Deuteronomy 4:39 The Word of G-d About The Word of G-d

Excerpt From The Tanya

The following is an excerpt from the book Lessons In Tanya, which is published online at chabad.org.  [Text in bold italics is from the actual text of the Tanya. Indented text is commentary from this quoted edition of the Tanya. For footnotes and references in the text, use the link provided here. Find my Mahx Notes concerning this subject following this excerpt.]


וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך כי ה׳ הוא האלקים בשמים ממעל ועל הארץ מתחת, אין עוד

It is written: (Deuteronomy 4:39) “Know this day and take it unto your heart that G‑d is the [mighty and just] L‑rd in the heavens above and upon the earth below; there is none other.”

The verse, if understood simplistically, seems to declare that there are no other gods dwelling in heaven or earth.

[See Mahx Notes following this excerpt from the Tanya for reference to further comments by the Rebbe on understanding the context of this verse.]

וצריך להבין. וכי תעלה על דעתך שיש אלקים נשרה במים מתחת לארץ

This requires explanation. For would it occur to you that there is a god dwelling in the waters beneath the earth,

שצריך להזהיר כל כך: והשבות אל לבבך

so that it is necessary to caution so strongly [and negate this thought by stating that one should] “take it unto your heart,” and come to the realization that this is indeed not so?

הנה כתיב: לעולם ה׳ דברך נצב בשמים

It is written: “Forever, O G‑d, Your word stands firm in the heavens.”

ופירש הבעל שם טוב ז״ל

The Baal Shem Tov, of blessed memory, has explained this concept at length, and made it widely known that this means:

כי דברך שאמרת: יהי רקיע בתוך המים וגו׳

that “Your word” which you uttered, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters...,”

תיבות ואותיות אלו הן נצבות ועומדות לעולם בתוך רקיע השמים

these very words and letters through which the heavens were created stand firmly forever within the firmament of heaven

ומלובשות בתוך כל הרקיעים לעולם להחיותם

and are forever clothed within all the heavens to give them life,

Note of the Rebbe: “The fact that these words were uttered thousands of years ago presents no problem, — ”

כדכתיב: ודבר אלקינו יקום לעולם

as it is written, “And the word of our L‑rd shall stand firm forever,”

ודבריו חיים וקיימים לעד כו׳

and as it is likewise written, “And His words live and stand firm forever....”

This refers not only to those creations such as the heavenly firmament which enjoy a permanent existence, but also to those creatures which perish as individuals, with only their species continuing to exist. In all instances, the Divine life-force which created a particular creature must constantly be vested within it, incessantly creating and vivifying it anew, just as it ceaselessly recreates the heavenly firmament, as shall soon be explained.

כי אילו היו האותיות מסתלקות כרגע, חס ושלום, וחוזרות למקורן

For if the creative letters were to depart even for an instant, G‑d forbid, and return to their source, that source being the degree of G‑dliness from whence they emanate,

היו כל השמים אין ואפס ממש, והיו כלא היו כלל

all the heavens would become naught and absolute nothingness, and it would be as though they had never existed at all,

וכמו קודם מאמר: יהי רקיע כו׳ ממש

exactly as before the utterance, “Let there be a firmament.”

Before that Divine utterance the firmament did not exist at all. Were the letters that constitute the Divine utterance to depart from the firmament, it would revert to the state of never having existed at all.

The Alter Rebbe now concludes that this is true not only of the firmament, but of all created beings.

וכן בכל הברואים שבכל העולמות עליונים ותחתונים

And so it is with all created things, in all the upper and lower worlds,

ואפילו ארץ הלזו הגשמית, ובחינת דומם ממש

and even this physical earth and the realm of the completely inanimate.

Even immobile beings that show no signs of animation or spirituality, not even the degree of animation observed in the process of growth in the vegetative world, — even this extremely low life-form constantly harbors within it the Divine life-force that brought it into being.

אילו היו מסתלקות ממנה כרגע, חס ושלום, האותיות מעשרה מאמרות שבהן נבראת הארץ בששת ימי בראשית

If the letters of the Ten Utterances by which the earth was created during the Six Days of Creation were to depart from it but for an instant, G‑d forbid,

היתה חוזרת לאין ואפס ממש, כמו לפני ששת ימי בראשית ממש

it would revert to naught and absolute nothingness, exactly as before the Six Days of Creation.

וזה שאמר האריז״ל, שגם בדומם ממש כמו אבנים ועפר ומים יש בחינת נפש וחיות רוחנית

This thought was expressed by the AriZal, when he said that even within that which appears to be utterly inanimate matter, such as stones or earth or water, there is a soul and spiritual life-force.

דהיינו: בחינת התלבשות אותיות הדבור מעשרה מאמרות המחיות ומהוות את הדומם

That is, i.e, although they evince no demonstrable form of animation, [within them] are nevertheless enclothed the letters of speech from the Ten Utterances which give life and existence to inanimate matter,
להיות יש מאין ואפס שלפני ששת ימי בראשית

enabling it to come into being out of the naught and nothingness that preceded the Six Days of Creation.

Mahx Notes

On The Context of Deuteronomy 4:39

Note of the Rebbe: “This verse continues the idea of an earlier verse [4:35], which begins with the phrase אתה הראת (‘You have been shown...’), and which refers to the time at which the Torah was given. At that time ‘G‑d spoke to you...’ (4:12), [with a warning against worshiping any of the components of the created universe]: ‘Lest you become corrupt’ [and worship creatures] of the lowest level, [viz.,] ‘any fish in the water below the earth’ [4:18], or of the highest level, [viz.,] ‘Lest you raise your eyes heavenward...’ [4:19].

The Word of G-d About The Word of G-d

Again, we read in Deuteronomy 4:39:  “Know this day and take it unto your heart that G‑d is the  L‑rd in the heavens above and upon the earth below; there is none other.”

From the Tanya's teaching here we learn to understand this statement as it applies to the possibility of our thinking that there is some inherent power in the heights or depths of Creation, power coming from somewhere other than the Word of G-d.  There is no such power.

In relation to this we also learn the truth from Hassidic teachings that through its very nature, "The world hides the truth that Hashem created it."

In relation to this theme I have previously written posts, which can be found, for example, here as well as an in-depth study on creation in Genesis 1 here.

It is good to understand well, as we learn here from the Tanya, the way in which G-d identifies Himself with His Word.

Yedid Nefesh

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yedid_Nefesh for the source of this text together with textual notes.

See my comments below.

Transliteration	English translation	Original Hebrew
	Verse 1
Yedid Nefesh av harachaman,	Beloved of the soul, Compassionate Father,	ידיד נפש אב הרחמן
meshoch avdechah el retzonechah,	draw Your servant to Your Will;	משוך עבדך אל רצונך
ya'arutz avdechah kmo ayal,	then Your servant will hurry like a hart	ירוץ עבדך כמו איל
yishtachave el mul hadarecha,	to bow before Your majesty;	ישתחוה אל מול הדרך
ye-erav lo yedidotecha,	to him Your friendship will be sweeter	יערב לו ידידותיך
minofet tzuf v'chol ta-am.	than the dripping of the honeycomb and any taste.	מנפת צוף וכל טעם
	Verse 2
Hadur na-e ziv ha-ōlom,	Majestic, Beautiful, Radiance of the universe,	הדור נאה זיו העולם
nafshi cholat ahavatecha,	my soul pines [lit: is sick for] for your love.	נפשי חולת אהבתך
ana el na r'fa na lah,	Please, O God, heal her now	אנא אל נא רפא נא לה
b'harot lah noam zivecha,	by showing her the pleasantness of Your radiance;	בהראות לה נעם זיוך
az teet-chazeik v'titrapei,	then she will be strengthened and healed,	אז תתחזק ותתרפא
v'hayta lah simchat olam	and eternal gladness will be hers.	והיתה לה שמחת עולם
	Verse 3
Vatik yehemu na rachamecha,	Enduring One, may Your mercy be aroused	ותיק יהמו נא רחמיך
v'chuso na al bein ahuvecha,	and please take pity on the son of Your beloved,	וחוסה נא על בן אהובך
ki ze kama nichsof nichsafti,	because it is so very long that I have yearned intensely	כי זה כמה נכסף נכספתי
lir'ot m'heiro b'tiferet uzecha,	to see speedily the splendour of Your strength;	לראת מהרה בתפארת עזך
eile chamdah libi,	only these my heart desired,	אלה חמדה לבי
v'chuso na v'al tit-alom.	so please take pity and do not conceal Yourself	וחוסה נא ואל תתעלם
	Verse 4
Higalei na ufros chavivi alai,	Please, my Beloved, reveal Yourself and spread upon me	הגלה נא ופרש חביבי עלי
et sukat shlomecha,	the shelter of Your peace;	את סכת שלומך
ta-ir eretz mich'vodecha,	illuminate the Earth with Your glory,	תאיר ארץ מכבודך
nagila v'nism'cha bach.	that we may rejoice and be glad with You;	נגילה ונשמחה בך
Maheir ehov ki va mo-ed,	hasten, show love, for the time has come,	מהר אהוב כי בא מועד
v'chaneinu kimei olom.	and show us grace as in days of old.	וחננו כימי עולם

Comments by Mahx:

In verse 1 the prayer is that the soul would be drawn to the will of G-d, the Father of Israel. The soul experiences inconsistency in its will to do and hear the will of G-d.  And it prays that these inconsistencies would be made to cease through the attraction of the will of G-d.  This attraction of the will of G-d to the soul is the attraction of the commandment of G-d.  The soul prays for the power of the commandment of G-d to come upon it, for it knows that G-d's word is His commandment, the power to convert the soul.

The prayer is an acknowledgement that the soul does not convert itself to the will of G-d, did not convert itself in the beginning to the will of G-d and cannot convert itself in the end to the will of G-d.  The prayer is an acknowledgement that the great power of G-d's loving will itself overcomes all weakness and resistance in the soul, in order to convert the soul to the truth of G-d's love, which is higher than the soul is able to know or think and which can only be known and learned through obedience to the commandment of G-d, the expression of His glorious will.

In verse 2 the prayer is to be healed through the spiritual vision of G-d's beautiful radiance, His Presence.  It is the essence of the condition of being spiritually lost to be lonely for G-d.  No other loneliness can be measured with it.  It is a loneliness that is so deep, so existential, that normally people do not recognize that what they are feeling is loneliness.  They do not know that the great, painful emptiness of their souls is loneliness for G-d.

In verse 3 the prayer pleading for The Enduring One to take pity "on the son of your beloved" is in other authorities translated, "on your beloved son".  Although the whole prayer is for the soul, here we begin to see clearly that when I pray for my soul, not only do I pray together for every soul of Israel but in praying this prayer my longing and hope is for the root soul of all Israel.  If the translation is "the son of your beloved", then the reference can be to none but all Israel as the one to whom the Shekinah gives birth from Above in a creation made new.  If the translation is, "your beloved son", then the reference is to all Israel as represented in the soul of the True Tzaddik.

In verse 4 in continuance and summary of verse 3 the essence of the prayer is that G-d would reveal himself to all the world as the One True G-d who declares Himself to be Israel's G-d, as in the day when He brought Israel up out of Egypt, now bringing all Israel up out of the Egypt in their hearts as well as out of the Egypt of all the nations, bringing judgement on the first and fallen order of Humanity and passing over in judgment the Israel born from Above, in the final Passover.

Concealment and Revelation

See:

The Concealment and Revelation of Mashiach and The Good News

After that Yehoshua made atonement for his own people Israel who did not receive him, he was taken up into heaven and concealed there from the world.  This concealment is the aspect of grace which is created in his offering for Israel and continues on.  Read more...

את and אמת

#1.

From the Beginning of Creation there was and is the את Aleph-Tav of Creation, of the heavens and of the earth. This is design and purpose. There was a linchpin letter made to keep the wheel of this design of purpose on its axle, the letter Mem, to

be found between the aleph and the tav, Amet, אמת, Truth.

COMMENT:

The aleph-tav of the heavens and the aleph-tav of the earth are one and yet begin as two, because the heavens and the earth are created distinctly in the beginning. We are told that the earth was without form and void, but we're the heavens also without form and void in the beginning in the same sense that the earth was? We are told that darkness was upon the face of the deep. The heavens are being referred to here as the deep, does this darkness have application in the same direct sense upon the unformed and empty earth, as it does upon the heavens? There is a face of the heavens already given. Is there a face of the earth yet? It would seem that the difference in the quality and nature of the heavens and the earth also cause a distinction in how their completion unfolds, so that as soon as a "line", a "firmament" is drawn between them the primary focus is shifted in and down toward the completion of the earth, wherein all hangs on the linchpin of truth in Adam.

#2.

There was a linchpin letter made to keep the wheel of this design of purpose on its axle, the letter Mem, to be found between the aleph and the tav, Amet, Truth, and at the end of the words, Dam, Blood, and Adam. When the linchpin was lost from Adam it was lost...

COMMENT:

It cannot be said that when the blood was lost from Adam it was as if there was only the potential of Adam left, the aleph, that because the linchpin of truth, the mem, was lost from Adam, that the Truth itself was lost in some absolute sense. But there is the aspect of revelation where G-d is heard saying that he cast Truth to the ground.

To say, however that Creation is lost or that truth is lost from Creation, is not to say that Truth is lost from G-d, which is a false thought that cannot be thought of as if it were a true thought, even by the accuser.  Therefore, because Truth cannot be lost from G-d, while we can say that Truth is lost from Creation and that Creation is therefore lost, we can also say that Creation can be found.  Truth can be found in Creation again.

At the same time, because it is evident that G-d can raise Truth from the ground it does not mean that it can be just assumed by the arrogance of human self-love that he will do so for our sakes.  For indeed it is only where truth is cast to the ground, where we are dust and return to dust, that we are able to hear the revelation that truth is cast to the ground.

Every sinner is an atheist while they conceive and bring forth sin.  That is, the sinner is a believer in no god but themselves.  It is in this that we are fools who have become no more than dust.  But this very position makes us unable even to dream that Truth is lost to G-d, even if we are able to pretend in our foolish hearts that there is no G-d long enough for us to commit our sins.  Having disabled ourselves to know G-d we are unable to lock our minds into evil thoughts about G-d.  Thus it is that we also, together with the ground that we return to through the death caused by our sin, are capable in our lost estate of hearing again Truth spoken to us by G-d.

#3

When the מ, (mem), the linchpin, was lost from Adam it was lost from Truth and the wheel came off its axle. This wheel was the soul of Adam, which they lost. Then they were dead while they were living.  For this lost soul was in their blood. Even so, the את, (aleph-tav), the design of G-d's purpose in Creation, still remained, even though Adam sinned.  As the design of purpose for all Creation was pinned on Adam, so the את, (aleph-tav), of Adam, the design of purpose of Adam was the very seed-source of Adam, which preceded Adam...  For the את, (aleph-tav), preceded Adam in being the design source of the first day in the creation of the heavens and the earth, which lead to the creation of Adam on the sixth day.  Thus, as Creation was lost but could be found, so Adam was lost but could be found.  For the את, (aleph-tav), the seed which came to be the design-source of Adam and therefore the seed of Adam remained with G-d and was not lost.

COMMENT:

It cannot be thought that G-d's glory itself, in his crafting of Creation, could be overcome by Adam's rebellion and dishonour.  Rather, it was G-d's free and generous graciousness which created a tolerance for Adam's fall, and therefore  Adam's redemption would magnify G-d's glory as the wondrous Creator all the more!  Thus, in creating the universe of the heavens and the earth with a tolerance built in for Adam's potential and then actual fall, G-d designed the universe from the beginning with an aspect of weakness, an aspect of potential corruptibility, not possessing already eternal incorruptibility.

The first expression of this weakness was that heaven and earth are made at the beginning without complete unity.  There is a distinction made between the-את-heavens and the-את-earth.  And, due to the weakness indicated, the Creation does not immediately shine with love and thankfulness toward its Creator.  Indeed, the Creator must subsequently assist the Creation in the expression of its radiance of the joy of thankfulness by expressing the imperative: "Let there be light!"  Accordingly also, the series of stages and steps, or days, that come forth from G-d's word to finish his work are expressions of his tolerance, graceful action, all leading toward Adam.  And all of these elements are embedded in the potential of Adam, which is the potential for actualization and/or redemption, which is to say, embedded in the prepared seed of Adam, which is the seed of the woman.

#4

The את, the design of purpose, still remained, even though Adam sinned. As the design of purpose for all Creation was pinned on Adam, so the את of Adam, the design of purpose of Adam was the seed of Adam, which preceded Adam and was culminated as the seed of the woman.

COMMENT:

The prophecy of the seed of the woman unfolds at three points of time.  First, it is overheard in the Garden of Eden after the sin of Adam, when it is spoken to the serpent as the prophecy of an end being put to the serpent.

Next it is given to Avraham, Isaac and Jacob in a partially concealed way and partially revealed way as a promise of blessing.  This promise of blessing embedded in the seed of which G-d spoke is a promise that was made to Avraham directly in the face of G-d's sentence of death passed upon all the family of Adam and the curse upon Adam, both the man and the woman, that came with that sentence of death and would be the form of its application. Coming in the face of the universal curse of G-d, this promise of blessing, now embedded by the word of G-d in Avraham and his seed, was a promise of G-d's blessing overcoming all of the curse.

Finally, the prophecy of the seed of the woman will be fully unfolded and  revealed as a fulfilled prophecy in the end of time.  And this shall be when the now hidden Anointed One of Israel who was raised eternal from the dead will be openly revealed to all the heavens and all the earth as that promised seed of the woman.  It will be then that the design of purpose for all creation will be known in all the world and every soul will know the meaning of the word, את, (the seed word of Creation), and the word, אמת, (Truth), as well as they know the word, אדמ, (Adam).

#5

When Adam's soul was lost, it remained that the designed purpose could be and would be realized only through the seed of Adam — that the wheel would be put back on its axle and held in place through the linchpin to be found at the centre of the seed of Adam. Since the seed of Adam is still Adam, though in reflection of both Adam's source and outcome, Adam's soul could be and would be saved.

COMMENT:

There are two mysteries that surround the seed of Adam, just as there are two aspects to the seed, that of the man and that of the woman.  One mystery is how Adam, through the seed design and spiritual source of Adam is the core source of the design of the heavens and the earth.  The other mystery is how the seed of Adam, which is embodied in Adam, is both directly and indirectly the source of Adam.  That is, the seed design of Adam is the source of Adam yet also the reflection of the source that is heard, by the voice of the word of G-d, to create the seed of Adam in Adam, even as the same word creates Adam.  In the end, the two aspects of the seed, the male and the female, will explain both of these mysteries.

#6

Adam's soul would/will then be a redeemed soul, not simply the natural soul that it was. And the seed of Adam would be — and could be only — realized as the Son of Adam...

COMMENT:

When all is said and done, is the seed of Adam seen to be Adam's source or outcome? Religious thought comes with all its power to argue over whether Mashiach is divine or human.  When G-d fashioned Adam from the earth in order to breathe into his nostrils the breath of life, did he not use a seed design in doing so?  Has this question, as such, even been asked before, as such?

Clearly, Adam's body was composed according to what today we call DNA.  Why is a seed, any and every seed, more than DNA? A seed is a design, a design not only for a body but for the Torah that governs the relations of reproduction and life lived in that body.  Such a Torah design was inherent in the DNA of Adam being fashioned from the ground. This, the seed of Adam, which is the outcome of Adam is also the source of Adam.  As such, the Seed of the Woman stands firmly and distinctly by the Torah as the seed of Adam, the prophetic Son of Adam.  We may understand that we should see him as the source of all Creation, but we will not and cannot know him as this source except by our obedience of faith in him as the outcome of Adam, our own personal outcome, if we are to have any outcome in אמת, Truth.

#7

Adam would be — and could be only — realized as the Son of Adam, the personal soul of the redeemer of the redeemed corporate soul of Adam.  In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth. But in the end G-d redeemed the earth and the heavens. The את of the earth became the את of the heavens.  For the את of the earth is the את that redeems אמת , truth in Adam.  And this את of the earth, the Anointed Seed, is the King of Eternal Jerusalem, in heaven and on earth.  For he is the Redeemer of Adam, chosen by G-d in the form of blessed Israel.

COMMENT:

The Truth is known only through faith.  For G-d alone knows the truth of the את of the heavens and the את of the earth, the truth of the beginning and the truth of the end.  The whole Talmud is based on the suspension of all knowledge.

If so, if the Talmud is based on the truth of faith, the suspension of all knowledge, the rectification of the sin in the Garden, why did Yehoshua have a dispute with certain teachers of the Oral Torah concerning the tithing of mint?  Why was the question of how to fulfill the commandment of tithing mint being given more attention than the question how to fulfill the commandment of the love of G-d raised as an issue by Yehoshua?

In Rabbi Akiva's lesson about Bar Kokhba was a Talmudic lesson about how Mashiach suspends all knowledge.  Indeed, Yehoshua HaMashiach did suspend all knowledge, which also was that which "forced the hand" of Rabbi Akiva when the time came.

Thus the Talmud came in galut/exile, when its very principle, in being recorded in writing, was the principle of the Oral Torah to suspend all knowledge, not refine it by technical method to the over sharpening of the edge. For the writing down of the Oral Torah, even at one point in time, puts a limit to the sharpening of its edge.  For example, as where the commandment of the tithing of mint becomes more of a focus than the commandment of the love of G-d.  Such an over-sharpness of the edge of the Torah was no longer possible once the Shikhinah together with the Oral Torah was in full exile, whence it became necessary that at that point of time the Oral Torah begin to be written down.

Therefore, when the Oral Torah began to be written down it began to become subject to Messianic corrections, because its potential to be ever sharpened, even until over-sharpened, began to be corrected.  In this way the Oral Torah became subject to Yehoshua HaMashiach.  May G-d forgive us when we imagine that either the Oral Torah or Yehoshua HaMashiach can be subjected to our opinion.

Thus it is the Oral Torah itself that now leads back and forward to the testimony of Yehoshua HaMashiach in his offering up of himself in love of G-d for Jerusalem and all Israel for the sake of repentance for the sin of Adam, when they sinned in seeking that knowledge that was not hers or his. For there is no perfect faith without the obedient suspension of all knowledge. This is the testimony given to Avraham and to his seed.

Leah Had Tender Eyes

Gen. 29:4 Jacob said to them, "My brothers, … it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go, pasture them" 8 But they said, "We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep." 9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 10 Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.

Is this story of Jacob coming to the well and rolling the stone from the well given to us only for the sake of the narrative? Indeed, this story is about the strength Jacob had through the covenant of G-d to bring Jewish souls into the world. It is in this way that the deeper narrative of the meeting of Jacob and Rachel and Leah is introduced. Rachel and Leah were righteous gentiles but their own souls could not be renewed as Jewish souls that were born from Above except through the power of Jacob to roll away the stone that covers the well-springs of life.


In Hebrew we read about Jacob, וַיָּגֶל vahiygel, "and he rolled" (the stone from the well). The word gilgul means "cycle". Because of the deeper context of this story, we can associate this with the Kabbalistic teaching of גלגול הנשמות - Gilgul neshamot/Gilgulei Ha Neshamot literally, the revolving (into the world) of souls. This Kabbalistic teaching comes in a metaphorical language because it deals with other-worldly matters, and is easily misunderstood. It is not necessary, however, to understand completely how souls are redeemed and rectified in order to learn an important lesson from this story about how the covenant of the promise of Mashiach, which gave Jacob his power, brought the power of full conversion to the souls of Rachel and Leah.


There are potential Jewish souls who seem fated to be left to Esau and there are potential Jewish souls who seem destined for conversion and union with Jacob. This was the original situation of Leah and Rachel. Leah was not as attractive as Rachel as her eyes were sad and tender from crying over her apparent destiny that as the older sister she would be given to the older brother. (Perhaps it was also understood by the daughters that Laban had a preference for Esau and coveted him for his son-in-law.) Because the potential Jewish soul of Rachel appeared destined for union with Jacob, Rachel's beauty radiated from her.


In time, Jacob was rectified from judging between Leah and Rachel by appearances. He came to see that to the eyes of the Ruach of Mashiach which was in him the potential of Leah's Jewish soul had always been as great as the potential of Rachel's Jewish soul, and the beauty of both was equal. Indeed, while Mashiach was destined to come into the world through Leah, he would not be fully revealed in the world in fulfillment of the promise of blessing given to Abraham until, in the end, he would be manifested through the soul of Rachel, in final rectification brought about through her son Joseph together with Leah's son Judah.


At first it was Leah's eyes which were tender from weeping, marring her appearance. Later it was Rachel who wept and did not cease from weeping, because her children became lost from their own Jewish souls. We also will sometimes judge our own souls, or the potential Jewish souls of others, by appearance. Our eyes will be dark if we seem destined for final union with Esau, or bright and beautiful if our souls seem destined for union with Jacob. Or else we will be tempted to judge others in this way. There is a time given to us to learn, as time was given to Jacob, not to judge by these appearances, but to judge, as the Ruach of Mashiach teaches, with righteous judgment. And now it is time for us to understand that if the soul of Leah weeps in someone, or if the soul of Rachel weeps in someone, and makes them appear spiritually unattractive to Jacob, it is not because they desire to be united to Esau but because they only have one desire, one reason to live, to be united to Jacob, but the way of their redemption has not yet been laid open before them.

G-d's Agreement With The 6 Days

R. Yochanan said, G-d made an agreement  (תנאי) with the sea that  it  should  divide  before  the  Israelites: thus it is said, “And the sea returned to its strength.  R.  Yirmiyahu,  son  of  Elazar,  said:

Not only with the sea, but with all that has been created in the six days of the beginning [was the agreement made]: this is referred to in the words, “I, even my hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded” (Isa. xlv. 12); i.e., I have commanded the sea to divide before Israel… the sun and moon to stand still before Yehoshua. (MN 2:29 from Bereshith Rabbah 5:5 and Pirkei D’R Eliezer).

This teaching can be understood as a key to understanding what I have written elsewhere in my commentary on Bereshith One (Genesis One) – that Bereshith 1:1 (Genesis 1:1) is the first commandment of creation, the commandment that brought all into being out of non-being, non-existence, but that, in that this commandment was given in the declarative form, just as it is recorded, Creation was not able to rise to the level of this glory on its own and shine (in interpretation of the commandment to exist) as it was intended to, and that therefore G-d "came down" and assisted Creation gracefully by "inserting" his word into Creation, or by clarifying the meaning of the word that he had already spoken, in the form of the imperative, "Let there be light!"  In other words, it can be said that the "agreement"  (תנאי) that G-d had with each day is the imperative form of his word with which he addressed each day – after he had already created them as one in the first instant of what would become the first day.  You may find links to my notes and commentary on Bereshith One / Genesis One elsewhere on this site.

This subject leads us to two critical matters:

1. The relationship between the temporal state of creation and the eternal state of creation.
2. The relationship between the word of G-d outside of creation and inside of creation.

These two matters were pivotal to the challenge of thought and deed that Adam and cHavah (Eve) faced in the Garden of Eden.  They remain pivotal for thought and deed, therefore, in the Tikkune, the Great Repair that is necessarily taking place to correct the error that was made and its consequences.  You will find that MellowWolf Publishing documents and posts on all its sites are directed toward these matters and the service of this Great Repair.

Study on John 17:26

Woodcut of Rashi  WikipediaMESSIAH AT OUR WINDOW SERIES
by Max Carl Kirk
Two Witnesses  Study  No. 2

Also view this posting in notebook form at http://bit.ly/rlTQyL.  You can find the first study in this series there as well.  Footnotes to the Rashi text have been removed here.  You can find them in the notebook where they are linked to source pages.

 
            In John 17:26, and in the complete prayer, Yehoshua is understood in this study as making reference to God's statement to Moshe in Exodus (Shemos) 6: verses 2 and 3.


Yehoshua's Prayer

John 17: 25-26 KJV

     O righteous Father, the world has not known you: but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me.  And I have declared unto them your name, and will declare it: that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.
   
We will begin with Rashi's commentary to this section of Torah > Shemos / Exodus 6: verses 2 and 3.

Note:  In the commentary by Rashi that  follows to represent the  name of God,  Yod-He-Vav-He, from the  Hebrew, the name, Ad-noy, is used.
Resource - Rashi on Exodus 6:2-3 and following.


Shemos / Exodus
VA'EIRA - RASHI COMMENTARY

Exodus Chapter 6 - Rashi

Verse 2: Elokim spoke to Moshe.

    He (G-d) spoke to him with severity for he (Moshe) had spoken harshly, saying, "Why have you brought harm to this nation?"

    And said to him, "I am Ad-noy."

    (I.e.) "[I] can be trusted to properly reward those who walk before Me. And it is not in vain that I sent you but to keep My promise which I had made to the early Fathers." And it is in this sense that we find in many places: {Hebrew Ref} [denoting] that He may be relied upon to exact retribution, when it appears in the context of punishment, as in: "You shall be profaning your G-d's Name I am G-d. And when it appears in the context of the fulfillment of mitzvos as in: "And you shall keep My mitzvos and do them,  I am G-d," [it means, "I may be] trusted to give reward."

Verse 3: I revealed Myself---

    to the fathers---

    as Almighty Sh-ddai.

    [Meaning:] "I made promises to them always saying to them, 'I am El Sh-ddai.' "

    [But,] My Name Ad-noy I did not make known to them.

    {Hebrew Ref} is not written here (I did not make known), but, rather {Hebrew Ref} (I did not become known) [meaning:] "I was not recognized by them by My attribute of keeping trust, the reason for which My Name is called {Hebrew Ref} , [which denotes that] I may be trusted to keep My promises. For I made promises but have not [as yet] fulfilled them."

Verse 4: I also established My covenant, etc.

    [Meaning:] Also when I revealed Myself to them as Almighty Sh-ddai, I established and set up My covenant between Myself and them.

    To give them the Land of Canaan.

    To Avraham, in the chapter concerning circumcision, it is said: "I am Almighty Sh-ddai, etc., and I will give to you and to your descendants who will follow you the land of your temporary residence." To Yitzchok: "For to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, I will [thus] keep the oath that I swore to Avraham," and that oath that I swore to Avraham was with [My Name] Almighty Sh-ddai. To Yaakov: "I am Almighty Sh-ddai be fruitful and multiply, etc. and the land that, etc. [I gave to Avraham and to Yitzchok I will give to you]."17 Thus, [you see] that I have made vows to them but have not [as yet] fulfilled [them].

Verse 5: I have also.

    "Just as I established and set up the covenant so, too, must I fulfill it. Therefore, I heard the groaning of the B'nei Yisrael who groan: that the Egyptians are enslaving them and I remember that covenant, for at the covenant of 'Between the Pieces' I said to him (Avraham):19 'And also the nation whom they will serve I will judge.' "

Verse 6: Therefore.

    [Meaning:] in accordance with that oath--- say to the B'nai Yisrael---"I am Ad-noy--- Who can be trusted to fulfill My promise."

    I will bring you out.

    For I so promised: 'And afterwards they will leave with great wealth.'

    The burdens of Egypt.

    [Meaning:] the trouble of the burden of Egypt.

Verse 8: I raised My hand.

    [Meaning:] "I lifted it to swear by My Throne."

Verse 9: But they would not listen to Moshe.

    [Meaning:] they did not accept [his] words of comfort.

    Because of [their] distress.

    If someone is in a distressed state he is short of breath and he cannot draw long breaths. I heard [an explanation] similar to this one in this Parsha from Rabbi Baruch b. Rabbi Eliezer and he brought me proof from the following verse: "This time I will make known to them My hand and My might so that they will know that My Name is Ad-noy." We learn [from this] that when G-d fulfills His words even where punishment is involved, He lets it be known that His Name is Ad-noy. This is all the more so when it is a fulfillment of reward [promised]. The Sages, however, explained it as referring to what is discussed earlier--- when Moshe said, "Why have You brought harm?" G-d said to him, "Woe for those who are gone and cannot be replaced!" I have reason to mourn the deaths of the Fathers [for] many times I revealed Myself to them with [the Name] El Sh-ddai and they [never] said, "What is Your Name?" But, you said, "['Should they ask] what is His Name, what shall I tell them?' " . . .

    . . . I also established, etc. (v. 4) . . .

     And when Avraham sought to bury Sarah, he could not find land until he had to buy it at great expense. Similarly, concerning Yitzchok, there was opposition to him on account of the wells that he dug. Similarly, concerning Yaakov, [it is written:] "He bought the part of the field" in order to pitch his tent, yet they did not question My attributes, but, you said, "Why did You bring harm?" However, this Midrash does not flow with the text for many reasons. First, because it does not state: "And they did not ask about My Name, Ad-noy." Should you say [in answer to this question (G.A.)] [that the intent of the verse is] He did not make known that that is His name, [I would answer:] But in the beginning when He appeared to Avraham [at the Covenant] 'Between the Pieces' it is said: "I am Ad-noy Who brought you out of Ur Kasdim." And, furthermore, how is there continuity of context with the statements which [the Torah] places immediately afterwards, [viz.,] "I have also heard, etc." (v. 5) [and:] "Therefore say to the B'nei Yisrael" (v. 6). Therefore, I say, let the verse be explained simply, each statement fitting its context, and let the exposition [by the Sages] be expounded, as it is said: "Is not My Word as fire, says G-d, and like a hammer that shatters stone," [so, too, does G-d's word] divide into many sparks.

Verse 12: How then will Pharaoh listen to me.

    This is one of the ten a fortiori inferences in the Torah.

    [Whose] lips are covered.

    [Literally,] obstructed regarding the lips. Similarly, wherever a term [derived from] {Hebrew Ref} [appears] I say that it means obstructed [as in:] "Their ear is {Hebrew Ref} ,"39 [meaning:] obstructed from hearing. [or:] " {Hebrew Ref} of heart"40 [meaning:] obstructed of understanding, [or:] "You drink and {Hebrew Ref} "41 [meaning:] and become obstructed [of understanding] from intoxication caused by the cup of curse. The foreskin of the flesh [is so called] because the member is obstructed and covered by it. {Hebrew Ref} 42 [means:] make for it (the fruit) an obstruction and cover--- a prohibition that will prevent its being eaten. "For three years they shall be {Hebrew Ref} to you"43 [ {Hebrew Ref} meaning:] obstructed and covered and barred from eating.

Verse 13: Ad-noy [then] spoke to Moshe and Aharon.

    Since Moshe had said, "And I have a speech defect," (v. 12) G-d had Aharon join him so that he would be his spokesman and interpreter.

    Commanding them regarding the B'nei Yisrael.

    He commanded them regarding them (the B'nei Yisrael) to lead them with gentleness and to be patient with them.

    And Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

    He commanded them regarding him (Pharaoh) to treat him with respect when speaking [to him].  This is its midrashic meaning. But, its simple meaning (of {Hebrew Ref} ) He commanded them regarding the matter of Yisrael and regarding His mission to Pharaoh. And as far as what the substance of the command was, it is explained in the next chapter after the order of the genealogy, but, having mentioned Moshe and Aharon, it (the Torah) interrupts the narrative with, "These are the heads of their paternal households" to teach us how they were born and to whom they trace their lineage.

Verse 14: These are the heads of their paternal households.

    Since it was necessary to state the genealogy of the tribe of Levi down to Moshe and Aharon because of Moshe and Aharon, it (the Torah) begins to give their genealogy in the order of their births, [beginning] from Reuvain. But, in Pesikta Rabbasi (7, 12) I saw: Because our Father Yaakov criticized these three tribes at the time of his death, Scripture, here again traces only their genealogy thereby indicating that they were [nevertheless] worthy.

Verse 16: The years of Leivi's life were, etc.

    Why are the years of Leivi's life specified [here]? To tell the length of time that the enslavement lasted, for as long as one of the Tribes (Yaakov's sons) remained alive there was no enslavement, as it is said "Yoseif and his brothers died," and afterwards: "A new king arose," and Leivi outlived all of them.


<> } NOTE:  The Chumash text here corresponds to Revelation chapter 7 and the time when all the tribes will be numbered together.  As Rashi says, the Chumash text on the instruction to Moshe resumes in the next chapter.  There will be found there a correspondence to Isaiah 52:7.

End of Rashi's Commentary on Shemos / Exodus 6...


Begin Study Here On Yehoshua's Prayer In John 17

Introductory Note

     The background for understanding the text here according to Rashi's commentary begins with Abraham's question to God, (Genesis 15:8) "How shall I know that I will inherit it?" In response God commands Abraham in the covenant of the parts. Rebbe Nachman teaches that this question represented Abraham's one error.  The covenant of the parts not only repreresented the Egyptian captivity but also that of the Four Empires spoken of in the Book of Daniel.

Rashi brings out that knowing God as Yod-He-Vav-He means knowing Him as the one who fulfills the promises He made to the  fathers,  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  This is to answer Abraham's question.  It is as if God said to Abraham, 'You can only know intellectually that you will inherit the land when your intellect is fully transformed into an intellect of faith through the renewing of your mind.  Romans 12:2.  This is a process which can only come about through the death and resurrection of Adam. That death and resurrection of Adam could only occur through that singular seed who was promised to Abraham and Sarah.


The Rectification of Abraham's Faith - Romans Chaprter 9

The rectification of Abraham's faith began immediately with his experiences involved with the birth of Issac and the offering up of Isaac.  The rectification continued in Isaac's own life with the shifting of his hope in the promised seed away from his older son to his younger son.  The rectification then continued in the life of Jacob, his exile in the house of Laban and his 'redemption' to the land of promise.

The apostle Paul teaches in Romans chapter 9 that Isaac represented to Abraham the lesson that God will be known as Yod-He-Vav-He, (the one who is faithful to His promise, as Rashi says), not through our own natural or fleshly understanding, (to which Abraham gave expression in Ishmael through Hagar), but through the precise word of promise itself.  God's word of promise did not need Abraham and Sarah's help in order to be fulfilled.  Once this lesson was learned and  understood, it was possible for the natural mind to imagine that it now knew how the promise of the seed should be kept and could hold God to this expectation.  This thought was demonstrated in Isaac himself, who was inclined to imagine that the promise should be kept through Esau, who was his firstborn son by Rivkah, the wife whom God had given him.  Instead, the promise would be kept through Jacob.  Here Paul says that the lesson was that even when we know that God's promise can be fulfilled through God's word alone, we should not think that this will be done out of necessity, as if we had a right to expect it based on human merit or Adam's relationship to God or God's desire toward the world.  It comes only on the basis of mercy.

     God's gift to the world had no cause.  The only cause of the gift of God is the gift itself.



The True Meaning of John 3:16

The true translation and meaning of John 3:16 does not teach us that God desired to restore  His lost world so much that He gave his only son.  John 3:16 teaches that God's gift of His only son was, is and always will be His way, His only way, of loving the world. This is the lesson that Isaac learned.  It is the second step in the rectification of Abraham's faith. {This does not mean that God does not love the sinner but that He loves the sinner through the gift of His son.  He no longer has a basis for loving sinful Adam as first created.}



Jacob Is The Remnant - John 1:13

John 1:12-13  KJV
To as many as received him, to them he gave the power to become the children of God, to them who believe on his name:  who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of any human, but of God.

     These three categories represent the lessons of the three fathers of Israel in the rectification of Abraham's faith. It was not enough that Ishmael was Abraham's blood.  He did not represent the promise of God to Abraham.  Although Esau, according to the natural will of Isaac's flesh, would have been the one chosen by Isaac to father the line through which the Messiah would come, it would not be. All human hope then fell upon Jacob, that he would become the Israel of God, the vessel, the instrument, of God bringing blessing to the world condemned through Adam. However, although salvation comes through faith and hope, it is not faith and hope that themselves produce salvation.  It is the grace of God alone.  This is the lesson, the third and final lesson of the rectification of Abraham's faith, that Jacob learned when he wrestled with the angel and was able to win only by the grace of God.  It was because of this that Jacob could finally be called, Israel.  And it will be because of this that the nation of Jacob, All-Israel, not just a small part of it, shall ultimately be, with Messiah as its head, God's remnant nation out of corporate Adam, like an ark of salvation for all Creation.



The Secret of Romans 11:26

After explaining at some length  that we are to learn the lesson of Isaac, that God can be known in truth only through His mercy, Paul goes on to wrestle with the mystery of the lesson of Jacob.  As it is only through mercy that God can be known as the Faithful One, so it is only through grace.  Jacob learned this through failure.  It is the way that we must all learn it.  Jacob failed through the strength of his own faith in the promise of God that he would return to the land to defeat the angel and complete his return.  He only succeeded when he acknowledged his failure by asking for grace.  Today also, Israel must ask for grace in order to complete its return to the land.

Paul assures us that this will occur, for Yehoshua, Israel's Redeemer, is in the midst of her, having already purchased her salvation with his blood.  While this remains a mystery to sight, Paul's teaching is to say that it does not have to be a secret to those minds that are fully transformed in the complete rectification of Abraham's faith.  Even though they do not now see by natural sight that All-Israel is saved in Messiah, they see this glorious truth by faith.  "Since, then, you have been raised with Mashiach, set your hearts on things above, where Mashiach is seated at the right hand of God," Colossians 3:1.  It is there, above, where the fully transformed mind is given sight to see Israel in her eternal embrace with Mashiach.

When Jacob saw all the history of redemption by faith, he did so through discovering that Joseph was alive, that he was to "take" his nation out of the Holy Land down into Egypt, in order to share his lesson of the grace of God with them.  Jacob knew that the process of their redemption was already present and assured in the first steps of their captivity, for it would be done by the word of the promise of God to Abraham.  The covenant promise which began to be fulfilled through Joseph in Egypt would be completed through Mashiach in the Holy Land that was both Above and Below.  This Paul also knew when he saw his beloved Israel descend into captivity to Rome, the last of the four Empires.  He could say that All-Israel would be saved - manifestly, because he knew that All-Israel already was saved in Messiah.  Their unbelief and captivity was only the first stage of the unfolding of that salvation, the necessary prerequisite of the nation's final experience in learning the lessons of the rectification of Abraham's faith, especially the lesson of Jacob, that Israel is saved by the grace of God.

Romans 11:26-27  KJV
All-Israel shall be saved:  as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the  Deliverer, and  shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.


Hosea 2:18 -
To Be Continued

for Hearing Seven Thunders

The quote you will find below is from the Daily Zohar site #571.  The relationship between the clouds and lightning, and the Shekinah and the tzaddikim are indicated.

A New Creation covenant understanding puts what is said here in what I have quoted below about tzaddikim traveling instantly through "clouds" into better perspective.

It is said that Moshe traveled on Mt. Sinai in this way.  When Kabbalah teachings are brought forth that do not recognize the New Creation form of the one eternal covenant they can have the potential to lead to the misunderstanding that sinners can make themselves through certain knowledge and practices into righteous and powerful people who are able to do supernatural things.  No one should think this.  In truth, Moshe did ascend Mt. Sinai through the Shekinah but it was through the power of the new creation that would come.  That power came through the eternal service which Yehoshua, Israel's Mashiach provided to Israel and through the power of his resurrection, which extended in both directions in time.

Though many do not accept the record that Yehoshua gave himself for Israel and that the Creator brought forth the new creation in raising him from the dead, the full radiance of the all-transforming light of this glorious power will not be graciously hidden from the world forever.

The shadow of concealment allows for "preparation of the body" of this world for redemption.  That preparation will not take forever.  The fear of the God of Israel, the God of Yehoshua the Mashiach of Israel, is the beginning of wisdom.

Here is the very helpful quote from the Daily Zohar site:

"On the morning of the day the Torah was revaled on Mount Sinai, the people got out to see the mountain covered with voices, lightnings, clouds and the sound of Shofar.

As we explained previously, the sounds came from Binah. The lightnings are the aspect of the righteous who channel and reveal the light in this world. The seven types of clouds of glory are the aspect of the Shechina and they let the voices and the lightnings be revealed.

Exodus 19:9 “וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי בָּא אֵלֶיךָ בְּעַב הֶעָנָן”
“And YHVH said to Moses: ‘Lo, I come unto you in a thick cloud”

The cloud is the aspect of Right column and the aspect of Chessed and Mercy.

Exodus 20:17
“וַיַּעֲמֹד הָעָם, מֵרָחֹק; וּמֹשֶׁה נִגַּשׁ אֶל-הָעֲרָפֶל, אֲשֶׁר-שָׁם הָאֱלֹהִים”

“And the people stood afar off, and Moses approached the ‘fog’ where Elokim is there.”

The ‘Fog’, which is a ‘heavy’ cloud hovering closer to earth is the aspect of Left Column and Gevurah.

Moses needed to come to God, the right, through the left, in order to come closer to YHVH.

Air and Water represent Chessed. When we are able to create a mix of water and air with the power of our minds we will be able to move between dimensions and in space as we like. That’s what Moses did to ascend to the top of the Mountain and speak to God face to face."

What is in truth being said here is that no one approaches God without the conditions of strict justice being met.  They cannot be met by our own efforts at self-defence or self-justification.  If we try to do so we will be consumed by the "fires" of God's justice.  Only God Himself can provide a way for the conditions of strict justice to be met in a manner that can lead through this 'heavy cloud' to the aspect of the 'transporting cloud' of transfiguration and mercy.  It was in this way that Moshe was able to ascend the mountain.

Notes on the Lily > Zohar

           The Lily or "The Superanal Rose"           -RejiK Adam and Abraham

When Abraham heard the call to go out unto a land that God would show unto him the soul of Adam was invited to be in attendance as a witness.

When Abraham walked the boundaries of the Land of Israel the soul of Adam was attached to his soul.

When Abraham viewed the stars of heaven with God from below and from above the soul of Adam was with his soul, marvelling with Abraham at the perspective that was given to him.

When Abraham went in unto Hagar and conceived Ishmael the soul of Adam was with him, but the soul of Eve remained with Sarah.

When Abraham placed Isaac upon the altar the soul of Adam was present and when the ram was sacrificed the soul of Adam rejoiced with the soul of Abraham and the soul of Adam followed Isaac down from the mountain.


Read More...

Creation's Obedience To Bereshit Bara Et...

Creation obeyed the commandment of God's word to come into existence out of nothing.  It did so immediately but did not do so fully immediately.  It had to do so immediately if it was to do so at all, yet it was not able to do so with absolute completion without the assistance of God's grace of listening as well as His grace of speaking.  Both the divine power of speaking and listening are inherent in the nature of the word of God.

God both communicates to Creation and receives and listens to the prayer of Creation in Genesis 1:1.  This is told to us through the Hebrew word, Et,  את.  The sages inform us that wherever the word Et is found it comes to add to the meaning of the predicate of the sentence.  Here we see that the heavens and the earth came to exist in order to express the will of God that they exist.

The word, Et,  את, tells us that something more than heaven and earth's coming forth to do the will of God by existing is added here.  Since they have obeyed and exist in obedience, what is added?  Their prayer is added that they should not only exist but should exist according to the exact purpose of God.  To this prayer, God listens through the listening power of His word, the power embedded in the word, Et,  את.

Everything that follows comes through the power of God to speak to and hear Creation.  Even before Creation knows how to form its prayers so as to express its needs, God hears and daily responds,  for seven days, to those needs, in order that Creation can not just barely exist but can come to exist perfectly in accordance with His purpose.

Therefore we have, "In the beginning created God the Et,  את, heavens and the Et,  את, earth."

How do we know that the first statement of Genesis, the statement just quoted, which is the Bereshit bara... Et... statement, is a commandment stated in a declarative form rather than in the usual imperative form?  We know this because when the first imperative comes, "Let there be light!" it is not an imperative that light should come to exist out of nothing but rather out of the dark waters of the heavens and earth, which have already obediently come to exist out of nothing.

We know that it is by His word that God created the world out of nothing.  We therefore may understand that when we hear the first statement of the Torah, this statement of Genesis 1:1, we are hearing the statement that created and is sustaining the Creation of God.  In our English language we call a statement like this a declaration of fact.  Although heaven and earth did not exist, God said that they did.  He stated that He created them as a declarative fact and they were immediately created through His word.

When the heavens and earth obeyed the declarative commandment of God's word, they did so with the memory, as it were, that they had begun to exist.  This is what it means that they were created Bereshit..., In the Beginning...  It is this that allowed them to be in process, even as they came into existence.  But God also said that they were created with something additional, that is to say, they were created, Et,  את.  And that meant that God could hear the heavens and the earth speaking to Him about what they needed.

The very first thing He heard them say was that they were unable to shine.  For clearly, in creating them God intended that they shine with light.  Therefore God assisted the heavens and the earth by adding to His declarative commandment, Bereshit..., which brought them into existence, the imperative commandment, "Let there be light!"  Then, in response to this imperative, the heavens and the earth were able to shine with light.

So we see that the word of God speaks and hears the need of that to which it speaks and then speaks again.  And from this full process came one day of Creation, the first day of Creation's impregnation with joy on account of its relationship with the word of God.

Continue with this theme here

Is Kabbalah UnBiblical?

Christians who have heard of the Kabbalah have often been taught that it is occult and unBiblical.  The term, Kabbalah, is used by many different people to refer to many different things.  Jewish Kabbalah is not Hermetic Kabbalah nor magic.  Standard Jewish Kabbalah is core Judaism.  Even if a religious Jew does not know much about Kabbalah in a formal way, its concepts and teachings permeates their religious life without their knowing it by name.  This fact is put very well by Adin Steinsaltz who is head of the present reconstituted Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.  He states that, "Jewish mysticism - or Kabbalah - is the official theology of the Jewish people."

Only when the nature of the theology of true Jewish Kabbalah is learned should one ever decide whether they believe it is Biblical or not.  When one listens to what is actually taught then it is possible to recognize that there are a few schools of Jewish Kabbalah that may have a tendency to put Kabbalah in a position that lessens the importance of the Bible and a few others that use it as a lens to read the Bible to speak of a universal utopia in this world, without the need for a new creation.  Such exceptions can be addressed only from a basis of actual knowledge of what Orthodox Jewish Kabbalah truly teaches.

From a place of understanding that true Jewish Kabbalah can be very helpful in learning about the plan of God in the creation and redemption of Israel and of the revelation, concealment and revelation to come of Messiah,  I am working on this blog site to introduce to other people of a similar faith orientation to my own the value of acquiring a true knowledge of true Jewish Kabbalah.

 If someone is looking for secular or non-Jewish forms of Kabbalah, or perhaps forms that begin from Judaism but diverge away from Orthodox Judaism this site is not the  site they are looking for.

As well, Orthodox Jews who are not interested in any dialogue with non-Jews who are seeking Torah and Kabbalah so long as there may be some link to Christian thought will also want to pass this site by.  One reason for this site is to develop a better appreciation for Jewish Kabbalah among people who are beginning from just that exact  Christian or Messianic background.  As well, this site will offer thoughts about the Scriptures, especially in Genesis, that Jewish Kabbalah makes possible but which might not be found in other places than on this site.  It is my hope that such thoughts will prove helpful in understanding the Bible.

On the Issue of The Virgin Birth

Matthew 1:22-23 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which 
was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall 
be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

We read in Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin 
shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. That is the King James Version.  
In the Jewish Publication Society translation we have: Therefore the Lord Himself 
shall give you a sign: behold, the young woman shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call 
his name Immanuel.  
The Hebrew is: לכן יתן אדני הוא לכם--אות  הנה העלמה הרה וילדת בן וקראתשמו עמנו אל ...  We are led to the following considerations:

Continue reading from the Mellow Wolf Matthew Files:

Link > Chapter 1 ˙Commentary and Notes on vs. 22-23

Matthew

Chapter 1 Text

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The Tribe of Benjamin - Key to Redemption

From the Notes On The One Eternal Covenant blog site

It Took Seven Days

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It took seven days to make the days of truth and establish them.  It took one day to falsify and destroy the truth in Adam.  "For in the day you eat thereof you will surely die."  Why only one day to destroy when it took seven to make?  Why not also seven to destroy?  Because it is not simply seven days of truth and seven days of lies over against them on the other side. 


The one day of the lie takes hold of the seven days of truth for its substance and falsifies each day.  Where the side of truth and creation has 7 days, to begin its way of destruction, the side of the lie has 14 days - the seven days of truth which it steals by falsely claiming for its substance and then these seven days which it replicates falsely in giving them to itself.  For having imagined ownership of them by a false claim, the lie imagines that it is able to use them as it wills and to give them to itself to consume what it can of them as its substance.  But these two acts of the lie, theft and immorality, do not satisfy the insecurity of the lie, for they are to begin with merely acts of imagination.  Therefore the day of the lie is a day wherein the lie takes action with regard to the particulars of every day of the week of creation and truth, so as to make its imagination real. 


The lie first denies its theft of the seven days of creation with the act of blaspheme, claiming that the truth of the seven days and the truth of who created them is only relative and therefore it is no theft to claim them for itself.  Then it denies its immorality claiming that what it owns it surely has a right to give to itself for sustenance.   This boast it makes as an act of idolatry, worshiping itself.  Therefore the lie has 28 days, 7 of claiming by way of its imagination the 7 days of truth as its own, 7 of giving them then by way of its imagination to itself for sustenance, and 14 more of acting on these imaginations to prove to itself that they are real.  But even so the lie remains empty and is not satisfied. 


Therefore the lie sets forth to coerce all the creatures of the seven days of truth to act on its imaginations as it acts, subjecting them to the torture and abuse of its force until they appear to be in agreement with it.  Thus the lie is not satisfied until it has violated every principle of the sustaining power of love in the truth of creation.  And with this the lie has 35 days.  But whereas with this abomination of consuming the living blood of creation the lie has satisfied its need to deafen itself entirely to the crying voice of the seven days of truth which it consumes for its sustenance, it only wets the appetite of its lust for blood. 


Having nothing left to murder except the Adam who was created to be the caretaker and the governor of each of the seven days of truth but who is the one who nevertheless gave voice to the lie, the lie sets out to murder that very Adam, lest the truth should every redeem them and set them free.  In this enterprise the lie has added another 7 days to its 35 and now has expanded the 7 days of truth to 42 false days.  And still, even with its certainty of success in its endeavour to murder Adam the lie is not able to rest from its fear.  For what if the truth should bring about a resurrection of the dead wherein the lie would be able to find no place to exist? 


Out of this final state of fear, the lie marshals all its imaginations and actions and unifies them as one in order to establish a rule and an empire over all the six days of truth and to make them and all the creatures in them, especially the Adam as its agent, to bow down and worship the lie and to serve it in everything that it imagines and in everything that it does.   In this its kingdom, the lie seeks to finally rest.  And in this the lie has multiplied the seven true days of creation to 49 days of abomination and desolation.  Even so, an end must come to these days, and in the time of their end the rest of the lie is shown to be a false rest. 


For a remnant of the children of Adam are preserved by the truth and mature in the discipline of repentance from having given voice to the lie and from having served the lie, and they are assembled together by the truth and do not serve or obey the lie.  Therefore the lie is greatly disturbed in its kingdom and is moved to great anger through great fear, for it is continually reminded by these children how its days are numbered.  Therefore the lie abandons its pretext of rest and orderly rule over the world and sets out with all its cunning to attempt to accomplish its final assassination.

Therefore this is the promise.  Because the day of the lie required a multiplication of the 7 days of truth in creation to 49 false days, the days of forgiveness and redemption and rectification also are measured out to 49 days.  For every false imagination and every false action of the lie will be rectified.  But the 49 days of the lie and therefore the 49 days of rectification are not simple like the days of creation when they were created as the days of truth. For the lie was one lie on the tongue of the woman and another lie on the tongue of the man.


For on the sixth day of the days of truth Adam was created as one, and as one in truth they were commanded to be fruitful and multiply.  But having given voice to the lie, Adam lost the unifying power of the truth, and having become divided as two, they became many, without the power of unification as one in the truth. 


The man stole the 7 days of truth and falsely claimed them in his own name; the woman also stole the seven days of creation in her own name.  When the man, through the lie, immorally gave the 7 days, which were not his to give, to himself for sustenance, he also gave them to his wife for sustenance.  And she, having stole them as if in her own right, also immorally gave them to herself and to her husband.  They also immorally gave them to their children.  And the lie taught each of their children its ways. 


Therefore for each of the children to be rectified there is a measure of 49 days of rectification which are not days in their lives but days wherein their souls must be converted during the time of the world from the way of the lie of stealing and immorality and blaspheme and idolatry and cruelty and murder and falsified peace to the way of the truth of creation.  As such there are many years and many generations represented in these days according to the number of souls which shall be rectified and restored to one, which Heaven alone can measure.  But all of these things the Creator of the 7 days of truth revealed in private to the children of Israel, to be known in their house alone, by them and by their guests.

The Suffering Messiah of Israel

Image by Minamie's Photo via Flickr

"The following is the lead post from my new site:
Scent Essence of Jerusalem

Jesus/Yeshua/Yehoshua did not separate himself from Israel. For the sake of the world learning the nature of his faithfulness he has endured for a long time all efforts to separate him from Israel. He will not allow these efforts to continue forever. Soon he will make all the world to know that no one can call him Christ/Messiah/Mashiach before the Father who seeks to separate him from Israel. But anyone who has done so who has not known what they were doing will be forgiven.""

 
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