By April 10, 2008 Read More →

Sha‘ar Ma’amerei Rashbi, 5a-b

Jewish Mysticism
The sixth day is the holy phallus (berit qodesh), for after the holy seed is formed in the two testicles, as the verse says, “The song of the turtledove,” the semen goes out by way to the holy phallus to the point of Zion. Insofar as hearing (shemi‘ah) is related to Malkhut, the sixth day is called [by the expression] “is heard,” and it is contained within Malkhut. It is called by her name to indicate that she governs… and she ascends to the Infinite. This is from the side of ‘assiyah, the mother, for from her side the feminine rules over the masculine in the secret of the “crown of her husband” (Prov. 12-4) and in the secret of the [letters] he’ and yod from the [name] ’elohim, in the secret of the yod, the dalet over the waw, in the secret of the world-to-come. This alludes to the fact that Adam, who was created on that [day], would in the future place ‘asiyyah [doing] before shemi‘ah [hearing], to ascend in the secret of the world-to-come until the Infinite. Thus, the mentioning of [the word] nishma‘ in Yesod alludes to the strengthening of Malkhut and her elevation above to the place whence she was hewn, until the point that Binah precedes Malkhut from below to above. “In our land,” this is the day of Sabbath, which is from the land of the living, the world-to-come, the world of souls, the world of comforts. On the sixth day Malkhut ascended to draw down the supernal light from all the emanations and to bring it down to Adam so that his soul would be comprised of all the emanations from the beginning of the gradations until their end. … On the Sabbath there is the supernal union and Tif’eret is coupled with Malkhut. Had Adam not sinned, the world would have been quiet and peaceful, without Satan and without evil infliction. The supernal union would have been face-to-face, but he caused the sin with regard to the Tree of Knowledge.

Translated by Elliot Wolfson in, “Coronation of the Sabbath Bride- Kabbalistic Myth and the Ritual of Androgynisation,” Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 6 (1997)- 301-344.

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