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The Quest
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Mead
JEWISH MYSTICISM
THE QUEST
SERIES
Edited by G. R. S. MEAD,
EDITOR OF THE QUEST.
Crown
8v0.
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THREE VOLUMES.
PSYCHICAL RESEARCH AND SURVIVAL.
FIRST
By
Secretary of the
WESTON, Author
of
The
By
J.
By JESSIE
Legend
of
Sir
Perceval.
JEWISH MYSTICISM.
ABELSON,
M.A.,
In
the Press
BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY.
By
C.
A.
F.
RHYS
in Indian Philo
THE MYSTICS OF
ISLAM.
By REYNOLD A.
in
JEWISH MYSTICISM
1,6-0
BY
J.
ABELSON,
M.A.,
D.Lir.
LONDON
G.
151
JUN
18
EDITOR
GENERAL and
PREFACE
on Christian
mysticism are numerous enough; but it is
somewhat remarkable that, in their intro
ductory pages, authors, who have much
to say of Plotinus and Neoplatonism, have
nothing or very little on the still more
cognate subject of Jewish mysticism. This
is
not,
truth to
special studies
however,
tell,
so
there
is
morbid and
EDITOR
vi
may
PREFACE
Jewish
mysticism, Dr.
Abelson makes accessible to the general
reader, in simple terms, the results of his
careful inquiry, based on the researches of
the best Jewish scholars, and reinforced
general
study
of
by his own wide acquaintance with Talmudic and Rabbinical literature. To write
profitably on Jewish mysticism, it is neces
sary to have, not only a discriminating
literature,
new
field
of
research
by
his
valuable
mysticism.
PREFACE
THE
The reason
PREFACE
viii
end
of the book.
scholars from
my
whom
material.
J.
ABELSON.
of
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
...
PAGE
1
CHAP.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
THE BOOK
WISDOM
:
GENERAL FEATURES
OF
THE
33
.52
FELLOWSHIP: SHECHINAH
<YETSIRAH
79
.98
<ZOHAR
.117
.136
THE SOUL
.155
CONCLUDING NOTE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MYSTICISM
VIII.
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
VI. SOME
VII.
.16
INDEX
.174
.177
181
JEWISH MYSTICISM
INTRODUCTION
IT might strike the average reader as ex
ceedingly odd that any attempt should be
made at writing a book on Jewish mysticism.
The prevailing opinion among theologians
as well as in the mind of the ordinary manseems to be that Judaism and mysticism
stand at the opposite poles of thought, and
that, therefore, such a phrase as Jewish
mysticism is a glaring and indefensible
contradiction in terms. It is to be hoped that
the contents of this little book will show the
utter falsity of this view.
What is this view, in the main, based
upon ? It is based upon the gratuitous
assumption that the Old Testament, and all
the theological and religious literature pro
duced by Jews in subsequent ages, as well as
the general synagogue ritual, the public and
private religious worship of the Jew that
all these are grounded on the unquestioning
of an
The Jews, it
assumption
exclusively
God.
is
said,
transcendent
JEWISH MYSTICISM
thesis of
falsely stamped
Judaism as a religion of unrelieved legalism
and mysticism is the irreconcileable enemy
;
INTRODUCTION
mystical
does,
temperament.
of course,
Mystical religion
transcend all the barriers
if
JEWISH MYSTICISM
similarly be judged.
of the world s scorn.
one
else
s.
INTRODUCTION
But with
of
JEWISH MYSTICISM
the record
of
his
is
He
We
are
coloured
dominant
faith.
conceptions of
INTRODUCTION
own
Thus
from one another.
Judaism, whatever be its composition or
spiritual outlook, can certainly be a religion
Its mysticism may be of a
of mysticism.
different order from that which we commonly
distinguishable
expect.
I
But
have thus
tions put
its
mysticism by
JEWISH MYSTICISM
of this
name
name
Isaac is
the reputed author of the Hebrew mystical
treatise written in dialogue form and called
Bahir ( Brightness ) the book which, more
than all its predecessors in this domain, anti
cipates the style and contents of the Zohar
(
Shining ), which is par excellence the
mediaeval text-book of Jewish mysticism,
and belongs to the 14th century. Graetz
regards the appearance of this mysticism as
some sudden, unexplained importation from
a false
without, a plant of exotic origin,
"
INTRODUCTION
"
p. 565).
But a perusal
of
mysticism.
religion historically known as
It is ever so far removed from the mysticism
of a Plotinus or an Eckhart or an Isaac
Luria
(Jewish
mystic,
1533-1572).
But
and
will
JEWISH MYSTICISM
10
additions,
an offshoot
ings.
tions,
is
in
what
"
front,
Haggigah,
ii.
and which
other
is
temporal.
world transcending
which
But there
it,
is
is
seen
an
a world in
INTRODUCTION
11
The pathway
other
quite
experience.
inward indefinable movements of feeling or
emotion which, in their totality, constitute
the soul.
From all this it follows that scholars who,
whether congenitally or by mental training,
have no sympathy with the subjectivity of
the emotions, should be incapable of ap
preciating the paraphernalia of mysticism.
But in the case of Jewish theologians there
As will be
is something more to be said.
seen in the course of our coming pages, mysti
cal speculation among the Jews clustered
largely round the cosmological sections of
the Bible. This is true of the earlier as well
It is to be found
as of the later mysticism.
a
the
Enoch
in
literature,
product of the
pre-Christian century (see Charles, The
Book of the Secrets of Enoch, 1896, p. xxv.),
as well as in the Kabbalistic works produced
first
Hebrew alphabet.
the most extraordinary feats
By some
of
JEWISH MYSTICISM
12
The
Messiah.
All these aspects of Jewish mysticism,
tainted as they undoubtedly are by many
But
that
it
is
it
far-fetched,
it
INTRODUCTION
13
JEWISH MYSTICISM
14
many
a humble
Christian mystic.
the
final
wrongness
of
arbiter
of
the
Tightness
or
Judaism
and the
Aristotelianism.
Thus, Jewish
to
have
must,
validity, be shown
consonance with Aristotle s four
of the soul and with his theories
mean.
Judaism
morality
to be in
faculties
of
the
INTRODUCTION
15
stones
check
in the
shape of mysticism.
It showed that
It corrected the balance.
of
the feelings as
Judaism was a religion
It showed that the
well as of the intellect.
was
not to be right
Jew s eternal quest
be
bat
to
with Aristotle
right with God.
CHAPTER
SOME EARLY ELEMENTS
ESSENISM
16
17
you
first.
scintillates
of the presence and the working of an allembracing Spirit of Life ; the ecstasy of an
Ezekiel lifted from off his feet by the Spirit
the
the
of
a
possession
prophecy
vouchsafed
to
not
endowment
spiritual
ordinary men, the endowment of a higher
all these re
insight into the will of God;
a
of
first-hand,
living religion
present
stage
to which the name of mysticism is rightly
fact of
itself
The
mysticism
by modern Jewish
18
JEWISH MYSTICISM
To say
this, is
to
hausen
Talmuds
all
have stray
allusions,
couched in
19
associations."
Of natural philosophy
they study only that which pertains to the
existence of God and the beginning of all
Philo says
JEWISH MYSTICISM
20
common.
Josephus speaks of the Essenes in similar
terms (see Antiquities, xvm. i. 2-6 also
;
De
gorical interpretation.
Although
it is
exceedingly difficult to
know
what the Rabbinic term equivalent to Essene is, it is not hard to deduce, from names
andphrases scattered throughout theRabbinic
records, a theory that there existed as early
as the first Christian centuries either a distinct
sect of Jews, or individual Jews here and
there,
who combined
mode
with an ascetic
mystical speculation
of
life.
phenomenon is observable in
the history of the early Christian Church.
There was a life of primitive and austere
A group here, a group there,
fellowship.
gathered together with no other motive than
that of gaining a greater hold on the spiritual
life than was prevalent in the ordinary circles
similar
21
"
but
things which he possessed was his own
For
common.
had
all
things
they
neither were there among them any that
lacked for as many as were possessors of
and distri
lands or houses sold them
bution was made unto each according as
;
chamber
of
According
Shekalim,
to
ii.
some
cities
JEWISH MYSTICISM
22
It
was
men
Two
facts
sect.
the special
fearers
of
ap
sin.
23
self
have
my
replied he,
first
and outward
JEWISH MYSTICISM
24
moment
Shema
commentator R. Solomon
b.
"
from pure
love."
It
Isaac
(llth
must be borne
in
mind
meek
that throughout Jewish theology,
ness
for
stands
something im
( anavah)
connotation
than
the
moral
mensely higher
which we customarily attribute to the virtue.
It signifies a level of religious devoutness
which it is not given to every one to reach.
To carry out a commandment from pure
c
25
"
JEWISH MYSTICISM
26
Spanish-Hebrew philosopher Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) in his great work The Guide
of the Perplexed. He says (part i. ch. Ixii. Eng.
Trans, by M. Friedlander, Routledge, 1906)
:f
There was also a name of forty-two letters
known among them. Every intelligent per
son knows that one word of forty-two letters is
But it was a phrase of several
impossible.
words which had together forty -two letters.
There is no doubt that the words had such a
meaning as to convey a correct notion of the
essence of God, in the way we have stated.
Many believe that the forty-two letters
are merely to be pronounced mechanically
that by the knowledge of these, without any
further interpretation, they can attain to
those exalted ends.
On the contrary it
is evident that all this exalted preparation
aims at a knowledge of metaphysics and
includes ideas which constitute the secrets
of the Law as we have explained."
:
by him
as
meta
27
name
stituted.
given in
What
this
name was
is
was sub
nowhere
As time
many-lettered names of
(not only forty-two, but also forty-five
and seventy-two letters) are the pivots on
which huge masses of most curious mystical
Kabbalists
these
God
lore turn.
The Ten
Sefirot
have
close con
letters
JEWISH MYSTICISM
28
Ma aseh (i.e. saints and miracleworkers) who, at the joyous feast of the
water-drawing at the Temple during Taber
Anshe
theories.
But
so
much may be
said,
viz.
would
signify
man
of
action.
There
29
1910,
pp.
115-118).
The vast
things,
of
unknown
to
the
multitudes,
was
30
JEWISH MYSTICISM
in the Rabbinic
to
are
be
identified
with the
literature,
Essenes described in the writings of Philo
and Josephus.
Resemblances there cer
but
there
are differences too ;
tainly are,
and the Rabbinic allusions are too disjointed
to enable one to form an impression even
an inexact impression, leave alone an exact
one of the lives and thoughts of these
Philo and Josephus
mystic gatherings.
a
paint
complete picture. The Talmud and
Midrashim give but stray and elusive hints.
cases of celibacy
so that it is difficult
to speak categorically. Again, the centre of
gravity of Essenic religion seems to have
been the cultivation of the highest ethics.
;
But
it
31
institutional
associated
menon
is,
were
i.e.
fellowship
most
scrupulous
dues a purely external
based
on the legalism of the
religious duty
of
Pentateuch.
Indeed this
blending
of
the
priestly
legalism with
this consistent
(and successful) interweaving of the formal
ism of tradition with the mysticism of the
individual, is an arresting feature of Jewish
theology in all ages.
spirituality,
In
fine,
32
JEWISH MYSTICISM
earlier day.
CHAPTER
II
THE
first
most
explanation of them.
He
took them
34
JEWISH MYSTICISM
of all spiritual
life.
must come.
The Chariot (Merkabah) was thus a kind
of mystic way leading up to the final goal
of the soul.
Or, more precisely, it was the
mystic instrument, the vehicle by which
one was carried direct into the halls of the
unseen. It was the aim of the mystic to be
35
a
Merkabah-rider, so that he might be
enabled, while still in the trammels of the
flesh, to mount up to his spiritual Eldorado.
Whether, as has been suggested, the uncanny
imagery of the Merkabah lore is to be sought,
for its origin, in the teachings of Mithraism,
or, as has also been suggested, in certain
branches of Mohammedan mysticism, one
is
God.
It was remarked, on a previous page, that
the mystic neither asked, nor waited, for any
rationalistic explanation of the Merkabah
mysteries. He felt that they summarised
for him the highest pinnacle of being towards
the realisation of which he must bend his
But yet, from certain
energies without stint.
scattered
Rabbinic
and
remarks, one
stray
takes leave to infer that there existed in the
early Christian centuries a small sect of
Jewish mystics the elect of the elect to
whom
JEWISH MYSTICISM
36
"
is
"
"
age or
responsibility."
but to him to
Literally
House
of
37
distinction in a
and
fitness as the
to
a
knowledge of the
prelude
indispensable
religious
Merkabah has
full
mystic consciousness.
As Evelyn Under
"
bill
follows
"A
explaining the
certain
Hashmal
is
JEWISH MYSTICISM
38
"
They
39
self-
renouncement.
But the mention of fire in the preceding
paragraph leads us to the consideration of an
aspect of the Merkabah which brings the
latter very much into line with the descrip
tion
of
mystical
in
phenomena
literature
generally.
Every one knows how the image
of fire dominates so much of the mysticism
of Dante.
The mediaeval Christian mystics
(b)
"
JEWISH MYSTICISM
40
Torah.
and told R.
Ben
and
fire is lighting
this, R. Akiba
Upon
said he really
was engaged
in doing.
The
28a.
upon them.
enough
for the
bidding.
character.
son
The
of Zaccai
(end
of
1st
century A.D.).
smallest
41
trees (dekdlim).
He knew also the lore
of the Merkabah.
Such being the measure
of the knowledge possessed by the smallest,
"
"
JEWISH MYSTICISM
42
that I
replied he,
when
ass
at
the
moment
upon
art expounding the mysteries of the
ciple.
will ride
Is it possible,
my
thou
Merkabah, and the Shechinah is with us,
and the ministering angels are accompanying
us ?
Forthwith R. Eliezer son of Arach
opened his discourse on the mysteries of the
Merkabah, and no sooner had he begun, than
fire came down from heaven and encompassed
all
field,
43
dragons and
Merkabah.
"
[another
disciple
of
Johanan],
the
latter
something
JEWISH MYSTICISM
44
Ascend hither
large banqueting-halls
fine couches are in readiness for you.
and
your
and
and
You
your
disciples
disciples, are destined to be in the third set
[i.e. the third of the three classes of angels
disciples,
and
anthems]."
There
are
several
points
which need
Shechinah."
all the
such was the premium placed
upon meekness in so far as it concerned the
virtues.
If
of
the
45
ordinary
Eternal Truth
its
for
?
"
JEWISH MYSTICISM
46
"
"
47
"
"
prominent phase
of
Rabbinic mysticism.
It
JEWISH MYSTICISM
48
49
the
halls
),
JEWISH MYSTICISM
50
in
visions."
Much
of this
belief
survives in
modern
volume
of this
phase of mystic
litera
first
chapter of Ezekiel
51
Hasidim.
CHAPTER
PHILO
METATRON
III
:
WISDOM
said
about the
the
Hellenistic, as
the Palestinian, branch
in
mystical
distinguished from
The Palestinian (which
of early Judaism.
includes the Babylonian) is, by a long way,
have resulted
53
But what
been shown, with a fair approach to conclusiveness, that where there is a resemblance
in Halachic
interpretation, Philo is the
whereas the Haggadic parallels
borrower
emanate from the Rabbis.
To attempt an examination of Philo s
mysticism as a whole lies quite outside the
scope of this book. All that can be dealt
with and this very fragmentarily and in
are certain points in
the
adequately
of
his
idea
which, by
mysticism
Logos
reason of their affinity with the Haggadah,
are important to an understanding of Jewish
mysticism. How to bridge the chasm be
tween God and the world, how at the first
;
creation of
who
man
it
was possible
for
God
JEWISH MYSTICISM
54
In this connection
treatment.
to
be
only
expected that angelology
should figure largely. Theologians are quite
wrong when they say that post-Biblical
Judaism removed the Deity further and
further away from the world, and then
tried to bring Him nearer again by the
medium of the angel. The truth is that God
elaborate
it
is
as well as trans
of
of
emana
Deity,
holding intimate converse with the affairs
It was on these lines that the
of the world.
Rabbis solved their problem of reconciling
the idea of a pure God with an impure
God did not really come into con
world.
tact with the world, but His angels did
really part
and parcel
of
like
many
God must be
was
55
"
56
JEWISH MYSTICISM
no escaping.
him up
The
angel.
ic
offering sacred
recommendations
like sacred
57
irresistible vigour.
Very
properly, therefore, when he [i.e. Jacob] has
arrived at the external sense, he is repre
sented no longer as meeting God, but only
the Divine word, just as his grandfather
of
wisdom
(On
Dreams,
12).
In another passage in the fore-mentioned
the immortal words
section, he speaks of
it
which
is
(logoi)
customary to call angels
i.
(ibid.
19).
Again, take the following
But these men pray to be nourished by
the word (logos) of God. But Jacob, raising
his head above the word, says that he is
nourished by God Himself, and his words are
did"
i.
"
"
"
as follows
The God in whom my father
Abraham and Isaac were well pleased the
God who has nourished me from my youth
the angel who has
upwards to this day
:
me from
all
sician
of
his
58
JEWISH MYSTICISM
"
things
many
points in
common.
Angels encompass
59
Israel,
of angels as
incorporeal intelligences
and
immortal souls
(On Dreams, i. 20).
The Rabbis obviously thought of angels
as material beings.
They even at times
materialised the Shechinah, as will be men
as
The sight
tioned in the following chapter.
of an angel was a physical phenomenon.
Philo s exegesis took quite a different turn.
Thus, in a lengthy comment on Genesis,
xxviii. 12
And he dreamed a dream and
behold a ladder was planted firmly on the
ground, the head of which reached to heaven,
and the angels of God were ascending and
descending upon it") he goes on to say:
This air is the abode of incorporeal souls,
since it seemed good to the Creator of the
universe to fill all parts of the world with
For the Creator of the
living creatures.
universe formed the air so that it should
be the habit of those bodies which are im
movable, and the nature of those which are
moved in an invisible manner, and the soul
of such as are able to exert an impetus and
visible sense of their own.
Therefore,
let no one deprive the most excellent nature
("
"
JEWISH MYSTICISM
60
But others,
But some soar upwards.
the
of
body
great folly and
condemning
a prison and a
it
have
trifling,
pronounced
.
of
the
61
"
Thou Sovereign
Thou
hast
one nation on earth resembling the minister
ing angels in heaven. Just as the latter
are bare-footed, so are the Israelites bare
footed on the Day of Atonement. Just as
the angels neither eat nor drink, so do the
Israelites not eat or drink on the Day of
Atonement. Just as the angels do not skip
about, so do the Israelites stand, unmoved,
upon their feet the whole Day of Atonement.
Just as peace reigns in the midst of the
angels, so does peace reign in the midst of
Just as
Israel on the Day of Atonement.
the angels are free from all sin, so are the
Israelites free from sin on the Day of Atone
ment.
God hearkens to the advocacy of
Israel from the mouth of their arch-accuser,
and He grants His atonement for the altar,
for the sanctuary, and for the priests and for
all the people of the congregation."
of the Universe,
62
JEWISH MYSTICISM
This quotation is from the Pirke-de- RabbiEliezer, a curious Midrashic work belonging to
the 9th century A.D. It seems to summarise
all the best points in the angelic lore of the
Jews in the preceding nine centuries. The
naivete of the whole Rabbinic outlook is
here very apparent and is ever so far removed
from Philo s
In fact
incorporeal soul.
Philo s systematic division of angels into
higher and lower grades is foreign to the
Sa adiah
63
there
to
prophetic
ecstasy
realities.
See
Emunot we-De ot
(
ii.
rather
his
(
than
outward
work
philosophical
),
8, iv. 6.
of
Judah
He
says
(Cusari, iv. 3)
As for the angels, some are created for
the time being, out of the subtle elements of
matter [as air or fire]. Some are eternal
:
"
[i.e.
existing from everlasting to
everlasting], and perhaps
they are the
spiritual intelligences of which the philo
angels
JEWISH MYSTICISM
64
way
glory of God.
"
difference of
name
he
calls
them
separate
65
Balaam
.
"
previ
his
JEWISH MYSTICISM
66
angels.
definite
There
is
personality to
"
"
"
"
and a supply
(Life of Moses,
iii.
67
of unlimited blessings
"
14).
place which
he
will
his voice,
for
And why so ?
said the Rabbis, Metatron.
Because, said they, the numerical value of
JEWISH MYSTICISM
68
is
God
phase
lieutenant.
He represents the active
as
manifested
in the universe.
Deity
command to beware of him and
of
The
"
69
"
let
JEWISH MYSTICISM
70
"
Seven things
of
the
Creation
the
world, viz.
(a)
preceded
the Torah, (b) the Divine Throne, (c) the
Temple, (d) the Name of the Messiah, (e)
treatment
of
cosmogony.
Paradise,
Whether
71
facts
andrian literature.
sort of
("
")
renders the
And just as
earth.
"
"
JEWISH MYSTICISM
72
tron
On this understanding, Metatron
is the helper to the Deity
he, as it were,
takes up the Divine work at points where its
omnipotence cannot, if one may so speak,
reach
not even the smallest, meanest
child need be forgotten, forsaken of God,
:
so long as Metatron
structor.
is
its
guide and in
of thought.
Noteworthy,
angelology.
however,
is
the
God
concerned,
was ignored.
73
The Lord
I
the beginning,
When
When
was
While
brought forth
yet he had not made the earth, nor the
nor the highest part of the dust of the
:
as
fields,
world.
When he
When he
When he
When he
set a
And
was daily
his delight,
JEWISH MYSTICISM
74
man.
It
is,
in
and
It dwells among
objectified.
finds its special delight
It resembles the
in intercourse with them.
personified
the sons of
men and
Pneuma
Divine
up with him.
The phrase
is
represented
extracted
(i.)
three
pedagogue,
Thus
(i.)
meanings
(ii.)
pupil,
from
(iii.)
it
viz.
workman.
identified
75
felt in
heart,
It
is,
after
all,
only
God
Wisdom, no
For
mystical elements.
more mobile than any motion
"
forth
similar
wisdom
is
by reason
is
and penetrateth
of her pureness
"
(vii.
all
things
This
24).
Pneuma.
Again
For she
And
25, 26.)
JEWISH MYSTICISM
76
Platonism.
ment on the
For
And had
came
into a
body unde-
filed.
(viii.
19, 20.)
soul,
(ix. 15.)
is man s anchorage in time of
It is the immanent protector and
redeemer of mankind. The whole of chapter
x. is given over to this theme.
In xviii.
Wisdom
trouble.
is
Ma-amar
Memra.
ment
And
And
standing,
while
earth.
it
77
which
"
man
man
"
ment idea
hates
"
"
remove you
avenger
of
"
by
afar."
the
And my Memra
The Memra here
wayward
Israelites.
shall
is
the
The
1
Memra is the Aramaic for word. For the full
Memra see the author s
theological significance of the
Immanence of God in Rabbinical Literature, pp. 146-173.
JEWISH MYSTICISM
78
the
CHAPTER
IV
THE Old
two
the
mem
79
JEWISH MYSTICISM
80
Hence
Fatherhood
and
became
Sonship
Rabbinic
literature.
ways
r>
God
("
i.
")
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
81
two Rabbis.
it
removed and went behind them
It
it
likened
?
Unto
what
be
says
may
may be likened unto a man who was walking
by the way and leading his son before him.
Robbers came to snatch the son away from
him. Seeing this, the father removed the
son from before him and placed him behind
him. Then came a wolf behind him to
steal the son away.
So the father removed
him from before him and placed him once
again behind him. Then came the robbers
from before him and the wolf from behind
him in order to take the son away. What
did the father do ? He took the son and
placed him upon his arms. But the son
thereupon began to feel the pain of the sun s
heat upon him. So the father spread his
and when he felt hungry
mantle over him
Israel,
"),
"
JEWISH MYSTICISM
82
said,
And he
said,
of the rock
*
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Power
Love.
is
Israel
83
one.
of
6
Fatherhood idea.
be reckoned with
The Kingdom
the
idea
must
of
Heaven,
as it is familiarly designated both in the
Rabbinic literature and in the Prayer-book
As in the case of the
of the Synagogue.
Fatherhood, so here, too, we must seek the
origin of the Kingdom in the compass of the
Old Testament. In the latter, the kingship
of God is sometimes pictured as an event
consummated in the present and sometimes
as some far-off divine event in the remote
Kingdom
future.
This
tions."
"
Rabbinic literature
The
it is further
amplified.
favourite expression there is the taking
84
JEWISH MYSTICISM
upon one
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
85
(a) as
an intense sense
(b) by prayer.
remarkable passage, in
T.B. Berachoth, lOb, runs thus
Whoso
"
him
fellowship, these
6
dwell.
The whole
edifice of
thought about
JEWISH MYSTICISM
86
"
"
"
"
ye
shall
be
my
people"
12).
The
ship,
series
an
this
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
87
among
"
"
"
Rulman Merswin,
that
"
a brilliant light
he heard in his ears
shone around him
he
a Divine voice of adorable sweetness
felt as if he were lifted from the ground,
and carried several times round the garden
;
"
JEWISH MYSTICISM
88
in
Leviticus
xx.
Rabba,
on Exodus, xxiv.
10,
And upon
commenting
the nobles of
the children of Israel he laid not his hand
also they saw God, and did eat and drink
runs thus
R. Tanhuma said that this
verse teaches us that they [i.e. the nobles of
("
"),
"
Israel]
act.
the
Shechinah
mysticism,
viz.
that
Shechinah
is
in
the
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
89
him.
Thus
said
the
Rabbis,
man
"
the
There
Shechinah
is
no room
Who
(T.B. Kiddushin, 31a).
soever shows anger regards the Shechinah
stool
as
"
resides
"
illustrations of
JEWISH MYSTICISM
90
"
"
Philo says
For what life can be better than that which
devoted to speculation, or what can be more closely
connected with rational existence ? For which reason it is
that though the voices of mortal beings are judged of by
1
"
is
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
91
i.e. God.
In T.B. Megillah, 29a,
beloved,
"
The
father of Samuel
it is
stated as follows
Rabbis
how
described as
that God prays
grotesque
and the synagogue is His house of prayer.
Hence if it is true, as Evelyn Underhill
maintains, that the visionary experience of
mystics is a picture which the mind con
structs
from raw materials already at
.
its
disposal
JEWISH MYSTICISM
92
with men.
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
93
"
i.e.
human
beings,
earth.
When Adam
and
Moses."
There
JEWISH MYSTICISM
94
Shechinah
is
of the better
"
The
is
Temple."
disciple of the wise
here a Temple in human form. To approach
him is to approach a Holy of Holies. Con
tact with him is a sanctifying influence. He
radiates divinity.
T.B. Ketuboth, lllb, says
Is it possible
for any man to cling to the Shechinah ?
"
a
disciple of the wise
enjoy of his
worldly possessions, it is counted unto him,
by Holy Writ, as though he clung to the
lets
Shechinah."
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
95
The man of virtue is Shechinah and to touch only the hem of his
possessed
world.
garment is tobecomeShechinah-possessedtoo.
When Ruth
ancestral
The
title
Jew
or
Israelite
is
frequently
JEWISH MYSTICISM
96
"
"The
Psalmist,"
says the
does
not
Do
Sifra,
say
good to the
Priests or to the Levites or to the Israelites.
But he says Do good unto those that be
More instances could be quoted
good.
did space not forbid.
From the first of the quotations just given,
Jew is a term of the widest
it follows that
From
the
second one infers that the
scope.
Jew fills no higher a place in the Divine favour
than do the good and worthy of all men and
their
heart."
"
races.
"
commentator
of
King Solomon
"
chariot
God
Of
said (Canticles,
the midst thereof is paved with
iii. 10) that
"This love in the
midst thereof,"
love."
it
is
"
It is
is the Shechinah."
say the Rabbis,
not
meant
in
sectarian
sense.
certainly
any
"
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
97
CHAPTER
THE BOOK
THE
book
YETSIRAH
tion.
The
Book
Yetsirah
significances
is
of
99
an adept
and the
The
however, seems to
But Reitzenstein
theory cuts
JEWISH MYSTICISM
100
Book
Yetsirah
elements
contrasted.
It
is
mystical
philosophy
much
is to be found in the
but
the
Rabbis
were certainly not
Talmud,
of this teaching
"
understanding
(Exodus, xxxi. 3), and this
wisdom is the same as that of Proverbs,
iii. 19
The Lord by wisdom founded the
earth."
This belief in the magic power of
"
"
101
an
It is
alphabet.
mentioned,
bining,
viz.
drawing,
hewing,
interchanging,
weighing,
com
is
de-
JEWISH MYSTICISM
102
terest
is
it is
an
introducing a considerable
amount
of
Hebrew
The
letters of the
Hebrew alphabet
the lips)
(b) sibilants, best
Shin
by
(c) aspirates, the class
;
103
which word
acteristic of fire
is
the equivalent in
Hebrew
its
-hissing sound;
for sibilant
and
is
104
JEWISH MYSTICISM
and
"
immanent
in the universe,
controller
and holds
all
three divisions.
c
105
And
so on.
classed
marians.
they possess
not usually
is
by Hebrew gram
By deducting these seven and the
among
these
JEWISH MYSTICISM
106
three
twelve
Infinite.
107
points
of
disagreement.
Secondly,
it
same
development
the
and
its
Alexandrian Neoplaton-
are
God.
of
He
assumption of
all
religion,
viz.
that there
is
JEWISH MYSTICISM
108
however
far
they
into
109
mercy."
Wisdom
as well as of
Torah
"
upon them
also
thy speculations,
thy knowledge, thy thought, thy imagina
tinually
tion
JEWISH MYSTICISM
110
and
re-establish
the
Creator
upon
his
foundation."
Again
(i.
3)
The Ten
There
is
mysticism of numbers.
Numbers and
letters
111
He
civ. 4).
insuperable.
the Sefirot
112
JEWISH MYSTICISM
Book
Yetsirah
is
113
"
"
"
114
JEWISH MYSTICISM
In
without anything
(belee ma).
cate
other words abstracts.
the
are
They
gories of the universe, the forms or moulds
into which all created things were originally
cast.
They are form, as distinguished from
matter. Whereas the Sefirot are responsible
Sefirot
115
for the first production of form, so the twentytwo letters are the prime cause of matter.
All existence and development are due to
the creative powers of the letters, but they
116
JEWISH MYSTICISM
discussion
pages.
CHAPTER
VI
ZOHAR
MYSTICISM
THE Zohar
(lit.
= Shining
or
Brightness
of
Kabbalistic
theosophy.
Its
style,
its
subject-matter,
its spirit
the Pentateuch.
in
medley
JEWISH MYSTICISM
118
2nd century
siderably later than the
(although many an idea and doctrine cer
tainly does go as far back as that, and further
too), but that it could not possibly be the
production of a single author or a single
period of history. It is, like the Yetsirah
book, a syncretism.
Many civilisations,
many
faiths,
to the making of
instances,
119
ever, that
influenced
Jews
of
120
JEWISH MYSTICISM
"
not thus.
an
elevated
and
sense
121
sublime
mystery."
is a
Here
"
JEWISH MYSTICISM
122
that
which
soul
breathes
through
the
Law."
"
than
"
more
striking ver
"
123
above has
and
is
"
all constitutes
"
is
visible
"
(ii.
fol.
20).
The universe
is
Tanhuma
mortal
"
king
engraves
is
But
If
image upon
a
a
But God
his
is
world."
it is
124
JEWISH MYSTICISM
"
east.
He will behold letters moving in the
heavens, one ascending and another de
scending. These brilliant forms are those of
the letters with which God created the
heaven and the earth. They form His
"
"
125
ing angels
is
just of a piece
("
").
126
JEWISH MYSTICISM
holds
sion.
The angels have their abode there,
and there also
presided over by Metatron
are the souls of ordinary men (as distin
guished from the pious). In the world of
Asiyah are the lower order of angels the
Ophanim, whose business it is to combat
evil and to receive the prayers of men.
Thus,
that
the
of
seeing
hierarchy
angels only
begins with the third world, whereas the
souls of the pious belong to the
second
world, the position of man in the Divine
evolution is superior to that of the angel.
The idea of the active part thus played
by angels in the emanation-worlds of Jewish
mediaeval mysticism is primarily derived
from such Old Testament verses as "he
;
[A.V. spirits]
(Psalm, civ. 4),
which has already been quoted in a similar
connection before. But suppose we attempt
to rationalise the old-world allegorical lan
guage, what constructions would we place
upon these angelic activities in the scheme of
man and the universe ? Much light is shed
;
"
127
is
JEWISH MYSTICISM
128
good and
affirm this,
is
The reply
to these queries
is
that the
way
which,
unsatisfactory to
writers lived.
Evil, sin,
and
their personifi
and
no being
it
is
a sort of illusion
state of absence,
negation
it
is
is
it is a
a thing
not.
It
contracted
means of the
an emanation
became, as
To
129
it
were,
certain
this finite
be
darkness
of the first chaos
longs the
in
other
evil.
Hence the finite
words,
or,
stands at the uttermost extremity of the
Divine emanation, i.e. the world. And as it
is man s duty to strive after union with the
Infinite, his pursuit of the finite leads him
to that which lies at the extremity of the
Divine nature rather than that which lies
at the heart of it. This constitutes evil.
It is a state of absence, a negation, because
man who, like the universe, is but one of
the manifestations of the Divine, can only
attain the real when he seeks the Real
who
is
It is of interest
home.
and vital to an under
mentioned
is
in passing.
ubiquitous term
mean
These words
No End.
The Deity is
literally
The
Zohar
was not the
endless.
boundless,
first mystical work to use the words.
The
was
idea
probably supplied by
underlying
the idea underlying the description of the
Godhead in the philosophy of Ibn Gabirol, the
Spanish-Hebrew poet and mystic philosopher
9
JEWISH MYSTICISM
130
He describes the
of the eleventh century.
the
sheen
lo
as
tiklah, i.e. the one
Deity
9
or ends.
Ibn Gabirol
was a Neoplatonist, and much of his philo
sophy shows the influence upon him of
But he forsakes his master and
Plotinus.
by a
title
of all attributes.
and
its
this
"
He was
Who
131
Heavenly
Man (Adam
He
Ild-d),
used him
pardon, the
potent, the
God
God
of justice, the
of hosts and
God omni
He who
is
"
JEWISH MYSTICISM
132
cannot
tell
what He
is
is
not.
is
is
133
from
desires
by a withdrawal
and from objects of sense) of
"
"
and
"the
earthly
man,"
"
of
"
a lump of clay
(On the Allegories of the Sacred Laws, i. 12).
One thinks also in this connection of Paul s
views on the First Adam who was flesh and
blood, a living soul, and the Second Adam
whom he describes as a quickening spirit
There is, too, a Rabbinic
(1 Cor. xv. 45-49).
dictum about a
which
spirit of Adam
moved upon the face of the waters
(as
loose
material,
called
"
"
"
"
JEWISH MYSTICISM
134
did the
~Rualq,
in Genesis,
Man.
The Zohar
i.
2)
a pre-exist ent
First
is
possibly
indebted for
Man
to
its
some one
"
Ten Sefirot.
But why, after all, such a title as Heavenly
Man
It
man
is
is
man
135
consists solely of
man
"
(ii.
76a).
CHAPTER
VII
ALL
divergent senses
of the
and varying
immanent
is
in
them.
them,
greater than they. He is
them.
He transcends them.
from
apart
The foregoing might be said to be a general
resume of the philosophy of the Ten Sefirot.
To quote a passage from the section of
the Zohar called the Idra Zutta ( Small
He
in
is
Assembly )
The Most Ancient One 1
:
"
One
of the favourite
Kabbalah.
It is
names
for
is
God
at the
in the mediaeval
ancient of days.
136
same
vii. 9,
13,22,
137
things.
He made
The
The name
see Exodus,
iii.
am
14,
[in
am
Hebrew, eheyeh
that I
am
in
signifies the
Afterwards He brought
out that light which is the celestial mother,
and when she bare a child, then He called
Himself that I am (asher eheyeh). And
JEWISH MYSTICISM
138
when
all else
came
into existence,
then
He
called Himself
its
Jahveh
and every
right place,
"
(iii.
65).
am that
am,
Jahveh.
am
belongs grammatically to
philologists call the
am
am
139
father
mother
"
and
ever,
this
is
my
memorial unto
"
or
all
"
generations
15)
(Exodus,
Thy
name, O Lord, endureth for ever; and thy
memorial, O Lord, throughout all genera
tions
(Psalm, cxxxv. 13).
One of the clearest passages in the Zohar
stating what the Ten Sefirot are, is the
iii.
"
following
"
and
JEWISH MYSTICISM
140
which
it
emits to spread
itself
over the
soil,
141
is
called the
it [i.e.
From
the
intelligent].
We
and there
Force),
tion of
all
things.
It is this latter
attri
Some
and
g.
142
JEWISH MYSTICISM
Name
The
Sefirot
of enigmatic language.
Hence
different deductions have always been pos
sible, and hence, too, the rise of more than
one school of Zohar interpretation. The
view mostly followed and it may be said
enigmatic
is
143
figure.
is
144
JEWISH MYSTICISM
"
light
or,
and
life
to speak
who
is
145
The
first of
It
is
the
Crown
of
importance
whereas Neo-
different
words
all
indiscriminately
translated as
played
many
parts.
Berachoth, 17a,
come there
nor
10
is
JEWISH MYSTICISM
146
sit,
5)."
"
is,"
"
no attributes or
qualities,
and
baffling all
147
colour,
tioned,
JEWISH MYSTICISM
148
where
"
"
"
all
the
mother,
Intelligence is the
from
passive, receptive principle (derived
Yea, if thou cry after dis
Proverbs, ii. 3,
12).
"
Binah
word rendered by if
cernment," i.e.
alteration
of
in
Yea,
").
Out
if
is
translated
mother thou
of the
union of
149
and
"
things exist in
150
JEWISH MYSTICISM
have their
and the Sefirot have theirs
in the source from which they emanate."
Thus, the first three Sefirot form a triad
form in the
Sefirot,
151
c
that
come
out,
it is
152
JEWISH MYSTICISM
and variety
movements. From
upon which
all
things
depend.
The last of the Sefirot is Royalty (Malk&t).
Its function is not very apparent, and its
existence may be due to the desire on the
part of the Kabbalists to make up the
number ten a number which looms largely
in the Old Testament literature, as well as in
the theology of the Talmud, Midrashim, and
Philo.
Generally speaking, this tenth Sefirah
indicates the abiding truth of the har
monious co-operation of all the Sefirot, thus
making the universe in its orderliness and in
its symmetry a true and exact manifestation
an Olam Azilut, i.e.
of the Divine Mind
a world of emanation, as the Kabbalists
themselves style it.
The fact that the Sefirot fall into triads or
trinities, and the ascription to them of such
sexual titles as father,
mother,
son, has
finally
153
was
to.
Ten
of
the
theological
From
29.
JEWISH MYSTICISM
154
ascribing glory
(lit.
beauty,
i.e.
Tifereth)
and
greatness."
1
Ziv in Hebrew, a mystical term for the shining of the
Shechinah.
2
Another appellation for Hesed, the fourth Sefirah.
CHAPTER
VIII
THE SOUL
As
in
"
55
JEWISH MYSTICISM
156
God gives
Berachoth,
lOa).
(T.B.
The predominant influence of the soul over
the body, the body as overflown in all its
parts by the soul and dependent upon it
for the source of its life
these are the im
[i.e.
spiritually, intellectually], so
food to the
world"
and
plications of the passage just quoted
ideas
are
the
substratum
of
the
Zoharic
they
of the soul.
Neoplatonism gave to the Zohar the
idea of the soul as an emanation from the
of the universe.
Overmind
There was
one
OverUniversal
Soul, or
originally
it
as
broke
itself
soul,
which,
were,
up
and encased itself in individual bodies. All
individual souls are, hence, fragments of the
Oversoul, so that although they are dis
tinct from one another they are, in reality,
all one.
Thus, to quote the Zohar
At the time when God desired to create
;
"
the universe,
of
them would
act corruptly
THE SOUL
in
the
world.
When
the
157
time
each
of
JEWISH MYSTICISM
158
and
there,
souls
inferior
between
too,
as
is
superior
shown by
their
pathways
soul
in
which
in
its
pristine
form
is
pure,
THE SOUL
The
soul
is
a trinity.
elements, viz.
element
which
(a)
159
It comprises three
The three
emana
The Neshdmah,
tions
forces of earth.
JEWISH MYSTICISM
160
"
of soul] does
not in
This
is
is
why it
become
filled
with
Him
throughout eternity.
THE SOUL
161
that
able to
mount up again
from which
it
and
become
ancients.
But
if
one
be
emanated.
evitable destiny of
we
And
Neshdmdh
with
it is
the in
to climb back
Ancient
the
of
Neshdmdh
is
so exalted, so sacro
why
"
ii
162
JEWISH MYSTICISM
to
"
THE SOUL
163
If
all
this,
more
"
(i.
245).
death.
It
is
Neshdmdh
to
an earthly body.
It seems to follow, as a necessary corollary
from the foregoing doctrine, that the Zohar
must give countenance to some theory of the
transmigration of souls. If it is imperative
upon Neshdmdh to climb back again to the
Oversoul and obtain union with it
and if,
in order to effect this end, it must previously
have reached the summit of purity and per
fection, then it stands to reason that its
sojourn within the confines of one body
may, on occasions, be inadequate to enable it
to reach this high and exacting condition.
Hence it must experience other bodies,
;
JEWISH MYSTICISM
164
and
it
experience
until
it
shall
its
eternal
well.
It
is
home
THE SOUL
165
"
JEWISH MYSTICISM
166
model
is
visible,
quality
Love
most
is
love.
"
is
the off
says Miss Underbill,
the deepspring of the Celestial Venus
seated desire and tendency of the soul towards
its source."
The soul, says the mystic of all
ages, seeks to enter consciously into the
Presence of God. It can do so only under
the spur of an overpowering ecstatic emotion
called love.
Although, according to the
Zohar, the soul in its most exalted state as
Neshdmdh can only enjoy the love inherent
Love,"
"is
THE SOUL
167
outward con
"
"
"
"
"
"
168
JEWISH MYSTICISM
"
"
THE SOUL
169
"
(ii.
97).
JEWISH MYSTICISM
170
him
ing
When Adam
of
our
first
Eden he was
garden
in heaven, with the Divine light.
When he
was driven forth from Eden to do the
ordinary work of earth, then Holy Writ tells
Adam
and
Eden. 1
Man
down on him
become
must have
In Hebrew there
skin
is
for
light.
THE SOUL
171
terrestrial
"
JEWISH MYSTICISM
172
When Adam
all
souls.
inferior sets
THE SOUL
173
CONCLUDING NOTE
THE course of Jewish mysticism subsequent
to the Zohar consists, in the main, of develop
ments and elaborations, by Jews in many
lands, of the doctrines taught in that unique
work.
There
ality in
many
men
writers were
of
is
mystical
sentiments,
men whose
lives
Hasidism
(from Hebrew l^asid = pious).
aim was to revive the spiritual element in
Judaism which had been largely crushed
6
Its
CONCLUDING NOTE
175
ward
it,
viz.
to
make
it
conscious of
how
BIBLIOGRAPHY
WORKS
On the
La Kabbale
(Paris,
1843
2nd
ed.,
On
Essenes
by F.
C.
Conybeare
The Contemplative
(Oxford, 1895).
12
in Hastings
Encyclopedia.
Life,
ed.
Conybeare
JEWISH MYSTICISM
178
On
im
On
Philo
Drummond,
On
On
Franck,
1901).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
able for the history of the
ideas.
179
development of
INDEX
Abodah Zarah,
A both,
71.
80.
Divine Presence,
Adam s
fall,
Albertus,
138,
139, 142.
Magnus,
4,
33,
38,
48,
50,
172.
13.
55,
56,
Ecclesiasticus, 140.
83.
Eckhart,
Ecstasy,
Bahir, 8.
Berachoth, 23, 24, 28, 85, 94,
100, 145,156.
9, 13.
Emanation,
71,
148.
En-Sof,
140,
Esoteric teaching,
Dante, 39.
Darwin, 13.
of Atonement, 61.
Death, 169.
Fatherhood of God,
Corinthians, 133.
Cosmogony,
53, 101.
Day
Deuteronomy,
16, 79,
83-
Fourth Gospel,
182
INDEX
49,
Ketuboth) 94.
Kiddushin,
99-
59,
71,
95,
123,
55,
of Heaven, 24, 64
Kingdom
(Chapter IV.).
128,
1
Kings, 85.
2 Kings, 48.
134-
Lamentations, 46.
Leviticus, 77, 86, 87, 90, 96.
Graetz,
8, 9.
Haggadah,
Haggigah,
23, 53.
10, 36, 37, 42, 46,
66, 67.
Halacha,
Harnack,
53.
10.
Hashdim,
Hashmal,
21, 22.
Hasidim,
18,
Maimonides,
Man,
131,
132,
Memra,
Midrash
Mishna,
Hosea,
10.
69, 82.
35-
Nahmanides,
Name,
8.
87.
124.
Name
of Messiah, 70.
Nationalism, 5, 6.
Job, 148.
Josephus,
Nedarim^
8, 20, 30.
Book
Jubilees,
24, 44.
Holy
26, 62,
15,
Mechilta, 81.
Meekness,
174, 175-
Heavenly
14,
64, 65.
37, 38.
Judah Ha-Levi,
89.
Neoplatonic,
of, 71.
Neoplatonism,
113,
119,
130,145,153, 155,156,157,
167.
Kabbalah,
8,
107,
109,
124,
136,
155-
Kant,
13.
10,
114,
120,
143,
144,
153,
Newton, 13.
Nordau, 10.
Numbers, 86, 90, 125.
Numbers, mysticism
116.
of,
99,
INDEX
Optimism,
183
169.
Sifra, 96.
Sifri, 81.
Simeon
172.
Pantheism, 128.
Paraclete, 66.
Paul, 2, 87, 133.
Pesahim,
0/",
139.
Pharisees,
b.
18, 31.
Sukkah,
28, 40.
Supreme Cause,
Synagogue,
Talmud,
Prayer, spirituality
141,
53, 5 6
>
91, 107.
144,
124,
119, 123,
152, 168.
Tanhuma, 68, 90, 123.
Targ um, 71, 77, 78, 146.
117,
Testament of Solomon,
29.
Tosefta, 21.
Transmigration,
70.
140,
143-
171, 172.
Treasury of
Trinity,
168.
life,
dogma
of,
152, 153.
Reitzenstein, 99,
Repentance,
Revelation,
70.
Book
Unity of Soul,
Ritschl, 10.
Rufus Jones,
Samael, 61
Sandalphon, 46.
Sanhedrin, 101, 125.
in,
I33
27,
112,
T
34-
Wellhausen,
06,
108,
109,
Wisdom,
113,
115,
125,
100,
167.
Universalism, 5.
Universal Soul, 156.
9, 108, 158.
Sa diah
Sefirot,
no,
114.
of, 148.
71
18.
(Chapter
104, 109,
135,
146, 148, 149, 159.
III.),
140,
INDEX
184
Yalkut, 91.
Zenmm,
Yebamotk, 70.
Yoma,
45.
153, itfctseg.
Zoroastrianism, 72, 101.
Zechariah, 83.
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