MS Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica ebr. 228, fol. 19a

Jewish Mysticism
It says “its place” (meqomah) by the sun and “its dwelling” (mekhon shivtah) by the moon to allude to the fact that the nations count [days and months] according to the sun… but Israel count according to the moon for the image of Jacob is engraved in it. Even though we have not found in the aggadah that his name or form is engraved in the moon, still it must be said that the moon is called ma’or qatan (the “lesser light”), and on account of her name the verse says, “How will Jacob survive? He is so small,” mi yaqum ya‘aqov ki qaton hu’ (Amos 7-2). It says in the Hekhalot that there is a creature whose name is Israel and engraved upon its forehead is Israel, and it stands in the middle of the firmament, and it says, “Bless the Lord who is blessed.” All the archons above respond after it, “Bless the Lord who is blessed forever.” Each and every one of the angels, hosts, and all the camps utters to this creature while standing, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6-4). Therefore, it is explained that the creature, whose name is Israel and upon whose forehead is inscribed Israel, sees the moon upon which is engraved the image of Jacob. She is called small (qatan) on account of Jacob who is Israel, and the moon draws the name Jacob to her and unites with it, and the moon sits next to the creature. This is [the meaning of the expression] “its dwelling” (mekhon shivtah). Similarly, it is written there, “what I do to the visage of Jacob, your father, that is engraved upon the throne of glory, for when you say before the Holy One, blessed be He, ‘Holy, holy, holy,’ I bend down over it, embrace it, fondle it, and kiss it, and my hands are on my arms.” All this is by way of parable and secret (derekh mashal we-sod).

Translated by Elliot Wolfson in “The Face of Jacob in the Moon- Mystical Transformations of an Aggadic Myth,” in The Seduction of Myth in Judaism- Challenge and Response, 235-270. Edited by S. Daniel Breslauer. Albany- State University of New York Press, 1997.