Some of the most anthropomorphic passages about God occur in the Exodus narrative, such as Yahweh is a man of war (Exod. 15:3), Yahweh came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mount (Exod. 19:20), and Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and they saw the God of Israel; and there was under His feet the likeness of a pavement of sapphire stone (Exod. 24:9-10). This portrayal of God is attributed by the Magharians to the pre-existent angel. The notion that God revealed the Law through an angel is found in The Book of Jubilees 1:27 as well: “And God said to the angel of the presence: ‘Write for Moses from the beginning of Creation till My sanctuary has been built among them for all eternity.’”
The angel of the Magharians is also identified with the Angel of the Lord, especially as identified in the key passage from Exodus 23:20-21: “I am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have made ready. Pay heed to him, and obey him. Do not defy him, for he will not pardon your offenses, since My Name is in him.”
Although the angel myth of the Magharians originated out of reverence to God and their belief that God must not be portrayed in anthropomorphic terms, in the end they reduced the importance of God and raised up the importance of the angel, who was the true creator of this world.
Philo’s concept of the Logos, or some parallel traditions, which at times becomes identified as an angel, may have influenced the Magharian myth.
This mythic solution later induced this sect to become Christian, in that they accepted the idea that the creating angel had human form, and therefore could take the form of a human being. The founder of the sect, however, returned to Judaism, disillusioned by Christianity, and wrote two books attacking it.
There are also reports about the Magharians in Shahrastani, where their name was corrupted into Makaribans. Here the angel is not pre-existent, but one of the ministering angels who is selected by God as his proxy. Otherwise the myths are the same.
Sources:
Kitab al-Anwar w’al-Mar’akib (Karaite); Kitab al-Milal wa’al-Nihal (Karaite).
Studies:
“The Pre-existent Angel of the Magharians and Al-Nahawandi” by H. A. Wolfson. The Jewish Quarterly Review, vol. 51, 1960-61, 89-106.
“The Magharians: A Pre-Christian Jewish Sect and Its Significance for the Study of Gnosticism and Christianity” by Jarl E. Fossum.
153. THE WHEEL OF CREATION
All creation is a rotating wheel, revolving and alternating. Everything goes in cycles. Man becomes angel, and angel, man. Head becomes foot, and foot head. All these things have a single root. All interchange, raising the low, lowering the high, spinning on the wheel of creation.
This myth demonstrates the unique vision of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav. Here he describes a cyclic view of creation in which things are transformed into their opposites, men into angels and back again. This is what he identifies as the wheel of creation. One likely inspiration for this myth is Isaiah 40:4: Let every valley be raised and mount made low. Another is the famous passage from Ecclesiastes 3:1: To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.
Sources:
Sihot ha-Ran 40.
154. THE COSMIC TREE
In the beginning God planted a cosmic tree that reached from one end of the universe to the other. God planted this tree for the whole world, and everything that God created afterward emerged from this tree. All souls blossom from it, flying forth in joy. All things emanate from it. The whole world delights in it. Everything needs it and yearns for it, and seeks to glimpse that tree. And, at the end of their lives, the souls of the righteous ascend on high, attaching themselves to this tree.
God was alone when He created the cosmic tree and sowed the seeds of All. None was with Him when he planted and rooted that tree, and there was none to whom He could confide this secret. That is why no angel can raise himself above it to say: “I was there first.”
The cosmic tree described here functions both as a myth and as an allegory. This dual nature is commonly found in kabbalah, in which there is an ongoing dialectic between myth and allegory. The myth of a tree that is also the cosmos has astrological roots, while its allegorical aspect is the symbolic Tree of Life that is used to represent the sefirot, especially the final seven sefirot. The names of these sefirot are identified in the verse Yours, Lord, are the Greatness, the Strength, the Beauty, the Victory and the Splendor, for All in heaven and earth. Yours O God is the Kingdom (I Chron. 29:11). The sefirah Yesod, representing the sexual organ in man, is identified as the “All” that is the source of all souls, for through Yesod souls are transmitted.
Sefer ha-Bahir discusses the cosmic tree in two passages, 22 and 119. In the latter the cosmic tree is defined: “What is this tree? The powers of God, one above the other, resembling a tree.” Here too the metaphor of the tree is expanded, as follows: “Just as a tree brings forth fruit through water, God increases the power of the tree through water. What is the water of God? It is wisdom. It is the souls of the righteous. The Shekhinah dwells among them. Their deeds rest in the bosom of God, and He makes them fruitful and multiplies them.”
In Isaiah 44:24 God says, “It is I, Yahweh, who made everything, who stretched out the heavens alone and spread out the earth.” This statement is intended to eliminate speculation that other forces, such as the angels, aided in Creation. Likewise, Genesis Rabbah 1:3 states, “When were the angels created? All agree that none were created on the first day, lest you should say, Michael stretched the world in the south and Gabriel in the north, while God measured it in the middle.” (Other sources, however, link the creation of the angels to the first day of Creation, and imply that the angels did participate in the subsequent creation. See “Creation By Angels,” p. 116 and the accompanying note.)
This sentiment is also found in this passage from Sefer ha-Bahir 22:11, where God takes complete credit for having created the cosmic tree, which is a metaphor for the universe. This tree is the origin of the souls of the world. It does not seem to be identical to the Tree of Life, although life emerges from it.
Sources:
Sefer ha-Bahir 22; 119.
Studies:
Origins of the Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem, 68-80.
“The Tree that is All: Jewish-Christian Roots of a Kabbalistic Symbol in Sefer ha-Bahir” by Elliot R. Wolfson.
155. THE SHATTERING OF THE VESSELS AND THE GATHERING OF THE SPARKS
At the beginning of time, God’s presence filled the universe. Then God decided to bring this world into being. To make room for creation, God first drew in His breath, contracting Himself. From that contraction a dark mass was produced. And when God said, Let there be light (Gen. 1:3), the light that came into being entered the dark mass, and ten vessels came forth, each filled with primordial light.
In this way God sent forth those ten vessels, like a fleet of ships, each carrying its cargo of light. Had they arrived intact, the world would have been perfect. But somehow the frail vessels broke open, split asunder, and all the holy sparks were scattered, like sand, like seeds, like stars. Those sparks fell everywhere, but more fell on the Holy Land than anywhere else.
That is why we were created—to gather the sparks, no matter where they are hidden. Some even say that God created the world so that Israel could raise up the holy sparks. And that is why there have been so many exiles—to release the holy sparks from the servitude of captivity. For in this way the people of Israel will sift all the holy sparks from the four corners of the earth.
And when enough holy sparks have been gathered, the vessels will be restored, and the repair of the world, awaited so long, will finally take place. Therefore it should be the aim of everyone to raise these sparks from where they are imprisoned and to elevate them to holiness by the power of their soul. And when the task of gathering the sparks nears completion, God will hasten the arrival of the final redemption by Himself collecting what remains of the holy sparks that went astra
y.
The myth of the Shattering of the Vessels (shevirat ha-kelim), attributed to the Ari, is found in the writings of Hayim Vital, Moshe Yonah, Yosef ibn Tabul, and Israel Sarug, among others. Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, quoting Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 3, suggests that the reason that God wanted to create the earth was “to reveal his majesty, since there is no King without subjects. Therefore God constricted His infinite light, leaving a vacated space” (Likutei Moharan 6). See “The Contraction of God,” p. 13. According to Hayim Vital, the ten vessels were created to contain ten gradations of divine light—the ten sefirot. See “The Ten Sefirot,” p. 7. In some versions of this myth, all ten vessels are said to have broken, while other versions insist that the upper three vessels remained intact, while the lower seven shattered. The breaking of the vessels indicates some kind of divine flaw, since the vessels were unable to hold the infinite light that flowed into them. It was the shattering of the vessels, the divine equivalent of the Fall of Adam and Eve, that permitted the roots of evil to enter the world. Once they shattered, the vessels, now called kelippot, meaning “shells” or “shards,” and conceived as demonic in nature, became the basis of material reality. While most of the divine light ascended on high, some clung to the broken shards. These are the sparks that must be liberated through the process of Gathering the Sparks. As Rabbi Hayim Tirer of Chernovitz puts it, “The Jewish people must make a mighty effort to return these sparks to the Creator” (Be’er Mayim Hayim, Bereshit 32).
According to Israel Sarug (1631): “Traces of the divine light adhered to the fragments of the broken vessels like sparks. And when the fragments descended to the bottom of the fourth and last world, they produced the four elements, and when all these became completely materialized, some of the sparks still remained within. Therefore it should be the aim of everyone to raise these sparks from where they are imprisoned in this world and to elevate them to holiness by the power of their soul.”
There are three likely biblical sources for the Ari’s myth. The first, Contraction (tzimtzum), finds its likely biblical source in the cloud that fills the Tent of Meeting: A cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Presence of Yahweh filled the Tabernacle, and Moses was not able to enter into the Tent of Meeting (Exod. 40:34-35).
The second phase of the Ari’s myth, the Shattering of the Vessels, has two likely biblical sources. The first is that of Moses throwing down the first tablets of the Law, which shatter: He became enraged; and he hurled the tablets from his hand and shattered them at the foot of the mountain (Exod. 32:19). This is an important source, especially since there are ten commandments and ten sefirot. Equally relevant is the passage in Ezekiel 10:2 in which coals of fire from the altar are scattered by some angelic figure over the city of Jerusalem: Fill your hands with glowing coals from among the cherubs, and scatter them over the city. This passage from Ezekiel manages to work in the scattering, the sparks, the concentration of sparks on the Holy Land (and especially Jerusalem), and the holiness of the sparks, since they come from the altar.
A deeply metaphoric passage in the Idra Rabbah portion of the Zohar (3:135a-135b) about the deaths of the kings of Edom (Gen. 36:31-39) has been linked to the sefirotic process of emanation, which is in turn linked to the myth of the Shattering of the Vessels, in that both describe a cosmic rupture. Interpreted in this fashion, this passage identifies the vessels that shattered with the myth of the prior worlds that God is said to have created and destroyed: “and all the worlds were destroyed.” See “Prior Worlds,” p. 71. These prior worlds were understood to have been flawed worlds that God created and destroyed. From this interpretation it is possible to conclude that the Breaking of the Vessels came about because of some kind of flaw whose origin must be tracked back to God. For if the vessels had been strong enough, or the light in them stable, they would have fulfilled their original purpose and arrived intact at their destination. Instead, the sparks of holy light must be liberated from the dark matter in which they have descended.
The third stage, the Gathering of the Sparks, may well find its source in the gathering of the manna in the desert: The Israelites did so, some gathering much, some little (Exod. 16:17). Like the sparks, the manna has fallen from the heavens to nourish the people’s bodies, while the sparks nourish their souls.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Riminov strongly linked the myth of the Gathering of the Sparks with the messianic redemption: “These holy sparks descended at the time of Creation. It is our task to extract and cleanse the holy sparks by means of learning Torah and performing mitzvot. If Israel merits to elevate all the holy sparks through their good deeds, then, when this task is completed, God will hasten the arrival of the Final Redemption. For the Final Redemption cannot occur until all the holy sparks are purified and elevated to their origin. And what if there are a few holy sparks that were led astray? God will collect what is His—He Himself will collect the holy sparks that were led astray.” Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyady confirms the link between raising up the fallen sparks and the arrival of the messianic era: “When all the sparks of holiness have been released, the Messiah will come” (Tanya 25).
Note that the Riminov Rebbe adds a remarkable detail to the myth of Gathering the Sparks: that God Himself will collect any remaining holy sparks that went astray. The Riminov Rebbe links this interpretation to the talmudic dictim, “God is forebearing and collects what is His” (Y. Tan. 82a).
In Esh Kadosh, Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira suggests that when there was an increase in the kelippot— the forces of evil—the deaths of the Ten Martyrs became necessary to prevent a new Shattering of the Vessels. Then Rabbi Shapira offers a parallel explanation for the loss of so many Jewish souls in the Shoah, concluding that that time was also a time of the Breaking of the Vessels.
Sources:
Zohar 3:135a-135b, Idra Rabbah; Etz Hayim, Hekhal Nekudim, Sha’ar ha-Melakhim 5; Etz Hayim, Hekhal Adam Kadmon, Derush Igulim ve-Yosher 2:24b:3-9; Derush she-Masar 18-20; Mavo She’arim, Sha’ar 2, pt. 1, 5:18-19; Kanfei Yonah; Derush Heftzi Bah; Keter Shem Tov 194; Likutei Moharan 49; Makhon Siftei Tzaddikim on Exodus 34:6; B’nei Yisakhar, Nisan Ma’amar 4; Yiyyul ha-Pardes 8:60d; Sefer Ba’al Shem Tov, va-Yetze 8, 9; Tanya 25; Be’er Mayim Hayim, Bereshit 32; Esh Kadosh; Wisdom of Solomon 3:7, 7:25-27.
Studies:
Physician of the Soul, Healer of the Cosmos: Isaac Luria and His Kabbalistic Fellowship by Lawrence Fine, pp. 124-149.
156. CREATION BY BROKEN VESSELS
At the time of Creation, God created worlds and destroyed them. The worlds that were created and those that were destroyed were the shattered vessels that God had sent forth. Out of those broken vessels God created the present universe.
Here Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira transforms Rabbi Isaac Luria’s myth of the Shattering of the Vessels and the Gathering of the Sparks, linking the Ari’s myth to the midrash found in Genesis Rabbah 3:7 and elsewhere about God having destroyed many previous worlds prior to the creation of this one. In the midrash, God destroys the worlds because they don’t please him—in some way they are imperfect. But here Rabbi Shapira has brilliantly transformed a myth about destruction into a myth about creation. Instead of the prior worlds simply having been destroyed, here they are understood to have been the basis for the subsequent, present universe, known as olam ha-tikkun, world of repair.
Although Rabbi Shapira’s reinterpretation of the Ari’s myth is really a new myth in itself, it does not contradict the Ari’s myth, where the Shattering of the Vessels, and the spilling of the primordial light inside them serves as the prelude to the Gathering of the Sparks, which is precisely tikkun olam—repair of the world. Thus the end result of the two versions is the same. From this perspective, Rabbi Shapira’s myth might be seen as an alternate version of the Ari’s myth, to which, of course, it directly refers. See “The Shattering of the Vessels and the Gathering of the Sparks,” p. 122.
Rabbi Shapira viewed the Shattering of the Vessels as a cosmic shattering that could recur in another
time. In Esh Kadosh, Rabbi Shapira presents the theory that such an event was averted because of the deaths of the Ten Martyrs. He also viewed the Holocaust, which he experienced firsthand in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a time of the Breaking of the Vessels. But rather than simply view this as a time of cosmic catastrophe, he was true to his own myth, asserting instead that it was a time for renewal and new creation. And for him the primary task of renewal was repentance. Only in this way could all the worlds be mended.
Sources:
Esh Kadosh 122-124.
Studies:
The Holy Fire: The Teachings of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto by Nehemia Polen, pp. 124-126.
157. THE HEAVENLY MAN
There are those who say that God did not only create one Adam, but two. The first Adam was a heavenly being who was not fashioned from clay, but was stamped with the likeness and image of God, as it is said, in the image of God He created him (Gen. 1:27). This Adam assisted God in the creation of the earthly Adam. There is a vast difference between this heavenly Adam, and the earthly Adam.
The earthly Adam was created out of the dust of the earth, as it is said, The Lord God formed man from the dust of the earth (Gen. 2:7). At the same time, Adam was brought to life by the breath of God, as it is said, He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being (Gen. 2:7). Thus the earthly man was made from a composite of divine breath and a lump of clay.
A vast difference exists between the heavenly man and the generations descended from the earthly Adam—although the earthly Adam has returned to the dust, the heavenly Adam still exists. For the heavenly man, born in the image of God, has no participation in any earthlike essence, is imperishable, and is neither male nor female.
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