The Sabbath in the Classical Kabbalah

362 Pages·1989·24.697 MB·English

by  Elliot K. Ginsburg

The Sabbath in the Classical Kabbalah
SUNY Series in Judaica: Hermeneutics, Mysticism, and Religion
Michael Fishbane, Robert Goldenberg, and Arthur Green, Editors
The Sabbath in the Classical
Kabbalah
ELLIOT K. GINSBURG
State University of New York Press
The illustrations appearing on pages 29, 86, 89, and 94 were drawn
by Bernard L. Ginsburg.
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 1989 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced
in any manner whatsoever without written permission
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles and reviews.
For information, address State University of New York
Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y., 12246
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ginsburg, Elliot Kiba.
The Sabbath in the classical Kabbalah.
(SUNY series in Judaica)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Sabbath. 2. Cabala-History. 3. Judaism-Customs
and practices. 4. Jewish art and symbolism. I. Title.
II. Series.
BM685.G49 1989 296.4'1 87-26764
ISBN 0-88706-778-6
ISBN 0-88706-779-4 (pbk.)
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Contents
Acknowledgements xiii
Illustrations xv
Abbreviations xvii
Note on Transliteration and Orthography xix
Introduction. Classical Kabbalah, Its History and Symbolic
1
~~me
Section One: An Historical Outline of
Classical Kabbalah 5
Origins 5
Gerona Kabbalah 9
Other Trends in Thirteenth Century Kabbalah 11
The Zohar 15
Kabbalah from the Fourteenth Century until the
Safed Renaissance 21
Section Two: The Sefirot and Their Symbolism 24
Structural Overview 25
The Dynamics of Sefirotic Unfolding: the Sefirot as
Stages of Emanation 31
The Sefirot as Stages of Mystical Ascent 34
Further Thoughts on Sefirotic Symbolism 35
Section Three: Reading a Zoharic Text 36
Notes to the Introduction 40
Chapter One. The Symbolism of the Kabbalistic Sabbath: Motif
Studies 59
Section One: An Historical Overview 60
The Sabbath in Antiquity 60
The Rabbinic Sabbath 62
v
vi Contents
The Sabbath of the Medieval Philosophers 66
The Distinctive Features of the Kabbalistic Sabbath 68
The Sefirotic Sabbath 69
Section Two: Motif Studies 74
Shabbat as the Source of Cosmic Blessing 78
Thematic Overview 79
The Sabbath as Sacred Center 85
Sabbath Transformations 92
Sabbath as Perfected Time 93
Divine Transformations: Sabbath as Hieros Gamos 101
Rabbinic Pre-Cursors 102
Heikhalot Mysticism: The Evidence of Seder Rabba'
di-Vre'shit 103
Medieval Understandings of the Marital Imagery
Prior to the Kabbalah 104
The Impact of Sefer ha-Bahir 106
Marital Imagery in the NalJmanidean Tradition 108
Hieros Gamos in the Zohar 112
The Marital Motif after the Zohar 116
Transformation of the Person: The Sabbath-Soul 121
Pre-Zoharic Developments 122
The Sabbath-Soul in the Writings of Moshe de
Leon and in the Tiqqunei ha-Zohar jRacaya'
Meheimna' 125
Imagery Used 128
Reception of Neshamah Yeterah as the Existential
Beginning of Shabbat 130
The Impact of the Sabbath-Soul During Shabbat 133
A Cosmos That Is Entirely Shabbat: Some
Concluding Thoughts 137
Notes to Chapter One 138
Chapter Two. Aspects of Meaning in Kabbalistic Ritual: With
Special Reference to the Case of Shabbat 186
A Programmatic Introduction to Chapters Two Through
Four 186
A Typology of Kabbalistic Ritual 187
Rabbinic and Kabbalistic Ritual: Some Contrasts 187
Contents vii
Symbolism and Magic: The Ontological Structure of
Kabbalistic Ritual 190
The Multiple Consequences of Kabbalistic Ritual 194
Ritual As Sacred Drama 195
Ritual As Agent of Human Transformation 197
Ritual As Theurgic Act 199
A Concluding Example 202
Notes to Chapter Two 205
Chapter Three. Rituals of Preparation 217
Projecting the Sabbath into the Spatial Realm: The
Case of One's Home and Courtyard 218
The Significance of Transforming One's Abode 218
The Establishment of Courtyard-Fusions: cEruvei
Hazerot 221
Inter~allzing Shabbat: The Body As Microcosm 224
Nail-Paring 224
Bathing and Ablution 227
The Rite of Dressing: The Tolacat Yacaqov's Account 231
The Significance of "Dress" in the lohar and Tiqqunei
ha-lohar jRacaya' Meheimna' 232
Sabbath-Dress in the Tiqqunei ha-lohar jRacaya'
Meheimna' 237
Conclusion 242
Notes to Chapter Three 243
Chapter Four. Rituals of Separation: The Drama of Sabbath's
Departure in loharic Kabbalah 256
The Concluding Prayers: The Need for Apotropaics 257
The "Havdalah Over Wine" 259
The Havdalah Blessings as Rites of Healing 260
The Symbolism of Myrtle 263
The Blessing over the Fire 267
The Re-Emergence of Sitra' 'A~ra' 268
The Changing of the Cosmic Guards: The
Empowerment of the Angelic Realm 272
Concluding Blessing, Concluding Thoughts 275
An Epilogue (from the lohar) 277
Notes to Chapter Four and Epilogue 277
Appendix I
Some Further Thoughts on the Transformation of the
Person during Shabbat 285
viii Contents
Appendix II
Sabbath-Ritual as a Means of Furthering the Divine-
Human Nexus: Two Examples from Zoharic Kabbalah 289
Notes to Appendix II 296
Bibliography 297
Index 319
Preface
All ... life should be a pilgrimage to the seventh day.
A. J. Heschel, The Sabbath: 89
It would be no exaggeration to call the Sabbath the day of the
Kabbalah. On the Sabbath, the light of the upper world bursts into
the profane world in which man lives during the six days of the
week. The light of the Sabbath endures into the ensuing week,
growing gradually dimmer, to be relieved in the middle of the week
by the rising light of the next Sabbath. It is the day on which a
special pneuma, the Sabbath-soul, enters into the believer, enabling
him to participate in the right way in this day, which shares more
than any other day in the secrets of the pneumatic world.
G. Scholem, On the Kabbalah
and its Symbolism: 139
The nature of ritual and mythological symbols has been a major
topic of discussion in the fields of religion, folklore, and anthropology
in recent years. Within the study of Judaism new attention has been
drawn to the tradition of the Kabbalists, the Jewish mystics of the
later Middle Ages, who have been well-known for their creativity
in symbol-making and exegesis. Their radical re-reading of the earlier
Jewish tradition has been called a model of mythopoeic revision, a
revision rooted in a world-view that stressed the interrelation of all
worlds and levels of being.
This study is concerned with the Kabbalistic re-reading of the
Sabbath over the course of its classical period, from the late twelfth
to the early sixteenth centuries. The historical significance of the
topic, broadly speaking, rests on three factors: the centrality of the
Sabbath within classical Judaism, the centrality of the Sabbath within
the Kabbalistic myth os, and the Kabbalists' influence on the popular
understanding of Shabbat in later Judaism.
The Sabbath has been one of the most significant and beloved
institutions of Jewish life since late antiquity. The importance of the
Sabbath is attested by the sheer number of legal dicta, imaginative
works, songs, and rituals which pertain to the day. In its Rabbinic
formulation, Sabbath-observance was both a hallmark of Jewish social
identity, a sine qua non for membership in the Covenant Community,
ix