By April 13, 2008 Read More →

Eleazar ben Moses Azikri (1533-1600), Milei de-Shemaya by Rabbi Elazar Azikri, ed. M. Pachter (Tel-Aviv, 1991), p. 103.

Jewish Mysticism
You should constantly see your Creator with the eye of your intellect, for “the Lord looks down from heaven on mankind to find a man of understanding (maskil), a man mindful of God” (Ps. 14-2). That is, with the eyes of his intellect he seeks Him, and when he sees Him it makes an impression, as in the case of the ostrich, for by means of looking well at her egg the ostrich is formed and takes shape within it, and [the egg] breaks open and [the ostrich] comes out. So too with respect to God when He looks at you He causes all kinds of bountifulness and blessings to flow upon you. Thus it says, “all your males shall appear” (Deut. 16-16). The [rabbis] interpreted [the word] yera’eh [appear] as yir’eh [will see], for just as a man comes to be seen (lera’ot) so he comes to see (lir’ot). For the masses of people this occurs on the three festivals of the year in the time of the Temple, but for the enlightened ones (maskilim) [this occurs] on a regular basis, every day, at any time, in every place. When you look heavenward with the intention of the heart the arousal of the will of every will will be stirred, blessed be He and blessed be His name forever and ever.

Translated by Elliot Wolfson in Through a Speculum that Shines- Vision and Imagination in Medieval Jewish Mysticism, Princeton- Princeton University Press, 1994.

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