The Kabbalistic Tradition: An Anthology of Jewish Mysticism

Contents Preface xxiii Introduction xxv Further Reading xliv 1 GOD Anthropomorphism 3 Anthropomorphism and Sefirot 4 Anthropomorphism and Isaac Luria 4 Anthropomorphism According to Joseph Irgas 5 Anthropomorphism and Symbols According to Joseph Irgas 5 Anthropomorphism According to Ramchal 6 Anthropomorphism and Literalness 7 Anthropomorphism, Literalness of Tzimtzum 8 The Infinite Godhead (Ein Sof) 8 Ein Sof According to Isaac Luria 8 Ein Sof and the Created World 10 God in Relationship 11 Committing Oneself Entirely to God 11 Searching for God 12 God Behind All Activity 13 All Deeds All Performed by God 14 The Mercy of God 14 Holy Spirit 15 Achieving the Holy Spirit 15 Prophecy and the Holy Spirit 17 Holy Spirit and Holy Speech 19 Idols 19 Worship of Man 19 Even to Worship Holiness in Man Is Idolatry 21 Divine Immanence 22 Divine Immanence, a Parable 22 Suffering and God 23 Divine Immanence Even in Stories 23 Prayer about God Hidden in Everything 23 Divine Even in Gentile Stories 24 Sefirot 25 Sefirot Expounded by the Prophet Elijah 25 Sefirot as Vessels 26 Sefirot and Human Thought 27 The Divine Presence (Shekhinah) 28 The World Maintained by the Shekhinah 28 God Inside Man 29 Exile and Redemption of Lost Souls 30 Marriage and the Shekhinah 30 Tetragrammaton 31 Tetragrammaton and Divine Immanence 31 Torah 32 Torah and Garments 32 Torah the Source of All 34 Torah of the Messiah 35 Essence of Torah Revealed in Messianic Times 36 Torah Is God 36 The Torah Renews Itself 37 Continuous Giving of the Torah 38 vi CONTENTS Mystical Secrets of the Torah 39 Torah Learning 40 Small Talk Is Also Torah 40 Transcendence 41 Divine Transcendence and Freedom 41 Perceiving Divine Transcendence 42 2 COSMOS Astrology 44 Astrology and Torah 44 Creation 45 Creation of the World 45 Ein Sof and Creation 46 From Reality to Nothingness 47 Purgatory (Gehinnom) 47 Gehinnom and Exile 47 Gehinnom and Mondays 48 Gehinnom and Abraham 49 Gehinnom and This World 50 Accepting Punishment in Gehinnom 52 Paradise 52 Four Sages in Paradise 52 Why Four Sages Entered Paradise 53 Light 54 Hidden Light of Creation 54 More on the Hidden Light of Creation 54 Hidden Light Revealed and Concealed 55 Location 56 Location and Revelation 56 Torah Is the Map of the World 57 viii CONTENTS Divine Contraction (Tzimtzum) 58 How Tzimtzum Came About 58 Tzimtzum, Like a Father to His Infant Child 59 Tzimtzum and Faith 60 Tzimtzum as God Hiding Himself 63 Tzimtzum, Yet No Place Empty of Him 65 3 ANGELS Angelology 66 Invoking Angels and Demons 66 Angels and the Human Soul 67 Formation of Angels 68 Angels and Men 69 Angels Punishing the Wicked 70 Guardian Angels 70 Guardian Angels, Healing and Sin 70 The Angel Metatron 72 Enoch and Metatron 72 Metatron and Samael 73 Enoch's Journey 73 Enoch and Adam in Heaven 74 Metatron and Ruth 76 4 HOLY SCRIPTURES: BIBLE CHARACTERS AND THEMES Abraham 77 Abraham, Patriarchs and the Merkabah 77 Abraham and the Tree of Life 77 Adam 79 Adam and His Mystical Book 79 CONTENTS ix The Book of Adam 79 Adam, Eve and Kelippot 81 Adam and Souls Affected by Sin 81 Adam's Expulsion from Eden 82 Adam Truly Knew God 82 Elijah 84 Elijah and Covenant 84 Elijah in Heaven 85 Elijah and the Angel of Death 86 Elijah and Revelation 87 Elijah, Enoch and the Patriarchs 87 Elijah's Identity as an Angel 88 Elijah and Hidden Revelation 90 Elijah and Messianic Revelation 90 Elijah and Clandestine Revelation 92 Elijah, Reincarnation and Impregnation 93 Elijah While Waking 93 Elijah's Revelations 95 Elijah's Revelation a Gift 95 Elijah and Hospitality 96 Memory and Elijah 97 Enoch 97 Mystic Book of Enoch 97 Enoch's Dual Nature as Metatron 98 Moses 99 Moses and His Knowledge 99 Ascension of Moses 99 Moses and God's Back 100 Psalms 101 Psalms and Personal Experience 101 x CONTENTS 5 NATURAL AND SUPERNATURAL WORLDS Alphabet and the Potency of Language 102 Anthropomorphism and Letters 102 Male and Female Letters of the Alphabet 103 Alphabet and the Soul 104 Amulets 104 Amulets and the Wicked 104 Aramaic 105 Aramaic Language of Sitra Achra 105 Heavenly Voice (Bat Kol) 106 Bat Kol and Dreams 106 Bat Kol and Resurrection 107 Literature and Mystical Parables 107 Sefer Yetzirah and Abraham 107 Rebbe Nachman's Mystical Parables 108 The Clay Diggers' Fortune 108 The Treasure under the Bridge 110 The Parable of the Turkey 110 The Diseased Wheat 111 Mysticism 112 Who Should Study Kabbalah 112 Kabbalah Texts Hidden and Revealed 113 The Correct Manner of Study of Kabbalah 114 Need for Study of Kabbalah 116 Kabbalists and Literalists 118 Conditions for Kabbalah Study 118 Zohar, Soul and Upper Paradise 119 Kabbalistic Meaning of the Talmud 120 True Works of Kabbalah 121 CONTENTS xi Few True Works of Kabbalah 120 Kabbalah Inspired by Holy Spirit 122 True Kabbalah Inspiration 123 Secret Meaning of the Talmud 125 Mysticism of the Talmud 126 Simeon bar Yochai and Moses 126 Names of God 127 Speech and the Divine Name 127 Divine Name and Creation 128 The Torah Is the Name of God 129 6 SUPERNATURAL POWERS Cleaving to God (Devekut) 131 Devekut, Commandments (Mitzvot) and Secular Matters 131 Progress in Devekut 132 Devekut and the Dark Night of the Soul 132 Strange Thoughts 133 Devekut and Torah Study for Its Own Sake 134 Torah as Devekut 135 Artificial Man (Golem) 135 Golem in the Talmud 135 Can a Golem Make Up a Quorum (Minyan)? 136 The Golem's Soul 137 Creating a Golem 138 Herbs 139 Herbs and Angels 139 Medicine 140 Medicine Depends on Faith 140 Medicine and God 140 xii CONTENTS Secrets and Magical Remedies (Segulot) 141 The Origins of Kabbalah 141 Correct Methods of Practical Kabbalah Not Known 141 Dangers of Practical Kabbalah 142 Magic and Enosh 143 The Righteous Person (Tzaddik) 144 The Tzaddik and the Individual 144 God and the Righteous (Tzaddikim) 144 A Dead Tzaddik May Help the Living 145 The Righteous Men in Each Generation 146 The Thirty-Six Righteous Men 147 The Seventy-Two Righteous in Each Age 147 The Tzaddikim of Each Generation 148 The Nature of the Tzaddik 149 The Tzaddik's Teaching and Its Interpretation 149 The Tzaddik and the Commandments 149 The Tzaddik and the World to Come 150 The Tzaddik in This World and in the Next 150 The Tzaddik Has No Rest 151 Martyrdom and Sacrifice of the Tzaddikim 152 Water 152 Water on the Sabbath 152 7 MEN AND WOMEN The Body 154 The Three Bodies of Man 154 Being Nice to Lice 155 The Body and Cloak (Chaluka) of the Rabbis 155 The Trembling of Bodily Organs 156 Bodily Movements 157 Suffering and Providence 158 CONTENTS xiii Nothingness of the Righteous 158 Body and Purity 159 The Nature of Man 160 The Value of Each Individual 160 Free Will 161 Human Independence 161 Everyone Can Become a Holy Person 162 Jews and Gentiles 163 Jews and Heathens 163 Jews, Not Gentiles, Called 'Man' 164 Revelation to the Gentiles 165 Maintaining Jewish Identity among the Gentiles 166 The Evil Other Side (Sitra Achra) and Gentiles 167 Gentiles and the Torah 168 Male and Female 170 Male and Female Soul Mates 170 Male and Female Blessings 170 Sexual Relations 171 Sexual Intercourse and Holiness 171 Sex, Holiness and the Spiritual Garment 172 Prayer as Sexual Union with the Divine Presence 172 Silence 173 Silence and Wisdom 173 Asceticism: No Vain Talk for Forty Days 173 Rebbe Mendel of Warka on Silence 173 Sleep and Awe 174 Silent Prayer 174 Nothing and Torah 175 A Time to Speak 175 Three Hidden Qualities 175 Holding Back from Torah 176 xiv CONTENTS The Silent Cry 176 Finding the Hidden God 176 Nullifying the Self 176 Soul 177 Greatness of the Soul 177 Soul in Children 178 Soul Levels 179 Soul Roots and Torah 179 The Soul, the Shell (Kelippah) and Adam's Sin 180 Soul and Shells 182 Worldly Occupation, Suffering and God 183 Faults Lie Within 183 Worldly Occupations and God 184 The Soul of a Vessel 185 Singers and Sin 186 Man and the World 186 The Thought Is the Man 187 Repentance and the Soul of Israel 188 Souls in Heaven and Earth 189 Universal Soul and Its Heavenly Source 190 Speech 191 Truth and Falsehood 191 Truth and Words 192 The Scarcity of Truth 193 Israel and Speech 194 Speech Is the Soul of Man 195 Anger and Compassion 196 The Sin of Anger 196 Compassion for the Suffering of Others 197 8 RITUALS Altar 198 Altar Fire 198 Amen 199 Amen and Gehinnom 199 Blessings 200 Blessings and Divine Flow 200 Male and Female Blessings 201 Charity 201 Charity Is Itself a Gift 201 Circumcision 202 Circumcision of Isaac Luria 202 Circumcision, Holy Covenant and Sexual Sins 203 Dance 206 Dance and Ecstasy 206 Dance Removes Harsh Judgements 206 Dancing with the Jews of Russia 207 Dances of Religious Joy 208 The Focus on God 209 Setting God Always before One 209 Renewing One's Service to God 209 Food 210 Food and Beauty 210 Food and Trapped Souls 210 Eating and God 211 Grace after Meals 212 The Divine Presence at the Table 212 Hair 213 Hair and Its Symbolism 213 Hair Removal Prohibited 214 Meat 214 Meat Eating 214 xvi CONTENTS The Ritual Bath (Mikveh) 215 Mikveh and Inner Purity 215 Commandment (Mitzvah) 216 Mitzvah and God Are One 216 Mystical Intentions of