TH E CABA LA

IT S I N F L U E N C E ON
J U D AI S M AN D C H R I S T I AN I T Y

MAE
!

B!
V
B ER N H A R D P I C K , Ph D
. . D D
. .

(H HC A G O LO N DO N
O P E N CO U R T P U B L I S H ING CO M P A N Y

1913
 CO NT E NT S

C H AR PA GE
F O R E W O RD
I NA M E A ND
. O R IGI N OF TH E C A B AL A
II . T H E D EV E LOP M E N T O F T H E CA
B ALA IN THE P RE - ZO HA R PER IO D
I I I TH E B OO K O F Z O H A R O R S PL E N D O R
.

IV . TH E C A B ALA I N TH E PO ST ZO H A R
-

PE R IO D
V . TH E M O S T I M PO RT A N T D O C TR I N E S
O F T H E C A B AL A 66 94
—

V I T H E C A B AL A I N R E L A T I O N T O J U D A
.

I S M A N D C H R I ST IA N I TY

B I B L I O GR AP H Y

I N DE X
 TH E C A B ALA .

F o r e w o r d— A l thou gh th e Cab al a b el o n gs t o
the pa s t i t nevertheless dema n ds our atte n tion
,

o n accou n t o f the i n terest take n i n it by m e n like

“ ”
R aymo n d L ully th e D octor Illumi n atu s a s he
,

was styled (died Joh n P icus di M i ra n

dola ( 1463 Joh n R euchlin (14 5 5
Cor n elius He n ry A grippa vo n N ettesheim ( 14 8 6
Joh n B aptist vo n Helmo n t ( 1 5 7 7 1644 )
-

the E ngli sh scholars R obert Fludd (1 5 7 4 1 637 ) -

a n d He n ry More ( 1 6 14 How much The

O ph r a s tu s P aracel su s (1493 1 5 4 1 ) and Jacob
-

“
B oehme ( 1 5 7 5 called P h i l o s op h u s Teu
”
t o n i cu s
,
were influe n ced by cabali s tic doctri n es ,

i s di fficult to state A t an y rate t h e n ames m en

.

t i o n e d before are su fficie n t to call attentio n to a

theo sophical system which has e n gaged the
mi n d s o f Jewi sh a n d Christia n S cholars .

It i s surpri sing how sca n ty the E n gli sh liter

ature i s on the Cabala True that i n the H i s t or y
.

of t h e J e ws by B a s n age L o n do n
,
1 7 08 we have
, ,
 TH E CA B A L A

a le n gthy accou n t o f this theosop h y (pp 184 .

but thi s accou n t i s origi n ally give n i n t h e

Fre n ch work H i s t oi r e des Ju i fs by the same au ,

th or Joh n Gill (died 1 7 7 1 ) i n hi s D i s s er ta ti o

.

de g e r m i n a P u n c t or u m Vo ca l i u m H e b r a i cor u m
A n t i q u i ta t e
, c on t r a Wa l ton u m
Coppe l l u m
e ta , ,
”
,

prefixed to his Cl ovi s P e n ta t eu ch i E din burgh , ,

1 7 7 0 re fers to the Zohar to prove the a n tiquity

,

o f the Hebrew vowel poi n ts because it states-

,

“
that the vowel poi n ts p roceeded from the Holy
-

”
S pirit who i n dited the S acred S criptures etc ,
.

( o n S o n g o f S o n g s 5 7 b ; ed A msterdam .
,

O f course so lo n g as the Cabala was believed to

be a ge n ui n e revelatio n f rom God an d S imo n ,

b en J o ch a i (o f the seco n d ce n tury ) was believed

’

to be the autho ro f the Zohar to who m God com ,

m u n i ca t e d all the my s teries it was but a matter ,

o f course to believe i n the a n tiquity a n d divi n ity

o f the vowel poi n ts -

.

Joh n A lle n (died 18 39 ) i n hi s M oder n J u da

i s m L o n do n 18 1 6 (2 d ed 1 8 30 ) also gives an ac
, , ,
. .

c ou n t o f the Cabal a i n which he premises t h e

,

a n tiquity o f the Zohar which he makes the pri ,

mary source of the p r i m i tv e Cabala P assi n g .

over Dea n M ilma n s (died 18 68 ) H i s tor y of th e

’

J e ws L o n do n 1829 (o fte n repri n ted ) i n whic h

, , , ,

w e n aturally also fi n d re fere n ces to the Cabal a .

we me n tio n J W E theridge (died

. . autho r
of J e r u s al e m an d Ti b e r i us ; S am an d Cor dow ,
a
 FO RE W O RD

S u r vey o
f th e R e li gi o u s an d S ch ol as ti c L ear n i n g
o f J
th e e ws D e s i g n
,
e d as a n I n t r o du c t i on t o H e

b r e w L i te r a tu r e L o n do n 1 8 5 6
,
Thi s author
, .

s eem s to have bee n acquai n ted with the r e

s earches o f the Jewi sh scholar s i n Germa n y but ,

h e n evertheless stoutly adheres to the tr a ditio n a l

v iew Thus he remarks o n page 314 :
.

“
To the authe n ticity O f the Zo h ar as a work ,

o f the early K abalistic school obj ectio n s have i n ,

deed bee n made but they are n o t o f su fficie n t

,

gravity to merit an e x te n ded i n vestigatio n The .

opi n io n that ascribes it as a p seudo fabricatio n -

to Moses de L eo n i n the thi rtee n th ce n tury h a s , ,

I imagi n e but few believer s amo n g the lear n ed

,

i n t hi s subj ect i n our o wn day The refere n ces .

to S h em u n b e n Yo ch ai an d the K abala i n the

Talmud a n d abu n da n t i n ter n al evide n ce fou n d
,

i n the book itsel f exhibit the stro n gest p r o b ab i l

,

ity n o t that S h e m u n himsel f w a s the author o f

,

it but that it i s the fruit an d result o f h i s per

,

s o n al i n structio n s an d o f t h e s tudie s o f hi s i m
,

”
mediate disciples .

W e may say th a t E theridge s view i s m u ta ti s

’

m u tan di s al so that o f A d Fra n ck author o f .

,

S y s t é rn e de l a K a bb a l e ou l a ph i l os oph i c r e l i
g i e u s e de s H e b r eu x ,
P ari s ,
1 84 3 (2d ed 1 892 )
. .

tra n slated i n to Germa n by A Gel i n ek (Jelli n ek ) .

,

D i e K a b b al a o der di e R e l i gi on s p h i l os op h i e der
H e b r ae r L eipsig 1 844 , with which mu st be com
'

, ,
 TH E CA B A L A

pared D . H J oel .
,
D i e R e l i gi on s p h i l os op h i e des
S oh a r i b i d
,
.
,
1840 w hich
i s an exceedi n gly good
,

suppleme n t t o Fra n ck s work B u t an e x am i

'

n atio n O f the works publi s hed by Z u n z D i e o t

g ,

t e s di e n s tl i ch e n Vor tr ci g e de r J u de n B erli n 1 8 31
'

, , ,

p 40 5 ; Geiger M el o Ch ofn ay i ni i b i d 1 840 i n

.
, , .
, ,

'
t r o du c t i o n p x vii ; S ac h s D i e r e l i gi ci s e P oes i e o e r
'

.
, ,

J u den i n S p an i en i b i d 18 4 5 p 32 7 Jelli n ek
, .
, , .
, ,

M os es B e n S ch e ni To b de L e on L eipsig 1 8 5 1 , ,

coul d have co n vi n ced E theridge that the Zohar ,

“
the text book o f the Cabala i s the p s eudo fabri
-
,
-

catio n o f M oses de L eo n in the thi rtee n th ce n

”

tury That L a n dauer (died 184 1 ) i n hi s e ssays

.

o n the Cabala publi s hed i n t h e L i t t er a tu r b l a t t des

O r i e n ts 1 84 5 p 1 7 8 e t seq 1 846 p 12 e t seq

, ,
. .
, ,
. .
,

ascribes the authorship o f the Zohar to A braham

b e n S amuel Ab u l a fi a towards the e n d O f the
seco n d hal f o f the thirtee n th century i s the more ,

weighty an d i n structive because he origi n ally

started with opi n io n s o f a n e x actly opposite
character (S tei n sch n eider J ewi s h L i t er a tu r e p , ,
.

N evertheless E theridge s book was a good ’

work ; it was the praiseworthy attempt o f a n

E n gli s h Christi a n to acquaint the E n glish speak -

i n g people with the post B iblical literature o f the -

Jews .

Four years a fter the publicatio n o f the above

work Ca n o n VVe s t co tt (died 190 1 ) publi s hed h i s
,

I n tr odu cti o n t o th e S tu dy of th e Gos p el s L o n ,

 F O R E WO R D

don , 18 60 , i n
which he i n cide n t a lly re fers t o the
Cabala w ithout adopti n g E theridge s view a s t o
,
’

the authorship o f the Zohar ; o n the co n trary he

“
s ay s (p 1 5 9 B o ston
.
,
The S ep h e r h a
,

Zohar o r B ook of S ple n dor owes i t s exi stence

, ,

to R Moses o f L eo n in the thirtee n th ce n tury

.
”
,

“
an d this he says i n a n ote has bee n s at i s f ac
, ,

t o r i l y establi shed by Jelli n ek i n hi s tract M os es ,

b e n S ch em to b de L e o n a n d s e i n Ve r h ci l t n i s s z u rn
'

S o h ar L eip sig 18 5 1
,
The warm a pproval o f
,
.

Jost i s s u fficie n t to remove a n y li n geri n g doubt

as to the correct n e s s o f J e l l i n e k s co n clu s io n : A ’

J e l l i n e k u n d di e K a b al a L eip sic , ,

The publicatio n o f J el li n ek s B ei tr ci g e W Ge ’ ‘

s c h i ch t e de r K a b b a l a 2 parts L eipsic 1 8 5 2 an d
, , ,

h i s A u s wa h l ka b b a l i s ti s ch er M ys ti le part I i b i d , ,
.
,

“
18 5 3 ; S ter n s Versuch ei n er u m s t an dl i ch e n
’
'

A n alyse de s S ohar (i n B e n Ch au ani a M on a ts

”
,

s ch r i f t f ii r j ii di s ch e Th e o l og i e Vol s I IV S z e ,
.
-
,

d i 1 8 5 8 J G h i h d J d
’

g e n ,
o s t s e s c c t e es u e n

t h a m s u n d s ei n e r S e kt e n Vo l I I I pp 66 8 1 , .
,
.
-
,

L eipsic 18 5 9 ; more especially o f Gr a e t z s Ge

,
’

s c h i ch te der J u den Vo l VII pp 7 3 8 7 4 42,

1
.
,
.
-
,

4 5 9 ; 4 8 7 5 0 7 L eip s ic 18 63 paved the way f o r

-
, , ,

Christia n D Gi n sburg s (n o w very scarce ) essay

.
’

T h e E n g l i s h t r a n s l a t i o n o f t h i s w o r k, p u b i s h e d b y
1

l
P u b l i c a t i o n S o c i e ty o f A m e r i ca, 1 8 o f n o
_

th e e wrs h
J
s e r vi c e t o t h e s t u de n t , b e c au s e t h e s ch o l a r l y n o t e s ,
w h ich a r e t h e b e s t p a r t o f t h e o r i g i n a l , a r e e n t i r e l y
o m i tt e d .
 TH E CA B A L A

Th e K a b b a l a h , L o ndo n ,
186 5 . A s a matter of

course h e a dopts the re s ults o f moder n scholar

s hip a n d rej ects the authorship o f S imon b en
J o c h a i
A S fa r a s we are a ware n othi n g h as bee n pub
,

l i s h e d i n E n gli sh si n ce 1 8 6 5 Th e K a b b a l a h Un
.

ve i l e d by S L M M athers L o n don 18 8 7 gives

. . .
, , ,

o n ly a tra n s latio n o f some parts o f the Zohar ,

which K n orr v o n R o s e n r o th had rendered into

L ati n Nevertheless thi s work i s i n teresti n g b e
.
,

c use
a a n E n gli h reade r pr ovided he has e n ough
s —

patie n ce ca n get a ta s te o f the Z oh ar i c wi sdom

—

an d u n wisdom .
 CH AP T E R I .

NA ME A ND O R I GI N O F T H E C A B ALA .

Th e Ca b a l a . By
Cab al a w e u n d ersta n d th at
—

system o f religiou s philosophy o r more properly , ,

o f Jewish theosophy which played s o importa n t

,

a part i n the theological an d exeget i cal literature

o f both Jews and Chri s tia n s ever si n ce the M i d

dle A ges .

The Hebrew word Cabal a (from K i b b el ) prop

“ ” “
erly de n otes receptio n the n a doctri n e r e
,

c e i ve d by oral tr a ditio n The term i s thus i n

.

”
itsel f nearly equivale n t t o tra n s mi s sio n like ,

the L ati n tr adi ti o i n Hebrew m as or ah f o r which

, ,

last i n deed the Talmud makes it i n tercha n ge

, ,

a b l e i n the stateme n t give n i n P i rk e A bot I 1 ,

Mo s es received (ki b b e l ) the L aw o n M ou n t

'

”
S i n ai a n d tra n smitted (u ni s a r a h ) it to Joshua
,
.

“
The di fference however betwee n the word Ca
, ,

bala a n d the cognate term m as or ah i s that the

“
former expressed the act o f receivi n g while ,

the latter de n otes the act o f givi n g over sur ,

”
r en deri n g transmitting
, The n ame therefore
.
, ,
 TH E CA B A LA

tells u s n o more tha n that thi s theo s ophy has

bee n received traditio n a lly In the oldest Jewi sh .

l iterature (M ish n a M idra s h Talmud ) the Ca

, , ,

bala de n otes the whole bod y o f Jewi s h traditio n .

The n ame i s eve n applied to the prophetic w rit

i n gs O f the O ld Testame n t an d the Hagiographa , ,

i n co n tradi s ti n ctio n to the P e n tateuch As a .

s cie n tific system the Cabala i s al so called c h o km a t

h a ca b a l ak i e scie n ce of traditio n o r ch okn t ah

-
, . .
, ,

n i s tar a h (abbreviated c h n i e c h en i n i e ’

, . .
, ,
. .
,

s ecret scie n ce or wi sdom an d its represe n tatives ,

a n d a dhere n ts delighted i n calli n g themselve s

“
m os ki l i m ,
i e . i n tellige n t o r with a play o f
.
, ,

“
words y ode ch n i e co n noisseurs o f secret
’ ’
. .
, ,

”
wi sdom .

H avi n g defi n ed the term Cabala which was ,

“ ”
still commo n ly used f o r oral traditio n i n the
1 3t h a n d 14 t h ce n turies eve n after the tech n ical
se n se o f the word wa s establi shed we must be ,

care ful to di sti n gui sh betwee n cabala a n d mys

t i ci sm
. L ike other E aster n n atio n s the Jews ,

were n aturally i n cli n ed t o theosophical specula

tio n an d though this te n de n cy may have bee n r e
pressed by the defi n ite teachi n g O f revelatio n as
lo n g a s they were co n fi n ed wi thi n the sacred
bou n daries o f P alesti n e it fou n d a freer scope ,

a fter the E xile .

There were two subj ects about which the

Jewi sh imagi n atio n especially busied itsel f — the ,

10
 NA M E A N D O R I GI N

hi story o f the Creatio n an d the M er ka b a h o r the

, ,

D ivi n e apparitio n to E zekiel B oth touch the .

questio n o f God s origi n al co n n ectio n w ith Hi s

’

creatures an d that o f His co n ti n ued i n tercourse

,

with them They treat o f the mystery o f n ature

.

a n d o f P rovide n ce especially o f R evelatio n ; a n d

,

a n attempt i s made to a n swer the questio n h o w ,

the I n fi n ite God can have an y co n n ectio n or i n

t e r c ou r s e with fi n ite cre a tures .

It i s di fficult to say how far it i s possible to

t race with certai n ty Jewi sh my s tici s m E ve n i n .

the book o f S irach (E cclus xlix 8 ) it i s the , .

special prai se o f E zekiel that he saw the chariot

o f the Cherubim Whe n we come to the period
.

o f the M i s h n a we fi n d the exi s te n ce o f a bod y

,

o f esoteric doctri n e already pre s uppo s ed It i s .

“
lai d dow n that n o o n e ought to di scourse the
hi story o f Creatio n (Ge n i ) with two o r the .
,

Chariot (E zek i ) w ith o n e u n less he be a

.
,
”
s cholar who has k n owledge o f hi s o w n
, (Chag
i ga I I 1 ) ,

Further allusio n s to these my s terious doctri n es

occur i n the Talmud but a n y rash i n vestigatio n
,

o f them was di scouraged as i s show n by the,

“ ”
story o f the four sage s i n the e n closed garde n ,

i e who were e n gaged i n theosophical studies

. .
, .

O n e o f them it was said had looked arou n d an d

, ,

died ; a n other had looked arou n d a n d lost hi s rea

s on ; a third eve n tually tried to destroy the g a r

l
 TH E CA B A L A

de n ; 1
w h i l e th e fourt h alo n e h a d e n tered a n d r e
tur n ed i n s a fety (Ch agi ga fol 14 col , .
,
.

L ittl e by little my s tici sm m a de i t s w a y from

P ale s ti n e i n to B abylo n ia a n d fou n d m a n y follow
ers . It s a depts c a lled the m s elves
“
M en o f
Faith . They bo a s ted o f po s sessi n g the mea n s
o f o b t a i n i ng a vie w o f the divi n e household By
‘

v irtue o f cert a i n i n ca n tatio n s i n vocatio n s o f the ,

n a me s o f Go d a n d the a n gel s a n d the recitatio n ,

o f certai n p rayer like cha n ts combi n ed with

-
,

f asti n g a n d a n ascetic mode o f li v i n g they pre ,

te n ded t o be able to perform super n atural deeds .

F o r t hi s purp o se they m a de u s e o f a mulets a n d

ca meo s a n d wrote upo n them the

n ame s o f God an d the a n gel s with certai n S ig n s .

M i r a cle w orki n g w a s a trifle to these mystics

-
.

The book s which they wrote o n ly gave hi n t s an d ,

o n ly those were i n iti a ted i n to the mystic s ecrets ,

i n whose ha n d an d forehead t h e adepts prete n ded

to di s co v er li n es th a t pr oved them to be worthy
o f bei n g i n itiated .

O rigi n of th e C ab al a .
— D efe rri n g u n t il l ate r
I n t h e T al m u d h e i s c a l l e d E l i s h a b e n - A b u j a , s u r
1

n am e d A ch e r , i th e o th e r o n e , a ft e r h i s a p o s t a s y
”
e . .
,

f r o m J u da i s m I t i s r e l a t e d o f h i m t h at w h i l e a tt e n di n g
.

t h e J e w i s h c o l l e g e h e h a d o ft e n b e e n n o t i ce d t o c a r r y
w i t h h i m w r i t i n g s o f t h e M i n i m (p r o b ab l y o f Gn o s
t i c s ) , a n d t h a t h e h a d e v e n b e e n i n t h e h ab i t o f q u o t i n g
Gr e e k p o e t r y E l i s h a w a s a p u p i l o f t h e f a m o u s r ab b i
.

A k i b a ; c o m p J e ll i n ek, E l i s h a b e n -A b ujja, g e na nn t
.

A c h e r L e i p s i c , 1847
, .

H
 TH E CA B A L A

a ti n g i n the B ook Zo h ar A fuller a n d more ma

.

t u re developme n t o f the C a bala i s due to the spec

u l a t i o n s o f l a ter ma s ters .

Th e origi n o f the Cabala belo n gs to that period

i n which Judaism o n the o n e ha n d was perme a ted
by a crude a n thropomorphic n otio n o f the D eity ,

whereas o n the other ha n d P lato n i sm an d A ri s

t o t e l i a n i s m strove for the asce n de n cy i n f o r m u
lati n g the fu n dame n tal doctri n es of Jewi s h b e
lief With M o ses M a imo n ides (1 1 35 1204 ) r a
.
-

t i o n al i s m had re a ched its climax The i n ju n c

.

tio n s o f the B ible were o n ly to be explai n ed b y

t h e light o f reaso n . O n ly the S imple primar y ,

o r liter a ry s e n s e (pe s h a t ) o f the S cripture was

recog n ized the exi sti n g allegorical i n terpretatio n

,

( d e r i i s h ) wa s co n sidered either as rabbi n ical

f a n cy o r o n e saw i n it o n ly a poetical form
, .

E ve n the Talmud had bee n systematized an d c o

di fi e d R eligio n h a d become a more or less
.

mea n i n gless op u s ope r a tu rn P hilosophy had a l

.

ways bee n treated as s omethi n g s eco n dary which ,

h a d n othi n g to do with practical Judaism as it ,

i s daily a n d hourly p racticed M aimo n ides o n

.
,

t h e other ha n d had i n troduced it i n to the holie s t

,

place i n Judaism an d a s it were gave A ri s totle

, , ,

a place n ext t o the doctor s o f the L aw I n stead .

o f u n i fyi n g Judai sm M aimo n ides caused a divi

,

s io n , a n d the M a i m u n i s t s a n d A n ti M a i m u n i s t s
-

o ppo s ed each other . A reaction came and the

14
 NA M E A N D O R I GI N
T

Cabal a stepped i n a s a cou n terpoi s e to t h e gro w

i ng sh a llow n ess o f the M a i m u n i s t s philosop h y
’
.

The storm a gai n st hi s s ystem broke o u t i n P rov

e n ce a n d spread over Spai n The latter cou n try
.

may be co n s idered a s the real home o f t h e Ca

bala Whe n the Jew s were dri v e n from that
.

cou n try the Cabala took root i n P a le s ti n e an d

,

t h e n ce it was c a rried back i n to the di ffere n t

cou n tries o f E urope .

The fu n dame n tal idea s o f the Cabal a a re n u

J ewish derived from P hilo the n e o P lato n i s t s
,
-

a n d the n eo P ythagorea n s ; we sometimes e v e n

-

n otice G n ostic i n flue n ces B u t the close amalga

.

matio n o f these di ff ere n t eleme n ts w ith B iblical

a n d M idra s hic idea s h a s give n to these foreig n

parts s uch a Je w i s h colori n g that a t t h e first

,

gla n ce they appear as an ema n atio n o f the J ew

i s h me n tal li fe .
 CH AP T E R II ,

TH E D E V E L O P M E N T O F T H E C A B ALA
IN TH E P R E —
ZO HAR PE R I OD .

P r e -Z o h a r P erio d — T h e h i s tory o f t h e Ca
b a l a compri se s a period o f nearl y a thous a n d
years Its begi n n i n g m a y be traced back to th e
.

seve n th ce n tury whereas i t s la s t S hoot s belo n g

,
’
to the ei ghtee n th ce n tury F or conve n ie n ce
sake we c an di s ti n gui s h t wo per iod s the o n e ,

r eachi n g f rom th e s eventh to the thirteenth c e n

tury the other from the fourtee n th to the eight

,

c e n t h ce n tury .The former i s the time o f grad

u a l g rowt h developme n t a n d progre s s the othe r
, ,

t h at o f decli n e a n d dec a y The origi n o f the Z o

.

h a r i n the thirtee n th ce n tury for m s t h e cli m ax i n

the hi story o f the Cab a la It became t h e treasu ry
.

to the followers o f thi s theosop h y a t ex t book ,

-

f o r the stude n ts o f the C abala the stand ard a n d

,

code o f t h e c abali s ti c sy s tem t h e B ible o f the

,
’

Cabali sts .

Fro m the s e v e n th to the ni n th c e n tury w e

m e e t w ith the represe n t a tives o f t h e mysteries o f

16
 P R E - Z O H AR P E R IO D

the w h ic h i s expou n ded i n the s o c a lled

ni e r ka b a,
1 -

H e ka l o th i e P alaces ,
Thi s work which i s
. .
,
.
,

a s cribed to I sma e l b e n-E lis a ope n s with a de ,

scriptio n o f Go ds thro n e an d h i s household c o n ’

si s ti n g o f a n gelic ho s ts In th i s m y s tical pro .

ductio n which h a s bee n repri n ted by Jelli n ek i n

,

B e t h a M i dr as h Vo l I I I pp 8 3 108 t h e pr a i se s
-
, .
,
.
-
,

O f the A lmighty Go d an d hi s chariot thro n e a r e

celebrated We a r e told th at e a ch of the s eve n
.

heave n ly palace s i s gu arded by eight a n gel s ; a

descriptio n o f the formula i s give n by virtue o f
which these a n gelic guards are o b l i ge d t o gra n t '

a dmi s s io n i n to the celesti a l p a l a ces ; a l so a de

s criptio n o f the peculiar qu a l i ficatio n s n ece ss a r y

f o r those who de s i re to e n ter i n to the s e p al ace s .

S ome hym n s o f pr a ise a n d a co n v er s atio n w ith

Go d I srael a n d the a n gel s co n clude thi s tre a ti s e
, ,

which like the S h i u r K o m a o r the tre a ti s e o n th e

”
D ime n s io n s o f the D eity al s o a s c r i li e d t o R a bb i ,

I sma e l k n ows n othi n g o f the s peculatio n s o f t h e

,

E n S oph the t e n S ephiroth an d t h e doctri n e o f

,

the T ra n smigratio n o f S oul s .

A n other work belo n gi n g to th i s period i s the

Ch a r i o t m en t i o n e d i n E z e k
1 ”
lli e r lea b a , i . e .
, , i an d .

x w h i ch t r e a t o f t h e D i v i n e Th r o n e r e s t i n g o n w h e e l s
, , ,

a n d ca r r i e d b y s a c r e d a n i m a l s Gr e a t m y s t e r i es a r e a t .

t a c h e d b y t h e a n ci e n t J e w s t o a l l de t a i l s o f t h i s de
s c r i pt i o n o f t h e D e i ty a n d h i s s u r r o u n di n g s w h i ch i n ,

i m i t a t i o n o f M a a s oy B e r e s h i t 1 e th e w o rk o f th e ,
.

h e x ah e m e r o n co s m o g o n y i s a l s o c a l l e d M a as e y
” “
or ,

M e r ka b a t h e W o r k o f t h e Ch ar i o t a k i n d o f t h e
“ ” “
'

, ,

O so ph y .
”

17
 TH E CA B A L A

O th i j o th de R a b b i Aki b a i e the A lph ab et o f ,

. .
,

”
R abbi A kiba which alter n ately treat s each let
,
“
ter o f the Hebrew alphabet as represe n ti n g an
idea a s a n abbreviatio n f o r a word an d a s the ,

sy m bol o f some se n time nt a ccordi n g to its p e ,

c u l i a r for m i n order to att a ch to those letters

,

m o r al t h e o an t h r o p i c a n gelological a n d mystic a l
, ,

n otio n s Thi s treatise is also give n i n J el l i n ek s

.
’

work cited above Vol I I I pp 12 49 L eip s ic

, ,
.
,
.
-
, ,

18 5 5 . A L ati n tra n s l atio n o f A kiba s A lphabet ’

i s give n by K ircher i n h i s (E di pu s E gypti a cu s , ,

2

an d i n B a r to l o cc i B i b li o th e ca B a b b i n i ca
’ 3
s .

B ode n schatz i n h i s K i r ch l i ch e Ve r fas s u ng der

h e u t i ge n J u de n (E rla n ge n 1 7 48 ) gives i n P art
, ,
“
1 11 p 1 5 the followi n g specime n :
,
.
, O n the
w o rd s : Th e L ord i s n igh u n to them that are
‘

o f a broke n h eart
(P S xxxiv 18 ) we read
’
: A ll .
,
‘

who are o f a broke n heart are more agreeable b e

fore Go d tha n the mi n i steri n g a n gel s becau s e t h e ,

mi n isteri n g a n gel s a r e remote from the divi n e

M aj esty mile s as it i s said i n I s vi ,
. .

“ ”
2 : A bove it stood the S eraphim ( m i nt aa l l o
) ,

where the word l o by way o f gematria mea n s

Thi s teaches u s that the body of the
divi n e M a j esty i s miles lo n g .

From hi s loi n s upward are

m ile s a n d from h i s loi n s dow n ward 1 1 8 times
,

m ile s B u t the s e mil e s are n o t like ours

.
,

2
Ro m e, 165 2, Vo l I I p .
, . 22 5 I .

Vo l I V pp .
, . 27 f .
 P R E - Z O H AR PERI O D

but like hi s (God s ) mile s F o r his mile i s ’

.

ell s lo n g an d h i s ell co n tai n s four ,

spa n s an d a ha n d s breadth a n d hi s spa n goes ’

from o n e end o f the world to the other as i s ,

s a id I s x 12 .Who has measured the waters

.
°

i n the hollow o f his ha n d a n d meted o u t he a ve n ,

”
with the spa n ! A n other expla n ation i s that the
“ ”
word s a n d meted out heave n with the spa n
de n ote that the he ave n an d the he ave n o f all
heave n s i s o n ly o n e spa n lo n g wide an d high , ,

a n d that the earth with a ll t h e abysses i s as lo n g

as the s ole o f the foot an d wide as the s ole o f ,

the foot etc etc ,

.
,
.
’

A n other part o f A kiba s A lphabet i s t h e s o ’

“ “
called B ook o f E n och which de s cribes the ,

glorificatio n o f E n och an d h i s tr a nsform a tio n

i n to the a n gel M etatro n regardi n g h i m a s the “
,
” “
little God i n contradi sti n ctio n to the Great
God .

These mystical treati ses came i n to exi s te n ce in

the cour s e o f time a n d thei r te a chi n g s r apidly ,

spre a d S o n umerou s bec a me the disciple s o f

.

mystici sm i n the twel fth ce n tury th a t M aimo

n ide s fou n d it n eces s ary to de n ou n ce t h e s ystem .

“
Give n o crede n ce to the n o n se n se o f the writers
o f charms a n d amulet s to wh a t they tell you o r ,

to what y o u fi n d i n thei r fooli s h writi n g s about

the divi n e n ames ; which they i n ve n t wit h out an y
Al so p ri n ted B e t H a - M i dr as h , Vo l
‘ ’
re in J e ll i n e k s .

II , pp . 1 14- 1 17 .

19
 TH E C A B A LA

s ens e c a lli n g t h em a ppell atio n s o f the Dei ty

, ,

a n d a ffir m i n g th at they requi re h oli n e s s a n d pur

ity a n d perform miracles A ll th e s e thi n g s are .

fables ; a s e n sible m an w ill n ot li s te n to them ,

much le s s believe i n t h em .

A n e w st age i n the de v elopme n t o f the C abala

c omme n ce s with t h e public a tio n of Th e B o o k of

Cr e a ti on or J ez i r ah w h ich i s t h e first work that

,

c ompri ses the philo s ophic a l specul a tio n s o f the

a g e i n o n e sy s te m a tic whole S cholars a r e n o w .

a greed that the B ook o f J e z i r ah belo n gs to the

eighth o r n i n th ce n turie s a n d th a t it h a s n othi n g ,

to do with the J e z i r ah B ook me n tio n ed i n the -

“
T almud where we are told that R abbi s H an i n a
,

a n d O s h ay a studied it every Friday whereby ,

t h ey produced a cal f three year s o l d an d at e it

( S a n h e dr i n fol 6 5 col ,
a n d whereby Rabbi
.
,
.

Joshu a b en H a n a n ya decl a red he could t ake fruit

a n d i n s t a n tly prod u ce the trees w h ich belo n g to

them (J e r u s al e m S a n h e dr i n ch apt VI I tow a rds ,

.

the end )
ls
Mor e N e b u chi i n I
, 61 , W u n s ch e t h i n k s t h a t t h e
.

t r e at i s e D e J u da i c i s s u pe r s ti t i o ni b u s b y A g o b a r d b i s h o p ,

o f Lyo n s (di e d w a s di r e ct e d ag a i n s t t h i s m y s t i c
t e n de n cy .

L Go l ds ch m i dt D a s B u c h der S c h opf u n g F r a n k
6
.
, ,

f u r t a M 1894 p 10 r e m a r k s : I a m i n cl i n e d t o p u t
. .
, , .
,
“

t h e t i m e o f t h e co m p o s i ti o n o f t h e B o ok J e z i r a h i n t o
t h e s e c o n d c e n t u r y B C a n d a s s e r t t h a t i t i s t h e s am e
. .
,

b o o k O f t h e Cr e a t i o n w h i c h i s m e n t i o n e d i n t h e T a l m u d
”
.

H e i s a l s o i n cl i n e d t o m ak e P a l e s t i n e t h e p l ace o f i t s
co m p o s i t i o n .

20
 TH E CA B A LA

cording to A r t ap an u s
i n s tructed K i n g P hare
t h o t h e s o f E gypt i n a s trology (E u sebius P r a ep ,
.

e va n g IX 18 )
,
fulfilled the whole l a w before
, ,

it w a s give n (A p o c B ar u ch chap 5 7 ; K i ddu .

,
.

s h i n IV 14
, a n d victoriou s ly overcame t e n
,

temptatio n s (P i r ke A b ot h V 3)
8
, ,

T heo s o p h i c a l A ri th m etic Th e b ook op e n s .

—

“
with the s tateme n t that by thirty two p a th s o f -

s ecret wi s dom the E ter n al the L ord o f Ho s t s the

, , ,

God o f I s rael the livi n g God the K i n g o f the U n i ,

verse t h e M erci ful and Gr a cious t h e High a n d

, ,

E xalted God H e who i n h abit s eter n ity Gloriou s

, ,

a n d Holy i s His n a me hat h cre a ted the world by ,

m e a n s o f n umber word a n d writing (o r n umber , ,

n umberer n u m bered ) I 1 The book show s

,
. .
—

why there a r e j u s t thirty two o f these B y an -

.

an a lysis o f thi s n umber it s eek s to exhibit i n a ,

peculiar method o f theosophical arithmetic o n ,

the assumptio n th a t they are t h e s ig n s o f exi s t

e n ce an d thought the doctri n e th a t God produced,

a l l a n d i s o v er all t h e u n iver s e bei n g a de v elop

, ,

me n t o f origi n al e n tity a n d exi ste n ce bei n g but ,

“
t h ough t become co n crete ; i n S hort that i n s te a d ,

o f the he a the n ish o r popul a r Jewi sh co n ceptio n

o f the world a s out w ard or co existe n t with D e ,

-

8
Co m p
i n g e n e r al B e e r , L e b e n A b r a h am s n a c h
.
’

A u fi a s s u n g de r ji i di s c h e n S ag e , L e i p s i c , 18 5 9 ; C r i m
‘

b au m N e u e B e i tr ag e a u r s e n t i ti s c h e n S a g e n ku n de ;
'

1893 pp 89 — 1 32 ; B o n w e t s c h , D i e Ap o ka l y ps e A b r a h a rns ,
, .

1897 pp 4 1 —5 5
, . .

22
 P R E - Z O H AR PE RI O D

ity it i s c o equ a l i n bi rth h a v i n g bee n brought

,
-
,

o u t o f n othi n g by God thu s est abli s hi n g a P a n

,

theistic sy s tem o f em an atio n o f which p ri n ci , ,

p ally bec a u s e i t i s n ot a n y w here de s ig n a ted by

n ame o n e would thi n k the writer was n o t him s el f
,

quite co n s ciou s .

The followi n g will illu s trate the curiou s p roo f

o f this argume n tatio n : the n umber 32 i s the s u m

o f 10 the n umber o f the t e n fi n ger s (I

,
an d ,

2 2 the n umber o f the Hebrew alph abet thi s l at

, ,

ter bei n g afterw a rds further resolved i n to

34 7 4 12 (I
- —
,
The fir s t chapter (1 2 8 treat s ,
-

o f the decade a n d i t s eleme n t s which a r e called ,

figures i n co n tradi s ti n ctio n from the 22 let ter s .

Thi s decade i s the s ign ma n ual o f the u n iverse

-
.

In the details o f thi s h ypot h e s i s t h e existe n ce o f

divi n ity i n the ab s tract i s re a lly ign ored though ,

n ot formally de n ied Thu s the n umber on e i s

.

its spirit as an active pri n ciple i n which all ,

worlds a n d bei n gs are yet e n clo s ed O n e i s the .

spirit o f the livi n g God bles s ed a n d agai n blessed

,

b e the N ame o f Him Who li v eth fo r ever

,

Voice a n d S pirit an d Word a n d thi s i s the Holy ,

”
Ghost (I ,

Tw o i s the s pirit from thi s spirit i e the ac ,

. .
,

ti v e pri n ciple i n so far a s it h a s beforeha n d de

“
cided o n creati n g ; i n it He e n gr aved the twe n ty
”
two letter s (I ,

Th r e e i s water ; f o u r i s fire ; i n i t He hewed

23
 TH E CA B A L A

the thro n e o f glory th e O p h an i m a nd S er a phim

,
9
,

the s a cred livi n g cre ature s a n d the a n gel s o f ,

s ervi c e a n d o f the s e
,
t h ree He fou n ded Hi s
dwelli n g pl a ce as it i s s a id He m aketh H i s a n
, ,

gel s b re ath s an d H i s mi n ister s a fl ami n g fire (I

, ,

11 ,
The s i x remai n i n g figure s 5 10 a r e r e ,
-
,

g a rded severally a s the s ign ma n u a l o f heigh t -

,

depth ea s t we s t n orth a n d south formi n g the

, , , ,

s i x s ides o f a c u be a n d represe n ti n g the idea o f

,

form i n i t s geometrical perfectio n (I ,

In t h e w ord s of the B ook o f Cre atio n the hex

“
ade i s thus described : F i ve : Three letters
from out the s imple o n es ; He s ealed s pirit o n the
thre e a n d f a s te n ed t h em i n His gre a t N ame J
,

H V . A n d He s ealed with them s i x outgoi n g s

1 0

( e n d s termi n,
a tio n s ) ; He tur n ed up w a rd s a n d ,

He s e a led it with J H V S i x : He se a led below .

,

tur n ed dow n ward s an d s e a led it with J V H ,

.

S e v e n : He sealed e a st w ard H e tur n ed i n fro n t ,

o f Him a n d s e a led it with H J V

,
E i gh t : He .

s ealed we s tw a rd a n d tur n ed behi n d a n d sealed ,

it with H V J N i n e : He s ealed s outhw a rd an d

.
,

tur n ed to H i s right a n d se a led it with V J H ,

.

Te n : He sealed n orthw a rd an d tur n ed to Hi s ,

left an d se a led it w ith V H J The s e are the

,
.

S eph i roth : (1 ) S pirit o f the livi n g God an d (2 ) ,

9
O p h an i m (D’ J DIN p l u r a l o f 15 m )
, t ra n s l a t e d ,

w h e e l s i n t h e E n g l i s h v e r s i o n (E z e k i
”
i s t ak e n
. .

b y t h e J e w i s h R a b b i s t o de n o t e a di s t i n c t o r de r o f
a n ge l s j u s t as Ch e r u b i m
, an d S e r a p h i m H e n ce t h e .

24
 P R E - Z O H AR PE RI O D

wi n d ! ai r or spi rit ] (3) w ater a n d (4 ) fire ; ! 1 1

,

a n d (5 ) height above a n d (6
) below 7
( ) e a st ,

a n d (8 ) we s t ( )
9 n orth a n d ( )
1 0
,
s outh .

S e p h i r o t h i s the plur a l o f the w ord S e ph i r a h

! .

A z a r i e l deri v es the word from s ap h ar to n u m ,

ber ; later C ab a li s ts derive it either from s ap h i r

”
,

” “ ” 2
S aphi r o r from the Greek s phere s an d ar e
1
, ,

n o t at a l l certai n whether to reg a rd the S ephiroth

” 3 “ ” “
as p ri n ciples or as s ub s t an ce s
,
1
or as p o ,
14

” 5 “ ” 6
t e n c i e s power s,
o r as i n tellige n t w orld s
,
1
or ,
1

“ ” “ ” 7 “
as attribute s o r a s e n titie s ,
or a s org an s o f ,
1

”
the D eity (K el i i n ) We might f a irly well tr a n s .

late th e word S eph i r o th by

We see ho w ever that thi s a lo n e e s tabl i s he s
, ,

Ta l m u di c e xp l a n a t i o n
E x o d xx 20 b y Th o u s h a l t of .
, ,

n o t m ak e t h e l i k e n e s s o f t h o s e m i n i s t e r i n g s e r v a n t s w h o
s e r v e b e f o r e m e i n h e av e n vi z O p h an i m S eraph i m , , ,

s a c r e d Ch a jo t h an d m i s s i v e a n g e l s
,

”
h -S h a n a
(R o s h a , ,

f o l 24 cl o
.
, O p h a n t h e p r i n c e o f th i s o r de r i s
.
, ,

r e g a r de d b y t h e a n ci e n t s a g e s a s i de n t i c a l w i t h t h e a n g e l

S a n da lp h o n , 115 5 7 30 a v voi Belxg b O S c o b r o t h e r o r f el l o w ,

-

c o m p a n i o n o f t h e a n g e l M e t ab r o n .

Th es e t h r e e l e tt e r s m e a n J ah u o r Y ah v e h n o w
10
, ,

p r o n o u n ce d J e h o v ah o f w h i c h th e y ar e t h e ab b r e v i a ti o n ;
,

w h a t f o ll o w s s h o w s h o w t h e p e r m u t a t i o n o f t h e s e t h r e e
l e tt e r s m ar k s t h e v a r i e d r e l a t i o n s h i p o f Go d t o c r e a t i o n
i n t i m e a n d s p a ce a n d at t h e s a m e t i m e s o t o s p e ak , t h e
, ,

i m m an e n c e o f H i s m a n i f e s t a t i o n i n i t .

n
Th e w o r d r ua c h m ea n s al l th e s e .

b a i pa t
ag ,

13
dp xa i ,

14
fir oa r da e t s
5 vvoi ue t s
'

vorj r t lcoi
16
Ké a um
'
.
,

A z am Ot h .
‘
 TH E CA B A LA

n othi n g re al but merely expou n ds the idea o f

,

possibility o r a ctu ality at the s ame time est ab ,

l i s h i n g th a t w hich i s v i r tu a l i t e r as re a lly exi s ti n g

i n God the fou n d a tio n o f all thi n gs from w hich
, ,

the whole u n iverse proceeded The a ctu a l e n ti .

ties a r e therefore i n troduced i n the s ub s eque n t

ch apter s u n der the twe n ty two letters The -
.

co n n ectio n bet w ee n the t wo s eries is e v ide n tly

the Word which i n the first S ephira (n umber )
,

i s yet ide n tical i n voice a n d actio n with the

spirit (I but after w ard s these eleme n ts
, ,

sep a rati n g a s creator a n d sub sta n ce togethe r ,

produce the world the material s o f which are ,

repre s e n ted by the letters sever a l l y divided i n to ,

guttural s l abi a l s palat a ls li n gu a l s an d de n tal s

, , ,

( I I , si n ce the s e by thei r m a n i fold ma n i festa

tio n s n a me an d describe all th a t exists
, .

The s e twe n ty two letters o f the alph abet are

-

the n di v ided i n to three groups co n sisti n g r e ,

s p ec t i v e l y o f

1
The three mothers o r fu n dame n tal letters
.

(ch I I I ) .

2 S eve n double (ch I V ) a n d

. .
,

3 Twelve simple co n s o n a n ts (c h V )
. . .

First are s ubtracted from the twe n ty two let -

ters the three mothers (A leph M e m S hi n ) i , , , .

e. the u n i v ersal relatio n s o f (l ) pri n ciple (2 )

, ,

co n trary pri n ciple a n d (3) bala n ce (i e the i n

, . .
,

t erm e di at e ) .

In the world we have air water fire . Thi s , ,

.

2
 P R E - Z O H AR PE RI O D

mea n s the heave n s a re from fire

, ,

the earth from water an d the a i r ,

i n dicates the i n termediate b e

twee n the fire a n d the water .

In the year there i s fire a n d water a n d wi n d

.
, ,
.

The heat come s from fi re cold ,

from water an d moderatio n fro m ,

wi n d (ai r ) that i s i n termediate

betwee n them .

I n m an there i s fire water an d wi n d The ,

.

head i s from fire the belly from ,

w ater a n d the body from wi n d

,

that i s i n termediate betwee n

them .

The three mothers or fu n dame n tal letters a r e

followed by the seve n duplicate letters B eth —
,

Gimel D aleth Caph P e R esh Tau

, , ,
L
f‘
dupli , ,
—

cate because they are opposite as li fe an d death ;

,

peace an d evil ; wi sdom an d folly ; riches an d

poverty ; grace an d ugli n ess ; fertility a n d desola
tio n ; rule a n d servitude (I V These seven ,

duplicate letters correspo n d to the seve n outgo

i n gs : above a n d below east an d west n orth an d, ,

south an d the holy Temple i n the middle an d i t

, ,

upbears the whole (IV From them God ,

~

creat ed
Th e s e l e tt e r s o f t h e H e b r e w A l p h ab e t a r e c all e d
1"

do u b l e b ec au s e t h e y h av e a do u b l e p r o n u n ci at i o n b e i n g ,

s o m e ti m e s a s pi r a t e d a n d s o m e t i m e s n o t
.

a c co r di n g t o
,

t h e i r b ei n g w i t h o r w i th o u t t h e dag es h (i e a p o i n t i n . .
,

t h e m i ddl e ) .

27
 TH E CA B A L A

In the world . S atur n Jupiter M ars S u n Ve

, , , ,

nu s ,
M ercury M oo n ,
.

In m an Wisdom R iche s D omi n io n L i fe

, , , ,

Favor P roge n y P eace

, , .

In the year . S abb a th Thursday Tuesday

, , ,

S u n day Friday Wed n esday

, ,

hdo n day .

With the s e seve n letters Go d a l s o formed the

seve n heave n s the seve n e a rth s o r cou n tries an d
, ,

the seve n weeks f rom the feast o f P as s over to

P e n tecost (IV 3 The s e letter s also r ep r e
, ,

se n t the seve n gates o f i ssue i n the soul ; two

eyes two ears an d a mouth an d the two n ostrils
, , ,
.

Tur n i n g fi n ally to the twelve s i n gle letters (ch .

V ) they s how the relatio n s o f thi n gs so far as

,

they c a n be apprehe n ded i n a u n ivers a l category .

B y me a n s o f these twelve letters Go d created the

t w elve s ign s o f the zodiac viz ,

In the world A ries Taurus Gemi n i Ca n cer

.
, , , ,

L eo Vi rgo L ibra S corpio S agit

, , , ,

tari n s Cap ricor n us A quarius

, , ,

P i sces .

In the year .the twelve mo n th s viz : N isa n

.
,
.
,

Ij a r S iva n Tamus A b E lul

, , , ,

Ti sh ri Cheshva n or M a r ch e s h
,

v an K islev Tebet S hebat A dar

, , , , .

In m a n the orga n s o f sight heari n g , ,

smelli n g talki n g taste co p u l at , , ,

i n g deali n g walking thi nkin g

, , , ,

28
 TH E CA B A L A

an d all the letters with B eth (i e the seco n d let .

,

ter ) so a l l the formatio n s an d all that i s spoke n

,

”
proceed fro m o n e n ame (ch I I To illu s
.
,

tr a te how the s e di ffere n t types are obtai n ed we

will state that by cou n ti n g the first letter with
the seco n d the first letter with the third an d so
,

o n with all the rest o f the alphabet we Obtai n 2 1 ,

types ; by c ombi n i n g the seco n d letter with t h e

third fourth etc we get 20 type s ; the third let
, ,
.
,

ter combi n ed with the fourth etc yields 1 9 ,

.
,

types ; fi n ally the twe n ty fi r s t combi n ed with the

-

l as t letter yields 1 type In thi s way we get as

.

t h e Heb r ew table shows :

+ 16 1 5 1 4 1 3+ 1 2
— 2 31 ; or

a b ag a d a h av ae a h a t a i a h al a m an as e t c
c
.

b g b d b h b v b e b h b t b i b k bl b m b n b s
°
e tc.

d h v
g g g g g z h t ic
k
g g g g g l m n
g g s e t c .

dh dv dz d h dt di dk dl drn dn ds e t c
c
.

h v he h h h t hi h k h l h m hn hs
c
e tc .

The i n fi n ite variety i n creatio n i s still more

striki n gly exhibited by permutatio n s o f which ,

t h e Hebrew alphabet i s c a pable a n d through ,

w hich a n i n fi n ite variety o f types i s obtai n ed .

“
H en c e the remark : Two letters form two
house s three letters build s i x houses four build
, ,

t we n ty four five build a hu n dred an d twe n ty

-
,

h ou se s six build seve n hu n dred an d twe n ty

,

30
 P R E - Z O H AR PE RI O D

houses ; an d from the n ce forward go o u t a n d

thi n k what the mouth ca n n ot utter an d the ear
ca n n ot hear (IV A few examples may ,

serve as illustratio n Two letters form two .

h ouses by usi n g the fir s t t wo letters o f the He

,

brew alphabet a b i n the followi n g ma n n er

, ,
20

1 ab

2 ba

Three letters , a, b, build six hou s es ,

na mely :

1 : a bg ; ag b ; 3 b ag ; 4 b ga ;
5 g a b ; 6 g b a .

Fou r letters ,
a, b , g d, ,
22
build t w en t v four
-
hou s es ,

Vi z
1 : a b gd 13 2 :
g a b d
a b dg 14 z
g a db
3 ag b d 15 g b a d
4 = agdb 16 z n da
5 a db g 17 d
g ab
6 = a dg b

7 b ogd 19 da b g
8 b a dg 20 z : dag b
9 = b ga d 21 :
-
db ag

In o r de r to a s ce r a i nt
h o w o ft e n a ce r t ai n n u m b e r
of
l e tt e r s ca n b e t r an s p o s e d t h e p r o du c t o f t h e p r e
,

c e di n g n u m b e r m u s t b e m ul ti p li e d w i th i t th u s : ,

Lett e r 2 X 1 2 5 X 24 120
3x 2 6 6 X 120 : 7 20
4 X6 : 24 7 X 720 2 2 5 040 an d s o o n .

31
 TH E CA B A L A

10 b g da 22 db ga
11 z b dag 23 dg a b
12 b dga 24 dg b a
The B ook o f Cre a tio n closes with the st a t e
me n t : A n d whe n A braham our father had be
held a n d co n sidered a n d s ee n a n d draw n and
, , , ,

hew n a n d obtai n ed it the n the L ord o f all r e

, ,

vealed Himsel f to him a n d called him H i s ,

frie n d a n d made a cove n a n t w ith him an d with

,

h i s seed ; a n d he believed i n Jehovah a n d it wa s ,

computed to him f o r righteous n es s He made .

with him a cove n a n t betwee n the t en toes an d ,

that i s circumci s io n ; betwee n the t e n fi n gers o f

hi s h a n d an d that i s the to n gue ; an d He bou n d
,

two an d twe n ty letter s on his to n gue an d

- -
,

s h owed him t h ei r fou n datio n He drew them .

with water He ki n dled them with fire He

, ,

b reathed them with wi n d (air ) He bur n t them

i n seve n ; He poured them f o rth i n the twelve
”
co n s tellatio n s (ch VI .
,

R om t i c Co s m o l og y — Th e exa mi n ati o n o f
an .

t h e co n te n t s o f the B ook o f J e z i r ah prove s th a t

it h a s as yet n othi n g i n commo n with the cardi n al

doctri n es o f the C ab a l a as exhibited i n later ,

work s especially i n th e Zohar where specula

, ,

tio n s about the bei n g an d n ature o f the D eity

the E n S oph an d the S eph iroth which are the
3 2
,

e s s e n ce o f the C abal a are give n ,

.

32
 P R E -Z O H AR PERI O D

To the period o f the B ook o f J e z i r ah bel o n g s

the remarkable work whic h i n the A msterd a m
editio n o f 160 1 i s e n titled : This i s the book o f
the first m an w hich was give n to h i m by th e
,

”
a n gel R aziel In thi s work the a n gel R a ziel ap
.

pear s a s the bearer a n d mediator O f a s trologic a l

a n d astro n omical secrets a n d show s the i n fl u ,

e n ce o f the pla n et s upo n t h e s ublu n ary world To .

the same period belo n g s the M idra s h K o n e n a ,

ki n d o f roma n tic cosmology (n ewly tra n sl ated

i n to Germa n by W ii n s c h e i n Is r a e ls L eh r h all en ,

I I I L eipsic 1909 pp 1 7 0
, , ,
.

With the thirtee n th ce n tury begi n s the cry s t a l

l i z a t i o n o f the C a b a l a a n d I s a a c the B li n d flour
,

i s h e d 1 190 12 10 ) m ay be reg a rded a s the orig

-

i n at o r o f thi s lor e The doctri n es o f the S ep h

.

i r o t h taught i n t h e B ook J e z i r ah are furt h er de

24

v e l op e d by h i s pupils especially by R abbi A z a ,

“
riel (died i n hi s Comme n tary o n t h e
T e n S ephi roth by Way o f Q uestio n s a n d A n
,
”
s we r s ,
a n a n aly s i s o f w hich i s give n i n Je l li

n ek s B e i tr d e e u r G i h d K
’

g es c h c t e e r a b b a l ah ,

L eip sic 1 8 5 2 P a rt I I p 32 f In thi s comme n t

, , ,
. .

23
E n S oph m g ! m,
d r e t pO S i e , E n dl e s s , . . .

i s t h e n a m e o f t h e D e i ty g i v e n i n t h e
”
B o u n dl e s s ,

Z o h a r , w h e r e i t i s s ai d o f Go d (1 11 283b ) th a t h e c an ,

n o t b e co m p r e h e n de d b y t h e i n t e ll e c t n o r de s c r i b e d i n ,

w o r ds , f o r t h e r e I S n o t h i n g w h i c h ca n g r a s p a n d de p i c t
h i m t o u s an d as s u ch h e i s , i n a ce r t a i n s e n s e n o t
, ,

e x i s t e n t (fi x)

S e e ab o v e
2“
4 t .
:

33
 TH E CA B A LA

ary A z a r i c l l a ys dow n the followi n g p roposi

tio n s :
1 The primary cause an d gover n or o f t h e
.

world i s the E n S oph (i e a bei n g i n fi n ite

. .
, ,

b ou n dless ) wh o i s both imm an e n t an d tra n s

,

ce n de n t .

2 . From the E n S oph ema n a ted the S ephiroth

which are the medium betwee n the absolute E n
S oph an d the real world .

3 There are t en i n termediate S ephiroth

. .

4 They are ema n atio n s an d n o t cre a tio n s

. .

They are both active an d passive .

“
6 The first S ephirah i s called
. I n scrutabl e
” “ ”
Height (r u m m aal a h ) : the seco n d Wisdom
( c h o k m a) the third I n tellige n ce
, ( b i n a h )
“
the fourth L ov e (ch es e d) the fi fth Justice
, ,
“ ”
(p a c h a d ) ; the sixth ,
B eauty ( p
t i h e r e t ) ; t h e
”
seve n th Firm n ess
, ( n e e a c h ) the eighth ,
“
S ple n dor (h a d) ; the n i n th the R ighteou s i n
,

the Fou n dation o f the World (z a di k y es o d

“ ”
ol a m ) a n d the te n th ,R ighteous n ess (e e da ka ) .

The first three S ephiroth form the world o f

thought ; the seco n d three the world o f the soul ;
a n d the four last the world o f body —
thus co r
respo n ding to the i n tellectual moral an d n atural
,

worlds
“

That I saac the B li n d mu st be rega rded as the

Fath er o f the Cabala i s ack n owledged by som e
,

O f the e a rliest an d m o s t i n tellige n t Cabali s t s

34
 P R E - Z O H AR PERI O D

themselves An d th e a uthor o f the c ab a listic

.

work e n titled M aa r e ch e th h a el oh u th s a id to be ,

a certai n P erez o f the s econd p a rt O f the thir

t ee n t h ce n tury f r an kly decl a res t h a t the doctri n e
,

o f the E n S oph a n d the T e n S ephiroth i s n either

to be fou n d in the L aw P rophets or H agi o , ,

g pr a h,
a n o r i n the writi n g s o f the R abbi n s o f
ble s sed memory b u t rest s solely upo n sig n s
,
”
which a r e s c a rcely perceptible .

A n other rem a rk able book o f thi s period i s the

S e ph e r B a h i r o r M idrash o f N eh u n jah b en h a
,
—

K a n ah . A ccordi n g to this work lo n g before the ,

cre atio n God cau s ed a metaphy s ical matter to

p roceed which became a ful n es s (m el o ) o f ble s s
,

i n g a n d sal v a tio n fo r a ll form s o f exi s tence T h e .

t en divi n e ema n atio n s which are not yet called,

S ephiroth but M a am ar i m a n d appe a r as c a t ego

,

rie s e n dowed with cre a tive power a r e co n n ected ,

with the a ttributes (m i ddo th ) o f God as well a s

with h i s fi n gers an d other members .

The doctri n e o f metemp s ychosi s i s already

give n here i n its mo s t i m port a n t features The .

work itsel f though ascribed to N eh u n jah i s o f

,

mu ch later d a te because it s peaks o f the Hebrew

,

vowel s a n d acce n ts O n ly a part o f the B ahi r

.

book h a s bee n publi s hed fir s t at A m s terdam , ,

6 5 1 the n ag a i n at B erli n 1 7 06 The gre ater ,

.

part i s still i n ma n uscript i n the libraries at P ari s

a n d L eyde n .

35
 TH E CA B A L A

The co n ver s io n o f t h e famou s Talmudi s t a n d

s c h ol a r M o s e s N ac h m a n i de s ( 1 1 94 12 7 0 ) to the 25 -

n e w ly bor n C ab a la gave to it a n extr a ordi n ary

-

import an ce an d r apid spre a d a mo n g s t h i s n umer

o u s follower s In the divisio n o f the syn agogues
.

c aused by t h e writi n g s o f M aimo n ide s N a ch m a n ,

ide s took the part of t h e latter prob ably more o n ,

accou n t o f the e s teem h e felt for thi s great m an

t h an f o r a n y sy m p a thy with hi s Opi n io n s M aim .

o n i de s i n te n ded to give Jud a i s m a character o f

u n ity but he produced the co n trary H is aim
,
.

wa s to harmo n ize philosoph y a n d religio n but ,

the result was a schis m i n the s y n agogue which ,

g ave birth to thi s queer ki n d of philo s op h y c alled

Cab a la a n d to thi s n e w ly bor n Cabala N ach
,
-

m a n i de s became co n verted though he was at fir s t ,

decidedly ad v erse to thi s sy s tem .

O n e day the C ab a li s t who w a s most ze a lou s to

co n vert h i m wa s caught i n a hou s e o f ill f a me -
,

a n d co n dem n ed to de a th He requested N ach .

m an i de s to vi sit him o n the S abb a th the day ,

fixed f o r hi s executio n N a ch m a ni de s reproved .

h i m for his s i n s but t h e Cabali st decl a red hi s i n

,

n oce n ce a n d that h e would p a rtake wit h him of

,

the S a bb a th meal A ccordi n g t o the s tory he did

.
,

a s he promised a s by mea n s o f the C ab a li s tic

,

my s terie s he e ffected hi s esc ape an d a n ass was ,

S ee m y ar t i cl e s . v . N ach m a n i de s in M c Cl i n t o ck
S trong
’
an d s Cy c l op .

36
 TH E C A B A LA

( the c r ow n o f God , the first S e ph i r a K e t e r ) a n d ,

t h e s eve n di ff ere n t lum i n ous an d sple n did regio n s .

In t h e J e z i r a t i c world a r e the sacred a n imal s i n

the v i s io n o f E zekiel the t e n cl a sses o f a n gel s ,

with their pri n ces who are pre s ided over b y th e

,

fiery M etatron the spirit s o f m e n an d the a c

6
,
2
,

ce s s o r y work o f the divi n e chariot In the A s i .

l ati e world a r e the O p h an i m the angel s who r e ,

c e i v e the p rayers who are appoi n ted over the

,

will o f m a n w ho co n trol the a ction o f mortal s

, ,

who carry o n the s truggle again s t e v il a n d who ,

are presided over by the a ngelic pri n ce S y n a

de l p h on .
27

“
4 The w orld was fou n ded i n wi sdom an d u n
.

de r s t an di ng (P rov iii and God i n hi s . .

k n owledge origin a ted fi fty g ate s o f understa n d

i ng .

5 God cre a ted the world a s the book Jez

.
—

i r ah a lready te a ches b y me an s o f the t e n S ep h —

i r o t h which are both the age n cies an d qualities

Th e an g e l wh o t
s an ds b eh i n d th e th ro n e of Go d .

T h i s S y n a de l p h o n i s n o do u b t t h e s a m e as
“
S an
dal p h o n t h e t h e m e o f Lo ng f e l l o w s p o e m o f th at n am e
” ’

, ,

w h i ch c“o m m e n c e s t h u s :
H a v e y o u r e a d i n th e T al m u d o f o l d,
In t h e L e g e n ds t h e R ab b i n s h a v e t o l d
O f t h e l i m i t l e s s r e al m s o f t h e a i r ,
H av e y o u r e a d i t t h e m ar v e l o u s s t o r y
,
—

O f S a n da l p h o n , t h e A n g e l o f Gl o r y ,
S an dal p h o n , t h e A n g e l o f P r ay e r !
”

In a n o t e o n p a g e 668 (B o s t o n an d N e w Y o r k e di
t i o n , 1893) i t i s s t a t e d t h a t L o n g f e l l o w m a r k e d ce r t ai n
p a s s ag e s i n S t e h e l i n s Th e Tr a di ti o ns of t h e J ews , w h i ch
’

e v i de n t l y f u r n i s h e d t h e m a t e r i a l .

38
 P R E - Z O H AR PE R I O D

of the Deity The t en S ephiroth are called

.

Crow n Wi sdom I n tellige n ce M ercy Fear

, , , , ,

B eauty Victory M a j e s ty a n d K i n gdom ; they

, ,

are merely ideal a n d sta n d above the co n crete

”
world (pp 2 .
,

The co n versio n o f To dr o s b en Joseph Hale v i

Ab u l a fi a (12 34 1 304 ) t o the Cab a l a gave to thi s
-
,

scie n ce a great i n flue n ce o n accou n t o f A bula ,

fi a s disti n gui s hed po s itio n as physicia n a n d

’

fi n an c ier i n the court o f S a n cho IV K i n g o f ,

C a stile The i n flue n ce o f Ab u l a fi a whose works

.
,

are still i n ma n uscript c an be best s ee n from the ,

fact that four Cabalists o f the first ra n k ra n ged

themselves u n der his b a n n er an d dedicated thei r
compositio n s to him These four Cabali s ts were .

I s aac Ib n L ati f o r A ll at i f A br ah a m Ab u l a fi a , ,

Joseph Gi k at i l l a an d M oses de L eo n all S pa n

, ,

i a r ds .

M y s t e r i es o f t h e Ca b a l a — I s a a c Ib n L atif .

( a b out 1 22 0 starti n g with the thought

that a philosophical view o f Judaism was
“
n ot the right ro a d to the s a n ctu a ry e n ,

de av o r e d t o combi n e philosophy with Ca

bala . He laid more stre s s th a n his p r e de ce s
s or s o n the clo s e co n n ectio n betwee n the spirit

ual a n d the materi a l world bet w ee n God an d —

hi s creatio n For the Godhead i s i n a l l a n d all

.
,

i s i n i t In soul i n spiri n g pr a yers the hum a n

.
-

39
 TH E CA B A LA

s pirit i s r a i s ed to world s pirit (s e ch e t h a

th e -

p oe l ) to w hich it i s u n ited i n a kiss an d so

,
‘
,
’

i n flue n ci n g t h e D eity it dr a ws dow n ble s s i n gs o n

,

the sublu n ar world B u t n o t e v ery m ort a l i s c ap

.

a ble o f such s piritu a l a n d e ffic a cious p rayer ;

t h ere fore the prophets the most perfect m en , ,

were obliged to pray for the people for they ,

alo n e k n ew the power o f p rayer The u n fold .

i n g a n d re v el a tio n o f the D eity i n the world o f

s pi rit s ,
s pheres a n d bodies A ll a t i f expl a i n ed by

m a them atic a l for m s The mutual rel atio n there .

“
o f i s the s a me a s that o f the poi n t exte n di n g a n d
thicke n i n g i n to a li n e the li n e i n t o the pl a n e the
, ,

”
pla n e i n to the expa n ded body .

An e n thusi a s tic co n tempor a ry o f All at i f was

A br aham b e n S amuel Ab u l a fi a (bor n a t S a ra
8 2

goss a 1240 ; died

,
He was a n ecce n tric
per s o n age full o f whim s a n d fo n d o f adve n tures
, ,
.

N ot sati sfied with philo s ophy he gave himself to ,

the my s terie s o f the C ab a l a i n their most fa n tastic

extreme s a s the ordi n ary doctri n e o f the S ep h
,

i r o t h did n o t s a ti sfy him He sought after some .

thi n g higher for prophetic i n spiratio n Through

, .

it he discovered a higher Cabala which off ered ,

the mea n s o f comi n g i n to spiritual commu n ion

with the Godhe a d an d o f obtai n i n g p r O ph et i c i n
,

sight To a n a lyze the words o f Holy Writ ,

Ab u l afi a (l o c c i t Vo l X I ,
t i cl e “
S ee m y ar s . v . . .
,
.

p 18 ) c o m p al s o Gi i n z b u r g D e r P s e u do M e s s ia s A b r a
. .
,
-

h a m A b u l a fia s ei n L e b en u n d s ei n Wi r ke n, C r a co w
. ,

40
 P R E - Z O H AR PE RI OD

e s peci a lly tho s e o f the divi n e n ame to use the ,

letters as i n depe n de n t n otio n s (N o tar i c on ) o r ,

to tra n spose t h e compo n e n t p a rt s o f a word i n

a ll po s s ible permutatio n s so as to form word s
,

from the m (Ts i r u f ) or fi n ally to employ t h e let

,

ters a s n umber s (Ge m a tr i a ) are i n deed me an s o f ,

securi n g commu n io n with the spirit world ; but -

thi s alo n e i s n o t su fficie n t To be worthy o f a

.

prophetic revelatio n o n e mu s t lead an a s cetic

,

li fe retire i n to a quiet closet ba n i s h all earthly

, ,

c a res clothe him s el f i n w hite g a rme n t s wr a p

, ,

him s el f up with Ta l i th (i e the f ri n ged gar . .

,

me n t ) a n d P hyl a cterie s a n d devoutly prepare hi s

,

soul as i f for an i n terview with the D eity He

,
.

must p ro n ou n ce the letters o f God s n ame at i n ’

t e r v a l s with modulatio n s o f the voice o r write

, ,

t h em dow n i n a certai n order u n der di v er s e n er

getic moveme n t s tur n i n g s an d be n di n g s o f the
,

body till the mi n d beco m e s dazed a n d the heart

,

i s filled with a glow Whe n o n e h a s go n e

.

through the s e practices an d i s i n s uch a co n di

tio n the ful n e s s o f the Godhead is shed abroad
,

i n the hum a n soul : the s oul the n u n ites it s el f

with the di v i n e soul i n a ki s s a n d prophetic rev ,

el atio n follo w s quite n a turally In this way he .

l a id dow n h i s C abala i n a n tithesi s to the super

,

fi c i al o r baser C a b a l a whic h occupies itsel f w ith

,

the S ephiroth a n d as he gibi n gly said erects a

, ,
“
so rt o f t e n u n ity i n s tead o f the Chri stia n
Tri n ity .

41
 TH E CA B A LA

Ab u l a fi a we n t to It a ly Urbi n o he pub ,
an d i n

l i s h e d ( 12 7 9 ) p r O p h e t i c writi n g s i n which he ,

records his co n ver s atio n s with Go d In 128 1 he .

u n dertook to co n vert the P ope M arti n IV to , ,

Judai s m In M es s i n a he imagi n ed that i t wa s

.
'

revealed to him th a t he w a s the M essi ah an d a n ,

n o u n ce d th a t the re s toratio n o f I srael would take

place i n 1296 M a n y believed i n him a n d pre

.

p ared them s elves f o r retur n i n g to the holy l an d .

O thers however r a i s ed s uch a storm o f opposi

, ,

tio n that Ab u l afi a h a d to escape to the i sland o f

Comi n o n ear M alt a (a bout
,
where he re
mai n ed for so m e time a n d wrote su n dry Cabal ,

i s t i c work s O f hi s ma n y works Jelli n ek pub

.

li s h e d h i s R ej oi n der to S olomo n b e n A de r e th ,

who attacked hi s doct ri n es an d p rete n sio n s as

M e s s i ah a n d prophet .

A di s ciple o f Ab u l afi a was J os ep h Gi ka ti ll a o f
M edi n a Celi who died i n P e n ja fi el a fter 1 30 5
-
, .

He too occupied himsel f with the mystici sm o f

, ,

letters a n d n umbers an d with the tra n spositio n ,

o f letters Hi s writi n gs a r e i n reality o n ly an

.

echo o f Ab u l a fi a s fa n cie s : the same delusio n i s

’

a ppare n t i n both Gik at il l a s system i s laid dow n

’
.

“
i n h i s Gi n n a th eg os i e
”
Garde n o f N uts pub
, . .
, ,

l i s he d at H an a u 1 6 1 5 ; an d S h a ar e or a i e
,
“
the ,
. .
,

Gate o f L ight first publi s hed at M a n tua 1 5 6 1

”
,
‘

, ,

A u s wa h l ka b b a l i s ti s c h er M y s ti c , P ar t I pp, . 20—25
( Ge r m an p ar t ) .

9
4 H
 P R E - Z O H AR PE RI O D

in Cracow tra n slated i n to L ati n b y

,
1 600 , an d

K n orr v o n R o s e n ro th i n the first part o f hi s

K a b b a l a D e n u da ta S ulzbach 1 677 7 8 , ,
-
.

B u t f a r more i n flue n tial a n d more per n iciou s

tha n A l l at i f Ab u l a fi a a n d Gi k a t i l l a w a s M oses
,

de L eo n (born i n L eo n about 12 5 0 died i n A re ,

valo ,
the author o f a book which g ave the
Cabala a firm fou n datio n a n d wide circulatio n ,

i n brief rai s ed i t to the ze n ith o f its power This

,
.

book i s k n ow n by the n ame o f Zohar o r S ple n dor .

A t first he publi shed hi s productio n s u n der hi s

o wn n ame (a bout B u t a s hi s writi n gs
were n o t su fficie n tly n oticed an d brought him ,

but littl e fame a n d mo n ey he hit upo n a much ,

more e ffective mea n s a n d comme n ced the com

po s ition o f books u n der feign ed but ho n ore d
n a mes I f he put the doctri n es o f t h e Cabala
.

i n to the mouth o f an older highly ve n erated au ,

t h o r i t y he was sure to be success ful i n every

,

respect An d he selected for thi s purpose the

.

T a n a i t e S imo n b en J o ch a l 30
who accordi n g to ,

traditio n spe n t thirtee n years i n a cave solitary ,

and buried i n pro fou n d reflectio n a n d whom a n ,

cie n t mystici s m represe n ted as receivi n g revela

tio n s from the prophet E lij ah S imo n b en J o ch ai .

was assuredly the right authority fo r the Cabala .

B u t he must n o t write or speak Hebrew but ,

Chaldee a la n guage peculiarly fit for secrets a n d

, ,

S ee t i cl e i n M c Cl i n t o ck S t rong
’
m y ar s . v . an d s
Cy c l op .
, Vol . IX p , . 75 7 .

43
 TH E CA B A L A

sou n di n g as i f from a n other world An d thu s

.

“ ”
there came i n to the world a book the Zohar
, ,

which for ma n y ce n turies was held by the Jew s

as a heave n ly revelation and was studied even
,

by Chri stians
.

44
 TH E C A B A LA

pri n ted with an additio n a l i n dex (A msterd a m ,

1 7 14 1 7 2 8 1 77 2 1 80 5 3
, , , ,
R ece n t editio n s
o f the Zohar were published at B reslau (1 8 66 3 ,

L ivor n o (1 8 7 7 7 8 i n 7 parts ) a n d Wil n a

-
, ,

( 1 8 8 2 , 3 vol s ;.1 8 82 8 3 i n -
1 0 p arts co n tai n i n g ,

ma n y comme n taries a n d a dditio n s ) .

The body o f the work takes the form o f a com

me n t a ry o f a highly mystic an d allegorical char
acter exte n di n g over the e n tire P e n tateuch ; but
the Zohar i s n o t co n sidered complete without the
additio n o f certai n appe n dices attributed to the
same author o r to some o f hi s perso n al o r suc
c e s s i o n al disciples .

These suppleme n tary portio n s are

“
1 S i ph r a di Ts e n i u th a i e
. The B ook o f
,
. .
,

S ecrets o r
”
M ysteries ”
co n tai n ed i n Vol I I
,
.
,

1 76 178
-
.It co n tai n s five chapters an d i s chiefly
occupied with discu s si n g the que s tio n s i n volved
i n the creatio n In the seco n d a n d third chapters
.

the p rophet E lij ah commu n icates the secret

which he lear n ed i n the heave n ly school that b e ,

fore the creatio n o f the world God was u n k n ow n

to m an but made k n ow n h i s esse n ce a fter th e
,

creatio n o f the world The history o f the crea

.

tio n i s represe n ted u n der the figure o f a scale ,

which adj usts the opposite aspects o f God before

a n d after the creatio n Thi s portio n has bee n
.

tr an s lated i n to L ati n by R o s e n ro t h i n the seco n d

volume o f hi s K a b b al a D e n u da ta (Fra n k fort O u -

46
 TH E Z O H AR

th e -
Mai n ,
1 684 ; E n gli s hed by M athers ,
l o c, ci t .
,

pp 4
. 3
2 I dde r a R a b b a
. i e The Great A s s embly
,
.

referri n g to the commu n ity o r college o f S imo n s

disciples i n their co n fere n ce s for cabali s tic di s
c u s s i on The s e discussio n s are chiefly occupied
.

with a de scriptio n o f the form an d variou s mem

bers o f the D eity ; a disqui sitio n o n the revela
tio n o f the D eity i n hi s two a spects o f the ,
“ “ ”
A ged an d the You n g to the cre a tio n a n d ,

the u n iver s e ; a s well as o n the diverse giga n ti c

members o f the Deity such as the head th e , ,

be a rd the eyes the n ose etc etc ; a di s s e r t i o n

, , ,
.
,
.

o n p n eumatology demo n ology etc etc,

Thi s ,
.
,
.

art i s ge n erally fou n d i n Vol I I I pp 1 2 7 b l 4 5 a -

p .
,
.
,

a n d has bee n tra n s l a ted i n to L ati n by R o s e n r o t h ,

l o c ci t an d E n gli shed by M athers pp 1 09 2 5 7

.
, ,
.
—

“
3 I dde r a Z u ta i e
. Th e S m al l A ssembly
,
. .
, ,

re ferri n g to the few disciples who still as s embled

for c ab a li stic di s cu ssion toward s the e n d o f their
m aster s li fe o r after hi s de cease It is t o a
’
.

great exte n t a r ec a pitul atio n o f th e I dder a R a b b a ,

a n d co n clu des with recordi n g the de a th o f S imo n

b e n J o ch ai the S acred L ight a n d the medium

,

th rough whom God revealed the co n te n ts o f the

Zoh ar This part i s fou n d i n Vol I I I 28 7 b
. .
,

296 b an d from the L ati n o f R o s en r o th (Vo l I I

,
.

o f the K a b b a l a D e n u da ta ) it has bee n E n glishe d

b y Ma thers pp 2 5 9 34 1 -
,
.
-
.

47
 TH E C A B A LA

To these three larger appe n dice s a r e added fi f

tee n other mi n or fr agme n ts v i z ,
.
°

4 S ab a i e
.
“
The A ged M an al so called
,
. .
, ,

” “
S a b a dem is h pa ti m or The D i s cour s e o f the ,

A ged i n Mi s h p at i m ”
give n i n I I 94a l l 4a The , ,
-
.

”
A ged is the prophet E lij ah who holds co n verse
with R abbi S imo n abou t the doctri n e o f metem
p s ychosi s an d the di scussion i s attached to t h e
,

S abbatic s ectio n called M i s h p at i m

“ ”
i e E xod ,
. .
,
,

xx i l xxiv 18
,
-
. .

5 M idrash R uth a fr ag m e n t
.
,
.

6 S ep h er h a b b a h i r i e
“
. Th e B ook o f Clea r
-
, . .
,
”
L ight .

7 a n d 8 Tos ep h ta an d M a t tan i tan i e

. S m a ll ,
. .
,

”
A dditio n al P iece s which are found i n the thre e ,

volumes .

9 R aw m eh e m n a i e
. The F aith ful S hep , . .
,

herd fou n d i n t h e seco n d a n d thi rd vo l umes

, .

The faith ful shepherd i s M ose s who ho l ds a dia

logue with R abbi S imo n at whi ch n o t only t h e ,

p rophet E lij ah i s p rese n t but A braham I s a ac, , ,

J a cob A aro n D avid S olo m o n a n d eve n Go d

, , , ,

himsel f make thei r appeara n ce .

“
1 0 H e kal o th i e The palace s f ou n d i n
‘

. . .
, , ,

the first an d seco n d v o lumes treat s o f the topo ,

g raphical structure O f par a di s e and hell .

“
1 1 S i th r e To r a h i e The S ecrets o f th e ,
. .
,

Law .

12 M i dr as h h an n e el a m i e
. Th e Co n ceale d-
,
. .
,

48
 TH E Z O H AR

T reati se , which passages o f S cripture are e x

in
plai n ed mystically Thus L ot s two daughters .
’

a r e the two proc l ivities i n m a n good a n d evil ,

( I
,
I t a lso di scourses o n the properties
a n d desti n y o f the soul .

1 3 R a z e de R az i n i e
. Mysteries o f M y s ,
. .
,

”
t er i es ,
co n tai n ed i n I I 7 0a 7 5 a i s e s pecially de ,
-
,

voted to the physiog n omy of the Cabala a n d the ,

co n nection o f the soul with the body .

14 M i dras h Ch ae i th o n the S o n g o f S o n gs
.
,
.

1 5 M adm a r t o Ch az i a di scourse s o e n titled

.
,

“
from th e fi rst words Come an d see ,
.

”
16 Yan u ka i e
. The Youth give n i n I I I
,
. .
, , ,

18 6a- 192a record s the di s courses delivered by a

,

y ou n g m an who accordi n g to R S imo n was o f .

s uperhuman origi n

1 7 F e ka do i e
. Illustratio n s o f t h e L aw
,
. .
,
.

18 Chi b b u r a K a dm aa h i e The E arly

’

. . .
,

W ork .

The body o f th e work i s sometimes c a lled Z o

h a r Ga do l
”
,
The Great Zohar .

A u th o r s h i p of t h e Z oh a r
W h o i s th e a u .
—

th or o f thi s remark able book w h ich h a s co n ti n ,

ued to be a text book up to the prese n t day for

-
,

all those who have e s pou sed the doctri n es o f the

Cabala We have a n ticipated the a n s w er but let
!
,

u s see which reaso n s were adduced by moder n

s cholarship to prove th a t the Zoh ar i s a forgery

o f the thirtee n th ce n tury .

49
 TH E C A B A LA

No w the Zohar prete n d s to be a revel atio n

from Go d commu n icated through R abbi S imo n
b e n J o c h a i to h i s select di sciples accordi n g to ,

the Idde r a Zuta (Zohar I I I 2 8 7 b ) Thi s decl a ,

.

r a tio n a n d th e repeated represe n tatio n o f R abbi

S imo n b e n J o ch ai a s speaki n g an d te a chi n g
'

throughout the productio n fixed the authorship

upo n R abbi S imo n an Opi n io n mai n tai n ed
,

n ot o n ly by Jew s for ce n turies but even ,

by di sti n guished Ch ristia n scholars On .

the other ha n d it has bee n clearly dem

o n s t r a t e d by su ch Jewish scholars as Z u n z ,

Geiger Jelli n ek Graetz S tei n sch n eider an d a

, , , ,

ho s t o f others that the Zohar i s n o t the p roduc

,

tio n o f R abbi S imo n but o f the thi rtee n th ce n

,

tury by M ose s de L eo n (12 5 0

,
S imo ri
b e n J o c h ai w a s a pupil o f R abbi A kiba ; but the
earlie s t me n tio n o f the book s exi ste n ce occurs in
’

t h e ye a r 1290 a n d the a n a chro n ism s o f its styl e

,

a n d i n the f a cts re ferred to together with t h e

,

circumsta n ce that it speaks o f the vowel poi n t s -

a n d other M asoretic i n ve n tio n s which are clearly

S e e m y a r t i cl e s v i n M c Cl i n t o ck a n d S t r o n g P r o
. . .

f e s s o r S t r a ck w h o i s e n t i t l e d t o a h e a r i n g i n m a tt e r s o f
,

R ab b i n i c l i t e r a t u r e , s a y s “
H e ! R ab b i S i m o n ] h a s
l o n g b e e n r e g ar de d a s t h e a u t h o r o f t h e Z o h ar b u t t h i s
m a i n w o r k o f t h e Ca b al a w a s i n r e a l i ty c o m p o s e d i n

S p ai n b y M o s e s b e n S h e m T o b de L e o n i n t h e s e co n d
h al f O f t h e t h i r t e e n t h c e n t u r y , a s h a s b e e n p r o v e d e s p e
c i a l l y b y J a c o b E m de n i n M i tpa h a t h S e p h a r i m , A l t o n a ,
,
”
1 7 68 — E i n l e i tu n g i n de n Ta l m u d, 4t h c d, L e i p s i c, 1908 ,
p 93
.

50
 TH E ZO H A R

posterior to the T a lmud j usti fy J Mo r i nu s (al ,

.

though too o fte n extr a vaga n t i n h i s wil ful at

te m pts to depreciate t h e a n tiquity o f the latter
Jewi s h w ritings ) in asserti n g that the autho r
could n ot have lived much be fore the year 1000
o f the C hristia n era (E x er ci ta ti on e s B i b l i ca e pp ,
.

35 8 This later view o f the authorship i s

sustai n ed by the followi n g reaso n s :
1 The Zohar mo st ful s omely prai ses its o w n
.

autho r call s him the S acred L ight a n d exalts

, ,

him above M o s es the f a ith ful S hepherd (Z o

“
,

har I I I 1 32b ; l 44 a ) while the di sciples dei f y

, ,

R abbi S imo n be fore whom all m e n mu st appear

,

( 1 1 3
,
8 a )
2 The Zohar quotes a n d mystically e x plai n s
.

the Hebrew vowel points (1 16 b 24b ; I I 1 1 6a ; -

, , ,

I I I 6 5 a ) which were i n troduced later

, , .
2

3 The Zohar (I I 32 a ) me n tio n s the Crusades

.
, ,

the temporary taki n g o f Jerusalem by the Cru

s a de r s fro m the In fi de l s a n d the retaking o f it ,

by the S arace n s .

4 The Zohar (I I I 2 12 b ) records events which

.
,

tra n s pired A D 1264 . . .

5 The doctri n e o f E n S op h an d the S eph i r o th

.
-
,

a s w ell as the m e t e m h i retributio were

p y
s c o s an n ,

n o t k n ow n before the thirtee n th ce n tury .

6 The very existe n ce o f the Zohar accordi n g

.
,

to the sta n ch Cabalist Jehudah Ch ay o th (about

2
S ee m y ar t i cl e V o w el P o i n t s -
in M c Cl i n t o ck an d
S t ro n g .

51
 TH E CA B A LA

was u nk n ow n to s uch disti n gui shed C ab al

i s t s a s N a c h m a n i de s a n d B e n A de r e t h (12 35 -

1310 ) the fir s t w ho me n tio n s it i s T o dr o s A bu

l a fi a (12 34
7 I s aac o f A kko (about 12 90 ) a ffi rms that
.

The Zohar was put i n to the world from the

”
h ead o f a S pa n iard .

8 The Zohar co n tain s passages which M ose s

.

de L eon tra n slated i n to A ramaic from hi s works ,

e g the S e p h e r na R i m m on as Jellinek has dem

. .
,
-
,

o n s t r at e d i n hi s M os es de L e on u n d s ei n Ve r h al t
'

”
ni s s z u m S oh ar L eip sic 1 8 5 1 p 2 1 36 ; (see
, , ,
.
-

a l so Graetz Ges chi ch te der J u den VI I 498 ; 2 d

, , ,

e d 18 7 3 p 4 7 7 e t
.
, ,
.

The s e are some o f the rea s o n s why the Zoha r

i s n o w regarded as a pseudograph o f the thir
t ee n th centur y a n d that M oses de L eon S hould
,

h ave pal m ed the Zohar upo n S imon b e n J o ch a i

'

w a s n othi n g remark a ble si n ce this r abbi i s r e

,

garded by traditio n as the embodiment o f m y s t i

ci sm There was al so a fi n a n cial rea s on for from
.
,

t h e B ook J u c h as i n (pp 88 8 9 9 5 ed F i l i p o w s ki
.
, , ,
.
,

Lo n do n 18 5 7 ) we le a rn that when his w i fe asked

,

him why he publi shed the production o f h i s own

i n tellect under another man s n ame M ose s de ’
,

“
L eon repl ied that i f he were to publi s h it u n der
hi s own n ame n obody would buy it whereas u n ,

der the n ame o f R abbi S imon b e n J o ch a r it

yielded him a large reve n ue .

52
 CHAP TE R IV .

TH E C A B ALA I N T H E P O S T Z O H A R
'

PE R I O D .

Vi s i o n ary T e a c h i n g s — T h e n ew t e x t b ook -

o f reli g io n which w a s introduc ed into Judai s m

“
by stealth placed the K abbala which a ce n tury
, ,

b efo re had been u nknown o n the same level a s ,

the B ible and the Talmud an d to a certai n exte n t

,

o n a still higher level The Zohar undoubtedl y

.

p roduced good in S O far as it Opposed enthu s iasm

,

to the legal dr y as -du s t ma n ner o f the study o f

-

the Talmud stimulated the imaginatio n a n d the

,

feeli n gs and cultiv a ted a dispositio n that r e

,

str a ined the rea s oni n g faculty B u t the ills which .

it h a s brought o n Jud a i sm outweigh the good by

f ar. The Zohar co n firmed an d propagated a
g loomy superstitio n and stre n gthened in people s
,
’

mi n d s the beli e f in the K i n gdom o f S a ta n i n ,

evil s pi rits a n d ghost s Through its con s ta n t u s e

.

o f coarse expressio n o ften vergi n g o n the se n s

,

ual i n co n tradi s ti n ctio n to the chaste pure spi rit

, ,

pe rvadi n g Jewish literature the Zohar sowed the ,

54
 P O S T Z O H AR P E R I O D
-

seeds o f u n cle an desires a n d l a ter o n produced

,

a sect that laid aside all regard for dece n cy .

Fi n al ly the Zohar blu n ted the se n s e for the sim

,

ple a n d the true an d cre a ted a vi s io n ary world i n

,

which the soul s o f tho se who zealously occupied

themselves with it were lulled i n to a sort o f hal f
sleep an d lost the faculty o f disti n guishi n g b e
twee n right an d wro n g Its quibbli n g i n terpreta
.

tio n s o f Holy Writ adopt ed by the K abb a li s ts

,

a n d others i n fected with thi s ma n n erism per ,

verted the verses a n d words o f the Holy B ook ,

a n d made the B ible the wrestli n g grou n d o f the -

”
mo st curiou s i n san e n otio n s .

D uri n g the thirtee n th ce n tury the C abal a was

represe n ted i n Italy by M e n ahem di R eca n ati who
wrote a comme n tary o n the P e n t a teuch which i s
little else tha n a comme n tary o n the Zohar This .

work was tra n slated i n to L ati n by P ico della

M ira n dola .

A t the begi n n i n g o f the fourtee n th ce n tury

Joseph b en A braham ib n W akk ar (1290 1 340 ) -

e n de avored to reco n cile the Cab a la with phil

osophy an d to thi s e n d wrote a treati se o n the
,

cardi n al doctri n es o f the Cabala An a n alysi s o f .

this treatise which i s still i n ma n uscript i n the

,

B odleia n library (cod L aud 1 1 9 ; described by

. .

Uri NO 384 ) i s give n by S tei n sch n eider i n E r s ch

.

u n d Gruber s A llg e m e i n e E n cy cl opddi e P art I I

’
, ,

Vol X XX I p 100 f
.
, . .

55
 TH E CA B A L A

Duri n g the fourtee n th a n d fiftee n th ce n turie s

the C ab a l a w a s e s peci a lly cultivated i n S p a i n In .

u n m e a s ured terms the Zoharites de n ou n ced their

c o religio n i s ts who could n o t see the adva n tage s
-

o f the C a b a l a P romi n e n t a mo n g the Zoh a rites

.

w a s A brah a m o f Gr an ada who composed (be ,

twee n 1 39 1 a n d 1409 ) a cabali stic work B e r i th

”
m e n u ch a t The Cove n a n t o f P eace (A mster
, ,

da m , a farr a go o f stra n ge n a mes o f the

D eity a n d the a n gel s o f tra n sposed letter s an d

, ,

j ugglery with vowels an d acce n ts He h a d the .

”
h a rdihood s a y s Graetz to teach th a t those who
, ,

could n o t apprehe n d God by Cabalistic methods

belo n ged to the weak i n faith were ign ora n t s i n ,

n er s an d like the depr a ved a n d the apostate wer e

,

o v erlooked by God a n d n o t fou n d worthy o f

,

Hi s special provide n ce He thought that the r e.

l i n q u i s h m en t of thei r religio n by cultured Jew s

was explai n ed by their f a t a l applicatio n to s c i en
t i fi c study a n d thei r co n tempt fo r the Cabala
, .

O n the other ha n d he pro fes s ed to see i n the per

s e c u t i o n s o f 1 39 1 a n d i n the co n versio n o f so
,

ma n y p romi n e n t Jews to Chri sti an ity the toke n s ,

o f the M essia n i c age the su ff eri n g th at mu st pre

,
”
cede i t an d the approach o f the redemptio n
, .

A n other such writer w as S hem Tob b en Joseph

i b n S hem Tob (died author o f E m u n o th ,

“ ”
i e
. .
,
Faith ful n ess (Ferrara i n which ,

he attacks Jewi sh thi nkers an d philo s ophers as

56
 PO S T -
Z O H AR PE RI O D

heretics an d mai n tai n s that the salvatio n o f I s

,

rael depe n ds upo n the Cabala The third writer .

was Moses B o t a r el (o r B o t ar el o ) al so a S pa n ,

i a r d who claimed to be a thaumaturge a n d

,

p rophet an d eve n a n n ou n ced him s el f a s the Me s

,

siah H e p rophe s ied that i n the sp ri n g o f 1 393

.

the M essia n ic age would be ushered i n A s the .

Cabala pe n etrated all bra n ches o f li fe a n d litera

ture voices were al s o rai sed agai n st the Zohar
,
.

The first a mo n g the J ews who opposed its author

ity was E lias del M edigo who i n hi s B e ch i n a th ,

“ ”
h a da a th (i e
-
E xami n a tio n o f the L aw
. .
,
writ ,

t e n i n D ecember 149 1 ) ope n ly expressed hi s

,

opi n io n that the Zohar was the produc t io n o f a

forger a n d th at the Cabala was made up o f the
,

rags an d tatters o f the n eo P lato n ic school B u t -

.

h i s voice a n d that o f others had n o power to

check the rapid progres s o f the Cabala which ,

had n o w fou n d its way from S pai n an d Italy In to

P alesti n e an d P ola n d .

W o n de r W o r k e r s an d P r op h e t s — P a s si n g
over some mi n or advocates a n d teachers o f the
Cabala we must me n tio n two scholars i n P ales
,

ti n e who disti n gu ished themselves as masters o f

,

the Cabala M oses Cordovero a n d I saac L uria

,
1
.

The former (1 5 22 1 5 7 0 ) was a pupil o f S olomo n

-

Al kab e z an d wrote ma n y works o n the Cabala

2
.

Hi s pri n cipal work i s the P ar des R i m m on i m i -

,
.

1
S ee m y ar t i cl e s . v
.
“
M o s e s C o r do v e ro , l oc . ci t .

57
 TH E CA B A LA

e . The Garde n o f P omegra n ates

, (Cracow .
,

excerpts o f which have bee n tra n s lated

i n to L ati n by B a r t o l occ i i n B i b l i o th e ca M agn a
R a b b i n i c i a Vol IV p 2 31 f a n d by K n orr v o n
,
.
,
. .
,

“
R o s e n r o th , Tr a c ta tu s de A n i m a ex l i b r o P ar des
”
R im on i m hi s K a b b a l a D e n u da ta S ulzb ach
in , ,

1 6 77 Cordovero i s chiefly occupied with the sci

.

e n t i fi c specul a tio n s o f the Cabala or the s pecul a ,

tive C abal a i n co n tradisti n ctio n to the wo n der

,

w orki n g Cabala which was rep rese n ted by I saac

,

L uri a (bor n i n Jeru s alem i n 1 5 34 an d died ,

H e cl a imed to have co n sta n t i n terview s

with the prophet E lij ah who commu n icated to ,

him s ublime doctri n es He visited the sepulchers .

o f a n cie n t teacher s a n d there by prostratio n s a n d

, ,

p rayer s obtai n ed from thei r spirits all ma n n er o f

,

revelatio n s He was co n vi n ced that he was the

.

M essi a h the s o n o f Joseph an d that he was able

, ,

to perform all sorts o f miracles He im agi n ed .

a complete system o f tra n smigratio n a n d combi

n atio n O f soul s H e saw spirits everywhere ; he
.

saw how the souls were set free from the body
a t death how they hovered i n the ai r o r rose o u t
, ,

o f thei r graves O n the S abbath he dressed i n

.

white an d wore a four fold garme n t to symbolize

,

the four letters o f the n ame o f God Hi s se n ti .

me n ts he delivered orally an d hi s disciples treas

H e i s t h e a u t h o r o f a h y m n L e c h a do di
2 “
i e , . .
,

Co m e m y b e l o v e d w hi ch i s f o u n d i n a ll J e w i s h
”
,

p y b o ok s an d u s e d i n t h e s e r v i ce f o r S ab b a t h e ve
r a e r -
, .

58
 P O S T Z O H A R PE RI O D
-

u re d up his m a rvelous sayi n gs whereb y they ,

performed mi racles a n d co n v erted thousa n ds to

t h e doctri n es o f thi s theosophy .

Hi s di s ciple s were di v i de d i nt o two classes the

"

t
,

” “ ”
i n itiated an d the n ov i ces who bo a s tfully ,

“ ” “ ’
c a lled themselves gu r é xa r i i e the lio n s ,
. .
,

whelp s They syste m ati ca lly ci rcul a te d the most

.

a b s urd stories ab o u t L u r i a s m i racle s a n d thu s

’
~

it c a me about that hi s c ab alist i c doctri n es caused

i n expressible h a rm i n Jewi s h circles Th rough .

L uri a s i n flue n ce a Jud aism o f the Zohar an d the

’

C abala w a s f ormed side by s i de with the Judai sm

o f the T a l m u d a n d the r a bbis ; for i t wa s due t o
‘

him that the spurious Zohar wa s p laced upo n a .

le v el with i n deed higher tha n the Holy S crip

,
. .
,

tures an d the T a lmud .

The re a l expon e n t o f L uri a s cabali s tic system ’

wa s Ch ay i m Vi t al Cal abrese (1 5 4 3
g
3
A fter
his ma s ter s death h e dilige n tly collected all the
’
.

ma n uscript n otes o f t h e lectures delivered by

L uria which togeth er with hi s o wn j o t ti n gs V ital
'

“
published u n der th e title o f E 2 ch ayi m i e The ,
.
,

”4
T ree o f L i fe havi n g spe n t o v e r th i r t y years
,
r

upo n thei r prepar atio n The work co n si s ts o f .

six p a rts ; that portio n which treats o f : the doc :

tri n e o f metemp sychosis (H agi lgu l i m ) i s fou n d ,

t i cl e V i t al M c cl i n t o ck
’

an d
’
S ee m y ar s . v . in
S t ro n g .

F o r a des cr i pt i o n o f t h e c o m p o n e n t p a r t s o f t h i s
‘

wo rk, s e e F ii r s t B i b li o th eca J u dai ca, 1 1 1 , p p 479 48 1

,
-
. .

59
 TH E CA B A L A

R o sen r oth
’
in a L a ti n tra n slatio n i n K n orr vo n s

work .

The L uri a V ital system fou n d man y adhere n t s

-

everywhere A braham de Herera (died 1 639 )

.

w rote i n S p anish two cabalistic works the ,

“ ” “
House o f Go d (b e th E l oh i m ) a n d the Gate
o f Heave n (s h aa r h a—s h e m ayi m ) which the ,

A m s terdam prea cher I saac Ab o ab translated i n to

Hebrew B oth are give n i n a L ati n tra n slation
.

i n K n orr v o n R o s e n rot h s work together with

’
,
”
a tra n slatio n o f The Valley o f the K i n g (e m e k
h a m e l e ch ) by N aphtal i Fra n k furter
-
B eside s .

the s e we may me n tio n I saiah Horwitz (died at

Tiberias i n author o f S h n e l u ch oth h a b ’

“
e n th (abbreviated S h e l a
'

) i e The Two Ta , . .
,

”
bles o f the Cove n a n t a ki n d o f R eal E n c yc l o
,
-

pedia o f Judai sm o n a cabal i stic basi s Thi s .

work has bee n o fte n rep ri n ted an d e n j oys a

great reputatio n amo n g th e Jews A bridgme n ts .

o f it were freque n tly published (A mste r dam ,

1 68 3 V e n ice 1 7 0 5 Warsaw , ,

Ther e were n o t wa n ti n g those who opposed the

Ca b ala O f the n umerous op po n e n ts which the
.

Zohar a n d L uri a Vital s works called forth n o ne

-
’

was so dari n g so outspoke n an d power f ul as

,

L eo n de Mode n a o f V e n ice (1 5 7 1 He i s
best k n ow n as the author o f H i s t or i c; dei R i ti
H e b r a i ci e d o b s e r va n z a degl i H e b r ei di q u es ti
ps, or “
tem th e History o f the R ites , Cu s toms a n
d
60
 TH E CA B A LA

bor n at S myr n a July 1 64 1 Whe n fi ftee n years

, ,
.

o f age he rapidly mastered the my s teries o f the

C abala which he expou n ded before crowded an d

,

i e n c e s at the age o f eightee n Whe n twe n ty four .

-

ye a r s o f age he revealed to his disciples th at he

,

was the M essi ah the s o n o f D avid the true R e

, ,

deemer a n d that he was to redeem an d deliver

,

I s r a el from thei r c aptivity A t the s ame time he .

publicly pro n ou n ced the Tetragrammato n which 7

,

the high p riest was o n ly permitted to do o n the .

d ay o f ato n eme n t A s he woul d n o t desi st he

.
,

w as excommu n icated by the Jewi sh sages at

S myr n a He we n t to S alo n ica A the n s M orea
.
, ,

a n d Jerus a lem te a chi n g hi s doctri n es proclaim

, ,

i n g himsel f the M essi ah a n oi n ti n g p rophets an d ,

co n verti n g thousa n ds upo n thousa n d s A s hi s .

followers prepared to be led b a ck by him to Jeru

s alem they wou n d up thei r a ffairs a n d i n ma n y
,
,
,

places trade was e n tirely stopped B y the o rder

. .

o f the S ulta n M ohammed I V S ab b ath a i Zevi

, ,

was arrested an d t ake n before him at A dria n

“
ople The S ulta n said to him :
. I am goi n g t o
test thy M essiahship Three poi so n ed a r r o w s .

shall be shot i n to thee an d i f they do n o t k il l ,

thee I too will believe that thou art th e M essiah

, .

He s aved himsel f by embraci n g I slamism i n the

pre s e n ce o f the S ulta n who gave him the n ame ,

E ffe n di a n d appoi n ted him K ap i dji B ashi

, S ab -
.

Cal l e d b y t h e J e w s s h e m - h a m m eph or as h o n w h i ch
7
,

s ee m y a r ti cl e s v i n M c c l i n t o ck a n d S t r o n g
. . .

62
 P O S T Z O H AR P E R I O D
-

h athai di ed S ept 10 1 67 6 a fter havi n g rui n ed

.
, ,

thous a n ds upo n thousa n d s o f Jewi s h f amilie s In .

spite o f this fiasco the n umber o f S ab b a th ai s fol ’

lo w ers wa s n o t dimi n i s hed .

Famou s as a ch a mpio n o f orthodoxy w a s J acob

I s rael E mde n (1696 1 7 7 6 ) r abbi o f A lto n a —
.

D uri n g h i s rabbi n ate there the famou s Jo n a th an ,

E yb e n s ch ii t z (bor n i n Cr a cow i n 1 690 ) w as

8

c a lled to A lto n a i n 1 7 5 0 s i n ce the Germ a n a n d ,

P oli sh Jews were divided i n th a t place A s e v ery .

r abbi was regarded a s a sort o f m agici an the ,

n e w come r w as expected to s top

-
the epidemi c
ragi n g at th a t time i n the city E yb e n s c h ii t z p re .

pared amulets w hich he di s tribut ed am o n g t h e

,

people F o r cu rio s ity s s ake o n e w a s Ope n ed

.
’

,
“
a nd 10 ! i n it w a s writte n : O thou Go do f I s r a el ,

who dwellest i n the be a uty o f thy po w er s e n d ,

dow n s a lvatio n to thi s per s o n through the merit

of thy serva n t S ab b a t h a i Zevi i n order t h at t h y ,
'

n a me a n d the n a me o f the M essi a h S ab b a t h a i

,

Z evi may be hallo w ed i n the world Thi s am

’

ulet came i n to the h a n ds o f E mde n E yb e n .

s ch ii t z de n ied a ll co n n ectio n with the a d h ere n ts

o f S ab b a t h a i a n d a s he had alre a dy g a i n ed a
,

great i n flue n ce he w a s belie v ed ; a t lea s t a lmo s t

, ,

e verybody kept quiet B u t E mde n was n o t quiet

.
,

an d fi n ally the b an was pro n ou n ced a g a i n st E

y
b e n sch ii t z E v e n the K i n g Frederic V of D e n
.

8
S ee m t
y a r i cl e s . v .
“
E y b e u s e h u tz i n 10 6 . ci t , Vo l .

XII p , . 367 .

63
 TH E C A B A LA

mark sided with E mde n an d E yb en s ch ut z l o s t ,

his positio n B ei n g forsake n by his frie ds y

. n E =
,
~

b e n s c h ii tz we n t to hi s former pupil M ose s Ger ,

-
s

s on K ohe n who a fter b a ptism took the n ame o f

,

K arl A n to n A n t o n w rote an apology i n beh a l f

.

o f h i s tea c her which he d e dicated to the K i n g o f

,

De n mark Thi s an d other i n fluences had t h e

.

e ffect that the whole a ff air was dropp e d an d E y

b e n s ch ii t z w a s elected a n ew a s rab bi o f the co n
g gr e a t i o n E y b.e n s c h u t z died i n 1 7 64 and w a s

follo w ed twelve year s later by hi s oppo n e n t E m a

de n . B oth a r e buried i n the Jewi sh cemetery o f

A lto n a .

A n other Zoharite was Jacob Fra n k (J anki e w 9

L eb o w i c z ) the fou n der o f the J ew i s h sect o f t h e

,

F ra n ki s ts bor n i n P ola n d i n 1 7 12
,
H e acquired .

a gre at reputatio n a s a Cab a li s t a n d s ettled i n ,

P odolia where he pre a ched a n e w doctri n e t h e

, ,

fu n dame n tal pri n ciples o f which he had borrowed

f rom the teachi n gs o f S ab b ath a i Z evi He w as .

a rrested throu gh the i n flue n ce o f the rabbi s b u t ,

was liberated through the i n terve n tio n o f the R 0

m an C a thol i c cle r gy a n d auth o rized by the K i n g
,

to pro fess freely his te n ets Hi s followers the n .

,

u n der the n ame of Zoharites a n d A n ti Ta l m u d - e

i s t s opp r e ss e d thei r former adversaries i n tur n .

A s the papal n u n cio at War s aw declared agai n s t

them Fra n k an d m o s t o f h i s adhere nt s em brace d
,

Co m p . Gr ae t z ,
F ra n k uud di e F r a u ki s te u, B e r l i n ,

64
 P O S T -Z O H AR PE RI O D

C h ristia n ity Fr a n k co n ti n ued to make pro s e

.

lytes a n d his s ect i n creased i n P ola n d a n d B o

b emia He lived i n p ri n cely style o n me a n s fur n
.

i s h e d him by h i s follower s an d died at O ff e n

,

bach i n Hes se D ecember 10 1 7 91

, , , .

The Cabalists o f the eightee n th ce n tury with ,

the exceptio n o f M ose s Ch ay i m L u z z at to (bor n

1 7 07 di e d
,
are o f little importa n ce Mo d
.

e r n i n flue n ces gradually put a stop to the author

ity o f the Cabala a n d moder n Judaism s ee s i n the

,

Cabala i n ge n eral o n ly an hi storical curiosity o r

a n obj e ct o f literary hi storical di squisitio n s .

65
 C H AP T E R V .

TH E M O S T I M PO R T AN T D O CT R I N E S O F
T H E C A B ALA .

Go d and Cre a t i o n — A fte r h av i n g b eco m e

‘
. ac

i te d i n p fev i o u s
chapters with the principa l
'
’

q u a n

a ctors i n the cabali stic drama we are n o w p r e s

pared to exami n e the te n ets o f the Cab a l a .

D i ffere n t from the sy s tem as exhibited i n the

B ook o f Creatio n or J e z i r ah i s that o f the Zohar ,

because the m o re di fficult s i n ce it e m br a ces n o t

,

merely the origi n o f the world but like w i se ,

specul ates o n the e s se n ce o f God a n d t h e proper ~

ties o f m an ; i n other words it treat s o f theolog y ,

co s mology an d a n thropology .

S t a rti n g from the idea o f the S upreme B ei n g

as bou n dless i n hi s n ature which n ecessarily i m
—

plie s that he i s a n ab solute u n ity a n d i n scrut able ,

an d that there i s n othi n g without him God i s —

called E u S op h i e e n dle s s
“
,
.
” “
.bou n dle s s
,
”
In , .

thi s boundless n e s s God c an n ot be comp rehe n ded

by the i n tellect n o r described i n word s ; f o r th er e
,

i s n othi n g which c an grasp him an d depict him

66
 ITS D O CTR I N E S

to u s a n d as such he i s i n a certai n sense not

,
1 "

exi s te n t (ay i n ) si n ce a s far a s o u r mi n d i s c o n

,

cer n ed ; that w hich is i n compre h e n s ible does n o t

exi s t .

Th e E n S oph n o t bei n g a n obj ect o f cog n ition

, ,

m a de hi s exi s te n ce k n ow n i n the creatio n o f the

w orld by mea n s o f attributes or mediums the t e n ,

S ephiroth or intellige n ces radiatio n s ema n atio n s

, , , ,

ema n a ti n g from the E n S oph an d which i n thei r ,

totality repre s e n t a n d are called the A da m K a d

m ou ,
the P rimordi a l o r A rchetypal Man
“ ”
.

“
T h e fi rst S ephi rah i s call ed K e th e r Crow n ,

“ ”
the second Ch o ch m a Wi sdom ; the third B i u a , ,

“
I n tellige n ce ; the fourth Ch es e d M ercy ; the
” “
,

“ ”
fi fth D i rt Judgme n t ; the si x th Ti ph er e th
, ,

” “ ”
B eaut y ; the seve n th N e z a ch S ple n dor ; the ,

eight h H od M aj esty ; the n i n th J es oa Fou n

“ ”
,
“
,
~

datio n the te n th M al ch uth K i n gdom

“ ”
, .

N o w the fir s t S ephirah which i s called the ,

Crow n the A ged the P rimordi al o r the S mooth

2
, ,

P oi n t the White Head the L o n g Face M a cr o

3
, , ,

1
R ab b i A z ar i e l i n h i s co m m e n ar t y on th e ten S ep h
i r o t h t e l l s u s t h a t t h e E n S o p h c a n n e i th e r b e c o m
“

p r eh e n de d b y t h e i n t e l l e c t n o r de s c r i b e d i n w o r”ds ; f o r
,

t h e r e i s n o l e tt e r o r w o r d w h i ch can gr a s p h i m With .

t h i s co m p ar e w h a t P r o cl u s , t h e“ n e o - P l at o n i s t , s ay s i n
h i s Th e o l og y o f P l a to, I I , 6 : A l t h o u g h t h e Di v i n i ty
i s g e n e r a l l y ca l l e d t h e u n i ty (7 6 é V) o r t h e fi r s t , i t w o u l d
'

b e b e tt e r i f n o n am e w e r e g i v e n h i m ; f o r t h e r e i s n o
w o r d w h i c h c an de p i c t h i s n at u r e— h e i s t h e i n e xp r e s s
i b l e ( fi bi mm c) t h e u n kn o w n
, I s a ac ib n
L a t i f ( 1220- 1290 ) e v e n s ay s Go d i s i n al l a n d e v e r y
“
,

t h i n g i s i n Go d ”
.

7
 TH E C A B A LA

p r os o p on the I n scrutable Height co n tai n ed

, ,
4
th e
o t h er n i n e S ep h i r o th an d ga ve rise to them i n
t h e following order : from the fir s t S ephi r a h pro
c e e de d a m a sculine or active potency d e s ig n a ted
”
( )
2 C h o e h m a Wisdom a n d,
a n opposite i e , ,
. .
,

a feminin e o r pas sive pote n c y c a lled (3) B i n a , ,

“ ”
I n tellige n ce These two oppo site potencies a r e
.

j oi n ed together by the fi r s t potenc y an d thu s ,

y ield th e first triad o f the S ephiroth From t h e .

j unction o f the foregoi n g opposites which a r e ,

al s o called F ather (a b b a ) and M other (i m

” “ ” a

m a ) ema n ated agai n the mas culine o r active p o

t e n cy called (4 ) Ch e s e d
“
M erc y or L ove al s o
”
, ,

“ ”
Ge du l ah Greatness and from thi s agai n ema
, ,

h ated the feminine o r passive pote n c y called (5 )

” “
Di n Ju dgme n t a l so Ge b a r ah Judical P ower
, , , .

F rom thi s again ema n ated the u n iti n g pote n c y

“ ”
6
( ) T i ph e r e t h B eauty We have
,
thu s the sec.
=

o nd trinity of the S ephiroth N ow B eaut y .

beam ed forth the masculi n e or active pote n cy (7 )

“ ”
N ez a ch S plendor
,
and thi s agai n gave rise to
,

( )
8 the feminine o r passive pote n cy H o d
“
Ma j
e sty from it again emanated (9 ) J es od F o u n ,

Th i s m u s t n o t b e c o n f o un de d w i th Aged
2
th e of
”
th e A g e d a s t h e E n S o p h i s cal l e d .

8
Wh en C o n ce al e d o f t h e C o n ce al ed w i s h e d t o
th e
r e v e al h i m se l f h e fi r s t m a de a s i n gl e p o i n t ; t h e I n fi n i t e
,

wa s e n ti r e l y u n kn o w n an d di ff u s e d n o l i g h t b e f o r e t h i s
,
”
l u m i n o u s p o i n t v i o l e n t l y b r o ke t h r o u gh i n t o v i si o n .

( Z o h ar I 15 a )
, , .

So c al l e d by R ab b i A z ar i c l .

68
 TH E C A B A LA

r epre s e n t th e i n tellect ; he n ce thi s tri a d i s c a lled

“ ”
b y A z a r i el the i n tell e ctu al world (o l a m m u s kal

Fig 1. . ADA M K AD M O N , T H E A R C H ET Y PA L M AN .

o r o l am h a - s e ck e l ) . The seco n d triad which rep

70
 IT S D O CT R I N E S

rese n ts moral qu alitie s i s c a lled the moral ,

or
“ ”
se n suou s world (ol am m u rg as h also ol am
, ,
ha

C row n 1

3 I t ll ig
n e e nce Wi sd o m Z

5 J U S t lce Lo ve 4 ,

Be au ty 6

8 Sp l nd
e or Fi rm ne s s 7

F nd ti
ou a on 9

Ki ng d om 10

F ig . 2 . TH E C A B A L I S TI C T RE E .

ne p h es h ) an d
the third represe n ti n g power an d ,

“ ”
stability i s called the material world
, (o l a m

71
 TH E C A B A LA

m u t ha or ol a m h a te b a ) -
‘

A s co n cer n s the cabalistic tree (the i a

l u h -
a ca

Crown 1

3 Int ll ig
e e nc e Wi sd om 2

5 us ti

B e aut y

8 Sp l nd
e or Fi rm ne s s 7

Foun d ti
a on 9

K ngi d om 10

3 . TH E P I LL A R A RRA N GE M E N T .

the S ephiroth are so arra n ged that the first

b al a ) ,
triad i s placed above the second and third a re,

72
 I TS D O C T R I N E S

placed below i n such a ma n n er that the thre e

,

masculi n e S ephiroth are o n the right the three ,

femi n i n e o n the left whilst the four u n iti n g

,

S ephiroth occupy the ce n ter as show n i n Fig 2 ,

.

A ccordi n g to a n other arra n geme n t th e S eph

i r o t h are so ordered that they form three pillar s ,

a right o n e (s i tr a di m i u a also am u da de ch es e d
,
-
,

i e the pillar o f mercy ) a le ft o n e (s i tr a dis

. .
,

m o l a also a m u da de di u a i e
,
the pillar o f j udg
-
,
. .
,

me n t ) an d a middle o n e (am u da de e m z ai ta ) In
,
-
.

the right pill a r to which belo n g the S ephiroth

Wi s dom L ove a n d Firm n ess is li fe ; i n the left
, ,

with the S ephiroth I n tellige n ce Judgme n t S pl en , ,

dor is D eath
,
The middle pillar comp r i ses
.

Crow n B eauty Fou n datio n The basi s o f all

, , .

three pillars i s the K i n gdom Fig 3 illustrates . .

this .

S o far as the S ephiroth represe n t the first m an

i f e s t at i o n o f God they form a worl d for them
selves an ideal worl d which has n othi n g to do
,

with the real material world A s such it i s n o w

,
.

called the primordial the A rchetypal M a n ,

( A d a m K a dm ou ) now the
,
Heave n ly M a n

( A d am I l a i ) A s for the A dam K a dm o n di f

.
,

f e r e n t views exi st i n the cabali s tic writi n gs He .

i s sometimes take n as the totality o f the S e ph

i r o t h an d he appears as a pre S e p h i r ot i c first
,
-

em an atio n an d superior to them by which God ,

m a n i fested himsel f as creator a n d ruler o f the

73
 TH E CA B A LA

world a s i t ; w e r e a p rototype (macrocosm ) o f

,
.

the e n tire c reatio n In thi s case it would seem a s .

i f the A dam K adm o n were a fir s t ma n i fest atio n ,

i n serted betwee n God an d the world so to say a ,

seco n d God or the divi n e Word

5 6
.

A ccordi n g to a l a ter theorem four worlds pro

c ee d by a n ema n atio n i n di ff ere n t grad atio n s .

Thi s i s expressed by Ib n L ati f thus : A s the

poi n t exte n ds an d thicke n s i n to a li n e the li n e ,

i n to the pla n e the pla n e i n to the expa n ded body

, ,

thus God s s el f ma n i festatio n u n folds itsel f i n

’
-

the di ff ere n t worlds .

In each o f these fou r worlds the t en S ephi roth

recur The first S ephirah gave birth to the O l a m
.

a z i l a or world o f ema n atio n con t ai n i n g the ,

powers o f the divi n e pla n o f the world Its b e .

i n gs have the same n ature as that belo n gi n g to

the world o f the S e phiro th o r to the A d a m K ad
m on . This world which i s al so called the ol a m
h a s e p h i r o th i e
“ ”
—
the world o f the S ephiroth
, .
, ,

i s the seat o f t h e S hechi n ah From the ol a m

f

_
.
.

“
a z i l a p roceeded the o l a m b e r i a o r world o f cre
atio n i n which accordi n g to R abbi Isaac N asi r
,
7

are the soul s o f the sai n ts all the blessi n gs zth e , ,

5
ae uT ep os Oeos

h oyos
'
,

H e flo u r i s h e d i n t h e fi r s t h al f o f t h e tw el fth c e n
7

t u r y a n d i s t h e a u t h o r o f a t r e a t i s e o n t h e E m an a t i o n s
(M a s s e c h e t h A z i l u th ) r e p r i n t e d b y J e ll i n e k i n h i s
A u s wa h l K a b b a l i s tis c h er M y s ti k, P ar t I L e i p s i c, 185 3 . .

74
 IT S D O CT R I N E S

thro n e o f the D eity a n d the palaces o f all spirit ,

u al a n d m oral p erfectio n The ol a m b er i a gave .

“
birth to the ol a m jez i r ah or world o f forma
”
tio n i n which dwell the holy a n gels who se
, ,

p ri n ce i s M etatro n 8
B u t there are a lso the de
.

mo n s which on accou n t o f their grossly se n sual

,

“ ”
n a ture are called K el i ph o th shells an d i n habit , ,

the pl an ets an d other heave n ly bodies or t h e

re a lm o f the ether .

The fourth world i s called ol a m as s i y a the ,

”
world o f actio n I ts sub s t an ces co n sist of mat
.

ter limi ted by space a n d perceptible to the se n ses

i n a multiplicity o f forms It i s subj ect to c on .

s t a n t cha n ges ge n eratio n s an d corruptio n s an d

, , ,

i s the a bode o f the E vil S pirit .

L ike the Talmud an d the M idrash the Zohar ,

repre s e n ts the Optimi stic view that the prese n t ,

world i s the best Thu s we read (Zohar I I I .

, ,
“
There were old worlds which peri shed ,

a s s oo n as they came i n to exi ste n ce ; they were

formless a n d were called sparks Thus the smith

, .

Gr a e t z Gu o s ti c i s m J a de n i u m 1 846 p 44 de
8
, us u u d , , .
,

r i v é s t h e w o r d f r om ner d 0p6VO V, b e c a u s e t h i s an g e l i s
i m m e di a t e l y u n de r t h e di v i n e t h r o n e C as s el (E r s ch .

a n d Gru b e r s E u c y k l opadi e s ec t i o n I I , v o l XXVI I , s v

’ '

. . .
,

J u de n , p 40 n o t e 84 ) de r i v e s ”i t f r o m m e ta t or , i e ,
“ ”
.
, . .

m es s e n g e r o u t r i de r , p a t h fi n de r
, W ii n s ch e al s o co n .

n ec t s i t w i t h ue r é w p A cc o r di n g t o t h e Z oh a r , I , 1 z 6b ,
‘
.

M e t a t r o n i s t h e fi r s t c r e at u r e o f Go d; t h e m i ddl e p i l l ar
(i n t h e e s s e n c e o f Go d) o r t h e u n i t i n g l i nk i n t h e
m i ds t c o m p r i s i n g a l l g r a de s
, f r o m t o p do w n w a r ds an d
, ,

f r o m t h e b o tt o m u pw a r ds (i b i d I I I , 127a ) ; t h e v i s i b l y .
,

m a n i f es t e d D e i ty (i b i d, I I I , 23l a ) . .

75
 TH E CABA LA

whe n h am meri n g the i ro n lets the s park s fly i n ,

a l l directio n s These spark s are the primordial

.

world s w hich could n o t co n ti n ue becau se the

, ,

S a cred A ged had n o t as yet assumed hi s for m

( o f opposite sexes the K i n g a n d Q—
uee n ) a n d ,

the M aster w as n o t yet at his work An d agai n .

“
we read (I I I 6 1 17 ),
The Holy O n e blessed be ,

he created an d destroyed several worlds before

,

the pre s e n t o n e was made an d whe n thi s last ,

w ork was n igh completed all the thi n gs o f thi s ,

w or l d a l l the creatures o f the u n iver s e i n what

, ,

e v er a ge t h ey were to exist before they e n tered ,

i n to t h is world were prese n t be fore God i n their

,

true fo rm Thu s are the words o f E cclesiaste s

.

to be u n derstood The thi n g that hath bee n it

.
‘
,

i s that which shall be ; an d that which i s do n e i s

th a t which sh a ll b e do n e .
’

S i n ce the Cabalists viewed all thi n gs from the

a n th ropological poi n t o f view they a lso tra n s ,

formed to the world o f the S ephiroth the di ffer

e n ce o f sex The male p ri n ciple called A b b a i s
.
, ,

white a n d o f an active n ature appeari n g espe ,

c i al l y i n the S ephirah L ove but also at the bottom ,

o f the three S ephiroth o n the right side The .

female pri n ciple o n the other ha n d which owes

, ,

its origi n t o the m a le p ri n ciple i s red an d o f a ,

receptive n ature It i s mai n ly visible i n the

.

S ephira Ju stice b u t i s also at the bottom o f the

,

three S ephiroth o n the left The sign o f the mal e .

76
 TH E CA B A LA

death ) hi s wi fe i s c all e d the H a rlot or the

Wom an o f Whoredom B oth a r e thought o f as
.

havi n g i n tercourse with each other j ust as i n the

realm o f light Go d a s ki n g has i n tercourse with
M al ch u th as quee n Through the i n flue n ce o f
.

the evil powers the creatio n i s co n ti n ually dis

t u r b e d M en are seduced to apostasy from God
.
,

a n d thu s the ki n gdom o f the evil grows a n d the

K e l i p h o t h o r s hell s i n crease In the figu rative

.

la n gu age o f the Zohar this disturb an ce o f the

creatio n i s described as i f the ki n g an d quee n
kept aloo f from e a ch other a n d could n o t work
together for the wel fare o f the world B u t thi s .

di scord i s fi n a lly harmo n ized by repe n t an ce sel f ,

m o r t i fi c a t i o n prayer a n d strict observa n ce o f the

,

p re s cribed ceremo n ies a n d the origi n al harmo n y

,

o f thi n gs i s agai n re s tored It must b e ob served

.

however that the teachi n g about the oppositio n o f

the t wo ki n gdoms belo n gs to the later doctrines
o f the Cabala a n d its development belo n gs to the

thi rtee n th ce n tury.

Closely co n n ected with the doctri n e about evil

i s th a t o f the M essiah His comi n g takes place
.

whe n the ki n gdom o f the K e l i ph o th i s overcome

through the piou s a n d vi rtuou s li fe o f m en here
o n e a rth ; the n al so takes place the restoratio n o f

the o rigi n al state o f a ff airs (ti kku n ) S i n ce u m

.

der h i s rule everythi n g tur n s to the divi n e light ,

all idolatry ceases becau se the K eliph oth n o

,

78
 IT S D O C T R I N E S

l o n ge r seduce m e n to apo s ta s y C abal a as mi s .

tress rules the n over the s l a v e p h ilosop h y In

,
.

the upper world t oo gre a t ch an ges t ake pl a ce at

, ,

the comi n g o f the M e s siah The ki n g agai n h a s .

i n tercourse with the quee n Through thei r cop .

u l a t i o n the divi n ity regai n s the de s troyed u n ity .

B u t W ii n s c h e says th a t cab a listic liter a ture ,

e s pecially the Zohar o ften describes t h i s u n io n,

o f the ki n g a n d the quee n i n term s borderi n g o n

sh amel e s s n es s an d shocki n g to dece n cy an d

m orals .

The whole u n iverse ho wever w a s n o t com , ,

~

p l e t e ,
an d did n o t rece iv e i t s fi n i shi n g s troke till
m a n w a s formed who i s the acme o f cre atio n
, ,

a n d the microc osm un iti n g i n himsel f the tot a lity

o f be i n g s The lower m a n i s a type o f the h e av

9
.

e m ly A d a m K a dm on
0
M an co n s i sts o f body a n d
.
1

s oul . Thou gh the body is o n ly the r a i m an t or

t h e coveri n g o f the soul yet it rep re s e n ts the ,

M er ka b a (the heave n ly th ro n e chariot ) A ll -

.

m e mber s have thei r symbolic mean i n g Greater .

t h an the body i s the s oul bec a u s e it em an a tes ,

from the E n S oph an d has t h e po w er to i n flue n ce

t h e i n telligible world by mean s o f ch a n n el s (z i n

u or o th ) a n d to bri n g blessi n gs upo n t h e n ether

world The soul i s called n ep h es h li fe r u a ch

.
“
, ,
”
,

“ “ ”
soul an d u es h am a spi rit
, A s u es h a m a
, .
,

Z o h ar I I I , , 48a .

Z o h ar I I , ,

79
 TH E CA B A LA

which i s the highest degree o f bein g it h a s th e ,

po w er to come i n to co n n ectio n with God an d the

realm o f light ; as r u a ch it i s the seat o f good an d
evil ; as n ep h es h it i s immediately co n nected with
the body a n d i s the direct cause of its lower fu n c ~

tio n s i n sti n cts an d animal li fe

, ,
.

P s y cho log y .
—
L ike P l ato O ri g e n
et c t h e , ,
.
,

Cab a la teac h es a pre exi ste n c e o f the soul -

Al l 11

s ouls de s ti n ed to e n ter i n to huma n b o die s exi sted

from the begi n n i n g Clad i n a s pi ritu a l g a r b .

they dwell i n thei r heave n ly abode and e n j oy th e

v iew o f the divi n e s plendor of the S h echi n ah .

With great reluct a n ce the soul e nt ers i n to th e

body for as Zohar I I
,
te l l s us t h e s oul b e
, , , ,

f ore a s s umi n g a huma n b ody a ddresses God ,

L ord o f the U n iverse ! H a ppy am I i n thi s world ,

a n d do n o t wi s h to go i n to a n other whe re I s h a l l

be a bo n dmaid a n d be expo s ed to a l l kinds o f

,

”
pollutio n s Here t oo we no tice a g a in the i n
.
, ,

fl u en ce o f P l ato n ic a n d P hilo n i an doctri n e s In .

i t s origi n a l state each soul i s a n drogynou s a n d i s ,

sep a rated i nt o m ale an d fem a le whe n it de s ce n ds !

o n eart h to be bor n i n a hum a n body A t th e .

time o f marriage both part s a r e u n ited agai n a s

they wer e be for e and agai n con s t i t ute o n e sou l
,
‘

Co m p a r e B o o k o f W i s do m VI I I 20 ; J o s e p h u s , , ,

B e l l J u d I I 12 s p e ak s o f t h e E s s e n e s a s b e l i e v i n g i n
. .
, , ,

a p re e xi s t en ce o f th e s ou l
-
P h i l o s v i e w s ar e g i v e n i n
’
.

h i s D e s a m m i s I 642 ; D e g i g a u ti b u s , I , 263 f
, , .

80
 IT S D O C TR I N E S

( Z ohar Thi s doctri n e remi n ds u s o f

,
I ,

P lato a n d P hilo n o le s s th an th a t other (viz o f .

tha t the soul c a r ries her k n owledg e

“
wi t h h e r to the e a rth s o that e v ery thi n g w h ich ,

she lear n s here below she kn ew a lre a dy before

"

”
s h e e n tered i n to thi s world (Zohar I I I 6 l b )
’

, ,

O f great i n tere s t i s the metemp sycho s i s o f the

C ab a l a How thi s doct ri n e al re a dy e s pou s ed by
.
,

the E gypti a n s P yth agore an s an d P lat o c am e i n to

, ,

J ewi sh mystici sm i s n o t yet fully expl a i n ed ,

.
1 2

B u t it i s i n teresti n g to le a r n o f the de s t i n y of m a n
a n d the u n iver s e accor di n g to the C abalists .

It i s an ab s o lute co n ditio n o f the soul to retur n

to the I n fi n ite S ource fro m which it em an at ed ,

a fter de velopi n g on e a rth the per fectio n s t h e ,

germs o f which a r e impl a nted i n it I f t h e soul .

,

a fter a s sumi n g a hu m an body f a il s duri n g its ,

fi rst soj our n o n earth to a cquire that experie n ce

for which i t de s ce n ds from he ave n an d become s ,

c o n t a mi n a ted by s i n it mu s t r e i n h abit a body

,
—

agai n an d ag a i n till it i s abl e to a sce n d i n a pu r

,

i fi e d st a te Th i s tra n s migr a tion o r g i lg u l h o w

.
,

“
e v er i s restri cted to three time s
,
An d i f t w o .

soul s i n thei r third re s ide n ce i n hum a n bodie s are

still too weak to re s i s t all e a rthly tr am mel s an d to
12
A c co r di n g p
t o J o s e h u s (A n ti q , .
,
13; B e llXVI I I .

J ud .
,
II , 8 , 14 ) i t w
o u l d s ee m as i f t h e h ar i s e e s h e l dP
the do ct t p y
ri n e o f th e m e e m s c h o s i s , b u t s e e S c h ii r e r ,

Ge s c h i c h te de s jii di s c h e u Vo l kes , vo l . I I (3d e d .

, 1898 )
p 39 1 ; o n P h i l o s v i ew , s e e i b i d,
.
’
. vo l . I I I p 5 61
,
. .

81
 TH E C A B A LA

acquire the n ecessary experie n ce the y are b oth

,

u n ited an d se n t i n to o n e body s o that they m ay

,

be able co n j oi n tly to lear n that which they were

too feeble to do separately It sometimes happe n s
.
,

however that it i s the si n gle n e s s an d i solatio n o f

,

the soul which i s the source o f the we ak n ess an d ,

it requires help to p a ss through its probatio n In .

t h at c a s e it chooses fo r a compa n io n a soul which

h a s more s tre n gth a n d better fortu n e The .

stro n ger o f the two the n becomes a s it were t h e

mother ; she carries the sickly o n e i n her bosom ,

a n d n urses her from her o w n s ub sta n ce j ust a s

,

a w oma n n urses her child S uch a n a s sociatio n i s

.

there fore called pregn a n cy (i b b u r ) bec au s e t h e

,

stro n ger soul gives as it were li fe an d s ubsta n c e

”
to the weaker compa n io n .

Thi s doctri n e o f the S u pe rf o e ta ti o was espe

c i a ll y t a ught by I saac L oria or L uria I t i s ob vi
.

o u s th a t thi s doctri n e o f the Ib b u r n aturally l e d

to wild super s titio n an d fraudule n t th a u m at u rgy .

L oria himsel f cl a imed to have the soul o f t h e

Mes s i ah b en Joseph . Co n n ected with L oria s ’

s yste m i s the doctri n e o f the K a w an a by whic h,

i s mea n t the ab sorb e d state o f the soul i n its di

rectio n towards God whe n per formi n g t h e cere
mo n ie s i n prayer sel f m o rt i fi c at i on i n the p r o
, ,
-
,

n u n c i at i o n o f the divi n e n a m e a n d readi n g o f the

Zoh a r whereby the bou n d s are broke n a n d th e

,

f u l n e ss o f ble s si n g from the upper world i s

82
 ITS D O CTR I NE S

b rought dow n upo n the lower .

The world bei n g a n expa n sion o f the Deit y s

,
’

o wn sub s ta n ce must also s h are ultimately t h at

,

blessed n ess w hich it enj oyed in its first evolutio n .

E ve n S at a n himsel f the archa n g el o f wickednes s ,

will be restored to hi s angelic nature si n ce he , ,

t o o proceeded from the I n finite S ource o f all

,

thi n g s When the last human soul h a s passed

.

through probatio n then the M e s s i ah will appear ,

a n d the g re a t j ubilee year will co m mence when ,

the w hole plerom a o f souls (o tz ar h a n es h a - o

m o th ) cl eansed a nd puri fi ed shall return to t h e

,

“
bosom o f t h e I n finite S ource a nd re s t in t h e P al
”
ace o f Love (Zoha r I I , ,

M y s ti c In t e r p retatio n Th e exe geti cal i n .

—

g e n u i t y o f the Cab a l a i s intere s ting to the the m

l o gi a n The principle o f the mystic interp reta

.

tio n i s universal and no t pecul i a r to one o r an

other s chool as ever y o n e will perc eive i n eccle
,

s i a s t i c a l hi story a n d eve n i n the history o f Greek

,

literature We fi n d i t in P hilo in the N ew T e s

.
,

tame n t in the writings o f the fathers i n the Tal

, ,

mud a n d in the Zoh a r a n d the more such an i n

,

t e r p r e t a t i o n departed from the s pirit o f the sacred

text the more n ecessary wa s it to bri n g the scrip

,

tu res to its support by distortio n s o f their mea n

ing s .
3 1

F or a t
s r an g e i n t e r p r e t at i o n o f s c r i pt u r e i n m o de r n
ti m es , th e r e a de r i s r e f e r r e d t o Can o n V Vo r ds w o r t h s
’

83
 ITS DOC TR I NE S

P a s s i n g ov e r all m a n n er o f ubtlet i e s o f th e s

p r e Z
-
o h a r i c times w e w ill consider
,
the ma s terly
perfor m a nce s o f th e C ab a li s t s A ccordi ng to .

t h e m t h e letter s word s a nd n am es o f t h e scrip

,
“

tures co n t a i n divine my s terie s o f wo n drous m y s ,

tic a l thou ghts an d idea s o f significa n t s ymbols ,

a n d riddles on which depend s the continuance

,

“
o f the world ( Zoh a
. r I I I s it,
c o n c e i
,
v
”
a ble the Zohar makes o n e o f S imon b en J o ch ai s
,
’

“
circle excl aim that Go d had no holier matters
,

to communicate tha n these com m on things about

E sau and Hagar L ab a n and J acob B al aam s ass
’
, , ,

B al ak s j ealou s y o f I s rael and Z i m r i s le w d n e s s

’
! ’

D oes a collectio n o f such tal e s taken in their o r ,

d a y se s e deserve the n ame o f Torah

i n r n ,
! An d
c a n it b e s aid o f s uch a revel a tio n th a t it utters

the pure tr uth ! I f that i s all th e Torah co n tai n s ,

we can produce in our time a book a s good as

thi s ay e p erh ap s better N o no ! the higher
, ,
.
, ,

my s tical sen s e o f the Torah i s its true s e n s e The .

biblical n arratives re s emble a beauti ful dre s s

wh i ch enr aptures fool s so that the y do n o t look
b ene at h it This robe however covers a body
.
, , ,

i e t h e precepts o f the L aw an d thi s agai n a

. .
, ,

s o u l the higher soul

,
W o e to the guilt y who as
.
,

sert that the Torah contain s o n ly simple s tories ,

a n d there fore look only upo n the dres s B le s s ed .

are the righteou s who seek the real s e n se o f t h e

,

Co m m e n tar y on Ge n e s i s an d E x o du s , Lo n do n ,
1864,

84
 TH E C A B A LA

of A braham me n tio n ed i n Ge n xiv

, . . 14 . Th e
au thor l a ys s tre s s u po n the f a ct th at i n the H e
“ ”
bre w the eightee n are mentioned first an d the ,

”
three h u n dred a fterw a rds In the eightee n ex .

p re s sed by th e Greek letter s I 10 a n d H = 8

he see s Je s u s (I HEO YE) an d i n t h e thre e h u n ,

dred he sees by the letter T 300 the cro s s ,

.

“
With thi s ca n o n m ay be compared the num
”
ber oracle by means o f which one can tell from
-
,

t h e n umber o f the letters o f the n ame a n d the

d ates o f the birth important years a n d days i n the

li fe o f a m an Thus for i n stance E mperor Wil
.
, ,

liam I wa s b orn March 22 1 7 97 ; 3 22

, 1 7 97 ,

7 (n umber o f the letter s o f the n a me 1 82 9 :

,

the year o f m a rri ag e ; 1 8 29 1 8 2 9 z :

1 84 9 c am paign to B a den ; 1 8 49
,
1 8 4 4
9 : 1 8 7 1 coro n ation a s emperor ; 1 8 7 1
, 1 8
7 1 8 8 8 y e a r o f death ,
N apoleo n I I I .
,

born 4 20 1 808 ; 4, ,
20 1 8 08 8 (n umber
o f the letters o f the n ame
) = 1 840 the c o u p at ,

B oulogne ; 18 40 1 8 4 O 1 8 5 3 fir s t :
,

ye a r a s emperor ; 1 8 5 3 + 1 + 8 5 3 “ r

1 8 7 0 ; end o f hi s rule 6
.
1

2 N o tam kon (from the L ati n m o tor i u s a

’

.
,

s hort h a nd w riter
-
one who among the R om a n s
,

b elo n ged to that cl a s s o f writers who abbrevi a ted

a n d used s ingle letters to sign i fy whole words
) ,

For a s om e w h at di ffe r en t m o de c o m p are Th e O pe n

C o u r t, F e b . 1909 p 8 8 , . .

86
 I T S D O CT R I N E S

i s employed whe n every letter o f a word i s t ake n

a s a n i n iti a l o r abbreviatio n o f a word Thus .
,

f o r i n s ta n ce every letter o f the Hebrew first

,

word i n Ge n esi s i s made the i n itial o f a word

7
,
1
,

“ “
a n d from i n the begi n n i n g we obtai n i n the
begi n n i n g God saw that I srael should accept the
law ; o r the word A dam (AD M ) i s made
” “ ”

“
A dam D avid M essiah
,
”
S ometimes very
, .

curiou s an d i n ge n iou s combi n atio n s are derived

from thi s system For i n sta n ce the word p as s i m
.
8 1

“
used i n the passage An d he made a coat o f
( p a s s i m ) ma n y colors (G e n xxxvii 3) i s made . .

to i n dicate the mi sfortu n es which Joseph ex

p e r i e n ce d i n bei n g s old by hi s b rethre n to P o t

i p h ar M ercha n ts I s hmaelite s M idia n ites

, ,
19
,
.

It appear s that the Chri stia n fathers som etimes

made use o f the same rule ; as for i n s ta n ce Chri st
“ ”
h a s bee n called by them IX ® Y2 fish because , ,

these letters are the i n itial s o f the Greek word s

“ ” 0
Jesus Christ t h e S o n o f God the S aviour
, ,
.
2

Thu s S t A ugu sti n e tell s us (D e ci t! D e i X VI I I

. .
, ,

2 3) that whe n they were speaki n g about Chri st ,

F l acc i a n u s a very famou s m a n o f most ready

, ,

eloque n ce a n d much lear n i n g produced a Greek

, ,

ma n u script sayi n g that it was the p rophecies o f

,

18
D DD
‘

19
D=P o t i p h a r =
D S o ch ri m m e r ch a n s t )
‘ =I s h m t
ae l i es ,
, ( ,

=
D M i di a n i t e s .

2°
1 170 0 63 Xp w r é s, 9 6 0 6 Ti c s , Z wr ijp
' ‘

87
 TH E C A B A LA

the E ry th r i an s ibyl In thi s he poi n ted out a cer .

t a i n passage th a t had the i n itial letters o f t h e

li n es so arr a n ged that those words could be read
i n them The n he we n t o n an d gave these verses
.
,

o f w hich the i n itial letters yield that mea n i n g an d ,

“
s ays ,
B u t i f yo u j oi n the i n itial letters o f these
five Greek words they will make the word ,

i c h tti u s
’
that i s fish i n which word Christ i s
2 1 ‘ ’
, ,

my s tically u n derstood bec a use he was able to live , ,

that is to exi st without s i n i n the abyss o f thi s

, ,
”
mortality a s i n the depth o f waters It i s worthy .

o f n otice that A ugusti n e o n ly gives twe n ty seve n -

l i n es o f the thirty four as co n tai n ed i n the

22 -
,

O r a cn l a S i b y l l i n a VI I I 2 1 7 ff where the a c r o s
, , .
,

tic reads : Jesus Chri st S o n o f God (the ) S av ,

i o u r (the ) Cross
,
23
In its full form it is also
.

give n by E u s ebius i n the L i fe of th e B l es s e d E m

p e r of Con s tan ti n e For the be n efit o f the reader .

we subj oi n N eale s tra n slatio n o f the acrostic as ’

give n i n the Ch r i s ti an R em em b r an ce r O ctober , ,

18 6 1 , p 28 7 . :

Judgme n t at ha n d the earth shall sweat with ,

fear
E ter n al ki n g the Judge shall come o n high ;,

S hall doom all flesh ; shall bid the w o rld appea r

t xflii s .

E n g l i s h t r an s l a t i o n b y M D o dd Ci ty of Go d, E di n .
,

b u r g h 1 8 7 1 w h e r e t h e Gr e ek l e tt e r s at t h e b eg i n n i n g o f
, ,

t h e l i n e s a r e r et ai n e d .

23
a r a vpé s ,

88
 M Y S TI C I N TE R PR E TA T I O N

U n v eiled before his Thro n e Him every eye .

S hall j ust or u n j u s t see i n maj esty

, ,
.

Co n s ummate time shall view the S ai n ts assemble

His o wn a sses s or s a n d the soul s o f m en
,

R ou n d the great j udgme n t seat shall wait an d

tremble
In fear o f se n te n ce an d the green earth the n
,

S h a ll tur n to de s ert They that see that day

.

To moles a n d bats their gods shall cast away .

S e a,e a rth a n d heave n a n d hell s dread gates

, ,
’

shall bur n ;
O bedie n t to their call the dead retur n ;
,

N or shall the j udge u n fi t t i n g doom di scer n .

Of chai n s a n d d a rk n ess to each wicked soul

For them that have bee n good the starry pole , .

G n a s hi n g o f teeth a n d woe a n d fierce despair

, ,

O f such as hear the righteou s Judge declare

D eeds lo n g forgot which that last day shall bare
,
.

The n whe n each darke n ed breast He bri n gs to

sight ,

Heave n s stars shall fall an d day be cha n ged to

’

n ight ;

E ff aced the sun ray an d the moo n s p ale light

’
-
.
,

89
 TH E CA B A L A

S urely the v a lleys He o n high shall raise ;

A ll h ills sh a ll cea s e all mou n tai n s tur n to plai n ;
,

Ves s el s sh a ll n o more p a ss the watery w a ys ;

In the dre a d light n i n g parchi n g earth shall blaze ,

O gygi a n rivers seek to flow i n vai n .

U n utter able woe the trumpet blast ,

R e echoi n g through the ether shall forec a st

-
,
.

The n T a rtarus s hall wrap the world i n gloom ,

H igh chiefs an d pri n ces shall receive their doom ,

E ter n al fire an d brimsto n e for their tomb .

Cro w n o f the world sweet wood salvatio n s

, ,
’

hor n ,

R eari n g its beauty shall for m a n be bor n

, ,

O w ood that S a i n ts adore an d si n n ers scor n !

, ,

S o from twelve fou n tai n s shall its light be

p o ured ;
S ta ff o f the S hepherd a n d victorious sword
,
.

We may a lso state that words o f those ver s es

which are regarded as co n tai n i n g a peculiar r e
co n dite mea n i n g are ra n ged i n squares i n such a
ma n n er as to be read either vertic ally o r b ou s t r o
p h e d o n a l l y begi n n i n g at the right or left ha n d .

A g a i n the words o f several verses are placed over

e a ch other a n d the letters which sta n d u n der e a ch
,

other a r e formed i n to n e w words This i s .

e s peci a lly see n i n the treatme n t o f three verses i n

90
 M Y S T I C I N T E RPR ETA T I O N

E xod .
(xiv
each . co n tai 1 9- 2 1
n i n g 7 2 letters ) ,

w hich a r e believed to co n t a i n the three P illar s o f

the S ephiroth an d the D ivi n e N ame of seve n ty
t w o w ord s N o w i f these three verses be w rit
.
,

t e n out o n e a bove the other the first from right ,

to left the seco n d f rom le ft to right an d the

, ,

t hird from right to le ft they will give 7 2 c o ] ,

u m n s o f three letters each The n each colum n .

will be a word o f three letters an d as there are ,

7 2 colum n s there will be 7 2 words o f three let

,

ters each o f which will be the 7 2 n ames o f th e

,

D eity . B y writi n g the verses all from right to

le ft i n s tead o f b o u s t r op h e don all y there will b e
, ,

other sets o f 72 n ames obtai n able The reader .

who is i n terested i n these n iceties will fi n d ample

i n formatio n i n B a r to l o cc i B i b l i o th e ca M agn a ,

R a b b i n i ci a IV pp 230 ff, , . .

3 Ta n za ni a o r permutatio n
. A ccordi n g to -

certai n rules o n e letter i s substituted for a n othe r

,

letter precedi n g or followi n g it i n the alphabet ,

a n d thus from o n e word a n other word o f totally

di ff ere n t orthography may be formed Thu s the .

alph abet i s be n t exactly i n the middle an d o n e ,

h a l f i s put over the other ; an d the n by cha n gi n g

alter n ately the fi rst letter o r the first two letters
at the begi n n i n g o f the seco n d l i n e twe n ty two ,
-

permutatio n s are produced These are called the .

”
Table o f the Combi n atio n s o f Tz i ru ph .

For example s sake we give the method called ’

Al b at h thus ,

91
 TH E C A B A LA

A B G .
D H V Z Ch T Y K
L Q Sh R Tz P Ay S N M
The met h od ab g ath is thus exemplified :
A G D H V Z Ch T Y K L
B Th S h R
Q M Tz P Ay S N
The n ames o f the twe n ty two permutatio n s -

are : A l b ath Ab ga th Agdath Adb ag Ah b ad

, , , , ,

A vb a A zb av A ch b a z Atb ach Ai b at A ch b i Al
, , , , , ,

bach A mbal An b am A sba n Aayb a s A fb a Az

, , , , , ,

baf A kbaz A rb ak A s h b ar A thba s h To these

, , , ,
.

must be added as (23) Ab ga d; (24 ) Al b am .

I will o n ly remark that by the system called

A thbash it i s fou n d that the word S h es h h a ch i n
,

Jer xxv 2 6 i s the same as B abel an d that Jerome

. .
,

i s s a id to have co n fide n tly applied this system 4

.
2

B esides these ca n o n s the Cabala also sees a

reco n dite se n se i n the form o f the letters as well ,

as i n the or n ame n ts which ador n them The .

more multi farious these t r i fl e s the easier it i s to ,

arrive i n every give n case at a resul t a n d the less ,

wit o r thought i s required .

A lthough the ca n o n s me n tio n ed above are al

ready applied i n the Talmud a n d M idrash the ,

Cabalists made a more copious u se o f them The .

n ames o f God became a special obj ect o f thei r

f an cy With them they imagi n ed they could ac

.

complish everythi n g an d perform miracles heal ,

24
H o tt i n g e r p o s s e s s e d an e n ti r e P en t a t e u ch ex

p l ai n e d o n t h e p r i n c i p l e o f A t h b a s h .

92
 TH E C A B A LA

g e t i c a l
literature o f the Cabala clearly p roves that
its represe n tatives had completely lost the se n se
f o r a suitable understa n di n g of the word s o f
26
scripture .

2"
A som e w h at di ffe r e n t v i e w o n th e c ab al i s t i c t r e at
m en t of s c r i p t u r e i s gi v e n b y t h e l a t e J e w i s h s ch o l a r
Z u n z (di e d 1886 ) i n h i s Go tte s di e n s tli c h e Vor tr ag e
'

( B e r l i n ,
p 40 3
. : F o r t h e p a s s a g e i n E n g l i s h s ee
m y ar t i cl e S c r i p t u r e I n t er p r e t at i o n i n M c c l i n t ock an d
“ ”

S t r o n g vo l I X , p 480
, . . .

94
 C H A P T E R VI .

TH E C A B ALA IN R E LA TI O N To JU DA
IS M AND CH R I S TI AN ITY .

u da i s m
J .
— muIts t b e ack n o wl edged th at th e
C abal a i n t ended to oppo se philosophy an d to i n
te n si fy religion B u t by introduci n g heathe n i sh
.

ideas it grafted o n Judai sm a con ceptio n o f the

world which was foreign to it a n d produced the
m ost pernicious results I n place o f the mo n o
.

t heistic biblical idea o f God accordi n g to which

,

Go d i s the creator preserver an d ruler o f th e

,

world the co n fused p an thei stically colored

, ,

h eathe n i sh doctri n e o f ema n at i on w a s sub stitute d .

The belief in the u n ity o f God was repl a ced by

t h e decade o f the t e n S ephiroth which were c o n
s i de r e d as divi n e substances B y n o lo n ger a d
.

dressi n g prayers directly to god but to the S ep h ,

i r o t h a real S ephiroth cult origi n a ted

,
-
Th e l e .

gal discussio n s o f the Talmud were o f n o ac

c ou n t ; the Cab a li s ts despised t h e Tal m ud
y ea , ,

they co n sidered it as a c a n ker o f Judai s m which ,

m u st be cut o u t i f Judai sm were to recover Ac .

95
 TH E C A B A LA

cordi n g to the Zohar I 2 7 17 ; I I I 27 5 a ; 27979 , , , ,

the T a lmud i s o n ly a bo n dm a id but the Cabal a a ,

co n trolli n g mi stre s s .

The Cabali s ts compared the Talmud to a hard ,

u n fruit ful rock which whe n smitte n yield s o n l y

,

s c an ty drop s th at i n the en d become a c a u s e o f

co n troversy ; whereas the s tudy o f the Cab al a i s
like a fresh gu shi n g s pri n g w hich o n e ne ed s on l y ,

to a ddre s s to cau se it to pour o u t its re fre s hi n g

co n te n t s .
1

A n d a s the C a b a lists treated the T a lmud the y ,

Iikew i se treated philo s ophy which defi n ed relig ,

~

i o us id e as a n d vi n dicated religious precepts b e

fore the forum o f re a so n M ost C ab alists op .

posed philo s ophy S h e w a s the Hagar that m us t.

be drive n from the hou se o f A brah am w herea s ,

the C abal a w as the S a r ah the re a l mi s tress A t ,

.

t h e time o f the M essi a h the m istres s wi l l rul e

o v er the bo n dm a id .

B u t t h e study o f t h e B ible w a s also n eglected .

S cripture was no lo n ger s tudied for i t s o w n s ak e ,

but for t h e s ake o f fi n di n g t h e s o c a lled highe r -

se n s e by mea n s o f my s tical h erme n eutical rule s .

E ve n t h e ritu a l s w e re variou s ly cha n ged an d

reca s t The putti n g o n o f the phyl acteries an d
.
'

1
A co l l e c ti o n of p a s s ag e s
T al m u d i s ab u s i n g th e
g i v e n b y Lan dau e r i n t h e O r i e n t 1845 pp 5 7 1 - 5 74 ; s e e , , .

a l s o R u b i n H e i de n t h n m
,
a n d K a b ba l a V i e n n a 1893 pp , , , .

1 3 f ; a l s o h i s K a b b a l a a n d A g a da i b i d 1895 p 5 w h e r e
.
,
.
, , .
,

we r e a d t h a t a c co r di n g t o A b u l afi a t h e Ca b a li s t s o n l y
w e r e g e n u i n e m e n a n d t h e T al m u di s t s m o n k e y s
, .

96
 TH E CA B A L A

e r al ly , the B ook of the Cabalistic A pplication o f

the a fragme n t o f the practical Cab a l a ,

tra n slated by Gottfried S elig B erli n 1 7 88 , ,

.

This sketch o f P ro fessor W un s che is by n o

m ea n s exaggerat ed 3
M n ta ti s m u tan di s we fi n d
.

the cabali stic n otio n s amo n g the Cha s idim a s ect ,

fou n ded i n 1 740 by a certai n R abbi I srael ben

E lieze r B aalshem als o c alled B esht
4
,
B aal S hem .
-

made his public appeara n ce about 1 740 i n Tl u s t i ,

i n the district o f Cz ar t ko w fr o m whe n ce he sub

,

seque n tly removed to M e dz ib o z e i n P odoli a Th e ,

.

mi raculous cures an d prophecies a ttracted atte n

tio n i n l arge circle s ; hi s mode o f li fe co n s i sti n g ,

o f co n templatio n study o f the Zohar an d f r e

,

que n t washi n g s i n river s soo n s pread a h al o

,

a rou n d him .A dded to this wer e the ma n y mi r

a c u l o u s reports circulated by hi s di sciples ; f o r

i n s ta n ce that hi s f a ther h a d bee n vi s ited by t h e

,

prophet E lij ah to p redict h i s birth an d that h i s ,

mother w a s a hu n dred years old whe n she w a s

delivered o f him ; that whe n a youth he had vic
, ,

t o r i o u s l y stru ggled with e vil s pirits etc all o f ,

.
—

O r e l l i i n h i s a r t i cl e Z au b e r e i i n R e a l e n cy k l o pa di e
3

f a r pr o t es t Th“e o l og i e a n d K i r e h e v o l XXI 1908 p

.
,
.
, , .

6 18 r e m a r k s :
,
T h e J e w i s h C ab a l a h a s p r o m o t e d t h e
m a g i c de g e n e r a t i o n o f t h e r e li g i o n ; t o a g r e a t e xt e n t
i t f u r n i s h e d p r o f o u n d e xp r e s s i o n s an d f o r m u l a s f o r
t h e ex e r ci s e o f s u p e r s t i ti o u s a r t s
”
.

L o r d o f th e n am e 06 0 1797 05
, wh o b y w o r ds
3 m an
o f co n j u r a ti o n a n d o t h e r f or m u l a s k n o w s h o w t o c x c r ~

u s e a p o w e r o v e r t h e vi s i b l e a n d I n vi s i b l e w o r l d .

98
 J U DA I S M

which ma y be fou n d i n the B ook S hi b ch e h a

B es h t publi s hed i n 1 8 1 5 by the gra n dso n of B aal
,

S he m R abbi B ar Linz B a al S hem and hi s s ne

,
5
.
- a

“ ”
c e s s o r s received the n ame Ts a ddi k S ai n t an d , ,

his fame attracted multitudes o f Jews from all

part s o f P oland who sub mitted them s elves to hi s
,

guida n ce A s long as h e l ived the sect formed

.
,

o n e great whole o f which he was the he a d

,
A ft .

er h i s death which took place i n 1 7 80 it wa s

, ,

di v ided i n to separate co n greg a tio n s e a ch o f ,

w hich had its o wn R abbi or Tsaddik or S ai n t ,

u n re s erved devotion to whom i s the most import ~

a n t o f all the p r 1 n c 1p l e s o f the sect In a word .

,

be fore P iu s IX wa s declared in fallible the Chas ,

~

idim a lready had thei r in fallibl e pope s whose

6
,

number i s still very large i n P oland Wallachia , ,

Moldavia Galicia an d P alesti n e O f these pope s

, ,
.

o f the Ch a sidim a moder n Jewish w riter the

, ,

“
late D avi d Cassel (died says : To the
di sgrace o f Judai sm an d modern culture the
Tsaddikim still go o n with their di sgrace ful busi
n es s , an d are thus the most esse n tial hi n dra n ces

to the di s seminatio n o f literary progress in Gal

i c i a a n d R ussi a There are still thousand s who
.

Co m p a r e K ah an a , R a b b i Is r a e l B a a l S e h e m - To b ,
5

L e b e n ka b b a l i s ti s c h es S y s te m a n d Wi r ke n , S i t o m i r ,
980
S ,

1
Co m p a r e P e r l M eg a l l e h te m i r i n o r D i e e n t h u l l t e n
'

, ,

Ge h e i tm i i s s e de r Ch a s s i di m L e m b e r g 18 79 ; Ch B o g r at , .

E n ts te h u n g E n twi c kl n n g u n d P r i n z zpi en des

’

s c h o ff , ,

C h a s s idi s m u s B e r l i n 1908
, ,
.

99
 TH E C A B A LA

b ehold in the Ts a ddik the worker o f miracles th e ,

prophet one who i s i n close commu n io n with

,

God a nd a n gel s an d who prese n t him with rich

,

gi fts a n d promulga te the wo n ders which the y

h ave s ee n Covetou s n es s o n the o n e ha n d a n d
.

s piritu a l n a rro w n e s s o n t h e other are the cha n

nels through which the evil i s fed a n ew .

Ch ri s ti a n i t y As
s oo n a s t h e Cab a l a b eca m e
.
—

better k n ow n C hri s tian s betook themselves to its

,

s tudy a n d paid it the greate s t atte n tio n becau se o f

the supposed agre ement o f i t s teachi n gs with the

dogma s o f the Chri s tian church It w as thought .

th a t the Cabala w a s the co n necting link between

Judai s m an d C hri sti a n ity The dogmas o f the .

Tri n ity o f t h e M essi ah a s the S o n o f God an d

,

h i s atonement were the salie n t points which espe

,

c i al l y attract ed atte n tion The first to be dr a wn

.

“
to the C abala wa s R aymo n d L ully the Docto r ,

”
Illuminatu s (1236 He regarded the Ca
b ala as a divine science and as a ge n ui n e revela
tion whose li ght i s revealed to a ratio n al s o u l .

The p ro gress o f C hristia n it y toward s the Ca

bala wa s greatly helped by the conversio n o f a
“
lar g e n umber o f Jews to C hristia n ity i n which ,

they recogni z ed a closer relation to thei r gn ostic

view s an d al so b y t h e C hri stia n s perceivi n g th a t
,

g n ostici sm could become a powerful i n s trume n t

”
for the co n versio n o f the J ews A mo n g the
.

100
 TH E C A B A LA

di alo gu e b etwee n a n E picurea n p h i lo s ophe r

n a med S ido n ius a Je w n amed B a ruch a n d t h e
, ,

au t h o r w ho i s introduced by the Greek n ame

,

Ca p n i o Cap n i o wo u ld h a v e it th at the doctri n e

.

o f t h e Tri n ity i s to b e found i n t h e fir s t verse o f

Ge n e s i s He s ubmit s i f the Hebrew word b r a

.
,

“ ”
( b a r a ) which i,
s tr a n slated c reated be exam ,
e

i n e d an d i f each o f the three letter s co m posi n g

,

thi s word be taken as the initial o f a separat e

word we obtain the e x pres s ion b en m a ch a b
, , , ,

i e S o n S pirit Father Upon the same p ri n

. .
, , , .

c i p l e we fi nd the two perso n s o f the Trinity i n the

“ ”
word a b n (e b en ) s tone occurring in P s cxviii , ,
. .

22 the stone which the builder s rej ected i s be

”
come the head o f the corner by dividi n g the ,

three lett ers composing the word a b n into a b b en ,

i e Fath er S o n
. .
, , .

The second treati s e i s al s o in the form o f a

dialogu e betwee n a M oham m edan a P y th ago r ,

ean philosopher and a Jew The dialo gue i s hel d .

at F rank fort where the Jew lives to whom the

others come to be initiated i n to the mysteries o f
the C ab a la The whole i s a more matured expo
.

s i t i o n and elaboration of the ideas hinted at i n the

fir s t treatise .

How the truth s o f C hri s tia n ity can be derived

from the Talmud a n d the C abala the Fra n ci sc a n ,

P ietro Gal at i no endeavored to prove i n his treat

i s e D e A r can i s Ca th o l i ca e Ve r i ta ti s c o n tr a 0 b

02
 CH R I S TI A N I T Y

s ti n a ti s s i i n a rn J u da ecor n m n os tr a e t em p es ta ti s

p er ( O fi
rtodi
n a
a di
m M are ,

Much as L ully M ira n dola R euchli n and

, , , o th

ers had al ready do n e to acquai n t the Christian

world with the secrets o f the Cabala n o n e o f ,

these scholars had give n tra n slatio n s o f an y por

tio n s o f the Zohar To thi s task K n orr B aron .

vo n R o s e n r o t h betook himsel f by publishi n g the

celebrated work K a b b a l a D en u da ta the Cabala

i n two large volumes the first o f ,

which was pri n ted in S ulzbach 1 677 7 8 the sec ,

-
,

o n d at Fra n k fort o n the M a i n -

1 8 64 givi n g a
- -
, ,

L ati n tra n slatio n o f the I n troductio n to an d the

followi n g portio n o f the S ohar : the B ook o f
M ysteries ; the Great A ssembly ; the S mall A s
s em b l y ; Jo seph Gi k at i l l a s Gate o f L ight (s h aar
9 ’

or a h ) Vital s D octri n e of M etempsychosi s (na

’

g gi l u l i tn ) a n d ,the Tree o f L i fe ( e t a Ch ay i m );
Co r do ve r o s Garden o f P omegra n ate s (p ar de s
’

r i m m on i m )
—
Ab raham H e r e r a s Gate o f Heave n ’

( a ar h a s h am ayi i n ) ; N aphtali b en Jacob s

h
’
s -

Valley o f the K i n g (e m e q h a b a ch a ) ; N aphtali

Cohe n s Vi sio n o f the P riest (m ar é K oh en ) etc
’
.
,

etc with elaborate a n n otatio n s glossaries an d i n

.
, ,

dices K n orr v o n R o s en r o th h a s also collected

.

all the passages o f the N ew T estame n t which

co n tai n similar doctrines to those propou n ded by
the C abala I n spite o f its ma n y drawbacks the
.
0 1

t h r ee p ar t s E n gl i s h e d b y M a t h e r s
9
Th e s e ar e .

10
B u dde u s i n I n tr o du c ti o i n H i s t or i a nt P h i l os oph i a e
103
 TH E CAB ALA

work has bee n m a de u s e o f by later scholars ,

e s pecially by Chr S ch o t tgen i n his H or a e h e b r a i

.

c a e e t ta l m n di ca e (D resde n 1 7 33) an d Th e ol og i a
,

J u da c o r n m de M es s i a (i b i d .
,

The powerful p repo n dera n ce o f the religiou s

an d ecclesiastical i n terests as well as those o f
,

practical politics which became perceptible i n the

fir s t quarter o f the sixtee n th ce n tury givi n g to ,

the mi n d a po s itive impulse an d to the studies a ,

sub s ta n tial fou n d atio n arrested the further de

,

v e l O p m e n t o f the Cabala ; a n d thus it cam e about

that i n the course o f time the zeal for cabalistic

s tudies amo n g Chri sti a n s has cooled It has b e .

come ge n er a lly u n der s tood that the Cabala an d

Chri sti a n ity are two di ff ere n t thi n gs The idea .

o f God accordi n g to the writi n gs o f the O ld a n d

N ew Te s tame n ts i s e n ti rely di ffere n t The same .

i s the case with the n otio n o f creatio n Whe n .

the first triad o f the S ephiroth (Crow n Wi sdom ,

a n d I n tellige n ce ) i s re ferred to the three perso n s

o f the D eity their i n n er imma n e n t relatio n i s

,

n ot thereby fully expressed as Chri stia n ity ,

te a ches it The three S ephiroth o n ly rep rese n t

.

three pote n cies o f God or three forms o f hi s

ema n a tio n the other S ephiroth are also such di
,

H e b ra e or u m (H all e 1702 ) Kn o r r v o n R o s en r o th s ’
ca l l s
w o r k co n f u s u m e t o b s cu r u m o p u s i n q u o n e c e s s ar i a
“
,

cu m n o n n e ce s s a r i i s u t i l i a c u m i n u t i l i b u s co n f u s a s u n t
, ,

e t i n u n a m v e l u t c h a o s co n j e c t a . Kn o r r v o n R o s e n r o th
”

h as al s o w r i tt e n a n u m b er o f h y m n s .

104
 TH E C A B A LA

cordi n g to th e Christia n n otio n the reco n ciliatio n

i s e ff ected o n ly through Chri s t the S o n o f God ; ,

accordi n g to the Cab a la m an can redeem himsel f

by mea n s o f a strict observa n ce o f the law by as ,

c eti ci s m a n d other mea n s whereby he i n flue n ces

God an d the world o f light i n a mystical ma n n er .

For the be n efit o f the reader we give the follow

i n g passages which s peak o f the ato n eme n t o f the
M es s i ah for the si n s o f p eople passages which ,

are give n as the expla n atio n o f the fi fty third -

“
chapter o f I saiah . Whe n the righteou s are vi s
i t e d with su ff eri n gs a n d a fflictio n s to ato n e fo r
the si n s o f the wo r l dm i s that they might ato n e for
all the si n s o f thi s ge n eratio n How i s thi s .

p roved ! B y all the members o f the body Whe n .

all members su ff er o n e member i s a fflicted i n

,

order that all may recover An d which o f them ! .

The arm The arm i s beaten the blood i s take n

.
,

from it a n d the n the recovery o f all the members

,

o f the body i s secured S o it i s with the childre n

.

o f the world ; they are members o f o n e a n other .

Whe n the Holy O n e blessed be he wi shes the

, ,

recovery o f the world he a fflicts o n e righteou s

,

f rom their midst an d for hi s sake all are healed

, .

How i s this show n ! I t is written— H e was ‘

wou n ded for ou r tra n sgressio n s he was brui sed ,

fo r o u r i n iquities . a n d with his stripes

we are healed (I s i ii
’
. Zohar I I I 2 18 a
.
, , .

To the same e ff ect i s the followi n g passage

106
 CH R I S T I A N I TY

Those souls which tarry i n the n ether g a rde n o f

E de n hover about the world a n d whe n they see ,

su ff eri n g or patie n t m a rtyrs a n d those who s u ffer

for the u n ity o f God they retur n a n d me n tio n it
,

to the M essiah Whe n they tell the M essi a h o f

.

the a fflictio n s o f Israel i n exile a n d that the s i n ,

n ers amo n g them do n o t reflect i n order to k n ow

thei r L ord he raises his voice an d weep s because

,

o f those si n n ers as it i s writte n he i s wou n ded ‘

, ,

for our tra n sgressio n s (I s liii Whereupo n ’

. .

tho s e soul s retur n an d take thei r place In the .

garde n o f E de n there i s o n e place which i s called

the pal a ce o f the sick The M e s siah goes i n to .

this palace a n d i n vokes all the su ff eri n gs p a i n a n d ,

a fflictio n s o f I s rael to come upo n him a n d they ,

a l l co m e upo n him N ow i f he did n o t remove

.

them thu s a n d t ake them upo n himsel f n o m a n ,

could e n dure the su ff eri n gs o f I srael due as p u n ,

i s h m e n t for tra n sgressi n g the L aw ; as it i s writ

S urely he hath bor n e o u r griefs a n d car
‘
t en —

ried our sorrows etc (I s liii 4 with R o m x i i

,
’
. .
,
. .

3,
Whe n the childre n o f I srael were i n the
Holy L a n d they removed all those su ff eri n gs an d
a fflictio n s from the world by thei r p rayers a n d
sacrifices but n o w the M essiah removes them
,

”
from the world (Zohar I I 2 12 b ) With ref
.
, ,
.

ere n ce to these passages which speak o f the

3 1

A co l l e c ti on of p a s s age s r e f e r r i n g t o t h e at o n
th e
i ng wo r k of th e M e s s i ah i s g iv e n i n A u s e ii g e a u s dem

107
 TH E C A B A LA

t eme n t o f the M essi a h fo r the si n s of the peo

a on

ple which a r e given in the Zohar as the expla n a

,

tion o f the fi f ty third chapter o f I saiah P ro fessor

-
,

M
D al m a n remarks that the Jews rej ect a n d ob
j ce t to cabali stic stateme n t s as somethi n g foreign
to genuine Judai sm The theosophic speculatio n s
.

o f the Cabal a are at least j ust as Jewi sh as the

religious philosophical stateme n ts o f B ach ja o r

M aimonides ; yes it seems to u s that the God o f
,

revelation an d o f scripture i s more ho n estly r e

t ai n e d in the former than i n the latter where he ,

becomes a mathematical O n e without attribute

an d thereby may sati sfy a superficial reason but ,

leaves the heart empty That these Jewi sh think

.

ers influe n ced b y A ristotle had n o i n cli n ation to

, ,

fi n d i n I s liii an e x piati n g mediator i s o n ly too

.
,

i n e x plicable He who by hi s o wn stre n gth c an

.
,
“ ”
s oar i n to the sphere o f i n telligences an d thu s
bri n g hi s soul to immortality needs n o mediator , .

B u t we are concer n ed here not with a philosoph

ical or theosophical thought complex but the -
,

si m ple questio n whether the prophet speaks i n

I s liii o f a su ff eri n g mediator o f salvatio n
. Th e .

B u c h e S o h ar , pp 35 f , m o r e e s p e ci al l y i n W u n s h e , D i e
. . h
L e i de n des M es s i as , L e i p s i c, 18 70, pp 95 - 105 ; a n d b y
.

D al m an , D as K o m m e n de s M e s s i as n ach de m S o h a r
“ ”

(i n S aa t a n f H ofi n u n g), L e i p s i c , 1888 ,
pp 148 -1
60 . .

In h i s J es aja 5 3 das P r o ph e t e n wo r t v a n S it/zn l e i de n

,

des H e i la n des m i t b es o n de r e r B e r ii c ks i c lzti g n ng der .

s y n a g og a l en L i t e r a tu r L e i p s i c , 1890
,
.

108
 B I B L I O G R AP HY .

Th e f o ll o wm g refere n ces are give n fo r the

s ake o f those who may be su fficie n tly i n terested

in the subj ect to e n ter further i n to its detail s :

W ol f B i b l i o th e ca H e b r a ea Vol I I pp 1 19 1
'

. .
, , ,

124 7 Hamburg 1 7 28
, ,
.

F ii r s t B i b l i o th e ca J u dai ca Vo l 111 pp 320

, , .
,
.

32 5 L eip sic 1 8 63
, ,
.

B rucker K n r tz e F r ag en a n s der ph i l os oph i

,

is ch e n H is t or i e Vo l I V Ulm 1 7 33 ,
. .
, ,
.

K l e ak e r , U e b er di e N a tu r u nd de n U rs p ru n g
de r E m a n a ti o n s l e h r e b e i de n K a b b al i s t e n, R iga ,
1786 .

B eer , Ges ch i ch te und M e i n u ng e n a l l er be

s ta n de n e n u n d n a ch b es t e h e n den S e kt en der I n
den u n d de r Geh e i m l eh r e o de r K a b b al a h 2 ,
Vols .
,

B rij u n , 1 823 .

Molito r ,
P h i l os op h i e der Ges ch i ch te o der n b e r

di e Tr a di ti on , 4 Vol s .
, M un ster ,
1827 18 5 3; 2d
-
.

c d, . 18 5 7 .

F r ey s t adt ,
P h i l os op h i a c a b b al i s ti ca ; E x fon ti
b ns pr i m ar i i s a dn m b r a a i t a t q n e i n ter s e com p ar
'

(w i t, K é n i g s b e r g, 1 8 32 ; K a bb al i s rnns u n d P a n

t h ei s m us , ibid . 1 8 32 .

Th o l u ck , D e o r tn Ca b b a l ae, Hamburg ,
1 837 .

Hamberger ,
di e h oh e B e deu tung der al t
j ii di s c h e n Tr a di t i o n o de r de r s og e n a n n t en K ab
b al ah , S ulzbach , 1 844 (
a review o f Mo l i t o r ’
s

work ) .

L utterbeck di e n e n tes ta i n en tl i ch en L e h r b e
,

g fi
r i e V‘
o l 1 8 5
, 3 . .

M is s e s Z aph n a th P a n e a ch D ars t el l u n g u n d
, ,

K r i ts c h e Ge h e i m
'

B e l e n ch tn n g der j ndi s c h e n

l eh r e 2 p arts Cr a co w 18 62 63
, .
,
-
.

L ichte n berger E n cly pe di e des s ci en ce s r el i

’ ’

“
g i e n s e s art C a bale,
Vol I I pp .
, .
,
. 4 97 ff .
,
P aris ,

18 7 8 .

B loch , Ges ch i ch t e der E n twi c ke l u n g der K a b

b al a ,
Trier 1 8 94 ,
.

E hre n prei s K a b b a l i s ti s ch e S t n di en P art 1

, , .

Fra n kfort o n the M a i n 189 5 - - -

,
.

Vaca n t D i c ti o n a i r e de th é ol ogi e ca th o l i q u e
, ,

“ ”
P ari s 18 99 ff a r t C abale Vol I I 12 7 1 9 1
, , ,
.
,
.
,
—
.

W ii n s ch e a r t “
K abbala
”
,
i n H e r z og H a n c k
.
-

R ea l e n cy kl opadi e f ii r P r o t e s ta n ti s ch e Th e ol ogi e
'

u n d K i r c h e Vol IX L eipsic 190 1,

.
, ,
.

B i scho ff di e K a b b a l a h ; E i n fi i h r n n g i n di e
,

di e M y s ti k n n d Ge h e i rn wi s s e n s c h af t L eip
j i i s c h ,

sic 1 903 (tre ats the s ubj ect i n a c a tec h etical m an

,

n er ) .

S chulei n a r t K abbala i n K i r ch l i ch es H a n d
,
.

l ex i kon Mu n che n 1907 ff Vol 1 1 2 5 5 2 5 7

, , ,
. .
,
-
.

We have purposely re fr a i n ed from referri n g

to the hi s toric a l h a n dbook s o f D C a s sel S B a ck .
,
.
,

G K a r p el e s etc becau se they o ffer n ot h i n g n e w

.
,
.
,

from a critic a l poi n t o f view ; a n d for ob v iou s

rea s o n s we make n o me n tio n o f articles o n the
Cabal a i n E n gli s h Cyclopaedias .
 I NDEX
G em at ia r , 85 . K ahana 99 , .

Gi k a t i l l a , 42 . K a w ana d t i n f , oc r e o , 82 .

G i ll 4 , . Ki h 18
rc e r, .

G i nsb g ur 7
L an d au 6 9 6
.
,

Go d H i s b dy d s ib d 18 ; o e cr e
er , , .

L a ti f I bn 39 7 4
, ,

i s n d l ss a e d i ng t t h e ccor o e , , .

C abala 6 6 ; ak s Hi s l f m e m e
L n d M d na 6 0
eo e o e , , 61 .

kn w n i n t h o a ti n b y
,

e cre o
L tt s
e er b i na ti n, c om o o f, 30 .

ans f t S phi t h en
L ng f ll w 38
o e o , .

L ull y 3 1 0 0
m e o e ro or

em ana ti ns 6 7 7 7 ; w h i h o c , , .

are divi d d i n t g u p s and e

,

o
,

ro
Lu ia 5 7 5 8
r , , .

i n th i s way y i l d th dif e ree

L u z zat t o, 6 5 .

f t
eren f s as t h d i a o rm e

g a s sh w 6 7 ; t h
r m ana o , e em
M a a s ey M er k ab a and B eresh i t ,
17
ti ns p s n ti ng t h fi s t
o re re e e r
0

an if s t a ti n f G d f
m
,

e o o o orm
Mai n i d s 1 4 ; d n un s
m o e , e o ce

an i d al w ld ; f wh i h
e or rom c
m y s ti i s 1 9 c m , .

p d b y an ana ti n i n
rocee em o
M an t h a f a ti n 7 9
e cm e o c re o , .

di ff n t g ada ti ns f u
er e r o o r
M ath s 8 er , .

w lds 7 4
M di g El i as d l alls t h
e o, e , c e

Z ha a f g y 5 7
or , .

G lds h i d t 2 1
o c m
o r or er , .

,
M ss i ah H i i ng 7 8 ;
.

G a t 7 5 2 75
r e z,
e , s com ,
, ,

a t n n t f 1 06
.

o em e o
Gr ii n b a u m 2 2 , .

,
M ss i ahsh ip 5 8 ; t a h s su p
.

e c e er
Gii n s b u r g 4 0 , .
e ,

fo e t a t i o , 8 2 .

H l nt
e m o , 3 .
M t a t n 2 5 38 7 5
e ro , , , .

H di a
e re ,
10 1 .
M t psy h sis 8 1
e em c o , .

H w it
or z, 60 . M d ash K n n 33
i r o e , .

H tti ng
o e r, 92 . M l an 4
i m , .

M i an d la 3 5 5 1 0 1
r o , , , .

I n t p t a ti n y s ti al 8 3
er re o , m c M o re,3
I saa t h B l i nd 33 ; fa t h f
, .
.

c e , er o M o ri n u s 51
C abala 34
.
,
th e , .
M s s o e de L n eo 5 ; au t h or of
I sh a el b El i sa 1 3
,

m en , .
th e Zo ha r, 43 .

J huda h H al vi 2 1
e e , .
N ach m a n i de s , 36
J ll i n k 5 6 7 1 7 1 8 1 9 33
.

e e , , , , , , , , N as i r, 37 , 7 4 .

37 , 5 2 .

N al
e e, 88
b k ti and
.

J e z i rah , oo o f, 20 ; m e N e c h u n ja h B e n H a - -
K anah
p la p s iti n 2 0 ;
,

f ce o c om o o , 35
nt nts t h s phi al
.

co e , 21 ; eo o c N tt sh i 3
e e e m
a it h ti
.
,
r m e c, 22 .
N ta ik n 86
o r o
J l 6 1 05
.
,
oe , , .
Nu b a l
m er, or c e, 86
J s p hus 8 0
.

o e , .

J st 7
o , .
O p h ani m , 24 , 38 .

J u ch as i n , 52 . O a ula
r c S ib yll i na, 88 .
 INDEX

E k I
ze .
, 2 0, 24 .

R om . XII , 3, 4 , 1 0 7 .

S l i g 98
e , .

S phi
e t h 2 5 34 ro 38 ; pp s d
o o e
P a a lsus 3
, , ,

r ce , .
b y a S p h i ah e r of da kn ss r e
P aul i 1 0 5
,

, .
77
P l 99
.

er , .
S eraph i 24 m
Ph i l 8 0 8 1
, .

o, , .
Si n b J h i 4 5 ;
m o en oc a pre
Pi a d 6 1
, ,

c r , .
ex ist n f s ul 8 0 e ce o o
Pi s t i us 1 0 1
.
,

or , .
S t i ns hn i d 6
e c e er,
P la t 8 0 8 1
.

o, , .

St em 7
P lus 6 7 , .

St a k 50
roc , .

r c , .

R u hl i n 3 1 0 1
e c .
S p f t ti
u er oe a d t in f o, oc r e o , 82 .

, ,
S a n do l p h o n , 38
Ri i 101
cc , .
.

R i tt en g el , 1 0 1 .

Tem u r ah , 91
R o s e n roth , Kn o rr vo n , 4 3, 4 5 ,
T t a ga
e r r m m
.

at om , 93 .

5 8, 1 03 .

Th o l u c k , 1 0 5
R bin
u , 96 .
.

Tz i ru p h , 9 1 .

S ab b at a i , Z e p la i s b il , 61 ; roc m
Vit al n ti nu s w k f L u i a r
h i s l f t h M ss i ah
m e e e , em ~

59 ;
, co

has an y a d h n t s 6 0
e or o ,

b a s I sla i s
r ce62 ; u i ns m m , r
m ere ,
.

t h usan d s f J wi sh fa i
o o e m
W a kk a r e nd a v s t e n or o r eco
l i s 63
,

e , .
c il e th e C abala wit h p h i l s o
S a hs 6
c , .
op h y, 5 5
S a a el p in f da kn ss
.

m , r ce o r e ,
W e s t c o tt 6
7 7 ; h i s wi f all d t h h
.
,

e c e e ar
W o r d s wo r t h , 84 .

l ot, 78 .

W o r ld t h e p s nt re e th e b ste ,

S andal p h n
, ,

o , 2 5 , 38 .
75 .

S c h ot t g e n , 1 04 .
W ii n s c h e 2 0 , 33, 9 3, 1 08 .
,

S c h ii rer, 81
ha w itt n b y M s s d
.

S ipt u
cr re re ere f n s ce Zo r, r e o e e

G n sise e XIV , 1 4, 86 L n 4 3 ; it s su pp l n t a y
eo ,
em e r

X X X VII 3 8 7 , , . p ti ns 4 6 ; t h la t
or o , e e au

E dus X IV 1 9 2 1
xo , ,
-
91 th h ip
ors p v n f th ro e rom e

X X 20 25 , , . f n
re er e t th C usa d s ce o e r e

P sX XXIV
. 18 , ,
and t h v nt s 5 1 ; b
o er e e ,
e

C X VI I I 2 2 1 02 , . s th t t b k f th
c om e e ex -
oo o e

P v I I I 1 3 38
ro .
, , . C abala 5 4 ; it s f ll w s d , o o er e

I sa VI 2 1 8 ; 3
.
, , , 1 05 ; n uno th an ti C abal i s t s
ce e -
,

LI I I 4 1 0 7 ; S 1 0 6 , , , ,
1 07 . 56 .

J er . X X V, 2 6 , 92 . Z u n z , 6, 94 .