According to another explanation given by the sages, this verse of Genesis applies to the angelic messengers. They, knowing the past and the future and therefore foreseeing that man would eventually sin, opposed the creation of man. But there is more: at the moment when the Shekhinah said to the Holy One, blessed be He, “Let us make man,” the demons Aza and Azaël brought charges against man, saying: “Why create man, since Thou knowest that He will eventually sin against Thee with his wife, who emanates from the side of the passive light called ‘darkness’? For the male emanates from the side of the active light, whereas the female emanates from the left side, where darkness reigns in the ‘world of creation.’” Then the Shekhinah answered them: “You bring charges against man, reproaching him for the woman; it is a woman who will cause your downfall, as it is written: ‘The children of God, seeing that the daughters of men were fair, took for their wives those of them whom they pleased.’” When these angels felt desire for the women and allowed themselves to be seduced, the Shekhinah cast them out, depriving them of their holiness. The colleagues replied to Rabbi Simeon: “Master, yet the demons Aza and Azaël did not lie when they said that man would eventually sin with a woman?” Rabbi Simeon answered them: “It is precisely for this reason that the Shekhinah said to these demons: In order for you to bring charges against men, you would have to be more chaste than they. Now, man will eventually sin with only one woman, whereas you will eventually sin with several women, as it is written: ‘The children of God, seeing that the daughters of men were fair’; Scripture speaks not of one daughter, but of several. Moreover,” said the Shekhinah, “man will repent after his sin, whereas you will not.”
The colleagues said to Rabbi Simeon: Since sexual desires are the cause of all evils, why do they exist? Rabbi Simeon answered his colleagues: Had the Holy One, blessed be He, not created the Spirit of Good and the Spirit of Evil, one of which emanates from the side of light and the other from the side of darkness, man would never have been able either to merit or to demerit; therefore God created him composed of two spirits. Now, sexual desires are good or evil, according to the spirit that inspires them; therefore Scripture says: “Behold, I have set before you, on the one hand, Life and Good, and on the other, Death and Evil.” The colleagues replied: Why was it necessary for man to merit and demerit? Would it not have been better for man to be endowed with the Spirit of Good alone and to have no merit? Created in this way, he would never have caused so much havoc in the celestial regions! Rabbi Simeon answered them: Man was rightly to be composed of the two spirits mentioned, since the Law was created for his sake.
For the righteous to be rewarded, it is necessary that the wicked be chastised; now, God willed that good should be spread throughout the world, as it is written: “God did not create the earth in vain, but formed it to be inhabited.” The colleagues replied to Rabbi Simeon: We have just heard something we have never heard before; for it is evident that the Holy One, blessed be He, created nothing that was useless. But there is more. The law that was created constitutes the garment of the Shekhinah. Had man not been created with the faculty of sinning, the Shekhinah would have remained without a garment, like a poor man. Therefore, whoever commits sins is as though he stripped the Shekhinah of Her garments, and this is what brings chastisements upon man; and whoever observes the commandments of Scripture has as much merit as though he clothed the Shekhinah in Her garments. This is why one wraps oneself in a fringed mantle (Çiçith), and this is why Scripture says: “For this is the only garment he has to clothe himself with, this is what he uses to cover his body, and he has no other to put on when he sleeps.” By these words, Scripture means the Shekhinah; and by the words “when he sleeps,” Scripture means: When the Shekhinah is in captivity. Observe that darkness is symbolized by the black part of the writing, formed by the strokes of the letters, and light is symbolized by the white part of the writing, that is, the whiteness within and around the letters. When a man offers up to Heaven a prayer that is not sincere, several angels of destruction set upon that prayer, as it is written: “All her persecutors overtook her.” This is why one says in prayer: “But He, being merciful, forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not utterly.” The word “Sin” designates Samael, who is the serpent; “destroyed them not” designates the destroying angel; “His anger” (Apo) designates the demon called “Aph” (anger); “His wrath” (hamoto) designates the demon “Hema.” Scripture means that God did not allow the demons to seize their prayers.
The destructive angels who seek to seize the prayers of men obey seven chiefs; each of these chiefs has seventy under-chiefs under his command; these angels make accusations in all the heavens against the prayers of men; they hang upon the lips of whosoever offers a prayer, and their total number is one hundred million. But when a man’s prayer ascends to heaven in a perfect manner, that is to say, when the man, clad in his legal garment and wearing the phylacteries of the head and the arm, offers his prayer, then Scripture saith: “And all the peoples of the earth shall see that thou bearest the name of Jehovah, and they shall fear thee.” As we have set forth previously, the name of Jehovah is the phylactery of the head; therefore, as soon as the destructive angels behold the name of Jehovah upon the head of him who offers his prayer, they flee, as it is written: “A thousand shall fall at thy left side, and ten thousand at thy right.”
As Jacob had foreseen, through the Holy Spirit, the harshness of the last captivity, which shall take place at the end of days, he was afraid thereof, as it is written: “Jacob was greatly afraid, and he was seized with dread.” Therefore he divided the holy people into three parts, as it is written: “He placed the two handmaids and their children in front, Leah and her children in the second rank, Rachel and Joseph in the last.” This division of Jacob’s company into three ranks prefigures the three captivities. The rank composed of the handmaids and their children is the image of the captivity of Edom. Scripture adds: “Leah and her children in the second rank, Rachel and Joseph in the last”; these words designate the other captivities.
It is because he had foreseen the poverty and the other torments awaiting his descendants in the various captivities that Jacob said: “If God be with me, if He protect me in the way wherein I walk and give me bread to eat and raiment to clothe me, and if I return in peace to my father’s house, the Lord shall be my God.” When David said: “...Because they thought that the people who had just passed through the desert were overcome by thirst and weariness,” he alluded to the captivity of the Shekhinah; foreseeing her sufferings, he felt compassion for her. But when he foresaw the return of Israel, he composed, to manifest his joy, ten kinds of songs, of which the last begins with the words: “A prayer of the poor, when he is afflicted and poureth out his prayer in the presence of the Lord.” The prayer of the poor comes before God before the prayers of all other men; therefore David placed the title of poor at the head of his prayer. What is the prayer of the poor? It is that of the evening, which, being optional, is performed without the bridegroom; and for this reason it is, as it were, poor. The poor Just One is the seed of Jacob, which is likewise under the dominion of other peoples and resembles the evening prayer, in that it too is in the night of captivity. The prayer of the Sabbath day is charity bestowed upon the poor. Therefore, during the prayer that must be said standing, a man must assume an attitude of humility like that of a poor man before the king’s gate. This attitude during prayer must be assumed on the six weekdays, and that on account of the Shekhinah; that is to say, one must assume the attitude of a poor man, in imitation of the Shekhinah, who is likewise poor. Therefore, one wraps oneself in the prescribed garment furnished with fringes, after the manner of a poor man. And when a man wears the phylacteries, he must likewise maintain the attitude of a poor man before a king’s gate; for during prayer a man also stands before the gate of the palace of Him Who is called “Adonai”; the numerical value of this Name being equivalent to that of the word “Hecal” (Palace). Therefore, before prayer one recites the verse: “Adonai, open Thou my lips, that my mouth may utter Thy praise.” On weekdays, as soon as one begins the evening prayer, an eagle descends from Heaven to receive the evening prayer between its wings and bear it before God. This angel, who appears in the form of an eagle, is sometimes called “Uriel,” when the prayer is addressed from the side of the Sephirah called “Hesed”; and sometimes “Nuriel,” when the prayer is addressed from the side of the Sephirah called “Geburah”; for this latter Sephirah resembles a great fire, as it is written: “A river of fire, swift and burning, issued from before His face.” During the morning prayer, a lion descends from Heaven to receive this prayer between its winged arms; for every angel of the legion of the Hayoth, under the command of Michael, is furnished with four wings. During the afternoon prayer, an ox descends from Heaven to receive this prayer between its horns and its wings. These angels, who appear in the form of an ox, are under the command of Gabriel. But on the Sabbath day, when the Shekhinah descends upon the earth, the Holy One, blessed be He, descends from Heaven, accompanied by the three Patriarchs, to welcome His only daughter. Such is the mystery contained in the word
“Schabath,” that is to say, “Sché-bath,” a word which signifies “for she is the only daughter.” At that moment, the celestial beings of a higher order, who are called by the name of the Lord, chant the following verse: “Lift up your gates, O princes; and ye, everlasting doors, lift yourselves up and open, that the King of glory may enter in.” At once the gates of seven palaces open. The first palace is the palace of love; the second is the palace of fear; the third is the palace of mercy; the fourth is the palace of prophecy by reflection; the fifth is the palace of prophecy without reflection; the sixth is the palace of justice; the seventh is the palace of punishments. It is to these seven palaces that the words of Scripture allude: “Bereschith bara Élohim.” The word Bereschith, divided in two, forms Bara schith, which means “He created six,” that is, six palaces. Élohim constitutes the seventh palace. Thus were seven palaces created here below, to correspond to the seven palaces above. The seven voices repeated in the Psalm that begins with the words “Give unto the Lord…” likewise allude to these palaces. In this same Psalm, the word Jehovah is repeated eighteen times, corresponding to the eighteen worlds traversed by the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written: “The chariot of God is surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand”; this chariot serves God to traverse the eighteen great worlds. The gates of the palaces through which prayers ascend are guarded by many keepers; no prayer enters therein
But the gate of the palace of the Shekhinah is guarded by no guardian; and it is of the prayers addressed to this palace that the Psalmist said: “They shall not be put to shame by the enemies who stand at the gate.” For the gate of the Shekhinah opens directly to all prayers, since prayer proceeds from the Holy One, blessed be He; now, everything that proceeds from the Holy One, blessed be He, must reach the Shekhinah without intermediary. We say that prayer proceeds from the Holy One, blessed be He, because all Scripture, as well as all the commandments, positive no less than negative, proceeds from the name of Jehovah, as we have explained the mystery contained in the words of God: “This is My name for ever, and this shall make Me known throughout all generations.” Now, the word “Schemi” (My name), augmented by the first two letters of the name of Jehovah, Yod and Hé, represents the numerical value of three hundred and sixty-five, the number equivalent to the negative commandments; and the word “Zicri” (shall make Me known), augmented by the last two letters of the name of Jehovah, Vav and Hé, represents the numerical value of two hundred and forty-eight, the number equivalent to the positive commandments. It is also for this reason that the liturgy of the Shema is composed of two hundred and forty-eight words. It is also for this reason that, before the recitation of the Shema, the blessing is pronounced: “Blessed art Thou, Lord, who hast chosen Thy people Israel in love.” Now, all the Israelites are synthesized in Abraham, of whom God said: “The seed of Abraham, My friend,” words which designate
Israel. For Israel is contained in the name of Jehovah, written in full, whose numerical value is forty-five, a numerical value equal to that of the word “Adam” (Man). Now, when the verse says: “He created man in His image,” it alludes to Israel, who was in the Thought of God before the creation of the world. The word “Mahschaba” (Thought) is composed of “Haschab Ma.” God thinks of “Ma,” that is, of Adam. Therefore, when Scripture says that He created man (Adam) in His image, it alludes to Israel. Thus the creation of Israel was already in the Thought; therefore Jacob took the name Israel, and therefore also Scripture says: “And Elohim created man in His image,” that is: He created him in the image that his Master had in the Thought. Children, life, and means of subsistence come from the Middle Column, which is “my firstborn son, Israel.” It is he who is the Tree of Life; it is he who is the tree that nourishes all the world. Therefore, the sustenance of Israel is its prayers, which take the place of the sacrifices since the destruction of the Temple. And it is of the time of the exile that Scripture says: “Give me sons, or else I die.” For the Shekhinah is the sacrifice that God has placed at His right, at His left, and around Him. And when she ascends to Him, she must bring up with her all ten Sephiroth, since no sacred act is to be performed by a gathering of fewer than ten, and half of the Shekhinah constitutes a sacred act. Therefore, when a man desires that his prayer reach heaven with all the sweetness of melody, or when he wishes to shake off the yoke of the first serpent, who constantly seeks to disturb prayers, he must first unite himself with the Shekhinah and use her as a sling against the serpent. This mystery is contained in the names of the cantillation marks used in chanting the words: “Zarqa, Maqeph, Schophar, Holekh, Segoltha.”
Rabbi Simeon opened his discourse in this manner: Hearken, angels on high; hasten in throngs to hear me, ye inhabitants of this world below. It is to you that I speak, Masters of the schools above and of the schools here below. And Thou, Elijah, I adjure Thee to obtain leave to descend and hasten hither; for I purpose to make known the mystery that convulsed the world after the great battle which Good waged against Evil. And thou also, O Enoch, celestial chief, descend hither with all the chiefs of the celestial school who are under Thy command; for it is not for my glory that I make this request, but for the glory of the Shekhinah.
Rabbi Simeon then resumed his preceding discourse: O Zarqa! Verily, it is through thee that our prayers can reach that appointed place to which we direct them. Just as the stone of the sling is hurled at a given mark, so must one, during prayer, direct one’s thought toward that fundamental stone, encircled with crowns, which is symbolized by the vowel-point called Zarqa. Therefore tradition teaches us: All bowings performed during prayer must be made before the utterance of the divine Name. In uttering the holy Name, one must rise up in order to raise the prayer on high. And because at that moment the Shekhinah ascends toward her heavenly spouse, a man must not interrupt his prayer, even if a serpent should coil around his heel, although God had granted the first serpent the power to bite the heel, as it is written: “She shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bite her heel.” When a man’s thought is directed toward that stone which is symbolized by the yod of the name of Jacob, as it is written: “He hath set his bow and his trust in the Almighty God, and the bonds of his hands were loosed by the hand of the Almighty God of Jacob; from thence he came forth to be the fundamental stone of Israel,” when, we say, a man’s thought is turned toward that stone, the serpent is
Powerless to attack man, even at the heel; wherefore one must not interrupt one’s prayer, even when the serpent seeks to bite at the heel. One must cause the prayer to ascend toward the Infinite (by standing upright when pronouncing the sacred Name) and cause it to descend unto Him Who is without bounds, as tradition tells us: All prostrations must be made at the utterance of the word: “Blessed be Thou, Lord.” Man must never be separated from the Shekhinah, neither above nor below.
The union of the Shekhinah with Her celestial Spouse takes place sometimes by passing through the six degrees on the side of the two thighs of the Sephirotic Tree; this is why, during prayer, one makes genuflections, so that the six joints of the leg may serve as an emblem of the six Sephirotic degrees through which the Shekhinah passes in order to unite with Her celestial Spouse. Sometimes the Shekhinah unites with Her celestial Spouse by passing through the six degrees of the Sephirotic arms. But at times also She rises and ascends between the Father and the Mother, between the Yod and the Hé. The Hé (the Shekhinah or the Mother) must be made to rise on high, and when it reaches on high, it sometimes takes the form of an oblique “Vav” which, by uniting with two Yod (the Father), forms the letter Aleph, symbol of unity. She must be made to rise beside Him of whom Scripture says: “The stone which the builders rejected has been placed at the head of the corner.” When the Shekhinah rises on high, She takes Her place at the highest height; and this is why the angels ask: “Where is the place of His glory?” When She rises above the Aleph, She forms a crown (Taga) upon the head of the Aleph. This crown is called “Kether.” And when the Shekhinah descends below, She takes the form of a vowel beneath the Aleph, a vowel called “Nekoudah,” just as the crown surmounting the Aleph is called “Taga” in the mystery of the accents.
When it unites with the Shekhinah, it forms the letter Zain, symbol of the covenant which constitutes the seventh Sephirah; for surely this stone is the foundation stone of all the worlds. Therefore Scripture says: “Thou shalt have a perfect and just stone.” This verse speaks of the justness of weights and measures, for it applies to the measure of the distance which separates one Sephirah from another. There is no accent which has not its equivalent among the vowel-points. Thus, the accent Segoltha corresponds to the vowel-point Segol; the accent Zaqeph corresponds to the vowel-point Sheva. Those who know the mysteries contained in the accents will find the corresponding points for all the other accents: Zarqa, Maqeph, Schophar, Holekh, Segoltha.
It is written: “These (Éléh) are the children of the heavens and the earth.” It has been taught that, wherever Scripture employs the term Éléh, the passage that follows has no connection with what precedes. Thus, in saying “The children of the heavens and the earth,” Scripture refers not to what precedes, but to the thohou mentioned in the second verse of the first chapter of Genesis: “And the earth was thohou and bohou.” Scripture therefore means that the children of the heavens and the earth are the demons called “thohou.” This explains the following tradition: “The Holy One, blessed be He, creates worlds and destroys them.” That is why Scripture says: “And the earth was thohou and bohou”; now, the state of thohou and bohou existed before the creation of the earth; but this is explained in the following way: by the word “earth,” Scripture means the pre-existing earth that God destroyed. How are we to understand that the Holy One, blessed be He, creates worlds only to destroy them afterward? It would have been better had He not created them at all! In truth, this tradition contains a mystery; for how else are we to explain the words: “…And destroys them”? First of all, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not
never destroys the work of His hands; and, what is more, Scripture says of the heavens: “For the heavens shall vanish like smoke, and the earth shall wear away like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall perish with it.” From this verse it would follow that God not only destroys the worlds already created, because of the anger He feels against the beings dwelling therein, but that the Holy One, blessed be He, creates and destroys systematically! The truth is that the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, joining to it the esoteric doctrine expressed in the word Bereschith, as it is written: “The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old.” It was by this Beginning that God created heaven and earth, which are founded upon the Alliance (Berith), whose letters are found in the word Bereschith (“Berith” in “Ber(esch)ith”). It is of this Alliance that Scripture says: “Were it not for the Alliance that I made, there would be neither day nor night, neither heaven nor earth.” It is also on account of this Alliance that Scripture says: “The heavens are the Lord’s; but the earth hath He given to the children of men.” By the word “earth,” the Psalmist means our earth, which is included among the seven earths of which King David said: “I will walk before the Lord in the lands of the living.” Thus God created heaven and earth after destroying the pre-existent worlds and reducing them to a state of thohou, because the Alliance, which alone sustains the worlds, had not yet been made. For this reason, so that the present world might not suffer the fate of the pre-existent worlds, the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to entrust the doctrine also to the heathen peoples, first offering them the covenant of circumcision. But since they would not accept it, the earth remained barren and dry. Such is the meaning of the words of Scripture: “Let the waters be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear.” By the words “let the waters be gathered together,” Scripture means the esoteric doctrine; “unto one place” means Israel, whose souls depend upon that place which Scripture designates by the words: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord in His place.” “The glory of the Lord” means the Shekhinah below; “in His place” means the Shekhinah above. And, since the souls of Israel are attached to the Shekhinah, it follows that the Shekhinah dwells among Israel and that, consequently, the name of Jehovah rests upon Israel, as it is written: “The Lord’s portion is His people.” Therefore Scripture says: “Let the waters be gathered together unto one place,” that is to say: let salvation be reserved exclusively for Israel; “and let the dry land appear,” that is to say: let the heathen, who would not accept salvation, remain dry and barren. This is what tradition means by the words: “The Holy One, blessed be He, creates worlds and destroys them”; it is because the beings dwelling therein do not accept the commandments of the doctrine. It is not that God destroys His works, as men imagine; rather, the works themselves destroy themselves by refusing salvation. For what reason, indeed, would God destroy His children, whom, according to tradition, He created by the second hypostasis called Hé, as it is written: “Behibaram” (that He created them), a word which, according to tradition, must be divided in two: “Behe baram,” meaning: God created them by Hé? It is through this that the conversion of the heathen peoples who had refused salvation is brought about by the—
Fifth millennium after the creation, a barren and sterile age, during which the destruction of the First and Second Temples took place. That is why the letter Hé in the word “behibaram,” an anagram of the word Abraham, is written in the Pentateuch smaller than the other letters. It was for seeking to convert the Gentiles and bring them beneath the wings of the Shekhinah that Moses, who had believed that these peoples were among those created by the Hé, fell from grace and incurred God’s rebuke: “Go, descend, for Thy people have sinned.” Because the Israelites did not accept the letter Hé with the fear due to Yod and the love due to Hé, they fell from their state, which was that of Vav, the letter proceeding from Yod and Hé. So that no human being should be lost, Vav descended together with Hé. The souls of the men who inhabited the pre-existing worlds transmigrated at the time of Israel’s captivity. The souls of the Intruders (Ereb Rab) emanate from the side of those of whom Scripture says: “For the heaven shall vanish away like smoke; the earth shall wax old like a garment; and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner.” When it came to punishing beings of their kind, Noah would not intercede with God on their behalf, as it is written: “They were all destroyed from off the earth.” For the men exterminated by the Flood had the same souls as those of whom Scripture says: “Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalec from under heaven.” Without any misgiving, Moses brought down the Hé from heaven among these men. That is why Moses was condemned not to enter the Holy Land until the Hé had returned to its place. That is why, when the Hé descended from heaven to earth, Vav descended as well. Who shall raise up the Hé? It is the Vav lacking in Moses (ntira is written without Vav). That is why the letter Hé in the word “behibaram,” an anagram of the word Abraham, is smaller than the other letters of the Pentateuch. This is what the verse alludes to: “He brought them out of Egypt,” by means of the Vav that drew the Hé along with it. Immediately Yod and Hé were added thereto, and the divine oath was fulfilled, as it is written: “The hand of the Lord shall be lifted up from His throne against Amalec, and the Lord shall wage war against him from generation to generation.” (Yad al kes yah milhamah la-Jéhovah be-Amaleq.) What, then, do the words “and the Lord shall wage war against him from generation to generation” mean, since after the descent of Yod and Hé the war shall cease? The words “from generation to generation” designate the age of Moses, of whom Scripture says: “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh.” Tradition has taught us that the word “generation” never denotes a number less than sixty times ten thousand; and tradition also teaches us that in the time of Moses a single woman carried sixty times ten thousand children in her womb. The Intruders are composed of five classes of beings: Nephilim (the Fallen), Ghiborim (the Mighty), Anaqim (the Tall), Rephaïm (the Giants), Amaleqim (the Amalecites). It was because of these that the Hé fell from its place. Balaam and Balac are of the side of Amalec. When the letters “Ain” and “Mem” are removed from the word “Balaam” and the letters “Lamed” and “Qoph” from the word “Balaq,” the letters removed form the word “Amaleq,” and the letters that remain form the word “Babel.” It is of them that Scripture says: “For there the language of the whole earth was confounded (babal).” They are the ones who survived the cataclysm of the Flood, as it is written: “He destroyed all that existed.” The souls of these five classes survived until the
Fourth captivity of Israel. These are they who are at the head of the enemies of Israel, called “the instruments of iniquity.” Of these mighty ones it is written: “Now the earth was corrupt before God, and filled with iniquity.” They are the souls of the class of the Amalekites. The Nephilim are those of whom Scripture says: “And the children of God, seeing that the daughters of men were fair...” These form the second class of souls cast out of Heaven. When the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to create man, as it is said: “Let us make man in Our image, etc.,” He purposed to set man above all the heavenly hosts, so that all the celestial beings should be commanded by man, even as Joseph commanded over all Egypt, as it is written: “...That he might set commanders over all the land.” But the rebellious angels came to bring a charge against man, saying: “What is man, that Thou shouldst remember him? What is man, that he should deserve command? It is certain,” said these angels, “that man will one day sin against Thee.” The Holy One, blessed be He, answered them: “Were you below, in his place, you would be more guilty than he.” Immediately after this divine answer came to pass what Scripture says: “And the children of God, seeing that the daughters of men were fair...” As soon as these angels conceived these sinful desires, the Holy One, blessed be He, cast them down below in chains. These angels are Aza and Azael, from whom proceed the souls of the Intruders, who are called “the Fallen,” because they debased themselves by using women to satisfy their lustful inclination. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, cast them out of the heavenly world, deprived them of all share in eternal bliss, and granted them their reward in this lower world, as it is written: “...And requites those who hate Him swiftly, to destroy them thereafter.” The Ghiborim are the souls of the third class, of whom Scripture says: “There came forth children who were Ghiborim (Mighty Ones) and of great renown.” These souls are of the same side as those of whom Scripture says: “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top may reach unto Heaven, and let us make ourselves a name.” These souls animate the bodies of those who build synagogues and schools, who have Pentateuchs and ornaments made for those same Pentateuchs, under the pretext of reaching Heaven, but in truth to make themselves renowned. It is to them that the verse alludes: “...And let us make ourselves a name.” It is the spirit of the demon that seizes Israel and makes it act thus. Israel is like the earth of the ground at the time of the Flood, of which Scripture says: “The waters prevailed and increased exceedingly upon the earth”; for the demon seizes the works of Israel and carries them all away. The Repha’im are the souls of the fourth class. The men animated by these souls are distinguished by this: whenever they see Israel in distress, they abandon it, though they have the power to succour it; they likewise abandon the doctrine and those who study it; moreover, they do good to the heathen. Of them Scripture says: “The giants (Repha’im) shall rise no more.” And when the hour of deliverance (Redemption) shall have sounded for Israel, then shall come to pass what Scripture adds: “Their memory shall be blotted out for ever.” The Anaqim are the souls of the fifth class; the men animated by these souls disparage those of whom Scripture says: “And they shall be an ornament upon thy head, and as rich necklaces (Anaqim) about thy neck.” Of them Scripture says: “The Repha’im are like the Anaqim,” that is to say: the one are as good as the other. Because of these, the world returned to the state of thohou and bohou. The mystery of these five classes of souls, which caused the destruction of the Temple, is expressed in the words of Scripture: “And the earth was thohou and bohou.”
But, immediately after the root and foundation of the world shall appear—the root designated in Scripture by the term “light,” because this root is of the very essence of the Holy One, blessed be He—all these souls shall be blotted out from the face of the earth and exterminated. But deliverance (Redemption) depends only upon the extermination of the souls of the category of Amalec, so that the oath of God may be fulfilled, as we have said previously. According to another explanation, the words of Scripture: “These (Éléh) are the children of heaven and earth” designate those of whom Scripture says: “And Aaron took them, cast them into a mould, and made a calf thereof. Then the Israelites said: These (Éléh) are Thy God, O Israel.” The day on which the souls of these men shall be exterminated shall be as solemn as the day on which the Holy One, blessed be He, created heaven and earth, as it is written: “In the day that God created the earth and the heaven...” At that time, the Holy One, blessed be He, shall unite Himself with the Shekhinah, and the world shall be renewed, as it is written: “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will create, shall remain before Me for ever, saith the Lord...” Such is the meaning of the words: “In the day that God created...” At that time, Scripture says: “...Elohim had caused to grow out of the ground all manner of trees pleasant to the sight and good for food.” But before the extermination of these five categories of souls which have entered among the Israelites, the rain of esoteric doctrine shall not fall upon Israel, and Israel, who is compared to plants and trees, shall not grow. This mystery is expressed in the words of Scripture: “The heavens and the earth were created before all the plants of the field had sprung up from the earth, and all the herbs of the field had grown; for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till it.” “There was no man to till it,” that is to say: Israel was not yet there to offer
of the sacrifices. According to another version, the words “before all the plants of the field were yet upon the earth” designate the first Messiah, and the words “and before all the herbs of the field had sprung up” designate the second Messiah. And why? Because Moses will no longer be among the Israelites to intercede on their behalf with the Shekhinah; this is what Scripture says: “There was no man to till the ground.” This mystery is likewise expressed in the verse: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler from his posterity, until Shiloh come.” The words “the sceptre of Judah” designate the Messiah, son of David; the words “the ruler from his posterity” designate the Messiah, son of Joseph; and the words “until Shiloh come” designate Moses; for the numerical value of the two names, Shiloh and Mosheh (or Moses), is identical. The words “velo iqhath” (and he is the one who serves the expectation of the nations) are composed of the same letters as the words “velevi qehath,” that is to say, the ancestors of Moses, Levi and Kohath. According to another explanation, the words “all the plants of the field” designate the righteous, whose souls emanate from Him Who is called “the Righteous One who lives for all eternity.” The word “siah” (plants) is composed of the letter Shin and the word “hai” (life); now the letter Shin symbolizes by its three branches the three patriarchs, and the word “hai” (life) indicates Him Who lives for all eternity. According to yet another explanation, the words “and all the herbs” (Eseb) signify that the union of the branches of the heavenly tree, which number seventy-two, will be accomplished in the Shekhinah only at the coming of Man (Adam), whose name, Adam, has a numerical value equal to that of the name “Jehovah.” The word “Eseb” is composed of Ayin
and Beth, which numerically has the value of seventy-two, a number equivalent to that of the words “Jehovah” and “Adonai,” and of Schin (ש), formed of three branches, a symbol of the three Patriarchs. By the words: “Before all the herbs of the field had grown,” Scripture designates the Just (Çadiq). It is of him that it is written: “Truth shall spring out of the earth”; and elsewhere it is said: “And Truth shall be cast down to the earth.” The doctors of the Law, who are compared to herbs, shall no longer grow during the captivity, until the words of Scripture be fulfilled: “Truth shall spring out of the earth.” And who shall fulfil this prophecy? It is Moses, of whom Scripture says: “The law of Truth was in his mouth”; for no one could so well reveal to Israel the mysteries of the Shekhinah as Moses. Therefore Scripture says: “There was no man to till the ground.” But as soon as Moses returns: “A cloud (ed) shall rise from the earth, to water the whole surface thereof.” Scripture means that “ed” (cloud) shall be taken away from “Adonai”; the Vav and the Nun shall be joined thereto, and thus shall be formed the word “Adon,” Master of all the earth. This is what Scripture adds: “Who shall water the whole surface thereof”; that is to say, Israel shall thereupon draw from esoteric doctrine with the aid of the seventy interpretations. According to another interpretation, the word “ed,” which the Targum translates as “cloud,” designates Him of whom Scripture says: “For the cloud of the Lord rested upon the Tabernacle”; it is from this source that the doctors of the Law shall draw at that time.
It is written: “And Jehovah Elohim formed man,” that is to say, He formed Israel. The word “vaïiçer” (He formed) is written with two Yods, whereas grammatically it requires but one; this is to indicate to us that at that moment the Holy One, blessed be He, formed man both in the likeness of this lower world and in that of the world to come. The word “vaïiçer” indicates that at that moment the Holy One, blessed be He, engraved His Name upon the figure of man, giving it the form of two Yods, with a Vav in the midst; these are the two eyes, which represent the two Yods, and the nose in the middle, which has the form of the Vav. Now the numerical value of the two Yods and the Vav is equal to that of the name of Jehovah. This is why Scripture says: “I see him from the top of the rocks”; now the word “çourim” (rocks) also means “figures”; Balaam said that, when he looked upon the figure of Israel, he saw therein the name of Jehovah. Another likeness between Israel and the divine Name is found in the two tables of the Law, which represent the two Yods, while the Vav is symbolized by the writing engraved upon the tables. God also formed man in such wise that he represents the heavenly bridegroom and bride, symbolized by the letters Yod and Hé and united by the Vav. God formed man in this heavenly likeness, which is called Israel, the Middle Column, which embraces the Shekhinah above and the Shekhinah below; the Shekhinah above and the Shekhinah below are symbolized by the recitation of the liturgy Shema in the evening and in the morning. It is to these two Shekhinah that the words of Scripture allude: “The bone of my bones, and the flesh of my flesh.” Immediately thereafter, God planted Israel in the sacred Garden of Eden, as it is written: “And Jehovah Elohim planted at the beginning a garden in Eden, and placed therein the man whom He had formed.” “Jehovah Elohim” signifies the heavenly Father and Mother; “a garden” signifies the Shekhinah below; “in Eden” signifies the heavenly Mother; “and placed therein the man” signifies the Middle Column; He made it his bride, who must never be separated from her bridegroom, whose delight she is. At that moment, the Holy One, blessed be He, planted Israel, who constitute the sacred shoots of this world, as it is written;
“They are the offspring that I have planted, the works that My hand has made for My glory.” It is written: “And the Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.” “The Lord God” signify the heavenly Father and Mother; “every tree that is pleasant to the sight” signifies the Just; and “good for food” signifies the Middle Column, by which all the beings of the earth shall be nourished; for it is she that holds all things in her power; the Just shall have no other nourishment than that which the Shekhinah shall grant him. The Shekhinah shall no longer need the beings below for her nourishment; on the contrary, all below shall be nourished by her. During the captivity of Israel, the Shekhinah and He who lives for all eternity had no other nourishment than the eighteen blessings of the prayer. But at the time of deliverance (Redemption), it is the Shekhinah that shall constitute the nourishment of all the world. Then shall the tree of life be planted in the garden, as it is written: “Let him put forth his hand to the tree of Life, and take also of its fruit, that by eating thereof he may live for ever.” For the spirits of the other side, which emanate from the tree of Good and Evil, spirits designated by the name of intruders (Ereb Rab), have no hold upon the Shekhinah, who is above all impurity, as it is written: “The Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.” Therefore proselytes are not received in the Messianic age; for the Shekhinah shall then be like the vine, upon which no foreign species may be grafted. At that time, Israel shall be a “tree pleasant to the sight.” It is through the Shekhinah that Israel shall regain its beauty, as it is written: “He hath cast down from heaven to earth her who shall restore Israel’s beauty.” The tree of Good and Evil was kept apart from Israel, with whom it must have no dealings, for it was to Israel that God addressed the precept: “Eat not of the tree of Good and Evil; for at the moment when thou eatest thereof, thou shalt die, thou shalt die.”
The Tree of Good and Evil signifies the Intruders; it was for having mingled with the Intruders that Israel died twice: once through the destruction of the first Temple, and a second time through the destruction of the second Temple. Israel died for the Shekhinah above through the destruction of the first Temple; and it died a second time for the Shekhinah below through the destruction of the second Temple. It is to these two deaths of Israel that the words of Scripture allude: “And the river shall become dry and parched,” that is, the river of light which the lower He gives birth to and which rises up to the Yod, symbol of the Infinite, shall become dry and parched for Israel. But at the time of Israel’s deliverance, the holy people alone, from exile, the river which had until then been dry and parched “shall go forth from Eden to water the garden.” “The river” designates the Middle Column, which shall go forth from Eden, which is the Mother above; “to water the garden” is the Shekhinah below. It is of that time that Scripture says, concerning Moses and Israel: “Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.” The word “anag” (delights) is composed of the initial letters of the words “Eden,” “Nahar” (river), “Gan” (garden). Then shall the words of Scripture be fulfilled: “Then Moses and the children of Israel shall sing this song unto the Lord”; Scripture does not say “sang,” but “shall sing,” because Moses and Israel shall sing this song only when the word “anag” shall have been transformed into “nega” (plague) for the “Intruders” and the other heathen peoples of the world who, like Pharaoh and the Egyptians, shall be overwhelmed by plagues, while Israel shall have “anag” (delights). Such is the meaning of the words of Scripture: “And a river shall go forth from Eden to water the garden.” Scripture adds: “And from thence the river is divided into four channels.” These four channels are: the Sephirah “Hes.
toward the South. Michael and his legions drink from this channel, and with them the tribe of Judah, and two other tribes besides. The second channel is the Séphirâ “Gueboura,” symbolized by the left arm of the séphirothic tree; hence the tradition says: Whosoever would grow rich must turn his face toward the North. The legions of Gabriel drink from this channel, and with them the tribe of Dan, and two other tribes besides. The third channel is the Séphirâ “Néçah,” symbolized by the right thigh of the séphirothic tree. The legions of Nouriël drink from this channel, and with them the tribe of Ruben, and two other tribes besides. The fourth channel is the Séphirâ “Hod,” symbolized by the left thigh of the séphirothic tree; it is of this Séphirâ that Scripture speaks concerning Jacob: “He was found lame in one leg.” The legions of Raphael drink from this channel, whose mission it is to heal the afflictions of captivity; and with them the tribe of Ephraim, and two other tribes besides.