Rabbi Loew and Golem by Mikoláš Aleš, 1899 – Source

Golem, Prague Wax Museum, Prague May 2006-19

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By arranging the four letters of the Great Name, י ה ו ה, (I H V H), in the form of the Pythagorean Tetractys, the 72 powers of the Great Names of God are manifested. The key to the problem is as follows:

The Tetragrammaton, or the four-lettered Name of God, written thus יהוה, is pronounce Jehovah. The first letter is י, Yod, the Germ, the Life, the Flame, the Cause, the One, and the most fundamental of the Jewish phallic emblems. Its numerical value is 10, and it is to be considered as the 1 containing the 10. In the Qabbalah it is declared that the a Yod is in reality three Yods, of which the first is the beginning, the second is the center, and the third is the end. Its throne is the Sephira Chochmah (according to Ibn Gebirol, Kether), from which it goes forth to impregnate Binah, which is the first ה, He. The result of this union is Tiphereth, which is the ו Vau, whose power is 6 and which symbolizes the six members of the Lesser Adam. The final ה, He, is Malchuth, the Inferior Mother, partaking in part of the potencies of the Divine Mother, the first He. By placing the four letters of the Tetragrammaton in a vertical column, a figure closely resembling the human body is produced, with Yod for the head, the first He for the arms and shoulders, Vau for the trunk of the body, and the final He for the hips and legs. If the Hebrew letters be exchanged for their English equivalents, the form is not materially changed or the analogy altered. It is also extremely significant that by inserting the letter ש, Shin, in the middle of the name Jehovah, the word Jehoshua, or Jesus, is formed thus: יהשוה

Tetractys Silver Pendant on Ka Gold Jewelry. Click on image to open the link.

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If we disassemble the Tetragrammaton in Hebrew into its factors and add up its numerological numbers, we will receive the number 72: (י (10), יה (15), יהו (21), יהוה (26

or 10+15+21+26=72, the 72 names of God.

The names are derived by writing the letters of the three verses one above the other, with no vowel points, spaces, or punctuation marks, the first from right to left, the second from left to right, and the third from right to left. The names are then read top down.

Additions -El ( אֵל ) and –Yah (יָה ) to the names create the names of the 72 Angels or as the kabbalist call them Geniis.

(Note: there exist also completely different interpretations of the two additions -El and -Yah as this one presented by Agrippa; cf. for example Aryeh Kaplan, Sepher Yetzirah; or the standard correspondences of the Sefirot and the Names of God where “El” is attributed to Chesed-Love and “Yah” to Chakmah-Wisdom.) There is a problem with the way one have to pronounce the names as in Hebrew there are Vowel Points instead of letters for the pronounce the word, another problem came from the fact that there are some letters that don’t exist in Latin or English. This fact is the cause of many way in writing the names in other languages than Hebrew !

The shapes, sounds, sequences, and vibrations of the 72 names radiate a wide range of energy forces. The Light they emit purifies our hearts. Their spiritual influence cleanses destructive impulses from our natures. Their sacred energy removes rash and intolerant emotions, fear, and anxiety from our beings. The Hebrew letters are instruments of power. In fact, the Hebrew word for “letter” actually means pulse or vibration, indicating a flow of energy. The Hebrew alphabet transcends religion, race, geography, and the very concept of language. The three letters signify three spiritual forces—a positive charge, a negative charge, and a ground wire—to create a circuit of energy.The combination of the principle of five with the principle of trinity now applies to the 72 Genii or Names or angels of God. These 72 Names are composed in the original Hebrew Kabbalah of three letters, to which either the power attribute -el or -iah is added, to create a five-lettered Name of God. Thinking in the terms of Bardon’s system we could assume (speculatively), that El (God power) is a representation of the electric fluid and -iah (God mercy) represents the magnetic fluid, adding the two fundamental powers to the qualities of each single name. One further indication that this concept could be true is that the Bahir (see paragraph 8 of the Bahir and Kaplan’s commentary) states, that the letter “He” at the end of a word means the feminine quality of this thing, so we could say that the Yod of -yah reflects God (represented by a single point: Yod) in his feminine aspect (represented by He at the end of the word). Additionally He represents the concept of holding. Both concepts parallel very well the concept of the magnetic fluid. The logic behind the match is as following – each name is given a verse which contains the 4 letters name of God יְהוָה (YHVH) as well as the three letters of the name itself. If the name contains י , ה , וָ (Yod, Heh, or Vav), they must appear somewhere beside the 4 letter name.

By arranging the four letters of the Great Name, (Y H V H), in the form of the Pythagorean Tetractys, the 72 powers of the Great Name of God are manifested. From the Bahir.In paragraph 110 the Bahir states about the 72 Names: “… These are the 72 names. They emanate and divide themselves into three sections, 24 to each section. Each sections has four directions to watch, east, west, north and south. They are therefore distributed, six to each direction. …” Important is also the following sentence in the same paragraph: “All of them are sealed with YHVH …“

Why its start at the 21 mars ? It is the vernal equinox (spring equinox, March equinox, or northward equinox) from 19-21 mars defers from year to year, it is the moment when the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading northward. It is the precise moment that spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere. It is also at this time when all the event of the Exodus from Egypt and the miracle of opening the red sea by wind from codes ( in Hebrew “BERUAH CODIM” – Exodus 14:20 ) happened. From the bible 12:2 ” Let this month be to you the first of months, the first month of the year.” and 12:18 “In the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day, let your food be unleavened bread till the evening of the twenty-first day of the month.“

The 72 angels coresponding to the astrologic signs:

1- 0° – 5° Aries – VEHUIAH – Will and New Beginnings
2- 5° – 10° Aries – 2 JELIEL – Love and Wisdom
3- 10° – 15° Aries – 3 SITAEL – Construction of the Universe/Worlds
4- 15° to 20° Aries – 4 ELEMIAH – Divine Power
5- 20° to 25° Aries – 5 MAHASIAH – Rectification
6- 25° to 30° Aries – 6 LELAHEL – Light of Understanding
7- 0° to 5° Taurus – 7 ACHAIAH – Patience
8- 5° to 10° Taurus – 8 CAHETEL – Divine Blessings
9- 10° to 15° Taurus – 9 HAZIEL – Divine Mercy and Forgiveness
10- 15° to 20° Taurus – 10 ALADIAH – Divine Grace
11- 20° to 25° Taurus – 11 LAUVIAH – Victory
12- 25° to 30° Taurus – 12 HAHAIAH – Refuge, Shelter
13- 0° to 5° Gemini – 13 YEZALEL – Fidelity, Loyalty and Allegiance
14- 5° to 10° Gemini – 14 MEBAHEL – Truth, Liberty and Justice
15- 10° to 15° Gemini – 15 HARIEL – Purification
16- 15° to 20° Gemini – 16 HAKAMIAH – Loyalty
17- 20° to 25° Gemini – 17 LAVIAH – Revelation
18- 25° to 30° Gemini – 18 CALIEL – Justice
19- 0° to 5° Cancer – 19 LEUVIAH – Expansive Intelligence/Fruition
20- 5° to 10° Cancer – 20 PAHALIAH – Redemption
21- 10° to 15° Cancer – 21 NELCHAEL – Ardent Desire to Learn
22- 15° to 20° Cancer – 22 YEIAYEL – Fame, Renown
23- 20° to 25° Cancer – 23 MELAHEL – Healing Capacity
24- 25° to 30° Cancer – 24 HAHEUIAH – Protection
25- 0° to 5° Leo – 25 NITH-HAIAH – Spiritual Wisdom and Magic
26- 5° to 10° Leo – 26 HAAIAH – Political Science and Ambition
27- 10° to 15° Leo – 27 YERATEL – Propagation of Light
28- 15° to 20° Leo – 28 SEHEIAH – Longevity
29- 20° to 25° Leo – 29 REIYEL – Liberation
30- 25° to 30° Leo – 30 OMAEL – Fertility, Multiplicity
31- 0° to 5° Virgo – 31 LECABEL – Intellectual Talent
32- 5° to 10° Virgo – 32 VASARIAH – Clemency and Equilibrium
33- 10° to 15° Virgo – 33 YEHUIAH – Subordination to Higher Order
34- 15° to 20° Virgo – 34 LEHAHIAH – Obedience
35- 20° to 25° Virgo – 35 CHEVAKIAH – Reconciliation
36- 25° to 30° Virgo – 36 MENADEL – Inner/Outer Work
37- 0° to 5° Libra – 37 ANIEL – Breaking the Circle
38- 5° to 10° Libra – 38 HAAMIAH – Ritual and Ceremony
39- 10° to 15° Libra – 39 REHAEL – Filial Submission
40- 15° to 20° Libra – 40 YEIAZEL – Divine Consolation and Comfort
41- 20° to 25° Libra – 41 HAHAHEL – Mission
42- 25° to 30° Libra – 42 MIKHAEL – Political Authority and Order
43- 0° to 5° Scorpio – 43 VEULIAH – Prosperity
44- 5° to 10° Scorpio – 44 YELAHIAH – Karmic Warrior
45- 10° to 15° Scorpio – 45 SEHALIAH – Motivation and Wilfulness
46- 15° to 20° Scorpio – 46 ARIEL – Perceiver and Revealer
47- 20° to 25° Scorpio – 47 ASALIAH – Contemplation
48- 25° to 30° Scorpio – 48 MIHAEL – Fertility, Fruitfulness
49- 0° to 5° Sagittarius – 49 VEHUEL – Elevation, Grandeur
50- 5° to 10° Sagittarius – 50 DANIEL – Eloquence
51- 10° to 15° Sagittarius – 51 HAHASIAH – Universal Medicine
52- 15° to 20° Sagittarius – 52 IMAMIAH – Expiation of Errors
53- 20° to 25° Sagittarius – 53 NANAEL – Spiritual Communication
54- 25° to 30° Sagittarius – 54 NITHAEL – Rejuvenation and Eternal Youth
55- 0° to 5° Capricorn – 55 MEBAHIAH – Intellectual Lucidity
56- 5° to 10° Capricorn – 56 POYEL – Fortune and Support
57- 10° to 15° Capricorn – 57 NEMAMIAH – Discernment
58- 15° to 20° Capricorn – 58 YEIALEL – Mental Force
59- 20° to 25° Capricorn – 59 HARAHEL – Intellectual Richness
60- 25° to 30° Capricorn – 60 MITZRAEL – Internal Reparation
61- 0° to 5° Aquarius – 61 UMABEL – Affinity and Friendship
62- 5° to 10° Aquarius – 62 IAH-HEL – Desire to Know
63- 10° to 15° Aquarius – 63 ANAUEL – Perception of Unity
64- 15° to 20° Aquarius – 64 MEHIEL – Vivification
65- 20° to 25° Aquarius – 65 DAMABIAH – Fountain of Wisdom
66- 25° to 30° Aquarius – MANAKEL – Knowledge of Good and Evil
67- 0° to 5° Pisces – EYAEL – Transformation to the Sublime
68- 5° to 10° Pisces – HABUHIAH – Healing
69- 10° to 15° Pisces – ROCHEL – Restitution
70- 15° to 20° Pisces – JABAMIAH – Alchemy/Transformation
71- 20° to 25° Pisces – HAIYAEL – Divine Warrior/Weaponry
72- 25° to 30° Pisces – MUMIAH – Endings and Rebirth

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Image and soul

Man was created to relate with G-d. This potential is realized through embracing Torah. More than a revelation from G-d, Torah is a revelation of G-d[1] written as a manual for man created in the same image.[2] It thus addresses all of man’s capabilities, latent abilities and modes of expression, including the natural human phenomenon of meditative thinking. All are part of the Divine image. All must be allowed expression to realize the wholeness of his divine potential.

Without the Torah’s guidelines, man’s path may be obfuscated by the shadows of good inten­tions whilst the true Divine Will eludes him. When we study G-d’s word, meditate on and fulfill His precepts, we embrace a soul-identity unified with G-d’s Will (a level called Yechi­doh; see p. 65). Through the Torah, the Shechinoh reveals itself to the person’s soul (accord­ing to his soul-root and level of deveiquth) because the person lives the Divine image.[3] By adhering to G-d’s Word, cleaving to Its Spirit with purity, the Divine Presence comes to rest upon the person.

Yet, the Shechinoh can elude even the followers of this divine path if they are oblivious to the inner spirit. The Shechinoh seeks a person in tune with his divinity, who yearns for Divine closeness his soul has known.[4] Resonance with this inner yearning is realized by learning, meditating and experiencing, through mindful action, speech and thought, in the word of King David, ‘Know the G-d of your fathers and server Him’. (Divrei HaYomim I, 28:9).[5]

Action combined with meditation establishes contact with our inner divine spark. It frees us from the shackles of materiality and connects us with eternity. Torah does not advocate ascet­icism or reclusivity. It promotes balance, ideals with action, contemplation with deed.[6] The spiritual is directed and given a vessel, holy speech, prayer, unifications, emotions bound to the physical. Soul and body working in unison cause individual and cosmic harmony. Through fusing thought with deed, spiritual heights reached through meditation are seeded and brought to fruition, transforming and rectifying ourselves and all aspects of the universe.

Taste and See! G-d is Good!

The virtues of meditating are extolled in medical journals.[7] But its ability to improve self-confidence, mental proficiency, physical performance and reduce stress, are the externalities of Torah prophetic meditation. The exercises presented here (in the book, not the article) will bolster your natural link to G-d, integrate G-dly awareness with day-to-day living and help you access higher dimensions of reality the soul thrives on and will embrace, thus strengthen­ing the soul’s influence, until its splendour is revealed and its joy and holiness consciously left. One then walks with G-d, experiencing the words of the Psalmist (Tehillim 33:9), ‘Taste and see! G-d is good!’

People seek the world over for soul-fulfillment while the answer lies within. The soul craves G-d as a woman longs the company of her husband.[8] In that craving lies G-d’s signature, em­blazoned upon the soul as it distanced from its Maker to incarnate within the physical. When cleared of the impurities clogging the consciousness, this Divine Imprint shines through, allowing a person to behold hid Creator, naturally, effortlessly; to behold, ‘the whole world filled with His Glory’ (Yeshaiyoh 6:3).

‘The matter is extremely close to you, in your mouth and heart…’ (Devorim 30:14).[9] G-d is omniscient and omnipresent: always available, all-seeing, all-knowing, constantly convers­ing.[10] ‘When Moshe came into the Ohel Mo’ed (Tent of Meeting-Tabernacles) to speak with Him, he heard the Voice speaking to him from upon the kaporeth (cover) that was on the Ark of Testimony, from between the two k’ruvim (cherubs) and He spoke to him’ (Bamidbor 7:89). Inside the Ark were the holy Luchoth, tablets inscribed with the Finger of G-d. Surely, here was the most sacred place of the universe. Yet the Voice emerged from between the two k’ruvim, above the cover (kaporeth).

(Priest hearing the Voice from upon the kaporeth, and the two kerubs/k’ruvim)

Each of us possesses our own Ohel Mo’ed, created through service of G-d.[11] The tablets in the Ark correspond to the Torah in our heart.[12] Living its precepts, we become aware of G-d’s Presence masked by veils of physicality.[13] This awareness between mind and heart, is the holy space between the two k’ruvim, the Ark’s ‘prefrontal love’, the place of free-will.[14] Here, man meets G-d; divinity marries Divinity. Here G-d speaks.

‘Above,’ said the Ba’al Shem, ‘are no words; only thought. The idea to return [to G-d] is G-d’s Voice spreading through the worlds… He who inclines his ear to hear, G-d will speak to him more…’[15] G-d’s Voice resounds throughout the world. To hear It, we must merge with our soul and inner consciousness, and connect mind and soul to G-d.[16] The altruistic con­sciousness that pulsates with love for G-d and one’s fellow man, the result of a pervading awareness of G-d’s Presence, will bring His Voice into earshot, and allow for spontaneous revelation.

“If you are as something hidden, don’t hold of yourself, are entirely self-effacing as if you weren’t [existing], then you will hear My Voice…[17]

G-d says, ‘If you listen to the voice of the L-rd your G-d’ (Shem.15:26).[18] King David sang (Tehillim 29:4) ‘G-d’s voice is in the strength; G-d’s voice is in the beauty’; ‘Forever, G-d, Your word stands in the heavens’ (ibid. 119:89), while Elijah heard Him in a still, small voice (Melochim I, 19:11-13). Whether a whisper deep within our conscience, an intuitive knowing of truth, a crashing awareness that reverberates to the depths of our being, or a wasp sting when we least expect it, the Ubiquitous is addressing us.

It is time to tune in and start listening. We all have the tools.

Man in G-d’s image

(The Sefiroth & Their Manifestation in Man. The Sefiroth are always ten. Da’ath or Kether are used interchangeably, Kether representing a higher manifetation of Da’ath.)

The sages see man as the pinnacle of creation, surpassing the angels, mirroring the Divine.[19] Yet, compared to the rest of the universe, man appears insignificant. His strength is puny and inadequate, his scope negligible, his intelligence limited. For all his technological expertise and advances in science, he has not been able to replicate the properties of an animalcule.[20] No seed or vegetation has ever been synthetically replicated. An ant has abilities far surpassing anything manmade. Man is a title in a world of immeasurable potential and knowledge. Wherein lies his superiority?

Since G-d said to Noach, ‘Your awe will be upon all that lives’ (Bereishith 9:2), man has intuitively understood that he is the superior creation. Witness his surreal expectation of dom­inance, his urge for supremacy, his race to rule. Goaded by a hunger for purpose, a raison d’être, he strives on, relentless, determined to conquer, desperate for greatness. But what drives him? What is the source of his compulsion, the cause behind his aspirations? Like an unfurling fern frond craving the evanescent sunlight, he paws the cosmos for the power that eludes him. Why?

“When I see Your heavens, the works of Your Fingers, the moon and stars You have estab­lished [I ask]: ‘What is man that You remember him, son-of-man that You are mindful of him, that You have made him little less than Divine,[21] with Glory and Majesty (You have) adorned him? You have made him ruler over the work of Your hands and placed everything beneath his feet – flocks, cattle, all of them, also the beasts of the field, birds of the sky, fish of the sea. He traverses the paths of the seas…’ (Tehillim 8:4-9)

Long ago, King David pondered man’s apparent authority and dominion. What is man com­pared to the cosmos, that ‘You have placed everything beneath his feet’? At length, the psalmist exclaims, ‘O L-rd, our Master! How mighty is Your Name throughout the Earth!’ (ibid. 8:10). In this adulation, and in his statement, ‘You have made him little less than Divine’, lies a clue to the cosmic riddle, the anomaly of man. To unravel the crypti­cism, we need to learn about the soul, its relationship with the higher worlds and its connection with the holiest of names, the Tetragrammaton.[22]

On our journey, we will gain insight into the Torah’s soul, the blue-print of creation, and understand how man makes G-d’s Name mighty throughout the world and why the injunction, ‘fill and subdue the earth’ (Bereishith 1:28) is a foundation stone and purpose of creation.

G-d’s Ubiquity

G-d created every form of life, from the sublime to the inanimate dross. As Creator, He both transcends and is immanent in each stage and level of creation.[23] Thus, what might appear counterintuitive is a priori: He is as present in the material as in the spiritual. Albeit less apparent, G-d fills the Earth as He does the Heavens. ‘G-d, He is the L-rd, in the Heavens above and on the Earth below’ (Devorim 4:39).

Scriptures further states (ibid.): ‘G-d, He is the L-rd […]; there is nothing else’.[24] There are three ways to understand this. One: ‘There is no existence besides Him’ (ibid., 4:35): theאֵין עוֹד מִלְּבַדּוֹ – ‘ein od mil’vado’ concept. More than omnipresent, more even than the root of ex­istence, G-d is the only reality. Since creation exists solely because He wills it into existence, essentially only He exists.[25] He is. Period. Besides Him is nothing.[26] However, though we may catch glimpses in states of higher awareness, this reality is difficult to internalize (whilst living in this world) as our senses clamour to proclaim the presence of an external reality.

The second worldview involves a gradual diffusion of Divine Essence from the G-dhead, through various stages of intelligence and spirit, eventually manifesting in the physical. Although everything is G-d’s Light or the Light of Ein Sof (lit. endless; a kabbalistic term for G-d as He transcends creation), that Light (apparently) becomes progressively hidden, con­stricted and more ‘material’ as it extends through the void that is the space of creation. This is the reality we tend to live, the secret of the name Elokim, for the most part unaware of the spiritual worlds towering above us. According to this Weltanschauung, to reveal G-d, we must ‘draw down’ His Light from higher worlds.

The third paradigm presents the ultimate paradox. Whilst creation involves concealment and dissipation of Divine Light until It manifests an apparently separate reality, G-d remains the only reality,[27] His Infinite Light hidden, waiting to be discovered. Though this concept is essentially an amalgamation of the first two ideas, it differs in that it requires man’s participa­tion to make it a working reality.[28] That participation is Torah.

This subjective approach is essential to the human condition, not only because it enables freewill[29] but because the intensity and type of ‘G-d manifestation’ that creates and pervades the various universes,[30] the degree of Shechinoh (Divine Presence that dwells amongst us) and revelation, relates to the individual’s awareness. Human consciousness reveals G-d-consciousness (YKVK) within the boundaries (Elokim) of creation (secret of the combination of the holy names, YKVK and Elokim, first appearing in Genesis with the creation of Man.) Our mission is not to bring something down but to reveal that which is present (an approach emphasized by R. Yisroel Ba’al Shem Tov and his disciples).

With this we can understand the Rambam’s description of how one attains Ru’ach HaQodesh (lit. Holy Spirit, the Shechinoh residing with a person causing divine enlightenment) – by purifying and perfecting one’s desires, such that subjective awareness merges with the reality of G-d’s truth, the perfection of pure objectivity, the state of Adam and Eve before sin.[31]

This perfection of awareness involves Man’s two souls: the lower soul that manifests in this world and a higher soul rooted in heaven, one with the Divine.[32] Through meditation on the Torah and performance of mitsvoth, the higher soul is strengthened, until the lower soul unites with it. When that happens, we become privy to the hidden reality of G-d being everywhere. At that point, there is no subjectivity: only truth.

According to this view, Man is not only master of his own experience; he is the centre of the universe, partner with G-d in the evolving cosmos.[33] His place in the universe is supreme, the ramifications of his perception infinite and eternal. His deeds and focus have repercussions that influence revelation in every plane and sphere of existence; his thoughts and understand­ing affect reality; they are the crux of all cause and effect.[34] This is a quantum leap in under­standing one’s purpose in the cosmic plan

Levels in Awareness

There are four levels of human awareness:[35]

• Physical awareness: a consciousness of being, of existing apart from the rest of the world; gained through the physical senses’ interaction with the outside world;
• Emotional awareness – which includes empathy, emotional interaction at a social or spiritual level;
• Intellectual or soul awareness, including deeply-felt intuition;
• Prophetic clarity.[36]

The four levels, merging and interlapping at their interchange, relate to four types of human expression: (inversely:) aspiration, thought, speech and action. These manifestations of the soul link to four Divine worlds the soul encounters as it descends from its Source: Atsiluth, the G-dly world of Emanation, Bri’oh, realm of Soul and Creation, Yetsiroh, Angelic world of Formation and Assiyoh, Soul of the Material ‘doing’ world.

The Zohar describes the soul as originating from G-d’s Kisei HaKovod (Throne of Glory). The word, kisei כסא, ‘seat’ or ‘throne’, relates to kisui כסוּי, ‘covering’: the Heavenly ‘Throne’ covers G-d’s Glory to enable creation to benefit from G-d’s Light without being over­whelmed. It is this hiding that allows for free will.[37] Since the soul emanates from the Kisei HaKovod, it has a similar nature: it longs to receive G-d’s Light and its light is a ‘returning light’ (in kabbalah terminology, אורֹ חוֵזר ohr chozeir), a yearning to return to G-d.[38] This con­stant and pervasive thirst for its Divine Origin is the source of man’s aspiration and yearn for meaning.[39]

All desire, whether to attach to G-d, to experience the prophetic state or the uniquely human sense of craving, is a result of the soul’s essence,[40] the ayin, nothingness or no-thing-ness of self, longing to be reunited with its Source, the Ultimate Ayin.[41] As this is intrinsic to the soul, the higher the soul’s level, the more intense and recognizable the longing. (If this ‘energy’ is blocked, it may manifest in undesirable cravings and spiritual maladies. By addressing the blockage and redirecting the energy, the malady will disappear.[42]

It is in man’s will and drive, the highest manifestation of the soul’s expression,[43] that G-d can be most intensely experienced, consciously, if it is in harmony with its Divine Source. Such resonance leads to prophetic awareness. As Ayin (lit. nothingness) – the removal of self to give place for the other, the first level of G-d’s revelation in His initial act of creation – is the ultimate in selflessness, anything egoistic cannot satisfy the need to experience the Ayin. Ego­istic desire, especially if expressed through unholiness, blocks prophetic awareness and divine communion. (‘Prophetic’ is used in its wider sense to include any type of Divine communica­tion, even the experience of longing for G-d.)[44]

Through meditation and mindful action, the soul’s longing can be drawn into the psyche and consciousness, ultimate abode of the Shechinoh (Divine Presence). The unity of awareness with AYiN initiates a sublime spiritual union called שָלוֹם SHoLOM (peace).[45]

The second level of soul-expression is thought. Thought is the soul’s ‘garment’.[46] If thought is consistently fixed on G-d, man can experience an intellectual awareness of the Divine Pres­ence that approaches the prophetical. In the words of R. Bachya ibn Paquda, he who ‘always beholds Him with his intellect and continually reveres Him, […] will see without [physical] eyes, hear without ears, speak without the tongue, sense things without their special organs, appraise them without reasoning’.[47] Through thought and intellect, the soul declares individu­ality and purpose. Whilst universal thought-patters and archetypal imagery reflect its source, their myriad tones and nuances reflect the many levels of Divinity as the soul metamorphoses and incarnates.[48]

Sound and speech, the third level, relate to the angelic sphere. Holy angels are the articulation of G-dly thought and the result of ‘G-dly words’ uttered by man.[49] Thus, speech has angelic power, affecting the angelic realm with the finality of action. Through speaking with soul-intent, whether holy words of Torah and prayer or even mundane speech, a person attaches to the inner core of this realm and will sense G-d’s Presence. In this realm, the soul experiences emotion bordering intuition, sentient to the potential hovering over the physical.[50]

In the material world, consciousness manifests as action, the corporeal expression of higher vibrations. Here, Ayin is given tangibility through mitsvoth. As stated, these levels are the result of stages in the outpouring of Divine energy, giving rise to four spiritual worlds.[51]

(The Four Worlds)

(The Four Spiritual Levels)

The relationship between human expression and these worlds comes to the fore in the law of sympathetic resonance[52] (i.e. objects attuned to the same frequency automatically transfer their vibrations one to the other) and the modern theory of quantum entanglement, their effects most pronounced in the metaphysical.[53] Everyone affects and is affected by energy levels that resonate with their own spiritual vibrations, each act resonating in the sphere pecu­liar to its spiritual frequency.[54] Thought interacts with the World of Soul and Creation (Olom HaBri’oh) and with other thoughts of the same frequency, speech energy interacts with the World of Formation and other speech. As the Malbim notes, the law of resonance has cosmic consequence.[55]

“G-d arranged the world that it be affected and orchestrated through man’s actions, for good or otherwise. This has been likened to two harps, a larger and smaller, placed in an auditorium in a specific position. If the smaller is played upon, the larger will vibrate. Similarly, G-d arranged the world, the larger instrument, to play according to the melody played by the smaller instrument, man.[56]”

On its earthbound journey, the soul puts on these ‘garments’ of thought, speech and action, through which it interacts with the various worlds. Realizing them to be garments and uniting them with the soul’s essence is a chief premise and aim of Jewish mindfulness.[57]

The  Fourfold Cosmos

Order occurs naturally throughout our universe, often comprising geometrical fractals, viz. recognizable patterns of self-similarity, repeated at several levels, the parts resembling the whole.[58] This phenomenon points to an underlying system reflecting the spiritual worlds where each individual is a microcosm of the Whole. Such structure can be seen in the four levels reiterating repeatedly through all planes of reality.

The prophet, Yechezkel, saw the Divine Chariot upon four Chayoth (heavenly beings); each Chayoh had four faces, four wings, four Ofanim (Yechezkel 1:4-11, 15:17).[59] Physical exist­ence has four dimensions: time, space, form and matter. Matter has four states: plasma, gas, liquid and solid (the Aristotelian or Empedoclean classic elements: fire, air, water and earth),[60] and four distinct levels: man, animal, vegetable and mineral, each of which contain four sublevels. Each of those sublevels has four parts: Divinity giving existence, soul (every­thing has a degree of soul),[61] angelic (possibly astrological) influence[62] and matter.[63]

Man has four stages in his gestation period; four basic emotions; four levels of awareness; four brain processes that combine as a ‘signature’ of conscious activity; four bases in the genetic code (adenine, quanine, thiamine and cytosine).[64] Our brain cortex divides into four lobes (frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital) to process four types of sensory information.

There are four animal types (if amphibians and reptiles are categorized together as ‘ectother­mic’), four types of invertebrate (Arthropoda, Mollusca, Annelida, Coelenterata) and four types of vegetation (plants, fungi, protoctist and bacteria). Each of the four types of vegetation divide again into four – four plant types (Thallophyta, Bryophyta, Pteridophyta, Spermato­phyta), four fungi types (Zygomycota, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Deuteromycota), four types of protoctista (unicellular algae, protozoa, slime moulds – oomycotes, and water moulds – myxomycotes) and four types of bacteria (baccilus, coccus, spirillum and vibrio).

Matter consists mainly of four elements (nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, carbon),[65] while living matter has four classes of biological molecules (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids). There are four main types of mineral cycles (i.e.: the Oxygen cycle, Water cycle, Phosphorus cycle and Sulphur cycle), four types of chemical bonds (covalent, ionic, hydrogen bonds, Van der Waal forces) and four key forces in the universe (strong nuclear and weak nuclear force, electromagnetism and gravity).

In short, the entire cosmos, from the general to the particular, from the highest intelligence to the lowest, from the most advanced to the simplest form of existence, has four distinct layers, categories, ingredients or properties. These link to four spiritual levels: G-dly, Soul, Angelic and physical and to the four worlds. Atsiluth, Bri’oh, Yetsiroh, Assiyoh. It is not just a number being repeated; it is a spiritual system, a universal hierarchy that points to the origin of all creation, expressed through the most sacred of names, the Tetragrammaton.[66]

G-d’s Ineffable Name, which translates as ‘He Who brings into being’ – the Life Force that creates ex nihilo, or ‘Absolute Existence’,[67] the Divine conatus essendi (will of self-expression), is the blueprint of life; thus, the creative process emanates from and is dictated by the Name’s four letters.

‘All creations are imprinted with this Name, to show Who created them’.[68] Each letter repre­sents a stage of the four levels, Will, Thought, Word and Action (Atsiluth, Bri’oh, Yetsiroh and Assiyoh), as indicated by the letters; thus, four layers manifest, continuously and holo­graphically, throughout creation.

As G-d is one, so all the levels combine as one unit. This unified structure is G-d’s signature, the worlds manifesting G-d’s Name.[69] Thus, the prophets say, ‘How mighty is Your Name in the whole world’; ‘G-d’s Name fills the whole world’.[70] G-d is at every level and in every detail: everywhere, right here, right now.

[1] Shabboth 86b; Me’or Einayim, Toldoth, p. 83.

[2] Bereishith, 1:26-7; Zohar, I, 20b; 71b (וְעַל דְמוּת הַכִסֵא דְמוּת כְמַרְאֵה אָדָם עָלָיו מִלְמָעְלָה – דא הוא תורה שבכתב); R. Eliyohu de Vidas (1518-1592), Reishith Chochmoh, Sha’ar HaYir’oh, 7:10; R.M. C. Luzatto, Derech Eits Chaim. (For explanation of ‘image’, see p. 43, fn. 58; p51, fn.24.)

[3] See p. 126, fn. 1.

[4] Nefesh, ‘soul’ (from noifesh – ‘to rest’), also denotes ‘will’ (a person’s will naturally gravitates to where it feels at rest; see p. 101, fn. 4, Maharal). See Moreh Nevuchim, 1:41.

[5] דַע אֶת אֱלֹהֵ-י אָבִיךָ וְעָבְדֵהוּ

[6] Me’or Einayim, II, p. 576. See Pirqei Ovoth, 1:17 (לא המדרש העיקר אלא המעשה – ‘The main thing is not the learn­ing but the [subsequential] action’); Sefer HaChinuch, Intro. (האדם נפעל כפי פעולותיו – ‘A person[’s character] is formed according to his deeds’). Also, Devorim 15:7-10. Science now concurs (e.g. Brian R. Flay, Carol G. Allred, Nicole Ordway, ‘Effects of the Positive Action Program on Achievement and Discipline: Two Matched-Control Comparisons’ in Prevention Science (2001, 2, Issue 2), pp. 71-89.

[7] E.g. D. H. Shapiro, ‘A mode of control and self-control profile for long term meditators’, in Psychologia: An International Journal of Psychology in the Orient (1992, Issue 35, pp. 1-11); R. J. Davidson, J. Kabat-Zinn, J. Schumacher, M. Rosenkranz, D. Muller et al., ‘Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindful­ness mediation’, in Psychosomatic Medicine (2003, Is. 65, pp. 564-70); Britta K. Holzel, J. Carmody, M. Vangel, C. Congleton, S.M. Yerramsetti, Tim Gard, Sara W. Lazar, ‘Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density’, in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging (Elsevier, 191, Is. 1, pp. 36-43); Tim V. Sa­lomons, Aaron Kucyi, ‘Does meditation reduce pain through a unique neural mechanism?’ in Journal of Neuro­science (2011, 31(36)); B. K. Holzel, S.W. Lazar, T. Gard, Z. Schuman-Olivier, D. R. Vago, U. Ott, ‘How does mindfulness meditation work? Proposing mechanisms of action from a conceptual and neural perspective’, in Perspectives on Psychological Science (2011, Vol. 6, no. 6, pp. 537-559).

[8] (הנשמה לגבי מעלה כנקבה בפני הזכר) Midrash HaNe’elam, Zohar, I, 125a; Torah Ohr, p. 1d.

[9] I.e. the afore mentioned mitsvoth to cleave to G-d (30:11) (Heichal HaBrochoh ad loc.).

[10] See Rashi, Bamidbor 7:89, s.v. Midabair.

[11] ‘We all posses an “inner Moshe”, the ability to selflessly devote ourselves to G-d and His will. G-d calls out to us through this inner Moshe, enabling us to enter the mysteries of the Torah and commune with His presence. By fulfilling G-d’s commandments and praying, we refine ourselves, so that wew can perceive G-d’s presence ever clearer in the study of His Torah.’ (Daily Wisdom: Inspiring insights on the Torah Portion from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, translated and adapted by Moshe Wisnefsky (Kehot Publication Society, 2014) Vayaq’hel-Paqudei.)

[12] The Holy Ark corresponds to the heart and mind; R. Chaim of Volozhin, Nefesh Ha-Chaim, 1:4; R. Mordechai HaKohein of Tsfath (1523-1598), Sifsei Kohein, Shemoth, 39:32; Me’or Einayim, p. 17, col. 1. Cf. R. Chaim ibn Attar (1696-1743), Ohr HaChaim, Vayiqro, 23:15: that the Luchoth correspond to the collective Soul of Israel. See also, R. Dovid Ben Zimro (c.1463-1573), Metsudoth Dovid: Ta’amei HaMitsvoth LeRadvaz, Mitsvoh §77; R. Yitschoq Isaac Chover, (1789-1852), Pischei She’orim, pp. 7-8, note 1 (that the Luchoth correspond to the two chambers of the heart); Liqutei MoHaRan, I, 34:6

[13] See Yalqut Shimoni, Tehilim, §808. Note the stress on veils and covers in Sh’moth 30:6.

[14] This one place left to our freewill can embrace the Light of Ein Sof (see Brochoth 33b). The Rambam under­stands this space as the thoughts of the heart (Responsa and Letters, p. 32). Thus, the two Kruvim may correspond to the heart’s bicameral chambers. Hence, כרוב – k’ruv in gematria אהבה יראה – ahavoh yir’oh – ‘love, awe’, the energies at the universe’s core, t he constant ‘running and returning’ (S. Yetsiroh 1:18) in the two [that are four] chambers of the heart. Thus, ‘the Voice speaking to him… from between the two k’ruvim’, corresponds to the wind-pipe between the two chambers (cf. R. E. Roke’ach, Soidi Rozyo, p. 131). A person, communing with G-d, are like the two facing k’ruvim, resulting in the Voice emanating from between. Accordingly, we may interpret the verse (Bamidbor 7:89) as referring to G-d – ‘Moshe’ meaning higher intelligence – wanting to speak with Moshe, or Moshe approaching G-d. See also the ambiguities implied in Sh’moth, 34:5-6 (see Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Ramban; also, Qedushath Levi ad loc.).

[15] R. Yosef Bloch of Holshitz-Stanov (quoting the Ba’al Shem), Ginzei Yosef, p. 559. אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי, בְּכָל יוֹם וָיוֹם בַּת קוֹל יוֹצֵאת מֵהַר חוֹרֵב וּמַכְרֶזֶת וְאוֹמֶרֶת אוֹי לָהֶם לַבְּרִיּוֹת מֵעֶלְבּוֹנָהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה – R. Yehoshua Ben Levi says, “Every day a Bas Qol (Heavenly Voice) emanates from Mt. Horev, proclaiming, ‘Woe to mankind from the shame of the Torah’” (Pirqei Ovoth, 6:2). On this mishnoh, the Ba’al Shem Tov explains: ‘Every day a person hears G-d’s Voice reminding him to return. The Voice goes from one end of the earth to the other and is responsible for all earnings, all thoughts to make amends and return to G-d’; Kether Shem Tov (Kehot), p. 36, §146 (See also, R. DovBaer of Mezritch (1704-1772), Maggid Devorov LeYa’aqov, Liqutei Amorim, §250 (p. 256); Zera Qodesh, Re’eih, s.v. Re’eih Onoichi.) The MaHaRaL (R. Yehudoh Loew of Prague (1525-1609)) writes, ‚The Sages say, “This teaches, t he Holy One Blessed Be He’s Voice exists forever”… G-d is constantly giving the Torah… the only difference is in the recipients…’ (Tif’ereth Yisroel, Chapter 56 (p. 172)). See also below, p. 238, fn. 23.

[16] Shulchon Oruch, Orach Chaim 25:5, וישתעבד להקב”ה הנשמה … וגם הלב (‘He should subjugate his soul and heart to G-d’).

[17] R. Elimelech of Lizhensk, No’am Elimelech, Yithro, s.v. VeAtoh. See also, R. Ovadyoh ben Ya’aqov Sforno (1475-1550), Sforno, Shemoth 25:20-22 בא”ד: והיו הכרובים.

[18] See Tif’ereth Shlomo, vol. II, p. 135b, ‘When you merit to hear G-d’s actual voice’. Also, Devorim 13:5; 26:17, and Zera Qodesh (Nitsovim, Liqutim s.v. VeShov): Attune to ‘your G-d’, your own ‘portion’ (spark) of G-d; then you can attach the part to the Whole.

[19] Bereishith Rabboh 8:1; 78:1; Zohar, I, 22a; R. Chaim Vital, Sha’arei Qedushoh, 3:2.

[20] William G. Quinn, ‘Memories of a fruitfly’, in Nature (Nature Publishing Group, 2006 02/02, vol. 439), pp. 546-548. Cf. Mishlei, 6:6-8.

[21] See R. Meir Leibush Wisser (1809-1879), Malbim, ad loc.; Liqutei Torah (Ari), ad loc.

[22] Interestingly, the verse describing man’s creation in the tselem (‘image’) of G-d (see p. 43ff and fn. 58) is the 26^th verse of the Torah, gematria of the Tetragrammaton. Cf. Yechezkel 1:26

[23] See Targum Yonothon, Yeshayoh 6:3, ‘He is holy in the highest heavens, place of His Abode, He is holy on Earth, work of His might,’ etc. For an in-depth discussion of G-d’s transcendence, see L.A. Tanya, Chapter 8; R. Shlomo of Tlust, Atereth Shlomoh, pp. 1-2.

[24] (Also, Devorim 4:35.) The verse uses the name, Elokim, denoting control and power. Thus, אֵין עוֹד ein od – ‘there is nothing else’, means there is no other power besides G-d (אֵין עוֹד is gematriah הכל אלקים – ‘all is G-d’), though some commentaries see here more than G-d’s omniscience (see sources below, fn. 9)

[25] Devorim Rabboh 2:28; Tanya, Sha’ar Yichud VehoEmunoh, Chs. 3, 6; Nefesh HaChaim, 3:3. Whether we can live on this plane is considered a subject of dispute between the Ba’al Shem and HeChosid HaGra’s (R. Eliyohu of Vilna) schools, discussed in Nefesh HaChaim (;cf. A. Fraenkel, Nefesh HaTzimtzum (Urim Publications) for in-depth analysis).

[26] R. Yeshaiyoh HaLevi Horowith (c. 1565-1630), Shnei Luchoth HaBrith (SHLo”H), Torath Odom. Also, Zohar, I, 11b; III, 225a; Tiqunei Zohar, 91b; 122b. (This is neither pantheism nor panentheism. This is reality where only G-d exists, perhaps echoed in Einstein’s unifying theory E = mc2, where mass is shown to be a form of compressed energy.)

[27] See Habohir §1; Chagigoh 12bff. These states from the Qedushoh prayer. The initial verse, Yeshayoh’s vision (6:3), ‘Holy holy holy [is the] L-rd of Hosts, His Glory fills the world’, parallels the first view. Yechezkel’s (Yec. 3:12) ‘Blessed is G-d’s Glory from His Place’, i.e. G-d’s Glory emanating from His Place, is the second paradigm. Qedushoh’s final verse, our contribution, ‘The L-rd shall reign forever, your G-d, Zion, for generation after generation’ (Tehilim 146:10), is the third worldview, realising the unification of transcendent G-d within the immanence of His created world. These correspond to the Zohar’s ‘yichud, brochoh, qedushoh’ (see vol. II, 116a; III, 272b).

[28] Which connects with the Shechinoh. See also Tanya, Sha’ar Yichud VehoEmunoh, Ch. 3.

[29] Subjective perception is not limited to the metaphysical, influencing behaviour and even Halacha (similar to Niels Bohr’s Observer Effect); see e.g., Yoreh Dei’oh, 110:10. In Decision Making Process of the Kohein, the historian, R. Berel Wein, writes “Though the Torah describes methods of diagnosis (of the ritual impurity, tsora’ath), it leaves the decision to the kohein (priest, descendant of Aharon). The kohein, so to speak, creates the impurity in the person [ …]; it is his declaration that decides the issue; like all human decisions, that declaration is of necessity a subjective one. This is a remarkable insight into [ … ] tsora’ath in particular and Halacha in general.”

[30] Nefesh HaChaim, Gate 3.

[31] R. Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam), Moreh Nevuchim, 1:2.

[32] R. Chaim Vital, Sha’arei Qedushoh (Gates of Holiness), 3:2.

[33] (This is the secret of the Tree of Knowing good and evil and the Tree of Life; see Bereishith 2:9). All man’s actions and thoughts are significant. In the physical realm, this has been dubbed, the ‘Butterfly Effect’ (see Ed­ward N. Lorenz, ‘Deterministic Non-Periodic Flow’, in Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995]).

[34] The Ba’al Shem Tov said, ‘A person is where his thoughts are’ (addressed in Part 2). See R. DovBaer of Mezritch, Maggid Devorov L’Ya’aqov, §102; Toldoth Ya’aqov Yosef, Chayei Soroh, Shelach 139d; Kethoneth Pasim, Qorach 43c; R. Moshe Chaim Efraim of Sudilkov (1748-1800), grandson of Ba’al Shem, Degel Ma­chaneh Efraim, Shemoth; Zohar III, 247b, 306b, I, 266b; Yerushalmi Brochoth, 5:3, 6:8; Moreh Nevuchim, 3:51.

[35] Cf. four terms for man, Zohar, III, 48a.

[36] Zohar, II, 262b; cf. three categories vol. I, 99b, 161a. The four categories correspond to distinct levels of the soul: chayoh, neshomoh, ru’ach, nefesh – ‘Life’, ‘Breath’, ‘Spirit’, ‘Soul’ (four ‘names’ of ‘man’: Zohar, III: 48a). These correspond to the four worlds.

[37] Zohar, I, 113a; Tiqunei Zohar, 12b, Tiqun §22 (66a), §38 (79a), §43 (82b), §69 (105a). Cf. Nefesh HaChaim, 1:5 (before annotation); R. Shneur Zalman of Liade, Liqutei Torah, Devorim.

[38] Zohar, I, 125a (Midrash HaNe’elam). It is thus called ‘kovod’ – ‘honour’ or ‘glory’ (see Bereishith 49:6; Tehillim 30:13, Rabbeinu Bachya, Bereishith 25:8.)

[39] As opposed to the animalistic drive. Though the spiritual drive was recognized as a behavioural force by the early 20^th century pioneers in psychology and Carl Jung quoted Tehilim 42:2, ‘As a hart long for water brooks, so my soul longs for You, G-d’, as the only reason for addictions (see William G. Wilson, Alcoholics Anony­mous, p. 26, quoted in R. Shais Taub, G-d of Our Understanding: Jewish Spirituality and Recovery from Addic­tion (Ktav Publ. House, 2010), pp. 13-19, for a facsimile of Jung’s letter), it needs to be appreciated as the psyche’s primal key, a catalyst towards holistic advancement at a core level, driving thought, emotion, speech and action. This has been recently recognized in transpersonal psychology (see Ken Wilber, ‘Two Humanistic Psychologies? A Response’, in Journal of Transpersonal Psychology (23.2, Jan. 1991), p. 105).

[40] The Hebrew word kessef (money) connotes the soul because the soul constitutes longing (kossef) to rise to the heights, as it says (Qoheleth 3:21), “The spirit of men rises up to the heights”. (Quote adapted from R. Men­achem Mendel Schneerson, Hayom Yom, trans. Yitschok M. Kagan; with permission of Kehot Publication Socie­ty.)

[41] See Iyov 26:7, תֹּלֶה אֶרֶץ, עַל-בְּלִי-מָה ‘He suspends the world on bli-moh (lit. without anything).’ This is the AYiN (no-thing-ness), the absence of ‘something’ the mind can grasp, the nihilo of creation. See also R. Moshe ben Nachmon, Ramban, Bereishith 1:2.

[42] See Sukkoh 52a, כל הגדול מחברו יצרו גדול ממנו – ‘Whoever is [spiritually] greater than his fellowman, his yetser will likewise be greater.’

[43] Sefer HaYoshor (LeRabbeinu Tam), Ch. 11; R. Shlomo Wolbe, Alei Shur, Ch. 25, p. 120.

[44] See R. Qalonymus Qalmish Shapira, (b. 1889-k.1943), Derech HaMelech; R. Moshe Sofer (1762-1839), Chasam Sofer Ul HaTorah, Noso, s.v. Ubevo Moshe. Also p. 276, fn. 16.

[45] שָלוֹם Sholom relates to שלם sholaym (perfect) and שלוה shalvoh (serenity), suggesting a status-quo, one party accepting the other.

[46] Zohar I, 128a (Midrash HaNe’elam: ‘Intelligence is the soul’s brother’).

[47] Chovoth HaLevovoth, (Feldheim: Jerusalem, N.Y., 1986, II, p. 217).

[48] כשם שאין פרצופותיהן דומין זה לזה כך אין דעתן שווין זה לזה – ‘Just as people’s faces differ, so do their thought patters.’ (Bamidbor Rabboh, 21:2. See also Sanhedrin 38a).

[49] (Conversely, unholy words create unholy forces.) See Tehillim 103:20-21; also, Chagigoh 14a: ‘Each word G-d utters creates an angel’. Man, through his G-dly soul, acts as an extension of G-d (Zichron Zoth, Vayishlach, first para; Ohr LaShomayim, p. 186). Holy words create holy angels (see Zohar I, 5a; No’am Elimelech, Sh’lach, p. 73, col. B). However, whereas vocal prayer and speech interact with the angelic, only G-d knows our inner­most thoughts (see R. Re’uvein Horovitz of Zarnowza (Tehillim im yalqut) Dudo’im BaSodeh, 5:2). Thus, as Shemoneh Esreh interacts with the G-dly Real (Atsiluth), it is said quietly; Zohar II, 210b; Avrohom Azulai, Ohr HaChamoh, ad loc; Tonoh D’vei Eliyohu 1:28; cf. Orach Chaim, 101; Zohar, II, 202a; Ohr HaChamoh ad loc, p. 216f., s.v. בלחישו.

[50] A resident of Mezhibuz once quarrelled with another, in the Ba’al Shem Tov’s shul, shouting he would tear the other fellow to pieces like a fish. The Ba’al Shem told his pupils to hold one another’s hand and stand near him, their eyes closed. Then, he placed his holy hands on the shoulders of the two disciples next to him. Suddenly, the disciples began shouting in terror. They had seen the fellow dismembering his disputant. This incident illustrates that everything has an effect on the spiritual plane, which can be perceived by refined senses. (Quote adapted from R. Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Hayom Yom, with permission of Kehot Publication Society.)

[51] See R. Chaim Vital, Sha’arei Qedushoh, Gate 3; R. C. Volozhin, Nefesh HaChaim, Gate 1

[52] ‘If you pluck a guitar’s low E-string, you’ll see the high E-string vibrating along with it, as if plucked by a phantom finger. This happens because the specific vibration rate of the high E (660 Hz) is an even multiple of the E two octaves lower (165 Hz). The same thing happens if you place a tuning fork next to a piano and strike the key for A above middle C; the tuning fork will vibrate too. This is called resonance, a word that literally means “sounds again”. When vibrations of two different phenomena have a similar shape or frequency, we say they resonate with each other.’ (George Pratt, Code to Joy).

[53] Zohar, I, 156b; R. Moshe ben Nachmon, Ramban, Bereishith, 28:12; R. Moshe ben Maimon, Moreh Nevuchim 2:4; R. Moshe Chaim Luzatto, Derech HaShem, 1:5:1, 2:1; R. Yosef Leib Bloch (1860-1929), Shiurei Da’ath I, 1:1, p. 38, that physical laws are sourced in the spiritual. Maharal posits that metaphysical forces are more pow­erful than physical forces, since the parallel force operating within nature is restricted within its limited scope of operation (Gur Aryeh, Pirqei Ovoth, 2:12). (Re. quantum entanglement, see J.M. Raimond, M. Brune, S. Haroche, ‘Manipulating quantum entanglement with atoms and photons in a cavity’, in Reviews of Modern Phys­ics (American Physical Soc.) 73:3, 2001, p.565-582.)

[54] Scientists now suggest the universe is based on this law of resonance, an idea first expressed in the Zohar. This law also underscores the importance of performing a ‘spiritual’ or religious exercise (e.g. praying) with others. See R. Chaim ibn Attar, Ohr HaChaim, Devorim, 33:2 that the effect exponentially increases, especially in a quorum of ten. Some people feel this. However, awareness does not assume focus. Those who wish to develop spiritually must aspire to the highest vibration: harmony with the soul’s Source. Anything less is a travesty of the soul’s nature and calling. Hence, the Torah warns against psychic or mediumistic practices. These seemingly innocent practices are the antithesis of true spiritual growth; focusing on a person’s ‘energies’, they lead in the opposite direction to closeness to HaShem, the True Name.

[55] See also, Krithuth 6a; R. Yishaye HaLevi Horowits, SHLo”H (Rosh HaShonoh) quoting R.M. Qordevero. As we shall see, the soul spans many spheres and levels, so the cause and effects of actions are much more extensive than one realizes.

[56] Malbim, Shemoth 25, Remozai HaMishkon

[57] Liqutei Amorim Tanya, beginning of Chapter 4.

[58] Benoit B. Mandelbrot, The Fractal Geometry of Nature (1982, W.H. Freeman & Co., N.Y.)

[59] See Zohar I:71a. (Also, R. Eliyohu Baal Shem of Loans (1555-1636), Adereth Eliyohu, ad loc. (p. 170), that each of the four faces had four faces, etc.) Cf. Zohar, III, 271a.

[60] Bamidbor Raboh, Noso, 14:12; Moreh Nevuchim, 1:62. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, R. M. M. Schneerson, describes them as: positive force, negative force, antimatter, matter’ (Liqutei Sichoth, Vol. 38, p. 184). As ecologist, David Bowen, writes, ‘the Greeks had it right with their classification of fire, air, earth and water’ (‘The World on Fire’, in New Scientist (Oct. 2009)).

[61] Liqutei Amorim Tanya, Sha’ar Yichuud VehoEmunoh, Chapter 1. See also p. 240, fn. 23.

[62] Devorim Rabboh 1:14; Ramban Vayiqro 18:25, Devorim 18:9-12; Moreh Nevuchim, 2:20.

[63] See Moreh Nevuchim, ibid. The vegetable element of soul is elementary and generic, with no self-cognition. Whereas the inanimate [metals, precious stones, minerals] are recipients of astrological forces, thereby possessing particular properties (Bereishith 1:15, Ramban, Rabbeinu Bachya (1340-1255), the vegetable world is influenced by both astrological and angelic energies (ibid. 1:11, Bereishith Rabboh, 10:6) and may have some semblance of intelligence (see, e.g. F. Baluska, Simcha Lev-Yaadun, Stefano Mancuso ‘Swarm intelligence in plant roots’, in Trends in Ecology, (vol. 25, Dec. 2010, p. 682); Stanislaw Karpinski and Magdalena Szechynska-Hebda, ‘Secret Life of Plants’ in Plant Signaling & Behaviour, 5:11, November, 2010; (Landes Bioscience), pp. 1391-1394). It may be that the inanimate too has consciousness, possibly on a quantum level, indicating four levels of spirituality at every plane (Ohr HaChaim, Bereishith 2:1; see also, R. Yosef Leib Bloch, Shiurei Da’ath I, 2:2, p. 233) (see, e.g. David J. Chalmers, The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory (OUP, 1996), p. 299; Thomas Nagel, Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is almost Certainly False (OUP, 2012), pp. 57-58, 61-63; Masafumi Oizumi, Larissa Albantakis, Giulio Tononi, ‘From the Phenomenology to the Mechanisms of Consciousness’ in Journal of PLOS Computational Biology, May 2014).

[64] Christian G. Kohler, Travis Turner, Neil M. Stolar, Warren B. Bilker, Collen M. Brensinger, Raquel E. Gur, Ruben C. Gur, ‘Differences in facial expressions of f our universal emotions’ in Psychiatry Research (vol. 128, Issue 3, Oct. 2004, pp. 235-244); Stanislas Dehaene, Consciousness and the Brain, Chap. 4 (‘The Signatures of Conscious Thought’), (Viking Press, 2014).

[65] (That three of these are gases and one matter is of notable interest, as the blueprint discussed below has a similar pattern.) These relate to the four Aristotelian (Empedoclean) elements: fire, water, wind and earth. Nitro­gen and hydrogen create lightning (fire), hydrogen and oxygen make water, oxygen moving is wind (air) and carbon is matter (earth). Liz Greene suggests four types of cognition: thinking, feeling, sensation, intuition. (L. Greene, Relating; An Astrological Guide to Living with Others on a Small Planet.)

[66] R. Chaim Vital, Eits Chaim Sha’ar Kitsur Abiyah; Sha’arei Qedushoh, ibid. Also, R. Chaim Tyrer (1760[?]-1817), Be’er Mayim Chaim, Bereishith (Chernovitz, 1836), p. 10.

[67] See R. Moshe ben Maimon, Moreh Nevuchim, 1:61.

[68] Zohar II, 42a (לית בריאה דלא אתרשים בהאי שמא, בגין לאשתמודעא למאן דברא ליה). See R. Yosef Giqatilla (1248-a.1305), Sha’arei Orah 1:10, Eits Chaim, Sha’ar TaNT”O; Derush Abiya; R. Sholom Sharabi (1720-1777), N’har Sholom, 92a and Rechovoth HaNohor, 3d, 5d-7a(; Moreh Nevuchim, 1:62). The ‘golden ratio’, which abounds in nature, is also a reflection of G-d’s Name: the ratio of the gematria of its masculine (giving) letters to its feminine (receiving) letters, (Yud + Vov) / (Heh + Heh) = 16/10 = 1.6, as well as the ratio of the graphic form of the yud to the vov.

[69] Since G-d’s Name also means to continually ‘bring into being’ all creation. This is echoed in the concept that all physical forces are extensions of one universal law (see Nassim Haramein, ‘Quantum Gravity and the Holo­graphic Mass’, in Physical Review & Research International (Sciencedomain international, 2013, 3(4), pp. 270-292) and in the holographic nature of quantum reality; see p. 69, fn. 54.

[70] Tehillim ibid; Yeshayo 6:3. See Zohar, ibid.; R. Tsodoq HaKohen, Dover Tsedek, p. 150.

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(The image at the top of this page is an artist’s interpretation of gazing into the cosmic eye of God/Void/Cosmos. – Source)

The way to nullify one’s physicality and ego,

to become included in G-d’s unity,

is through seclusion

1. Nachmon of Breslav[1]

Why meditate?

Jewish meditation draws a person into the presence of G-d, to bask in His awe and love, to experience the ultimate spiritual consummation of the mystical union with the Creation (see Tehillim 28:4). As such, it is an essential component to the mesiloh ho’oileh beith E-l, the ‘path that leads to the House of G-d.’

For aeons, meditating on G-d was an essential discipline for spiritual seekers, ‘I set G-d before me always’ (Tehil. 16:8) the rallying cry of saints and mystics. Through hithbonenuth (deep contemplation) and hithbodeduth (mental seclusion), actions were imbued with mystical intentions, performed in quasi-prophetic states, inspired by the Divine Spirit. The fore-fathers, elders, prophets and sages, the Ge’onim, Early Saints and kabbalists, the Ari, Ba’al Shem Tov, and their saintly disciples, all taught how to attain knowledge of the Divine, to attach to the Supernal Realm, each according to their particular era’s spiritual climate.

Thus, at the bedrock of our ancient traditions are numinous meditations and esoteric doctrines, their fibres woven into the soul of Jewish law. (Which makes it all the more tragic that this subject is practically ignored, denied its place in the study-hall, bearers of our heritage starved of the richness of their birthright, the deep awareness and knowledge of the Divine, the result of mindful practice). Yet, besides a few notable exceptions, it is difficult to find clear references to meditative techniques in either Biblical of the early rabbinic literature.

This may be for several reasons. More than other areas of Torah, occult practices were closely guarded [2]. The sacred advanced methods to penetrate the higher realms necessitated precise instruction, from master to disciple [3]. After ‘discovering’ G-d through his own moral and devout conduct, a spiritual adept joined a school for neophyte prophets, to be individually mentored by an established prophet who empowered him with the Holy Spirit, facilitating access to higher, prophetic insight.

Furthermore, the Oral Law (recorded in the Mishnayoth (formalised Tannaic notes, c. 200 CE) and Talmud (Amoraic discussions, ca. 500 CE)) does not record or expound upon that which was lived and known. ‘G-d awareness’ was a mindset absorbed from the cradle, the meditative state an inevitable consequence of fulfilling mitsvoth. Whilst in some cultures, the meditative state was the goal, in Judaism, it was a by-product. Formalized instruction how to reach these states was deemed superfluous.

Regrettably, however, in today’s age of cyber reality, this awareness has been supplanted by sentimentalism, superficiality and an externalism that breeds mechanical performance. The endemic lack of clarity, the death of intellectual and emotional depth, symptomatic of postmodern Western culture, underscore the need for regular reflection. The shell of outer existence must be countered by an inner awareness, nurtured by ideas and bolstered with imagery created through private practice and applied knowledge. Only through conscious action suffused with meditation on G-d and His Presence, can the esoteric balance the exoteric. Else, with excessive emphasis on peripheralities, the core will implode.

Deveiquth and Mitsvoth

Jewish meditation combines purposeful thought of the mind with the passionate yearning of the heart. Coaxed and guided by the still voice of the soul, the conscious mind seeks the sublime depths of the Infinite, attaching, merging and dissolving, to realise the transcendent immanence of the G-d of Israel. This seductive, fugacious state is called deveiquth.

Literally ‘cleaving’, deveiquth, a state of divine union, is the result of overwhelming awareness of G-d. Cerebral attachment to the Infinite Essence, to the Eternal Divinity at the heart of creation, the Tree of Life in the centre of the Garden,[4] it is the quintessence of the mitsvoth, the essence of the Torah and the intended way of life, the result of following the Torah’s path with humility and intent.[5]

Essential to deveiquth is mind-imagery.[6] Words and actions influence thought but knowledge translated into mind-imagery is its director.[7] As the Rabbis say, ‘Words are secondary to intent’.[8]  Words direct the mind only to the extent of the mind’s visual vocabulary. This is especially important in prophetic meditation, where heart and mind must unite with the soul to truly behold G-d’s Presence.

Like anything worthwhile, deveiquth requires application and practice. Snatches of insight will not amount to much. Though this article (originally, book) presents the gen and exercises to build mind-imagery, it is for the reader to implement them. Time and effort must be expended to develop the right mind-set. ‘Seek G-d and His Strength; beseech His Face constantly.’[9] Through regular application, soul and heart will join in their focus on the Creator.

Though performance of action-mitsvoth uplifts and transforms the material to the spiritual, [10] eases the tension between spirit and substance, creating a visceral awareness of G-d’s Presence, this nebulous awareness will dissipate if not actively and constantly preserved and developed.[11]

The tentative consciousness engendered by mindful engagement in mitsvoth is an embryonic expression of Divine Will. Anchoring this inchoate spark of G-d’s Presence necessits effort and cultivation, through Torah-learning, contemplation and prayer. Each of these categories is indispensable. As King David says (Tehillim 28:4), ‘One thing I asked from G-d […]: let me dwell in G-d’s House all the days of my life (Torah), to gaze on the pleasantness of G-d (meditation) and to visit His Palace (prayer)’. Indeed, according to both Rabbeinu Yonah of Gerondi and the Shushan Sodoth, meditation on G-d is the condicio sine qua non for basic spiritual health, on a par with prayer and Torah-learning:[12]

“Every person should [be able to] cogitate and think deeply only on the Creator, blessed be He, not on anything else, [as] written in the Torah, in the Prophets and in the Writings…

Consequently, it is appropriate for everyone to be vigilant in learning how to remove all other thoughts from his heart besides those on the Creator of the World, blessed be He, for [only] when he knows Him, will he be able to serve Him…”

‘Think deeply only on the Creator … [Only] when [you] know Him, will [you] be able to serve Him.’ This is the soul and crux of Jewish meditation – and of deveiquth.

Mitsvoth train the ego to resonate with, and be party to, the soul’s perception of G-d. But only, says the Me’or Einayim, if performed with deveiquth. ‘If we do mitsvoth with deveiquth, our deeds have life: they have a soul. Otherwise, they are empty rituals, like bodies devoid of spirit.’[13]

An action-mitsvoh performed without deveiquth is as a lifeless body. It lacks essential vitality. Deveiquth breathes life into the shell, fusing together the deed and the Light, the external with the internal.[14] If act, soul and emotion align, man comes ‘home’, experiencing holy sublimity even whilst fettered to the corporeal realm: a return to Eden.

By grounding the soul’s sensitivity through performance, physical consciousness begins to comprehend spiritual reality, so that everyday action and speech become mindful and focused. The Divine is then experienced as more real and palpable than corporal existence.[15]

[1] Liqutei MoHaran, I, §52 (p. 60.)

[2] Sukkoh 49b (מה ירך בסתר, אף ד”ת בסתר); Chagigoh 13af; Gittin 60b; Qiddushin 71a. See also, R. Moshe ben Yosef of Trani (the ‘MaBYT’, 1500-1580), Kiryath Sefer, Intro., regarding the unique and holy character of the Oral Law, ‘… as it is hidden in the souls of the righteous… and that which is written, no longer has the same effect on the soul…’

[3] Shmuel I, 19:20-24; Chagigoh 12bff: ‘One may not expound on… ma’aseh bereishith (“Act of Genesis”) with more than one student [at a time], ma’aseh merkovoh (“Work of Chariot”) with even one student unless wise and understanding.’ (Also, Vayikro Raboh, 31:7.) The Talmud (13a) enlarges on the conditions. Secrecy is evident from the earliest records of transmission prophecy meditation techniques (see Tosefta Chagigoh 2:2), to the early kabbalists, the Ari, the Ba’al Shem, the Gra, their disciples, up to the modern era.

[4] Bereishith 2:9; R.Y. Yosef of Polnoye (1710-1783/4) Toldoth Ya’aqov Yosef, Bamidbor.

[5] See R. Moshe ben Nachmon (1194-1270), Ramban, Devorim 11:22; R. Elimelech of Lizhensk, Liqutei Shoshanim (437a); R. Levy Yitschoq of Berditchev (1740-1809), Qedushath Levi (vol. II, p. 471); Toldoth Ya’aqov Yosef, Intro.

[6] R. Menachem Ben Aharon (c.1310-1385), Tseidoh LaDerech, pp. 22-3; R. Moshe ben Maimon (1135-1204), Moreh Nevuchim 1:50; R. Yehudoh HaLevi (c.1075-1141), S. HaKuzari, Ma’amar 3; R. Yonah of Gerondi, Sha’arei Teshuvoh, 3:15; Talmidei Rabbeinu Yonah, Brochoth 4b (כל הסומך גאולה לתפלה); R. Shlomo Wolbe (1914-2005), Alei Shur, Ch. 16, p. 100, 104.

[7] ‘As a rider leads its horse, so intellect directs speech’; R. S.Z. of Liadi, Torah Ohr, p.64, col.3; R. Yitschoq DovBer Schneersohn, Siddur Tefilloh, p. 126.

[8] Regarding the mitsvoh of reciting the Shema, אחרי הכוונה הן הן הדברים – Brochoth 15a; see also, R. Bachya ibn Paqudoh, Chovoth HaLevovoth, Sha’ar Chesbon HaNefesh, Ch. 9.

[9] Tehillim 105:4 (see also v.3, regarding meditating on G-d’s name). See: L. A. Tanya, Chap. 3; Rabbeinu Yonah (of Gerondi 1200-1263) Mishlei, end of Chap. 2; Yosher Divrei Emeth, §12, p. 7b. Kabbalistically, ‘His Strength’ is a metaphor for the Shechinoh (Divine Presence) or Ohr Ein Sof (Light of the Infinite One), ‘soul’ of G-d. While beseeching the ‘Face’ of G-d, i.e. His manifestations, we focus on the Ohr Ein Sof and G-d’s Presence.

[10] There are two categories of mitsvoth: action and thought (see Ibn Ezra and Kli Yoqor, Devorim, 30-11-14; Ibn Ezra, Shemoth 20:2; Chovoth HaLevovoth, Intro.) Though Rashbo (Rav Shlomoh bar Adereth, 1235-1310), Brochoth 8a (ד”ה ארשב”י ) and No’am Elimelech list three categories:

 :’ נו”א פ’ לך לך, ד”ה והנה דבר ד’: ג’ מדריגות שצריך האדם לעבוד להשם ית

בדבור במעשה ובמחשבה. הדבור היינו התורה הקדושה, ומעשה הם המצות, ומחשבה הוא רוממות א-ל ית’ ויתעלה

. – ‘three levels with which a person should serve G-d: speech, through the holy Torah, action – through the mitsvoth, and thought – [contemplating] G-d’s greatness’ – when considering internal versus external, speech is categorized as action. (See Sanhedrin 65a. Also, the connection of speech and action in Shabboth 58b, 119a.)

[11] See, for example, L. A. Tanya, end of Chapter 3.

[12] Shaarei Teshuvoh, 4:21; 3:17; Shushan Sodoth (unknown disciple of Ramban) p.1. Also, Divrei HaYomim I, 28:9, Tanya, ibid; Kiryath Sefer, Hi. De’oth, Ch. 6 (a Torah mitsvoth to always attach one’s mind to G-d); R. Sholom DovBer Schneerson, Quntrus HaTefiloh, 2

[13] R. Menachem Nochum of Chernobyl (1730-1797), Me’or Einayim, VaYeiroh. Also, R. Yitschoq Luria (Ari z”1 (1534-1572)) Liqutei Torah, Eiqev. The Torah describes meal-offerings as a ‘sweet savour’ to G-d, to teach, ‘whether one does much or little, the main thing is directing one’s heart to Heaven’ (Menochoth 13:11). Though a mitsvoth’s details must be attended to, its ‘soul’ is directing one’s heart to the Holy One Who commanded us. Me’or Einayim agrees that one’s obligation fulfilled even without deveiquth; merely that it lacks life. Cf. R. Chaim of Volozhin (1749-1821), disciple of the Vilna Gaon (1720-1797), that though intent is an integral part of the mitsvoth, the main part is the deed (Nefesh HaChaim, Gate 1, end). Cf. ibid., end of 1:22, s.v. Ach sheyekayeim ish Yisroel kero’uy, and end of 2:2; similarly, Chovoth HaLevovoth, Intro.;Zohar, III, 261a. Cf. R. Shne’ur Zalman of Liadi (Torah Ohr, Bereishith, 1, col. 2): ‘Practical performance of mitsvoth purifies the mind and heart a thousand times more [than contemplation]’.

[14] ‘Mitsvoth are vessels in which to draw down the Light of Ein Sof’: Toldith Y. Y., Intro.

[15] See R. Nachmon of Breslov (1772-1811), Liqutei MoHaRan 1:22, par. §5, 6.

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(The Four Worlds – source)

The sephirotic tree of life represents a metaphor through which Creation takes place in ten steps and suggests that there are ten emanations involved. There is an alternative version, in which Creation takes place in four steps; this model is called the four worlds. The four worlds can be superposed over the kabbalistic tree and thus the two models became complementary. [1]

         The four worlds are:

• Atziluth – the world of emanations and the divine world of archetypes.
• Briyah – the world of creation or the creating world of archangels.
• Yetzirah – the world of formation or the world of angels and the astral plane.
• Assiah – the active, material world. [2]

A method through which the four worlds are bound by the sephirotic tree is based on the tradition that each of these contains its own tree; these are sometimes represented by the emanation from Kether to Malkuth.

Another way is dividing the tree in four different regions; here Atziluth corresponds to Kether, Hokhmah, Binah; Briyah corresponds to Chesed, Gevurah and Tiphereth; Yetzirah to Netzah, Hod, Yesod; Assiah to Malkuth. From here we shall have the triangles of the four worlds.

In the case of Atziluth – The celestial triangle starts from a single point, meaning that it comes from the divine unity and divides in two sides. This shows that, although divinity is a unity, any manifestation can be seen in a dual form: masculine and feminine, up and down, in and out, hot and cold etc. One of the duties of a magician is to learn to go through any part in contradiction in order to obtain communion with divinity.

In the case of Briyah – The moral triangle, combination of Strength and Mercy, sustains the evolution of Beauty. If we have too much mercy we become weak and incompetent in fulfilling goals. People use us and we die young. On the other hand, if we show only strength and are totally ruthless we can touch our goals (but never without difficulty), but we won’t have friends and we won’t have real love, thus our success has no sense. Through development of Strength and Mercy, we get a beauty which helps us to attain all goals, and our success has a meaning.

In the case of Yetzirah – The worldly triangle is in connection with successes in the physical realm, not of the mental or spiritual that are found in the moral and celestial triangles. Here, a Victory followed by too much mercy gets to defeat, while the Splendor of  a Victory, if is not tempered by Mercy, leads to revolt and ruin. When in balance, there is a Foundation for the successes in this world and a Kingdom that is represented by the only Sephiroth that hangs at the base of the three triangles.

In Atziluth, the archetypal world, everything forms an origin or starts to be something. In that moment, it is simply typified in the largest sense possible: “This was nothing, now it will become life at cellular level”.

In Briyah takes place the creation. This defines the type of Existence in its exact category: “This has been life at cellular level, now it will become a human being.”

In Yetzirah takes place the formation, and the preceding processes are concentrated on finer aspects through clear definition of the result’s nature. “This was cellular life that transformed in human bodies. Now it will structure itself under the form of a small finger-tip belonging to the left hand of a human being.”

In Assiah or material world in which we live, the first three processes are projected from the other worlds under the form of earthly realities. When their purpose has been done, they are reabsorbed by death or dissolved and get back to the stage of nothing before they are given a new origin.

It doesn’t mean that any thing that has an origin must do this complete circle. Something that has an origin can get only to the next level and then get back by that which gave it its origin.

• In Atziluth, which gives the origin is directly seen as an aspect of God.
• In Briyah, the creator is called archangel.
• In Yetzirah, those who give form are
• In Assiah, those that express are called planetary powers.

All is God. It is only a question of which part of God does what.[3]

 In Assiah (Physical World), the Tree is planted and cultivated by the senses. Its design is seen with the eye and its colors are appreciated. Wherever we see those colors we should think of the Sephiroth concerned. We can smell the perfumes of the Tree and touch its form attributions. Our ears should be trained to classify sounds and speech appropriately. All this can be worked into ritual practices.

In Yetzirah (Mental World) there is an enormous field of work to be done with the Tree. We can study its philosophy, perceive and solve its problems, consider its pattern-possibilities, and learn one by one the lessons presented to an intelligent pupil by its ordered arrangements. There are no known ends to its mental stimuli or the answers arrived at.

In Briyah (Soul World) the Tree is approached on the ethical and moral level as a code of conduct and standards embodying the highest principles to be found by a seeking soul. Here we learn the laws of living in harmony and balanced relationship with all Being and beings.

In Atziluth (Spirit World) the Tree takes on the aspects of the Living God. Here we approach the Tree with worship, devotion, prayer, and sheer joy of contact with extensions of the Supreme Spirit.[4]

The general notion presented is that God thinks something to become manifest in the material world and – bang! – it simply appears. Creation is a process and every thing must go through the same cyclic laws of life in order to manifest itself in the physical world in which we live in. Kabbalism presents the laws of this process in 4 distinct levels:

1. World of Origin – Atziluth. It is the level at which God gives the origin of each thing through the conception of an archetype in its own conscience. From here, every Sephiroth is identified through a name of God. If God gives the sense of function lower than His consciousness, it gives it a lower level of manifestation.
2. World of Creation – At this level, the concept is taken further by the orders of spirits called archangels, for they condensate the archetype to be processed by lower orders of spirits.
3. World of Formation – Yetzirah. Here the name implies form, structure; all the other detailed specifications are given by the working entities with multiple and different specializations, called angels. Each order of angels is specialized on a single function, but is expert in that function.
4. World of Action – Assiah. Here is the place in which the concept manifests in existence as we perceive it. It comes to us through natural laws and through channels of consciousness. The powers at this level are materialized in cosmic phenomenon that we can appreciate through our normal perceptions, such as the stars, planets, zodiacal signs and elemental energies.

That is why the Four Worlds are reduced to the cosmic conscience that concentrates in the material existence through energetic cycles of creation seen from four angles.

At each level, the practicing kabbalist works with different ways of personification of divinity: in Assiah, he works with the elemental spirits, in Yetzirah with angels, in Briyah with archangels and in Atziluth he works directly with each of the ten names of God from each sephiroth. Although the basic idea is that the universe is split into four levels of function, they resonate among themselves.

A practical method of application of the Four Worlds is a business plan seen at a strategic level, a tactical level, an operational level and a functional level. A complete business plan will contain all these four layers by having a simply strategy, but widely spread in tactical methods to reach that goal. Each tactic will be analysed at a level of action and then will be applied in the day to day course of the business.

The worlds must be consistent and balanced between them so that the objective may be reached; each function must be in accordance with the plan (or “that which is above must also be same as below”).

[1] Notes on Kaballa, Colin Low, p. 197.

[2] The Middle Pillar, Israel Regardie, p. 46.

[3] The Ladder of Lights, William G. Gray, p. 16-17.

[4] The Ladder of Lights, William G. Gray.

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(Diagram of the Hebrew letters of the Tetragrammaton arranged in a Tetractys shape, showing that by the rules of Gematria the sum is 72. – Source)

Four aspects of Kabbala

The kabbalistic system is split into four big domains, no matter what branches and schools are working with it:

1. The theoretical or dogmatic kabbala;
2. The literal kabbala;
3. The meditative or unwritten kabbala;
4. The practical or magical kabbala;

Theoretical or dogmatic Kabbala 

         The theoretical part represents the esoteric philosophy of kabbala.

“The theoretical part deals with the mystical forms, with the teachings about the angels and sephiroth or about the divine emanations. With great success, it deals with problems posed by the many schools of philosophy, and it provides a conceptual framework into which all theological ideas can be fitted.”[1]

         The theoretical part of kabbala is that which deals with the aspects and theories referring to the creation and development of the universe and of all things. It does this through three categories (after Ginsburg, cited by W.Westcott).

         “The great doctrines of theoretical kabbala, as Ginsburg says, are mainly created to solve the problem of:

1. the nature of the Supreme Being (of divinity)
2. the creation of the Universe and of our world.
3. the creation of angels and man.
4. the destiny of the world and of man.
5. the import of the revealed law[2].

Theoretical kabbala is certainly the most important aspect of Jewish kabbala, particularly of the orthodox-jewish branches. Of this category are part the main books of Kabbala, like Zohar, Sefer Yetzirah, Bahir and also the first five books of the Old Testament.

Literal Kabbala

The literal Kabbala concerns itself with the manipulation of letters and numbers in order to find secret wisdom in the scriptures. According to kabbala and Christianity, God created the world by the help of the word, reason for which it is considered that every letter of the Hebrew alphabet is a channel of manifestation of an aspect of divinity and of the creating force, each letter possessing and maintaining sacred meanings and creative potencies.

Because of the association between numbers and letters, it will result a tight connection between words and numerical value associated to these words. The finding of words that have the same numerical value will offer a complex succession of meanings and interpretations hidden in the holy texts.

There are three methods generally applied in literal kabbala:

1. Gematria
2. Notariqon
3. Temurah

Gematria

         Represents the kabbalistic numerology, and the origin of the word is found in the Greek  geomatria and in the Aramaic gematria.[3]

         It is a system through which it is attributed a value to words and phrases, which considers that these words or phrases that have an identical numeric value reveal a relation between the two words or phrases and concepts or ideas that these words imply.

         The method however can be applied to persons as well, names, divine and angelic names, events, locations, aphorisms etc., generally being used for the interpretation of holy texts. Though it is used from time to time by kabbalists in languages such as Spanish, Greek and Arab, the method is applied mostly in Hebrew or Aramaic.[4]

         This method has been spread beginning with the XVII century because of the translation work of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola.

         Some consider that there are two forms of gematria: the first being the rabbinic and the other, which is the most spread nowadays, is the one used in kabbalistic practice.

         Gematria has four basic forms:

• Absolute value
• Ordinal value
• Reduced value
• Integral reduced value

Notariqon

         It is written also as notaricon or notarikon and comes from the Latin notarius, with the signification of stenographer.

         One of the methods used is the selection of the first or last letter in the words that compose a phrase and creating a new word that takes over the signification and meaning of the entire phrase.

         This technique was taken by the modern society and used at large scale.[5]

• Words that use only the first letter:

1. laser: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
2. CD-ROM: (C-D) Compact Disc read-only memory
3. ABS: (from the German word Antiblockiersystem): Anti-lock braking system
4. ATM: Automated Teller Machine
5. PIN: Personal Identification Number
6. HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus

• Words that don’t contain only the first letter:

1. Amphetamine: Alpha-methyl-phenethylamine
2. Interpol: International Criminal Police Organization
3. Radar: Radio Detection and Ranging

Temurah

         In Hebrew it means changing, permutation. It is a method that consists in substituting a letter from a word with another, after a predetermined method. In this way it is obtained another word with a totally different signification.

         Applied to other languages other than Hebrew, this technique will produce series of letters with no logical meaning.

There are three simple forms of Temurah:

• Atbash: the replacement of the first letter from the alphabet with the last, of the fifth with the last but one letter of the alphabet and so on.

a=z, b=y, c=x etc

• Avgad: the replacement of the letter with the next in the alphabet.

a=b, b=c, c=d

• Albam: the replacement of the first letter in the alphabet with a twelfth letter, the second with the thirteenth and so on.

a=l, b=m, c=n etc.

Meditative or unwritten Kabbala

         Meditative kabbala concentrates on different techniques for attaining spiritual liberation. These techniques include meditation, contemplation, manipulation of letters and numbers, of diagrams (yantras) and words of power and divine names.[6]

         The syntagm unwritten kabbala comes from the fact that this knowledge, these methods and techniques were transmitted from ancient times through word of mouth. For a very long period of time, they were considered too powerful to be published on a large scale.

         But even today there are aspects of kabbala which are not written and are transmitted only from teacher to student, after there has been created a connection between them, and the student is ready to receive them.

Practical or magical Kabbala

         It deals with those aspects and ways through which it can be applied with results in both the spiritual world and the physical world, with the help or through ceremonial magic, of rituals, invocations, evocations, through manipulation of elemental forces and of talismans.

         Kabbalistic magic is oftentimes called theurgic magic, because all the rituals and ceremonies are made under and with the authority of divinity. For example, we could take Shemhamphorasch, which represents the 72 names of God that come from the Old Testament (Exodus 14:19-21).

         Kabbalistic magic is based on colors, symbols, but also divine names, names of archangels, of angels etc., which are associated with the sephiroth of the tree of life, in which or through which the magician wants to operate and produce change or transformation.

         The mage that is always in search of illumination can ascend to the levels of higher consciousness and can get to fuse with or experience divinity with the help of the arrow or of the dragon (kundalini snake), traversing the sephirotic tree in ascendance, from Malkuth to Kether.

         However, the mage that is in search of the forces, of the ways and of the possibilities necessary to manifest divinity in the physical realm will follow the path of the lightning bolt, through which the divine powers are descending from Kether to Malkuth. Obviously that, in order that these to really happen, it is necessary that the spiritual work will maintain a balance in the structure of the tree of life and that the mage will work with all the sephiroth or at least with the opposing ones.[7]

         Oftentimes, the magical success is given by the capacity to offer our own will to the divinity. Biblical examples are numerous on this matter. At the same time, it is often necessary, if not indicated, to use purification techniques of different existential levels, fasting, prayer etc.

[1] Meditation and Kabbalah, Aryeh Kaplan, U.S.A., Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1985, p.1.

[2] An Introduction to the Study of the Kabbalah, Westcott, W.W., London, J.M. Watkins, 1910, p. 31.

[3] A comprehensive etymological dictionary of the English language: Dealing with the origin of words and their sense development thus illustrating the history and civilization of culture, Ernest Klein, Dr., Elsevier, Oxford, 7^th ed. 2000.

[4] Data integrity patterns of the Torah: A tale of prime, perfect and transcendental numbers, Kevin Acres, Research Systems, Melbourne, 2004.

[5] The words obtained through this method in modern society are called acronyms.

[6] Meditation and Kabbalah, Aryeh Kaplan, U.S.A., Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1985.

[7] Binah-Chockhmah, Gheburah-Chesed, Hod-Netzah.

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(Kabbalistic Tree of Life – source)

Mahaseh Berashith: the Work of Creation

To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life,
which is in the midst of the paradise of God. [Rev 2:7]

Introduction

The study of traditional Hebraic Qabalah can be loosely divided between two particular schools. The principal of these is called Mahaseh Berashith– the Work of Creation. This is what we might call the “Qabalah proper”- based upon philosophical interpretation of Biblical literature, especially those books dealing with God’s creation of the Universe. (Such as Genesis I.) This is the school that gives us the Tree of Life and the Four Worlds, the practice of Gematria, etc.

The second school of Qabalah is termed Mahaseh Merkavah– the Work of the Chariot. This is actually a direct reference to the ancient Jewish shamans known today the “Merkavah Mystics.” These mystics focused heavily upon prophetical and apocalyptic literature- especially the first chapter of Ezekiel, wherein the prophet is granted a vision of the Divine Throne of God. This Throne is actually described in the text as a kind of Chariot (Merkavah), drawn by four mighty Kherubic Angels. Other Jewish legends depict the Chariot as drawn by terrible Seraphim (angelic Serpents of Fire), upon which Yahweh rushes into celestial battle. The Merkavah Mystics believed that man- as the manifest Image of God- had the authority and birth-right to act after the manner of God. This meant that they believed in mankind’s right to create, to perform magick, and to journey into the heavens (like the prophets Enoch and Elijah) in their own personal Chariots of Fire.

Mahaseh Merkavah could not be practiced without first engaging in deep studies of the Mahaseh Berashith. Yet, this did not always work the other way around. During the Middle Ages, those Rabbis who adhered fundamentally to Jewish law, and studied the Work of Creation themselves, were outspoken against the Work of the Chariot. The Merkavah Mystics were a sub-culture of mages who did not intermingle with “official” Jewish religious authority.

Meanwhile, their philosophies and practices were of much interest to their Christian counterparts- the Alchemists, Hermeticists, and especially the occultists who wrote and utilized the medieval grimoires like the Key of Solomon the King. Thus, a large amount of Jewish-based practical magick found its way into Western European occultism, and survives there in several forms today. Aspects of it have been preserved in the grimoires, of course. Other aspects have come to us largely through the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and you might recognize them as the Pentagram Rituals, the Middle Pillar, the making of talismans, the summoning of Angels and spirits, etc.

Over the course of your studies, we shall explore many aspects of both the Mahaseh Berashith and the Mahaseh Merkavah. However, in this particular class, we shall be focusing exclusively upon the Work of Creation. First and foremost, I will explain in detail a vital foundational aspect of the Hermetic Qabalah- the Holy Tree of Life. Afterward, I will cover a related subject of equal importance, the Hebrew Alphabet.

This course assumes the student is a beginner with no knowledge what-so-ever on the Tree of Life, the Hebrew Alphabet, or the Qabalah in general. Therefore, the novices among you can use this as your own study material to come to a working knowledge of the Qabalah, and thus read further works on the Qabalah with a solid foundation and fuller comprehension. If you are not a novice, I hope you will find new ideas and viewpoints herein that will further expand your knowledge and experience of the Spheres.

This is doubly true, beginner or not, if you will take the information contained here and apply it to your everyday life. The Qabalah focuses heavily upon Archetypal Forces- that is, blueprint concepts behind all physical things and non-physical ideas. Take, for instance, a simple oak tree. Any given single oak tree is only one oak tree out of millions of close and distant relatives. It is AN oak tree, rather than THE oak tree. And yet, when you sat in school and learned what an “oak tree” was, you were not taught about this tree or that tree. You were taught about “oak trees” in general- you were being taught about THE oak tree. This all-encompassing- even hypothetical- oak tree that stands for all oak trees everywhere is an Archetype.

Therefore, as you can see, every little mundane object or concept has an Archetype behind it (or- better- over it). Of course, of all the creatures on planet Earth, only humans (so far as we know) have conceived of Archetypal Forces. Like Adam naming all the things and creatures in the Garden of Eden, human beings are uniquely and naturally wired to apply archetypal labels and classifications to all things.

The Qabalah, particularly Mahaseh Berashith, could be classified as a direct study of Archetypes and their interaction with the human mind or soul. In order for one’s study to be successful, the student must eventually be able to think in terms of the Qabalah without any specific mental effort to do so. This means that one should look around the mundane world, seeing the invisible Archetypes that lie behind everything. This is what is meant by Biblical literature that insists- Let him who hath eyes, see!

“This war is an aspect of Gevurah”, or “That book would classify under Hod” should become second nature to your thinking as you encounter things throughout the day. Peoples moods and mentalities can be classified the same way, helping one to understand both people and their emotions better. The same goes for any idea or concept one encounters, or experiences, or wishes to create. All things comprehended by humans has a classification of some kind- sometimes for good or ill. Doing this with the classifications of the Qabalah is a great way to make good mental associations. Then, further study of the Qabalah (especially the Hermetic variety) will be most fruitful.

The method of achieving this end is simple enough. We will begin here in this course, by exploring the glyph of the Tree of Life in some detail. We shall take things one step at a time, allowing foundational ideas to sink in by themselves before moving on to more advanced concepts. Here, the student can concentrate on the structure, content and (most importantly!) the terminology of the Tree of Life. Once that is familiar, further courses in this curriculum will outline the many correspondences between the Tree’s Archetypes, the soul of each human being, and the many “things” that make up the world around us.

Course Glossary

This glossary is provided to help you during your reading of the course material, and study for the test. There is no need to memorize this material- it is merely for reference purposes.

Ain: Nothingness- the highest manifestation of the Divine Source.

Ain Soph: Limitlessness- another common term for the highest Divine Source.

Ain Soph Aur: Limitless Light- that aspect of the highest Divine Source that can be “viewed” from the physical as Pure White Brilliance. This rests just above Kether, and is nearly synonymous with it.

Etz haChaim: The Tree of Life. This is the central philosophical glyph of the Western Qabalah, depicting the fundamental energies and natural cycles that govern creation.

LVX: Latin for “Light” and indicating the Light of God. This is generally associated with Solar Light, and is considered the cyclic energy of the Tree of Life and Nature.

Macrocosm: The “Greater Universe” – indicating the manifest physical realm of planets, stars, Earth, etc. (See also Microcosm.)

Mahaseh Berashith: The “Work of Creation.” A branch of the Qabalah that focuses upon the creation of the Universe by God. This is the primary focus of the Qabalah proper. (See also Mahaseh Merkavah.)

Mahaseh Merkavah: The “Work of the Chariot.” A branch of the Qabalah that focuses upon a personal journey from the Earth-plane back toward the Creator, and the concept that humans have the divine right to create as does God. Qabalistic Magick all falls under this practice. (See also Merkavah, and Mahaseh Berashith.)

Merkavah: Hebrew for “Chariot.” This is the name given to the Throne of God- which often doubled as a chariot when the Deity would ride into battle on behalf of Israel. (See Ezekiel 1, Revelation 4, and 1Enoch.) A vision of the Merkavah was the primary goal of the Merkavah Mystic- ancient Jewish Mages who astral traveled through the Seven Heavenly Palaces. (See also Mahaseh Merkavah.)

Microcosm: The “Lesser Universe” – indicating the inner workings of the human aura (or psyche), which theoretically mirror the patterns and conditions of one’s larger environment. As above, so below. (see Macrocosm.)

Qabalah: “Tradition.” This is the term given to Jewish mysticism of the thirteenth century that focused on contemplation of Biblical scripture. It adopted much from both Merkavah Mysticism and ancient Gnosticism. It was eventually adopted by Christian mystic sects- such as the Hermeticists and Rosicrucians- who have passed it on to us as modern Western Hermetic Qabalah. (See also Mahaseh Berashith.)

Qliphoth: “Shells.” The Kingdom of Shells is the demonic realm that exists just below Malkuth on the Tree of Life. Most often, this Kingdom is illustrated as an inverted Tree of Life (or Tree of Death).

Sephirah (pl- Sephiroth): “Saying.” A Sephirah represents one of the ten instances of “God said…” in Genesis 1. The ten Sephiroth make up the Spheres of manifestation upon the Tree of Life glyph.

Shekhinah: “Divine Presence.” The Shekhinah represents the physical aspect of God- the Divine Presence on Earth. Traditionally, the Shekhinah is viewed as a feminine entity, related closely to the Gnostic Mother Goddess named Sophia. She is the Bride of God described in Hermetic texts.

Part One: The Tree of Life (Etz haChaim)

The seeds of the Western Renaissance era were sown in the black historical soil known as the Dark Ages. This is to say that the educational and social revolutions enjoyed during the 1400s-1600s CE were created and popularized among intellectuals in the days when the Roman Church still held the world in its grip. They are the reason the Renaissance took place once the Church lost some of that grip.

Just one of these early manifestations of the Renaissance came in the form of educational reform. A new method of taking notes had been developed for scholars and students- known as the Tree pattern. If any of you have seen an Amway(tm) presentation, you’ll be quite familiar with the Tree pattern of displaying information:

This Tree pattern makes recording, studying, and referencing information incredibly easy. Many related but different classifications can be grouped together under larger classifications. Graphically, this is drawn as many small circles connected to a single circle. These larger classifications can then be grouped together under even higher classifications- so that entire clusters of circles are connected to one or more circles at the very top. More and more refined classifications can be added, making the “tree” branch out as far as necessary. It shows one at a quick glance exactly how different subjects of information all interrelate to one another.

For instance, as in the diagram below, all oak trees could be grouped together in a single circle of classification. That circle can be labeled “oak trees.” However, there are different species of oak trees out there, such as live oak, red oak, white oak, and pin oak. Thus we can add these sub-species of oak as a group of circles beneath “oak trees”- each connected to their common circle.

Meanwhile, the oak tree is only one type of tree. Therefore, it is possible to add higher classifications than “oak trees”- such as just “trees” in our example. Then we can add branches to the diagram for elm trees, willow trees, pine trees, etc, etc.

If you relate this to our early discussion, you can easily see how perfectly the Tree pattern lends itself to the concept of Archetypes. Any thing or idea can be mapped into a Tree pattern, and by following the natural logic of higher and higher classifications, one will necessarily reach the top of the pyramid and the purest Archetypal blueprint of that idea. “Oak trees” traces itself invariably to the Archetype of “Trees.”

The glyph known as the “Holy Tree of Life” was developed sometime after the 1200s CE (when the Judaic Qabalah as we know it was born). It just so happened that this was during the same period when this new “Tree pattern” method of interfacing with information was in vogue. Thus, if you have ever wondered why the Qabalistic Tree of Life looks nothing like an actual tree, you now know where it really got its name. It is, in fact, a Tree pattern study diagram.

The Tree of Life is intended to help you study and meditate upon an infinite number of important Qabalistic and Archetypal principals. More than this, it is intended to illustrate how these Archetypes interact with one another, and how the human soul interacts with them. Long and dedicated study of this glyph- reading many different sources for information and ideas- will help transform your mind into one which thinks Qabalistically. The knowledge and insight programmed into the Tree of Life diagram, all of the Archetypal forces of the universe, are the Divine Fruits of God’s Wisdom. The human soul is there, the mind of God is there, and the Heavenly (or Planetary) realms that stretch between the two are mapped upon it.

Divine Realms

Some of the earliest representations of the Heavenly Realms in Western civilization were created in the Ancient cities of Babylonia, as the great Ziggurat Temples. These massive “stepped pyramid” structures consisted (in some examples) of seven levels, each one dedicated to a Planetary God, with the Temple of the city’s Patron God perched upon it’s summit. These structures were said to be exact replicas of the Heavens themselves- an idea that continues to this day in Churches and other Holy Places. As the Babylonian Wizard-Priest ascended the steps of the Ziggurat on holy occasions, so too did his soul symbolically ascend the Planetary Spheres toward the Divine.

The lowest level of these structures was said to be the Sphere of Saturn, dedicated to Ninib, the God of the Earth, Lord of the Hunt and Harvest- of Life gained through Death and Sacrifice. Next up was the level of Jupiter, dedicated to Marduk, the Ruler and King of the Gods, who was Wisdom, Power, and Abundance. Thirdly was the Martian level, dedicated to Nergal, Lord of the Underworld, War, and Pestilence. Fourth rested the level of the Sun, dedicated to Shamash, the Sun God, the Judge of the World. Upon this rested the level of Venus, dedicated to Inanna Herself, the Goddess of the people, Lady of the Womb, Reproduction, Passion. Then followed the level of Mercury, and of Marduk’s son Nabu, lord of Writing, Art, and Wisdom. And, finally, was found the level of the Moon, dedicated to the Father of the Gods Nanna, Lord of the Waxing and Waning Tides of Nature. Once these seven heavenly spheres were ascended, the Wizard-Priest would reach his destination at the Temple, House of the Divine.

It was this concept that the Hebrew people discovered upon their captivity in Babylon around 600 BCE. During the process of adoption into the Jewish cosmology, the Spheres were reversed so that the level of the Moon was lowest in the Heavens, and the level of Saturn was upper-most. (The ordering of the seven ancient Planets is based upon each Planet’s relative speed to earth. The Moon is the fastest object in the sky, followed by Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Jupiter, Mars, and then finally the slow and stolid Saturn.)

The orbital circles of these Planets became the famed Seven Hebrew Heavens or Palaces. What is perhaps the first recorded description of these Heavens (most likely written right there in Babylon) is the Ethiopian Book of Enoch (or 1Enoch). In this legend, we see the Patriarch Enoch- “who walked with God”- whisked away by Angels to the Heavenly Palaces and given a tour of the Cosmic realm- ending with an audience at the Throne of God Himself. This book was one of the most popular writings among the Merkavah Mystics who made a practice of Astral Traveling through the heavens on a journey toward God.

There are many versions of these Heavens. Perhaps the first is the basic concept of each one being stacked upon the other, just as with the Ziggurats. Following this would be the concept of a group of Concentric Circles (based upon the Planetary orbital paths). This latter model places the Divine Plane as the outermost circle (encompassing all of creation), showing an upward Ascension from Earth toward the highest Divine realm.

It would be just as valid to inverse these same Circles- the Divine Plane innermost, showing an outward radiation from the Divine to the physical realm. (This latter model is shown in the famous diagram of the Nine Angelic Choirs of Heaven, surrounding the Throne of God in several sets of concentric circles.)

Emanation

This “outward radiation from the Divine” has a name in the Qabalah. It is called “Emanation.” This is simply the process by which the Divine- usually seen as being “out there” somewhere, or “down deep” within us- reaches out from Its own realm to manifest onto ours. The various Heavenly Spheres are these different stages of emanation. In modern terms, we could think of emanation taking place through various physical dimensions. We might start with the quantum realm, which leads to the atomic realm, which leads to the molecular realm, which leads to the realm of matter. Another point of view is by way of geometry: begin with a point, which has no mathematical dimension. The point, then, leads to the first dimension- the line. Beyond the line we come to the second dimension- the plane, which finally leads to the third dimension of geometric shapes (cubes, spheres, etc.).

As you can see, Emanation is (like the Tree pattern) based upon logical progression- starting from an archetypal source-point, then branching into further levels with new attributes added to each along the way. In ancient Mythologies, we see Emanation in the form of the birth of various Gods. The Babylonian Creation Epic, Enuma Elish (“When Skies Above”), begins with an empty abyss inhabited only by Tiamat and Apsu- the Mother and Father who represent the Divine Source. (In these primitive terms, Apsu represented the fresh waters of the rivers, and Tiamat the salt waters of the sea. These were the ultimate source of life as understood by the Mesopotamian people.) The Epic goes on with the generations spawned by these two Cosmic Beings; each generation better (or at least stronger and more grossly refined) than the one before:

Lahmu and Lahamu emerged, Their Names pronounced.
As soon as They matured, were fully formed,
Anshar and Kishar were born, surpassing them.
They passed the days at length, They added to the years.
Anu, Their first-born son, rivaled his Forefathers;
Anshar made His son Anu like Himself,
And Anu begot Nudimmud in His likeness.
He, Nudimmud, was superior to His Forefathers;
Profound of understanding, He was wise, was very strong at arms
Mightier by far than Anshar His father’s begetter,
He had no rival among the Gods His peers.

Conversely, some cultures- such as the ancient Christian-mystics known as the Gnostics- viewed Divine Emanation as a process of increased imperfection. For instance, think of a cassette tape or photocopy. The original is perfect. Then a copy is made which is slightly imperfect. From that copy another is made, and so on and so forth, until the end result is a horrible excuse for the original- not even recognizable. This is why the Gnostics viewed the physical realm (the end result of Divine Emanation) as corrupted and even evil- something from which to escape.

However, the Merkavah Mystics had other ideas. They believed in the immutability of the Divine. That is: the Divine could not be divided, lessened, or made imperfect in any way. Therefore, each new emanation of the Divine must actually contain the whole of Divinity within it- so that no Heaven was lesser than another. For example, imagine viewing a faceted gem very closely, so the face of only one facet is visible at a time. The entire gem is always there, though most of it is hidden. Another view is that the emanation of the Heavens is similar to flames spreading outward among a sea of candles. Each flame is lit by the one before it- and no single flame is lessened or increased by those before or after it. Thus, the Merkavah Mystics’ ascension through the Heavenly Palaces became a descent into the Heart of Creation, rather than an escape from the physical realm.

Part 2 to come…

The post Introduction to the Holy Tree of Life appeared first on Occult-Study.

Silver Torah pointer lying on a jewish prayer book

The great majority of kabbalistic literature was part of the oral tradition which, in time, began to be written and later translated. Even if it was said to us by Ben Sirach[1], over 2000 years ago: “You shall have no business with secret things.”[2], there have been realized many mystical studies, the oral tradition became to be written and then translated especially into Latin or Greek, and in actual times in other languages.

The first texts that appeared were the apocalyptic, in the first and second century of prechristianity. It is said that these writings were kept with strictness by the Essenes.[3]

Elements of Jewish mysticism can be found in the non-biblical texts from the Dead Sea and those from Nag Hammadi; an more precise example would be The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice. Some parts of the Talmud and Midrash offer esoteric or mystical information in a particular way[4]. Many of the texts, like Hekalot Rabbati, Sefer haBahir, Tora Hakana, Sefer P’liyah, Midrash Otiyot d’Rabbi Akiva, Bahir and Zohar,. Claim to be from the Talmudic era, even if some of these writings are identified by modern scholars as clear works of the Middle Ages, ascribed to the ancient past.

The texts that constitute the source of ideas, concepts, practices and mystical meditations can be divided in two categories. The first is formed by primary texts coming from the Messiah, prophets of great masters. From the second category are the great multitude of books existing at this moment about the mysticism, esoterism, meditation and practice of the kabbala.

In this section, we will be dealing however with the primary texts that refer to the tree of life.

• Sefer-ha-Torah – Books of the Law, the first five books of the old testament.
• Etz-ha-Chayyim – Tree of Life, dictated by Rabbi Yitzhak Luria and published in 1901.
• Sefer Yetzirah – Book of Formation, manual of Hebrew letters written by Abraham and published at Mantua, in 1562.
• Heikhalot – Heavenly Palaces
• Sefer-ha-Bahir – Book of the Brightness, published in Provence, France, in 1176[5].
• Peshitta – The Gospels, including the Gospel of Thomas.
• Sefer-ha-Zohar – Book of Splendor, published between 1558 and 1560.
• Sifra-Detzniyutha [6] – The Book of Concealed Mystery.
• Idra Rabba Qadusha [7]– The Greater Holy Assembly.
• Idra Zuta Qadusha – The Lesser Holy Assembly.
• Sefer Raziel HaMalach – Book of Raziel the Angel.

Sefer-ha-Torah – Scrolls of the Law

The five books which compose Torah are part of the Old Testament [8]. The Hebrew name of the books comes from the first word that each of the books begin.

1. Bereshit (בְּרֵאשִׁית “In the beginning of”)
2. Shemot (שְׁמוֹת “Names” )
3. Vayikra (וַיִּקְרָא “And He called” )
4. Bamidbar (בְּמִדְבַּר “In the wilderness”)
5. Devarim (דְּבָרִים “Words” )

The anglicization of the names derives from greek and reflects the topic of each book:

1. Genesis – begins with the process of Creation of the Universe and of humanity. Then it is presented the history of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as well as the life of Joseph.
2. Exodus – presents the story of Moses who led the people of Israel out of Egypt, the receiving of the 10 Laws and in the end the instructions to build the tabernacle.
3. Leviticus – At first it offers instructions for the usage of the tabernacle and continues with the rules that people must apply during their presence in the tent.
4. Numbers – describes the census of the Israelites on mount Sinai and the lands of Moab.
5. Deuteronomy – is formed especially by the speeches of Moses that have the role to make the Jewish people more obedient as well as the transmission of new laws and the designation of Joshua as successor.

The historical descriptions in the Torah are not always in chronological order. Sometimes, the histories are ordered by concepts, in conformity with the rule that “there is no earlier or later in Torah” [9].

The most religious of the Jews think that the present version of the Torah is the perfect copy of the version written by Moses. But the majority accepted the idea that the present version is, in fact, a compilation written by many Jewish authors, writings from different time periods beginning with 1000 B.C.; the final work seems to have been compiled in the V century B.C., although there have not been found any manuscripts from that period.

No matter the provenience form, the final writing is attributed to Ezra the Scribe. But there is less probable that the writings we have today are exact copies of the same compiled by Ezra. Religious conservators want to believe that the holy books and the alphabet have remained unchanged in the course of thousands of years, although there are sufficient proofs that show that there was a Hebrew alphabet older then the actual, called gezer or proto-sinaitic, that was the base of the actual one. In fact, it is supposed that the proto-sinaitic alphabet is the basis of most alphabets on Earth, including the latin, Hebrew, Arabic, runic etc. [10] [11]

When Torah was written, the Jewish sinaitic alphabet disappeared long ago because of the thousands of years of the Assyrian, Babylonian and Roman cultural and religious domination. As such, Ezra written it in the new language. Although, the most ordinary printings we have today of the Torah date from IV century A.D., called masoretic [12]

The Tanakh [13] or Old Testament was compiled by the Great Assembly Anshei Knesset HaGedolah, in translation The Men of the Great Assembly, the book being formed of 120 writings and prophecies. The translation in Greek is called Septuaginta and became a text associated with Christianity. It is said that this designation, Septuaginta, comes from the fact that the translation work was done by 72 translators that have worked simultaneously in Alexandria, where existed the biggest community of Jews outside Palestine.

Sefer Yetzirah – Book Of Formation

Sefer Yetzirah, in translation Book of Formation or of Creation. It is said that this work had the greatest influence in the development of the Jewish mind. All the creations of golems and miracles attributed to the rabbis have taken place because of the usage offered in this work.

Historians did not succeed in determining the origin of the text. Some say the work was composed in VI century ; the linguistic construction used can be even from the II century. References to the Book of Abraham from the Quran, that send to this book or a variation of it, would place it much earlier from the Middle Ages. No matter if the one who wrote this work is or isn’t Abraham, it is considered that it was transmitted from Adam to Noah and then to Abraham [14].

It is the first mystical manual and, very possible, the source of Hebrew alphabet origin. It presents and organizes the creation in 32 paths of wisdom, formed of:

• 10 Sephiroth:
  • 3 elements: air, water, fire; [15]
  • 6 directions: front, back, left, right, up and down;
  • center
• 22 letters:
  • 3 mother or primary letters: representing the three primordial elements from which everything was created: air, water and fire;
  • 7 doubles: representing the classic planetary forces: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn;
  • 12 simple or elemental letters: representing the twelve signs of the zodiac over the year.

To these there are added other emotional, intellectual and esoteric associations; in other words it is an index of correspondences. [16]

(Star of David)

(Merkabah)

The first chapter of this book represents the earliest mentioning of the six pointed star, known under the name Star of David. Generally it is presented in a bidimensional plane, as intersection of two triangular pyramids. Sefer Yetzirah however presents the Star of David in a three-dimensional plane, representing the Tree of Life in space, as a combination of two triangular pyramids. This structure is used in Merkabah work of ascension to the superior planes of existence, like Ezekiel who raised to the heavens.

(Source)

Sefer-ha-Zohar – Book of Splendor

Zorah (“Splendor”) is the most important kabbalistic text, an exegesis written in rashi aramaic[17] of the five books of Torah.

As in the case of Sefer Yetzirah, the origin of the text has not been classified. Many kabbalists believe it was written between 1280 and 1286 by Moses b. Shem Tov of Leon in Guadalajara, north-east of Madrid, Spain, where it was carried a lot of kabbalistic activity at that time [18].

The Zorah is organized in commentaries on the articles from Torah, but the elaborations utilized are based on Talmud, Midrash Rabba, Yetzirah, Bahir and many other rabbinic texts. In this context we can affirm that Zohar is, in a way, Kabbala.

Most of the orthodox[19] Jews[20] believe that the teachings of kabbala have been permanently transmitted from teacher to disciple and that the teachings offered are of divine essence.

The Zohar exemplifies the fundamental difference between the Jewish rational-philosophical branch and the mystical-theosophical branch, that represents the mystical belief according to which divinity is a dynamic aspect which implies both the masculine and feminine gender.[21] These aspects must be united for the keeping of harmony in the Universe.

The Zorah starts from the presumption that there are four aspects of the biblical text:[22]

• Peshat – Simple, literary;
• Remez – Allusive or Suggestive;
• Derash – metaphorical, through comparisons or illustrations;
• Sod – containing mysteries or secrets hidden in the text. The procedure of exegesis in the Zohar used for the undertaking of the knowledge is called Perdes (paradise), word that comes from the first letter in the name of the four methods of undertaking of the texts described earlier (P, R, D, S). This procedure is similar to the one applied by commentators in the time of the first period of Christianity in the Middle Ages.
• Literary – the way of undertaking is historical, dealing with past events.
• Typological – connects the events from the Old Testament with the ones in the New Testament, dealing with past and present events.
• Moral or tropological – the moral part of the story is taken into consideration, dealing with present events.
• Analogical – refers to the spiritual and mystical part and the Christian prophecies, dealing with future events.

The mystical part in Zohar is based on the principle that all visible things include phenomena that are both exoteric and esoteric, and which offer instructions for spiritual development.

The Zohar is opposed to religious formalism, stimulating imagination and emotion and refreshes the experience of the prayer process at the same time. In many religious communities, prayer has become more of an exterior process rather than what it is supposed to be, a process of transcendence of wordly problems and crisis and of offering to the divinity, through a process of union and acceptance of divine grace.

In the XVII century it was proposed that only those over 40 years can have the right to study kabbala, and in extension to read the Zohar, because it was considered too powerful for those less experienced and emotionally mature.

The enthusiasm provoked by the Zohar was also shared by Christians like Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Johann Reuchlin, Aegidius of Viterbo[23] etc.; all of them were convinced that this book contains Christian truths. They reasoned this belief with the existing analogies between the teachings of the Zohar and the Christian teachings, some of these being the fall from heaven and the principle of Trinity.  The arguments and explanations brought to the concept of God as Trinity in catholic or orthodox Christianity are rather lacking because they are found in kabbala and manuscripts like the Zohar, that Christianity didn’t take from the Jews.

Peshitta – The Bible

Peshitta [24] means simple version (or common) of the Syriac Bible. This name has been given in the IX century to both Testaments, old and new, although they have been translated separately. The greek version, Septuagint, was translated from masoretic texts, but Peshitta was translated from Aramaic,  independently from the first [25].

From both versions it can be observed that Yeshua (Jesus) was born, raised and educated as a Jew. His life was the messianic message itself that he was preaching and can be understood though the culture and society in which he lived. He was and is a good example for both the Hebrews of his time, and after 2000 years, for the man of modern society. Although interrogated by the rabbi, they could not find him defect because, besides the adequate life he was having, he had advanced knowledge of what is Hebrew mysticism and kabbala.

When Jesus was tempted by the Pharisee for them to see if he respects the law, his response was odd. He did not refer neither to the 613 laws[26] from Torah nor to the 10 laws brought by Moses, but he recited Shema or the affirmation of union with divinity from Torah Doverim/Deuteronomy 6:4-5:

“Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.”

Matthew 22:36-38

Actually, it is one of the laws from Torah, Doverim 6:5:

         “Love thy God with all your heart, with all thy soul and with all thy strength.”

Deute. 6:5

 

Keeping the divine names from the Aramaic version Shema, this paragraph would sound like this:

         “Hear Israel, YHVH Elohim is your only YHVH. Love thy YHVH our Elohim, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your resources.

Then said: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”

Matthew 22:38-40

This is also one of the laws from Torah, Vayiqra 19:18

“Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as theyself. I am the Lord.”

Leviticus 19:18

After almost four years from the moment of the rise to the heavens of Yeshua started to appear all sorts of stories about his life and teachings. Four of them were canonized, the rest however did not fit with the gentiles or Christians ideas. Yeshua had an exemplary life as a jew, but, in the New Testament, this was described by the gentiles with modifications, the way to view some aspects of his life no longer being seen from the Hebrew law point of view, but from that of the new Christians, that have deviated from the Jewish laws or did not even know of them[27].

Or can we affirm that only the life and teachings covered in the four Gospels are true ? If we could accept this, we should ignore the existence of the other gospels, a thing that most Christian groups are doing today.

In this case, the way of viewing the teachings would be limited and, we could say, unreal or certainly incomplete.

The most important Christian source before the apparition of the Gospels is the greek translation of the Tanakh[28], called Septuagint. The long Jewish tradition of interpreting the biblical verses has been remade sometimes forced, so it could be correlated with Jeshua’s life as achiever of the prophecies from Torah. It was considered that the writings of the prophets, especially those of David, Isaiah, Miheia, Osea and of the kings of Israel, were containing mistakes that were not corresponding to the new ways of though, being finally corrected and adjusted to support the histories from the New Testament. The earliest gospels are dated around the 4^th and 5^th century. It is interesting how the tradition of thousands of years, as well as the texts that it is based on, have been perceived as false by the new Christians.

In these conditions, we must remember that Jesus himself said he did not come to spread a new message or a new religion, but to fulfill and revive the old one. He did not come to correct, eliminate or change Torah, but to demonstrate it by the example of life. These affirmations appear quite clear in the Gospel of John and in the Gospel of Thomas[29] [30].

Etz-ha-Chayyim – The Tree Of Life

The Tree of Life (  ) is the mystical symbol used in kabbala and Jewish esoteric knowledge to represent the way in which God created the Universe. At the same time, the tree of life is supposed to be a representation, a cosmological model of the reality we live in.

The Tree of Life also tells us of the place of man in the created Universe, this being seen as a fruit of the physical world that condensed and solidified in matter.

Kabbalists use the Tree Of Life as a map to be able to return to divinity and to unite with nature.  This is done by a journey through each sephiroth of the sephirotic tree to the Holy Trinity (Kether, Hokhmah, Binah).

The most known form of the sephirotic tree comes from Rabbi Yitza’zq Luria (1534 – 1572), who dictated Etz-ha-Chayyim, one of the most complex works about practical kabbala; from the beginning until our days, this attracted the interest of many people involved in the process of spiritual evolution.

Hekhalot – Heavenly Palaces

Hekhalot is not a single text but rather a type of writing with the same characteristic. These texts concentrate on the modalities to get to the palaces of Heaven; they tell us what to expect once arrived there, how to call the angels and the angelic forces to interact with them and to give help.

(Gate of Heavenly Palace)

The work contains several documents that are part of this category, like: Hekhalot Rabbati, in which are described six of the seven palaces of God, Hekhalot Zutarti, Shiur Komah, as well as many other smaller documents[31] or fragments on the same subject.[32]

Sefer Raziel HaMalakh – Book of Raziel the Angel

Raziel is translated as secret of god. In Kabbala it is said that he is the keeper of secrets[33] and that he offered the wisdom in Torah and the first five books of the Old Testament [34] , being associated with the sephiroth Hokhmah and with the Briyah World[35].

It is said about the Book of Raziel that it would contain all the answers of the secret knowledge, in this context being considered the book of magicians. He offered the book to Adam and Eve after the fall from Heaven, so that mankind can find its way back to divinity and paradise.

The book has been transmitted from generation to generation over to Enoch, whom is supposed to have become Metatron. From Enoch it was offered to Noah to build the ark and to keep the flora and fauna of the earth.[36]

Sefer-ha-Bahir – Book of the Brightness

It is a book of special interest for kabbalists because it is a questionnaire with questions and answers about concepts and ideas from Kabbalistic literature. A sort of guide of the beginner in kabbalistic subjects, that does not exceed the size of a magazine, but it is very hard to understand. The book was published, for the first time, in Provence, France, in 1176[37]

[1] Jesus ben Sirach, Ben Sira, is the author of the book Deuteronomy in the Old Testament ; Guillaume, Phillipe, New Light on the Nebiim from Alexandria: A Chronography to Replace the Deuteronomistic History, sections 3 – 5: full notes and bibliography.

[2] Sirach III. 22; Talmud, Hagigah, 13a; Midrash, Genesis Rabbah, VIII.

[3] Philo, De Vita Contemplativa, III., Hippolytus, Refutation of all Heresies, IX. 27.

[4] Hagigah 12b-14b.

[5] The most recent edition was edited by Reuve Margaliot and was published at Jerusalem in 1951.

[6] Also written as Siphra Dtzenioutha.

[7] Also written as Idra Rabba Qadisha.

[8] Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts, Hebrew Publishing Company, Philip Birnbaum, 1964.

[9] Talmud Pesachim 7a.

[10] Details can be found at http://www.llewellyn.com/journal/article/2108

[11] Other info at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Semitic_language

[12] The oldest manuscript that survived is Codex Petropolitanus, from 910 A.D.

[13] More commonly known as Masoretic Text, from the alphabet that it was written in.

[14] The Kabbalah, Christian D. Ginsburg, 1920.

[15] The “earth” element is formed through the combination of the three elements.

[16] The Sefer Yetzirah, The Book of Creation: in Theory and Practice, trans. Aryeh Kaplan, Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1997.

[17] Rashi script is a semicursive form of writing in Hebrew, in which Rashi wrote commentaries for Talmud and Tanakh (Old Testament).

[18] Kabbalah, Gershom Scholem, Keter Publishing, Jerusalem, 1974.

[19] From the latin orthodoxus or the greek orthodoxos; orthos = righteous, doxis = opinion. Orthodox = righteous opinion or dogma.

[20] Orthodox Jews are a community strict in the application of the law and of the canonized ethics in the Talmudic texts. They are characterized by the belief that the law is divine and transmitted directly by God to Moses, and that it must not be altered in any way.

[21] Eros and Kabbalah, Moshe Idel.

[22] The Jewish Encyclopedia, Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906.

[23] Egidio da Viterbo

[24] http://www.peshitta.org/

[25] http://www.aramaicpeshitta.com/

[26] There are 365 negative laws corresponding to the days of the year and 248 positive laws corresponding, attributed to every bone in the skeletal system and primary organs in the human body; The Concise Book of Mitzvoth: The Commandments which can be Observed Today, HaCohen, Yisrael Meir., Trans., Charles Wengrov. Feldheim, 1990.

[27] Here it is referred to the other Christianized people, the romans, greeks etc.

[28] Tanakh is the biblical name used by Hebrew jews; it is also known as Masoretic text.

[29] It is an apocryphal text kept almost entirely on a papyrus found in1945, at Nag Hammadi, Egypt.

[30] The Nag Hammadi Library – http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/nhlalpha.hmtl

[31] Other texts that are part of the Hekhalot literature are Maaseh Merkabah, Merkavah Rabba, Sepher Hekhalot, Re’uyyot Yehezqel, Massekhet Hekhalot, Sepher Ha-Razim, Harba de Moshe.

[32] Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism and the Talmudic Tradition, Gershom Scholem, 1965.

[33] A Dictionary of Angels, Including The Fallen Angels, Gustav Davidson, (1967), Entry: Raziel, pp. 242, 243.

[34] Hebrew Visions of Hell and Paradise (1894), Journal of The Royal Asiatic Society, London, The Royal Asiatic Society; can be read here: http://www.sacred-texts.com/journals/jras/1893-15.htm

[35] Angels A to Z, Lewis, James R., Oliver, Evelyn Dorothy, Sisung Kelle S. (Editor) (1996), Entry: Raziel, pp. 346, 347.

[36] The Legends of the Jews, Ginzberg, Louis (1909), Volume 1, Chapter IV.

[37] The Bahir, trans. Aryeh Kaplan, Aronson, 1995.

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(A disputation between Christian and Jewish scholars – Woodcut carved by Johann von Armssheim (1483) – source)

“For I speak to you Gentiles;

inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles,

I magnify my ministry, if by any means

I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh

and save some of them.”

Romans 11:13-14

Christianity began as a Jewish sect with teachings rooted in the Jewish culture and society. After the disappearance of Jesus from the physical realm, one of the apostles started to spread the received knowledge, but the center of  the essenian movement was, until the year 70 A.D., Jerusalem, and the majority of community members was Hebrew. In other words, the first Christians were Jews who believed and supported the teachings of Jesus.

When St. Paul wrote the Epistle to the Romans, he spoke to the gentiles to stir up zeal to his own people, the Jews. Certainly, he was referring to those Jewish Christians that retired from the movement and reform initiated by Paul because they were displeased by the fact that the fundamental laws and rules were changing so that it would be easier for the gentiles (non-Jewish Christians).

It is believed that Mark was the gentile with the roman name Marcus, and his mother was Mary, who lived in Jerusalem. Luke was close to Paul and it is believed that he too was a gentile because Paul made a distinction between him and the other Jewish workers.

Paul was convinced that he is the “proper tool” to spread the teachings of Jesus in the world, the reason for which he started doing anything to gather more members into the community. At the end of the second century, the gentile Christians started being more numerous than the Jews and slowly, there were formed two “camps”.

Peter was a defender of the tradition and a devoted Jew, opposing any modification brought by Paul. The answer and tactic of Paul at the protests of Christian Jews and especially of Peter was to facilitate, modify or renounce the ancient laws more and more, so that anyone could adhere to the new movement. In this way, circumcision was abjured as necessity to be accepted; the Sabbath, which was Saturday was moved to Sunday; the strict alimentary rules disappeared totally, and meals that were not even part of the Jewish diet, like pork meat, became something normal. Fasting day became celebration day like at the Romans.

It is believed that Jesus, who was strict in law and tradition, would have never accepted this, but he was not there anymore to stop Paul from the unorthodox modifications that he was making. It was no longer important who entered the community, nor his quality; what interested Paul was the number of members who had to raise without stoping. Peter and the other Jewish Christians became more a minority in the plan of their own sect, and finally even separated from it, this being in fact the first prechristian schism. In this way, Christianity started to detach more and more from the old roots and to become an independent religious power.

At the moment of the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D., given by the emperor Constantine the Great, when Christianity became a state religion and Christians were no longer oppressed, the separation between Christians and Jews became huge and complete. They were and are two different religions and will always be.

The irony of these things is that, like all the other spiritual masters, Jesus did not want this. He wanted to keep the tradition and this is even mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew, where it says that whoever breaks the divine laws will be among the last called to the Father, and when referring to the Laws, it was not only about the 10 commandments of Moses but of the entire Torah which contains 613 laws about the conduct and harmonious life in society.

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