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"SECTION I. AYN-SOPH AND THE WORLD OF EMANATION

INTRODUÇÃO

a. O Mistério da Divindade

O ensino cabalístico, tal como é apresentado nas páginas do Zohar no final do século XIII, após um processo de desenvolvimento e cristalização que durou mais de cem anos, é extremamente abrangente, incidindo em todas as áreas da existência e buscando soluções a partir de um ponto de vista religioso-místico para os mistérios do mundo e os problemas da vida. No cerne e fundamento deste ensinamento está um assunto particular de investigação: o Mistério do Conhecimento da Divindade. Os grandes temas da Criação e da Carruagem, a existência e atividade dos anjos, a natureza dos mundos espirituais, as forças do mal no reino de Satanás, a situação e o destino do Homem, deste mundo e do próximo, o processo da história desde os dias da Criação até o fim dos tempos - todos esses tópicos não são mais do que ramos e galhos da poderosa árvore do Mistério da Divindade. O conhecimento deste mistério, que depende do nível espiritual do homem e da raiz da sua alma, é a base da fé religiosa tal como vista pela cabala, e é por isso chamado no Zohar de "Mistério da Fé" (Raza di- Mehemanuta).

Obviamente, a originalidade da Cabala não consiste no facto de atribuir uma posição central ao Divino. A criatividade judaica, tanto no período inicial como no medieval, girava inteiramente em torno do pivô da fé e da experiência religiosa, e pela própria natureza das coisas, esse tipo de criatividade ocorreu sob a égide do espírito Divino. Mas no que diz respeito à Divindade, o método cabalístico é completamente diferente, tanto na abordagem como no conteúdo, de outros métodos na vida do espírito judaico.

A fim de destacar o ponto de vista especial da Cabala, posso descrever brevemente as três atitudes básicas que estavam em ação e que influenciaram o povo judeu, seja na vida real ou através de canais literários, à medida que a Cabala começou a se desenvolver; (a) A abordagem rabínica, que encontrou expressão na literatura haláchica, na agadá e nos escritos éticos, e que serviu como principal fundamento para a fé popular, para o culto a Deus e para a vida religiosa da época; (b) A abordagem mística, que se estabeleceu nos círculos restritos daqueles que "desceram à Carruagem", séculos antes do crescimento da cabala, e cujas tendências são refletidas nos escritos que se enquadram no título da literatura Hekhalot, e em midrashim posterior. Uma ramificação distante deste grupo pode ser vista no movimento hassídico alemão que esteve ativo nos séculos XII e XIII e que foi liderado pelo Rabino Judah o Piedoso a quem é atribuído o Sefer ljas"tdim e por seu discípulo Rabino Eleazar ha-Rokeah de Worms; (c) A abordagem filosófica, com o ensino de Maimônides à frente, que se espalhou amplamente no início do século XIII, afetando muitos grupos judaicos diferentes.

Na abordagem rabínica não encontramos absolutamente nenhuma doutrina da Divindade, no sentido pleno do termo, isto é, uma doutrina que credita ao homem uma compreensão sistemática e claramente argumentada da Natureza de Deus e dos Mistériosno Reino Divino. O elemento principal nesta abordagem é a relação mútua entre Deus e a Sua criação, com o Homem, e particularmente Israel, o povo de Deus, no seu centro. De acordo com esta abordagem, existem dois lados. Por um lado, está Deus, Criador e Guia do mundo, que deu a Torá e os mandamentos, que cuida de Suas criaturas, que recompensa o homem de acordo com suas ações, e que faz com que Sua presença repouse sobre Israel. Do outro lado, está o Homem, sujeito à soberania de Deus, cuja tarefa é aprender e cumprir a Torá, e buscar um relacionamento com Deus através da oração, das boas ações e da santificação da vida. A Imagem de Deus, em si mesma, é descrita apenas em termos gerais e vagos, e o Ser Divino nunca se torna objeto de estudo ou objeto de conhecimento preciso.

Neste ponto não há diferença fundamental entre a abordagem rabínica e as tendências místicas que mencionei. É verdade que o tema principal da literatura Hekhalot é "a observação da Carruagem", isto é, a ascensão da alma às alturas do mundo da Carruagem, e sua descida a partir daí, repleta de visões. do Rei supremo e temível, sentado em Seu Trono de Glória e cercado por Seus bandos de anjos e ministros. Mas esta literatura não descreve a natureza de Deus. Trata antes da incrível experiência da alma à medida que sobe e desce, dos perigos que se colocam ao longo do seu caminho e do seu êxtase perante o esplendor da Glória de Deus e o brilho do Seu séquito. Este certamente não era o lugar para discutir a doutrina da Divindade; e mesmo a relação entre Deus, o homem e o mundo não é tratada de uma forma que conduza ao ensino ou conhecimento sistemático. Mesmo na literatura dos hassidim alemães, que contém de tempos em tempos traços de pontos de vista específicos sobre a natureza de Deus, esses pontos de vista são subsidiários ao impulso central e básico de seus escritos, a saber, a preparação da alma para se aproximar a Deus através de uma vida de piedade e atos ascéticos de penitência. Nem o ponto de partida nem o objetivo dos hassidim alemães estão preocupados com a percepção dos mistérios celestiais, mas com a auto-preparação do homem para o confronto com Deus.(1)

[3] O ponto de vista da Cabala é bem diferente.(2) Os seus motivos e propósitos subjacentes são ativados pelo desejo de descobrir as camadas ocultas do Mistério de Deus e de penetrar nas profundezas dos Segredos do Céu. Desenvolveu uma apresentação sistemática da doutrina da Divindade, cuja compreensão foi apresentada ao homem como uma tarefa exaltada, da qual dependia o seu sucesso e a salvação da sua alma, tanto neste mundo como no próximo. O Zohar não conhece limites no seu elogio extravagante ao misticismo; em todas as oportunidades, volta a ser uma expressão do seu grande valor e importância. A alma pura desce das moradas de esplendor nos reinos celestiais para o vale escuro deste mundo apenas para realizar, na vida corpórea, nas profundezas da existência, aquela percepção suprema de que gozava quando residia nas Alturas do Céu. O conhecimento da ciência do misticismo é a principal ponte que leva ao apego da alma a Deus. E assim os mestres desta ciência são chamados de "os filhos do palácio" (benei hekhala), pois só eles são dignos o suficiente para entrar no palácio do Rei e desfrutar do esplendor de Sua Glória. A Torá, em seu sentido literal, e toda a gama de mandamentos, são apenas degraus inferiores na escada dos valores religiosos, no topo da qual está o conhecimento dos mistérios ocultos. O Zohar denigre com grande severidade aqueles que se ocupam apenas com a dimensão literal da Torá e não se esforçam para dominar o segredo da Divindade escondida nela. As narrativas da Torá são como roupas; os mandamentos representam o corpo, enquanto a doutrina mística é a alma. "Os tolos do mundo olham apenas para as roupas, que são as narrativas da Torá; eles não sabem mais nada e não veem o que há por baixo das roupas. Aqueles que sabem mais não olham para as roupas, mas para o corpo por baixo das roupas. Os sábios, os servos do Rei supremo, aqueles que estiveram no Monte Sinai, olham apenas para a alma, que é o fundamento de tudo, a verdadeira Torá." (3 [231]) Até mesmo a participação de alguém no mundo vindouro depende principalmente do conhecimento da doutrina mística, e quem negligencia seu estudo perderá a proteção de suas boas ações e será dispensado da Câmara do Santíssimo. "Esta criatura sagrada permanece (no segundo palácio) enquanto a alma ascende e vem em direção a ela. Pergunta-lhe sobre o mistério da sabedoria do seu Mestre. E de acordo com a sabedoria que ela buscou e alcançou, ela recebe sua recompensa. Mas se ela conseguiu alcançá-lo e não o fez, ela é expulsa e não pode entrar, e permanece sob aquele palácio coberta de vergonha." (4 [231])

[4].É precisamente nesta área que a Cabalá parece partilhar pontos comuns com a sua disciplina rival, a filosofia racionalista. Os filósofos, Maimônides sendo o principal deles, consideravam a percepção dos inteligíveis, isto é, o conhecimento certo das inteligências separadas e dos assuntos pertencentes à Divindade, como a mais alta perfeição na vida do homem. A obtenção deste elevado estágio não era apenas objeto de investigação filosófica, mas o próprio fundamento para o cumprimento do dever religioso de alguém. Eles também enfatizaram a importância dos “segredos da Torá”, que consistiam principalmente no conhecimento dos inteligíveis mais elevados, e relegaram os expoentes da Torá literal e os observadores dos mandamentos práticos a um estágio muito inferior àquele. ocupado por aqueles que tinham uma visão filosófica da doutrina do Divino. Maimônides retrata a escada da perfeição entre os homens de acordo com sua proximidade ou afastamento de Deus, em termos de um rei sentado em seu palácio, com seus súditos, que procuram entrar na sua presença, divididos em várias categorias de acordo com a sua posição em relação à residência do rei. Somente os filósofos, aqueles que têm conhecimento dos assuntos Divinos, são comparados aos príncipes que estão na câmara do rei, enquanto dos literalistas ele escreve: "Os que chegam ao palácio, mas o circundam, são os que se dedicam exclusivamente ao estudo do direito prático; eles acreditam tradicionalmente em verdadeiros princípios de fé e aprendem a adoração prática de Deus, mas não são treinados no tratamento filosófico dos princípios da Torá e não se esforçam para estabelecer a verdade de sua fé por meio de provas".(5 [231]) A vida no mundo vindouro também depende do conhecimento dos inteligíveis. Somente o homem que desenvolve seu intelecto percebendo os assuntos Divinos e atinge o estágio de “intelecto adquirido” ganhará a vida eterna após a morte.

Os pontos de contacto entre estas ideias e a posição sustentada pela Cabala são surpreendentemente óbvios, e há razões para acreditar que os cabalistas se basearam nas opiniões dos filósofos. No entanto, uma enorme distância separa a Cabala da Filosofia. E não me refiro aqui à grande diferença de conteúdo no conhecimento do mistério Divino, sobre o qual falarei mais detalhadamente mais tarde, mas às muitas diferenças no tipo de percepção.

[5] Em primeiro lugar, devemos tratar da questão do instrumento de percepção. Os filósofos pensavam no intelecto como o meio pelo qual alguém atingia o conhecimento dos assuntos Divinos - o mesmo intelecto que atuava na aquisição de fatos menos importantes. Isso ocorre porque a percepção dos inteligíveis Divinos não passava do estágio mais elevado do processo de conhecimento lógico-discursivo. O intelecto progride de um assunto para outro por um processo de dedução e analogia até chegar ao ápice da percepção, o reino do Divino. Este não é o caso da Cabalá. No Zohar, a realização do mistério da Divindade está confinada à alma santa, que é talhada de uma fonte Divina e não é idêntica ao intelecto racional. Para diferenciá-lo do intelecto simples, esse meio de percepção é chamado, nos escritos do Rabino Moses de Leon, de "o verdadeiro intelecto" ou "o intelecto sagrado" e, visto desta forma, aproxima-se tanto em natureza e função à "força Divina" nas doutrinas do Rabino Judah Halevi. Este instrumento de percepção não percebe logicamente, mas tem uma compreensão intuitiva ou visionária enquanto está em estado de contemplação. Esta percepção é obtida através da conjunção da alma com a luz Divina que a irradia.(6 [232])

Mas não é apenas o meio de percepção que é diferente na Cabalá. O objetivo também é diferente. Para os filósofos, a Divindade é simplesmente um objeto de conhecimento; isto é, o motivo para percebê-lo é enriquecer o estoque de fatos adquiridos e dotar o homem de perfeição intelectual. Mas de acordo com a Cabalá, a compreensão do mistério da Divindade dá aos cabalistas os meios para influenciar e agir no reino Divino. O cabalista não absorve apenas uma percepção do Divino com passividade receptiva. Ela é transmutada dentro dele em energia criativa ativa. Como resultado desta percepção, a centelha Divina, que se apagou quando a alma desceu ao corpo, é reacendida na alma, e o homem torna-se assim um verdadeiro parceiro do Criador do mundo, tanto na vida oculta do mundo do emanação e na direção dos mundos inferiores. Com a compreensão do mistério do Divino, uma poderosa relação interdependente é estabelecida entre o homem e seu Criador, e o poder da alma ("o impulso abaixo") trabalha junto com o poder do Divino ("o impulso acima"), por um processo de ajuda mútua. Este propósito ativista, que tanto contribui para dar ao misticismo judaico aquela imagem específica que o diferencia da maioria das correntes místicas em outras religiões, traz à tona o contraste básico entre a cabala e a filosofia em suas respectivas abordagens à percepção de Deus.

b. Ayn-Soph and the order of the Sephiroth.

[1]. However, the most original feature ofkabbalistic doctrine is in the actual content of the mystery of the Divine. The Image of God portrayed in the descriptions of the kabbalists is absolutely different from that depicted anywhere else in Judaism. In place of the strict Lawgiver and Ruler of the halakhah, or the merciful Father of the aggadah, or the awesome King of those who "descend to the Chariot," or the necessary Being and hidden Mover of the philosophers, all of whom are distinguished by both uniqueness and unity, we find in the kabbalah a Divine image that is compound and complex, and that seems to be opposed and foreign to the Jewish spirit. It was not apparently a single God that was revealed to the kabbalists in their contemplation, but a number of different Divine substances, arrayed in the order of the ten Sephiroth. But even this order did not constitute the Divine in its entirety. The Sephiroth are emanated forces that originate and spread from a hidden source, called Ayn-Soph. And so the multiplicity of the Divine Sephiroth on the one hand, and the duality of the sefirotic order and Ayn-Soph on the other, are the two basic factors in the mystery of the Godhead as presented by the kabbalah. These require analysis and clarification.

The question of the nature and functions of the Sephiroth will be discussed in the introduction to the following section. Here i shall deal only with the relationship between the Sephiroth and Ayn-Soph, and specifically with the kabbalistic concept of Ayn-Soph itself.

[2] Most kabbalists, including the author of the main body of the Zohar, do not regard the Sephiroth as separate entities existing outside the realm of the Godhead - that is to say, spiritual intermediary stages between God and man. They regard them rather as parts of the Divine being, if one can say such a thing. They are, indeed, called "levels" or "stages," but the reference here is to inner stages within the Godhead. Ayn-Soph, the hidden God, dwelling in the depths of His own being, seeks to reveal Himself, and to unloose His hidden powers. His will realizes itself through the emanation of rays from His light, which break out of their concealment and are arrayed in the order of the Sephiroth, the world of Divine Emanation. Subsequently, through the power of the Sephiroth, the lower, non-Divine, worlds are established, in which the Divine governance of the Sephiroth acts and reveals itself. Thus the Sephiroth are the self-revealing God, that is, the reflection of Ayn-Soph in the mirror of revelation that is turned toward the world outside itself.

The concealment that is in Ayn-Soph has a twofold character. First, its essence does not appear outside its own hidden domain, and it does not take part directly in the processes of creation or conduct of the world. Its nature is not apprehensible, and is beyond the limits of thought or perception. The second aspect of concealment is deeper than the first. It is true that in the world of the Sephiroth, and particularly in the upper realms, the immanence of Ayn-Soph itself is always present ("Influence and Direction", 11 ) . But even the Sephiroth are unable to apprehend its nature: "All these luminaries and lights depend on it for their existence, but they are not in a position to perceive. That which knows, but does not know (i.e., Ayn-Soph), is none but the Supernal Will, the secret of all secrets, Ayn (nothing)" (1 [7] - 233) .

The absolute concealment of Ayn-Soph demonstrates one of the differentiating characteristics of the kabbalistic approach to the mystery of the Godhead. Only a portion of this mystery, the part that concerns the self-revealing God, is susceptible to knowledge and perception. But as far as Ayn-Soph, the hidden God, is concerned, the mystery is one of non-knowledge and non-perception. Just as the highest religious duty of man requires for its fulfillment a knowledge of his Creator, that is to say, that he should enter into the mystery of the Sephiroth, so it is also incumbent on him to recognize the limits of mystical perception and to acknowledge the concealment of Ayn-Soph. The obligation of knowledge ("for he who does not know Him cannot serve Him") (8-234) and the obligation ofrecognizing non-knowledge ("restrain your mouth from speaking, and your heart from thinking, and if your heart runs let it return to its place") (9-234) are bound up together before the mystery of the Godhead.

[3] This concept of Ayn-Soph had a number of important consequences for a religious life conducted in a kabbalistic spirit. Ayn-Soph was beyond the horizon of human aspiration, and completely separated from man. The God of religious experience, to whom man turns with the devotion of prayer and the commandments, and who answers those who call upon Him, is not the hidden God, but the God who reveals Himself through the system of the Sephiroth.

But more than this, even the God who revealed Himself on Mt. Sinai, and through the medium of prophecy, is not Ayn-Sof itself, but His Sephiroth, and the Names of God recorded in Scripture are not in any sense to be applied to Ayn-Soph, for it cannot be categorized by any name or epithet. This extreme and bold concept of the concealment of Ayn-Soph is already alluded to in the "Perush Eser Sephiroth" by Rabbi Azriel of Gerona,(10-234) one of the earliest kabbalists: "Know that Ayn-Soph cannot be an object of thought, let alone of speech, even though there is an indication of it in every thing, for there is nothing beyond it. Consequently, there is no letter, no name, no writing, and no word that can comprise it." This idea is expressed in a more direct and extreme fashion in the "Sepher Ma'arekhet ha-Elohut",(11-234) by an anonymous author who was, it seems, a contemporary of the author of the Zohar: "Know that the Ayn-Soph that we have mentioned is not referred to in the Torah, the Prophets, or the Hagiographa, or in the words of the rabbis, but the worshipers (i.e., the kabbalists) have received a little indication of it."

Statements as unequivocal as this are not to be found in the Zohar, but we may confidently deduce from the material in general that this was the standpoint there too.(12-234) References to Ayn-Soph are practically always accompanied by exaggerated expressions of concealment, such as, "that secret which is not perceived or known,"(1-234) and so on.(13-234) Moreover, the author of the Zohar actually fulfilled the obligation of reticence with regard to the hidden nature of Ayn-Soph, and restricted his references to the hidden God to just a few allusions. This explains why in the selection here i have included only one passage from the Zohar itself in the Ayn-Soph section, for the other references to Ayn-Soph are not sufficient to form another extract.

[4] In the Zohar only one Name is used specifically for the hidden God: Ayn-Soph. This name is late. We come across it for the first time in the writings of Rabbi Isaac the Blind, the son of Rabbi Abraham hen David, and in the writings of his pupils, who were active in Provence and Spain at the end of the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth centuries. In the "Sepher ha-Bahir", which preceded these kabbalists, the two words are not yet used as a proper noun, but as an adverbial phrase: "And so with thought: when you think, you will think without end (le-Ayn-Soph) or limit."(14-234)

There are two elements in the term Ayn-Soph that characterize the concept of the hidden God: (a) the negative element, and (b) the impersonal element. The meaning of Ayn-Soph [lit., no end] is the absence of all limit or measure. It is absolutely beyond our intellectual capability to know or express in a positive way one single iota of the hidden nature of Ayn-Soph, but we can, and we must, strip it of any form or quality known to us, for any known thing that is attributed to it blemishes its unparalleled and unknowable perfection, and imposes a limit on its infinity. "Know that one cannot attribute to Ayn-Soph will or desire or intention or thought or speech or deed, although there is nothing beyond it, and one can say nothing of it that implies its limitation"- so writes Rabbi Azriel.(15 [235]) And in the Zohar we find: "But there are no end, no wills, no lights, no luminaries, in Ayn-Soph".(1 [235]) Ayn-Soph is the source of Will and Thought, which are the first two Sephiroth, but these two faculties are not to be attributed to its hidden being.

This negative approach also affected the question of personality. According to the early kabbalists and the Zohar, the real meaning of Ayn-Soph is "that which has no end," which means that one should not think of the hidden God in the form of an active, creative, personal entity. The characteristic of personality should be applied only to the God who reveals Himself in the Sephiroth.

The early kabbalists did use other terms to designate the hidden God, but only one of them is comparable to Ayn-Soph from the point of view of the negative and impersonal approach: "that which thought cannot grasp" (mah she-en

ha-mahashavah masseget). Here the denial of personality is expressed quite clearly by the use of the word mah (what, that which). In the remaining early terminology just a slight hint of positive usage can be discerned. Some terms are intended to stress the absolute unity of the hidden God, as in "The One" (ha-Echad), "the perfect unity" (ha-aMut ha-shelemah), "the perfection of unity" (hashlamat ha-aMut), and "the symmetry of unity" (hashva'at ha-aMut). Others describe the causal relationship between the hidden God and revealed existence, such as "root of roots" (shoresh ha-shorashim), "the first cause" (ha-sibah ha-rishonah), and "the cause of causes" (sibah ha-sibot, and ilah ha-ilot).

Many kabbalists of the thirteenth century dropped these terms, and in the Zohar itself they are not used at all of the hidden God. Ayn-Soph was accepted as practically a unique expression. This terminological standardization, which took place before the composition of the Zohar, shows how far the extremely negative approach to the concept of the hidden God extended, even though at the very same time, as we shall see later, attempts were made to introduce a positive content into the traditional negative term. The consistent refusal to use perfectly clear terms like "first cause" or "the cause of causes" in the Zohar demonstrates that, although the hidden God is the source of all- or, in Rabbi Azriel's phrase, "there is nothing beyond it"-nevertheless, causal expressions were considered unsuitable because of its utter impenetrability.(16 [235])

c. Dualism and Unity

[1] The absolute distinction between two areas or facets within the Godhead - the dualism of the concealed Emanator, on the one hand, and, on the other, the array of His active emanated powers in His role as Creator of the world - is a complete innovation in Judaism, and seems to be foreign to it. And we do indeed find a close parallel to this idea in the theories of Gnosis, which flourished in the early centuries of the Christian era. With their various mythical descriptions and differing nuances of thought, the Gnostics present to us an image of God with two faces: on the one side, the unknowable, unapproachable God (Agnostos Theos) , remote from any worldly existence, and indescribable except in a negative fashion; and on the other side, the demiourgos, God of the world, its Creator and Guide. The demiourgos is usually depicted as one of the powers of emanation of the Hidden God, which constitute the Divine Pleroma ("fullness"). And so we must ask: what is the connection between kabbalistic doctrine and ancient pagan and Christian Gnosis? This question has two elements: (a) How near ideologically are the two doctrines? and (b) Does the approximation of ideas derive from some historical link, that is, was Gnosis the breeding ground for kabbalistic teaching?

There is no single answer to these questions. As far as the doctrine of the Sephiroth is concerned, it can be established without a doubt that there is some reflection here of a definite gnostic tendency, and that it did in fact emerge and develop from a historico-literary contact with the remnants of Gnosis, which were preserved over a period of many generations in certain jewish circles, until they found their way to the early kabbalists, who were deeply affected by them both spiritually and intellectually. Marks of this contact, and of this process of development, can be discerned in the Sepher HaBahir, the first literary record of kabbalistic doctrine, which, in the form we have it, seems to have been written in the twelfth century.(17 [236])

This is not the case when we come to the question of the Hidden God and His relationship with the order of the Sephiroth. Here it is quite obvious that Gnostic dualism differs in both nature and purpose from the dualism that exists in kabbalistic teaching. In Gnosis separation between the Unknowable God and the Creator of the World is not just a matter of concealment and Revelation. They are opposed to one another like contrasted, hostile powers. The creation of this world was not an act originally planned by the Divine mind as a complementary counterpart to the Heavenly World above, but occurred as a result of the rebellion of demiourgos against the Hidden God. The ruler of this world is the god of evil and judgment, who sinned against the god of goodness and mercy and erected a fortress for himself to rule over with his evil laws. The kabbalah, clearly, does not posit a dualism such as this, with two separate powers,(18 [235]) for it would be absolutely contrary to the belief in the Unity of God. The main point of Gnosis, moreover, particularly in the Marcionite system, was directed against Jewish teaching, which it depicted as a corpus of wicked legislation derived from the demiourgos, whom it identified with the God of Israel.

From the historical point of view, too, the concept of the Hidden God in kabbalah, in its crystallization as Ayn-Soph, cannot be traced to Gnostic influence. In the Sepher HaBahir, for example, which does reflect Gnostic influence, not only is the term Ayn-Soph lacking, but the whole idea connected with it is absent also. It would appear from the presentation in the Sefer HaBahir that the God who reveals and develops His attributes through the system of emanation does not dwell above the sefirotic tree, but actually "nests" in it and is attached to it. Similarly, there is no trace of the negative and impersonal character of the Master of the Sephiroth. On the contrary, He is usually mentioned in some personal guise, such as "the Holy One, blessed be He," or "the King," and He is portrayed as a creative and active personality. The concept of an impersonal, Hidden God arose at a later stage in kabbalah, in the schools of the Spanish and Provençal kabbalists, as a result of the confrontation of Gnostic elements with Neoplatonic philosophical ideas. These kabbalists read Neoplatonic works and were influenced by them, as their own books show, and the concept of the Hidden God is a result of this influence. At the very beginning of the new speculative kabbalah, Ayn-Soph, which represented the God of Plotinus and his followers, was joined to the system of the Sephiroth, which was the Jewish version of the Gnostic Pleroma, and so the kabbalistic mystery of the Divine, comprising the Hidden God and the revealed God, came into being.

[2] This solution to the problem of the origin of the mystery of the Godhead in kabbalah, and of the way in which it developed, raises another important question. If kabbalistic dualism was not simply the outcome of ancient Gnostic tradition, but was created by the kabbalists in the twelfth century from a combination of different elements, it follows that internal factors and contemporary religious drives must have moved them to formulate this kind of concept. But what actually were these motives? What were these promoters of a new religious awareness trying to do by complicating the theosophic concept of God that they had received from the exponents of the Gnostic tradition?

In order to answer this question we must try to understand the religious situation that prevailed in Jewry at that time, in those areas where the kabbalah was beginning to develop. Two forces with diametrically opposed religious goals clashed and struggled with one another in the Jewish spirit of that age: popular rabbinic faith and philosophical speculation. The tension between the two rival movements was most keenly felt, and most bitterly expressed, in their disagreement concerning the idea of God. The very strong desire to feel and substantiate the close relationship between man and the living God intensified the trend in popular belief toward myth, toward a vision of God mirrored in corporeal images. The philosophers saw in this tendency a profanation of the Divine Name, and waged a holy war against it. They tried to cleanse and purify the concept of God of the dross of corporeality, and to stress God's complete separation from any being but His own. The recognition of His absolute transcendence, and the denial in Him of any positive attributes, became the basic principle of the philosophical doctrine of God. The battle between the followers of "the God of Abraham, whom souls yearn to taste and see" and the adherents of "the God of Aristotle, to whom one draws near through speculation" was bitterly contested among the ranks of Israel.(19 [237])

However, the two sides in the battle refrained from developing and realizing their aims to their fullest extent, or with complete logical consistency. There were certain feelings and attitudes within accepted, traditional Judaism that were active in every Jewish soul and were regarded as fundamental, which put a brake on both popular and philosophical trends. Popular rabbinic belief was forced to restrain the demands for mythology that clamored within it, because of the ancient and unequivocal hostility that Jewish monotheism displayed toward pagan myth. Blatantly anthropomorphic descriptions, such as giving the measurements of the Creator's limbs in the mystical work, "Shiur Komah", in which small groups of a Gnostic character indulged, were not likely to gain popular favour. On the other hand, philosophical thought also suffered serious limitations in its speculation on the nature of God. Despite their desire to divest the Godhead of any attribute or characteristic, and to hide Him from view through positing His absolute transcendence and His infinite removal from human perception or apprehension, the philosophers were unable to resist completely the demands of the living faith, based on the written and oral Torah, which tried to see in God a personal figure, the height of moral perfection, who guided the affairs of the world with justice and righteousness, who cared for His creatures, and supported them in times of sorrow. The tortuous arguments and inconsistencies of Maimonides in different parts of his theory of God show the great difficulty in which philosophical thought found itself.

When we consider these two contrary, but not fully realized, tendencies, in whose midst the kabbalistic doctrine of the Godhead took root and flourished, we can gain a better understanding of the factors and motives that lay behind it. In the two-way concept of God propounded by the kabbalists, the central religious problem of the age found a unique solution. To the dilemma that at that time split the Jewish world - the "God of Abraham" or the "God of Aristotle," the approachable living God of Religion, or the remote, abstract God of philosophy-the kabbalists offered a new and staggering solution: Have both, and both of them in their full vigor, without any feeble compromise. The Creator of the world, the God of lsrael, who exists in the system of the Sephiroth, the personal God, who with a keen eye supervises man's deeds and the progress of his life, who listens to prayer, and reveals Himself in the vision of the religious contemplative - this God is the complete and absolute fulfillment of the expectations of popular belief. And, at the same time, Ayn-Soph, the God who is divorced from man and the world, beyond all perception, enclosed within the majesty of His own transcendental being - this God is the God of Maimonides and his followers, in all His purity, with no theological concession whatsoever. So the kabbalists turned, on the one hand, to the remnants of Gnosis, through whose images and descriptions they were able to perceive the self-revealing God, even as far as the image of Adam Kadmon (Primordial Man), and they drew, on the other hand, upon speculative ideas from pure Neoplatonic sources in order to express the absolute concealment of Ayn-Soph.

This idea of the mystery of the Godhead in kabbalah establishes the spiritual and historical position of the early kabbalists in the conflict between philosophy and its opponents. They tended toward both sides. In their belief and their religious experience they recognized the nearness of God, and in the communion and exultation of the soul they heard the rustling of the Shekhinah's wings. But their minds were open to philosophical ideas, and they acknowledged the justice of the arguments against the attribution of corporeality, which tarnished the perfection and majesty of God. In the dualism of the Hidden God, and the self-revealing God, they discovered a way of satisfying both the demands of philosophical speculation and the yearnings of religious emotion.(20 [238])

[3] However, the solution of this difficulty led the kabbalists straight into another, and provoked a fierce reaction against them in various quarters. This idea of theirs seemed to undermine the basic principle of the Jewish faith; it looked like an attack on the belief in the unity of God. Two distinct Divine areas, ten Sephiroth within the Godhead - this was dangerous heresy in the eyes of both the traditionalists and the rationalists.

In a letter of Rabbi Meir ben Simeon of Narbonne, from the first half of the thirteenth century, the kabbalists are directly arraigned of the crime of heresy because of their belief in the dualism of Ayn-Soph and the Sephiroth. He contrasts their erroneous doctrine with the true concept of God, "with whom there is no other, the true One in perfect Oneness, without association or combination of Sephiroth, the first Cause, the Cause of all causes, doing great things, bringing forth something from nothing, solely by His own will (...) one should not associate anything with Him, for it is not right to associate the Creator with that which He has created, or matter with its Maker, or the emanated with the Emanator." This dualism is also actually referred to by one of the most important early kabbalists Rabbi Asher ben David, in the reproof that he addressed to the kabbalists' disciples, who allowed their opponents to misconstrue their statements, "and they imagine in their hearts that they believe in two powers, and that they thereby deny the truth of their religion." (21 [239])

The kabbalists themselves, who sought to preserve their belief in the unity of God, and to remain within the confines of the traditional faith, were extremely concerned with this problem and tried various ways of reconciling their ideas with the principle of Divine unity. The appearance of dualism and the plurality of facets within the Godhead, together with the urgent need to preserve the principle of unity, produced one of the paradoxical elements that are part of the very nature of kabbalistic teaching, and it appears in different forms throughout the whole development of kabbalah. In the Zohar, too, we can see many signs of the tension produced by this inner contradiction, especially in phrases such as "and all is one" (ve-khula had') , which occur like a continual refrain at the end of the various imaginative excursions into the domain of the Divine. There are two images that often recur, in the Zohar and elsewhere, in attempts to solve this problem.

The first solution depicts the unity of the Emanator and the emanated in the image of "a flame attached to a burning coal":(22 [239]) "Come and see: The Holy One, blessed be He, produced ten crowns, holy diadems, above, with which He crowns Himself and clothes Himself, and He is they, and they are He, like a flame attached to a burning coal, and there is no division there" (The Forces of Uncleanness, 2). The flame had been contained within the burning coal, and when it flared out nothing new was created; that which was hidden simply became revealed, and so from the point of view of nature and being, the flame is neither different nor separate from the burning coal. Similarly, in the case of the Sephiroth and their relationship with Ayn-Soph In the writings of the early kabbalists this idea is expressed in the succinct formulation: "The beings existed but the emanation was new," that is to say, the Sephiroth, the supernal "beings," already existed within their hidden source, and it was only their revelation, through the process of emanation, that was new. Revelation through emanation is also explained by way of the philosophical expression "emergence from potentiality into actuality": "But emanation takes place when the force, which is hidden and sealed, is revealed from potentiality into actuality." (23 [239])

In the Zohar we find another simile on this subject, which in form is very much like that of the flame and the burning coal, but which is actually different in content: "like a lamp from which lights spread out on every side, but when we draw near to examine these lights, we find that only the lamp itself exists." (24 [240]) It would seem that the connection between the lights and the lamp is the same as that between the flame and the burning coal, but this was not really the author's intention. Through this simile he is attempting to provide a different solution to the problem of unity and diversity within the Godhead, a solution more extreme than the first. The lights, which seem at a distance to be different rays from the flame of the lamp, do not exist at all. They are an optical illusion. Therefore, when one looks at them more closely, one sees that "only the lamp itself exists." The meaning of this simile is that the Sephiroth in themselves have no ontological reality. From the point of view of the Divine essence, only the unique unity of Ayn-Soph exists, and the difference between the hidden, infinite Emanator and the revealed, limited, emanated beings, and likewise the differentiation within the system of emanation itself, is nothing but a reflection of the Divine in the mirror of created things, which, because of their limited nature and their lack of unity, are not sufficiently able to grasp absolute unity and infinity.(25 [240])

However, these and similar solutions, intended to secure for kabbalah an unassailable position within the framework of ancient Jewish tradition, were not sufficient to obscure the fundamental novelty in the kabbalistic concept of the Divine unity. Since the kabbalists ignored the danger of heresy, and saw no need to indulge in apologetics, they revealed their innermost thoughts without any restraint, and so we can see the definite change that had taken place in their teaching concerning belief in the unity of God. They did not inculcate an absolute, static unity, nor a firm, personal unity, but a kind of organic unification of disparate parts, a dynamic unity with an inner movement, a surge of secret life, the unity ofa source together with the springs that well up from it; that is to say, the Divine unity was not a permanent fixture, but a continuous process of incident and renewal.

[4] This inner process in the life of the Godhead goes by the name of Sod ha-yihud (the mystery of unification) , and it constitutes the principle aim and object of the mystical worship of God. Through devotion in prayer and the fulfillment of the commandments, man becomes an active participant in the renewal of the unity of the Divine forces. The "mystery of unification" has two components: the preservation of harmonious unity within the structure of the world of the Sephiroth, and the unification of the Emanator with the world of emanation through the return of the Sephiroth to their source.(26 [240]) The "mystery of unification," particularly in its highest aspect, whose significance will be more clearly understood in what follows, helped to shield the kabbalah from the weighty accusations leveled against its doctrine of the Godhead when seen in the light of traditional expectations and man's approach to God.

We have already seen that the kabbalistic idea of the nature of Ayn-Soph removes it from the area of religious life by relegating its existence to impenetrable heights that the human soul cannot possibly reach. It is the Sephiroth that constitute the goal of religious devotion, but even then not the system as a whole, but as individual objects of worship, varying with the intention of the worshiper, the nature of the result desired, and the circumstances of the act of devotion. This type of worship of God, especially in the unrefined way in which the opponents of kabbalah understood it, was bound to meet with a bitter reception everywhere. For one thing, this form of worship was not geared to the essence of God Himself, and, for another, it was directed at various "gods" who occupied a lower position than the supreme Deity; that is to say, there appeared to exist here a kind of idolatry. This view of kabbalistic worship was very clearly expressed in the already mentioned letter by Rabbi Meir hen Simeon of Narbonne: "These fools say that one should not proffer gratitude, prayer, and blessing to the primal, everlasting God, without beginning or end. Woe to their souls! What has come upon them, what do they intend by this! They have brought Israel into contempt; they have turned backward in their rebellion, and removed themselves from the Ancient One of the world ... and why should we talk further of the ideas of these fools, whose prayers and blessings to the gods all imply that they are created and emanated, and that they have a beginning and an end ... they say that they pray by day to one created god, and by night to another god who is above the first, but created like him, and on holy days to another."(27 [241])

The kabbalists themselves did not ignore this problem, but tried to explain and justify their point of view. The simple answer they gave was that, even if the devotion of the worshiper could extend in a direct manner only to the realm of the Sephiroth, nevertheless, in a roundabout way, by means of the Sephiroth it did connect with Ayn-Soph; and, similarly, the influence that flowed down as a result of the power of this devotion, extended from Ayn-Soph down to the Sephiroth. Accordingly, the Sephiroth were like intermediate stages or intercessors between man and Ayn-Soph.(28 [241])

Another and more profound version of this solution to the problem involves close contact between man and Ayn-Soph. Albeit that one directs one's devotion to specific Sephiroth, nevertheless, through a process of unification, one actually ascends to Ayn-Soph. Enthusiastic devotion below causes the Sephiroth to unite with one another. As they ascend stage by stage, they are comprised into one whole, their own individual identities disappear, and they return to their hidden source.(29 [241]) The activating devotion, in which both the soul and mind of man are steeped, ascends together with the Sephiroth. In other words, the process of unification within the Godhead serves as a bridge by which man can attach himself to Ayn-Soph. This is how the founders of kabbalah understood and explained the profound significance of mystical devotion. Rabbi Isaac the Blind writes: "The only way to pray is by means of finite things (i.e. the Sephiroth) (by which) man may be received, and raised in thought as far as Ayn-Soph";(30 [241]) and his disciples, following him, developed the theory of devotion (kavvanah) in the same spirit. In the Zohar also, devotion's ascent to Ayn-Soph is mentioned several times with the same implication: "The seventh palace, 'O Lord, open my lips,' is the most sublime secret, in a whisper, without a sound being heard. This is where one's intention is to direct one's devotion and raise one's desire upward to

Ayn-Soph".(31 [241]) And with even more stress on the connection between the ascent of the devotion and the "mystery of unification," we have: "And as his mouth and his lips move he should direct his heart and his will to rise higher and higher in order to unify all in the most sublime secret, where the resting-place is for all desires and thoughts, in the mystery that exists in Ayn-Soph".(32 [241]) In this sense, it is said of Ayn-Soph (Sephiroth, 13): "It is not in number, or in thought, or in calculation, but in the devotion of the heart," that is to say, devotion comes to it through the "mystery of unification."

And so, in contrast to the extreme self-concealment of Ayn-Soph, which creates a gulf between man and the hidden God, the possibility is granted, through the "mystery of unification" of bridging the gulf. Clearly, the intellect or the will cannot ascend by perception or devotion to the innermost sanctum. But through the submerging and eventual disappearance of the soul in the sea of the Godhead, through attachment to the Sephiroth, it has the possibility of contact with Ayn-Soph, and of drawing light and influence from the hidden source. To put it another way, in the words of Rabbi Isaac the Blind, "the way of knowledge" is sealed, but "the way of nourishment" is open."

d. Ayn-Soph and Kether

[1] The extreme Neoplatonic concept of Ayn-Soph, which has been explained in the foregoing paragraphs, was not preserved in all its purity, nor did it remain the sole viewpoint in kabbalah. On the contrary, from the very beginning, as it grew and flourished, an opposite tendency came to the fore, which sought to remove Ayn-Soph from its absolute unapproachability and to approximate it more nearly to traditional belief. This tendency reached its climax and fullest expression in the teaching of some kabbalists, for whom Ayn-Soph had become transformed into a personal God who revealed Himself through the works of creation and His direction of the world, while the Sephiroth were simply the instruments for His activity.(33 [242]) However, as a rule, both these viewpoints were accommodated, and as a result of this accommodation certain ideas emerged that aimed to leave the Sephiroth within the realm of the Godhead in its aspect of the revealed God, and at the same time to diminish slightly the concealment of Ayn-Soph These ideas, traces of which can be seen even among exponents of the most extreme view, were mainly expressed in the way in which the connection was established between Ayn-Soph and Kether.

The question of the nature and status of the first Sephirah was subject to argument, and this produced a number of varied and complex views. The character and direction of the argument are reflected quite clearly in the two most conflicting views of the matter: (a) The process of emanation from Ayn-Soph began with the appearance of the first Sephirah, and this remained at the head of the sefirotic system as the first object of emanation; and (b) The first Sephirah was Ayn-Soph itself, and only the nine Sephiroth below it were emanated forces.(34 [242]) The reasoning behind these two views is perfectly obvious. The first view expresses the absolute remoteness of Ayn-Soph from the system of the Sephiroth, and also stresses the inherent dualism there. The second view establishes a strong connection between Ayn-Soph and the Sephiroth, and to a large extent divests it of its hidden quality. It is true that Kether is also beyond human perception, and the proponents of this view could therefore maintain the concept of the Hidden God over against the image of the God who reveals Himself through the lower Sephiroth; but this type of concealment is very different from the concealment of Ayn-Soph who is above all the Sephiroth. The first Sephirah has both names and qualities. It is mentioned in Scripture, and its nature is defined as Thought or Will.

An important intermediate view holds that, while Kether is not identical with Ayn-Soph, it is separated just the same from the system of emanation, and is not to be included among the ten Sephiroth at all. It did not begin its existence as part of the emanatory process, but is preexistent like Ayn-Soph Those who hold this view make up the number of the Sephiroth by dividing the Sephirah Chokhmah into two,(35 [243]) the upper part, which takes the place of Kether, being called Haskel. Or else they introduce a special Sephirah, Daat, which represents both the revealed nature of Kether and the innermost being of Tiferet.(36 [243])

The reasons for this approach need explaining. There seem to be two factors that led to its formulation. The first arose from the theological difficulties involved in the doctrine of emanation. In the nature of Ayn-Soph there is no active element. It has neither will nor thought. How then could one possibly attribute to it any involvement in the process of emanation? More important than this: the emanatory process must lead to innovation and change in the being of Ayn-Soph. The theory of the preexistence of Kether as eternal Will removes these difficulties, for emanation now becomes the work of the Will, and there is no need to attribute it to Ayn-Soph itself. The second factor arises from the concealed nature of Ayn-Soph. The joining of Kether to Ayn-Soph as a preexistent entity above the realm of emanation introduces an active force, and a positive, defined concept into the world of the hidden God, and so makes a tiny breach in the wall of His concealed otherness. This approach, therefore, constitutes a kind of compromise between the two opposing viewpoints mentioned above. The Neoplatonic nature of Ayn-Soph suffers no blemish as to its essence, but the pre-existence of Will within the hidden domain tempers its negative and impersonal character.(37 [243])

[2] The problem of the relationship between Ayn-Soph and Kether became the subject of fierce controversy in later kabbalah. The proponents of the three views described above all based their opinions on the Zohar and thought they could find support there.(38 [243]) However, in contrast to the generally eclectic character of Zoharic teaching, which, as we shall see later, applies even to the description of the nature of Ayn-Soph, nevertheless, on this particular point, the book presents only one opinion. The problem is not dealt with in precise terms, but we can deduce with some certainty from its general attitude and from various allusions that the author of the Zohar does not identify Ayn-Soph with Kether, and that, on the other hand, he does not regard Keter as an emanated force identical in nature with the other Sephiroth.

The differentiation between Ayn-Soph and Kether is made quite plain throughout the book, and in a number of passages they are mentioned as two distinct entities. For example, Ayn-Soph is described as a contrast to Kether, which is called Ayn (nothing): "Ayn-Soph cannot be known, and does not produce end or beginning like the primal Ayin, which does bring forth beginning and end" (1 [243]). At another point it is stated quite clearly that above Kether there is the "unknowable," that is, Ayn-Soph. "Kether is the highest above the high, beginning of all beginnings, and there is that which is above this, which is unknowable."(39 [243]) Ayn-Soph makes impressions upon Keter, which is called Tehiru (purity), or Avir (air). Bozina di-kardinuta (the spark of blackness, or the darkened light), which constitutes the standard by which the precise nature of the emanated powers is fixed, is emanated "from the mystery of Ayn-Soph" into the domain of Kether (Sephiroth, 1). This process is also described in another way, but here too there is a clear distinction between Ayn-Soph and Kether: The light that does not rest in light (Ayn-Soph) reveals and produces the sparking of all the sparks (bozina di-kardinuta), and this activates the will of wills (Kether), and is concealed within it, and is not known."(40 [244])

However, there is no reference anywhere in the Zohar to the start of Kether's existence as an emergence from Ayn-Soph. The first occurrence of emanation to be mentioned is usually the "sparking" of the highest point of Chokhmah from Kether. Only in a few places, such as in the passages dealing with the Bozina di-kardinuta, do we find descriptions of processes, preceding the emanation of Chokhmah, occurring inside Kether, and even here the existence of Kether is taken for granted as something that was always there side by side with Ayn-Soph. It is portrayed as "primal air" or "supreme purity" surrounding Ayn-Soph, a kind of perpetual halo encompassing Ayn-Soph before the commencement of emanation, "an envelopment of crystal light,"(41 [244]) and by its means the sefirot emanate "like jewels, drop by drop" (Sephiroth, 33). Kether and Ayn-Soph are inextricably and continuously linked together: "The first world (Kether) (is) that supernal world concealed from all, which cannot be seen, and cannot be known, except by Him (Ayn-Soph), who is hidden within it" (Influence and Direction, 11). Consequently, Kether is called "the supreme mystery of Ayn-Soph" (Sephiroth, 17).

And so we have here the intermediate view of the early kabbalists concerning the nature of Kether as a preexistent entity, but at the same time separated from the essence of Ayn-Soph. However, in one important respect the doctrine of the Zohar is different, for it teaches that Kether is to be counted as one of the ten Sephiroth.(42 [244]) The terms used for Keter, particularly the Name Ehyeh that is attributed to it, are included in the whole system of nomenclature of the Sephiroth. Furthermore, the Zohar does not bring in any other Sephirah to take the place of Keter.(43 [244]) It is true that in most of the descriptions of the sefirotic chain, and the structure of emanation, we find Chokhmah at the top, with no mention of Kether at all. But we must not deduce from this that Kether is not to be numbered among the Sephiroth. Its absence only highlights its unique eminence. Whereas Chokhmah is called "first" and "beginning" (sheruta), Kether is designated as the origin of the beginning (Sephiroth, 18), or in the words of Rabbi Moses de Leon: "From there (from Kether) came forth the point of concealment (Chokhmah), the first of all levels, and all the remaining mirrors, the beginning of all existence, for supernal Kether, may its name be blessed, is not a beginning."(44 [244])

[3]. This view gives the nature of Kether a peculiar characteristic. It has a place, as the first Sephirah, in the order of emanation, but at the same time it is divorced from it and has its abode in a higher realm. From the very beginning it dwells in close proximity to Ayn-Soph, and in its aspect of primal Will it acts, so to speak, as a partner of the hidden Emanator. Among the terms used for it by the Gerona kabbalists are "emanating force" and "emanating light." This means that Kether acts as a kind of transitional stage, which has both the characteristics of the Emanator and the marks of emanation impressed upon it.

The existence of this transitional entity tends to give the nature of Ayn-Soph a positive quality, much more than the earlier kabbalistic idea, which saw it as the primal Will above the system of emanation; for here we have a real bridge between the concealment of Ayn-Soph and the revelation of the forces of emanation. The essential, functional link between Ayn-Soph and the first Sephirah acts in two directions: Kether rises and conceals itself, and Ayn-Soph experiences a movement toward revelation."

In a number of places in the Zohar there are indications of a more positive approach to Ayn-Soph, in connection with the view, just described, of the relationship between Ayn-Soph and Kether. A number of terms, such as selima dekhol selimin, lemira dekhol lemirin (both meaning "secret of all secrets"), and atika d'atikin ("the most ancient of the ancient"), and others, are applied both to Ayn-Soph and to Kether. It is sometimes difficult to determine which one the author had in mind. A term common to both is sometimes used in a general way indicating both Ayn-Soph and Kether together in their aspect of the emanating power.(45 [245]) Take, for example, this introduction to a description of the process of emanation: "When the secret of all secrets sought to reveal itself, it first made a single point (Chokhmah), and this arose to become thought" (Sephiroth, 10) . Chokhmah emanates from Keler, but it is En-Soj that seeks to reveal itself, and the term "secret of all secrets" includes both of them. Furthermore, the positive term reula (will), which designates the nature of Kether in its relationship with Ayn-Soph, is also used of Ayn-Soph itself: "When the supernal will (Ayn-Soph) ... rests upon the will (Kether) that cannot ever be known or grasped" (Sephiroth, 6) .

The influence that the Ayn-Soph-Kether relationship had upon the idea of the nature of the hidden God is expressed mainly in specific strata of the Zohar, namely, the ldrot, and particularly the ldra Zuta. These sections are characterized by their strange and remarkable anthropomorphic imagery, and they present the world of the divine in a new form, of which there is no trace in the rest of the book except for a few obvious allusions. The image of the divine is depicted in two "countenances": Alika Kadisha (the holy old man) called Arich Anpin (long countenance) , and Zeir Anpin (short countenance). The first countenance constitutes the world of absolute mercy, and the second countenance is, in contrast, the world of judgment. As far as the sefirotic system is concerned, Atika Kadisha represents Kether, while Zeir Anpin comprises the other Sephiroth from Chokhmah to Malkuth.(46 [245]) With this division into two separate areas - Kether on one side and the remaining Sephiroth on the other - the supreme and unique eminence of the first Sephirah is given greater emphasis.

But this approach contains a new and important element, one crucial to our subject. Atika Kadisha signifies not only Keter, but the combined world of both Kether and Ayn-Soph; that is to say, the realm of the Hidden God and the first Sephirah are considered as forming together one single unit. Here is a description of the make-up of Atika Kadisha in the form of three "heads": "Three heads are engraved, one within the other, and one above the other. One head is concealed wisdom, which covers itself and is not opened, and this concealed wisdom is head of all, the head of the remaining wisdoms; the supernal head, Atika Kadisha, the secret of all secrets, the head of every head; the head that is not a head-it is not known, nor can it be known, whatever exists in this head, for it is not apprehensible by wisdom or knowledge …. This Atika, the oldest of the old, the Supernal Crown on high, which is adorned with all the crowns and diadems-all the lights shine and flash forth from it, and it is the supernal hidden light that cannot be known. This Atika exists in three heads, and they are comprised in one head, which is the supernal head far above."(47 [245]) "The head that is not a head" is Ayn-Soph. "The supernal head" is Kether. And "concealed wisdom," also called "concealed brain," is the aspect of Chokhmah that is in Kether, and from which the Sephirah of Chokhmah emanates, that is, Kether in its aspect of the source of emanation. Consequently, in Atika Kadisha we have all together: Ayn-Soph, or the hidden root, and two aspects of Kether - a preexistent and hidden being, and also a power that reveals itself through the activity of emanation.

In another passage the relationship of Kether to Ayn-Soph is depicted from the point of view of the process of emanation: "For I have said that all the lights draw their light from the supernal light, the mystery of all mysteries, and they all constitute levels of illumination, and in the light of each level there is revealed what is revealed … each one shines and is held in the light that is within, and does not separate outward … the light that is revealed is called 'the garment of the King'; the light that is within is hidden light, in which dwells the one that is not separated, and is not revealed. And all the lights and all the luminaries draw their light from Atika Kadisha, the secret of all secrets, the supernal light." (48 [246]) The Sephiroth shine forth from Kether, called "the supernal light," and "the light that is within," and its brilliant splendor is revealed through them. This shining is internal, within the Godhead, "and does not separate outward." But even in this internal shining the revelation of the light occurs only with reference to Kether. Ayn-Soph is not directly involved in the process of emanation, for it "is not separated, and is not revealed." Its involvement is purely incidental, through its being attached and adjacent to Kether.

Here we see quite clearly the ambiguity in the Zohar's view of the relationship between Ayn-Soph and Kether. On the one hand, Kether is raised to the status ofemanator, and Ayn-Soph is removed from all emanatory activity. On the other hand, the Hidden God is brought nearer to the system of emanation by being attached to the first Sephirah, and a window is opened through which one may positively apprehend His nature through the image of Atika Kadisha.

e. Ayn-Soph in the Raya Mehemna and the Tikkunei ha-Zohar.

[1] In the later sections of the Zohar, the Raya Mehemna and the Tikkunei Ha-Zohar, which were composed by another hand, the world of the Divine assumes a form quite different from that portrayed in the main body of the book. Here too, it would seem, we have the duality of the Hidden God and the revealed God, and the concealed nature of Ayn-Soph receives considerable emphasis; indeed, its inculcation is accompanied by severe warnings: "You are the highest of the high, the secret of all secrets; You are altogether beyond the reach of thought" (4 [246]); "Woe to him who compares Him to any attribute, even to those attributes that He has" (6 [246]). The Sephiroth, including even Kether, are darkened when they wish to look upon Ayn-Soph (3[246]). In actual fact, however, both Ayn-Soph and the Sephiroth, in these sections of the Zohar, are different in nature from the Divine entities that are given these same names in the approach described above.

In contrast to the fragmentary and enigmatic allusions that we find in the main body of the Zohar, we have here many passages that contain long and systematic descriptions of the Supreme God, and of His relationship to the Sephiroth and the Creation. There are important differences too in terminological usage. In place of the negative term Ayn-Soph [lit., "without end"], which had its origin in kabbalistic literature, we find, more usually, the philosophical term ilat ha-ilot (cause of causes, i.e., First Cause),(49 [246]) which does not occur at all in the Zohar proper. The title Ayn-Soph loses its basic meaning, and also its specificity. It is used quite clearly of both Kether and the Supreme God together,(50) and from this joint usage we may conclude that it does not signify the denial of finiteness within the hidden nature of God, but the actual unbounded influence that pours into the Sephirah of Kether, that is to say, a positive infinitude at the beginning of revelation: "Thus the Cause of causes makes ten Sephiroth and calls Kether 'source,' and there is no limit there to the outpouring ofits light, and so He calls Himself 'Ayn-Soph'."(51).(6)

The "cause of causes" of the Raya Mehemna does not dwell within the depths of itself, without any activity. It is both an active and an activating force which establishes the worlds and takes care of them. Even the creation of Heaven and earth is attributed to it.(4) This is a Theistic-Personal God, the highest active cause, the Creator, completely incorporeal and concealed as to His essence, but partially revealed through His attributes and His acts. The image of this God is well known from the writings of the philosophers, and, indeed, it is the God of Jewish speculative theology that is depicted here, in a mystical garb and colored by the kabbalistic literary style.

The real core of the concept of God held by this anonymous kabbalist is the problem of the attributes, which is the basic theological question in both jewish and Arabic medieval philosophy: how can we possibly assign to God attributes that fragment His perfect unity, and which make His simple nature more complex by adding spiritual and even corporeal characteristics that contradict His absolute incorporeality? This problem is not clearly stated in the Raya Mehemna, but it can be read between the lines, and the solutions offered there are similar to those of the philosophers, not only in content, but also quite often in presentation. Obvious philosophical expressions are common with this author: "You are one, but not in number"; "You are wise, but not with a known wisdom; You understand, but not with a known understanding" (4), and so on.

These expressions are expanded in a sense that is very like the philosophical connotation from which they spring. God is denied attributes that are separate from His simple, unique essence, and all the powers and characteristics that are attributed to Him, such as Wisdom, Understanding, Mercy, and justice, are merely indicative of His acts, which appear in His conduct of the world as revelations of wisdom, understanding, and so on; that is to say, they are "attributes of action" and not attributes of essence. "It is all to show how the world is conducted; not that You have a known righteousness that isj ustice, nor a known law that is Mercy, nor any of these attributes at all" (ibid.). Even the Sacred Names are terms relating to action, testifying to the works of the Creator, and to His relationship to the world.(5) Consequently, as to His essential nature before the creation of the world, "it is forbidden to fashion for Him a form or image in the world, not with the letter he, and not with the letter yod, and not even with the Holy Name,(52) and not with any letter or vowel-point in the world".(53 )

[2] The deeds of the Creator are revealed and accomplished by means of the ten Sephiroth, which were formed in order to be used as instruments for the Divine activity: "You are He who produced ten tikkunim (regulators), which we call ten Sephiroth, so that through them You might guide the secret worlds that are not revealed, and the worlds that are revealed".(4) They are given the names of Divine forces and attributes, not as substances that belong to the Divine realm, but simply as vessels that receive Divine influence: "Chokhmah (Wisdom) is not called Chokhmah in its own right, but because of the Wise One who fills it from His source. And (Binah-understanding) is not called Binah in its own right, but because of the Understanding One who fills it with Himself".(6)

Here we have a fundamental change in attitude toward the nature of the Sephiroth and their relationship to their hidden source. They do not constitute the revealed God, complementing the existence of the hidden God, but they are vessels in the hands of an artisan, who fills them or empties them, constructs them or breaks them, all in accordance with his own desire. "And ifthe artisan breaks these vessels that he has prepared, the waters return to the source, and the vessels are left broken, dry without water"; "all is in His power, to take out of the vessels or to pour influence into them, or to take out, according to His will; and there is no god above him, that can add to or subtract from Him".(6) Even their formation by means of emanation is thrown into doubt, and it would appear from most of his statements that the author was trying to establish them as created forces.(54)

This considerable change in the evaluation of the Sephiroth is also noticeable in the effect it has on religious life, that is to say, on the relationship between man and his Creator. In the preceding sections I have shown in some detail how far removed Ayn-Soph is from prayer, and even from spiritual concentration. The Sephiroth alone could be the objective when man tried to turn directly to God. But this is not the case with the material we are dealing with here. Naturally, the intention in performing the Mitzvot is focused on the inner life in the world of the Sephiroth, but it is not impossible for man to link himself directly with the supreme God, and in a number of liturgical passages found in these books one turns to the First Cause by using such phrases as "Master of the worlds" (Ribbon Ha-Olamim).(55) The petitioner asks the supreme God to act in and through the Sephiroth.(56) In many places the author turns to the First Cause with the term "Thou" (Attah), while in the main body of the Zohar this term is unusable even for Kether, who is called "He" (hu), and, obviously, there is no term at all that can be applied to Ayn-Soph itself.

As to the essence of the Sephiroth, they are consequently outside the realm of the Divine, for the unique Divine being is the "Cause of causes." But nevertheless the Sephiroth are also quite separated from the lower worlds, and are raised above all existence that is not Divine. They have acquired this intermediate status because the First Cause is immanent in them. God acts through the Sephiroth, not in His transcendental capacity, but by causing His radiance to dwell within the Sephirotic system, and by spreading His influence there. Since the First Cause constructed the system, "for He made the image of the Chariot of supernal man (the system of the Sephiroth), He descends there, and is called, in that image, Yod He Vav He, so that He might be recognized in all aspects."(56) Government of the worlds is enacted by the descent, as it were, of God among the Sephiroth. The presence of the First Cause in the Sephiroth penetrates their being from within, and surrounds them on every side: "You are in every Sephirah, through its length and breadth, above and below, and between each Sephirah, and in the density of each Sephirah".(58)

From this point of view the world of the Sephiroth is compared to the organic structure of soul and body. The Sephiroth are like the limbs of the body, through which the Divine soul works: "Through these names (of the Sephiroth) the Master of the world extends Himself, and He rules by them, receives His titles from them, conceals Himselfin them, and dwells within them, like the soul and the limbs of the body".(5) The Divine influence pours life into the Sephiroth: "Master of the worlds, You are the Cause of causes, the First Cause, who water the tree (the system of the Sephiroth) with a spring, and this spring is like the soul to the body, for it is the life of the body".(4) Like the soul in the body the single, infinite, and unchanging Divine Essence is revealed and acts within plurality, limitation, and change by means of the Sephiroth, without any alteration within the Divine Nature itself.(7)(59)

The structure of the world of the Sephiroth is like a single and indivisible unit of "essence and vessels," and so it has a characteristic of the Divine realm, even according to the concept of the Raya Mehemna. The sephirotic system is like "the portrait of God," for there the hidden essence of God dons form and image, which can be apprehended in prophetic vision and rational thought.(60) The immanence of the Divine essence means that the mystery of the Unity of God must ofnecessity apply to the Sephiroth as well, and any thoughts of plurality in their regard were considered blasphemous, even though they do not manifest in their nature a perfect unity. "Since You are within, whoever separates one of the ten from its fellow is thought of as making a separation in You".(4)

In short: there is no duality here between the hidden and the revealed God. The complexities of the transition from the hidden to the revealed domain, and the difficulties of the relationships between the two domains, have both been removed. The First Cause and the sefirotic system constitute two facets of existence of the one and only God: transcendent existence above the Sephiroth, and immanent existence within them, this latter being the existence of God as Creator and Guide. It is possible that, in conformity with this approach, a new meaning is propounded here for the term Atziluth (emanation). It does not signify the way in which the Sephiroth came into being. Their existence is "by way of Atziluth", by the Essence of God extending itself to, and dwelling within them, through an immanence both inseparable and continuous.(61)

[3] The idea of immanence within the system of the Sephiroth, which gives them something of the character of Divinity, is an indication of the major difference between the approach of the Raya Mehemna and the attitude of most Jewish philosophers; and it is this too that conveys the specific kabbalistic flavor of this idea of God. Were it not for this idea the Sephiroth would not differ fundamentally from "the separate intelligences" or other intermediate stages that in the view of the philosophers come between God and the world.

However, according to the author of the Raya Mehemna and the Tikkunei Ha-Zohar, this immanence is not limited to the upper realms. On the contrary, he stresses time and again that the self-extending Divine Essence encompasses and penetrates every area of existence. "It is He that binds all the Chariots of the angels, and binds them together; and He supports the upper and the lower worlds. And were He to remove Himself from them they would have neither sustenance, knowledge, or life. There is no place where He is not, above without end, and below without limit" (7). There is no place free of Divinity, and it is the foundation of unity and unification among the separate non-Divine forces. Even the combination of the four elements of matter is effected by the Divinity that dwells within them. "He encompasses all worlds, and none but He surrounds them on every side, above and below and in the four corners of the globe, and none may go beyond His domain. He fills all worlds, and no other fills them .... He binds and joins the species with one another, above and below, and there is no juncture of the four elements except (by) the Holy One, Blessed be He, existing among them".(3)(62)

This view of an all-embracing immanence seems to destroy the division between the Divine "Sephiroth of Emanation" and the lower regions. The latter are arranged in the form of three worlds (creation, formation, and making - Briah, Yetzirah, Assiah), each of which contains ten Sephiroth or forces.(63) Consequently, the need arose to fix distinct boundaries between these different systems. In the main passage dealing with this problem we read: "In the ten Sephiroth of emanation the King is there; He and His essence are one there; He and His life are one there. This is not the case with the ten Sephiroth of Briah, for they and their life are not one; they and their essence are not one. And the supreme Cause of all illumines the ten Sephiroth of emanation and the ten (Sephiroth) of Briah, and illumines the ten companies of angels (Yetzirah) and the ten spheres of the firmament (Assiah), and He does not change in any place".(64) The Divine essence is equally present in all realms, but the attachment of the essence to the garments varies according to their nature and status. In the world of emanation a unity exists between the essence and the Sephiroth, while in the other worlds they are in a state of separation. In a description quoted in the continuation of this passage, a different image is used for this distinction: "In the Sephiroth of emanation there is the actual likeness of the King; in the Sephiroth of Briah, the seal of the King; in the Sephiroth of Yetzirah, and among the angels, who are the Hayyot (creatures), an impression of the seal in wax." Immanent Divinity is reflected in all worlds, but the degree ofbrightness or opacity of the mirrors determines the nature of the image. This means that fundamentally, when all is said and done, the distinction between the world of emanation and the other worlds is simply one of degree, for by nature the Sephiroth of emanation are also distinguished from God, while, on the other hand, the self-extending Divine Essence dwells, without alteration, even among the lower regions.

The position of the author of the main body of the Zohar on this question is almost exactly the opposite. In his view the Sephiroth of Emanation are of the actual essence of God, and there exists a fundamental difference in nature between them and the lower regions. This difference is brought out by the use of terms like alma di-yihuda (the world of unity) and alma di-peruda (the world of separation).(65) The Sephiroth of emanation form a unique, unified whole, attached to their hidden source, whereas all other beings are separated from the Godhead and from one another. There is no place here for the concept of immanence outside the system of the Sephiroth.(66) Even with regard to the world of the angels it is said that "the Holy One, blessed be He, is there, and is not (there). He is there now, but when they wish to look upon and know Him, He removes Himself from them, and is not to be seen" (Influence and Direction, 11).

It is true that we do find, even in the Zohar itself, signs of the desire to bridge the gulf between God and the worlds. But this desire is actually fulfilled in the Raya Mehemna and the Tikkunei ha-Zohar in the obscure image of the chain of emanation, stretching from Ayn-Soph to the lowest realms of existence. The links in this chain are joined together and interlocked like the kernel and its shell; that is, the top of the chain is pure kernel, and the bottom of the chain is nothing but shell, and each intermediate link is the kernel of the one below it, and the shell of the one above it. "All consists ofan inner kernel, with several shells covering the kernel; and the whole world (is constructed) according to this pattern, above and below: from the mysterious beginning of the highest point down to the lowest of all levels, it is all one within the other, and one within the other, so that we find that one (IeveI) is the shell of another, and this other the shell of another .... And even though it is only garment it becomes the kernel of another level" ("The Forces of Uncleanness", 11 ). The continuity of the chain is expressed more forcibly in another passage: "And so all is embraced and contained, one in the other, and interwoven one with the other, so that they are embraced within this world, which is the last, outermost, shell" (ibid., 13).(67)

So it looks as if we have reached some surprising conclusions. In the doctrine of the impersonal, emanating God, propounded by the Zohar, we find an obvious disinclination to posit a Divine immanence penetrating all areas of existence. But in the concept of the personalist God, advocated by the Raya Mehemna, a concept that adversely affects the theory of emanation, we have seen that the idea of an all-embracing immanence is an important element. Apparently, however, this paradox merely reflects the inner tension that existed among the different streams of kabbalah between the theistic and the pantheistic tendencies, which was nearly always resolved by some kind of compromise. The denial of personality in God, and the theory of emanation, contained ideas that might tend toward a type of pantheism, and so the Zohar puts a brake on this movement toward pantheism by removing the possibility of immanence. The author of the Raya Mehemna, on the other hand, tried to prevent the severance of the worlds from God that is implicit in the personalist concept, and he therefore introduced and stressed the idea of immanence.(68)

- Isaiah Tishby, "The Wisdom of Zohar", Vol. 1, 229-251.

SECTION II. SEPHIROTH

INTRODUCTION

a. The Nature and Function of the Sephiroth

[1]. The God who reveals Himself through His attributes and powers is depicted in a system of ten Sephiroth. The term Sephiroth, and also the numerical division into ten, are taken from the Sepher Yetzirah, an early mystical work, composed, at the very latest, in the sixth century. There we read of the "ten Sephiroth of nothingness (belimah)." But the reference there is to the primary numbers, which together with the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet form the basic elements of existence, whereas in kabbalistic doctrine a totally different meaning is given to this ancient term.

Just as no use is made of the term kabbalah in the Zohar, so there is hardly any mention of Sephiroth, apart from in the later sections. Instead we have a whole string of names: "levels," "powers," "sides" or "areas" (sitrin) , "worlds," "firmaments," "pillars," "lights," "colors," "days," "gates," "streams," "garments," "crowns," and others. Each term designates a particular facet of the nature or work of the Sephiroth.

The list of names of the Sephiroth themselves is even more varied, as we shall see. However, we do find, even at the very beginning of the kabbalah's development, some more or less fixed terms that are accepted as the main designations of the Sephiroth. These are: Kether Elyon, Chokhmah, Binah, Chesed, Geburah, Tiphereth, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, Malkuth.(1) These names are already used by the early kabbalists as commonly accepted terms. This is true also of the Zohar, even though at times later names are more frequently used, particularly with regard to certain sefirot. For example, instead of Kether, some kabbalists prefer the term rum ma'alah ("the highest point above"); Chesed is often called Gedulah (Greatness); Geburah is called Din (Judgment) or Pechad (Fear); and Tiphereth is called Rahamim (Mercy).

Most of these terms were not selected for their intrinsic worth, nor were they originally arranged in a unified systematic order to indicate the nature of the Sephiroth. This is particularly obvious in the choice of the names of the seven lower Sephiroth, six of which were based on 1 Chronicles 29,1 1: "Yours, 0 Lord, is the greatness and the power, and the beauty, and the victory,(2) and the majesty .... Yours is the kingdom." That is to say, that the origin of these names was exegetical, and not intrinsic to the subject in hand. Therefore, in their original form they are basically terms of praise and glorification, which do not say a great deal about the nature of the individual Sephiroth. This is true also of the term Kether Elyon. It indicates the eminence of the first Sephirah in its relationship both to Ayn-Soph, as the most Supreme Crown of the King, and to the other Sephiroth, in its character as the Crown of crowns; as the Zohar puts it: "Kether Elyon above, with which all the crowns and diadems are crowned."(3) But this term does not even hint at a definition of the essential nature of the first Sephirah, and it has no intrinsic connection with the names of the second and third Sephirot (Chokhmah and Binah). But, if we introduce certain specific variations, that is, if we change Kether into Razon (Will) and Tiphereth into Rahamim (Mercy) - names frequently found in the Zohar-and if we use, as was customary, Chesed (Love) instead of Gedulah, then we have a much more useful arrangement.

[2] The first Sephirah is the primeval Divine Will,(4) "the Will of wills," the source of all volitional impulses, the power of the initial awakening within the Godhead. This inapprehensible will "that cannot ever be known or grasped, the most recondite head in the world above" (6), is not directed toward any specific object. It is will in general without any separate, defined components - pure will, which acts on itself, and has no reference to the world outside itself. Looked at in this way, the first Sephirah is called Ehyeh ("I shall be," or "I am"); that is to say, the source of all being, without there being postulated any specific being within itself, for "it includes everthing, because, since the paths are hidden and are not separable, and are gathered together in one place, it is called Ehyeh ... it comprises everything, a generality with no particular"(5) (19).

The origin of actual existence is in the Sephirah Chokhmah, which is the Divine Thought. In actual fact, however, even in Chokhmah there is no revelation, nor any paticularization or separation of individual beings. It is consequently called Mahashavah Setumah (Hidden Thought): "Thought is the beginning of all, and in that it is thought it is internal, secret, and unknowable" (7). But it contains the general material for the construction of the worlds, and all existing things are faintly and secretly adumbrated there: "He made all the designs there; He did all the engravings there" (11) . In this sense, the school of Rabbi Isaac the Blind called it "Wisdom which encompasses all" or "The primeval being that encompasses all."

This inapprehensible material reaches the stage of revelation and substance in the third Sephirah, Binah. Here existing things are separated and differentiated, and the faint sketches that are to be found in Chokhmah, and which have no independent existence, are here crystallized and given a life of their own: "When the Holy One, Blessed be He, wished to create the world he looked at Thought (Mahashavah), the secret of the Torah, and He drew sketches. But it could not survive until He created repentance (Binah) ... and there the letters were sketched and formed by engraving. When this had been created He looked at the palace (Binah) and sketched designs of the whole world before Him" (The Account of Creation, 4).

From the designs in Binah emanate and are revealed the seven lower Sephiroth, which constitute the structure of the world of emanation, and whose main characteristics are comprised in the names of three attributes: Chesed (Love), Din (Judgment), and Rahamim (Mercy) - also known as the Sephiroth Gedulah, Geburah, and Tiphereth. The three following Sephiroth - Netzach, Hod, and Yesod - are, when looked at in this way, only branches, or offshoots, of these attributes. And the last Sephirah receives influence from these three, and acts under their direction.(6)

Through the attribute of Chesed is revealed the absolute goodness of God, which pours out light and an infinite torrent of blessing, like a river that bursts its banks and floods through every dam and dyke. The attribute of Din represents the strength and power of God's wrath, which tends to work against Chesed, and to stop up the source of its flow. These two extremes meet and intermingle in the attribute of Rahamim, which forms a bridge between the stringency of Judgment and the pleasantness of Love.

Were it not for the mediation of Rahamim, which balances and reconciles the two opposing forces, there would be perpetual tension and conflict between Chesed and Din, and the worlds would not be able to survive. When Din has the upper hand in the conflict, it arouses the force of destruction and kindles the flames of Gehinnom: "When the left (Din) was aroused, conflict was aroused, and in this conflict the fire of wrath was dominant, and from this conflict emerged Gehinnom, and Gehinnom was aroused on the left and clove (to it)" (The Account of Creation, 16). Similarly, the total domination of Chesed also has a harmful effect on the elements that sustain the worlds, for without Din the road toward righteousness and moral excellence would be perverted. Only through a reconciliation of these opposites in Rahamim are continued existence and righteous conduct assured.

The force that acts directly in this balanced way is the last Sephirah, which is situated at the lower extremity of the World of Emanation, and at the top of the non-Divine worlds. It brings to fulfillment the activity of the various attributes, and so it is called Malkuth, for the sovereignty of God is revealed there in the totality of His attributes.

[3] In this symbolic system the Sephiroth are seen as spiritual forces, as attributes of the soul, or as means of activity within the Godhead, that is to say, as revelations of the Hidden God, both to Himself and to that which is other than He. The fundamental element in this revelation is His emergence from the depths of limitless Infinity. The Sephiroth become specified, limited areas within the Godhead, not, of course, limited in the sense of tangible objects, but as displaying a spiritual pattern of categories, both of content and of character. This specific kind of Divine limitation evidenced by the sefirot is described, by a number of paradoxical statements, in the writings of Rabbi Azriel of Gerona: "For Ayn-Soph is a wholeness that lacks nothing, and it has power in a limitless area, and the limited area that is emanated from it to everything that exists are the Sephiroth, which have the power to act both in completeness and in incompleteness. And had it not produced a limited area for them we should not have recognized that it had the power to produce a limited area."(7) "And even though these things (i.e., the Sephiroth) have size and measure, and are ten in number, the measure that they have is without end."(8)

In the Zohar a particular force is mentioned called bozina di-kardinuta (spark of blackness) or kav ha-midah (the standard of measure) , which fixes size and measurement in the Sephiroth. Kav ha-midah is emanated from Ayn-Soph, and acts within the limits of the first Sephirah. There it promotes and designs colors in secret, and as a result of this activity "the colors are painted below" (1). The activities of kav ha-midah are dealt with at length in a separate section.(9) According to the descriptions given there the bozina di-kardinuta is hidden within the Will (Kether) after it leaves the domain of Ayn-Soph As the Will extends itself, it brings into play the concealed beings that dwell within the Will, and initiates the process of emanation. After this it acts under the guise of kav ha-midah. Here is part of the description of this activity. "This is the measuring-line of the mystery of faith (i.e., the world of the Sephiroth), kav ha-midah: there is length and breadth in the measuring, depth and height in the measuring, circle and rectangle in the measuring-the measuring line encompasses all. All the lights and all the mysteries neither ascend, nor descend, nor extend themselves, except by means of this measuring line, apart from the veritably uppermost regions (Ayn-Soph and Kether) where there is no measure ... and He calculates and measures everything with one measuring line, beginning at the top, where measure begins, down to the end of the levels of faith." The Sephiroth depend for their existence on the activities of kav ha-midah. It is their finite nature that distinguishes them from Ayn-Soph and Kether, for it establishes a contrast between the revealed nature of the emanated beings and the inaccessibility of the Emanator.

It is clear from the passage just quoted that the Sephiroth, which are finite and measurable, are not, however, static objects, like fixed, solid rungs on the ladder of the progressive revelation of the Divine Attributes. They are, on the contrary, dynamic forces, ascending and descending, and extending themselves within the area of the Godhead. This dynamism is found both in their hidden existence, which is oriented upward toward Ayn-Soph, and also in their association with the lower world, as forces of creation and direction of the universe. They are in continuous motion, involved in innumerable processes of interweaving, interlinking, and union. Even their order changes as a result of their internal movement, and "their end is fastened into their beginning." The lower Sephiroth elevate themselves in their yearning to return and cleave to their source, and the upper Sephiroth move downward in order to give sustenance to the lower, and to transmit Divine influence to the worlds below.

An ever-flowing torrent passes without cease through the World of Emanation; it wells up from the hidden Source and comes down through the Sephiroth to Malkuth. From there the flow descends to the lower worlds, influencing the way in which they conduct themselves. Images of the fountain, the river, streams, and the sea are all used in portraying the sefirot in this particular context. From the depths of the first Sephirah the fountain of Chokhmah that is called "Eden" bursts forth. The great upper river of Binah flows from there, and it branches out into the streams of the Sephiroth. The streams meet and mingle in Yesod, which is the lower river chaneling the waters of the divine flow to the sea of Malkuth (22; 23; and elsewhere).(10) The lower Sephiroth are connected with one another by channels, and in the upper Sephiroth, which are sources of the flow, there are ranks of spiritual beings that arrange the collection and transference of the flow: thirteen attributes of mercy in Kether, described in the anthropomorphic style of the ldrot as thirteen locks in the beard of the Holy, Ancient One; thirty-two paths of Chokhmah; and fifty gates of Binah.

[4] The Sephiroth are revealed in the world through their activities of creation and guidance. But, more than this, their very nature and their interrelationships can be perceived by the lower regions, to a larger or smaller extent, depending on their place in the order of emanation.(11) They are like gates or doors, and we can pass through them in order to gain a knowledge of the mystery of the Godhead. The entry commences with the lowest Sephirah, which is the first gate, the nearest to the lower regions. "It is like an exalted king, who is high, hidden and concealed, and who has made gates for himself, one upon the other, and at the end of all the gates he has made one particular gate, with a number of locks, a number of doors, and a number of palaces. He says: 'Whoever desires to enter into my presence, this gate shall be the first (that leads) to me; and whoever enters by this gate shall enter'." (Shekhinah, 9).(12)

Entry into the gates of the Sephiroth is effected through the practice of prayer and the commandments with the correct devotion and intention. But how can man possibly find his way to the locked gates, and where can he find the key that will open them? In other words, how is it possible for man to reach the stage of contemplating the Sephiroth before observing the hidden secrets in the Divine realm, through the ascent of the soul and the correct devotion of the mind? The teaching of the Zohar provides us with two answers to this question.

One answer states that the Sephiroth are revealed by means of the heavenly influence that is present in the worlds. The Sephiroth themselves dwell in the heights and cannot be known, but the influence that flows from them turns the whole of creation into a mirror that reflects the life of the Godhead. It is this idea that is apparently expressed in a homiletical interpretation of Psalm 19: "'Their line is gone out through all the earth' - although (the Sephiroth) are mysteries of heaven that cannot be known to the worlds, their influence and effect pour down and extend to the lower world, and as a result of this extension we, in this world, can have perfect faith, and all the inhabitants of the world can ponder upon the Mystery of faith of the Holy One, Blessed be He, in those levels, as if they had been revealed, and were not hidden and concealed."(13) The worlds are garments for the divine light and influence that are active in them,(14) and from their midst a glimpse may be had of the mystery of the Godhead.

The second answer is bound up with one of the basic principles of kabbalistic teaching, which recurs time and time again in the Zohar: the worlds, with all the beings they contain, and especially man, are constructed on the pattern of the Sephiroth, "according to the form that is above." The Sephiroth are the Divine master-copy of non-Divine existence, both in general and in particular. "He made the lower world on the pattern of the upper world, and they complement each other, forming one whole, in a single unity."(15) "He made this world to match the world above, and whatever exists above has its counterpart below" (The Account of Creation, 5).(16) "The designs for all the worlds were sketched within the Sephiroth and served as patterns for the Creation" (ibid., 4). Consequently, contemplation of the created world leads to the revelation of the Divine model that is reflected there, and the locked gates of the World of Emanation are opened for man to pass through. The connection between a perception of a model and a grasp of the mystery of the Sephiroth is particularly evident when we come to a knowledge of the structure of the soul: "When you examine the levels you will find the mystery of wisdom in this matter (i.e, in the structure of the different parts of the soul), and everything is wisdom, that you might perceive in this way matters that are sealed."(17)

b. The Process of Emanation

[1] The process of emanation, that is, the way in which motion begins at the source and continues from stage to stage, is understood in two senses in the main body of the Zohar: (a) the formation of the Sephiroth through the emanatory process; and (b) the descent of the Divine influence in order to sustain both the Sephiroth and the worlds. In the Haya Mehemna and the Tikkunei ha-Zohar it is understood in yet a third way: the self-extension of the Divine Essence in the Sephiroth and the worlds. The term "emanation" (Atziluth) is actually mentioned only in the later parts of the Zohar.(18) I nstead we have a whole succession of different terms: "extension" or "prolongation," "dissemination" or "expansion," "flow," "radiation," "illumination," and so on. These terms show that the Zohar when describing emanation uses the two most common images in all emanatory systems: the shining and radiation oflight, and the flowing of water from the source.

The identification of the emanatory process with the absolute perfection and indissoluble unity of God creates a serious difficulty, which the early kabbalists labored hard to solve. On the face of it, the doctrine of emanation splits up the unity of the Divine Being, and spoils its perfection, by allowing parts of it to be hived off and to be reconstituted outside the domain of the Godhead. In an attempt to ward off this charge of inconsistency, the kabbalah of the Gerona school, especially in the writings of Rabbi Azriel, compared emanation to the lighting of one candle from another, where the first candle, although providing light for the second, loses no light of its own. In this way Rabbi Azriel contrasts the process of emanation with the act of birth: "There is a distinction between procreation and emanation ... for in the world above there is neither diminution nor growth, and if there is emanation and growth from the Holy Spirit it is simply like the lighting of a candle from a candle that is already lit; for even if myriads upon myriads of candles were lit from it, its own light would not diminish owing to the power inherent in it."(19) A similar account occurs in the Tikkunei ha-Zohar:(20) "When He created the world with the attribute of Reshit (beginning), He descended upon it, but there was no diminution above, and similarly with every Sephirah; like someone lighting a candle from a candle,(21) where there is no diminution in the first one, nor in the second, ad infinitum, without end."

This image raises another problem. Should one see the formation of the Sephiroth as a dynamic expansion of the Divine power, or as an emanation in substance of the Divine Being? The simile of the candle is very well suited to the expansion of power, which does not cause any diminution in the source. It is an image that does a great deal to explain the process by which influence flows down from the Emanator - a process that has a dynamism of its own. But it does not remove the difficulties we encounter if we posit an emanator of substance. These difficulties are not all that serious if we are dealing with the expansion of the Divine Being into non-Divine substances, and non-Divine areas, provided that there is no change or alteration in the being that is expanded. And this, in fact, is the case with the theory of immanence advocated by the author of the Tikkunei ha-Zohar, who uses the image of the candle quite openly in connection with the expansion of the Divine Being;(22) for, according to this view, the actual flame that kindles is not different, or divided from, the light of the first candle: the differences that do exist are purely on the side of the second candle. But, if we say that the Sephiroth are emanated in substance from the Divine Being, then we are necessarily attributing alteration and change to the essence of the Divine Being, and emanation then is not at all like the lighting of one candle from another. On the other hand, the view that the Sephiroth are part of the Divine Being-and this is the view of the author of the Zohar-makes it very difficult for anyone to maintain that they are not emanated in substance from that being.

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