4 Kabbalah
Authors
4.1 Abraham
Abulafia
Abraham Abulafia recorded perhaps the best text
describing in detail the entry way into the meditative
Kabbalah.
Here are his visions on the angel
Raziel:
[399]Text 4-1:
Abulafia on Raziel’s Wisdom and Seeing Forms
And the brilliance of the soul, which is combined
from the sphere and from the stars and luminaries, together with the brilliance
of the abundance which flows from the sphere of the rainbow to the organs of the
body, in general and in particular, which is “the appearance of the
brightness round about, which was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of
G-d.” Therefore, Raziel says that when he arrived at this knowledge and
acquired it in his intellect, he knew the question which he was asked by the
form, which he saw inscribed before him, as engraved by his Rock [i.e., G-d].
And this is clear testimony that he asked wisdom from his Creator and that
wisdom he was taught by Him, blessed be His name. And then he returned to the
matter of opening his eyes to see before him the tree of knowledge, whose name
is life: that is, that which is to others a potion of death, and is the tree of
knowledge, was to Raziel the potion of life, and he did not stumble in it as did
others.[400]
And on the angel Raziel
directly:
[401]
Text 4-2:
Abulafia on Raziel
If you wish to learn before a great master, who
is the angel of prophecy, whose name is Raziel, and if you understand all that I
have hinted of his power and his teaching, then you will know the secret of his
name. And if you wish to be one of his disciples and to learn in his book,
which is that of the completely righteous, and you wish to be inscribed with
them immediately for eternity, then take care to study continually from thirteen
years until forty years in the book of the intermediate ones before the good
angel Gallizur, who is the intellective master; and from forty years onwards let
your principal study be before Raziel, and then secrets of wisdom shall be
revealed to you, for you shall already be a great man among the
giants.
Text 4-3: Chayim
Vital on the Secret of Prophecy
Behold the secret of prophecy: it is certainly a voice sent from above
to speak to that prophet, and the Holy Spirt is likewise in that manner. But
because that voice is supernal and spiritual, it is impossible for it alone to
be corporealized and to enter into the ears of the prophet, unless it first be
embodied in that same physical voice which emerged from that person while
engaged in Torah and prayer and the like. It then embodies itself in it and is
connected to it and comes to the ears of the prophet, so that he hears; but
without the human voice it cannot exist.
An eerie man conceals knowledge, and the heart of fools calls out his
wiles.
Rashi comments: “Even with wisdom he is humble, and all that he might
say that is nonsense he
covers.”
[402]
The eerie –
ערום man,
he is prudent. The word also means crafty and sly, but Rashi interprets it
favorably in this proverb. Who is this man? He is a Raziel, keeper of secrets,
master of allusions. Although he resides between Yesod and Tiferet in the
hidden world of allusion he seeks to rise to the realm of knowledge. In this
place, he will seek to conceal or cover knowledge in allusions. Parables
conceal truth because the Truth is too great to be absorbed directly. The Will
of God resides above knowledge and Allusion cannot travel here. For if allusion
were to conceal the will of God, all would be hidden; yet the shefa must flow to
sustain creation.
4.2 Isaac
the Blind
Isaac the Blind was one of the Hasidic Ashkenaz, those devoted to prayer,
deeds of goodness, and the experience of G-d. He provided names for the
sefirot from the following
verse.
[403]Text 4-5: Source
Text for Sefirot Names
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness (gedullah), power
(gevurah), the beauty (tiferet),
the victory (netzach),
the majesty (hod) ... yours is the kingdom (malchut).
Greatness in this context is overflowing kindness. In this model the
sefirot descend from each other downward, paralleling the process of
creation.
[404]
Text 4-6: Keter
and Hochmah by Isaac the Blind
IN THE BEGINNING (Be-re’shit): The letter bet is the most
elevated crown (keter), and therefore this bet is printed larger than all other
bets. The word “beginning” (re’shit) is in fact wisdom
(hochmah). In truth then two sefirot are encompassed in one
word.Isaac the Blind describes Tohu as the Earth before emanation,
and than Bohu as the spiritual state of the earth after emanation from G-d.
The creation of light is tiferet or beauty of the Torah, coming from Wisdom.
From nothing (me-ayin) is the source of the thirty-two paths of
wisdom.
[405] Some would
claim that Isaac the Blind’s emanations resemble neo-Platonism. Instead
the sefirot are the characteristics of G-d necessary for creation to exist.
That some aspects of creation are dependent on earlier aspects is the degree to
which some sefirot relate to preceding sefirot.
4.3 Azriel
of Gerona
Azriel lived in Gerona, which was in Catalonia, between Barcelona and the
Pyrenees. On the subject of light Azriel
wrote:
[406]Text 4-7: Azriel
of Gerona's Gate of Kavanah
And this illumination is unfathomable and infinite, and from its perfect
glory proceed grace and benediction, peace and life for those who observe the
path of its unification. But to those who deviate from its path comes the light
that is hidden and transformed from one thing into its opposite, as a
chastisement and as right guidance, everything according to the kavanah of him
who knows how to accomplish it in the right manner: through cleaving, devukut,
to the thought and the will that emanates in its full force from the
unfathomable.
For according to the intensity of the kavanah, with which it draws
strength to itself through its will, and will through its knowledge, and
representation through its thought, and power through its reaching [to the
primordial source of the will] and firmness through its contemplation, if no
other reflection or desire is mixed in it, and if it grows in intensity through
the power that guides it, in order to draw to itself the current that proceeds
from Ayn Sof every thing and every act is accomplished according to its spirit
and its will, if only it knows to embrace the limits of the finite things and of
the will that inhabits their thought from the principle from which they derive.
Then, it must elevate itself above them through the power of its kavanah
and go into the depths in order to destroy the path from its very principle and
to pave a new way according to his own will: through the power of his kavanah
which stems from the perfect glory of the withdrawing
light,[407] which has neither
figure nor image, neither measure nor size, neither evaluation nor limit,
neither end nor foundation nor number, and which is in respect finite. And he
who elevates himself in such a manner, from word to word, through the power of
his intention, until he arrives at Ayn Sof, must direct his kavanah in a manner
corresponding to his perfection, so that the higher will is clothed in his will,
and not only so that his will is clothed in the higher will.
For the effluence is like the inexhaustible source that is never
interrupted only if, in approaching the higher will, it carefully watches that
the higher will is clothed in the will of its aspiration. Then, when the higher
will and the lower will, in their indistinctness and in their devukut to the
unity, become one, the effluence pours forth according to the measure of its
perfection. But the perfection of the lower will cannot take place if it
approaches for its own need, but only if it approaches it and if it clothes
itself in the will through which enough of the non-distinctness is manifested,
which is concealed in the most hidden mystery. And if it approaches it in this
manner, the higher will also approaches it and grants to its power, firmness and
to its will the impulse to perfect and execute everything, even if it be
according to the will of its soul, in which the higher will has no part.
And this is what the verse [Proverb 11:27] says: “He who
earnestly seeks what is good pursues which is pleasing.” For as far as
the will clings to an object that corresponds to the higher will, the impulse is
clothed in it and is attracted, following its own will, toward every object for
which it exerts itself with the power of its kavanah. And it draws down the
effluence, which crowns the secrets of the things and essences through the path
of the hochmah and with the spirit of the binah and with the firmness of the
daat. And in the measure that its clothed with the spirit and explains its
kavanah through its worlds and fixes a visible sign through its actions, it
draws the effluence from power to power and form cause to cause, until its
actions are concluded in the sense of its will. In this manner the ancients
used to spend some time in meditation before prayer to divert all other thoughts
and to determine the paths of their kavanah and the power that was to be applied
to its direction. And similarly some time during prayer, in order to realize
the kavanah in the articulated speech. And similarly some time after prayer, in
order to meditate on how they could also direct the power of the kavanah, which
came to its conclusion in the speech in the paths of visible action. And since
they were truly pious, man, Hasidim, their Torah became action and their work
was blessed. And this is the path among the
paths of prophecy, upon which he, who makes himself familiar with it, will be
capable of rising to the rank of prophecy.
This is to say that when the will of man calls the will of G-d, the twain
shall meet and enwrap themselves in the others will. Similarly Rabbi Gamaliel,
the son of Yehudah haNasi redactor of the Mishnah, taught “Make
G-d’s will your will, so that He will make your will His
will.”
[408] Azriel of
Gerona distinguishes his path to prophecy.
4.4 Kaplan’s
Works
Kaplan’s best introductory work on kabbalah is “Inner
Space.” While intended for instruction, the work also inspires and gives
the ecstatic experience of a real work of kabbalah. While Kaplan’s
“Jewish Meditation” introduces one to the subject, I recommend the
work only as supplementary material. Here is an example of one of
Kaplan’s uncanny ideas in “Jewish Meditation”:
4.4.1 Jewish Meditation
Text 4-8: Aryeh
Kaplan on Ani
What is the real me? A hint to the answer can be found in the Hebrew
word for “I,” ani
–אני
. It is significant to note that if the letters of ani are rearranged, they
spell the word ayn or ayin –
אין,
which denotes nothingness. This would seem to imply that the real
“me” is the nothingness within me (Jewish Meditation
p.87).
Typically, the reverse spelling of a Hebrew word suggests an opposite
meaning of a similar nature. For example, the word for ‘heart’
spelled reverse means ‘owner’.
The relationship between
man, woman, and G-d is essential to the survival of the Jewish people. Niddah
31a says: “There are three partners in man, the Holy One, blessed be He,
his father and his mother.” Rabbi Kaplan explains why:
Text 4-9: Jewish
Meditation
The male and female forces of creation are represented by yod and heh of the
Tetragrammaton. This is very closely related to a fascinating Talmudic
teaching: The Hebrew word for man is iysh
(איש)
while the word for woman is ishah
(אשה).
If one looks at the words, one sees that the word iysh contains a yod, while
ishah contains a heh. The Talmud says that these are the yod and heh of the
Tetragrammaton. If the yod and heh are removed from iysh and ishah, then the
remaining letters of both words spell out esh
(אש), the
Hebrew word for “fire.” The fires of passion that unite man and
woman are seen as receptacles for the letters of the Divine Name, and hence, for
the masculine and feminine elements of the Divine Essence. The passion that
draws man and woman togther stems from the fact that man and woman are
counterparts of the male and female archetypes on high. (Jewish Meditation
p.156)
I heard
this story told a little differently when I lived in Ofra, which is in
Judea. The point is more that if one removes G-d (the letters Yod and Heh)
from the relationship between a man and a woman, Ish and Isha, than all
that remains is Aish, a consuming fire, but while both love G-d they are
drawn to each other like the letters of the Name of G-d, Yod and Heh.
The
reference to the Talmud is Rashi’s commentary on the Gemara which I have
translated below. The key lies
in:
R. Akiba expounded: When husband and wife are worthy, the Shechinah abides
with them; when they are not worthy fire consumes them. Raba said:
[The fire which results] from the woman is severer than that from the man. What
is the reason? In the case of the former [the letters aleph and shin] are
consecutive, but not in the case of a man.
Rashi
gives the explanation on the word "worthy" - Zchoo from the Hebrew
Zechoot meaning merit. Basically he says, "to walk in a straight way
meaning he does not commit adultery and she does not commit
adultery."
Text 4-11: Rashi
Commentary on Sotah 17a
On the Shechinah abides with them, Rashi says, "A
remnant of part of His Name and His Shechinah (G-d's presence) is between them,
Yod in Ish and Heh in Isha"
On when they are not worthy fire consumes them Rashi says,
"Hakodesh Baruch Hu removes His Name from between them
and all that is found is fire and
fire."
Also
we find in Niddah 31a an allusion to the letters of the name of G-d in man
and woman. Since the letters of the Name of G-d are contained within the
words for man and woman, there are three partners in creation. This is why
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan Z"L says, "This is very closely related to a fascinating
Talmudic teaching"
Our Rabbis taught: There are three partners in man, the Holy One, blessed be
He, his father and his mother. His father supplies the semen of the white
substance out of which are formed the child's bones, sinews, nails, the brain in
his head and the white in his eye; his mother supplies the semen of the red
substance out of which is formed his skin, flesh, hair, blood and the black of
his eye; and the Holy One, blessed be He, gives him the spirit and the
breath, beauty of features, eyesight, the power of hearing and the ability to
speak and to walk, understanding and discernment. When his time to depart
from the world approaches the Holy One, blessed be He, takes away his share and
leaves the shares of his father and his mother with
them.
4.4.2 Bahir
Kaplan’s other major works include Meditation and Kabbalah,
Meditation and the Bible, a translation with commentary of Sefer Yetzirah, and
The Bahir Illumination, a translation with commentary. ‘Bahir’ is
one of the names of light in Hebrew along with Zohar, Nogah, Kavod, ... Bahir
means brilliance and the work resembles a piercing light into the soul while the
Zohar is more of a defused light. Let’s look at the first verse that
contains a classic Talmudic technique for resolving arguments:
Rabbi Nehunia ben HaKana said: One verse (Job
37:21) states, “And now they do not see light, it is brilliant (Bahir
–
בהיר)
in the skies . . . [round about G-d in terrible majesty].” Another verse,
however, (Psalm 18:12), states, “He made darkness His hiding place.”
It is also written (Psalm 97:2), “Cloud and gloom surround Him.”
This is an apparent contradiction. A third verse comes and reconciles the two.
It is written (Psalm 139:12), “Even darkness is not dark to You. Night
shines like day — light and darkness are the same.”
The description here is validated in the meditative experience where
darkness can radiate like light. Another excellent Kaplan compilation is Rabbi
Nachman’s Stories which is a compilation of the stories told from Rabbi
Nachman of Breslov. Kaplan complements the stories with a full blown
commentary on the work explaining their meaning with Kabbalah and the meaning of
the Kabbalah as well. Here is an example of Kaplan’s commentary on Rabbi
Nachman’s story, “The Ram and the Bull.”
Text 4-14: Rabbi Nachman on the Tzitzit and
Tefillin
The story is about a King who dreams of a Ram and
a Bull that will lead to his destruction. He is an enemy of Israel and imagines
that the Ram and the Bull represent physical forms. Instead they are actually
from the mazelot – constellations and represent the month of Nissan with
the ram and Iyar with the bull. The Jews were redeemed from Egypt in Nissan and
the state of Israel was established in Iyar. The Ram also represents the 4
tzitzit since they are made from a ram’s wool. If a ram is stolen it must
be repaid with 4 times its value symbolizing the 4 tzitzit. The Bull represents
the tefillin with its 5 compartments since they are formed with leather. If a
bull is stolen, 5 times its value must be repaid to the original owner. Iron or
Barzel has the acrostic
ברזל
which can represent the 4 wives of Jacob, i.e. Bilnah, Rebecca, Zilpa, and
Leah.
Aryeh Kaplan’s Sefer Yetzirah commentary identifies Hochmah with
the principle of thesis and Binah with the principle of antithesis resulting in
Daat, the principle of
synthesis.
[409],[410]
In Hochmah there is a singular thought that transfers to Sefira Binah. In Binah
consciousness, we analyze the thought extensively breaking it down into multiple
categories. Finally, the Daat principle takes over selecting and combining the
ideas from Binah into a synthesized solution.
4.5 Luzatto’s
Works [TABLES]
4.5.1 The Way of G-d – Derech Hashem
The ‘Way of G-d’ explains G-d’s cosmological interface
with the world. This was my first introduction to Kabbalah and I recommend it
for everyone. The work bridges all Torah teachings with the mystical. Some of
the subjects Luzzatto covers include the existence of G-d, the purpose of
creation, angels, root of evil, destiny or providence, reincarnation, heavenly
courts, influence of the stars, soul levels, dreams, magic, miracles, and
prophecy.
4.5.2 The Path of the
Just – M’silat Yesharim
This work is dedicated to Midos development. It presents a ladder to
holiness consisting of the following
traits:
[411]Duty
Watchfulness
Zeal
Cleanliness
Separation
Purity
Saintliness
Humility
Fear
of Sin
Holiness
The Talmud lists the order differently. Rabbi Pinchas ben Ya’ir
said, “Heedfulness leads to alertness, alertness leads to cleanliness,
cleanliness leads to restraint, restraint leads to purity, purity leads to
holiness, holiness leads to fear of sin, fear of sin leads to humility, humility
leads to saintliness, saintliness leads to the gift of the holy
spirit.”
[412]The ten
levels also represent a manner in which one purifies the
Nefesh
[413]
or lowest soul in order to prepare oneself for the experience of Ruach Hakodesh,
the holy wind, which is the middle soul transmitting inspiration. The highest
soul or Neshamah is directly connected to G-d.
Table
4-1: Ten Principle Steps for Spiritual
Inspiration
|
Level
|
Mordecai M. Kaplan’s
translation
|
Aryeh Kaplan’s
translation
|
Shraga Silver-stein’s
translation
|
Summary
|
|
1
|
Of Man’s Duty in the
World
|
Study
|
Duty
|
Man was created to find delight in the Lord and to bask in
the radiance of his presence.
To obtain this end, we follow the commandments in this world
to merit the good light saved up for us in the world to
come.[414]
“But for me, the nearness of G-d is my
good”[415]
“One thing have I asked of the Lord that I will seek
after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to
behold the graciousness of the
Lord.”[416]
|
|
2
|
Of Watchfulness
|
Careful-ness
|
Watchful-ness
|
A person should be watchful of his conduct. He must know
what is truly good and bad to correctly classify his
actions.[417]
He should not enter upon any course of action without first
determining its character.
Watchfulness pertains to the negative
commandments.
|
|
3
|
Of Zeal
|
Diligence
|
Zeal
|
“Depart from evil and do
good.”[418]
Zeal pertains to keeping the positive commandments.
“Those who are zealous perform a commandment at the earliest possible
time.”[419]
“Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little
folding of the hands to sleep – so shall thy poverty come as a runner and
thy want as an armed
man.”[420]
|
|
4
|
Cleanness
|
Clean-liness
|
Clean-liness
|
Do not taunt your neighbor.
Do not insult your neighbor.
Do not mislead your neighbor.
Do not slander your neighbor.
Do not hate your neighbor.
Do not nurse revenge nor swear nor lie nor act
sacrilegiously against your neighbor.
|
|
5
|
Abstinence
|
Absten-tion
|
Separation
|
Abstaining from what is permitted brings one to holiness.
“Whoever observes a fast not prescribed by law is considered
holy.”[421] “Be ye
holy”, Leviticus 19:2 means “Be ye
abstinent”[422]
|
|
6
|
Purity
|
Purity
|
Purity
|
Perfecting ones heart and thoughts so that the evil
inclination cannot influence them.
|
|
7
|
Saintliness
|
Piety
|
Saintliness
|
Regarding the body, to be as much help to those weighted
down with a burden. “Bearing the yoke with one’s
fellow.”[423] Spare no
effort to prevent neighbor from bodily injury.
Regarding possessions, not to cause damage to public or
private property. “Let the possessions of thy neighbor be as to dear to
thee as thine own.”[424]
Regarding feelings, to actively or passively (by listening)
increase the pleasure of thy neighbor is a mitzvah under the category of
saintliness.
|
|
8
|
Humility
|
Humility
|
Humility
|
A man should be wholly persuaded of his unworthiness to be
the recipient of praise and glory for intellectual
achievements.
A man should have humility in one’s bearing, in
enduring insults, in hating to exercise authority and shunning applause, and in
honoring everyone.
In speech: “Let a man always speak
gently.”[425]
A person should always speak respectfully and never
disdainfully.
In walking: “Walk humbly before your
G-d.”
In sitting: “Find a place among those of humble rank
and not among the
great.”[426]
|
|
9
|
The Fear of Sin
|
Fear of Sin
|
Fear of Sin
|
Refraining from sin out of regard for the glory of G-d.
Sensing the awe of G-d.
|
|
10
|
Holiness
|
Holiness
|
Holiness
|
Cleaving to the will of G-d in all ones thoughts and
actions.
|
Text 4-15: Path
of the Upright on the Steps to Yihud
According to this program, one begins with constant study and
observance, leading to scrupulous care not to violate any religious law. The
next step is constant diligence to obey every commandment, and then to live a
completely clean life, both in thought and in deed. One then reaches a level
where he avoids even permissible things when they can possibly lead to wrong,
and once this is accomplished, he can purify himself of all evil, past and
present.
The person is then ready to live a life of piety dedicating himself to
G-d far beyond the call of law, and this leads to humility, the negation of the
ego. A person can then gain such a clear perception of good that he literally
dreads sin, being totally aware of the banality of evil. He is then ready for
the highest of these ten steps, holiness, the total negation of the
physical.
The very next level is that of Ruach Hakodesh. These ten steps thus
provide a program of discipline for the individual who wishes to attain true
enlightenment.[427]
4.5.3 The Knowing Heart
– Daat T’vunot
The “Knowing Heart” is a refreshing course on the foundation of
the spiritual in the physical world. The yeshiva education places this work in
the realm of philosophy and studies the Path of the Just for self-improvement.
The Way of G-d provokes the questioning mind, the Path of the Just sets the way
of life and the Knowing Heart refines ones
faith.
[428] Luzatto reveals new
teachings here that are not revealed in previous works. For example, on the
importance of
ecology:
[429]Text 4-16: Luzatto's Knowing Heart on Ecology
The Creator did not implant negation and deterioration in the nature of
perfect creatures, but in the nature of imperfect ones, so that when the
creatures will have perfected themselves in time to come, they will not be
subject to negation at all.
...
We speak of negation and deterioration as they apply to each species in
itself. Their inter-connection and conjunction towards the universal end, to
the contrary, is a correction for this because by virtue of it they leave the
sphere of evil and are rescued from it.
In sum, it is in the species of nature in themselves and not in their
inter-relationship that negation, lowering, and deterioration obtain. In their
inter-relationship is rooted their perfection and escape from
evil!
Luzatto here presents his view that nature working together is
good, but species isolating themselves from other species leads to evil. This
is reflected in the sefirot where in their original form, they attempted to
exist independently and shattered when they became to full of the flow from
Hashem. Their shattered forms are rebuilt into the Partzufim, who transmit the
energy to each other and in doing so permit the sefirot to exist in
harmony.
4.6 Maimonides
Rambam’s Mishnah Torah says if a prophet prophesizes something bad
and it doesn’t happen, it does not indicate that he is a false prophet,
but if the prophet prophesizes something good, it must come to pass or we know
that he is a false prophet. The idea here is that Hashem does not recall his
good decree.
The Talmud teaches that future generations cannot abrogate
laws from earlier Rabbis, as there is an assumption that rabbis of past
generations are superior in
knowledge.
[430]Text 4-17:
Principle of the Decline of the Generations
R. Zera said in Raba b. Zimuna’s name: If the earlier scholars
[rishonim] were sons of angels, we are sons of men; and if the earlier scholars
were sons of men, we are like the asses, and not even like asses of R. Hanina b.
Dosa and P. Phinehas b. Jair, but like ordinary asses.However,
Maimonides does not approve of this concept of the “Decline of the
Generations”:
[431]
Text 4-18:
Maimonides Position on the Decline of the Generations
I have proved that for Maimonides the Tannaim and Amoraim are human
beings like all others with respect to their native intellectual and spiritual
capacities. One must accept their halakhic determinations, but with respect to
all other matters one is free to weigh, measure, consider, accept, reject, or
modify their opinions. Their halakhic authority is a consequence of historical
circumstance, not their innate capacities. Last, human capacities have not been
declining since the time of the Rabbis; if anything, we can expect them to grow,
not decline.Especially in realms outside of law, we must evaluate
the merit of earlier teachings and not assume they are correct. Modern Judaism
must question the historical validity of ideas like “fallen
angels”
[432], a singular
Satan, a singular Messiah whose name was created before creation, and the notion
that angels have free will. These ideas are not consistent with early
Judaism.
There is a phrase in the psalms that says, "Let the heavens praise you
O Lord...". Maimonides says this is literally the case, as there is
‘soul awareness’ in the heavenly bodies. Soul awareness is also in
the grasses and trees around us, and certainly with animals. In essence there
are souls everywhere. Even in the rock that Moses struck to bring forth water,
there was a soul for which Moses was punished for not asking
politely.
What does this mean for us? We have to be very conscious that
creation is filled with souls of life on all levels and not take it for
granted.
4.7 Nachmanides
4.7.1 Iggeres
Haramban
The Ramban’s Letter is a tikkun, a remedy, to repair a hole in ones
life. The Ramban said, “Every day that you shall read this letter, heaven
shall answer your heart’s desires.” Brides and grooms recite this
letter on their wedding day. Singles recite this letter to help find their soul
mates.
Text 4-19: The
Ramban’s Letter
(Written to his elder son, Nachman, with the instruction to read it weekly.)
Hear, my son, the instruction of your father and don't forsake the teaching
of your mother (Mishlei 1:8). Get into the habit of always speaking calmly to
everyone. This will prevent you from anger, a serious character flaw, which
causes people to sin. As our Rabbis said (Nedarim 22a): Whoever flares up in
anger is subject to the discipline of Gehinnom, as it is says in (Koheles
12:10), "Cast out anger from your heart, and [by doing this] remove evil from
your flesh." "Evil" here means Gehinnom, as we read (Mishlei 16:4): "...and the
wicked are destined for the day of evil." Once you have distanced yourself from
anger, the quality of humility will enter your heart. This radiant quality is
the finest of all admirable traits (see Avodah Zarah 20b), (Mishlei 22:4),
"Following humility comes the fear of Hashem."
Through humility you will also come to fear Hashem. It will cause you to
always think about (see Avos 3:1) where you came from and where you are going,
and that while alive you are only like a maggot and a worm, and the same after
death. It will also remind you before Whom you will be judged, the King of
Glory, as it is stated (I Melachim 8:27; Mishlei 15:11), "Even the heaven and
the heavens of heaven can't contain You" — "How much less the hearts of
people!" It is also written (Yirmeyahu 23:24), "Do I not fill heaven and earth?
says Hashem."
When you think about all these things, you will come to fear Hashem who
created you, and you will protect yourself from sinning and therefore be happy
with whatever happens to you. Also, when you act humbly and modestly before
everyone, and are afraid of Hashem and of sin, the radiance of His glory and the
spirit of the Shechinah will rest upon you, and you will live the life of the
World-to-Come!
And now, my son, understand and observe that whoever feels that he is greater
than others is rebelling against the Kingship of Hashem, because he is adorning
himself with His garments, as it is written (Tehillim 93:1), "Hashem reigns, He
wears clothes of pride." Why should one feel proud? Is it because of wealth?
Hashem makes one poor or rich (I Shmuel 2:7). Is it because of honor? It belongs
to Hashem, as we read (I Divrei Hayamim 29:12), "Wealth and honor come from
You." So how could one adorn himself with Hashem's honor? And one who is proud
of his wisdom surely knows that Hashem "takes away the speech of assured men and
reasoning from the sages" (Iyov 12:20)!? So we see that everyone is the same
before Hashem, since with His anger He lowers the proud and when He wishes He
raises the low. So lower yourself and Hashem will lift you up!
Therefore, I will now explain to you how to always behave humbly. Speak
gently at all times, with your head bowed, your eyes looking down to the ground
and your heart focusing on Hashem. Don't look at the face of the person to whom
you are speaking. Consider everyone as greater than yourself. If he is wise or
rich, you should give him respect. If he is poor and you are richer -- or wiser
-- than he, consider yourself to be more guilty than he, and that he is more
worthy than you, since when he sins it is through error, while yours is
deliberate and you should know better!
In all your actions, words and thoughts, always regard yourself as standing
before Hashem, with His Shechinah above you, for His glory fills the whole
world. Speak with fear and awe, as a slave standing before his master. Act with
restraint in front of everyone. When someone calls you, don't answer loudly, but
gently and softly, as one who stands before his master.
Torah should always be learned diligently, so you will be able to fulfill its
commands. When you arise from your learning reflect carefully on what you have
studied, in order to see what is in it that you can be put into practice.
Examine your actions every morning and evening, and in this way every one of
your days will be spent in teshuvah (repentance).
Concentrate on your prayers by removing all worldly concerns from your heart.
Prepare your heart before Hashem, purify your thoughts and think about what you
are going to say. If you follow this in all your daily actions, you will not
come to sin. This way everything you do will be proper, and your prayer will be
pure, clear, clean, devout and acceptable to Hashem, as it is written (Tehillim
10:17), "When their heart is directed to You, listen to them."
Read this letter at least once a week and neglect none of it. Fulfill it, and
in so doing, walk with it forever in the ways of Hashem, may he be blessed, so
that you will succeed in all your ways. Thus you will succeed and merit the
World to Come, which lies hidden away for the righteous. Every day that you
shall read this letter, heaven shall answer your heart's desires. Amen, Selah!
4.8 Nachman’s
Works
4.8.1 Rabbi Nachman’s
Wisdom – Shevachey and Sichos HaRan
“Shevachey and Sichos HaRan,” the
“Life and Conversations of Rabbi Nachman” is also titled,
“Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom”, the wise sayings of
Rebenuzal.
[433]As
philosophy is the creation of the house of Esau, so Talmud is connected to the
influence of Lilith. Rabbi Nachman warned incessantly on the dangers of the
study of philosophy, that it leads to depression, which is rooted in evil.
Similarly, Talmudic study in the area of halachic argument is rooted in
philosophy based on the ‘Thirteen Principles of Reason’ laid out by
Rabbi Ishmael and may lead to
depression.
[434]
The following gematria illustrates the connection:
תלמוד
= 480 =
לילית
One cultivates intellect while studying Talmudic law. By mastering the
tools of reason, one grows in wisdom, but sometimes with a degree of depression.
For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth
knowledge increaseth sorrow.
(Ecclesiastes 1:18)
Aggadah, kabbalah and mussar when mixed with halachic talmudic study temper
this effect helping one develop the 48 qualifications by which the Torah is
acquired.
[435] The Talmud in its
abundance includes all these areas and is hence, 480, a ten-fold magnification
of these qualifications.
In the Sichos HaRan, Rabbi Nachman
teaches:
[436]Joy can protect your children from
death.The evil force that destroys children is called
Lilith.[437]
Joy is the antithesis of Lilith.
Aryeh Kaplan explains in the footnote, “Lilith comes from the
root Laylay-night and is associated with dark moods and
depression.”
[438]Rabbi
Nachman taught about the importance of names:
Text 4-20: Rabbi Nachman on Understanding Names
The Rebbe once spoke at length about Reb Shimon.
He said, “Take the letters ShiMOAN and rearrange them. You then have AvON
MaSh – ‘away with
sin’.[439] ...
From what the Rebbe said, we understood that every person’s essence is
defined by some combination of the letters of his name. We also were able to
realize that the Rebbe himself had complete knowledge of this. The Rebbe said,
“The recombination of letters can teach us great lessons. My teachings
are very great, but where they involve a play on letters they are still
greater.”[440]This
is the technique of the anagram practiced on a Hebrew name. To find the
correct anagram one must pursue the process of writing and permuting the Hebrew
letters until one finds the combination. Check a Hebrew dictionary to look up
the words. If one has two Hebrew names, one permutes the letters in both names
to form the words.
4.8.2 Likutey Moharan
4.8.2.1 David’s
praise
David says something interesting in Psalm 56:11 that Reb Nachman builds
upon.
In Elohim I will praise his
work, in Hashem I will praise his work.
Elohim is the name of G-d in judgment and Hashem the name of G-d in mercy
here. The psalm teaches, in both times of judgment and in mercy, we should sing
praise to Hashem. Furthermore, the Shema teaches that Hashem’s name is
one. Thus, the names Elohim and Hashem are one.
שמע
ישראל יי
אלהיני יי
אחד
Hear
O’Israel the Lord our G-d the Lord is One
How are we to understand this? The gematria of ‘One’,
Echad is the same as that for ‘Love’, Ahavah. Thus, when G-d
manifests the attribute of judgment, Elohim, this is out of love and so is the
manifesting of the attribute of mercy, Hashem, out of love.
אחד
= 13 =
אהבה
Rabbi Nachman explains:
Knowing all this is called complete awareness.
For the essence of awareness is the union of <chasadim (benevolence) and
gevurot (severities)>. This is called Daat. In other words, he does not
differentiate between loving kindness and judgment, but blesses “Who is
good and beneficent” over everything. This is called “YHVH is one
and His Name is
one”[441]
4.8.2.2 Bones
And their iniquities will be etched upon their
bones.
From this verse arises the idea that a person’s sins are etched
upon his bones. Even if G-d forgives one of sins, the traces remain on his
bones. Reb Nachman teaches from the Baal Shem Tov, that one needs to confess
his or her sins in order for these traces to be
removed.
[443]By means of spoken confession, however, the letters disappear from the
bones into which they have been etched and are transformed into the words of
confession. For speech emanates from one’s bones, as is written (Psalms
35:10), “All my bones will
say.”[444]
He tears down the negative structure and combination, and from the letters
builds Malkhut
d’Kedushah.[445]
What is spoken confession? On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, one gathers
three Jews together to establish a bet din, a court of law, and one reads a
statement of annulment of vows and confession of sin. The bet din
responds:
May everything be permitted you, may everything
be forgiven you, may everything be allowed you. There does not exist any vow,
oath, nazirism, cherem, prohibition, konam, ostracism, excommunication, or
curses. But there does exist pardon, forgiveness, and atonement. And just as
the earthly court permits them, so may they be permitted in the Heavenly
Court.
‘Spoken confession’ is before ones fellow man, ones
neighbor, a three-judge court. As people forgive each other in this world, so
the traces of sin lift from our bones, the ‘letters’ rise and reform
into a ‘Holy Kingdom’.
In a parable on bones, “G-d asks Ezekiel, ‘Can these bones yet
live?’ Ezekiel responds, ‘Oh Lord only thou knowest.' The Lord
responds, ‘All these bones are the whole house of Israel and though they
have lost hope, they shall yet live and walk in the land of the
living.’” Our bones are identified with our inner thoughts and
deeds, and affect our hopes. A teaching says, “In each of us there is a
single bone, an etzem, which is our essence, and is not destroyed, and from
which G-d will fashion a new body in the time of the resurrection." To preserve
this bone is one reason that Jews do not to practice cremation.
R. Isaac bar Parnakh said: All of a man’s
iniquities are engraved upon his
bones.[446]
“The Lord will make strong thy bones.”
(Isaiah 58:11)R. Eleazar said: This is the most perfect of
blessings.[447]
4.8.3 Letter From Rebbe Nachman
In 1922 a letter was found that is from Rebbe
Nachman.
[448]
The letter reads:
Very hard it was for me to descend to you my precious student to tell
you that I benefited greatly from your work and upon you I said, “My fire
will burn until Messiah will come be strong and courageous. In your work, Na
Nach, Nachma, Nachman Me’Uman.
And with this I shall reveal to you a secret and
it is: Full and heaped up from line to line (pay, tzaddi, pay, tzaddi, yod,
hay)
פצפציה[449]
And with strong service you will understand it and the sign is the
17th of Tamuz they will say that you will not fast.
I had a copy of this letter and had put it away with some papers.
Strangely, on Shabbas morning, the 17
th of Tamuz 5758, I was browsing
some papers and stumbled upon the letter. When is the 17
th of Tamuz
not a fast day, when it is Shabbas I thought, so the finding of this letter on
this Shabbas was not by chance. While the letter was originally sent to Rabbi
Yisroel Dov-Ber Odesser Z”l of Tiberias, it is clear to me that it has a
more significant reach. Part of the key is in the song,
נ נח
נחמ נחמן
מאומן, which has gematria
137+148+98+58+50=491. This is also the gematria of
תאילן.
Ninety-one is the gematria of Hashem-Adonay that is Elon the last four letters.
Elon refers to the Tree of Life. The Tav transforms Elon into a verb referring
to establishing the tree. Nati Elon –
נתי
אילן teaches that the essence of moshiach is to
see its potential in others, “It is like a seed planted waiting to
grow.”
[450]
4.8.4 Tikkun for the body
One can speak to each part of ones body praising the mitzvot it performs to
elevate its purpose and repair its sparks. For the hand, a man can praise its
work in laying tefillin. A woman can praise her hand’s work in separating
challah.
[451]For the
brain, one can praise its intellect for solving problems, scientific study, and
Torah study. For the legs one can praise them for taking one to places to
perform mitzvot. For ones heart one can praise its function it caring for
others.
4.8.5 Rabbi Nachman’s Stories
4.8.5.1 Closed Hand
The following tale alludes to the striving after vanity that plagues us.
It is reminiscent of the Tarot card with an unknown treasure covered and six
others revealed. The longing for the unknown treasure is what often leads one
astray:
[452]Text 4-21: The
Evil Magician
I am looking for the source that I can give for a quotation by Nachman
of Bratslav: The evil inclination is to be compared to a conjurer who runs among
the people with a closed hand daring them to guess what is in it. At that
moment each one thinks that the conjurer has what each one desires for himself
hidden in the clenched hand. Everyone therefore runs after him. Once the
conjurer stops for a moment and opens his hand there is nothing in it. Exactly
does the evil inclination fool the whole world. Everyone rushes after him, for
all imagine, in their error, that he has in his hand what they want and desire.
In the end the evil imagination opens his hand and everyone sees that there is
nothing in it. The very one who said to each person "open your mouth and I will
fill it," he himself is completely empty. I wonder if you might be able to help
me?
4.8.5.2 Seven beggars
A friend explained to me how the 7th beggar without legs heals
the prince and princess. He tells them he doesn’t need legs to walk in
hiloni (vanity), because he walks in the way of Hashem. The beggar without eyes
heals by saying that he doesn’t need to look at the vanity of the world,
since he is focused on what Hashem wishes him to see. The beggar without hands
heals because he doesn’t need hands to do mundane works, because he does
the work of G-d.
4.9 Solomon
Ibn Gabirol
Solomon ben Yehudah Ibn Gebirol, the RaSHBag, was born in Malaga, Spain, in
1021, lived most of his life in Saragosa, and died in Valencia in his early or
mid
thirties.
[453],[454]
The following are sections of Ibn Gabirol’s work the “Crown of the
Kingdom” consisting of thirty-two chapters grasping for the Thirty-two
Paths of Wisdom.
Text 4-22: Crown
of Kingdom
May man profit by my prayerMay he learn the
right and straight through itI have told the wonders of living El in
itIn brief not at full lengthI set it above all my other
praisesI call it the Crown of
Kingdom[455]
4.9.1 The Praises of God
4.9.1.1 Crown of Kingdom - I
Thine are the greatness and the strength and the splendor and the glory and
the majesty.
Thine O God is the Kingdom and the rising above all things and the richness
and the honor.
Thine are the higher and the lower creatures, and they bear witness that
they perish and Thou dost endure.
Thine is the light whose secret our thoughts are wearied of seeking, for
Thou art so much stronger than we.
Thine is the name that is hidden from the wise, the strength that sustains
the world over the void, the power to bring to light all that is
hidden.
Thine is the mercy that rules over Thy creatures and the goodness preserved
for those who fear Thee.
Thine are the secrets that no mind or thought can encompass, and the life
over which decay has no rule, and the throne that is higher than all height, and
the habitation that is hidden at the pinnacle of mystery.
Thine is the existence from the shadow of whose light every being was made
to be, and we said “Under His shadow we shall live.”
Thine are the two worlds between which Thou didst set a limit, the first
for works and the second for
requital.
[456]Thine is the reward which Thou has set aside for the righteous and hidden,
and Thou sawest that it was good, and hast kept it hidden.
4.9.1.2 Crown of Kingdom - II
Thou art One, the beginning of all computation, the base of all
construction.
Thou art One, and in the mystery of Thy Oneness the wise of heart are
astonished, for they know not what it is.
Thou art One, and Thy Oneness neither diminishes nor increases, neither
lacks nor exceeds.
Thou art One, but not as the One that is counted or owned, for number and
change cannot reach Thee, nor attribute, nor form.
Thou art One, but my mind is too feeble to set Thee a law or a limit, and
therefore I say: “I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my
tongue.”
Thou art One, and Thou art exalted high above abasement and
falling—not like a man, who falls when he is alone.
4.9.1.3 Crown of Kingdom –
III
Thou art, but the hearing of ears and the seeing of eyes cannot reach Thee,
and how and why and where have no rule over Thee.
Thou art, but for Thine own essence, and for no other with
Thyself.
Thou art, and before all time was Thou wert, and without place Thou didst
dwell.
Thou art, and thy secret is hidden and who can reach it—“far
off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out?”
4.9.1.4 Crown of Kingdom – IV
Thou livest but not from determined time or know period.
Thou livest, but not with soul or breath, for Thou art soul of the
soul.
Thou livest, but not as the life of man that is like vanity, its end in
moths and worms
Thou livest, and whoever attains Thy secret will find eternal
delight—“ and eat, and live forever.”
4.9.1.5 Crown of Kingdom – V
Thou art great, and beside Thy greatness all greatness is subdued and all
merit is shortcoming.
Thou art great above all thought and sublime above the highest
heaven.
Thou art great above all greatness, “exalted above all blessing and
praise.”
4.9.1.6 Crown of Kingdom – VI
Thou art mighty, and there is none among all Thy creatures that can equal
Thy works and Thy mighty deeds.
Thou art mighty, and Thine is the perfect might that knows neither change
nor vicissitude.
Thou art mighty, and from the greatness of Thy power Thou forgivest in the
moment of Thy wrath and softenest Thine anger for sinners.
Thou art mighty, and Thy pity covers all Thy creatures—it is the
mighty one which was of old.
4.9.1.7 Crown of Kingdom –
VII
Thou art the supreme light, and the eyes of the pure of soul shall see
Thee, and clouds of sin shall hide Thee from the eyes of sinners.
Thou art the light hidden in this world and revealed in the world of
beauty, “In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.”
Thou art the eternal light, and the inward eye yearns for Thee and is
astonished—she shall see but the utmost part of them, and shall not see
them all.
4.9.1.8 Crown of Kingdom –
VIII
Thou art the God of gods
[457]
and Lord of lords,
[458] Master of
heavenly and of earthy beings.
Thou art God,
[459] and all
creatures are Thy witnesses, and in honor of this Name every created thing is
bound to serve Thee.
Thou art God, and all creatures are Thy slaves and worshippers, and Thy
glory is not diminished by those who worship others than Thee, for the goal of
all of them is to attain to Thee.
But they are as blind men who turn to seek the king’s highway, and
they stray from the road.
One sinks in the pit of destruction, another stumbles intao an
abyss.
All of them believing that they have reached their desire, yet they have
toiled in vain.
But Thy servants are as clear-sighted ones who follow the straight
path.
They do not stray to right or left until they reach the palace of the
king.
Thou art God, who supportest all creatures with Thy Godhead and sustainest
all beings with the Thy Oneness.
Thou art God, and there is no separation between Thy Godhead and Thy
Oneness, Thy preexistence and Thine eternity.
For it is all one mystery, and though the name of each one be different
“all go unto one place.”
4.9.1.9 Crown of Kingdom – IX
Thou art wise; and wisdom, the source of life, flow from Thee, and every
man is too brutish to know Thy wisdom.
Thou art wise, pre-existent to all pre-existence, and wisdom was with Thee
as nursling.
Thou art wise, and Thou didst not learn from any other than Thyself, nor
acquire wisdom from another.
Thou art wise, and from Thy wisdom Thou didst send forth a predestined
Will, and made it as an artisan and a craftsman,
To draw the stream of being from the void as the light is drawn that comes
from the eye,
To take from the source of light without a vessel, and to make all without
a tool, cut and hew and cleanse and purify.
That Will called to the void and it was cleft asunder, to existence and it
was set up, to the universe and It was spread out.
It measured the heavens with a span, and its hand coupled the pavilion of
the spheres,
And linked the curtains of all creatures with loops of potency; and its
strength reaches as far as the last and lowest creature—“the
uttermost edge of the curtain in the coupling.”
4.9.1.10 Addendum
Thou art mighty, thou art mighty, far supreme above all beings, lest we
forget thee, Thou reminds us correcting our souls.
Thou art mighty, thou art mighty, glorious brilliant, light of being, thy
Truth shall ever surround us, till we break free of material strings.
Thou art glory, thou art glory, glory to the eternal King, we are subjects
kneeling before Him, our heads lowered before his Ring.
Thou art glory, thou art glory, glory to a newborn king; He shall reign
forever and bring us back to our eternal King.
Thou art holy, thou art holy, holiness pervading everything, we search for
Thee forever, bring us back to our True being.
Thou art holy, thou art holy, holiness spreads below Your wings, like the
rain from heaven, our dew shall rise in the first mist of
spring.
[460]
4.9.2 Wonders of Creation
The ‘Wonders of Creation’ section of the ‘Crown of the
Kingdom’ expounds on the astrological principles of the Book of
Creation.
4.9.2.1 Crown of Kingdom – X
Who can utter Thy mighty deeds when Thou madest the globe of the earth
divided in two, one part dry land and one part water?
And Thou didst encompass the water with the sphere of air, the air that
turns and turns and rests on its turnings.
And Thou didst encompass the air with the sphere of fire.
But the foundation of these four elements is one, their source is
one,
And from it they come forth and renew themselves—“and from
thence it was parted, and became into four heads.”
4.9.2.2 Crown of Kingdom – XI
Who can declare Thy greatness when Thou didst encompass the sphere of fire
with the sphere of firmament, in which is the moon, which aspires and glows in
the splendor of the sun?
In twenty-nine days she turns about her orbit and goes up by her own
way.
Some of her mysteries are simple and some of them are deep; her body is
less than the earth, as is one part to thirty-nine.
By the will of her Creator she awakens month after month the changes and
events of the world, its good things and its evil things—“to make
known to the sons of men his mighty acts.”
4.9.2.3 Crown of Kingdom –
XII
Who can tell Thy praises when Thou didst make the moon, the measure for the
computing of festivals and holy days and epochs and signs for days and
years?
Her kingdom is by night, until her term comes and her radiance is
darkened.
And she covers herself with a mantle of blackness, for her light is from
the light of the sun.
And on the fourteenth night, if both of them stand on the line of the
Dragon, and comes between them,
Then the moon does not show her light and her lamp is quenched,
That all the peoples of the earth may know that the heavenly bodies, though
they be precious, have a Judge above them to cast them down and raise them
up.
[461]But the moon lives again after her fall and shines after her
eclipse,
And when at the end of the month she joins with the sun,
If the Dragon rise between them, and both stand on the same line,
Then the moon stands before the sun like a black cloud, and hides his
radiance from the eye of all his beholders,
So that all who see them may know that the Kingdom is not to the host of
the heavens and their legions,
But there is a Master above them, who darkens their luminaries,
“For He that is higher than the highest regardeth; and these be
higher than they.”
And those who imagine that the sun is their god will at that time be
ashamed of their imaginings, for their words will be tested,
And they will know that the hand of God made this, and that the Sun has no
power, and that He who darkens his radiance alone has sway.
He sends to him one of His Servants, as reward for his good
deeds,
To hide his light, destroy his idolatry, and remove him from being
king.
4.9.2.4 Crown of Kingdom –
XIII
Who can reckon Thy deeds of justice when Thou didst encompass the firmament
of the moon with a second sphere, without break or breach,
In which is the star called Mercury, which is as one twenty-two thousandth
of the earth?
He traverses his orbit in tend days, moving swiftly,
And he awakens in the world quarrels and conflict, hatred and
strife,
And give strength to succeed, to gather riches, to acquire wealth and
honor,
By the command of Him who created it to serve Him as a slave serves his
master.
It is the star of understanding and of wisdom—“to give
subtility to the simple, to the young man knowledge and
discretion.”
4.9.2.5 Crown of Kingdom –
XIV
Who can understand Thy mysteries when Thou didst encompass the second
sphere with a third sphere in which is Venus, like a queen among her hosts, and
like a bride decked with her adornments?
In eleven months she turns about her orbit, and her body is as one
thirty-seventh of the earth, according to those who know her secrets.
So also to the Scales and the Scorpion, set by his side; and the ninth that
was made in the shape of an Archer whose might does not fail;
So were the Goat and the Pail created by Thy great strength,
And by him the last sign—“now the Lord had prepared a great
fish.”
These are the lofty signs, raised up in their heights—“twelve
princes according their nations.”
4.9.2.6 Crown of Kingdom –
XXIII
Who can search out Thy secrets when Thou didst bring forth, over the sphere
of the signs, a sphere that is ninth in order,
Which encompasses all the spheres and their creatures, and they are
enclosed within it,
And which leads all the stars of heaven and their orbits from east to west,
by the power of its movement?
Once every day it bows down in the west to the King who enthroned
it;
And all the creatures of the universe are in it as a grain of mustard in
the great sea, so great is it and so vast,
Yet it and its greatness are counted as naught and as nothing before the
greatness of its Creator and its King—“ and they are counted to him
less than nothing.”
4.9.2.7 Crown of Kingdom –
XXIV
Who can understand the mysteries of Thy creatures when Thou didst raise up
over the ninth sphere the sphere of intelligence, “the temple before
it,” “and the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord”?
That is the sphere exalted above all height, to which thought cannot
attain,
There is the mystery, the canopy of Thy glory.
Thou didst cast it from the silver of truth, and from the gold of
intelligence Thou madest its covering,
On pillars of righteousness Thou didst set its orbit, and its existence
derives from Thy power,
From Thee and to Thee is its purpose—“unto Thee shall be
his desire.”
4.9.2.8 Crown of Kingdom –
XXV
Who can fathom Thy thoughts when from the splendor of the sphere of
intelligence Thou madest the radiance of souls and lofty spirits?
They are the messengers of Thy Will, the ministers of Thy
countenance.
They are majestic in strength, mighty in dominion, in their hand is the
“flaming sword which turned every way.”
They perform every task, wherever the spirit takes them,
They are all elemental forms, transcendent beings, servants of the outer
and inner courts, looking well to Thy ways,
From the holy place they go forth, and from the source of light they are
drawn,
Marshalled into companies, with signs on their flag traced by the pen of a
skillful scribe,
Some to command and some to minister,
Some of them are hosts that run and come, tireless and unwearied, seeing
and not seen,
Some are hewn of flames, some stormy winds, some are compounded of water
and of fire.
Some are fiery Seraphim, some leaping sparks, some comets, some flashes of
lightning,
And every company bows down before the Rider of the
Heavens and at the peak of the universe they stand in thousands and
myriads,
Divided into watches by day and by night at the start of their vigils, to
make praises and songs to Him that is girded with prowesses.
All of them, in fear and trembling, kneeling and bowing to Thee, and
saying: “We confess to Thee,
That Thou art our God, and Thou didst make us, not we ourselves, and we are
all the work of Thy hand,
For Thou art our Lord and we are Thy servants, Thou art our Creator and we
Thy witnesses.”
4.9.2.9 Crown of Kingdom –
XXVI
Who can come to Thy dwelling-place, when Thou didst raise up above the
sphere of intelligence the throne of glory, in which is the abode of mystery and
majesty,
In which is the secret and the foundation, to which the intelligence
reaches—and then stops short?
And above it Thou art raised up and exalted on the throne of Thy might, and
none shall come up with Thee.
4.9.2.10 Crown of Kingdom –
XXVII
Who can do as Thy deeds, when under the throne of Thy glory Thou madest a
place for the spirits of Thy saints?
There is the abode of the pure souls that are bound in the bundle of
life.
Those who are tired and weary, there will they restore their
strength.
There shall the weary be at rest, for they are deserving of
repose.
In it there is delight without end or limitation, for that is the
world-to-come.
There are stations and visions for the souls that stand by the mirrors
assembled, to see the face of the Lord and to be seen,
Dwelling in the royal palaces, standing by the royal table,
Delighting in the sweetness of the fruit of the Intelligence, which yields
royal dainties.
This is the repose and the inheritance, whose good and beauty are without
limit, and “surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit
of it.”
4.9.2.11 Crown of Kingdom –
XXVIII
Who can reveal Thy mysteries, when in the heights Thou madest chambers and
treasures, in which wonders are told, and the word of mighty deeds?
Some of them treasures of life for the righteous and pure,
Some of them treasures of salvation for penitent sinners,
Some of them treasures of fire and rivers of sulfur, for the transgressors
of the covenant,
[462]And treasures of deep pits of unquenchable fire, “he that is abhorred
of the Lord shall fall therein.”
And treasures of storms and tempests, of freezing and frost,
And treasures of hail and ice and snow, drought and also heat and bursting
floods,
Steam and time and mist and cloud and darkness and gloom.
All of them didst Thou prepare, in their time, either for mercy or for
judgment Thou didst ordain them, “O mighty God, Thou hast established them
for correction.”
4.9.2.12 Crown of Kingdom –
XXIX
Who can contain Thy might, when from the abundance of Thy glory Thou didst
create a pure radiance, hew from the quarry of the Rock, and dug from the mine
of Purity?
And on it Thou didst set a spirit of wisdom, and Thou didst call it the
Soul.
Thou didst fashion it from the flames of fire of the Intelligence, and its
spirit is as a fire burning in
it.
[463]Thou didst send it into the body to serve it and to guard it, and it is as
a fire within, and yet it does not burn it.
From the fire of the spirit it was created, and went forth from nothingness
to being, “because the Lord descended upon it in fire.”
4.9.2.13 Crown of Kingdom –
XXX
Who can reach Thy wisdom, when Thou gavest the soul the power of knowledge
which inheres in her?
So that knowledge is her glory, and therefore decay has no rule over her,
and she endures with the endurance of her foundation; this is her state and her
secret.
The wise soul does not see death, but receives for her sin a punishment
more bitter than death,
And if she be pure she shall obtain grace, and smile on the last
day,
And if she be unclean, she shall stray amid a flood of anger and
wrath,
All the days of her uncleanliness she shall sit alone, captive and moving
to and fro; “she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the
sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.”
4.9.2.14 Crown of Kingdom –
XXXI
Who can requite Thy bounties, when thou gavest the soul to the body, to
give it life, to teach and show it the path of life, to save it from
evil?
Thou didst from man out of clay, and breath into him a soul and set on him
a spirit of wisdom, by which he is distinguished from a beast, and rise to a
great height.
Thou didst set him enclosed in Thy world, while Thou from outside dost
understand his deeds and see him,
And whatever he hides from Thee—from inside and from outside Thou
dost observe.
4.9.2.15 Crown of Kingdom –
XXXII
Who can know the secret of Thine accomplishments, when Thou madest for the
body the means for Thy work?
Thou gavest him eyes to see Thy signs,
Ears, to hear Thy wonders,
Mind, to grasp some part of Thy mystery,
Mouth, to tell Thy praise,
Tongue, to relate Thy mighty deeds to every comer,
As I do to-day, I Thy servant, the son of Thy handmaid,
I tell, according to the shortness of my tongue, one tiny part o f Thy
greatness.
Behold these are the ends of Thy ways—and how splendid are their
beginnings, “for they are life unto those that find them.”
By them, all those who hear them can recognize Thee, even if they do not
see the face of Thy splendor.
Whoever does not hear Thy power, how can he recognize Thy
Godhead?
How can Thy truth enter into his heart, how can he bend his thoughts to Thy
service?
Therefore Thy servant found it in his heart to speak before his
God.
To tell one tiny part of the heads of His praises.
Perhaps thereby his sins may be overlooked, “for wherewith should he
reconcile himself unto his master? Should it not be with the
heads...?”
4.9.3 Improvement of the Moral Qualities
Those who wish to improve their character traits can exercise and perform
good physical deeds in kind with the corresponding sense. This is the kabbalah
of activity, which teaches the physical manifests the spiritual and refines the
character and soul. Only by deed do we improve. For this reason, all
commandments, mitzvoth, are deeds as opposed to thoughts in
Judaism.
[464]Table 4-2: Soul
connection with the body and how the body refines the soul
|
Sense
|
Character
|
Source Texts
|
|
Sight
(eye)
|
Pride, meekness, Pudency, Impudence
|
Pride - “The lofty looks of men shall be
humbled.” [465] “The
eyes of the lofty shall be
humbled.” [466]Meekness
- “Thou art of humbler eyes than to behold
evil.” [467]
Impudence – “The shew of their countenance doth witness
against them.” [468]
|
|
Hearing
(ear)
|
Love,
Hate,
Mercy,
Hard-heartedness (cruelty)
|
|
|
Smell
(nose)
|
Anger,
Good-will,
Jealousy,
Wide-awakedness
|
|
|
Taste
|
Joy (Cheerfulness)
Grief
(Apprehensiveness)
Penitence,
Tranquility
|
|
|
|
|
4.10 Nehunya
ben Hakanah
Please, by the force of Your great right hand, release the bound one.
Accept the prayer of Your people; strengthen us, purify us, awesome One!
Please! Mighty One, those who seek Your Unity, preserve them like the pupil [of
Your eye]. Bless them, purify them, have compassion on them; Your benevolent
righteousness [may You] always bestow upon them. Mighty, Holy One, in Your
abundant goodness, lead Your community. Unique one, Exalted, turn to Your
people who are mindful of Your holiness. Accept our prayer and hear our cry,
[Your] Who knows hidden thoughts. Blessed [is His] Name, Whose glorious kingdom
is forever and
ever.[469]
[399] The Mystical Experience
in Abraham Abulafia
, Moshe Idel, SUNY Press, page
109.
[400] Sefer
ha-Meliz
[401] The Mystical
Experience in Abraham Abulafia
, Moshe Idel, SUNY Press,
page 200.
[402] Mikraoth
Temimoth Mishlei, trans. Rabbi Shraga Silverstein, Kesher Books,
p.130
[403] Chronicles
1:29:11
[404] “The
Process of Emanation”, Isaac Blind, trans. in The Early Kabbalah, Dan,
Safed Spirituality, p.80.
[405]
Ibid p.81
[406] Gate of
Kavanah, Azriel, trans in Origens of Kabbalah, Scholem,
pp.417-419.
[407] Perhaps the
Light of G-d outside this world so that the world may
exist.
[408] Harris, Kabbalah
class, University of Utah,
2002.
[409] Similar to the
Hegelian Dialectic, see
http://www.bartleby.com/65/he/Hegel-Ge.html.
[410]
These terms are taken from Hegel’s philosophy of phenomenology. Here
Hegel understands that the absolute knowledge of the universe progresses from
thesis to antithesis to synthesis. In difference to kabbalah, Hegel assigns the
synthesis to be a new thesis. Hegel applied his system to understand the
development of Christianity
out of Judaism. For example,
we expect a good king to arise who will be a messiah. We know that G-d is our
savior. Now the thesis is that the messiah is the savior and
god.
[411] Path of the Just,
Shraga Silverstein
translation.
[412] Encyclopedia
of Judaism, Rabbeinu Bachaya, page
274.
[413] Meditation and the
Bible, Aryeh Kaplan, page
30.
[414] Torah
mystical study is a means to glimpse this light while still in this
world.[415] Psalm
73:28.
[416] Psalm
27:4.
[417] In this area
divination is particularly useful for getting true feedback on one’s
behavior.
[418] Psalm
34:15.
[419] Pesach
4a.
[420] Proverbs
6:10.
[421] Ta’an
11a
[422] M’silat
Ysharim, ch. 13.
[423] Perkei
Avot 6:6, Quoted in M’silat Ysharim
19.
[424] Ibid
2.12.
[425] Yoma
86a
[426] M’silat Ysharim
22, Mordecai Kaplan trans. page
129.
[427]
Ibid
[428] These numbers being
according to the mental age in
life.
[429] The Knowing Heart,
Moshe Chayim Luzzatto, trans. Shraga Silverstein, pp.
199-201.
[430] Shabbat 112B
[431] Maimonides on the
“Decline of the Generations” and the Nature of Rabbinic Authority,
Menachem Kellner, SUNY Press, page
91.
[432] See
Meditation 16-4: The Beauty of Darkness and
Duma p.496 where the fallen angel is more the manifestation of man’s
sin and serving Hashem as opposed to the notion of the ‘rebellious’
angel.
[433] Rabbi
Nachman
’s Wisdom, Rabbi Nathan of Nemirov, trans.
and annotated Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, edited by Rabbi Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld, Breslov
Research Institute, 1973,
preface.
[434] In Kotels one
often finds students suffering from depression. Halachic material in the Talmud
intrinsically may have little that is spiritually inspiring and the legal
argument methods day after day in these subjects may cause depression. Rabbi
Gedahlia Meir, a talmud hocham residing in Tel Stone whom I studied Talmud with
in San Jose in 1998 acknowledged that this could be the
case.
[435] Perkei Avos
6:6.
[436] Rabbi
Nachman
’s Wisdom, page 173, saying 65.
[437] Zohar
1:14b
[438] Ibid.
3:227b.
[439] Zech. 3:9, Rabbi
Nachman
’s Wisdom 44, page
149.
[440] Rabbi Nosson, Rabbi
Nachman
’s
writer.
[441] Likutey Moharan
#4:3,4 page 123.
[442]
Ezekiel.
[443] Likutey Moharan
#4 note 1, page 115.
[444]
Likutey Moharan #4 note 38, page 129 states:
That is: When my bones say their confession...then Malkhut is rectified.
The commentaries point out that atzmtay (“mybones”) can also be
understood as “my self,” referring to one’s aetzem (essence).
“All my bones” thus implies all of a person’s inner thoughts
and deeds (radak, loc.
Cit.).
[445] Likutey Moharan
#4:5, page 129.
[446] Ka R. 3:1. The Book of
Legends Page 345.
[455] Introduction
translation by Harris Lenowitz from the Secret Garden and the remainder is
Bernard Lewis’s translation in Scholem’s “Major Trends in
Jewish Mysticism”.
[456]
Olam haZeh – this world and Olam haBah – the world to
come.
[457] Elohei
elohim
[458] Adonai
adonim
[459]
Eloha
[460] ‘He’
above refers to anointed leaders or kings. Ring refers to His power.
[461] A lunar eclipse, that
the events are not mere physical motions but with them have spiritual
meaning.
[462] The
‘fire’ is a treasure to the sinner, which burns away sin. Sulfur
cleanses the sinners wounds—the source of fire. See
Text 2-68: Zohar on Life and
Meditation 16-2: To Hell and
Back[463] This is from
Binah which leans towards
fire.
[464] The Improvement of
the Moral Qualities, p.47
[465]
Isaiah 2:2
[466] Isaiah
5:15
[467] Habukuk
1:13
[468] Isaiah
3:9
[469] Metsudah Siddur,
p.40