Revelation 11:19 to 12:6
Last update: June 1, 2003
Verse 11:19 begins a parenthetical section that interupts the more or less
chronological order of events. At this point, John's vision spans the course of
time -- the hidden past as well as the future.
11:19 And opened was the sanctuary of God in the
heaven, and there was seen the ark of His covenant in His sanctuary, and there did come
lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail.
The "sanctuary of God in heaven" is the heavenly Holy of
Holies, which on the Tree of Life is placed in the "upper face" of Beriah in the
"heavens." (Shemayim - the heavens - always plural in Hebrew.) See background study on the Temple and "Five Gardens" of the
Tree of Life.
Critical to understanding this chapter is the idea that John's vision
sees events both in the "Beriatic state" as well as how they play out in time in
the lower worlds. In Beriah, that which is to come exists in a "formless" state
which plays itself out "in time" in the lower worlds of Yetzirah and Asiyyah.
Thus, in this chapter, we see a "repetition" of the story of a
woman who gives birth and is protected by a dragon seeking to harm her and her offspring.
The first account (verses 2 to 6) is viewed "in the heaven(s)" of Beriah and
exists beyond the space and time dimensions of the lower realms (Yezirah, the world of
angels and Assiyah, the physical world.) What John sees exists in that it is
"ordained" by God in Beriah. The second account (verses 13 to 17) takes place in
the lower realms and within the course of (future) history.
Author Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi describes these events as such:
The source of the Cosmic purpose of Heaven lies in Azilut, the
perfect image of the likeness of God. Beriah, emerging out of this perfection, fulfils the
will of En Sof in creating an unfolding cosmic framework in which every creature has a
specific reason for existing. Everything has its place, be it the vastness of celestial
space or the most minute impulses and particles of terrestial energy and matter ...
Everything moreover has its particular time to be born and die. ... All is ordained in
Beriah. ... However, none of this can takeplce without their being a change of
form; and this cannot happen in Heaven (Beriah), because in the World of Creation only
essences can exist Thus, in Beriah, although the destiny of each creature is
predetermined, it cannot actually move through its stages, cannot grow and manifest the
different states of its existence. 1
12:1 And a great sign
was seen in the heaven, a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and
upon her head a crown of twelve stars,
From 11:19 to 12:11, John is seeing events in their Beriatic essence. The role of
Messiah is forecast -- he will bring salvation and rule the nations. Thus, he is also the
"lamb slain since the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8) and
"existed" (along with several other things) before the creation of the physical
world.
The Talmud offers the following on this subject:
Talmud - Mas. Pesachim 54a - Seven things were created before the
world was created, and these are they: The Torah, repentance, the Garden of Eden, Gehenna,
the Throne of Glory, the Temple, and the name of the Messiah. The Torah, for it is
written, The Lord made me [sc. the Torah] as the beginning of his way. Repentance, for it
is written, Before the mountains were brought forth, and it is written, Thou turnest man
to contrition, and sayest, Repent, ye children of men. The Garden of Eden, as it is
written, And the Lord planted a garden in Eden from aforetime. The Gehenna, for it is
written, For Tophet [i.e., Gehenna] is ordered of old. The Throne of Glory and the Temple,
for it is written, Thou throne of glory, on high from the beginning, Thou place of our
sanctuary. The name of the Messiah, as it is written, His [sc. the Messiah's] name shall
endure for ever, and has exited before the sun!
At the p'shat level, the vision John sees is comparable to that of Joseph's -- with
Joseph being the twelfth "star":
Genesis 37:9-10 - And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it
his brothers, and said, Behold, I have again dreamed a dream; and, behold, the sun and the
moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his
brothers; and his father rebuked him, and said to him, What is this dream that you have
dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow down ourselves to
you to the earth?
The "sign" in John's vision is seen in "heaven" corresponding to
Beriah.
Kabbalistically we have:
- the sun associated with Jacob
- the moon associated with Rachel
- the twelve stars associated with the 12 tribes
The "woman" is a representation of the Shekinah -- which is both the presence
of the Lord in the world (decribed in feminine terms in kabbalistic literature) as well as
with the community of Israel. (See our background studies on these topics.) We will also
see that there is a "heavenly" as well as "earthly" aspect to the
Shekinah.
The following verse associates the Shekinah with the heavenly Holy of Holies (i.e.,
verse 11:19):
Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 84b - "My dove that
art in the clefts of the rock, in the coverts of the steep place” (S. S. II, 14).
“My dove” refers to the community of Israel; “the clefts of the rock”
refers to Jerusalem, which is firm and eminent like a rock; “the coverts of the steep
place” refer to the place which is called “holy of holies”, the heart of
the world. It is called “coverts” because there the Shekinah is concealed like a
woman who converses only with her husband and never goes out.
The "New Testament" makes use of the term "Holy Spirit" which at
that in Jewish history was another way of referring to the Shekinah:
The Shekinah ("Dwelling") is the personified Presence of God. In the
Talmudic period, the Shekinah was identified with the "Holy Spirit." (Ruach ha
Kodesh) ... Both Hebrew terms are of the feminine gender. Still in Talmudic times, the
Shekinah became identified with the "Community of Israel" (also a feminine
term), and as such represented Israel in its relationship with God. 2
When Israel goes into exile (at the hand of the nations and their spiritual powers),
the Shekinah goes with them and functions in a different (i.e., diminished) capacity.
The Zohar is filled with such references:
Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 174a - Whilst they were
walking, R. Jose said to R. Eleazar: ‘It has been said that with Rachel's death the
house was transferred to Her who required to be adorned with twelve tribes. Nevertheless,
why should Rachel have died immediately after the birth of Benjamin?’ R. Eleazar in
reply said: ‘It was in order that the Shekinah should be duly crowned and take her
place in the house as “a joyful mother of children”. With Benjamin, the Shekinah
was equipped with the full twelve tribes, and with him the kingdom of heaven began to be
made manifest on earth. Now the beginning of any manifestation is brought about with
strain, and involves a doom of death before it can become established. Here, when the
Shekinah was about to assume her rightful place and to take over the house, the doom fell
upon Rachel. Similarly, when the kingdom was about to be made manifest on earth, it
commenced with a judgement, and the kingdom was not established in its place until a doom
had fallen upon Saul, in accordance with his deserts; and only then was it established. It
is a general rule that beginnings are rough, whereas the subsequent course is smooth.
Thus, on New Year's day (Rosh-hashana) the year opens with severity, as the whole world
passes under judgement, each individual according to his deeds, but soon after comes
relief and forgiveness and atonement. The reason is that the beginning is from the left
side, and so it brings harsh judgements, until the right side is aroused and ease follows.
In time to come God will first treat the idolatrous nations gently and indulgently, but
afterwards with severity and stern judgement. So Scripture says: “The Lord will go
forth as a mighty one, he will stir up jealousy as a warrior; he will cry, yea, he will
shout aloud, he will prove himself mighty against his enemies” (Is. XLII, 13); which
interpreted means that first He will manifest Himself as YHVH (the Lord), in His attribute
of mercy, then as a mighty one, but not in His full might, then as a warrior, but not in
His full war panoply, and finally, His whole might will become manifest against them in
order to exterminate them, so that “he will cry, yea, he will shout aloud, he will
prove himself mighty against his enemies.” Again, it is written: “Then shall the
Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fighteth in the day of
battle” (Zech. XIV, 3). Also: “Who is this that cometh from Edom with crimson
garments from Bozrah? etc.” (Is. LXIII, 1).’ AND IT CAME TO PASS, AS HER SOUL
WAS IN DEPARTING FOR SHE DIED-THAT SHE CALLED HIS NAME BEN-ONI; BUT HIS FATHER CALLED HIM
BENJAMIN. R. Judah discoursed on the verse: The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of
trouble; and he knoweth them that take refuge in him (Nahum I, 7). ‘Happy’, he
said, ‘is the man who finds his strength in the Holy One, blessed be He, since His
strength is invincible. The Lord is indeed “good to all” (Ps. CXLV, 9), “a
stronghold”, wherein is salvation, as we read: “He is a stronghold of
salvation” (Ibid. XXVIII, 8); “in the day of trouble”, to wit, in the day
of Israel's oppression at the hand of other nations.
Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page I89a - R. Simeon said:
‘The clause “Who commandeth the sun, and it riseth not” applies to Joseph,
whilst the sequel, “and sealeth up the stars”, applies to his brethren,
regarding whom he said, “And eleven stars bowed down to me.” Alternatively,
“Who commandeth the sun” is an allusion to Jacob at the time his sons said to
him: “Know now whether it is thy son's coat or not”; “that it shineth
not” is a reference to the time when the Shekinah departed from him; whilst
“sealeth up the stars” implies that through his sons Jacob's light was sealed
and closed up, the sun for him was darkened and the stars did not shine-all because Joseph
was separated from his father. And note that from the day on which Joseph disappeared
Jacob abstained from marital intercourse and observed all the other rites of mourning
until the day the good tidings of Joseph reached him.’ AND THE LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH,
AND HE WAS A PROSPEROUS MAN; AND HE WAS IN THE HOUSE OF HIS MASTER THE EGYPTIAN . R. Jose
quoted here the verse: “For the Lord loveth justice, and forsaketh not his saints;
they are preserved for ever” (Ps. XXXVII, 28). ‘Observe’, he said
‘that wherever the righteous walk, God protects them and never abandons them, as
David said: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and staff they comfort me” (Ibid. XXIII,
4); wherever the righteous walk the Shekinah accompanies them and does not abandon them.
Joseph walked through the valley of the shadow of death, having been brought down to
Egypt, but the Shekinah was with him, as we read: “And the Lord was with
Joseph”, and by reason of the presence of the Shekinah all that he did prospered in
his hand; so much so that if he had something in his hand and his master wanted something
of a different kind, it changed in his hand to the kind his master wanted.
The following reference to the Shekinah accompanying God's people, outside of the Land
of Israel, also includes a mystical reference to the number forty-two which is
significant. (See previous studies on the meaning of this number.) Here, the Shekinah is
accompanied by the "celestial Jacob" -- representative of the bride and groom
being in union:
Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 4b - Said R. Simeon:
‘When the Shekinah went down to Egypt, a celestial “living being” (Hayah,
cf.Ezek. 1:5), called “Israel”, in form like the patriarch Jacob, went down with
Her, accompanied by forty- two heavenly attendants, each of whom bore a
letter belonging to the Holy Name. They all descended with Jacob to Egypt, and hence it
says “and these are the names of the children of Israel which came into Egypt ...
with Jacob”.’
Though the Shekinah is considered to be "God's presence in the world," one
should not make the mistake of "dividing" God in any sense. The Zohar speaks of
the Shekinah being both "above" and "below" as follows:
Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 159b - In a similar
sense it is written: “And God remembered Rachel”, which has a meaning similar to
that of the passage"and I remembered my covenant”. Now, if we say that the term
“visiting” is used only of the female principle (the Shekinah), we are met with
a difficulty in the text: “I have surely visited you”. For how could the
Shekinah speak thus, seeing that she was herself in exile, and, in fact, how could she
appear to Moses at all? But in truth there is a deep significance in this passage. For as
the sun, although his centre is in heaven, yet spreads his power and might throughout the
earth, so that the whole earth is full of his glory, so, as long as the Temple was in
existence, the whole earth, to wit, the Holy Land, was full of God's glory; but now that
Israel is in exile, the Shekinah is on high, but still her might surrounds Israel so as to
shield them, even when they are in a strange land. For the Shekinah is both here below and
on high. The Shekinah on high abides in the twelve holy chariots and the twelve supernal
Hayyoth; the lower Shekinah is among the twelve holy tribes, and thus the upper Shekinah
and the lower Shekinah are intertwined, and both operate together and simultaneously. Now,
when Israel is in exile, the upper Shekinah is not complete because the lower Shekinah is
not complete, and that is what is meant by the Shekinah being in exile when Israel is in
exile. It is like a king who has lost a son, and who as a sign of his mourning turns over
his couch and spreads thistles and thorns on its underside and then lays himself down on
it. Similarly when Israel went into exile and the Temple was destroyed, God took thorns
and thistles and put them underneath Him, as it were, as it is written: “And the
angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a
thorn-bush” (Ex. III, 2), the reason being that Israel was in exile.
2 and being with child she
doth cry out, travailing and pained to bring forth.
The idea of the Shekinah being a "mother" and giving birth to Messiah(s) is
found in the Zohar:
Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 14b - “My dove, my
undefiled, is but one, she is the only one of her mother” (S.S. VI, 9), the Holy
Shekinah, who proceeds from the twelve flashes of the radiance which illumines all things,
and is called “Mother”. And the Holy One, blessed be He, dealt according to this
principle with the earth: He scattered the nations abroad in separation and appointed
supernal chiefs over them, as it is written, “which the Lord hath imparted to all the
nations under heaven” (Deut. VI, 19). But He took unto Himself the congregation of
Israel to be His own portion and His own choice, as it is written, “For the Lord's
portion is his people, Jacob is the lot of his inheritance” (Ibid. XXXII, 9). Thus it
is clear that Israel is directly under God and none other; and He says of her: “My
dove, my undefiled, is but one, she is the only one of her Mother.” She is the only
one of her Mother Shekinah who dwells in her midst. “Many daughters have done
virtuously, but thou excellest them all” (Prov. XXXI, 29).’
Zohar, Ra'aya Mehemma, 3:67b-68a - The Faithful Shepherd said,
"At that time (there will come) pangs and pains upon the woman in childbirth, that
is, the Shekinah ... And through these pains, which will make her cry out, seventy
supernal Sanhedrins will be aroused, until her voice reaches the Lord ... And from those
voices which she gives forth ... her womb opens -- and her womb consists of two houses --
to give birth to two Messiahs ... and she bends her head betwixt her knees; her head is
the Middle Column and her two thighs are Eternity and Majesty [the Sephiot of Netzah
and Hod] ... and from there are born two Messiahs. In that time the forests will be
denuded, and the Serpent will pass from the world.
3 And there was seen another
sign in the heaven, and, lo, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and
upon his head seven diadems,
At the level of Beriah, evil is associated with the angelic name "Samael"
which is literally "poison-god." He is the dragon of Revelation:
Soncino Zohar Appendix III - The Designations and The Categories - The
distinction between ‘right’ and ‘left’ in the Zohar corresponds, not
only to the distinction between reward and punishment in the next world, but also between
good and evil, and specifically moral good and evil in this world. Samael, the power of
evil, the tempter, the accuser, the evil Serpent, is placed on the left and is identified
with the grade Geburah. Now Samael is represented as the opponent not of Hesed but of
Tifereth [identified with the archangel Michael.] He is the Great Dragon, who on
New Year swallows the Moon, that is, prevents the union of the Matrona with the Holy King,
until Israel by their sacrifice on the Day of Atonement induce him to desist. He also, by
means of his minions, Lilith and others, seduces men to defile their souls, contrary to
the desire of the Holy King.
GEMMATRIA
The Beriatic dragon has seven heads which represent the physical materialization of its
power - seven being the number of "maximum compactness" in the physical world.
It also has ten horns, which are heavenly powers, understood as the "evil
counterpart" to the ten divine sephirot.
The numbers seven and ten, when associated with each other, speak of an earthly and
heavenly manifestation of a common idea. Consider the concept of ten heavenly Sephirot,
compare to the seven Sephirot that relate to the physical world. This is also reflected in
the teaching that the "spiritually wise" Moses had ten names, whereas his
"earthly wise" father-in-law, Jethro, is said to have had seven names.
A "positive example" of such a union (between "seven" and
"ten") is seen in the idea of the "great Tzaddik" who unites (the
seven) below with (the ten) above. The sum of seven and ten equals seventeen which is the
gemmatria of the word TOV (Tet-Bet-Vav = 9+2+6=17), the Hebrew word for "good."
In kabbalah, the aspect of "tov" is associated with the Sephirah of Yesod
(foundation) which, as we have discussed earlier, is the idea of the (divine)
"tzaddik" -- or "righteous one."
The great tzaddikim are those seen as unifying above and below, which in both the past
and future is symbolized by the establishing of God's Tabernacle/Temple on earth. Three
people who come to mind are Moses, Betzalel and Yeshua. (For those unaware, Betzalel was
the young man who was given the "divine insight" into the details of the
Tabernacle construction.)
We find a common thread between these three:
- Moses is associated with "tov" in that his original Hebrew name (before
Pharaoh's daughter named him "Moses") was Tovia (meaning "goodness of God)
and derived from the root "tov," with its numerical value of 17.
- Betzalel's name has a numerical value of 153 -- which in Kabbalah is the
"triangle" of the number 17 -- that being the sum of all numbers from 1 to 17.
- Yeshua is also associated with the number 153 as seen in John's gospel which makes a
point to specifically mention that 153 fish were miraculously caught in the disciple's
nets after Yeshua told them to recast their nets.
The following texts offer additional insight into the concepts brough forth in verse 2.
The first two describe the relationship between seven and ten (here muliplied with a
product of 70) with regard to the "division" of physical and spiritual realms
into 70 units. (i.e., the "70 nations" of the earth). Mention is also made of
how the fate Egypt met will be the same for Rome one day:
Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 30b - Observe that
whatever is engendered on earth grows through the stimulus of a celestial Chieftain who
has charge over it, and that all on earth is shaped after a celestial pattern. There are
on high seven firmaments, and seven zones of earth. Correspondingly, in the lower world
there are seven graded firmaments and seven zones of earth. These, as the Companions have
expounded, are arranged like the rungs of a ladder, rising one above the other, and each
zone has ten divisions, so that there are seventy in all. Each one of these is presided
over by a Chieftain, and these seventy Chieftains have under their charge the seventy
nations of the earth. These seventy earth-divisions, again, border on and surround the
Holy Land, as Scripture says: “Behold, it is the couch of Solomon; threescore mighty
men are about, of the mighty men of Israel” (S.S. III, 7), there being, in addition
to the threescore mentioned, ten concealed among their number. All these surround the Holy
Land. This alludes to the upper world, and the same is reproduced in the lower world. Now
at that time the Holy One, blessed be He, stretched forth His finger over the zone that
was allotted to the Egyptians, and a fiery flame passed through the whole tract and dried
up all the alluvial soil, with the result that the dust of the earth generated vermin. It
was Aaron that smote the dust, in order to show that the right hand of the Holy One,
blessed be He, breaks His enemies, as we read: “Thy right hand, O Lord, dasheth in
pieces the enemy” (Ex. xv, 6). The same punishment is destined to be meted out by the
Holy One, blessed be He, to Rome the great Metropolis, as it is written: “And the
streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone”
(Isa. XXXIV, 9). Thus “all the dust of the earth became vermin throughout all the
land of Egypt”.
The following text offers another insight into the relationship between seven and ten,
here with regard to Israel's struggles in conquering the Land:
This is also the reason why the Jewish people were only commanded to conquer seven
nations of Canaan upon entering the land, as opposed to the original ten that G-d first
spoke about; we didn't merit a complete acquisition of Eretz Yisroel, due to our sins in
the desert. The ten nations, of course, correspond to the Ten Sefiros, and the seven
nations we did have to fight against represent only the lower seven Sefiros, indicating
our lack of spiritual ability to bring complete perfection to creation. 3
THE DRAGON
The "dragon," as an image of evil in the higher realms, is referred to
througout Hebraic literature. It is not only associated with the archangel Samael, but
also with Israel's enemies in the physical realm.
In this midrash, the dragon is associated with the leader of Babylon:
Midrash Rabbah - Genesis LXVIII:13 - Thus it is written, And I
will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath
swallowed up (Jer. LI, 44). For Nebuchadnezzar had a great dragon which swallowed up
everything thrown to it. Said Nebuchadnezzar to Daniel: ‘How great is its might that
it swallows up everything that is thrown to it!’ ' Give me permission,’ he
rejoined, ' and I will make him weak.’ On being granted permission, what did he do?
He took straw, hid nails in it, and threw it to the dragon, and the nails lacerated his
bowels. That is the meaning of the verse, ’And I will bring forth out of his mouth
that which he hath swallowed up.)
Here the dragon is linked to the leader of Egypt:
Midrash Rabbah - Exodus III:12 - AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES: PUT
FORTH THY HAND, AND TAKE IT BY THE TAIL (IV, 4). We have already explained what the
serpent implied for Moses; but what did this sign signify for Israel? R. Eleazar opined
that the rod was converted into a serpent as symbolic Of Pharaoh who was called a serpent,
as it says: Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh King of Egypt, the great-dragon (Ezek.
XXIX, 3). He is also referred to as the leviathan the slant serpent (Isa. XXVII, 1),
because he hit Israel. God said to him [Moses]: ' Dost thou see Pharaoh who is like a
serpent? Well, thou wilt smite him with the rod and in the end he will become like wood;
and just as the rod cannot bite, so he will no longer bite’; hence: PUT FORTH THY
HAND AND TAKE IT BY THE TAIL. THAT THEY MAY BELIEVE THAT THE LORD, THE GOD OF THEIR
FATHERS... HATH APPEARED UNTO THEE (IV, 5). Go and perform before them this miracle that
they should believe that I appeared unto thee.
An examination of Scripture shows an association being made between other leaders and
the evil side (i.e., the king of Tyre). The following text mentions the idea of there
being "more than one Samael" -- a key point in understanding how evil manifests
itself:
Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 29a - Various impurities
are mingled in the composition of Israel, like animals among men. One kind is from the
side of the serpent; another from the side of the Gentiles, who are compared to the beasts
of the field; another from the side of mazikin (goblins), for the souls of the wicked are
literally the mazikin (goblins) of the world; and there is an impurity from the side of
the demons and evil spirits; and there is none so cursed among them as Amalek, who is the
evil serpent, the “strange god”. He is the cause of all unchastity and murder,
and his twin-soul is the poison of idolatry, the two together being called Samael (lit.
poison-god). There is more than one Samael, and they are not all equal, but this side of
the serpent is accursed above all of them.
The ultimate manifestationof evil is linked to Amalek, whom Jewish tradition teaches is
present in every generation (as is the potential for the coming Elijah and Messiah) and
who will be strong again at the time of Messiah's return:
Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 194b-195a - AND MOSES
ASSEMBLED ALL THE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, ETC. R. Hiya opened here a
discourse on the text: “And Saul said unto the Kenites: Go depart”, etc. (I Sam.
xv, 6). ‘Observe’, he said, ‘that in regard to Amalek it is written:
“I remember that which Amalek did to Israel”, etc. (Ibid. xv, 2). What is the
reason that none of the wars waged by other nations against Israel was so displeasing to
the Almighty as was the war waged against them by Amalek? The reason, assuredly, is that
the battle with Amalek was waged on both fronts, both on high and below; for at that time
the evil serpent gathered all its forces both above and below. It is the way of a serpent
to lie in wait on the cross-roads. So Amalek, the evil serpent of Israel, was lying in
wait for them on the cross-roads, as it is written: “how he set himself against him
in the way” (Ibid.). He was Iying in ambush on high in order to defile the Sanctuary,
and below in order to defile Israel. This we deduce from the expression, “how he met
thee by the way” (Deut. XXV, 18), where the term qar'kha is meant to suggest the
kindred term in the passage, “If there be among you any man that is not clean by
reason of that which chanceth him (miqre) by night” (Ibid. XXIII, 11). By using the
term qar'kha, the text as much as says: “He has arrayed against thee that evil
serpent from above that he may defile thee on all sides”; and were it not that Moses
from above, and Joshua from below, put forth all their strength, Israel would not have
prevailed against him. It is for this reason that the Holy One, blessed be He, cherished
His enmity against him throughout all generations, inasmuch as he planned to uproot the
sign of the covenant from its place. ([Tr. note: i.e. to lead Israel into ways of
unchastity.]
Samael can manifest himself in such a fashion that he can come into direct conflict
with individuals. Two such people are Moses and Jacob. The first text below also hints at
the complexity of the spiritual realm in that Samael and "the serpent" are seen
as both the same, yet different:
Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 145b,146a - ...
each incident recorded in the Torah contains a multitude of deep significations, and each
word is itself an expression of wisdom and the doctrine of truth. The words of the Torah,
then, are all sacred, revealing wondrous things, as we read: “Open thou mine eyes,
that may behold wondrous things out of thy law” (Ps. CXIX, 18). Here is a proof. When
the serpent had subverted Adam and his wife, and infected her with impurity, the world
fell thereby in a state of defilement, and was laid under a curse, and death was brought
into it. So the world had to be punished through him until the tree of life came and made
atonement for man and prevented the serpent from ever again having dominion over the seed
of Jacob. For each time the Israelites offered up a he-goat the serpent was subdued and
led captive, as already said. Hence Jacob brought his father two he-goats (se'irim), one
to subdue Esau, who was hairy (sa'ir), and the other to subdue the grade to which Esau was
beholden and to which he adhered, as has been said already. And it is through this that
the world will be preserved until a woman will appear after the pattern of Eve and a man
after the pattern of Adam, who will circumvent and out-manoeuvre the evil serpent and him
who rides on him, as explained elsewhere.’ R. Jose further discoursed as follows: And
Esau was a cunning hunter... and Jacob was a perfect man, dwelling in tents (Gen. XXV,
27). ‘In which way was he “perfect”? In that he was “dwelling in
tents”, i.e. that he held fast to the two sides, to that of Abraham and that of
Isaac. In dealing with Esau he advanced from the side of Isaac, as already said, and in
the spirit of the passage: “With the merciful thou dost show thyself merciful... and
with the crooked thou dost show thyself subtle” (Ps. XVIII, 26-27). But when he came
to receive the blessings, he came with help from on high, and with support from both
Abraham and Isaac, and thus all was prescribed by wisdom, as already said above. For Jacob
conquered the serpent with prudence and craft, but chiefly by means of the he-goat; and
although the serpent and Samael are the same, yet he also conquered Samael by another
method, as described in the passage, saying: “and there wrestled a man with him until
the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him” (Gen.
XXXII, 25-26). Observe how great Jacob's merit must have been. For as his adversary was
intent on destroying him completely, and that night was the night when the moon was
created, it was doubly unpropitious for Jacob, who remained behind all alone. ... Samael
thus came and attacked him, in order to destroy him utterly. Jacob, however, had strong
support on all sides, on the side of Isaac and on the side of Abraham, both of whom
constituted the strength of Jacob. When Samael attacked Jacob's right he saw there Abraham
equipped with the strength of day, being of the side of the Right, the same being Mercy
(Hesed). When he attacked his left, he saw there Isaac with the strength of stern
judgement. When he attacked in front, he found Jacob strong on either side by reason of
those surrounding him, and thus we read: “And when he saw that he prevailed not
against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh” (Gen. XXXII, 26), that is, a part
that is outside of the trunk and one of its supports. Hence, “the hollow of Jacob's
thigh was strained” (Ibid.). When day appeared and night departed, Jacob's strength
increased and Samael's waned, so that the latter said: “Let me go, for the moment of
the recital of the morning hymn had arrived”, and it was therefore necessary for him
to depart. He thus confirmed Jacob's blessings and added to them one blessing more, as it
says: “And he blessed him there” (Ibid. 30).
This next text speaks of Moses' encounter:
Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 240b - AND MOSES REARED UP
THE TABERNACLE, AND LAID (vayiten) ITS SOCKETS. At the time when these pillars and
supports were put into their places, the pillars and supports of the evil side were
loosened and swept away from their places. Moses, as we have learnt, saw the wicked Samael
advancing towards him with intent to bring accusations against him. But he overpowered him
and bound him in fetters, and then reared up the tabernacle, and fixed its sockets. The
term vayiten (and he laid) indicates the use of intense force, for no other man but Moses
would have been able to overcome this antagonist and to fix the foundations in their
place. It was on the first of Nisan that the Tabernacle was reared up, a season when the
evil powers are let loose in the world; for in the days of Nisan, as the saying goes,
“even when the ox has his head in the fodder basket, go up the roof”[Tr. note:
T. P. Pesahim, 112.] Moses saw Samael going round and round him to confuse him, but he
overpowered him.
The concept of "horns" has to do with (spiritual) power. Midrash speaks of
Israel's ten horns, being given over to the nations due to the former's sin:
Midrash Rabbah - Lamentations II:6 - 6.
HE HATH CUT OFF IN FIERCE ANGER ALL THE HORN OF ISRAEL (II, 3). There are ten horns: of
Abraham, of Isaac, of Joseph, of Moses, of the Torah, of the priesthood, of the Levites,
of prophecy, of the Temple, and of Israel. There are some who add: the horn of the
Messiah. ' The horn of Abraham,’ as it is said, My well-beloved had a vineyard in a
very fruitful hill (Isa. V, 1).2 ‘The horn of Isaac,’ as it is said, Caught in
the thicket by his horns (Gen. XXII, 13).3 ‘The horn of Joseph,’ as it is said,
And his horns are the horns of the wild-ox (Deut. XXXIII, 17). ‘The horn of
Moses,’ as it is written, The skin of his face sent forth beams (Ex. XXXIV, 29).4
‘The horn of the Torah,’ as it is written, Horns hath He from His hands (Hab.
III, 4).5 ‘The horn of the priesthood,’ as it is written, His horn shall be
exalted in honour (Ps. CXII, 9).6 ‘The horn of the Levites,’ as it is written,
All these where the sons of Heman the king's seer in the things pertaining to God, to lift
up the horn (I Chron. XXV, 5).7 ‘The horn of prophecy,’ as it is written, My
horn is exalted in the Lord (I Sam. II, 1).8 ‘The horn of the Temple,’ as it is
written, From the horns of the wild-oxen do Thou answer me (Ps. XXII, 22).9 ‘The horn
of Israel,’ as it is said, And He hath lifted up a horn for His people (ib. CXLVIII,
14). ' There are some who add the horn of the Messiah,’ as it is written, And He will
give strength unto His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed (I Sam. II, 10). All of
these horns were set on the head of Israel1; and when they sinned these were taken from
them--as it is said, HE HATH CUT OFF IN FIERCE ANGER ALL THE HORN OF ISRAEL--and given to
the other nations, as it is said, And concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and
the other horn which came up, and before which three fell (Dan. VII, 20), after which it
is written, And so for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise; and
another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall put
down three kings (ib. 24). When Israel repents, the Holy One, blessed be He, will restore
the horns to their place, as it is stated, All the horns of the wicked also will I cut
off; but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up (PS. LXXV, 11), i.e. the horns
which the Righteous One of the Universe had cut off. When will He restore them to their
place? When the Holy One, blessed be He, raises aloft the horn of His Messiah, as it is
written, ’And He will give strength unto His king, and exalt the horn of His
anointed.’
4 and his tail doth draw the
third of the stars of the heaven, and he did cast them to the earth; and the dragon did
stand before the woman who is about to bring forth, that when she may bring forth, her
child he may devour;
The following Zohar passage is relates some similar themes. It speaks of the origin of
souls (Beriah), how the serpent's role (in attampting to "bite" these souls as
they enter the world) is in fact ordained by God, and how the souls of the especially
righteous (i.e., Messiah) are protected with a "sanctified body," and how all of
this is tied to the coming of Messiah:
Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 219b - R. Simeon and R.
Eleazar his son were one night sitting together studying the Torah. Said R. Eleazar to his
father, R. Simeon: ‘It is written: “Unto the woman he said: I will greatly
multiply thy pain and thy travail, in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire
shall be to thy husband”, etc. (Gen. III, 16). We have learned that this passage
contains a profound mystical teaching. One may comprehend this passage in its terrestrial
significance, but what corresponds in the supernal world?’ R. Simeon cited the verse:
“As the hart panteth after the water brooks”, etc. (Ps. XLII, 2). ‘This
verse has already been expounded,’ he said. ‘There is, however, a certain female
animal that has under her daily charge a thousand keys, and that pants continually after
the water brooks to drink and quench her thirst, of which it is thus written, “As the
hart panteth after the water brooks.” It is to be observed that this verse commences
with a masculine subject, “hart” (‘ayyal), and continues with a feminine
predicate, tha'erog (she panteth). The recondite explanation of this is that it is an
allusion to the male-female as one undivided and inseparable; and so it is the female part
of the same that “panteth for the water brooks” and then becomes impregnated
from the male element, and is in labour, coming under the scrutiny of Rigour. But at the
moment when she is about to be delivered of offspring the Holy One, blessed be He,
prepares for her a huge celestial serpent through whose bite she is safely delivered. And
this is the hidden meaning of, “I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy
travail”, for she is in daily convulsions and pain because of the deeds of mankind:
“in pain thou shalt bring forth children”, a hidden allusion to the Serpent who
casts a gloom over the faces of mankind; “and thy desire shall be to thy
husband”: this is in harmony with the expression, “she panteth for the water
brooks”; “and he shall rule over thee”: this has been already expounded
elsewhere. Why all this? It was on account of the Moon's dissatisfaction with her state,
in punishment for which, as tradition teaches us, her light was diminished, also her power
was reduced so that she is beholden to what they grant her from outside. It may be asked,
Why is the Serpent necessary in this connection? It is because it is he who opens the
passage for the descent of souls into the world. For if he did not open the way, no soul
would come down to animate a man's body in the world. So Scripture says, “sin
coucheth at the door” (Gen. III, 7), alluding to the celestial door through which
pass the souls at birth to emerge into this world. He, the Serpent, waits at that door. It
is true, when the souls about to emerge are such as are to enter sanctified bodies, he is
not present, having no dominion over such souls. But otherwise, the Serpent bites, and
that spot is defiled and the soul passing through is unpurified. Herein is concealed a
sublime mystical teaching. “In pain thou shalt bring forth children” is a
mystical allusion to that Serpent, as it is with him that She brings forth souls, since he
is responsible for the body and she for the soul, and the two are combined. The Serpent is
destined in the future to bring about the birth of the whole of the bodies before its own
time comes, as Scripture says: “Before she travailed, she brought forth” (Isa.
LXVI, 7). For, whereas the period of the serpent's gestation is seven years, that will be
at the end of six. And at that hour, when he will have brought about their birth, he
himself will die. Of this, Scripture says: “He will swallow up death for ever”
(Ibid. xxv, 8), also “Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise” (Ibid.
XXVI, 19).’ Said R. Simeon: ‘At the time when the dead will be awakened and be
in readiness for the resurrection in the Holy Land, legions upon legions will arise on the
soil of Galilee, as it is there that the Messiah is destined to reveal himself. For that
is the portion of Joseph, and it was the first part of the Holy Land to be destroyed, and
it was thence that the exile of Israel and their dispersion among the nations began, as
Scripture says, “but they are not grieved for the hurt of Joseph” (Amos VI, 6).
Thus there they will rise up first, for the reason that it is the portion of him who was
put in an ark, as it says, “and he was put in an ark in Egypt”(Gen. L, 26), and
subsequently was buried in the Holy Land, as it says “And the bones of Joseph, which
the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem” (Jos. XXIV,
32); and he it was who kept the purity of the holy covenant symbol in a special degree. As
soon as they will rise from the dead all those hosts will march, each man to the portion
of his ancestors, as Scripture says, “and ye shall return every man unto his
possession” (Lev. xxv, 10). They shall recognize each other, and God will clothe
every one in embroidered garments; and they will all come and offer up thanksgiving to
their Master in Jerusalem, where there will assemble multitudes upon multitudes. Jerusalem
itself will spread out in all directions, to a further extent even than when the exiles
returned there. When they assemble and offer up praises to their Master the Holy One,
blessed be He, will rejoice in them. So Scripture says: “And they shall come and sing
in the height of Zion, and shall flow unto the goodness of the Lord”, etc. (Jer.
XXXI, 12), namely, every one to his portion and the portion of his ancestors. And the
possession of Israel will extend till it will reach Damietta of the Romans, and even there
they will study the Torah. All this has already been stated, and it is in harmony with the
Scriptural passage, saying: “Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust”, etc.
(Isa. XVI, 19). Blessed be the Lord for evermore! Amen and Amen!’
5 and she brought forth a
male child, who is about to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and caught away was
her child unto God and His throne,
The one who rules is Messiah ben David:
Midrash Rabbah - Genesis XCVII - THE SCEPTRE [STAFF] SHALL NOT
DEPART FROM JUDAH alludes to the Messiah, son of David, who will chastise the State with a
staff, as it says, Thou shalt break them with a rod [staff] of iron (Ps. II, 9).
Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 238a - BINDING HIS FOAL
UNTO THE VINE . The vine is the Community of Israel, so called also in the verse:
“Thou didst remove a vine from Egypt” (Ps. LXXX, 9). By “his foal” is
meant the Messiah, who is destined to rule over all the hosts of the peoples, that is to
say, the heavenly hosts who have charge of the Gentiles, and from whom they derive their
strength. The Messiah will prevail over them, because this vine dominates all those lower
crowns through which the Gentiles have dominion. This will be the victory above. Israel,
who are “a choice vine”, will conquer and destroy other hosts below; and the
Messiah will prevail over all. Hence it is written of him that he will be “poor and
riding on an ass and on a young ass's colt” (Zech. IX, 9). “Colt” and
“ass” are two crowns by virtue of which the Gentiles have dominion, and they are
from the left side, the side of uncleanness. It is strange that the Messiah should be
called “poor”. R. Simeon explained that it is because he has nothing of his own,
and he is compared to the holy moon above, which has no light save from the sun. This
Messiah will have dominion and will be established in his place. Below he is
“poor”, because he is of the side of the moon, and above he is poor, being a
“mirror which does not radiate”, “the bread of poverty”. Yet withal he
“rides upon an ass and upon a colt”, to overthrow the strength of the Gentiles;
and God will keep him firm. HE HATH WASHED HIS GARMENT IN WINE . With this may be compared
the verse: “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?”
(IS. LXIII, 1); and also: “I have trodden the winepress alone, etc.” (Ibid. 3).
“Wine” here alludes to the side of Geburah, of stern justice which will be
visited on the idolatrous nations. AND HIS VESTURE IN THE BLOOD OF GRAPE . This is the
lower-world tree, the judgement court which is called “grapes”, in which the
“wine” is kept. Thus the Messiah will be clothed in both to crush beneath him
all the idolatrous peoples and kings.
The Book of Enoch (chapter 62) mentions the idea of the "Son of Man" being
"hidden" from the earliest time:
For from the beginning the Son of Man was hidden, and the Most High kept him in the
presence of his power.
The following Zohar passage, deeply esoteric in nature, speaks to the idea of Messiah
being hidden for some period of time in a spiritual abode called "the bird's
nest" - both of which are taken up to the heavenly realm (i.e., the Throne of God in
Beriah):
Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 8a - ”If a bird's
nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, young ones or
eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young... thou shalt in no wise let the dam go”
(Deut. XXII, 6-7). ‘This passage’, he said, ‘we interpret as an esoteric
commandment in the Law, containing mysteries of doctrine, paths and ways known to the
Fellowship and belonging to the thirty-two paths of the Torah.’ Then, turning to R.
Eleazar, his son, he said: ‘At the time when the Messiah shall arise, there will be
great wonders in the world. See now, in the lower Paradise there is a secret and unknown
spot, broidered with many colours, in which a thousand palaces of longing are concealed.
No one may enter it, except the Messiah, whose abode is in Paradise. The Garden is
encompassed with multitudes of saints who look to the Messiah as their leader, along with
many hosts and bands of the souls of the righteous there. On New Moons, festivals, and
Sabbaths, he enters that place, in order to find joyous delight in those secret palaces.
Behind those palaces there is another place, entirely hidden and undiscoverable. It is
called “Eden”, and no one may enter to behold it. Now the Messiah is hidden in
its outskirts until a place is revealed to him which is called “the Bird's
Nest”. This is the place proclaimed by that Bird (the Shekinah) which flies about the
Garden of Eden every day. In that place the effigies are woven of all the nations who band
together against Israel. The Messiah enters that abode, lifts up his eyes and beholds the
Fathers (Patriarchs) visiting the ruins of God's Sanctuary. He perceives mother Rachel,
with tears upon her face; the Holy One, blessed be He, tries to comfort her, but she
refuses to be comforted (Jer. XXXI, 14). Then the Messiah lifts up his voice and weeps,
and the whole Garden of Eden quakes, and all the righteous and saints who are there break
out in crying and lamentation with him. When the crying and weeping resound for the second
time, the whole firmament above the Garden begins to shake, and the cry echoes from five
hundred myriads of supernal hosts, until it reaches the highest Throne. Then the Holy One,
blessed be He, beckons to that “Bird”, which then enters its nest and comes to
the Messiah, and flits about, uttering strange cries. Then from the holy Throne the Bird's
Nest and the Messiah are summoned three times, and they both ascend into the heavenly
places, and the Holy One swears to them to destroy the wicked kingdom (Rome) by the hand
of the Messiah, to avenge Israel, and to give her all the good things which he has
promised her. Then the Bird returns to her place. The Messiah, however, is hidden again in
the same place as before.
6 and the woman did flee to the
wilderness, where she hath a place made ready from God, that there they may nourish her --
days a thousand, two hundred, sixty.
The idea of "42 months" (1,260 days = 42 months of 30 days) presents itself
here again, with relation to a period of time leading up a time of unification. The
"wilderness," where the Shekinah and Israel take refuge, can be seen both
literally and metaphorically.
The following passages are concerned with these themes:
Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 225a - Not all men know
that the Shekinah at its last exile did not withdraw to heaven, but to “the
wilderness, to an inn of travellers” (Jer. IX, 1), and that since then it is always
to be found in the place where Israel is particularly in distress.
Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 134a - So in the days to
come, when the Holy One, blessed be He, will remember His people, the community of Israel,
the Shekinah will return from exile first and proceed to her House, as the holy Temple
will be built first. The Holy One, blessed be He, will then say to the Community of
Israel: “Shake thyself from the dust, arise and sit down, O Jerusalem”
Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 70b - R. Hizkiah said:
‘The Holy One, blessed be He, will one day sweep away the unclean spirit, as it is
written, “And the unclean spirit I will cause to pass out of the land” (Zech.
XIII, 2), and further, “He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord God will wipe
away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people will he take away from off all
the earth, for the Lord hath spoken it” (Is. XXV, 8). The Holy One, blessed be He,
will also one day restore the moon [i.e., the Shekinah], to its full light, and
dissipate the darkness brought on her by the evil serpent, as it is written, “And the
light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be
sevenfold, as the light of the seven days” (Ibid. XXX, 26), the reference here being
to the primordial light which the Holy One, blessed be He, stored away during the period
of the creation.’
The departure of the Shekinah from its place is directly linked to the sin of Israel.
This verse from Midrash clearly links such sin with the departure of the Shekinah for a
period of "forty-two stages":
Midrash Rabbah - The Song of Songs 1:41 - MY MOTHER'S SONS, the
sons of my nation, namely the spies, WERE INCENSED AGAINST ME: they attacked me, they
filled the Judge with wrath against me. THEYMADE ME KEEPER OF THE VINEYARDS: because I
stayed in the wilderness journeying forty-two stages, I was not able to enter the land of
Israel. Hence, MY OWN VINEYARD I DID NOT KEEP.
These texts expound on the idea of Israel's apostacy (i.e., 2 Thessalonians 2:3)
causing the departure of the Shekinah from the land:
Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 84b - The community of
Israel does not dwell outside its own place save in the time of exile, and because it is
in exile, therefore other nations enjoy greater prosperity. When Israel were in their own
land everything was as it should be, the heavenly throne was fully spread over them, and
the liturgy which they performed pierced through the ether and ascended on high to its
place. For Israel alone was qualified to serve God in that land, and therefore the
Gentiles kept aloof, since they did not rule over it as now, but were nourished only by
the “residue”. You may say, How do you reconcile this with the fact that a
number of (foreign) kings ruled over it at the time when the Temple still existed. The
answer is that in the time of the first Temple, before Israel defiled the land, the
Gentiles did not rule over it but were nourished from the “residue”. But when
Israel sinned and defiled the land, they, as it were, drove the Shekinah from its place,
and it went to another place, and therefore other nations were allowed to rule over the
land. For no angel has control of the land of Israel, but only God. When Israel sinned and
burned incense to other gods in the Holy Land, the Shekinah was driven from its place, and
other gods were associated with it, and so other nations obtained dominion and the
prophets died out, and all the higher grades ceased to rule, and dominion was not
withdrawn from other nations, because they drew the Shekinah to themselves. Hence in the
time of the second Temple the rule of the other nations did not cease, and even less so in
the period of the Exile, when the Shekinah found herself among other nations where other
chieftains exercise dominion, deriving their sustenance from the Shekinah, which has
consorted with them.
Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 27b - Before Israel went
into captivity, and while the Shekinah was still with them, God commanded Israel:
“thou shalt not uncover thy mother's nakedness” (Lev. XVIII, 7), and this
captivity is the uncovering of the nakedness of the Shekinah, as it is written, “On
account of your sins your mother has been put away” (Is. L, 1), i.e. for the sin of
unchastity Israel has been sent into captivity and the Shekinah also, and this is the
uncovering of the Shekinah. This unchastity is Lilith, the mother of the “mixed
multitude”. It is they who separate the two He’s of the sacred name, and prevent
the Vau from entering between them; so it is written, “the nakedness of a woman and
her daughter thou shalt not uncover”, referring to the upper and lower Shekinah. When
the “mixed multitude” are between the one He and the other, the Holy One,
blessed be He, cannot link them together, and consequently “the river becomes dry and
parched”-dry in the upper He and parched in the lower He, in order that the
“mixed multitude” may not be nourished by the Vau, which is the Tree of Life.
Therefore the Vau does not link together the two He’s when the mixed multitude is
between them, and the letter Yod is not able to draw near to the second He’; thus the
precept “thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter-in-law” is
transgressed. Further, they separate the Yod from the upper He, and so break the command
“thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's wife”, the Yod being the
father, the first He the mother, Vau the son and the second He the daughter. Therefore it
is ordained with regard to the upper He, “thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy
father's wife”; “the nakedness of thy sister the daughter of thy father”
refers to the lower He; “her son's daughter and her daughter's daughter” refers
to the He and He which are the children of He; “the nakedness of the father's
brother” refers to the Yod, which is the product of the letter Yod, a brother to Vau.
In a word, when the “mixed multitude” are mingled with Israel, the letters of
the name YHVH cannot be joined and linked together; but as soon as they are removed from
the world, then it is said of the letters of God's name that “On that day the Lord
shall be one and his name one” (Zech. XIV, 9). This is why Adam, who is Israel, is
closely linked with the Torah, of which it is said, “It is a tree of life to those
who take hold on it”; this tree is the Matron, the Sefirah Malkhuth (Kingship),
through their connection with which Israel are called “sons of kings”. On this
account God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an
help meet for him” (Gen. II, 18). This help is the Mishnah (the oral Law), the
handmaid of the Shekinah. If Israel deserve well, it is a help to them in the captivity
from the side of the permitted, the clean, and the proper; if they do not deserve well, it
is a hindrance to them from the side of the unclean, the unfit, and the forbidden, the
clean, the permitted, and the fit signifying the good inclination, and the unfit, the
unclean, and the forbidden signifying the evil inclination. Thus the Mishnah resembles the
woman, who has both pure and impure blood of menstruation. But the Mishnah is not the
spouse of his real union, for real union is denied to him until the “mixed
multitude” shall be removed from the earth. On account of this Moses was buried
outside of the Holy Land.
Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 191a - ... when the days
of the Messiah shall be come, when we shall see face to face, all the “faces”
will give their consent. Now, the sin which the “outsiders”- “the mixed
multitude”- committed, and in which the holy people participated, was a sin against
the “Holy Mother”, the Shekinah, because they said, “Up, make us a
god” (Elohim) (Ex. XXXII, 1)- Elohim, the Glory of Israel, She who rested upon them
like a mother on her children. This is the secret contained in the words: “They
changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass” (Ps. CVI, 20).
Yea, verily, that is the Glory of Israel: their Mother. Therefore it also says, “The
glory has departed” (I Sam. IV, 22), because they caused the Shekinah to go into
exile with them. They changed their glory with what? “The similitude of an ox.”
Herein lies a mystery. From out of the midst of the dregs of the wine, the dregs of evil,
an Accuser emerges, the first Damager, in the form of a man approaching the Sanctuary. As
soon as he passes on from there and desires to descend and wreak his evil will upon the
earth he has to cover himself with a garment. Then he comes down with his hosts. And the
first garment in which he clothes himself is the form of an ox. Therefore the first of
those accusing demons is an ox. He is one of the “four principal damagers”[Tr.
note: Cf. T. B. Baba Kama, ad init]. who come down to inflict misery on the world. All the
three other damagers belong to and are under this first ox.
The idea of the Shekinah "being nourished" while in exile has a positive side
to it. Exile causes repentance, which in turn gives deeper insight into God and His Torah.
A modern kabbalistic text views more recent exiles in this way:
"... by means of the gerushin, the forced banishments or exile wanderings from
place to place, the kabbalists were elevated above their own state of exile, for they gave
support to the weakened Shekinah and received mystical illumination in the form of
innovative Scriptural interpretations. 4
The idea of "innovative Scriptural interpretations has to do with the deeper
(hidden, Hebrew: "sod") levels of the Torah. Through the study of Torah, prayer
and righteous actions, the Shekinah is strengthened.
The Zohar offers the following commentaries on this idea:
Soncino Zohar, Bemidbar, Section 3, Page 151b-152a - Said R.
Simeon: ‘Alas for the man who regards the Torah as a book of mere tales and everyday
matters! If that were so, we, even we could compose a torah dealing with everyday affairs,
and of even greater excellence. Nay, even the princes of the world possess books of
greater worth which we could use as a model for composing some such torah. The Torah,
however, contains in all its words supernal truths and sublime mysteries. Observe the
perfect balancing of the upper and the lower worlds. Israel here below is balanced by the
angels on high, of whom it says: “who makest thy angels into winds” (Ps. CIV,
4). For the angels in descending on earth put on themselves earthly garments, as otherwise
they could not stay in this world, nor could the world endure them. Now, if thus it is
with the angels, how much more so must it be with the Torah-the Torah that created them,
that created all the worlds and is the means by which these are sustained. Thus had the
Torah not clothed herself in garments of this world the world could not endure it. The
stories of the Torah are thus only her outer garments, and whoever looks upon that garment
as being the Torah itself, woe to that man-such a one will have no portion in the next
world. David thus said: “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out
of thy law” (Ps. CXIX, 18), to wit, the things that are beneath the garment. Observe
this. The garments worn by a man are the most visible part of him, and senseless people
looking at the man do not seem to see more in him than the garments. But in truth the
pride of the garments is the body of the man, and the pride of the body is the soul.
Similarly the Torah has a body made up of the precepts of the Torah, called gufe torah
(bodies, main principles of the Torah), and that body is enveloped in garments made up of
worldly narrations. The senseless people only see the garment, the mere narrations; those
who are somewhat wiser penetrate as far as the body. But the really wise, the servants of
the most high King, those who stood on Mount Sinai, penetrate right through to the soul,
the root principle of all, namely, to the real Torah. In the future the same are destined
to penetrate even to the super-soul (soul of the soul) of the Torah. Observe that in a
similar way in the supernal world there is garment, body, soul and super-soul. The heavens
and their hosts are the outer garment, the Community of Israel is the body which receives
the soul, to wit, the “Glory of Israel”; and the super-soul is the Ancient Holy
One. All these are interlocked within each other. Woe to the sinners who consider the
Torah as mere worldly tales, who only see its outer garment; happy are the righteous who
fix their gaze on the Torah proper Wine cannot be kept save in a jar; so the Torah needs
an outer garment. These are the stories and narratives, but it behoves us to penetrate
beneath them.
Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 26a - AND THE LORD GOD
CAUSED TO GROW. The two names may be referred to the Father and the Mother; “every
pleasant tree” refers to the Zaddik; “good to eat” refers to the Central
Column, through which He provided food for all, and from which alone the Zaddik is
nourished, as the Shekinah from him. These have no need of the lower world, but, on the
contrary, all below are nourished from him. For in this period of captivity the Shekinah
and “the Life of the universe” are only nourished by the eighteen blessings of
Israel's prayer, but at the time he will be food for all.
Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 174a - Whilst they were
walking, R. Jose said to R. Eleazar: ‘It has been said that with Rachel's death the
house was transferred to Her who required to be adorned with twelve tribes. Nevertheless,
why should Rachel have died immediately after the birth of Benjamin?’ R. Eleazar in
reply said: ‘It was in order that the Shekinah should be duly crowned and take her
place in the house as “a joyful mother of children”. With Benjamin, the Shekinah
was equipped with the full twelve tribes, and with him the kingdom of heaven began to be
made manifest on earth. Now the beginning of any manifestation is brought about with
strain, and involves a doom of death before it can become established. Here, when the
Shekinah was about to assume her rightful place and to take over the house, the doom fell
upon Rachel. Similarly, when the kingdom was about to be made manifest on earth, it
commenced with a judgement, and the kingdom was not established in its place until a doom
had fallen upon Saul, in accordance with his deserts; and only then was it established. It
is a general rule that beginnings are rough, whereas the subsequent course is smooth.
Thus, on New Year's day (Rosh-hashana) the year opens with severity, as the whole world
passes under judgement, each individual according to his deeds, but soon after comes
relief and forgiveness and atonement. The reason is that the beginning is from the left
side, and so it brings harsh judgements, until the right side is aroused and ease follows.
In time to come God will first treat the idolatrous nations gently and indulgently, but
afterwards with severity and stern judgement. So Scripture says: “The Lord will go
forth as a mighty one, he will stir up jealousy as a warrior; he will cry, yea, he will
shout aloud, he will prove himself mighty against his enemies” (Is. XLII, 13); which
interpreted means that first He will manifest Himself as YHVH (the Lord), in His attribute
of mercy, then as a mighty one, but not in His full might, then as a warrior, but not in
His full war panoply, and finally, His whole might will become manifest against them in
order to exterminate them, so that “he will cry, yea, he will shout aloud, he will
prove himself mighty against his enemies.” Again, it is written: “Then shall the
Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fighteth in the day of
battle” (Zech. XIV, 3). Also: “Who is this that cometh from Edom with crimson
garments from Bozrah? etc.” (Is. LXIII, 1).’ AND IT CAME TO PASS, AS HER SOUL
WAS IN DEPARTING FOR SHE DIED-THAT SHE CALLED HIS NAME BEN-ONI; BUT HIS FATHER CALLED HIM
BENJAMIN. R. Judah discoursed on the verse: The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of
trouble; and he knoweth them that take refuge in him (Nahum I, 7). ‘Happy’, he
said, ‘is the man who finds his strength in the Holy One, blessed be He, since His
strength is invincible. The Lord is indeed “good to all” (Ps. CXLV, 9), “a
stronghold”, wherein is salvation, as we read: “He is a stronghold of
salvation” (Ibid. XXVIII, 8); “in the day of trouble”, to wit, in the day
of Israel's oppression at the hand of other nations. Now of him who relaxes his hold of
the Holy One, blessed be He, it is written: “If thou art faint in the day of
adversity, thy strength is straitened” (Prov. XXIV, 10), and the only way of holding
firmly to God is to hold firmly to the Torah; for whosoever holds firmly to the Torah
holds firmly to the tree of life, and, as it were, adds strength to the community of
Israel. But if he relaxes his hold of the Torah, then, as it were, he presses hard the
Shekinah, which is the strength of the world. Again, when a man relaxes his hold of the
Torah and walks in the wrong path, ever so many enemies are ready at hand to act as his
accusers in the day of trouble, nay, even his own soul, which is his power and strength,
turns against him, and becomes his enemy, so that it may be said of him “thy strength
becomes an enemy” (zar=enemy, or straitened).’ Said R. Abba: ‘When a man
follows the guidance of the Torah and walks in the straight path, many are the advocates
that rise up to say a good word for him. Thus we read: “If there be for him an angel,
an intercessor, one among a thousand, to vouch for man's uprightness; then he is gracious
unto him, and saith: Deliver him from the pit, I have found a ransom” (Job XXXIII,
23, 24).
1. A Kabbalistic Universe, Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi, Samuel
Weiser, Inc. York Beach Maine, 1977, p. 63.
2. The Messiah Texts, Raphael Patai, 1979, Wayne State
University Press, Detroit, pp. 181-182.
3. From http://www.torah.org/learning/perceptions/5761/shoftim.html
4. Along the Path: Studies in Kabbalistic Myth, Symbolism and
Hermeneutics, Ellliot Wolfson, 1995, State University of New York Press, p.91
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