After that Adam kept the Book concealed, and read it in secret. In this way he learned mysteries not even known by the angels. But at last the envy of the angels became so great that they stole the Book and threw it into the sea. Adam searched for it in vain, and then fasted for many days, until a celestial voice announced: “Fear not, Adam, I will give the Book back to you.” Then God called upon Rahab, the angel of the sea, and ordered him to recover the Book from the depths of the sea and to give it to Adam, and so he did.
When Adam transgressed, the Book flew away from him. But Adam begged God for its return, and beat his breast, and entered the river Gihon up to his neck, until his body became wrinkled and his face haggard. Then God made a sign for the angel Raphael, the Angel of Healing, to heal Adam and bring the book back to him. After that Adam studied the book intently, and bequeathed it to his son Seth. So it went on, through successive generations, as it is said, This is the book of the generations of Adam (Gen. 5:1).
In this way the book was handed down from Seth to Enosh to Kenan to Jared, and in this way it reached Enoch. It was from this Book that Enoch drew his vast knowledge of the Mysteries of Creation. Before he was taken up into heaven and transformed into the angel Metatron, Enoch entrusted the book to his son, Methuselah, who read the Book and transmitted it to his son Lamech, and from there it reached Noah, Lamech’s son, who made use of its instructions in building the ark. Indeed, there are those who insist that the book was revealed to Noah by the angel Raziel. They say that Noah heard the book from the mouth of Raziel and later the angel wrote it down for him on a sapphire stone.
By reading this book it was possible for Noah to penetrate great secrets of knowledge, hierarchies of understanding, and ideas of wisdom, to know the way of life and the way of death, the way of good and the way of evil, and to foresee the concerns of each and every year, whether for peace or for war, for plenty or for hunger, for harvest or for drought. By gazing there the destinies of the stars were revealed, as well as the course of the sun and the names of the guardians of each and every firmament. Revealed as well were the secrets of how to interpret dreams and visions, and how to rule over all of a man’s desires, as well as how to drive away evil spirits and demons. Happy was the eye that beheld that book, and happy the ear that listened to its wisdom, for in it were revealed all the secrets of heaven and earth.
Noah placed the Book into a golden box and it was the first thing he brought into the ark. In this way it came to be revealed to Abraham, whose knowledge of it permitted him to gaze upon the glory of God. And from Abraham it was passed down to Isaac and to Jacob and to Joseph, who consulted it to discover the true meanings of dreams. The book was buried with Joseph, and in this way it was preserved when his coffin was raised by Moses from the Nile and carried beside the Tabernacle throughout the wandering of the Israelites in the wilderness.
In this way the Book came into the possession of King Solomon, who made good use of its wisdom, and also sought its assistance in constructing the Temple. Some say that the book was lost again when the Temple was destroyed, its letters soaring on high as flames approached the Sanctuary in which it was hidden. Yet there are others who say that it was saved from the flames, and has been secretly passed down ever since. In this way it was said to have reached Rabbi Adam, and from Rabbi Adam it was passed down to the Ba’al Shem Tov, who learned the supernal mysteries from reading it and in this way became the Tzaddik of his generation.
This is the most famous of all the chain midrashim, a linked set of myths. It tells the story of how God sent the angel Raziel to reveal this book to Adam, and how Adam came into possession of it. Subsequent myths describe how the book was passed down from Adam to Noah, following the genealogy in Genesis 5, and later reached the patriarchs and kings. The book that the angel Raziel left with Adam has two names: it is known as The Book of Raziel and as The Book of Adam. Raziel ha-Malakh explicitly records the transmission of the book from Adam to Enoch to Noah to Abraham, Isaac, Levi, Moses and Aaron, Pinhas, and so on down the generations.
The myth of the Book of Raziel grows out of a midrash attempting to explain the verse, This is the book of the generations of Adam (Gen. 5:1). In B. Avodah Zarah 5a, Resh Lakish is quoted as saying: “Did Adam have a book? This implies that God showed to Adam every generation that would ever exist, every generation with its sages and its leaders. When Adam reached the generation of Rabbi Akiba, he rejoiced at his teaching, but was grieved about his death.”
While most accounts of this heavenly book assume that the book had already been written and that Adam heard it for the first time when the angel Raziel read it to him, the Maharal proposes an alternate scenario in which Adam had all future events revealed to him in a vision, and later they were recorded in this book. That the angel leaves the book for Adam to read later indicates that books are so important in Jewish tradition that even the first man could read.
The earliest mention of the angel Raziel is in the Book of Enoch. Raziel ha-Malakh, first published in Amsterdam in 1701, claimed to be the book that the angel Raziel gave to Adam. It largely consists of the names of God and of the angels, and the texts of amulets. The book itself was believed to have talismanic powers, especially the ability to ward off fires and other disasters. For this reason it was commonly found in many Jewish homes.
The angel Raziel, who delivered The Book of Raziel to Adam, plays a role in Jewish mythology equivalent to Hermes in Greek mythology. That is, he serves as a messenger of God, while Hermes (Mercury) is a messenger of the gods. Rahab, the Angel of the Sea, is the Jewish mythic equivalent of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea.
Sources:
B. Avodah Zarah 5a;Genesis Rabbah 24:4; Leviticus Rabbah 15:1; Avot de-Rabbi Natan 56a; Midrash Tanhuma Bereshit 1:32;Midrash Tehillim 139; Zohar 1:37b, 1:55a-b, 1:58b, 1:90b; Sefer ha-Razim 65-66; Raziel ha-Malakh 2, 4.
Studies:
Kabbalah by Avraham Yaakov Finkel, pp. 23-30.
316. CREATING NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH
God constantly creates new heavens and a new earth from the new meanings that are discovered in the Torah. When the Torah was given to Moses, tens of thousands of angels on high were about to burn him with the flames of their mouths, but God protected him. Since then, whenever a new interpretation of the Torah is uttered, the saying rises up, is adorned with a crown, and then stands before God. And God guards that saying and keeps it hidden, and shelters the person who said it, to prevent the angels from envying him until a new heaven and a new earth are created from that saying. Thus every word that receives a new interpretation by one who delves into the study of the Torah creates a new heaven and a new earth, as it is said, “That I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth” (Isa. 51:16).
This myth, based on Isaiah 66:22, demonstrates the primary role of interpreting the Torah, going as far as to assert that new interpretations are not only essential, but that God sees that they are crowned, protects them from the envy of the angels, and uses them as the basis for creating a new heaven and a new earth. What does “a new heaven and a new earth” mean? It means that the new interpretations that arise about the meanings of the Torah so radically change the perspective and understanding of those who receive them, that the heavens and earth seem new to them. This myth is thus an ode to the remarkable power of interpretation, and of the necessity for new interpretations to continue to be made, to prevent the views of the Torah from becoming static. See “A New Torah,” p. 522.
Sources:
Zohar 1:4b-5a.
317. GOD’S WARNING
God created this world with the following stipulation: “If Israel accepts the Torah when I offer it to them, then creation will continue to exist. Otherwise I will return the world to chaos and void. For the world only exists for the sake of the Torah. Thus if the Torah would cease to be studied, the world would cease to exist.”
When the time came for the Giving of the Torah, God summoned all the people of the world and offered them the Torah, b
ut none accepted it. The earth trembled on hearing this, for it feared it was on the point of returning to chaos. Israel was the last possibility, and the earth assumed that Israel, too, would turn down the Torah. But when Israel accepted the Torah, the earth became calm, as it is said, The earth was numbed with fright (Ps. 76:9).
Here God makes the existence of the world contingent on the acceptance and study of the Torah. This represents one tradition about the Giving of the Torah—that it was not an offer, but a demand. See “God Offers the Torah to Israel,” p. 264. It is said that God offered the Torah to Israel on the sixth of Sivan in the year 2448, in the 26th generation since the creation of the world (B. Pes. 118a). By implication, the fact that the world still exists confirms that there has never been a time devoid of faith in the Torah.
In Likutei Moharan, Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav asserts that the world can only continue to exist if there are people in it who believe that it was created from nothing. For if there is no one alive who believes this, the world will cease to exist.
Sources:
B. Shabbat 88a; B. Pesahim 68a; Midrash Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, Bereshit 1; Midrash Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, Yitro 14; Nefesh ha-Hayim 4:11; Zohar 1:193a; Likutei Moharan 2:8.
318. THE LIGHT OF THE TORAH
The light of the Torah existed prior to the creation of the world, as it is said, God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Gen. 1:3). When God spoke at Mount Sinai, this great light issued from the Word of the Lord and filled the whole earth. All the kings assembled and came to Balaam to ask if God was about to bring a second Flood upon the earth. Balaam said, “He is now giving His Torah to the children of Israel. That Torah is the source of this great light that frightens you.”
There is an extensive tradition about light associated with creation, which grows out of Genesis 1:3 and the rabbinic myths associated with the primordial light. See “The Light of the First Day,” p. 83. Here the source of the light is described as being the Torah, and this idea is later developed in the Zohar, where it is said that a ray of light goes forth from the Torah whenever one who is studying it experiences the illumination of understanding. The primordial light was said to have been hidden away, and Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav suggested it was hidden in the Torah, which corresponds with this myth, since the light had its origin there in the first place. Rabbi Baruch of Kossov speaks of two kinds of light, a physical light and a spiritual light. When a person understands a verse of the Torah, he sees a light. This light stems from the essential light of the soul.
Sources:
Exodus Rabbah 5:3; Menorat ha-Maor 230; Yalkut Shim’oni; Zohar 2:148b-149a; Amud ha-Avodah 62a.
319. THE BETROTHAL OF THE TORAH
At the end of the sixth day of Creation, when God saw all that He had made, and found it very good (Gen. 1:31), the Torah came forth from her bridal chamber dressed in all kinds of jewelry and royal ornaments, and danced before God. She opened her lips in wisdom and praised God with all manner of song. When God said to her, “Show me your appearance,” she bowed her head and lifted her veil, and the splendor of her face filled all the palaces of heaven. When God said to her, “Let me hear your voice,” she lifted her voice in song. Then a heavenly voice went forth to say The teaching of Yahweh is perfect, renewing life (Ps. 19:8).
Then God revealed the Throne of Glory to the Torah, and brought forth all the souls of the righteous, the souls of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the souls of Israel who would accept the Torah in the future, and He let them pass before her. After this God brought forth the soul of Moses from beneath his throne, and showed him to the Torah, and said to her, “My daughter, rejoice and be happy, for this Moses is destined to become your bridegroom. It is he who will accept you and love you and reveal you to the myriads of Israel at Mount Sinai.” Then the Torah answered and said, “How long until the time of my rejoicing arrives?” God replied, “From the day that I created you until a thousand generations have been fulfilled.”
Here the Torah is personified as a bride who appears at the end of the sixth day of creation, as the culmination of all that was created. At first it appears that the Torah will be the bride of God, but later it is revealed that Moses will be her bridegroom in the future. It is interesting to note that this midrash attributes no role to the Torah in the actual creation, although other rabbinic legends describe the Torah as the plan by which God created the world. See “Creation by the Torah,” p. 249. Another wedding metaphor is found in the Sephardic Mahzor, where God is portrayed as the Bridegroom and Israel as the bride, and the Torah serves as the ketubah, or wedding contract, between them. See “The Wedding Between God and Israel,” p. 305.
The bridelike qualities of the Torah are also emphasized by Maimonides in explaining the counting of the Omer in the 49 days between the second day of Passover and Shavuot: “Shavuot is the day of the Giving of the Torah. The momentous nature of that date is expressed in the numbering of every day, bringing it nearer, just as a lover counts the days and even hours that bring the day of meeting with the beloved nearer.”
There is an important parable in Zohar 2:98b-99b about a lovely maiden in a palace closed from all sides who can only reveal her face briefly to her lover from a tiny opening in the wall. This maiden represents the Torah, which reveals a little of itself at a time, at first only the literal meaning, but later reveals deeper levels of understanding. Another way of reading it is to see the maiden as the Shekhinah. Variants of this parable are found in Seder ha-Yom by Moses ben Judah Makhir and Hemdat Yamim 3:51a-b. A Rapunzel-like folktale with a similar situation is found in the Preface to Midrash Tanhuma. See “The Princess in the Tower” in Elijah’s Violin, pp. 47-52.
Sources:
Midrash Aleph Bet 2:7-11
Studies:
“The Metamorphosis of Narrative Traditions: Two Stories from Sixteenth-Century Safed” by Aryeh Wineman.
320. THE VESTMENT OF THE SHEKHINAH
The Torah is the vestment of the Shekhinah. If man had not been created, the Shekhinah would have been without a garment, like a beggar. Thus when a man sins, it is as if he tears away the vestments of the Shekhinah. And when he fulfills the precepts of the Torah, it is as though he clothes the Shekhinah in her vestments.
Here the Torah and the Shekhinah are closely linked by suggesting that the Torah serves as the garment of the Shekhinah. This brief myth from the Zohar also suggests that when a person sins, it is not only a sin against the Torah, but against the Shekhinah, since it causes the garment of the Shekhinah to be torn away, an outrageous offense against the Bride of God.
Sources:
Zohar 1:23a-123b.
321. THE LETTERS AND THE BURNING BUSH
When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, Moses found twenty-two letters written before him with devouring fire. Those letters formed the mystical image of God, and by peering into those letters, Moses was able to perceive the presence of God, and by means of those letters Moses was able to expound the Law.
This Samaritan myth links the letters of the Hebrew alphabet with Moses’ vision of the burning bush. It links the vision with Moses’ later role in recording the Torah that God dictated to him at Mount Sinai, and suggests that in that vision at the burning bush Moses not only had a revelation about God, but also had a revelation about the Torah that it would be his destiny to receive.
Most Samaritan myths, like this one, focus on Moses, who plays a near-messianic role in Samaritan tradition. See “The Burning Bush,” p. 375.
Sources:
Memar Markah 6:3 (Samaritan).
Studies:
The Name of God and the Angel of the Lord by Jarl E. Fossum.
322. THE ANGELS AND THE GIVING OF THE TORAH
When God wished to give the Torah to Israel, the ministering angels said to him: “Master of the Universe, it is proper for the Torah to remain in heaven.” God said to the angels: “Why does it matter to you?” The angels replied: “We are afraid that in the future You will bring Your Divine Presence
down to the earthly beings.” God replied: “I am giving my Torah to the earthly beings, but I will continue to live among the heavenly beings.”
The day God went down to give the Torah, sixty myriads of ministering angels descended with Him. But when God was about to give the Torah to Israel, the angels again objected. The angels said to God, “It would be better if You extended Your majesty only to the heavens above, and if You gave the Torah only to us.”
God replied, “Are you the ones who will fulfill the Torah? The Torah cannot remain with you. It would not be appropriate for it to remain in a realm of creatures who have eternal life.”
Then, without further ado, God dismissed the angels and gave the Torah to Israel.
This mythic account of the angels’ resistance to God giving the Torah to Israel is parallel to that of the angels’ original resistance to the creation of man. In both cases the angels are portrayed as jealous of God’s affection for humans, and especially for Israel. The angels also resist Moses’ ascent into heaven to receive the Torah, threatening to throw him from on high. Here, again, God comes to the rescue. See “The Ascent of Moses,” p. 261.
Sources:
B. Sanhedrin 109a; Genesis Rabbah 118:6; Pesikta Rabbati 25:2.
323. THE QUARREL OF THE MOUNTAINS
When the mountains heard that God was going to give the Torah on a mountain, they quarreled among themselves. Each said, “God will give the Torah on me.” And the mountains moved from their places and ran into the wilderness, for they knew that God would give the Torah where no one could say, “Depart from here for this territory belongs to me.”
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