The entire content of the Names of the Deity applied to
the respective Sephiroth are only symbols of Ain Soph,
The idea of the Sephiroth is like that of a builder who desires to build
a great Palace, i. He grasps in his mind the plan of the whole building.
This is Kether, ‘Hokhmah, Binah. 2. Then he considers the way accord-
ing to which the work shall be done, that it shall correspond to the plan.
This is ‘Hesed, Tiph’e-reth and Ge’boor-ah. 3. He considers the means
of carrying it out, this is Ne-tza’h, Ye’sod and Hod. The entire building
is the Divine government of the whole world represented by Malkhuth.
Mercy Tempers Rigor. ” R. El’azar sat before R. Shim-on his father
and said to him : ‘ This we have learned : that Elohim dtiSk in every
place is judgment, that this word is : Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh (T(\ry YHVH),
and it is a place which is called, Elohim ; like it is written (Gen. xv, 8),
^Adonoi YHVH’; (Which not read YHVH but Elohim.) Why is it
called Elohim, when it (YHVH) means Mercy in every place?* Said he
to him : * So it is written : (Deut. iv, 39.) * And thou shalt know to-day
and consider it in thine heart, that YHVH is Elohim.’ And it is writ-
ten : (Deut. iv, 31, 35, 39.) ‘YHVH is Elohim.’ Said he to him: ^
* These words we know, that in the place of Mercy, may be sometimes,
Judgment, and that sometimes Judgment is tempered with Mercy ! ‘ Said
he (R. Shim-on) to him : ‘ Come, See ! This is so, Yedud (/. e,y YHVH)
is in all places Mercy but at the time when through sin, Mercy is changed
to Judgment, then it is written YHVH but read Elohim. But : Come,
See ! the secret of the woi^ (YHVH). There are Three degrees and
381
each degree exists in itself, although all are One, connected in One and
not separated One from the other.”*
Emanation of the Universe. ” ‘In the Beginning’ In Wisdom the
King engraved forms in the clearness Above. Botzeen-ah D’ Qardinuthahy
1.^., the brilliant inner Light, came out from the Hidden of Hidden, from
the Head of the Ain Soph. A nebulous spark of matter flashed out which
was not white nor black nor red nor green and not of any color what-
ever ; but when He took the measure of the structure He made colors to
light in the inner. From that Botzeen-ah came forth a Supreme Light
from which reflected different colors Below. He stopped up its hidden
point from the Mystery of Ain Soph. He opened and not opened it so
its aveer-ah air (aether), has not been known until it came out from the
power of that opening. Then he lighted a point (light) the Hidden of
the Above, after that first point (light) which had not been known, and
therefore that point (first point) is called Raisheeth Beginning, meaning
the first Word of AlV f
**The neqood-ah qadmo-ah^ u ^., first point, was an inner light which
had no limit so that could be known, its pureness, thinness (subtility)
and clearness, until it expanded itself through itself; and the expansion of
this point made a palace to envelope that point. Its (the palace’s) light
cannot be comprehended because of its immense pureness and yet it is not
so thin (subtile) and clear as that first point, which is hidden and con-
cealed. The palace which is the garment to that hidden point, its light
(is also) unlimited, although it is not so pure and clear as that first
point which is hidden and concealed. That palace expands itself out-
wardly from its first light, and that expansion is the garment to that pal-
ace, of which its inner is subtile and clear ; and from here, (each) farther
spreads itself one in another, and envelopes itself, one in another, until it
is found, (that) one is a garment to the other, and the other still to
another; but this is, the brain (the very inner); and that, the shell,”
(/. ^., the skull, the cover of the brain, or, inner.) J
• Zohar iii, fol. 65a, Amsterdam Ed. ui, fol. 27, col. 2, Sulzbach Ed. Cremona
Ed. iii, fol. 29^, col. 116.
t Zohar, Cremona Ed. i, fol. 3, col. I. Brody Ed. i, 15^. Livomo, i, 25^.
X Zohar i, 2o3, Brody Ed. Livomo Ed. i, 34a. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 24^, col. 96.
382
” Before the world was created (the An-peen Faces,) did not look at-
tentively, Faces to Faces, and the primitive worlds were made without per-
fect formations, and therefore the primitive worlds were destroyed. And
those which were not in perfect formation are called flaming sparks, like
the worker in copper or iron when he strikes on it with his iron hammer,
makes sparks dash out on every direction. And these sparks which leap
forth, flame and glitter, but are at once extinguished. And such are
called : ‘The First Worlds.’ And therefore they were destroyed and did
not remain, until At-tee’kah Qad-dosha the Holy Ancient, restored them
and the Work-master went to His work. And on this we have learned in
our Mathnithah; that that Ray (of Light) sent out sparks in 320 direc-
tions. And those sparks are called, * The First Worlds ;’ and they at
once perished. Then the Artist went to His work and He formed in
male and female, and these sparks which were extinct and died at once,
all remained now. From a Botzeenah Shining Light, of most intense bril-
liancy, came out a radiant strong flame as from a hammer, and brought
forth sparks of the first worlds, and these were mixed with the most sub-
tile air,* and like the abbah father, and immah mother, were mutually
tempered by each other when they were merged. And this father is from
the Spirit which is hidden in At-teek Yo-men the Ancient of Days, in him
is hidden that (subtile) air, and he coalesced to that spark which came
forth out of that Shining Light which has been hidden in the inner of the
mother.f But when both joined together and merged one in another, was
produced a large strong Cranium (the Firmament) and it expanded on its
side, this on this side and that on that side. Like the At-tee^kah Qad-dosha
Holy Ancients, in Three Heads which are found in One : (Comp. Zohar
iii, 288^ .•) So All has been prepared under the form of Three Heads, as
we have said. J In this Cranium drips a dew from Resba ‘ Hiv’rah the
White Head, and this dew is seen in two different colors, and from it
(this dew) is fed the Field of the Holy Apples (Sacred Fruits). And from
that dew of the Cranium is prepared the manna for the just in the world
* The setheric medium or Fourth State of Matter?
f The hidden vital energy or force, by means of which all Things exist.
J These are the spiritually positive or male, and the negative or female, joined to-
gether and merged through the action of the harmony.
383
to come, and by it the dead will be aroused to life. * * * And that
subtile air contains itself in All because it is comprised from All, and All
is comprised in it. Its Face expands to two sides in two lights which are
comprised from All. And when the Faces look towards each other,
all the At-tee^kah Qad- dosha is called A’reekh Appa-yem, /. ^., Long
Faces.” *
At’tee’kah Qad-dosha the Holy Ancient. The Hidden of All the Hid-
den is separated. It b separated from All and not separated, because
All is merged in Him and He is merged in All. He is the At-tee^kah
D’Kol AMee^keen the Ancient of All the Ancients, the Hidden of All
the Hidden. He is formed and yet is not formed. He is formed to sus-
tain All and not formed because He is not found. When He is formed
ninef flaming Lights go out from Him, from His Form ; and from these
Lights are emitted flames and they expand themselves out to all directions,
like a lamp which spreads light to all sides. And these lights which
expand themselves from it, when any (one) draweth near to know them are
not found but only the lamp, alone. So is He, the At-tee^kah Qad-dosha
the Holy Ancient : He is the Upper Lamp, the Hidden of All the Hidden
and is not found, except those rays which are expanded which yet are
revealed and hidden. And they are called, the Holy Name, and therefore
all are One. J
The Emanation of the Angels. ** At the time when the Holy,
Blessed be He ! breathed the spirit into each of the heavenly host, all
the hosts were formed and stood before Him, therefore it is written ;
^With the breath of His mouth He made all the host.'” (Ps.
xxxiii, 6.)§
The Souls of the Righteous Higher than the Angels. ” We
have found in the First Book of Adam, that all the Holy Spirits from
Above, are performing messages (they have been sent to do) and all come
from one place. The souls of the just (pious) from two degrees which
* Zohar iii, 2924 and 3, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, fol. 142^1 and b, col. 566-67.
t Franck La KabbaU, p. 78, incorrectly says ” ten.” Comp. Joel Reiigions-pkiUsO’
phie^ etc., p. 85.
{Zohar iii, 288^, Brody Ed., Idrah Zootah. Cremona Ed. iii, fol. 140a, col. 558.
2 Zohar iii, 6&1, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, fol. 31a, coL 122.
384
are comprised in one, and therefore they go higher and their degrees are
higher and so it is. And those who are hidden there come down and go
in their life like Enoch, of whom Death is not mentioned.”*
The Qabbalists hold that the Neshatnah soul, dwelling in us, is only a
shadow or reflection of a higher and celestial, spiritual, perfect prototype,
or Zure^ which never leaves its exalted abode in the A’tzeel-atic World or
World of the Sephiroth. It is thought of, as connected with the Nesh-
amah of man, by an invisible thread, a Qav AnUzaith-ah middle cord, and
is affected from Below. (Comp. Matt, x, 29-31 ; Luke xii, 6, 7 ; Matt,
xviii, 10.) By inspired devotion, they say, the will of man directs his
Neshatnah to its Zure^ Above ; and the Neshamah endeavors to leave the
body and again unite itself with its Zure^ Above ; then the higher pro-
totypic soul becomes stirred up and, by a mystic influence, they are
chained to each other. This idea falls within the higher mysticism of the
Qabbalah, in which, the doctrine of ecstasy plays its part, and it is be-
yond the metaphysical speculation. In this is centred the idea of the
union of the King and Queen ; from the former, the efflux descends from
the Above to the Below.
Forming of Souls. **At the time that the Holy, Blessed be He!
desired to create the world, it came in His Will before Him : and He
formed all the souls which are prepared to be given to the children of
man afterwards ; and all were formed before Him in the same real form
which has been prepared to be in the children of man afterwards, and He
saw everyone of them : and that some of them would corrupt their ways
in the world. When the time has arrived for it (to come into this world)
the Holy, Blessed be He ! calls to that Neshamah soul, He says to her :
‘Go thou to that place and into that body.’ She answers before the
Lord of the world ; * This world in which I dwell is sufficient for me,
and I do not care to be in another world in which I shall be a servant
and exposed to its uncleanness. ‘ Said the Holy, Blessed be He ! to her :
* From the day thou wast created, thou wert only created for that purpose,
to have thy destination in that world.’ When the soul sees that it is
necessary to obey, it with grief comes down, and goes in there (this
body). The Thorah, which gives advice to the whole world, when she
*Zohar iii, 683, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, fol. 31^1, col. 122.
385
saw this, warned the children of the world, and said : * See how much
pity, the Holy, Blessed be He ! has on you, a good pearl which He had
He gives it to you for nothing, that you shall work her in this world.’*
Ebianation of the Universe. ” Come, See ! At the time it came up
in the Will of the Holy, Blessed be He ! to create the world. He brought
forth from the Botzeen-ah Qardinuthah, /. ^., the very inner light (of the
heart) a knot (or, chain) and lighted (emanated) the darkness from it
and let it down Below. The darkness lighted in a hundred different
ways and paths, small and great, and made the House (Tabernacle or
Temple, Below. Rev. xi, 19; xv, S, 6, 8; xvi, i.) of the world. (The
A^seey-atic world.) This HouSe is the centre of all ; around it are many
doors, surrounding it are the holy upper places. (The Ye^tzeer-oHc
world.) There are the nests of the heavenly birds (angels) each in its
kind. In it goes forth a Great Tree with strong branches which bear
plenty of food for all. This Tree goes up to the heavenly clouds and it
is hidden between three mountains. From under the three mountains, the
Tree goes out and ascends to the Above and comes down to the Below.
This House is supplied by it with drink, and there is hidden in it (that
House) many hidden things Above, which are not known. This Tree is re-
vealed in the daytime and covered (hidden) in the night. And this House
rules in the night time and is hidden during the day. At the time when
darkness goes up and all doors are concealed from all sides, then many
spirits are flying in the air which desire to know and go into it, and they
go up between these birds and they take witness and see what they see,
until that darkness awakes and brings out a certain flame and hammers it
with many strong hammers and opens the doors. Large stones go forth
from that flame and come down out of it, and make noises in the world and
awake the voices Above and Below. And then a (fol. 172^) herald comes
forth from it and connects himself in the air and calls out. That asther
comes out from the pillar of the inner cloud, and when it comes out
spreads itself on the four sides of the world ; thousands of thousands
exist from the side which is the Left, and myriad of myriads exist from
the side which is the Right, and the herald remains in his place, etc.” f
* Zohar ii, 96^ and 97^1, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 43^, col. 17^3.
f Zohar i, I’jia and ^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 98^, col. 393.
25
386
Connection of the Above and the Below. ” Come, See 1 When
the Holy, Blessed be He ! desired to create worlds He brought out a Hid-
den Light, from that Light came out and illuminated all the lights which
are revealed, and from that Light came out and expanded itself and were
made, other lights; and this is the Upper World. That Upper Light
spread itself out and made again a light which does not illuminate, and it
made the Lower World. And because that light which does not illumi-
nate desires to connect itself Above and desires to connect itself Below,
with that Lower knot it connects itself to illuminate in the Upper knot,
and that light which does not illuminate in the Upper knot brought
out all the hosts and servants of many sorts, this is what is written : * How
great are Thy works YHVH, etc’ (Ps. xcii, 5.) And everything which
is Below so it is Above, and there is not the smallest thing in this world
which does not depend on another thing Above, and which is not taken
account of Above, and all are united one in the other.”*
The Pre-Adamite Kings. “We have learned in the Siphrah
D’Tznioothah : That the AMee’kah D’At-tee^keen Ancient of Ancients,
before He prepared His Form, built kings and engraved kings, and
sketched out kings, and they could not exist : till He overthrew them and
hid them until after a time, therefore it is written ; ‘ And these are the
kings which reigned in the land of Edom. * That is in a place in which
all judgments exist. And they could not exist until Resha *Hiv*rah the
White Head, the At-tee’kah D’ At-tee* keen Ancient of the Ancients, ar-
ranged Himself. When He arranged Himself He formed all forms Above
and Below. From here we learn that the head of a nation, who has not
been arranged and formed at the beginning : its people is not from
this Form. * * * Before He arranged Himself in His Form,
had not been formed all those whom He desired to form, and all worlds
have been destroyed ; therefore is written : ‘ And Bela the son of Beor
reigned in Edom.’ (Gen. xxxvi, 32. )t
“He began and said : It is written : ‘And these are the Kings that reigned
in the land of Edom.’ (Gen. xxxvi, 31.) And it is written : * For lo,
* Zohar i, 1560 and b, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 910, col. 362. See Mat. x,
29, 31 ; Luke xii, 6, 7 ; Rev. xi, 19.
t Zohar iii, 1350, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, foL 64^, col. 255.
387
the kings were assembled, ihty passed hy together.* (Ps. xlviii, 4.) They
^ assembled ‘ in that place which is called the land of Edom, the place
where all judgments are together. * They passed by together ‘ as it is
written : * And he died ‘ and another ‘ reigned in his stead.’ (Gen. xxvi,
31 sq.) ‘ They saw, they marveled, were troubled,’ (Ps. xlviii, 5) that
they did not remain in their places, because the forms of the kings had
not been formed as it ought to be, and the Holy City had not been pre-
pared.”*
” At’tee^kah D* At-tee’ keen the Ancient of the Ancients, built worlds,
and formed Its Forms to exist, but they did not exist until the Supreme
Grace came down and then they remained. And this b what is written :
* And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom.’ ” f
The Emanation of the Male and Female Principles. *’We
have learned: At the time when the At-tee’kah Qad-dosha, the
Holy Ancient, the Hidden of All the Hidden, desired to arrange
everything. He formed all things like male and female in the place
which comprises male and female. For they could not exist save in
another existence of male and female. This Wisdom comprises All, when
it goeth forth and is illuminated from the Holy Ancient it does not
shine except in male and female. This ^Hokkmah^ Wisdom, diffused itself
and from it came out Binah Understanding, and it is found male and fe-
male. Wisdom is the Father and Understanding is the Mother, Wisdom
and Understanding in one balance and male and female (in the other),
weigh the same, and through them everything exists in male and female.
If it were not for this they (things) could not exist. This beginning is the
Father to all the Fathers, connects one in another and lights one in an-
other (^Hokhmah Wisdom, is the Father, and Binah Understanding, is the
Mother). It is written: ‘ If thou callest Binah mother;’ (Prov. ii, 3:)
and when they connect one with the other they bring forth and diffuse
and emanate. Truth. In the sayings of R. Ye-yeva, Sabah, /. ^., the Old,
we learned this ; What is Binah Understanding ? But when they connect
in one another, the ‘ (Yod) in the n (Heh), they become impregnated and
produce a Son. And therefore it is called Binahy Understanding. It
* Zohar iii, 292^1. Idrah Zootah. Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, foL 142^, coL 566.
f Zohar iii, 142^, Brody Ed., Cremona Ed. iii, 67^, col. 268.
388
means BeN YaH /. ^., Son of YaH. This is the completeness of the
Whole. “^
“‘And Elohim said; Let the waters gather, etc’ (Gen. i, 7.) In a
straight line that shall be in a straight way, that is, from the secret of that
first point came out all in its concealment imtil it reached and gathered to
that Upper Palace, and from there it came out in a straight line to other
degrees, till it reached that only place where all gathered in the compris-
ing of male and female, f
The Emanated Souls and Their Knowledge. “Began R. ‘He-
yah and said : ‘ That which hath been is now, and that which is to be hath
already been, etc.* (Eccl. iii, 15.) This we have learned; Before the
Holy, Blessed be He ! created this world, He had created worlds and
destroyed them, till the Holy, Blessed be He I desired in n^nijri R^ooth-ek
I. ^., His Will, to create this world and He took counsel in the Thorah.
And then arranged Himself in His conformations and crowned Himself
with His Crown and created this world. And everything which is found
in this world has been before, and passed before Him, and been arranged
before Him. And we have learned ; all the creatures of the world which
have existed in each generation, before they came to this world, have
existed before Him in their true Uyooq-nah i. e., simulacrum or phantom of
a shadow image. And so we have learned ; Even all the souls of the chil-
dren of man before they come down to the world have all been sculptured
before Him in heaven, in that real Uyooq-nah that they have in this
world. And all that they learn in this world they already knew before
they came into the world. And we have learned ; They who are pure,
are true, (/. ^., have the true D’yooq-nah.) And they who are not found
pure in this world, even there, are thrust away from before the Holy,
Blessed be He ! And they ascend into that great deep abyss, (Gen. i, 2.)
and they come down into this world. And their souls know the part they
will play in this world before they come down to it, and this holy part
which has been given to them is thrown into that deep abyss and they
take their part from there. And if they deserve it and repent before their
Lord, they take that (holy) part from there.” J
*Zohar iii, 290a, Brody Ed. Idrah Zootah. Cremona Ed. iii, fol. 141a, coL 562.
t Zohar i, 1 8a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 24^1, col. 93.
% Zohar iii, 6ia and ^, Brody Ed. Cremuna Ed. iii, fol. 2&2, col. 109.
389
The Souls in Paradise. ” At the time when the Holy, Blessed be
He ! descends to the Garden of Eden, all its Neshamoth souls, of the just,
which are crowned there, all give a pleasant odor, as is said ; ‘ And the
odor of thine ointment is from all spices,* (Song of Songs iv, lo.)
These (the spices) are the souls of the just, then R. Yitzhaq, said ; ‘ All
the souls of the just which have been in this world, and all the souls
which are prepared to descend into this world, all are in the Garden
which is on the earth, all remain in the d^yooq-nah^ shadow of the tzelem^
and tziyor-ah form, in which they existed in this world. And this secret
has been delivered to the wise. The Rua^h spirit, which descends to the
children of man, which is from the female side, engraves itself steadily in
the engraving, like a seal. The bodily tziyor-ah form, of the man in this
world is (Comp. Zohar i, 73^) shaped on the outside and the Rua’h is
engraved in the inner. When the Rua^h is separated from the body, that
Rua^h is shaped in the Garden on the earth, in the same tziyor-ah form
and same dfyooq-nah shadow of the tzeleniy of the body which it had in
this world, because it (the Rua’h) has been always like the impression of
a seal, and on this is said : ‘ Set me like a seal, etc’ (Song of Songs viii^
6.) As a seal is engraved in its engraving on the inside and brings out
the tziyor-ah form, of its shape (in relief) on the outside, so here to, the
Rua’h spirit, which has been from her (the bodily) side in this world, is
engraved in its engraving on the inside, but when it separates from the
body and goes up in the air of Gan Eden Garden of Eden, then that
engraving becomes shaped on the outside, in the same tziyor-ah form,
like the gtdff body, in this world. The Neshamah Soul, which is from the
Tree of Life, is in there (Above) formed in the Bundle of Life, to delight
in the beauty of YHVH, as it is written ; ‘ To behold the beauty of
YHVH and to enquire in His Temple.’ ” (Ps. xxvii, 4.)*
The Crowning of the Soul of the Pious, ” It is written : *Thus
said Ail YHVH; He that created the heavens and stretched them out;
He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it ; He that
giveth neshamah soul, to the people upon it, and rua^h spirit, to them
that walk therein.’ (Is. xlii, 5.) That is what is said : ‘ The earth,’ He
‘ giveth the neshamah ‘ to her. Said R. Yitzhaq ; ‘ Everything is Above :
*ZohAr ii, iia, Brody Ed. liyorno Ed. ii, 17a. Cremona Ed. ii, foL 5a, ooL 18.
390
from there goes forth the Soul of Life to this earth * * * Come,
See ! When the Holy, Blessed be He ! created the man, he gathered the
dust from all the four sides of the world and made a mark in the place
where the Holy Temple stands, Below ; and spread upon her a Soul of
Life from the holiness Above. And this Neshamah Soul, is comprised in
three degrees, and therefore she has three names, like the m)rstery Above:
that is, Nepheshy RucCh^ Neshamah, Nephesh is as we have stated, she
is the lowest from all, Rua’h spirit, he is appointed to rule over Nephesh^
and he is a higher degree upon her, to remain upon her and stand upon
her, as it ought to be. Neshamah soul, she is the highest of all and rules
over all, she is the holy upper degree over all. And these three degrees
are comprised in man, to those who deserve to the work of the Master.
Then before had only been Nephesh in man, which is the holy form in
which man shall prepare himself, but when man comes to cleanse himself
in that degree, he is prepared to crown himself, in the Ruc^h spirit, which
is the holy degree which rests upon the Nephesh; that the man who
deserves shall crown himself in it (the Rua^h). When the Nephesh and
Rua^h exist in him, and he does the work of the Lord as he ought to,
then rests upon him, the Neshamah soul, the upper holy degree ; which
rules over all. And then he is perfectness, perfect in all sides to deserve
in the world to come, and that is the Love of the Holy, Blessed be He \
as it is written ; * That I may cause those who love me to inherit sub-
stance.’ (Prov. viii, 21.) Who are ‘those who love me?’ They are
those who have the nishmathah qad-disha holy soul, in them.”*
The Neshamah or upper precious or intellectual Soul, corresponding to
the Spirit in the New Testament, in the Qabbalah corresponds to the
BWee-atic l^orld that of Creation, and according to it inhabits the Brain.
She is the last of the spiritual components to enter the man, in her fullness
and perfection, at man’s maturity. When death is coming she leaves her
Merkabah before the appearance of death in man’s face, and then remains
only a resemblance of the real Neshamah ^ for the personality of man can
exist with only the resemblance of the true Neshamah. It is here to be
noted, that the Tzelem Shadow of the Image, acts in a magical way, from
* Zohar i, 205^, 206a, Brody Ed. Livomo Ed. i, 346^, 347a. Cremona Ed. i, foi.
1133,0)1.460.
391
the first moment of conception, on the germ of human life, and gives to it
a R^shoo-mah t. e,y designation or personality, and also imparts to it a
B^heen-ah /. e,, essential faculty for the reception of efHux (light). In the
measure that this B^heen-ah becomes gradually developed, the Neshamah
appears more effectively in the man and his so-called, nature. At the in-
stant of death, the Rua^h Spirit, which corresponds according to the Qab-
balah, to the Ye* tzeer-atic Worlds and to the Soul in the New Testament, and
which lives according to the Qabbalah, in the Heart, departs. The Rua^h
forms, with the Nepheshy the actual personality of the man, which is called
if he deserves, Ye’hee-dah, The Nephesh is the last of all the great Qabba-
listic divisions of th^ incorporeal in man, which it says, is the living man in
this world. It says, the Nephesh inhabits more especially the Liver; she is
really the entire plastic system and corresponds to the Body, in the New
Testament. In the Qabbalah it corresponds to the -^’j^^-a/rV ^J^A/. She is
the nearest to, and united in its lowest degree with, the actual nerve forces
and energies of the bodily life of man. Her B*heen-ah tends to the mate-
rial and sinks itself into the animal or bodily life, forming the higher
spirituality of the concrete bodily and elementary existence. Even in the
gross bodily existence stands the spiritual in the relation of the External
to the Inner, and has in its way, a life and soul in itself, for there does
not exist anything in nature without a certain spirituality and life. This
elementary lower soul in man, is also called by the Qabbalists, Nephesh,
and is the Merkabah of the spiritual Nephesh which controls it. As in
nature there are different individual grades distinct from each other, so
the nature-souls are distinguished in themselves and none are transformed
into the other, but each is kept by the Deity, distinct. The spiritual
Nephesh is the last to leave the body of man, and only fully separates
from it with difficulty. The Qabbalah holds, that even after death, the
spiritual Nephesh leaves the body only step by step and only as the body
becomes decomposed. Even the dissolution and separation of, the differ-
ent parts of the body is not considered an absolute separation, for that
which has been one, it holds, can never be absolutely separated in its
parts, one from another, but they alwa3rs remain constantly in afiinity
with each other, as an entirety; therefore even after decomposition of the
material body-form, as nothing is ever lost, it holds that a communication
392
exists between all the several parts until the judgment of the Last Day.
The innermost fundamental spiritual principle or type of the individual,
it asserts, remains as a some-thing indestructible and as a tzelem shadow
of an image, or d’mooth likeness or similitude, of the previous upon earth
living man. This is the body of the resurrection, called by the Qabbalah
Habal D’ Garmin the elementary Nephesh^ it can be termed, to a certain
extent, the elementary man which is in the external tzelem shadow image,
the true representative of the inner spiritual man. The elementary man the
Qabbalah says ; contains the three lower natural Nephesh i.^., the mineral,
vegetative and animal natures, and also the higher elementary Nephesh
which as a simulacrum^ includes the exact shape of the man as he was when
existing in the body on earth. The elementary man contains four differ-
ent parts, in the lowest is the mineral, then comes, the spirit of the bones,
which are considered as the vegetative and as the frame-work or support
•
of the man, and give growth to the whole and enables him to walk erect;
this is followed by the etzbon-ah (Tbissr-ahy the living atomic flesh-forming
power: this with its atoms, nerves, arteries, veins, etc., etc., is the basis
of the animal-feeling. And lastly, is the nature-feeling soul, etc. The
Qabbalah contains much upon this subject and also upon the spiritual
beginnings of life, which would surprise some of our best physiologists,
but we have no space to go into the subject any further in this writing.
It is to be noted, that these divisions are not considered as standing out
separate and distinct, but they are considered as inextricably in affinity
and connected with each other in their proper proportions, which however
vary. It is also to be noted, that the Neshamah has three divisions, the
highest is the Ye ^hee-dahy the middle is Hay.yahy the last and third, the
Neshamahy properly to say. They manifest themselves in the Ma^hshabah
Thought, Tzelem Phantom of the Image, and Zurath Prototypes, and the
D’yooq-nah Shadow of the phantom Image. The D’mooth Likeness or
Similitude, is a lower manifestation.
The Divisions of the Incorporeal in Man. ** The Neshamah of
the child of man is called three different names, Nephesh^ Rua’hy Nesha*
mahy and all are merged one in another, and in three places are found
their dwellings. Nephesh is found in the grave until the body is decom-
posed in the earth, and then it revolves around in this world to find its
393
life and to know her trouble. The Rua^k ascends into the Garden which
is on earth and there forms himself in the d’yooq-nah of the body in this
world, in such a garment as they clothe there. The Neshamah^ she
ascends at once to that same place she came out from and for her sake has
been lighted that lamp. Above ; these {Neshamoth souls) do not descend
to the Lower World. But before the Neshamah soul, ascends to connect
herself in the Throne (in her place), the Rua^h cannot be crowned in the
Garden (/. ^., into another body), which is on earth, and the Nephesk
cannot remain in its place, but when she {Neshamah) goes up so all have
rest, but when the children of the world are in trouble, and they go out
to the graves (to pray); that Nephesh awakes and goes out and flies to and
fro, and awakes that Rua^h, and that Rua^h ascends and awakes that
Neshamahy then the Holy, Blessed be He 1 has pity over the world. When
the Neshamah tarries in ascending to her place, the Rua^h goes and stays
at the door of the Garden of Eden, and the door is not opened to him ;
and he (the Rua^K) flies to and fro and no one notices him. Then the
Nephesh flies to and fro in the world. She sees that guff body, has worms
in it, and she mourns over it (the body) as it written : * Only his flesh
upon him shall have pain, and his Nephesh soul, upon it (the guff body)
shall mourn:’ (Job xiv, 22.) and all are in punishment. Until the Ne*
shamah connects herself in her place Above, and then all connect them-
selves in their places.*
Because all these three are one knot like the Above, in the mystery
of Nepheshy Rua*h and Neshamah^ they are all one and bound in one.
(Cremona, Ibid.y col. 252.) Nephesh has no light from her own sub-
stance ; it is for this reason that she is associated with the mystery of
^^the body, to procure enjoyment and food and everything which she
needs ; as it is written : ‘ She giveth food to her house(hold) and a por-
tion to her maidens.’ (Prov. xxxi, 15.) Her house(hold) that is the
body which she nourishes, and the * maidens ‘ are the members of that
body. Ru’ah (the Spirit) is that which rides on that Nepheshiikit Lo¥^er
Soul) and rules over her and lights (supplies) her with everything she
needs, and the Nephesh is the throne to that Rua’h. Neshamah (Divine
Soul), goes over to that Rua’hy and she rules over that Rua’h and
* Zohar ii, 141^, Brody Ed« Cremona Ed. ii, foL 63^, col. 251.
394
lights to him with that Light of Life, and that Rua^h depends on the
Neshamahy and receives light from her which illuminates him. That
Nephesh depends on that Rua*h and receives light from him and is
sustained by him, and all are one bond. When the upper JN’eshamah
ascends she goes to her repose to where is the At-tee^kah JD^At-tee*-
keen the Ancient of the Ancients, the Hidden of All the Hidden, so as
to receive from Him, Eternity. This Rua’h does not go to Gan JSden
Garden of Eden, because he is Nephesh^ and each has its own place.
The Neshamah Soul, goes up direct to the very inner, and the Rua^h
Spirit goes up to Eden, but not so high as the Soul, and Nephesh (the
animal principle. Lower Soul) remains in the grave Below. * **
“This is what is written : ^ Ail Elo-hdi of the spirits of all flesh.’
(Numb, xvi, 22.) It is a place where all the Neshamoth souls, of the
world are together, and all the souls ascend and descend from there. ‘ ‘ f
The Merkabah and the Cleansing of the Soul. *’And that
Garden, which is from the fiqood-ah point, is called Ekien. (This
point, is what has been taken from the Mother, Above, who is hidden ;
from it, the point, is the Gan Eden on earth.) These heads of the
^Hdy-yah are the four faces. One of them is that of a Lion, as it is
written; ‘And the face of the lion to the right side.’ (Ezek. i, 10.)
And one is (that of) an Ox, as it is written : ‘ And the face of the ox to
the left side.’ (Jbid,) And one is (that of) an Eagle, as it is written;
‘And the face of the eagle to the four sides.* {Ibid,) Man comprises
all, as it is written : * And the d’mooth similitude, of their faces was the
face of man.* {Ibid,’) And these are the four heads of the river which
reaches to the Qur-sdi-yah Qad-dosha Holy Throne, and from its strength
and hammering (as in a forge), it moves ; and from that moving is made
that river iian U e-noor^ as it is written : * The river D^e-noor issued and
came forth from before Him, thousand thousands ministered unto him.*
(Dan. vii, 10.) And the Neshamoth souls, when they ascend, cleanse
themselves in that river D* e-noor and do not burn, they only cleanse
themselves. Come, See ! From a Salamander they make a garment, J and
* Zohar ii, 142a, Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 63^, col. 252.
f Zohar iii, 176^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, 84^, col. 336.
X This doubtless refers to a species of asbestos.
395
because it is from fire, that garment can only be washed and cleansed, in
fire. Fire eats up the filth in it and cleanses that garment, so here also-
the Neshamah soul, which is (of the) light (fire) which it takes from the
Holy Throne, of which it is written; ‘His Throne, the fiery flame.*
(Dan. vii, 9.) At the time when they want to cleanse (the soul) from
that defilement in her, it (the soul) is put through fire and becomes
cleansed ; and the fire eats up all the defilement which is in the Nesha-
mah and the Neshamah is cleansed and becomes white.’* *
” It is written : ‘ Let the earth bring forth the rr’n BfflJ Nephesh ^ Hay-
yah Living Creature. (Gen. i, 24.) That vatzxi^ Nephesh which is the-
Upper Hdy-yah Life, and because that this Nephesh Hdy-yah is holiness
from Above, so when the holy earth draws up through her and is com-
prised in her, then she is called Neshamah soul. And Come, See ! At
all times when the child of man goes in the true way and his mouth and
tongue speaks holy words, this Neshamah soul, cleaves to him and he is
the friend of his Lord, and he has many watchers (angels) protecting
him from all sides. He is designated for good. Above and Below, and
the Holy She*kheen-ah rests upon him.”f
The Treasury of Souls. ” Before the world was created all the-
Ru’ht’n Spirits, of the just (pious) had been hidden before Him in the
Mdhshabah Thought, each one in his dyooq-nah. But after He formed
the world all have been revealed and remained in their d^yooq-nah before
Him, the Supreme Above. Afterwards He put them (the souls) in a
Treasury in the Garden of Eden, Above ; and that Treasury never gets
filled (/. e,, the Treasury in the Garden of Eden) (and) it always cries
out : ‘ Behold the first things are come to pass, and new things do I
declare (say).* (Is. xlii, 9.) What does this mean? It means ‘ I say
(declare)’ all by their Name, and that Treasury has not any desire and
not any lust only to always accumulate the Neshamoth souls, there : like
the Gdi’hinnom which has, no desire or lust, except to take the Neshamoth
souls, to purify them, and every day it (the Gdi-hinnam) calls : ‘ Give !
Give !*J What means ‘Give! Give!’ it means. Burn! Bum! And
* Zohar ii, 21 13, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 95a and b^ col. 378, 379.
f Zohar iii, 301a and 3, Tosephthah, Brody Ed.
\ Prov. XXX, 15. This is Lillith. Comp. Cahen*s French Bible, VoL xiv, p. 156 note.
396
that Treasury takes all the souls till the time they are clothed and come
down to this world, and through the sin of AdamQad’mo-ah, (the B^ree-
-otic Adam) which brought on the evil side to the world ; the Nesha$ncA
has to be clothed in these kinds of garments, which are the other gar-
ments.’**
The Entrance of the SOul into the Body. ” R. Abbah, Sabah, /.^.,
the old, stood up on his feet and said : ‘ Rest in peace shall be to thee R.
Shim-on ben Yo’hal, that thou didst bring, back the crown, i. ^., the Tho-
rah, we have learned in the Mathneethah Qad’tno-ah ; Because the JN’esha-
mah Soul ; is in its perfectness in the Upper Place, she has not any desire
to the guff hody, (but) only to create from it other Neshamoth souls, which
come out from her, and she remains in her Place. Until R. Shim-on ben
Yo’ha! canie and explained ; If in this world which is vanity and the body a
stinking drop, and yet the Neshamah goes into it ; surely in the time to come
when all are purified, and the body will be in its fullness and perfectness,
•certainly the Neshamah soul, will go into it with all its perfectness.
Above. ‘ Said R. A’ha ; ‘ This very soul and this very guff hodjy the Holy,
Blessed be He 1 is prepared in the time to come, to put in their eternal
continuance, but both will be perfect in the perfectness of knowledge (so
as) to reach that which they could not reach in this world,* “f
Of that Division of the Incorporeal in Man called, Ye’hee-dah.
*’ It is written : ‘ The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the
YHVH TZe’Ba-OTH, /. ^., of the hosts.’ What means ‘the silver is
mine and the gold is mine ‘ ? It is like to a king who has two treasures,
one of silver and one of gold, that of silver he put to his right and that
of gold to his left, and said ; This is prepared so that it is easy to spend
it, and he has done everything in an easy way, this is what is said ; ‘ Thy
hand YHVH is become glorious in power.* (Ex. xv, 6.) If man rejoices
in his portion {is contented with his lot in this life), it is good, and if
not, it is said; ‘Thy right hand YHVH hath dashed in pieces the
enemy.’ {Ibid,) What does this mean ? Said he to him ; ‘ That is the gold,
it is written; The silver is mine, the gold is mine.’ Why do they call it
J’TIT Zahav gold? ‘It is called Zahav gold, because included in it are
♦ Zohar iii, 303^, Brody Ed., Tosephthah.
f Zohar i, 126a, Midrash Ha-Ne*elam. Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 76a, col. 30X.
397
three tributes {middoth measures) ; the i (Zayin = 7) of the Zahav are-
seven tributes, and the n (Heh = 5) is mmK A’hdoth Unity, the 1 {Beth
= 2) means ‘Hokhmah and Binah, /. ^., Wisdom and Understanding, and
they are called Neskamah souls because of the last five Sephiroth. And
five names has the Neshamah.* That is Nephesh^ Rua^h^ Neshamahy
‘Hdy^yahy Ye’hee-dahr’\
Ye^hee-dah the only one, is iht personality of man ; Hay* yah is the life
in man ; Neshamah the soul or intellect ; Rua^h the spirit ; Nephesh the
animal soul or vital dynatneis^ the anima,
” In the Book of King Solomon is to be found : That at the time of
the accomplishment of the union, Below ; the Holy, Blessed be He !
Sends a D^yooq-nah Phantom of a Shadow image, like the face of a man.
It is designed and sculptured in the Divine Dteiem i. e,^ Shadow Image,
and exists over this pair, and if permission was given to the eye to see, the
child of man, could see above his head a tzeiem, resembling the face of
the child of man, and in that tzelem shadow image, the child of man is
created. And so long as that tzeiem which is sent by the Master, is not
found there above his head, man is not created ; therefore it is written :
*Elohim created man in His tzeiem (shadow image).* (Gen. i, 27.) It
is this tzeiem, which is prepared to be received (by the infant) on his first
entrance into this world ; (and) when man enters this world it is in this
tzelemj in this tzeiem he developes, as he grows, and it is with this tzeiem^
again, he departs from this life, as it is written: ‘Surely in a tzeiem
walketh man.* (Ps. xxxix, 60.) And this tzeiem is from. Above. At the
time when the Ruthin Spirits, go out from their place, each spirit
separately appears before the Holy King, invested in a sublime form,
with the features in which it will exist in this world. It is from that
D’yooq-nah, t\ e,, sublime Shadow of a Tkelem, that the Tzeiem, comes
out, and this is the third after the Rua*h Spirit, and precedes it to this
world and is present at the time of conception, and there is not any con-
ception in this world in which the tzeiem, is not present.” {
* Which arc ^”H ]”!? and these arc called; the Lights of Life.
f Zohar \, 16a and b, Sepher ha-Bahir, { Hashmuias, Amsterdam Ed. Also Brody
Ed. It belongs to Zohar i, foL 217a. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 116^, i I7<3e> col. 462-^63.
X Zohar iii, 104a and b, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, fol. 50^, col. 199. Comp.
Zohar ii, \^oa sq.
398
That Image is called by the Qabbalists, \e’hee-dah^ i.e.^ the indivisible
.principle, the personality or individuality of the man.
” Come, Sec ! When the child of man is born there is given to him
diNepheshy i, e,, animated life, from the side of the animals, the clean
side, from the side of those which are called Auphaneh ha-Qcui-dosh the
Holy Wheels. If he deserves more, there is given to him a Rua*h Spirit,
from the side of the Hdy-yoth ha-Qad-dosh Holy Lives. If he still
deserves more (there) is given to him, a Neshamah Soul, from the side of
the Kuf’saiy-ah Throne.* And these three, are the mother, the man-
servant, and the maid-servant, the Daughter of the King. If he still de-
serves more (there) is given to him a Nephesh in the way of A*t%eel-c^
Efflux, from the side of the daughter Ye^hee-dah the only one, and she is
called, the Daughter of the King. If he still deserves more (there) is
given to him the Rua^h of A’tzeel-oth the Efflux, from the side of the
Middle Pillar, and he is called Son to the Holy, Blessed be He ! There-
fore that is what is written ; ‘Ye are the children of YHVH your Elohim.’
(Deut. xiv, I.) If he still deserves more (there) is given to him a A^xA-
amah Soul, from the side of Abba Father, and Immah Mother ; that is
what is written : ** And He blew into his nostrils Neshmoth ^ Hay-yeem
Souls of Life.* (Gen. ii, 7.) What is ‘ Hay.yeem Life? That is n”^ YH.
On this we have said : ‘ All the Neshamoth Souls, shall praise n”^ YaH.’
(Ps. cl, 6.) And in it is perfected TIT Yedud (that means YHVH).
If he still deserves more, is given to him TIT Yedud^ in its very com-
pleteness, the letters of which are Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh : Heh K”n Vav
VKl Heh «’n Yod -yy which is (Adam) Man in the way of A’tzeel-
oth Efflux, Above, and is called in the Uyooq-nah of his Lord, and on
it is said; ‘And have dominion over the fish of the sea, etc.* (Gen.
i, 28.) And that is, he shall rule over all the Heavens and in all
the Auphaneeniy t, e. , Wheels, and the Serapheem^ and over all the Hosts
and Mights, from Above and Below. And therefore when the child of
man deserves the Nephesh from the side of the ryrxv x>:i Bath Ye^hee-dah^
i. e,f Daughter Ye^hee-dah^ is said by it, that ‘ She shall not go out as the
men-servants.’ ‘* (Exod. xxi, 7.)t
♦This is the Lower Throne. The Upper Throne is Qur-saiy-ah,
f Zohar ii, 94^, Sabah D’Mishpatim, Brody Ed. Livomo Ed. ii, fol. i6oa and b.
399
The Male and Female Souls in the Pre-Existent Condition
United, of their Reuniting in this World. ” Come, See 1 All the
souls of the world paired themselves (as male and female) before Him,
but after they came into this world, the Holy, Blessed be He ! pairs them.
Said R. Yitz-haq ; ‘ The Holy, Blessed be He I says, that daughter to
that one. * Said R. Yo-seh, * What does that mean ; it is written :
‘ There is nothing new under the sun.* (Eccl. i, 9.) Said R. Yehudah:
‘ It is written ; ‘ Under the sun,’ which I am above.* Said R. Yo-seh ;
‘ What decree is here?* R. *He-yah then said ; ‘ At the very time that
the son of man goes out into the world, a female partner is prepared for
him.* Said R. Abbah; ‘Happy are the just that their souls crown
themselves before the Holy King before they come down into this world,
then, so we have learned ; that at the time when the Holy, Blessed be
He ! sends out the souls to the world all the spirits and souls collect
themselves, male and female, and associate themselves like one, and they
are given in the hand of one who is the official who is set over the con-
ception of the children of man, and his name is Night, and at the time
when they come down, the Holy, Blessed be He ! who knows the spirits
and souls, cormects them together as they have been before and decrees
on them, and when they connect themselves they become one body and
one soul. Right and Left, as it ought to be, and therefore means that
which is written ; ‘There is nothing new under the sun.* This union
depends on his (man’s) deeds and ways in this world. If he deserves
and his deeds are right, he is united with that prepared for him like they
were before they came out from the world Above, to this world. * * * *
The Light with which the Soul is Clothed. ”Come, See ! When
the soul reaches that place which is ^^m Kiilif Tz’ruroh (Phay-ah, t\ ^.,
Bundle of Life (see I Sam. xxv, 29) they there enjoy from that Kinjl
KnSpflDK aspaqUar-yah dinhar-ah luminous mirror, f from that Light which
comes out of the place which is above All, but if the soul was not clothed
with the splendor of another garment she could not come near to see
that Light. And the mystery of the word is this; such a garment as
it is given to the soul to clothe itself in it so as to exist in this world, so
*Zohar i, 91^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, 62^, col. 247-8.
f See Philo. Bohn*8 English Ed« Vol. i, pp. 134, 337.
400
here too (Above) He gives her a garment of the splendor Above, so that
it may exist in that world and be able to look into that aspaq^koT’
yah dinhar-ah which proceeds from the Land of Life. Come, See!
Moses could not come near to contemplate, in that (Light) which he
looked at only when he clothed himself in another garment, as it is said:
. * And Moses came into the midst of the cloud and went up to the moan-
tain.’ (Ex. xxiv, 1 8.) Which is translated ‘ in the midst of the cloud ‘ ;
and wrapped himself in her (cloud) like one would wrap himself in a
garment. And therefore it is written (afterwards) : ‘ And Moses drew
near into the thick cloud where Elohim was.’ (Ex. xx, 21.) And it is
written : * And Moses came in the midst of the cloud, etc. (Ex. xxiv,
18.) * Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights :’ (Ex.
xxiv, 18.) And could contemplate in that which he looked in. Likewise;
the souls of the just in that world clothe themselves in such a garment (as
Moses did), because it is only there such garments are used, and therefore
they are able to look into the light which shines in the Land of Life.”*
*’ For now we see in a mirror, darkly ; but then face to face 2 now I
know in part ; but then shall I know even as also I have been known.’*
(I Cor. xiii, 12.) ” But we all with open face beholding, as in a glass,
the glory of the Lord, are changed from the same image from glory to
glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (II Cor. iii, 18.)
The to be divisible are at their beginning contained as a unity in the
Will of the Deity. When emanated and separated, they are first in the
point, the Ma’hshabah Thought ; they are then the highest sublime princi-
ples, the Upper D’yooqnahy but are not yet real beings but are only the
eternal Tzurath or Prototypic and basic beginnings of the same. The prin-
ciples are first, D^yooq-mny i. e., Shadows of the’ Tz^/em, the Phantom
Image, more manifest, they are Tzelem the Phantom Image, D’mooth Like-
ness or Similitude, Tzurah Prototype. These are considered as the pure
prototypes of the Upper Neshamoth or Primordial Souls of all existences.
The Qabbalah considers them, as eternal principles without any concrete-
ness in themselves and as only purely, unconsciously acting, potentialities ;
because, the self-acting portion of life proceeds, according to it, by incite-
ment from Below. The Qabbalah also speaks of B^d’mooth in the Simili-
«Zohar i, fol. 65^, 66a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, 50^, col. 200.
40I
tude or Appearance : and Tab’nooth Form. The Tzurah is the higher
principle, which remains Above; the higher eternal principle of the
continued life of the individual. The externality of all the indivisible is
the Great Androgene, the Adam Illa-^h or Adam Qadmon, which includes
in itself all the ideas and all the content of all the prototypes of the
existences, and contains the Ye’hee-dah, *Hay-yah, Neshamah, Rua’h and
Nephesh, in their highest potentiality. This Adam is considered as the
first distinctive beginning in the finite and therefore is the sole occupant
of the A^tzeel-atic Worlds that of the Sephiroth/ar excellence.
The Soul in the Parable of the King and His Son. “The souls
of the just are above all His hosts and His forces. Above. And if thou
askest wherefore from so elevated a place they come down to this world,
and why did they leave that place ? This is like the example of a king
who has a son bom to him, he sends him into a village to be nursed and
brought up until he is grown up and learns the usages of the king’s
palace. When it is announced to the king that the education of his son
is finished, what does he do in his love for him ? He sends the Matron-
eethah, his mother, after him and brings him into his palace and rejoices
with him all day. So the Holy, Blessed be He ! has a son bom to Him
by the Matroneethah. Who is he? The holy soul Above, He sends him
to the village, that is this world to grow up and leam the usages and
customs of the King’s palace. When the King knows that his son is grown
up in that village, (that is this world) and that it is time to bring him to
this palace : What does He do for the love of His son ? He sends the
Matroneethah after him and she brings him up to His palace. The soul does
not leave this world until the Matroneethah comes after her (him) and she
brings her up to the King’s palace and there she (the soul) remains forever.
And nevertheless it is the custom of the world, the people of the village,
to weep because the son of the King is separated from them. A wise
(man) who was there, said to them : ‘ Why are you crying, is he not the
son of the King and it would not be just that he should alwa3rs live with
you and not be in his Father’s palace? So it was with Moses, he was wise,
he has seen that the people of the village wept. On this said he : ‘ Ye are
the children of YHVH your Elohim, ye shall not cut yourselves for the
dead.’ (Deut. xiv, i.) Come, See I If all the just knew this they would
26
402
rejoice on the day when it is their time to leave this world. And is it not
the height of glory, that the Matroneethah descends in the midst of us,
that she may bring us up into the palace of the King, that the King may
rejoice with them a whole day, because the Holy, Blessed be He ! Does
not delight only with the souls of the just.”*
The World Exists Through Judgment and Mercy. ** Come, Seel
When the Holy, Blessed be He ! created the world He made it on Judg-
ment, and on Judgment it exists, and all the actions in the world exist
through Judgment, except the Holy, Blessed be He ! That the world
may exist and not be lost, the Holy, Blessed be He ! spread out upon it
Mercy, and this Mercy tempers Judgment so that. the world should not
be destroyed, and through Mercy the world is led and it exists through
it. * * * When the Holy, Blessed be He ! in His Love, has pity on
the man so that He may bring him near to Him, He weakens the guffah^
t\ e.f body, so that the Neshamahy may rule over it, and the ^eshamah
rules and the guff body, is weakened, and when the guff weakens the
Nephesh animal life soul, gets stronger, and this is the Love of the Holy,
Blessed be He ! as the Companions have said : The Holy, Blessed be
He ! gave to the just (pious man) pain in this world, so that he shall be re-
warded in the world to come. But when the Neshamah soul, weakens and
the body is strengthened, the Holy, Blessed be He ! hates him, and He,
does not trouble him in this world, so that he shall get all his reward in
this world and shall not have any part in the future world. (Zohar i, i8o^.)
* * * R. El’azar said : * All that the Holy, Blessed be He ! does
through Judgment, He only does it to purify that Nephesh f soul, to bring
her into the world to come, and therefore He breaks that guff in this
world, and through that purifies that Nephesh and therefore the Holy,
Blessed be He ! lets the^w^suffer pain in this world, so that it may be clean
of everything and deserve the world of life in the world to come. * ” J
The Neshamah Leaves the Body of Man During Sleep. **And
Come, See ! Thus we have said : Even in this world when man slumbers
in his bed and the Neshamoth souls, find it necessary to hover around the
* Zohar i, 245^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 130a and ^, col. 516-7.
t The word Nephesh used in this quotation really means Neshamah,
X Zohar i, i2k>^, i8ia, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 102a, col. 407, 408.
403
world, and to go out of the guff body, not every Neshamah soul, ascends
to see the face of AUteek Yo-tnen the Ancient of Days, only according to
man’s deeds the Neshamah ascends, if he has not done the right he (man)
sleeps and the Neshamafi soul, goes out, and all the unclean spirits in the
lower degrees which are flying around the world, connect themselves with
her, but when the man is worthy, when he sleeps and the Neshamah soul,
goes out of him, she goes out and flies up and makes herself a way between
these unclean spirits and all the latter cry out : ‘ Make way ! Make way !
for her, she is not from our side :’ and she goes up between the holies and
they make known to her, a word of truth ; and when she comes down
these evil spirits want to go near her to know that word, and they make
known to her other words. (Zohar i, 130a.) * * * When the Nesha-
moth souls, go forth from the body, of this world, they desire to ascend
and many kinds of evil spirits are there, and if the Neshamahoth souls,
are from their side all gather around them and transfer them to the hand
of Dumah to bring them to Gdi-hinnom. Then they go up in there also,
and imite with them, and they take them and they cry out : * These are
they which transgressed the biddings of the law of the Lord.* And so
they fly around the whole world, and afterwards they are brought back to
Gdi-hinnomy and so it is twelve months. After twelve months they are
found in that place which is shown to them, but those souls which are
worthy, go straight up and remain in their places.” (i, 130^.)*
*’ Come, See ! When man sleeps on his bed, his Neshamah soul, goes
forth from him, and each (^Neshamah) goes up according to its way and
so it comes down, as we have said : When man lies on his bed sleeping
and the Neshamah goes forth from him, it is written ; ‘ In slumbering
upon the bed, then He openeth the ears of men.’ (Job xxxiii, 15, 16.)
Then the Holy, Blessed be He i makes known to that Neshamah in that
degree which exists in the dream, those things which He is prepared to
bring on the world, or those things according to what he thinks in his
heart, because man thinks of what is going on the world (during his
waking hours), because they do not make known to man when he is strong
in the guff body, as we have said ; but the angels make known to the
* Zohar i, 130a and b, Biody Ed. Livorno Ed. i, 220^, 22i col. 310.
404
Neshamahy and the Neshamah makes known to man. And that dream is
from Above, when the Neshamah goes forth from the body and each
ascends according to its way.”*
The Return of the Soul to Paradise. ” Said R. Yehudah ; ‘ Happy
are the just ! When the Holy, Blessed be He ! desired to return the
Rua^h spirit, to them and to attract (draw) that Rua^h into them ; We
•
have learned : At the time when the Holy, Blessed be He ! desires to
retxum a RucCh to Him, if that Rua^h is worthy, what is written ; * And
the Rua^h spirit, shall return unto Elohim who gave it.* (Eccl. xii, 7.)
If it is not found worthy, Woe ! to that Rua^h, he must cleanse him-
self in the fire that burns, and purify himself, so that he be prepared to
go back to the guff hody, of the King, and if he has not been prepared
there. Woe ! to that Rua’h spirit, it has to revolve like a stone thrown out
from a sling. It is written ; ‘ And the Nephesh of thine enemies, her
shall He sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.’ (I Sam. xxv^ 29.}
We have learned : When that Rua’h spirit, deserv^, how many good
things are hidden in the other world for him, as it is written ; * The eye
hath not seen Elohim, beside Thee, what He hath prepared for him/
(Is. Ixiv. 4.) Said R. Yo-seh : ‘ When man nears the end of his days^
three days (before), the decree comes out upon him in the world, even the
birds (angels) from heaven cry out upon him, and if he is worthy, these
three days they cry out before the just which are in the Gan JEden Gar-
den of Eden. We have learned : All these three days the Neskamdk
soul, goes forth from him every night and ascends and sees her place in
that world : and the man does not know, does not give heed, and does
not rule, over his Neshamah all these three days, as he did before. It is
written : * There is no man that hath power in the Rua^h to retain the
Rua^hj etc’ (Eccl. viii, 8.) Said R. Yehudah; From the time these
three days begins, the izelem shadow image, of the man becomes dark and
^Zohari, 183^7, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. lo^a and b, col. 412. Compare
my translation of: On Dreams, by Synesios, in The Platonist, Vol. iv, April, 1888, p.
212 sq. Then follows Zohar i, on pages i%^a and b^ remarks on the dreams of Joseph*
and of those by the Hebrew prophets, and of the interpretation of dreams. Also see
Jbid. pp. I99har i, 217^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 117^* col. 465.
f Because the^M^, f. e.^ body, comes out of the four sides or elements, fire, water, air
and earth, and when they are to be separated they quarrel between themselves.
{ Zohar i, 218^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 117^, col. 465.
{ Zohar i, 218^, 219a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 117^, col. 465.
4o6
The above cited pages, also give a reason for the burning of lights and
candles around the body of the dead, in houses and churches.
The Ascent of the Soul. ” Come, See ! The Neshantah soul, goes
forth and ascends between separated mountains and there the Ruc^h spirit,
associates with the Neshamah soul, then he (the Rua^K) comes down, and
the Nephesh life soul, associates with the RucCh; And all come down
and one connects with the other. Said R. Yehudah : The I^eph^sh and
the Ruc^h are merged one in the other, and the Neshamah rests in the way
of the man, and she is in a hidden dwelling and her place is not known.
When man comes to cleanse himself he is influenced by the NishmaihAk
Qad’disha Holy Soul, and this cleanses him and sanctifies him ajid he is
called holy.”*
From the Zohar: “When the Neshamah soul, goes forth from this
world, she does not know which way she shall go up, then there is a way
to ascend Above, to a place where the Upper Neshamoth souls, illuminate
which is not given to all Neshamothy^
From the Midrash Ha-Ne*elam. ” Said R. Yehudah at the time when
the soul of the just is willing to go out she rejoices, and the just is sure in
his death so that he shall receive his reward.” \
The Taking of the Soul of the Pious, by the Holy Kiss. ** R.
El’azar said ; ‘ Whoever studies in the Thorah in earnest does not die by
the hands of the Ye^tzer ha-rah evil spirit, because he (the latter) is the
Serpent and he is the Angel of Death, but his (the former’s) death is by a
Kiss, as it is written : ‘ Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.’
(Song of Songs i, 2.) This means by the mouth of YHVH ; and this is
the Kiss which is the connection of the Nephesh soul, to the trunk. And
he who studies in the Thorah is strengthened in the Tree of Life and she
does not leave him.” §
The Reception, Above, of the Soul by the Holy Kiss. ** Said that
Sabah : * * * In the most mysterious and elevated part of Heaven,
* 2U>har i, 62a, Brody Ed. Livomo Ed. i, i loa, Cremona Ed. i, fol. 49^, col. 193.
f Zohar i, 99a and b^ Brody Ed. Livomo Ed. i, 176^. Cremona Ed. i, foL 66^^
col. 363.
}To be found, Zohar i, 99^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, 66<2, col. 261.
{ Zohar i, 1 68a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed., i, fol. 96^, col. 383.
407
there is a certain palace which is called Haikhal Ahabahy /. ^., Palace of
Love, and therein are hidden profound mysteries, and the Nasheeqin
Dir’humoOj i, e., Kisses of the King’s Love, are there; and there go all
the souls of the friends of the King. When the King ascends into that
Palace: it is written: ‘And Jacob kissed Rachel.’ (Gen. xxix, ii.)
And the Holy, Blessed be He ! meets there the holy soul. He advances
and at once kisses her and embraces her, and caresses her* and that is
what it means when it is written : ‘ He shall deal with her after the man-
ner of daughters. * (Ex. xxi, 9.) Like the custom of a father to his
beloved daughter, he kisses her, embraces her and gives her presents. So
the Holy, Blessed be He ! does to the pure soul daily, as it is written :
‘ He shall deal, etc^f
The Positions of the Spirit and Soul. ** The Rua’h is that which
stands upon the Nephesh and the Nephesh has not any existence except in
the Rua^h, and this very Rua^h rests between fire and water, and from
here is fed that Nephesh.’* %
” Come, See ! There are three degrees and they are connected as
one, Nephesh, Rua’h and Neshamah, and the highest of them is Neshatn-
ah, R. Yo-seh said ; ‘ In every man is a Nephesh, and there is a higher
Nephesh upon a Nephesh : and if man is worthy of that Nephesh, they
pour upon him a crown which is called, RucCh : that is what is written ;
* Until the Rua’h spirit, he poured upon us from on high.’ (Is. xxii, 15.)
At once man awakes in the sublimity to look in the Law of the Holy
King ; if man deserves in that Rua’h spirit, they crown him with the
holy upper crown which comprises all (three) which is called Neshamah
soul ; and it is called ; the Neshamah Elo-hai, /. e.. Soul of God.§
The following passage shows that the Nephesh must associate with the
Rua’h. “And when the Rua’h does not rest upon her (the NephesK),
she has no association with anything from Above and she does not know
anything whatsoever from that world ; and she is like the Nephesh of an
*Comp. Luke xv, 7, 10 ; Matt, xv, 21 ; Luke vi, 23; Rom. xiv, 17; Gal. v, 22;
Heb. xii, 2; Jude 25.
f Zohar ii, 97a, Brody Ed. Cremona E^., ii, fol. 44a, col. 173-174.
\ Zohar i, 2o6<2. Livomo Ed. i, 347^1. Cremona, Ed. i, fol. 113^, col. 460. 2 Zohar iii, 70^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, fol. 32a, coL 126. 4o8 animal. She is a Nephesh which has no rest, so she goes and flies around and awakes that official d”j;’D1T Y^dumiam (who has charge of the entrance to Heaven) and his servants, and they take her (that Is/^ephesh) and bring her up to all the doors of Gan Eden (Garden of Eklen, Para- dise) and they show her the Glory of the just, and they call to her, her Rua^h spirit, and she (the Nephesh) connects herself in him (the Ru^k) and he goes in that garment (iht Nephesh)] and then she knows the things of that world. And when that Rua^h spirit, goes up to crown himself in that Upper Neshatnah Above, that Nephesh connects herself in that Rua^h spirit, and illuminates from him, like the moon illuminates from the sun, and the Rua^h binds himself in that Neshatnah; and that Neshantnh con- nects herself into the utmost termination of Ma’hshadah Thought (naemD mo pK /. e.f the inner utmost of the Thought) which is the mystery of the Nepheshy Above. And that Nephesh connects itself in that Upper Rua^h and that Rua^h connects itself in that Upper Neshamah, and that Neshatnah connects herself in Ain Soph : And then this is rest of every- thing and the unity of everything. Above and Below, all is in one Toys- tery and one kind, and that is the rest of the Nepheshy Below. And on that is written ; ‘ The Nephesh soul, of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with YHVH thy Air (I Sam. xv, 29.)”* Absence of the Neshamah, Creates Uncleanness. **We have learned when the Neshatnah soul, goes out of the children of man, it leaves only the soiled body and this body soils the house, and it (the body) makes unclean everything which comes near to it, therefore is written : * He who toucheth the dead, etc.* (Num. xix, 11.) And therefore when He takes away the Neshattiah soul, and leaves only the unclean guff body, at once He gives permission to all the unclean sides (spirits) to rest upon it. * * * And Come, See ! All the children of the world when they sleep on their beds in the night, and Night spreads out her wings over all the children of the world, feel the taste of death. From that taste of death the unclean Rua^h Spirit, hovers over the world and makes it unclean, and rests on the hands of the children of man, and makes them un- clean.” t * Zohar ii, 142^, Brody E^. Cremona Ed. ii, 64^7, col. 253. t Zohar i, 53^, Brody Ed. Livorno Ed. i, 94^. Cremona Ed. i, fol. yjb, col. 147. 409 • Sleep the Taste of Death. ” Come, See ! At the time the child of man goes in the night on his bed^ he must take upon himself the Yoke of the Upper Kingdom with a perfect heart, and before he (sleeps), must commit to Him the custody of his Nephesh soul ; because the whole world (then) tastes the taste of death. Then the Tree of Death rests on the world. And all the Ru’hin spirits, of the children of man go out and are given under it (/. e,, the rule of the Tree of Death) but because they have committed the soul to Him, they all return to their places.*** Man can only Approach the Deity through the Intention of his Heart. “Because of things from Above, as well from holiness as the other (the evil) side, the child of man cannot attract the Rua^h from Above to Below, and can approach only with fear and through the inten- tion of his heart and (with) a contrite heart. And then he attracts Below the Rua^h spirit, from the Above, and the will which is needed for it. And if he does not put his heart and will, in fear, to that (the Upper) side, then he cannot connect his will to it.**t “There are lords of the hidden Thorah, lords of attributes, which in- herit the Neshamoth from the side of the Holy Malkhutha (Kingdom) which is comprised from the Ten Sephiroth. Who possess it and deserve it, he deserves the Ten Sephiroth without separation. Ten and not nine, because if they were separated they would only be nine, and because there is no separation in it, says the author of the Sepher Ye*tzeer-ah: ‘It is ten and not nine.* ‘*J The ten Sephiroth are looked upon as one and are the content of the Ineffable Name YHVH. The Reward of the Pious. “When man sanctifies his substance (body) from evil, he becomes sanctified from Above, and when man sanc- tifies himself in the Holiness of his Lord, he is clothed in the Holy Ne- shamah which is the inheritance from the Holy, Blessed be He ! and the Congregation of Israel : then he inherits everything. And they are called children of the Holy, Blessed be He ! As it is written ‘ Ye are the children of YHVH your Ail ! (Deut. xiv, i.)§ * Zohar iii, 260a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, fol. 124^, col. 496. f Zohar ii, 69a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 31a, col. 121. { Zohar iii, 277^, Rayah Me’hemnah, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, 134^, col. 536. 2 Zohar iii, 24^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, iia, col. 42. 4IO The Eating of the Forbidden Fruit. “It is written : * She (Eve) took from the fruit.’ (Gen. iii, 6.) This we have learned : She squeezed grapes and gave it to him (Adam) and caused death to the whole world. Then this Tree, the dead rest in it, and that Tree rules in the night, and when it rules, all the children of the world taste the taste of death.”* The Power of the Flesh. “The building of the body of the child of man is thus, the Rua’h spirit, comes from the Rua’h IXqudsha Holy Spirit, the Neshamah soul, from that Tree of Life, and the other (the evil) side gives the flesh, and only the flesh comes from its side, and not another thing.** f ” Come, See ! The end of the flesh, means ; his (the evil one’s) whole will is only on the flesh * * * and when he rules he rules on the guff body, and not on the Neshamah soul. The soul goes to her place and the flesh is given to that (the evil) place.’* J ” Over the body of the just who do not care for the pleasures of this world, the impure side cannot govern. Because they (the just) do not ever associate with them (the bad spirits) in this world, they have not the least power over them.” § Of the Incorporeal of Man after Death. “As soon as the body is cast off” by that Rua’h spirit, through the hand of Malak ^Hamavetk the Angel of Death, he (the Rua’K) goes and clothes in that other body in the Garden of Eden, (which he has cast off” when he came to the world. This is not in the Cremona;) and the Rua’h has not any enjoyment except in that body there, and rejoices that he has divested himself from the body of this world, and clothes himself in another perfect garment which is in that world, and (he) sits in it and goes and views so as to know the Secrets Above, which he could not know and see in this worldly body ; and when the Neshamah clothes herself in that dress from the other world, how much pleasure and joy is to her there. * * * g^^ the guilty in the world who did not fully repent to their Lord, come naked to this world and naked they go back there, and the Neshamah goes in ♦ Zohar i, 36/1 and 3, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 28^, col. 112. f Zohar iii, 170a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, fol. %ia, col. 322. X Zohar i, 65a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 50^, col. 199. 2 Zohar ii, 141a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 63a and 3, col. 250-1. 411 shame to those others who do not have any garments, and are judged in that Gai’hinnom^ which is on the earth, from that fire Above.”* The Departure OF THE Holy Soul. **R. ‘Hiz’qee-yah begun and said : ‘ And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram^ etc’ (Gen. xv, 12.) Come, See! That day is the day of the heavy judgments, which take man away from this world. Thus we have learned v That day that man goes forth from this world, is the day of the great judgment, which obscures the sun from the moon, as it is written : ‘ Be- fore the sun * * * be darkened.’ (Eccl. xii, 2.) ITiis is the Holy Neshamah soul, which is withheld from man 30 days before he goes out from this world, and that is the tzelem shadow form, which is withheld from him and is not seen. Why is it (the tzelem) withheld from him ? Because the Holy soul, ascends and departs from man and is not seen. Thou shouldst not say, that when man dies and that Neshamah soul, be- comes weak, she goes away from him. No ! but when he is in his life and in his strength, she {Neshamah) goes away from him (man) and she does not illuminate any more to that Rua^hy and the Rua*h does not illu- minate any more to that Nephesh ; then the tzelem shadow form, goes away from him, and does not illuminate (the man). From that day all cry out upon him, even jthe birds of heaven (angels), because the Nesh- amah ascends from him ; and the Rua^h does not light any more to the Nepheshy so that i\ie Nephesh weakens, and all the desires of the guff^ i,e.f l>ody, go and pass away from him.” f
” Come, See ! That holy tzelem^ i, e,^ phantom image, in him (man),
in it man goes, and in it man grows up, and it is from i\i2X parttuphay i.e.f
plastic likeness, and (fyooq-nah t\ e,, phantom or shadow of a tzelem, of
him is made another tzelem, i, e,, phantom image, and they are connected
as one. At the time that the two tzulmiriy i. e., merged phantom images,
are found in him (man) they watch over him and his^^ i,e,y body, and
the Rua’h spirit, rests in it. At the time when his end of days comes
near they depart from him (man) and man is left without a protector, as
it is written ; ‘ Until the day break, and the shadows (plural) flee away.’
(Song of Songs ii, i7.)”t
* Zobar ii, 150^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, 67^, col. 267.
f Zobar i, 227^1, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed., i, 120^, col. 477.
\ Zohar i, 220a, Brody Ed. It belongs to iii, 104a. Cremona Ed., iii» fol. 50^, col.
199, 200. Livomo Ed. i, 370^, 371a.
412
The Garments of the Incorporeal in Man. ” We have learned : a
thousand and five hundred odors go up every day from Gan Mden^ which
perfume the precious garments of that world which are crowned from the
day of the man (time he is bom). Said R. Yehudah : * How many gar-
ments are these which are crowned (from the day he was created) ?* Said
R. EFazar : * The mountains of the world (the great men of the genera-
tion) are in discussion upon it, but there are three : one to clothe in that
garment the Rua^h spirit, which is in the Garden (of Eden) on earth : one
which is more precious than all, in which the Neshamah is clothed in that
Bundle of Life, between the angels of the King in the purpeer-ah, t\ e.,
purple, of the King:’*’ and one outside garment, which exists and does
not exist, is seen and not seen. In that garment, the Nephesh is clothed
and she goes and flies in it, to and fro in the world.” f
The Incorporeal Compared to a Lighted Lamp. ” The Nephesh is
the awakening from Below and she is the support to the guff^ /. ^., body,
and she feeds him and the guff unites to her and she is united to the guff^
afterwards it (this NephesJi) forms and is made a throne for the Rua^h to
rest upon, afterwards both are formed and prepared to receive the I^esha-
tnah and the Rua^h is made a throne for the Neshamah to rest upon him,
and this Neshamah is the Above, Hidden of AlU the Concealed of All the
Concealed. Come, See ! The Nephesh is in its awakening Below, to con-
nect herself in the body, like the light of a lamp; the lower light, which is
black, cleaves to the wick and does not separate from it, but cleaves on it
and does not exist except through the wick ; and when she is connected
with the wick, she makes a throne to the upper light, which is white, which
rests on the black light ; when both are formed together, that white light
is made a throne to the hidden light which is not seen, and it is not
known what rests on that white light and so that light is perfect. So is
the man when he is perfect in everything, and then he is called
holy.^’t
* Purpeer-ah is also an angel who is clothed in this color because it is the color of a
spark from the She’kheen-ah.
f Zohar i, 1 19^, col. 475, Cremona Ed. Livorno Ed. i, 378^.. 379a, i, 224^, Brody Ed.
{ Zohar i, 83^, Brody Ed. Cremoiia Ed. i, fol. 59^, col. 234. Livorno Ed. i, 149a.
413
The Souls of the Pious Descend into Sheol to bring up some of
THE Souls Therein. Even those that do not go into Gdi-hinnom go
down to Sheoiy then all men : ” Even the truly just go down there, but
they come up at once, as it is written ; ‘ He goeth down to Sheol and
bringeth up again,’ (I Sam. ii, 6. Comp. Vulgate I Kings ii, 6) except
those guilty who never have repented. They go down and do not come
up. Why do the just (pious) go down there ? Because they shall take
many guilty from there and bring them up Above, and those are they
who desired to do repentance, but who died before they could, so the
just go down purposely to bring them out from there.”*
Of the Gil*gool-em, or Revolution of Souls. ‘* All the souls go up
into i\\t gii-gooi-ah, /. ^., revolutions or turnings, and the children of man
do not know the ways of the Holy, Blessed be He ! and how He judges
the children of man every day and in all time, and how the Neshamoth
souls, go up to be judged before they come down into this world, and
how they go up to judgment after they go out from this world ? How many
Gifgool-em and how many hidden doings, the Holy, Blessed be He ! docs
with them ? How many naked souls and how many naked spirits, go in that
world (the other) which do not enter through the King’s pargoda^ t, ^.,
curtain ? And how many worlds turn around with them, and how the world
turns around in so many hidden wonders ? And the children of man do
not know and do not comprehend, how the souls revolve like a stone
which is thrown from a sling, as it is written : ‘ And the souls of thine ene-
mies, them shall He sling out, as out of a sling. (I Sam. xxv, 29.) But
while it is permitted to reveal, now is the time to reveal it, that all the
Neshamoth souls, go out from that great Tree and from that mighty River
which flows out from Eden, and all the Ruthin spirits come out from that
other small tree. The Neshamah soul, comes from Above, the Rua^h
spirit, from Below,t and unite in one like that of male and female *
* * and nothing is ever lost.” J
* Zohar iii, 220^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, fol. 102a, col. 405.
j- The Rua*h spirit, goes up to Paradise, the Nephesh is originated here, exists and
remains here, and the Neshamah soul, goes up to the Supreme Place.
{Zohar ii, 99^, Sab-ah D’Mishpatim, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 454, ooL
177-178.
414
The Body of the Resurrection. “Said R. Pin’has; ‘The H0I7,
Blessed be He ! is prepared to beautify the body of the just in the time
to come, like the beauty of Adam Rishaun^ i, e,, the first Adam, at the
time he went into Gan Eden, as it is written : ‘ And YHVH will give
thee rest continually, and will fill thy soul with brightness. * (Is, Iviii,
X I Vulgate.) Said R. Levi : ‘ The Neshamah when she is in her highest
degree Above, she is fed from that Light from Above and is clothed in
it, and when she goes into the guff, u ^., body, in time to come, in the
very same light she will go in, and then the^^ body, will shine like the
splendor of the firmament, as it is written : ‘ And they that be wise shall
shine as the brightness of the firmament.* ” (Dan. xii, 3.) *
” The just who deserve to go up to that splendor Above ; his d’yooq-
nah is carved out in that precious Throne, and so is it with all the just,
that his d’yooq-nah, Above, is like it has been, Below ; to assure that
Holy Neshamah soul. And the splendor of the guff body, and the
Neshamah soul, in that Upper Place is like the d’yooq-nah, they have had
on earth, and that d^yooq-nah is fed from the enjoyment of the Neshamah
and she is prepared in the future, to clothe herself in that substance which
is left on the earth, “f
* Zohar, Livorno Ed., i, 197a and b, Midrash Ha-Ne’elam. Cremona Ed. i, 690, coL
273-274. Brody Ed. i, 113^.
t Zohar i, fol. 70a, col. 277, Cremona Ed. Midrash Ha-Ne’elam. Livomo Ed., i,
199a. Brody Ed. i, 114^.
>f
\r- — = — ‘
%
Figiire 36.— An occult representation of the Ten Sephiroth, Four Worlds, Tetragramaton, etc.
XX.
STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE. STABILITY OF THE OPPOSITIONS. THE
LOWER WORLD LIKE THE UPPER. THE MAKROKOSM AND MIKROKOSM.
THE UPPER ADAM. THE MAKROKOSM AS THE GREAT TREE, AND AS MAN.
CREATION OF ADAM AND ‘hAVAH. THEIR CONDITION BEFORE AND
AFTER THEIR FALL. FOUR WAYS OF SEEING THE DEITY. THE PERMA-
NENCE OF SPOKEN WORDS. LOVE AND FEAR. ENTIRE DEPENDENCE
SHOULD BE ON THE DEITY WHEN MAN IS IN TROUBLE. PARADISE AND
HELL. SAMA-EL AND LILITH, ETC. THE ANGEL OF DEATH, ETC.
COMING OF THE MESSIAH AND THE KINGDOM OF THE SUPREME DEITY
UPON EARTH, ETC.
STRUCTURE OF the Universe. ” R. Yehudah began, it is writ-
ten : ‘ Elohim said : Let there be a firmament in the midst of
the waters.* (Gen. i, 6.) Come, See! At the time that the
Holy, Blessed be He ! created the world He created 7 heavens Above. He
created 7 earths Below, 7 seas, 7 days, 7 rivers, 7 weeks, 7 years, 7 times,
and 7000 years that the world has been. The Hoi/, Blessed be He ! is in
the seventh of all (the milleniura). He created 7 heavens Above, and in
each one created stars, planets, suns, to serve in each heaven, and in all
of these heavens are chariots differing one from another and one upon
another, to take upon them the yoke of Malkhutha Kingdom, of their
Lord. Some of them have six wings and some of them four wings, some
of them with four faces and some with two, and some with one face, some
of them are a flaming fire, and some of them are water, and some of them
ru^ha air. This is what is written : ‘ He maketh his angels, spirits ; his
ministers, a flaming fire.* (Ps. civ, 4.) And all the heavens are one
above the other, like the layers of an onion, and some Below and some
Above, and each heaven trembles for the fear of their Lord : through
4o6
The above cited pages, also give a reason for the burning of lights and
candles around the body of the dead, in houses and churches.
The Ascent of the Soul. ” Come, See ! The Neshamah soul, goes
forth and ascends between separated mountains and there the^i^a’A spirit,
associates with the Neshamah soul, then he (the Rud’h) comes down, and
the Nephesh life soul, associates with the Rua^h; And all come down
and one connects with the other. Said R. Yehudah : The Nephesh and
the Rua’h are merged one in the other, and the Neshamah rests in the way
of the man, and she is in a hidden dwelling and her place is not known.
When man comes to cleanse himself he is influenced by the Nishmathak
Qad’disha Holy Soul, and this cleanses him and sanctifies him and he is
caUedholy.”*
From the Zohar: “When the Neshamah soul, goes forth from this
world, she does not know which way she shall go up, then there is a way
to ascend Above, to a place where the Upper Neshamoth souls, illuminate
which is not given to all Neshamoth,^ *’\
From the Midrash Ha-Ne*elam. ‘* Said R. Yehudah at the time when
the soul of the just is willing to go out she rejoices, and the just is sure in
his death so that he shall receive his reward.” %
The Taking of the Soul of the Pious, by the Holy Kiss. ‘* R.
El’azar said ; ‘ Whoever studies in the Thorah in earnest does not die by
the hands of the Ye^tzer ha-rah evil spirit, because he (the latter) is the
Serpent and he is the Angel of Death, but his (the former’s) death is by a
Kiss, as it is written: ‘ Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.’
(Song of Songs i, 2.) This means by the mouth of YHVH ; and this is
the Kiss which is the connection of the Nephesh soul, to the trunk. And
he who studies in the Thorah is strengthened in the Tree of Life and she
does not leave him.” §
The Reception, Above, of the Soul by the Holy Kiss. ” Said that
Sabah : * * * In the most mysterious and elevated part of Heaven,
* Zohar i, 62a, Brody Ed. Livomo Ed. i, iioa. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 49^, col. 193.
f Zohar i, 99a and 3, Brody Ed. Livomo Ed. i, 176^. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 66^^
col. 363.
{ To be found, Zohar i, 99^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, 66a, col. 261.
2 Zohar i, i68a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed., i, fol. 96^, col. 383.
407
there is a certain palace which is called Haikhal Ahabahy /. ^., Palace of
Love, and therein are hidden profound mysteries, and the Nasheeqin
Dir^humoo, /. ^., Kisses of the King’s Love, are there; and there go all
the souls of the friends of the King. When the King ascends into that
Palace: it is written: ‘And Jacob kissed Rachel.’ (Gen. xxix, ii.)
And the Holy, Blessed be He ! meets there the holy soul. He advances
and at once kisses her and embraces her, and caresses her* and that is
what it means when it is written : ‘ He shall deal with her after the man-
ner of daughters. * (Ex. xxi, 9.) Like the custom of a father to his
beloved daughter, he kisses her, embraces her and gives her presents. So
the Holy, Blessed be He ! does to the pure soul daily, as it is written :
‘ He shall deal, etc.^f
The Positions of the Spirit and Soul. ” The Rua’h is that which
stands upon the Nephesh and the Nephesh has not any existence except in
the Rua^hy and this very Rua^h rests between fire and water, and from
here is fed that Nephesh,’^ J
“Come, See! There are three degrees and they are connected as
one, Nepheshy Rua’h and Neshamahy and the highest of them is Nesham-
ah, R. Yo-seh said ; ‘ In every man is a Nephesh, and there is a higher
Nephesh upon a Nephesh : and if man is worthy of that Nephesh, they
pour upon him a crown which is called, Rua^h : that is what is written ;
* Until the Rua^h spirit, he poured upon us from on high.’ (Is. xxii, 15.)
At once man awakes in the sublimity to look in the Law of the Holy
King ; if man deserves in that Rua^h spirit, they crown him with the
holy upper crown which comprises all (three) which is called Neshamah
soul ; and it is called ; the Neshamah Elo-hai, /. e., Soul of God.§
The following passage shows that the Nephesh must associate with the
Rua’h. “And when the Rua^h does not rest upon her (the Nephesh),
she has no association with anything from Above and she does not know
anything whatsoever from that world ; and she is like the Nephesh of an
*Comp. Luke xv, 7, 10; Matt, xv, 21 ; Luke vi, 23; Rom. xiv, 17; Gal. v, 22;
Heb. xii, 2; Jude 25.
f Zohar ii, 97a, Brody Ed. Cremona E^., ii, fol. 44a, col. 173-174.
\ Zohar i, 2o6<2. Livomo E^. i, 347 2 Zohar iii, ^ob^ Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, fol. 32a, col. 126.
4o6
The above cited pages, also give a reason for the burning of lights and
candles around the body of the dead, in houses and churches.
The Ascent of the Soul. ” Come, See I The Neshamah soul, goes
forth and ascends between separated mountains and there the7?»a’^ spirit,
associates with the Neshamah soul, then he (the Rua’h) comes down, and
the Nephesh life soul, associates with the Rua^h; And all come down
and one connects with the other. Said R. Yehudah : The Nephesh and
the RiMCh are merged one in the other, and the Neshamah rests in the way
of the man, and she is in a hidden dwelling and her place is not known.
When man comes to cleanse himself he is influenced by the Nishmathak
Qad’disha Holy Soul, and this cleanses him and sanctifies him and he is
called holy.”*
From the Zohar: “When the Neshamah soul, goes forth from this
world, she does not know which way she shall go up, then there is a way
to ascend Above, to a place where the Upper Neshamoth souls, illuminate
which is not given to all Neshamoih.^^\
From the Midrash Ha-Ne*elam. *’ Said R. Yehudah at the time when
the soul of the just is willing to go out she rejoices, and the just is sure in
his death so that he shall receive his reward.” %
The Taking of the Soul of the Pious, by the Holy Kiss. ” R.
El’azar said ; ‘ Whoever studies in the Thorah in earnest does not die by
the hands of the Ye^tzer ha-rah evil spirit, because he (the latter) is the
Serpent and he is the Angel of Death, but his (the former’s) death is by a
Kiss, as it is written : ‘ Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.’
(Song of Songs i, 2.) This means by the mouth of YHVH ; and this is
the Kiss which is the connection of the Nephesh soul, to the trunk. And
he who studies in the Thorah is strengthened in the Tree of Life and she
does not leave him.” §
The Reception, Above, of the Soul by the Holy Kjss. ” Said that
Sabah : * * * in the most mysterious and elevated part of Heaven,
* Zohar i, 62/7, Brody Ed. Livomo Ed. i, iioa. Cremona Ed. i, foL 490, col. 193.
f 2^har i, 99a and b^ Brody Ed. Livomo Ed. i, x^ta, Cremona Ed. i, fol. 66^,
col. 363.
^To be found, Zohar i, 99^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, 66a, col. 261.
\ Zohar i, i68a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed., i, fol. 96^, col. 383.
407
there is a certain palace which is called Haikhal Ahabahy i. e,y Palace of
Love, and therein are hidden profound mysteries, and the Nasheeqin
Dtr^humoOf /. ^., Kisses of the King’s Love, are there; and there go all
the souls of the friends of the King. When the King ascends into that
Palace: it is written: *And Jacob kissed Rachel.* (Gen. xxix, ii.)
And the Holy, Blessed be He ! meets there the holy soul. He advances
and at once kisses her and embrace her, and caresses her^ and that is
what it means when it is written : ‘ He shall deal with her after the man-
ner of daughters. ‘ (Ex. xxi, 9.) Like the custom of a father to his
beloved daughter, he kisses her, embraces her and gives her presents. So
the Holy, Blessed be He ! does to the pure soul daily, as it is written :
‘ He shall deal, etc.’^f
The Positions of the Spirit and Soul. ” The Rua^h is that which
stands upon the Nephesh and the Nephesh has not any existence except in
the Rua^h^ and this very Rua^h rests between fire and water, and from
here is fed that Nephesh^ \
” Come, See ! There are three degrees and they are connected as
one, Nephesh^ Rua’h and Neshamah, and the highest of them is Nesham-
ah, R. Yo-seh said ; ‘ In every man is a Nephesh^ and there is a higher
Nephesh upon a Nephesh : and if man is worthy of that Nephesh^ they
pour upon him a crown which is called, Rua^h : that is what is written ;
‘ Until the Rua’h spirit, he poured upon us from on high.* (Is. xxii, 15.)
At once man awakes in the sublimity to look in the Law of the Holy
King ; if man deserves in that Rua^h spirit, they crown him with the
holy upper crown which comprises all (three) which is called Neshamah
soul ; and it is called ; the Neshamah EUhhai^ i, e., Soul of God.§
The following passage shows that the Nephesh must associate with the
Rua^h, “And when the Rua*h does not rest upon her (the NephesK)^
she has no association with anything from Above and she does not know
anything whatsoever from that world ; and she is like the Nephesh of an
*Comp. Luke xv, 7, 10 ; Matt, xv, 21 ; Luke vi, 23; Rom. xiv, 17 ; Gal. ▼, 22;
Heb. xii, 2; Jude 25.
f Zohar ii, 97a, Brody Ed. Cremona EDd., ii, fol. 44/1, col. 173-174.
\ Zohar i, 2o6n
the earth,* and the pair have not been found in its arrangement as ought
to be, but when they had been formed Below and became face to face,
then they were so found Above. From whence do we know this ? From
the Mishkan, i. e. , Tabernacle ; It is written : * And Moses erected the
Mishkan Tabernacle ; ‘ (Ex. xl, 18 ;) because another Tabernacle has been
erected with it, and before the Below had been erected the Above could
not exist, so is here (as to the man, Adam) before the Below (the Lower
* Zobar i, 130^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. ^%a and b^ col. 310-11. Livorno
Ed. i, 121^.
f Zohar iii, 48a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, fol. 2\b and 22^7, col. 84-5.
X Zohar ii, 70^, Brody Ed. Comp. ii, 55^, Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 31^, col. 123.
425
Adam) had been erected, the Above (the Upper Adam) could not exist,
and therefore till now has not been formed the Above. They had not been
created face to face, and this verse shows this, for it is written : ‘ That
YHVH Elohkn had not allowed it to rain upon the earth.* And there-
fore what is said : ‘ There was not a man,’ means that he (man) has not
been arranged in his form ; but when ^ Havah (Eve) had been perfected
then Adam was perfected, but before he was not perfect. (See Ante p. 387)
* * * (And no work has been done upon the earth, because YHVH
did not let it rain upon the earth.) But what is written afterwards:
* But there went up a mist from the earth.’ That means the desire of the
female towards the male. (The impulse from Below to the Above.) An-
other explanation of why He did not cause it to rain ? Because the per-
fect form was not found to go up from the earth (after the man had been
perfected on the earth Below) so from this earth Below awakened the work
Above. * * * Come, See ! we have learned ; went up from the earth
first and a cloud awakened and all connected itself the one in other.”*
” R. Yitz-haq says ; Adam was created with two faces. * He took (out)
one of his ribs,* (Gen. ii, 21) the Holy, Blessed be He ! parted him (it)
and made two from the East and the West. (Cremona Ed. says : From
the East to the West.) * Thou hast formed me before and behind.* (Ps.
cxxxix, 5.) Behind, that is the West; and before, that is the East. R^
*He-yah said: What has the Holy, Blessed be He ! done? He formed
that female and poured beauty all over her, and brought her into Adam
* * * and it is written : ‘ He took one from his ribs,’ that is (from)
his side.” t
Condition of Adam and Eve before and after Sinning. ‘* Come,
See ! Before Adam sinned he went up into and remained in the illumi-
nated wisdom. Above, and was not separated from the Tree of Life.
But when he acceded to the desire to know and to descend Below, then
he followed after them (Below) until he separated himself from the Tree
of Life, and knew only the bad and left the good alone, and on this is
written ; ‘ Thou art not an Ail (El) that hath pleasure in wickedness
neither shall evil dwell with Thee.’ (Ps. v, 4 (5). Comp. Vulgate 5, 6.)
* Zohar i, 34^, 35a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 26^, col. 102.
f Zohar ii, 55a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 25a, col. 97.
426
Who follows the bad has no dwelling with the Tree of Life. And before
they had sinned they heard a Voice from Above, and knew the wisdom
from Above, (and preserved their Upper Splendor. This is not in the Cre-
mona), and did not tremble, but after they sinned they ccmld not stand
even before the voice from Below.”*
“And Come, See! When Adam Rishoun, i. e.y the First Adam, was
in Gan Eden, i,e., Garden of Eden, he was clothed in a garment like that
Above, and it is the garment of the Upper Splendor. But when he was
driven out of the Garden of Eden, and he needed the garment necessary
to such as are in this world : What is written ? ‘ And YHVH Elohim
made for Adam and his wife mjro koth-nouih^ u e,, inner garments, of
y\y a&r, /. ^., skin, and clothed them.’ (Gen. iii, 21.) At the first had
been garments of “iiK Ohr, i. e,, Light. Light, that is the Upper Light
which served them in Gan Eden Garden of Eden, because in this Garden
of Eden, the Upper Supreme Light which illuminates there is served by
it. Therefore when the Adam Qad’mo-ah went into the Garden, the
Holy, Blessed be He ! clothed him in that garment of Light and brought
him in there, and if he had not been at first clothed in that Light he could
not have got in there. But when he was driven away from there he needed
another garment, therefore : * YHVH Elohim made to Adam and his wife
an inner garment ofskin.^ So it has been manifested that the good deeds
which the son of man does in this world, these deeds attract from that Light
of Splendor, Above, for a garment to prepare himself to enter into that
world to appear before the Holy, Blessed be He ! And in that dress in
which he is clothed he enjoys and sees the aspaqUar-yah dinhar-ah, /. ^.,
light of the luminous mirror,t as it is written : * To behold the beauty,
of YHVH and to enquire in His palace.’ (Ps. xxvii, 4.) Thus the
Nishmathah, i. e., souls is clothed in both worlds, so she shall be perfect
in all things, in this world Below, and the world, Above.” J
♦Zobar i, ^la and d, Brody Ed. Compare Zobar ii, 191^. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 36^,
col. 144.
f The idea of the Luminous and Non-Luminous Mirror is Philo, Vol. i, pp. 134, 337.
See An/e 399 sq., also in the Talmud. § Yebamoth^ 49^/ Yerushalmi J B’rakhoth, 44;
Babli I Sotah, 22a,
J Zoharii, 229^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 103^, col. 411-12.
427
The Four Ways of Seeing the Deity. *’The Will (Harmony,
Houram-nuiha D^tnalkaK) of the King is seen in three colors ; the first
color is seen Above from afar off, and no eye can perceive it in its pure-
ness, because it is from afar off; only when he (the man) makes his eyes
see little through closing the lids by their blinking.* And on that is
written; ‘From far off YHVH has appeared to me.’ (Jer. xxxi, 3; see
the Vulgate.) The second color is seen with one eye shut, and this color
could not be seen by the other eye except when that eye is shut to see little
and blinking, and he could not stand otherwise its (the light’s) clearness, so
he shut the eye and opened it a little, blinking, so he could see this color,
and this color could only be perceived through that blinking of the eye ;
and of that is written ; ‘ What seest thou.’ (Jer. i, 12.) The third color ;
that is that zohar aspaq^ lar-yah bright luminous mirror, which could not
be looked into at all, except with the rolling of the eyes (eye-balls), when
they (the lids) are altogether closed, and they roll in their sockets, and
there could be seen in that rolling the aspaq^ lar-yah dirChar-ah the light
of the luminous mirror, and that color could not be comprehended ex-
cept by him, who sees the shining of that light with the eyes shut,t and
therefore is written : ‘The hand of YHVH was upon me.’ (Ezek. xxxvii,
I :) also ‘ The hand of YHVH was upon me strong.’ (Ezek. xxxiii, 22.)
* * * And all these things could not be seen by the true prophets
except by Moses, because Moses could see that which could not be seen
by others.” J
These four correspond, to contemplation, vision, ecstacy, and illumina-
tion, which four we find with all the Mystics. The ancients also believed
in four kinds of ‘ l*uror ‘ as they called it. The Qabbalists considered
the prophet Moses, who talked to God “mouth to mouth,” (Num. xii,
6-8) as above all other prophets.
The Three Angels who Appeared to Abraham. ” It is written : *And
three men, etc’ (Gen. xviii, 2.) These are the three angels (messengers)
which have been clothed in aether and came down to this world, and they
* As if looking at the son on a clear day.
f That is in the Ma^hskabah, i, e,^ Thought, because when the eyes are shut the con-
templation becomes more intense.
X Zohar i, 97a, Sithrai Thorah. Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 66tf, col. 262.
428
have been seen in appearance as (if) a child of man. (Comp. Zohar i,
S4a.) And they have been three like the Above, because the rainbow is
only seen in three colors : white, red and green. And surely it is so !
And these are the three men ; three colors, that is, a white color, red color,
and green color. The white color, that is, Mikha-el, because he is the Right
side : red color, that is, Gabri-el, because he is the Left side, and green color
is, Rapha-el ; and these three colors are those of the rainbow, because it is
never seen except with them: therefore it is written: ‘And YHVH
appeared unto, etc.* (Gen. xviii, i.) That is the She*kheen-ah revealed
itself in these three colors. * * ‘ And they that be wise (intelligent,
the teachers,) shall shine like “I’TIT Zohar , i, ^., the splendor, of the firma-
ment.’ (Dan. xii, 3.) They shall shine a shining which shines by lighting
a splendor, etc., etc. That brilliant Light which is hidden, the Spark of
all the Sparks, and of All Lights, is in it invisible and hidden, hidden
and revealed ; seen and not seen. This shining Light came out from the
Supreme Lighted Well, came out in the day and was hidden at night,
* * * and this is the only thing seen, and all colors are concealed in
it and it is called by the Name YHVH. From the three colors Above,
have been seen three colors Below.”*
The Continuance and Ascent Above, of all Words Spoken by Man.
” Come, See ! At the time when the good deeds are done Below, /. ^.,
in this world, and man contemplates, in the service of the Holy King,
that word which he makes here. Below ; there is made from it a breath
Above ; and there is not a breath, which has not a voice which does not
ascend and crown itself, Above,t and there is made from it an intercessor
before the Holy, Blessed be He ! And all the deeds which a man does
which are not to the service of the Holy, Blessed be He 1 that word which
he makes ; a breath is created from it and goes away and flies around
the world, and when the Neshamah soul, goes forth from that (the latter)
man, that breath revolves in the world like a stone which is thrown out
from a sling; As it is written, etc.” See I Sam. xxv, 29. J
* Zobar i, 98^, 99<z, looa, Sitbrai Tborab, Brody Ed. Cremona i, fol. 89^, col. 355.
f Comp. ante^ p. 124 and note.
X Zohar ii, 59a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 265, col. 104. Livomo E^. ii, 100^.
429
Worship from Love or Fear. “He (R. Shim-on) began and said:
It is written : ‘ YH VH thy Ail thou shalt fear, Him thou shalt serve : *
(Deut. X, 20.) and again it is written; ‘Thou shalt fear for thy Ail.’
(Lev. xix, 14.) Thus ought these verses to be said: Thou shalt fear thy
Ail ; because it is written ; * YHVH thy Ail thou shalt fear.’ But what
means ; ‘ Fear for thy Ail.’ ? The mystery is from the word nC Eloha-hu^
i, e.yfor thy Ail. * * * Fear conducts to Love, who serves through
Love connects himself in the Upper place, Above, and in the holiness of
the world to come, but it must not be supposed that to serve Him from
the side of Fear is not to serve Him. Such a service from Fear is very
precious, but he (such a man) cannot ascend to connect himself to the
Above ; but when he serves from Love, he goes up and crowns himself,
Above, and connects himself in the world to come. In Love is the mys-
tery of the Right {^Hesed Grace or Benevolence) and the mystery of the
Unity, which is needful to them in the world to come, so as to unite the
Name of the Holy, Blessed be He ! and unite all different degrees from
Above and Below ; and to bring them all in the place of Unity, and this
is the mystery which is written : ‘ Hear, Israel YHVH Elohainu YHVH
is One.'”*
Dependence on the Deity when in Trouble. ” It is written : ‘ If
thou faint (lose hope) in the day of adversity thy stretch becomes small.’
(Prov. xxiv, 10.) roHD ko^ha-khuy i, e,, thy strength; that means if he
lets up (weakens) his hand from the Thorahy (The Cremona Ed. says,
‘ The Holy, Blessed be He !) ‘ In the day of adversity,’ this means, when he
‘ weakens,’ so his * strength becomes small.’ What is ‘Thy strength be-
comes small?’ It means; n”D HD Ko-a^hy^ then the evil is thrust outside
so that it cannot come near man and cannot accuse him. But when
man deviates from the Thorah and weakens from it, then the strength
HD HD “^y tzar ko-d’h kaihoo^ 1.^., is the strength of the left hand, because
that evil which is the Left side rules over man, and thrusts that other
ko-a^hy (that is) the throne of Glory, away. “J
* Zohar ii, 216a, Brody Ed. Cremona EUl. ii, 97^, col. 387.
t The initials of “nODn KOD Kueh ha^Kabod, i . e.. Throne of Glory. The Throne
of Glory is always to His Right.
X Zohar i, 152^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 89a, col. 354. Compare, Ibid,^ ggS,
col. 395.
430
The Deity brings Salvation to the Wicked. ” * He goes wildly
after the way of his heart.* (Is. Ivii, 17.) Because the Ye^tzer ha-rah is
strong in him and therefore he goes wild and does not desire to repent.
The Holy, Blessed be He ! sees the way that he goes in, the evil way,
He says; ‘I must strengthen him under his arms.’ That is what is
written ; ‘ I have seen his ways,* (^Ibid. 18) that they go in the darkness,
I need to give him a physician. Therefore it is written : ‘ I will heal
him.’ (/^/V/.) That is the Holy, Blessed be He! puts in his (man’s)
heart the way of Repentance and with it He heals, the Neshatnah soul, as
it is written; ‘Go and lead the people.’ (Ex. xxxii, 34.) The Holy,
Blessed be He ! conducts him in a straight way like when one takes hold
of another man’s hand and conducts him out of the darkness. * * *
And it is further written : ‘ I will lead him, and I will restore comforts
unto him and to his mourners.’ (Is. Ivii, 18.) That means that the
Holy, Blessed be He ! does good to the people. From 13 years of age
he places him under the charge of two angels to watch him, one to the
Right and the other to the Left, when man goes in the right way
(straight path) they joy in him and are happy and cry out and say : * Give
honor to the D’yooq-nah of the King,’ but if man goes in the wrong way
(crooked path) they mourn over him when they go away from him.
(Cremona Ed. says : Then they go away from him.) But after, when
the Holy, Blessed be He ! strengthens him and leads him back to the
right way (straight path), then he does Repentance ; and these angels who
have mourned over him, and left him, now come back to him and they
joy in him and then he is surely alive ; he is alive on all sides and united
in the Tree of Life, and when he is united in the Tree of Life, he is
called; Ba-al Th’shubah, /. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 28dr, col. no, Sepher ha-Bahir. “It is written:
‘ And the Serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field.’ (Gen.
iii, I.) *And the Serpent.’ R. Yitz-haq said: ‘That is the Ye^tzer ha-
rah.* R. Yehudah said : ‘ It is a real serpent.’ When they came before
R. Shim-on (b. Yohai), said he to them ; * Surely it is all one, and it has
* Zohar ii, 106^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 48a, col. 189, 190. Comp. Matt,
▼ii, 13, 14. Luke xiii, 24. See Taylor’s; Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, pp. 77, note 2.
431
been Sama-el and he has been seen on a Serpent, and his tzelefn, i. e.p
shadow image, and the Serpent, are Satan, and all are one.* We have
learned ; At that time when Sama-el descended from heaven riding on
this Serpent and his tzelem was seen, all creatures saw his tzelem and they
fled from him, and he reached to that woman with sweet words and be
caused death to the whole world, surely with wisdom (subtility) he brought
curses upon the world and ruined the First Tree (Adam) which the
Holy, Blessed be He ! created in the world.”
From the Sepher’ha-Bahir § Hashtnutas Zohar i, \2b in the Brody Ed.
In the Cremona Edition in continuation of the above-cited page. ‘* The
Neshamah soul, of the male comes from Male, and the Neshamah of the
female is from Female, and that is why the Serpent went after ^Havak
(Eve) he said (to himself), * Because her soul is from the North, (the Left
or Evil side)* I can persuade her quickly.* And the persuading has been
because he came on her. The disciples asked ; How did he that ? Said
he to them ; * Sama-el the Wicked. He conspired with all the hosts
Above against his Master, because the Holy, Blessed be He ! said (to
Adam) You shall ; * Have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the birds of heaven, etc.’f Said he (Sama-el) how can I make him
(Adam) sin before Him; so that he shall be driven away from be-
fore Him; so he descended with all his hosts, and he sought upon
the earth a companion like himself and he found the Serpent and it
had a {fmooth, t\ e,, appearance, like a camel; so he rode upon it
and came to that woman : Said he to her, ‘ Did not Elohim say : You
should not eat from all the trees of the Gan, i. e.. Garden.* Said she;
‘ We have not been forbidden only from the Eiz ha-Da-ath, i. e,. Tree of
Knowledge, which is in the Garden, and of that only, Elohim said ; You
shall not eat from it and not touch it or thou mayest die.* * * * What
did Sama-el the Wicked, then do, he touched the Tree and the Tree
tzuva^h, /.^., cried out : * * * Sama-el said to her; * Behold ! I touched
the Tree, yet I did not die, if you touch it you will not die.* The woman
♦
* The ancient Hebrews alwajrs faced the East in worship, thb brought the left side
to the North. It will be noticed that, in the ancient Asiatic tepresentations of the an-
drogene, the woman’s side is the left side. See also Anii, p. 120 and 142, and Fig. 36.
f The « fish ” are the evil spiriU, the « birds” are the angels.
432
touched the Tree and she saw that the Afalak ffamavefh, /. ^., Angel of
Death, came near to her, and she said ; ‘ Surely I will die now, and the
Holy, Blessed be He ! will make another won^n and give her to Adam,
but I will do thus : ‘ I will cause him to eat with me, so if we die we
shall both die together, and if we shall live we shall both live together.’
So she took from its fruit and gave it to her husband. * * * So the
Holy, Blessed be He ! said to her ; ^ It is not enough to thee that thou
hast sinned but thou hast brought sin to Adam too,’ said she before Him;
‘ Lord of the World, the Serpent induced me that I should sin before
Thee.’ So the Holy, Blessed be He ! brought all Three before Him and
sentenced them with nine curses and death, and threw Sama-el and his
followers down from the Place of their Holiness in Heaven, and cut the
feet off the Serpent and cursed him, more than all the beasts and animals,
and commanded that he should lose his skin after (every) seven jrears.*’ *
The Sin of Adam causeth the Taste of Death. ** Come, See ! If
Adam had not sinned none would have tasted the taste of death hefare they
ascended to the Upper World, but because he sinned so he tasted the taste
of death before he ascended to the other world, and the Rua^h spirit, (of
Adam) was separated from the guff^ /.^., body, and remained in this
world ; and the Rua’h spirit, has to cleanse itself in the river IXnur
{Dan. vii, lo) to receive punishment, and afterwards he (the Rua’K)gpies
up to the Gan Edetiy i, ^., Garden of Eden, on the Earth, and there are
prepared for him other garments of light, like the partzuph^ t, e., appear-
ance, of the ^^, i.e., body, in this world, and he (the Rua^h) is clothed
in it and there is always his habitation/’ f
Of Paradise and Hell. *’Said R. Yitz-haq; the Holy, Blessed be
He ! as well as He created a Gan Eden (Paradise) on earth so He also
created a Gdi-hinnom upon earth, as well as He created a Gan Eden, Le.,
Garden of Eden, Above, so He created a Gdi-htnnom Above. He created
a Gan Eden Below, on the earth : as it is written ; ‘And YHVH Elohim
planted a Garden in Eden. (Gen. ii, 8.) He created a Gdi-hinnom in
the earth : as it is written ; * A land of darkness, as darkness itself. ‘ (Job
“i^Zohar i, 35^, and \ HashmutaSj 12b, Sepher ha-Bahir, Brody Ed. Cremona £d. i,
fol. 2&2 and b, col. no, ill. Sepher ha-Bahir.
f Zohar iii, 159^, Rayah Me’hemnah, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, foL 76^, col. 303.
433
X, 22.) He created Gan Eden Above: as it is written; ‘ But the Nep-
hesh animal soul, of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with
YHVH thy El spirit, shall return to Elohim.’ (Eccl. xii, 7.) He also created the GcU-
hinnam Above : as it is written : ‘ And the Nephesh animal soul, of thine
enemies (enemy) them shall he sling out as out of the middle of a sling
Compare on this subject Kitto’s Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature, Ed.
1876. Art. Hell, Paradise. On the Tree of Life in Paradise, etc., by
Dr. Benjamin Kennicott.
Of Sama-el or Satan and Lil-ith. “The female (Lil-ith) of Sama-el
was a maid-servant to the Matroneethah. And Sama-el, the other ail (el
= god), was a servant to the Holy, Blessed be He ! afterwards the causes
(people) Below, made them to be an elohim, and the Holy, Blessed be
He ! is prepared to put them away from the world and entirely destroy
them.”t
Lil-ith and Sama-el. “When man connects himself in the Truth,
that is in the Thorah ; he needs to be tested on the same place where his
father has been tested, so he shall go up perfect and come back perfect.
Adam ascended but did not watch himself, but was seduced by her and
sinned with, that Esheih Z’nooneemy i,e,, the Harlot, (Lil-ith) which is the
First Serpent, /. ^., Na’hash Qad^mo-ah, It is written; ‘ And Ya^kob
went from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran.’ (Gen. xxviii, 10.)
* And went towards Haran.’ That is the side of the Esheth Z^nooneem^
that is a harlot, which is a mystery. ‘ From the strength of Yitz-haq,* that
is from the strength of judgment (Din), from the lees of old wine went
out a spark which comprised male and female, and it spread itself out to
many sides and paths ; the male is called Sama-el and the female is always
comprised in him, as it is on the Holy side so is it in the Evil side, male
and female are merged in each other. The female of Sama-el which is
* Zohar i, 67^, col. 268, Midrash ha-Ne*elam. Cremona Ed. Brody Ed. i, 106^.
f Zohar iii, fol. 277^, Brody Ed. Rayah Me’hemnah. Cremona Ed. iii, fol. 134^,
ool. 536. Comp. as to Lil-ith, Kitto’s Cyclop. Bib. Liter, ii, p. 834-5. Also ante^ p. 248.
28
434
Nd’hashf t\ e., the Serpent, is called Esheth Z’nooneem.^** Compare on
this subject the Apocalypse as to the female companion of the Beast.
” Sama-el was clothed in the (Tyooq-nah of an Ox, (whence the cloven
hoofs), and Lil-ith in the d^yooq-nah of a Mule (which is sterile). But
both are united as one.” f
” The evil angry-maid, (which is Lil-ith) is the devastation of the world
and she is the lash in the hands of the Holy, Blessed be He ! to strike
(punish) the guilty. “J
^^ Lil-ith is the mother of the Shedim and the Maziqimy i.e.y the en-
snarers.Ӥ
Na-amoh (Pleasure, Delight) || is the mother of Shedin, She is con-
sidered as a very beautiful woman who drew down from heaven, the two
great angels Uzza and Azael, the principal of the E*nai Elohim. She has
the power of assuming the form of a very beautiful woman. (Zohar i, 9^,
55^1, Brody Ed.) Aigroth is also a great female demon. She is the
daughter of Ma^hlath the female demon who causes sickness.
The Four Lower Oppositions to the Four Worlds, are I. The inclina-
tion of the heart towards Evil, the opposition to A^tzeel-ah. II. The
actual thought of Evil in thei?«j*/i, the opposition to BWee-ah. III. Use
of Evil words, the opposition to Ye’tzeer-ah, IV. External Evil Action
answering to the opposition to A^seey-ah,
If man turns his heart from the Deity, the latter turns His higher Sub-
lime Face away, the She-kheen-ah leaves, and the D’yooq-nah withdraws
from his Neshamah, If man’s sin continues and he becomes hardened,
Satan obtains complete control over the Divine Tzelem in him, and dark-
ness and spiritual death rule over him and he has Gdi-hinnom in this life.
The Great and Smaller Demons. ” What is said: ‘Let not Elohim
speak with us, lest we die.’ (Ex. xx, 19.) Those have been the ignorant
(the mixed people) who have been with them (the Israelites) and because
they have been from the side of that Evil Serpent, of which is said by
* Zohar i, 147^, 148^2, Sithrai Thorah, Brody Ed. i, 248a, Livomo Ed. Cremona
Ed. i, fol. 86<z, col. 342. AnUy p. 331.
t Zohar ii, 192^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 84^, col. 336-337.
X Zohar ii, 190^, Rayah Me’hemnah, Brody Ed. See also i, 190a and b,
\ Zohar ii, 268<7, Brody Ed. See Dan. xi, 37, and Kitto’s Cyclop. Bib. Liter, iii, Title, Nanea. 435 Him ; ‘ That you shall be cursed of all the animals. * And there are many mixtures, but there are mixtures from the side of the Serpent * * * and also mixtures from the side of the Maztqim^ i, e,, the strong hurtful demons, the souls of the guilty, they are the real Maziqim of the world. And there is also a mixture of the Shedim, i. e,, external destroying demons, and of the jRu^hin, i, e,, also hurtful spirits, and the Zi/tn, /. e., children of Lil-ith, and they are all mixed in Israel, and none of them are so evil as Amaleqh which is the very Evil Serpent, the ‘inK S« i + 30 + I + 8 + 200 = 240 ail a^hor, /.^., the other god.* He has been the revealer of all shame and evil things in the world, he is a murderer, and his other half is Sam Moveth Az, /.^.,t The Strong Poison of Death, and all are Sama-el, but it is Sama-el and Sama-el and not all are equal, but this side of the Serpent (the First Serpent) is the curse and worst of all.” J ” Come, See ! To that place which is the Unclean Spirit (Sama-el), the Holy, Blessed be He ! gave him dominion to rule in the world in many sides, and he can injure, and we have no permission to mock him, we must rather beware of him, that he shall not accuse us in our holiness. “§ ” Never shall man open his mouth to the Satan, because he is always present with man, so he will take those words and accuse us with them Above and Below.” || ” Come, See ! In those evil species are three degrees, one above the other. The upper degree of these three hang in the air, the lowest degree of them, are these which laugh at people and trouble them in their dreams, because they are impudent like dogs. And there is a higher degree upon them which are from the Above and the Below, which make known to man things which are sometimes true and sometimes not true, and those things which are true they happen in the future.” % * p/OJ^ Amaleqh 70 -f- 40 -j- 30 -f- loo = 240, the same number by Gematria as ail a^hor also the same as y’T^ 200 4. 40 = 240 Mar^ i. e.^ bitter. The initials are those of Malak Rah, i . e.. Evil Angel. f This is the real Lil-ith, the mother of all the evil spirits. X Zohar i, 28^, 29a, Brody Ed. Livomo Ed. i, 51a. 2 Zohar ii, 237^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. li6a, col. 461. II Zohar i, 175a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. 99^, col. 396. f Zohar iii, 25a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. iii, fol. ii^, col. 43. The Cremona Edition has not the words in italics. 436 The Angel of Death, etc. *’ The Malak Hamaveth^ /.^., the Angel of Death, is at the same time the Deceiver, Satan and Accuser, what he does is the Will of the Holy, Blessed be He I Although he ought not to de- ceive but he does this because the Holy, Blessed be He ! orders it through love to His children. This is like to a king who has an only son, and he loves him very much, and because of his love tells him not to go near evil women, because one who associates with such is not worthy to enter the king’s palace, and his son promises him he would do his biddings. There was a beautiful but evil woman outside (of the palace). The king desired to test the will of his son, so he sent for this woman and said to her : ‘ Go and seduce my son !’ She tempted the son of the king and caressed him and spoke to him sweetly with many words. If that son had been good and obeyed his father’s words he would have repelled her, and his father, the king, would have been very happy and have taken hiro into the palace and rewarded him and given him great honor. But who would now have caused all this honor ? This evil woman would have caused all this honor, and so she would be praised for it also because of the rewards to the son ; so it is with the Angel of Death, because through him the just, if they do not follow the Malak Hamaveth^ inherit all the hidden things Above ; and if it were not for him, they would not (have been able to exercise their will for the good, and) have all this honor.” * *’ Above in the Tree of Life exist no strange Qlippoths for it is said : ‘ With Thee dwelleth no Evil ‘ (Ps. v, 5) but in the Tree, Below, exist the strange Qlippoths,^^ (Zohar i, 27^, Brody Ed.) “Above are not any QHppoth for no one can enter in the Gate of the King in a rough (strange) garment, but the Qlippoih are Below.” f Blessings and the Evil Eye. ‘* That place is hidden from which all the blessings come, and therefore everything of man which is hidden, the blessings rest upon it ; and all the things which are revealed that place is where judgment rests, and he who rests upon that place is called Rah Ei-een, t, e,, Evil Eye. “J * Zohar ii, 163a and d, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 72^, col. 287-8. f Zobar, Rayah Me’hemnah, Brody Ed. Joel, Religions-philosophu des Sohar, p. 291, note I. X Zohar i, 64^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. i, fol. $oa, col. 198. That in italics is not in the Cremona Edition. 437 ” That we have said : In every place where the side of holiness rests, when the counting comes from the holy side, the blessing always rests upon it and never leaves it. From where do we know that ? From iB^jTD Maaser Tithes, because this is the count to holiness so the blessing is found upon it ; but all other things in the world which do not come from the holy side no blessing can rest upon it when it is counted, be- cause the Sith-rah a^h-rah other side, which is the Rah Ei-een Evil Eye, can rule over it. * * * And when the enumeration is revealed although it is holy, also from it, purqonah^ i, ^., remission, has to be given.” * ” The Holy, Blessed be He ! is prepared to expel the unclean Rua^h spirit, from the world.’* (Zohar i, 70^, Brody Ed.) ” The Righteous will be prepared to look upon the Ye’tzer ha-rah like an immense mountain and will wonder and say ; ‘ How could we cross such a large mountain? * and the Evil (souls) will look upon him as if thin like a hair and they will wonder and say : ‘ How can we not cross over ?’ And both will weep. And the Holy, Blessed be He ! will burn that Evil Spirit from the world so that he rule no more.^f The Coming of the Messiah, Death of All the then Living, and OF the New Kingdom. *’ It is written : * I kill and I make alive.’ (Deut. xxxii, 39.) That means : Till now death has been from Sith-rah c^h-rah the other side, but from now on ‘ I kill and I make alive,’ that is, in that time (when the Messiah comes) all those who have not tasted the taste of death will die through Him, and He will revivify them at once. Why is this ? Because nothing whatever of that pollution (the pollution of sin) shall remain in the world, and there will be a new world made by the Holy, Blessed be He !” J ” The Q’lippoth, L e., Shells and Evil Spirits, will not depart till the time of the Day of Resurrection, when the dead revive from the grave, then shall the QUppoth be broken and from the Brain inside, the light shall shine into the world. “§ * Zohar ii, 225a, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 119^, col. 403. t Zohar i, 190^, Brody Ed. % Zohar ii, 108^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 49a, col. 193. livomo Ed. ii, 193^. Comp. Rev. xxi, i ; I Cor. xv, 51 sq, {Zohar ii, 69^, Brody Ed. Cremona Ed. ii, fol. 31a, col. 122. . 438 We will now close, we have given but a very few of the many mtcrest- ing passages of the Zohar for want of space. If a desire on the pait of the public, justifies us in the attempt, we will, in the future, give many more which are of still greater value to the htstory of religion, theosophj .and philosophy. PiguR37,.*A Hlodu reprocDUtioD of tbc idea of the Malcrokaim u Appendix A, {First published in **Tki Keystone ^^ Freemason Newspaper^ Philadelphia^ Deeember 25, 1886,) AN ANCIENT LODGE OF INITIATES. FROM THE QABBALAH. THE Qabbalah of the Hebrews is undoubtedly of great antiquity^ a reminiscence of an ancient ” Wisdom Religion** of Asia, for we find its doctrines, in germ, in the ancient Buddhist, Sanskrit, Zend, and Chinese books, also examples of its peculiar exegesis in the oc- cult book. Genesis, and in Jeremiah. The present text-book of the Qabbal- ists is the Sepher ha-Zohar, Book of Illumination, or Splendor. This is a mystical, running commentary, on the Pentateuch or Thorah (Law), based on the Sod, i, ^., Secret Doctrine, and contains imbedded in it, as it were, a number of other very old writings, as is evident from their style and contents. Among these are some, asserted to have proceeded from an initiate, the Thanaite R. Shim-on ben Yo-*hai, who flourished, circa no- 203 A. D. He was a pupil of the great Qabbalist R. Akeeba, who was executed by the Emperor Hadrian, for participation in the Bar*ko-khab rebellion. These books are the Siphra D* Tznioothah, Book of Secrecy (Mystery, Retirement or Modesty), the Idrah Rabbah, or Great Assem- bly (of the Threshing-floor). This assumes the presence of the full and perfect number, ten initiates; and the continuation of the pre- ceding two, the Idrah Zootah or Small Assembly, composed of the remaining seven, three having died during the giving the Idrah Rab- bah. There is no doubt, from the Talmud, that this Thanaite had much of his time engrossed in teaching a school for the more elect, and for that reason, it is stated, was excused from the necessity of being present at all the prayers of the Synagogue, The Zohar and Zoharic 440 writings were first made known as a totality, outside of the initiates, but written in a concealed manner, about the latter part of the thirteenth century, but many of the Qabbalistic doctrines therein are archaic, and can be traced to a very much earlier time. We find more or less of them in the Old Testament, Apocrypha, Book of ‘Hanokh, New Testament, the Mishna, the early Patristic literature, in Philo, Josephus and the Hermetic books, later in the Neo-platonic school and that of Alexandria, and traces in the two Talmuds and in Gnosticism, especially the systems of Valentinus and Marcus. Also in the Dreams of St. Synesios ; the writings of the pseudo- St. Dionysios, the Areopagite ; the works of Saad-yah ha-Gaon, (892-942 A.D.) ; Sherira ha-Gaon (930-1000 A.D.) ; his son-in-law, R. £li3rah ha- Zaken ; his brother, R. Yekuthiel ; and of Hay Gaon, son of Sherira Gaon, (969-1038 A.D.) The latter is said to have been the first, who used the expression ^Hokhmoth ha-Qabbalahy i. e,y Wisdom of the Qabbalah; and from him, it has been said, it was borrowed by Ibn Gebirol, in the lat- ter* s Tiqqoon Middoth ha-Nepheshy /. ^., Adjustment of the Attributes of the (Life) Soul. Hay also speaks of the Sephiroth,* as do R. Azariel b. Mena’hem, Ibn Gebirol (Avicebron), and many others. We give from the beginning of the Idrah Rabbahy the opening of an ancient Lodge of Qabbalists, which the learned initiates of to-day will ap- preciate, as its form goes back to circa 150 A.D. , and existed likely long before, in ancient Chaldea. For the prophet who wrote on the banks of the Ke’bar, Ezekiel, is one of the greatest ancient Qabbalists, as appears from his asserted vision, which is really a Qabbalistic statement, and is a further development of Isaiah (vi, 1-8) and I Chronicles (xviii, 18 et seq, II Chron. iii, 8-13). The raising of the hands, appears on many of the Chaldean signet seals from 2600 B. C. down, as does also the idea of the Triad. This is especially evident in the stone Tablet found in the Tem- ple of the Sun -god at Sipara, now called Abu Habba, and the cylinder seal of Dungi, King of Babylon, son of king Urukh. The Idrah Rabbah Qad’dushct\ says: “It has been learned : Said R. * His language is quoted by the erudite Qabbalist, R. Moses Cordovero in his Pardes Rimmonim, Chapter on Splendor, J i. t Holy Assembly of the Threshing Floor. Cremona Edition. Vol. iii, fol. 61 a, coL 242 sq. 441 Shim-on (ben Yo-*hai) to the Companions : ‘ How long shall we sit in the condition of a convivial company ? It is written ; * It is time to work for YHVH, for they have destroyed Thy Thorah !* The days are short and the Creditor presses, the herald cries out daily,* and the mowers of the field are few in number, and those who are on the grounds of the vine- yard (/. ^., humanity) do not care, and know not to what place to go as they ought to. Assemble Companions to the Threshing-floor in your breast-plates and (with) spears in your hands, be immediate in your preparation, in counsel, in wisdom^ in understanding, in knowledge, in attention, in hands and in feet, make rule over you the King, in whose power is life and death, in order to determine sentences of Truth, words to which the Holy ones, Above, give heed, and delight to hear them and know them.’ R. Shim-on sat and wept, and then said : ‘ Woe if I reveal ! Woe if I do not reveal ! * The Companions who were there kept silent. R. Abbah arose and said to him ; ‘ With the permission of the Master to reveal ? ‘ The secret of YHVH i$ with those who fear Him,* and truly, these Compan- ions here assembled are fearing the Holy, Blessed be He ! They have just entered into the assembly of the House of the Tabernacle, some have entered and some have gone out.* It has been learned, that the Compan- ions were numbered in the presence of R. Shim-on and there were found to be present, R. El’azar, his son; and R. Abbah, R. Yehudah, R. Yo- seh son of Ya-kob, R. Yitz-haq, R. *Hiz*qee-yah son of Rab, R. *He-yah, R. Yo-seh, R. Ye-sah. They gave their hands to R. Shim-on and raised their fingers upwards,! and they entered into the field and sat down between the trees. R. Shim-on arose and offered a prayer and then sat down in * Similar ideas are in Ibn Gebirors Kether MaikhtUh, Almost the same words are in the Pirqi Aboth, See Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, etc., by Charles Taylor, Cam- bridge, 1877, pp. 54, 55. f See Ante pp. 218, 236. The initiates in the Qabbalah will understand the correct form. In this connection note the peculiar way of holding the fingers and hands by the figures, on the Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian cylinder signets, in the GlypHpu Oruntale, by J. Menant, Paris, 1883-1886. Coliectian de Oercq, Paris, 1885 sg, F. Lajard, CuUe Mithra, also his Cultt de Venus; Scribner*s Monthly, January, 1887 ; and the American Joum. of Archaeology, Vol. ii. No. 3. . ■ I I I. M •» their midst, and said ; ‘ Let each one place his hands in my lap.’* They placed their hands and he took hold of them. He then began and said ; ‘ Cursed be the man who shall make an idol or a molten image, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place ; and all the people answered and said, Amen,*^ R. Shim-on began and said; * It is time to work for YHVH.’ What means ‘Time to work for YHVH?* Because they have destroyed Thy Thorah (the Pentateuch, which is the Sacred Writing or Bible, par excellence^ to the Israel- ite). What means ‘ They have destroyed Thy Thorah ?’ The Thorah from. Above, which will be made void, if it is not performed accord- ing to its requirements. Wherefore is this? To the Ai-ieek Yo- men J /. ^., Ancient of Days : (also called A^reekh An-peen^ the Long Faces), for it is written : ‘ Happy art thou, Israel, who is like unto thee!* And it is written: ‘Who is like unto Thee YHVH among the Eliniy t\ e,, Mighty ones !* ‘* He called R. El-azar his son, and ordered him to sit down before him (/. e. , in front of him) and R. Abbah on the other side (/. e., beside him R. Shim-on, the master)^ and (R. Shim-on) said : ” We are typical of All ; J thus far the columns have been estab- lished. They kept silence, they heard voices, and their knees knocked together. What voices? They were the voices of the Congregation Above, which gathered together. (The spirits of the just (pious) and the She*kheen-ah or Divine Presence.) R. Shim-on rejoiced and said: ***YHVH I have heard Thy speech, I was afraid!* He said: * There, this fear was becoming, but as to us, all depends on love, as is written : * Thou shalt love YHVH Eloh*e-hu,* /. e., thy Ail, and is writ- ten : * While YHVH loves you,’ and is written : * I have loved you, says YHVH.*§ R. Shim-on began and said : * He who walketh as a tale- * An ancient Hebrew method of taking an oath. Gen. xxiv, 2; xlvii, 29. See Kitto’s Biblical Cycl., Ed. 1876, iii, p. 348. fThe numerical value of JDK Amen, = 91, the same as the total value of, T\)7V =■ 26 (YHVH) and ^J1« = 65 (ADoNaY). J That is, now we represent the three columns of the Universe, the Right, Centre and Left columns of the Tree of Life, the Ten Sephiroth, or the whole universe. J The doctrine of Love to God is the keystone of all the true Mystics and Theoso- phers who have ever lived, but not goodness resulting from fear. See An/e, p. 429. 443 bearer revealeth a secret/ but the ‘ faithful in spirit concealeth at matter/ (Prov. xi, 13.) *He who walketh a tale-bearer/ since is said; ‘tale- bearer ‘ why is said, ‘ he walketh ?* A man * a tale-bearer * ought to be said. ‘ Who walketh?* He who is neither sedate in his spirit nor true, the word which he has heard, is moved hither and thither as bran on the water, until the water drives it away. For what reason ? Because his spirit is not a lasting spirit, but whose spirit is a lasting spirit, of him it is written : ‘And the spirit concealeth the word.’ The phrase ‘ faithful in spirit,’ denotes firmness of spirit, as is said : ‘ And I will fasten him as a nail in a firm place.’ The matter depends on secresy. And it is writ- ten : ‘Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin.’ And the world could not exist, but through that which is secret, and if with regard ta earthly affairs there is need of mystery, how much more in matters the most secret of secrets in the At-Uek Yo-men which are not even transmitted to the highest angels.” (The just or righteous are considered by the Qabbalists as having more knowledge and as higher, than the angels.) Said R. Shim-on; ‘*I will not tell the heavens to listen, I will not tell the earth to hear, for truly we now compose the columns of the world, /. ^., the ten Sephiroth.”* ♦The first Sephirah Kether the Crown, represents the Master; the sixth TiphU-retk Beauty, the sun ; the last, Malkhuth the Kingdom, the moon. The first applies to the highest point of the head of the Makrokosm, the second to the heart, the third to the powers of continuing Ufe, or perhaps soles of the feet In this connection note : ” The place of the soles of my feef^ (Ezek. xliii, 7). Also the veneration among the Buddhists for the impression of the soles of Sakhya M(ini’s feet. The Ten Upper Sephiroth as a totality, are the Qabbalistic Tree of Life, and the Adam Qadmon, or Great Man of the East, the Ideal or Celestial Adam, the Upper Makrokosm, the A’tzeel-atic Adam. Me- tatron is the BVee-atic Adam, the Mediator between the Deity and His creatures. (Comp. I Cor. xv, 44-49. Ibid, xii, 12-27.) And in this Makrokosm, the Name YHVH, is contained ; and when the Kingdom of YHVH (1. e, the Lord), is established upon this, our earth (see the great verse Rev. xi, 15), then ; ” YHVH shall be the king over all the earth; (and) on that day YHVH will be One, and His Name, One.” (Zach. xiv, 9.) 444 Appendix B. SYNOPSIS OF THE Chinese Qabbalah. At a meeting of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia, held at its Hall, December 2d, 1886, I read a paper entitled : ” The Chinese Qabbalah, or the Book called the Yih-King,” of which the following is an abstract : The esoteric religious metaph}rsics, now called Kabbalah or Qabbalah, are a reminiscence of an ancient” Wisdom Rdigian,^^ which appears to have existed, at a most archaic period, in the Asiatic learned world. It is therefore not surprising, that its germs may be found in the ancient books of China. The oldest book of the Chinese which has reached our day is, most likely, the Yih King, /.^., Book of Changes, said to have been first written 2850 B. C, in the dialect of the Akkadian or Black race, of Mesopotamia. The earliest historical antiquity of the Chinese, is with Fu-hsi, circa 3400 B.C., the lowest, with K’ung-Foo-Tse, 1.^., the Master Kung (Confucius b. 551, B. C), about the time of ‘the last Jewish return from Babylonia, a few years before the death of Sakhya Mdni. In the Yih, the Great Extreme is O, the two elementary forms are, male, active, , female, passive, . The Yih has a system of num- bers which recall the tetrad and decade of Pythagoras. Early Chi- nese scholars say: ‘* In the Yih is the Great Extreme. When we speak of Yin (male), and Yang (female), we mean, the aether collected in the Great Void. When of Hard and Soft, the aether collected and formed into substance. The trigrams of the Yih contain the three powers, * * * the three powers unite and are one.’* * The pro- cess of change is production and reproduction. Kwei, the animal soul, is similar to the Hebrew, Nephesh ; Shan, the intellectual soul, to the Neshamah; Khien, (the symbol of) heaven, is father; Khwan, (the symbol of) earth, is mother; ICan (manifests) the first appli- cation (of Khien to Khwan), resulting in the begetting of (the first) male (or undivided line), hence ICan (? Qua-in) is called the oldest son. *’ God * I^ou Tsz’ had somewhat similar ideas. See Ante^ pp. 112, 113. 445 comes forth in Kan (to his producing work).** This is apparently the B’ree-atic Adam or Metatron, the Makrokosm. The male numbers are, light circles and odd, i, 3, 5, 7, 9; the female, dark and even numbers^ are, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. The light circles are Yang, vivifying energy, Thai Yang, the Great Brightness, the sun, male ; the dark circles are Yin, the moon, female, plastic, called Thai Yin, the Great Obscurity. The Spiritual Light is represented by , the darkness by . The numbers belonging to Heaven are 5, to earth 5. The triad or three powers are, Heaven, Man, Earth. The Man is the Great Man, paralleling the Makrokosm of the Hebrew Qabbalah. But it differs, in that the Great Universal Man of the ancient Chinese religion, is perfect, all ac- tive, nature. The perfect number is 10. The numbers for heaven, the , or male, are 2, i, 6 = 9; for earth, the , or female, 1,4, 4 = 9; 216+ 144^ 360, (12×30 ^ 360.) Heaven is as the circum- ference of a circle, it is three times its diameter. Its number is 3. The earth is square, the circumference of a square, is four times its length or breadth, or is of two pair of equal sides. The number of the earth is 2. Heaven gives Form, the Eiarth is vitalized, receives Form. Life is the keeping of Form, death is the going back to Non-Form. In these, as in the Hebrew Qabbalah, is the harmony between the spir- itual and material. It says, we can comprehend the invisible only through the visible. The Chinese say ‘*God (Himself) cannot be seen, we see Him in the things which He produces.** (Comp. Exod. xxxiii, 18-23.) The Yih says : ** When we speak of spirit, we mean the subtile presence (and operation of God), within all things.** The Chinese con- ception of the earth is that of a cube, and a cube has 6 sides, is a symbol of the content of all dimension, /.^., length, breadth and depth; these are only grasped by the human mind through their positive and negative poles, which make 6, and with the energies of these poles, going out of and re- turning to the rest point, we have in the centre, the rest point, the cessation of motion or 7th day of Genesis. Khan is the lineal symbol of water, as a character, its meaning is “a pit, a defile;*’ so in the Qab- balah, the Deity cut into or excavated in the abyss, the face of the deep, the forms of the things. *’The Superior Man,** says the Yih, ” in accordance with his large (nature) virtue (energy ?), supports (men 446 and) things.” Khang-ze says of him: ” Dwelling on high, and taking nothing from those below him, but on the contrary giving more to them, the Superior Man accomplishes his aim on a grand scale.” This aim is to increase what others have, he is the life giving. ”In his single person,” says Lin Hsiyuan, ”he sustains the burden of all under the sky ♦ * ♦ birds, beasts and creeping things, etc. , dep>end on
him for the fulfillment of their destined being.” (Comp. Fs. viii.)
The universe is a Makrokosm, humanity a Mikrokosm. (See the Yo
Ki of the Li Ki § iii, 3.) Human reason is that of the Universe. The
sage, the Yih says, knows the characteristics of the anima and the ant-
mus. The latter, shan, expands and ascends, in it the breath of life
predominates in the essence of the animal soul, but the anima or
hwei contracts, shrivels, goes back to earth and to non-entity. The
Yih holds ; everything is always in motion, expanding and contract- .
ing, similar to the Tzimtzum of the Hebrew Qabbalah. The Yang origi-
nates a shadowy outline, the Yin fills this outline with substance. Here is
the Qabbalistic doctrine of the Balance as set forth in the Siphrah D’Tzni-
oothah or Book of Secrecy, and the philosophical system of Ibn Gebirol,
with which the much earlier writer, the pseudo-Dionysios, the Areopagite,
is often in accord. The Hebrew Qabbalistic idea of the Ain Soph^ the With-
out End, is stated by Wang Pi (A.D 226-249) ^^ ^^^ Commentary on the
Yih. The original of All appears to be the Supreme Desire, Wisdom,
Reason or Word. The Hebrew Qabbalistic idea, of the first emanation
or creation, being that of a point, N’qoodah^ is the shang with Ti-Shang-
Tiy the male-female, Chinese creating Deity. The point representing
the Yonij the inert plastic matter, is placed on the foreheads of Hindus
and Japanese. With the Chinese, the creating Deity active, is expressed
by T, when inactive J.,* and we know that, mathematically, the centre of
a geometrical point is infinitesimal. The Upper World is signified by the
(.UlU
* So in the Zohar, iii, 124^, Brody Edition, 1873; we have the following Figure:
In the Hebrew Qabbalah these are the symbols of the Active and Pass-
ive, and they are called Treisin, i. e.j Searching, that is that either Name
^^ ^ ^* % cannot be found alone, because one is always Mercy and the other always
Judgment, but Judgment always tempers Mercy and Mercy always tempers
Judgment. The Zohar asserts the world could not exist on either one, by itself.
447
firet symbol. The dot denotes the descending heavenly scintillation.
The second symbol is of the Lower World, and the ascending and return-
ing heavenly scintillation is shown. The Chinese imagine three heavens
or spheres, corresponding to those termed by the Hindus vhii, vhUvar
and svar. The Chinese symbolize these three heavens by =, when they
wbh to symbolize the Lord of these, they cross them, with a perpendicu-
lar line S. Above this they put a dot, for the highest Deity.* We have
in this the idea of the Me’norah or seven branched candlestick of the
Hebrews. The three points in the heavens formed the holy j
triangle, symbolized by the Holy Balance of the Ark of the Cov-
enant ; the She’ kheen-ah in the midst and above, the two Che-
rubim ; one on the right, the other on the left, below. This represented
the Divine Triad.
* NoTB. — Compare, the Angel-Messiah of Buddhists, Essenes and Chiistiaiu, by
Ernest De Bunien. London, iSSo, p. 57 et leg. Theolog. of the Chinese, W. H.
Hedhuist, Sen. Shanghx, 1847, p. ic)S tt seq.
Pigurejg.— Bnbma Vlni, the Hindu udrofcdc Gnl nwiifeiutUw, of Brahman Intmttr).^
t S« my Article in. The Pilh, Neir Vorii, iM«, p. ■]! tj.
448
Appendix C.
COMSntL’CnoK of the axkadian, auiiJ>EAS Am) Babylonian, UNtvERSB.
Jl^y^
DUfnis Vt.— Repmnu a half kciIod, dmded perptndiculutji, of the icnrtnl bovl-ilupcd univmc,
which wn* the ilupe in which our univcnc wat thought lo uiat.by theubdoil Altkadiuu, Chal-
deciu, Babjrloniitiii, AujtiMat, Hindu), Hebrcwi, ud waa at Ihc ytrf ucinl peoples, ud by
man;? ctcn in Medieval lime* Id Europe, before Ihe time of Copeniicui; there being ejrceptiom as
A.
REPRESENTS the Zodiac. It was in Space and the Great
Celestial Ocean. This Great Ocean or Sea was called the
Deep and the Abyss. T’hom, the Great Dragon of this Great
Sea was also called Tiamat or Tiavat. In Akkadian it was termed ap~su
or ab-zu, i. e., the dwelling place of knowledge. It was also termed Zi-kum
or Zi-garetm the Heaven or Deep, which was considered as extending
above the firmament of heaven : it was really the primordial Abyss out of
which both heaven and earlh proceeded. Subsequently it was called
Baku, “the Great Mother,” and earlier, “the pure wild heifer.” This
was the Bohu of ihe Hebrew Genesis, and the Baau of the Phcenicians.
Baku was the plastic existing subtile chaotic matter, the azoth or sether
mass, out of which, barah, i. e., was scooped, the universe. Thohu, was
the active energy, Bohu resisting energy. Zi or Zi-kum, i, e., the spirit
449
of the deep, (see Ante^ P-243 sq,) The Upper firmament was between A
and C, from C to E was the Lower firmament. £ represents the convex
hollow earth shell. F F, the hollow concave under-world with its seven
Zones, answering, as shadows, to the orbits of the seven planets. G was
that part of the underworld called the Nadir (or Root) a word which has
been anglicized. In it were ‘* the waters of life.** Below it were the 21
hells, the abode of demons. Extending beyond these upwards and
around to an unknown distance, was the Great Crystal Sea, from or in
which, the universe visible to man, was formed. B in Akkadian was
jE*zara, the zone of the fixed stars. A to B was the zone of Ana or Z/-
ana the spirit of the heavens, called by the Semites Anu, also Baa/
Sha^mayeetn, Anu means in Sanskrit an atom, and from this word prob-
ably comes our annual^ and the Latin anus a circle. B to C was ul-gana^
the lower part of the upper firmament. This was the zone of the planets,
/. ^., lubatox lu-^ady also called, ”the seven bell-wethers.” They were
” sheep,** *’ wanderers,*’ *’ watchers.” It was the zone of lightning and
thunders, and was ruled by Bel ox Baal: the lower part was said to be
ruled by him in common with Ea or Hea Wisdom.
The planets, in the Assyrian bibbuy were arranged by the Chaldean
astrologers, as follows :
Metal Color Symbols on the Boundary Stones,
Lead Black. Tortoise or Camel’s head and
neck.
Planet
I. a. Saturn
2. d, Jupiter Tin
White, sometimes orange, Bent horns arranged in a py-
3. ^.
4. d
5. e.
Mars
Sun
Venus
Iron
Gold
Copper
or purple.
Red.
Yellow or gold color.
Green or Yellow Green.
6. /. Mercury Quicksilver Blue.
7. g. Moon Silver
ramidical shape.
Spear head.
Pointed star.
Wedged shaped symbol.
( Yoni r)
Erect serpent alongside of
bent horns arranged in a
pyramidical shape.
Crescent
Silver or silvery white.
Venus is placed next to the sun. This arrangement is required to
produce the artificial sequence of the planetary names of the days of the
week, as we now have them. It is one of the proofs that these came to
us from the people of Archaic Babylonia. C to £ was the zone or firma-
29
450
ment of the atmosphere^ of winds, storms and clouds. In it poured forth
the rain through ganu/, i, e., gutters. This zone rested upon the convex
Earth-shell E. The Earth-shell was called, ‘* the countries.” Its spirit was
zi-ki-a, F, F, was under E, the Earth-shell. It was the realm of the king
of the ghost- world, the king of the dead, MuUlil or Mui-ge. It was also at
one time thought to be especially ruled by Ea or Hea^ the deity of Wis-
dom. It was thought to contain seven zones. {Ante, p. 415 sq, / Is. xiv,
15.) The dead were said to be awarded positions in the different zones
dependent on their sins when alive, but this point is not settled among
Assyriologists. The good who died may have gone at once to the ** land
of the Silver Sky.** F, F, was called Ge, note the Gdioi Gdi-hinmrni, also
the place of El-im, and of Mul-ge or Mul-Hiy its king. It was the realm
oiNifi’kt’gai or Aliaty queen oiHea or of Mul-ge, She was queen of ” the
Great Country;** “the country from whence none return;** “the land
of no-re tiurn;** “the tomb;** “temple;** zn^ oi ekur-bat, “the temple
of the dead.’* In some respects it was like the Hebrew Sheo/ (Is, xiv.) G,
was the Nadir, the opposite of this, was (nuz-kd) perhaps the Zenith. It
was also ” the foundation of the whole universe,’* and in it, was the throne
of Baku or Chaos, near which were ” the waters of life.** I, was Kharzak-
kurra, the mountain of the East or, of the world. The ark was said to have
rested upon it. The gods lived upon it like the Hindu deities did on Mt.
Meru, and the Greek deities on Mt. Olympus and Mt. Atlas. It sup-
ported the firmament, and by some of the texts, it may be thought of as
rooted in the Nadir. (Comp. Is. xiv, 13-14.) The Old Testament sev-
eral times speaks of a Holy Mountain of God. The cuneiform texts imply
it was used by the gods, like Jacob’s Ladder, to go up and down on. (See
Ante, p. 245.) It widened at the top and upon that they lived. It may
have some reference to the polar star and the apparent revolutions of the
heavens around it. II, is the Great chaotic Cr}’stalline Sea, abzu-arra ;
or arra the river, surrounding the Earth-shell, and extending an indefi-
nite distance. Ill, Nuz-ka was on the top of the World-mountain. It
was the pivot of the starry vault. IV, are the gates or entrances con-
trolled by porters, to the underworld, the abode of AUat. A place for
the ghosts of the dead, also for punishment. In it were held the ” waters
of life ** a parallel perhaps to the Tree of Life.
451
An idea of the Egyptians and Hebrews, was, that the universe was
depicted by the layers of an onion ; (see Ante^ P- 4^5 sq. The former con-
sidered in early times, that vegetable, as too sacred to be eaten.) The
Mohammedans and Russians, from the onion-shaped domes of their sacred
buildings, seem to have a similar idea as to this vegetable. Through the
gloomy regions of the underworld the ancient peoples of Babylonia and
Chaldea, thought the nocturnal journey of the sun took place. All the stars,
planets, etc., revolved around Kharzak4airra^ the Mountain of the World,
as to which the idea is pre-historic. It was the central shaft around which
the heavens and earth were built, perhaps was referred to the North star,
around which the Dipper appears to float. This pivotal point, the top of
the world-mountain, was not thought of as the zenith for that was imme-
diately above the land of Akkad, but the mountain which was the pivot
upon which the firmament revolved, was to the North East of the land of
the Akkadians and Babylonians. Beyond this mountain was the land of
Aralli, rich in gold * and inhabited by the blessed spirits and the gods.
It was from the under-world F, F, that the demons of death and disease
came, but they were subject to the control of the heavenly gods, and as
we have said, it is not certain that the Akkadians and archaic Babylonians
considered F, F, as the place inhabited by the dead of mankind, they
may have been placed in the yet lower abodes, and F F have been con-
sidered the place occupied by the Evil Spirits, Gnomes, etc.
The Mazkim^ /. ^., ensnarers, who are also mentioned in the Zohar, (As
Maziqtm, See Ante p. 434 sq,) obey the command ” which comes from
the midst of Heaven, the evil destiny which issues from the depths of the
Abyss.” One of the cuneiform tablets says :
” They are the productions of the infernal regions,
On high they bring trouble, and below they bring confusion.”
They penetrate everywhere :
*< Doors do not stop them, Bolts do not stop them, they glide in at the doors like serpents.” Each part of the body had a demon to affect it, Idpa was the fever, ‘ Namtar the plague, Utug held the forehead, Alal the chest, Gigim the bowels, and Telal the hand. *G>mp. Zohar i, fol. 132a, col. 526. Brody Ed. i, 249^, 250a.
452
The people had great fear of darkness^ as did the ancient Hebrews, and
the old and modem Hindus.
The images of the spirits were amulets and talisman, and were cut on
stone and worn suspended from the neck ; magic knots and bands, en-
chanted waters, magic numbers, especially seven, and the supreme ineffa-
ble name, known only to Ea ;* were especially sacred. The figures of
the winged bulls with human heads, Sed, Alap or Kirub (cherub), placed
at the portals of palaces, were talisman which were supposed to contain
invisible genii which were bound to the door posts as long as their images
remained there \ the Jews to this day, place amulets, Me^tunah {Ante p.
67), in the door posts of their houses and use the Phylacteries. Some of
the genii, e.g.^ Nergaly had a lion’s body with a man’s head, sometimes a
man’s body and a lion’s head, Nattig an eagle’s head, Ustar a human
likeness. t On the cylinder signets are representations of, the good and
evil, light and darkness, a solar myth and the spirit of chaos and disorder,
fighting.^ These signets were not only talismans, but the impression of
the intaglio was supposed to preserve the objects impressed, from the in-
fluence of evil spirits. In the poem of the Descent of Ishtar^ the infernal
regions are divided into zones like those in the Zohar and parallel the
poem of Dante, and the magic tablets mention, ”’seven doors and seven
fastenings of the world ” controlled by porters.§
The main entrance to the Underworld was in the West, near the
Mountain of the West (or. South- West). The ”great porter” of this
gate was Negab, the ” porter of the world,” this gate would be in oppo-
sition to the Mountain of the East or North-East, the abode of the gods
and the blessed. || In the west the sun disappeared beyond the waters of
the Great Ocean. This gate was asserted to be guarded by two human-
headed bulls or genii, one on each side, inside were twelve gods of bronze
sustaining the bronze inclosure. In the Underworld were, ” seven gods
* See, Descent of Ishtar to Hades, as to the word given by Ea to the Phantom.
t Corop. Ezek. i, 10-14. Records of the Past iii, 121. F. Lenormant’s Chal. Magic,
PP-39»47» 121.
X Smith’s Chald. Genesis, pp. 62, 95-96, 102, 174, 239. Ante p. 237 s^,
{ See, The HakhaUoth^ 1. ^., Palaces and Dwellings. Zohar i, -fia to 45^, Brody Ed.
II Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch, ii, p. 188. Chald. Magic, p. 167.
453
sons of the lord of the infernal regions, Eni-mesari or Nin-a-yu^ Dark-
ness (Assyr. Dis., Smith, 199), who dwell in flame.” Inside of the
bronze inclosure another genii was invoked. The demons of disease
“came forth from Hell’* and were “the productions of the tomb.”
The plague, Namtar^ was the favorite son of Mul-lil or Mul-ge the king
of the demons, by his queen Nin-ki-gaL Mul-ge was the father of seven
evil spirits who warred against Heaven and the Moon. The nocturnal
Sun, Nin-dara^ was his child, it fought against the demons and plagues,
and when hidden from the Chaldeans it was thought to be combatting the
Darkness, the demon Tiamat; as it also was said to have done on the
first day of the creation. It triumphed by its rising. The demons were
especially inhabitants of the desert,* but they also entered into and took
possession of man and diseased him.f Then there were frightful ghosts,
the Innifty the Uruku a hobgoblin, and larva, the worm that dieth not.J
Alaly Gtgim, Telaly Afazkim (Maziqim ?) the Phantom, Spectre, and the
Vampire and Lil-ith. The latter two attacked man, the two named pre-
viously to these, only frightened him. Then there were the Incubus,
Succubus and the Nightmare. These were a few of the frightful produc-
tions of the fearful mythology of the early Semitic inhabitants of Mesopo-
tamia, Chaldea and Babylonia, which they had received from the Black
race, the Turanian Akkadians.
The sorcery of the Chaldeans was of two kinds ; one, came from the
power of the gods constraining the action of the demons, which partakes
of the characteristics of a religion, and may be termed White Magic : the
other sought to propitiate the demons. The latter is witchcraft and devil
worship, it is necromancy or negromancy, Black Magic. § Along with
the priests of the gods, witches and wizards legally flourished to an enor-
mous extent. They were both feared and hated. (Chald. Magic, p. 60.)
Their great enemy was the light, the sun ; their sorceries were therefore
* Chald. Magic 31. Isa. xxxiv, 13-14.
t Chald. Magic 20-21, 32-33. Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch, ii, 56. The Thrones and
Palaces of Babylon, Newman, 116.
X Isa. Ixvi, 24. Mark ix, 44-46, 48.
{ Comp. Tylor’s, Primitive Culture, also his, Researches into the Early Hist of Man-
kind.
454
prepared in the darkness of night. The spell or charm was, ** that which
acts, that which is bad, that which is violent.” The formula of the wiz-
ard was called ” the Work ;*’ the incantation was, ” the Word ;’* the Phil-
ter; “the Mortal Thing.” The sorcerer caused “the Evil Eye;” the
” Unlucky word;” and the demons became subject to him, and he sent
them against persons and countries. He could even kill if he wished,
and do this by making images of wax, etc., such as were afterwards used
by the Medieval sorcerers of Europe.* The most potent form with the
sorcerer was ” the Imprecation,” by this he was supposed to gain power
over the protecting spirit of the individual. f Above these and above the
world-shell, were the angels, the Ideds and Igigiy the celestial ; and within
it, the Anunaki the gnomes, and the terrestrial, spirits. J The archangel
of the Abyss was Anunna-ge^^
When we come to investigate the kosmos of the Siphrah D’Tznioothah,
Idrah Rabbah and Idrah Zootah, of the Book Zohar ; we find a remark-
able similarity, which tends to show the Chaldean kosmos in these oldest
books of the compilation called the Zohar. In A B, B C, C E, and E G
we have similarities to the Four Worlds. The three great heavens answer
to the Upper Three Sephiroth. I. That of the Father, Abba, or KethtTy
the Crown, \.o Anu afterwards Ana; the place of the aether or highest
sublimated air or atmosphere. II. The Son, Bel, El or Baal, the subli-
mated fire, answering to ^Hokhmahy Wisdom. III. The Mother, Immah,
to Ea the sublimated water, to Binahy the comprehending Intellect.
Above all of these is Aoy Ilu or Ely the unknown ideal deity ; which par-
allels the Ain Sophy Endless to man’s comprehension No-Thing. This
unknown ideal deity, held the highest place in the Chaldean Mythology.
Under these were the seven planets in their seven orbits, or spheres;
the probable germ of the idea of the Sephiroth, or media between the
Highest and Lowest worlds. The Tower of Borsippa (Babel ?) parallels
the Mt. Meru of the Hindus ; each of its seven stories was devoted to a
♦ Chald. Magic, pp. 5, 43, 61-63.
t Ibid. pp. 68, 64.
} Chald. Magic, pp. 138, 148, 122. See, Book of Enoch, c. 68-77.
{Chald. Magic, p. 164. Comp. on the subject of Magic; Rydberg*s, Magic in the
Middle Ages.
455
planet, a metal, and a color, as Sir Henry Rawlinson discovered and has
written upon.
The connection between the Ten Sephiroth and the orbits of the plan-
ets, may be a solution of the puzzle of the learned for over 800 years, and
may show that the seven-storied Tower of Solomon’s Temple, Mt. Meru,
the Tower of Borsippa, Jacob’s Ladder and the Holy Mountain, (Ezek.
xxviii, 14, XX, 40; Ps. Ixxxvii, i ; Is. xi, 9, Ivii, 13, Ixv, 11) have a great
similarity between themselves and refer to seven storied planet towers,
and so have a connection with the Seven Lower Sephiroth. The curious
heretofore unexplained craniums or skulls, etc., of AWeekh An-peen^ the
Long Faces, and of Ze^ir An-peen^ the Small Faces, would be similar to
the skull shape of the divisions of the Chaldean universe. The eyes of
the latter, white, red and black, may be the sun in its different phases;
these eyes are like those of fishes, not having lids \ they are in the Great
Crystalline Sea:”^ the hairs of the head and beard are the efHuxes or
emanations flowing from the Highest, and bringing down the ” Dew of
Life ” which ” supports the existing and resurrects the dead.” The uni-
verse as this Great Head, has ears tc^hear, witness, sound ; eyes to see,
note the rays of the sun ; and its mouth throws out the breath of vitality
upon all. In the Book of Enoch (^Han’okK) we have descriptions which
appear to have as a foundation, the plan we have shown. f In the Chaldean
Universe is ; the Mountain whose point reaches to heaven, the Water of
Life, the Great Sea, into which the sun sinks in the West and from the
East side of which it rises; there is the place of the departed spirits, ** the
Great Darkness,” SheoL The Nadir is also mentioned, as “the great
comer stone of the earth,” the “four pillars of heaven,” etc. The
watchers, in Enoch, are the planets. (Compare Enoch 93-104-105, c.
xviii, 24; c. xxii, 9 ; also c. vii, § 2 and viii; and Tobit vi, 13.)
* Ea the Deity of Wisdom, is ** the great fish of the ocean ” or ^ the sublime fish.”
Chald. Magic, p. 156 et seq. He is Oanms, the Chaldean Fish god.
f Schodde’s Enoch, Andover, 1882, p. 89.
456
Appendix D.
THE MYSTIC THEOLOGY OF DIONYSIOS, THE AREOPAGITE.
CHAPTER I.
A DESCRIPTION OF THE UNKNOWN DEITY WHO IS IK THE DARKNESS.
To Timothy:
SECTION I . Triad above all substance, super-divine and above the
Good, guide of the Christians into the Divine Wisdom,* conduct-
ing us to that above agnosy, /. ^., the unknowable, to the highest
clearness and the super-eminent height ; in which the simple, absolute, and
immutable mysteries of theology, are to be discovered in the bosom of the
super-luminous obscurity, f by a silence, which is initiator to the arcana : —
obscurity which, in the thickest darkness, shines forth with the greatest
splendor, and, under a perfect intangibility and invisibility, overfills with
charms above beauty, the eye of the intellect.
Behold this my prayer : —
Do thou, my friend Timothy, exercise thyself without relaxation in the
mystical pageant, departing from the side of the senses and intellectual
operations, the wholly sensual and intelligible, the entire being and non-
being; and by means of the agnosy (/’. ^., knowledge not obtained from
the material) elevate thyself, as far as possible, to a union with that which
is above all substance and gnosis, (/. ^., materialistic knowledge.)
Because it is through that free, sincere and pure ecstasy, outside of
thyself and of all (the material ;) that, renouncing the same and disen-
* ” For the knowledge of the Divine Intelligence, study not the existences through the
existing, for It is in Itself and through Itself, Its own quality and cause. ♦ • ♦
The Gnosis of all, in place of considering each thing in its idea, perceives and con-
ceives all under its embrace as one cause, * * * the Divine Wisdom, in Itself know-
ing, comprehends All.’* Dionysios on, the Divine Names, c. vii, { 2. ” He made
darkness His Secret Place^ His pavilion around about Him were dark waters in cloudy
skies.*’ Fs. xviii, ii, Comp. Ex. xix, 9; II Sam. xxii, 10, 12; I Kings viii, 12; II Chron.
vi, I.
f Faith is the substance of things hoped for^ the evidence of things not seen, Heb. xi, i.
457
gaging thyself from all, thou wilt elevate thyself to the super-substantial
splendor of the Divine obscurity.
Section 2. Preserve as to all of this, that which should not be under-
stood by the profane (multitude), that is, (keep it) from the men who,
plunged into the material, imagine that above it there is not anything
super-substantial ; and believe they understand by their own knowledge,
that which has taken the darkness for Its retreat.
But if the divine mystagogy goes beyond their capacity, what shall we
say of those men still more profane, who, representing the super-eminent
Cause of All by the last of the existences ; pretend that the Deity docs
not excel anything above the atheistic and multiform phantoms of their
own fabrication.*
Whilst we ought to bestow on the Deity, by affirming as in It, all the
compositions of the existences, since of All, the Deity is the Cause (Acts
xvii, 28), or, better still, by denying them all ; because the Deity is ruler
above All; and having in our thought that these negations do not con-
tradict those affirmations, but that, so much as it is, through the excess
of priority above the privations, the Deity is above all division and all
composition.f
Section 3. It is then with this meaning in his mind that the divine
Bartholomew says : That theology is at the same time ample and brief,
and that the Gospel, though vast and developed, is nevertheless con-
cise.
It has seemed to me supernaturally understood, that the good Cause of
All expresses Itself in many words, in a few words, and also without
words, there not being for It either speech or intellection, because, It is
super-substantially superior to all (words and intellectuality ;) and that the
Deity manifests Itself, in openness and in truth, only to those who, tra-
versing all impurity and purity, leaping over the height of the most sub-
lime sanctity, and putting aside henceforth all the divine lights, all sounds,
and all celestial words ; to by so doing swallow themselves up, as it were,
♦ Rom. i, 23.
f The Deity is pure action, essentially existent, containing essentially all the perfec-
tions in their greatest absoluteness and simplicity, yet we cannot bind or limit It by
asserting any of Its qualities. Comp. also Aristotle, Metaphysics, Bk. iv, c. xxii.
458
in the darkness, in which in reality, as the oracles (/. ^.^ the Scriptures)
teach, is the Deity which is above All (the created.)
So it was not without a motive that the divine Moses received the order
to at first purify himself,”^ and then separate himself from the impuref
that, the purification accomplished, he (might) understand the various
sounds of the trumpets, and might see the multiplied fire which threw out
numerous and limpid rays ; and who, in short, departing from the multi-
tude, ascended with his chosen priests^ as far as the summit of the Divine
ascensions. At the same time Moses had not any conversation with God,
no more than he could perceive God, because God is unperceivabU ; he
saw only the Place (Ma^am) in which the Deity was. This signifies, in
my view, that the most divine and sublime objects in the visions or intel-
lections, are in some way, only the insinuative expressions of the attri-
butes of the Deity, who exceeds all : expressions which indicate Its pres-
ence, above all intellection ; passing over the intellectual summits of the
most holy places. (Comp. Prov. iv, i8, 19.)
And then (the man,) delivered as much from that which is seen as from
that which sees, penetrates into the true mystic obscurity and darkness of
the agnosy ; in which, he lays aside all the conceptions of knowledge (the
gnosis), so as to find himself in the intangible and invisible under all its
afl&nities, entirely the object above all, no longer in himself or others;
united, in a most excellent manner, to the absolute agnosy through the
inaction of the gnosis, and, through that he understands No-thing, know-
ing all that is above intelligence. (Exod. xx, 21.)
* Exod. xix, 10. Ibid.f iii, 5.
t Exod. xix, 12.
X Exod. xix, 24.
459
Appendix E.
THE DOGMAS IN THE NICENE CREED AND THE QABBALAH.
IT will be observed in three of the Diagrams or Qabbalistic Trees of
the Sephiroth which we have given, that ^Hokhmah Wisdom, or the
Son, the Greek, Logos or Word ; proceeds as No. 2 directly from
Kether, Crown, the Abba or Father, and that Binah Understanding, the
Upper Mother or Holy Spirit is placed No. 3. Those who are interested
in the subject of the relation of the Logos to the Father, should compare
the doctrines of the New Testament with those of Philo, and the Early
Fathers of the Church, prior to the Council of Nicaea, of which the
Roman Catholic theologian, Hefele,* has given a resume. f There is
warrant in the Zohar for asserting that No. 2 should be Binah and No. 3,
*Hokhmah^ but most of the Diagrams make the Son proceed directly from
Abba. The Creed adopted by the Council of Nicaea (325 A. D.) as
given in the English edition of Hefele (the Italics are by us), is :
” We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of all things
visible and invisible ; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
only-begotten of the Father, that is, of the substance of the Father, God
of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten^ not made, being
of the same substance with the Father , by whom all things were made in
heaven and in earth, who for us men and for our salvation came down
from heaven, was incarnate, was made man, suffered, rose again the third
day, ascended into the heavens, and He will come to judge the living
and the dead. And in the Holy Ghost. Those who say \ There was a
time when He was not, and He was not before He was begotten, and He
was made of nothing (He was created), or who say that He is of another
hypostasis, or of another substance (than the Father), br that the Son of
God is created, that He is mutable, or subject to change, the Catholic
* A History of the Christian Councils, from the original documents, to the close of
the Council of Nicsea, A. D. 325, by Charles Joseph Hefele, D.D., etc. English
Trans. Edinburgh, 1881. Book ii, c. i, { 18, p. 231 sq,
f See also History of Christian Doctrine, by Prof. Henry C. Sheldon. New York,
1886, Vol. i, p. 53 $q. Especially p. 63 j^., p. 194 $q^ Scha£Ps Creeds of Christendom,
etc., hereafter cited. Vol. i, p. 24 tq.
46o
Church anathematizes.*’ ♦ The student will find very interesting thought
in comparing ante-Nicene Patristic Literature and the Nicene Creed, widi
the early religious philosophy contained in the Zohar.
Appendix F.
THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HEBREW VOWEL POINTS.
WE will not be able, for want of space, to give our views in Ml
upon the antiquity of the Hebrew vowel points. We have
examined the Zohar thoroughly upon the subject and in several
places some of them may be found named, but there are not as many as are
now found in the Hebrew grammars. The Phoenician and early Hebrew
alphabets are quite similar, and most likely both are from a common
source. The Arabic probably came through them, and although the
Greek and Latin alphabets are Aryan and have a Sanskrit basis, yet there
are certain similarities in them to the Phoenician and the Hebrew. The
reader should consult the writings of Isaac Taylor and Francois Lenor-
mant on the Alphabet in this connection. In the Greek, the letters A
a/p/ia, E ep^siloriy H eUa^ I iota, onCikron and IC u^psilon, were used as
vowels. In Hebrew the nearest approach to vowel sounding letters are
K a^leph, n hehf ” yod, and y ay in.
The Pentateuch Rolls used in the Synagogues by the Jews are never
vowelized. The Gaon Natrunai ii, b. Hilai, of Sora (859-869 A. D.);
says; ** And you enquire of me whether it is permissible to punctuate
the Pentateuch. We have not any punctuation in the Pentateuch and
* Hefele’s, History of the Christian Councils, etc., pp. 293-5. ^^^ original Greek
is also given. Sheldon, History of Christian Doctrine, etc., before cited, gives a differ-
ent reading, see his Vol. i, p. 201. John Fulton, D.D., Index Canonum, etc. New
York, 1872, pp. 1 1 8-1 19, gives the original Greek and an English reading, differing
from that of the above cited writers. Compare also : The Creeds of Christendom with
a History and Critical notes, by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. New York, 1877, Vol. ii,
pp. 57~6o; Vol. i, pp. 28, 29. Dr. Schaff gives the Greek, also a Latin and an English
translation.
46 1
the punctuation was not given on Sinai, only the wise-men ordered it for
a sign.”
We would here say that there are two forms of Hebrew vowel pointing.
I. That of Babylonia now termed the Assyrian, in which it is above the
letters. II. That of Palestine or that from the School of Tiberias, in which
it is below the letters. The general opinion of the Jewish learned men of
the Middle Ages was, that the pointing went back to the epoch of the
writing by Ezra although many Jews held that it went back to Moses*
The former, was the opinion of Ibn Ezra, Yehudah ha-Levi, and also of
the Buxtorfs, Raimundi Martin, Perez de Valentia, Nicholas de Lyra,
John Calvin and Martin Luther, indeed one of the Synods of the Swiss
Protestant Church, declared the inspiration of the vowel points of the
Hebrew Old Testament an Article of Faith. In the XVI century, based
on the writings of Elias Levita, b. 1469, d. 1549 ; called by the Jews the
Grammarian, a contrary opinion arose. Levita was the teacher of Hebrew
to Cardinal -^gidio de Viterbo, Sebastian Munster, Paul Fagius and other
illustrious Christian Hebraists of the Renaissance. Louis Cappel (Cap-
pelus) of Saumar (1585-1658) in 1624; Jean Morin in 1669, and Fran-
cois Masclef in 1716, adopted similar opinions. Indeed the opposition
went so far, that in 1732-3, C. F. Houbigant and his followers, asserted
that not only was the vowel notation very recent but that the Tradition
to the Reader, upon which it is based, had not any foundation. A third
view was intermediate, it held, that the present written designation of the
vowel points was not very old but that it represented an ancient oral tra-
dition, sufficiently exact, of the ancient pronunciation, and had taken the
place of a still more ancient and rudimentary system. This is the view
now generally accepted. It was first proposed by J. H. Hottinger
(1620-1667) and he has been followed, with some modifications, by John
Prideaux in 1648, A. Schultens (1686-1750) also by Michaelis and Eic-
horn. Francois Lenormant holds, that Ezra wrote the Old Testament in the
ancient Aramaic alphabet, which approaches the writing termed Rabbinic,
and not in the present square character, which he says was not in use
until about 100 B. C, and that Ezra did not use diacritical signs for the
vowels. Isaac Taylor agrees with him as regards the square character.
In the Targums we see the first traces of the vowel notation. The age of
462
the Targumim is in dispute. The Zohar says, that of Ounqelos, was from
the disciple of Hillel the Babylonian, circa 60 B. C* It was undoubt-
edly known in the II century. The other that of Yonathan ben Uzid, is
apparently after that of Ounqelos. It is said earlier examples than those
in the Targumim exist.f The Talmudim also mention certain signs. When
the Jewish nationality and undoubtedly also books, were destroyed by the
Romans, the learned priests feared that the ancient oral tradition of read-
ing the Holy Writings would be lost, and this would also have caused a
loss of the true meaning of the Thorah, therefore they sought to fix and
preserve the traditional pronunciation as it had come down to them, in*
tact and as it were in an inflexible matrix. This they did by revealing
the secret oral system through a written symbolism and so established a
notation of pronunciation, but it must be said, the pronunciation fixed
at Tiberias was that used by that School. This object is indicated by the
precept in the Pirqt A both c. i, § i.J ” Make a fence to the Thorah.”
So we also have in the Talmudg ” The children of Yudah have carefiilly
cultivated their language, and have placed below, the signs of pronuncia-
tion, so they have preserved their Thorah in their hands. The children
of Gallilee have not carefully cultivated their language, and have not
placed below (the letters) the signs of pronunciation ; so they have not
guarded their Thorah between their hands.” That is, the Talmud attrib-
utes to the unfaithfulness of the Gallileans to the Mosaic law, the corrup-
tion of their language and forgetfulness of the true pronunciation of the
Thorah, because of the absence of the proper vowel signs. The Mas-
soretic doctors of Tiberias directed their attention more to a criticism of
the text than to a study of grammar, and the invention of the vowel points
did not naturally or necessarily enter into their work. The view of Ye-
hudah ha-Levi|| was, that the Massorites only put into writing and gave a
* Comp. McClintock and Strong’s Cyclop, of Biblical Liter, x, p. 123. This evi-
dences the antiquity as stated in the Zohar. It holds Ounkelos was about the time of
Jesus.
f See, On Mankind, their Origin and Destiny. London, 1872, chap. ii.
J Comp. Chas. Taylor’s, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers. London, 1877, pp. 25, 68
and notes. Renan Hist, des langtus skmitiquiSy 1st Ed., p. 160.
J Treatise Nedarim^ fol. 53.
II Khuzari. Part ii, { 80 ; iii, {{ 28, 31, 35.
463
form to, the Secret Oral Tradition given at Sinai, which Ezra had not
dared to transcribe. We assert that it was not by one man nor in a short
time, that the symbolic signs of the traditional pointing and accenting
were formulated, it took a long period and many learned men of differ-
ent epochs.* The Zohar, On the Song of Solomon, says : ” The vowel
points proceeded from the same Holy Spirit which indited the Holy
Scriptures, and that far be the thought to say ; the Scribes made the points,
since even if all the prophets had been as great as Moses, who received
the Thorah direct from Sinai ; they could not have had authority to alter
the smallest point in a single letter, though it be the most insignificant in
the whole Bible.” f The Massorites applied, wrote and propagated, the
vowel points in existence at their time, according to the pronunciation in
the School of Tiberias, they did not invent them. J
In the Middle Ages some of the learned men, as we have said, made
the institution of the vowel points we now have, go back to Adam, to
Moses, or at least to Ezra.
In a writing attributed to the Greek, Demetrius of Phalereus (b. circa
345, d. 284 B.C.) § bcxi, it is said : ” In Egypt, the priests celebrate the
praises of the gods through the seven vowels, which they repeat one after
the other.” The first Hebrew Grammarians, among whom is Ibn-Ezra,
equally adopted the seven vowels. These, grouped in a certain way,
offered some resemblance to the 7 letters of the word YeHoVaH, but it is
not improbable that they signified 7 methods of chanting or 7 liturgical
formulas. However we must here note that Josephus says of the Name
YHVH that it was written in vowels. §
Eusebius|| cites some verses to the Name of the Deity, from a Grecian
*The accents were undoubtedly in existence and revealed, before the time of St.
Jerome and the Talmud. See in the Talmud, Treatise Be’rakhoth,
fSee, The Massoreth ha-Massoreth, of Ellas Levita, being an exposition of the mas-
soretic notes of the Hebrew Bible, etc., by Christian D. Ginsburg, LL.D., London,
1867.
X Pinsker, Sepher LicptU Qadmoniyoth i. e,. The First Gatherings, Vienna, i860.
{ Whiston’s Ed. Wars, Bk. v, c. v, { 7.
II Preparat, evangel,^ ▼, C, xiv, xi, c. vi.
464
sage : ” The seven vowels celebrate Me, Myself that am the imperishable
God, the indefatigable Father of all the Beings.”*
The Karaites believe the vowel signs make such an integral part of the
sacred text, and Yehudah Hadessi (of Odessa? circa 1×48 A. D.) consid-
ered them, without doubt in the name of his predecessors, as a Siniatic
revelation, of that, which had existed from the time of Adam, “f*
All languages written solely in consonants, such as the Hebrew, Syriac,
Aramaic, and Arabic, require to be vivified by the addition of vowels,
otherwise the consonants are dead symbols. The earliest historical evi-
dences of the existence of written vowel points, are to be found in the Sjrriac.
The Syrians sought to adapt to their written language, the Greek vowels J,
E, H, 0, T, and abridged and slightly changed them into vowel signs. These
first signs they called by almost the same names we now find in the Hebrew
and Arabic, but they changed them to accord with the Syriac pronuncia-
tion, and they were the equivalents of the Hebrew letters p Qoph, 2 Beth,
1 Vav, and y Tza’dhe. It is well to add that these letters became long
before k Aleph, 1 Vav, and ^ Yod, which are known among the ancient
Hebrew grammarians, as the * * Mother vowels. * * The Arabs appear to have
obtained their written vowel system from the Syrians, therefore the names
of the vowels in Arabic, Hebrew and Syrian, are very similar. Buxtorf
held that the Hebrew vowel points, as we now have them, were anterior
to the Massoritic doctors and as old as the Hebrew language, and although
his views were vigorously opposed by Cappelus, yet Buxtorf has had fol-
lowers, among whom we mention, the Rev. John Gill, an English Bap-
tist divine, who wrote a book upon the subject. J The Massorites noted
peculiarities in the use of the vowel points, of the dagesh and the mappiky
and the accents, which Buxtorf claims, is evidence that they did not
invent the diacritical marks which indicate the vowels and accents, for
had they been the inventors of them, they would not have noted anom-
alies and errors but would have corrected or removed them. At the most
* See, Mankind their Origin and Destiny, by an M. A. of Balliol College, Oxford.
London, 1872, p. 36 sq.
fComp. Steinschneider^s Hist, of Jewish Liter., p. 323 n. 23. Also, Actes de la
Sociiti PhiloIogiquCt TomCy vii, p. 797.
X A Dissertation concerning the Antiquity of the Hebrew Language, letters, vowel
points and accents, London, 1767, to which we refer the reader.
465
they only gave the pronunciation of the School of Tiberias, as it existed
therein in the VI century. This differed from that of the time of the
Septuagint translation made in Alexandria, and most probably from that
in use in the Babylonian Schools, now called the Assyrian, and perhaps
still more from that of the ancient Hebrews^ which is now most likely
entirely lost.
Other scholars following Schultens, although believing in the modem
institution of the points now used, held nevertheless, that the Hebrews
had at all times, certain signs distinguishing the vowels, but that these
marks were different from those we now have, and that the Massoritic
doctors substituted the latter for the more ancient. This they held
because of the indispensable necessity of vowels, to fix in the reading,
a sure pronunciation and meaning of words or expressions, in a tongue,
which like all language had a tendency to continual change, written
wholly in consonants.
Perhaps those who think the points arose in the VI century A. D. may
be able to explain Hebrew xi, 21, where the author of that Epistle has
interpreted the text he quotes from Gen. xlvii, 31, very differently from
that to be found in the Tiberian pointed and accented Hebrew text.
With the points it reads: ”And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s
head,” but the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, reads: Jacob
^’ worshipped leaning on the top of his staff,” reading npo matet instead
of nop mitay a difference wholly resulting from the use of a vowel point.
Jacob’s death is not spoken of till the ne^ct chapter, consequently the ver-
sion in the Epistle is by far the most probable. Matt, v, 18, has also
been cited to show that the Thorah in the time of Jesus was written in
the square character, as the ^ Yod of the ancient Hebrew alphabet is as
large a letter as k Aleph. The tittle probably refers to the tag-ifiy /. ^.,
crowns, which the final letters were provided with. St. Jerome and the
Talmud both speak of these.
In the Syriac as early as the III century A. D. are to be found traces
of a Massorah upon the version of the Holy Scriptures. The Abbe Martin
in his erudite writing upon the Syriac Massorah and pointing,* treats
* Histoire de la PonchioHon ou de la Massore chez les Syn’ens, in the JimrruU Asia*
Hque, Paris, 1875. Tome v, p. 82 sq,
30
466
of the early phonetic points in the Syrian literature during the epoch of
St. Ephraim (d. circa 378) and traces them down to the VI century A. D^
H. A. Ewald, the great German biblical scholar, has written up)on the
same subject.* He is of the opinion that both the Syriac and Hebrew-
systems of pointing, were derived from a common but also sole and
unique source, that we can consider both as different and independent
developments of one system, and that the least complicated features
of this are to be found in the Syriac writing. It would seem that a dis-
tinction must be made between the first Punctuators and the Massorites»
The Jewish doctors who gave to Hebrew philology the written points,
took for their model the Syriac pointing or at the very least a common
source, they rather inhabited Babylonia than Palestine, and appear ta
have been those called Saboraim and not those called Massorites-f If
we admit, as indeed we must, that a system of vowel points existed among
the learned of the Syrians in the time of St. Ephraim (d. 378) they
preceded the Massorites. M. de Vogue J has shown that points to 1
Resh and T Daleth were used in the II century A. D., in the writing of
Palmyra. Points were also used in the Pehlevi on coins.
Before the period in which James, Bishop of Edessa, invented or per-
haps only wrote down, the first Syriac method of marking the vowels in
a complete and perfect manner; his compatriots already used a method of
vowel notation, which consisted in placing a point above the consonants,
so as to reader the vowels a, o and u, short ; and below them, to render
e, i and u long. •
When the Hebrew was a language generally spoken and written, by the
people of Palestine; it is extremely probable that it was only necessary to
present the articulations, that is the consonants, and sight was sufficient
to indicate the suitable vowels to each word; but when the Hebrew tended
to become an extinct spoken language, the learned thought was necessary
to make symbols which should if possible, indelibly fix the sounds or
vowels and the signs which should mark the pauses, and prevent that
* Zeitschrift flir die Kunde des Aforgenlandes, Vol. i, 206 sq.^ and Abhandlungen zur
orientalischtn und biblischett Literatur, GSttingcn, 1832.
f See also as to Luzzatto*s opinion, M. Stcinschneidcr’s Hist. Jewish Liter., p. 325.
X Revue archiologique, April, 1865, p. 3.
467
change which all language is continually undergoing. So it is said chant-
ing and singing were also precedent to musical notation. The books of
the old Hebrews, as indeed are many to-day, were issued without point-
ing : as this also to this time is maintained in the Rolls written on skin for
use in the synagogue. As to them they claim to have preserved through the
oral tradition the ancient custom of reading without the points. The method
of reading is : the person to read studies at home carefully, the portion to
be subsequently read in the Synagogue ; the portion to be read is then
read in the Synagogue under the supervision of two men, one on each
side of the reader, and the latter marks his progress by means of a small
rod terminated by a small hand with the index finger extended. The
Rolls do not contain any orthographic signs, except certain mysterious
superior points, which appear to have been intended to fix the attention
of the reader and answer to our italics. A tradition, which goes back to
the time of the redaction of the first Midrashim in the I century A. D.,
attributes to Ezra, the Massoretic points placed above certain letters of
the Rolls which were considered as doubtful. In the Midrash Bamidbar
Rabbah, c. iii, are these singular words attributed to Ezra ; ”If the
prophet Elias (Eliyahu) should come to me and say : ‘Wherefore hast
thou written these letters ?’ I would respond to him that I had already
noted them by the points ; and if he should say ; ‘ Thou hast well made
the writing,* I would only efface the points.** These were only used to
denote to the reader a hesitation or partial stop when he pronounced
these letters.
The points according to the views of many were taken from ordinary
books; the ancient grammarians, says Derenbourg,* first “applied their
system of pointing to the Targumim, before borrowing that profane usage
so as to apply it the sacred text.** The Talmudim show an ancient
and complete system of vowel accents or D’o;;o Ta’amim fully in use.
Philoponos aWa 6io A. D. cites in transcribing into Greek, a verse of
Genesis (i, 26) exactly reproducing the present pronunciation. In the
VIII century, differences of pointing may be noticed, giving a different pro-
nunciation between the Jews of the Schools of Babylonia and those of
Palestine. In the X century the version of Saad-yah ha-Gaon of Fayum and
* Journal Asiatique^ 6th series, Tom. xvi, 469 and note.
468
the Greek translations, other than the Septuagint, which are in the Libraij
of St. Marco in Venice ; are made from a text the pronunciation of which
is nearly similar, this is also the case with the most ancient pointed H^
brew MSS. of the Holy Writings which has come to our day. This
was formerly at Odessa but is now in St. Petersburg^ and bears a date
corresponding to 916 A. D.* The points are no longer placed above,
as was usual in the Babylonian pointing, but below, the letters.
The Zohar containing the content of an ancient Secret Tradition, it is
not wonderful that it should have had in it, the early knowledge of the Se-
cret Tradition on pointing. It is very singular that Elias Levita, the great
exponent, in Judaism, of the modem invention of the vowel jx>ints, should
use these strange words. ** If any one shall prove to me, by clear evi-
dence, that my opinion is opposed to that of our Rabbins of blessed
memory or is contrary to the genuine Qabbalah of the Zohar ^ I tinll rea£ij
give in to him and declare my opinion void^ This was first noticed by
Azzariah Min ha-Adomin, or dei Rossi, of Mantua (b. 15 13, d. 1577) in
his Sepher M’ohr Enayim, i.e.. Enlightenment of the Eyes.t Dei Rossi
holds that the vowel points are indicated in the Babylonian Talmud, Trea-
tise Nedarim 37, g, the corresponding passage in the Ye’rushalmi Gem-
arah, Midrash Be’resheeth Rabbah and the books Bahir and Zohar. The
cognate tongues Syriac, Chaldaic, Arabic, Persian, all have vowel signs,
and the genius and spirit of the Hebrew tongue absolutely presupposes
the ancient existence of points in books intended for general circulation.
Those who believe in the modern invention refer to St. Jerome’s letter to
Evagrius, in which speaking of Enon near Salim, Jerome says; ‘* It mat-
ters not whether it be called Salem or Salim, since the Hebrews seldom
use the vowel letters in the middle ; and the same w^ords are pronounced
with different sounds and accents, according to the pleasure of the readers
and variety of country.’* J This only tends to show that St. Jerome’s
* Pinner in 1845, published ^facsimile of this MSS. at Odessa.
f Vienna, 1829, p. 286^-292^, especially 287. Comp. Kitto’s Cyclop. Bib. Litem, s.
V. Rossi.
X Hieronymous, Ed. of Paris ^ VoL i,p, 1062, Ad, Evagrium. EpUt, cxxvi. EpistoU
ad Evangelium Monachi Ed, Afartianay, torn. «, /. J74.
469
Rabbinical Master did not reveal to him the secret method of punctu-
ating, which was likely noted on the Hebrew Secret Rolls in the posses-
sion of the Jewish sacerdotal caste. The Buxtorfs used Levita’s remark
against him.’*’ Another thing is to be noted, the names of the vowel points
and especially the tonic accents, are not Hebrew but Chaldaic, and if
their origin is Hebraic their exterior form is at least Chaldean or Syro-
Chaldean. These names have then been composed by men to whom the
Hebrew tongue in its purity was not familiar, and who possessed of it
only a mixture of barbarous words, similar to the language of the Tal-
mud and the period succeeding it.
The Zohar says if ” It is written ; * The wise shall shine.* (Dan. xii,
*3.) That is the letters and points ; * Like the brightness.* That is the
modulations of the accents. ‘ The wise shall shine * like the moving of
the accents (in the tone of the modulations of the accents) and in their
tone athvaufij t\ ^., the letters, and tCqood-ahs^ /. ^., points, move after
them, like an army after their king. (See, Tiqqoanim 24.) The letters are
the body, and the points are the ru^hin^ /.^., spirits. All (the letters and
points) move after them (through that tone) but when they stop they do
not move but remain standing. And * The wise shall shine * (guide)
the letters and points, like the light of the singing of the tones of the
accents. * And they who bring many to righteousness. * That means
the stopping of the accent, that is, they stop in their words, (pause) so
that their words shall be understood.** See also, the Vulgate, Deuter.
xxxi, 19; Nehem. (ii, Esdras) viii, 8, 9; Ibid, xiii, 24. King James ver-
sion. Ibid. It was the institution of the written vowel points which pre-
vented the absolute death of an idiom, then nearly dead, even for the
learned ; and they were the means not only of its resuscitation but were
the efi&cacious means of the subsequent intellectual and moral develop-
ment of Judaism. The following are a very few of the words which can
* Commentarius MassoreticuSy e. ix^p. 74 ed, Basel. 1620. Not in the Sulzbach Ed.
fVol. i, fol. 3, col. 2, Cremona Ed. Brody Ed. i, 15a.
470
be given, the consonants of which are exactly alike, and the pointing of
which is necessary to give the true meaning :
OJ^ people
DJ^ with
tlitff year
T T
rtilff sleep
T “•
♦JB^ crimson
• T
♦Jgf second
Ogf there
Qgf name
pT only
p*l spitde
Y^ fragment
n
runner
njn evil
T T
nj^ friend
T
TOT throwing
T T
rnp bald
T»p. ice
^p swift
*7i5 voice
FINIS.
INDB^X.
Abba, Father, 194, 256. 262, 382, 387, 398 ;
the Father, and the Will, in Ibn Gebirol,
199.
Abbah. Babbi, of the Zohar, a Babylon-
ian Jew, 52; to write the teachings of R.
Shim-on b. Yo’hai, 51 note, 52. See
also 441-2.
Abd-er-Bahman al-Nasr, 5.
Abendehut, 9.
Abn Beer Mo’hammed Ibn Ya’hya,
usually called, Ibn Badja. See. Ibn
Badja.
Above and Below. Connection between
a very ancient idea, 210 ; resemblances
in, 386, 417.
Abraham. The three angels who appeared
to. 427.
Abraham Ha-craon, 46, 53 ; his commen-
tary on the Siphrah D’Tznioothah, 53.
Abravanel. B. Yehudah, also called,
Abarbanel, 9.
Abu-‘ All al-‘Hoa«in ben-‘Abd-AUah
Ibn Sina. See, Ibn Sina.
Abulafla. B. Abraham b. Samuel, 10,
38.
Abulafla. Todroa b. Joseph ha-Levl
(or Hallevy), 12, 38.
Abu-Na<;r al-Far&bl. See Al-Farabi. Abyss. The, according to the Akkadians, etc., 243, 448 ; See, Great Sea, 235. Adam. See also, Man ; 346 note ; 418, 419. 420 sq, ; all the people of the world do not descend from the First, 139, 416 ; an androgyne, 122, 360 x^./ the A’tzeel-atic, 360 sq., 418 sg.; the B’rec-atic, 360 sq., 396, 418, 419; the Celestial, 224, 280, 300 ; the Celestial, affected by the Fall of the Terrestrial, 183; clothed in skin, 265 ; Conflict of, 167 note ; creation of. 360 sq.; creation of, and covering with skin, etc., 423 ; creation of the dust body of, 423 sq.; of dust, 273 ; D’llla-ah, 420 ; D’ Lthath-ah, 420 ; and Eve. Creation of, 424 sq.; the First, 414 ; the First, clothed in Light, 423, 426 sq.; the First and Sec- ond, 114; the head of the Heavenly, reaches to Heaven, 202 ; the Heavenly or Upper, 128 note; the Highest, the Sole occupant of the World A- ‘tzeel-ah, 401 ; Illa-ah, 138 note, 419 ; length of years, 352 note ; male- female, 417; men do not all descend from, 139, 416 ; the Nephesh in, 273 ; the Primordial, 138, 301, 415 sq. ; Qad’mo- ah, 396, 415 sq.; Qadmon, 114, 125, 128 note, 138 note. 280, 281, 415 sq., 419; Qadmon, the Bolt which unites the visible and invisible, 1 14 ; Qadmon, the Celestial Man, 181 ; Qadmon. The Sephiroth applied to, 292 note. See, Frontispiece ; Rishoun, 414 ; the son of God, 247 ; the Terrestrial, 114; Testament of, 167 note; the Universal Prototypic Life, 300; the Upper, 273, 278. 337 note, 419, 421 ; the Upper, in the World A’tzeel- 00th, 321 ; Upper and Lower, 365 note. Adams. The Four, 418 sq, Adam’s knowledge of the Qabbalah, 165 ; body at first a Light Body, 205. See, Eden. Adelard of Bath, 162. Adonai or Adonoi, t. e., YHVH, ia8. 129, 175, 272, 341. 342. JSffidius of Viterbo. Cardinal, largely influenced by the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171. JEIons of the Gnostics, 231. JSther. Absolute, 373 note ; Concentrated, 373; Luminiferous. 186. 472 A^rrippa. Henry Cornelius, flavors the Antiquity of the Hebrew Qabbalah, II, 171- Aiirroth, 434. Aln, 127. Aln Soph, no, 127, 128, 181, 195. 251, 253, 398, 371, 378 ; Chinese idea as 10^446 ; the Creation by, 211, 212 ; emanation of the created, from, 231 ; in Ibn Gebii#l, 199 ; Light of, the idealized blood of the universe, 300. Akkmltan idea of creation. 242, 448 sq, Akkadians and Chaldeans, 235, 236 sq., 448 sq. See, Chaldeans, and, He>
brews.
A’keebah. Babbi, The Master of R.
Shim-on b. Yo’hai, 439.
Alain of Lille, 162.
Albensubrun or Ibn Oebirol, 9, 162.
Albert the Great, 162, 163.
Al-Farabl called Alpharabius, 163.
AlfiTObra, hidden for 300 years, 177 note.
Al-Ghazali, 164.
Al-Kendi, 163.
Al-Kuti. Chefez, 5.
Allen. John, 11.
Allix. Rev. Dr. Peter. Favors the An-
tiquity of the Zohar, 64.
Almifirhty. See, Bhaddal.
Alphabet. Arabic, 460; the Celestial,
422, 423 ; the Hebrew, origin of, 460 ;
Phoenician, 460.
AlpharabitiB. See, Al-Farabi.
Al-Shefa. The, of Ibn Sina, 164.
Altars in the Ancient Temples, 241.
Amaleqh. The Great Demon, 435.
Amen, meaning of, 442 and note.
Ancient of the Ancients, to be distin-
guished from the Ancient of All the
Ancients, 136 note. See, At-tee’k-ah
D” At-tee’keen and At-teekah D’Kol
At-tee’keen.
Ancient World. Knowledge in the, 177 ;
methods of the. 175.
Androgrene. The, 122 sq., 417 sq.
Androgrenes, 138 and notes.
Androgrenic Man, 123. See, Adam.
Angrels with the Babylonians equal, 10,
237, 238; called Birds, 217; Chaldean,
454 ; emanation of the, 329, 383 ; Good,
the building up, forces or energies, 126 ;
names of the, S49, 339 ; difierent Spe-
cies in the Kether Malkhuth. 192 ; com-
posed of a Species of Matter, 191 ; and
Evil Spirits. The names of the angels
from Babylonia, 249; world of the,
280, 328, 348. 349 ; oppose the creation
of Adam, 106 x^., 363 sg. Below the
Pious, 383, 401, 409.
Anflrelus bell, 167 note.
Animals. Fear of man. 345.
An-pen or An-peen. Ze’ir. See Ze’ir
An-peen.
Arabian philosopby. The authors of.
not Arabs, 163 sq,
Arabs in the Zohar, 69, 70. 71 ; did not
believe in the Revolution of the Earth
on its axis, 140.
Arajnaic in the Zohar, 53. 54 ; Aramaic re-
quires vowel points, 464 sg.
Architect of the World, 365 note.
Archetypal Church, 116; Man. 45 note.
Appayeem, i. e.. Faces. 333.
Aquinas. Thomas, 163, 163.
A’reekh An-peen, i. r.. Lon^ Faces, 182,
258, 368 sq., 379.
A’reekh Appayeem, i. r., Long Faces,
323. 368, 379 ^9’
Areopafirite. Dionsrslos, th». His
Ideas in accordance with much in the
Qabbalah, 127, 128, 167 note, 440, 456.
See, St. Dionysios, also, Dionysios.
Aristotle’s De Mundo, 8 ; opposes the
idea of the Revolution of the Earth,
139. 140-
Ark. In the Babylonian Temples, 240.
Asbestos or Salamander, 394.
A’seeyah. Olam ha-, 228. 321, 329 sq.
A’seey-atic World, 198, 330 sq,
Asher b. Meshullim b. Yacob, 9.
Asher. B. Be’hai b. Asher. Favors
the antiquity of the Zohar, 64 note.
Assyrian language and Hebrew language.
228 ; methods of vowel pointing. 461,
465.
Astronomy. First, by the Akkadians,
240 sq., 448 sq.
Atonement. The, 337 sq.
At-tee’k, 1. e., the Ancient, 257, 367 sq.
At-tee’kah D’At-tee*keen, 127, 134,
135. 136. 253. 367 sq.
At-teekah D’Kol At-tee’keen, 383.
473
At-tee’kah Qa’doaha, 253.
At-tee’kah Sabah Qad-doahah, 368 sq.
At-tee’k Yo-men, i. e., the Ancient of
Days, 257, 368 sq.
A’tzeel-ah, 228.
A’tzeel-atic World, 198.
A’tzeel-ooth. Olam ha-, no, 320 sq,
Aupha-nem, 329, 419.
Avicebrol, is Ibn Gebirol, 162.
Avioebron, is Ibn Gebirol. i, 8, 162.
Avioembron or Ibn Gebirol, 162.
Avicenna. See, Ibn Sina.
AvempcMse. See, Ibn Badja.
Avendoth. Jean, 162.
Aven-Pace. See, Ibn Badja.
Averroes. See. Ibn Roschd.
Ayin. n8, 127, 136 note, 181, 253 sq„ 275
^9’* 378 sq- ; in Philo, 301. See, Ain
Soph.
Asa and Azael, 107 sq., 363 sq., 434.
Azael, 107 sq., 363 sq.
Azariel or Azriel, ben Mena’hem, 283,
284 sq.; his Explanation of the Ten
Sephiroth, 284 sq. ; quoted, 284.
Azriel, 9. See Azariel; and Ezra, 38;
Commentary on Canticles, 49 ; opinion
on Thought as the first emanation of Ain
Soph, 192 ; on the power of the Sephi-
roth, 289. Colors in the Sephiroth, 259,
261, 262, 269, 270, 271, 288.
Babylonian Jews. The Qabbalah with
the, 46 sq., 51. 52; philosophy, esoteric,
237 ; Rabbins captured by the Moors,
5 ; Talmud. See, Talmud and Tal-
mudim ; Temple Towers. 240, 241.
BcMsk. Of the, of the Deity, 53, 226> 419.
Bacon. 81r Francis, studied the writings
of Dr. Robert Fludd the Rosicrucian
and Qabbalist, 171.
Balance. Doctrine of the, 118, 126, 137
note, 185.
Baptism, 229.
Barnabas. Epistle of, 167.
Bartolocci (de Celano) Qiulio, 11.
Barukh. Apocalypse of, 167.
Basic element of most of the Ancient Re-
ligions, 108 sq.
Basnafire de Beauval. Jacques, as-
cribes the doctrines of the Hebrew
Qabbalah, to the Egyptians, 10, 171.
Bdellium, 134.
Beast. The, Sama-el and Ul-ith, 331 ^
347 note. See, Sama-el, Lil-ith.
Beauval. Jacques Basnasre. See,.
Basnage.
Beer. Dr. B., On the comet in the Zohar,
B2sq.
Bees. Symbolism of, 229, 323 and note.
Be’hai’s B. Exposition of the Thorah.
73 note.
Bell. The Angelus, 167 note.
Below and the Above, connection be-
tween, 108 sq., 386.
Below a weak copy of the Above, 108 sq.,
386, 417.
Be’nai Edom, means Christians, 73. See,.
Edom, Rome, Children of Yishmael.
Be’nai Elohim, 106 sq., 364, 434.
Benamozesrh. Elia, one of the greatest
Qabbalists now living, favors the anti-
quity of the Hebrew Qabbalah and the
Zohar, 173.
Be’resheeth. Ma-a’seh. See, Ma-a’seb»
Be’resheeth.
BerfiTsr. Paul, ascribes the origin of the
Hebrew Qabbalah to the Chaldeans,
172.
Bemcurd of CThartres, 162.
Bdr6ssos, Views of the ancient Chaldean
historian, 242, 243.
Be’tza leel, said to have known the com-
bination of letters by which heaven and
earth were made, 160 note.
Bhag«vad-8rlt4. Qabbalistic ideas in,
170.
Binah. Holy Spirit, 182; Sephirah, 192,
193, 199, 260 sq., 292 note; produces
a Son. 387 sq. ; sometimes called, the-
Great Sea, 336.
Black Races of Mesopotamia, 238, 239.
Blue of the Heaven and blue of the Tallith,
376 note.
Bo-az. See. Ya-kheen.
Body called Gujjr, Guph or Gupka, 354 note.
Body of Man only a Garment, 205 and
note.
Body of the Resurrection, 355 sq., 410
sq., 414. 437.
Biihmen, Bohme or Behmen. Jacob,,
was largely influenced by the Hebrew
Qabbalah, 171.
474
Bohu or Primeval Space, 235. 243. 244.
448/^.
Bolt. Adam Qadmon the, between the two
Worlds, 190, Nebo, the, ao6, 235. 242
sq.
Borsippa. The Planet Tower of, 206,
Colors of, 449.
Botz-rah means Rome, 75.
Brahma, etc., 45 note. See, Description
of Plates.
Brahman ntuUr, 45 note. See, Descrip-
tion of Plates.
Brain. The, Upper, 369 sq.
Bread. Reason of the use of, 230.
B’ree-ah. Olamha-, 228. 321, 328.
B’ree-atic world, 198.
B’ree-atic Adam, 360. 396, 421. See.
Adam ; also. Man.
Bretflchneider. C. Q., thought the He-
brew Qabbalah originated with the Per-
sians, 172.
Bride. The Mystic. 117. Sec, Malkhuth.
Brucker. Johann Jakob, his writings
on the antiquity of the Hebrew Qab-
balah exhibit but little knowledge of the
subject, 172.
BuddsDUS. Rev. John Francis, favors
the antiquity of the Hebrew Qabbalah,
II, 171.
Buddha, Bo, Po, etc., 206, 337 note; and
the Tree of the Sephiroth, 187 ; repre-
sentations of. with woolly hair, etc., 239.
See, Sakhya Mfini.
Bull. The. 228. 259, 394; of St. Luke. 45
note; symbol of the Sephirah ‘Hes-ed,
Grace, Spiritual water, hence Baptism,
229 ; symbol for water, 229 ; Zodiacal
sign of, 228, 240, 452. See, Ox.
Bruno. Oiordano, 162.
Bunsen. Baron von, quoted. Introd. x.
Burgronovensis. Archangrelus, favored
the antiquity of the Qabbalah. 171.
Buxtorf. The Elder, 10 ; the Younger, 11.
Buztorfs. The, on the Hebrew vowel
pointing, 469.
Byzantium in the Zohar, 72.
o
Cahen. Samuel, 10.
Candlestick. The seven-branched, 447.
Canopy. Supreme, 136.
Capnio. See John Reuchlin.
Cappelue. Iiewis, 10. 172. 461.
Cardan. Jerome, 45 note. 46 note. 171.
Cardinal .Sgidiue of Viterbo, 11.
Carmoly B’liacin, on the antiquity of the
Zohar. 56 sq.
Categories. Ten, of Ibn Gebirol. 160.
Cauee of all Causes. 362 sq. N.B. — In
the Zohar, this phrase generally trans-
lates. Destiny of all Destinies; First
Efficient, 144 sq. ; the Primal Cause, in
archaic times, 174.
Celestial Adam, 125. See. Adam;
also, Man. Adam in the N. T., 115;
Hierarchy like the Ten Sephiroth, 167
and note.
Chaldea. Different Captivities of the
Hebrews in, 228; protecting Genii in,
227, 237 sq., 448 sq.
Chaldean Cylinders, Signets, etc. , Method
of holding the hands shown on, 440;
Thought, its influence upon the Jew^,
228; Universe. Description of the,
448, sq.
Chaldeans and Hebrews. 221. 226, 227,
228. 234 sq. See, Hebrew, also, Akkad-
ians.
Chariot. Spiritual World, a. 220 note.
Chariot Throne, 220 note. See Ma-a’seh
Merkabah, 227.
Chartres. Amaury de, 162.
Chasm. The, between the Real and Un-
Real, 277.
Cherub or Kirub. 227, 237 sq., 448 sq.
China. Principles of the Tao-teh-King.
Ill sq.
Chinese believe, that each created being or
thing has a double. 113; the Great
Azure Dragon of, 235; Makrokosm.
112 ; Qabbalah, 444 sq. ; Spiritual ideas
of the, 444, 446 ; symbolism, 445 sq. ;
knew of the Tetrad of Pythagoras, 203
note; Writings and the Qabbalah, 112
sq., 444 J^-
Christ the male ; the female, the Bride, the
Church, 117; Symbolic color of the
robe of, 262.
Christian Qabbalah, claims of the Roman
Catholic Church to the possession of a,
232.
Christianity. By whom Formulated and
kept alive, 178, 179; and the Hebrew
Qabbalah, 174, 230; Hebrew and Jew-
475
ish, Secret Doctrine in, 174; value of
the Secret Doctrine to, 179. See, In-
troduction.
ChristlanB. Celebration of the Mysteries
of the Faith, by the first, accompani>
ments of, 330.
Church Fathers’ idea as to the Ayin or
No-Thing, 127.
Cicero’s idea of the invisible God, 114.
Clean and Unclean animals in ancient
Babylonia, 240, 241.
Cock. The crowing of the, three times, a
secret, 405.
Color of Binah, blue, 203, 261 ; Blue, 261
and note; of Christ’s robe, 203; of
the Virgin Mary’s robe, 203 ; of ‘Hes-
ed, 269; of Hod, 270; of ‘Hokh-
mah, 262 ; of Kether, 259 ; of Malk-
huth, 203; of Ne-tza’h, 270; of Pa’had,
269; and Sound, 277; of Tiph’e-reth.
270; of Ye’sod, 271.
Colors. The ancient Babylonian astrologi-
cal, in the Tower of Borsippa, 206, 449 ;
emanation of the, 195; the mystical,
229; the seven, 277; the white, red
and green, 427 sg.
Comet in the Zohar 77 sq. ; statements as
to the, in the Zohar, incorrect, 83 sq.
Commandments. The Ten Command-
ments and the Lord’s Prayer, 318.
Companions, the name given by the Qab-
balistic initiates to each other, 346 note ;
names of the, of R. Shim-on ben Yo*-
hai, 441.
Compass. The points of, in Azriel, 284 ,*
Four, points of, in the Zohar. 216.
Composite animals, 452 sq.
Conceptualism, Introd. xii, xiii.
Conflict of Adam, 167.
Connection of the visible and invisible,
115, 386, 417.
Contemplation. Inner, Introd. xii.
Cranium. The Great. 133, 134, 367, 368,
382 sq. : of the Makrokosm, the Firma-
ment, 118 note.
Creatin^r Deity with the Akkadians, 342,
247.
Creation. Account of the, 122 ; of Adam
and Eve, 421 sq. ; Assyrian account of,
245 ; the present preceded by another,
in the Assyrian account of, 346; the
same statement in the Zohar, 137, 386 ;
according to the Chaldean historian
B^r6ssos, 343; only a Copy of the
Eternal Idea, 115 ; or Emanation of the
Universe, 135, 359 sq. ; Quotation from
the Siphrah D’Tznioothah, 232, 333,
234; with the Semitic peoples, 243;
termed by the Qabbalists, the Shadow
of the Upper World, 256.
Creed. Nicene, 459 sq.
Crollius. Oswald, largely influenced by
the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171.
Crown. The, Highest, 370 sq.; or
Kether, 256 sq.
Crusades, said to be mentioned in the
Zohar, but this is doubtful, 69, 70 ; time
of, 69 note.
Crystal, 134.
Cube. Chinese conception of the earth as
a. 445.
Cuneiform Tablets, content of. and the
Hebrew Qabbalah, 234 sq., 448 sq.
Cusanus (Cusani). Cardinal Nicolas,
largely influenced by the Hebrew Qab-
balah, 171.
Da’ath, t. e.. Knowledge, 360, 361.
Dante. Hebrew Qabbalism in the writings
of, 171.
Darkness. Fear of. 452 ; Kingdom of.
See. Kingdom of Darkness.
Daud Ibn, 9.
Daughter. The, with the Qabbalists, the
Church or Congregation of Israel, 117.
David. B. Abraham b. (of Posquieres)
or Babad, 9, 38.
David Luriah’s Sepher Kadmooth ha-
Zohar, 40-54.
David and Solomon had great knowledge
of the Qabbalah, 166.
Death. The Angel of, 347, 348, 433, 436;
and Life. 362 sq. ; Malakh Hamoveth.
the Angel of, 410, 432, 436 ; what hap-
l>ens at, 354 ; an advantage to the Pious,
436 ; results from the Sin of Adam, 433.
De Causis. The Book, 9. 162.
De Leon. B. Moses Shem-Tob, claimed
to be the author of the Zohar, 56 sq. ;
writings by, 60 sq.; Ibn Gebirol’s
knowledge of the Zoharic philosophy,
250 years before the time of, 188.
476
Dei Rossi’s opinion on the antiquity of the
vowel points. 468.
Deity can only be Approached through the
Intention of man’s heart. 409 ; to whom
can you Compare the. 277 ; cannot be
Defined, Introd. xiii ; dependence upon,
when in trouble. 429 ; has a Form and
yet not a Form . 274 sq, ; may be con-
sidered in Four points of view, 128;
Existence of the, 254 ; the Four ways of
seeing the, 427 ; creates Good and Evil,
126 ; cannot in Its Highest essence be
described, 127, 136 and note; perfect
Ideas as to, cannot be grasped in the
human intellect, 456 sq. ; Immanent
in everything. 195 ; incomprehensi-
bility of. 274 sq.: Hebrew, male-
female. 175, 342 sq.; our Knowledge
of, 136 and note. See Appendix, Mys-
tic Theology of Dionysios; leaves
man when he sms. 434; cannot be
seen by man, whilst he is in the flesh«
181. See Introduction. Views of Moses
of Cordova and Maimonides on the
Essence of. 266, 267 ; without Matter,
191 ; Names of. 378 sq. ; according to
the Qabbalistic Symbolism, the Deity
manifests Itself through a N’qood-ah,
127 ; the Deity ruuter, 125 note ; of the
Conformations of, 367 sq. ; brings Sal-
vation to the wicked, 430; distinct from
the Sephiroth, 291 ; the totality of the
Sephiroth, not the Deity, 290 sq. ; is
always enshrouded in Its She’kheen-ah
or Glory, 181 ; alone is pure Simplicity,
212 ; Supreme, produces through the
Absolute Idea, Thought, or Perfect
Paradigmatic Form, 181 ; Supreme, the
only Real and True, 181 ; Supreme. The
entire Universe not the Content of the,
181 : according to Qabbalistic Symbol-
ism, manifests Creation as if on a Veil.
127. See, Maya, Name, Names.
Demons. The, 433 sq. ; of the Akkadians,
Chaldeans, etc., 452, 453 sq.; the de-
stroying forces, 126; Great and Small,
434. 435- ^6C, Sama-el, Lil-ith, Q’lip-
poth.
D’i-noor or Dinur. The Fire river, 394
sq., 405.
Description of Plates, xix.
Desire or Will. The creator, 191, 194-
Diacrrams. Qabbalistic. mentioned by
Origen, 311, 31a, 313. See, p. xxiv.
Dimant. David de, 162.
Dimension, 900.
Dimensions. The. 137 note. 268 note,
292 note.
Din. Abrahaoi Ab-Beth-, 38.
Din. The Sephirah, aoo. 269.
Dinur or D’i-noor, the Fire-river, 405.
Dionysios, the Areopa^te (St. Denis),
46 note, 127, 128. 167 note. 440;
Mystic Theology of, 456 sg. Sec. St
Dionysios.
Dior. Ben, 9.
Disciplina Arcana. The Ancient, 177
and note. Introd. viii.
Divine Assistance granted Man if he wiD
call for it. 183: Love. 11 1 ; Mediator
most likely symbolired in the Qabbalah.
by the Sephirah ‘Hohlcmah, Word or
Wisdom, 182; Names in St. Jerome,
168 and note, 169. See aiso ; Name. In-
effable Name, etc.; Power. How it
weakens, 211 ; Qab*)ali5tic Nanae, Who?
128 sq.
Doctrine. Secret. See, Secret Doctrine.
Dove. The brooding, 336.
Dragon. The, 233-235, 243-245 ; Great
Sea, 448 sq. ; Tiamat of the Chaldeans,
etc., 243. 448 sq. See. Great Sea, also.
Harmony.
Dravidian races of India. 239.
Dreams, 403, 404 and note ; Demons act
on man in his, 435.
D’Tznioothah. Siphrab, quotations
from, 232. 233, 234.
Duality. The, in the Deity, 175, 34a. 343.
373 ^1-
Dudaim. The, 355.
Dumah. The Angel of Silence, 403, 405,
406.
Duns Scotus, 162, 163.
Duretus. Claude, favors the antiquity
of the Hebrew Qabbalah. 171.
Dust and Ohost forms, 247, 248.
D’yooq-nah, 388 sq., 411, 414, 417, and
many other places.
Ea or Cannes, 235. See, Fish-god, also.
Hea and Cannes.
477
liable, 45 note. 244, 394; the meridian
stin, 240; and Scorpion, 359; of St.
John, 45 note ; Symbol for air, perhaps
aether, 239, 244 ; Symbol of the Sephirah
Tiph’e-reth, the spiritual aether or air,
hence voice and sound in worship, 230 ;
eagle-headed deity, 453.
Barth, Qabbalistic, Chaldean, Chinese and
Egyptian ideas as to its Revolution, 139,
140 and notes ; One, 419 ; its Revolu-
tion on its axis, believed in by some of
the Greek philosophers, 140; ideas as
to its Revolution by Arya-bhata, an an-
cient Hindu, 140 ; the Revolution of, in
the Zohar, 139 sq.
Bcstasy in the Mystic Theology of Diony-
sios, 456 sq. ; Theory as to, 158, 427.
Bden, 45 note, 404. 405, 408, 416; the
Garden of, 273, 412; or Paradise, 369
note. See, Garden of, and. First Sin.
Ibn Gebirol upon, 205 ; the Upper, 205.
Bdom. Children of the Christians, 70-73 ;
Christian Rome, 71, 72 ; kings of, 118,
13s t 137. See, Pre- Adamite kings and,
Kings of Edom ; Pagan Rome, 71 sq.
BffO, I. 127, 259; and Non-Ego, 256 ; the
Zohar says, this was the Light which
created everything, 128.
BgyptlanB. Views of the Ancient, 239;
Ineffable Names used by, 237. See, De-
scription of Plates.
B’had, One, 344.
Eh’yeh or AlH’YeH, f. e., I Am, 197 sq.,
182, 378.
Blders. The Seventy, 231.
Eleh, f. e.. These, 129 sq.
Blements. Four, in the Zohar, 316, 339.
El’hanan. Babbi, 5.
Ellyah. Prayer of, 390 sq,
Bllenbergrer. Heinrich, on the Anti-
quity of the Zohar. 56.
Blobim, the Hebrew for God. 138, 175. 379 ;
the Deity in Nature, 175 ; Be’nai, 364
sq. ; according to some Hebrew writers,
means e’iohim, i. e., energies or angels,
348: translated in the English Bible.
God, 139. See. She*kheen-ah.
El Shaddai, i. e., the Almighty, 379.
Emanation of the Universe, 135. 195,
363 sq., 381 sq., 385 sq.
Emden. Jacob (Yabetz), 11. See, Ya-
betz.
Enoch or ‘Ha-nokh, mention of, in the
Zohar. 98, 99; Book of, 167.
Ens. A two-fold, 153, 153.
Esdras. Books of, 167.
Esh Nofirah, 68.
Etherid^e. J. W., 11.
Eunuch. Explanation, from the Zohar, of
the word. Eunuch ; as used in the New
Testament, 93 sq.
Evmuchs. Disciples of the Wise, called,
Eunuchs, in the Zohar, 93.
Evanflreliste. Symbols of the, 45 note.
Eyil angels in New Testament and in the
Zohar. 106 sq. See, Demons.
Evil Eye. The, 436 sq.^ 454.
Evil exists for the wise purposes of God,
184 ; and Good, created by the Deity,
126; Inclination, f. e., the Ye’ittr km-
rah, 346 and note ; Necessary to the
Good, 184. 185; Spirits or Q’lippoth,
126.
ESx nihilo. Creation. 124. 276.
Expansion and Concentration, zzo.
See. Tzimtxum.
Eye, the closed. 200 ; degrees and coatings
of. Ancient ideas as to, 215, 216 ; the Evil,
436 sq. , 454 ; metaphor of Sight through
the, 213, 214; of Providence, always
open, 118.
Ezekiel or Ezeqiel ; the Four Faces of the
Chariot Throne of, 45 note, 229, 394.
See, Merkabah. The Visions of, and
those of Isaiah, Daniel. 237; a great
Qabbalist. 166 ; Vision of. 45 note. 242.
See Vision; Vision of and the Apoca-
lypse of St. John, 303.
Ezra and Azriel, 38. See, Azariel.
Ezra re-wrote the Old Testament in the
Aramaic alphabet, 461.
Ezra Ibn. On Ibn Gebirol. See, Ibn
Ezra.
Ezra. Moses Ibn Jacob ben, 160.
Ezra the Qabbalist. See, Azariel and
Azriel.
Faces. The Partzupheem or Faces, 211,
283, 3821^.. 394 sq. See, Partzupha; also,
A’reekh An-peen and Zc’ir An-peen.
478
Falaqu^ra. 8hem-Tob b. Joseph
Ibn, 8, lo. See, Ibn Falaqudra.
Father. The. Symbolized in the Qabba*
lah by Kcther, 182. See, Abba.
Fear and Love. Worship through, 429.
Female and male principles, 118, 137, 185,
387 J^M 399. 417- Sec, Adam.
Feminine deity among the Semites, a re-
flection of the male, 246, 247, 342, 373
s^. ; reflection of the Supreme Deity,
with the Qabbalists, 247.
Fioinus. Marsilua, largely influenced
by the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171.
Fifty Oates of Understandinff, 247,
314. 342.
Fire and Incense, 230 ; the mystery of the
three parts which are one, 376 sg. ; river,
394 sg. See D’i-noor and Dinur ; and
Water, 348. 349.
First Sin. The, 410, 425 j^., 430 sg. See,
Adam. Grapes.
Fish. The, 336. See, Fish-god.
Pish-firod, 234 sg., 243 sg., 336 note, 448
sg. See, Oannes. also Ea, and Hea.
Flesh. The, from the Evil side, 410; of
Moses was red, according to the Zohar,
93. See, Moses. Power of the, 410.
Fludd. Dr. Robert, 11, 171.
Fons Vlt8B, 8, 9, 162.
Forbidden Fruit. Eating of the, 410,
425, 430. See, Grapes; also. First
Sin.
Form. Chinese idea as to Non-form and,
445; the Idealized, 181; Universal, 143
Four animals in early Christianity, 230;
animals of the Merkabah in the Apoca-
lypse, 230; figures in the Vision of
Ezeqiel, 45 note, 229, 394 sg. See
Ezeqiel ; Worlds, 198. See, Worlds,
Eagle, Ox, Man, Lion.
Franck. Prof. Adolphe, thought the
Hebrew Qabbalah originated with the
Persians, 11. 172, 173 ; errors in his
translations from the Zohar, 377 note.
Franck. Jacob, 11.
Free Will, 347, 348; Ibn Gebirol’s views
on, 197; in Man, 126, 183, 194.
From nothingr, nothingr comes. The
Qabbalah opposes this maxim, 124.
Fruit. The Forbidden, what it wis^
410. See Grapes.
Fu-hsi, 444.
Furor. Ancient ideas as to, 427.
Qabalas. Count de. Poem of the Rape
of the Lock, by Alex. Pope, based on
171.
Oai-hinnom, 358, 395 sg., 403, 405, 411 ;
who calls his fellow-man Wicked brings
him to, 105 sf. ; the Wicked cast into,
353. 354; in ^e Zohar, 99. See HcU.
Galatinus. Peter, favors the antiquity ol
the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171.
Qale. Theophilus, largely influenced by
the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171.
Gan Eden. See Paradise, Eden, Garden,
of Eden.
Garden of Aromatics, by Ben Ezra, 160.
Garden of Eden, 204. 205. See. Eden
and Paradise.
Gebirol. Ibn. Attributed a Species of
matter to all the created, 191 ; held that
the Deity was immanent in everything.
195; on the Neshamah, i. e.. Soul, etc^
196 ; opinions upon Ibn Gebirol and his
writings, 161 ; on the influences between
the Superior and Inferior Worlds, 189 ;
his philosophical system resembles diat
of the Zohar, but it differs in its method
of treatment, 7. See, Ibn Gebirol, and
Me’q6r ‘Hay-ylm.
Ge’boor-ah. The Sephirah, 200, 269, 375.
Gedal-yah Ibn Yachia b. Don Yosef,
on the antiquity of the Zohar, 61. 62.
Ge’dool*ah. The Sephirah, 200. 269.
Qeiger, Dr. Abraham, opposes the an-
tiquity of the Hebrew Qabbalah, espe-
cially the Zohar, 10. 172.
Genesis. Key to the first chapter of, 122^
123.
Genius. What is, 138.
Ghost- world. Mul-lil, Lord of the, 247.
Gill. John, II, 464.
Gil’sroorem. The revolving of the Incor-
poreal, but not Metempsychosis, 198^
330. See Revolution.
Ginsburgr. Dr. Christian D., 10; op-
poses the Antiquity of the Zohar. His
objections, 65 sg. ; on the statement in
479
the Sephcr Yu’hasin, $6 ; his objections
answered. 65 s^.
Gnomes, 238 ; Chaldean. 454.
Gnostics and the Qabbalah, 170 ; i£ons of,
231 and note.
God, the Hebrew Name of is Elohim, 129;
His love and mercy acts in the Advance-
ment of humanity, 180; seeing God,
226, 427.
Gods. Babylonian; The sacred num-
ber of many of the, 238 ; of the
Heathen not to be reviled, according to
the Zohar. See also, Qur an, 93.
Gk>od and Bvil, in Chaldea, 242 ; and Evil,
created by the Deity, 126 ; and Evil, not
considered by the Qabbalah as two in-
dependent powers, but both under the
Supreme Deity, 184; inclination or
Yeixerha-toi, 348 note.
Grace or Love. The Sephirah of. See
•Hes-ed.
Graetz. Dr. Hirsch, opposes the anti-
quity of the Hebrew Qabbalah and es-
pecially the Zohar, 10. 37, 56, 172 ; his
hypothesis against the antiquity of the
Qabbalah, 39.
Grapes, 358, 410, 430 sq. ; simile of the
Bunch of, 217.
Great Sea. The, 233-235, 243, 244. See,
Bohu ; Serpent of the Great Crystalline
Sea is Leviathan, 233-235.
Greek idea of the Oppositions, 186 ; vowel
letters, 460, 464.
Groddeck. Gabriel, 10.
Gulllaume de Auversrne, 162, 163.
Gunsalvi. Dominic, translated into
Latin the Me*q6r ‘Hay-yim, 162.
Habal D’Garmin, i. e., the Body of the
Resurrection, 392. See, Resurrection.
Habel and ‘Hes-ed, 422.
Hambursrer. J. Favors the antiquity
of the Zohar, 64 note.
‘Hannanel. Rabbi, 5.
Hands. Qabbalistic methods of holding
the, 440, 441 note. See, the Description
of the Plates.
‘Ha’nokh. Babbi, 5.
Harmony is represented Symbolically, by
the Serpent with its tail in its mouth,
186. N.B. — This is likely Leviathan..
In Hindu Symbolism it surrounds the
Universe; and Oppositions in the
Zodiac, 186.
Harmonies in the Sephiroth, 203.
Hay Gaon, 47; knows of the Sephiroth,.
160.
Ha-Levi. Abraham b., attacks the
writings of Ibn Gebirol, 161.
Ha-Levi. Yehudah, has ideas similar to
those Ibn Gebirol, 161.
‘Hay-yah. The, 392.
‘Hay-yim. The Me’q6r, 3, 142 sq., 188^
sq. See Ibn Gebirol.
‘Hay-yoth ha-Qadosh, t. e., the Holy
Living Creatures, 259.
He or Hu, 175. 342. 373 ^9-
Hea or Ea, a Babylonian deity, 241 sq.,
448 sq. See, Ea, also, Oannes.
Head of all Heads, 369 sq.
Head. White, 369, 382, 386. See, Resha
‘Hiv’rah, also, Cranium.
Heads. The Three, which are One Head,.
369 sq., 382 sq.
Heaven. The coming Kingdom of, 202,.
203 and notes.
Heaven of Heavens, the Highest Ideal
World, 277.
Heavenly Adam, 202. See, Adam.
Heavenly Family. The, with early
Semites, 246. See Introduction xiii ;
Ideal of the Visible, in the Old and New
Testaments, 189.
Heavens. Two, 419 ; Like the layers of
an onion, 415 sq., 451.
Hebrew Alphabet, origin of, 460; Ancient,
pronunciation of, likely lost, 465 ; Old
Testament. The naturalism of, is merged
in the Greek idealization of the New
Testament. Introd.,xi; Square Char-
acter. Antiquity of. 461 ; Square Char-
acter, not used by Erra in rewriting
the O. T., 461 ; Square Alphabetic
Characters used in the time of Jesus,
465 ; and Syriac vowel pointing, from
the same source, 466; vowel letters,
460; vowel points, 66, 460. See,
Vowels, also. Vowel Points.
Hebrews, Origin of in Chaldea. 228.
Hegel. GeorfiT Wilhelm Friederich,
influenced by the doctrines of the He-
48o
brew Qabbalah, 171; views as to the
Deity, 355 ; his Opinion on the exis-
tence of Good and Evil, 184.
Hell or Gal-hinnom, 348.
Hell and Paradise, 432 sq. See Gai-
hinnom and Eden.
Hell or the Underworld. The Chal-
dean, etc.. 450.
Helmont. Frans Mercuriuavan, Civors
the antiquity of the Hebrew Qabbalah,
171.
Hermas Pastor. See Pastor of Hermas.
Hermes Trismeiristus, 167.
‘Hes-ed. The Sephirah, 300, 368 sq., 393
note. 375. See, Sephirah, Sephiroth.
Hindu deity never Winks, 314 ; heavens,
447 ; Idea as to Non-annihilation, 124
note ; representations of the Figures of
the Chariot Throne, 45 note ; beUef in
the Revolution of the Earth, 140 ; Sym-
bols of the Four Worlds, 330, 334.
See, Description of Plates; Symbolism,
137 note ; Veda’s and the Qabbalah,
Introd., xiii, 334 sq. ; representation of
the Four Figures in the Vision of
Ezeqiel, 45 note.
Hierarchies. Spiritual, of the Akkadians,
2461^., 448 sq.; Angelic, 167 note; of
the Roman Catholic Church, 167 note.
Hiram Abiff, of Tyre, 185.
HispalenslB. Joannes, 9; Aria Mon-
tano, 241. xxiii.
Hod. The Sephirah. 201, 270, 371.
‘Hoklimah Illa-ah. t. e.. Heavenly Wis-
dom, 258; Lashon.220; Nistharah,220,
221 ; The Sephirah, 192, 193, 261, 292
note; the Son or Logos. 182; Theoso-
phy. 220; the Sephirah, is Wisdom, the
Logos or Word. 199; the Word, called
by the Qabbalists, the Son of God, 199 ;
Yavonith, i. e., Grecian Wisdom. 220.
See, Logos, Word, Wisdom, Sephi-
roth.
Holy of Holies. In the ancient Temples
of Babylonia, 240, 241.
Holy Kiss. Reception of the Soul by the,
406, 407.
Holy Spirit. The, 260. 336; with the
Qabbalists, is the Mother, the Church is
the Daughter. 117.
House of the World, 385. Comp. 245.
Hn, f. e.. He, 175, 343 sq.. 373, 374-
Human Face, the symbol of St. Matthev,
45 note.
Human Bace. Roots of the. 432.
H\m:ianity considered in the Qabbalah, as
a Great Universal Brotherhood, 181.
Humiliation and Prayer. Days for. in
ancient Babylonia, 240.
‘Huahiel. Babbi, 5.
Ibn-al-Qayegr. See. Ibn Badja.
Ibn Ba4jft> 164.
Ibn Ezra. Abraham, on Ibn Gebirol’s
writings. 160. 161 ; on the Four Worlds
of Ibn Gebirol, 198.
Ibn Falaqu^ra. Shem Tob, says, the
Me’qdr Hay-ytm, of Ibn Gebirol. con-
tains Ancient Learning. 161; Shem
Tob appreciated the writings of Ibn
Gebirol, 161.
Ibn Oebirol. Solomon b. Yehudah,
Life and Writings, i s^. ; on the Soul,
by, 4 ; on the Will, by, 4 ; on the Mak-
rokosm and Mikrokosm. 4 ; Poems oC
4 ; Grammar, by, 4 ; Choice Pearls, by,
4; Tiqoon Middoth ha-Nephesh. by,
4; cause of the forgetfulness of his
philosophical works, 161 ; considered an
Arab in the Middle Ages, 163 ; consid-
ered a Christian. 163; influence of his
writings on the scholastic philosophy.
162 ; the first so-called, Arabian philoso-
pher, in Europe, 164 ; ideas influenced
the Mediaeval Mystics, 163 ; Moses Mai-
monides does not mention him. 164 ; the
Qabbalistic philosophy the predominat-
ing influence shown in. 219; poem on
the 32 Paths, 218: similarities between
his writings and the Zohar. 188 ; writings
have similarities to the Zoharic, 188. his
Me’qor ‘Hay-yim, 142 sq.
Ibn Roschd or, Averroes, 164.
Ibn Sina, called by the Scholastics, Avi-
cenna, 161, 163. 164.
Ibn Tofail. Abu-Beer-, 164.
Ideal Man. See, Adam Qadmon, and
Adam Illa-ah.
Ideas, of the cariy thinkers, 113; in the
ancient worid of thought. 276 jq.
48 1
Idrah Rabbah. Translation from the be-
ginning of, 440 sq.
Hu. Babylonian Supreme Deity, 238, 24a,
454-
Imasre* Divine. Man in the, 345.
Imznah, i. e.. Mother, 398. See, Abba.
Imznah nia-ah, 1. e.. Upper Mother, 199,
260. See, She*kheen-ah.
Importance of the investigation of the re-
lations of man to the Primal Cause, 174.
IncenBe and Fire, 230.
Incorporeal compared to a lighted lamp,
376, 412 ; divisions of the, 392 sq. ; in
man after Death, 410 sq. See, Nesh-
^ amah, Rua’h, Nephesh, ‘Hay.yah,
Ye’hee-dah.
Incubus, Succubus, etc., 453.
Ineffable Name, 175.341.342.343; not
used by Eve or Satan, 124. See Name,
also, Tetragrammaton and YHVH.
Initiates. An Ancient Lodge of, 439 sq.
Intellect. Universal, 144.
Invisible to be comprehended only through
the visible, Introd. xi ; the idea of a
Perfect Invisible and an Imperfect
Visible, among the Primitive ideas of
mankind, iii ; reached through the
visible, 114, 174, 189.
Isaac or Yltz-‘haq of Acco, a Practi-
cal Qabbalist, 58; quotations from his
Sepher Yu’hasin, claimed, by Dr.
Graetz et al., as proof that R. Moses de
Leon wrote the Zohar, 56, 57, 58, 59 sq.,
60.
Isaiah. Book of the Ascension and Vision
of, 167.
Isaiah had knowledge of the Qabbalah,
166, 198, 315 sq.
Ishmaelites or Yishmaelites, named in the
Zohar, 49, 69-73.
Jacob’s Ladder. Explanation of, by Ibn
Gebirol, 204.
Jannes and Jambres. An account of,
95 to 98.
Jelllnek. Rev. Dr. Adolph, 10; Intro-
duction to German edition of Prof.
Adolphe Franck’s La KabhaU, 11; his
favorable remarks as to the antiquity of
the Qabbalah, 39 ; statement as to the
31
Comet, in the Zohar. 80 sq.; began
in opposition to the antiquity of the
Hebrew Qabbalah and the Zohar. his
quotations however, favor their antiq-
uity. 172 ; his opposition to the Zohar, 38.
Jerome. St. His letter to Marcella men-
tioning the Ten Divine Names, trans-
lated, 168 note. See, St. Jerome.
Jesus. Time of thd birth of, 87 and note,
88 ; Three conceptions of, in the N. T.,
119; the religion of, 230; uses the
She-mah, 371 note.
Jewish Church called, the Daughter of
YHVH, in the Zohar, 94; Deity, male-
female, 175, 247, 342 sq.; Disciplina
Arcana. Value of the, Introd.viii ; knowl-
edge from Chaldea, 228. See, Thought,
and, Secret Doctrine, 174.
Joel. Rev. Dr. D. H., 11 ; favors the
antiquity of the Zohar, 64.
Johannic. The. theology, 119.
Josephiis, 167, 463.
Jost. Dr. I. M., favors the antiquity of
the Hebrew Qabbalah, 172; on the
Qabbalah and Zohar, 11, 61, 65, Introd.
xiv.
Jourdain^ cited, 162.
Jubilees. Book of. 167.
Jud^rment. Divine Power of, 126; and*
Mercy. The World exists through,.
402, 446 note ; the Pillar or Column of,
282; the Place of, of the Living and
Dead, 366 and note ; of the Wicked
and their punishment, 358.
Just. The. See, Pious.
Kallem. See, Vessels, and, Sephiroth, 279
^^•. 300. 331-
Kan (Qa-3rln or Cain), 248, 444.
Kepler upon the Constellations at the com-
ing of Jesus, 87.
Kether. Sephirah, 127, 128 note, 190, 199,
256 sq., 283, 292 note; is A’reekh An-
pecn, 283 ; clear Knowledge of, cannot
be obtained by man in this world, 380
iq-: represenu the Brain and the
Neshamah, 1. #., Soul, 282 ; called, the
Father. 182; is the Unity in Number.
282.
482
Kether El-yon, t. e.. Highest or, Upper,
Crown, 370 sq.
Kether Malkhuth, cited, a sq., 66, 195-
198.
Kernel and Shell. Description of the
Universe as, 191.
Khosari, Kueari or Cosrl. Ideas in this
writing, similar to those in the Me’q6r
*Hay-yim. 161.
Khtinrath. Henry, largely influenced by
the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171.
ElinfiT and Queen. The union of, no,
203, 283.
Klnsr- The. and his son. The Parables of,
401, 436.
Klnfirdom. The great text as to the com-
ing Kingdom of the Righteous on earth,
202. Compare 437 ; of Darkness, has
injured the Ancient tradition, 180 ; the
Ideal Perfect, 201, 202.
King’s of Bdom. The Pre-Adamitic, 118,
135, 137, 138 and notes, 185, 236, 386 sq.
Kircher. Rev. Athanasius, 11, 65;
ascribes many of the doctrines of the
Hebrew Qabbalah to the Egyptians, 6$,
171 ; favors the Antiquity of the He-
brew Qabbalah, 171 ; a figure of Pan
or Zeus Lykaeus, from his works,
325-
Kiseh ha-Kabod, t. ^., Throne of Glory,
418. See, Throne of Glory.
Kiss. The Holy, taking of the Soul of the
Pious by, 406, 407.
Kleuker. John Frederick, on the He-
brew Qabbalistic philosophy, 172.
Knowledere, in Hebrew, Da-ath, 260, 261 ;
in the ancient World, 177.
Ko-a’h Kis-eh, i. e., The Throne of
Glory, 418, 429. See, Throne of Glory.
Konitz. Moses b. Me’na-a’hem Men-
del, 20 sq. ; has written in favor of the
antiquity of the Hebrew Qabbalah, 20,
172 sq.
Kosmic Mystery, in the book. Teaching of
the Twelve Apostles, 116 sq.
Kosmoerony of the Zohar, 139, 415 sq.
Kosmos. The. with the Qabbalists, 117 ;
of the Zohar and that of Chaldea, 139
sq., 454 sq. See, Universe, also, Makro-
kosm.
K’ungr-Foo-Tze, or, Confucius, 444.
LactantitiB on the Revolution of the Earth,
139-
Ijadder of Jacob, 301, 308.
Landauer. M. H., 10. 11.
Lanflre. Joachim, ascribes the origin of
the Hebrew Qabbalah to Gentile phi-
losophy, 172.
Lanfirnafire, Introd., xi, xii ; Ancient, 175 •^•
Ijaou Tez*. Philosophy of. izi sq. ; his
Tao-teh-King. 1×3 ; a Qabbalah in his
asserted writings, 170.
Lassen. Christian, believes Neo-pla-
tonism came from India, 170.
Law. The. See Thorah.
Law. The Common, a species of Qabbal-
ah, 232.
LeaminfiT* Secret. See, Secret Learn-
ing.
Leibnitz. Baron, interested in the study
of the Hebrew Qabbalah through Baron
Knorr von Rosenroth, 171 ; concealed
his scheme of Differential Calculus. 177
note.
LenfiTth, Breadth, Deptli, 137 note, 200.
292 note. See also. Dimension and, Di-
mensions.
Leo HebrsBUB, 9.
Leon B. Moses b. Shezn-Tob de, 7.
10 ; not the author of the Zohar, 41 sq.
See, Moses de Leon.
Letters, numbers and proportions,
bind man’s thoughts in matter symbol-
ism, 181, Introd. xi.
Levi. Abraham b. David ha-, 5.
Levi. Abraham b. ha- (the Elder). 9.
Levi. Eliphas (Abbe Alphonse Louis
Constant), 11; on the Qabbalistic idea
of the Deity, 254, 255.
Leviathan, 234, 235. See, Serpent.
Levita. Elias, on the antiquity of the
Hebrew vowel points, 468. See, Vowel
points.
Lig’ht. The Zoharic, 428 ; body of Adam,
Ibn Gebirol’s writings upon the, 205;
in which the Soul is clothed, 399.
Liffhtfoot. John, 11.
Lil-in. The. 435.
Lil-ith, 248, 347 note ; the wife of Adam,
248 ; and her companion, Sama-el, 433
sq.
483
Xiion, 45 note ; symbol for fire, 229 ; sym-
bol of Force, Enerj^, Fire, also of
Ge’boor-ah, Spiritual Fire, 229; of St.
Mark, 45 note. See. Ezeqiel, Vision of
Ezekiel, Four Animals.
lilfe and Death, 362 sq.
lilfe. Entrance into, of the Soul, 396 sq.;
Source of. See, Me*q6r Hay-y!m;
Tree of, 204, 235, 236. See, Tree.
LivlnflT. All, to die and be at once revivi-
fied, at the coming of the Messiah, 437.
LiOdfire. A Qabbalistic, and the arrange-
ment of, 442, 443 note.
lioescher. Valentine Ernest, 11.
liOfiTOS. The, 301. 302. 336, 459: the Cre-
ative, 137. See, Word, also, ‘Hokhmah.
Lord. The, is given in the English Bible
as the equivalent for YHVH, 129; or
Adonai, 175.
Lord’s. The, Prayer, end of. Qabbalistic,
202 note ; Divisions of, and the Ten
Commandments, 318.
Lost. Nothing ever, 124, 125.
Low. Dr. Leopold, favored the antiquity
of the Hebrew Qabbalah, 11, 172.
Lower man or Adam, 114 ; World, a copy
of the Upper, 108 sq. See, Adam, also,
Man.
Love. The Divine, iii ; and Fear.
Worship through, 429; to God, 442
note.
Lully. Raymond, agreed with the He-
brew Qabbalists, 11, 171.
Lupercalia. The, 326.
Luria or Luriab. David. Analysis of
his book in favor of the antiquity of the
Zohar. 11,401^.; wrote in support of
the Antiquity of the Hebrew Qabbalah,
40-54, 172 sq.
Lutterbeck. Job. Ant. Bemb., 11.
Luzzatto. S. D., 10.
Ljrra. Nicbolas de, adopted the four
Jewish methods of interpretation of the
Old Testament, 105.
1^
Ma-a’seb Be’resbeetb, 162, 220.
Ma-a’seb Merkabab or Chariot Throne.
44 sq., 162, 220, 227 ; Interdictions as
to teaching, 222, 223. See, Ezekiel or
Ezeqiel; Vision of ; Four Animals.
Mafiric. Black and White, 47 note. 453
sq. ; different meaning of. in Ancient
times, from that in the Middle ages, 47
note.
Ma’bsbabab, i. e,, Thought, 128 and
note, 377, 395, 400, 408.
Maimonides an Aristotelian, 161 ; holds
that the Earth is round and revolves,
140 ; does not mention the Name of Ibn
Gebirol, 164 ; favorable to the Specula-
tive Qabbalah, 39 sq.; not favorable to
the philosophical ideas in the Writings
of Ibn Gebirol, 161,
Makrokosm, 4, 46, 118 note, 121, 128
note, 144, 147, 150, 156, 157, 160, 181,
231, 316 note. 332, 333, 337 note, 420,
443 note ; The Chinese, 112 sq., 445 sq.;
the Great Man seen by Nebuchadnezzar,
216; as the Great Tree. 422; usually
represented as an Immense Man, some-
times as an Immense Head, 118 note;
Maimonides on, 333 ; and Mikrokosm,
296, 422 ; Termed by the Qabbalah, son
of Elohim, i. e., God, 231.
Makrokosmos, 115. 225, 292 note; as
Atlas, 319, 326 ; Engraving of, as por-
trayed in the Middle Ages, 326, 327 ;
the Greek, 324 sq. ; the Hindu, 321 sq,
Makroprosopos, 182.
Malakb Hamovetb, t. e., the Angel of
Death, 432, 436 ; Rah, i. e.. Evil Angel,
435 note.
Male and Female principles, 387 sq.; All
exists through, 193. 199; principles on
Solomon’s Temple. 117; Souls in the
Pre-existent condition, 399. See, Pre-
existence.
Malkbutb. Deity in, 128 ; Kether Malk-
huth, 2 sq.,f)\ represents the Nephesh,
282 ; called, the Queen, Daughter, Ma^
troneethah. Matron, the She’kheen-ah,
etc., 203. 283; the Scphirah, 201, 202,
203, 272; Symbolized by the Moon,
282. See, Colors, Sephirah, Sephiroth,
Kingdom.
Man. The Androgenic; 281 ; the Angelic,
symbol of the Sephirah Malkhuth. the
Kingdom, the Spiritual Earth, hence
the Products of the Earth, Wine and
Bread. 230; as the Zodiacal Aquarius,
259; in the Body, cannot raise the Veil
484
absolutely, i8i, Introd. xi; the bringing
forth of, 353. See, Adam. The Man
with the Burden, 335; the Celestial,
419. See, Adam. Not considered in
the Qabbalah as Autonomic, 180; Cre-
ation of, 106 sq,, 417 ; Creation of, his
purity and his sinning, 344, 345, 424;
his Creative power, 183, 184; Danger
to, from the Unclean Spirits which sur-
round him, 225 ; can only approach the
Deity through the Intention of the
Heart, 409 ; in the flesh, is always sub-
ject to Dissolution and Death, 184 ; the
Earthly. 231, 232 ; Feared at first by all
the Animals, 345 ; cannot attain his lost
Felicity through his unaided powers,
181, 182 ; whilst in the Flesh cannot See
the Deity, Face to Face, 181; in the
Flesh can only See the Back of the
Deity, f. e., the Visible Universe, 181 ;
the Form of the, 400 sq., 415 sq., 420,
421 ; Garments of the Incorporeal in,
412; the Great Man, 147. See, Makro-
kosm. Incorporeal in Man after death,
410 sq., 412 ; the Inner, desires a Wor-
ship from the Heart, Introd. ix ; the
Mystery of, 414 sq., 422, 423 ; of the
present, his hopes and fears, 183 ; The
Real, is the Inner Spiritual not the out-
side, 184. 422 ; partakes of two opposing
Regions, that of Goodness and that of
Evil, 184 ; gives a portion of his Spiritu-
ality to his Works, 138 ; of to-day, only
a Concatenation of the Being-hood of
all precedent human life. 183 ; Upper,
Everything in the. 114; in the vision of
Ezekiel (Ezeqiel), 45 sq. and note;
Words, all spoken by, Continue in the
future, 428. See, Adam. Makrokosm,
Mikrokosm.
Man’s Works, a part of himself, 138, 139.
Manicheeans and the Qabbalah, 170.
Ma-qom, i. c. Place, 300, 420.
Mars. The planet, 329, 449.
Mazklm. The, 249, 451, 453. See also,
Mazikim and Maziqim.
Massorah. The Syriac in the III century
A.D..465 j^.
Massoritic Doctors only substituted for
the more ancient symbolism of the
Vowels, a more modern, 465 ; points in
the Synagogue Rolls, 467,; Doctors;
their duties, 46a sq. See, Vowels, Vowel
pointing.
Materialism and ForznaliBzn. The dan-
gers of, Introd. viii, ix, x.
Matroneethah, 76, 128, 203, 401 ; The,
the Mediatrix betH’een the Deity and
naan, 349, 350, 351 and note. 401.
Matter, llie Deity without, 191 ; Differ-
ent kinds of, 145. Ibn Gebirol on, \\2sq.
Matter. Jacques, 11 ; thought the He-
brew Qabbalah originated with the Per-
sians, 172.
Matter, always in Motion, 135 note;
no Absolute Matter, 15a note ; Univer-
sal, 143 sq.
Maurice. Bev. Thomas. Favors the
antiquity of the 2^har. 64.
Maya or Illusion, 276 sq., 321, See, De-
scription of Plates.
Mazlqlxn, 434, 435, 451, 453. See, Maz-
kirn.
Maa-zol, the Influences. 298.
Mediator. Among the ancient Babylo-
nians, 241; a Divine, a necessity to
man, 181. 182.
Men. Zohar speaks of, as not all descend-
ing from Adam, 139, 416,
Me-q6r *Hay-7lm, by Ibn Gebirol.
Analysis of, 142 ; Influences in the For-
mation of the, 142, 143 ; a Resiun6 of.
143 sq.; contains an Ancient System,
10.
Mercy and Judgment, 446 note.
Mercy. The Pillar of, 281 ; tempers Rigor
or Severity, 380 sq.; the Sephirah “Hes-
ed, sometimes called, 269.
Merkabah, 45 note, 227, 419 ; in early
Christianity, 230. See, Ma-a’seh Mer-
kabah. The, and the cleansing of the
Neshamoth, 394.
Merodach or Marduk, 241, 244.
Mesopotamia ancient. Civilization of, its
progression, 237; the Population of
Ancient. 237 note.
Messer Leone Hebreo, 9.
Messiah. The, 335 ; Atonement by the,.
337. 338 sq. ; the Coming of the, 85 sq.,
437; Ibn Gebirol on the time of the
coming of the. 217 ; ben Joseph and the
Messiah ben David, 366, 367 and note ;
485
as the Shepherd, 338, 339 ; Star of the,
88 ; Time of His coming, Kepler upon,
87; Time of the coming of, in the
Zohar, 88 sq. ; Washed in wine, 340 ;
in the Zohar, 77 sg., 85 sg.
Metals. Four, in the Zohar, 216.
Metatron, 116, 128. 174, 228, 272, 347.
350, 366 and note ; the B’ree-atic
Adam, 418, 419 ; the first of all Crea-
tures and the reflection of Elohim,
349 and note, 351 note ; the Presence
Angel, 365, 366 ; in the Second World,
328 ; the Servant of Ma-qom, 349 ; his
name equals that of Shaddai, the Al-
mighty, 328, 366.
Metempsychosis, 197, 308. See, Revolu-
tion.
Mexican Androgene. 157.
Meyer. JohaxmFriederich von, 11.
Me’ztizzah. The, 67, 452.
Michael Archanflrel identified in the Pas-
tor of Hermas, with Christ, 116.
Middle PUlar» 281 sq.
Middoth. The Thirteen, 372 note.
Midrash Va-yiqrah Rabbah, 73; Ye’-
rushalmi, 48.
Midrashim. Ancient, 167.
Mig’ht and Mysticism, 217.
Mikrokosm, 4. 46, 121, 128 note, 134, 144,
147, 150, 156, 157, 160. 181. 198, 231,
232, 265, 332 sq., 333, 337 note; and
Makrokosm, 422. See, Makrokosm,
Adam, Man.
Mikrokosmos, 225.
Mikroprosopos, 182.
Millennium, 233.
Minir. Isaac Ibn, 12.
Miracles, 193, 194.
Mirandola. Prince Giovanni Pico
della. 9. II.
Mithras. Quotation from Origen on, as
to the metals, etc., 310, 311.
Mohammedans say the First thing created
by God was a pen, 115 ; not necessarily
mentioned in the Zohar, 72 sq.
Molitor. Franz Joseph. tFavors the an-
tiquity of the Zohar, 11, 65.
Month. Names of the Jewish, from Baby
Ionia, 249.
Moon. The Spirit of. 242.
More. Dr. Henry, favors the antiquity of
the Hebrew Qabbalah, 11, 171.
Morin. Jean, 10. 172; on the Hebrew
vowel pointing, 461.
Moses. Book of the Assumption of.
167; an Egyptian General, 94: and
Eliyahu. in the Zohar, 99: Face red
like the face of the sun, 93 ; his Father
was Amram, 94; asks to see the Glory
of the Deity, 226; knowledge of the
Qabbalah, 166 ; name of has a connec-
tion with that of the Babylonian sun-
god, 239, 240 ; buried on the Wisdom
Mountain, Mt. Ne’bo, 206.
Moses of Cordova, cited, 266, 267.
Moses. Rabbi, 5.
Munk. Salomon, 8, 11 ; favored the an-
tiquity of the Hebrew Qabbalah. 172.
Musical notes. The seven. 277. Com-
pare, 325, 463.
Mystee, 177.
Mystery or Sod, 166, 305, 340 note.
Mystical colors, 229.
Mystics. The greatest, influenced by
ideas similar to those in the Qabbalah.
Introd. ix.
Mysticism. The H igher, of the Qabbalah ,
384 ; termed Might, 217.
Na-amoh, the beautiful Demon, 434,
Nachmanides or Ben Na’hman, 39.
Nagrid. Josef ha-, 4 sq.
Nasrr61a. Samuel ha-Levi b. Josef, 4,
5.6.
Name. Hidden, 3, 237 sq., 342.
Name. The Ineffable, 202, 203 and note.
263, 274, 341 ; the reversed. Ineffable,
446 note. See, Ineffable Name, Tetra-
grammaton, YHVH.
Name of, 72, 202 and note. See, Tetra-
grammaton ; also, Ineflbble Name.
Names of the Deity, 378 sq. ; Divine, Se-
cret, 237; Divine, in St. Jerome, 168
and note; Great, Qabbalistic formula
of the, 342 ; Ineffable, with the Baby-
lonians, Egyptians, etc., 237, 247. Con-
struction of the Chaldean Universe.
See Appendix, also Name.
Nazir. Jacob, (of Lunel), 38.
Ne’bo, 241. 242; the Wisdom deity of an-
cient Babylonia, his pUnet Mercury,
241 . 242 ; the bond of heaven and earth,
206.
486
NesTAtloziB, Introd. xii, xiii. See, Ayin.
Ne’hunyab, the Pious, knew of the
ZohAT, 48.
Neo-platonlcians in Italy cite from Ibn
Gebirol’s philosophical works, i6a.
Neo-platonism probably from Hindustan,
170.
Nephesh, i. t., animal soul, 147. 153, 155,
196, 200, 203, 233, 282, 392 note, 321,
332i 354. 390 59 > 40a, 411, 412, 4×8.
419. 433 -^^M 444 ; »n Adam, 273; of the
Great Ideal Man, 301.
Ne’qood-ah Pe’shoot-ah, i. e.. Smooth
Point, 257; Rishoun-ah, 1. e., Primor-
dial Point, 257.
Neshamab, Intellectual Soul, 147, 153,
155. 160, 196, 200, 203, 232, 282, 292
note, 321, 331, 332, 354 sq., 384 sq., 390
sq., 402, 410. 411, 412, 413. 414, 418,
419, 422. 423, 428, 429 J^. , 444 : Absence
of the, Creates Uncleanness, 408 ;
leaves the Body of man during sleep,
403 sq.; of the Great Ideal Man, 301 ;
return of, to Paradise, 404; Rua’h,
Nephesh, Zohar on, 197 ; the Upper, I90«
Ne-tza’h. The Sephirah, 201, 270.
Newton. Sir Isaac, studied the writings
of Jacob Bbhmen, 171 ; influenced by
the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171 ; hid his in-
vention of Infinite Series, 177 note.
New Testament. The Apocryphal, 167 ;
and the Secret Doctrine, Introd. viii,
440 ; a fusion of Hebrew and Hellenic
thought, Introd. xi.
Nicene Creed. Dogmas of and the Qab-
balah, 459 sq.
Nistaroth, 1. e.. Mysteries, 36.
Noa’h and ‘Hen, i. e., Grace, 420, 421.
See, Description of Plates.
Non-form. Chinese idea as to, 445.
Nothing:. Creation from, 213; is ever lost
according to the Zohar, 124 ; from noth-
ing nothing can come, 230.
No-Tbingr. The Absolute, 148 ; the No-
Thing, 275 sq. See, also, Ayin and, Ain
Soph. Ideas of the Great Church
Fathers as to, 127; Qabbalistic idea as
to, 125 ; the Universe created from, 305
note.
Number, etc. God doeth all things in,
230.
Numbers. Chinese, of Heaven and Earth,
445 ; Male and Female, 445 ; views as
to, in connection with the Universe, 141
and note.
Numerals and letters. The 33 Paths of
Wisdom, 204.
Nut. Comparison of the Universe to a,
190.
o
Oannes, 244. See, Fish-god.
Odor of the Blflrbteous, 355.
Olam Gal’gal-im, 419; Gil-gooleem, a8o;
Mala’khay-ah. 280.
Olam ha-Moor’flrasb, i. /.. the Moral or
Sensuous World, 200, 270.
Olam ha-Moos’lcal, i. e., the Intellectual
World, 200, 263.
Olam ha-Mut-bab, t. e., the Natural
World, 201, 271 ; ha-Sephiroth ; Q’lip-
potb; A’treel-ah; B’ree-ah ; Ye’tzcer-
ah and A’seey-yah. See, those Titles.
One or E’had, 344 ; composed of Three,
372 sq.
Onion. Sacredness of the, 451 ; roofe
shaped like an onion, 451 ; Universe in
layers like an, 415.
Open Bye, 118.
Oppositions and the Harmony, 117, 118^
185.
Oppositions, the stability of, in msCL^ and
female, 417 ; to the Four Worlds, 434.
Oral instruction in ancient times, 178 sq.
Oral teacbinfir* The value of. 178.
Orifiren, on the Secret meanings to be
found under the words of the Old
Testament, 103, 104 sq.; Qabbalistic
ideas in the writings of, 308 sq.
Orifirinal Sin. Man bom in, 346, 347. 432.
Osiander. Andreas, agrees with Kleu-
ker as to the antiquity of the Hebrew
Qabbalah, 172.
Otto. Julius Conrad, favors the antiquity
of the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171.
Ounqelos. 98, 207.
Ox. The, 45 note, 259.
Pa’had. The Sephirah, signifying. Fear,
200, 269 sq.^ 292 note.
Palace used to indicate the different de-
grees of expansion of the Sephiroth,
487,
Z9i; used to signify, the Supreme
Canopy or Veil, 136.
Pan. The Greek, 324 sq.; represented as
clothed in a spotted skin. 325 sq.
Paracelsus. PbilippusAureolusThe-
ophrastus, Bombast of Hohen-
heixn, -usually known as, was largely in-
fluenced by the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171.
Paradise or Eden» 273, 369 note ; Para-
dise and the Garden of Eden. The dis-
tinction between, 204, 220; Ibn Gebi-
rol’s explanation of, 204; and Hell, 432
sq.; return of the Soul to, 404; the
Souls in, 388 sq. See, Eden. Garden of
Eden, Souls, Spirits, Gai’-hinom.
Partzupha, 411.
Partzupbeem, 211. 253.
Partzupbin or Faces, 118.
Pastor of Hermas cited, 116, 167.
Patristic Literature and Ideas as to the
No-Thing, 127 note; Literature and
the Qabbalah, 167.
Pentateucb Rolls not pointed with the
Vowel Symbols, 460 sq.
Persian idea of the Oppositions, 186.
Pfeiffer. Augustus. Favored the antiq-
uity of the Hebrew Qabbalah, 11, 171.
Pharisees, destroyed the Inner Spirituality
of the Hebrew Sacred Writings, 174,
Introd. viii, ix.
Philo Judaus, 167 ; his ideas as to the in-
termediaries, 301, 302.
Philosophical systems as to intermediate
causes, 301.
Philosophy and Beli^rion ought not to be
separated, Introd. x.
Phoenician alphabet, 460.
Phylacteries or Th’pheelin. Antiquity
of 95. 452 ; worn constantly in ancient
times by the Jews, 95.
Physiofirnomy, 45 note ; 47.
Piety of the Qabbalists, 63, 64.
Pi^ and Reptiles, Unclean in ancient
Babylonia, 241.
Pillar of the Centre, 282 ; of the Right,
that of Mercy, 282 ; the Left, that of
Judgment, 282. See, Diagrams.
Pious. Atonement by the, 337. 338,
339; the Deity, very strict with the,
35a. 353 ; future happiness of, 356, 357,
358, 389 J^’t 406, 409. See, Righteous ;
also, Just.
Place, i. e., Ma-qom, 118, 278, 349.
Planetary World called Girgoolcem or
Gal’gal-im, 280, 419.
Planets created on Wednesday, ao6 ; each
was thought to have a presiding angel,
314 ; their colors, metals, and symbols,
in Chaldea and Babylonia, 449 sq.;
World of the, 330.
Plato. His doctrine as to Ideas, 113, 276
sq,; his idea of the invisible God, 114.
Poetry Jewish, in the Middle Ages, i, 2.
Point. The, 280, 281 ; the Chinese, 446
sq.; the first, is the Sephirah Kether,
i. €., Crown, 127; the first, called,
neqood-ah qadmo-ah. Emanation of the
Universe from, 136, 381 sq.
Points on the Pehlevi coins, 466; to the
Resh and Daleth, in the II century
A.D., 466.
Poison. The Angel of, 435. See, Sama-el
Lil-ith.
Pope Nicholas m, 81 sq.
Pope Sixtus rv. Largely influenced by
the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171.
Porphyry’s Tree, like the Tree of the
Sephiroth, 313.
Postel. William of. Favored the antiq-
uity of the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171.
Power of Judgment, 126.
Powers of Philo, 231. See, Philo.
Practical Qabbalah among the Baby-
lonian Jews, 51 and note. See, Qab-
balah.
Prana. The Hindu, 321, 322, 323, 324.
Prayer of Eliyah, 290 sq.
Prayer. The Lord’s. End of the, 202
and note ; and the Ten commandments,
318.
Prayer at Night before going to bed, 409.
Prayers. Two Qabbalistic, in the daily
service of the Sephardi Jews, 315.
Pre-Adamite Kings, 118, 137. 386 J/.
See, Kings of Edom.
Pre-ezistence of Souls, 196. See, Souls.
Priests and Prophets. Ancient, of the
Hebrews, 221.
Priests originally not a distinct class,
Moses confined them to the Sons of
Levi, 221 ; orders of, among the Akka-
dians, etc., 240.
Primal Cause, 174.
Primordial Point, 257. See, Point
488
Principles. Malu and Female, 387 sq. See,
Male and Female Principles, Adam,
Man, Kings of Edom.
Procession of Lighted Candles, 326.
Proclus, i6a.
Pronunciation of the ancient Hebrew
probably lost, 465.
Prophets called,* Nahiu, or Na’bee, 206;
The last, aaa ; originally not a distinct
class, Moses changed this to the initi-
ates. 221 ; come prominently forward in
the time of Samuel, aai ; as a profes-
sion. Time of the cessation of the.
a22.
Prototype. Elohim the, R. Moses Cor-
dovero on, 212. See Tzure, Trurath.
The, in the First World, 328. See. Adam
also, Makrokosm.
Prototypes Above, 109 sg.: 418, Lower
World, 190.
Providence. An uninterrupted, in gov-
ernment of the universe, 193.
Punishment of Sinners who do not repent,
353-
Purpeer-ah, an angel, 412 and note.
Purusha, 323, 337 note.
Pythagroras, 444; Tetrad of, aoa note,
318; believed the Universe has been
made through the proportions of Num-
bers, 141.
Pythaeroreans. Opinions of as to Ideas,
113; favor the idea of the Revolution
and Rotundity, of the Earth, 140.
Qabbalah. Ancient doctrines of. The
Books which contain them, 166, 167 ;
Antiquity of the, 165, 180, 218 ; in the
Apocrypha. New Testament, etc., 166,
167, 440; and Assyriology, 235 sq.,
Introd. xiii ; among the Buddhists, and
the Dravidian races of Indi^, 170 ;
Christian, 232 ; in the Common Law,
232; in the Cuneiform Writings, 218;
Difficulty of studying. Introd. xiii, xiv,
179 sq.; the Dogmatic or Positive, 226 ;
called ‘Nen, i.e., Grace. 221; the Hebrew,
its origin. 219 ; Hebrew, the problems it
seeks to solve, 223 ; Hebrew Specula-
tive, 161 ; Hebrew, bases itself on the
Hebrew Sacred Writings, 224 ; Hebrew
Practical, 224 ; Hebrew, cardinal doc-
trines of, 225 ; and Hindu Aryan
thought, 438, Introd. xiii ; Investigation
of, almost wholly ignored by the wi iter’s
of this Century, Introd. vii ; how a
Knowledge of it was obtained by the
Egyptians, according to the Qabbalists,
166 ; considers Humanity as an Univer-
sal Brotherhood, 181 ; and Massorah,
221 ; the Modem views of Lriiriah and
Cordovero, on the potential activity of
the Deity in Nature, 193 ; in Old Writ-
ings, 440; Origin of. 231 ; the Practical.
226, 227 ; Practical, in ancient Babylonia,
237; m India, Introd. xiii ; Qabbalah
early called a Science, 36 ; a continua-
tion of the Secret Doctrine. 179 ; in the
Septuagint Translation of the Hebrew
Sacred Writings, 166 ; the Speculative
or Metaphysical, 179, 226, 236; nothing
of it written, until the time of Shim-on
b. Yo’hai, 166 ; the Symbolical, 226 ;
the Theoretical, 226 ; Theories of, pro-
ceed from the lowest to the highest. 225,
226 ; traced to the Jewish Universities
in Babylonia, 39 ; Value of the study of.
Introd. vii ; Value of to the truly spirit-
ual and inner man, Introd. ix ; in the
Vedas, especially their Upanishads, 170;
Introd. xiii, 324 note, 439 ; the Wisdom
of, mentioned by Hay Gaon and Gebi-
rol, 440; in the Zend writings, 170.
Qabbalistic Formula of the Names, etc.,
342, 343 ; Tree of Life of the Sephiroth.
with the Divine Names attached, 169.
See, the Diagrams.
Qabbalists and Ibn Gebirol, drew from
the same source, 161 ; the names of An-
cient, 440.
Qadmon. Adam, 3. 4, 181. 190, 231. 281.
See, Adam Qadmon.
Qa-ylnand Ge’boor-ah, 422.
Qiznchi. B. Joseph Ibn, 8.
Q’lippoth, 126, 436 sg.; Olam ha-, i. e..
World of the Shells, 329, 330.
Queen. Malkhuth called, 203; the She’-
kheen-ah called, the, 341, 401.
Qur’&n, prohibits cursing strange gods, 94.
Rabbins. Capture of the Babylonian, 5.
Becanati. B. Mena’hem di, 12, 226.
289.
489
Bekhabites. The, 227.
Repentance necessary before man is for-
given his sins, 351, 352 : created before
the World, 353.
Beshs ‘Hlv’rali, 1. e.. White Head, 133,
258, 369 sq. See, Head.
Besxirrection. The, 354 ; of man in the
body, 354. 355. 356. 414; and existence
after death, believed in, by the Semitic
Chaldeans, 246. See, Body of the
Resurrection.
Beuchlin. John (or Capnio), 11. 171.
Revised versions of the Holy Scriptures,
Introd. xiii.
Revolution of the Earth, in the Zohar,
139 sq. \ of the Earth, a fallacy according
to the Church Fathers, Lactantius and
Augustine, 139. See, also. Earth; of
Souls, 413. See, Gal-gal-im.
Rhenford or Rhenferdlus. Johann,
favors the antiquity of the Hebrew Qab-
balah, 171.
Ricci. Paul, favors the antiquity of the
Hebrew Qabbalah, 171.
Righteous. The souls of the, higher than
the angels, 383 sq. See, Pious; also,
Just.
Risiner of the Soul of the dead, 354 sq.
See, Resurrection.
Rittangrel. John Stephen, favors the an-
tiquity of the Qabbalah, 171.
River of Fire. See, Dinur.
Rivers. The Four, of Paradise, 216.
Rolls of the SynafiTOfiTue. The method
of Reading the, 467. See, Vowel Points.
Roman Catholic Church and its hier-
archy, 167 note ; claims to be the pos-
sessor of a Christian Qabbalah, 232.
Rome, in the Zohar, 71 sq.
Rose. Romance of the, Hebrew Qabbal-
ism runs through the poem of, 171.
Rosenroth. Baron Christian Knorr
von. Favors the antiquity of the Zohar,
11,65. 171.
Rosicrucian Society, largely influenced
by the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171.
Rossi, R. Azzaryah Min Ha-adomim
dei. Believed in the antiquity of the
Zohar, 64.
Rua’h, J. ^.. Spirit, 147. 153. 160, 196, 200,
203, 232. 282, 292 note, 321, 332, 390 sq..
404, 410, 411, 412, 413, 418,419. 43a.
433 ; of the Great Ideal Man, 301.
Rua’h ha-Qadosha, i. ^..the Holy Spirit,
260.
Rum Ma-aleh, i. e., Inscrutable Height,
258.
s
Saadyah Gaon mentions the Ten Scphi-
roth, 160 note ; on the Sepher Ye’treer-
ah, 159.
Sabah’s (the Old Man’s) words, 124.
Sabah D’Sabin, 367.
Sachs. Dr. Michael, opposes the anti-
quity of the Hebrew Qabbalah, espe-
cially the Zohar, 172.
Sacrifices in ancient Babylonia, 240.
Sakhya Muni or Buddha, 187, 239,
443 note, 444.
Salcunander, 394 sq.
Salvation to the Wicked, from the Deity,
430-
Scun Moveth Az, the Demon, 434.
Samii-el, 330, 344. 3^5 note ; The Angel
of Death, 347, 348 ; and his Companion,
Esheth Zenooneem, 330, 331 ; brought
Death into the Worid, 345 ; Dangerous
to mock, 435; the Evil Serpent, 344,
345 and note, 346 ; and the First-Sin,
430 sq.; and Lil-ith, 433 sq. See,
Lil-ith.
Samson’s riddle, 229. ^
Saracens, 71 J^-
Sarcofirnomy, 45 note.
Satan, the Accuser, but an angel of the
Deity, 242; not to be Cursed, 93, 94;
a Necessity, 186. See, Talmud.
Satanow. J., Favors the antiquity of the
Zohar, 64 note.
Sabbath, perhaps our Sunday, kept by the
ancient Akkadians, etc., 240.
Scalierer, 10.
Schellinff. P. W. J. von, quoted as to
the importance of the Hebrew Qabbalah
and the Zohar, 173. ’74 : influenced by
the doctrines of the Hebrew Qabbalah,
171.
Schiller-Szinessy. D., favors the Anti-
quity of the Hebrew Qabbalah, 172;
favorable to the antiquity of the Zohar,
63; translation of a passage of the
Zohar bv, 106 to 108.
490
SchOBttfiren. Christlsn, ii. cited, 114;
Works of, recommended, 115 note.
Schopenhauer. Arthur, influenced by
the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171.
Sohultens. Albert, on the Hebrew vowel
|x>inting, 461 sq.
Sea, the Great Crystalline, 233, 234, 235,
257, 336, 448 sg.
Sea. The Great Crystal in the Apocal-
ypse, 303 ; Symbolism of the, in the for-
mation of the Sephiroth, 279.
Secrecy by the ancient wise men, 178.
Secret Doctrine, 166, 179 ; in the time of
Jesus, 174 ; or Learning, not to be foimd
in the Talmuds, Introd. vii, viii; called ;
Sithrai Thorah, Sodoth ha-Thorah,
‘Hokhmah, Pardes, i. e., Paradise, etc.,
220 ; Reason of the Secrecy, as to, 222 ;
of Genesis, 123 ; Learning, i6i ; Learn-
ing in the New Testament, Introd. viii ;
Learning, mentioned in the Talmudim,
54, Learning. The Teachings in the,
222 ; meanings contained in the words
of the Thorah and of the Old Testa-
ment, 102 sq., 105; Science, 52; Sci-
ence or Qabbalah among the Jews in
Babylonia. 53 ; Wisdom, 284.
Sepher Arugalh ha-Bosem, 160; Bahir,
called Ye’rushalmi, 48 ; Bikku-reh Ha-
eettim,93; B’rith Me’nu-‘hah, 54 ; Dib-
reh Hayoumim L’Mosheh, 94, 98;
Emeq ha-Melekh, no note; Ha-
maggid, 54; Ha-mishqal, 60; ha-
Qabbalah, 5; ha-Rimmon, 60; ha-
Shem, 60; ha-Sodoth, 60; Mash-mee-
ah ye’shoo-ah, 75; Mathnoth Ke-hun-
hah, 73; Ma-ye’nai ye’shoo-ah, 73;
M’bo Sh^-arim, no note; Matzreph
I’keseph, 64 ; Migdal Oz, favorable to
the antiquity of the Zohar, 42 ; Quota-
tions from Maimonides, favorable to
the antiquity of the Qabbalah, 40;
Mishkan Ha-edooth, 60; Nephesh Ha-
‘hokhmah, 60; Ne-tza’h Yisrael, 73;
Qadmooth ha-Zohar, in favor of the
antiquity of the Zohar, 40 ; Sha-ar ha-
Shemoth, 60 note ; Sha-ar ha-Tzinor-
oth, 60 note ; Shalsheleth ha-Qab-
balah 62; Shee-oor Qo-mah, 44; She-
qel Ha-Qodesh, 60; Shepathal, no
note; Shushan Ha-edooth, 60; Sublime
Faith. Abraham b. David Ha- Levi in
this book, attacks Ibn Gebirol. z6i;
‘Tzee’nah Uree’nah, 343 note ; Ye’txccr-
ah, 218; Ye’tzeer-ah. Antiquity of, 39;
Ye’tzeer-ah on Ayin, 256 ; Ye’tzeer-ah,
cited, 126; Yc’tzcer-ah, Known to be
Ibn Gebirol, 159, 203 ; Ye’tzeer-ah.
quoted, 305; Ye’trecr-ah, on the mean-
ing of Sephirah, etc., 396, 297, 298 ;
Yu’hasin. Disputes as to the correct-
ness of the versions of, 55, 56, 62.
Sephirah, Sephiroth. Meaning of the
words. 295 sq.; Triad in each, 281.
Sephiroth. The, 156; of Construction,
200 ; as to the Deity and between them-
selves, 289; Delineations of like those
of the Ptolemaic planetary system, 297,
see, Plate, p. 295 ; Form the Adam Qad-
mon, 182 ; Formulations as to, 294 ; Ibn
Gebirol’s idea, as to the, 209, 210;
known to Hay Gaon, 160; Heavenly
spheres, 314 sq. ; Idea of, in the Apoc-
ryphal Gospel of the Birth of Mary,
316 sq. ; Idea of in Isaiah, 315 sq.; the
Maz-zol, 298 ; names of. in the Zohar,
280 ; Clam ha-, 321 ; Origin of the Idea
of the, 302 sq. ; Idea of. like that of one
who desires to build a palace, 380 ; in
Philo, 160 note ; see, Philo. Quotations
from the Talmud, as to, 304, 305 ; known
to Saadyah Gaon, 160 note ; The Seven
Lower, 292 note; Spheres or orbits,
191 note ; Symbolical description of the
forming of the, 277 sq. ; The Ten, 251
sq., 409, 421 note. 442 and note, 443
note; The Ten, action of, 193; Ten,
in Ibn Gebirol, 160 ; The Ten. together,
compose the Adam Qadmon, and arc
the content of the Ineffable Name, 231 ;
the Ten, perhaps in the hierarchies of
Dionysios, the Areopagite, (St. Denis)
and, The Testament of Adam, 167 and
note ; The Ten, tnadic, 281 ; The Tree
of. with the Akkadians and Chaldeans,
235 ; The Voices Seen, not heard, 100.
Sephirothic Diagram in circles, 100;
Tree, like Porphyry’s Tree, 313. See,
Diagrams.
Serpent, 204; brought death into the
World, 346; of Eternity, 45 note; The
Evil, 435 ; The Evil. See Sama-el. The
491
Great, has Seven heads, 235 ; the Great ;
the bond which was thought to hold to-
gether, the Heavens and the Earth,
235; the, of the Great Sea, 233, 234,
335. 243 ; the great Subtility of, and the
reason of this, 235. See, Leviathan,
also, Sama-el.
Beth and Ra’h-mim, 422.
Seth’s knowledge of the Qabbalah, 165.
Seven kings of Exiom, 118, 246, 386. See,
Pre-Adamitic kings; also. Kings of
Edom. Lights in early Christianity,
230 ; a number sacred to the Ancient peo-
ple of Babylonia, 240, 448 sq. ; Planets,
235; Seven-headed Serpent of the
Great Sea, Leviathan, 233-235 ; Spirits
before the Throne, 308 ; Stars of the
Great Bear, 235 ; Value of the number
in ancient times, 277, 302, 303, 317 ; Di-
visions in the Universe, 415.
Seventh Thousand year of the World, 233.
Sex in the deities of the Semites, 246.
Comp. Hu : also, Feminine.
ShaddaX, i. e., the Almighty, 272. See,
Metatron.
Shaddsi. El. At first probably triadic,
175.
Shadow. The created made from the
D’yooq-nah, i. e.. Shadow, of the Light
of the Deity, 211.
Shafruth. Yitz-‘haq Ibn, 38.
Shalsheleth Ha-Qabbalah, 64.
Sha-xnayeem, i. e., Heavens, 348 sq.,
369-
Shaprut. R. Chasdai (‘Hasdai or Chis-
dai), Ibn Shaprut ben Yitz-‘haq b. Ezra
ha-Nasi, 38.
Shedlm, 434 sq.
Shedhi, 434.
She’kheen-ah, 116, 128. 175. 340, 341
342, 349-351 note. 401 ; part in the Cre-
ation of the Universe, 359 sq. ; and Elo-
him, 365 note. See, Queen ; also, Ma-
troneetha.
She-mah. The, 371 sq,
ShemaryJEUiu. Rabbi, 5.
Shem Ha-me’phorash. See Ineffable
name; Hava-yah, 1. r.. the Existing
Name, 342, 379 sq.
She’reerah (Gaon). R., 38; on Physiog-
nomy, 45, 46, 47.
Shesheth. Jacob b., 38.
Shim-on b. Yo’ha’i’e School, 48. Sec,.
Yo’hai. Shim-on b.
Sibylline Oracles, 167.
Side. The other, or Evil, 437.
Silence or Death. The Angel of, 403, 405.
See. Death.
Simon. Richard, ascribes the origin of
the Hebrew Qabbalah to the Chaldeans,
172.
Sin. The First, 430 sq. ; Original. Man
bom in, 346, 347, 43a. See, Adam^
Man, First Sin.
Sinners. The necessary change for, 353.
Siphra D’Tznioothah. Beginning of,
cited. 118 ; a Zoharic book, 13.
Six thousand years of the World, 233.
Sixtus rV. Pope, influenced by the Qab-
balah. 171.
Sleep, the taste of Death. 409; the soul
leaves the body during sleep, 402 sq.;
dreams. 403.
Smooth Point, 257. See, Ne’qood-ah,
also, Point.
Sod or Mystery. 6, 220, 340 note. See,
Mystery. Wine, Secret, 358, 346 note.
Solomon Engraved on the walls of his
Temple, likenesses of the male and
female principles, 117; The Psalter, of,
167 ; the Temple of, 185 ; Book of. 397.
Son. The, of God, 194, 199; The Only
Begotten, 262; Production of the, 387
sq. ; The Upper Adam, the, 421 ; The,
or Word, 459. See, Logos, Word,
Messiah, Metatron, Mediator.
Son of God, an angel, 116; Ideas as to
in ancient Babylonia, 247 ; the Thorah,
116.
Sorcery among the Chaldeans, 453 sq.
Soul. Abode on earth a means of educa-
tion and trial, 197; Animal. See,
Nephesh. Ascent to the bosom of the
Deity, 11 1, 406; a Chariot. 220 note;
entrance of, into the body, 396 sq. ;
effect as to purity or uncleanness, accord-
ing to Ibn Gebirol, 198; the Light in
which it is clothed, 399 sq. ; departure
of the holy, 411 ; manifestation of
through the light of the eyes, 215. See,
Neshamah for the Upper Soul, Nephesh
for the Animal or Vital Soul. Soul of the
492
Pious. The crowning of, 389 sq. ; Pre-
existence of, 196 ; the Prototypic Higher
Soul, 190; Reminiscence in the, 196;
Return of to Paradise, 404; passes
through the Sephiroth, 391 note ; and
Spirit. The positions of, 407 sq. ; Writ-
ings upon the Divisions of, 334.
Souls. The souls above, 388 sq. : Descent
of, 388 sq. ; Descent of the souls of the
pious into Sheol to bring up souls which
are therein, 413 ; all existed at first, in
the Divine Idea, 196; Divisions of the,
196, 390 sq.; Emanated and their prior
knowledge, 388 sq.; Emanation of,
through the Right and the Left, side,
no; Form ing of the, 384 J^. See, Nesha-
mah, Rua’h, Nephesh and. Soul. In Para-
dise, 389 sq. ; Doctrine of the Pre-exist-
enceof, 190 and note ; in the Pre-existent
condition, 399; The Revolution of.
See, Gil-goolem. Revolution or Revolv-
ing of the, 413 ; of the Righteous, higher
than the angels, 383 sq.; The Three,
200 ; Treasury of the, 395 sq. ; of the
Wicked, 358; The Coming down to
this World of the, 384 sq.
Sound and Color, 277 ; Eternity of Sound.
134 note, 428 ; sound in Worship, 230.
Space. Infinite, 231 ; Qabbalistic ideas
upon, 300, 301 ; Three Worlds in, 301.
Spaces. The Two, 146.
Spark. The emanation of the Nebulous,
195. See, Point; also, Ne’qood-ah.
Speculative Qabbalah, 230.
Spencer. Herbert, cited, 113.
Spinoza. Barukh or Benedict, influ-
enced by the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171.
Spirit. The Evil, 346 and note, 347. See,
Kf’/a^rAa-raA, and Sama-el. The Holy,
considered by the Qabbalah as in the
Sephirah Binah. 182. See, Rua’h.
Spiritual Elements of the worlds, or,
Ruhoth ye sod ha-Olam, 193 ; in Man
or Adam, 114. See, Adam.
St. Augrustine did not believe in the
Revolution of the EUirth on its axis, 139.
St. Dionysios, the Areopagite, 45 note,
167 note, 440, 456; Mystic Theology
of, 456. See, Dionysios.
St. Ephraim used vowel pointing in the
Syriac, 466.
St. Jerome, on the Ten Divine Names,
168, note.
St. Jerome’s knowledge of the Hebrew
vowel points, 468, 469.
St. Paul refers to the Celestial Adam, 114.
Z15; says, we live and move in God,
114; holds that the Visible declares the
Invisible, Z14. See, Introduction xL
St. Synesios, on Dreams, 46. 115 note.
440.
Stelfiror» confesses the importance of an in-
vestigation of the Hebrew Qabbalah,
172.
Steinschneider. Dr. Morltz, 11 ; says,
the true history of the Hebrew Qab-
balah, has not been written, 172.
Stem. Ifirnatz, £avors the Antiquity of the
Hebrew Qabbalah, 11, 172.
Stork. The, 321.
Strunz. Fred, 10.
Sun. Ex:lipse of, in the Zohar and the
Kether Malkhuth, 198 ; the Nocturnal,
453 ; Parallel of the light of the Sun, by
Ibn Gebirol, 149.
Subjective and objective, 193.
Superior and Inferior. As Male and
Female, 189.
Symbolism. Hindu, 127 note; of Lan-
guage, 175 sq. See, also. Introduction
xi sq.; of writing, 178. See, Colors.
Synesios of Cyrene shows a knowledge
of the Qabbalah, 46 note. See, St.
Synesios.
Syriac and Hebrew vowel pointing from
the same source, 466; Massorah in the
III century A.D., 465 sq. ; Vowel point-
ing, 465 sq.
Tab’nooth. The Form, called, 401.
Taer-in. The, 24, 202 ; mentioned by St.
Jerome and the Talmud, 465.
Talisman and amulets, 452.
Talmud. Early name of, 48 ; opposes the
cursing of Satan, 94 ; when and where
edited, and the content of. 48.
Talmidai ‘Hakhameen or Disciples of
the Wise. 92.
Tantras. Hindu. Qabbalistic ideas in,
Introd. xiii, 170.
493
Tao. Principles of the, iii sq.
Tao-teh-Kiner, by Laou Tsz”, 113.
TarfiTums. Age of, 461, 462; are Mysti-
cal, 53.
Teacher and Pupil. In the ancient world
and to-day in India, 177.
TeaohinfiT of the Twelve Apostles
cited, 116 sq.; curious statement as to
the Kosmic Mystery, 116 sq.
‘Te-bah, i. #., Nature, and Elobim, 379.
Tel-loh. Wonderful discoveries at, 237
note, 238 note, 239.
Temple of Solomon, 185; Solomon’s and
the Babylonian, 240, 241 ; Towers, 240,
241. See, Solomon.
Temples. Angles of the ancient Baby-
Ionian, 240.
Temptation through woman, 365 note.
See, First Sin.
■ Ten Angelic Hosts, 167 and note, 329; Of
the number Ten, 302 sq.; the number,
in ancient Babylonia, 240 ; ten ‘ Saids*.
The, 122 ; The Ten Words, 328, 329.
Tennemann. Wilbelm G., agrees with
Bruckcr, 172.
Terrestrial Man, 123 sq. Sec, Man;
also, Adam.
Testament of Adam, 167 note; of the
Twelve Patriarchs, 167.
Tetrad of Pythagoras, 202 note, 318.
Tetragrrammaton, 263. See, Inefiable
Name.
Thanksgrivinfir days, existed with the an-
cient people of Babylonia, 240.
Theivhel. Of, 416.
The’na-im. The. 48.
Tbeosophy. Jewish, at Sora in Babylonia,
52. See, Babylonian Jews.
These, /. r., Eleh, 130 j^.
Thirty-two ways of Wisdom, 199, 204,
369 note.
Thohu, 243, 244, 305 note, 448 sq. See,
Bohu.
Tholuck. Aufirustus, opposes the anti-
quity of the Hebrew Qabbalah, espe-
cially the Zohar, 10, 172.
Thorah. Creation of, 135 ; Secret mean-
ings in the words of, 102, 103.
Thorah’s. The two, 375.
Thoiiffht, f. e., Mahshabah, 128 and note,
297, 298, 377 sq., 408 ; Most of the An-
cient has perished, 178 ; Waves of, pass
through Humanity, 180 ; and the Word,
377 sq. See, Ma’hshabah.
Three Degrrees of initiation in Ancient
Babylonia, 249; of Initiation in the
early Christian Church, 249 ; the three
Dimensions, 137 note. See, Dimen-
sions. Are One, 371 sq.; Parts of Fire
which are one, 376 ; Upper Sephiroth
form YHV, 186.
Throne. The, 280, 424; Kiseh ha-Kabod,.
f. e., Throne of Glory, 429 note ; Kur-
sai-yah, the, 328, 394.
Tiberias. The School, and the vowel
points, 465.
Tiph’e-reth. The Sephirah. 200, 201,
203, 270, 282, 283, 292 note. See,
Sephiroth ; also. Colors.
Towers. Sacred, 240, 241.
Tradition. Antiquity of, 175, 176; Oral
and Written, 176. See, Introduction.
Transmigrration of Souls. 90 sq.; St.
Jerome upon, 91. See, Revolution,
Gil-goolem, Metempsychosis. Origen
upon, 91.
Tree of Death, 409, 410.
Tree. The Great, 349 sq,, 385,422; The
Holy, 422; of Knowledge, 204, 431
sq.; of Life, 205, 252, 253, 349, 406,
436; of the Sephiroth. 235, 25a sq.^
314 ; The Worid, 235.
Triad, 259, 281; very Ancient, 212, 213;
with the Chinese, 444 sq.; with the
Israelites, 372 ; in Ibn Gebirol, 212 ; in
the Holy of Holies, 186; in each
Human being, 200; She-mah and the
Unity in the, 371 sq.; in each Sephirah,
281.
Triadic deities of the Akkadians, 246,
247 ; Idea, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268,
372 sq.; Idea in the Zohar, i8a, 183,
200; Representations on Signets and
Amulets, 249, 250; symbolism in the
Qabbalah, 182.
Trinity, 208 ; in Judaism, 372.
Trisagrion, in early Christianity, 230.
Trismegristus Hermes. See, Hermes
Trismegistus.
Tritheim. The Abbot Johannes,
largely influenced by the Hebrew Qab-
balah, 171.
494
Trouble. When in. man should depend
on the Deity, 429.
Tnith, the Seal, 372 note, one of the foun-
dations of the Universe, xix s^.
Tzelem, 347 note, 390 s^., 404 s^., 411 sg.
Tzim’tzuzn. The Qabbalistic theory of.
20I, 211. 231,446.
Tzool-mah. The, 405.
Tzurah. The, 401.
Tzure, 1. e., Prototjrpc, 384 s^.
Tzursth, Prototypes, 392, 400.
TJ
Understandingr. See, Binah, Sephirah
and Sephiroth.
Underworld. The Chaldean, etc., 450
Unity, Triad and She-mah, 371 sg.
Universal Form of Ibn Gebirol, 199;
and Matter, 143 Sf.; Intellect, 144.
Universali. The, De Materia, 8.
Universe. Construction of the Akkadian,
Chaldean and Babylonian, 448; Ema-
nation of, 13s, 195, 381 sg., 385 J/.,
called the Garment of God, 280 ; in the
Middle Ages. Diagrams of, 295, 319,
448 ; formed from an Indivisible Point,
136; Qabbalistic ideas as to the con-
struction of, 415 J/.; Present, before its
Creation, to the Holy One, in Idea, 127 ;
created by the Deity and HisShe’kheen-
ah, 359 j^./ went forth from the Will,
127.
Upper and Lower, connection between
the, 386 ; Deity and Lower Deity in the
religious system of the Akkadians. 247 ;
Familv. As to consultation with the.
246, 365 note, Introduction xiii ; and
Lower Deity of the Qabbalah, 247; and
Lower Worlds, 256; Man or Adam,
114; Universe of which the Lower, is a
copy, 108 sg.
Us. Let, make Adam, 360 jj^.
•V
Van Helmont. John Baptist, 11 ; Franz
Mercurius, 11.
Van Helmonts. The two, largely influ-
enced by the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171.
Veil. The. cannot be raised in the matter
world, Introd. xi; on which Creation
was Portrayed, 127, 135 and note, 136.
See. Maya or. Illusion, and. Description
of Plates.
Venus. The Planet, 329 ; placed next to
the Sun instead of Mercury, 314.
Vessels. The, the Sephiroth, 210. 3Zi>
279 sg. See, Sephiroth, also, Kailem.
Vicarious Sacrifices, in Ancient Baby-
lonia, 240.
Villars. Abbe de, author of the Count
deGabalis, 171.
Visible. Through it we obtain knowledge
of the invisible, 109, 113, 174. See, St.
Paul, and the Introduction.
Vision of Bzeqiel. Animals of, in Chal-
dea. 45 note, 227. 228.
Visions. The. of Bzeqiel, Daniel,
Isaiah. 45 note. 227.
Voice. The. 136, 137 ; and Sound in
Worship, 230; The, and the Word,
377 sg.
Voices, seen not heard. 99, 100.
Vincent de Beauvois, 163.
Virgin Mary. Hymn to the, 336; Sym-
bolic color of. 261 note.
Vowel Accents in the Talmud, 467.
Vowel Pointing’. Antiquity claimed for
it, 461 sg.\ An Example to show anti-
quity of Vowel pointing. 465 ; was not
Invented at one time, 463 sg.; Syriac
and Hebrew from the same source. 466.
Vowel Points in 610 A.D., 467 ; Assyrian
and Palestinian. 461 ; from the Baby-
lonian Saboraim and not the Massorites,
466 ; Buxtorf believed them to be an-
cient. 464 sg.; in the VIII Century
A.D.. 467 ; in the X Century, 467 sg.;
Dr. John Gill on the antiquity of, 464;
The Great value to Judaism, of the es-
tabhshment and making known with
certainty, of the, 469 ; Hebrew, 460 sg.
See, Hebrew vowel points. In the He-
brew, first applied only in ordinary
books, 467; names of, not Hebrew,
469 ; Opinion of the Karaite Jews upon
the, 464 sg.; only give the Pronuncia-
tion as it existed in the VI Century in
the School of Tiberias ; Reason of their
having been made known, 462 sg. ; not
on the Hebrew Synagogue Rolls. 467 ;
St. Jerome’s knowledge of. 468, 469;
495
pointing in the Syriac, 465 sq.; Syriac
gives the earliest historical knowledge
of, 464 sq.; in Syriac, Chaldaic, Arabic
and Persian, 468 ; points in the Syriac
quite perfect in the time of James,
Bishop of Edessa, 466; System of,
among the Syrians in 350 A.D., 466;
Reasons for the introduction of a more
permanent and known System of vowel
points, 466 sq.; Words showing the
value of, 469,470; in the Zohar, 468,
469.
Vowels. In the Aryan languages, 175 ;
the Hebrews asserted to have always
had, 465 ; Necessity of vowel points in
the Hebrew writings, 465 ; The Seven ,
277 ; Seven in Egypt, 463 ; Seven, among
the Greeks, 463 sq.; Seven, among the
Hebrews, 463 sq.; Written, not in the
Semitic languages, 175.
“W
Wachter. John Georfire, ascribes the
origin of the Hebrew Qabbalah to Gen-
tile philosophy, 172.
Wakkar. Yoseph b. Abraham Ibn,
12.
Water-Basins. In ancient temples, 240.
Ways. The Thirty-two, 300, 313, 314, 369
note.
Wednesday. The day of Ne’bo, also
the day of Buddha and the day of Mer-
cury, 206.
Week. Names of the days of the, 449.
Weifirel. Valentine, Largely influenced
by the Hebrew Qabbalah, 171.
Weifirht, Measure, Nximber. God
doeth all things, in, 230.
What? and, Who? 128, 129 sq., 378. See,
Eleh.
Wheat. The Parable as to, from the Zo-
har, lOI.
Where ? Meaning of, 275.
White Head. The, 133. See. Resha
‘Hiv’rah.
Wicked. The Deity, restrains His anger
as to the, 352, 353 ; The Souls of the,
358 ; the Judgment and Punishment of
the, 358, Salvation of the, 430.
Wieseler upon the Comet at the time of
the Birth of Jesus, 87.
Will of Ain Soph, 231 ; Creation by the,
135. 137; Creative, Logos or Word,
137 ; The Divine, X43 sq., 193, 194 ;
Divine, does not abolish Free Will, 194 ;
the Sephirah Kether, 190; as the
Source of Life, 196 ; a Triad yet a unit,
204 ; the Will as an active agent in the
Creation of the Universe, 3, 191 ; Uni-
verse Engraved in the, 195.
Williams. Dr. S. Wells. His Middle
Kingdom, cited, 113.
Winder, 10.
Wine. Reason of the use of, 330; and
Sod, 358. See, Sod.
Winers, an ancient emblem of the spirit-
ual, 366 and note, xix.
Wisdom, 125, 262 sq.; the Wisdom, Above,
368, 369 sq.; The Akkadian Deity of,
243-244; Deity of, among the ancient
Chaldeans. 241, 242. See, ‘Hokhmah.
Creating Power. Views of Proverbs, St.
Paul, etc., upon. 205; Religion, 221;
St. Paul on, 208, 209; Upper and
I^wer, 206, 207 ; the Upper Paradise,
205 and note ; or the Word, created
the Universe, 205-209. See, Logos, and
Word.
Wolff. Rev. John Christopher, ascribes
the origin of the Hebrew Qabbalah to
Gentile Philosophy, 11, 172.
Woman. Regarded as the Medium of
temptation, 365 note ; Looking out of
the Window, a Parable from the Zohar,
104, the Evil, 436. See, Lil-ith ‘Havah
or Eve, Na-amoh, First Sin.
Wool. White and Pure, an Oriental sym-
bol for the efflux of Wisdom and Vital-
ity, 118 note.
Word. The, 125, 262 sq., 336, 377 sq,;
The Creative, 137. 301 ; Doctrine as to
the, in Different Nations, 205 ; The, the
First-bom brother of Satan, 116 ; The,
First Word of All, 381 ; and Logos,
262. See, Logos. ‘Hokhmah, Wisdom.
Words. All spoken by man continue and
ascend, 428 ; in the Abstract Sciences
only have a partially definite meaning,
Introd. xi ; Creation by Ten Sayings or,
Words, 304; The Ten, 328, 329. Sec,
Logos, Wisdom, Word, Ten.
World. The Ancient, and its Methods,
496
it
175 ; Angelic, 348 ; Exists through
Judgment and Mercy, 40a; the Inferior
is the Female. 189; The Intellectual,
aoo, 262 ; The House of the, 385 ;
Lower like the Upper. 417 ; the Mate-
rial, aoi ; the Moral or Sensuous, 200 ;
the Mountain of the, 450 sq.; The
Natural or Matter- World, 201 ; The
Planetary. 280. 419; of Separation,
420; the Superior, Male, 189.
Worlds. Derivation of the names of the,
320. 333 ; the Four. 198, 216. 280, 292
note. 320, 418 sq.; the Four, in Isaiah,
333 ; Four Oppositions to the, 434 ; the
Four, paralleled by the four divisions in
Plotinus, 333, 334 ; Prior, to ours, 386,
387 : the Four Worlds, with Ibn Gebi-
rol, 332; Superior and Inferior, influ-
ences between, 189; The Two, 190;
the Three Worlds in the Sephiroth,
28 z sq.
Xenophon’s idea of the invisible God,
114.
Ya-betz, 21 sq. See. Yaqob b. Z’vee and,
Zohar
YaH. The world said to have been
formed through that Name, 319 note.
Yakar. Yehudah b., 38.
Ya-kheen and Bo-az, 185.
Yanflr, Yin, Yih, 444 sq.
Ye’dud, I. if..YHVH, 398.
Ye’hee-dah or Personalityi 391 sq., 396
j^.,401.
Yekuthiel. B., on the Sephiroth, quoted,
38. 298, 299.
Yesh. The, 305 note.
Ye’tzer ha-rah, 1. e., the Evil Inclination,
126, 346 and note, 364. 430. 437 ; not
the Devil. Introd. xiii ; is the Serp>ent
and the Angel of Death, 406. See, Evil
Spirit.
Ye’tzer ha-tob, the Good Inclination.
126. 348, 364.
Ye’tzeer-ah. Olam ha, 1. /., World of
Fomiation, 228, 321, 328 sq.
Ye’tzeer-ah. Sepher, very old. 159, 160 ;
in the Talmud, 159, 160; and Zohar.
Differences between the, 159.
Ye’tseer-atio World, 198.
Ye’ruBhalzni Talmud. See. Talmudim.
Ye’aod. The Sephirah, 201, a/i. See,
Sephirah. also, Sephiroth.
YfiTfiT-draeil of the Norse Mythology, 235.
YHVH in English Bible translated Lord.
129; YHVH, 128, 379 sg. See. Ineffii-
ble Name, Tetragrammaton. Name, etc.
Yih Khi^. The, 170, 444.
Yih, Yin, Yanff, 444 sq.
YiBhznaeliteB, the Bedawee Arabs, 69 sq.:
Children of, not necessarily the Mo-
hammedans. 69-73.
Yitr.-‘haq, the Blind (of Beaucaire). 38.
283.
Yo’hai. B. Shim-on ben, 7, 10. 17 sq.,
166. 439 sq.
Yotma or Yotna, an Engraving of, 228,
229.
Zaqen. Bliyah ha-, 38.
Ze’ir An-i>een, 134, 138 note, zSa. 258,.
368 i^.,380.
2Si-kum, 242-244.
Zodiac, 137 note ; Ancient Mexican Signs
of, 157 ; Assyrian Account of the crea-
tion of, 245 ; The Chaldean, etc., 448
sq.; has the Symbols of the male,
female and harmony. 186.
ZodieMSal Constellations, Ancient, 248, 249.
259 ; Constellations at first, Ten, 248.
See, Description of Plates. Signs and
.the Animals of the vision of Elzeqicl,
228 ; Signs, Scorpio, Virgo, and Libra,
118. See, Description of Plates.
Zohar, 7, 8, 10; R. Abraham Gaon on, 53:
Account of the Zoharic writings. 439 ;
The Ancient, in Fez, 47 ; On the -A.ngels
in the, 192 ; Antiquity of. 12, 41 sq., 55 ;
Antiquity of from its definition of Eu-
nuch, 92; the Aramaic language in, In-
trod., 50, 51 ; Claimed to have been
forged by R. Moses de Leon, 56 j^.;
Content of. 12, 13 ; and the cuneiform
terra-cotta tablets. 232, 233 sq.; the Di-
rections of R. Shim-on as to writing down
the, 51 note; the Divinely mystical in, is
concealed, and to be only learned orally.
53 ; the, Early acceptance of, 7 ; Edi-
tions of, 13 sq.; Excerpts from, 335 sq.;
497
Dr. Ginsburg, opposes the Antiquity of,
65 sq,; Dr. Graetz opposes the Anti-
quity of, but admits the early existence
of, The Mysteries of R. Shim-on b.
Yo’hai, 37 ; Ideas in, prior to the re-
daction of the Talmuds, 49; Illiunina-
tion by the, 438 ; Introduction to the
Cremona edition, 14 sq.; Jellinek’s In-
troduction, iz ; Analysis of Konitz’s
book in support of its Antiquity, 30 sq.;
on the Messiah, 77 sq.; Morin’s oppo-
sition to, 31 ; names of, zz ; not by R.
Mosheh (Moses) de Leon, 50 sq., 58
sq.; opposed by Dr. Jellinek, 38 ; origi-
nally a Camel’s load, 47 ; Predictions in,
49 ; Quoted, 35 note, and in many other
places ; Refutation of Yabetx’s opposi-
tion to, 3Z ; on the Repetition of, YH VH
YHVH, evidencing two Worlds, 190;
sets forth the Revolution of the Earth
on its axis, Z39 ; on the Superior and In-
ferior Worlds, 189 ; on Thought as the
First Principle, 193 ; Time of the Com-
position of, according to David Luriah,
50 ; contained the Ancient Secret Tra-
dition therefore that as to the Vowel
Points, 469 sq.; Comparison of the Uni-
verse to a Nut, 190 ; on the Universe as
the Kernel and Shell, Z90, Z9Z ; Quota-
tion from, as to the Vowel Points, etc,
469 ; Ya-betz speaks highly of the ‘
Zohar, 35, 36; R. Yaqob b. Z’vee, of
Emden (Ya-betx), his opposition to, sz,
35, 36; called Ye’rushalmi, 48 ; Quoted,
as to the Children of ^^shmael, 73-75.
See, Yishmael, Edom, Rome, Ma’hsha-
bah, De Leon, etc.
Zoharic Idea, that the Deity has given
definite laws to Nature and it follows
these, Z93 ; Parables, zoz, Z04, 436 ;
Philosophy and the Chaldean systems,
454, 455 ; Writings, sometimes grand in
thought, at others, puerile. 54.
Zorzl Frazio Qlorgrio (Frazioiscus
OeorgrluB) sumamed Venetus, largely
influenced by the Hebrew Qabbalah,
Z71.
Zuokerznaiizi on the Comet in the Zohar,
77 sq., 81 sq,
Zunz. Dr. Leopold, opposes the antiquity
of the Hebrew Qabbalah, especially the
Zohar, zo, Z73.
Z’vee. Yaqob b. (of Emden). See
also, Ya-betz and, Zohar, az if.