By April 10, 2008 Read More →

Tradition reported in the name of three figures, Judah he-Hasid, Joel he-Hasid, and Qalonymous he-Hasid:Merkavah Shelemah, 30a; cf. ‘Arugat ha-Bosem, 4:78, n. 41.

Jewish Mysticism
“Upon this semblance of a throne, there was the semblance [of a human form]” (Ezek. 1-26). Why are there two images (dimyonot)? This is what is said in the Book of Beliefs regarding the two glories (kevodot) above in heaven, one upon the throne and the other above.

This is the explanation of the two images. The visible Shekhinah on the throne is seen in a most subtle way, and everything that they [the prophets] saw was not the appearance of the Creator, blessed be He, but rather He created [a form] in the likeness of a human and it sat upon the throne of the Holy One, blessed be He. He showed them an image (demut) according to the numerical equivalence of 236,000 myriad parasangs, and thus is the stature of the one who sits on the throne. This was received from R. Judah Hasid and from R. Joel Hasid and from his brother R. Qalonymous Hasid.

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

Posted in: Jewish Mysticism, Texts

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