Man and the Theogony in the Lurianic Cabala 9781463203955, 1463203950

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Man and the Theogony in the Lurianic Cabala

Gorgias Studies in Judaism

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In this series Gorgias publishes monographs on Jewish literature, history, theology, mysticism and philosophy, from Late Antiquity to the modern period. Gorgias particularly welcomes proposals from younger scholars whose dissertations have made an important contribution to the field of Jewish Studies. Studies of language and linguistics, the Bible, and the archaeology and cultures of the Ancient Near East have their own series and will not be included in this series.

Man and the Theogony in the Lurianic Cabala

Daphne Freedman

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34 2014

Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright © 2014 by Gorgias Press LLC

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC. 2014

‫ܘ‬

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ISBN 978-1-4632-0395-5

ISSN 1935-6870

Reprinted from the 2006 Gorgias Press edition.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A Cataloging-in-Publication record is available from the Library of Congress. Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS Acknowledgements .............................................................................................. vii Introduction .............................................................................................................1 Part 1: Origin

1 The Origin of the Created World .................................................................13 The First Emanation.................................................................................17 Symbolism of Male and Female ..............................................................19 Man ..............................................................................................................21 2 The Contraction of the Deity........................................................................27 Contraction and the Death of the Kings...............................................28 The Death of the Kings in the World of Akudim ................................30 The Sparks in the Vessels.........................................................................34 The Contraction of the Lower Three Sefirot........................................37 Knowledge of the Deity ...........................................................................39 3 The Revelation of the Deity ..........................................................................45 The Restoration of the Emanation.........................................................47 Revelation and Concealment ...................................................................49 The Goal of Revelation is Human Consciousness ..............................52 Human and Divine Sexuality...................................................................55 The Temenos .............................................................................................62 Part 2: Procession: The Death of Kings

4 The Death of the Kings and Gnostic Literature ........................................67 Manichaean Sources..................................................................................73 The Interiorisation of Gnostic Motifs in Later Mystic Texts.............81 A. The Objectification.................................................................................. 82 B. The Transition .......................................................................................... 84 C. The Subjective Perspective ..................................................................... 84

5 Female Waters, The death of the kings and the Martyrs of the Kingdom ......................87 Sacrifice and Eroticism.............................................................................90 Death ...........................................................................................................93 v

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA

6 The Restoration of the Kings and the Commandments...........................97 The Revelation of the Deity and the Law ...........................................103 Salvation....................................................................................................106 The Restoration of the Primordial Unity.............................................107 7 The Death of the Kings in History ............................................................119 Archetypes in History .............................................................................128 The Descendants of Adam ....................................................................135 Part 3: Reversion: Exodus

8 The Egyptian Exile........................................................................................141 9 The Contamination of the Emergent Configurations .............................157 10 The Restoration of the Emanation.............................................................169 Abraham and the Restoration of the Kings ........................................176 11 The Redemption from Egypt ......................................................................181 The Union of the Eve of Passover.......................................................181 The Union of the Seventh Day of Passover .......................................184 The Hind of Dawn..................................................................................184 The Rock...................................................................................................187 The Counting of the Omer......................................................................190 12 Mystic Union and the Revelation at Sinai..................................................197 The Awakening on Passover Eve .........................................................198 Purification ...............................................................................................199 Illumination ..............................................................................................201 Perfection..................................................................................................204 Bibliography .........................................................................................................207 Texts ..........................................................................................................207 Studies .......................................................................................................208 Index......................................................................................................................213

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank my parents, particularly my father for his help; Dr Ada Rapoport-Albert for her constant support and assistance; Professor Yehuda Liebes; Professor Moshe Idel and David Solomon of the London Reading Group.

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INTRODUCTION Isaac Luria (1534-1572), widely known as the ‘Ari’, was referred to by his contemporaries in Safed as R. Isaac Ashkenazi. His father, who was of German or Polish origin, emigrated to Jerusalem before Luria was born. On his father’s death, his mother took the young Luria to Egypt, where he studied under the talmudic scholar and cabalist David ibn Zimra. Ibn Zimra, who came from a wealthy Spanish family, eventually settled in Egypt and became the head of Egyptian Jewry. As well as studying rabbinic literature, Luria also engaged in commerce and began his esoteric studies: retiring to the island of Jazirat al Rawda on the Nile to concentrate particularly on the Zohar, but also on the works of earlier and contemporary cabalists. In 1569/70 Luria settled in Safed where he studied briefly under the influential cabalist Moses Cordovero (1522-1570) from whom many of the doctrines of the lurianic corpus are drawn and adapted. In his cabalistic studies, Luria laid particular emphasis on the Zohar and many of the ideas found in the lurianic corpus are inspired by the doctrines of the Zohar, following them so closely that the lurianic corpus can be said, in some sense, to be an interpretation of the Zohar. Particularly influential are the messianic doctrines laid out in the Idras. The Idras take the form of a commentary on the laconic, oracular and obscure treatise entitled Sifra Dezniuta or the Book of Concealment. Six short chapters deal in mythical fashion with the secrets of creation, loosely connected to the first six chapters of Genesis. The Idras themselves are cast in the literary form of assemblies of the disciples of Simeon bar Yohai to whom he reveals profound mysteries. The Zohar itself ascribes particular importance to the doctrines revealed in the Idras and this emphasis is also reflected in the elevated language of these short treatises. Following Cordovero, Luria was also influenced by the later strata of the Zohar, Raya Mehemna and Tikunei Zohar which, although printed together with the Zohar, are thought to have been composed by a later imitator. Luria gathered around him in Safed an academy of disciples to whom we owe the existence of the extensive literature of the lurianic corpus. Luria 1

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA

himself wrote almost nothing; his few extant works include a commentary on a small portion of the Zohar, the treatise Sifra Dezniuta and a collection of Sabbath songs. The three principal disciples whose published works contributed substantially to our understanding of the lurianic doctrines are Haim Vital, Joseph ibn Tabul and Israel Sarug. Haim Vital, Luria’s principal disciple, is responsible for the bulk of the extant works of the lurianic corpus. Haim Vital was apparently born in Safed although his father came from Calabria in southern Italy. When Luria arrived in Safed, Vital studied under him for the last two years of Luria’s life. Unlike his teacher, Vital was a prolific writer and the vast majority of his works are devoted to expositions of the teachings of his master on which he is reputed to have laboured for twenty years writing and rewriting. His own writings include a mystical diary, the Book of Visions, a book on astronomy which was published in Jerusalem in 1866 and a commentary on the Zohar according to the system of Cordovero, under whom he had studied before Luria’s arrival in Safed. Joseph ibn Tabul, originally from North Africa, was one of Luria’s more influential disciples. His exposition of the lurianic doctrine, known as Drush Hefzi Ba, was published at the beginning of the work Simhat Cohen in Jerusalem in 1921. More recently his lurianic commentaries on parts of the Zohar have also been published in Jerusalem. Israel Sarug was responsible for the wide dissemination of the lurianic cabala in Italy and other European countries. Sarug’s book Limudei Azilut (Teachings on Emanation) contains many additional elements, often of a linguistic nature, not found in the works of Luria’s other disciples. Although his status as a direct disciple of Luria is in dispute,1 his version of the lurianic cabala was widely known and accepted as authoritative. The sefirot, the backbone of cabalistic terminology, first appeared in the early mystical text Sefer Yesira, thought by some scholars to originate as early as the first century of the Common Era,2 which had tremendous influence on the later cabala. In Sefer Yesira (The Book of Creation) as in the later cabalistic texts, the imagery of the sefirot is multivalent: here the sefirot represent not only stages of the process of creation, but are also equated with, inter alia, the cardinal directions, time and the primordial numbers. Their symbolism also bears traces of possible former use as angels, or heavens, or 1

Gershom Scholem, ‘Rabbi Israel Sarug, Luria’s Disciple?’ Zion 5 (1940) 214243. (Hebrew) and Ronit Meroz, ‘R. Israel Sarug Luria’s Disciple: A Fresh Look at the Question’ Daat 28 1992 41-50. (Hebrew) 2 Yehuda Liebes, Ars Poetica in Sefer Yesira Jerusalem 2000.

INTRODUCTION

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divine attributes and many of these images and symbols are often combined and recur in later cabalistic imagery. In later cabalistic doctrines the sefirot were associated with the neo-platonic theory of emanation adopted by the cabalists and embodied stages of the revelation of the deity in the process of creation. As stages in the process of emanation the sefirot also represented an intermediary between the deity and the created world. In the later Spanish cabala much of the burgeoning cabalistic symbolism revolved around the sefirot, which were used to impart a cabalistic significance to biblical interpretation. The centrality of the sefirot is amply attested by the existence of a vast literature of ‘Interpretations of the Sefirot’. As the cabalistic theology developed many cabalists became interested in the question of the nature of the sefirot and debated whether they were identical with the divine substance or merely vessels or instruments of the divine will. Although the sefirot retain their place in the lurianic corpus, lurianic innovations do not as a rule concern either the sefirot or the system of emanation, Luria is more interested in depicting the realm of the deity in human form that in the sefirotic system. The ground-breaking work of Gershom Scholem in the study of myth in Jewish mysticism was carried out at a time when a change in attitude towards the study of myth was beginning to make itself felt. In the early 1900’s approaches began to emerge which took myth seriously as an undeniable dimension of human experience, in contrast to the attitudes of earlier scholars which were riven with contradictions. The turn of the century scholarship has been perceived as three main schools.3 The German philologists, such as Max Muller, of the school of comparative mythology, studied the origins and development of myth while conceiving of myth as an aberration in the development of language, a pathological discourse whose origins lay in the experience of cosmic phenomena such as storms and the cycle of the sun. The second school, the English school of anthropology, which included scholars such as J G Frazer and Gilbert Murray, also attributed myth to an archaic stage in the social and intellectual development of mankind. This form of savage thought was defined in Frazer’s4 view by sympathetic magic or, according to E B Taylor,5 by animism. The English school also emphasised the importance of 3

This analysis relies on Vernant’s summary in Myth and Society in Ancient Greece, Brighton 1980, which in turn is based on the seminars given by Marcel Detienne at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes during 1972-3. 4 J G Frazer, The Golden Bough, London 1911-5. 5 E B Taylor, Primitive Culture, Researches into the Development of Mythology. Philoso-

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA

ritual over myth and explained myth by its correspondence to ritual. For this school, too, it is man’s relation with the earth, expressed in such themes as the return of spring that forms the bedrock of his reality. The third school, the then new German school of philology, opposed both the linguistic and anthropological theories and pursued a more reductionist approach that concentrated on the origin and development of myth, an approach that tended to lead to the assimilation of myth to history. This historical positivism was also reflected in the works of the influential Swedish scholar N P Nilsson.6 At the turn of the twentieth century, a more positive attitude arose, also marked by a continuing diversity of views. The three main approaches to the study of myth that arose in the early twentieth century are functionalism, structuralism and symbolism. The functionalists, foremost amongst them Malinowski, stress the social role of myth and its link with ritual. The structuralist approach privileges the autonomy of linguistic structure over the notion of subjective agency and the structuralists, in particular Claude Levi Strauss,7 combine the study of mythology with other fields such as anthropology and linguistics. The French structuralists associated with the French school of sociology are M Mauss,8 who sees myth as an institutionalised system of symbols; the sinologist M Granet9 who was influenced by his views; and Louis Gernet10 who also stresses the interdependence of the linguistic, institutional and conceptual aspects of myth. The third school, the symbolists, includes many diverse thinkers, linked by the understanding of mythical symbolism as a mode of expression different from conceptual thought. The symbol is a central conception in the psychology of the subconscious of Freud and Jung; in the works of the philosophers Ernst Cassirer and Paul Ricoeur and of the scholars of religion Mircea Eliade and Rudolf Otto. These thinkers had a common interest in symbolism and a shared conviction that myth expresses a metaphysical reality that can be grasped by a sympathetic approach. Scholem’s work emphasised the primacy and significance of the cabalistic symbol throughout. Scholem held

phy, Religion, Language, Art and Custom, London 1903. 6 M P Nilsson, History of the Greek Religion, Munich 1967. 7 Claude Levi Strauss applied linguistic analysis to kinship structures in The Elementary Structures of Kinship, London 1949. 8 M Mauss, Oeuvres, Paris 1969. 9 M Granet, Danses et légendes de la Chine ancienne, Paris 1926. 10 Louis Gernet, Anthropologie de la Grèce antique, Paris 1968.

INTRODUCTION

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the following view of the more mythical doctrines of the cabala, such as the lurianic cabala: The symbols, of course, are the primary and dominant phenomenon. For they cannot be fully and truly expressed in terms of the concepts which the speculative or philosophical cabalists often try desperately to substitute for them.11

Scholem’s views continue to be highly influential in the study of myth in Jewish mysticism, although some scholars have expressed reservations about the clear cut distinction made by Scholem between mythical and rational thought in the cabala and in general.12 The present study of the lurianic cabala has been greatly facilitated by Yehuda Liebes’ studies on the myths of the Zohar, which exerted a formative influence on the lurianic corpus. The labyrinthine complexity of the lurianic cabala, together with its wealth of detail, which appears to serve only the needs of the contemplative mystic, render its elucidation a daunting prospect. Another facet of the lurianic exposition which makes it difficult to pin down is its allusionistic quality, a quality which Barthes sensitively describes in reference to the biblical text, in his analysis of the description of Jacob’s struggle with the angel in Genesis: What interests me most in this passage … is the frictions, the ruptures, the discontinuities in intelligibility, the juxtapositions of narrative entities which defy (to a certain extent) an explicit logical articulation. What we have here is a kind of metonymic montage: themes are combined rather than developed … the logic of metonymy, as we know, is the logic of the unconscious.13

A similar juxtaposition of themes is also characteristic of the manner of exposition of the lurianic corpus, where the underlying logic is neither narrative nor structural, but a combination of motifs whose only coherence is that of the inner dynamics of the lurianic system, in which motifs are combined and major themes alluded to by images and connections that are never made explicit. The lurianic mythology represents an intensely personal view, an independent attempt to give a systematic account of experience in which earlier cabalistic symbolism is given a wider purpose as part of a unitary view 11 12

Gershom Scholem, On the Kabbalah and its Symbolism, New York 1996, p. 96. See, for example, Moshe Idel, Kabbalah New Perspectives, New Haven 1988, p.

156ff. 13

Roland Barthes, L’ Aventure Semiologique, Paris 1985, pp. 315ff.

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA

which explains all the relations of being as elements of a single interrelated system. Scholem has commented on the originality of Luria’s thought: ‘Although he speaks the symbolic language of the old Kabbalists … it is evident that he is looking for ways of expressing new and original thoughts’.14 The lurianic system as a whole can be seen as a single metaphor for a new relation between man and the deity which is not yet fully realised. Luria consistently reformulates the symbols of the earlier cabala in his own terms. The cabalistic myths of his sources express the reality of the relations of being in the lurianic corpus. The lurianic system seeks to reformulate the relation of man and god, concentrating on the way that the being of the deity is revealed in man. The main protagonist of the lurianic myth is the deity itself, beginning with the initial contraction and culminating in the god-man that develops as the restoration takes place. The lurianic myths are both vital and concrete, recounting a tale of the nature and history of the deity; they do not point to something beyond themselves, but describe a living relationship that we cannot express more vitally and more accurately than by the myth itself. The main tenets of the lurianic cabala, the emergence into existence of the deity, the breaking of the vessels and their restoration clearly reveal the intimate relation between god and man, since all these fundamental processes of the lurianic cabala cannot be completed without human intervention. As the descriptions of the emergence of the deity into existence show, human consciousness is the determining characteristic which confers on the divinity its identity in revealed form. Central to the lurianic conception of the deity is the view of the Zohar on the restoration of the deity found in the Idras. The lurianic system depends on this central pillar of the Idras, which encapsulates in a single image the significance of our understanding of the nature of the deity. The mythopoeic conception that man is a creator of his gods in as far as he is the creator of his myths15 is central to our understanding of the nature of the deity and is illustrated at great length and in great detail by the lurianic system, which both recounts the emergence of the revealed aspects of the deity into existence and posits its reconstruction as the sole goal of the development of mankind. The restoration of the deity has taken on a larger scale and an even greater anthropomorphic concreteness than it had in the Idras. Though the conception is essentially zoharean, Luria expanded considerably on the concrete nature of this insight and situated it more firmly in the na14 15

brew)

Gershom Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, New York 1941, p. 253. Discussed in Yehuda Liebes, ‘Myth and Judaism’, Dimui 14 (1997) p. 8. (He-

INTRODUCTION

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ture of man himself. From my flesh I shall see God,16 is an integral part of the cabalist’s creed, Luria lays the emphasis on the flesh. The contradictions and the difficulties arising from the unbridgeable gap between the divine and the human are explored in the doctrines of the female waters, in which the absorption of the human into the transcendence of the deity is, at the same time, the destruction of the human. Only in the annihilation of the individual is the experience of the transcendent accessible to him; only the annihilation of the human provides man with the possibility of influencing and nourishing the deity with the female waters required for union. It is at the limits of the human that the divine and the human become inextricably entangled. The restoration, and indeed, union, of the configurations reaching high into the infinite stages of the emanation is dependant on female waters provided by man. God is not absolute in the sense that he is completely transcendent and cut off from man, existing beyond all human conditions and beyond the reach of all human experience. The way that this doctrine is commonly formulated in the lurianic corpus is that man is ‘the interior of the worlds’. The lurianic view of the essential dynamism of the deity implies a reciprocal and essential relation between man and god where man can be understood as a function of God and God as a psychological function of man. Man is the revealed aspect of the deity, and the deity is the transcendent aspect of man. As the relation between the divine and the human is rewritten, the opposition between immanence and the transcendence, like the opposition between life and death, is no longer seen as mutually exclusive but as the expression of complementary facets of the same process. While the immanence of God is concrete and all pervasive, transcendence is the single defining characteristic of the deity. The tension between these opposed polarities reveals them to be an inalienable unity in which each relies on the other for its significance. Luria has made a consistent attempt to reformulate the symbols of the cabalists in his own terms. His own symbols depend for their meaning on the cabalistic doctrines which informed them and gave birth to them but, at the same time, have taken them in a new direction. Repeatedly, with every doctrine that is re-interpreted and integrated into the lurianic corpus, the brunt of the re-interpretation is the same: sexual symbolism that concerns the consciousness of knowledge which enables man to procreate, and which, following the Zohar, is responsible for the renewal of the creation 16

Job 19,26.

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after the breaking of the vessels. This consciousness was the subject of the struggle between the opposing forces at the creation of the world, a struggle which still continues. Luria’s reformulation of earlier cabalistic doctrines in human terms is consistent and repeated. The human terms that he feels are most suited to express the relation of man to god are sexual symbolism and the relation of man and god is consequently relocated principally in the realm of human sexuality. Perhaps, with Freud, he sees sexual agency as a primary human process. Luria had at his disposal a rich vein of anthropomorphic symbolism on which he could profitably draw,17 which he used not to represent the deity, but to describe the contiguity between the divine and the human. Luria’s thought can be compared to the Freudian understanding in the sense that the multiplicity of human experience is reduced to a single cluster of sexual symbols that runs essentially unchanged throughout the system from the beginning of the emanation to the smallest historical detail. The revelation of the deity is no longer expressed solely in terms of the neoplatonic theory of emanation but principally in the dynamic terms of the human processes of life and death and the opposed polarities which are revealed in the human spirit. The obvious difference between Freudian psychology and the lurianic cabala is that for Freud, although it is sexuality which expresses the strongest relation between the subject and the object, sexuality is not a vehicle but an instinct, an impersonal biological phenomenon. While lurianic cabala has a similar reduction to sexual symbolism and a similar awareness of the force and centrality of the role of sexuality, Luria is not describing an impersonal instinct, in the Freudian sense. The sexual symbolism in the lurianic corpus cannot be understood in isolation from the tradition in which it arose; it depends for its intelligibility on the understanding of sexual symbolism found in the earlier cabala. The lurianic cabala as a whole demonstrates the drive towards the creation of a unified and coherent system; notably absent from the interests of the Zohar, which embraces a rich diversity of views and approaches. In trying to find a reason for this heroic attempt to combine such disparate doctrines, it is impossible to resist the supposition that Luria was endeav-

17 The ‘notorious’ Jewish macrocosmic anthropomorphism, as characterised by Stroumsa, which he attributes to the severing of the ties with Platonic philosophy, can be recognised in its lurianic transformations. Gedaliahu G Stroumsa, ‘Form(s) of God: Some notes on Metatron and Christ’, Harvard Theological Review 76:3 (1988).

INTRODUCTION

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ouring, consciously or not, to forge a synthesis that would express the definitive religious conception of his time.

PART 1: ORIGIN

1 THE ORIGIN OF THE CREATED WORLD The lurianic myths of origin illustrate the paradoxical nature of divine revelation. The incommensurability of the divine and the human is revealed in the lurianic doctrines of the contraction of the deity and the breaking of the vessels. While myth in general is a narrative of origins,1 the interiorised myth of the lurianic cabala concerns the origins of the representation of the self, the origins of consciousness and self-knowledge. This inquiry has been characterised by Tishby as an attempt to probe the roots of being. Tishby notes that the aim of the cabalists is to investigate the nature and structure of the soul and its place in the world. Their primary concern is with the emergence of the divine creativity and the question of the origin of the external world is secondary.2 From this starting point, it is but a short step to the view that cosmology in the theory of creation is entirely symbolic and the theory of creation concerns the essence and the structure of the soul exclusively. In this sense, the most interesting aspect of the myth is therefore the beginning, precisely that aspect of the lurianic myth obscured by Vital,3 who does not speak in express terms about any dynamic that takes place above the world of the primordial man. However, it is Vital himself who repeatedly returns to the principle that the dynamics of the higher worlds can be deduced from descriptions of the lower. And the wise will deduce and learn by comparison. 4

1

Paul Ricoeur, ‘Myth: Myth and History’, Encyclopedia of Religion p. 273. Isaiah Tishby, The Wisdom of the Zohar, Oxford 1994, p. 549. 3 I have concentrated on the versions of the lurianic cabala expounded by Haim Vital and Joseph ibn Tabul and have not included the predominantly linguistic innovations of Israel Sarug which merit separate treatment. 4 Mevo Shearim Jerusalem, 1974 2,1,3. ".7%!)% 7%!) )! 6!3! %!#6)" Tree of Life 1,1,2. 4 7!64 *!! %!#6) #  '3) 47! 4% 764 +% *!" ".7!4) 2

13

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA

Vital’s views concerning the beginnings of the revelation of the deity must be deduced from his description of later stages of the emanation since he refrained from formulating them explicitly in relation to earlier stages. The act of creation is portrayed in the lurianic corpus primarily as the arising and tempering of the opposed poles of good and evil, set in motion when the seeds of evil, quiescent within the infinite, were concentrated as a result of the contraction. Although reported with a certain reticence by Vital,5 the origin of evil is placed squarely within the deity. The most radical explanation for the lurianic contraction is that it occurred in order to purify the deity from the sources of judgements that were present in the divine thought in potentia.6 One of the more explicit descriptions of the cathartic element appears in Vital’s account of the first contraction in the Tree of Life: The aim of the contraction was to reveal the roots of the judgements.7

The aim of the emanation was to purify the worlds emanating from the mixed nature of the deity, which included within itself both judgements and mercies: For it was by necessity that the roots of the judgements were revealed at that time, for the intention of the emanation of the worlds was to purify the worlds … and this was the first contraction.8

The primordial unity that existed before the creation is unified in the sense that the forces of judgement and mercy are so intimately interwoven that its structure is homogenous and uniform. The being of the deity, before the creation, displays a complete coincidence of opposites, in which the judgements and mercies, intermingled and indiscernible, are held in perfect balance and harmony in the absolute. The roots of the judgements begin to make themselves felt from the original contraction of the deity; or more accurately, the contraction of the divine light is itself the action of the judgements negating and restricting the flow of light:

5 Tishby has shown that Vital felt it necessary to mitigate the original cathartic version. Isaiah Tishby, The Doctrine of Evil and the Husks in the Lurianic Kabbalah, Jerusalem 1962, p. 57. (Hebrew) 6 Sources of this conception are discussed in Moshe Idel, ‘The Evil Thought of the Deity’, Tarbiz 49 (1980) pp. 356-364. (Hebrew) 7 Tree of Life, Jerusalem 1910, 1,1,2. ".'!+! 646 7%%   '2)2 *!+-" 8 Mevo Shearim 1,1,2. 7+# %# !# ,%!7  *! 646 7%7% 4# ! !#" ".7)%- 44% ! 7)%- 7%!2

ORIGIN OF CREATED WORLD

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The contraction was caused by the power of judgement … and this power was mingled in his reality and was not discernible … [until] he gathered the sources of the judgements.9

The origin of evil is revealed in the process of creation itself, in the first stirring which made possible the existence of the created world outside the infinite. Evil does not originate in a complementary metaphysical principle, but in the process of creation itself; its origin is in the process that makes possible the existence of something outside the undifferentiated realm of the infinite. The process of creation itself is the origin of the ontological dualism, which is an indispensable feature of existence.10 Evil does not arise out of a mythical primordial chaos but out of the process of creation itself. The initial decision to create a finite world entrains a stage of chaos in the creation; the chaos with which the creative act struggles is born of the creative act itself. An internal movement of the infinite results in a concentration of the forces of evil in the centre of the infinite. This movement and concentration is the first phase of the creation. It seems to me that the central point of the infinite contained the power of the roots of the judgements that was later revealed.11

The paradoxical view of a central point of the infinite12 appears as a concentration of the powers of the judgements. The nature and role of the powers of judgements in the process of emanation is dual. The necessity of the revelation of the judgements in the emanation is not only in order to 9

Joseph Ibn Tabul, Drush Hefzi Ba, printed in Simhat Cohen Jerusalem 1921 1b. % "47! 7!2) %# 4-) ! # 7 ... *! #  3%7,% '46 )" ".*! !646 %# 13 ... 64+ 10 This idea in earlier cabalistic sources is discussed in Asi Farber, ‘The Husks Precede the Fruit - On the Question of the Origin of Evil in the Early Kabbalah’, Eshel Beer Sheva 4 (1996) pp. 120-121 (Hebrew). Some gnostic sources also trace a dualistic antagonism back to the roots of being. In the Nag Hamadi treatise, the Paraphrase of Shem, the primordial stuggle between opposing forces is sustained throughout the myth as it is in the lurianic corpus. See, Michael Allen Williams, Rethinking Gnosticism, Princeton 1996, p. 98. 11 Mevo Shearim, 1,1,1. 646 # ! '6 ,'' %6 7!-2) 3+ !# ''-%+" ".#'' %7+6 *! The central point of the contraction appears in an early recension of the Tree of Life 1,1,1 with no mention of the fact that it is composed of judgements. 12 Yehuda Liebes noted that the idea of a central point of the infinite makes no sense, unless Vital knew other things about the infinite that he was not prepared to divulge. Studies in Jewish Myth and Jewish Mysticism, Albany 1993, p. 87.

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA

purify the emanation and to separate the judgements from the mercies, but is an indispensable condition of the process of emanation itself. The nature of the contractions that follow in the later stages of the emanation can be understood in light of the principle that limitation is needed for the emanation to take place. Subsequent contractions can also add to our understanding of the first contraction, raising questions which Vital is not willing to discuss at this stage. The idea that the act of creation consists in the arising and tempering of the opposed polarities has a prehistory in the Zohar. For the Zohar the creative act is expressed in the emergence and harmonisation of the opposing forms of judgement and mercy: In the work of creation there was an antagonism of the left against the right. … Then the central column which is the third day intervened and allayed the discord between the two sides … and the left became absorbed in the right and there was peace over all …there arose another quarrel, a quarrel of love.13

The opposites first existed in an indissoluble unity in the deity. They were later separated but the unity that they possessed at their source remains the condition for their harmonious co-operation, which is seen as essential to maintaining the continued existence of the world. The preservation of the world therefore, depends on the balancing of the tension between the opposites. In the Zohar the equilibrium between forces of good and evil is symbolised by the cosmic scales (tikla), the cosmic balance was an essential factor in the continued existence of the emanation, without which it would have perished. Paradoxically, the first act of the emanation was restrictive, enabling the roots of the forces of judgement to become visible. The judgements act as a restrictive force tempering and checking the limitless flow of the mercies to prevent the created world from being overwhelmed by the divine illumination. A phrase often repeated in the lurianic corpus is that there is no restoration without the forces of judgement: For the quality of mercy expands without limit, but the judgements illuminate only in measure and limit …and for this reason the contraction

13 Zohar 1,17a-b. )- ... +!)! %)6 73%)  7!64 -" ... *!4 , *!47% '!#, 73%) 6!40 !!+!! %- !7!%7 '! ! 7!-2) ".%# )%6  +!)! %!%#7 %)6

ORIGIN OF CREATED WORLD

17

is judgements and from this you will understand the other contractions that follow.14

The judgements are essential to maintain the creation as they provide the necessary limitation and concealment that enable the divine energy to manifest itself in the world, where the limitation of the divine light and its containment in vessels provide the means of its revelation. The polarity of opposites is a fundamental condition that makes existence possible since the expanding light of the mercies is revealed solely by the limiting action of the judgements. The necessity of this polarity is illustrated in Vital’s analogy with wine, in which he states that the mercies require the judgements in order to exist: Just as the wine benefits from the lees, for they are the reason for its existence, as without them it would soon perish.15

The conception of the creation as the emergence into revealed existence of the opposites is more in keeping with a spiritual cosmogonic process than a process of cosmology; it is in accord with a description of the arising of consciousness. A view of the dualism of psychic opposites as symbolic understands the arising of these opposites as an act of nascent consciousness. The polarisation of opposites expresses an act of nascent consciousness, it gives birth to a pair of opposites, thereby making consciousness possible.16

THE FIRST EMANATION The fact that the harmony of the forces of judgement and mercy is crucial to the success of the emanation can be seen from the failure of the first emanation. The separation of the forces of judgement and mercy in the beginning of the emanation was sufficient to destroy the emerging worlds. The first emanation failed because it was composed exclusively of judgements. This remained the state of the emanation until the restoration. It is for this reason that the kings are named in virtue of the Kingdom, the female:

Mevo Shearim 1,1,1. % 4!) +! *! '+) ... % !% 7 607) , 7)" ".'!)2)2 46 %# *!7 ) .*!  '2)2 %# !# 2)+ #'' ... ) %36) 15 Shaar Maamrei Rashbi, Jerusalem 1959, 25c. *) 7%-7 % -!! *!!6 '6#" ".4) ,0! '07% !# ,)!3 7!, ' !# ,'!4)6 16 Jung, Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self, London 1959, p. 204. 14

18

MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA For as yet the light of the male, which is the restoration, is not revealed at all, for this emanation emerged entirely in the quality of judgement and only in the female aspect.17

The Tree of Life states that the Idumean kings represent the seven sefirot of the Kingdom of the Primordial man, and hence they are known as kings.18 In distinction to the view of the Zohar, where the kings are male, these kings therefore all represent the female aspect of the deity, the Kingdom, unmitigatd by association with the male. In an echo of the zoharic view of the circumcision of Abraham as restoring fertile sexuality, these kings are restored by the light which emerges from the phallus of the primordial man after his circumcision. Ibn Tabul emphasises the rigorous nature of the first emanation, which was composed exclusively of judgements: At that time, there were no mercies in the entire emanation.19

The revelation of the judgements, in their most severe form, existing in isolation from the mercies, which alone provide them with the possibility of remaining in existence, was sufficient to sunder the emerging emanation, causing a violent struggle of opposing forces. The interaction of the revealed dimensions with their source, or the immanent with the transcendent, is an additional focus of the lurianic theory of emanation. While the transcendent is dependent on the revealed elements to reveal its action in the world; the revealed elements cannot act in isolation from their roots.20 It is a principle of the lurianic system that the judgements are mitigated at their source. Thus, an additional reason for the severe nature of the judgements is the lack of connection to their source, which prevents any mitigation. The Idumean Kings died because they were not sufficiently rooted in the configurations above them, Attika. The separation of the kings from their source is also based on the separation of the

Ibn Tabul, Hefzi Ba 9a. %#6 %%# %+ % *3!7 , 6 4# 4 *!-6 !0%" ".3+ '! % 2! % *! , '%!2 Based on Genesis Raba, 12,15. God first created the world in the quality of judgement and then added the quality of mercy. 18 Tree of Life 2,9,7-8. 19 Ibn Tabul, Hefzi Ba 4b. "'!, *! 7%!2 %# 7-" 20 A similar view of the interdependence of the revealed and concealed aspects of the deity represented as the soul and the body of the emantion is found in Isaac the Blind, see Haviva Pedaya, ‘Defect and Restoration of the Deity in the Cabala of Isaac the Blind’, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 6 (1988) pp. 178-9. (Hebrew) 17

ORIGIN OF CREATED WORLD

19

judgements and the mercies. In Attika no judgements are revealed: while the kings were purely judgements, they had no anchorage above and they died. And the reason for their death was that they had no roots in Macranthropos, nor did they have any roots or anchorage in the wisdom that emanates from Macranthropos for it is purely mercies and they are judgements. 21

The forces of judgement were unable to maintain their existence in isolation from their roots and the loss of living and vital connection to their transcendent source was followed by an irruption of chaos. It is possible to understand the perspective of the lurianic corpus on the nature of evil from the nature of the mitigation that is needed to overcome it. Both the Zohar and Luria hold that the mitigation is the harmonious unity of the forces of judgement and mercy. The harmonious co-operation of the forces of judgement and mercy is damaged when the forces of judgement become split off and the judgements then appear as evil, when untempered by association.

SYMBOLISM OF MALE AND FEMALE The question of the relation of the opposed attributes of the deity is traditionally addressed in the cabala in the symbolism of male and female attributes of the deity. The extensive symbolism of union of male and female is a central feature of the cabala from its beginnings, Luria is drawing on a tradition of exegesis which emphasises the metaphorical nature of sexual symbolism: The reason for the androgynous creation … It is known that two opposites were emanated, one of pure judgements and one of pure mercy. If they had not been emanated as a dual countenance, each of them would act in accordance with its own principle, without any link to the other and without its assistance. Now … all their action takes place in an evenly balanced manner, in complete unity without separation.22

An echo of this conception appears in the lurianic corpus in the description of the unrestored emanation: Shaar Maamrei Rashbi 24a. !# ! '77) 7, 7) %-)% ! '% ! %" ! !# , 646 '% ! % ,3!7-) 2!6 )# ' ,3!7- 646 '% ! % ".'!+! ' .'! 60 '!)4 %# 22 Gershom Scholem, The Origins of the Kabbalah, Princeton 1990, p. 217. Abraham ben David refers to the creation of Adam and Eve, based on Erubin 18a, which states that man was originally created androgynous. 21

20

MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA Before Attika was restored in the form of male and female and before the balance existed, Mother and Father did not regard each other face to face. Since Father is purely mercies and Mother is purely judgements, he turned his face one way and she turned her face another way.23

The gradual unfolding and separation of the attributes of judgement and mercy plays a significant role in the lurianic cosmogony. The higher configurations were not differentiated into male and female, but held both of these attributes at the same time in an undifferentiated unity. This is the content of the restoration of Attika Kadisha with which the creation of the world is brought into effect in this early version of the lurianic creation, which draws heavily on the Idras. Luria has the following comment on the balances which open the Sifra Dezniuta: For the highest emanator had to constitute himself in male and female so that the entire emanation would come forth in this manner and the judgements would be mitigated by the mercies.24

The development of the dualism of male and female is revealed in the restoration of the emanation after the catastrophe of the first emanation in which these attributes were separated. The continuing process of configuration of the countenances reveals a gradual and progressive differentiation into male and female, judgements and mercies: Know that in the Ancient of Days and Macranthropos there was no separate female as is Mother from Father and his female from Micranthropos. 25

The gradual differentiation of the judgements and mercies into male and female plays a significant role in process of the restoration. It is the fully differentiated male and female aspects of the deity that unite at the final redemption, closing the circular development from the original primordial unity.26 The androgynous nature of the primordial man is an exShaar Maamrei Rashbi 23d.  % '3+ 4# *!-# 6!3 3!7- *377 !)3)" '!+! ) '!4) '!)4  !# *!0 *!0 *!!6) )   % %37) ".*#% !+0 "0  ,*#% *+0 "0  2)+ ,'!4) 24 Shaar Maamrei Rashbi 23d. !# 3+ 4# *377% *!%- %!2) "42" ".'!)4 '!+! ),7! 7%!2 %#  "4 %6%76!6 25 Tree of Life 2,11,3. )# -''0 3+ 7!2)  2)+ % '' !''- !# -" ".''% !3+ % ) 26 On the separate restoration of the male and female in the Zohar see Liebes, ‘The Messiah of the Zohar’ p. 60 on Zohar 2,134a-135b. 23

ORIGIN OF CREATED WORLD

21

pression of the duality of the divine attributes. Moshe Idel has also pointed out that this dualism is one the most significant motifs of the cabalists’ view of sexuality,27 expressing their understanding of the function and meaning of the divine attributes.

MAN The myth of the fall of man in the lurianic cabala is a reflection and continuation of the original struggle of opposing forces; the polarity of existence seen in the myth of the origin of evil is echoed in man. The arising and tempering of this polarity is a single continuous process, which is manifest both in the deity and in man; the divine drama is not solely a myth of origin and redemption but also takes place in man himself. Because of the intimate connection between man and god in the lurianic thought, man is seen as comprising opposed polarities within himself, rather than as being caught between exterior and mysterious spiritual forces and these opposites are conceived as ineradicable preconditions of psychic life. The reflection of this polarity in man and the dual extension of this concept are influenced by the views expressed in the Zohar. Both the Zohar and the Castilian cabalists attached a positive value to the knowledge of evil. The opening of the Book of the Left Pillar by Moses of Burgos states that this knowledge is reserved for the elite: The secrets of the left emanation … are unknown to most of those with esoteric knowledge … and are transmitted only to select individuals.28

The transformative value of this knowledge is seen in the view of the Zohar. The journey of Abraham into Egypt furnishes the Zohar with an example of spiritual transformation: ‘Abram went down to Egypt’.29 The verse hints at wisdom and the levels down below, to the depths of which Abraham descended. He knew them but did not become attached.30 27 Idel, New Perspectives, p.128. The midrashic sources of the identification of the sexual dualism with the dual attributes of the deity are analysed in New Perspectives, pp. 128-136. Yehuda Liebes noted that the doctrine of the dual countenances has been adapted in the Idra to a different view, of two male countenances, which does not accord well with its cabalistic sources. Studies in the Zohar, Albany 1993, pp. 1123 and pp. 211-2. 28 Scholem, ‘Moses of Burgos’ Tarbiz IV p. 208. '%-+ ... !%)6 7%!2 !47," ".'!40+ '!!!!% 4,) %3 ! ... %-+ - !%- 4) 47,+ 29 Genesis 12,10.

22

MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA

The Zohar holds that not only is this knowledge necessary but it is essential to include the judgements and the mercies together to mitigate the judgements by means of the mercies. Both the cosmological and epistemological aspects of this doctrine are present in the Zohar. In the view of the Zohar, the measure of the spiritual stature of man is the degree of evil which he is capable of understanding and mastering, or in cabalistic terminology restoring to its roots in the good. Just as these tendencies are mingled in the work of creation, so they must be mingled in man: The words of the Tora can best sink into the soul in the desert, for there is no light except that which issues from darkness … There can be no true worship unless it emerges from darkness and no good unless it proceeds from evil.31

This was the sin of Job, whose worship was not true since it did not include the evil inclination. Job ignored and neglected the evil inclination and for this he was punished. The Zohar comments that the sacrifices of Job included no part for Satan; unlike Abraham and Moses, Job did not struggle with evil, but simply turned away from it: As Job kept evil separate from good and failed to unite them he was judged accordingly, first he experienced good, then evil, then good again. For man should be cognisant of both good and evil and return to the good; this is a tenet of faith.32

The development from the conception of the essential similarity of these processes to the view of the cosmic process as symbolic of the psychological process can be seen in the transformation of these concepts beginning in the Zohar and continuing in the lurianic corpus. The Zohar first identified the cosmological and the psychological processes, and considered the antagonistic tendencies seen in the doctrine of creation to be equally reflected in man himself. Luria took this identification further, based on sources that saw the process of transmigration as a continuation of the process of purification in the deity.

30

Zohar 1,83a. Zohar 2,184a. 3!0+  % 4+ 7!% ,*)7 % 7!!4 !%) *6!7) %" ) %  7!% #6 ) %  "!4 63 +%0 7!% ... #6 ) ".6! 32 Zohar 2,34a and 2,181b-182a. * ! -4  %!%# % 6407 ! )#" -+)% +"% ! !#  % !4 47% -4 47%  !% !! +  !% ".7+)!) 4 !   % !)4 4% -4 -+)%  31

ORIGIN OF CREATED WORLD

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The Zohar’s view of Egypt as the crucible of Abraham’s transformation is also preserved in the lurianic corpus. In a development which is characteristic of the way that Luria interprets the Zohar, Egypt represents the furnace in which the nation of Israel as a whole was purified before its redemption from Egypt and the dross produced at the breaking of the vessels was finally purified. The antagonistic tendencies in man, which first made their appearance at the creation, can be compared to the opposed tendencies that Nietzsche views as ‘energies, which burst forth from nature herself’.33 Nietzsche sees the Apollonian and Dionysian as opposed tendencies whose continual strife generates new and more powerful births. Seen as opposed forces of the life of the spirit, involved in perpetual conflicts with only periodic reconciliations, the psychic opposites are a necessary force of human nature and both are necessary for the spirit to find expression. They are symbolised, in Nietzsche’s view, by the opposition of masculine and feminine because of their opposed natures and their role in generation. The duality of the Apollonian and Dionysian depends on the duality of the sexes in much the same way as does physical generation. The Dionysian impulse is characterised by the liberation of the unbounded instinct, the breaking loose of unbridled dynamism through the whole range of both animal and divine nature. The unbounded Dionysian instinct entails both the terror of the annihilation of the individual and the rapture in its destruction. In the Dionysian rapture, the individuality, which is the goal of the Apollonian, is obliterated and the individual is seized by the instinct in a manner that renders him its passive object. In the lurianic cabala, this tendency can be discerned in the doctrine of the self-sacrifice of the righteous in the generation of female waters and in what the lurianic corpus defines as the union of minority. Apollo, the god of light represents measure and limitation, the measured restraint and freedom from the wilder emotions which overflow in the Dionysian tendency. In contrast to the annihilation of the self expressed in the Dionysian tendency, the Apollonian strives towards the delimitation of the individual; the apotheosis of individuation is achieved by the Apollonian law delimiting the boundaries of the individual. The goal of the Apollonian is described in the Birth of Tragedy as the redeeming vision of primal unity.34 This view of the Apollonian has a previous history in neoplatonic

33 34

Nietzshe, The Birth of Tragedy, London 1967, p. 38. Ibid. p. 46.

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA

thought. Syrianus as reflected in Hermeias’ commentary on the Phaedrus, presents a similar interpretation of the Apollonian instinct: The inspiration by Apollo takes all the pluralised powers of the soul and turns them, and the soul as a whole, back upon the one of the soul itself.35

Like Nietzsche and the neoplatonists, the lurianic doctrine in its entirety stresses the need for both forces in order for generation to take place. In the lurianic cabala the opposing forces are represented as a fundamental opposition, the central axis of which Ronit Meroz has aptly characterised as a myth of life and death.36 The eternal struggle and oscillation between these polarities of existence as reflected in the conception of birth and death is the central theme of the lurianic system. The neoplatonic polarity of integration and dissociation is given mythical expression in the rising towards sexual union and new birth, while death is seen in the downward movement depicted as spiritual diminution, disintegration and dissociation.37 Gnostic thought gives us the idea of a downward impulse that leads to the fall of the soul. In this version, reported by Macrobius, the primordial soul succumbs to its desires: Having contemplated the appetites of the body with secret desire, the soul gradually sinks down into the lower world, borne down by the weight of this earthly thought.38

A similar impulse can be found in the lurianic corpus, where it is represented as an impulse to mix with the chthonic and primitive that needs to be disentangled from the spirit. This is the main burden of the contamination in the upper spheres that the early cabala saw as forbidden relations between the sefirot and the other side. This is also reflected in the sin of the first man, which is merely a reflection and a continuation of the original

35

Hermeias, Commentary on Phaedr. 88,20-90,2. Ronit Meroz, Messianism in the Lurianic Doctrine, PhD dissertation Hebrew University of Jerusalem 1988, p. 127. (Hebrew) 37 The relation of the expansion and contraction of the deity to the neoplatonic doctrines of procession and reversion in the Zohar and his sources in the Iyun circle is discussed by Asi Farber in ‘Husks precede the FruitȥThe Question of the Origin of Evil in the Early Cabala’, p. 127ff. 38 Macrobius, In Somnium Scipionis II.11. 36

ORIGIN OF CREATED WORLD

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contamination. This disentanglement is also given as the main reason for the breaking of the vessels.39

39

For example Shaar Maamrei Rashbi 65b.

2 THE CONTRACTION OF THE DEITY The contraction of the deity is not a unique occurrence in the lurianic cabala but a prototypical event, which is repeated at every stage of the emanation. The contraction of the deity as a symbol of the revelation of the deity, like all the lurianic symbolism, is infinitely repeated at different levels and in different guises. The problems revealed and the solutions which the lurianic cabala posits are not restricted to the original contraction but recur throughout the development of the emanation from the original contraction to the final redemption of the created world. For example, the breaking of the vessels and the death of the martyrs of the kingdom both form a continuation and interpretation of the original contraction. Descriptions of subsequent contractions in the emanation reveal additional aspects which are not discussed in relation to the original contraction. The breaking of the vessels and the union of minority1 of the emergent configurations of the emanation in its early stages also reveal additional perspectives of the contraction. It is a principle connection that any emergence of new light, any new creation is preceded by a contraction: Understand that any type of emergence of new lights is preceded by a contraction.2

The idea that new lights cannot emerge unless preceded by a contraction is explained by the principle that is a feature of all contractions: all subsequent contractions occur so that the lights are diminished and can be received by the emanating worlds. The original contraction of the deity is followed by subsequent contractions of the hypostatic figures, which mark the course of the emanation: the primordial man and the configurations which succeed him: Several further contractions are mentioned in this context: 1

Below pp. 143ff. Ozrot Haim, Jerusalem 1904, 6a. ! '!6 74 72 7+! %# !# *!7" ".'2)2 *!+- '% '3 2

27

28

MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA Understand that any aspect of the emergence of new lights is preceded by a contraction, Macranthropos contracted his three lower sefirot in order for Micranthropos and his partner to emerge … and thus it was in the case of the primordial man and this matter should not be expounded at length.3

The contraction of the primordial man also recurs in every subsequent configuration. The contraction of the primordial man, like the contraction of the deity, should not therefore be seen as a unique event but as a recurring prototype. The descriptions of the earlier contractions are more abstract and less detailed than those of later ones; but from the descriptions that we have it is clear that the contractions that occur in the primordial man have much in common with the original contraction of the deity.

CONTRACTION AND THE DEATH OF THE KINGS The breaking of the vessels subsequent to the contraction of the deity is not a matter of chance, but is inherent in the nature of the contraction. The connection between the contraction in the primordial man and the death of the kings is hinted at in Ozrot Haim: Concerning the emergence of the nikudim4 from him and how he contracted himself and spread a barrier at his diaphragm; all this is close to the death of kings, and it is forbidden to expound at length, and expound orally, and the wise will understand.5

Expressions of restriction such as these usually occur in Vital’s works when the upper reaches of the emanation are under consideration. However, sufficient indications are provided for an ample comparison of the upper and lower stages of the emanation. The aim and nature of the processes that occurred in the contraction of the deity can be understood from the way that these same processes continue to unfold in later stages of the emanation. 3 Ozrot Haim 6a. '2)2 *!+- '% '3 ! '!6 74 72 '! %# !# *!7" "!4% *! 3''  ! *# *''% 30% !# %6 !''+ '2)26 '' +!2) *# !# ". *!+- 4 The two lurianic worlds of nikudim and akudim, the first in which the lights are contained in a single vessel and the second of punctiform lights are based on an untranslatable pun on the Hebrew text of Genesis 30,39. 5 Ozrot Haim 4b. ,40  ,!40 )2- '2)2 "! +)) '!#%) 72 *!+-" 4! ' !4% 4, % '!4 '!#%) % ! % 43   %# !%! 4!  ".*!! %!#6) 0 '!2%

CONTRACTION OF THE DEITY

29

The emanation takes place surrounding the primordial man in the lights that emerge from him. The lights emerging from the primordial man evolve until they are stable and able to emerge in the form of the countenances. The contraction under discussion takes place in the primordial man, before the emanation of the world of nikudim from his eyes. This contraction occurs in order for the emanation of the light that will form the world of nikudim to take place, in accordance with the principle that a contraction necessarily precedes any new emanation. The analogy between the contraction that occurs in the primordial man and the death of the kings also appears in Mevo Shearim where the connection between the two becomes clearer: When the primordial man wished to emanate the world of the nikudim, he contracted himself … from the diaphragm and below the vessels of the primordial man … remained without light … and they were not able to remain in this elevated position and fell beneath his feet.6

Here the death of the vessels appears as a necessary corollary to the diminution of the lights caused by the contraction; the contraction and ensuing fall of the vessels are part of a single process. As result of the contraction of the lights, the vessels of the primordial man himself were left without sufficient light to sustain them and fell beneath his feet. The contraction which takes place in him necessarily entails the death and destruction of the primordial man himself; although not in his entirety but only in those aspects which are most differentiated from him. Contraction is an act of self-destruction, an annihilation of the self, similar in nature to the self-sacrifice of the martyrs which provided female waters for the restoration of the emanation. Indeed, although the fate of the broken vessels of the primordial man is not described, broken vessels, as a rule, provide female waters for the resurgent configurations. The contraction can also be seen as an act of destruction which carries within it the seeds of its own recovery: a cyclical process of death and renewal,7 in which the judgements that have been rejected form the material for the renewal of

Mevo Shearim 2,1,3. ... )2- '2)2 ,'!3+ '%- %!2% 24 3'' 46#" )-% # ' ! % ... 4 *) '!3!4 , )% 4! ) 3''  '!%# 46+ ".3'' !%4)  )% 4! ,  '3) 7 Cf. Joseph Ashkenazi Commentary on Sefer Ye ira attributed to Abraham ben David in the printed edition of Sefer Ye ira, Jerusalem 1962, 21a.  )2- ,0" ".!% , )2- 6

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA

the emanation, in the form of female waters. This is perhaps the sense of the statement made by Ibn Tabul in an exegesis on the female waters: For the judgements are the reality of all the worlds in their entirety.8

The stage at which this idea becomes most interesting is of course the first contraction of the infinite revealing the primordial space. In this sense, the primordial man can be seen as a reflection of the deity himself whose desire to create the world caused him to contract himself. The language of the description and in particular the phrase ‘when the primordial man wished to create the world of the nikudim’, suggests that the primordial man represents an opportunity for Vital to express ideas that he does not wish to attribute to the deity.

THE DEATH OF THE KINGS IN THE WORLD OF AKUDIM A partial revelation of the lights of the primordial man is achieved in the world of akudim, which in a later stage is known as the world of nikudim in which the emanation is revealed. In the world of akudim, a single vessel appeared which began to contain the light. The central problem of the world of akudim is the difficulty, or indeed impossibility, of containing the light: Before the emanation of the akudim, the light could not be incarnated in any vessel, for no vessel could contain it … until the expansion of the light reached the aspect of akudim and a single vessel … was formed. Then the limitation of the light began to disclose itself in the emanation, a limitation that had not been possible before.9

The image of the flickering lights which both illuminate and do not illuminate their vessels illustrates the difficulty in containing the lights. The full force of this dilemma will be revealed in the subsequent world of the nikudim: The nature of this light is to illuminate and disappear immediately. Like the flickering light of a candle the light in the vessels [sic] of the akudim

Hefzi Ba 15a. ".'%# 7)%- %# 7!2) 74 !#" Tree of Life 1,7,1. '6 6%7% %#! !%- 4 ! % '!3- 7!2) '3" '! %  % 4 7607 -! - ... %,% '!%# 7%#! ! % !# !%# 7% 7!2) !  7!% 7%!2 %!7  ' !%# ... 7!2) 6-+ '6 '!3- ".7- - 4 7!% %#! ! %6 ) 4 8 9

CONTRACTION OF THE DEITY

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constantly illuminates and recedes, reaching and not reaching the vessel; otherwise, the single vessel could not endure the light.10

Conceived as a cathartic purification of the deity, the breaking of the vessels also reveals the incommensurability of the infinite light with any object and the contradiction involved in its containment, even in its own vessels, illustrated by image of the guttering candle light. The purpose of the creation of the world of akudim is to separate the light itself into lights and vessels and this severance is achieved by the containment and diminution of the lights: When the light departs from it, the vessel is formed by the separation from the light … the vessel turns away … for now that it has been formed into a vessel by separation from its source, it no longer has the ability to regard the light face to face.11

There is no single reason for the breaking of the vessels but multiple reasons, which are complementary and should be understood in conjunction. Even after the contraction the full force of the unconcealed light was too great for the vessels to bear; while the vessels themselves were isolated and unconfigured into countenances which would tie them together making them more stable and able to bear a greater amount of light. These two explanations are complementary aspects of the state of the emanation at the first revelation, which together contribute to the breaking of the vessels. The subsequent ability of the vessels to receive the light is due to the cooperation between them as well as to their ability to clothe the light, which are different aspects of the same development. The doctrine of the countenances illustrates the paradoxical nature of the divine revelation, which forms the creation of the world. The emergent worlds were not yet sufficiently configured to be able to receive the divine illumination; yet, the divine illumination itself was the means of their configuration. The breaking of the vessels is therefore represented as inevitable, in that it is an unavoidable consequence of the divine revelation. The paradoxical transition from the infinite to the finite is regarded as an inherent Tree of Life 1,7,1. 6!6 )# 3%7,) #'' 4!% %  4 -  6!" '!%# )''%) 7!%  4 !)7 46+ *# ,7--+7) !6 4+ 7%6 -  7! % ' 4 %,%  !%# # *! ' !%# 7! 7,% !# '!3- 43+ % ".! ) % ! ) 11 Tree of Life 1,7,1. 4 3%7,+ +)) 46  !%# *) ... 3% 7 +" 40 !%# '! 7- 6-+6 *!# !#  )% !+0 "0 !%#  … !%# 6-+ #''!-6  ".0''0  %#7,% 7%#!  *! %6 4 646 *) 10

32

MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA

impossibility. This paradox is not resolved but gradually attenuated and the crisis revealed in the first impetus towards creation continues to make itself felt throughout the emanation. The breaking of the vessels or the death of the kings is described in detail in the world of nikudim, but this is not the only incidence of the death of the kings. Vital compares the death of the kings to the revelation of lights in the preceding world of the akudim; a comparison which is not exhausted simply by the similarity of the two events but hints at a wider reciprocity and repetition that is not limited to these two worlds only. The separation in the world of akudim can be understood in the light of the central metaphor, which the lurianic cabala uses to illustrate the death of kings: the death of man. When man dies the body is separated from the spirit which returns to the lord. The lights of the vessels are the interior of the worlds and the extension of the infinite into revealed existence and therefore do not die; but their ‘death’ is their separation from their vessel. The separation of lights and vessels entails the death of the vessels, which are shattered and fall into a lower world. The separation of the lights from the vessels is also the aim of the return of the lights to their source in the world of akudim. After their emanation, the lights of the world of akudim returned once more to their source before re-emerging: When the lights [of the akudim] returned to their source to be completed … the denser light which formed the vessels became even denser and could not return to its source as before, and the purer light divested itself of the vessel and returned to its source.12

The separation of the light from the vessel is the aim and goal of the return of the lights to their source in the world of akudim. The separation of the lights serves to create the vessels essential for the revelation of the lights. The return of the lights of akudim to their source is thus considered to be a parallel in the world of akudim to the breaking of the vessels in the world of nikudim: The return to the lights of the akudim to their source is an annihilation of the kings in this world of akudim.13

Ozrot Haim 3a. 47! 4 6 !%# '! 7 ... '%76% 4 4 46#" 4 60+ +64# 43)%  ' 4% %#! +! *# !''- 47! 7!- 7- +3 ".43) % %- +)) !3+ 13 Ozrot Haim 4b. % ! #''  '%!2) '7!!%- '!3- %6 74 7%-7" ".*# '!#%) 12

CONTRACTION OF THE DEITY

33

The element of destruction in the world of akudim is not immediately apparent; but the focus of the comparison on the return of the lights of the akudim to their source becomes clearer in Shaar Hahacdamot: In these lights of the akudim, the death of the kings was present in some sense, like the death of the kings which took place in the world of the nikudim … For the return of the light of the akudim to their emanator is also the reality of the death of the kings. 14

The nature and of this return to source, whose aim was the formation of a vessel, is captured in the comparison to the death of kings. Like the souls of the dead kings, the lights of the world of akudim were detached from their vessels and returned to their source. As in the death of the kings, the aim of the return to the source in the world of akudim was the severance of the spirit and the body, leading to ‘death’ in the world of akudim and to the formation of the vessels.15 Ozrot Haim also assumes an essential similarity between these two destructive events and distinguishes between the breaking of the vessels in the world of akudim and in the world of the nikudim not by the nature of the event but only in terms of the degree of destruction involved. While the destruction of the world of akudim was partial and occurred in order to create the vessels in this world; in the world of the nikudim, the emanation was destroyed completely: Here in the world of the akudim the destruction was in order to create and the vessels were torn down in order to be rebuilt … But in the world of the nikudim, the destruction was complete and death was the reality.16

This incident also illustrates the close connection in the lurianic corpus between creation and destruction: one is not possible without the other. The necessity of opposition of the mercies and the judgements is not merely a dogma, but an integral part of the system. The more subtle and restrained version of the death of the kings at a higher level, where revelaShaar Hahacdamot, Jerusalem 1974, 15d. '!3- '%- '!43+ % 74 '" ... '!3+ '%- !6 '!#%) %  7)# ,) 2) '!#%) %  7!2) ' ! %  7!2)  #''  + %!2) % '!3- %6 % 74 73%7, 74 !# ".'!#%) 15 Ozrot Haim 4b. “The main reason for the return of the lights [of the Akudim] to their source was the creation of the vessels.” 16 Ozrot Haim 4b. +# ... 7+% )''- 47, *37% )''- %3%3) ! '!3- *#" ".6)) 4) 7!) 4) %  ! '!3+ % .'!%# '! 76-% !# '7%-% 14

34

MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA

tion is incomplete and differentiation is less defined, is in keeping with the idea that at different stages of the revelation events have a different character according to the degree of concretisation in the emanation.

THE SPARKS IN THE VESSELS The idea of a death of kings in the world of akudim is pursued further in connection with the lurianic doctrine of the 288 sparks that remained in the broken vessels after their fall. The description of the vessels in the world of akudim relies on their division into four separate aspects symbolised by the letters and their various affixes: I will clarify how the division of the nikudim into four17 alludes to the death of the kings and in light of this explanation you will understand their presence here in the world of akudim.18

The division of the world of nikudim is echoed in the world of akudim. Four distinct types of light are revealed, due to the fact the lights of the akudim emerge flawed and were consequently return to their source: The first light that emergesȥcantillation signs (teamim). The traces of light left when the light returns to its source - scribal affixes (tagin). The returning light itself which is judgementsȥvowel points (nekudot). The light produced by the friction of the second and third lightsȥletters.19

At the death of the kings, sparks of light remained in the vessels even after they broke to prevent the vessels from becoming entirely lifeless and to preserve them until they could be restored. The sparks that remained in the broken vessels at the death of the kings are compared to the sparks that were created in the friction between lights of judgements and mercies when the Akudim returned to their source of emanation. Vital writes that he thinks he heard from his teacher that, The aspect of vessels was already present in the world of akudim and the sparks that were mingled with them correspond to the sparks that remained in the vessels of the nikudim.20 17

Cantillations, scribal affixes, vowel points and letters. Ozrot Haim 4b. 77!) %- '!4) "! ''7+ *!+- '!3+ , 4+6 ) !0#" ".'!3- '%- *# '7!2) *# ' *!7 '6) '!#%) 19 Ozrot Haim 4b. 20 Ozrot Haim 4b. '+ 722!+ %6 34 '!3- '%- '!%# '! ! 4#" 18

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Later in Ozrot Haim, Vital is still not clear as to which aspect of the lights of the akudim corresponds to the sparks that vivified the broken vessels in the world of nikudim: but he clearly indicates that an analogous breaking of the vessels took place in the world of the akudim: Perhaps those sparks [the letters of the akudim] that are the fourth [type of lights] are analogous to the 288 sparks [that remained to vivify the vessels]. Or is it possible that the second type [of lights are analogous to] the vowel points of the nikudim which are judgements, returning lights and lights of the posterior aspect which illuminate the broken vessels.21

Whichever type of lights is the final candidate does not affect the outcome. The traces of light left in the vessels when the lights return to their source, the second group, are an obvious candidate; just as the fourth group are an obvious candidate for the vessels of the world of the akudim, since the striking of lights against each other is one of the ways in which the vessels emerge into existence. Vital does not make a final decision on this issue here. A question which he does not doubt is the need in the world of akudim for lights to illuminate the broken vessels of the world of the akudim. The fallen sparks in the world of nikudim are necessary because the fallen vessels are considered to be dead without the spirit which vivifies them. Like a body in the grave, the shattered remnants require a spirit to preserve them until they can be resurrected.22 Above the world of the akudim are the primordial man and the infinite. In these worlds the possibility of the death of the kings being a relevant description is also strongly indicated: Every emergence … of new lights and additional worlds is by means of the contraction of light. Thus the infinite contracted himself in order to produce the primordial man and the primordial man to produce the nekudot and all this is close to the death of the kings and it is forbidden to speak about it, for this is a high place.23

".'!3+ %6 '!%# 46+6 722!+ ''04 7)#  ')- 4-7+ 21 Ozrot Haim 30a. *!22!+ ''04 % *!) ' 722!+ '7 !%" !6 *#6 '!3+6 73+ '! '6 ' '! !6 460  ' '! '6 *!-) '!2! ".'!46+ '7! !4 '!%# '!4!) '!4 4 4 4 '!+! 22 Shabbat 152b, Zohar 3,71a-b. 23 Mevo Shearim 2,1,2, !! %- % +! ,'!0,+ 7)%- ,'!6) 74 7!2! %#"  %# ... 73+ !2% 3'' ,3'' !2% ,'' '2)2 ! "# !# .4 '2)2 ". '3)  !# ,0 !2% 4, '!#%) %  % 43 

36

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The parallelisms, and the recurrent nature of the breaking of the vessels suggest that the death of the kings is an additional way in which the contraction of the deity is described in the lurianic system. The exchangeability of these descriptions at different levels of the emanation seems to leave little doubt that the various contractions and consequent death of the vessels and their restoration are viewed as a single event which repeats itself in different ontological mediums. Tishby has already shown that the catharsis of the deity did not begin in the world of nikudim where we hear about it, but this is merely the world in which the judgements produced by this process are revealed.24 As Tishby writes everything that is revealed in the emanation had already taken place imperceptibly in the deity. The contraction of the deity is the beginning of the process of purgation of the deity itself.25 Given the cautious way that Vital describes the contraction, we would not expect to find any mention of judgements revealed in the original contraction of the deity. Tishby has already demonstrated the existence of the forces of judgement in the primordial space26 and the parallelism between the breaking of the vessels and the contraction in this respect. The emergence of the forces of judgement in concentrated form in the contraction of the deity is a characteristic feature of the death of the kings as described in the Idra: And Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom27 … the place where all the judgements are accumulated and suspended.28

This conception persisted in the lurianic version, where the predominance of the judgements is the main reason for the breaking of the vessels. A description of the contraction of the deity along these lines is given by Ibn Tabul: When God wished to create his world, he gathered all the roots of the judgements that were concealed in him; meaning that he revealed them a little in himself and this is creation from nothing … that they were revealed from nothing. And when the judgements were concentrated and

24

Tishby, The Doctrine of Evil and the Husks p. 53. Ibid. p. 59. 26 Ibid. p. 58. 27 Genesis 36,32. 28 Zohar 3,135a. *!!%7 *)7 *!4 37) *!+! %# 47 ... 4- * -% ' "%)!" ".*)7) 25

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gathered in one place the light of the infinite became denser and receded from them.29

The abstract phrasing obscures the element of drama present in the breaking of the vessels, which must have been considerably greater at this stage of the emanation. It is at the first contraction that the judgements and mercies are first polarised, having previously existed in indistinguishable unity in the infinite. This is presumably the sense of the creation ex nihilo emphasised by Ibn Tabul.

THE CONTRACTION OF THE LOWER THREE SEFIROT The birth of one world from another, described as a contraction, is also depicted in parallel anatomically. A feature common to all contractions is that they take place in the lower three sefirot of nezah, hod and yesod, including the lower half of the tiferet of the contracting configuration: In all the worlds, the nezah, hod and yesod and half of the tiferet in one configuration give birth to another. For the nezah, hod and yesod of the primordial man give birth to the lights of the world of emanation … and n h y of the Ancient of Days to Macranthropos and n h y of Macranthropos to Mother and Father.30

Ozrot Haim explores the analogy between the contraction in the primordial man and the contraction of Macranthropos, a configuration that is subsequent to the restoration of the vessels: We find in Macranthropos that he contracted his nezah, hod, and yesod in order for the light to emerge for the male and the female … the same occurred in the primordial man and this matter should not be explained at length.31

Having already detailed this contraction in the primordial man, the injunction not to speak of it, if it does not refer to the primordial man, must refer to a higher entity. An inescapable assumption is that a further comJoseph ibn Tabul, Hefzi Ba 1b. !646 %# 13 )%- %!2% +24 %-6#" *! # %# /,+ 137+6# ... *!) 6! %+6 ... *!) 6!   '!-%) !6 *! ".,'' 4 -7) 3%7,) 7))  -) '7 %!6 '!0  '3)% 30 Mevo Shearim 2,1,3. ' ' /2406 7''7 !2 !''+ '! 7)%- %#" ... 7%!2 '%- %#% 74 '!!2) ' 3'' !''+ !4 !# 4 /240 '!!%) ".''% "!4 !''+ ,''% 3!7- !''+ 31 Ozrot Haim 6a.  ! *# ... *''% 30% !# %6 !''+ '2)26 '' +!2)" ". "!4% *! 3'' 29

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mon factor that is not made explicit is the fact that the contraction of the deity itself involved the lower half of his tiferet, nezah, hod and yesod. This assumption considerably enriches the symbolism of the primordial space into which a ray of light penetrates.32 Sexual symbolism regarding the primordial space can be seen in the Zohar which conceives of the process of creation in sexual terms. The Zohar describes the first movement towards revelation as the emergence of a single ray of light, as yet unfathomable and indefinable, which contains all future emanations within it. This first stirring is described in sexual terms: A single ray shone forth slender and concealed … and in the concealed ray, there struck that which did not strike, there shone that which did not shine, and a single ray of pleasure emerged.33

A similar sexual symbolism can be discerned in the lurianic version in the description of the ray of light, which was the first to penetrate the newly formed primordial space. As in the doctrine of the Zohar, this light was the means of the revelation of the infinite within creation: And this line was like a channel through which the waters of the upper light of the infinite are drawn.34

The waters in question in the lurianic version are the male waters of the deity, in accordance with the lurianic understanding of the hidden light.35 This line of thought is, of course, reminiscent of the symbolism of the foundation as the channel of the emerging divine light, which also informs the lurianic version of the provision of consciousness via the foundation of the preceding configuration. This daring mythological view of the infinite deity is expressed primarily by its absence, And the wise will compare one occurrence to another and draw his own conclusion as to how in each world it is the nezah, hod and yesod …36 32 Eliot Wolfson discusses the idea that the sexualised myth of the Cabala extends to the infinite itself in ‘Negative Theology and Positive Assertion in the Early Kabbala’, Daat 32 (1994) p. xiv. 33 Zohar 2,126b. *) ! 6  '!7, 4!+  ... '!7, 3!3  4!+ 4!+" ".+- ! 4!+  3!0 *!# ,4!+ % *) ! 4!+ ,6  % 34 Shaar Hahacdamot 6c and Tree of Life 1,1,2. "4 46  4+2 *!-# ! 3 " ".,'' %6 *!%- 4 !)!) '!#6)+  35 See pp. 207ff. 36 Mevo Shearim 2,1,3. ,7)%- %# "! ,7%!)% 7%!) )! 6!3! %!#6)"

CONTRACTION OF THE DEITY

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and secondarily by analogy. This is not a question of the honour of the deity, which is best served in concealment, but a comment on the contradictory nature of concrete symbolism as applied to the transcendent deity. The sexual symbolism of the lurianic doctrine becomes less explicit and more abstract the higher the worlds to which it refers; but cannot be expressed in sufficiently abstract terms to convey a notion of how this symbolism might apply to the primordial space. Vital indicates that the lurianic symbolism does not apply in the same way to the beginnings of the emanation as it does to later stages: Attributes like head, ears, eyes and so on … are just to make matters intelligible. This is the reason we employ these attributes in such an elevated place; but the principal place of these attributes is from the world of emanation and below where the countenances are revealed.37

If we are not to understand this passage as meaning that there are ears in the world of emanation, an alternative understanding is that the applicability of symbols is graduated. Although both uses of the term are metaphorical; some ears are more equal than others. The symbolism of the higher levels of the emanation is given to us in abstract terms because this is a more accurate representation of the way in which sexual symbolism can be applied to these levels. A similar line of thought can be seen in Proclus: Some characterise the supercelestial realm … with ineffable symbols; whereas others though having named it, had to leave it unknowable … Proceeding even higher than this level they have been able to designate by name alone the limit of the intelligible gods, while they only indicate through analogy the beings beyond that, as those beings are ineffable and incomprehensible.38

KNOWLEDGE OF THE DEITY The contraction of the deity is repeated at different levels of existence and in different ontological mediums until its dynamics are finally resolved. The sundering of the opposites revealed in the contraction of the deity is present throughout history and is fully revealed and consummated at the final " ... 7''7 !2 !''+ '! 37 Ozrot Haim 1b. '!4 +!6% ... 2!# '!+!- '!+ 64 * *# % '!!+#" '%-) ' % '!!+# '3) 43!- '+) .#  '3) % '!!+# '!+#) + *#% "./240 '! 6! '6) !#  )% 7%!2 38 Proclus, Commentary on the Cratylus 65,16-26.

40

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union which takes place at the redemption. This repeatability is not restricted to the symbolism of the contraction of the deity but is a feature of all lurianic symbolism. The repetition of the same motifs at different levels of the system is not fortuitous but reflects an insight of the system. The transparency of the motifs themselves as they are repeated indicates that despite their varied modes of manifestation they are fundamentally the same motif. The breaking of the vessels and the death of the martyrs of the kingdom represent the same event differently revealed at a different stage of the emanation. Although obscured by the baroque complexity of the system, the lurianic corpus exhibits a unity and coherence of conception, from the contraction to the redemption, that is in a large measure due to this insight. A fascinating idea communicated to me by David Solomon is the thought that the lurianic symbolism has, in a sense, an invisible vanishing point. The point at which a particular process or distinction originates, or can be said to apply, is never reached. It is not possible to pin down any specific process to its original starting point. A case in point is the question of the emergence of vessels, or the differentiation of the emerging light into interior lights and vessels. Discrete vessels in which the lights of the emergent emanation were contained, briefly before the vessels shattered, first emerged in the world of nikudim. The prior world of the akudim contained only a single vessel, formed by the return of the light of the akudim to its source in the primordial man. The light of akudim emerged from the primordial man, as yet undifferentiated into lights and vessels; but not entirely: Obviously, the aspect of the vessel was present in potential although it was not present in actuality in the light, for the denser and less material light was indistinguishably united with the light in essence, so that the aspect of the vessel was not revealed.39

The difference between the lights and the vessels is therefore not to be sought in the technical distinctions of the system, but precedes them. The distinction between light and vessel is not the cause of the difference in the lights but an expression of their difference in nature. This open-ended symbolism effectively communicates the idea that the lurianic symbolism is infinite; meaning that the processes which the lurianic symbolism describes have either no beginning or a beginning that is unknown to us. As the cabalists often say, beyond this point do not ask any questions. Ibn Tabul, in 39 Ozrot Haim 3a. "7 %-0 ! % !# '!0 # ! !%# '!6  !" ".7+! %+ % *#%  ! '2-  4-) !6 - , 47! 4 '! ! # 4

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fact, states that the number of configurations revealed in the process of the emanation is infinite. In fact, though these processes are infinite, they are infinite in the sense that their beginning is subliminal or transcendent, and is lost to us in the recesses of the deity. They begin in the infinite and are revealed to us only in part in the successive stages of the emanation. The lurianic system is based on the assumption that these processes continue beyond their revealed dimensions and are therefore to be seen as constitutive elements of reality. In respect of the spiritual process described by the lurianic cabala this open-ended aspect adds an important dimension to lurianic thought. Just as we cannot tell where a certain process begins, so the distinction between the processes that relate to man and those that we attribute to the deity is merely one of degree. The contraction of the symbolism that intervenes between man and the deity is massive, in fact it seems that the purpose of the lurianic symbolism is not, as in the theurgic views of the earlier cabala, to distinguish between the human and the divine, but to emphasise the continuity between them. This kind of symbolism naturally makes little sense in respect of a system of cosmology; but is illuminating when seen as a description of a spiritual process. A case in point is the mythopoeic discourse seen in the Idras, which underlies the reconstitution of the deity in lurianic cabala. Many of the apparent difficulties with this doctrine are removed when the creation is seen in context as a spiritual process and not an event in cosmology. It is a feature of the lurianic cabala as a whole that the symbolism which it uses is more often than not more applicable to spiritual and cognitive processes such as the exteriorisation of thought, which appears in the symbolism of the lights and the vessels, than to an independent spiritual reality which is mistakenly supposed to underlie the lurianic descriptions. Another way to view the contraction of the deity is not as a cosmological process but as a spiritual or psychological one, not as an historical event but as a prototypical event which is continuous and still existent. The context in which the ambiguity between the vehicle and the substance that is a salient feature of Lurianic ontology is most fruitful is the context of the expression of thought, in other words, the context of the relation of a subject to the world. In lurianic cosmology the vessel functions as an exteriorisation of the substance of the deity, a process described at length in the lurianic account of creation. This view of the vessels should not be sought in explicit formulation in the lurianic cabala, but the lurianic outlook and emphasis is on the psychological aspect of these doctrines and shows us the connection between their earlier and later formulations.

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The interesting thing about the lurianic view of the vessels is that they are at the same time the representation of the divine revelation and a representation of the way that our understanding of this divine revelation or selfrepresentation is made available to us. This view of the vessels, inevitably entails the conception that the breaking of the vessels can be no longer seen as a cosmological catastrophe, but rather as a failure of representation. The lurianic symbolism of the deity has implications concerning our knowledge of the deity, regarding both the manner and the significance of our knowledge of the deity and the process of divine revelation. Rather than a being a feature of cosmology, the vessels are a feature of the process of the selfrevelation of the deity. The process whereby the lights come to be clothed in vessels is understood in the lurianic cabala as a reflection of the way that the revelation of the deity takes place, as an externalisation and an objectification of the divine processes. The formation of vessels is presented as an inevitable and necessary phase of the divine revelation. The doctrine of the vessels also illustrates the difficulty of externalisation of the divine thought which alone permits its revelation. The difficulty of transition between the light and the vessel, illustrated in the world of akudim, is seen in the repeated gradations necessary for the externalisation of the divine thought. The Zohar, in the later strata, also tackles the problem of the transcendence of the deity, in a passage comparing the attributes of the deity to vessels. A god who is essentially unknowable means that what we know is both god and not god. In this sense the conscious mind can be thought of as merely a mode of manifestation of the deity which, of itself, is unknowable: The image we have of him corresponds only to his dominion over a particular attribute …, once he has removed himself from it, he has no attribute, image or form. … There is no limit to the outpouring of his light so he calls himself infinite, but he possesses neither image nor form and there is no vessel in which to grasp him or to attain any knowledge of him.40

The nature of the deity itself remains unknown and unknowable and is only grasped by means of its manifestation in consciousness. ‘We remain conscious of the fact that we are discerning, with the limited means at our disposal, something essentially unknown and expressing it terms of psychic structures which may not be adequate to the nature of what is to be 40 Zohar 2,42b. +!) 3!%7, # ... ) ! %- !7+ %6 '0# !%! +!)" *! !)4% 43 " !4+ -!+% /, 7!% ! ... 42 % *!) % ) !% 7!% ".%%# -!! ! -+)% !% ,07)% +) 7!% *)7 42 7) !% 7!% ,/,

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known.’41 Paradoxically, myth draws its strength from the fact that it does not refer to its subject. In order to understand the subject of mythical representation it is indispensable to ignore and transcend the literal meaning of the myth. The Tree of Life, in perhaps the most anthropomorphic description of the deity ever committed to writing, warns against a literal interpretation: Manifestly, there is no body above and no power of the body and all the images and depictions are not a true representation, God forbid, but come to aid the understanding until man is able to understand these spiritual realities that are not comprehensible to the human mind. For this reason we are permitted to speak in images.42

Discussing the archetypal image of man, Moshe Idel notes that the burden of symbolism is to bridge the gap between man’s consciousness and the transcendent nature of the deity.43 The anthropomorphic representation of the deity is represented in the Tree of Life as a means to this end. Although developed from earlier sources where the image in question was often represented by the body of man and not his mind, the influence of neoplatonic sources on the cabalistic doctrines made room for a more sophisticated doctrine which sees the soul of man as the ‘seam’ of existence, the central pivot of which is the meeting point of the revelation of the deity and his incarnation in man.44 The self-revelation of the deity and his incarnation in man form the main burden of lurianic ontology.

41

Jung, Psychology and Religion, Princeton 1969, p. 580. Tree of Life 1,1,4. %# %!% / # % / %-)% *! !#  !% 4 '+)" %#!6#% * 7 "#6% '+) '%6 , "# '6 !+0) % % '!4!2 7+!) *7!+ *#% !6+ %#6 '!)64+ '!,07+ !7% '!+4 '!+!%- '!4 *!% ' ".'!+!) '!4!2 7+! 4% 764 43 Idel, New Perspectives p. 176. 44 Moshe Idel notes the influence of neoplatonic doctrines of the alienation of the soul, which Plotinus holds in common with the gnostics, and the Greek concepts of perfection on Jewish eschatology in Messianic Mystics, New Haven 1998, p. 51-55. 42

3 THE REVELATION OF THE DEITY The lurianic doctrine of creation concerns essentially and primarily the selfrevelation of the deity, in a process which culminates in man himself. The determinative influence of man on the divinity was first raised in cabalistic texts by Isaac the Blind: The day that the Lord God made [heaven and earth]1 the name was not complete until man was created in the image of God and the seal was complete.2

This doctrine also assumes a radically altered conception of god; the process of emanation cannot be completed without the creation of man in god’s image. This is not merely a theurgic licence or privilege but a mandate; god is of necessity constructed by man. This is a statement about the nature of god. Human intention and understanding, as it draws out into concrete existence what was formerly concealed in the recesses of the infinite, imposes on the deity its identity and the form its revelation will take. Without human consciousness, the deity cannot exist in its revealed aspects. As Mopsik shows, Moses Cordovero recognises a radical influence of man on the deity, which involves the emergence into revealed existence of aspects of the deity itself: On the perfection of the lower entities depends the perfection of the higher entities … when there was no impetus below, the higher union was not complete … The scriptures do not mean that the making of the sanctuary made an impression above; what is intended is to let us know

1

Genesis 2,4. Commentary on Sefer Yesira. ' 4+6 - %) '6 ! % '!% ' 76- '!" ".'%6 '7 ! '!% '%2 Haviva Pedaya ‘Defect and Restoration of the Deity in the Works of Isaac the Blind’, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 6 (1987) p. 186 (Hebrew), who also notes the dependence of the emanation on the creation of man for its completion. 2

45

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA that before the erection of the sanctuary below, the higher sanctuary could have no existence.3

Mopsik comments that there is no question of the ordinary influence that meritorious actions exert on the sefirot by making an impression on them. At stake here is no less than the emergence into existence of the sefira that corresponds to the sanctuary, the degree of emanation known as the Kingdom.4 There is an interesting echo of this view in the lurianic corpus, in a discussion of the birth of the lower female configuration, the Kingdom, from the Mother: Since this consciousness and the emergence of the female depends on the deeds of man, and man has free will, it is possible that this may happen and possible that it may not. For this reason, the verse5 says, ‘If she bears a female child’.6

The Tree of Life defines what it is for a god to become perfect or whole: wholeness with respect to the deity entails passing from potentiality into actuality. The meaning or goal of the creation of the world was that the deity should be complete in all its actions. Vital gives the reason for the creation: The reason was that it was necessary that he should be whole in his actions and powers and all his names … for if his actions and powers did not pass from potentiality to actuality he would not be whole, as it were, in his actions and his names.7

The aim and purpose of the creation as the revelation of the being of the deity is expressed in terminology that is reminiscent of R. Isaac. The lack of revelation of the deity is understood as a flaw in the being of the deity:

3 Moses Cordovero, Pardes Rimonim, Jerusalem 1962, 49b. Charles Mopsik Les Grands Textes de la Cabale, Verdier 1993, p. 407. 4 Mopsik, Les Grands Textes, p. 408. 5 Leviticus 12,5. 6 Sefer Taamei Hamizvot, Jerusalem 1988, p. 186. '3+ 7!2! *!) %6 !0%" 3+ ' 4) *#% %  6-!6 460 4! !%- ' '!+77 6-) !%7 ".%7 7 Tree of Life 1,1,1. %# '%6 !!6 4#) "47!  +6 !0% ! 4 7!," 6-) %-0 !!% !7# !7%-0 !2) ! % ' ... !7)6 %# !7# !7%-0 ".'%6 43+ %#!# ! %

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If he did not bring his powers and his actions into existence and actuality he would not, as it were, be called complete neither in his actions nor in his names.8

This flaw is remedied by the revelation of the deity in creation: But once the worlds are created, then his actions and his powers will emerge into actuality and he will be called complete in all his actions and powers and in all his names and attributes, without any incompleteness.9

The lurianic cabala recounts a theogony, a tale of the life of the deity, from the complete transcendence in the infinite to its constellation in the form of a human countenance.10 The generation or birth of the god is recounted both in sexual terms as a process of sexual maturity and at the same time as a process of the catharsis of the divine thought and its revelation in the creation.

THE RESTORATION OF THE EMANATION The creative activity of the deity is primarily described in the lurianic doctrine in the restoration of the emanation after the breaking of the vessels. The purpose and nature of the creation can be understood from the nature and aims of the restoration. The restoration was necessary in order to establish the connection between the light of the infinite and the recipients, enabling the revelation of the deity to take place. Ibn Tabul explains why the restorations of the Idra are known as the restorations of the king: ‘The restorations of the king’ that is to say, strategies for ruling, for the worlds cannot enjoy his light at all due to its concealment. And as long as they cannot receive from him and enjoy him, he has no sovereignty over them. However after these restorations were made, then he was known as their king.11

Tree of Life 1,1,1. ! % 6-) %-0 !!% !7# !7%-0 !2) ! % '" ".!7)6 % !7%-0 % '%6 43+ %#!# 9 Tree of Life 1,1,1. "47! !7# !7%-0 2!  '!4+ 7)%- 7! '+)" '!+!# 7)6 %# '%6 !! ' !7# !7%-0 !+!) %# '%6 43+ !! %-0 !!% ".%%# *4, '6 !7% 10 Meroz, Messianism in the Lurianic Doctrine p. 252. 11 Joseph Ibn Tabul, Commentary on the Idra Raba, ed. Weinstock, Tmirin Vol 2, Jerusalem 1981. 4) 7+% '!%#! 7)%- *!6 #%) !,!,#7 24! #%) !+3!7" #%) '!%- % *! +)) 7+% +)) %3% '!%#! '+!6 *) %# )%- 4% %%# ".'!%- "%) 43+  '!+3!7 % 6-+6 4 '+) 8

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The king is unable to rule over his subjects if they cannot receive and enjoy him; his strategy therefore is to diminish his power so that his subjects may be able to receive from him. Without this restoration, or abrogation of royal power, there can be no connection between the king and his subjects. The exigency of the ruler is to diminish himself sufficiently to be accessible to his subjects. The lack of the deity before the creation, as described in the lurianic writings, does not concern the being of the deity per se, but the lack of revelation, which is conceived as a flaw in the deity. The revelation of the deity requires both accessibility and the living connection to the source of the emanation. The essential aspect of the revelation of the lower configurations is the connection to their source. Ibn Tabul expounds the idea that the lack of connection between the concealed and revealed aspects of the emanation, which could not receive their lights, was responsible for the failure of the first emanation: At the beginning when each sefira stood alone, there was no connection between them and none of their roots remained in each other and for this reason they broke.12

The fact that neither the lower configurations nor the lower worlds could receive light from the Ceter of the emanation caused the sefirot to emerge in isolation, and the lack of connection between them caused the vessels to break. It is the lack of connection which accounts for the inability of the vessels to receive the light. Discussing the restorations of the skull, the restoration of the divine configurations detailed in the Idra, Ibn Tabul has the following comment on the relation of the emerging light to its source: And as they [the sefirot] travel and expand, by its means, do not imagine that they do not retain their links to their source … for they have no existence below except in the regard of their source that illuminates them constantly.13

The strength of the vessels comes from their connection both to one another and primarily to their source. Their existence below in their own 12 Ibn Tabul, Commentary on the Idra Raba p.133. % % 7 %# !6 %!7)" ".46+ % 74 7 '6 646 46+ %   7463 ! The interconnection of the sefirot as part of their restoration is described at greater length in the Tree of Life 2,10,5. 13 Ibn Tabul, Commentary on the Idra Raba 15a. %- '! %- '! 607) '!-,+ *6#" )- '% *! #),!6 ) %- '% *! ... '646 '- 7#!!6 '% 46+ %6 67 ".!)7 '% 4!) , ' 646 7%#7, %  )%

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sphere of influence is dependent on their being both differentiated from and related to their source. One of the aims of the restoration is to enhance the connection between the revealed levels and the higher levels of the emanation that had previously been inaccessible: I once heard from my teacher that the reason for the death of the seven kings was that the branches alone emerged, but their roots remained unrevealed. Because the branches did not have the strength to receive the light, they died. When the emanator wished to restore the branches, he returned them to their roots.14

After the restoration, the new configurations were able to receive light from the upper sefirot, which would previously have overwhelmed them: At first, the lower [worlds] could not receive the light that illuminated them, and at that time the lower sefirot could not receive it either. Then came the restoration, which was the diminution of the light by means of the restoration of the configurations.15

REVELATION AND CONCEALMENT The principal characteristic of the restoration is the concealment of the divine light. The idea that the revelation is the concealment is both an epistemological and at the same time a cosmological tenet in the lurianic cabala and is frequently reiterated. It concerns man’s relation to the transcendent infinity of the deity known as ayin - nothing which refers at the same time to the nothing that preceded the creation as well as to the absolute transcendence of the deity. The two are considered to be complementary explanations of the same fact of transcendence. The transcendence emphasised by the cabalists refers not only to the divine nature, but equally to the impossibility of acquiring any knowledge of the deity, an impossibility inherent in nature of deity. In order to reveal himself god, of necessity, must limit and symbolise himself. The selflimitation of the deity, which is the act of revelation, is expressed by the notion of a garment or a vessel which is, as a symbolisation of the deity, at the same time a concealment of the reality of his existence. In order to be Mevo Shearim 2,2,3. '!#%) -6 77!) '- !# ,%'' !4)) ' '-0 !7-)6" %3% '!0+- # ! % ,'!+0 46+ '!646 " ,2! % '!0+- !# ! % ".'646% '4! ,'+37% *!%- %!2) 246# .7) *#% 4 15 Shaar Maamrei Rashbi 41d-42a. 4 %3% '!+77% 460 ! % %!7" ,*3!7  46# .%3% %#! % 7+77 74!0' '  ,'!%- -06+ *!%- ".'!0240 *3!7 !! %- 4 7 -) *!+-  14

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA

able reveal the truth, it is necessary to conceal it, since what is accessible to conscious thought is necessarily clearly distinguished and differentiated, in distinction to the unlimited and unitary nature of the infinite. In order to become accessible to thought the nature of the deity must take on a form that is comprehensible to the intellect. It therefore suffers a sea-change which transforms its nature into something other than itself. The process of emanation constitutes a revelation of the activity of the deity and an emergence into reality of his powers. It is simultaneously a limitation of these powers, which are diminished and enclosed in vessels in order that they may not overwhelm the recipient. Found also in the Idras,16 this principle has been transformed into a determining feature of the process of emanation in the lurianic cabala. The gradual process of the revelation of the countenances takes place by a series of concealments known as restorations. The nature of these restorations is the concealment of the divine light, which is the principal aim of the process of creation, or revelation of the deity: The infinite ‘prepared and bestowed vestments of honour’.17 These garments he prepared in order to clothe and conceal himself; and the concealment is the cause of the revelation for he cannot be attained and his light cannot be enjoyed without these garments.18

In the same way, the restoration of Attika involves his concealment by the attributes that will form the basis of his revelation. In this instance, wisdom is the median attribute: The supernal wisdom … blocked the light … and this is the beginning of the restoration of Attika to conceal him so that he might be revealed, for the concealment is the means of revelation. Thus, this wisdom blocked out the light so that it would only be revealed by means of the wisdom.19

16

Zohar 3,128a. Zohar 2,176b Sifra Dezniuta. 18 Shaar Maamrei Rashbi 24a. *!37 % '!6% + ,*!, *!37 43! *!6%" ' !# ,4) +! % !6! % !# ,!% 7!,  '%- ,' '%-7% 6%7% ".% '!6% !! %19 Shaar Maamrei Rashbi 29d. 7%7  ... 4 )7, ... +!%- )#" 4 )7, )# 7 *# !%!  )%- !# %7!6 !# )!%-% 3!7- *3!7 ". 6%) ' !# %7! %6 17

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The concealment is both the revelation of the deity and the restoration of the emanation. The revelation of the deity constitutes the restoration of the emanation in line with the thinking of the Zohar in the Idras: The concealment and the covering of the light are the reality of the restoration, for by this means the vessels are able to contain the light as it emerges concealed.20

The identity of the restoration and the incarnation is developed from the doctrine of the Idras: It is known that the restoration is nothing other than the incarnation of the light in the vessel so that the lower can receive the light of the higher.21

The reality of the world is the emergent thought of the deity. The lurianic doctrine describes a theogony or life history of the deity as it moves from concealment in the infinite to revelation in creation, its goal to become accessible to human understanding. The process of emanation is therefore seen to be not merely a cosmological process, but an interior dynamic, which is common to both the cosmos and the human soul. This neoplatonic conception originates with Plotinus. The lurianic cabala views the creation as the unfolding and revelation of the divine thought, a process whose continuation in man is an integral part of its realisation. In this view of the creative process and of man, the lurianic cabala is close to the conceptions of Plotinus. Like the Plotinian doctrine, the lurianic doctrine sees the creation as an act of nascent consciousness that at the same time forms the cosmogonic process. In the Plotinian doctrines, the human soul recapitulates within itself all the degrees of the emanation. Trouillard, commenting on Plotinus’ Enneads, considers that these stages are not transitory stages, but permanent degrees which contribute to the formation of the structure of the soul, even when they are unconscious,22 as Plotinus considered the higher levels of the emanation to be. While the lurianic system does not use the vocabulary of Plotinus, the higher reaches of the emanation are considered both infinite and unknowable. 20 Tree of Life 2,9,2. !%# # 6! #"!- !# +3!7 7!2)  !,!# 4 7)%-7" ".6%)  7!% 4 %,% 21 Tree of Life 2,9,4. %#!6 !# !%# 6%7) 4 7! % +! *3!7 %# !# -+" ".*!%- 4 %3% '!+77 22 Jean Trouillard, La Mystagogie de Proclus, Paris 1982, p. 29 cited by Mopsik, Les Grands Textes p. 119.

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There is a radical change of emphasis in the development of cabalistic doctrines from the thought that man contains the deity within himself, to the formulation that the divine is that which is contained within man. Although the first glimmerings of this idea can be seen in the Zohar, it does not yet form a coherent doctrine and does not have the emphasis and the centrality that it later attained in the lurianic corpus; but remains together with the theurgic views characteristic of the earlier cabala that maintain the distance between the deity and man.

THE GOAL OF REVELATION IS HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS The aim of the movement of the deity towards creation is revelation in human form, understood as accessibility to human consciousness. The notion of the Idra that the goal of the revelation is to be accessible to human intention and the ability of man to perfect and complete the revelation leads to the idea that the revelation of the deity in creation is in human consciousness. For this reason, the assumption of a human configuration is described as the true restoration: When Mother and Father were restored in the form of a countenance, which is the true restoration, then came the time for the restoration of Micranthropos and his bride.23

The goal of the restoration was the configuration of the vessels into countenances to reveal its action: In the beginning when the vessels were in the form of small points without a countenance, the lights could not display their action and their force, for they were contained within a small point.24

The emanation is also conceived as the gradual emergence into human consciousness of a previously existent unity, as the projection of a primordial process that gradually emerges into human consciousness. Mopsik sees consciousness as the goal of the process of revelation from the outset, which was structured in conformity with human capacities.25 The view that human reality is the goal of the primordial process is expressed in the 23 Shaar Hahacdamot 57b. ,!7!) *3!7 6 ,/240 '! '' +37+6 *!#" ".*'' *3!7 *)   24 Tree of Life 2,11,7. % ... ,/240 !7% 7+ 3 73+ '! '!%# 7! %!7" ".'# '7%-0 74% '!%#! ! 25 Mopsik, Les Grands Textes p. 378, considers the notion that human reality is the goal of the divine plan as common to all cabalists.

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lurianic cabala in the configuration of the countenances. Since act of creation is the process by which the deity is revealed, the creation is equated with the gradual and progressive revelation of the deity in human form. From here to the view that the deity is entirely a human structure is but a short distance. Since any restoration takes place in a form accessible to human consciousness, human reality serves as a model in regard to the diety in the sense that it is the projection or the goal of the primordial process.26 In this sense, it is possible to understand the view of the Zohar in the Idras that the image of man is the image in which the worlds were restored. The Zohar emphasises the primacy of human consciousness, principally but not exclusively, in the Idras: And all the worlds were destroyed. For what reason? Because man had not yet been prepared, for the restoration of man in his image comprises all and all can live in him. And since this restoration of man did not exist, they were not able to survive or live, and were annulled. 27

The contemplative activity that concerns the restoration of the image is a feature of the Idras, which describes the restorations of Micranthropos as, The image which contains all images … the image of man in which all the worlds, upper and lower, are concealed.28

The fact that this is the image in which the upper and lower worlds are united means that this is the image to which the restorations of the deity must conform. The view that it is the image of man to which the deity conforms and not the reverse has been noted by Moshe Idel in relation to the works of Ibn Gabai, who also notes that this view constitutes a significant change of religious perspective.29 In the cosmogony of the Idras, the image itself is the restoration: Since the higher and lower realms are united in the image of man, who contains the upper and lower worlds, Attika Kadisha conformed his res-

26

Ibid. Zohar 3,135a-b Idra Raba. % ' '6) )- !) ,47 *!)%- %#"  +37 *! ,! 6!7% %# %!#! ,%# %!%# +3! ' +37 ,*377 ".% 7 6!7% '3!)% %!#! % #76 % ' 28 Zohar 3,135a Idra Raba.".! %%#7 *!77 *!%- +3! ! ,' +3!" 29 Idel, New Perspectives, p. 176, p. 181. 27

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA torations and the restorations of Micranthropos to this image and restoration.30

This conception is retained and developed in the lurianic cabala where the constellation of the image is the creative activity precisely because the creation of the world is itself the process of the revelation of the being of the deity in actuality, a process that began violently, in the deity and is completed in man. Thus, human reality is not merely the product of the creation but its intention from the start. The fact that the human form was the essential element of the divine plan is common to many different doctrines, and its interpretation may be theological theurgic or psychological. The theurgic interpretation merely posits an essential similarity between man and god on the strength of which theurgic action becomes a possibility. On the other hand, the view that the essential structure of the deity is modelled on the capabilities of the human mind to influence it has transformed this conception. Man is not modelled on the deity, but it is man who is the model that provides the structure and the possibility for the revelation of the deity. The self-revelation of the deity and his incarnation in man forms the main burden of the lurianic ontology. The incompleteness of the emanative process appears in the imperfections revealed in the falling off of the divine emanation towards the lower worlds, expressed as the loss of a full human configuration: In the world of emanation all its aspects are complete configurations; … in creation some are complete and others incomplete; in formation more than this is lacking … and in faction the restoration of the countenances is incomplete and restricted to the first stage known as the first gestation.31

While the upper worlds have at least some completed configurations, all that is in evidence in the world of faction is the first stage of the restoration, known as the gestation of the foetus and there are no restored countenances in this world.

Zohar 3,141b Idra Raba. %%#7 *!77 *!%- +3! ! ,' +3! *!" 4!- +37 !+37 6!3 3!7- *!37 ,*!77 *!%- %!%# +3! ! *! ,! ".+37 +3! ! *!0 31 Shaar Hahacdamot 88. 6! !4 '!)%6 '!0!240 ' 6 '! %# '!2" !0240 4) *37  6! % !6- ... 47! *4,  6! '!2! '!)%6 '+!6 '!)%6 ".*64 4!- '! '43+ ... +64 '!  % 4!76+6 ) '+) 30

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HUMAN AND DIVINE SEXUALITY The common ground between man and god is described in the lurianic corpus principally in terms of human sexuality, which is seen as a reflection of the life of the deity. The lurianic process of revelation is described as a process of sexual maturity. The tendency, which began in the Zohar, to equate or replace the neoplatonic scheme of emanation with sexual imagery32 is pursued further in the lurianic doctrines. Sexuality has largely replaced emanation as the principal description of the process of the revelation of the deity that is the process of creation. Scattered hints and isolated incidents in the Zohar are united into a coherent view of the revelation of the deity in sexual terms. Based on the conception of the Zohar, Luria forges a new link to the deity which does not rely on the idea of theurgic influence between man and the deity but assumes an identity between man and god which precludes the theurgic relation. This relation is expressed primarily, but not exclusively, in sexual terms. The idea of human reality as the reflection of a primordial process is revealed in the conception of human sexuality as a reflection of the process of self-revelation of the deity. The particular value of the act of procreation as the act in which the relation of man to god is relocated, has its roots in the cabalistic tradition preceding Luria.33 Mopsik sees in the cabalistic development of this idea its elevation to the principal action of imitatio dei.34 The conception of the act of procreation as a reflection of the process of self-revelation of the deity has been developed further in the lurianic cabala, where the sexual myths, audaciously attributed to the deity in the Zohar, are expanded and made more explicit. The Zohar holds that the divine creation is continued in the sexual act, which represents the participation of man in the act of creation. Procreation is the imitation of the principal phase of the theogonic process, which precedes even the creation of the world. The revelation of the divine and the process of its personalisation are recounted in sexual terms. It is the quality of sexual union between the revealed aspects of the deity which is determinative of the state of the pleroma and consequently of the worlds which derive their nourishment from them. Man’s sexuality re32 On the tendency to replace emansitic symbolism with sexual imagery in the Hebrew works of Moshe de Leon see Mopsik, Les Grands Textes p. 190. 33 The cabalistic views of sexuality and their talmudic antecedents are discussed by Moshe Idel in ‘Metaphores et Pratiques Sexuelles’ in Lettre sur la Sainteté. Le Secret de la Relation entre l'Homme et la Femme dans la Cabale, Paris 1986, pp. 336ff. 34 Charles Mopsik, ‘De la Création à la Procréation: le corps d’engendrement dans la Bible hébraïque, la tradition rabbinique et la cabale’, Pardes 12 (1990) p. 76.

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flects his ability to influence the structure and functioning of the revealed aspects of the deity. In the Hebrew works of Moshe de Leon the reality of the comparison of man to the deity lies in man’s ability to procreate; procreation is seen as the continuation and perfection of the process within the deity. Sefer Harimon makes the following comment on a man engaged in procreation: In deploying his form, man gives the supernal form the force to deploy itself and to add illumination to his illumination.35

This comparison succintly expresses the idea that it is in the realm of sexuality that the principal relation of man to the deity is located. This notion was comprehensively developed in the symbolism of the lurianic cabala, which sees this sexual development revealed in the process of emanation as the principal characterisation of the process of creation, and as the motive force driving the course of history, culminating in the final redemption. All three stages trace the progress of a single course of development that began with the cathartic self-revelation of the deity and continues in human consciousness. No part of the process of emanation, or the ensuing process of restoration, including the process of the final redemption, is without its counterpart in sexual imagery. In fact, the redemption is described principally and almost exclusively in sexual imagery. The process of emanation is described as a gradual development of sexual maturity overcoming the barrenness or isolation of the unrevealed infinite. The beginning of this process can be seen as a barren state of the deity prior to the emanation.36 The identification of the light that reached the vessels with spilt seed is the lurianic interpretation of the view of the Zohar that the Idumean kings died barren because their union was not of male and female. The lurianic understanding of the contraction reveals a conception of the deity as undergoing a barren stage prior to the revelation of its fecundity in the creation.37 Ronit Meroz has suggested that the spilt seed that represents the lights which burst out of their vessels at the death of the kings is also descriptive of the process that occurs at the contracSefer Harimon, cited by Mopsik, Les Grands Textes pp. 190-1. 607 !#" ".7-06 %- -06 /!,% 607% +!%- 42 # *7+ 742 36 Ozrot Haim 5b understands the lights of the eyes of the primordial man, from which the worlds were created, as the revelation of the concealed lights that at earlier stages of the emanation had been gathered together and sealed up. 37 This view has also been noted in the Zohar by Asi Farber, who observes that this lends a positive value to the cosmic process of the revelation of the deity in ‘The Husks Precede the Fruit’, pp. 36-7. 35

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tion.38 This description lends further emphasis to the catastrophic quality of the contraction. The description of the catastrophe as spilt seed does not add substantially to the description of the death of kings, as much as it adds to our understanding of the nature of the contraction and the space left at the contraction of the deity. In a sexual conception of the stages of the theogony the establishment of the primordial space is represented as a restoration after the event of the spilt seed. Ronit Meroz describes the primordial space left by the contraction of the deity as the womb of the female element of the deity; and the light entering that space as seed that is part of a fertile union of male and female elements together.39 The characterisation of the contraction as spilt seed is also understandable in the light of the lurianic view that the process itself of the death of the kings does not begin in the world of nikudim, but is merely revealed in this world.40 In the same way, the characterisation of this process as spilt seed is not restricted solely to the world of nikudim, but should be seen as a characteristic of the kind of defective union that the lurianic cabala also associates with the early stages of the creation. The union of the Mother and Father at the breaking of the vessels was characterised as defective and this defective union resulted in the spilt seed which the lurianic cabala describes as the broken vessels of the kings. The two complementary descriptions of the crisis of the deity of breaking of the vessels and the failed union are combined in some descriptions of the breaking of the vessels. The Tree of Life describes the effect the breaking of the vessels has on the union of the higher configurations of the Father and Mother. As the vessels break and their lights are lost, the female waters that these lower configurations provide for them are also lost. These configurations consequently turn back to back as their capability for union is destroyed. Eventually, the posterior aspects of these higher configurations themselves also break.41 A similar defective union, with the husks again ‘crouching at the door’ in an attempt to capture the seed is seen at the redemptive union of the seventh day of Passover. The spilt seed at the breaking of the vessels and the union of minority where the husks may play a dominant role, both at the breaking of the vessels and at the redemption, illustrate a continuous process which neither begins nor ends with the breaking of the vessels. The 38

Meroz, Messianism in the Lurianic Doctrine, p. 219. Ibidem. 40 Tishby, The Doctrine of Evil and the Husks, p. 53. 41 Tree of Life 2,9,1. 39

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union of minority is repeated until all the female waters captive in the husks are finally redeemed and the procreative powers are fully disentangled from the husks. Repeatedly in every doctrine that is integrated into the lurianic corpus, the brunt of the re-interpretation remains the same: sexual symbolism that concerns the consciousness of knowledge that enables man to procreate. This consciousness was the subject of the struggle between the opposing forces at the creation, which still continues. Like the act of creation, the process of restoration is symbolised primarily and fundamentally by a sexual process. The central role of union can be seen from the vital role it plays in the restoration and eventual redemption of the emanation. Like the creation, the restoration begins at the highest levels and gradually repeats its effects until they make themselves felt throughout the creation. Vital’s discussion of the restoration of the broken vessels by their return to the womb of the Mother as lights and female waters illustrates the mechanics of the restoration, which is essentially a sexual process. The female waters we discussed above that rose for the purpose of the union are themselves the seven lights that rise into the Mother [the kings or broken vessels] and remember this principle concerning the rising of female waters.42

According to Vital,43 restoration takes place solely by means of the female configurations: There is no restoration except in the consciousness of the females, the restoration began in the recondite, primordial wisdom of Attika and when she was restored … the kings could receive light from her … she began to restore them and they rose as female waters.44

Thus, the two essential elements of restoration can be seen as union and gestation in the womb. The restoration of the emanation takes place by means of sexual union when the lights of the broken vessels rise to the womb of the mother as female waters and are subsequently reborn as renewed configurations. The entire emanation is restored in this way, beginning with the highest configuration and continuing downwards. The male Tree of Life 2,10,1. )2-  *!%-  "42% %-6 %!-% +4)6 *'') '!" ".*'') 7%- *!+-  )  )3 4# +! %-)% 74 ' 7!!%43 Sarug has a different view in Limudei Azilut 19a. 44 Mevo Shearim 2,3,9. ! '44! 7%7 ,73+ 7) % 44! '6 *!" ... +)) 4 %3% '!#%) %#! ... +37+ 46# !# 3!7- )3 )!7, )# ".*!3+ *!!) , %- 42

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and female aspects of the primordial man, symbolised by the names of god within him, unite in order to restore the succeeding configurations: These female waters rose into the [names of] seventy-two and sixtythree of the primordial man … and by means of this union and gestation the entire emanation was restored.45

Vital does not discuss processes that occur above the level of the primordial man, but there is no reason to believe that this process ends in the primordial man. The protective function of the primordial space is described in the lurianic system by the symbolism of the womb. The gestation mentioned in connection with the primordial man is the process whereby consciousness is provided to the succeeding configurations. This symbolism is not restricted to any single configuration but is repeated throughout the entire system: just as the primordial man is enclosed in the original space of the contraction, so each succeeding configuration of the deity is described as being nurtured within the womb of the configuration that preceded it. This parallelism effectively describes the lurianic understanding of the nature of the first hylic space: The entire emanation is purified and restored by means of the gestations; every configuration is purified, and restored by the configuration above it, which as it unites with its female, purifies the parts necessary for the lower configuration.46

The symbolism is continuous becoming more concrete as succeeding layers of the emanation are described. The fullest description of this process occurs in relation to the micranthropos. It is notably micranthropos who is nurtured in the womb, to where he returns in order to receive the consciousness of majority. However, this symbolism should not be understood as being restricted to micranthropos alone; but as describing the entire process beginning with the first protective enclosure of the space left by the contraction. Gestation takes place for the purpose of restoration; during gestation aspects of the lights are selected and separated from the lights which will form the husks. It is reasonable to assume that this is also the case in the primordial space left by the contraction of the deity and considered as the Tree of Life 2,10,1.  4!-  !''- ... 3'' '', ''- %-)% % *'') 7%-" ".7%!2 '%- %# *37+ 46 Mevo Shearim 3,2,1. /240 %# '!4!- !''- % 447+ % *37+ % 7%!2 %#" 44) ! '3+ ) !6 !''- 46 +))  *!%- /240 !''- 447+ *37+ ".'!+77 % '!#!42 '!3% 45

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‘womb’ of the emanation. Gestation, or the renewal involved in gestation, is the significance of the symbolism of the womb and there is no reason to suppose that this symbolism is restricted only to the lower wombs. The restoration that is required is the restoration of the emanation and its purification from the judgements whose ultimate origin was in the contraction of the deity. This is in effect the first gestation of the system where the lights that will form the upper configurations of the emanation are purified. Mevo Shearim contains a description of the gestation of Macranthropos in the Ancient of Days, the configuration above him: The two aspects, male and female, of the Ancient of Days united together and raised … female waters which remained in gestation for twelve months and there Macranthropos was restored and afterwards he was born and emerged.47

The passage continues to describe the suckling of Macranthropos. A similar process of gestation and restoration takes place in the primordial man, where the male and female aspects are described not by anatomical symbolism but by the symbolism of the divine names: All ten points [the entire emanation] require restoration and must rise as female waters to their source … and there in the primordial man they raise female waters in his cantillations of [the name of] sixty-three [letters] … and then his cantillations of sixty-three unite with his [name of] seventy-two.48

Nurturing in the womb provides the consciousness of the succeeding configuration. The description of the gestation of Micranthropos reveals that the consciousness he receives in gestation is transmitted through the lower vessels of the mother (nezah, hod and yesod). The mother and the father receive their consciousness in the same way: This consciousness, which is composed of mercies and judgements, is extended to the father and the mother in the vessels of nezah, hod and ye-

Mevo Shearim 3,2,1. ... ! + '3+ 4# '6 ,6 '! ' ,*!)! 3!7-" #'' .'' *37+ '6 ,6 ''! 4!- '! '6 ! ... *!3+ *!!) , ... %- ".%+ '6) 2! 48 Mevo Shearim 2,3,1. *!#!42 '%# ,*3!7 *!#!42 73+ 46- %# 3'' 7!)!+0" %6 '', '!)-  *!3+ *!!) %- 3'' 7!)!+0 '6* ... *!3+ *!!) , %-)% 7%-% ".'', ''- '+ '', '!)-  +  ... 47

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sod of Macranthropos just as the consciousness of Micranthropos is extended from Mother and Father.49

The same principle extends to the upper reaches of the emanation. Although the worlds of the akudim and nikudim seem to leave, as it were, a gap in the chain of being, this is in fact not the case. The symbolism of the emanation is treated as continuous and these worlds are regarded in the same light as the macrocosmic figures. The world of the nikudim, for instance, is described as a macrocosmic figure of ten sefirot, which bears the same relation to the primordial man as the succeeding configurations do to each other.50 Continuity is an essential feature of the emanation and its functioning and the variation in symbolism should not be seen as detracting from this principle, but as providing an additional description of the same process: Just as we found that the foundation of the mother provides consciousness of knowledge to Micranthropos so the foundation of the primordial man provides the consciousness of knowledge to the world of the nikudim.51

Nurturing in gestation is a metaphor for the provision of consciousness, as was the case with the primordial man. The notion of a second gestation or a return to the womb for further nourishment from the mother is considered as impossible above as it is below: Man is made in the image of God52 and ‘from my flesh, I will see God’.53 This matter cannot be entertained in the lower man that he should return to his mother’s womb after birth.54

The re-impregnation does not refer to Micranthropos himself, but to the male and female waters emitted by him and his bride. Micranthropos is not returned to the womb in person. The return to the womb is a symbolic Ozrot Haim 9a. !''+ %6 '!%# '- '' % '!#6)+ ' '+ '' '6 % *!)" ".'' !''+ '- '!6 '' *!) 7) '' '' 50 Mevo Shearim 2,1,5. 51 Ozrot Haim 7b.  3''  ,! *# '' 7-  ) %6 ,!6 +!2) !4" ".'!3- %6 7- The Hebrew word daat literally means knowledge. I have used the term consciousness to suggest a capacity which may increase or diminish. 52 Genesis 9,6. 53 Job 19,26. 54 Shaar Maamrei Rashbi 57a. ,%  !46) ,' 7 6- '!% '%2" ".%+6 4 ) *  , 4!6 ' 7!% %#!  *!+- *! !4 49

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depiction of the relation between Micranthropos and the Mother: he provides her with female waters and she provides him with the renewal of consciousness: Micranthropos and his female … rise as female waters to Mother and Father in order to renew their consciousness and to increase their illumination, and this rising we call the second impregnation.55

Thus, the relation of Micranthropos to the configuration above him is similar to the relation of the martyrs of the kingdom to the deity or to that of a devotee praying with intention.

THE TEMENOS As the place where the cult of the deity takes place, the primordial space left after the contraction of the deity within himself shares significant features with the temenos of the Greek religion. After the contraction of the deity, light streamed into the empty space, initially in a straight line then, The ray of light from the infinite … immediately expanded as if into a large circle … and this circle has no contact with the infinite light surrounding it on all sides, for if it made contact it would return to its former state and be annihilated in the light of the infinite.56

The first goal of the contraction of the deity is to prevent the emerging worlds from being re-assimilated into the infinite. The first provision of the contraction of the deity is to maintain the separation between God and his creation and the space left after the contraction is demarcated as the place reserved for the creation. Within the protective barrier of this vessel, the deified primordial man is enclosed and the work of creation takes place. This protective function is also a feature of the first emanated vessels. The primary vessel has the function of preventing the return of the created world to infinity. This enclosure displays a common function with the temenos, the precincts of a temple or any isolated enclosed space in which the deity was confined. The enclosure can be seen as a development or an Shaar Maamrei Rashbi 57a.  %-)% *!3+ *!!) , *!%- ... !3+ ''" *!43 +6 ) ! %-  4 ' /!,% '%6 *!) % !# ) ".!6 4!- 7 56 Four Hundred Silver Shekels, p.11. Tree of Life 1,1,2. 7 607 7%!7 /#7" ' 3 !7% !  %!- !,) %- ' %% *!-# 6-+ "6)+ 607+ 3 , % 7) !! !6 7)#% 4 4!  37! '6 !2 %#) !%- , ,'' 4 ".,'' 4 55

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interiorisation of the temenos: ‘the protective enclosure is therefore a symbolic repetition of an archaic form which was once a concrete reality’.57 The temenos, originally an ancient term signifying any domain, came to be used for the sanctuary, land cut off and set aside for the gods. It was constituted through demarcation which set it apart from the profane and its limit was marked by boundary stones, or by a massive stone wall about the height of a man. Inside the wall, the temenos was set apart for sacred work of which the most essential element was sacrifice.58 The primordial man who represents the newly emergent emanation is enclosed within a protective vessel which is the first emanated structure. The ten concentric circles that first emanated into the enclosure left by the contraction serve to isolate the primordial man, who fills the empty space within those circles. After the emanation of the ten sefirot, which make up the circular enclosing vessel, the light returned again, And another ten sefirot were revealed … in the form of a man with a head and arms and legs and a body.59

Thus, the primordial space has the function of isolating and protecting the emergent emanation. Jung describes the symbolic function of protection or isolation of an inner content or process, which occurs when the deity is no longer projected as an autonomous entity, existing entirely in isolation from human consciousness. This may take the form of ‘a deified or divine man who is imprisoned, concealed, protected, usually depersonalised and protected by an abstract symbol.’60 This process in effect resembles the genesis of the primordial man: neither a man nor a god, but an aspect of the revelation of the deity, the god who fills the temenos. The cult of the deity, which takes place within the temenos, concerns the constellation of the divine configurations. The sexual symbolism of generation and the symbolism of purification and restoration that result in the provision of consciousness that is thereby detached from the chthonic, concern the revelation of the deity that is the aim of the creation. The purification and rebuilding that takes place in the womb is achieved by the provision of consciousness to the emergent countenances. The provision of consciousness is achieved by the revelation of being of the deity. In this 57

Jung, Psychology and Religion, p. 95. Walter Burkert, Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical, Blackwell 1985, pp. 84-7. 59 Four Hundred Silver Shekels, p. 18. 74 74!0, 46- "# 4 %7+ 2! -" "./ '!%4 64 ' 4)# ... 60 Jung, Psychology and Religion p. 97. 58

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sense, it is the ‘cult’, in the Latin sense of to cultivate or to inhabit; it is the habitation of the deity that takes place in the primordial space.

PART 2: PROCESSION: THE DEATH OF KINGS

4 THE DEATH OF THE KINGS AND GNOSTIC LITERATURE ‘For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground, And tell sad stories of the death of kings.’1

Before the creation of this world, the deity created worlds and destroyed them. This view of the creation, which appears in the midrash,2 is taken up and expanded by the Zohar. These worlds are symbolised in the Zohar by the kings that ruled over Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel3 and by the sparks that emerged from the light of darkness, which flared up and were immediately extinguished.4 The primordial worlds represent a stage in the creation prior to the purification of the thought of the deity which was not sustained but destroyed immediately.5 The Zohar also relates this stage of the emanation to the legend of the death of the ten martyrs of the kingdom.6 These same symbols are retained in the lurianic mythology: The reason for the death of the ten martyrs … was to purify the dross … as happened at the beginning of the emanation. When the sparks arose in the thought of the deity, the dross in the thought was purified, the husks fell away to their place and the deity was cleansed and purified.7 1

Shakespeare, Richard II, Act 3 scene 2. Genesis Raba 3,7. 3 Genesis 36,31. Zohar 3,128a Idra Raba. 4 Zohar 3,292b, Idra Zuta. The same image also appears in The Fountain of Wisdom of the Iyun Circle. See Mark Verman, The Books of Contemplation, Albany 1992, p. 57. 5 For the sources of this conception see Idel, ‘The Evil Thought of the Deity’. 6 Zohar 2,254b. 7 Shaar Maamrei Rashbi 65b. 44% 74% ... ! #%) !4 46- 77!)) 7!," 72+!+ +!%- 6) %-6 7%!2 7%!7 ! 46# %# "7) 7%,0 447+ 63 ')3)  )% '0%3 4! 6) "7) 7%,0 447+ #'' 2

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The kings died in order to separate the impurities from the thought of the deity. Similarly, on their death, the martyrs souls were separated from their bodies and purified. In the death of the martyrs, the catharsis of the deity continues to reverberate through history. This notion is drawn from the Zohar and considerably expanded in the lurianic corpus, where the purification of the deity from the evil present within it is conceptualised in an analogy with the human state of death. The aspects of the deity that are revealed in the creation suffer partial destruction and a sundering of spirit and vessel that is comparable to death in man. A violent act of death was required to sunder the emerging forces of judgement and mercy. The lurianic conception of the destruction of the creation is encapsulated in the doctrine of the breaking of the vessels. The emerging worlds, conceived as vessels of the divine light, were unable to contain the deity within them and consequently shattered and were destroyed. The broken vessels were composed of both interior light and exterior vessels; while the vessels shattered and descended the light contained in these vessels remained intact and did not descend. Instead, separated from their vessels, these lights were purified and reabsorbed into the emerging configuration. The seven lower vessels were shattered and descended into the space which would later hold the next stage of the emanation: These vessels died that is, they descended … and this descent was their death.8

A comparison with the symbolism of the ten martyrs makes clear in what sense we are to understand the term death. This is not merely a loose analogy to the human state, but refers to a specific process of severance of the spirit from the body, and its renewal: The seven lower kings suffered death in the full sense of the term, like a man who leaves this world, his spirit returns to the Lord who gave it and his body, which no longer has the strength to contain the spirit and to sustain it in the body, dies and returns to the earth below.9

The comparison with the human state illuminates both the lurianic view of death and Luria’s understanding of the nature of the destruction of ".4 + 8 Tree of Life 2,11,1.".*77!) 7!  !4! ...  )% 4! '!0 7) '!%# *7" 9 Mevo Shearim 2,2,3. '# ,4) 7!) ' ! '!+77 '!#%) -6" 7 %#% - #  *!6 / ,+7+ 46 '!% % 67 46 ,'%-) 4 0+ ". )% 40- % 6 7) #7 %# )-% 4

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the deity. As in the case of the ten martyrs, these lights were reabsorbed in the form of female waters. The lights of the broken vessels, which remained without defect, were absorbed into the Mother as female waters and this act marks the beginning of the restoration of the created worlds.10 The theme of cathartic purification is considerably expanded in the lurianic version. Luria also enlarges on the process of cathartic separation itself, which takes place not only in the deity but also in man, individually and collectively in the course of history. The death of the kings is interpreted in several distinct versions, couched in different terms and drawn from different sources. These disparate sources integrated in the lurianic corpus represent complementary aspects of the lurianic understanding of the death of kings, which should be understood in conjunction. The emanistic description of the breaking of the vessels is not the only way the death of the kings is described in the lurianic corpus. An alternative explanation of the same event reflects the influence of gnostic thought. The cataclysm which marks the initial phase of the emanation is also comprehensively described in terms of sexual union, or lack of it, in motifs drawn from both the Zohar and gnostic sources. In imagery provided by the interpretation of the biblical narrative in the midrash,11 the lurianic corpus represents the conflict between Joseph and the wife of Potiphar12 as a description of the death of the kings. The plight of Joseph fleeing the advances of the wife of Potiphar is alleviated by the midrash which understands the verse in Genesis, ‘The arms of his hands were made strong by the hand of the mighty God of Jacob’13 to mean that Joseph’s semen was scattered and emerged from his fingernails. The scattered seed represents the lights reaching the vessels of the lurianic world of nikudim, the world in which the vessels were shattered. The vessels of the world of nikudim were created by the light that emerged from the eyes of the primordial man, but the seven lower sefirot in this world received lights only from the lower half of the body of the primordial man. These defective lights represent the illumination intended for the vessels of the kings who died, which reached them in the form of spilled seed rather than seed which was the fruit of the union of male and female: The seven lower [sefirot or vessels] … their illumination came from the toenails of the primordial man and this is ‘the arms of his hands were 10

Mevo Shearim 2,3,1. Genesis Raba 87,7. 12 Genesis 39,12. 13 Genesis 49,24. 11

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA made strong’, said of Joseph for they are ten drops of emission that emerged from his toenails.14

This is the lurianic elaboration of the view of the Zohar that the kings who died were defective in that they emerged without the ‘restoration of male and female’.15 The Zohar conceives of the kings as barren and therefore unable to reflect the divine creativity, which is restored only after their destruction. Following the interpretation of Cordovero,16 the kings who died are conceived as drops of semen, seen as the emission of seed that was the product of the male alone without a female. The lurianic interpretation of the stratagem adopted by Joseph to avoid submitting to the desire of the wife of Potiphar is amplified in the light of the talmudic passage which directs the man who discovers his wife is impure during intercourse to dig his nails into the ground to prevent emission: The kings died and their vessels and their bodies broke and another reason for this … is alluded to in the tractate Shavuot concerning the man whose wife tells him she is impure during union.17

The passage from the Talmud provides an additional motif to the lurianic interpretation of this incident. In the lurianic interpretation illustrated by reference to the tractate Shavuot, the defective union is not due, as in the Zohar, solely to the barrenness of the deity but to the impurity of the female. The Zohar’s view of the ‘restoration of male and female’ is reinterpreted in the light of the talmudic passage in the sense that the female was not ready for union because she had been defiled, as occurred in the talmudic passage. The impurity of the female aspect of the deity which the Talmud indicates is not directly mentioned in this incident, but can be seen in another description of this union; a defective union in which the seed of the male is spilt recurs in relation to Micranthropos, a configuration which appears at a later stage of the emanation:

Mevo Shearim 2,1,5. ,3'' !%4 !+402 "4 '74 ... 2! '!+77 '!3+ '" ".!%4 !+402) 2!6 !43 *!0 46- '6 ,/,! 4) !! !-4 0!  15 Zohar 3,135b, Idra Raba, 3,292b, Idra Zuta. Discussed by Yehuda Liebes in ‘The Messiah of the Zohar’. The Messianic Idea in Israel: Conference in Honour of the Eightieth Birthday of Gerschom Scholem, Jerusalem 1982, pp. 198-203. (Hebrew) 16 Elima Rabati, Jerusalem 1985, 104a. !% 4# *) 7+ !43# 6)) *!+- '!!" ".3+ 17 Shavuot 18a, Ozrot Haim 7b. , #'' !, '0 '!%# 46+ 7) '!#%)" ".!7) + 6!)67 7-6 76 % 4)6 7-6 ',) 6'') 14

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These drops came from the higher knowledge itself and he [Micranthropos] did not find the female ready for union in the world of emanation for she had fallen below because of the defect.18

The emission of semen of Micranthropos occurs because of the defective state of the female. Since this is a parallel recurrence of the death of the kings, it is reasonable to assume that this was also the case in the death of kings. A further parallel to the spilt seed at the breaking of the vessels, in the lurianic corpus, is the death of the martyrs of the kingdom. The Zohar already understands the midrash about the spilt seed of Joseph as being connected to the death of the ten martyrs of the Kingdom.19 In the Tikunei Zohar,20 the ten drops of semen scattered by Joseph later emerged as the ten martyrs. These emissions were not the fruit of the union of male and female but of the male alone, hence their instability. This conception also appears in the lurianic corpus: For they themselves [the ten martyrs] are in actuality the kings that died and their vessels and their bodies were shattered. An additional reason for their death was that they emerged without the restoration of male and female.21

The nails of the hand and feet are also considered to be the stage of the emanation at which the other side is able to divert illumination to itself when the sefirotic system is damaged. In this sense we can understand the raising of Moses’ hands in the battle with Amalek and the raising of the hands in the priestly blessing22 to prevent the forces of evil attaching themselves to the illumination of the emanation. This was indeed the fate of the Shaar Hapsukim, Jerusalem 1912, 20c. 7- *) %-)%) ' 70!  !2" !''-  )% 4! !# 7%!2 '%- "#% 7+#) '!3+ 7 2) % *!%- )2".'0 18

19 Tikunei Zohar § 69. This connection has antecedents in the Midrash and the Heichalot literature. The Tale of the Ten Martyrs states that the death of the martyrs was in expiation of the sale of Joseph by his brothers. Michal Oron, ‘Parallel Versions of the Tale of the Ten Martyrs of the Kingdom and Heichalot Rabati’, Eshel Beer Sheva 2 (1994) p. 83 (Hebrew). 20 Tikunei Zohar 110a. 21 Mevo Shearim 2.1.5. '0 '!%# 46+ 7!) '!#%) '! % 6)) ' !#" ".3+ 4# *3!7 !7% !6 #'' 7! !, 22 Tree of Life 33,1. For an earlier cabalistic version of this doctrine see Pedaya, ‘Flaw and Restoration in the Deity’, p. 185ff.

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ten martyrs of the kingdom who were delivered into the domain of the husks: These are the ten souls that emerged from the upper member without a female, in the form of an emission and the outer husks received them.23

The notion of spilt seed is thus conceived as a subversion of divine creativity which becomes interminably intermingled with the forces of destruction. The historical consequences of this catastrophe manifest themselves in the death of the martyrs of the kingdom. The incident of Joseph and the wife of Potiphar is not, in itself, an obvious illustration of the defective nature of divine emanation; but can become a powerful image if you have before you a mythology that considers the emission of semen to be a cosmological event of a catastrophic nature, as is the case in Manichaean gnosis. A parallel, cosmological use of the emission of semen can be found in the Manichaean evolution of the legends of the watchers of I Enoch, concerning the seduction of women by the watchers, which was also interpreted in the Castilian cabala in a cosmological sense: The angels, the children of heaven saw and lusted after them [the daughters of men] and said to one another, ‘Come let us choose wives among the children of men and beget us children’.24

The Enochian angels have become demons in the Manichaean version where the sense of the verse is reversed, as was often the case in gnostic myths. In a reversal of values that is typical of gnostic transformations, the cosmos that emerged from these emissions was considered to be defiled, as the light from which the cosmos was created emerged as the semen of the sons of darkness. In the lurianic myth, by contrast, the light that comes from spilt seed, despite its mode of origin, is considered, paradoxically, to be of great value, particularly from the standpoint of the doctrine of salvation. Different versions of the Manichaean creation myth have been preserved by various sources.25

Fruit of the Tree of Life, Jerusalem 1988, p. 457. *!%- ,!) 2!6 7)6+ '! '" ".'!+2! '%3 !43 "4 3+ !7% 24 I Enoch 6,1-2. Chapters 1-36 of I Enoch form the Book of Watchers thought to have been written in Palestine in 3 BC. Stroumsa, Another Seed: Studies in Gnostic Mythology, Leiden 1984, pp. 19-20. 25 Franz Cumont, Recherches sur le Mannichéisme, Bruxelles 1908, pp. 54-68. 23

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MANICHAEAN SOURCES One of the fullest versions of this Manichaean myth is preserved in the Book of Scholia of Theodore bar Koni, and eighth century Nestorian bishop: The living spirit revealed his forms to the sons of darkness; and from the light which had been swallowed by them from the five luminous Gods he purified the light and the made the sun, the moon and more than a thousand stars.26

This incident does not state explicitly that the light is conceived as semen, but a second version later in the Scholia is a little less circumspect. Here it is the messenger that reveals himself to the archons: And in their lust they began to emit the light which they had swallowed from the five luminous Gods. And then that sin which was shut up in them mixed itself … with the light which came from the archons.27

From the context, it would appear that the light is conceived of as semen as also occurs in the lurianic version of this myth. The development of the seduction myth in gnostic mythology as studied by Stroumsa shows its integration into an etiological cosmic mythology where the seduction comes to explain cosmogonic processes including phenomena of life and death: ‘Each of the crucial stages of the development of the cosmos was thus initiated by the semen of the male archons and the aborted foetuses of the female archons.’28 This view has interesting echoes in the lurianic system where any transition in the process of emanation from one world to another is preceded by union of the male and female configurations. The repetition of the process within the deity in its unfolding in the processes of creation can also be seen in the lurianic cabala, where the same failed union recurs repeatedly at each new stage of the creative process. Here we see drops of emission relating to Micranthropos, whose partner, the Kingdom, fell from the world of emanation: These drops came from the higher knowledge itself and he did not find his female ready for union in the world of emanation, for she had fallen below because of the defect.29 26

Stroumsa, Another Seed, p. 155. A V Jackson, Researches into Manichaeism, New York 1932, pp. 245-6. 28 Stroumsa, Another Seed p. 158. 29 Shaar Hapsukim 20c. % ,*!%- )2- 7- *) ,%-)%) ' 70  !2" ".'0 !"-  )% 4! !# ,7%!2 '%- "#% 7+#) !3+ 7 2) 27

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As with all the major dynamics of the lurianic system this process is continuous and recurs throughout the entire system. The emission of the semen is not an isolated incident but a recurring motif, which is repeated in the emergent emanation and on a more corporeal level, in the course of history and in the human spirit. Moses represents the knowledge of Micranthropos from whom the drops of semen emitted by the first man emerged.30

Thought to date from the fifth century, Hegemonius’ Acta Archelai purports to be a dispute between Mani and a Christian bishop, Archelius. The spilling of the seed, which in the Acta occurs when the virgin displays herself to the Archons, is described as not only the cause of evil in man, but also of his death: Mortis vero causa hominibus est ista.

Finally, the archons, infuriated by their fruitless pursuit of the virgin, cut the roots which bound man to heaven and thereby rendered him subject to illness and death: Cum ergo deceptus fuerit a virgine tunc incipit excidere radices hominum; et cum excisae fuerint radices eorum, efficitur pestilentia et ita moriuntur.31

Similarly, in the lurianic cabala, death in this world is a result of the breaking of the vessels and not merely of the sin of the first man. Mevo Shearim32 speaks of ‘the kings that died and brought death to all’. In another Manichaean version preserved in a Zoroastrian refutation of Manichaean doctrines, the light robbed from the primordial man came from his nails; as this light was needed for the creation of the world, Kuni was later slain in a second conflict: Kuni is the commander of the Army of Ahriman, who in the first conflict swallowed the light robbed from the God Ormuzd by his nails.33

These myths in Manichaean cosmology are transformed into an episode in history of the struggle of the eternal principles, the forces of good and evil, that takes place on both the human and cosmic planes. This is not Shaar Hapsukim 21b. !0 2! +)) 46 ,'' )2- 7- '!  ''-4)" ".4'' %6 -4 776 31 Acta Archelai chapter 9. 32 Mevo Shearim 6,2,4. 33 Jackson, Researches into Manichaeism p. 177. 30

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to say that the origin of these views in the lurianic cabala is necessarily gnostic, they may equally reflect a parallel development of themes from Jewish exegesis or Jewish influence on gnostic texts; but the consciousness, if not gnostic, shows gnostic sensibilities. Much has been written on the question of Jewish influence on Mani.34 Stroumsa has also addressed this question and notes that the gnostic texts reflect knowledge of the interpretation of these themes in Jewish exegesis, apocryphal writing and other early traditions recorded in rabbinic literature.35 This cluster of related themes gathered around the seduction myth was integrated into an etiological myth by the Gnostics to explain the origin of evil. In the cabalistic, as in the Manichaean mythology, the seduction myth remains intact and continues to explain the origin of evil. Tishby has already noted that the lurianic cabala ‘comes close to Manichaeism.’36 The myths concerning seduction are perhaps the point at which the lurianic cabala comes closest to Manichaeism. Already integrated into a cosmology by Mani, these themes have been demythologised further in the lurianic cabala. With the aid of cabalistic motifs drawn from the Zohar, these myths have been used to illustrate and interpret an internal struggle within the deity in the throes of creation. The gnostic themes form only part of a complex mythology of the genesis of evil, Luria has also retained the nature of failed emanation due to a sexual fault, similar in spirit to the explanation the Zohar gives for the death of the kings.37 Drawing on the powerful mythological impetus of gnostic consciousness of man’s sexuality and its place in the cosmic order, Luria has retained the etiological explanation of evil in sexual terms forcefully illustrated in the Manichaean mythology. An element of the myth depicting the crisis at the beginning of the emanation that is prominent in the lurianic version is the struggle for supremacy between the opposing forces at the creation: 34

John Reeves traced many parallels in structure and motifs between the Enochic literature and the Manichaean myths in ‘Jewish Lore in Manichaean Cosmology’, HUCA 1992, and W B Henning has shown in a series of articles that Mani knew of the Enochic literature. 35 Stroumsa, Another Seed p. 34. 36 Isaiah Tishby, ‘Gnostic Elements in Sixteenth Century Jewish Mysticism’, Journal of Jewish Studies 6 (1955) p. 146. Italian Renaissance writers provide a possible conduit for gnostic themes, on the relation between Jewish and Christian writers of the Renaissance see Moshe Idel ‘The Magic and Neoplatonic Interpretation of the Kabbalah in the Renaissance’ JSJT 4 (1982) pp. 60-112. 37 In the Zohar the kings were punished because they were celibate. Yehuda Liebes, Studies in Jewish Myth and Messianism, Albany 1993, p. 90.

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA Pharaoh had a grip on the nape of the neck … the back of the throat of Macranthropos at the sefira of Bina of Macranthropos. Here he was able to obstruct the passage of the semen through the spine to Micranthropos … And all of this was before the emanation of the Mother and the Father.38

This is the stage in the process of emanation at which the efflux of judgements is at its greatest extent, as was the case in the zoharean version of this myth on which the lurianic account is closely modelled: And these are the kings that reigned in Edom,39 in Edom, the place where all the judgements accumulated.40

This conception, essentially zoharean, of a crisis point in the emanation at which the sudden revelation of the accumulated forces of the judgements threatens to overwhelm the creation is retained in the lurianic version. Luria has seamlessly incorporated the myth of the Idumean Kings in the Zohar into the lurianic account of the breaking of the vessels so that it is almost impossible to tell where one myth ends and another begins. This stage in the emanation represents a crisis point in the creation: the husks are threatening to overcome the forces of good and the world is threatened with dissolution, as Pharaoh’s action has the effect of withholding light from the emanation. A similar conception of the forces of evil blocking out or withholding light is also present in the Zohar, and appears in a section dealing with the themes of death and resurrection: This mighty serpent withheld light from all.41

The idea of a struggle or battle is also present in a condensed form in Sifra Dezniuta: Thirteen kings wage war with seven. Seven kings were seen in the land, vanquished in war.42 Fruit of the Tree of Life, Passover Gate chapter 7. *4 ... /4- 7! -40" ".'' 7%!2 !+0% !  %# ... 46 % 4! 0  #-) ! ... '' The symbolism derives from the Zohar 2,34a on Ezekiel 29,3 ‘I am against you Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster lurking in the streams of the Nile.’ 39 Genesis 36,31. The Zohar’s description of this barren stage of the emanation is based on its interpretation of this passage in Genesis which lists the kings of Edom of whom it is said only that they reigned and died. 40 Zohar 3,135a. " *!+! %# 47 ' 14 ,' 14 #%) 46 '!#%) % ".*)7 *!)!!37) 41 Zohar 2,144b. ".0!37 ! ! 4+ -+) %#" 38

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The rule of the Idumean kings in the literature of the Idras has been compared to the warlike and rebellious character of the Titans of Greek mythology.43 The primordial nature of the cosmic struggle between good and evil, described by Hesiod, resurfaces in the lurianic mythology. Hesiod44 depicts the battle of the Titans as a conflict of sublime violence far beyond the human scale. As in the lurianic corpus, this monstrous conflict still underlies our sheltered existence; although vanquished, the Titans continue to exercise an influence on man in captivity. Plato states that the character of the Titans is displayed in the rebellious nature of man and in his disrespect for the gods.45 It is in the context of the battle for supremacy that the breaking of the vessels occurs, when the stranglehold of Pharaoh threatens to return the world to chaos. The hold of Pharaoh on the emanation is at the throat of Macrathropos, at the sefira of Bina of Macranthropos. In the case of Macranthropos, exceptionally, his sefira of Bina is in his throat and not in his head. Before the restoration, the Bina of Macranthropos was unable to endure the strong lights of the Ancient of Days, the configuration above Macranthropos, and therefore descended from his head to his throat.46 The Bina of Macranthropos is the point from which the succeeding configurations of the Mother and Father are emanated, so that, at this point, the husks have a stranglehold on the emanation, which cannot continue.47 We are told that the stage prior to the emanation of mother and father refers to the world of the nikudim, an early stage of the emanation before the restoration took place. Pharaoh refers to the first of the kings that died, Bela son of Beor. The world of nikudim, in the lurianic cabala, is the world in which the breaking of the vessels took place. The image of Pharaoh gripping the throat of Macranthropos also alludes to the breaking of the vessels, which began at the sefira of Bina. Bela son of Beor of the zoharean myth is, in the lurianic version, the first of the vessels that broke, the vessel of the sefira of Hesed. The sexual nature of the myth is evident from a closer scru42 Zohar 2,179a. !2+ !7 -4 *!#%) -6 -6 43 !#%) 4,!%7" ".43 43 Liebes, Studies in Jewish Myth and Jewish Messianism, p. 89. The struggle in Sifra Diznuita is also expounded in this sense in Shaar Hapsukim 7c on Genesis 14,1 ‘At the Time of Amraphel King of Shinar’. 44 Hesiod, Theogony 644-736. 45 Plato, Laws 701c. 46 Shaar Hahacdamot 57b. 47 Commentary on the Idra Zuta 54b.

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tiny of the way that the damage to the emanation is characterised. In fact, what Pharaoh is obstructing are the female waters of Macranthropos, which are the judgements that he uses for the upper union of the mouth. Pharaoh is, in effect, diverting the female waters as they arise for the first time, since it is at this stage of the emanation that the division into male and female takes place. Before this stage, male and female existed in an indistinguishable unity.48 The sexual symbolism is also implicit in the version of Ibn Tabul: ‘sin crouches at the door’.49 For he stands at the opening of the Mother and when she gives birth to her first son, who is the vessel of Hesed, he causes the vessels to shatter.50

The zoharean myth is amplified here by Luria in a gnostic sense. The lurianic understanding of this point of crisis is expressed in terms reminiscent of the gnostic doctrines. The substance of the threat to the emergent system of emanation is sexual and is more readily understood against the background of the gnostic doctrines of salvation. Tishby has noted the often striking similarities between lurianic and gnostic mythology in many related aspects of the lurianic doctrine51 and this is particularly true of gnostic doctrines of salvation. With the aid of gnostic conception of the nature of the crisis, which also has consequences for the gnostic view of history and salvation, it is possible to understand in what way the presence of the forces of evil at this point represents a catastrophe for the emanation, which is still only just beginning to emerge in a configured form. Like the cabalists, the Gnostics integrated themes drawn from biblical myths into a systematic discussion which illustrates the patterns of both cosmology and history. This pattern of history is determined by a doctrine of salvation, which refers back to gnostic doctrines of creation. In gnostic mythology, the sexual seduction of the archons and the ensuing fall of the worlds determine both the course of history and the possibility of salvation.52 Crucial to the process of salvation is the question of the origins of 48

Shaar Maamrei Rashbi 55b. Yehuda Liebes in Studies in the Zohar, p. 90, notes Greek and gnostic doctrines which held that the flaw in creation was its unisexual source. 49 Genesis 4,7. 50 Joseph Ibn Tabul, Drush Hefzi Ba 3a. )- 6 14 70% 7  70%" ".476+6 '!%#% '46  , %6 !%# 6 *64 * 7%! !6# +! 51 Tishby, ‘Gnostic Elements in Sixteenth Century Jewish Mysticism’, p. 147. 52 ‘In Manichaeism, the seduction of the archons became a complex myth, central to the cosmic economy of salvation.’ Stroumsa, Another Seed, p. 154.

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the pure seed, its transmission throughout human history, and its protection from the repeated attacks of the archons.53 For the Gnostics, the possibility of salvation was based on the assumption that the pure elements remained untainted, despite the repeated assaults of the forces of darkness which continually strove to mingle with the elements of light. As in the lurianic cabala, these elements were mingled through sexual relations. The dependence of salvation on the fact that the pure elements remained untainted is a motif that comes to this stage of the emanation from gnostic consciousness: The origin of evil in gnostic mythology should be understood in terms of mixis; the creation of the world by the agents of evil is but one aspect of the permanent attempt at mixing unclean elements of darkness or matter, with pure elements of light or spirit.54

The myths which in Stroumsa’s view form the basis of the gnostic consciousness of evil are based on the two biblical myths of the sin of Adam and Eve and the descent of the sons of God and their copulation with the daughters of men.55 The sexual mythology of the Gnostics is also integrated into the views of the Castilian cabalists. The use of the complex of motifs surrounding the fallen angels to express doctrines of the nature and origin of evil is common to the Gnostics and the Castilian cabala. The main thrust of these themes is the admixture of the worldly and the otherworldly, expressed as the contamination of the pure seed; while man’s salvation depends on preventing the pure elements from intermingling with the forces of evil. A similar concern with the preservation of procreative powers is present in the gnostic legends that are concerned with the preservation of the pure seed, represented in the biblical narrative by Seth. Adam knew his wife again and she bore a son and called his name Seth for she said, ‘God has appointed me another seed instead of Abel’. 56

A similar struggle is also reflected, in the lurianic cabala, in the seed that Pharaoh is attempting to obtain. The necessity of keeping the seed from the husks recurs, as its gnostic counterpart, throughout the system from the beginnings to the doctrines of salvation, where it can be seen in the union of minority on the seventh day of Passover. This motif is also the 53

Stroumsa, Another Seed ,p. 60. Idem. p.31. 55 Genesis 61,4. 56 Genesis 4,25. 54

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main burden of the continuing struggle with the forces of evil that is the process of history. Jonas distinguished two ways in which the mixing of the elements of good and evil is achieved in gnostic thought. One way is by the voluntary inclination of the deity; the other, by a forcible act of violence on the part of the forces of evil, as occurs in the Manichaean system.57 It is the Manichaean motif that is evident in the lurianic version of this opposition. Although the lurianic cabala sees the origin of the forces of evil in the deity itself, the split in the deity results in an independent force. At this stage of the emanation a battle for supremacy occurs. Luria is able to use conceptions originating in the powerful Manichaean myths to depict a stage of the emanation in which we see a battle of independent and antagonistic forces. This is not, as often in the cabala, a foregone conclusion, but a real struggle between primal antagonists. As in many forms of gnostic thought, a monistic beginning proceeds through a crisis that results in a dualistic state in the world.58 The strong Manichaean dualist elements are the reality of the lurianic conception, in contrast with the competing theological claims which attempt to attenuate the presence of evil, as can be seen both from the broader perspective as well as from the details of the system. Isaiah Tishby has already noted that the contradiction between the mythical and the conventional theological tendencies in the lurianic cabala cannot be resolved: they are elements of opposed systems, the contradictions between them cannot be rationalised and one or the other must be relegated to a secondary place in the lurianic conception. With characteristic acuity, Tishby points out that the apologetic explanation for the existence of evil as a weapon of divine providence is in blatant contradiction to the pre-existence of evil in the deity itself.59 Is there a sense in which this gnostic myth is fully integrated into the cabalistic doctrine? Is there any sense in this integration beyond that of a grab-bag of available historical doctrines. Is this a historical accident or is 57

Hans Jonas, Gnosis und Spätantiker Geist, Teil 2, Von der Mythologie zur mythischen Philosophie, Göttingen 1993, p. 153. 58 Like the Zohar, the lurianic cabala is close to the of the Castilian cabalists’ conception of evil as a parallel independent force, which nevertheless has its origin in the deity. See Scholem, ‘The Kabbalah of R. Jacob and R. Isaac’ and Ephraim Gottlieb, Studies in the Literature of the Kabbalah, Tel Aiv 1976, pp. 339ff. 59 Tishby, The Doctrine of Evil and the Husks, p. 52. ‘There is no doubt that it is the new myth and not the conventional theology that expresses the heart of the lurianic conception.’

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there common ground in these doctrines beyond the differences of exposition which only seem to posit different views? How is it that Luria, combining diverse systems with significant common ground, was able to fuse together these elements to form a coherent understanding? Luria has taken from each system the elements that he requires in order to express a new and integral system of thought. Gnosticism forms a major element of the system: it provides the dualism, which is central to the lurianic understanding of the problem of evil. The same motifs appear in gnostic thought and the lurianic cabala; but the manner of their use is very different. The rich and complex themes of gnostic mythology are explored in the lurianic corpus as an internal psychological dimension and not as mythological events. The warring antagonists of gnostic cosmology are understood as internal aspects of the deity, or even of man himself, since there is no absolute distinction between the human and the divine. In the light of the extensive syntheses between gnostic thought and the cabalistic interpretations of the same event found in the lurianic corpus, it is difficult to resist the assumption that Luria was attempting to provide a comprehensive synthesis of the religious thought of his time.

THE INTERIORISATION OF GNOSTIC MOTIFS IN LATER MYSTIC TEXTS Gnostic mythology, in its use in cabalistic doctrines, has suffered a seachange. Scholem has noted that the superficial resemblance of the lurianic doctrines to the myths through which Basilides, Valentinus or Mani described the cosmic drama leads the reader to forget that for Luria they refer to purely spiritual processes.60 The resemblance and the difference between the mystic and gnostic doctrines are addressed in the studies of Hans Jonas, who has demonstrated that gnostic doctrines are later interiorised in the form of mysticism.61 Jonas sees the consonance between the gnostic and the later mystic doctrines like those of Plotinus62 as more than just the accidental agreement of particular doctrines but as part of an historical process of development. The mythical and the mystical form complementary moments of a single process by which man comes to understand his own nature and his relation to the world. It is the mythological structure of the world, which the mystic seeks to internalise. The development of mytho-

60

Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, p. 269. Jonas, Gnosis and Spätantiker Geist II. 62 Discussed in Gnosis and Spätantiker Geist II. 61

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logical themes into mystical thought is the subject of the complex and detailed study which forms the second part of his opus on the gnostic religion. In Jonas’ view, the existential relation to the world of the Gnostics is preserved in later mystical texts, but not the mythological vehicle in which it was originally presented. The symbol itself is retained but is no longer considered to refer to an external entity. This change leads to a richer, more complex and more inward understanding of the symbol. The relation of subject and object encapsulated in the myth of the Gnostics is retained in the myths of the lurianic cabala. But while the gnostic conception reveals the typical (con)fusion of subject and world that is a feature of gnostic mythology; the lurianic doctrine addresses itself extensively to the question of who is the subject of these myths and the nature of his relation to the world and in particular, to the deity. Jonas discerns three main stages in the interiorisation of mythological motifs: A. The Objectification Jonas’ first stage concerns the objectification of the self in the mythology of the Gnostics. The objectification of the self, is the primary tool for selfknowledge. Every world view, including the mythic, expresses the relation between the subject and the world. The reflection of the subject in mythological representation constitutes his understanding of himself and his place in the world, described by Jonas as a representation in images of an existential stance.63 This existential relation reflected in the gnostic myths is clearly illustrated by Jonas in diverse gnostic doctrines. Jonas demonstrates how human feelings are hypostatised in gnostic texts and represented as coming from outside in the world, using the example of terror or fear as hypostatised in gnostic thought. The world is viewed from an anthropomorphic standpoint and seen as reflecting human structure or feelings.64 The transmutation of the living experience into a symbol necessarily involves a loss of vitality as a spontaneous experience of reality is expressed by a static symbol. This reduction has been captured in the following irresistible analogy: 63

“In einem Weltbild kommt Menschliches zum Ausdruck; oder es spiegelt ein Dasein wieder seine beherrschenden Tendenzen, sein Welt und Selbstverhältnis, also es selber. Hier sprechen wir in Bildern für existenziale Verhältnisse.” Jonas, Gnosis II pp. 4-5. As can be seen from his terminology, Jonas was a student of Heidegger and his description of the relation of the self to the world owes much to Heidegger. 64 Jonas, Gnosis II, p. 4.

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An archetypal image is like the portrait of an unknown man in a gallery. His name, his biography, his existence in general are unknown, but we assume that the picture portrays a once living subject, a man who was real.65

The process by which the self objectifies itself is an encounter with itself. Structural expression is primary for self-knowledge and represents an inherent tendency to objectification. By its ontological transformation the subject becomes suitable to be projected onto the world. The relation between the subject and the world represents in its entirety a mode of being of the subject, where the world is the limiting factor in the existence of the self.66 Jonas considers the speculative system to be a projection of an attitude towards being; the theory issues from an existential stance, by which he means something with existential validity that furnishes the horizon for evidential experiences and specifies them in advance. The self-consciousness stance of the gnostic author in relation to the production of mythology is noted by Stroumsa who remarks that gnostic myths, unlike primitive or early Greek myths, were concerned with metaphysical problems that had already been addressed in non mythological ways.67 The Gnostics have this feature in common with Luria that they represent a deliberate return to mythology. Luria, in particular, already had an extensive neoplatonic system of emanation in place, to which he seems to attach little value.68 This self-conscious stance is also true of the cabala in general which has chosen this form of expression in preference to the philosophical. The cabalists were well aware of the difference between the mythological and the philosophical and saw philosophy as a form of expression that is less well suited to attaining and expressing an interior truth, an idea trenchantly expressed by Moses of Burgos: These philosophers that you praise so highly, know in truth, that our feet rest on their heads.69 65

CG Jung, The Symbolic Life, p. 706. “Das Verhältnis Dasein-Welt aber, ist … ein existianziales d.h. als ganzes eines Seinsbestand des Daseins selber … ein Transzendierungs-horizont des Daseins, die Welt ist zwar wohl das Fremde des Daseins aber als sein Fremdes eben ein existentiales Moment seiner selbst.” Jonas, Gnosis II, pp. 6-7. 67 Stroumsa, Another Seed, p. 2. 68 Lurianic innovations are not, as a rule, on the subject of the system of emanation. 69 Moses of Burgos as quoted by Isaac of Acre, printed in Scholem, ‘Rabbi Moses the Pupil of R. Isaac’, Tarbiz V (1936) p. 318. 66

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B. The Transition The second stage concerns the transition from the objective nature of the mythical view to the subjective view expressed in the later mystical texts. Jonas emphasises that the true focus of the question of the truth of myth is not factual but existential and concerns the adequacy of myth to express the original subjective insight which it seeks to reflect.70 In Jonas’ view, the lack of adequate expression of the original insight was the motive force for change from a mythological to a subjective view. The inadequacy of expression is due to the objective nature of the myth, which limits the possibility of self-expression and self-knowledge. C. The Subjective Perspective The third stage illustrates the subjective perspective found in the mystics. The mythic process taking place in the external world is transformed into the subjective internal perspective of the mystic. Knowledge (gnosis) and salvation come together in a phenomenological not just a dogmatic sense. Once the objective hierarchy of being has become transformed into spiritual self-movement its articulation can act as a phenomenology (more than a mere allegory) of the inner order of ascent. The self becomes both the actor in this drama and its subject. In an introspection in which the subject turns himself into the condition of object of thought, pure, primordial being is discovered, represented and thereby realised.71 A fundamental characteristic of myth is the return to the origins of the representation of the self. Myth attempts to describe the beginnings of the world, which are also the beginnings of the representation of the self. The reintegration of the self takes place in this transcendental process or ontological act. A crucial difference between the mythical and the mystical is the coincidence of symbol and symbolised: the rediscovery by the subject of himself in the tale that was told in the myth. Crucial to the lurianic myth in this respect is the identity of the subject to the internal processes of the deity. Myth represents an objective projection of an internal existential reality. Mysticism, at a later stage, interiorises these projections. Jonas speaks of mysticism as the ‘reappropriation of this content of the mythological alienation into the autonomous possibilities of the self’, where the mystic is not merely able to represent an attitude to the world but is also able to enact 70

‘Nun ist sie [die Wahrheitsfrage des Mythos] eine existenzielle … die Frage der Angemessenheit einer von Dasein praktisch übernommenen Seinsmöglichkeit an die in ihr zu verwaltende ursprüngliche Sicht.’ Jonas, Gnosis II, p. 18. 71 Jonas, Gnosis II, p. 166.

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and change it. This representations is ‘taken into the range of the subject’s own faculties of self-modification and becomes a supreme possibility of existence itself’.72 An example of this kind of development is the gnostic doctrine of the soul’s ascent through the spheres. This is just one example analysed by Jonas of an objective doctrine to which mystical practice offers an internal analogue. A less mythological, more intellectual or ontological version of this doctrine can be found in Plotinus’ doctrine of the timeless selfgenerating stairway of being. Jonas does not claim that there is any necessary historical connection between these stages, but limits himself to the claim that both are rooted in a common existential ground.73 The different systems in which this conception found has expression have in common the view of the totality of being in terms of a double movement of spiritual fall and rise from an absolute source which Jonas sees as essentially a mental genealogy of alienation and reintegration. The idea of the rise and fall of the worlds and the concepts of alienation and integration are central and pervasive in the lurianic cabala, which in this sense can also be seen as mystic notions that have developed from gnostic thought. A view which has similarly been internalised in the lurianic cabala is the gnostic explanation of evil in terms of sexual mythology. Luria has taken the element of explanation of the origin of evil in sexual terms and turned it into a mystic doctrine regarding the deity and the nature of man. The lurianic system, in this sense, offers an internal analogue to the doctrines of the Manichaeans. The story of the crisis at the beginning of the emanation is not another version of the same tale told by the Gnostics and the gnostic cabalists. The lurianic drama does not take place in history, as it does in the gnostic version, nor in the domain of metaphysics; but is an internal dimension of the deity which is also revealed in man. The crisis of existence of the worlds takes place in a purely sexual symbolism denuded of the historical and metaphysical garb in which we are used to seeing it. The events referred to have been transposed to earlier stages of the creation and higher more comprehensive levels of reality. In place of the historical explanation of the Manicheans, the myth is understood to refer to the deity itself. The seduction myth forms a cohesive and consistent parallel to the lurianic explanation of the catastrophe in the deity in terms of the breaking of the vessels. This myth has been internalised by equating it with 72

Hans Jonas, ‘Myth and Mysticism’, Philosophical Essays: From Ancient Creed to Technological Man, Chicago 1974, p. 279. 73 Jonas, ‘Myth and Mysticism’, p. 296.

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a cathartic process in the deity. The myth of the Gnostics is seen as a violent disintegration of the deity as revealed in the emergent emanation. The struggle between primal antagonists for the creative powers is depicted as an event of a sexual nature and this perspective of sexuality as the arena of the struggle between antagonistic powers also recurs in later stages of the lurianic doctrine. Although only hinted at in relation to the breaking of the vessels, the importance of this view of sexuality in the lurianic scheme should not be underestimated. A purely mechanistic or an apologetic explanation of the breaking of the vessels serves to illustrate the cathartic element and the difficulty of the transition, but does not relate the crisis of the deity to human experience, a relation that is an intrinsic part of this catastrophe and vital to lurianic concerns. This relation is located in the domain of human sexuality, a recurring and dominant interest of the lurianic system. Although Jonas has illustrated the separate stages in successive and different doctrines, the historical development of these stages does not necessarily take place in this way. These stages can be seen in the development of mysticism from the early beginnings to a more psychological version where the different tendencies may co-exist in harmony in the same system. In the lurianic corpus, mythological figures such as Bela ben Beor drawn from the Zohar, exist in tandem with a sophisticated view of evil as a necessary element of the divine nature. Neither aspect is redundant, each helps us understand the other. These mythic figures are, in effect, the archetypal images which enable us to form a conception of the manner of the pre-existence of evil in the deity, a conception which is impossible to make clear in the abstract. In the lurianic corpus, the opposite poles of the process of interiorisation of mythology depicted by Jonas can be seen within the confines of a single system.

5 FEMALE WATERS, THE DEATH OF THE KINGS AND THE MARTYRS OF THE KINGDOM The doctrine of the death of the kings occupies a commanding position in the lurianic myth. One reason for its prominence is the reciprocal sacrificial relationship existing between man and god exemplified in this doctrine. The sacrificial relation lies at the heart of the connection between man and god, which in turn determines the nature of the central drama of the creation and restoration of the flawed cosmos. The notion of the sacrifice of the self is definitive of the creative relation between man and god. Due to the unbridgeable chasm between the nature of the divine and the human, any relation between the two must necessarily be sacrificial: to enable any connection between them to come about each must sacrifice what is essential to its own nature. The nature of the sacrifice itself unfolds in the cosmic drama in the lurianic view of created history. The death of the ten martyrs of the kingdom represents an early attempt to restore the vessels broken at the death of the kings. It is characteristic of the lurianic cabala that the restoration of the broken vessels does not only take place symbolically in the deity, but also takes place in man; like the breaking of the vessels, the doctrine of the restoration of the kings is also conceived of in terms of both divine and human sexuality. The lurianic conception of female waters is heavily indebted to doctrines that in the Zohar hover on the brink of actualisation. The combination of the Zohar’s view of the female waters required to adorn the Shechina and make her attractive to her husband with the doctrine of the sacrificial death of the ten martyrs of the kingdom receives a powerful new impetus from its further combination with the death of the kings. The lurianic doctrine of female waters combines pre-existing elements of sacrifice, death and eroticism, whereby the meaning of each element of this doctrine is defined and reinforced by the presence of the other elements. The psychological insight into the religious values of sacrifice and eroticism apparent in the combination 87

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of these elements gives this conception new depth and coherence. Two crucial elements of this conception are that continuity of existence is independent of death and that eroticism is not independent of death. Bataille‘s illuminating study aims to reveal the meaning of the inner experience of eroticism. This point of view also sheds light on the sacrificial relation of god and man present in the doctrine of the female waters. Eroticism, in Bataille’s view, unlike biological sexual activity, is a psychological quest independent of the natural goal of reproduction, the natural goal of eroticism is the dissolution of the boundaries of individual continuity. We are discontinuous beings who perish in isolation, but the erotic quest reveals a longing for both permanence and continuity, linking us to everything that exists, eroticism reveals a desire for a continuance of being beyond the confines of the self: In human consciousness, eroticism is that within man which calls his being into question.1

Eroticism represents a partial death of the individual in the sense that it entails his partial dissolution, paving the way for a new fusion and intermingling. The goal of this violent dissolution is a new union and a new identity. Thus, paradoxically, the significance of the erotic dissolution is found in the assent to life: ‘eroticism is assenting to life even in death.’2 This Bataille understands to be the fundamental meaning of eroticism. The quest for continuity is linked to the view of death as a part of life. The lurianic doctrine posits a continuity of life and death and assumes both to be part of a single cycle, death being a necessary element of regeneration. A similar view of the unity of life and death can be seen in the works of the 14th century cabalist, Joseph Ashkenazi, where, as in the lurianic corpus, it is also realised primarily in the doctrines of metempsychosis: The soul of man … divests itself of a form and incorporates it … descending from an elevated to an inferior state and returning from an inferior to an elevated state passing through death to life and life to death.3

The quest for continuity beyond the bounds of death is the linchpin of the religious conception of eroticism. As Bataille points out, the quest for 1

Georges Bataille, Eroticism, London 1987, p. 29. Bataille, Eroticism, p. 11. 3 Joseph Ashkenazi, Commentary on Genesis Raba, ed. Moshe Hallamish, Jerusalem 1984, p. 144. ,!%!-% 7-!4) 7-!4% !%!-) ... 6% 42 60 ... ' 60+" ".,0% !) !% 0) 2

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continuity of existence systematically pursued beyond the immediate world is essentially a religious intention. Bataille goes as far as to say that eroticism is primarily a religious matter.4 There are two elements to this pursuit of continuity: the pursuit of limitless being, unconfined within the trammels of the self and the pursuit of death and the renewal of the self through death, which the pursuit of limitless being entails. Death is viewed not as the end but as a beginning, as part of the process of renewal of the self. Death is shown to be an indispensable part of the religious quest for continuity of the self. The dissolution of individuality is given a religious goal and intention in the lurianic doctrine and is thereby confined by ritual and tradition within the bounds of a religious framework. The erotic element of the conception of love of God is already present in the Zohar, as, for example in Moses’ relation to the Kingdom and those of the righteous to her. The Zohar stresses the erotic link between the righteous and the Shechina, depicting their union in conjugal terms.5 Physical love is seen as a symbolic reality which mirrors the activity of the deity; the Zohar makes no essential distinction in kind between sacred and physical love. Luria’s principal concern was to explore the intimate connection postulated by the Zohar between human eroticism and the deity. This connection is not only systematised by Luria but also deepened and strengthened. The Zohar did not systematically draw out the implications of this lack of distinction between divine and profane love; but held this view together with the traditional cabalistic conception of the gulf between the divine and the human, which meant that influence on the deity was not direct but by theurgic means or by means of intermediaries. Luria has simply discarded the intervening layers of symbolism whose function was to preserve the gulf between man and god. Sexual union expresses the union of god with humanity. Sexuality already has intrinsic features symbolising this event and these features are brought to the fore by the lurianic combination of motifs found in the Zohar. Sexuality, in this context, is seen as being itself symbolic. The cabalists’ insistence on the incomprehensibility of sexual union is understandable as it refers to the symbolic aspect of sexuality. Thus, for example, Cordovero in Or Neerav on the union of the sefirot:

4

Bataille, Eroticism, p. 31. Tishby, The Wisdom of the Zohar, p. 91ff. Yehuda Liebes, ‘Myth Versus Symbol in the Zohar and the Lurianic Kabbalah’, Eshel Beer Sheva 4 (1996) pp. 192ff. (Hebrew) 5

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA Their union is comparable to the union between the male and female, something the human mind cannot comprehend.6

SACRIFICE AND EROTICISM Eroticism entails the loss of the discrete identity of the individual. In the erotic act, as in the religious sacrifice, the individual is given over to elemental violence destructive of his individuality. In both cases, the existence of the individual is sacrificed to a transcendent continuity; both acts reveal the specifically human in order to transcend it in its destruction. The meaning common to these acts results in a powerful combination of motifs in which the erotic act itself is seen as an act of self-sacrifice of the devotee. The erotic act is conceived as an act of self-negation, which may even demand the death of the participant. At the same time, the sacrificial act transcended is an erotic act; the death of the righteous is an erotic sacrifice. The fear of the denial of individual existence, swallowed up by elemental violence, is transmuted in an act of religious ecstasy. The sacramental quality of primitive sacrifice is retained but also transcended in a symbolic interpretation. The basic elements of this combination of motifs are already present in the Zohar; it is the connection between them that is brought into sharper relief in Luria’s systemisation. The Zohar represents sacrifice as a basic value of religious life, as a means of contact with god and as a means of influencing the internal life of the deity. The secrets of sacrifice are the union of the male and female within the godhead.7 The erotic element of the sacrifice is captured in the Zohar in the notion that the soul of the practitioner is necessary for the arousal of the god. The souls of the righteous, on their death, awaken the passion of the Shechina for her husband: Just as the desire of the female for the male does not awaken until a spirit enters in her and she gives forth waters to meet those of the male, thus the Shechina only conceives desire for the Holy One when the souls of the righteous enter into her.8

Moses Cordovero, Or Neerav, Jerusalem 1990, 6,2. '! , 6 ... " ".!6+ 7- 4!!2% 460 !6 ) 3+ 4# ! *!)# 7 Tishby, The Wisdom of the Zohar, p. 883ff. 8 Zohar 1,60b.  4 %!!- # % ! % 4# !% 3+ 7!7" 63 !% 7!7 '4-7 % %46! 7,+# "# ,*!4# *!%- *!!) %3% !!) 76 ". *!%- !!3!2 4 %  "!4 The death of the righteous is mentioned in Zohar 1,245b. 6

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The Zohar establishes the connection between the sacrifice and the erotic yearning, which both represent the original impulse towards unification. This remark cannot yet be said to form part of a systematic doctrine, but a hint or gesture towards one. The Zohar is content to note the similarity between these two actions without drawing any express doctrinal conclusions on the basis of this similarity. These thoughts on the sexuality of the deity form part of the Zohar’s reflections on the creation of the world: ‘A mist went up from the ground’9 … this is the yearning of the female for the male … In the same way, the smoke of the sacrifice rises and creates harmony above, so that all unite.10

Luria retains the idea of the efficacy of sacrifice as a means of influencing the deity. The death of the ten martyrs is seen at the same time both as a sacrifice and as an erotic act. The reality and physicality of the act are emphasised: Their bodies were comparable to sacrifices … for just as a sacrifice elevates and joins worlds one to another, so these righteous men, the ten martyrs of the kingdom raise, with their actual bodies, female waters.11

The souls of the devotees who died function as female waters, by which we can understand, in the physiological sense, the female equivalent of the semen that is emitted by the male in the act of intercourse, which, like the male semen, was considered to originate in the brain. The talmudic notion of female waters is cosmological in content, and was first transposed by the Zohar into a physiological notion, identified with the term water used for feminine emissions.12 The physiological notion retained the cosmological implications of the original conception, both in its scope and in its nature. The notion of female waters should be understood as a development of the cosmological notion of creative activity. At the time of the destruction of the temple, the balance of creation was so severely disturbed that nothing short of the sacrifice of the ten mar9

Genesis 2,6. Cf. the exegesis on this verse in Genesis Raba 13,13. Zohar 1,35a.  +# ... 4# !% 3+ 7!7  14 *) %-! " ".  %# 47 %!-% )!%6 !- 77) 4-7 +43 ++7 11 Tree of Life 6,39,1. %-)  *436 )# ... .7+43 7+!) ! '%6 7!0" 7 6)) '0 *!%-) ' #%) !4 '! '!!, % ' ... %  7)%- 43) ".+") 12 Liebes, ‘The Messiah of the Zohar’, Studies in the Zohar, p. 185. n. 157. As a cosmological term the sundering of the upper and lower waters is also found in Babylonian myths of creation. Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, p. 181. 10

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tyrs enabled harmony to be restored.13 The Zohar connects the notion that some sins can be atoned for only by death with the idea of the righteous giving themselves over to the Kingdom. This connection is retained in the lurianic notion of the sacrifice involved in the production of female waters. Meditating on the religious value of prostration in prayer and the necessity to give oneself over to death, the Zohar states: There are some sins for which no atonement can be made until a man departs from the world as the verse says, ‘surely this iniquity will not be expiated by you until you die’.14

In the Zohar, the emphasis is on human transgressions, the lurianic cabala is closer to the view that this deficit is descriptive of the relation between the divine and the human. The deficit that requires restoration is not human but divine. The idea that the sacrificial act is necessary for the arousal of the divinity has become an integral part of the system, which cannot function without it: We will consider the aspect of female waters which every act of intercourse needs, of necessity, on each occasion … For the male is not aroused until he sees the female adorned in female waters.15

The female waters necessary for union are provided by man. Before the creation of man, the necessary female waters were miraculously provided by the deity itself, but this state is exceptional and not the rule. The revelation of the deity and the maintenance of the created world are both dependent on the efforts of man who provides the female waters without which union cannot take place. The sacrificial relation of the human and the divine retains the thought that union with the divine entails the death of the participant, the destruction of the individual human element. The creative aspect of the relation to the divine entails a death which is not symbolic but real. Although the sexual aspect is purely symbolic, the death of the individual often is not. Thus, the thought is both transcended and retained.

13

Tree of Life 6,39,1 Isaiah 22,14; Yoma 86a; Zohar 3,121a. % *!40#7) % +" !- *! 7!" ".*7)7 - '#%  *- 40#! ' !7## 7) 15 Mevo Shearim 2,3,9. !)7  % 4# *!#!42 *!3+ '!) 7!2) 7- 4+ ".*!3+ *!!) 7 63) 3+ 74 !7% 44-7) +! ... *!4# !# ... 14

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DEATH Eroticism entails a violation of the being of the practitioner that borders on death. Eroticism is elemental and violent in this sense of dissolution, close to death, since the object of the psychological quest of erotic activity is the dissolution of the individual. Thus, this violation represents a violent transition from one mode of being to another, from a discrete self-contained entity to one that is fused with another. Eroticism opens up a way to death through the conscious refusal to limit ourselves within our separate personalities and death itself represents the extreme of rapture and discontinuity. The violence of elemental nature is irreconcilable with humanity, but religion attempts to extract from this violence a transcendent order. The sacramental element of eroticism is revealed in the continuity that is established through death; sacredness, as the continuity that transcends death, is shown to be part of the process of renewal. Following the Zohar,16 Luria draws the distinction between real and symbolic death. The act of prostration following the amida prayer is considered a symbolic act of death, which sometimes suffices to draw forth the divine sparks necessary for the production of female waters. This is considered to be death in potentia. When this act is not sufficient, it is necessary for the devotee to die in actuality, as in the time of the destruction of the second temple: In the time of the destruction of the second temple, in the time of the ten martyrs … men did not have the power to draw out these sparks in their prayers, to raise them as female waters … it was necessary for these pious men to die for the sanctification of the divine name in actuality.17

At the time of the destruction of the temple, the emanation was so barren and infertile that not only the Shechina but also the higher configuration, the mother, was deprived of female waters. This idea is also developed from the views of the Zohar. The complex of ideas interwoven around the closed letter mem of Isaiah 9,6 concerns principally the barren state of the deity, which is equated with the state of chaos that preceded the restored emanation in the Zohar18 and in the lurianic cabala. The Zohar states that this 16

192ff.

Liebes, ‘Myth Versus Symbol in the Zohar and the Lurianic Kabbalah’, pp.

17 Tree of Life 6,39,1. % ' %"+ *") 7%-% # ! % !+6 7! *4  +" ".%-0 "3 %- *)2- 4,)% 4!% ' '!!, '! #426  7!-!4 74 '! 18 Liebes, Studies in the Zohar p. 149, who also notes the source of this exegesis in

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letter was closed up all sides at the destruction of the temple.19 It is this state of complete barrenness that necessitated the deaths of the martyrs. The quote continues: After their death, there was power in their souls to draw forth female waters from the kings and to raise female waters for every act of intercourse.20

Death is seen as a liberating continuity. The meaning of the sacrifice is the revelation of continuity through the death of a discontinuous being. The dissolution of the separate individual reveals the fundamental continuity that his individuality cloaked. The essential element of this conception is the ability to perceive in death the pathway into an unknowable and transcendent unity. The dissolution and violent rupture of death is seen as paving the way towards a new union. We are to believe that death is a sign of life, a way into the infinite. The transition between discontinuity and continuity requires the violation of the being of the devotee, a violation which borders on, or even requires, death. Death is conceived as a renewal for the individual, when the righteous give themselves over to death voluntarily: The same light [male waters] impregnates his soul … and his soul is renewed and restored to complete wholeness.21

The mythological background to this understanding of death can be found in the Zohar: When he has finished the amida, a man must give the impression that he has departed from the world, for he has left the tree of life and entered the tree of death.22

the Bahir ed. Margaliot Jerusalem 1978 § 85. Also discussed by Asi Farber in ‘The Husks Precede the Fruit’, p. 136. 19 Zohar 3,156b. 20  %# *'') '7%-% '!#%)) *'') 44% '!7)6+ # ! 4+6 4" ". The implied relation of the sexual libido regressing to the parents is incestuous. Yehuda Liebes discusses the connection in the Zohar between revelation of cabalistic secrets and engagement in proscribed sexual relations in Studies in the Zohar, p. 25. 21 Shaar Hacavanot 47a. '6 60+ 767) ... 60+ 4-7) 4 7" ".7)!%6 7!%#7 7+377) 22 Zohar 3,120b. !)- 7%2 '!!, 47 !)4 % 6+ 4% !% !- *!#" +%!  !% !%4 6!+# !! +%! *) 6407  )%- *) 4 07 %#

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The Zohar is meditating on the religious value of the prostration that follows the amida prayer. The Shechina is conceived as the power of death and the soul is entrusted to her as if in death. The Shechina, as the feminine element, stands for the mother in the numerous parallels in mythology. This view of the Shechina resembles the mythical view of death as a restoration, when the soul of man is brought to the mother in death for renewal. Here death is seen as a renewal of life, the renewal of life requires death. The Shechina, seen as the tree of death in this passage in the Zohar, corresponds to the wood of life or the tree of life, understood as a maternal symbol of generation. Many myths show the derivation of man from trees and the enclosure of the hero in the maternal tree. The dead Osiris is enclosed in a ligneous column, Adonis in a myrtle. Goddesses were often worshipped in the form of a tree or wood: Juno of Argos was a column; the Latona at Delos is a shapeless piece of wood and Tertullian calls Ceres of Paros ‘Rudis palus and informe lignum sine effigie’.23 Luria attempts to define how contact with the divine may be achieved and maintained; to remove the element of chance and confine the element of violence to a clearly delineated religious domain. The systematisation of the liberating continuity achieved by death, sacrifice and eroticism represents an attempt to reach it by design and not by chance. The lurianic conception of these related doctrines demonstrates a drive towards the creation of a unified and coherent system which is not present in the Zohar. The manner in which Luria has combined these elements into a coherent whole demonstrates an understanding, which illuminates the significance of these disparate elements. The element of sacrifice, the erotic element and the understanding of death reinforce each other’s meaning in combination. The violence and the sacrificial element of erotic union is brought into relief by the death of the initiate and the contribution his death makes to the erotic qualities in the deity. The sacramental quality of death as part of the process of renewal is brought out by the view of the death of the devotee as a sacrifice which retains some of the involuntary character of its archaic original. By assimilating the death of the martyrs to the breaking of the vessels, Luria imparts to the erotic relation between man and the deity a resonance and depth that were previously absent. The sacrificial relation of man functioned in the Zohar in the theurgic manner characteristic of the earlier cabala. In the lurianic doctrine, the death of the martyrs has consequences that reach into the depths of the transcendent deity. The innovation of the ".7) 23 Jung, The Psychology of the Unconscious p. 214.

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lurianic system is not in the content of its doctrines24 but in the manner and use of the symbolism. A different relation to the deity demands a new language in which to express it. The Zohar, although it is the inventor of the major themes of the lurianic cabala, still speaks in the theurgic language of the older cabalists. The gulf between god and his creation is still evident in the theurgic relation whose aim is to mitigate the separation that Luria simply abolished. The identity of creator and creation in the lurianic doctrines is now one of substance, definitive of what it is to be human or to be a god. Nevertheless, this is not to say that the identity of god and man is devoid of the tension, which is the consequence of the insuperable differences between the divine and the human. In this identity of man and deity, Luria has taken at least part of the irrevocable step of subsuming the divine to the psychological. The degree of combination of gnostic and cabalistic doctrines in the lurianic cabala, gives the impression of a drive, conscious or not, to construct a synthesis which would represent a universal religious system.

24

Yehuda Liebes also notes that there are no new conceptual elements. See ‘Myth Versus Symbol in the Zohar and the Lurianic Kabbalah’, p. 203.

6 THE RESTORATION OF THE KINGS AND THE COMMANDMENTS The shattered remnants of the vessels, the detritus of the inchoate creation, are rebuilt and re-established by man and the framework within which this restoration takes place is the performance of the commandments. Integrated into the cabalistic doctrine from its inception,1 the performance of the commandments plays a central role in the lurianic doctrine of salvation, providing the means by which man completes and perfects the act of creation, restoring and completing the archetypal image of the deity revealed in the act of creation. The cabalistic interpretation of the commandments originates in the Bahir, where it is based on the idea that the commandments have their origin in the divine pleroma. The effect of specific commandments on the action of the divine attributes is spelt out in the Bahir, although only a few commandments are interpreted, in principle every commandment is susceptible to the same treatment as they are envisaged as part of a single purposive unity.2 As Mopsik has noted, the decisive factor in the evolution of the cabalistic view of the commandments is the identity between the concrete rite and the divine reality.3 A single illustration of this identity from the numerous available instances is drawn from the work of Joseph of Hamadan on the commandments: This commandment is found above, for the libation is the secret of mingling when judgement is tempered with mercy.4

1

Scholem, On the the Kabbalah and its Symbolism pp.132-3. Bahir § 184. 3 Mopsik, Les Grands Textes p. 117. 4 Joseph of Hamadan’s work on the comandments was formerly erroneously attributed to Isaac ibn Farhi. Menachem Meir, A Critical Edition of the Book of the Reasons for the Commandments Attributed to Isaac Ibn Farhi, Ph D dissertation, Brandeis University 1974, commandment 68. ,  ",+6 %-) !0%# !#6  2)" 2

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The consequences of the identity between the rite and the divine reality can be seen in the related cabalistic doctrines of creation and salvation where the performance of the commandments plays a central role. The cabalistic view of the performance of the commandments as tantamount to the creation of heaven and earth or to divine creativity has sources in the midrash analysed by Moshe Idel.5 Man is necessarily at the centre of this activity, which can be seen, not only as equivalent to the creation, but also as the activity that maintains God and maintains the world in existence. The deputations, for example, who recited the account of the creation while sacrifices were offered in the temple, performed a similar function of maintaining the creation in existence.6 The Zohar takes a similar view of the recital of the restoration in the Idra whose aim is to complete and enhance the revelation of the deity. The recital of the account of the restoration of the deity in the Idra evokes that process itself and calls it into being.7 The sages in the Idra are in the presence of the deity as he reveals himself in the process of creation. This revelation is begun by the deity and continued by man in the performance of the commandments. The commandments represent the divine reality in its unfolding, which is itself the process of creation. The fulfilment of the commandments is seen as a way of repeating the process of divine revelation exemplified in the commandments, or in short, repeating the act of creation, in the lurianic case the configuration of the archetype. The view of the Zohar that the process of creation is the process of the revelation of the deity in the archetypal form of the configurations is retained and developed in the lurianic doctrine. A similar formulation of the view that the aim of the commandments is to reveal and maintain the form of God is found in the work of Joseph of Hamadan, where it appears without the emphasis on the image of man that appears in the Idras: If man keeps the commandments as ordained he maintains the image and this is the form of God in actuality … and this is the reason for the creation of the world. 8

".'!)4 '- *! 4-7)6 5 Idel, New Perspectives, p. 171. 6 ‘But for the maamadot heaven and earth would not be firmly established’, Megila 31b. 7 Yehuda Liebes, ‘Zohar and Eros’, Alpaim 9 (1994) p. 93. 8 Commandment 84 Meir, Critical Edition of the Book of the Reasons for the Commandments.  ... 6)) 7) '!!3) '7#%# 72) 47 '!3) ' 7!

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In the works of Joseph of Hamadan the maintenance of the archetypal image of the form of God is the sole reason for the creation of the world. The archetypal image is the revelation of God in actuality and the revelation of the image is the process of creation. In this conception of the efficacy of the commandments the idea of the identity of the rite and the reality is understood in a sense that is more immediate than theurgic and the reality of the divine process is considered to be revealed directly in the performance of the commandments. The lurianic view of the role of the commandments in the restoration of the emanation is based on the doctrines of the Idra. The Zohar’s view of the identity of the image and the restoration greatly influenced the redemptive structure of the lurianic cabala. The lurianic understanding of revelation and redemption is based on the views of the Zohar regarding the nature and significance of the restoration of the deity: Because both the upper and lower worlds are contained in the image of man and this image unites the upper and lower worlds, Attika Kadisha performed his restorations and the restoration of Micranthropos in conformity with this image.9

The process of restoration is the process of the revelation of the deity in a human configuration. The creative activity of the deity is thereby compared to the configuration of the archetype and conversely, the configuration of the archetype is compared to the divine activity of creation. In the assembly described in the Idra Raba where ten sages gather to reconfirm the archetypal image of the deity the restoration of the divine image is effected by means of the exegesis on the Tora, the revealed aspect of the deity. This is a creative activity that can be compared to the cosmogonic activity of the deity.10 One of the many radical changes of the doctrine of the Idras concerns the nature of the revelation of the deity which no longer takes place simply in the process of creation but in a complex process of constellation of archetypal images. The constellation of the archetypal image is in itself the restoration. Conformity to and knowledge of the archetype is in itself a ". %!6 % '%- 4+ % (!)!% 742 9 Zohar 3,141b Idra Raba. %!%#7 *!77 *!%- +3!! ' +3! *!" 4!-+3!7 !+3!7 6!3 3!7- *!37 *!77 *!%- %!%# +3! - *! ! ".+3!7 +3! ! *!0+ 10 Discussed by Yehuda Liebes in ‘Golem in Gematria, Hochma’, Kiryat Sefer 63 (1990-1) in relation to the passage in Zohar 1,96b, where the renewal of creation at the circumcision of Abraham appears in the sense of the lurianic exegesis.

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restoration and integration of experience in conformity with the structure of experience which makes it possible. The aim of the restoration of the configurations of the deity is to confirm and conform to the human archetype. Mythopoeic discourse is both the mode of expression and the central theme of the Idra. The discourse of the sages of the Idra does not merely describe the process of restoration but calls it into being. The restorations of the beard of Atikka Kadisha that are the object of the Idra are effected by the discourse of the fellows. A parallel event in the Zohar, noted by Yehuda Liebes, occurs in the discourse of the Old Man of Mishpatim, which reflects the mythopoeic discourse of King David, the creation that parallels the creation of the world by the discourse of the deity.11 The gathering in the Idra has for its aim the restoration of the flawed emanation, by means of the restoration of the configuration of the deity. The description of the restoration of the deity forms the process itself of the restoration. The restoration of the deity as it appears in the Idras has been shown by Yehuda Liebes to be a messianic process,12 that is a process that has a redemptive structure. The Idras incorporate a description of the stages of the redemption and their explanation in terms of processes that take place within the deity. Luria held the same view of the restoration of the deity, as the doctrine of the Idras forms the basis for the structure of the redemption and the understanding of the process of history in the lurianic cabala. The completion of the configuration of the countenances of the deity is at the same time the completion of the redemptive process. The redemption is understood as the completion of its revelation in the union of the male and female aspects of the restored deity. The revelation of God in the image of man as seen in the Idras is the central fact of the lurianic doctrines of creation, revelation and salvation. The lurianic cabala retains the Zohar’s conception of the restoration as the constellation into the archetypal image of man. In the lurianic corpus, as in the Zohar, the process of creation is the process of the revelation of the deity in a human configuration. New meaning is thereby given to the idea that the process of creation begun by the deity is continued in man. The same process of restoration takes place on a larger scale in the restoration of the configurations of the deity in the lurianic cabala, where it concerns principally the restoration of Micranthropos and his partner. In the lurianic cabala, as in the Zohar, the restoration begins at the highest configuration and 11 12

Liebes, ‘Zohar and Eros’, p. 93. Liebes, ‘The Messiah of the Zohar’, passim.

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is completed when all the configurations of the deity are restored to their complete stature. The lurianic cabala also retains the idea that this restoration is at the same time the completion of the revelation of the deity. In this sense, as in the view of the Zohar, the restoration is the continuation of the process of creation.13 The process of creation is the process of the revelation of the deity and the mitigation of the judgements and restoration of the unity sundered in creation represents the completion of this process of revelation and restoration. While the redemptive structure of the lurianic corpus is based on the Idras’ view of the archetypal figures as a revelation of the being of the deity, the figure of Micranthropos has also been developed in a different sense, a development which has interesting implications for a spiritualised view of salvation. In the lurianic corpus, Micranthropos appears primarily as an image of the self: And since man is the image of Micranthropos, he was commanded not to cause, by sinning, the Mother to remove herself from Micranthropos, revealing her nakedness.14

Dugma, the term used for image, denotes an image in the sense of an exemplar, almost in the platonic sense of an instance. Dugma is the closest concept to an archetype in the language of the cabalists. The thought is that man is an instantiation of Micranthropos. This relation is revealed to us by the harmony between man and Micranthropos which causes man’s actions to affect Micranthropos. Vital, discussing the Sabbath eve, comments that man is commanded to drink the wine of the benediction to facilitate the passing of consciousness from Micranthropos to his partner: For this reason, man, who is Micranthropos, must drink this wine himself so that it descends to the place where she [the Kingdom] stands outside him and from there it passes into her.15

As an archetype of the self, Micranthropos has this quality in common with the image of Christ in Christian thought:16 The apotheosis of Christ lends him a transcendent quality, which qualifies him as an archetypal image 13

Liebes, ‘Zohar and Eros’, p. 93. Ibn Tabul, Commentary on the Idra Raba, p. 150. 2 4!- ) '6 !0%" ".74- %7! 4!-) ) 3%7,%   '4! %6 % 15 Shaar Hacavanot 71d.  *!! 7 )2- 76 '' 6 )2- '6 "!42 *#%" ". '!,+#+ '!2! '6) 1) +# 7)- '66 '3) - 4!6 !# 16 ‘Christ is our nearest analogy of the self and its meaning.’ Carl G Jung, Aion Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self, London 1959, p. 44. 14

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of the self. His dual nature as both man and god makes him a suitable symbol for the dual nature of the self. As the apotheosis of individuality, the self has the attribute of uniqueness and of occurring only once in time. As an historical personage Christ is unique, as God he is universal and eternal.17 A figure which stands on the boundary of the divine and the human, Christ uniquely expresses the dual nature of man. Stroumsa has examined the conceptual and historical affinities of the Jewish sources with the Christian figure of Christ. According to Stroumsa the person of Christ reveals an original mythical conception which has been reinterpreted in the light of Christian thought: the apotheosis of figures like Metatron and Enoch culminates in the person of Christ. The Christian conception of the archetypal nature of Christ has been related by Stroumsa to Jewish sources and he suggests that some trends of early Christianity contain mythical Jewish conceptions about the macranthropic hypostasis which were reinterpreted and attributed to Christ.18 The lurianic conception of Micranthropos as an image of the self is not the ancient view found in Jewish, Christian, and Gnostic sources. Moshe Idel has reconstructed the history of the ancient view of the primordial man as a cosmic image from allusions in early Jewish sources and discussions of the creation of the world by the intermediacy of an anthropos in second century gnostic sources.19 In this view of man as an archetype of the universe man is given cosmic dimensions and comprises the entire created world. The ancient view of man as a cosmic archetype also exists in the lurianic cabala where it is not instantiated in Micranthropos but in the person of the primordial man who represents the prototype of the emergent emanation, whose initial revealation was in the form of man. This conception is reflected in the figure of the primordial man of the lurianic cabala, a prototype of the emerging worlds whose nature includes the primal flaw that leads to the shattering of the vessels as described for instance in the first few chapters of Mevo Shearim. Micranthropos, occurring at a much later stage in the process of creation, is not an archetype of the cosmos but an ideal man, an exemplar of human perfection. Micranthropos represents the goal and the completion of the process of creation and divine revelation; a view of man as an ideal

17

Jung, Aion, pp. 62-3. Stroumsa, ‘Form(s) of God: Some notes on Metatron and Christ’ Harvard Theological Review 76,3 (1983). 19 Idel, New Perspectives p. 121. 18

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of spiritual perfection, the goal of the process of restoration.20 The view of Micranthropos is developed in the cabala from the ancient conception that is present both in the cabala and in rabbinic texts. The emphasis is not on the archetypal mythological view of man, but of the essence of man as a being composed of spiritual powers and identical in substance with the deity. Both views of the archetypal man exist side by side, instantiated in different lurianic personages.

THE REVELATION OF THE DEITY AND THE LAW The restoration of the Idra is introduced by the verse:21 ‘It is time to act, O Lord; for men have broken thy law’. The flaw that blemished the Tora before the Idra was that of untempered judgements which also finds expression in the essence of the Tora itself as it is actualised in history.22 In the Zohar as in the lurianic cabala, the unrestored state of the emanation is reflected below.23 Like the view of the Idra, the lurianic view of the present codification of the law is that it is flawed and reflects the flawed state of the revelation of the deity. The unmitigated nature of the law appears in the lurianic cabala as a consequence of the death of kings. The temporary and severe nature of the present law is illustrated in the lurianic doctrine of the configuration of the countenance of Jacob. Jacob represents the aspects of the Father, separated from him at the breaking of the vessels, which did not fall outside the first world of the emanation, but were captured within the world of emanation in the configuration of Jacob.24 As such he represents the unmitigated state of the Father prior to his restoration. Jacob is an external configuration, by which is meant that he does not form an integral part of the original emanation. A temporary configuration, Jacob represents the unmitigated aspects of the Father that fell at the breaking of the vessels and will be reintegrated into their original configuration when their restoration is complete. The first stage of the restoration of 20 A similar psychological interpretation of the final salvation in terms of the neoplatonic theory of the descent and return of the soul is found in Gregory of Nyssa. ‘It is man's duty and destiny to be the agent by which the whole universe, in himself, is restored to its pristine nature and to present it in him as a unity to the One.’ The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy, Cambridge 1967, p. 449. 21 Psalms 119,126. 22 Liebes, Studies in the Zohar, p. 25. 23 Idem. p. 13. 24 Ozrot Haim 45a.

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these aspects of the Father is their configuration into the countenance of Jacob. Complete restitution of the fallen vessels of the Father was not achieved at the original restoration of the emanation, but will gradually be realised in the fullness of time. The idea that Jacob is not an integral part of the emanation is expressed in the lurianic texts by the phrase ‘not from the root of the emanation’.25 The configuration of Jacob is equated with the present written law: Jacob is the written law composed of the posterior aspects of the father that fell … severe and bitter judgements derived from the most exterior parts of the Mother and Father.26

Thus the present law is equated not merely with the judgements, but with severe judgements resulting from the cathartic process of the emanation. The configuration of Jacob is in a continual state of restoration effected by the Father himself: The Father himself is the one to raise his own fallen vessels, since when the member of the Father descends into Micranthropos his posterior aspects rise to meet him, for they are in fact his own lights.27

We are also told that the configuration of Jacob is dependant on the restoration of Micranthropos and will not be completed before the restoration of Micranthropos.28 In other words, the revelation of the oral law is a complex historical process, which also depends on the configuration of the inner process of the deity into the archetypal human form of Micranthropos. The present codification of the law, therefore, amounts to a preliminary reconstruction of the fallen aspects of the Father. This view of the law is in accord with and developed from the cabalists’ view of the Tora as an expression of the divine nature. The Tora is not distinct from the divine essence but an expression of the divine life itself in as far as it moves towards creation.29 The lurianic cabala presents perhaps the most concrete mythical expression of this idea. 25

For example, Likutei Tora, Jerusalem 1988, p. 148. Ozrot Haim 45b. )# %6 '!!4) 6-+ 7#6 47  3-! +" '!!4 '6 '!4) '!63 '!+! '6 '!!4 '! ...  6 %-) %6 +!%- ".'%#6 '!!+2! 27 Likutei Tora p. 147. ,! !# ,%0+6 %6 '!4 7 %-)   )2- " ".6)) 4  !# %6 '!4 743% '!%- '' "7 4!6#  28 Ozrot Haim 45b. 29 Scholem, On the Kabbalah and its Symbolism, pp. 35-6. 26

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This harsh interpretation views the law as reflecting the being of the deity as it unfolds in creation, reflecting not only the divine bounty, but also the severe judgements of the deity (while remaining within the realms of the holy). The lurianic conception differs radically from the doctrines of the cyclical periods of history in Sefer Hatmuna and the relativisation of the law in the later strata of the Zohar in that it is neither relative nor solely the result of human sin. The different aspects of the law are not a question of time or cyclical periods of history but depend only on the restoration of the deity. Luria does not accept the doctrines of the historical cycles, although similar views appear in sources with which he was familiar, for example Joseph Ashkenazi and the book Temuna.30 Luria’s rejection of the doctrine is very possibly because of the mechanical nature of the progression of the cycles which is due, at least in part, to their astrological background;31 these regular changes of the times contradict the lurianic view, which sees the changes reflected in history as an expression of the restoration of the deity. In the Idra Raba, the process of the perfection of the revelation of the deity is shown to be at the same time parallel to the perfection of human understanding. This identity is understandable in as far as it is the development of consciousness which enables the revelation of the deity to take place. The content of the Idra concerns a new law and the profound mode of understanding that is to be revealed in the Idra.32 The historical redemption is relegated to an instrumental level, which the Zohar views as a different aspect of the same thing.33 The restoration is effected by transmission of the knowledge of the deity and knowledge of the process of its restoration, which forms a new understanding of the deity and its relation to man. The Idra unveils new knowledge which has a profound redemptive effect. The completion of the revelation of the deity is at the same time the completion of the revelation of being and has a final goal: the complete revelation of the deity is at the same time the redemption and perfection of his creation. It is the revelation of the deity that has the transforming effect in 30

On metempsychosis in the works of Jospeh Ashkenazi and Sefer Hatmuna and the links between them see Moshe Idel, ‘The Reasons for the Unclean Fowl of R. David ben Yehuda the Pious and their Meaning’, Alei Shefer, Studies in Jewish Thought and Literature Presented to Alexander Safran, Jerusalem 1990, pp. 11-27. 31 In evidence for example in Cordovero's view of cyclical time, see Moshe Idel, ‘Time and History in the Kabbalah’ in Jewish History and Jewish Memory: essays in honour of Yoseph Haim Yerushalmi, edited by Elisheva Carlebach, John M Ephron and David N Myers, Brandeis 1998. 32 Liebes, ‘The Messiah of the Zohar’ in Studies in the Zohar , pp. 43ff. 33 Idem. p. 3.

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the Idra. In a similar view of knowledge and salvation Heidegger posits a comparable redemptive structure of experience, where understanding forms the basis for a possible realisation of present and future possibilities of existence: Understanding … means … a potentiality for being for the sake of which any Dasein exists.34

The Zohar has transformed the sense in which knowledge is redemptive in the direction of the sense indicated by Heidegger. Knowledge is no longer redemptive in the simple sense of the gnostic doctrines, but reveals a new attitude to being. The understanding itself is a new potentiality of being. The knowledge of the members of the Idra is not merely additional understanding, but also represents an ontological transformation brought about by a fuller revelation of the nature of being; in contrast to the state of existence prior to the Idra represented in the existence of a single column, where the existence of the world and the revelation of the deity were inadequate. Heidegger, like the Zohar views understanding as disclosure: In understanding a being, something is disclosed, and this disclosure necessarily takes the form of a possibility.35

Heidegger’s view of progress as the revelation of an attitude towards being is founded on similar assumptions to the view of the Zohar in the Idra, where the progress of history is seen as a process of revelation of the deity and the final redemption as the culmination of this process.

SALVATION The completion and perfection of the archetypal image is achieved by the performance of the commandments; the image of man is perfected by reintegrating the sparks that represent the fallen vessels, aspects of man. The identity between the concrete rite and the divine reality underlies man’s ability to influence the deity and thus explains the importance of the commandments for the doctrine of salvation. Restoration in the performance of the commandments is the restoration of the divine reality that has been violated by the creation. In this sense the performance of the commandments is identical with the process of salvation. The central role of the performance of the commandments in the doctrine of salvation is not new to Luria but can also be seen in the writings of Ibn Gabai. In the theology of 34 35

Martin Heidegger, Being and Time, London 1990, p. 385. Heidegger, Being and Time, pp. 182-3.

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Ibn Gabai, the performance of the commandments is indispensable in bringing salvation to the world. In the work of Ibn Gabai, the commandments attain a central role similar in some respects to the role they occupy in the lurianic cabala. The commandments are the means of the actualisation of the worlds and also play a central role in the economy of salvation, as in the lurianic cabala. For Ibn Gabai the performance of the commandments is the essential role of man by which he attains to existence. Creation and revelation have as their aim to make possible the cult of the deity and the capacity of man is such that the existence of the world is dependent upon the cult of the deity practised by man.36 In the lurianic corpus, human action has a radical restorative effect which continues the work of the restitution of the emanation after the catastrophe of the breaking of the vessels. Violence was inflicted on the preexistent ontological harmony in order that the process of emanation could take place and this violence engenders the root of evil as a by-product.37 This doctrine puts in place a metaphysical framework in which human action can have a radical restorative effect. The structural cohesion between the lurianic metaphysics and ethics is a feature of the unity of the system. This framework gives meaning to the lurianic view of restoration through the performance of the commandments in which the restoration of the ontological harmony of the universe, by man brings about its redemption.

THE RESTORATION OF THE PRIMORDIAL UNITY The aim of the performance of the commandments is the restoration of the primordial unity that was disrupted at the creation. Their goal is the reintegration of man towards the primordial fullness lost by the sin of Adam, or more accurately, by the initial contraction of the deity which the fall of man symbolises and repeats. The idea of the restoration of primal unity sundered at the creation is expressed in the symbolism of the organic unity of a single body, concretely realised in the figure of the primordial man. The correspondence between the commandments and the limbs of man precedes the cabala and is found in the Talmud.38 The commandments have a long his36 This is Ibn Gabai’s interpretation of the agada in Baba Batra 58a and Leviticus Raba 20,2. Roland Goetschel, Meir Ibn Gabai, Peeters Leuven 1981, p. 381. 37 On this idea in Isaac the Blind see Mopsik, Les Grands Textes p. 106 and Haviva Pedaya, ‘Flaw and Restoration of the Deity in the Works of R. Isaac the Blind’, passim. 38 Mak.23b. The 248 positive commandments correspond to the number of limbs in man and the 365 negative commandments to the 365 blood vessels.

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tory as an anthropomorphic aspect of the self-revelation of the deity. This view of the commandments is a development of the early mystic conception of the Bible as revealing in its hidden recesses a description of the body of the deity.39 A further development occurs in the lurianic cabala, where the description is no longer of the body of the deity but of the archetypal man who is the revealed aspect of the deity. The talmudic correlation between the body and the commandments appears in the writings of the early cabalists40 and is frequently repeated in cabalistic imagery thereafter. A similar view also appears, inter alia, in the Zohar: All the commandments are limbs through which the mystery of faith is perceived … The limbs of the body are all arrayed according to the mystery of the commandments.41

This correspondence is pressed into service in the lurianic corpus to symbolise the fact that the commandments reflect a fundamental divine and human structure. The performance of the commandments represents an opportunity to regain the wholeness that was lost when Adam disobeyed the first commandment,42 a goal that can be attained because of the correspondence between the commandments and the divine image revealed in man. The wholeness lost to Adam is also understood in the sense of the primordial unity of souls, symbolised in the lurianic cabala by the soul of the first man who contained the souls of all his descendants within him. The view of the commandments as a reflection of the life of the deity and the correspondence between the commandments and the limbs of man are compacted into a single image: the souls of all men are united in the image of the primordial man, from whom they all derive. The life of the deity as it moves towards creation is shattered and reflected in numberless individual souls. The attainment of the goal of the perfection of souls is represented as the reconstitution of the primordial man destroyed by the catastrophe of the beginning of the emanation. The reintegration of souls into the primor39

Moshe Idel, ‘The Concept of the Torah in the Heichalot Literature and its Metamorphosis in the Kabbalah’, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 1 (1982) p. 48. (Hebrew) 40 On the body as a symbol of organic unity in the works of R. Isaac the Blind see Scholem, The Origins of the Kabbalah, p. 293. 41 Zohar 2,165b. ... 7+)!)  7% 4 *!4 *!0!!6 %# *!30 %#" ".7!!4 !30 4 %- *+377) %# 0 *!0!!6 42 Genesis Raba 12,6 attests that the diminished stature of the first man will be restored to him in messianic times.

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dial unity is at the same time the restoration of the individual soul; the soul is restored by its reintegration into the restored constellation: For man’s principal intention in studying the law is to link his soul in unity and cleave to its source above by studying the Tora and his intention should be to thereby complete the upper tree and the upper man.43

The repair of the supernal anthropos is the lurianic metaphor for the unity of souls and their common fate. Their perfection entails their reintegration into the original unity represented by the primordial man. The symbolism of organic unity also pressed into service to express the fact that this is also a social relation and not just an individual one. The lurianic imagery is based on earlier cabalistic views which emphasise the communal aspect of restoration. In the Zohar and others of its circle such as Joseph of Hamadan, there is an emphasis on the communal aspect of this relation; restoration is not just an individual concern but one that binds men together: Just as man is divided into limbs, which all exist degree upon degree and when they are restored they are united in a single body; so also in the world: all created things are limbs existing degree upon degree and when they are restored they are united in a single body in actuality.44

There is a component in the restoration of the individual limbs which involves their joining together, restoration is therefore not just a matter of individual perfection but also involves the realisation that these scattered limbs are in fact a single unity. Similarly in Simon Lavi’s commentary on the Zohar, Cetem Paz, the restorative relation is between the group and the deity, not the individual. A communal effort is capable of restoring the primordial man who is the perfection of the revelation of the deity.45 However, in the lurianic corpus the unity of souls is not merely social or communal but metaphysical, as the lurianic ontology sees the social body as merely the reflection of the unity of souls in the primordial man. The main burden of 43 Shaar Hamitzvot, Jerusalem 1988, p.78. 47 3,- 7! ' 7+# 43!- !#" *!#! 47 3,- !''- %-)% 646 '- 3% !!% 60+ 7 463% *#!6  ".' *%! '%6+ *# !''-6 44 Zohar 1,134b. *!4 %- *!4 *!)!!3 %# *!0!!6 %07) ! 6+ 4 )#" *!)!!3 *!0!!6 %# *!!4 *+! %# )%- !)+ !# ,0  %# *!% %- *!% *!+377) ".6)) 0  %# *%! %- *!% 45 Mopsik, Les Grands Textes, p. 433, stresses that Lavi’s doctrine was developed independently of the lurianic cabala. Boaz Huss attributes the many similarites between the lurianic corpus and Cetem Paz to the fact that both works are based on the Zohar. Boaz Huss, Sockets of Fine Gold, Jerusalem 2000, p. 146.

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the commandments is the restoration of the archetypal man who is the revealed aspect of the deity. The completion of the revelation of the deity is, at the same time, the perfection of man. The gate of the commandments reveals that the restoration of the archetypal image is the reason for the performance of the commandments and the aim of the creation of man: For the goal of the creation of man and his occupying himself with the Tora is to restore and complete the upper tree and the upper man by the restoration of our souls and their return and inclusion in him.46

The eventual restoration of all souls to their primordial unity represents the completion of the process of salvation: After the coming of the messiah and the resurrection of the dead, all these defects will be restored … And the remaining souls separated from the primordial man will all return to their place of origin.47

This notion of the revelation achieving its completion in man implies a radical and far-reaching change in religious symbolism and the conception of the nature of the deity in which the deity is no longer seen as a transcendental and extraneous model of perfection to which man cannot aspire, but as a dimension of man himself. The primordial unity that precedes the creation is finally realised in man. The doctrine of the unity of the upper and lower worlds expressed by their unity in the archetypal image of man may be more readily understood in a psychological sense. Although developed from earlier sources where the image in question was often represented by the body of man and not his mind, the influence of neoplatonic sources on the cabalistic doctrines made room for a more sophisticated doctrine which sees the soul of man as the ‘seam’ of existence,48 the central pivot of which is the meeting point of the revelation of the deity and his incarnation in man. The restoration of the unity of opposites in the deity is cast in mystical terms in the Zohar, where it is not only a static metaphor, but a dynamic process that has both metaphysical and historical implications. Sinners 46 Shaar Hamitzvot p. 78. !# % +! 47 3,- ' 7!4 7!%#7 %#" ". '6 %%#% 74+ '!+37+ '!760+ 7! *!%- ' *%! '!%6% 47 Sefer Hagilgulim chapter 15. %# +37!  '!7) 7!7 !6) 7! 4" ')3)% 4! ... '# '%# 4'') 46+6 7)6+ 46 %# *# ... '!)0 ".+64# 48 Moshe Idel notes the influence of the neoplatonic doctrines of the alienation of the soul, which Plotinus holds in common with the gnostics and the Greek concepts of perfection on Jewish eschatology in Messianic Mystics, pp. 51-55.

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cause a defect above and interrupt the flow of emanation from the Tiferet to the Shechina, repeating the cosmic mistake of Adam: Adam caused a defect by separating the wife from her husband. This sin was displayed in the imperfection of the moon until the time when Israel stood before Mount Sinai … when the moon was freed from its defect.49

In the lurianic cabala, as in the Zohar, the restoration of the unity of the deity is also a cumulative process of creation, revelation and restoration. This extended metaphor attains massive proportions in the lurianic corpus and covers both cosmology and history. The aim of the commandments is to reveal the thought of the deity in man; in the constellation of god in the anthropomorphic form of man. The fulfilment of the commandments is seen as a way of repeating the process of divine revelation exemplified in the commandments or, in short, repeating the act of creation, in the lurianic case, the configuration of the archetype. This understanding of the goal of creation entails a conception of the progress of history and the goal of human endeavour in which the completion of the revelation of the deity also marks the completion and perfection of the work of creation. The Gate of the Commandments reveals that the restoration of the archetypal image is the reason for the performance of the commandments, which is the aim of the creation of man. The lost primordial unity of souls is equated with the primordial process in the deity and is in the final analysis, reconstructed not only in man but in the deity itself. The sundering of opposites in the creation is restored in the unity of male and female in the deity. The sundering of opposites led to the rampage of evil unmitigated with good and the performance of the commandments restores the union that was damaged at the creation. The restored union also signifies the completion of the process of the revelation of the deity begun in the creation. This relation causes the union of the worlds in God and is central to the economy of salvation. The mystic union, identified with sexual orgasm, which is the redemption of the created world,50 as described at the culmination of the Idra Raba, is simply transposed from the Zohar into the lurianic corpus. Gradually moving towards full union, the countenances of the deity, differentiated into male and female at the creation, are fully revealed and progressively Zohar 1,53a.  )!0  '!3 %-) 77 640% )!0 '4 ... '" ".4!, )!0  4-7 ... !+!, 4  %46! )!!3 - 4!, 50 Liebes, Studies in the Zohar, p. 55. 49

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configured over time. This process is described in the lurianic corpus in the meditations that accompany the daily prayers. From a mere allusion in the body of the male at the time of the death of kings, the female is restored to full and equal stature with the male at the final redemption. Although foreshadowed by her growth at the union of Passover, the female has never yet reached her full stature; the fully restored configurations of the deity will finally be united in the messianic era. Union is the central metaphor both of the revelation of the deity and its manifestation in the course of history.51 This single metaphor which is the central factor in the divine human relations in the Zohar and the axis of the cosmogony of the Idras is greatly expanded in the lurianic cabala. It is difficult to overemphasise the importance of this all-pervasive metaphor in the lurianic cabala, or the importance the system attributes to it as the central fact of revelation. It is in this metaphor that the diverse strands of lurianic thought are united. It is the axis on which the lurianic system turns. One of countless treatments of this matter related to the performance of the commandments, in this case prayer, can be seen in Fruit of the Tree of Life: Before the destruction of the temple, we essentially did not need to pray because there were no deficiencies in Micranthropos and the female. They were continually united face to face and did not need our help and prayers to draw down the necessary influx of consciousness in order to unite.52

The vicissitudes of history are summed up in the fullness of the configurations, which in turn is an indication of the state of their preparedness for union. Interestingly, the lurianic discourse appears to disregard completely any rationalistic or social benefit of the performance of the commandments. If the performance of the commandments was not necessary in order to restore the divine configurations, it was simply not necessary at all. In the lurianic cabala, the commandments are a reflection of the structure of the human archetype, and consequently of the way that man operates on the deity. The interpretation of the commandments is therefore an interpretation of the dynamics of the universe. The thought that this world is the instrument of the actualisation of the deity, as revealed in the doctrine of creation, also plays a decisive role in the doctrine of salvation. The commandments provide the necessary instrumentality for the actualisation and 51 52

Scholem, Major Trends, p. 227. Fruit of Tree of Life 91c.

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perfection of the being of the deity, acting as archetypal images of the divine processes. The lurianic discourse on the commandments unites diverse themes such as the restoration of a primordial unity, the completion of the revelation of the deity and the constitution of a divine or human archetype. As in the doctrine of the female waters, these disparate themes have been indissolubly woven into a whole in which each element strengthens the others and lends them new depth of meaning. The lurianic conception of the performance of the commandments as the restoration of the primordial unity and the constitution of the human archetype also serves the lurianic interest in the origin and mastery of evil, conceptualised with the aid of the Zohar’s view of the sundering and restoration of the opposites, male and female, in the deity. The conceptual unity of the lurianic system is a result of the fact that its individual elements have been developed to their limits. The view that human perfection is achieved by the accomplishment of the commandments realised in action is not new: in some sense, it is inherent in any traditional view of the performance of the commandments. However, it is realised afresh and given a significance which is reinforced by the entire lurianic system. Without a metaphysical framework to give this doctrine meaning, the idea that human perfection is achieved through the performance of the commandments remains merely a dogma. The value of the performance of the commandments has been internalised in the lurianic system: the relation between man and god which exists in the performance of the commandments is no longer symbolic and reflected in an historical or a metaphysical plane but is seen as an integral part of human experience. The view that the practice of the commandments maintains the worlds has both cabalistic and Talmudic antecedents, but the context of this declaration has changed radically. The way in which the activity of man maintains the universe is not the ritualistic or theurgic views of earlier sources. Man is able to influence the deity not merely because of a sympathy or similarity of structure, but because he forms an integral, even indispensable, part of the process of divine revelation and self-actualisation. The lurianic view of the commandments and the religious activities of prayer and study have developed previous cabalistic views to their limits. It is the lurianic view of the interpenetration of the spiritual into every aspect of existence and the close relation between the archetypal and its mundane counterpart that gives meaning to the view that the external world is dependant on religious actions and intentions: ‘Every event and every domain of existence faces at once inward and outward’.53 Luria’s view of the com53

Scholem, Major Trends, p. 274.

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mandments has retained much from the mythological view, largely lost to us: the living relation to history and hierohistory and the daily significance of ritual as an integral part of human existence. The restoration of the primordial unity is represented in the lurianic corpus as an ethical duty of man. As an ethical task of mankind the gathering of the fallen sparks of the broken vessels can also be seen as a process of self-reflection. The psychological perspective of achieving a wider consciousness of the self is represented as the recovery of scattered remnants, as the gradual emergence and clarification of a previously existent unity. The archetypal imagery of this process is in the form of the primordial man.54 Shattered fragments representing a genealogy of alienation and reintegration can also be seen in the mirror symbolism of the Dionysian mysteries: The souls of men, seeing images of themselves in the sensible world as in the mirror of Dionysius, were drawn towards them … for the soul must first imprint an image of itself on the body … Finally it is shattered into fragments and dispersed over the face of the world.55

The bringing together into conscious revelation of that which was formerly concealed in the depths of the deity, necessarily awaited the creation of man. This is the lurianic interpretation of the view that the creation was not complete until man was created. As a psychological theory concerning the revelation of the deity in man, this doctrine has found an expression which is not dogmatic but phenomenal. The dross of the dead kings was purified by the deity itself without the need for human intervention; but in the lower reaches of the emanation, from which the husks are nourished, a change occurs: The female waters of the Shechina in the world of faction … the female was not able to purify them herself and produce her female waters from these kings because they were sunk in the depths of the husks … until

54

A similar conception has been described by Jung. “Self reflection … gathers together what is scattered and multifarious and exalts it to the original form of … the primordial man. … This approximation to the self is a kind of repristination or apocatastasis, in so far as the self has an incorruptible or eternal character on account of its being pre-existent to consciousness.” Jung, Psychology and Religion, p. 265. 55 Damascius, Commentary on Phaedo B 3,4 expounding Plotinus Enneads 4,3.

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the first man came along and subdued the husks by his deeds and his prayers.56

The explanation for the failure of the attempt at regeneration is interesting. The sparks were buried too deep in the husks and without the light of consciousness on them they could not be subdued. The perfection of the deity, once subsumed to the needs of mankind cannot be completed without man’s integration. One of the explanations for the breaking of the vessels is the fact that the lights, when first emanated, were discontinuous and did not have a human configuration. Isolated segments emerged at first, weak because not interconnected: isolated pockets of consciousness would necessarily be weak because of the lack of coherent connection between them. These tenuous pockets of consciousness were overwhelmed and destroyed, the disparate elements later being gradually restored and brought into a coherent, connected whole in consciousness. This connection forms part of the explanation of what it is to be whole in human terms. This doctrine stresses the immense regenerative power of thought and consciousness: The three [upper] points were intimately connected for the three of them were connected in the aspect of lines which is the aspect of countenances … but the seven lower points … were multiple and unconnected and they could not endure the light and they died … for their connection is the cause of their strength and existence.57

If the creation is the emergence into revealed consciousness of the transcendent deity, the death of the kings is the point at which the participation of man is revealed as an integral and necessary part of this process. The process of restoration in which man is the principal actor is the continuation of the catharsis of the deity. This process can be viewed from two complementary standpoints. Man is the essential completion of this process as both its principal actor and its object. Man, the principal actor, is caught up in the activity of the deity and is seen as the instrument of the god, like an actor in the mask of a god:

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA Human consciousness … is confronted by an autonomous event which, taking place on a ‘divine’ and ‘timeless’ plane transcending consciousness, is in no way dependant on human action, but which impels man to act by seizing upon him as an instrument … in much the same way that a good actor does not merely represent the divine drama, but allows himself to be overpowered by the genius of the dramatist.58

The catastrophe of the death of the kings was set in motion before the creation of man, before the dawn of consciousness, this process began with the first contraction of the divine light and man is caught up is this cosmic drama whether he will or not. On the other hand, the efficacy of man’s actions is due to the fact that man possesses freedom of action. Although caught up in the divine drama, his actions are not determined by these transcendent constraints, only the effect these actions may have. Man is free to choose whether to perfect himself or to destroy himself. The aim and goal of the creation was human freedom, which includes the ability and the responsibility of ethical choice. These ethical categories and tasks are not of man’s creation but a product of his situation. The difference between an actor and a passive participant is symptomatic of the change between earlier cabalistic sources and the lurianic cabala, where man does not merely represent the divine drama, or even contribute to its development, but forms an integral part of it. Both freedom of consciousness and determination of consciousness are present at the same time in man who is composed of antithetical elements. It is the structure of consciousness or the structure of experience that is pre-determined, but the freedom that man enjoys is identical with the autonomy of consciousness: The holiness of those kings that were annihilated and stripped of their dross from which the husks were fashioned, in order that there should be choice in the world and will, and reward and punishment and this was his intention in creating these kings and destroying them.59

This assertion, frequently repeated in the lurianic cabala, should not be seen as an apologetic statement of the existence of evil as an instrument of divine providence,60 which as Tishby has shown, is clearly in contradiction 58

Jung, Psychology and Religion, p. 249. Tree of Life 6,38,1. '!!, *) 447+ % 7+ 7)6 '!#%) '7 763 %#" 6+- 4#6 *24 '%- 4! !!!6 !#  '-  -+# 7'!%3 *!+- ') 6-+ ".*7!)% % '!#%) 4% 7+#  60 An instrumental view of evil and the death of the kings is found in Cor59

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to the tenets of the lurianic cabala.61 Rather, it is an explanation of the necessary autonomy of man and the way that this was achieved in the process of creation. Ethical choice depends on freedom of action, which depends on consciousness that is not pre-determined. The separation of god and man that was achieved in the contraction of the deity is a prerequisite of human autonomy, without which the revelation of the deity cannot be completed. The death of the kings is cited as the opportunity to exercise choice between good and evil because it was at the death of the kings that the roots of evil, formerly concealed in the infinite, were made manifest. Ozrot Haim explains that the separation of good and evil was completed at the purification of the vessels in order to provide the opportunity for reward and punishment.62

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7 THE DEATH OF THE KINGS IN HISTORY The crucial difference between the lurianic and the zoharic conceptions of the death of the kings is that in the Zohar there is no reason to think that the relation between the sparks of light and the ten martyrs is anything but symbolic. This is not the case in the lurianic version. The Zohar had already connected the death of the ten martyrs with the destruction of the first created worlds, but Luria has spelled out that this connection constitutes no less than an identity. The same process which takes place in the deity is also actualised on the historical plane, throughout a long historical course of revolutions.1 The dead kings revolved both in Joseph and the ten martyrs: The ten drops of Joseph’s semen are themselves the ten martyrs of the kingdom … and they are in actuality the seven kings whose vessels were broken.2

The reason these two processes can be regarded as identical is found in Luria’s view of history and goes to the heart of his symbolism. The death of the kings and the death of the martyrs are part of a single process which began with the first act of creation and continues into the present day. It is not possible to identify these two processes on the assumption that man and the deity are two separate entities; rather the actualisation of the cathartic process and its revelation in history illustrate the essential identity of this process in its revealed and transcendent aspects: According to the cabalists, everything external is merely a symbol or intimation of an inner reality that actually determines the external reality which we perceive.3

1 See also Liebes, ‘Myth Versus Symbol in the Zohar and the Lurianic Kabbalah’, p. 204. 2 Tree of Life 2,8,3. !# ... #%) '!4 '! ' ' ... /,! %6 -4 !0! )2- " ".'0 '!%# 46+6 '!#%) ' % 6)) ' 3 Gershom Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, the Mystical Messiah, Princeton 1973, p. 27.

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This characteristically comprehensive and fundamental intuition is particularly valuable in understanding the symbolism of the lurianic cabala, which attempts to unveil the relation between the external and internal reality. Peel away the outer layers of the infamous onion4 and what you perceive are the causes of mundane events which are but symbols of a transcendent reality; just as a symptom can be said to be the manifest sign of a disease, perceptible to the expert eye of a (meta)physician. Galen as quoted by Lacan, regarded the symptom as a symbol.5 A comprehensive interpretation of historical events is related to the divine processes which compose the lurianic myths and the vicissitudes of history are revealed as their perceptible strata. The medium of their interaction is the human spirit. The processes and events depicted in the lurianic cabala are archetypal and not mundane. A fundamentally similar view of history subsumes these differences in the difference between the personal and the collective. The role played by collective representations can be compared to that played by personal complexes. But while personal complexes never produce more than a personal bias; archetypes create myths, religious and philosophical ideas that influence and set their stamp on whole nations and epochs.6 The unity between the metaphysical and the historical is realised concretely in the lurianic doctrine of the unity of souls. The totality of souls, or their common element, takes its place in the scheme of lurianic metaphysics. Vital explains why the sacrifice of the ten martyrs was effective; this is because their souls are an incarnation of the souls of the twelve tribes, which include the roots of all souls. The souls of the ten martyrs are the souls of the tribes themselves.7 The totality of souls are unified in the sense that they are all part of the soul of the primordial man. They are also unified in the sense that they have a common goal and a common history in which the individual soul participates. The unity of souls is therefore both metaphysical and historical. It seems to be the mark of a fertile thinker that he can relate a single idea to many different spheres; Luria’s insight into man’s relation to his gods affirms that the same process that takes place in the metaphysical realm can also be traced in the course of history. Although this understanding of history is not unknown in the cabala, Luria’s under4

This image is also found in the Tree of Life: ‘All the worlds are composed of ten sefirot … all are in the form of circles one inside another to infinity … like the layers of onions’. Tree of Life 1,1,2. 5 Lacan, The Symbolism of the Self, p. 37. 6 Jung, The Symbolic Life, p. 238. 7 Tree of Life 6,39,1.

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standing brings to this theory a sharper focus and a more comprehensive unity. The metaphor of the unity of souls in the primordial man is expressive of the unity of psychic experience. The life of the individual is historically determined and unique, but, at the same time, the meaning of psychic events is grounded in their relation to the archetypal, to that which is universally human. ‘Ultimately, every individual life is at the same time the life of the species.’8 Meaning arises here in relation to the mythopoeic stratum of being, in the timeless significance of recurring human situations. The significance of these actions is expressed in the idea of the identity of recurring human actions with an eternal non-temporal event which is simply repeated many times until its effect is overcome, in what has been called ‘the quasi-mechanical fatality of sacred time’.9 An example of this kind of numinous event appears in the story of Cain, in the treatise on the revolutions of the soul, Cain appears as a recurring prototype: A wanderer and a fugitive in the sixty myriads of generations … because of the blood of the seed of his brother scattered in the sixty myriads.10

Cain can be seen as a specific type of response to a primordial situation or, if the whole process represented by the lurianic drama is seen as a river, then Cain is a tributary of that river: In the four systems of emanation, creation, formation and faction and in each of the five countenances in each of these worlds, the left shoulder designates Cain and the right shoulder Abel.11

8

Jung, Psychology and Religion p. 89. On the basic assumptions underlying the collective unconscious, which closely resembles the lurianic doctrine of the unity of souls, Freud and Jung are in agreement. Freud also assumes the existence of unconscious symbolic connections which are not freely invented by the individual but ‘lie to hand and are complete once and for all’ and are also to be found in the spheres of myth, religion, poetry etc. Freud’s views aroused less controversy as they appear to have been expressed in terms which his readers found more congenial than Jung's formulations. Freud, Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, London 1974, p. 200. 9 Jean-Paul Sartre, Saint Genet, New York 1963, p. 272. 10 Sefer Hagilgulim chapter 29, quoting Tikunei Zohar 114a-b on Genesis 4,10-14. ".4 ', *+! ! *!-4 ' ... 4 ', - + -+" 11 Sefer Hagilgulim chapter 28. % 6!6 '!0240 ' %# -''! %6 7)%- ' %#" ".%  !+!)! *!3  !%)6 /7# %# '%-% ') '%- %#%

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The unity of souls seen in the lurianic metaphysics is also evident in the progress of history. A similar view was expressed by Freud who stated that the mechanism operative in the transmission of religious ideas is not oral or written, but of phylogenic memory tracesȥtraces that have their origin in the memory of the race, not the individual.12 The death of the kings and their subsequent restoration is an example of a numinous event on a much larger scale than the fault of Cain, this event is so catastrophic that its effects reverberate though every stage of the emanation and throughout the course of history. The restoration of the kings, therefore, is not a unique event, but a gradual process which is effective upon constant repetition. This process is repeated in each configuration throughout each emanated world; each successive smelting performed by the craftsman purifying the silver removes additional impurities.13 The progress of history is revealed in the lurianic corpus as a continuous drama in which the forces of evil emerging at the creation with the self-disclosure of the deity are gradually overcome. Events do not occur by chance but are the expression of the battle of forces within the deity or within man. Historical events are the outward expression of a certain psychological condition which is itself an expression of a stage of spiritual development. The forces active in the historical arena are communal and archetypal. The historical process corresponds to a struggle between the forces of judgement and mercy. This is not a simple mythical view of history as a struggle between exterior hypostatised forces of good and evil, although developed from it, but a much more complex conception, characterised by an awareness of the predominant significance of the psychological dimension of this mythic battle of forces. The content of the historical process concerns not the overcoming of a separate evil force, but the restoration of a flawed deity to a state in which the forces within the deity are balanced and in harmony. The lurianic doctrine shifts the emphasis of the divine drama of redemption from God to man. The development of this idea began in the Zohar and was continued by Luria. The detachment of this process from its historical framework, which reached unprecedented heights in the lurianic cabala, can already be observed in the Zohar’s account of creation from 12 “In my opinion there is almost complete conformity in this respect between the individual and the group; in the group too an impression of the past is retained in unconscious memory traces.” Freud, Moses and Monotheism p. 94. 13 A very common theme in the lurianic corpus, see for example Mevo Shaarim 5,1,2.

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which Luria drew inspiration. A symbolic representation of evil, which is also a symbolic integration of evil, relocates the act of redemption in man. This process came to fruition in the lurianic cabala, where the earlier conception of evil has been retained and yet transformed in meaning, transposed from a personal and historical to a cosmic and even divine plane. A crucial change in the understanding of the opposed polarities of good and evil takes place in the Zohar. Although these views exist together with more traditional formulations, a new view of the opposition of good and evil begins to emerge. It is the Zohar that first forges the link between the cosmic and psychological formulations of the struggle between opposing forces, regarding them as different aspects of the same thing. This insight transforms his view of man, who is no longer seen as caught between exterior and mysterious spiritual forces but as comprising these opposed polarities within him: In the image above two spirits from two sides comprised the image of man; on the right a holy spirit, on the left a living spirit. When man sinned the left expanded.14

The opposed polarities are considered to be ineradicable preconditions of psychic life, an indispensable part of the drama of divine revelation and human independence. In the lurianic understanding, evil is seen not as a mere abstraction but as a powerful reality; not merely as the absence of good but a dialectical opposition to the good. The dialectical opposition of the powers of judgement and mercy is a motive force in the process of emanation. This force arises from the deity itself and cannot simply be set aside, but must be recognised and integrated within a restored world. It is the unbridged gulf between good and evil that is a defect in the creation and in man. It is not merely the simple fact of the existence of evil; but the existence of a destructive force that is unknown, unacknowledged and unmastered that is damaging. The progress of historical development can also be traced in the doctrine of metempsychos, which is a continuation of the purification of the deity revealed in the emanation. The intimate connection between metempsychosis and the process of emanation has roots in the cabala that antedates Luria. The two processes are linked in the symbolism of the later strata of the Zohar where the symbolism of birth and death forms the com14 Zohar 2:178a Sifra Dezniuta and Zohar 3,48b. *!4 *!47 #76 %- +3!"  ,! 60+ %)6 6!3 7)6+ +!)! ' %!%# %)6 +!)! *!4 , *!47) ".%)6 607 '

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mon ground between them. The sin of the first man attained the divine thought itself: He also sinned in the thought from where the seed originates.15

The restoration is completed and perfected by means of the repeated incarnation of a group of souls, where each succeeding incarnation repeats and refines the process of purification. This is the same process that occurs in the restoration of the emanation, where successive purification involves the souls of the righteous as the interior of this process.16 The restoration of the damaged configurations takes place as a result of the union of the sefirot which is brought about by the raising of female waters by the souls of the righteous: The rising of these lights to the Bina is to provide of female waters for union and therefore these female waters rise as far as the [names of] seventy-two and sixty three [letters] of the primordial man and in this union the entire emanation is restored.17

The purification of the deity itself has its continuation in the process of restitution that is inherent in metempsychosis. The similarity is evident in the description of the restitution of the kings of Edom. When the time came for their restoration, the kings that died, Were now given to the Mother who became impregnated with them in the mystery of impregnation.18

The term ‘mystery’ used here in the classic cabalistic sense of a process that is revealed in the deity.19 This is the same process that occurs in metempsychosis; the dead kings are conveyed to the womb of the mother that gave then birth, to be reborn. The link between metempsychosis and metaphysics displayed in the understanding of these processes within the sefirot is pursued to its limits in the lurianic doctrine. The process initiated in the earlier stages of the emanation continues to unfold in these historical developments, the reverberations and conseTikunei Zohar § 69 155b.".3!0+ *)7) -4  !# / ) ! 6)" For the notion of the souls as the interior of divine union see Zohar I:60a and Tree of Life 5,23,6. 17 Shaar Hahacdamot 28b. 18 Shaar Hahacdamot 28a. ".4!- , ' '4-7+6 +! 7- +7!+" 19 Eliot Wolfson describes ‘mystery’ as a term employed by the cabalists to refer to a concealed aspect of God‘s being that is revealed in the sefirot. Abraham Abulafia: Kabbalist and Prophet, Los Angeles 2,000, p. 18. 15 16

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quences of these early stages continue to determine the course of history. Historical circumstances are not arbitrary but the necessary stage of purification where the community of souls are expunged of their own sins and are able to correct flaws in the process of emanation, the process whereby divine reality becomes manifest in the nature of man. The historical exile of the Jewish people is conceived as the outward reflection of a meta-historical process.20 It is the unity of conception of the lurianic doctrine that lends it its strength and originality. The historical and the metaphysical are indissolubly linked, in the lurianic corpus, in the revelation of the deity, which began with the contraction and continues in history. The revelation takes place gradually over time and each succeeding generation represents another stage of the revelation of the deity.21 The process whereby the divine nature becomes manifest in man is, at the same time, the motive force that drives the progress of mankind and the messianic redemption is understood as the culmination of this process. Luria was able to utilise earlier cabalistic developments in the theory of metempsychosis to demonstrate the link between metaphysics and history. He had at his disposal both sources in which the mythical struggle exemplified in the theory of metempsychosis took place primarily in the deity, as in the Zohar and in the works of the Castilian cabalists; as well as sources in which the main arena was the course of historical development, such as Galia Raza. Luria combined the two in a way that firmly places the historical development as a consequence and a reflection of the same processes within the deity, an insight which no other doctrine before him had formulated so clearly and in such detail. Lurianism … accounts for the mystery of the world by an inner mystical process which, taking place within the Godhead, ultimately produced also the outer material creation.22

Luria shares this belief with most cabalists. The difference between Luria and the cabalists that preceded him is that Luria gives an account of

20 ‘Exile and redemption … now stand out as numinous symbols of a spiritual reality of which historical exile and redemption are merely the concrete expression.’ Scholem, Shabatai Sevi, p. 26. 21 Charles Mopsik notes that, ‘Each new generation is a stage … in the manifestation of God … God does not fulfil his being in an individual at a unique moment in time … but must pass through a temporal tapestry’. ‘De La Création à La Procréation’, p. 80. 22 Scholem, Sabatai Sevi, the Mystical Messiah, p. 27.

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the mechanics of this process: it is our relation to these archetypal events that determines their manifestation in the external world. In Galia Raza, an anonymous 16th century text, the doctrine of metempsychosis undergoes considerable historical and psychological development.23 The anonymous author understands the course of history to be determined by the struggle between opposing forces of good and evil, mythically captured in the biblical narrative. The arena in which this struggle takes place is in the doctrine of metempsychosis. The purification of the soul stands at the centre of the struggle for good and evil, already in Galia Raza as will be the case in the lurianic corpus, the arena of this struggle is not just the individual soul, but the souls of the entire community.24 For the author of Galia Raza, metempsychosis is not an individual punishment but reflects the state of the nation of Israel as a whole. Metempsychosis is primarily an instrument for the purifying and perfection of the souls of the nation.25 It is the psychological state which is the determinative factor in the course of history and the psychological state is explained as a result of purification, or lack of it, in the community of souls. As Luria greatly developed the opposition of forces in the drama of creation, so also the interplay of the opposition of forces in the doctrine of metempsychosis and their relation to their original archetypal causes is also greatly expanded and developed. The idea that metempsychosis represents the arena in which the struggle between the opposing forces of good and evil takes place found in Galia Raza leads to the idea that the state of the nation reflects the spiritual state of the souls of the nation, present in this conception by implication. Luria was able to combine this doctrine with the Zoharean doctrine that the struggle of the opposing forces takes place within the deity, to give expression to one of the core insights of his work that the historical development is merely the outward manifestation of the inner process in the deity. It is the evil that arises in the deity in the act of creation that is expunged in the process of metempsychosis. This idea is linked to another source, noted by Scholem, that reveals a conception 23 Rachel Elior, ‘The Doctrine of Metempsychosis in Galia Raza’, p. 213. ‘The implied connection between to concept of evil and the notion of metempsychosis became … a detailed doctrine that sought to clarify the nature of evil … and to establish its relationship to the nature and destiny of the soul.’ 24 This doctrine, together with the emphasis on the unique and irreplaceable contribution of each individual, can also to be found in the writings of Cordovero e.g Pardes Rimonim, Jerusalem 1962, chapter 32, 75a-c. 25 Rachel Elior, ‘The Doctrine of Metempsychosis in Galia Raza’ p. 227.

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which is crucial to the lurianic view linking metempsychosis to the theory of emanation and the purification of the forces of evil which were revealed in the process of emanation. The letter of Joseph Alcastille holds that metempsychosis is the continuation of the process of purification begun in the emanation.26 If the theory of metempsychosis represents an expression of the communality of souls and the principal instrument of divine providence in Galia Raza, the scope of metempsychosis is even wider in an earlier writer, Joseph Ashkenazi, who was most probably familiar to Luria. In the writings of Jospeh Ashkenazi metempsychosis is a cosmic law which governs the whole of creation; the chain of being is continuous and unitary: For the soul of man shares in the nature of the mineral, vegetable, animal and rational and of all degrees … and all ranks of angels and the ten sefirot.27

The central place which the doctrine of metempsychosis occupies in the lurianic corpus can be also seen in the works of Joseph Ashkenazi. The centrality is also reflected in the development of this doctrine where, unlike earlier views where metempsychosis provides the meaning of a restricted number of commandments, it now provides the framework in which the commandments in their entirety can be understood: The soul of man takes on a form and divests itself of it … all according to the performance of the 613 commandments.28

Raised to the domain of metaphysics, the doctrine of metempsychosis in the lurianic corpus is central to the entire argument. Built on a combination of earlier views of metempsychosis as a cosmic law and an instrument of divine providence, the lurianic view sees in metempsychosis the unfolding life of the deity. The processes that begin in the deity have their continuation in the chain of metempsychosis. This connection, which goes to the heart of lurianic ontology, can be seen in schematic form in Ibn Tabul’s discussion of the martyrs of the kingdom: 26 Gershom Scholem, ‘On the Knowledge of The Kabbalah on the Eve of the Spanish Expulsion’, Tarbiz 24 (1955) pp. 184-5. According to one manuscript this letter was written in 1482. 27 Joseph Ashkenazi, Commentary on Genesis Raba p. 144. ' 60+6 !0%" '! '!#%) !+!) %# ... 7#4) 7%-) %# 4) ! )2 ') 7076) ".74!0, 28 Ibid. %6 6-) !0% %# ... 42 6% 42 60 7!%  4#) '!0%" ".72) ''!47

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA The ten martyrs of the kingdom are from the vessels that broke … and these righteous men martyred themselves … to become female waters above … and they are the souls of all if you understand the mystery of metempsychosis and conception and these matters are recondite and may not be divulged in writing.29

The process that begins in the deity has repercussions throughout history. The vicissitudes of history represent not only human endeavour, but primarily the effects of the evil that is entrained by the revelation of the source of judgements in the deity in the process of emanation. In this sense, the revelation of evil is anterior to the fall of man, which is merely a consequence of an already existing situation. Thus the course of history can be seen as an expression of the necessity of the self-revelation of the deity, for both good and evil, a self-revelation for which man is not always a willing or adequate receptacle.30

ARCHETYPES IN HISTORY The lurianic conception of the universality of souls is illustrated in the figure of Moses. The perfection of the human race is revealed in the perfection of a few chosen great souls, culminating in the soul of the messiah. The person of Moses is a symbol of the perfection of the individual and he is considered to contain the communality of souls within him. Moses also represents the souls which are considered to be of a superior origin and quality because they emerged directly from the consciousness of knowledge before it descended into the body: Moses who contained in him all the people of Israel, knew all men. In this manner, whoever has the sense of universality can assimilate these explanations. Hence Ben Zoma, seeing the multitude of men, said, ‘Blessed is he who is wise concerning all mysteries’ 31

Beyond the individual concerns, the universal underlies the thin crust of the purely personal. ‘Personal psychology is just a thin skin, a ripple upon Hefzi Ba 6a. 763 %- '!!, % ... 46+6 '!%#) ! #%) !4 46-" 4!- , %% , *!7 ' ,'%# 60+ '! ' ... %-)% *'') 7!% ... ' ".7%% !7#% '3) *! '!)%-+ % '!4 30 Cf. ‘La conjunction du divin et de l'humain … correspond à une necessité immanente à la compatissance divin aspirant à réveler son être.’ H. Corbin, ‘Sympathie et Theopathie Chez Les Fideles d'Amour en lslam’ p. 254. 31 Sefer Hagilgulim ed. Secret. Traité des revolutions des âmes, traduction révisée par François Secret, Milan 1987, p. 280. 29

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the seas of collective psychology.’ 32 In the example of Moses, we see a leader who has penetrated beyond the personal and is able to reflect the malaise of his time: Moses had the consciousness of minority and majority, just as all souls resemble Micranthropos, who progressed through gestation, minority and majority … When Israel sinned with the golden calf they caused the consciousness of Moses to diminish to the consciousness of gestation … Just as the sins [of the nation] cause Micranthropos to diminish, so too the leaders of that generation are diminished.33

Because of his greater spiritual stature Moses is able, even compelled, to reflect the deeper causes of strife and contention, the evils of his generation. Moses reflects the knowledge not only statically, but also in the vicissitudes of its fortunes. It is not that Moses symbolises an aspect of a certain configuration, but rather that his fate reflects a process within the knowledge: Moses is the yesod, but rises through the central line to the knowledge and when Israel sinned … Moses returned to that aspect of minority known as impregnation.34

Moses is the key figure in the decisive events of the generation of the desert. The generation of the desert were all branches of Moses: Moses is the foundation of the father in Micranthropos … and the generation of the desert originate from the lights in the foundation of the father.35

So also were the mixed multitude: The mixed multitude originate from the refuse and husks of the soul of Moses.36 32

Jung, The Symbolic Life, Routledge and Kegan Paul 1977, p. 163. Likutei Tora p. 235. ,'%# 7)6+ %# *# ,7% '! 7+ 3 '! % 6! 6)" 4!6 )4 %- %46!   46# ... 7% 7+ 3 4!- % 6!6 '' 7) ' *# ' *# 4!- ,% '' 4!% '!)4 7+-6 )# !# ... 4!- , 6) ".4 !,+40% 34 Shaar Maamrei Rashbi 46a. 3 "4 %-)% %-6 % ,! '!  6)" ".4!- 43+ 7+ 3 '!% 4 ... %46!  6# ,7- - !-2) The Hebrew is based on an untranslatable pun on the word4!- impregnation in Deuteronomy 3,26: ‘Because of you the Lord brushed me aside’. “.'#+-)% ! ! 4-7!” 35 Shaar Hapsukim 25c. *)  '646 4) 4 ...+ ...  ,!  6)" ". ,! "76 74 33

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It was after the abortive attempt of the mixed multitude to release themselves from the husks by making the golden calf, that his stature was reduced and Moses was returned to a state of minority: After the sin of the golden calf, only one part in a thousand of his former attainment remained.37

Moses, like the prophet that he was considered to be, was not only the servant of the collective but also its master. He was not determined by the values of his time but was able to guide his people to an end, which was prefigured in them, but not exhausted by them. He was able to harness the force of a collective acting together and guide them towards the spiritual end he foresaw for them. An example of his leadership and direction is found in the Tree of Life in the episode of the golden calf. The wrath of God on seeing the damage caused to the configurations by the making of the golden calf was considerable. The Shechina had been diminished to a single point as she had emerged at the beginning of the emanation and the consideration of the grasp of the husks on the female inclined him to consider destroying her altogether. At this point Moses intervened, his view prevailed and the Shechina was saved from destruction.38 Shaar Hagilgulim sketches out an outline of a categorisation of men according to their ability to overcome the limitations of the personal and to penetrate to deeper levels of existence where problems are reflected in universal terms: Some only succeed in restoring the factive soul, while others merit the creative and even the emanative soul.39

This ability is not given to all, and even to those to whom it is granted it costs ‘great labour and profound meditation’.40 In this task they may be aided by abilities which they themselves are not aware that they posses, abilities that have not yet been actualised but still remain latent. The notion that some men can restore to a greater degree than that which corresponds to the soul they have at present acquired is developed by Vital in his discussion of prostration in prayer. He who prays and prostrates himself with inShaar Hapsukim 31a. ".''-4) %6 ) '!!!, *) ' "! 4 4-" Shaar Hapsukim 31c and Likutei Tora section Vayikra. 4 +)) 4!!76+ %" ".'!3% /%)  3% 34 %-   38 Tree of Life 6,38,6. 39 Sefer Hagilgulim chapter 44. 60+ *37% 34 !6 % '%-)6 7+! 6! '+)" ".7%!2 - '# 4!2! - #6 6! '!6- 40 Shaar Hagilulim ed. Secret p. 388. 36 37

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tention his soul is perfected to its limits. The aim of the act of prostration is to gather from the depths all the sparks that relate to the soul of the praying man. To this end, even parts of his soul that he is not yet conscious of can be pressed into service to raise female waters from the equivalent world of the emanation: It is known that not every man succeeds in acquiring a spirit, soul and pneuma [nefesh, ruah and neshama] and therefore, even though he has only the spirit, he should nevertheless intend that by the soul that is his, even though he has not yet acquired it, by that part of the soul he should select and raise the female waters from the world of formation.41

Jonas’ view of man’s abilities includes a similar appraisal: We understand through our possibilities, not necessarily through actual precedents in our own experience. In other words, we understand and answer with our possible being far more than with our actual one.42

The possible experience that man is capable of rather than actual experience that he has had is the context of the purification that he can achieve. This ability reflects ‘a transcending trait in our nature by which we are always indefinably more than our present being’.43 Jonas considers it an essential or definitive trait of man that he is always attempting to move beyond his present condition. Or more accurately, that the condition of man is a continual attempt to move beyond his condition. What in its total effect appears to be the maintaining of a given condition, is in fact achieved by way of a continuous moving beyond it.44 The evil that man is striving to master did not emerge in cosmogony or history but in the deity long before the creation.45 The historical events are not a product of their own momentum but a reflection of the primordial struggle for supremacy between the powers of good and evil. Nothing happens in the world that is not prefigured in the divine law.46 Shaar Hacavanot 47c. ... )6+ 4 60+ % 7!% # ' %# % !# -+ +" 0"- % 46 4 3% !"-6 *!#! "#- % 60+ 7+! 34 ' *!6 0"- *#% ".4!2!6 *") '7 %-! 44! 4 3% 7 *!!- % # %6 42 Jonas, ‘Myth and Mysticism’, Philosophical Essays, p. 247. 43 Jonas, Philosophical Essays, p. 247. 44 Jonas, Philosophical Essays, p. 197. 45 ‘In the lurianic drama the creation of the world comes in the third act.’ Joseph Dan, ‘No Evil Descends from Heaven’, p. 90. 46 Sefer Hagilgulim, ed. François Secret, p. 328. 41

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This observation in Sefer Hagilgulim is occasioned by the anecdote in the tractate Kidushin that Elisha ben Abuyah abandoned his faith when he saw the tongue of Huzpit dragged along by a pig.47 Luria is supposed to have remarked that others saw the same event without becoming heretics, but that Elisha already had heresy in his soul.48 Like a member of the cursed family of Atreus, Elisha carried within himself the seeds of his own destruction and the death of Huzpit merely provided the trigger for the event that was waiting to happen. The curse of the family of Atreus, whose members gave us many of the world’s best known tragedies, demonstrates the continued working of a single cause which spreads, shattering the fate of succeeding generations, until its impetus is exhausted. In the same way, in the lurianic account the struggle between Cain and his brother is not exhausted by the original killing but recurs throughout following generations. It reappears, for example, in the dispute between Korah and Moses, 49 since the spirit of Cain revolved in Korah it was the evil of Cain that was punished by the ground opening up to swallow Korah:50 But the fathers who lie at rest in our depths … what passions welled up from those long dead beings?51

The lurianic doctrine of the pre-existence of evil is in no way compatible with the doctrine of the sin of the first man as constituting the origin of evil. This is not to deny the first man freedom of action or the real consequences of his sin as the lurianic doctrine understands it. But there is no question of evil originating with the actions of the first man who may have discovered evil, but did not invent it.52 The difference between these two conceptions entails a fundamental difference in the nature of evil. The lurianic doctrine expounds a conception of evil as external and fundamentally indifferent to the ethical demands of man, giving expression to what Ricoeur sees as the cosmic structure of evil: 47

Kidushin 39b. Huzpit was one of the martyrs killed in the Hadrianic persecu-

tion. 48

Sefer Hagilgulim, ed. François Secret p. 328. Numbers 16,1-35. Korah as a reincarnation of Cain also appears in the Hebrew works of Moses de Leon , see Gershom Scholem, The Mystical Shape of the Godhead, New York 1991, p. 214. 50 Sefer Hagilgulim chapter 35. 51 R M Rilke Duineser Elegien 3rd Elegy. 52 A similar view is implied in a remark made by Sarug in passing, ‘You may well ask how the first man sinned if the husks were not in existence in actuality.’ Limudei Azilut 7b. 49

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A radical externality of evil … a side of our world that confronts us as chaos, symbolised by the chthonic animal … which resisted the demythologisation of theogony because it represents that aspect of evil which could not be absorbed into the responsible freedom of man.53

The view of evil found in the Zohar and in Luria seems to indicate the eschatological hope that even the chthonic animal will eventually be absorbed into the human. Both agree that the good cannot be achieved in reality when this darker side of man is ignored. The fall of man in the lurianic account not only reveals evil to man but also exemplifies the continuing struggle between the opposed polarities which first made their appearance in the deity, initiating the process which will bring this struggle to its resolution.54 The development of this opposition of good and evil is revealed in the transmigrations of the first man. Unlike the revolutions of Cain, which have an end, the sin of the first man cannot be expunged; it affects every man, at all times, until the end of history. The sin of the first man resulted in the intermingling of good and evil and the consequent need to separate good from evil is the reason for the existence of death, which permits the husks to be separated from the fruit in the interior. The evil that was intermingled with the good was so profound that it cannot be abolished before the end of history or the coming of the Messiah; but remains an ineradicable element of human nature, present in every man: The complete separation from evil cannot be achieved even by the most just of men. Even if he did not commit a single sin throughout his life, the first sin of Adam always remains. 55

This motif in the lurianic corpus expresses both the primordial nature and the communal aspect of evil. Sin is not portrayed as a subjective measure or a merely individual dimension; evil exceeds the boundaries of the purely personal in scope and content. The fact that evil is not an individual matter is expressed in the lurianic doctrine by the communality of a shared burden: the division of souls into species was subsequent to the original sin of the first man: 53

Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, p. 258. The Zohar has a similar view, beginning with the contaminated union within the realm of the sefirot which was slowly corrected in the generations of Cain. Zohar 2,167b-168a. 55 Sefer Hagilgulim chapter 31. 47! '!!6 !''0-6 !4)% -4 %# !40% %#! +!" ".'!!3 ' %6 ' '0 *!!- !)!)   % '%-6 3!2 54

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA Adam sinned at the tree of knowledge. Before he sinned all the divisions of the souls were comprised in him, so that there is no one in the world that was not present at the moment that he sinned and was not in some way damaged by this sin.56

Adam’s sin is portrayed as the intermingling of good and evil themselves. The procreative powers are subject to the influence of the chthonic, captured by the notion of the husks. The intermingling of good and evil is portrayed in the lurianic doctrine as the contamination of the consciousness of knowledge by its fall into the body, where it becomes liable to the influence of the husks. This may well be the reason why the souls produced by the male alone in seminal emissions are considered superior, as they emerge from the consciousness of knowledge in the brain before it descends into the body. The sin of the first man damaged the consciousness of knowledge which fell from its place and was from then on subject to the depredations of the husks. The intermingling of good and evil was the result of a misguided attempt on his part to restore equilibrium prematurely. This was also the aim of the four who entered paradise,57 in the lurianic view, in an attempt to expiate the original sin of the first man. This mystical experience is portrayed in the lurianic corpus as a misguided attempt to transcend the limitations of the human condition.58 The sin of the first man caused the Ceter of Micranthropos to become larger before the consciousness of the Father entered into it. This caused the consciousness of knowledge of the Mother to fall from the Ceter of Micranthropos to the upper third of his Tiferet59 where it is exposed to the husks. The action of the first man in eating from the tree of knowledge left the consciousness of knowledge unprotected from the depredations of the husks. While it remains in its place in the head, the consciousness of knowledge is invulnerable to the husks and is therefore seen as being without any admixture of evil. It becomes known as knowledge of good and evil when it expands into the body where it is no longer concealed by the vessels of the Mother and is consequently vulnerable to the husks.60 Sefer Hagilgulim chapter 31. 7)6+ !3% %#  7- 1- %!7   '"   7 '6 ! %6 '%- ' "% *! !# 2)+  6 '3  '!%%# ! ".  %6 '0 723 -! 57 Hagiga 14b-16a. 58 Shaar Maamrei Razal on tractate Hagiga p. 16. 59 Ibid. 60 Shaar Hapsukim on Genesis 2a. 56

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The lurianic view of the original sin accords with the understanding of the midrash of the sin of Adam as usurping divine powers of procreation: As soon as you eat thereof you shall be as God. As he creates and destroys worlds, so will you have the power to create and destroy. As he slays and revives, so you will have the power to slay and revive.61

The fault of the first man was the subversion of divine creativity. The most serious consequence of the sin of the first man was that the husks were able to draw sustenance directly from the consciousness of knowledge: As the consciousness of knowledge falls into the body, it is no longer known as consciousness and the husks are able to approach it … and this is a serious defect that the husks are able to draw sustenance from the consciousness of knowledge itself.62

As a result of the sin of the first man, the consciousness of knowledge, in which the procreative power resides, was no longer immune to the affectivity of the husks.

THE DESCENDANTS OF ADAM The catharsis of the deity as reflected and actualised in history is represented by the afflictions and calamities to which his descendants succumb in their attempts to restore the defects caused by the original sin of the first man. As in earlier cabalistic sources, the lurianic doctrine of metempsychosis centres around the sins of Adam63 and the expiation of the sins of the first man, primarily sexual transgressions, recurs throughout the generations of his descendants. This understanding of the original sin and its consequences also accords with the view of the early cabalists, up to and including the Zohar, that transmigration was essentially connected with offences against procreation and other sexual transgressions.64 The numerous and varied transgressions of the first man are symbolised by the descendants65 61

Pirkei R. Eliezer ch.13. Shaar Hapsukim on Genesis 2c. 43+ +! ,/ '3) 7- ) %0+6 *!#" ) 646 / '!+2 7!6 ,% '0   ... '!+2% !  6! ,) ".7- %6 )263 Scholem, The Mystical Shape of the Godhead, p. 220. 64 Scholem, Kabbalah, p. 346. The majority of the details recorded in the Book of the Reasons of the Commandments on the transmigration of human souls were considered as punishments for forbidden acts of sexual intercourse. 65 The Zohar takes a similar view of the descendants of Adam at 1,60b. 62

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he is considered to have conceived in the 130 years that he was separated from his wife. This incident as depicted in the midrash and the Zohar66 is developed in the lurianic version into a parallel with the breaking of the vessels. Like the semen spilt at the breaking of the vessels, these souls are produced by the male alone without the female. Paradoxically, despite being the fruit of a sexual transgression, these souls are considered to be more elevated than those produced together with the female. Like the souls produced at the breaking of the vessels these souls also fall into the husks and must be redeemed from them.67 In a deliberate echo of the breaking of the vessels, these descendants are conceived as drops of semen that were released by the male alone directly from the consciousness of knowledge and compared to the drops of semen scattered by Joseph. The echo of the breaking of the vessels serves to illustrate the continuity and identity of the cathartic process in its revealed and concealed aspects. The fate of the souls produced when Adam was separated from his wife is traced in the succeeding generations in which they revolved. Repeated incarnations in several generations were necessary to efface the sins of the first man.68 For this reason the laws were given three times: once at Mara,69 a second time in the section of Jethro70 and again in section of the Laws.71 Once was not sufficient because of the magnitude of the sins of the first man that revolve anew in each generation. Since Adam transgressed commandments given to him in the name of all mankind, the sons of Noah were commanded to observe the precepts that their ancestor had failed to observe.72 The first incarnation of the descendants of Adam was in the generation of the Flood. The generation of the Flood committed the sin of the first man, spilling their seed on the earth; this generation is described by the verse, ‘All flesh corrupted their way upon the earth’.73 The souls captive in 66

Talmud Erubin 18b, Genesis Raba 24,6, Zohar 1,169b. Sefer Hagilgulim chapter 45. 68 Sefer Hagilgulim chapter 45 and Shaar Hapsukim 7c on Exodus 1,8. ‘Then a new King ascended the throne of Egypt.’ 69 Exodus 15,26 ‘If you will obey the Lord … if you will listen to his commands and keep his statutes’. 70 Exodus 18,20-1. 71 Exodus 21,1. ‘And these are the laws you shall set before them’ 72 Sanhedrin 56a ff. ‘Seven precepts were the sons of Noah commanded: social laws; to refrain from blasphemy; idolatry, adultery, bloodshed, robbery and eating flesh cut from a living animal.’ 73 Genesis 6,12, Pirkei Rabbi Eliezer chapter 22. 67

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the husks, that are the descendants of the first man, were reincarnated a second time in the generation of the Tower of Babel, who were atheists like the first man. Adam denied God and gave himself to idolatry and for this reason the generation of the Tower of Babel were atheists.74 The third incarnation of this generation appeared in the people of Sodom. Adam received the commandment of the administration of justice which he also transgressed and consequently the judges of Sodom were also corrupt. This sin was restituted by Moses, ‘But you must yourself search for capable, God-fearing men among all the people, honest and incorruptible men, and appoint them over the people as officers’.75 The fourth and final generation that was tainted with the sins of Adam was the generation of the Egyptian captivity. The Egyptian captivity was the furnace in which these sins were finally purified: In this you will understand why our most illustrious men have taken such pains to comprehend the reason for the Egyptian exile.76

The liberation that signifies the end of the Egyptian exile came about because, at this time, the fault of the first man was finally eradicated. All previous generations of the descendants of the first man revolved again in Egypt, where they were ultimately purified. To take a single example, Pharaoh’s order to cast every new born boy into the Nile77 is interpreted as referring to the souls of the generation of the Flood that revolved again in the generation of the Egyptian captivity. These souls were purified by elimination, as those that were unworthy drowned in the Nile: Those that sinned in the generation of the Flood were thrown into the waters of the Nile … as happened to them in the Flood.78

The generations that represent the descendants of Adam are finally purified in the Egyptian captivity. Since the first man represents the collectivity of souls, the purging of the sins of the first man amounts to the final eradication of sin. The traditional understanding that the sins of Adam were 74 Sefer Hagilgulim chapter 45. Zohar 1,35b, 60b, 75a. cf. Sanhedrin 38b, Genesis Raba 38,9. 75 Exodus 18,21. 76 Sefer Hagilgulim chapter 45. 7% -!% '%- !%  7+6 % '- *!7 " ".*!7  '! ) %- '!42) 77 Exodus 1,22. 78 Shaar Hahacdamot 84d. '!) % 4!% #%6 %) 4  6 '7" ".%) 4 '% -4!6 ) 7)#

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finally expiated at Sinai79 has received wider messianic implications in the lurianic corpus. The seminal emissions produced when Adam was separated from his wife symbolise the drops of semen produced at the breaking of the vessels and this event itself refers back to the contraction of the deity. Not merely human sin but the sundering of good and evil produced at the creation will be repaired when this process of restoration reaches its completion. The final purgation of the evils of the descendants of Adam at Mount Sinai, when Israel received the Tora, completes the process of purification that began at the contraction of the deity. In this sense, the purification of the nation at Sinai can be understood as foreshadowing the messianic era when the evil that is inherent in the nature of the creation will finally be reabsorbed into a new unity in revelation.

79

Shabbat 146a. Zohar 2,168a. ‘The sin of Adam was not restored until the time when Israel stood at Mount Sinai and received the Tora.’

PART 3: REVERSION: EXODUS “The Exodus is a buying back; the two symbols of buying back and of going out re-enforce each other, to the point of making Exodus the most significant cipher of the destiny of Israel.” —Paul Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, Boston 1967, p. 92

8 THE EGYPTIAN EXILE The Egyptian exile is a symbol of particular significance in the lurianic corpus. The captivity in Egypt symbolises the dominion over man of the condition of evil. This state in man, symbolised by the chaos that preceded the restoration of the emanation, is understood in terms of the struggle between the opposing forces of good and evil that had been split asunder at the creation. Before harmony was restored, the world threatened to return to primal chaos, overcome by the new-found fecundity of evil drawn from the process of emanation. A similar stage appears in the Zohar where chaos, barrenness and the prevalence of judgements prevented the creation from taking place: And the earth was waste … the companions have studied the creation … but few can see the allusion in creation to the mystery of the great sea monster … Before the Holy One … slew the female, the earth was waste … and after he had slain her, it was void and began to establish itself.1

This stage in the emanation represents a crisis point in the creation where the husks are threatening to overcome the forces of good. The preponderance of judgements at the beginning of the emanation is a subject that Vital is reluctant to expound and the parallels to the Zohar and the development of the Egyptian analogy hint at a greater extent of forces of evil than Vital is ready to lay out explicitly at earlier stages of the emanation. At this stage of the emanation the holy and profane are inextricably mingled and chaos predominates; the sexual harmonisation and the restoration of the emanation are synchronous, they arise together and are complementary facets of the same process: 1 Zohar 2,35b. - ... % *!+7 4 7!64 - )4% *!-! *+! *!4!-" 746   % % 3 47% .7! 7 ,7 7! 14 !3+% ''3 % 3 % ".)!!37%

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA For until the world of the emanation was restored, at that time of the death of kings, father and mother were back to back.2

This thought reverts to the Zohar: Before the balance existed countenance beheld not countenance, the kings of antiquity died, their crowns were not found and the earth was desolate.3

The conjunction of the lack of harmony between the untempered judgements and mercies and the lack of sexual union reverts to the Zohar. This theme, developed from the hints and allusions of the Zohar, is a focus of the lurianic version: Know that before the emanation of Micranthropos … Mother and Father united back to back and for this reason the kings that emerged from them reigned and then died and were annulled … And the reason for their death was their emanation as severe judgements in back to back union.4

Mother and Father united back to back in the world of the nikudim because they were not yet complete and did not have sufficient consciousness necessary for full union.5 The lurianic expression ‘back to back’ refers to a union that is incomplete because the female is not able to produce female waters.6 This state in turn is due to the lack of restoration of the female.7 Additional consciousness in the form of female waters was made available to Mother and Father at the breaking of the vessels by the Idumean kings who reigned momentarily before they died. These female waters provided by the dying kings enabled them to return face to face for a fleeting attempt at union. At the death of the kings when these additional lights were also lost to them, the posterior aspects of the Mother and Father themselves

Genesis Raba 8,1. Shaar Maamrei Rashbi 10a. ! 6 7%!2 '%- *37+6 '4 " ".*!0 *!0 *!!6)  % '!#%) 77!) *!+3 Zohar 2,176b Sifra Dizniuta. *!0 *!0 *!!6)  % %37)  % -" ".7% 7 4- #76 % *!+! 7!) *!)3 *!#%) 4 Shaar Hahacdamot 51d. 4 , '' + ... *!%- ' %2+6 '3" '7!% 7! '77!) 7!, % 7+ 7) #%)6 '!#%) ' '7 ') 2! *#% 4 ".4 4  '! '!63 '!+! , '!%2+ 5 Ozrot Haim 4a. 6 Tree of Life 1,6,8. 7 Tree of Life 5,19,7. 2

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also broke and fell.8 The partial destruction of Mother and Father at the breaking of the vessels is described by Ibn Tabul in terms of failed union. Mother was unable to receive her lights face to face and the lights lost to her were captured and restored in the configuration known as Lea.9 The loss of lights to the Father is described as the detumescence of the Father: Because the Mother was not able to receive the light, he also lost his completeness, as it is written ‘the righteous perish’10 because the male member also loses when the female is unable to receive.11

This conception forms a parallel to the doctrine of the Zohar, reprised by Luria, of the faltering of the emanation at the point when the foundation should have emanated, due to the preponderance of the judgements. A concise version of this doctrine, described by Yehuda Liebes, is found in the Zohar in the section of the Laws.12 This view of a defective union as a faltering of the process of the emanation underlies the lurianic view that the Egyptian exile occurred because Abraham was not yet circumcised. The emanation was restored at the time of Abraham when full and unimpeded union was made possible by his circumcision. The circumcision of Abraham marks the restoration of the emanation by the resumption of fertile sexual union: In the beginning when Abraham was uncircumcised, he did not have the power to draw down the lights of the upper sefirot to the female. This was at the time of the revelation to Abraham, Between the Pieces … therefore the Egyptian exile began at this time.13

The union of the Mother and Father at which the kings emerged is a union which is described at later stages of the development of the counte8

Ozrot Haim 10a. Ibn Tabul, Drush Hefzi Ba 8a. 10 Isaiah 57,1. 11 Ibn Tabul, Drush Hefzi Ba 8a.  ' 4 %3% #  ! % +!6 *!#" 7+#) '%) *!6# !,0) #'' ,!6  3!2 6'') ''- 7)!%6 7  ".%3% 12 (Mishpatim) Zohar 2,98a. “When the Psalmist came to the Tree of Life it hid itself and would not enter the series on account of a certain bitter branch … until the Psalmist returned to ‘Who coverest thyself with light’ … that is, the light of the first day.” Liebes, ‘Zohar and Eros’, p. 93. 13 Shaar Hahacdamot 84c. "!6)% #  *! %4- !6 %!7 ... '4" *!+- %!7 ) *#% ... '!47 *! 74) *)   *) + 3+ % 7+!%- ".'!42) 7% 9

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nances as a union of minority. This partial union of immature configurations is achieved by the consciousness provided by the kings at their death. The union of minority is described in the lurianic cabala as the most dangerous union in which the husks are likely to dominate. The overwhelming predominance of the judgements at this stage of the emanation occurs because here they are gathered together and revealed. This moment in the emanation forms a parallel to the concentration and revelation of the judgements at the contraction of the deity. This parallel hints at the sexual nature of the contraction of the deity, which from other places in the lurianic corpus can be seen as spilt semen, or a completely barren union of the male without the female. The union of minority of the Mother and the Father can be seen as an alternative and complementary formulation of the destruction of the emanation at the breaking of the vessels. This event in both formulations can be understood as an amplification and interpretation of the contraction of the deity. The predominance of judgements and the consequent damage to the emergent emanation are expressed by the inability of the configurations to unite. This union of the Mother and Father back to back is the archetypal union of minority, of the unions that Vital is prepared to discuss. All other unions of minority are a copy of this one and motifs describing the union of minority that are developed in later unions can be seen to have a point of origin in this union. In Sefer Taamei Hamizvot, we find a description of the union that produced the kings and the need to purify the sefira of Bina after birth.14 This is echoed in the purification of the Shechina in the counting of the Omer that is the purification of the emanation before its perfection. The days of her purification are numbered at thirty-three, as is the case in the counting of the Omer. A comparison of the union of the Mother and Father that produced the kings with the union of the first man and Eve that produced Cain is suggested by Ibn Tabul. The first emanation is the fruit of the union of the protean Father and Mother when they were still back to back, before the restoration and their configuration into discrete countenances: All the roots of the judgements that were in the Father were brought out in the Mother according to the mystery of [the birth] of Cain. All the dross emerged with Cain and the Father remained pure mercies, although there were as yet no countenances.15

14 15

Sefer Taamei Hamitzvot p. 86. Ibn Tabul, Commentary on the Idra Raba, p. 133. )# !6 '!+! !646 %#"

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The union that Ibn Tabul has in mind is the union of Adam and Eve as described in the Zohar. In the view of the Zohar, it was at the birth of Cain that the dross and impurities that were the result of the union of Eve and the serpent emerged into the world: Adam knew his wife Eve and she conceived and bore a son.16 … The world could not endure [the judgements] because they were untempered, as the mighty serpent had cast in her the impurities of severe judgements.17

Cain represents the dross that was released first, by which the emanation was mitigated. The comparison of the breaking of the vessels with the birth of Cain indicates that this is the union which produced the first emanation that failed because it was composed only of untempered judgements. At this time, there were no mercies in the entire emanation.18

The comparison of the union of Father and Mother with the union of Adam and Eve also implies a previous union at which the dross that emerged at the breaking of the vessels was first conceived. The unmitigated judgements that emerged at the birth of Cain are implicitly characterised as the fruit of a previous union. This comparison implies a parallel to the union of Eve and the serpent that is interpreted in the Castilian cabala as the union between the sefirot and the Other Side. In accordance with Tishby‘s formulation that the processes that become visible at this stage have already taken place imperceptibly in the deity,19 we can imagine the sexual nature of the contraction that was the ultimate origin of the husks and the severity of the judgements produced when the opposites were sundered. Thus, we can sketch out a continuous process of revelation and mitigation that begins '!)4 )# 46+ ,) %# )- 2!6 ,*!3 , 6 +! '7 !2 ".'!4) 16 Genesis 4,1. 17 Zohar 3,143a Idra Raba. 4)7 *!3 7 %7 47 76  7 -! '" )  %!  0!37 ! ),7 % '6) %,)% %!#! )%-  % .' !7!+3 ".!63 +! The Talmud in Shabbat 146a interprets this incident in Genesis as a union between Eve and the serpent. 18 Ibn Tabul, Hefzi Ba 8a. ".'!, *! 7%!2 %# 7-" Like the doctrine of the Zohar, this view is an interpretation of the midrash which states that God first created the world in the quality of judgement and then added the quality of mercy. Genesis Raba 12,15. 19 Tishby, The Doctine of Evil and the Husks, p. 53.

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with the contraction and comes to a final revelation in the union of minority on the seventh day of Passover. The union of Father and Mother that produced the judgements is the union at which the husks were revealed and in this sense is archetypal of the union of minority. The catastrophe that recurs yearly at the Egyptian exile is the loss of consciousness of knowledge to the husks, as occurred at the death of the kings when the semen of Joseph was spilt on the ground. The parallelism of this recurring loss is illustrated in the discussion of the origin of the souls of the generation of the Egyptian exile: All souls come from the judgements and mercies in the consciousness of knowledge … and all that generation are from the knowledge; but these souls were released into the husks because they originated in the drops of seminal emission [produced] in the thirty years before the birth of Seth.20

The import of the Egyptian exile is the damage done to the consciousness of knowledge, as is the case throughout the struggle between the forces of good and evil. Just as Micranthropos was exposed to the predations of the husks, so Israel are subject to the Egyptians: And the husks had a hold and were illuminated from the lights that came from the consciousness of knowledge of Micranthropos: therefore the Israelites of that generation who originated from the consciousness of knowledge and who were defective because they emerged from drops of semen, were enslaved to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians.21

This passage is an echo of the description of the stranglehold that Pharaoh had on the emanation before its restoration, when the lights emerged in the form of spilt seed. The echo is deliberate as can be seen from the fact that the catastrophe of the spilt seed is also given as the reason for the exile in Egypt.22 This tale is the continuation of the tale of the spilt seed where the split in the deity resulting in the scattered seed is described with the aid of motifs reminiscent of gnostic mythology. The life history of the deity undergoes a barren stage described in terms influenced Shaar Hacavanot 79b. 7- 46 74 '!, *) 7 7)6+ %#6 7-!" 70! '7! 7!,% 70!%3 % 2! '6 % 7- '!) '  4 %# *# ... ".76 %+6 '3 '!+6 %''3 !43 21 Shaar Hacavanot 79b. *#% 7- *) "6)+ -06 %# '!3+! 7+ 70!%3" !43 722!+ '! !6 '0 , 6 % ,7- *) '6 4 76 %46! ".'!42)% -40% -76+ 22 Shaar Hahacdamot 84d. 20

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by the teachings of the Zohar concerning the nature of the creation before the emanation was restored. This exile is described in lurianic terms as the return of Micranthropos to the state of gestation and the reversal of the expansion of the consciousness of mercy. The two aspects are interdependent; Micranthropos was diminished in order to check the expansion of the mercies. At this time, Micranthropos was returned to an embryonic state as a minimal configuration with limited consciousness. Gestation is considered to be a state in which judgements predominate. The judgements and above all the mercies of the consciousness of majority, upon which the release from this exile depended, were not available to him, only the reduced consciousness of minority. The creation had been curtailed to prevent its destruction and the work of creation had been made inoperable. The experience of evil is also understood as the crisis of the bond between man and god and the threat of the dissolution of that bond. This same theme is also expressed in symbolic terms of cosmic dissolution. The interweaving of motifs surrounding the exile in Egypt presents an example of what Ricoeur calls the ‘thickness’ of the mythical narrative.23 This exile is conceived in several senses at once and is expressed by the prevalence of the judgements; the lack of union; and the contamination of the configurations, principally but not exclusively the female, by intermingling with the husks. The redemption from Egypt is a reflection in the lurianic cabala of the redemption of the original creation from the stranglehold of the forces of judgement. At the same time, the exodus from Egypt also exemplifies the redemptive process, thereby equating the two. The redemptive process symbolised by the liberation from Egypt repeats the resurgence of the emanation from the stranglehold of the forces of destruction threatening to overwhelm it. The lurianic conception is a development of the Zohar’s description of the union between the sefirot of Hochma and Bina at the redemption from Egypt: The yod [Hochma] which opens the womb to bring forth fruit … for the horn is sealed up on all sides and the yod enters and makes an opening causing the sound to issue from the great horn [Bina] … It was at the blowing of the horn that the Israelites went forth from Egypt. And the same will be repeated at the end of the days.24

23

Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, p. 18. Zohar 1,13b. %# '!7,  406 *! ... *!40 -)% )4 70 ! !" %46! 30+  406 -!37 ... %3 !+!) 30% !% 70 ''! 7 *!4 , 24

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The primordial chaos was overcome by the fruitful union of male and female in the deity; this same moment is the moment of the release from the captivity of Egypt as understood by the Zohar. The redemptive union of the Father and Mother at the Egyptian exile will be repeated at the redemption. The Zohar is making a comparison, drawing a parallel, but Luria has superimposed one event upon another, identifying the two events. The rich and powerful combination of the symbolism of exile and captivity with the drama of the creation forces both into confrontation which results in a new level of symbolism. The exile and captivity were already conceived of as symbolic, now the drama of creation forms an integral part of this symbolism. Ricoeur has brought to our attention a type of myth in which salvation is identical with the act of creation. In this understanding of evil, the origin of evil is coextensive with the origin of the created world and can be found in the chaos with which the creative act struggles. Although the lurianic version is still more radical than this version and sees the origin of evil as preceding the creation. As Ricoeur observes, the counterpart of this mythic view of the origin of evil is that the act of salvation is identical with the act of creation: ‘The act that founds the world is at the same time the liberating act.’25 Ricoeur observes that if evil is coextensive with the origin of things as primeval chaos, then, because the elimination of evil belongs to the creative act as such, every historical conflict becomes a ritual re-enactment of the drama of creation.26 The act of creation is also determinative of the nature of evil. The origin of evil is not the mythical primordial chaos but a chaos that arises out of the process of creation itself. The initial decision to create a finite world entrains a stage of chaos in the process of creation; the chaos with which the creative act struggles is born of the creative act itself. This identity is illustrated in the parallelism of the lurianic symbolism. The redemption from the Egyptian exile reprises the conflict between opposing forces described at the creation where Pharaoh is described as threatening to overwhelm the creation and return the world to chaos. As Ricoeur notes, the rite and cult connected with a theology that identifies the process of salva".!)! /,% 4 +)! *!) "# .'!42)) 25 Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, p. 172. 26 A similar mythical view of the redemption as the outcome of the struggle between the forces of good and evil can be seen in the Castilian cabala. See Joseph Dan, ‘The Beginnings of the Messianic Myth in the 13th Century Kabbalah’ in Messianism and Eschatology, ed. Zvi Baras, Jerusalem 1989.

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tion with the act of creation constitutes a re-enactment of the combat at the origin of the world.27 The conflict between good and evil, embodied in the clash of these opposing forces at the creation recurs once a year in the redemption from Egypt, where this conflict is re-enacted. The continual reenactment of the original encounter, symbolised by its recurrence in the yearly cycle, will be repeated until the confrontation between these opposing forces. In conjunction with a linear view of continuous development towards a final goal, the lurianic cabala also represents time as a cyclical process, which recurs as the analogue of the eternal processes of the deity. The drama of the destruction and restoration of the deity is represented in the cyclical events of the liturgy, where temporal succession is a symbolic representation of a timeless metaphysical process. The cyclical view of time requires man to re-enact the cosmogony: the victory of creation over chaos was not final but is repeated every year, until it becomes conclusive. The events depicted in the liturgical and yearly cycles are events that both continually repeat themselves and also alter over large stretches of time. The liturgical cycle is represented as a reflection of original time whose significance is not historical but metaphysical. The significance of cyclical time is revealed precisely in its relation to the original and primordial. Every New Year the emanation returns to its state at the creation of the world.28 The configurations of the deity are reconstructed every year, the major events of the cycle taking place at the festivals.29 The cycle of events that is described in the daily liturgy is a reflection of the larger cosmic cycle that took place at the creation of the world. The liturgy relives and actualises the cosmogonic drama represented in the lurianic cabala by the growth and maturation of the continually rejuvenated configurations of the deity. Mevo Shearim draws a parallel between the creation of Micranthropos, whose emanation in partial form required additional restoration of his three upper sefirot and the content of a single blessing in the amida prayer: After that the fourfold additional consciousness of the first three [sefirot] enter him in another four years and this is what we achieve in the Blessing of the Fathers.30

27

Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, p. 172. Interestingly, the cult has been interiorised in the lurianic cabala. 28 Shaar Hacavanot 89d, ‘It seems to me, that at every New Year, the emanation returns to that state it was at the creation’. 29 Cf. Liebes, Studies in the Zohar, p. 40. 30 Mevo Shearim 5,2,7. '!+6 ' 7+64 ' %6 ')2- *!) '  '!,+#+ #''"

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The consciousness of the first three sefirot is the consciousness of majority that enters into Micranthropos from nine to thirteen years in the cosmic cycle and this same increase is achieved in prayer during the recitation of the first blessing of the amida. The equation of the yearly cycle with the daily cycle, and in the case of the amida prayer an even shorter cycle, clearly indicates that we are not dealing with a single completed historical event; but with a timeless present that reappears in our daily prayers and is subject to influence of the devotee praying with intention. The participation of man in the liturgy is seen as a reflection and instantiation of the eternal analogue of the cycle. This is the significance of the lurianic aim to enact the eternal cycle in the cycle of the liturgy, as occurs for example in the participation in the banishment and mourning of Rachel at the midnight prayers.31 The cycle of the liturgy is a reflection of the creation which takes place eternally and not in time. These dynamics cannot be represented other than in time and are therefore described by a cyclical movement which continually returns to its point of origin. The relation of the mythical to the historical is a problem which is resolved in the lurianic cabala in a manner which is dependent in traditional cabalistic symbolism, in which the historical is merely the outward manifestation of the process of revelation of the deity which is transcendent and unrevealed. This identity lends a continuity to the processes which is not available to a world view that distinguishes between the historical and the mythical as events of a different kind. The redemption from Egypt reprises the conflict at the creation of the world. After the union of the eve of Passover, the emanation returns to a state comparable to its condition at the creation and the configurations are returned to their emergent state of minority. The drama of the breaking of the vessels is in fact compared to the redemption at the Exodus from Egypt by both Vital and Ibn Tabul. The focus of the comparison is the contaminated union of minority known as the union of the seventh day of Passover: Know that in the higher union when the higher bride [Bina] was restored there emerged at first drops of blood and then it was said, ‘These ".7 7#4 '!6- +-6 ) 6 '!4 This passage refers to the first blessing of the amida prayer. The amida is concerned principally with the restoration of the last two configurations, Micranthropos and his female, to their full stature. 31 Shaul Maggid discusses the participation in the banishment and mourning of Rachel in ‘Conjugal Union, Mourning and Talmud Torah in R. Isaac Luria's Tikun Hazot’, Daat 36 (1996) p. 37.

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are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom’32 Edom indeed, judgements. Thus also when the lower bride [Shechina] was restored it was said of her, ‘and these are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom’.33

The restoration of the Shechina by means of her union with Micranthropos is described in imagery drawn from the Zohar. The Zohar’s descriptions of the travails of the Hind of Dawn in labour are replete with messiaic tension and are interpreted at length in the lurianic corpus34. The language used to describe the union of the Hind of Dawn is applied to the union of the Father and Mother at the breaking of the vessels and the symbols of the first union are applied to the union of minority of Passover. The assimilation of the two unions indicates a comparison of the union of Father and Mother at the breaking of the vessels, or the death of the kings and the union of minority on the seventh day of Passover. The emerging drops of blood recall the union of the seventh day of Passover. Drops of blood emerge from the Hind of Dawn in the zoharean version, and are also referred to in the lurianic version in the union described in relation to the striking of the rock by Moses, which is equated with the union of the seventh day of Passover. In both unions the drops of blood represent the judgements of minority of the female, the shattered vessels of the Bina are represented as her judgements of minority which the lurianic cabala views as the origin of the husks. This comparison between these two unions also suggests that the purpose of the contaminated union of the seventh day of Passover was to continue the process of elimination and purification of the husks that took place dramatically at the breaking of the vessels. The interesting use of the term ‘restoration’ to characterise the union of the Mother and Father at the breaking of the vessels also indicates that this union, at which the vessels were shattered, holds the key to the eventual restoration of the emanation. A similar comparison to the union of Passover is implied by Ibn Tabul, in a dualistic, mythological conception of the breaking of the vessels which recalls the stranglehold that Pharaoh had on the emanation at its inception:35 32

Genesis 36,31. Shaar Maamrei Rashbi 9c. '!+! !0! 2! +!%- %# +37+6# *!%-  !# -" +37+6# *# .'!+! 6)) ' ,' 14 #%) 46 '!#%) % 4)+  %!7 ".' 14 #%) 46 '!#%) %  4)+ +77 34 See for example Zohar 3,249a-b, based on Baba Batra 16b. For a discussion of the lurianic interpretations of the Hind of Dawn see Liebes, ‘Two Young Roes of a Doe’. 35 Above, page 76. 33

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA ‘Sin is a demon crouching at the door’,36 for he stands at the opening of the Mother when she gives birth to the first son, the vessel of Hesed, and this is what caused the vessels to shatter.37

Here, Pharaoh is compared to the serpent that threatens the Hind of Dawn when she is about to give birth: the Zohar uses the same verse to describe the serpent in the account of the Hind of Dawn.38 Clearly, Ibn Tabul is comparing the serpent crouching at the womb of the hind of Dawn with Pharaoh threatening the emanation at the creation.39 The equation of these two incidents implies a comparison of the union of the seventh day of Passover with the struggle at the creation. The sense of this comparison is the reprisal of the conflict between the opposing forces of good and evil that culminated in the breaking of the vessels.40 The reprisal of the struggle of the creation at the redemption leads us to re-evaluate the meaning of the act of creation in the light of our understanding of it as an act of salvation. The superimposing of one act upon another has transformed our understanding of both these events. The symbolism of captivity, of the dominion of man by the condition of evil, becomes self aware and deliberate use is made of this symbolism to illuminate the psychological state. Captivity is used in transparency to demonstrate a psychological state, the historical has long since been transcended and caught up in mythical narrative and the mythical narrative has been itself transcended. The drama of creation does not refer only to stage of the emanation but to a stage in the history of human consciousness. The doctrine of emanation is relegated to a secondary place in the lurianic corpus, Luria’s main interest is not in the development of the emanation but in the relation of the powers of the deity, in the struggle between the emergent 36

Genesis 4,7. Ibn Tabul, Drush Hefzi Ba 3a. +! 70 )- 6 14 7  70%" ".476+6 '!%#% '46  , %6 !%# 6 *64 * 7%! !6# 38 Zohar 2,219b. 39 The link between Pharaoh and the illicit union with the other side, that the lurianic cabala describes as a union of minority, appears before Luria in Todros Abulafia’s Shaar Harazim: "This is the secret of the primordial serpent … who cast his eye on what was not meet for him … and the words of the prophet, ‘On that day the Lord will punish with his cruel sword … vengeance irrevocable under covenant’ (Isaiah 27,1) refer to the sea monster, Pharaoh, the great monster that lies in the Nile." Shaar Harazim, Bnei Brak 1986, p. 28. 40 “Profane duration opens up and discloses the sacred time of repetition and fatality. Of repetition: for the miracles reproduce symbolically the original crisis.” Sartre, Saint Genet, p. 272. 37

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powers. The mythical narrative points beyond itself to a primordial state in the eruption of consciousness a crisis point in the establishment of identity: the emergence of the world and the purely human from the divine transcendence. The rich and complex symbolism of the Egyptian exile, built on the basis of a national historical event, provides a prime illustration of the internal dynamics of symbolism. The gradual transformation of the symbolism of creation and redemption that begins in the Zohar and continues in the lurianic cabala illustrates the process of evolution that Ricoeur conceives as inherent in the nature of the symbol. Like Vernant,41 Ricoeur holds the view that the universe of symbols is not static but in a continual process of evolution, in which new symbolism both transcends and transforms the preceding conceptions. It is Ricoeur’s contention that the development of symbols is not a tranquil and reconciled movement, but that every symbol is iconoclastic in comparison with some other symbol.42 The symbolic nature of the Egyptian exile is brought into sharper relief as this symbolism is itself transcended and taken up into a larger frame of reference, where the exile no longer relates to an individual experience of evil but to the genesis and nature of evil. The deliberate weaving together of motifs leaves no doubt that the symbolic nature and function is being deliberately recast into a frame of reference which was not its own in order to bring out the symbolic nature of the experience. At the same time the use of these themes allows the conception of evil and the struggle of powers in consciousness to be given expression as a dimension of experience, a power of expression which is not available to philosophical speculation. Previous notions are not abandoned but modified to bring out a relation that is more sophisticated, more inward, at the same time as it advances beyond it, the new symbolism still retains the notion that it had advanced beyond. A theme that is very strong and rich survives the transformation that a change of vehicle brings to it, as can be seen, for example, in the conception of the Tora as the revelation of the form of God, where the literal meaning gradually gave way to a more symbolic reading, while still retaining the original conception.43 Strong and rich primitive themes lend their suc41 ‘The inner tension that impels myth to reach indefinitely beyond itself qualifies it to express the sacred, the divine.’ Jean-Pierre Vernant, Myth and Society in Ancient Greece, Harvester Press 1980, p. 219. 42 Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, p. 354. 43 Idel, ‘The Concept of the Torah in the Heichalot Literature and its Metamorphoses in the Kabbalah’, p. 48. The mystic’s view of the Tora as the revelation

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cessors their power of expression and symbolisation: a complex notion such as the conception of evil cannot express itself directly, but only in the language of the primal symbols. Experience alone is mute and not capable of expression; the symbol lends it strength and richness that cannot otherwise be achieved: Without the help of that language the experience would remain mute, obscure shut up in its implicit contradictions … The symbol opens up and discloses a dimension of experience that without it would remain closed and hidden.44

We also gain from the revelation of primitive and earlier themes as symbols, no longer limited to their simple literal interpretation they reveal a wealth of intention that was previously obscured. The Egyptian exile is a prime example of the transformation of a primitive theme into a complex and sophisticated doctrine. Integrated into the lurianic speculation this condition is seen a psychological state which is itself illuminated by the lurianic mythology. The dominion of evil over man is integrated into lurianic cosmology, the life history of the deity and its revelation. The roots and origin of this condition are seen in the first contraction of the deity, the resulting sundering of good and evil forces and the primal battle for supremacy between them. Man himself is seen as prey to the primitive unity where the creative forces are entangled with the forces of destruction in primeval chthonic union. The fruitful union of cosmological and sexual symbolism found in Luria is zoharean in origin but the implications which Luria developed from it are only hinted at in the Zohar and the implications of these doctrines are not yet developed. For example, the Talmudic cosmological speculation of the upper and lower waters has come full circle: first re-interpreted by the Zohar as a physiological function, this physiological function is interpreted by Luria as part of a universal process of generation. It is characteristic of lurianic thought that the content of the symbol remains unchanged while its frame of reference is expanded. The lurianic doctrine of male waters conceived as the force which renews the act of creation implies a comparison between human and divine sexuality and human and divine creativity; a comparison that is more immediate and explicit that the themes found in his earlier cabalistic sources. of the body of the deity survived the drastic changes between the Heichalot literature and the cabala. 44 Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, p. 161 and p. 165.

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The union of cosmological and sexual symbolism is a first step in subsuming religious symbolism to the psychological, where we first see human psychology writ large. The universal significance of themes from human psychology has been given concrete expression. Luria provides not a philosophical explanation of primordial dualism but an attempt to reformulate the experience of radical evil. Luria’s mythology is explanatory in the sense that it reveals and discovers the ground of interaction between man and god. In modern terms, myth is not a pseudo-explanation as some writers have suggested, but an explanation which explores the sphere of human consciousness.

9 THE CONTAMINATION OF THE EMERGENT CONFIGURATIONS The state in which the emergent configurations were fatally embroiled with the husks is described as the contamination, principally but not exclusively, of the female by illicit union with the Other Side. The contamination of female in the lurianic cabala is developed from views similar to the sexual mythology surrounding the contamination of Eve in gnostic thought. These doctrines reappear in the Castilian cabala and the Zohar transferred to the realms of the deity. The sexual mythology is descriptive of the origin of evil in the deity and in history. In the lurianic corpus these doctrines are not predominantly historical but concern the economy of defilement and the disruption of the bond between man and the deity with the emergence of evil. The contamination of the Shechina is described in the Zohar in terms reminiscent of the contamination of Eve by the serpent, in a passage dealing with menstrual impurity in women: When the mighty serpent above is aroused by the sins of the generation, he joins himself to the female and injects filth into her. Then the male parts from her because she is defiled.1

In developing these themes into an historical mythology, the Zohar is following in the footsteps of the Castilian cabalists, where the contamination of the female of the deity is reflected in the historical arena. Moses of Burgos describes a state in which the crown of the phallus is covered by the foreskin; an historical state of exile in which the evil overcomes the good and the holy seed is not able to pass from the potential state to its actuality.2 Moses of Burgos considered that the intermingling of sexual activity was not restricted to the lower realms but applied equally to the sefirotic realm.3 1 Zohar 3,79a. 47 !46 )%- ! *! 4-7 %!-% 0!37 ! 7-6" ".77,  *! +) 4# 6407 )  %!  3+ '2 Scholem, ‘Moses of Burgos’, Tarbiz 5 (1936) pp. 50-51. 3 Scholem, ‘Moses of Burgos’, Tarbiz 5 (1936) pp. 194-5.

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A similar idea is expressed with some reticence by Todros Abulafia in Shaar Harazim: The learned cabalists who have profound knowledge of good and evil accurately interpret the sin of Adam and Eve and the primordial serpent in a very high place.4

Todros Abulafia connects these ideas to the talmudic agada on the diminution of the moon.5 The defilement of the female of the deity is also expressed in the circle of the Zohar in terms of the diminution of the moon, for example in Gikatila’s interpretation of this agada: The primordial serpent, by the power of Laban the Aramean, caused a defect in the moon.6

The primeval mythic symbolism of the darkening of the moon as a sign of the presence of evil is found in the Zohar: Life in the present is cut short by the evil serpent whose dominion is symbolised by the darkened moon.7

There seems to be a reference to this connection in the Zohar where the diminution of the moon is mentioned in connection with the sin of Adam. The Zohar discusses the contamination of both the male and female aspects of the deity in a section which deals with the theme of death and renewal of the angels, in the form of the primordial man who was seduced and died: Adam’s sin caused death to himself and the world … whatever takes place in this earthly realm occurs also in the world above … The serpent did indeed cause a defect in all worlds … the primordial man was enticed into the abode of the serpent … This mighty serpent when it defiles the tabernacle, the female of that man dies and the male dies and they ascend as at the beginning and in this way lower and upper correspond.8

Todros Abulafia, Shaar Harazim, p. 219. -4   '!3!)-) %3 !)# !%" ". %-)  ') !+)3 6+  ' %6   '!%7 '!3) 5 Hullin 60a, Genesis Raba 6,3, Todros Abulafia in Ozar Hacavod on Tractate Hullin. Tishby, The Wisdom of the Zohar, p. 462. 6 Gikatilla, Shaarei Ora, Jerusalem 1970 p. 127. #) "6)+ !+)3 6+ +" ".+% '0 %!  !)4 *% 7 Zohar 1,131a.".4!, !,#7  %6 6! !  *! [!!]*!3,0 76" 8 Zohar 2,144b, Exodus Raba 15,7. Discussed in Moshe Idel, ‘The World of An4

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The theme of the diminution of the female is considerably expanded into a coherent mythology in the lurianic version, beginning with the condition of the kingdom at the time of the death of the kings: And the female, the first of all her roots was at the time of the kings that died and at that time she was the crown of the phallus.9

The female is first emanated in the form of a single point. This is the interpretation of the zoharean tenet that at the time of the kings there was no female until the emanation of the eighth king Hadar.10 The stature of the female is linked to the principal stages of the lurianic mythology11 and to the fate of the nation of Israel.12 At the time of the exile in Egypt, the female is a full configuration of ten sefirot standing back to back with Micranthropos, her head begins at his chest and the light of his first five sefirot do not reach her.13 The reason for the Egyptian exile was effectively the fact that the light of the first five sefirot of Micranthropos was prevented from reaching the female. The cause and nature of the separation of the male from the female is explained elliptically: We must give a reason for this exile and the lack of his light in her first five sefirot … The matter is a deep secret. Know that in the 130 years that he was separated from his wife Adam spilled his seed in vain.14

The fact that illicit union and spilt seed refers not to the first man but to the configurations of the deity itself can be seen from the parallelism with the death of kings. A previous cabalistic interpretation of this incident, which also places it in the realm of the deity, is found in the writings of Moses of Burgos, in a short extract entitled, ‘Put off the diadem and lay

gels in Human Form’ Studies in Philosopshy, Mysticism and Ethical Literature Presented to Isaiah Tishby on his Seventy-Fifth Birthday, edited by Joseph Dan and Joseph Hacker, Jerusalem 1986, p. 36. 9 Shaar Hahacdamot 79c. *) ! !646 %#) *64 646 3+ +" ".,! 74 - '! 7!  7)6 '!#%) 10 Zohar 3,135b Idra Raba. 11 Mevo Shearim 6,1,1 ff. 12 Shaar Hahacdamot 84bff. 13 Shaar Hahacdamot 84c. 14 Shaar Hahacdamot 84c. '' 4 -+)+ )%  7% ! )% '- 77% "!42" '!+64 '!+6 %''3 '7 4'' !# - 3)- ,  *!+- ... 3+ %6 7+64 ".% % !43 !2) ! Based on the agada in the Talmud Erubin 18b, Genesis Raba 24,6, Zohar 1,169b.

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aside the crown’.15 As in the Zohar, the behaviour of Adam is merely the reflection of the condition of the sefirot: Just as during the time that Adam was separated from his wife … in the same way above, as it were, the spirit of temptation passed from the demon Lilit to the foundation.16

The result of this illicit union, according to Moses of Burgos, was the emergence of the forces of evil into the world and the strangulation of the holy seed which was no longer able to emerge into actuality, except in a few favoured cases. This state in which evil predominated over the good was not reversed until the coming of Abraham who by circumcising himself, ‘put off the covering and raised the crown’. These are the essential lines of the historical schema that is also present in the lurianic corpus, which also sees the redemption of the creation in the circumcision of Abraham. However, although the beginnings of the theme of illicit union in the deity can be seen here, the main thrust of the doctrine is historical and the theme of illicit union in the world of the sefirot was left largely undeveloped until it was incorporated into the mythology of the lurianic corpus. The sexual mythology in the lurianic corpus also comprises an historical aspect but its nature is different from both the Castillian cabalists and the gnostics, who were concerned with the vicissitudes of human fate. The historical events depicted in the lurianic myth are the reflections of the drama of the deity whose effects are felt throughout the course of history. Historical events do not occur independently, but are reflections of processes in the deity whose effects reverberate through history until their impetus is exhausted. Like the Castilian cabala, the lurianic corpus conceives of historical events as a reflection of a meta-historical process. The historical consequences of the illicit union in realm of the sefirot were revealed in the Egyptian exile. The subservience of the sefirot to the forces of evil in this illicit union caused the Egyptian exile as a consequence and reflection of this state of strangulation and lack of force in the upper realms. 15 Ezekiel 21,31. Interpreted as referring to the removal of the foreskin at circumcision and the raising of the crown of the phallus. Published by Scholem in Tarbiz 5 (1936) pp. 50-1. 16 Scholem, ‘Rabbi Moses of Burgos’ Tarbiz 5, p. 50. *) 7 %#6 '6#" 7!) %- 4 3) 7!%!% 2) !+4 !70 4 4- %#!# "# ...  !''- ' 647+6 ".'%- ,! Lilit, a female demon, is found in early cabalistic texts linked to Samael in a pair analagous to Adam and Eve. In cabalistic terminology, Lilit is frequently used to designate the female of the other side in opposition to the Shechina.

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In the lurianic cabala, the diminution of the moon symbolises the contamination of the female by sexual seduction of the husks and the ensuing damage to the first failed emanation. Luria reprises the doctrine of the Zohar of an early emanation that initially failed to remain in existence because it was composed entirely of judgements. The lurianic corpus describes the destruction of this emanation in the breaking of the vessels and its restoration in the new light that burst forth from the forehead of the primordial man. The first emanation saw the dominion of the forces of evil over the nascent configurations, which led to the partial destruction of the emanation and to the intermingling of good and evil within the remainder.The primeval chaos that was the first emanation is represented in the lurianic cabala by the Egyptian exile, where the emergent nation of Israel is in held in thrall by the forces of evil, symbolised by Pharaoh of Egypt. The diminished state of the divine configurations which in the Castilian cabala is expressed by the diminution of the moon is related to the lurianic stages of the development of the foetus and the child which represent the development and maturity of the divine configurations at the creation, or the stages of the development of man by which the deity becomes manifest. The minimal state of the nascent configurations is known as the gestation of the foetus, or the state of minority and represents their most deficient condition. It was at this stage of their development that the configurations were damaged by intermingling with the husks. This nascent state recurs yearly at the exile in Egypt, where the damage sustained by the last two configurations is considerable. In the lurianic doctrine both the male and female configurations are damaged in this way, not only the female. Because of the hold of the husks on the consciousness of knowledge Micranthropos is returned to the state of minority and his consciousness retreat from him to avoid sustaining damage by the husks. In a passage exploring the connection between the minority of Micranthropos and the Egyptian exile the blood representing the nefesh of Micranthropos in his withdrawn state is equated with the consciousness which he receives from the mother, in this state the minimal consciousness is represented by the five pure and five impure bloods17 of a woman. In the Egyptian exile … Micranthropos returned to the state of gestation … and then he was illuminated only by the posterior aspects of the vessels of the foundation of the mother that are an allusion to the ten

17

Talmud tractate Nida 18a, Shaar Hacavanot 79c.

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA bloods … as it is written in Ezekiel ‘I came by and saw you kicking helplessly in your own blood’.18

The minority of Micranthropos represents the first stage of his development, that of the gestation of the foetus. The representation of the minority of Micranthropos is related to the moving depiction of the city of Jerusalem as the bride of God in the book of Ezekiel.19 The minority represents his most withdrawn state in which the higher consciousness is lacking. Micranthropos had only the five mercies and the five judgements of the consciousness of minority, known as the pure and impure blood, from which the forces of the other side were able to draw sustenance to a greater degree than from any other stage of his development. The minority is represented by the weakness of the infant and his inability to react to the predations of the other side. This minimal state, perilously close to the realm of the demonic, can be seen as a state which is close to the primeval chthonic elements. Interestingly, this state is also reached via the man’s roots in infancy and his beginning, in the writings of Rilke. …down through his own roots and out to the monstrous beginning … he went downward into more ancient blood into canyons where horror itself lay gorged from his fathers. And every terror knew him…20

In this minimal state the danger of the influence of the Other Side is great. A similar conjunction of the blood and the dangers of the other side is understood to underlie the conjunction of prohibitions in Leviticus, ‘You

Ezekiel 16,6, Shaar Hacavanot 80b. 4!- , ,+#!% 46 '' ... '!42) 7%" 6'')  '!) '! '6 ) ,! %6 '!4 '! ... % ... 4!) ! % ... "."!) 7,,7) "4 "!% 4- %3! 19 A similar view of this chapter of Ezekiel is taken by the midrash. Exodus Raba 17,3, ‘On account of two kinds of blood were Israel redeemed from Egypt - the blood of Passover and the blood of circumcision as it says: ‘In your bloods live’. This passage is particularly apt for lurianic exegesis as it concerns the purification and maturity of the bride of God. 20 Duineser Elegien, the third elegy .. Liebte. Verliess es, ging die eigenen Wurzeln hinaus in gewaltigen Ursprung, wo seine kleine Geburt noch überlebt war. Liebend stieg er hinab in das ältere Blut, in den Schluchten, wo das Furchbare lag, noch satt von den Vätern. Und jedes Schreckliche kannte ihn, blinzelte, war wie verständigt. 18

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shall not eat with the blood; neither shall you practice divination and soothsaying’.21 The Zohar identifies a state of man in which only the most primitive forces of life are active. At night, man returns to his primeval beginnings. In the view of the Zohar, this is the state of extreme weakness where only the continued existence of man is sustained: At night man’s soul departs … and his body is sustained by the blood life force alone … the force called nefesh, which constantly permeates the blood.22

At the base of these views lies the identification of the blood with the life force of the body also found in the lurianic corpus: When this blood disappears from man who is Micranthropos then the man dies, for the blood is his vitality.23

This view of the blood as the life force is also current in the lurianic cabala, which equates the lowest part of the soul, the nefesh, with the consciousness of minority. As this reduced condition is also the state of the fallen vessels, the loss of consciousness that is characteristic of the state of minority can also be equated with the fall of the broken vessels. The condition of the fallen vessels is compared to the state of sleep in man, understanding sleep in the sense intended by the Zohar. Know that when the seven lower vessels died and descended to the world of creation, a minimal vitality descended with them to vivify them below and this vital spirit is comparable to the faculty known as sleep in man.24

At this stage, Micranthropos had only the consciousness of minority received from the mother, represented as the garments and vessels which provide the exterior vessels for the consciousness of majority. This skeletal consciousness, composed of five mercies and five judgements, is repre21

Leviticus 19,26. Zohar 2:215b.  /776% %!  6+ 4 476 ... 73%, 7)6+ !%!%" ! 60+ !43 !% ) %! 4 +" !  %6 % ... 0 )!!37% ) ".4!7 )  607 23 Tree of Life p. 246 on Genesis 9,5, ‘You must not eat the flesh with the life, which is the blood, still in it’. 24 Shaar Hahacdamot 19c. !4 '%- 4! 7)6 '!+77 '!%# ' % !# -" 43+ 7! *!)#   7! # '6 '7! '7 !) 7! # '! ')- 4! ".'  !)4 22

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sented by the blood, which, when transferred from Micranthropos to his partner, is symbolised by the five pure and five impure bloods of the woman.25 The imagery is of the menstrual blood of the woman, after which the counting of seven clean days takes place. This perilous state of minority will later be seen to be the condition of the female when she is in need of succour and lies helpless in her own blood. This passage from Ezekiel is, in the lurianic view, a description of the condition of the female at the union of the seventh day of Passover. A similar sexual symbolism is already present in the Zohar, which presents a similar depiction of the Kingdom when she succumbs to the predations of the other side: When judgement impends over the world, then the lower world does not imbibe from that upper firmament [yesod] … but from the left side, concerning which it says, ‘The sword of the Lord is full of blood.’26

The physiological interpretation of this verse of Isaiah, alluded to in the Zohar, is developed at length in the lurianic version, where the blood is considered to divide, the pure blood going to the head of the male organ and the impure blood to the womb of the female. The symbolism of the blood in the foundation of the female is also developed from the views of the Zohar. This is the state of the Shechina at the redemption from Egypt, where the Left Side appears in the symbol of the staff in the verse,27 ‘Take your staff and stretch your hand out over the waters of Egypt, its rivers and its streams … to turn them into blood’: When the Lord prepares to exact vengeance … the left side awakens and the moon is filled with blood from that side.

In the same way, in the lurianic corpus, blood in a woman is a sign of the predominance of the judgements: For the judgements are in the womb of the female, and when the judgements predominate the female sees blood in her womb.28

25 Shaar Hahacdamot 79c, Talmud tractate Nida 19a and Tikunei Zohar 27a-b, regarding the divided nature of the Shechina, who has both pure and impure blood. 26 Isaiah 34,6, Zohar 2,28b.  *) 3+! % 77 )%- ,!46 +! +)" ".' %) '% 4 !43 *!# %)6 4 ,) 3+! -!34 27 Exodus 7,19. 28 Shaar Hapsukim 20a.  '!+! '!47)6# 3+ %6 ,! ' ... 74" ".%6 '4 ' 4 3+

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The five impure bloods in a woman are the outer vessels of the five judgements that form the knowledge of the female of Micranthropos: And from the five judgements flow the five impure bloods of a woman.29

A crucial factor of the lurianic version is the symbolism of the contamination of the blood through intercourse with the forces of evil is also present in the earlier cabala. The blood of the female is contaminated by impure union in Gikatilla‘s interpretation of the talmudic agada which relates that Eve was contaminated by the serpent:30 The serpent came in the days of the first man and contaminated Eve, and separated them by impure blood.31

The physiological symbolism of menstrual impurity is also found in this context in the Zohar: She took of its fruit32 … she thus attached herself to the place of death and brought death upon the world and separated life from death. This sin is also the cause of separation which keeps a woman apart from her husband.33

The contamination that resulted from the impure union keeps the woman from her husband, thus preventing the redeeming union between them taking place. The symbolism of menstrual impurity has been utilised to express the contamination of the female aspect of the deity as a result of her illicit union with the husks and is therefore symbolic of the contamination of the female aspect of the deity. The symbolism of contaminated union is used to express the union of the female with the forces of evil and the consequent separation and destruction of the unity of opposites in the revealed aspects of the deity which is the generative creative force. In the lurianic corpus the minimal state of Micranthropos is known as the foetal state of gestation. This is the most reduced state of MicranthroShaar Hahacdamot 45d.".66 '!) '!) ' '!#6)+ 74 ' *)" Shabbat 146a, Yevamot 103b, Avoda Zara 22b. 31 Joseph Gikatila, Le Secret du Marriage de David et Bethsabée, ed. Charles Mopsik, Paris 1994, p. 63. ' '!+! !40  ) %!  *64 ' !)! 6+ " ".) 32 Genesis 3,6. 33 Zohar 1,36a. 7) 47 737 ! ,+)) 37 !7# % !40) 37" 640% 76!40 '!4   7) *) !! 76!40 7) )%- %#% 7)!4 ".%-) 77 29 30

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pos. In this state he has only the consciousness from Father and Mother and does not have the consciousness of knowledge. Any union in this state therefore is not possible by his own means, since the consciousness of knowledge provides the means of union. In this state, he is inextricably linked to the husks; the breath of life that sustains the unredeemed husks has its origin in the minimal consciousness of Micranthropos. This doctrine is expressed in the lurianic cabala by means of the concept of hevel degarmei of the Zohar:34 At the time of his minority … which sustains the husks. The minority of gestation is the ‘spirit of the bones’ of the kings … And this spirit is nourished from the consciousness of minority of Micranthropos.35

The helplessness of the infant is defined by his inability to disengage himself from the primitive and chthonic in his nature. This is a transitional borderline state where man lies helpless before the depredations of the husks. A transformation is represented in the continuation of the verse in Ezekiel: ‘I spoke to you there in your blood and bade you live’36 understanding blood as the complement of the verb to live. The helpless pollution of the new-born is contrasted with its revival by means of the transformation of the blood. The blood itself by which the female is polluted becomes the means of her redemption; by means of the new life, the consciousness of majority which was the Egyptian redemption. The same symbolism applies equally to Micranthropos, without the mercies which expand throughout his body, Micranthropos is like a sick man. Micranthropos is compared to the weak and sickly infant brought before R. Nathan for a judgement on the deferral of his circumcision. The Babylonian Talmud reports that the judgement of R. Nathan was, ‘Wait until the blood becomes absorbed in him’.37 The reason for the diminution of Micranthropos and his return to the state of gestation is given as the lack of mercies expanding through his body: At the time of the Egyptian exile, Micranthropos returned to his original state of gestation because the mercies were not expanding through his 34

Zohar 3,169a on Isaiah 29,4. ‘Your voice will rise like a ghost’s from the ground.’ The lurianic understanding of this concept is of a minimal vitality, which keeps the shattered remnants of the vessels alive until they are redeemed. 35 Mevo Shearim 6,2,2. 4!- 7+ 3 '! .'!+2! 7! %# 6 ... 4!- *)" ".'' 4!- 7+ 3) 3+! !)4 %  ... '!#%) %6 !)4 % '!   36 Ezekiel 16,6 continuation. 37 Hullin 47b.

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body and for this reason, he was returned to the condition of gestation.38

The blood itself is the means of his renewal, which is caused by the mercies expanding through him: ‘By means of the blood’,39 for while they [the mercies] were still above, the exile, which resembles death, continued. And now, as the blood expands through your body, you will live.40

The new consciousness of majority, represented by the repetition in the verse of ‘in thy blood live’, is the blood of circumcision which represents the five mercies at the head of the phallus by which the world was renewed and the Passover blood which represents the five judgements of the female.41 It is by means of the influx of new consciousness, represented by the mercies symbolised by Abraham that the creation was restored.

Shaar Hacavanot 84d. ! %6 !0% ... ' 4!- *)% '' 4 '!42) 7% *)" ".4!- , ,+#!% 4 *#% 0 '! 607) '!, 39 Ezekiel 16,6 continuation. 40 Shaar Hacavanot 84d. %6)+ 7% ! %-)% '- !# !!7 4#+ "!) !''-" ".!!7 "0  )% "!) 607 7- 7) % 41 Shaar Hacavanot 80b, based on the Midrash in Exodus Raba 17,3. 38

10 THE RESTORATION OF THE EMANATION The eradication of sin is equated with the disentanglement of the procreative powers from the chthonic and therefore the redemption from Egypt does not occur until the procreative powers have been extricated from the husks. The same process that occurred at the restoration of the emanation recurs at the redemption from Egypt: This explains the reason for the exile and the lack of light, for until these souls are completely restored the light of his first five [sefirot] does not reach the female and illuminate her. Hence the restoration was not completed until the exodus from Egypt.1

The exile continues as long as the souls that represent the female waters remain captive in the husks and the female is consequently unable to produce the waters necessary for union. The sense that the female is contaminated and prey to the chthonic is expressed by the idea that the Other Side is able to unite with her. Hence the notion that the exodus from Egypt represents the restoration of licit sexuality, undamaged by its entanglement in the chthonic. The restoration of full sexual union is illustrated in the person of Abraham. The essential role of Abraham in the restoration of the emanation is emphasised following the views of the Zohar, which holds that without the restoration of full union the creation would not have been able to remain in existence. The mercies that, in the lurianic corpus, represent the attribute and action of Abraham are considered to be: The foundation of the creation of all the worlds and their existence.2

The lurianic view of the role of Abraham is firmly rooted in earlier cabalistic sources. Abraham is symbolised in the Bahir and the Gerona Circle by the attribute of mercy which sustains the beneficial influx of the deity Shaar Hahacdamot 84d. %6 *) %# !# %''+ 4 *4, 7% '- *! " '%6+ % + .3+ '!4!) '!%+ 6 7+64 ' 4 *! !4)% 7)6+ % +37+ ".'!42) 7!2! - '+37 2 Shaar Hapsukim 7b. ".')!3 7)%- %# 7!4 %6 ,!" 1

169

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into the sefirot. The Bahir states that it is the grade of Abraham that is responsible for the influx of mercies into the emanation: Abraham filled the world with mercy for he prepared nourishment for all beings and voyagers and out of kindness he went out to meet them as it is written, ‘He ran to meet them’.3

The hospitality of Abraham received the cabalistic meaning of increasing the emanation of the attribute of mercy to the sefirot as evinced by his disinterested goodwill towards the ‘voyagers’. As the element of nourishment, of an influx of divine mercy, Abraham represents the connection between the divine and the human at its strongest and most beneficial. This conception is retained in the lurianic cabala, where it forms the basis for the understanding of the attribute of Abraham as a restorative influx of divine mercy. The lurianic view of Abraham is based on the exegesis of the Zohar.4 The Bible’s innocent description of the patriarch enjoying a rest at noon5 is of particular significance to the Zohar. The sefira to which Abraham is connected is mercy, the heat of the day. The opening of the tent refers to the Shechina, symbolised by the corona of the penis, a connection that the Zohar imbues with cosmological significance: The light which shone and was withdrawn … [this is] the ‘heat of the day’ which Abraham felt when he was sitting at ‘the door of his tent’ … on which shone the heat of the day.6

The mercy to which Abraham was joined has its roots in the process of creation, a connection that is retained and developed in the lurianic cabala: ‘And there was light’7 ȥ the light that already existed. In this light is the mystery of the concealed expansion that burst through … the light

3 Genesis 18,2, Bahir, ed. Margaliot §135. %#% *!)) !6 '%-% , %) '4" ".'743% 14! !7# '743% 2! , %) *) '!#4 !4- '%- ! 4 Primarily Zohar 1,97b-98a on Genesis 18,1. 5 Genesis 18,1, ‘As Abraham sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day’. 6 Zohar 1,21a. ... % 70 !7! '4  '! ' ... !+7 4!+ 4!+" ".70  %- 4!+ '! ' The lurianic exegesis on the moment at which the Zohar captured the patriarch sitting at the door of his tent is dense and many major themes are condensed into this deceptively simple incident. 7 Genesis 1,3.

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emerged, then retreated and concealed itself and a single point remained.8

The cosmology of the Zohar is based on the agada on the light of the first day of creation,9 from which the world is nourished. This light functioned in the world only on the first day, after that it was hidden away and no longer seen: Had it been hidden away altogether, the world would not have been able to exist for one moment; but it was only hidden like a seed which generates others, seeds and fruits and the world is sustained by it.10

The concealed light of the first day was transformed by the Zohar into a physiological as well as a cosmological entity, in a sexual metaphor for the creation of the worlds which equates the light with seed because of its generative abilities: The light that as soon as it was created, was concealed and enclosed in the covenant, which entered the lily and fructified it.11

This brief allusion is considerably expanded in the lurianic corpus, which has a specific definition of the manner in which the world is sustained by this light. This light is in fact the male waters, not the male waters which are produced anew for each union; but the primal waters which are present in each configuration from its first emanation. In the lurianic interpretation of the agada which states that the light created on the first day was hidden away for the righteous, the righteous are represented as the foundations of the male and female configurations: The mercies and the judgements emanating from the foundation of Micranthropos are clothed in the original mercies of the time of his emanation and this is the secret of the light which shone through the world

Zohar 1,16b. Hagiga 12a, Genesis Raba 3,6, Bahir § 190.  4# 4 4 !!"  476 !+7 3%7, 30+ ... -37 607 7 607 )!7, 4  4 ".!+) 3+ 9 Hagiga 12a, Genesis Raba 3,6, Bahir § 190. 10 Zohar 2,148b. % , -4 %!0 )%- '!3 % %# %#) !+7 !%)%" ".)%- '!!37 !+) *!! *!-4 *!%7 !- -4 !# -4 !+7 Drush Hataninim explains that the light was hidden for a specific reason, to keep it from the ‘Other Side’. Zohar 2,34a-35b. 11 Zohar 1,1a.  3!0 +66 %-  7!4 %!%#7 !+7 !47 4" ".-4 8

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The lurianic development conceives of this light not simply as mercies but as male waters, an influx of mercies which contribute to the arousal of the male. Male waters is also the lurianic interpretation of the new light which restores the emanation after the destruction of the vessels. Luria, in the wake of the zoharic doctrine, views the light of the first creation as a sexual metaphor, based on the view of the Zohar that the hidden light is a generative force active in the created world: But the light which is continually sown, produces fruit of itself and is sown of itself as at the beginning … it continues to produce of itself.14

As male waters, the lurianic doctrine contains a specific physiological understanding of the Zohar’s tenet that this light sustains the world through its continual creativity. The lurianic interpretation of the Zohar is not just another metaphor, but a reflection on the nature of divine creativity, a reflection which dispenses with the traditional intermediary stages between the deity and man. The male waters of the lurianic corpus fulfil the role of the light of the first day of creation of which the Zohar states that without it the world would not survive. 15 The part Abraham plays in the creation is symbolised in the Zohar by his circumcision. Circumcision is connected to the creation in the Zohar following the midrash16 where the discussion revolves around the creation including the attribute of mercy. This idea is also connected to the virtue of the blood of circumcision by which justice is tempered with mercy17 which is the significance of the notion elaborated in the Zohar that the world rests only on the covenant of circumcision.18 This symbolism is reprised in the lurianic understanding of the redemption from Egypt and is represented by the pure blood and the impure blood of the lurianic interpretation of the 12

Genesis Raba 3,6. Mevo Shearim 2,3,9. 6-+ '72 '3 '' ,!) 74 '!, 70! 72" - '%- /,) !6 4 ,'' ... 7%!2 7-6 '!+64 '!, '7) 6% '% ".! !! ,! 32 3!2 ... '!3!2% + 0, 14 Zohar 2,166b-7a on Psalms 97,11 ‘Light is sown for the righteous’. ! 4" ".*!%7 !- !)4) ... 7!)3# -4 !)4) !+) *!! !- 4!7 -4 15 Zohar 2,166b. ".'3!)% %!#! % )%- 4 ! ! % !" 16 Genesis Raba 12,9,10, Zohar 1,93a. 17 Zohar 3,13b. 18 Zohar 1,93b. 13

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verse of Ezekiel. The symbolism of the pure and impure blood of the vision of Ezekiel and the redemption of Passover in the blood of circumcision is linked to the symbolism of the mercies that are revealed at the head of the phallus: The blood of circumcision is pure blood and this is the blood that is revealed in the head of the phallus, the member of the male and the blood of Passover corresponds to the judgements of the female.19

The connection between circumcision and the renewal of the creation rest on the notion that the circumcision represents the separation of man from the husks, hence the symbolism of the purified blood that is the blood of circumcision. The identification of the foreskin, which is rejected in circumcision, with the Other Side is traditional in the cabala.20 Specifically lurianic is the identification of the entanglement with the husks with the state of minority. This explains the dangers of the union of minority and the contamination of the configurations by their union with the husks. This state of affairs is redeemed at the circumcision when the connection with the husks is severed. The link between circumcision and the creation in the attribute of mercy has been given a radical new anthropomorphic interpretation by the Zohar in a doctrine that was also known to Joseph of Hamadan. In Sefer Tashak the essence of the covenant is seen as the connection of the foundation with the attribute of mercy: When the supernal holy and pure phallus is seen in the attribute of mercy, it is called the covenant.

Joseph of Hamadan was also aware of the cosmological significance of the doctrine of the covenant: It has been taught that from that holy penis a myriad of worlds are suspended in the opening of the penis and this is the holy covenant.21

As in the Idra Raba. The length of the phallus is two hundred and forty eight worlds and all of them are suspended at the head of the penis. 22 19 Shaar Hacavanot 80b. )0 '!%7) , *) ' !# 4 ' ' %!) '" ".'3+ '6 ' +#  ,0 ' 4# ,! ) 20 See for example Joseph Gikatilla's The Secret of the Serpent published by Scholem in Major Trends, pp. 405-6. 21 Eliot Wolfson, The Circle in the Square, Albany 1995, p. 204. 22 Zohar 3,142a Idra Raba. %# *!)%- !+)7 *!-4 *7) )  !#4"

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The Zohar emphasises that the creation was made fruitful by the attribute of mercy, symbolised by the merit of Abraham, without this attribute the creation would have remained sterile and unproductive. The exegesis is based on the name Abraham and depends on the transposition of the letters of the words ‘phallus’ [column] and ‘create’ both found in the name Abraham. The mercy that was formerly sealed up in the word ‘create’ is transformed by the revelation of the phallus. ‘These are the generations23 of the heavens and the earth when they were created’ … implying that what was sealed up in the word ‘create’ has now become serviceable, there has emerged a fertile column, which is the holy column on which the world rests.24

The creation remained chaotic and infertile until the time of Abraham. The sexual nature of the renewal of creation is alluded to in the Zohar, Over the whole there hovered chaos and as long as chaos dominated, the world was not in being or existence. When did that key open the gates and make it fruitful? It was when Abraham appeared.25

And made more explicit by Luria: And the world was chaos, and when the emanator wished to create the generations, the phallus of the primordial wisdom emerged … and opened the lock that is the womb.26

The renewal of creation is an act of restoration of fertile sexuality. This idea is based on the view of the Idra that the appearance of the mercies is brought about by the revelation of the phallus: ".) )0 *!!%7 23 Genesis 2,4, a play on the word generation in the sense of to generate or produce. 24 Zohar 1,3b. This passage is inspired by the midrash in Genesis Raba 12,9 which asserts that the worlds came into existence by the merit of Abraham. 7%7 %" 30+ ,6)6% *7 47 4 7%) '!7, %#  ) '4 14 '!)6 ".!%- )!!3 )%- 6!3 ,! 4 ,*!%7 - )25 Zohar 1,3b. The exegesis depends on the identity of the letters in the words ‘member’ and ‘create’ and the transposition of these letters echoes the transformation of the member. % , % )%- "7 !  %6 # ,"7 %# %- !0 " 7 # *!%7 -)% 6)6% *) *!-47 70 70)  !7)! ,'!!37 ".'4 26 Shaar Maamrei Rashbi 12c. ,! 2! *!%7 -!)% *!%- %!2) 24 46#" ".'4 6 %-+) 70 ... )3 )#

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And when the yod is revealed, the opening of the phallus, the upper mercy is revealed … Abraham was not called complete with respect to this mercy until the yod of the phallus was revealed.27

The appearance of the full consciousness of knowledge, essential to union is connected to the revelation of the member in the uncovering that accompanies the act of circumcision:28 At the time of his impregnation, Micranthropos had only dual consciousness without the consciousness of knowledge, as is explained concerning the uncovering of the foreskin at circumcision.29

The uncovering is equated with the revelation of the mercies at the head of the phallus. The emanation of the member is not completed before the revelation of the supernal mercies, this is the sense of the birth of Abraham. The galenic connection between the brain and the sperm underlies the connection between the brain of wisdom and the mercy which is revealed at the head of the phallus. This conception is expressed in the mythic depiction of the member of Abraham coming into existence: When Micranthropos and his partner were not yet face to face and the foundation had not yet emanated, the reality of the upper knowledge was not yet revealed that arbitrates between Mother and Father … and in this you will also understand the revelation of the letters of the member of Abraham.30

As its continuation shows, this passage is an interpretation of the reference to Abraham’s uncovering and perfection in the Idra Raba. At this Zohar 3,142a Idra Raba. ... %- , !%7 ) !)0 "! !!%7 *!#" ".) "! !!%7 - , ! '!%6 '4 !437 % The revelation of the sign of the covenant in the phallus is a reference to circumcision. Cf. Joseph of Hamadan in Charles Mopsik, ‘Un manuscrit inconnu du Sefer Tashak de R. Joseph de Hamadan suivi d’un fragment inédit’, Kabbala 2 (1997) p. 189. 6!3 ) " ".! 7 ! !7) %) ! and Tree of Life 5,33,4. 28 Mishna Shabbat 19,6, Zohar 2,60b. The Israelites practised circumcision in Egypt without drawing back the corona. The seal of the covenant was therefore not revealed in them until the uncovering of the corona, which took place at Mara. 29 Mevo Shearim 6,2,2. ,7- !7% *!) *!47 !7% ''% ! % 4!- *)" ".+!!+- ) %!) %6 %4- *!+- 4)# 30 Shaar Hahacdamot 52a. % *!!- 46 '!+0 '!+0 7!% *'' 4 % 46#" ...  *! -!4#) *!%- 7- 7!2) %+ '! *!!- #'' '+ ,! '!0, '! %2+ ".'4 *) 4'' '7 !% *!+- *!7  ' This passage is based on the exegesis of the Zohar on the letters of the name Abraham. 27

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stage, the reality of the higher consciousness is not yet revealed. The lurianic exegesis on this passage states that union is necessary in order for the higher consciousness to be revealed. The upper knowledge is not revealed until it is needed to enable union to take place: When the world was first created, before Macranthropos and his bride were united … no letter yod was revealed … for yod is the consciousness and where there is no union there is no need for consciousness.31

The union of Micranthropos and his bride is also the revelation, or the appearance in actuality, of the consciousness of knowledge of the Father and Mother. The state of chaos, in the lurianic myth, preceded the intercourse between Micranthropos and his bride when the consciousness of knowledge of the Father was not yet revealed. The lurianic corpus is specific as to the historical implications of the lack of union between the configurations. In the lurianic doctrine, the lack of light to the female, which was only revealed after the circumcision, was the reason for the Egyptian exile. The revelation of the upper lights of the female is delayed because of the lack of the influx of the mercies symbolised by Abraham. The reason the Egyptian exile begins at the time of the covenant with Abraham ‘Between the Pieces’ is, in the lurianic view, that when he was still uncircumcised Abraham did not have the power to draw down the light of the upper sefirot to the Female: The lack of light in the five upper sefirot of the female made themselves felt at this time, ‘Between the Pieces’ … because the time had come for the five upper lights of the female to be revealed and they were not revealed.32

ABRAHAM AND THE RESTORATION OF THE KINGS Abraham symbolises the restorative consciousness that renews the emanation at the time of the emanation of Hadar, the eighth king. In the lurianic cabala the renewal of creation occurs by means of the emanation of new lights. After the breaking of the vessels the restoration of the emanation is 31 Shaar Hahacdamot 52a. ... *'' 47+ % *!!- 46# ,'%- 7!4 7%!7" 46# ,) , ! ''! 7 '! %# '%-%6 !0% ... ''! 7 '! *!!- %7+ % ".) % "42 *!  *! 32 Shaar Hahacdamot 84c. 6 !0% ,7% !)! 43+ ,"%! '!47 *! 74))" ".%7+ % 3+ 7+64 ' 4! % *) -! The exile is considered to date from the time of the covenant with Abraham when it was announced according to Genesis 15,13. See Genesis Raba 44,18.

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inaugurated by the new light which bursts forth from the forehead of the primordial man. The manner in which this new light is able to restore the emanation is developed from the teachings of the Idra concerning the mitigation of the judgements in sexual union. The lights that emerged from the forehead of the primordial man are also known as Hadar, the eighth king, as the emanation of Hadar is equated with the restorative influx of new light: This light of [the name of] forty-five [letters] that emerges fom the forehead, is Hadar, the eighth king … who restores and maintains the seven kings that preceded him.33

Hadar, the eighth king, is linked to the eighth sefira, the foundation, from which springs the renewal of sexuality. Symbolised in the Bahir and the Zohar by the eighth sefira which is linked in the Bahir to the renewal of the emanation,34 Hadar is the first king whose wife is mentioned in Genesis and therefore, in the view of the Zohar, the first king who was not barren.35 The connection between the revelation of the mercies and the restoration of the kings, is not a new development, but is already present in the Zohar, where it is the revelation of the mercies that enables the restoration of the kings to take place: ‘And these are the kings that ruled in the land of Edom’ … that were not mitigated until all was restored and this hesed appeared and took its place at the head of the phallus.36

The creation was not able to remain in existence until the judgements were mitigated and this mitigation took place by means of sexual union. The consciousness required for the union that will restore the emanation is produced by the new influx of mercies, symbolised, following the Zohar,37 by the primordial light. The idea that the flawed creation was restored by means of sexual union reverts to the Zohar, where the lack of balance and harmony between the judgements and the mercies is redressed by the union of the male and female aspects of the deity. The imagery of the male and female aspects of Shaar Hahacdamot 28d. ' "%) ,  2) *) 2! 6 '') 4" ".!% )36 )'' %# '!!3) *37) !  ... 4 43+ 34 Scholem, Origins of the Kabbalah, p. 160, Bahir ed. Scholem, §114. 35 Genesis 36,39, Zohar 3,135b. 36 Zohar 3,142a Idra Raba. - ),7 %... ' 14 #%) 46 '!#%) %" ".) )0 6!7 ,, ! 3!0+ %# *37 37 Zohar 1:21a. The light that shone and was withdrawn is the heat of the day that Abraham felt as he sat at the door of his tent. 33

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the deity becomes less symbolic and more concerned with the union itself. This process begins in the Zohar where the union of male and female aspects of the deity is not conceived as an abstract union of opposed qualities but as a sexual union between two partners. The tendency to relocate the theogonic process in terms of human existence which began in the Zohar is developed further in the lurianic cabala. The emphasis in the lurianic version, although influenced by the doctrines of the Zohar, is placed on the redemption of the creation by means of the restoration of licit sexuality where the procreative powers are no longer entangled in the husks. While the aim of the Zohar was the restoration of fertile harmony, Luria has the aim of the restoration of sexuality that is disentangled from its roots in the primitive. The union of Micranthropos and his bride is made possible through the restoration that is provided by Abraham as explained in an exegesis on the verse in Genesis which represents Abraham as the creator of heaven and earth. The restoration or the influx of new mercies is conceived as a renewal of the act of creation. ‘Blessed is Abraham to the Lord who creates the heavens and the earth’,38 for Abraham restores the heavens and the earth, by the redemption of the foundation [the member of Micranthropos] which unites them.39

The view of the Zohar that Abraham has a restorative function, a vital function in the creation which would not have come to fruition without him, is interpreted in the lurianic corpus in relation to the restoration of the kings: The restoration of these nine kings began at the time of Abraham and the mystery of their restoration is to provide them with a countenance and with vessels to clothe their lights.40

The restoration of the kings takes place by means of the provision of mercies to Micranthropos which enables the male and the female to unite thus restoring the kings or the female waters which the female provides at the time of union, which, famously, were the broken vessels needed to clothe the lights. The restoration is a reversal of the process of the death of 38

Genesis 14,19. Tree of Life 5,29,8. *37) '4 !# 14 '!)6 +3 *!%- %% '4 "4" ".*!+6 ) ,! '! 6) +36 !''- 14 '!)6 40 Shaar Hapsukim 7c on Genesis 14,1, ‘At the time of Amraphel king of Shinar’. '! '% 76-% 6 ,*3!7 , *37% %!7 '4 *) % '!#%) ' " ".'%6 74 7 6!%% '!%# /240 39

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the kingsin the father and mother, whose lights, brought forth by the brief reign of the kings before they died, were left uncovered at the shattering of the vessels. In this sense the death of the kings is redeemed by the circumcision of Abraham. The revelation of the corona, or the completion of the revelation of the mercies at the head of the phallus, is equated with the emanation of the eighth king, Hadar, in this elaboration of an exegesis of the Zohar: Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.41 … and the form of the letter yod is revealed in the opening of the tent which is the head of the phallus … For by uncovering the member … eight judgements and eight mercies are revealed. And the erudite will understand the reason that the circumcision takes place on the eighth day alludes to the emanation of the eighth king, Hadar.42

The emanation of the eighth king is connected to the emanation of new lights unrevealed until now: Hadar is the fruit of a further union within the primordial man of lights which did not enter into the failed, first emanation. The lurianic doctrine sees the emanation of Hadar as a new beginning, in that his appearance was already the fruit of a new union. After the appearance of Hadar, a further union was completed between Hadar and the old lights serving as female waters to him. Hadar mitigates the other kings, by the union in which the broken vessels or old kings serve as female waters and are reintegrated in the emerging system of emanation. The revelation of the mercy at the head of the phallus is a sign of the provision of new consciousness of knowledge, by means of the primordial mercy, which enables the union to take place. The primordial mercy is a return to the mercy that was saved from the beginning of the first emanation and did not enter into the emerging worlds. The new influx of consciousness is the fruit of a further union in the primordial man.43 Thus, the restoration of the kings is achieved by the revelation of the mercies at the head of the member, in accordance with the view of the Zohar: 41

Genesis 18,1. Zohar 3,14a and Zohar 1,97b-98a. Tree of Life 5,33,4. 742 , 6 '4 !# '! '# % 70 6! " ' '!, ' ... %7+ -!40 !"- !# ... ) !0 6 % 70 !!%7 '! ' "%) 7%!2% )4 6 '!)! '% %!) 7! '- , *!! %!#6) ... 74 ".4 6 Cf. Zohar 3,43b, which is Pikudin not Raya Mehemna, as erroneously attributed in the printed version. See Gottlieb, Studies in the Literature of the Kabbalah, pp. 215-231. 43 Ozrot Haim 16a. 42

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA The mercies are Hadar the eighth king, the supernal mercy which is the principal restoration and since the mercies are revealed at the head of the member on the eighth day it is necessary to be circumcised (at this time).44

An extremely brief summary of the symbolism of Abraham appears in Shaar Hapsukim: In brief, Abraham represents the lights of the mercies in Micranthropos.45

The five mercies of Abraham which mitigated the judgements, are the five mercies of the second impregnation when Micranthropos and his partner receive their consciousness of majority. The sense in which the mercies of majority of Micranthropos are the foundation of the creation of all the worlds is based on the part they play in the restoration of the kings. In this sense the mercies of Micranthropos, Are the foundation of the creation of all the worlds and their existence.46

The act of creation is conceived as the appearance of the mercies symbolised by Abraham which are crucial to the arousal of the male and therefore to the union which is the determinative moment of the restoration of the creation or, in terms reminiscent of the Zohar, the overcoming of the primal chaos. This moment is developed at much greater length in the lurianic version, this theme is developed in great detail as it is determinative of the nature and genesis of evil as it is conceived in the lurianic corpus.

Sefer Taamei Hamizvot, p. 186. 43!- 6 %!- , +!! 4 ' "%)" ".%)!% ' '! "42 ) '0 %7) ,6 !0% *37 The cosmic symbolism of completion reflected in the eight days of circumcision is found in the Bahir. The view that resurfaces here in the lurianic cabala was developed by the cabalists following the notion expounded in the Bahir that the light which sustains and illuminates the world is a separate act from the act of creation. Scholem, The Mystical Shape of the Godhead, pp. 104ff. 45 Shaar Hapsukim 7c. ".4!- 46 '!, ,  '4 !#  42!3 4" 46 Shaar Hapsukim 7b. ".')!3 7)%- %# 7!4 %6 ,!" 44

11 THE REDEMPTION FROM EGYPT The arousal of the male permits restoration of union that is disentangled from the embrace of the husks. The same process occurred at the restoration of the creation as happened at the release from the Egyptian captivity: the hold of the husks was destroyed by the entering consciousness of majority, which enabled union to take place: When Abraham went to the land of Israel, that is, when he aroused the union of Micranthropos and his partner … then the consciousness of majority entered and Lot, who represents the husks, was separated from Abraham.1

The exodus from Egypt was made possible through the union of the male and female configurations of the deity with the full consciousness of majority. The union of the eve of Passover of the two temporarily reconstructed full configurations of the male and female can therefore be seen as a reflection of the process that took place at the restoration of the emanation after the disaster of the destruction of the vessels.

THE UNION OF THE EVE OF PASSOVER The Egyptian exile signifies the minority of the configurations and their entanglement with the husks, the redemption from Egypt is brought about by the entering consciousness of majority and the full union that they make possible as occurred at the restoration of the emanation after the breaking of the vessels. While the exodus from Egypt was understood as a miraculous and temporary event, the same process will recur at the final redemption. In the view of the Zohar, the preliminary to the process of redemption is an exceptional event of union. The eve of Passover is the night of redemption, Israel are redeemed from the husks and the Kingdom is reunited 1 Shaar Hapsukim 7c. ... *" %6 *!%- ! 44-% 6 ,!"% '4 "% 46#" ".'4 %-) 0!%3 6 % 40+ ,7% *!) ,+#+ 

181

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with the Glory, restoring the sundered unity of the male and female aspects of the deity. On Passover eve the union of the male and female is reestablished: On this night [Passover eve] celestial holy intercourse is aroused and takes place, ‘This night is a night to be kept for the Lord’,2 what is the meaning of kept? It indicates two3 the moon and the sun. ‘For all the children of Israel throughout their generations,’ because from that time they were connected and bound up with the bond of the holy name.4

The Zohar emphasises that a redemptive process is intended, not solely a celestial one, but one that is binding on Israel for all their generations. For this reason: Festivals, Sabbaths and all days of moment in Israel have this remembrance for their object and basis.5

This union is binding on Israel for all their generations and this is the union that will take place in the future redemption. The Zohar sees the union of Passover Eve as miraculous. 6 Luria has a specific view of the content of this miracle, which concerns the restoration of fertile sexual union that occurred at the restoration of the emanation when the forces of destruction threatened to overcome the emergent configurations. It is the miraculous restoration of consciousness which enables union to take place that provides the means for the redemption of Israel from bondage. The content of the lurianic redemption is the restoration of fertile sexual union, as can also be seen in the doctrines surrounding the restoration of the emanation as they are symbolised in the figure of Abraham. This night marks the beginning of redemptive process and is immediately followed by a return to a state of destitution.7 Luria sees this night as merely marking the beginning of the redemptive process, in the form a pre2 Exodus 12,42. This was a night of vigil as the Lord waited to bring them out of Egypt. It is the Lord's night all Israelites keep their vigil generation after generation. 3 The term for vigil is plural in Hebrew. 4 Zohar 3,95a. '!!%  %!% ... #76 4-7 6!3 %-  !%!% !" *#)  '74% %46! !+ %#% ,6)6 4!,  !47 '!4)6 !) '!4)6 ".6!3 )6 463 4637 7 %% 5 Zohar 2,38a.".%# )!!37 ! %- !% +4# %# *!76 *! *!+) %#" 6 ‘Nothing as miraculous has been witnessed since the creation of the world.’ Zohar 2,38a. 7 Shaar Hacavanot 84a.

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liminary union, which will later bear fruit. In the lurianic corpus this exceptional and miraculous influx of consciousness is necessary in order to secure the release of the countenances from the domain of the husks. The process of redemption is set in motion by a miraculous awakening, represented by a union between Micranthropos and his female that transcends the natural order of events. The miraculous nature of this event is explained in relation to the consciousness of Micranthropos: on the eve of Passover Micranthropos receives an influx of consciousness which exceeds the natural order: On other feast days his consciousness enters in the natural order … but on the eve of Passover, Micranthropos was increased not in the order of nature.8

Before Passover eve, Micranthropos was reduced to his most withdrawn condition due to the prevalence of the husks in the exilic state. On Passover eve, he instantaneously receives an influx of consciousness which brings him to full majority. There are two major differences between the experience of Passover eve and the natural growth of Micranthropos. At other times his consciousness is increased by degrees following the natural order of maturity: on the eve of Passover, the new illumination enters all at once. Immediately, Micranthropos is transformed from the state of minimal illumination necessary to remain alive, known as the state of gestation, to his most elevated state. We are unable to participate in this event because of its extraordinary nature, our prayers are sufficient to raise Micranthropos by degrees, but an instantaneous influx of full consciousness exceeds our capacities.9 The second difference is due to the condition of Micranthropos on the eve of Passover. Since Micranthropos is in a condition of minority and in this depleted state he is most vulnerable to the depredations of the ‘other side’, the consciousness of majority enters first, in contrast to the natural order, to protect the entering consciousness from the husks. This new influx of consciousness is only temporary:

8 Shaar Hacavanot 81b-c. *#% '-  74) 4, *!) *!,+#+ "! 46" ".- "4# %6 " % ,0 %!% % +!6-) +!7%07 !"- *!%-  6-+ 9 Shaar Hacavanot 81c.

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA The majority of Micranthropos was temporary on the eve of Passover so that Israel could be redeemed. After the first day of Passover the consciousness recedes and he returns to his former state.10

The miraculous release of Micranthropos and his partner from the dominion of the husks is followed by a return to the state of gestation they were in before Passover eve. The consciousness will be reintroduced gradually, in the natural order of events, throughout the weeks of the Omer.

THE UNION OF THE SEVENTH DAY OF PASSOVER After the union of the eve of Passover Micranthropos and his partner return to their most reduced condition in which only a union of minority is possible. The union of the seventh day of Passover is therefore an union of minority comparable, in this respect, to the union of Hochma and Bina at the breaking of the vessels. The union of minority that led to the destruction of the female configuration of the deity, is reprised in a later union in the lurianic cabala: the union of the seventh day of Passover which is considered to be of messianic significance.11 While the union of minority between Hochma and Bina that produced the kings is merely hinted at and the understanding of the contraction as spilled seed may be deduced from the parallels with other events, the union of the seventh day of Passover provides the fullest description of the union of minority in the lurianic corpus. The main locus of the union of the seventh day of Passover is in Shaar Hacavanot. There are two additional descriptions of the union of the seventh day of Passover, linked to the union of the seventh day of Passover described in Shaar Hacavanot: the Hind of Dawn, drawn from the Zohar and the biblical incident of the striking of the rock by Moses.

THE HIND OF DAWN Union in the state of minority is the lurianic interpretation of the Zoharean myth of the union between the Hind of Dawn and the serpent sent to her rescue by the Lord.12 On the seventh day of Passover when both MicranShaar Hacavanot 84a. !# ,0 %6 *64 %!% -6 !0% ! "  '%" ".7)3% 4 '+ *!) %# '!3%7,) ,0 %6 *64 '! 4 %!% %46! %#!6 11 Yehuda Liebes, ‘“Two Young Roes of a Doe”: The Secret Sermon of Isaac Luria Before his Death’, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 10 (1992) pp. 113-170. (Hebrew) 12 Zohar 3,249a-b based on Baba Batra 16b. For other ancient sources see Liebes, ‘Two Young Roes of a Doe’, pp. 168-9. 10

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thropos and the female have returned to a state of minority, the Female attempts to give birth to the souls conceived at the union of majority of the eve of Passover. The account of this event is closely modelled on the account of the Hind of Dawn giving birth to her young, an account that has messianic significance in the Zohar:13 Since this root of minority is the origin of the husks it is also called the upper serpent in the secret of the serpent that bites the womb of the hind.14

In her minority, the Kingdom has only five severe judgements and is therefore called the Hind whose womb is narrow. Union on the seventh day of Passover is with the member of Micranthropos who is in a state of minority, symbolised by the serpent who bites her womb, and this is known as the parting of the waters of the red sea:15 When she gives forth those cries of childbirth, as she is about to give birth, the male unites with her in the aspect of minority … and this union opens up her womb and she gives birth.16 This incident is based on the account of the Zohar of the birth of souls,17 where the bite of the snake prevents the souls falling to the husks. The unimpeded birth of the souls at the union of the seventh day of Passover had the historical consequence that the souls of the Israelites were able to emerge from the Egyptian bondage by the parting of the waters of the red sea.18 Any union of minority is of necessity contaminated, but this union is compared to the contaminated union that is regarded as archetypal. The talmudic interpretation of the biblical incident of Eve and the snake19 is developed in the lurianic cabala into the imagery of the union of minority. In the lurianic corpus the archeytpal union of minority reveals the significance of the union of Eve and the serpent: 13

Liebes, ‘Two Young Roes of a Doe’, p. 156ff. Mevo Shearim 6,2,2. 43+  ' *#% ,0!%3 646 7+ 3  646 7!%" ".%! '4 "6+ 6+ , *!%- 6+ 15 Shaar Hacavanot 86c-d. 16 Shaar Hacavanot. p. 322 on Psalm 20,1 ‘May the Lord answer you in the hour of trouble.’ '! )- 4# )  ,%!% 246# 7%3 '7 73-2 46#" ".7%! )4 70+   !"- ... )6+ 3% 17 Zohar 2,219b-220a. 18 This incident also recalls the sundering of the waters of the creation myths. 19 For the union of Eve and the serpent see Shabbat 146a. 14

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MAN AND THE THEOGONY IN THE LURIANIC CABALA Because the root of minority is the source of the husks, he too is known as the serpent, the higher serpent … Understand that from this upper serpent suckles the impure serpent, which is the serpent that came to Eve.20

At this stage of their development, Micranthropos and his bride are susceptible to the influence of the husks and are in danger of uniting with them. Interestingly in the discussion on the Hind of Dawn in the Zohar, when the hind is threatened by a serpent, it is another similar beast which the Lord sends to rescue the hind.21 Contrary to Tishby‘s opinion that the second serpent is also from the husks,22 the lurianic understanding of this discussion, at least, is that a similar, but holy emissary, is the male himself in the state of minority. The threat that the presence of the male is intended to avert is union with the impure serpent, first on the scene. The dual nature of the female implied in the description of the union of minority is captured in Herodotus’ ‘image of the maiden-snake. Herodotus describes ‘a strange being between a maiden and a serpent’.23 Similar in nature is also the figure of Mehetabel daughter of Matred who is half woman and half fire.24

20 Mevo Shearim 6,2,2. 6+ ,''  * )  6+ 3+! '6) *!%- 6+ " ". %- 6 21 ‘When the hind enters the mount of darkness a tortuous snake is waiting for her and it follows her … the lord summons for her another snake … and they attack one another and she is saved’. Zohar 3,249b. 22 Many cabalists agreed with Tishby, see Liebes, ‘Two Young Does of a Roe’, p. 128. 23 Herodotus, Histories, London 1996, book 4, 8-10. Galia Raza also depicts a female figure who has the dual nature of the Tree of Good and Evil, following Tikunei Zohar §66, the copper of Nebuchadnezer’s statue in Daniel 2,32 is interpreted as referring to the lower half of the body which belongs to the domain of the serpent in a play on the words copper and serpent. Galia Raza, critical edition by Rachel Elior, p. 148. The second century gnostic, Justin, also mentions a female principle, Eden, who is described as a young woman down to the groin, but a serpent below that, Michael Allen Williams, Rethinking Gnosticism, Princeton 1996, p. 19. 24 Mehetabel appears in Genesis 36,39. Scholem, The Treatise of the Left Emanation, p. 161.

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THE ROCK The transitional borderline state represented in the Zohar by the serpent that was transformed into the rod of Moses25 is likely to be at the base of the lurianic exegesis which identifies the union of the seventh day of Passover with the striking of the rock by Moses. The rock that Moses struck is identified with Rachel, the true bride of Micranthropos. The identification of the rod with the serpent is already established and the rod is further identified here with the member of the male in the state of minority. The identification of Moses with the male is also current as Moses, to be accurate, represents the consciousness of knowledge of the father. The striking of the rock is described as an erroneous attempt to bring the female face to face with Micranthropos prematurely by causing consciousness to descend from the Father to the female, another lurianic formulation of a premature union or a union of minority. Moses’ fault lay in his attempt to restore the female before she had received the complete consciousness necessary to attain her full stature. This same fault is described in the episode of the spies sent out by Moses into Israel,26 who are seen as emanating from the consciousness of the Father. The minority of Rachel is symbolised or manifested in the generation of the desert who had to die before Israel could enter the promised land.27 The discussion of the water and blood that emerge from the womb of the female is based on the discussion of the Hind of Dawn in the Zohar,28 where first blood emerges which the serpent drinks and then water flows out from which all beings are nourished. The blood that emerges from the womb of Rachel is identified with the blood of the virginity, a state of development which is equated with the consciousness of minority from which the husks are nourished. Unlike that of other women, the virginity of Rachel is periodically renewed as she is returned to her minority, as a preventive measure against incursions by the husks.29 The water that emerges from the womb of the hind after the blood is identified with the semen of the male. The fact that Moses struck the rock twice is interpreted in the light of 25

Liebes, ‘Two Young Roes of a Doe’ p. 137 note 210. Zohar 3,249a-b. Cf. Sefer Hatmuna Lemberg 1892, 33a. *!4 ) 7)6+ , %+ *!%4)" ".*#4# %6 7%-% 27 Ozrot Haim 52b. 28 Zohar 3,249a-b. Yalkut Tehilim on Psalm 78 also discusses the blood and water that emerged from the rock based on the parallelism of the verb zuv to Leviticus 15,25 on menstrual blood. 29 Tree of Life 6,39,10. 26

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the talmudic dictum that a woman does not become impregnated from the first union,30 emphasising that the aim of this illicit and premature union was procreation. This union is further identified with the sin of the first man, who is said to have slept with his wife while she was menstruating. The identification of this union with the story of the garden of Eden reappears again here in another aspect: And for this reason the first man was banished from the Garden of Eden as it is written, ‘Do not approach a woman in the impurity of her menstruation’.31

A similar understanding of sexual relations with a menstruant as a recreation of the original defilement of the Shechina by the powers of evil appears in the Zohar: Alas then, for a man who touches a woman at that time, for by this sin he awakens the supernal serpent who casts filth into a holy place, then punishments are let lose upon the world and all is defiled.32

The symbolism of the episode of the rock also illustrates the fact that this union of minority recreates or reflects the original defilement of creation by the forces of evil. In the lurianic exegesis on this episode, the union of the seventh day of Passover and the striking of the rock are explicitly identified with the sin of the first man: The sin of Moses, who sinned with the rock,33 is, in truth, the sin of the first man who united before the Sabbath and caused the male member of minority, known as the serpent, to unite with the Shechina.34

30

Yevamot 34a, Likutei Tora, p. 220. Leviticus 18,19; Likutei Tora, p. 220. 6 % , *- *) 4'' 64+ *#%" ".437 % 7) 7+ 32 Zohar 3,79a. ! 4-7    ... +)   43! *)% !" )%- 4-7% *!!46 *!+! *!# ... "!4 2 % 47 ) !6 %!-% 0!37 ".%# *7,! Cordovero's commentary on the Zohar states that sleeping with a menstruant will cause damage the soul of the child to be born. Bracha Zack, ‘Moses Cordovero and Isaac Luria’, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 10 (1992) p. 326. (Hebrew) 33 Moses struck the rock instead of addressing it, Numbers 20,11-12. 34 Likutei Tora p. 220. 4"   6))  -%,  6 '' ґ -4)   *!+-" ".+!#6 '- 7+ 3 ,! % '4 76 '3 +6 31

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The sin of the first man was a reflection of the original contamination in the upper sphere and the union of the seventh day of Passover can therefore be seen as an attempt to repeat this procedure with a greater degree of success. The union of the seventh day of Passover involves the active participation of the husks, since the male in the state of minority has not yet received the consciousness of knowledge which alone enable him to unite. The lurianic view that the consciousness of knowledge is essential to union can be seen in the lurianic interpretation of the talmudic expression, ‘there is no erection without knowledge’.35 The lurianic understanding of this dictum is that the male cannot unite with the female before he has acquired the full complement of consciousness of knowledge: At the age of nine years and one day his union is considered a union, in the words of the sages,36 because his knowledge is complete and union is in the mystery of knowledge, as the verse says ‘And Adam knew his wife’.37

In fact, the consciousness of knowledge is the defining factor and the main burden of the concept of majority, as full majority of thirteen years and one day is defined as the state in which Micranthropos is able to unite although not yet procreate. We must therefore assume that the consciousness of knowledge that permits union to take place was supplied by the husks. The husks have no consciousness of knowledge of their own, but may receive them through the sins of man.38 If Micranthropos has not yet 35 Yevamot 53b discusses compulsion in sexual intercourse and notes that erection depends on the will (daat or knowledge). The Tree of Life 6,39,7. notes that the consciousness of knowledge is essential for union and adds that although consciousness was given to Micranthropos and his partner at the emanation ‘every time they wish to unite they must take them anew’. 36 Sanhedrin 69a. 37 Genesis 4,1. Shaar Hahacdamot 44a. ! 7! *#% ' '! '!+6 '-  )%6+" 4)6 )# 7- , ! '%6+ 4)+ 6 7- '! %#6 !0% ,%''4 4)6 )# ".76  7 -! ' 7# 38 Drush Hefzi Ba 7a considers that the inclusion of the evil inclination in the union, when the husks are mitigated at their source, is a desirable alternative to the dominion of the husks when they are not included. ‘Before the restoration all the worlds were in the secret of judgement and [the husks] did not rise but dominated’. With the advent of king Solomon the husks no longer dominated but rose and were mitigated at their roots in the realm of the holy: ‘And then two prostitutes came to the King, then and not before’. (Sifra Dizniuta chapter 5.) The two prostitutes represent the dual consciousness of the female of the husks which is mitigated at the time of Solomon.

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achieved sufficient maturity to unite by his own means, he is dependent on the forces of the husks. In a union of this kind the husks participate and may even dominate, as happened with the union of the first man which caused considerable damage to the holy emanation and considerable advantage to the husks. The lurianic corpus also adheres to the view, prized by the Sabbateans, that many great souls are the result of sexual faults.39 As are for example Rabbi Akiva, all the kings of the line of David and the Messiah.40 Abraham, for example, was conceived when his mother was menstruating and was therefore held captive in the husks.41 Souls conceived in a union of minority contain within them all the diverse range of existence and their elevation is, of itself, the elevation of the husks to realm of the holy.42 In view of the eschatological implications of the inclusion and mitigation of the husks in the realm of the holy, the messianic advantages of a soul from a contaminated union are considerable. In this sense the messianic figure who is the issue of a contaminated union can reverse the effect of the original contaminated union of the first man, which caused the good to become embroiled and intermingled with evil.

THE COUNTING OF THE OMER The counting of the Omer, seen as a period of growth and gradual maturity, is also conceived in parallel as a period of purification in which the countenances of the deity are gradually released from their entanglement with the husks. Although it is primarily couched in terms of the purification of the female, this purification concerns both the male and female countenances released from the husks by the entering consciousness of majority. The purification of the Kingdom after the Egyptian exile although it is couched in terms of normal ritual purification of women, is also explained as following

39

Meroz, Messianism in the Lurianic Kabbalah p. 347. Shaar Hagilgulim chapter 38. On the birth of King David in Joseph of Hamadan see Moshe Idel, ‘Additional Remnants from the Writings of Joseph of Hamadan’, Daat 21 (1988) p. 48. (Hebrew) 41 Shaar Hapsukim 52c. 42 In a similar vein, Rabbi Moses of Burgos considered the fact that King David was descended from idolaters to be advantageous ‘for when the seed becomes good again … it lacks nothing, for it knows all the ways of good and all the ways of evil’. Gershom Scholem, ‘The Kabbalah of R. Jacob and R. Isaac Hacohen’, Madaei Hayahadut 2 (1927) p. 222. (Hebrew) 40

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a period of estrangement from her husband and vulnerability to the Other Side; a vulnerability which, of itself, does not require ritual purification. The Zohar equates the barley offering with the testing of a suspected adulteress. How could the Holy Land be examined to see if she had remained faithful and had not united with any alien authority? By bringing an offering of barley, as in the case of the suspected adulteress.43

This connection is retained in the lurianic corpus which equates the barley offering with the judgements of the female in a state of minority. Shaar Hacavanot connects the judgements of the female with the barley offering which is offered in expiation of the female: The five judgements represented by the five final letters44 are the barley offering which is offered on the first day of the Omer. 45

The counting of the Omer continues until the judgements of the female are mitigated and she is purified. Ibn Tabul considers the Omer to be a period of purification of the female to enable her to unite with her husband: The intention of the Omer is to mitigate the 320 [judgements] of Micranthropos and the 320 [judgements] of the female. These forty-nine days … are called the days of judgement for they are days of impurity, as the female is not yet purified for her husband.46

In addition to the purification of the female for the contaminated union of minority, purification of the female is also required after giving birth: When a woman conceives and bears a male child she shall be unclean for seven days … The woman shall wait for thirty-three days because her blood requires purification; she shall touch nothing that is holy and shall not enter the sanctuary till her days of purification are completed.47

Zohar 3,189a on Numbers 5,15. % 7+)!) 7)!!3 ! -4 73! "!" ". , 4 +# '!4-6  )47 !43 4 64 747 44 The five final letters are the five letters which have a distinct final form in Hebrew. 45 Shaar Hacavanot 86c. 43+6 '!4-6 7+) 4)- '! '6 ""02+) ' '" ".4)-% ' '! 46 Ibn Tabul, Commentary on the Commandments, p. 99. 37)% 7+# 4)- 7!2)" !)! '6 !0% *! !)! 43+ '!)! '') %6 *!+- .!3+ %6 "''6 '' %6 "''6 ".%-% 4 + % *!-6 )  47 Leviticus 12, 2-4. 43

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Two elements which characterise this period: the purification of the female who has given birth and the edification of the spirit of the new born are combined in the Zohar: Many myriads are brought forth every hour but they are not called souls until they are settled in a body … ‘And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days.’ These are to allow the spirit to settle in the body.48

In the lurianic corpus, the Gate of the Commandments49 relates the counting of the Omer to the ritual purification of the blood of a woman who has given birth. The birth alluded to here is the birth of the souls conceived at the union of majority of the eve of Passover50 that takes place on the seventh day of Passover at the parting of the waters of the red sea. The blood of the female is contaminated and requires purification, following the contaminated union of minority; the birth of souls conceived on the eve of Passover and the consequent impurity to the female.51 Although the Omer in its entirety represents a period of purification, a distinction is made in the counting of the Omer between the first thirty-three days in which the most rigorous judgements are mitigated and the rest of the Omer. Ibn Tabul designates the thirty-third day as a turning point in the process of the mitigation of the judgements: As the judgements rule during these days, we draw down the exchange letters of Elohim52 in order to mitigate its judgements and on each of these days we draw down this mitigation from Bina, and this mitigation is completed on the thirty-third day of the Omer.53

The exchange of the letters signifies the changing of the impure blood to pure, which refers to the mitigating of the judgements which are turned into mercies.54 In the lurianic corpus, this period is connected to the divi48

Zohar 3:43b. Shaar Hamizvot, Tazria, p. 50. 50 See also Ronit Meroz, Messianism in the Lurianic Corpus, p. 306ff. 51 Tree of Life 5,18,6. The process of gestation and birth is essentially one of purification in the lurianic symbolism. 52 ''' # 53 Joseph Ibn Tabul, Commentary on the Commandments, p. 99. % %66 !0%" %) '! %# ... +! 37)% !# +!) %6 /%! '!#!6)) + '!% , '!)! ''%  '''7# 6 37!) '%6!6# .+! *) 37!)  '!#!6)) + '!)! ".4)- 54 Shaar Hamizvot, section Tazria, p. 50. 49

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sion of the Omer in which the first thirty-three days are required for the purification of the judgements. The blood that requires purification is the blood of the consciousness of minority, which are the garments of the vessel of the foundation of Tevuna, the rear of Bina which fell in the breaking of the vessels. The five garments of mercies are pure blood and the five garments of judgements are impure blood. The blood representing the judgements of minority to which the husks are attached, continues to flow55 until Micranthropos receives the consciousness of the second minority from Bina herself, on the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer. The historical manifestations of the purification and completion of Micranthropos are drawn from the Zohar and concern R. Akiva and the ordination of his disciples. Luria saw a parallel between the messianic revival of the law in the time of Rabbi Akiva and the messianic revival of the law in the Idra Raba56 and this parallel is developed and integrated into the lurianic lore of the restoration. The first period of the mitigation of the judgements of Micranthropos corresponds to the period of the death of the pupils of R. Akiva. The reason for the death of the pupils of R. Akiva is the absence of the consciousness of the Father which necessitates the production of severe judgements to prevent the other side taking hold of the mercies of the Mother, which are dual in the sense of the tree of good and evil. This is the secret of: ‘to die without wisdom’,57 without the mercies of the father Micranthropos is comparable to a dead man. At the exodus from Egypt the mercies and judgements begin to expand throughout the body of Micranthropos, from his knowledge. Rabbi Akiva himself represents the knowledge of Micranthropos and his pupils represent the expansion of the consciousness of knowledge throughout the body. The first pupils of R. Akiva represent the first expansion of rigorous judgements from the knowledge of Micranthropos in the first consciousness of minority. The consciousness of minority are severe judgements and in the case of these consciousness, unlike the consciousness of majority, the judgements are the first to expand.58 These pupils therefore represent the 55 The vulnerability of Micranthropos to the husks in his minority is the subject of the lurianic interpretation of the verse in Genesis 9,6. ‘He who sheds the blood of man in man, his blood shall be shed’ e.g. Shaar Hacavanot 84c interpreted in a similar spirit in Joseph Ashkenazi’s Commentary on Genesis Raba, p. 37. 56 Liebes, ‘The Messiah of the Zohar’, pp. 37-43. This section is based in the analysis of the Idra in ‘The Messiah of the Zohar’. 57 Job 4,21. 58 Shaar Hacavanot 83d.

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most severe judgements of consciousness. The period when the first disciples of R. Akiva were active represents the first stage of the minority of Micranthropos, undeveloped and helpless before the husks. The pupils were struck down by the severity of the judgements of the first minority, to which the other side adheres without hindrance. It is a principle of lurianic lore that the connection of the other side is to the severe judgements of the consciousness of minority and the affinity of the forces of evil to these judgements is the reason for the particular peril that accompanies the state of minority. The condition of lack of love and harmony between the fellows mentioned in connection with the first pupils of Rabbi Akiva is considered to be a feature of the unrestored state, as can be seen from the description of Micranthropos before the restoration, where he is likened to Ephraim caught in the web of idolatry:59 The seven parts of the points of Micranthropos emerged separated from each other … for there was no unity between them, no expansion or connection; but like isolated individuals each went his own way and there was no love or affection between them. For this reason the vessels were not able to contain their lights and they shattered.60

Once these severe judgements have been mitigated, Micranthropos is able to receive new consciousness of majority. Thus, although the process of renewal of Micranthropos is not completed, the severe judgements have been overcome or contained. The blood stopped flowing, and in the historical sphere the pupils of Rabbi Akiva ceased dying. The ordination of the new disciples of R. Akiva marks a turning point and the beginning of the restoration of Micranthropos. The consciousness of the second minority comes from the Bina herself, not the derivative countenance of Tvuna and the judgements are consequently less severe. The significance of Bina is that she represents the original constellation which was not destroyed at the time of the breaking of the vessels and therefore, unlike Lea or Tvuna, does not require mitigation. The consciousness of the second minority, repre59 ‘Ephraim keeping company (havur) with idols’. Hosea 4, 17. The comparison developed in the lurianic text suggests itself more readily in Hebrew where social association and physical junction are expressed by the same root hbr. 60 Ozrot Haim 40b. ! * ! % !# ... )  740+ 2! '' 3+ !3% '"  '!+! ! % +0 #4% 6! '!40+ '!6+ *!)# 34 74637 7 607 ".*7)* 74 '! '!%# % %,% %#! % *#% ! ‘The defect of the shattering and death of these kings was caused by the separation between them.’ Tree of Life 3,141.

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sented by the five new disciples of R. Akiva, is consequently much less rigorous than that of the first. The results of this restoration made themselves felt in the historical sphere as an act of revival of Jewish law and tradition: the act of ordination of the five new pupils of R. Akiva. This act of restoration accords well with the historical understanding of the messianic nature of this ordination as an act of defiance of Roman law and a revival of Jewish law.61 The thirty-third day of the Omer is also the date on which Luria considered the Idra Raba to have taken place.62 The Idra Raba is thereby incorporated into the lurianic scheme as a way-point, a partial restoration.

61

Liebes, Studies in the Zohar, pp. 38-9. Idem p. 40. This date is in tune with the Zohar’s own view of the Idra as an intermediary stage of the restoration. 62

12 MYSTIC UNION AND THE REVELATION AT SINAI The redemptive process that is seen in the Exodus from Egypt follows the schema of the mystical ascent of the individual mystic from the state of ignorance and impurity to the state of illumination. This parallelism provides an additional indication that the cosmological and historical aspects of the lurianic doctrine are only a symbolic representation of the spiritual process of the emergence of consciousness. This ascent, in the lurianic corpus, is not that of the individual mystic but a process that begins in the deity, is continued in man and is also reflected in the course of history. Elements of a scheme of redemption which concerns the people of Israel as a nation and reflects a process which take place in the deity and in history already present in the Zohar are developed and integrated into the lurianic doctrine. From the Zohar, Luria drew the symbolism of union of the deity which is also reflected in the historical stages of the fate of the children of Israel. The Zohar has sketched out a redemptive process which begins with the union of the eve of Passover; includes an intermediary stage of purification in the generation of the desert and culminates at Sinai.1 Israel in Egypt are represented by the Zohar as captive by the forces of evil, ‘When Israel were in Egypt, they were under an alien power’. The captivity of the Israelites is a reflection of the state of the Shechina: in this state Israel are represented as being destitute and impoverished.2 The purification of the nation that emerged from Egypt takes places in the generation of the desert. According to the Hebrew works of Moshe de Leon, this generation were known as the generation of knowledge because of the forty years they spent in the desert acquiring authentic knowledge of God’s unity.3 The redemp1

Discussed in Elliot Wolfson, ‘Left Contained in the Right: A Study in Zoharic Hermeneutics’, AJS 2 (1986) pp. 27-52. 2 ‘They were given the bread of affliction, symbolic of the female principle, which without the male principle is, so to speak, in poverty’. Zohar 1,157a. 3 The generation of knowledge Leviticus Raba 9.1. In The Shekel of the Sanctuary,

197

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tive process culminates in the theophany at Sinai, where the sins of the nation were eradicated. These stages also correspond in their broad outline to the essential stages of the lurianic historical schema, although the lurianic version is more clear cut than the version of the Zohar, which relies more heavily on biblical exegesis. The lurianic version follows the main events of the lurianic drama and the emphasis is on the cathartic process within the deity. The identity of the historical process with the catharsis of the deity is characteristic of the innovations of the lurianic system. On this basis, the lurianic cabala has developed a view of the mystic process of ascent not solely as a personal and individual experience but one that is communal and archetypal and exerts an influence over nations and epochs. This process of mystical ascent is itself a reflection of a process of revelation and union that takes place in the deity. The three stages of the ascent of the soul described by the Christian Platonists are purification, illumination and perfection, by which the soul becomes one with God. The ascent is typified in Moses’ ascent of Mount Sinai and the three stages in the three heavens, to the third of which Saint Paul was rapt. These stages are linked to the stages of man’s development by Dionysius Aereopagita who expounds the triple rhythm of the movement of the deity as the source of enlightenment. The legal hierarchy corresponds to the ascent from paganism to the monotheism of the law; the ecclesiastical to the revelation of the son and the ascent from the law to the gospel and the celestial to the final ascent through the intelligible world to deification.4 The stages of the ascent of the soul are linked to the stages of man’s development by St. Gregory Nazianzen. These stages are described as a movement of deification effected by divine condescension which will not reach its completion until it has penetrated the whole of human and even cosmic reality. 5

THE AWAKENING ON PASSOVER EVE The mystic ascent of the soul begins with a miraculous process of awakening, which takes place on the eve of Passover. The union of the eve of Passover is a supernatural event that inaugurates the process of redemption, ed. Mopsik p. 235, so called because of the forty years they spent in the desert acquiring authentic knowledge of God's unity. 4 The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy p. 446. 5 Gregory of Nazianzen (329/30c.-390). The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy, p. 446. Gregory Nazianzen, Orationes xi,6.

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without this extraordinary influx of consciousness the union that provoked the exodus from Egypt would not have been possible. The supernatural revelation that is necessary in order to initiate the mystic process of illumination appears elsewhere in literature of mysticism. The exceptional union of Passover eve may profitably be compared to what Evelyn Underhill calls the ‘awakening of the self’. The revelation is the first in the sequence of mystic states, a decisive event which inaugurates the onset of transcendental consciousness.6 As in the Zohar and the lurianic cabala on the night of Passover eve, this revelation is decisive and primary in the sense that this awakening is necessary for the mystic process to begin. Underhill describes this state as a shifting in the equilibrium of the self which results in the shifting of the field of consciousness from lower to higher levels and quotes Pratt, who describes this kind of experience as: The abrupt or gradual emergence of intuitions from below the threshold, the consequent remaking of the field of consciousness, an alteration in the self’s relation to the world.7

Although this event may well be the result of a long period of uncertainty and gestation, it appears in the guise of a sudden revelation: This onset of new consciousness seems to the self so sudden, so clearly imposed from without, rather than developed from within, as to have a supernatural character.

The sudden revelation of previously unconscious content, inducing a consequent reorientation of the self in its relation to the world, is the motive force for the process of illumination that follows. This revelation is often followed by a further period of difficulty and uncertainty as happens in the lurianic cabala, where it is described in the counting of the Omer.

PURIFICATION The first stage of the mystical ascent concerns the purification of the soul and corresponds to the need for separation of the spirit from the body, or the separation of the spiritual man from the domain of the husks. Dionysius Areopagita describes the ascent from the legal to the celestial hierarchy as a purgation of the materiality of the symbols, which is irrelevant for their significance.8 The symbolic theology, which is the theology of the first stage, is 6

Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism, Metheun 1967, p. 176. Underhill, Mysticism, p. 177. 8 The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy p. 464. 7

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concerned with discarding the materiality and evoking the significance of the sensible universe. This stage is seen as an indispensable prerequisite for illumination. St. Gregory Nazianzen forbids instruction to be received before purification and considers the influx of unworthy people to holy orders a result of the disruption of the sequence of purification, illumination and perfection which expresses the hierarchic harmony of the universe.9 The first stage of the union concerns the separation of the mind from the body, or the separation of the ‘natural’ from the ‘spiritual’ man. The aim of this separation is to free the mind from the disturbing affectivity of the body. The discrimination and dissolution of the composite of instinct and rationality is experienced as a kind of death of the individual. Damascius, in his commentary on the Phaedo, notes that death that detaches from the inferior is a process of purification, for ‘death is a process of separation’.10 This is one of the reasons that the symbolism of the ten martyrs of the kingdom and the female waters occupies such a commanding place in the lurianic myth. The doctrine of the female waters illustrates a central theme of the dynamics of the restoration of the deity and represents an indispensable first stage to the subsequent union of the opposites torn asunder by the revelation of the deity. The motif of the separation of the spirit from the body can be seen in the meditation of the Zohar on the souls of the righteous who supply female waters for the Assembly of Israel [The Kingdom]: For ‘love is strong as death’11 it is as strong as the separation of the spirit from the body … When a man comes to depart from the world the spirit moves through every part of the body … like a man going out to sea without oars, moving restlessly up and down … and no time is more violent. Thus, the love of the Assembly of Israel for the Holy One is strong, just as death is strong when the spirit seeks to separate from the body.12

9

The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy pp. 443-4. Luria, on the personal level, also required extensive purification such as fasting and ritual immersion from his student before revealing his secrets to them as attested in Shaar Ruah Hakodesh, Jerusalem 1988, p. 39. 10 The Greek Commentaries on Plato's Phaedrus, volume 2 Damascius, translated by L G Westerink, North Holland Publishing Company 1977, § 127. “̔ɑǹ ȧɧ ɑƬɧ ɑňȝ əŁȝƬɑȧɍ ȂƬņ ȂŁəƬȽɌǹɍ, Ćȉȉŀ ʼn Ƭáȧ ɑȧɧ ƿǘǹȽȧȝȧɍ əƬȝƬɑȧɍ. χȥȽǹɌɑǹȂňɍ γ ŀȽ Ĩ əƬȝƬɑȧɍ.” 11 Song of Songs 8,6. 12 Zohar 1,245a. 7-6 ... 0 *) 4 6!40# ! 0!37  7)# -"

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The Zohar tied the production of female waters to the death of the initiate and the connection between the separation of the spirit and the body and the production of female waters is retained in the lurianic cabala. The motifs of dissolution and the cathartic motifs of purification are prominent in the doctrines of the breaking of the vessels. The breaking of the vessels completes the purification of the deity, in the world of the nikudim, where the breaking of the vessels took place, the evil that was quiescent in the deity is finally fully revealed. We find that in the world of nikudim there was a complete revelation of the refuse. For by the death of the kings and their restoration … the interior was separated from the refuse.13

The cathartic purification is achieved by a separation of the spirit from the vessel that is compared to death in man. For the seven lower kings died a complete death like a man who leaves this world; the spirit returns to the lord who gave it and the body, that no longer has the strength to contain the spirit and sustain it, dies and returns to the earth below.14

This purification takes place not solely in the individual mystic, but is understood as a process that begins in the deity and is completed in man.15

ILLUMINATION The second stage is characterised by the Christian Platonists as the stage of gradual illumination. The ascent from the ecclesiastical to the celestial hier% )! %! *)# ... 0 !0!!6 %# % 4 ... )%- *) 3%7,% ! ) +" 0!37 "# ,0 *) 4 6!40 )!# 0!37 7!% ... !% !!+) % 7!+ 3!%, *! !!6 *) 6407% 4 !- 7-6 7) 0!37#  "!4 63 !% !"+# )!4 ".0 13 Mevo Shearim 2,2,2. %- !# ,7%,0 % 4) !% ! '!3- '%- !# 2)+" ".7%,0 "7) %# 44+ ... '!#%) 77!) !! 14 Mevo Shearim 2,2,3. 40+ '# 4) 7) ' ! '!+77 '!#%) -6" 4 7 %#% - #  *! 46 ,/ +7+ 46 '!% % 67 46 '%-) ". )% 40- % 6 7),#7 %# !)-% 15 The idea of the tension that is present between the body and the spirit, and their possible sundering which leads to damage in the deity is also present in the works of Rabbi Isaac the Blind, see the Commentary on Sefer Yesira published by Scholem in The Kabbalah in Provence p. 16. Haviva Pedaya discusses the tension between the revealed and concealed aspects of the deity in this connection in ‘Defect and Restoration of the Deity’, pp. 178-9.

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archy, which corresponds to the second stage in Dionysius the Areopagite, is described as an illumination which renders the multiplicity of symbols transparent so that through them the One can be discerned. This stage is illustrated in the lurianic cabala in the process of the increase of consciousness of Micranthropos and his partner in the period of the counting of the Omer. The Omer is defined as the necessary period of growth and illumination before the union that takes place at Sinai. The mystic doctrine of illumination following the awakening sheds light on the increase of consciousness of Micranthropos and his partner during this period and the reason for its occurrence at this stage. Seen also by the Zohar as a transitional period between the rigors of the Egyptian exile and the final redemption, this stage began dramatically with the miraculous awakening of Passover Eve. After Passover eve, Micranthropos returns to his minority and the process begins again, this time not instantaneously, but following the natural order. The division of the redemptive process in the lurianic corpus is very clear cut. At this second stage, the emphasis is on the growth of the configurations from an impoverished state to that of full maturity. As in the Zohar, the time from Passover to Pentecost is the arena in which these events take place. This period represents the process of elevation from evil to perfection because of the historical events that define it. Both Micranthropos and his partner receive consciousness composed of judgements and mercies from the Mother and Father. They undergo all the stages of their development gestation, suckling and majority, just as they did in the cosmic cycle. This is the same process that occurred on the eve of Passover when the entire development of the countenances occurred in one night. The consciousness which Micranthropos received in a miraculous manner on the eve of Passover now returns to him in the natural order. The perfection of the lowest two configurations of the deity in the counting of the Omer is also conceived in parallel as the purification of these configurations from the illicit union with the Other Side. This illicit union reflects the emergent state of the configurations at the first emanation, when they were in danger of being overwhelmed by the husks. This symbolism concerns principally, but not exclusively, the female configuration, as Micranthropos is also purified and redeemed in the same way. The goal of the increase of consciousness is the redemption of the consciousness of knowledge captive in the husks. The captive consciousness represents the procreative powers that in their primitive and chthonic form were irredeemably entangled with the untempered judgements of the forces of evil. The increase in consciousness described as a mystic illumination also renders the configurations less vulnerable to the husks. The increase in con-

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sciousness and the disentanglement from the husks are therefore two complementary aspects of the same process. A similarity to the allegorical language of the lurianic exposition can be found in the mystery religions. What they have in common is the use of the powerful mythic themes of rebirth to convey the idea of the perfection of the human soul. This is the theme that is in evidence in the lurianic version of the redemption described in the Egyptian exodus. In certain cults, the ascent of the soul at death was anticipated by ritual acts which effected the return of the soul provisionally or symbolically. The result achieved by the ritual was known as rebirth. In the cult of the mystery religions the fate and triumph of the deity, mostly centred around the theme of death and resurrection, are experienced by the initiate that is reborn as an actor on the stage. The concepts of the perfect man and of being perfected implied from the start an idea of a definite way of perfection and therefore an idea of a beginning and an end. In Jonas’ view, the mystery religions provided a prototype of a view of life as an organised ascent to union which survived in the later metaphorical language of mysticism.16 As they were prefigured in the ritual of the mystery cult they are also allegorically present in the drama of the exodus from Egypt in the lurianic corpus. The transition from the mystery religions to the metaphorical use of these themes found in the mystic texts was facilitated, according to Jonas, by the later evolution of the mystery religions themselves. Increasingly, the drama became not merely an enactment of a legend of the gods but centred round the initiate himself. It is the initiate himself that is reborn as a god and the fate and triumph of the deity recorded in the ritual of the cult are now experienced by the initiate himself. 17 Jonas’ description of the transition from mythic to a mystic view fits the change that has taken place in lurianic eschatology. What happens here to an eschatological scheme is that the eschaton is taken into the range of the subject’s own faculties of self-modification and becomes a supreme possibility of existence itself.18

The initiate is symbolised in the lurianic cabala by Micranthropos as the archetype of the self. In this sense, Micranthropos is the initiate who undergoes rebirth. Micranthropos displays the perfected, circular movement of the deity through revelation back to perfection in this sense Micranthro16

Jonas, Philosophical Essays p. 299. Jonas, Philosophical Essays pp. 297-9. 18 Idem. p. 294. 17

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pos is the point at which the revelation of the deity and his incarnation in man coincide.

PERFECTION In the final stage of its ascent, the soul is transformed and becomes simple, unified and godlike. Dionysius Areopagita holds that the soul, at this stage, is brought to an inexpressible union which is the perfection of deification.19 Union entails the restoration and perfection of the soul and according to Gregory of Nyssa, the restored image, as the perfect man, becomes one with Christ the perfect man.20 This view will be seen to exhibit parallels with the lurianic view of Micranthropos. In the lurianic cabala the third and final stage of union corresponds to the revelation at Sinai, where Micranthropos receives his full complement of consciousness. The revelation at Sinai is conceived in midrashic sources as a foretaste of eternity,21 and is compared in the Zohar to the perfection of the messianic era. This revelation, which has never been surpassed, represents the highest stage of revelation and understanding of revealed truth.22 The purification and perfection of Israel as they stood before the mountain at Sinai, found in the Midrash, is also seen in the Zohar: When Israel stood before Mount Sinai the impurity of the serpent was removed from them … they rejected the evil inclination and attached themselves to the tree of life.23

The central motif of the sinaitic revelation, is the holy marriage signifying the intimacy of union between Israel and God. The theme of union, including the theme of the hieros gamos, the sacred marriage, is widely attested in the midrash.24 The theme of coronation at a marriage appears in 19

The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy p. 464. The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy p. 455, Gregory of Nyssa , Migne ed. Patrologia Graeca 46 93c. 21 Pirkei R. Eliezer ch. 47. Arthur Green, Keter, The Crown of God in early Jewish Mysticism, Princeton 1997, p. 71. Also relevant are chapters seven, eight and nine of Keter. 22 Liebes, The Messiah of the Zohar p. 168 ff. 23 Shabbat 146a. Zohar 1,52b. !!+) 4-7 !+!, 4 %- %46! )!!3 7-6" !7 *!# !!+) !%  )%-)  42! %  *!#  !! ! ) ".!! +%! 24 E.g. opening of Pesiqta DRK other sources in Green, Keter p. 84-5 in his discussion of the hieros gamos. 20

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the Babylonian Talmud25 which interprets the verse from the Song of Songs26 on Solomon’s marriage as an allusion to the giving of the Torah at Sinai. In this case, the mystic nature of this event is already fully elaborated before it fell into the hands of the cabalists, and there is very little for the Zohar to add. In the Zohar, this union is a central fact of the revelation and also plays a crucial role in the redemption. This union symbolises the messianic plenitude prefigured at Sinai and the object of anticipation since that revelation. In the symbolism of the Zohar, this marriage is conceived as the culmination of the process of redemption that began on the eve of Passover and represents the reunification of the male and female aspects of the deity. The gifts symbolising the supernatural quality of the revelation, the crowns of the midrashic tradition, are transferred by the Zohar to the realm of the deity. When the Israelites received the Tora, the Jubilee [Bina] crowned the Holy One blessed be he [Tiferet] even as a king is crowned in the midst of his hosts, as it is written, ‘Go forth ye daughters of Zion and behold King Solomon with the crown his mother [Bina] crowned him with on the day of his espousals.’27

This tradition attests to the longevity and immense power of this myth which is still present, unchanged in its essential aspects, in the lurianic cabala. On the occasion of the giving of the Tora, Micranthropos achieves his full stature and receives the full complement of consciousness, including those of Ceter. The crown of the Ceter, the final illumination of consciousness, corresponds to the fiftieth gate of understanding, which is equal to all the rest together.28 This gate, according to the Babylonian Talmud, was not revealed even to Moses.29 Equated with the forty-nine days of the counting of the Omer, the forty-nine gates of understanding represent the plenitude of consciousness of Micranthropos, who then receives as much again in the fiftieth gate. This symbolism is well known in the cabala. Gikatilla interprets, in this spirit, the talmudic legend30 that the world was created with 25 Babylonian Talmud Taanit 26b, on The Song of Songs 3,11. Discussed by Green, Keter p. 78. 26 Song of Songs 3,11. 27 Zohar 2,84a. !4 - 4 -  %! 7!!4 %46! %!3 +) " "%) *!2 7+ +!4 +!2 !7# !%!  4 -7 #%)#  "!4 63% ".) % 4 -6 4 - )%6 28 Shaar Hamizvot p. 132. 29 Nedarim 38a; Zohar 1,3b. 30 Rosh Hashanah 21b.

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fifty gates of understanding: This concept [the fifty gates of understanding] contains ‘the order for all the hidden worlds.’ According to Gikatila, the world was created in fifty levels of understanding and the fiftieth level refers to the redemption, symbolised by the jubilee, which occurs in the fiftieth year. It is for this reason that the counting of the Omer lasts for fifty days until the Tora is given.31 At this time, Micranthropos achieves a stature equal to Macranthropos. Shaar Hacavanot describes the apotheosis of Micranthropos, seen earlier as the archetype of the self, in an exegesis on the feast of Pentecost. The apotheosis of Micranthropos is a metaphor for the unity of man and god at the redemption. The completion of the revelation of the deity in man also signifies the assimilation of man to god, as man becomes complete, perfected and godlike. For the Ceter of Micranthropos is made from Macranthropos himself … and for this reason Micranthropos must now rise at Pentecost as far as Macranthropos … for now Micranthropos grows and reaches the stature of Macranthropos and becomes comparable to him.32

This plenitude which exhausts the full extent of his horizons is indeed a messianic hope, though one perhaps best understood not in the historical sense, but as a goal and aim of human existence. A similar view is expressed by Ricoeur: Myth signifies an indivisible plenitude in which the supernatural the natural and the psychological are not yet torn apart … an intuition of a cosmic whole from which man is not yet separated.33 The relation of myth to this whole is affective and practical, not philosophical: the call to perfection reveals behind acts the depths of possible existence.

This plenitude is aimed at rather than concretely experienced; it is not as a given but as an intention that myth restores this wholeness. The aim towards an indivisible plenitude is understood as the goal of history or the development of consciousness.

31

Shaarei Ora p. 284. Shaar Hacavanot 88d. '%-!6 "!42 *#% ... )2- '' *) 6-+ ... 6 47#" 6-+ '' 7)3 %# 3% '' %  !# ... '' - '-)% - 7-6  '' 7".)# 33 Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil p. 167. 32

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TEXTS Abulafia, Todros (c.1220-1298). Shaar Harazim and Ozar Hacavod, Bnei Brak 1986. Ashkenazi, Joseph. Commentary on Sefer Yesira, attributed to Rabbi Abraham ben David in the printed edition of Sefer Yesira, Jerusalem 1962. ȦȦ—. Commentary on Genesis Raba, edited by Moshe Halamish, Jerusalem 1984. Cordovero, Moses (1522-1570), Elima Rabati, Jerusalem 1985. —ȦȦ. The Orchard of Pomegranates, Jerusalem 1962. Ȧ—Ȧ. Or Neerav, Jerusalem 1996 Damascius. Commentary on the Phaedrus, The Greek Commentaries on Plato’s Phaedrus, volume 2, Damascius, translated by L G Westerink, North Holland Publishing Company 1977. Gikatilla, Joseph (1248-c.1325). Shaarei Ora, Jerusalem 1970. Ȧ—Ȧ. Le Secret du Marriage de David et Bethsabée, ed. Charles Mopsik, Paris 1994. Joseph of Hamadan. Menachem Meir, A Critical Edition of the Book of the Reasons for the Commandments attributed to Isaac Ibn Farhi, PhD dissertation, Brandeis University 1974. Ȧ—Ȧ. Charles Mopsik., ‘Un manuscrit inconnu du Sefer Tashak de R. Joseph de Hamadan suivi d ‘un fragment inédit’, Kabbala 2 (1997) pp. 169-205. Sarug, Israel (fl.1590-1610). Limudei Azilut, Munkacs 1897. Ibn Tabul, Joseph (c.1545-early 17th century). Commentary on the Idra Raba, ed. Israel Weinstock, Tmirin, Vol 2, Jerusalem 1981. Ȧ—Ȧ. Commentaries of Joseph Ibn Tabul ed. Joseph Avivi in Rabbi Isaac Nisim Memorial Volume, Jerusalem 1985, pp. 75-108. Ȧ—Ȧ. Drush Hefzi Ba, printed in Simhat Cohen by Masud Hacohen Alhadad, Jerusalem 1921, pp. 1-20. 207

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Vital, Haim (1542-1620). Four Hundred Silver Shekels, Jerusalem 1988. Ȧ—Ȧ. Fruit of the Tree of Life, Jerusalem 1988. Ȧ—Ȧ. Likutei Tora, Jerusalem 1988. Ȧ—Ȧ. Mevo Shearim, Jerusalem 1974. Ȧ—Ȧ. Ozrot Haim, Jerusalem 1904. Ȧ—Ȧ. Pri Etz Haim, Jerusalem 1988. Ȧ—Ȧ. Sefer Hagilgulim, Jerusalem 1997. Ȧ—Ȧ. Sefer Taamei Hamizvot, Jerusalem 1988. Ȧ—Ȧ. Shaar Hacavanot, Jerusalem 1902, reprinted in 1974. Ȧ—Ȧ. Shaar Hahacdamot, Jerusalem 1974. Ȧ—Ȧ. Shaar Hagilgulim, Jerusalem 1998. Ȧ—Ȧ. Shaar Hamizvot, Jerusalem 1988. Ȧ—Ȧ. Shaar Hapsukim, Jerusalem 1912 reprinted in 1975. Ȧ—Ȧ. Shaar Maamrei Rashbi, Jerusalem 1959. Ȧ—Ȧ. Shaar Maamrei Razal, Jerusalem 1959. Ȧ—Ȧ. Shaar Ruah Hakodesh, Jerusalem 1988. Ȧ—Ȧ. Tree of Life, Jerusalem 1910. Galya Raza, critical edition by Rachel Elior, Jerusalem 1981. Sefer Habahir, ed. Reuven Margaliot, Jerusalem 1978. Sefer Hatmuna, Lemberg 1892. Tikunei Zohar, ed. Margaliot, Jerusalem 1978. Zohar, ed. Reuven Margaliot, Jerusalem 1970. Zohar Hadash, ed. Reuven Margaliot, Jerusalem 1978.

STUDIES Altmann, Alexander. ‘The author of the book on the reasons of the commandments attributed to Isaac ibn Farhi’, Kiryat Sefer 40 (1965) 256276 and 404-412. (Hebrew) Armstrong, Arthur Hilary ed. The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy, Cambridge 1967. Avivi, Joseph. Binyan Ariel Jerusalem 1983. Barthes, Roland. L Aventure Sémiologique, Paris 1985. Bataille, Georges. Eroticism, London 1962. Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical, London 1985. Cumont, Franz. Recherches sur le Manichéisme, Bruxelles 1908. Dan, Joseph. Jewish Mysticism and Jewish Ethics, Washington 1986. Ȧ—Ȧ. ‘“No Evil Descends from Heaven”ȦSixteenth-Century Jewish Concepts of Evil’, in Jewish Thought in the Sixteenth Century, ed. Bernard Cooperman, Cambridge (Mass.) 1983, pp. 89-105

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Ȧ—Ȧ. ‘Samael, Lilit and the Concept of Evil in the Early Kabbalah’, AJS Review 5 (1980) 17-40. Elior, Rachel. ‘The Metaphorical Relation Between God and Man and the Significance of Visionary Reality in the Lurianic Kabbalah’, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 10 (1992) 47-57. (Hebrew) Farber, Asi. ‘The Husks Precede the Fruit - On the Question of the Origin of Metaphysical Evil in the Early Kabbalah’, Eshel Beer Sheva 4 (1996) 118-142. (Hebrew) Freud, Sigmund. Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, London 1974. Goetschel, Roland. Meir ibn Gabbai, Peeters Leuven 1981. Gottlieb, Ephraim. Studies in the Literature of the Kabbalah, Tel Aviv 1976. (Hebrew) Green, Arthur. Keter, The Crown of God in Early Jewish Mysticism, Princeton 1997. Huss, Boaz. Sockets of Fine Gold, Jerusalem 2000. (Hebrew) Idel, Moshe. ‘Additional Remnants of the Writings of Joseph of Hamadan’, Daat 21 (1988) 47-55. (Hebrew) Ȧ—Ȧ. ‘The Concept of the Tora in the Heichalot Literature and its Metamorphoses in the Kabbalah’, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 1 (1982) 23-84. (Hebrew) Ȧ—Ȧ. Kabbalah New Perspectives, Yale 1988. Ȧ—Ȧ. ‘Kabbalistic Material from the School of R. David ben Yehuda the Hasid’, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 2 (1983) 169-207. (Hebrew) Ȧ—Ȧ. ‘The Evil Thought of the Deity’, Tarbiz 41 (1980) 356-364. (Hebrew) Ȧ—Ȧ. ‘The Image of Man Above the Sefirot’, Daat 4 (1980) 41-55. (Hebrew) Ȧ—Ȧ. Messianic Mystics, Yale 1998. Ȧ—Ȧ. ‘Metaphores et Pratiques Sexuelles’ in Lettre sur la Sainteté. Le Secret de la Relation entre l ‘Homme et la Femme dans la Cabale, Paris 1986, pp. 329-358. —ȦȦ. More on R. David ben Yehuda the Hasid and the Ari’, Daat 7 (1981) 69-71. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. ‘On the Concept of Zimzum in the Kabbalah and its Research’, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 10 (1991) 59-112. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. ‘The Reasons for the Unclean Fowl of R. David ben Yehuda the Pious and their Meaning’, Alei Shefer, Studies in Jewish thought and literature presented to Alexander Safran, Jerusalem 1990, pp. 11-27. Jackson, Abraham Valentine Williams. Researches into Manichaeism, New York 1932.

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Jacobson, Yoram. ‘The Aspect of the Feminine in the Lurianic Kabbalah’, Gershom Scholem’s Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism 50 years after, Tübingen 1993, pp. 239-255. Jonas, Hans. Philosophical Essays: From Ancient Creed to Technological Man, Chicago 1974. —ȦȦ. Gnosis und Spätantiker Geist, Teil 2, Von der Mythologie zur mythischen Philosophie, Göttingen 1993. Jung, Carl Gustave. Aion Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self, London 1959. —ȦȦ. Psychological Types, London 1989. Liebes, Yehuda. ‘Golem in Gematria Hochma’, Kiryat Sefer 63 (1990-1) 1304-1322. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. The Messiah of the Zohar’, The Messianic Idea in Israel: Conference in Honour of the Eightieth Birthday of Gerschom Scholem, Jerusalem 1982, pp. 87-234. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. ‘Myth and Judaism’, Dimui 14 (1997). (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. ‘Myth Versus Symbol in the Zohar and the Lurianic Cabala’, Eshel Beer Sheva 4 (1996) 192-209. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. ‘New Trends in Kabbala Research’, Peamim 50 (1992) 150-170. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. The Sin of Elisha: The Four Who Entered Paradise and the Nature of Talmudic Mysticism, Jerusalem 1986. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. Studies in Jewish Myth and Jewish Messianism, Albany 1993. —ȦȦ. Studies in the Zohar, Albany 1993. —ȦȦ. ‘“Two Young Roes of a Doe”: The Secret Sermon of R. Isaac Luria Before his Death’, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 10 (1992) 113-169. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. ‘Zohar and Eros’, Alpaim 9 (1994) 67-119. (Hebrew) Maggid, Shaul. ‘Conjugal Union, Mourning and Talmud Tora in R. Isaac Luria’s Tikkun Hazot’, Daat 36 (1996) 17-45. Meroz, Ronit. ‘Faithful Transmission versus Innovation: Luria and his Disciples’, Gershom Scholem‘s Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism 50 years after Tübingen 1993, pp. 257-274. —ȦȦ. ‘R. Israel Sarug Luria’s Disciple: A Fresh Look at the Question’ Daat 28 1992 41-50. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. Redemption in the Lurianic Doctrine, PhD Dissertation, Jerusalem 1988. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. ‘Selections from Ephraim Penzieri: Luria’s Sermon in Jerusalem and the Kavanah in Taking Food’, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 10 (1992) 211-258. (Hebrew)

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211

Mopsik, Charles. ‘De la création à la procréation: le corps d’engendrement dans la Bible hébraïque, la tradition rabbinique et la cabale’, Pardes 12 (1990) 69-89. —ȦȦ. Les Grands Textes de la Cabale, Paris 1993. —ȦȦ. Le Sicle du Sanctuaire, Paris 1993. Oron, Michal. ‘Parallel Versions of the Tale of the Ten Martyrs of the Kingdom and Heichalot Rabati’, Eshel Beer Sheva 2 (1994) 81-90. (Hebrew) Pedaya, Haviva. ‘Defect and Restoration of the Deity in the Works of R. Isaac the Blind’, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 6 (1987) 157-286. (Hebrew) Pachter Mordecai. ‘Katnut (‘smallness ‘) and Gadlut ( ‘Greatness ‘) in Lurianic Kabbalah’ JSJT vol 10 (1992) 171-210. (Hebrew) Ricoeur, Paul. The Symbolism of Evil, Boston 1967. —ȦȦ. ‘Myth: Myth and History’ Encyclopaedia of Religion, pp. 272-282. Scholem, Gerschom. Kabbalah, Jerusalem 1974. —ȦȦ. ‘The Kabbalah of R. Isaac and R. Jacob Cohen’, Madaei Hayahadut 2 (1927) 165-293. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. ‘The Contract between Luria’s Disciples’, Zion 5 (1940) 133-160. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. ‘Luria’s Authentic Writings in Cabala’, Kiryat Sefer 19 (1943) 184-199. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, New York 1941. —ȦȦ. ‘Moses of Burgos, Disciple of Rabbi Isaac’, Tarbiz 4 (1935) pp. 5477, 207-225. Tarbiz 5 (1936) 50-60, 180-198, 305-323. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. The Mystical Shape of the Godhead, New York 1991. —ȦȦ. ‘New Researches on R. Abraham ben Eliezer Halevi’, Kiryat Sefer 7 (1930) 149-165. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. ‘On the Knowledge of the Kabbalah in Spain on the Eve of the Expulsion’, Tarbiz 24 (1955) 167-206. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. On the Kabbalah and its Symbolism, New York 1996. —ȦȦ. Origins of the Kabbalah, Princeton 1990. —ȦȦ. ‘Rabbi Israel Sarug, Luria’s Disciple?’ Zion 5 (1940) 214-243. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. Sabbatai Sevi, the Mystical Messiah, Princeton 1973. Stroumsa, Gedaliahu G. Another Seed: Studies in Gnostic Mythology, Leiden 1984. —ȦȦ. ‘Form(s) of God: Some notes on Metatron and Christ’, Harvard Theological Review 76:3 (1988) 269-288.

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Tishby, Isaiah. The Doctrine of Evil and the Husks in the Lurianic Kabbalah, Jerusalem 1962. (Hebrew) —ȦȦ. ‘Gnostic Elements in Sixteenth Century Jewish Mysticism’, Journal of Jewish Studies 6 (1955) 146-52. —ȦȦ. The Wisdom of the Zohar, Oxford 1994. Trouillard, Jean. La Mystagogie de Proclus, Paris 1982. Underhill, Evelyn. Mysticism, London 1967. Vajda, Georges. Le Commentaire d’Ezra de Gérone sur le Cantique des Cantiques, Paris 1969. —ȦȦ. ‘Un chapitre de l ‘histoire du conflit entre la cabale et la philosophe. La polémique anti-intellectualiste de Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi de Catalogne’, Archives d ‘Histoire Doctrinale et Litteraire du Moyen Age 1956, pp. 45-144. Verman, Mark. The Books of Contemplation: Medieval Jewish Mystical Sources, Albany 1992. Vernant, Jean-Pierre. Myth and Society in Ancient Greece, Atlantic Highlands 1980. Williams, Michael Allen. Rethinking Gnosticism, Princeton 1996. Wolfson, Eliot R. Abraham Abulafia: Kabbalist and Prophet, Los Angeles 2000. —ȦȦ. Circle in the Square, Albany 1995. —ȦȦ. ‘Left Contained in the Right: A Study in Zoharic Hermeneutics’, AJS Review 2 (1986) 27-52. —ȦȦ. ‘Negative Theology and Positive Assertion in the Early Kabbala’, Daat 32 (1994) v-xxii. Zack, Bracha. ‘Moses Cordovero and Isaac Luria’, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 10 (1992) 311-340. (Hebrew)

INDEX A

Freud, 4, 8, 119, 120, 205 Fruit of the Tree of Life, 70, 74, 110, 204

Acta Archelai, 72 B

Bahir, 92, 95, 167, 168, 169, 175, 178 Barthes, 5, 204 Bataille, 86, 87, 204 Burkert, 61, 204

G

Galia Raza, 123, 124, 125, 184 Genesis Raba, 17, 65, 67, 86, 89, 106, 125, 134, 135, 140, 143, 156, 157, 169, 170, 172, 174, 190, 203 Gernet, 4 Gikatilla, 156, 163, 171, 201, 203 Gottlieb, 78, 177, 205 Granet, 4

C

Cassirer, 4 Cetem Paz, 107 Corbin, 126 Cordovero, 1, 2, 43, 44, 68, 87, 88, 103, 114, 124, 186, 203, 208 Cumont, 70, 204

H

Hagiga, 132, 169 Hallamish, 86 Hefzi Ba, 2, 15, 17, 18, 28, 34, 76, 126, 141, 143, 149, 187, 203 Hegemonius, 72 Henning, 73 Hermeias, 23 Hesiod, 75 Huss, 107, 205

D

Damascius, 112, 196, 203 Detienne, 3 Duineser Elegien, 130, 160 E

Eliade, 4 Elima Rabati, 68, 114, 203 Elior, 124, 184, 204, 205 Enneads, 49, 112 Exodus Raba, 156, 160, 165

I

Ibn Gabai, 51, 104, 105 Ibn Tabul, 15, 17, 18, 27, 34, 35, 38, 45, 46, 76, 99, 125, 141, 142, 143, 148, 149, 150, 189, 190, 203 Idel, 5, 14, 20, 41, 51, 53, 65, 73, 96, 100, 103, 106, 108, 151, 156, 187, 205

F

Farber, 15, 24, 54, 92, 205 Fountain of Wisdom, 65 Four Hundred Silver Shekels, 60, 61, 204 Frazer, 3 213

214

MAN AS SUBJECT OF THEOGONY IN LURIANIC CABALA

Isaac of Acre, 81 Isaac the Blind, 18, 43, 105, 106, 197, 207

N

Nietzsche, 22, 23 O

Jonas, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 129, 199, 206 Jung, 4, 17, 40, 60, 61, 80, 93, 99, 100, 112, 113, 118, 119, 127, 206

Or Neerav, 87, 88, 203 Otto, 4 Ozrot Haim, 25, 26, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 37, 38, 54, 58, 59, 68, 101, 102, 115, 140, 177, 185, 192, 204

K

P

Kidushin, 129, 130

Paraphrase of Shem, 15 Pardes Rimonim, 44, 124 Pedaya, 18, 43, 69, 105, 197, 207 Pirkei Rabbi Eliezer, 134 Plato, 75, 196, 203 Plotinus, 41, 49, 79, 83, 108, 112 Primordial man, 18 Proclus, 37, 49, 208

J

L

Lacan, 118 Leviticus Raba, 105, 193 Liebes, vii, 2, 5, 6, 15, 20, 68, 73, 75, 76, 87, 89, 91, 92, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101, 103, 109, 117, 141, 147, 149, 182, 184, 191, 192, 200, 206 Likutei Tora, 102, 127, 128, 185, 186, 204 Limudei Azilut, 2, 56, 130, 203

R

Reeves, 73 Ricoeur, 4, 13, 89, 130, 131, 137, 145, 146, 151, 152, 202, 207

M

S

Macrobius, 24 Malinowski, 4 Mauss, 4 Menachem, 95, 203 Meroz, 2, 24, 45, 54, 55, 187, 190, 206 Mevo Shearim, 13, 14, 15, 16, 27, 33, 35, 36, 47, 56, 57, 58, 59, 66, 67, 68, 69, 72, 90, 100, 113, 147, 157, 164, 170, 173, 183, 197, 204 Mopsik, 43, 44, 49, 50, 53, 54, 95, 105, 107, 123, 163, 173, 194, 203, 207 Moses of Burgos, 21, 81, 155, 157, 158, 188, 207 Murray, 3

Sartre, 119, 150 Sarug, 2, 13, 56, 130, 203, 206, 207 Scholem, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 19, 21, 68, 78, 79, 81, 95, 102, 106, 110, 111, 117, 123, 124, 125, 130, 133, 155, 158, 171, 175, 178, 184, 188, 197, 206, 207 Sefer Hagilgulim, 108, 119, 126, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 134, 135, 204 Sefer Harimon, 54 Sefer Hatmuna, 103, 185, 204 Sefer Taamei Hamitzvot, 142 Sefer Yesira, 2, 43, 197, 203 Shaar Hacavanot, 92, 99, 129, 144, 147, 159, 160, 165, 171, 180,

INDEX 181, 182, 183, 189, 190, 191, 202, 204 Shaar Hahacdamot, 30, 31, 36, 50, 52, 75, 122, 135, 140, 141, 144, 157, 161, 162, 163, 167, 173, 174, 175, 187, 204 Shaar Hamitzvot, 107, 108 Shaar Hapsukim, 69, 71, 72, 75, 127, 128, 132, 133, 134, 162, 167, 176, 178, 179, 188, 204 Shaar Maamrei Rashbi, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 47, 48, 59, 60, 65, 76, 127, 140, 148, 172, 204 Shaar Maamrei Razal, 132, 204 Stroumsa, 8, 70, 71, 73, 76, 77, 81, 100, 207 Syrianus, 23 T

Taylor, 3 Temenos, 60 Tertullian, 93

215 Tishby, 13, 14, 34, 55, 73, 76, 78, 87, 88, 114, 143, 156, 157, 184, 208 Tree of Life, 13, 14, 15, 18, 20, 28, 29, 36, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 49, 50, 55, 56, 57, 60, 66, 69, 89, 90, 91, 110, 112, 114, 117, 118, 122, 128, 140, 141, 161, 173, 176, 177, 185, 186, 190, 192, 204 Trouillard, 49, 208 V

Verman, 65, 208 Vernant, 3, 151, 208 W

Williams, 15, 184, 205, 208 Wolfson, 35, 122, 171, 193, 208 Z

Zack, 186, 208 Zimra, 1