The Kabbalah: Its Doctrines, Development, and LiteratureKabbalahScholarly ReconstructionEnglish study drawing on Hebrew and Aramaic sourcesShareThe Kabbalah 2Project Gutenberg 1920 edition - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableProject Gutenberg 1920 editionLanguageEnglishEspañol‹The Kabbalah 1The Kabbalah 2The Kabbalah 3The Kabbalah 4The Kabbalah 5The Kabbalah 6The Kabbalah 7The Kabbalah 8The Kabbalah 9The Kabbalah 10The Kabbalah 11The Kabbalah 12›Of The Deity. Angels. Human Body.The Kabbalah 2ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1/ 1. כתר, Crown. \ | 2. עתיקא, the Aged. | | 3. נקודה ראשונה, | | Primordial Point. | | 4. נקודה פשוטה, | | Smooth Point. | i. < 5. רישא הוורה, White > אהיה, I am חיות, ζῶον. Head. | Head. | (Exod. iii. 4). | 6. אריך אנפין, | | Macroprosopon. | | 7. אדם עילאה, | | Heavenly Man. | | 8. רום מעלה, | \ Inscrutable Height. / ii. חכמה, σοφία, יה, Jah (Isa. אופנים, κίνησις. Brains. Wisdom. xxvi. 4). iii. בינה, νοῦς, יהוה, Jehovah. אראלים, Arelim Heart. Intelligence. (Isa. xxiii. 7). / 1. חסד, χάρις, \ אל, the Mighty חשמלים, Right Arm. iv.< Love. > One. Chasheralim \ 2. גדולה, Greatness. / (Ezek. i. 4). / 1. דין, Judgment. \ אלה, the שרפים, Seraphim Left Arm. v. < 2. פחד, Justice. > Almighty. (Isa. vi. 7). \ 3. גבורה, Strength. / vi. תפארת, Beauty. אלהים, God. שנאנים, Shinanim Chest. (Ps. lxviii. 18). vii. נצח, Firmness. יהוה צבאות, תרשישים Right Leg. Jehovah Sabaoth. Tarshishim (Dan. x. 6). viii. הוד, Splendour. אלהים צבאות, בני אלהים, the Left Leg. God Sabaoth. Sons of God (Gen. vi. 4). ix. יסוד, אל חי, Mighty אשים, Ishim (Ps. Genital Foundation. Living One. civ. 4). Organs. / 1. βασιλεία sc. τῶν \ x. < οὐρανῶν, Kingdom. > אדני, the Lord. כרובים, Cherubim. Union of the \ 2. שכינה, Shechinah. / Whole Body. 2The prophet Elias having learned in the heavenly college the profound mystery and true import of the words in Isa. xl, 25, 26, “To whom will ye liken me, and shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who (מי) hath created these things (אלה),” revealed to R. Simon b. Jochai that God in his absolute nature is unknown and incomprehensible, and hence, in a certain sense, non-existent; that this Who (אלה unknown subject) had to become active and creative, to demonstrate his existence, and that it is only by these (אלה) works of creation that he made himself known to us. It is therefore the combination of the unknown Who (מי) with these visible (אלה) works that showed him to be God (אלהים which is 3it is in the language of the Kabbalah;— 4“Before he gave any shape to this world, before he produced any form, he was alone, without a form and resemblance to anything else. Who then can comprehend him how he was before the creation, since he was formless? Hence it is forbidden to represent him by any form, similitude, or even by his sacred name, by a single letter or a single point; and to this the words ‘Ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you’ (Deut. iv, 15)—i.e. ye have not seen anything which you could represent by any form or likeness—refer. But after he created the form of the Heavenly Man (אדם עלאה), he used it as a chariot (מרכבה) wherein to descend, and wishes to be called by this form, which is the sacred name Jehovah. He wishes to be known by his attributes, and each attribute separately; and therefore had himself called the God of Mercy, the God of Justice, Almighty, God of Sabaoth, and the Being. He wishes thereby to make known his nature, and that we should see how his mercy and compassion extend both to the world and to all operations. For if he had not poured out his light upon all his creatures, how could we ever have known him? How could the words be fulfilled, ‘The whole earth is full of his glory’ (Isa. vi, 3)? Woe be to him who compares him with his own attributes! or still worse with the son of man whose foundation is in the dust, who vanishes and is no more! 5Hence, the form in which we delineate him simply describes each time his dominion over a certain attribute, or over the creatures generally. We cannot understand more of his nature than the attribute expresses. Hence, when he is divested of all these things, he has neither any attribute nor any similitude or form. The form in which he is generally depicted is to be compared to a very expansive sea; for the waters of the sea are in themselves without a limit or form, and it is only when they spread themselves upon the earth that they assume a form (דמיון). We can now make the following calculation: the source of the sea’s water and the water stream proceeding therefrom to spread itself are two. A great reservoir is then formed, just as if a huge hollow had been dug; this reservoir is called sea, and is the third. The unfathomable deep divides itself into seven streams, resembling seven long vessels. The source, the water stream, the sea and the seven streams make together ten. And when the master breaks the vessels which he has made, the waters return to the source, and then only remain the pieces of these vessels, dried up and without any water. It is in this way that the Cause of Causes gave rise to the ten Sephiroth. The Crown is the source from which streams forth an infinite light: hence the name En Soph (אין סוף) = infinite, by which the highest cause is designated: 6for it then had neither form nor shape, and there is neither any means whereby to comprehend it, nor a way by which to know it. Hence it is written, ‘Seek not out the things that are too hard for thee, neither search the things that are above thy strength.’ (Ecclus. iii, 21.) He then made a vessel, as small as a point, like the letter י, which is filled from this source (i.e. the En Soph). This is the source of wisdom, wisdom itself (חכמה), after which the Supreme Cause is called ‘wise God.’ Upon this he made a large vessel like a sea, which is called Intelligence (בינה): hence the name ‘intelligent God.’ It must, however, be remarked that God is wise, and through himself, for wisdom does not derive its name through itself, but through the wise one who fills it with the light which flows from him, just as intelligence is not comprehended through itself, but through him who is intelligent and fills it with his own substance. God needs only to withdraw himself and it would be dried up. This is also the meaning of the words, ‘the waters have disappeared from the sea, and the bed is dry and parched up.’ (Job xiv, 11.) The sea is finally divided into seven streams, and the seven costly vessels are produced, which are called Greatness (גדולה), Judicial Strength (גבורה), Beauty (תפארת), Firmness (נצח), Splendour (הוד), Foundation (יסוד), and Kingdom (מלכות). 7Therefore is he called the Great or the Merciful, the Mighty, the Glorious, the God of victory, the Creator, to whom all praise is due, and the Foundation of all things. Upon the last attribute all the others are based as well as the world. Finally, he is also the King of the universe, for everything is in his power; he can diminish the number of the vessels, and increase in them the light which streams from them, or reduce it, just as it pleases him.” (Sohar, i, 42 b, 43 a, section בא.) 8In another place again the same authority gives the following description of the Deity and the emanation of the Sephiroth. “The Aged of the Aged, the Unknown of the Unknown, has a form and yet has no form. He has a form whereby the universe is preserved, and yet has no form, because he cannot be comprehended. When he first assumed the form [of the first Sephira], he caused nine splendid lights to emanate from it, which, shining through it, diffused a bright light in all directions. Imagine an elevated light sending forth its rays in all directions. Now if we approach it to examine the rays, we understand no more than that they emanate from the said light. So is the Holy Aged an absolute light, but in himself concealed and incomprehensible. We can only comprehend him through those luminous emanations (ספירות) which again are partly visible and partly concealed. These constitute the sacred name of God.” (Idra Suta, Sohar, iii, 288 a.) 9Four things must be borne in mind with regard to the Sephiroth. I. That they were not created by, but emanated (נאצל) from, the En Soph; the difference between creation and emanation being, that in the former a diminution of strength takes place, whilst in the latter this is not the case. [7] II. That they form among themselves, and with the En Soph, a strict unity, and simply represent different aspects of one and the same being, just as the different rays which proceed from the light, and which appear different things to the eye, form only different manifestations of one and the same light. III. That since they simply differ from each other as the different colours of the same light, all the ten emanations alike partake of the perfections of the En Soph; and IV, that, as emanations from the Infinite, the Sephiroth are infinite and perfect like the En Soph, and yet constitute the first finite things. [8] They are infinite and perfect when the En Soph imparts his fulness to them, and finite and imperfect when the fulness is withdrawn from them, so that in this respect these ten Sephiroth exactly correspond to the double nature of Christ,—his finite and imperfect human nature and his infinite and perfect divine nature. 10In their totality and unity these ten Sephiroth are not only denominated the world of Sephiroth (עולם הספירות) and the world of Emanations (עולם אצילות), but represent and are called the Primordial or Archetypal Man (אדם קדמון = πρωτόγονος), and the Heavenly Man (אדם עילאה). In the figure, the Crown (כתר) is the head; Wisdom (חכמה), the brains; and Intelligence (בינה), which unites the two and produces the first triad, is the heart or the understanding—thus forming the head. The fourth and fifth Sephiroth, i.e., Mercy (חסד) and Justice (פחד), are the two arms of the Lord, the former the right arm and the latter the left, one distributing life and the other death. And the sixth Sephira, Beauty (תפארת), which unites these two opposites and produces the second triad, is the chest; whilst the seventh and eighth Sephiroth,—i.e., Firmness (נצח) and Splendour (הוד), of the third triad,—are the two legs; and Foundation (יסוד), the ninth Sephira, represents the genital organs, since it denotes the basis and source of all things. Thus it is said “Every thing will return to its origin just as it proceeded from it. All marrow, all sap, and all power are congregated in this spot. Hence all powers which exist originate through the genital organs.” (Sohar, iii, 296 a.) Kingdom (מלכות), the tenth Sephira, represents the harmony of the whole Archetypal Man. The following is the archetypal figure of the ten Sephiroth. 11It is this form which the prophet Ezekiel saw in the mysterious chariot, and of which the earthly man is a faint copy. Moreover, these Sephiroth, as we have already remarked, created the world and all things therein according to their own archetype or in the likeness and similitude of the Heavenly Man or the World of Emanations. But, before we propound the Kabbalistic doctrine of the creation of the world, it is necessary to describe a second mode in which the trinity of triads in the Sephiroth is represented, and to mention the appellations and offices of the respective triads. ‹Previous chapterThe Kabbalah 1Next chapterThe Kabbalah 3›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the United States via Project Gutenberg