{ "meta": { "schema_version": "1.1", "endpoint": "/api/sources/zohar/vol-1-00-body.json" }, "work": { "slug": "zohar", "name": "Zohar" }, "parents": [], "chapter": { "num": 1, "slug": "vol-1-00-body", "title": "Volume I — Bereshith (Genesis I)", "of": 5, "words": 158951, "text": "## Volume I\nCCabbalistic writer, Moses de Leon, ef Granada in Spain, who\n'certainly was the frst to make it known to the general public,\nMoses de Leon published the Zohar as the work of Simeon\nfen Yohai, profesting to have transcribed the copies which\nte issued fromm an ancient manuscript which had eoine inco\nFis possesion. After is death, however, his widow ecnfessed.\nthat her husband possessed no such manuscripr, and that he\nwrote the work himself, When asked why he did not pub-\nTish the book in hit own name but chose that of Simeon ben\nYohai, she replied that her husband always said that a book\nbby a miracle-working Rabbi like Simeon ben Yohai would\nprove more lucrative than a book braring his own name.\n\"Though the wis story bristles with contradictions and\nabsurdities, many Jewish writers and scholars have main=\ntained that de Leon veas the sole author of the Zohar. On the\n'therhand, many tookshave been written, mainly in Hebrew,\nto show that the Zohar is a work of great antiquity and that\nit authorship can very properly ard suitably be attibuted\nto the ancient Sage, Simeon ben Yohai, But neither of these\nsews ean hold ware in the fight of all the fats a8 we know\nthem. No student ofthe Zohar, indeed no competent assessor\nof literature yenerall, can believe that it ever could have\n\nnermopeeTiON x\n\n'emanated from the brain of one man, To call ita book is to\nrisname it It isa literature—a lierature of immerse variety\nand compass, Itembraces so many diverse themes, 1 holds\nwithin its folds uch a number of views and doctrines which\nare often mutually ireconcilable, that it cannot possibly be\nthe production of one individual, however gifted. And to\ncredit a Rabbi ofthe second cenniry with the authorship of\n1 book which describes the sayings and doings of men who\nlived long after hie sime, i t0-adopt a standpoint which mo\nfone in these times will seriously countenance.\n\n'The Zohar is a congeries of weatises, tests, extracts oF\nfragments of texts, belonging te different periods, but all\nresembling one another in their method of mystical interpre=\ntation of the Torah a5 well asin the bafling anonymity in\n'which they are shrouded, The waysin which these component\npartsare pieced together trikes anzasarbitrary inthe extreme,\n\"They often appear to bess litle or no relation to that which\nprecedes or follies. The arrangement is all so destitute of\ndesign that it might have been done by the printers and pub-\nlishers of the frst edition whenever they felt that it suited\ntheir convenience or whenever they happened to come across\ntome anonymous fragments which, in their unlearned\n'pinion, could be suitably interpolated at a certain point in\nthe main text.\n\nFrom asurvey ofthe whole subject, one is drawn irresistibly\nto the conclusion that the Zohar, so far from being « homo-\ngeneous work, isa compilation of a mass of material drawn\nfrom many strata of Jewish and non-Jewish mystical thought\nand covering nemerous centuries. Many of both its funda-\n'mental and subsidiary teachings are to be found in the oldest\nportions of the Babylonian and Palestinian 'Talmuds, as well\nas in that large mass of Jewish Apocalyptic literature which\n'was produced fn the centuries immediately before and after\nthe destruction of the second 'Temple. Diseussions on Jewish\nJaw and Diblical interpretations (which are often alm\nhal repetitions of passages to he lound in the two recensions\n'of the Talmud), speculations on theology, dheesophy, and\n'cosmogony which have their counterpart in Hellenistic litera-\nture and which sometimes show rsetnblances to certain ideas\n\nermoDUCTION\n\n'contained in the Zend &vesta—afact which has induced some\nscholars to find a good deal of the background ofthe Zohar\ninch religion of ancient Zorastranismthe allegorical type\naf exegesis of which Phil is the leading exponent, Gnostic\nAheoriescamcetning th relation between the human and the\nAlivne, echoes of medical beliefs egardng astrology, physio~\nioomy, necromancy, magi and metempsychosia which are\n'lento che Jewish spirit al these elements jostle one anather\nSt random in the page ofthe Zohar. A veritable storehouse\n'of anachronisens,ineongrites and surprises!\n\nAnd yet, with alli faults, the Zaher appeals to many\nJes in a way that makes them regard ita the most sacred\nof sacred books !Foritmierors Judaism as an intensely vital\n'elgion of the sprit. More overpoweringly than any' other\nTonk or ende, more even than the Bible, does it give to the\nJew the conviction of an inne, unseen, spiritual universe\naneteral moral order.\n\n\"The constituent pats af the Zohar ae ss fllows There is\n(@) the main portion which bears the general title af \"Sefer\nHacZohar'. To this see atached (i) the 'Sifracdi-Toenuta'\n(The Book ofthe Veled Mystery', consisting of five chap\nter inetd in the Book of Exodus and deiing with the\n'mysteries of creation, the human soul and the relation be\nteen spirit and mater. (i) \"Stré Torah' (Secrets of the\n'Torah, trating largely of Cabbie angelology and the\nsnysterics clustering mound the Divine Name and the Divine\nUnity. (iv) 'Ra's Mehenna' (\"The Tee Shepherd Pastor\nFedeli), which, besides dealing with topics similar to the\nforegoing, lays down defrite precepts and roles of conduc,\nthe exegesis being usally introduved with the words \"The\ntrue shepherd sath'—the trie shepherd being Moss. (¥)\n'Midrash Ha-nelan' (Recondite Exposition'), which cone\ntains great deal of Scriptural exposition by the method of\n'Gematt', i. the permotaions and combinations of the\nJesers of the Hebrew alphabet and the Hebres purer\nabo contains some allegorical exegesis of Seripture reminding\n'ne ofthe methods of Philo (vi) Torela (Additions) some\nsay fragmentary supplements to the main exegesis of the\nZohar in which are contained references to the Sefirath\n\nreTeouCTION sit\n'Hehaloth' (balls or 'palaces'), wherein are pictured\n\n(i\n\nWith a dating literality the abodes of paradise and hell, the\nwelling-places of the varving grades of the angelic hosts\nand their dealings with the souls of men. 'There are also in\nthis section several econdits allusions to astrology and magic.\n\npeal\nnone ofthese sections can esi oder very great from\n'any other or from the main body of the Zohar in ay\ncies There u cients creopring Theresa\na frequent repetition of thesame theme, the same treatment,\neven the same words.\n\n'The fst printed edition ofthe Zohar appearedalmostsimmul-\ntaneously in two different places, viz, Mantua and Cremona,\nin 1588-90. Later editions are those of Lublin, 1633 :\nAmsterdam, 1714 and_ 185; Constantinople, 1736 and\nVenice. The Mantua edition, with along and chborate Intro-\nduction by Isaac de Lates, has always had the greatest vogue,\nnearly all subsequent editicns being based upon the Mantua\ntext, Anintereating fact is that almost simultarenusly with the\npublication of the first Mantua edition—but to all appear-\nnce quite independently of ie—there was faved from the\nsame press the Tiklamé Ha-Zohar ('Emendations to. the\nZohar'), book written in Aramaic and with the same kind\nfof subject-matter as the Zohar. Another smilie work which\n'has always enjoyed great popularity, and which fist saw the\nTight at Salonika in 1597, is the Zafar Hadack (\"The New\nZohar', which is an independent mystical commentary on\nthe same lines as the Zohar, but embracing, in addition to\nthe Pentateuch, the \"Five Megilloth' (Serols), v2. the Song of\nSongs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther,\n\n'The Zohar humbly professes to be no more than a Com-\n'mentary on the Pentateuch ; and it might hence be interesting\nto hear its own expressed views on the correct method of\nBiblical exegesis. It says: Woe unto those who see in the\nLaw nothing but simple narratives and ordinary words {Were\nthis really the case, then could we, even to-day, compose a\nLaw equally worthy of admiration. But itis all quite other-\nwwite,... Every word of the Law contains an elevated sense\n\nand a aublime mystery. .., 'The narratives of the Law are\n'but the raiment in which its syathed. Woe unto him who\nsistakes the raiment for the Lav itself | Tt was to avert such\n' calamity that David prayed, \"Open mine eyes that I might\nischold wondrous thinga out of chy Lave\" Another pasage\nstaes similarly, but even more strikingly: 'Ifthe Law merely\nconsisted of ordinary words and narratives like the stories of\nEsau, Hagar, and Laban, or like the words which were spoken\nby Balzam's ass or by Balaam himself, why should it haye\nbeen called the Law of Truth, the perfect Lav, the faithful\n'estimeny of God ?\n\n'These statements may well be regarded as a sort of\nrationale of the sim and purpose of the Zoharic exegesis:\nand they summarise the basic characteristic ofall schools of\nCCabbalstic interpretation, both before and after the Zohar.\nIndeed, herein may be said tole the undying service which\nCCabbatsm has rendered ro Judaism, whether as creed or a\nJife, A too literal interpretation of the words of Scriprure\n'giving Judaism the appearance of being nothing more than\nan ordered legalism, an apotheoss ofthe 'etter which kileth',\n4 formal and petefed aystem of external commands bereft\n'of all eri and denying al freedom to the individual these\nhave been, and are still in some quarters, the blemishes and.\n'shortcomings cast in the teeth of Rabbinic Judaism, The\n'supreme sebutter of such taunts andl objections is Cabbulah,\n\"The arid field of Rabbinism was always kept well watered\nnd fresh hy the living streams of Cabbalsti lore. Matic\nschools and mystic circles Hourished at nearly every im=\nportant epoch of Jewish history, and the object of their\nstudies was to penetrate tothe trie meaning hidden beneath\nthe leter of Seriptute, Some of the foremost Jewish legalists\n'were alo pronounced Cabliss. And this esoteric study of\nthe Law which is the quintessence of Cabhalah gave to its\n'devotees not a shackled creed comprehended in formule, but\na religion of intense spiritual possibilities, rendering the Jew\n'capable ofa vivid sense ofthe nearness of God and filing him\nwith a constant fonging for communion with Him.\n\nIllustrations of the way in which the Zohor peietrates the\n'nter shell of Scriptice in order to extract the esoteric kernel.\n\nstmopuerion w\nwithin could be quoted, didnot space forbid in great abun-\nance, I will only reer hereto some specimens of Zoharic\n'exegesis on the Psalms which are frequently interspersed in\nthe exegesis on the Penateuchal books Thus, Pula Xxx,\nG,oayn' By the word of the Lord were the heavens made |\nand all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth 'This\nvers gies the impetus to a whole series of mytic axioms\nproving that the world rests on Divine spit. 'The 'upper\n\"universe resembles the 'lower universe', and both find thelr\ntunity in God. Earth is a copy of Heaven, Heaven isa copy\nof earth. They ate no duality but an absolute unity. Any\nother view of the univers i religious because it makes 30\nalma de pruda (a world of division), an idea which, by the\n'way, i pallled by Blake's argument tht the universe at\n'we Know ite the sheer material nspistua universe, i the\nfesult of the fall of the one life from unity into division. Again,\nPralm ext, 18, declares : The Lord is near unto all them\nhac call upon him, 0 all that call ypon hen in teuth' What\nis the meaning of the phrase 'in truth, asks the Zohar? And\nthe reply ia knowledge of how to declate the Divine Unity\nin prayer. For in this knowledge consists the service ofthe\nHoly King and whosoever knows bow to declare the Divine\nUnity i a helper in establishing that one unique nation of\nwhom it & said, \"And who is lke thy people Israel, one\nUnique nation in the earth 2\" And when all those who know\nhow to desire the Divine Unity doo in the right way, then\nare all the walls of darkness cleft in twain, The face of the\nHeavenly: King is revealed, 'There is light unc all. The\n\"reals above as ell as the \"realms belo\" draw unto\nthemselves blessings without end In these quan orginal\nremarks on the effects wrought by prayer. there are many\npoints which are of fondamental importance in Jewish\nmystical teaching ofall ages. 'The declaration of the Divine\nUnity in prayer does not mean merely the clear and un-\n'equivocal pronouncement of the word Eckad (One). Tt goes\n'much deeper. It implies the convienon that al things should\nbe regarded as so many' manifestations ofthe Divine whose\n'ivifving poser is never for an insane withdraven from the\n'world which i anentes. 'To pray ie tue in the Tat resort,\n\nxsi eraopuerion\n\nto become absorbed in God ; and only in the enjoyment\nof such an experience does man find light, truth, and bliss,\nbeth for himeeif and for others, This type of theological\ndoctrine comes to the front more particularly in the Tater\nCabbalets, ie. the Hassidic literature starting with Israel\nishem,\n\nThe fundamental note in the Zohar's treatment of the\nDivine nature is the attempt to combine the transcendest\nand immanent aspecs of the Deity in asingle concept. Net\nthat it does this with «strictly scientific ensistency. Far from\nit God, in the Zohar, isthe great Unknowable, the Supreme\nTrcomprchensible. God is exalted above human understand-\njigs the depths of the Divine wisdom are beyond human\npenetration. To quote the words of the Idra Rabea, God is\n'the most ancient of the ancient, the mystery of mysteries,\nthe unknown of the unknown'. Here we have the doctrine\nof the Divine Transcendency par excellence. Nevertheless,\nGodin the Zohar is very knowable, very fathomable. The\nuniverse as yell as man's heart reveal His infinite power\nand infinite love. Nay, even the human organs and limbs\nreflect certain static and dynamic charcterstics of Deity\n\"ue world is an image of the Divine. 'There ie a constant\nand conscious interaction between 'the above' (the eelestial\nkingdom) and 'the below' (the mundane kingdom). Here we\nhhave the doctrine of the Divine immanence par excellence\nIt's the ceaseless interweaving of these two doctrines in the\n'pages of the Zohar that supplies the book with its uncom\npromisingly spiritual atmosphere. Without this combination,\nthe Zohar would be a false presentation of Judaism. Had it\nemphasized exclusively a 'mysterious! and 'unknowable'\nrity, it would but have supplied one more weapon to the\narmoury of the Pauline eritics of a 'egulistic\" Judaism, On\nthe other hand, an unbalanced insistence on the doctrine that\nthe world is but a manifestation or mitror of a Divine life\npleating everywhere would lead men sway to 6 Spinosiotic\npntheism—a ereed which is at out-and-out variance with\nthe postulates of Jewish theism,\n\n'The transcendent God of the Cabbalah, called the En Sof\n(te limitese one), becomes immanent in, the cosmos by 4\n\nINTRODUCTION vii\n\nspecies cf owing forth or emanatios, which in thei turn\ngive rise to four universes', vie, (a) Atsluth ;(b) Beriah ; (e)\neuirah; (2) Axiant Emanstion, Geaon, Formation, ad\nAction, respectively. These Your universes\" ae apportioned\namong \"Ten Sofroth, which are named as follos: (a) Kether\n(Che Crown); (8) Hokmak (Wisdom); (e) Binak (Under-\nsanding); (4) eid (Mercy); (6), Geburh (Force or\nSeverity); (J) Tifereth (Weauty); (g) Nezak (Victory);\n(d) Had Glory); Yeaod (Foundation): ) Malhath (King-\ndom); These names are, on the surface, lagely arbitrary\nand conventional and as for the way in which these \"Ten\n'Sefrtl are allocated to the worlds of Cablalism-—thie ie\nan extremely complicated theme into the comsieration af\nwhieh itis not potable to enter inthe limited apace ofan\nTatroducion such as this\n\"Te feature in the Jewish Cabbie Wertuce which t\ncalculated to recommend it forall ine to theadmiration of\n{scholars and thinkers i the high place which i accords to\nthe hurnan sul. The Zohar is replete with references tothe\ndominating part played by man's soul inthe farherance of\nown good, 8 well asin the developmert of all these\njer wth whose werkings man is a0 intensely and\ninevitably Bound up. Man is man only becaue of his soul.\nGn this poine the Zohar i far more definite and uncorpro-\nrising than the Bible and the Talmud. A statement ike For\n'dus thou art and no dust shalt thou return' (Genesis,\n19) would be quite out of keeping with Zobare teolo\n[And so would the remark ofthe pessimist Bclesiastes 'And\nthe pre-eminence of man over beast is nought, for alls\nsanity (Eel. it, 19). The whole atmosphere east by the\nZohar arond these spciteal problems i far warmer and\nlighter, more cheeing and more encouraging. The Mishnah\n(Abou 1) declares, 'Krow whence thou eames: from 4\nputreying drop; and whither thou art going 'toa place of\nSie lorries suggote? Mun' eign ivenitagel by the\nZohar ina far more refined and poetic outlook than this} and\nas for man's destin in the hereafter, ti no mere period of\njudgement before x Heavenly ritunal, but a eres of pro\nrestive spiritual experiences in many forms until atthe ast\n\nsilt stmopuerion\nthere is «union ofthe soul with the Divine source whence it\n'emanated.\n\n'Man, says the Zohar, was 'created' on the 'sisth day\n'because hei, in himself, noble epitome ofthe cosmos. And\ntie inthis by reason ofthe infinite association of his soul with\nthe Sefroth. \"The 'upper' and the lower' world both find their\ntwecting point in him. He is a Shekista Ta-ta-aa, ie. 2\nDivine Presence on earth.\n\n'The Soul, as/aspiitual entity playing the highest of hig\nparts in man's celations with the Uaces, is well brought t\nthe front in all branches of the medieval Cabbalah. The\n'Zohar warns ws aginst thinking that man is made up solely\nof lsh and akin, veins and sinews. Man's skin typifies the\nfirmament, which extends everywhere apd covers everything.\nHis flesh typifies the evil side of the universe, je. the elements\nWhich are purely exerior, of sense, 'The ainews and veins\nssmbolise the 'Celestial chariot' (the Merhaboh), being the\ninterior forces of man which are the senvitors of God. But all\nthese are merely an outward covering. Inthe kingdom of man's\nsoul there are processes going on which are dhe exact countet-\nprt of those going on in the 'upper world' 'The soul &\nthreefold. There is() Neshamak, which is the highest phase\nexistence. (jt) Rua, which isthe seat of good and evi,\nthe abode of the moral attributes. (ii) Nefesh, which is the\nrosser side of spiritand is en rapport withthe body and the\n'ause ofall the movernents and instincts of the physical life\n'Bach of these three constituents of the soul has its source in\nseme one or other ofthe ten Sefiroth,\n\nThe soul enjoyed a heavenly precexiaence, 'This idea is\nalready found in the 'Talmud and is deduced from certain\npassages in the Hebrew Bible. Whether the old Rabbis dis-\ncovered the idea independently, or whether they merely\nadapted i from the teaching of Plato isa moot point. Com=\nplementary to this doctrine of pre-exstence is that of the\n'ransmigration of thesoul-—metempsychosis—which etaught\njn the Zohar by way of solution of the eternally vexing\nproblem of why the wicked prosper. 'The famous post-\n'Zoharic Cabbalist,Isac Lusia (1534-73), was of opinion that\nall souls were born with Adam, and that every human being\n\nsTHODLETION sik\nreceived at bith, through Divine intervention the soul that\nfitted it, All souls born with Adar constituted originally one\nsand one only great soul, When Adam sinned through dis-\n'obedierce, this one comprehensive soul born with hin and\n'of which every future human being was, at birth, to receive\n'a microscopic fragment, became involved in sin. Bur all these\n'tainted souls posseas the potentiality and hence have the duty\nof cleansing themselves and working themselses up toa high\nlevel af destiny. This tenet was widely held by the Cabblists\nand suggested to them the many' strange thearies about the\nchequered wanderings of the soul. The souls dross cannot\nbe east of in the course ofone lifetime. It must passthrough\n'many bodies and experience many terrestrial esistencet, each\n'one higher than the other, before it can reach the pinnacle\n'of pertection—union with God-—which is its predestined\nend,\n\n\"The Cabbalistic succestors of Luria went even further,\nand suid that souls wandered on earth and could sometimes\nenter the bodily framework of some living person, co as to\nhelp him to fulfil certain religious duties which he had\nneglected.\n\n'The soul, eas the mystic ofall ages and creeds, seeks to\n'enter consciously into the Presence of God. And this idea\n'of the soul's unquenchabe yearning to be united with its\nDivine source is reiterated under many forms in all parts of\nthe Zohar and lends to ita charm as well ag lightness of\ntouch hich serve as a relief to the excessively sombre and\nsolemn tone of most of the book, It is the poetry of the\nZohar. Man's intimacy with God, the soul's union with Him,\nfre described in sewwal terminology. It is the union of the\n'male with the female. 'The symbolism is sometimes Hable to\nsirike the reader as offensively crude in some of its details;\nand the Zohar has more than once had to sutier for this the\ncheap) ancers of detractors But this is only the result of\nhallow knowledge and flee perspective, On deeper study\nand reflection these sewual references will be found to be just\nas admissible as are the sevual similes and analogies which\npervade the writings of the most refined and clegant of posts\nand romancers, For the Zohar speaks throughout of cosmic\n\n« swmopucrtos\nnion-aoming tagethe,a fusion of al the afd ui\nters 'abo' and \"elon, The worlds above se \"maried\n{othe words foe, And man, wh, many by eso of i\nSou denizen ofthese mukiple words, bene, wit\n\"ig fter communion with the Diving, strc these\nConnie ace ofitereurse. OF course, wil be recoleted\n'hatte amorous eiimers which auch bod expression\nInthe O1 Testament book ofthe Song of Songs were made\nto bears atongy alleges interpreatin inthe od\ntoms of he MidraieHreatre, And there ean be Hitle\ni ea eto peg eee tt\nfxpmss man's consummated longing forthe Divine must\ntan age prepared the way fr thou numerous and often\nteste lists which conmitte what a een elle the\nSexes' of the Zen\n\n\"Tae mh ofthe mpi speculation to be found inthe\nZohar dates back tothe ely centres before and after the\ndestuction of the second 'Temple isa pint upon which\nthers now unanimous agseement amongst hola. The\ncael Jevish Apocalyptic and magia! hterstur, the Pale\nfini and Babylonian \"atmo, the buge and acest\ncop of Midrash trtare hich connie to sping op\nformany yeas afte the cpio ofthe Tad all these\nonsen fear Jeni nterpretative acy cle\nwith pate also which found incorporation in many\nSeed esa pepe cet eer Mee ty\nSpeciation ws never commited to writing. Ie eae\nted erly from geneon to generation, Herc, bythe\ntay les the meaning of Coholah orl taiton, And the\n\"Zoher was probably the St important book in which these\nAoatng trations were preserved fn wring, Schools and\nices wherein Ctl nas mediied pon Fad started ay\nPoe eee eee\nSparing focsome centri owing tothe Batuating fortunes\nthe Jes, were revived in the tvelh and thrtenthcen-\nTure under the infueneef ich ret Talmud uminaes\n2 Noses Nabmanide Sloman ben Adrath and others Ti\nthe idle of the sce century, Ii Lic, who ad\nleast Caalah in Egy, founded a ew mystica school at\n\neraoDveTiON i\n\nSafed, in Galile, then the centre of Jewish learning. He\ngathered round hima host of disciples, many of them, I\nElijah de Vidas and Joseph Hagis, being themselves dis-\n\ninguished writers of Cabbalistic works. Luria himself wrote\nnothing. His utterances were taken down in waiting by his\n'most prominent disciple, Hayyim Vital Calabreze, whose\nbook ts Hayy shows how Luria developed many of the\nleading ideas of the Zohar and inaugurated a new mystic\nsystem in Judaism,a system wherein Messianic theology and\nMessianic expectations held a central place. Luria's enlarged\nand claborated conceptions of Cabbalah found numerous\nenthusiastic disciples; and the Zohar, as the result of 2 199\nextravagant emphasis on certain Messianic comments con-\ntained within it, emerged, by an unhappy fate, asthe source\nwhence the pseudo-Messiah, Subbatai Zevi (1626-76), pre-\nsumed to have drawn the warrant for his dramatically\npretentious career.\n\nIt goes without saving that the mysticism of the Zohar,\nemphasising as it does the efficacy of prayer, must have in-\nfluenced considerably the Hebrew Prayer Book, as well asthe\nDivine Service ofthe Synagogue and certain aspects of Jewish\n'ceremonial observance. Much of the extravagant Zoharic\nngelology came to find a place in the liturgy, a8 also mich\n'Zoharie doctrine concerning the secrets ofthe supea-mundane\ntaniverse and the mysteries, both painful and pleasurable, of\nthe life Rereafter. Many mystical formulas, mystical names\nand symbols intermixed with many arithmetical and astro-\nlogical references, also became interpolated within the pages\nfof the Prayer Rook. Most of this high'y pictorial type of\npprayer material has been eliminated from the modern wor-\nship of the Synagogue because ofits incongruity with the\nprevailing conceptions ofthe Deity ; but in spite ofthis weed-\nJng-0ut, it ay nll be said that our Jewish liturgy of ro-day\nscintillaves with many a Zeharic phrase and idea which a\na decided gain to the spirituality of Jewish home or synagogue\nritual, One is inclined to differ in this respect from Leopold\n\njune when he says: 'Although the more respectable myst\nddid something for spiritual religion and for devotion as\n'opposed to thoughtless formalism, yet the liturgy lost more\n\nxxi rHODECTION\nthan it pained by their influence' (D. Ritus, p- 24). The\nceremony of blowing the Shofar on Rodi Ha-Shanah gains\nfather than loses in impressiveness by the agcompanying\n'Zcbaric prayers which ask that 'the angels emanating from\nthe 'may bring the prayers of Isracl to the Divine\nhearing'. 'Taken liteally, the idea jars, of course, of our\nineigence, But the Zobarie mysticism, like the mysticism\nofall other religions snd literatures, demands the higher in-\nTerpretation. And on this hast the blowing of the Shofar, far\nfrom being a mere stereotyped act of observance ofthe leter\nof the Law, rises to become the outwant expression of one\nmore of the many mystical heiefs in the unseen spiritual\nagencies uniting the human with the Divine—an outstanding\nZabasic doctrine. Sinilarly in the case of the prayer, Brick\n'SH'neh Veathreh, redted before the Reading of the Law on\nSabbaths and Festivals. 'The Zohar anteoduces it with these\n'words: \"When the soll is taken out in the assembly to read\ntherein, the Gates of the heavens of merey open and the\ncelestial love awakes. 'The prayer is a truly noble ane, tem-\ning with a vivid sense of the nearness of God, combined with\nanever-felt and neve~satined longing for communion with\nim by mesne of the'Teah a though which ie ubiquitous\ninthe Zaher. modied and modernised adoption of a litle\nmore Zoharic sentiment to the Jewish liturgy of to-day\n'would be a weleame improvement ! By thus introducing 3\ntinge of *Eestasy', of diet intuition of God, into Jewish\npriyec by making it lees of a merely external religious\n'exercise and more of means for transcending earthly affairs\nfora time, there would be restored to prayer something of\nthe position it must hive oceupied in the days of the Hebrew\nPraimist, as wells semething of the intensely individual and\n'devotional parc whichit played in the neo-Hassidie mysticlem\n'of the eighteenth. century.\n\nBesides influencing the liturgy, the Zohar, as\nbe expected from a book which stinmulotes the i\nand the feelings, has left numerous traces in the medieval\n\nfous poetry outside the synagogue. Ts all\nbolism, its erotie terminology, proved excellent materia\nfor portraying the ceaseless yearnings of che human heart for\n\nonl\n\nreraopvcTioN. xl\n'union with the Infinite; andthe reader softer startled atthe\ningenuity with which many a simple and innocent Biblical\n'word or phrase is poetically worked up to indicate the physical\na5 well the spiritual mysteries which surraind the Deity\nand the effort of man to become finally absorbed in Him by\n'means of prayer, Torah study and contemplation.\n\nFor some centuries afterits fist appearance the Zohar was\ngenerally regarded by the Jewsas-an integral pat ofthe litera-\nture of Torah, like the 'Talmud and the Midrash, and, Hike\nthem, itwas considered one ofthe subjects of religious study,\nof talmud torah. Tt was, in fact, generally known as the\n\"Midrash of R, Simeon ben Yohai'. Unlike the Talmud,\nhowever, it was what might be called an optional subject in\nthe curiculum of Torah study ja man could bea great Jewish\nscholar without knowing anything of the Zohor or the Cat\nbalah, Stil, there wasa mest in studying themalso. A breach,\nhowever, arose between the Talmulsts and the Cabbs\nafter the failure of the Messianic movement of Sabhatai Zevi\n'in the middle of the seventeenth century. The extrvagances\n'of Zeviand his followers were largely inspired by the Zohar,\nand this work in consequence fell into suspicion and dis:\nfavour with a large number of almuots. This antipahy\nto the Zohar found its culmination in a treatise (in Mitpakat\n'Sefarin) written in the middle of the eightceath century by\nthe grt Talmudical scholar, Jacob Emden of Altona, in\n'which itis denounced as being for the most part the work\nof an impostor. Emden vas led to investigite the Zohar\n'through his deste to extipate the Shabbetaean heresy which\nstill Kingered in his day. His examination of the Zohar shows\nconsiderable eitical acumen, and. his conelusnns have been\nadopted by a lage number of orthodox Jews.\n\n'The place to be assigned to the Zoher in the scheme of\nJewish study is also one ofthe fundamental points at issue\nhhetween the sect of Hassimt, founded by Israel Baalshem\nin the eighteenth cenuury, and their opponents in Poland and\nLithuania, known as the 'Mithnagedim', 'The controversy\nbetiveen the two sects is imteresting not only in itself but also\nforthe ight itaheds upon many aspects of the Jewish religious\nand social life of those times, Ie was a strugele for supremacy\n\nwiv intwopeerion\n'beowcen Rabbinic orthadony, base upon the authority ofthe\n\"Talmud, and the myatie-emotional-apritual Judai founded\n'upon the Zobarc interpretation of the Tora, Iewasa contest\nbetween 'wo principle in Judaism, the formalism of dog-\nimate stal and the diet religious sentiment, Whilst Rab-\nWiel onbodoay, without rejecting the Zohar, regarded the\n'eal Jewah life as one of obedience o law founded upon the\n'tod of the Talmud andthe Codes, Hasse Judaism based\nuel upen the Zohar, maintaining thatthe quinestence of\nthe Tenish religion lay in the culation ofa sincere love of\nGod, combined with « warn faith and deep belief in the\n'cacy of prayer, Thisdoes not imply that the Hasiim des-\npised Talmudic scholarship or louted the traditional Rabbinic\nbrdinaness, What it dos imply is that Hassiioe airned at\nslicing tho esotre of gevity of the Jewish religious ie by\nFnteodacing into it x new \"pictus. 'This \"pista\nderived from the Zaher consisted inthe conviction that there\njs an untroken intereairse between the world of the Deity\nand the world of humasity; that thes worlds have eciprocal\nJnvluence upon one arother; and tat prayer should be an\ncatatic exmimunion with God, so as tonite the human life\nwith Him who is 'the life ofall world'. Tt is not given 0\nall men t attain this exalted state. But the man who stains\nitis, in the Hasidic sense, the Tiaddik who, 28 4 result,\npossesses a degree of prophetic insight and a power to work\nrniraces\n\nThe sudy of the Zahar, as well as of the Cabbalistc\nwritings which succeeded i, attracted a great many noted\nCheatin scholars ofthe past! William Postel, ho traneated\nthe Sefer Vesna into Latin (Par, 1552), seems to have\nbeen the fst Christian to introduce the mysteries of the\nCabbalah to the learned circles of Europe. But the frst\nChistian into whose hands the Zolar came was Pico dell\n'Mirando who wrotestort uses n Latin about He was,\ntoo, the first Christian to declare thatthe Zohar contains\nelements which are cpable ofa Chistian construction, He\nseems to have believed that the doctrines concerning the\n'Tenity, Original Sin and the Ineamation could be deduced\nfrom its pages, John Reuchlin, another ardent student of\n\nstermonterion av\nJewish occultians, woe De Arte Cabalsticn, which he dedi-\n'ated to Leo X, and the object of which was to prove frm\nthe post-Zokarie writers on Cabbalism that the Messiah bad\nalready appeared. Petrus Gaatinus, a comtemporary of\npublished, in 1516, De ArcanisCathliae Vert,\n\n'the Zohare teachings are made to rellet eaany of\nthe cardinal doctines of Christianity. The completlist ofall\nthe other Christan students vould he too long to menton\nhere: Outstanding namesare thise of Alabaster, Gasparelis,\nfand Athanasius Kircher, But the greatest of all these was\nKnorr von Rosenroth, whose Kaibulah Demudata, frst pub-\nished at Sulzbach in 1697-8 and translated into English by\nS.-L. Macgregor Mathers (London, 1887), contains: much\nYalisble material and has proved particularly useful to\nChristian scholar unable to read the Hebrew and Arsraie\n'originals, A new French translation ofthe whole of the Zolur\nhas recently been made by M. Jean de Pauly and publsked\n'posthumously by M. Emil Lafuma-Giraud (1906), Grateful\nreference salso deco the many writings onall aspect of the\nZohar by the celebrated Scholar, Mr. Arthur Edward Wate\n'tis unnecessary to mention here that many of the lead\nJewish theologian ofthe nineteenth century have done much\nin the way of giving an enlightened and objective presenta-\ntion of the mysterious and uncanny world inwhich the Zohar\nlives and moves and has its being. Adolph Franck's La\n'Kaibale, frst published in Pais in 1843, contains long and\nrepresentative eatracts from the Zohar in a beautifully\nphrased French translation, In German there are numerius\n'monographs and partial transitions hy Zane, Jost, Jelirek\nJoel Graetz, and Stcinschacider. In Hebrew, Rapaport,\nHarkavy, and others have mide important contributions\nDuring the present century there has een a distinct revival\nof interest i the literature ofthe Hassidim from the time of\nDaaishem, and. much has been written by Kahana, Hero\ndetsky, Dubnov, and others, mainly in Hebrew, to how that\ntheie devotees ofthe mystic sde of Jewish life and religion\n'vere not, a8 is popularly supposed, half-cray visionaries liv-\ning in a universe peopled by the fiemerts of their ewn\ndegenerate brains, but men of intellect, scholarship, and sound\n\n'serge who aitned at bringing back to Jewish organised com-\nsuinal life a breath of that mystic sentiment and emotion\n'which are the aromatic Hfe-essence of religion, and which are\nindispensable to Judaism if tis to continue to play its pre-\ndestined part of bringing mankind 'under the wings of the\nShekinah'.\n\nthas been said that every man is bom either a Platonis\n'or an Aristotelian, 'This means that there is an denate pre-\nclispostion in every axe of us to assimilate certain fved forms\n'ofthought from which we cannot be diverted, no matter what\nfiqure training, educstio, or experience we may receive, The\nJows during the Middle Ages, both before and after the\nappearance of the Zoher, were (largely through the influence\nof Maimonides) amongst the staunchest supporters of Aris-\ntotle. While the Arisiotehan philosophy stands immortalised\nia the writings of the leading Jewish theelogians of medieval\ntimes, the philosophy of Plato finds but a mere handful of\n'exponents, eminent though these be. Henee there has arisen\nthe commonly accepted heli thar Jews are by nature ration-\nalts rather than mystics, Is this belief correct? Does it square\nwith the facts? I think not. Judaism is unquestionably and\nsupremely a religion af reason, Hut, paradosically enough,\nitonly made its appeal to she Jew ant held him tightly in\nits grip because he as—and is—by natire and incl\n'amystic. The Moreh Nebuchine of Maimonides was the great\nJovish philosophical exposition in the Middle Ages, of the\n\nspremacy of Reason' in Judaisin, But she Jew in the mass\nknew it not. It was never a people's book. But the Zohar was\na people's hook. Te struck & chord in whose music the Jew\nheard\n\n'The bubblings of the springs\nTht feed the world,\n\n'And the impress went down tothe roots of his heing. How\nfever much in aceord vith reason Judaism may have appeared\ntothe Jew, thete were alkays crises and eitastrophes in which\nhe fee that reauon filed to solve the tantalising problems\ninvolved—problems of pain and suffering, of reward and\npunishment, of the relation between the human and the\n\nDivine; of the life here and the life hereafter. The Jew, a6 a\npure rationalist, would have quailed in the face of these\ngma; and Judaism might by slow have been but pale\n'memory. But the Jew believed and lived not by logic but by\nlove, nce by ratiocination but by intuition. Tt was by these\nstandards that he was led on\n\n'o see one changslese Life in all the Lives,\nAnd in the Separate, One Tnseparabie\n\nIn his great book Beligf fn Ged, Canon Gore says: \"Ie\nis by feeling or intuition that the supreme artist gains his\nprofound vision of experience and of Gods! The Jew was\nthin supreme artist, For was he not of the spititual lineage\nof the Psalmist, who said: 'My heart and my flesh sing for\njy unte the ising 'ny whole heart have J sought\nthee O let me not err from thy commandments! ? Though\nhie could not know God, he nevertheless felt tht it was given\nto him to transcend the crushing weight of earthly alfairs,\nto be rrised above the grosser hindrances of sense and to\nbecome an organ reflecting the Divine ife. Such isthe stand~\npoint af the trie mystic of all-che ages. (The Jew had it in\n'overflowing measure. And the Jevsish book which fiest and\nmore thin any other eryatallsed these feelings and gave them\ntheir overpowering momestum was the Zohar.\n\nSipenbes s031\n\nTRANSLATORS' PREFACE\n\n\"The aim of this translation is, on the one hand to mabe the\nZohar accesible to Engh readers, on the other hard, 0\nafford asistance to those who stretl with its ntiaces in\nthe orginal. For the sake ofthe latter 4 good deal as been\nincluded which, as far asthe former are concerned, might\nPethaps have been spare, especially if they have never\nSudied the Hebrew Bible 'The preter part, however wil\nprobably be ineligible enough, evento those who hare no\nKnowledge of Hebrew.\n\n\"As has been pointed ou above, the printed editions ofthe\nZohar contin intercalation fom othr, allied, works, vbich\nae paged along with the Zar iell. These ae no inched\nin the present translation, which confines itself to wha may\nbe ealed the Zohar proper, Certain vidual pasages have\nalso been omited for seasons given where they occu. There\nare alo minor omissions (inlicated by the sign . -.) of\nPassages containing plays upon Hebrew words and similar\nfrater unsuitable for translation, With these qualfations,\nthe translation may be regarded as complete forthe pat of\nthe text covered by the fist Volume, vie. up to the end of\nVayera (p. 1208).\n\nert pare of the' Zohar—noraby the cornments on the\nopening sections of Genescare highly enigmatic, and in\nthe atoence ofan authenic radon thei ve meaning Eo\ntnatter of conjecture, An atempt has been made to give a\nfaithful tranlation of thee leo, accounting for pratally\nevery word In the origina, The result has perhaps Deen 10\nfeproduce only too faithfully the tencbrosty ofthe original\nfor which the seader may not be thankful the will, at\nany rte tat he is getting the authentic Zohar and nt the\nteandatoa' own idese; and he may find asitance in an\nfppendiy and a plossary in which the wansators indete\ntheir own view of the general trend and purpose of these\nUn printing the Biblia! quotations with which the Zohar\nabounds, 2 device has been aslopted which it i hoped the\n\nsxx TRANSLATORS! PREFACE\n\nreader wil find useful, The main text-headings, that ist say,\nthe verses from the Pentateuch which the Zohar sets out 0\nexpound in segular order, are printed in small epitals: The\nSubsidiary text-headings, that is to say, other verses from\nthe Bible which are made the subject of disquisitions illustra-\ntiveof the main text, are printed in talies, Repetitions ofthese\ntests, oF incidental quotations, are printed in ordinary type\nbetween quotation marks. Tis distinetion will enable the\nreaider to see at a glance where he is and with what subject the\nZohar is dealing. at any poi.\n\nA farther effort has been made to bring order and aystem\ninto the text by careful paragraphing and by a judicious use\nof parentheses. (It should be remembered that in the original\ntext not only these aids, buteven punctuation marks, includ\ning fll stops, are inserted very sparingly and then not infre~\nquently at the wrong place The result, itis hoped, willbe to\nshow that the Zohar is by no means such a jumble as is\nvwsually supposed, that with all its discursiveness it follows\n4 welldefined course, and that there ie a reason why most\nff its reflections are inserted just where they are and not\n\nsomewhere cls.\n\n\"The Biblical references are in all eases to the Hebrew text\n(or tothe American Jowish translation), 'The renderings have\nalso heen taken where possible from this version orthe English\nRevised Version. In many cases, however, ithas been necessary\nto give the Hebrewy quite @ ditlerent rendering, in order to\n'make it accord with the lesson which the Zohar seeks to\nderive from it—often in lordly disrogard of the comtext or\n\n'even the rules of grammar,\n\nThe translation hae heen -made in the! main from the\nMantian text of the Zohar, but occasionally @ reading has\ntheen sdlopted from the Amsterdam text. 'The paging of the\nMant\n\ntext a aloo been inserted\n\nPROLOGUE!\n\nRabbi Hiskah opened hi discourse with the texts As aly\n'among thorns, de. (S. 81,2. \"What, he said oes the Lily\nsymbvise? Te symbolises the Consnunity of Tol, Ay the\nily arnong chons is inged with red and white, s the Come\nmunity of Iscel is visited now with justice and now with\nmetey asthe iy posenses thirteen leaves, #0 the Community\nof Iaral is youchaafed thirteen categories of merey which\nucround it on every side. For this season, the term Eloi\n(God) mentored here (inthe fest verse of Genesis) is separe\nsted by thirteen words from the next mention of Elin,\nsymbolising the ehircen categories of mercy which surround\nthe Community of Taal to protect. The second mention\nof Flom ix separated from the thd hy fice words, eepre~\neating the five strong leaves that surround th lily, symbole\nofthe five was of salvation which ae the \"Five gates\". This\n{salluded tithe verse \"I will up the cup o salvation\"\n(Ps. e301, 13). Theis the \"cup of benediction which as to\nbe raised by five fingers and no more, afice the model ofthe\nlily, which reas on five strong leaves in the shape of five\nfingers. Thus the lily isa aymbol ofthe cup of benediction.\nImmediately after the third mention of Elohim appears the\nTighe which, soon as ereated, was treasured uy and enclosed\nin that Brith covenant) which enteed he lily and frveied\nit, and this in what icalled\" wee bearing fruit wherein isthe\nced thereof\" and this seed is preserved in the very sign of\nthe covenant. And as the idea covenant was fred through\nforty-two copaations, so the engraven inelable name is\nformed ofthe fory-two leters of the work of cation\"\n\nIn THe Beaix io. R Simeon opened his dicourse with\nthe text: The Honoms appeared onthe earth, ee. (8. 8. th, 12)\n\"The blossoms\", he ssid, 'refer to the work of creation,\n\nThi bwoter a pelninary expontion of Gen 1, ve 19 inter\nthe reader ote sel of Simeon ap hs elapse toe\nnies of the see ard nature oftheir scum Ie same re\n'Sacais ane fonl tan te st By ofthe Baer\n\n4 rue zoutsn t tes\n\"Appeared on the earth': when ? On the third day, a5\n'writen, \"And the earth brought forth: they thus then\nBppeatedon the earth, \"The ime of pruning i come\" alludes\n{o the fourth day in which \"the pring ofthe overbeatin\nUs. x0¥- 9) took place, \"And the vice ofthe ture\" alludes\nfo the Blk day anit fs writen, \"Let the waters swarm, et,\nto produc fivng creatures. \"Is heard\" points tothe sx\ndy, as iis writen, \"Let us make man\" (namely him who\nfvar destined to say fit \"we will do\" and then \"we vil\nheat fr the expression {18} in our text na'ash, Lets\n'make man, Gd is echo inthe espression\"na'aeh (we vil\ndo) and hear\" (Exod, xt, 7) \"in our land\" implies the\nday ofthe Sabbath, which sa copy ofthe \"and ofthe Hving™\n(Che word waa the world of nly ce world of chao\ntions). The following iz an alternative exposition? \"The\n'ostoms ae the patriarchs who pre-exsted inthe thought\nof the Almighty and later entered the world to come, where\nthey werecaeflly preserved; from thence they ssuedncerely\nto Become incarnate in the tre proghets. Thus when Joseph\n\ntered the Holy Land he planted them there and thus they\n'appeatel on the earth\" and revealed themselves ther.\nWhen do they become visible ? When the rainbow betokess\nthat \"the time of pruning is come\", to wit, the time when\nthe sinners are du to be cutoff rom the world and they\n'only escape because \"the blossoms appear on the earth:\nfot for thei appearance the sinners would at be lft in the\n'world and the world itself would ot exist. And pho ist that\nUpholds the world and causes the patnarchs to appear ? tis\nthe voice of tender children studying the Torah and fr their\nsakes the world i saved. «-?\n\nIy THe Bromnnise. R, Elearar opened his discourse with\nthe text: Lift up your eyes on high and ste: who hath created\nthese (Is XL, 26). \"Lift up your eyes on high' to which\nplace ? \"To that place 10 which all eyes are turned, to wit,\nPeigh \"Ensim (\"eye-opener\"). Uy doing #0, you will know\nthat itis the mysterious Ancient One, whose essence ean be\n'sought, but not found, that created these: to wit, Mi (Who 2),\nthe same sho is called \"from (Heb, mi) the extremity of\n\n14) Provocte 5\nhheaven on high', because everything fs in His power, and\nbecause He is ever to be sought, though mysterious and un\nrevealabl, since further we cannot enquire: That extremity\n'of heaven is called Mi, but there is another lower extremity\nWhich is called Mah (What 2). \"The diference between the\nto is this. The first isthe real subject of enquiry, but after\n'a-man by means of enguiry and reflection has reached the\nlutmost mit of knowledge, he stops at Mal (What ?), a5 ifto\nsay, what knowest thou ? what have thy searchings achieved ?\nEverything is as baling as at the beginning. In allusion to\nthis, ieiswritten \"l, Mah, testify against thee, ete. (Lam,\n13). When the Temple was destrayed a voice went forth and\nsaid: \"I, Mah, have testified against thee day by day from\nthe days of old.\" as itis written, \"I called heaven and earthto\nWitness against you.\" (Deut. x18, 19.) Further, 1, Meh,\nlikened myself to thee: I crowned thee with holy owns,\nand made thee ruler over the earth, a¢ i is written, \"Ts this\nthe city that men call the perfection of beauty ? ete.\" (Lam.tt,\n15), and again, \"I called thee Jerusalem that is builded a a\ncity compact together\". Further, 1, Mak, am equal to thee;\nin the same plight in which thou, Jerusalem, art here, o Lam,\nanit wergabove; justas the holy people docs or ko upto thee\nany morein sacred array,so, Lswearto thee, [will not ascend\nfom high unl the day when thy throngs will again stream to\nthee here beloss. And this maybe thy consolation, inasmuch\nas to this extent I'am thy equal in all things. But now that\nthou arcin thy present state \"thy breach is grea like the sen\"\n(Ibid. 43). And lest thou sayest there is for thee no abiding\nand no healing, \"ME will heal thee\" (Ibid), Of a surety the\nveiled One, the most High, the sum of al existence will heal\nthee and uphold thee—Mi, the extremity of heaven abore,\n'Mah, 2s far 38 the extremity of heaven below. And this is the\ninheritance of Jacob, he being the \"bolt that passes from\nextremity to extremity\" (Exod. axv1, 28), that i, from the\nhigher, identical with Mi, to the lower, identical with Mak,\nas he occupies a postion in the middle, Hence \"Mi (Who)\ncreated these'\n\nSaid R. Simeon,\n'hae there may be revealed the higher ny\n\nEleazar, son of mine, cease thy discourse,\nrice whieh remain\n\n6 'Tue ZOHAR t [ub-20\nscaled for the people ofthis world.\" R. Eleazar then fell into\nsilesce, R, Sinieon wert a while and then sid: \"Eleazar, what\nJ meant by the term \"these\"? Surely not the stars and the\nother heavenly bodies, since they are always visible, and were\ncrested through Mal, us-we read, \"By the word of the Lord\nwere the heavens made\" (Ps, xxxtt, 6). Nor ean it imply the\nthings inaceesible to oue gate, sinee the vocuble \"these\"\nobviously points to things that are revealed. This mystery\nemained sealed until one day whilst T'was on the sea-shore,\nEhiph came and said tome, \"Master, what means 'fi\n(Who?) created these?\" \"\" I Said to hit, \"That refers to\nthe heavens and their hosts, the works of the Holy One,\nblessed be He, works through the contemplation of which\n'man comes to bless Him, as i¢ is written, 'When T behold\nthy heavens, the work [24] of thy fingers etc. O Lord our\n'God, how glorious is thy name an all the earth (Ps, vl,\n44-19). Then he said to me, \"Master, the Holy One, blessed\nbe He, had » deep sectet which He at length revealed at the\ncelestial Academy: It is this, When the most Mysterious\n'wished to reveal Himuclf, He frst produced single point\nwhich was transmiited into a thooght, and in this He executed\ninnumerable designs, and engraved innumerable gravinge He\nfurther graved within the sacred and mytic famp, a mystic\nand most holy design, which was a wondrous edifice issuing\nfrom the midst of thought. 'This is called MZ, and was the\nbeginning of the edifice, existent and non-enistent, deep\nbuned, unknowable by name, Teas only called AU (Who 2)\nIt desired to become manifest and to be called by name. Te\ntherefore clothed itself in a refulgent ond precious garment\nand created ELeHf (these), and ELeHl acquired a name.\nThe lettere of the two words intermingled, forming the\ncomplete name ELa#/M (God). (When the Istatites sinned\nin making the golden calf, they alluded to this mystery ia\nsaying \"Ell (these are) thy Gods, © Israel' (Esod) xxx, 4))\nAnd once MI becime combined with Blel%, th\n\nremined for alltime And upon this seceet the world is\nbuilt\" Elijah then flew away and vanished out of my sight,\n'And itis fcom him thar I hecame possessed of this profound\n\n24) rRoLoaut 7\nAR Eleasar and all the companions came and prostated\nthemselves before him, weeping for joy and saying, 'If we\ni the world ony to hear this we should have\n. Simeon std farther: \"The heavens and their\nhosts were created theough the medium of Mak (What #), ait\nis wenten, \"When T beield thy heavens, the work of thy\nFinges, ee... Lord our God (don), Mah, glorious\nthy name inal the earth, whose majesty is ehearsed above\nthe heavens.\" (Ps. vit, 4,4). God te \"alu the heaves!\nrespect of His ame, for He create alight for His ight,\nand one formed a vestment to the other, an 40 He ascended\nJno the higher name; hence \"In the begioning Elim (God)\ncreated, thats, the supernal Elokim. Whereas Mah was not\n4, nor was it built up util thes eters Eek (fom the name\nElokin) were drawn from above below, andthe Mother len\nthe Diughter her garetts and decked her out gracefully with\nher own adornments. When did she oo adom her ? When all\nthe mils (of Isa!) appeared before her in accordance with\nthe command \"all thy males shall appear before the Lord\n(Aidan) God\" (Exod. sats, 25). \"This term Lord (don) is\nSimilarly used in the passge \"Behold the Ark of the covenant\nSf the Lord (son) ofall the earth\" (Joni, 44). Then the\nletter é (of Mak) deparcd and her place was taken by Yad\n(imaking Wi), and then she decked herself is male garments,\nHarmonizing with \"every male in Israel\". Other leer, t00,\nTora drew from on high to that place. Ths it says: \"These\n(Etch) cemenber (Ps. sat 5), Le L make mention with m\nmonth and T pour out my tears, and thos make them (the\nJeter) fi from on igh \"uoto the house of Bohm (Id)\nto be Elohim (Goa) after his fore, And wih what ? \"With\nthe voice of song and praise and amidst a festive throng\"\n(Ibid Said R-Eleazar, My keeping slence was the means\nOf building the sanctuary above and the sanctuary below\nVerily \"speech ia worth la, silence wo\", Speech s worth\n2 elaynamely, ry exposition a remarks onthe subject: but\nSilence ie worth toy since Dough my silence wo worlds\nwere hilt togsther.*\nBR. Simeon sid: We vill go onto expound the contusion\nof the verse vit, Heth rigeth forth By number ther Host\n\n8 Tite ZOHAR TE eh\n(Is x1, 26). There are two grades which have to be distin-\nguished, one of Mal and one of Mi—one of the higher ard\nthe other of the lower sphere. The higher is singled out here\ninthe words, \"He who bringeth feth by number thei host\n\" expresses something definite and absolute, a bis\nuniversally recognized and without equal (Corresponding 0\nthis is the expression \"He who bringeth forth bread from the\nhere also \"He who\" implies the universally acknow=\nJedged one, though here visualised asthe lower geade; the wo,\nhowever, are one.) \"Bly number\": six hundred thousand ace\nthey, and they have in turn produced according to their kinds\nbeyond all number. \"All of them\", whether the six hundred\nthousand or the rest of the hosts, \"He ealls by name\", This\n'cannot snean by their names, for it were so, it should have\nbeen writen \"by names\". What it means is that as long as\nthis grade did not assume a name, and was stl ealled Mr, it\n'was unproductive, and did not bring into actuality the latent\nforces within it, each according to tx kind, But as soon asit\ncreated ELeH (these), and assumed its rightful name and\n\\was called ELoHIM (Ged), then, by force of that name, it\nproduced them in their complete form. 'This is the meaning,\nalley rai, as Bae prvcleened THs Gh rate\na8 to bring about the emergence of each sort of being in its\nfull frm. (Analogous to this we read, \"See, I have called by\nname\" (Evod. xix, 2), to wit, [have bestowed my name\n'on Bezalt (in the shadow of God) so that his work should\nemerge in perfection. Further, the words \"by the abundance\nof powers (ls, SL, 26) refer to the supreme grade whereto\nallthe voltionsascend [24] bya mysterious path. \"And mighty\nof strengih\": the word \"strength (KoaH) symbolizes the\nsupernal World which assumed the name Blohim (God), 38\nalready sid. \"No one is missing\" ofthe six hundred thousasd\n'which emerged by the power of the Name, And hecause no\n'one is missing, therefore whenever Israelites died on account\n'of a national sin, the people were afterwards numbered, ard\nit was found that the number of six hundred thousand hed\nfot been diminished even by one, so thatthe likeness to the\nsuperna prototype was still complete; just_as no one vas\nmissing above, 6) no one was ming here below.\n\n2b PROLOGUE 9\nIn THE BeoiNNtsa, Rab Hamnuna the Venerable said\n\n\"We find here a reversal of the order of the letters of the\nAlphabet, the first two words bereshith bara—\"in-the-begin=\nting. He-created\"-—commencing with beth, whereas the wo\n.wonds following, Elakim eth—\"God the\"—cammence with\naleph. The reason is as follows. When the Holy One, blewed\nbbe He, was about to make the world, all the letters of the\nAlphabet were sill embryonic, and for two thousand years\nthe Holy One, blessed be He, had contemplated them and\ntoyed with them, When He came to create the world, all he\nTetters presented themselves before Him in reversed order.\n'The leter Tau advanced in front and pleaded: May it please\n'Thee, O Lan of the world, ta place me frst in the creation\n'of the world, secing that Iam the concluding letter of EMeTh\n(Truth) which is engraved upon Thy seal, and seeing that\n\"Thou art called by this very name of EMeTh, itis most ap-\n'propriate for the King to hegin wth the final letter of EMeT\nand to create with me the world, The Holy One, blessed be\nHe, said to her: Thou art worthy and deserving, but iis not\n'proper that I begin with thee the creation of the world, sce\nthou art destined to serve as a mark on the foreheads of the\nfaithful ones (ede Ezek. 1%, 4) Who have kepr the Law from\nAlle to Tau, and through the absence of this mark the rest\n'ill be Killed; and, further, thou formest the conclusion of\nMaWeTh (death), Hence thou art not meet to initiate the\ncreation of the World. The Shin then came to the fore and\npleaded: O Lord of the world, may it please 'Thee to begin\nWith me the world, seeing that I am the initial letter of\n'Thy name ShaDDal (Almighty), and itis most fitting 10\n