One tradition relates—the time was at the turn of the 14th century in Spain—that, after the death of the Cabalist Moses hen Shemtob of Leon, two wealthy men called on his widow and asked to see the old manuscript which her husband claimed to have copied, and which later became known as the Book of Zohar. They offered her a large sum of money if she would show them the manuscript, but she insisted it was impossible, that her husband had written the book himself, and to enhance its value had ascribed it to the 2nd-century rabbi Simeon ben Yohai. However, other traditions assert that the Zohar (or portions of it) does indeed stem from ancient days. The controversy among scholars as to the age and authorship of the Zohar continues to this day.
The more skeptical one becomes as to the high antiquity of the book, the more difficult it is to explain the sacrosanct position it achieved in Jewish life and learning throughout all of Western Europe and the Orient. For, paradoxically, despite the charges of forgery that hovered about the manuscript even in the Middle Ages, and despite frequent rabbinic antagonism to its doctrines, the Zohar became a source of influence in Jewish religious life comparable in pervasive impact to the Bible and Talmud.
The name “Zohar” is derived from the verse in the Book of Daniel: “And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness [Zohar] of the firmament.” For the most part the exposition takes the form of a midrash Or exegesis of the weekly portions into which the Torah is divided. The book is enlarged by the insertion of smaller works which often differ from the main body in language and style. Some of the selections are in Hebrew, but most of the book is written in an Aramaic dialect which is itself a literary tour de force, for it seems to have been especially constructed for the Zohar.
The central figure of the Zohar is Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai, who strolls about the countryside of 2nd-century Palestine discussing the secrets of Torah with his disciples, his “Seven Eyes.” Ben Yohai is described in his living person, yet the mystic dimensions of his personality cause him to transcend, during his life and afterwards, the boundaries between the earthly and spiritual worlds. He is likened unto a “tree that reaches into both worlds,” and he is called a “holy lamp” who illuminates his followers by his wisdom, even after his death.
Some of those who read the “holy Zohar” did not penetrate into the precise meaning of the symbolism, or the philosophical thought which lies below the surface of the imagery. But something of the poetic expression and thought which touched them can be recognized in the passages offered below.
Implicit in the Zohar is the doctrine of the “Sefirot”—pictured as spiritual entities dynamically interlinked, and mediating between the intangible Source of Being and the world of our senses. These “Sefirot” make up the spiritual universe from which our world draws its sustenance, and they are presented in images that reflect realities better known to us. In order to effect a vital flow of sustenance and blessing from the highest spiritual spheres into the lower, more material world, there must be “unification.” Not only a “unification” of the spiritual with the physical, but within the spiritual world itself a harmonious oneness must be achieved before it is ready to receive the vital blessings from the hidden source of all blessing, the Godhead. It is this “unification” within the spiritual spheres that is hinted at in the discussion of the yearning of the Community of Israel for its Holy Mate. The Community is not only the actual people, but its spiritual counterpart in the “upper worlds.” It is in a sense a unity within the Divinity which is desired.
However—and here perhaps we can begin to apprehend why the generations found their lives enhanced under the influence of the Zohar—there can be no unity within the divine spheres before there is unity in the lower worlds. “The perfection of the upper worlds waits upon the perfection of the lower worlds. . . . Adam and Eve must be turned face to face before the upper union is perfected.” The very functioning of the cosmos, even of God, is dependent, to some extent, on us, and life is invested with implications stretching far beyond the seen. These key ideas of the Zohar make themselves apparent even to the reader who is not familiar with the more technical background of the symbolism here presented. [Further exposition of the ideas of the Zohar may be found in the article “A Mystic Philosopher on East Broadway,” page 421 of this issue.—ED.]
The selections given here are from the small reader put out by Schocken Books in 1949 under the title Zohar: The Book of Splendor, edited by Gershom G. Scholem.
—Herbert Weiner.
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A Seal Upon thy Heart
On a certain occasion, wishing to get away from the heat of the sun, Rabbi Eleazar and Rabbi Abba turned into a cave at Lydda. Rabbi Abba spoke: Let us now compass this cave about with words of the Torah. Rabbi Eleazar then began, quoting the verse: “Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm . . . the flashes thereof are flashes of fire, a very flame of the Lord” [Cant. 8:6].
He said: This verse has provoked great discussion. One night I was in attendance on my father, and I heard him say that it is the souls of the righteous, they alone, which affect the true devotion of the Community of Israel to God, and her longing for him, for these souls make possible the flow of the lower waters toward the upper, and this brings about perfect friendship and the yearning for mutual embrace in order to bring forth fruit. When they cleave one to the other, then says the Community of Israel in the largeness of her affection: “Set me as a seal upon thy heart.” For, as the imprint of the seal is to be discerned even after the seal is withdrawn, so I shall cling to you, even after I am taken from you and enter into captivity: thus says the Community of Israel.
Thus, “Set me as a seal upon thy heart,” so that I may remain upon you in semblance, as the imprint of a seal.
“For love is strong as death” [ibid.] , violent, as is the separation of the spirit from the body for we have learned that when a man is come to leave this world and he sees wondrous things, his spirit, like an oarless boatman tossing up and down and making no headway on the sea, also tosses up and down through his limbs, asking leave of each one; and only with great rending is its separation performed. Thus, violently, does the Community of Israel love God. “Jealousy is cruel as the grave” [ibid.]. Without jealousy, it is not true love. Thus we learn that for a man’s love of his wife to be perfect, he should be jealous, for then he will not look after any other woman.
As they sat, they heard Rabbi Simeon approaching on the road, with Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Isaac. When Rabbi Simeon came to the cave, Rabbi Eleazar and Rabbi Abba emerged from it. Said Rabbi Simeon: From the wall of the cave I perceive that the Divine Presence hovers here. And they all sat down.
Rabbi Simeon asked: What have you been discoursing of?
Rabbi Abba replied: Of the love that the Community of Israel bears to God. And Rabbi Eleazar cited in that connection the words: “Set me as a seal upon thy heart.”
Rabbi Simeon said: Eleazar, it was the celestial love and the ties of affection which you were in the act of perceiving. Then he remained silent for a time, and at last said: Always silence is agreeable, save where the Torah is concerned. I possess a jewel which I would share with you. It is a profound idea which I came upon in the book of Rav Hamnuna the Elder. It is this:
Always, it is the male who pursues the female seeking to stimulate her love, but in this case we see the female pursuing the male and paying court, a thing not ordinarily accounted fitting for the female. But in this there is a profound mystery, one of the most cherished treasures of the King. We know that three souls pertain to the divine grades. Nay, four, for there is one supernal soul which is unperceivable, certainly to the keeper of the lower treasury, and even to that of the upper. This is the soul of all souls, incognizable and inscrutable. All is contingent on it, which is veiled in a dazzling bright veil. From it are formed pearls which are tissued together like the joints of the body, and these it enters into, and through them manifests its energy. It and they are one, there being no division between them. Yet another, a female soul, is concealed amidst her hosts and has a body adhering to her through which she manifests her power, as the soul in the human body.
These souls are as copies of the hidden joints above. Yet another soul is there, namely, the souls of the righteous below, which, coming from the higher souls, the soul of the female and the soul of the male, are hence preeminent above all the heavenly hosts and camps. It may be wondered, if they are thus preeminent on both sides, why do they descend to this world only to be taken thence at some future timer?
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This may be explained by way of a simile: A king has a son whom he sends to a village to be educated until he shall have been initiated into the ways of the palace. When the king is informed that his son is now come to maturity, the king, out of his love, sends the matron his mother to bring him back into the palace, and there the king rejoices with him every day. In this wise, the Holy One, be blessed, possessed a son from the Matron, that is, the supernal holy soul. He despatched it to a village, that is, to this world, to be raised in it, and initiated into the ways of the King’s palace. Informed that his son was now come to maturity, and should be returned to the palace, the King, out of love, sent the Matron for him to bring him into the palace. The soul does not leave. this world until such time as the Matron has arrived to get her and bring her into the King’s palace, where she abides forever. Withal, the village people weep for the departure of the king’s son from among them. But one wise man said to them: Why do you weep? Was this not the King’s son, whose true place is in his father’s palace, and not with you?
If the righteous were only aware of this, they would be filled with joy when their time comes to leave this world. For does it not honor them greatly that the Matron comes down on their account, to take them into the King’s palace, where the King may every day rejoice in them? For to God there is no joy save in the souls of the righteous. Only the souls of the righteous here on earth can stir the love of the Community of Israel for God, for they come from the King’s side, the side of the male. This transport goes on to the female and excites her love, and thus does the male stir the love and fondness of the female, and the female is united with the male in love. In like manner the female’s desire to pour forth lower waters to mingle with the upper waters is incited only through the souls of the righteous. And so, happy are the righteous in this world and the world to come, for on them the upper and lower beings are based. Hence it stands written: “The righteous is the foundation of the world” [Prov. 10:25].
Male and Female
Rabbi Simeon set out one time for Tiberias, and with him were Rabbi Yose, Rabbi Judah, and Rabbi Hiyya. On the road coming toward them they met Rabbi Phineas. All dismounted and sat down on the mountainside, under a tree. Rabbi Phineas spoke: While we sit, I should like to hear some of those wondrous ideas which figure in your discourse daily.
Then Rabbi Simeon spoke, commencing with the text, “And he went on his journeys from the South even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Ai” [Gen. 13:3]. He said: We might here have expected the word journey; but instead we read “journeys,” which is intended to mean that on the journey with him was the Divine Presence. It behooves a man to be “male and female,” always, so that his faith may remain stable, and in order that the Presence may never leave him. You will ask: How with the man who makes a journey, and, away from his wife, ceases to be “male and female”? Such a one, before starting, and while he still is “male and female,” must pray to God, to draw unto himself the Presence of his Master. After he has prayed and offered thanksgiving, and when the Presence is resting on him, then he may go, for by virtue of his union with the Presence he is now male and female in the country, just as he was male and female in the town, for it is written: “Righteousness [zedek, ferninine of zaddik] shall go before him and shall make his footsteps a way” [Ps. 85:14].
Remark this. The whole time of his traveling a man should heed well his actions, lest the holy union break off, and he be left imperfect, deprived of the union with the female. If it was needful when he and his wife were together, how much greater the need when the heavenly mate is with him? And the more so, indeed, since this heavenly union acts as his constant guard on his journey, until his return home. Moreover, it is his duty, once back home, to give his wife pleasure, inasmuch as she it was who obtained for him the heavenly union.
There is twofold reason for this duty of cohabitation. First, this pleasure is a religious one, giving joy also to the Divine Presence, and it is an instrument for peace in the world, as it stands written, “and thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace and thou shalt visit thy habitation and not sin” [Job 5:24]. (It may be questioned, is it a sin if he fails to go in to his wife? It is a sin, for in his failure he detracts from the honor of the heavenly mate who was given him by reason of his wife.) Secondly, if his wife should conceive, the heavenly partner bestows upon the child a holy soul; for this covenant is called the covenant of the Holy One, be blessed.
Hence, a man should be as zealous to enjoy this joy as to enjoy the joy of the Sabbath, at which time is consummated the union of the sages with their wives. Thus, “thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace,” for the Presence accompanies you and sojourns in your house, and for this reason “thou shalt visit thy habitation and not sin,” is gladly carrying out the religious duty to have conjugal intercourse before the Presence.
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So it is that the students of Torah, away from their wives the six days of the week they engage in study, are in this period attached to a heavenly mate, so that they do not cease to be “male and female.” And with the incoming of the Sabbath, it behooves them to rejoice their wives, to the honor of the heavenly union, and in seeking to do the will of their Master. . . .
In like wise, when a man’s wife is in her days of separation, in those days while he waits for her the man has with him the heavenly mate, so that he continues to be “male and female.” When the wife is purified, the man is in duty bound to rejoice her, in joyful fulfillment of a religious obligation.
According to secret doctrine, the mystics are bound to give their whole mind and purpose to the one [the Shekhinah]. It may be objected that in the light of the previous argument, a man is in a state of more honor on a journey than at home, by virtue of the heavenly mate who is then with him. This is not so. At home, the wife is the foundation of a man’s house, inasmuch as it is by virtue of her that the Presence does not leave the house.
So the verse, “and Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent” [Gen. 24:67], our masters have interpreted to mean that the Divine Presence came to Isaac’s house along with Rebecca. According to secret doctrine, the supernal Mother is together with the male only when the house is in readiness and at that time the male and female are conjoined and blessings are showered forth by the supernal Mother upon them.
Likewise, the lower Mother is found together with the male only when the house is in readiness, and the male goes in to the female and they conjoin together; then the blessings of the lower Mother are showered forth for them. Therefore, two females, his Mother and his wife, are to compass a man about in his house, like the Male above. There is reference to this in the verse “Unto [ad] the desire of the everlasting hills” [Gen. 49:26]. This ad is the desired object of the “everlasting hills,” by which is meant the supreme female, who is to make ready for him, and make him blissful and bless him, and also the lower female, who is to be joined in union with him and take support from him.
Likewise below, the desire of the “everlasting hills” is for the man when he is married, and two females, one of the upper, one of the lower world, are to give him bliss— the upper one in showering upon him all the blessings and the lower one in receiving support from him and being joined together with him. So it is with the man in his house. But when he is on a journey, while the supernal Mother is still with him, the lower wife remains behind and therefore on his returning, it behooves him to do that which will compass him about with two females.
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