"I Will Guarantee Him"

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We will look at BT Bava Basra 173b through 174a where B'reshit 43:9ff. is discussed, and from this we will come to certain revelations and observations about the nature of the Exile/Galut and the Redemption/Ge'ullah.

From the story of Reuben and Judah seeking for their father to allow Benjamin to return with them to Egypt to buy grain the category of a kablan gaurantee is known.

"When Jacob balked at allowing Benjamin to accompany his brothers down to Egypt, Judah declared: I will guarantee him, from my hand you can demand him." See ArtScroll Schottenstein ed. of BT.

"The fact that Judah said, אערבנו I will guarantee him, presumes that there is an institution of ערבות, guarantorship, upon which Judah modeled his commitment to Jacob." ibid.

It would appear from the language of the Talmud that it is this very "institution of guarantorship" to which Judah made reference in his appeal to Jacob that forms the basis of a קבלנות, a kablan guarantee.  Such a guarantee is essentially without condition, where the person who guarantees a loan puts himself entirely in the position of the borrower.

Now the word, קבלנות, a kablan guarantee, is clearly related to the word, קבלה, kabbalah, meaning received tradition, which can also be said to be the meaning of the word, "institution", as used by ArtScroll in the notes quoted above.  That is to say, we can understand that it was to the kabbalah or received tradition of the kablan guarantee that Judah appealed in pleading with his father, Jacob, to allow Benjamin to be taken down into Egypt for the buying of grain.

It is most important, then, to clarify that Rueben was the actual "borrower" of Benjamin from Jacob, on behalf of all the brothers, but that Jacob would not "loan" Benjamin until Judah promised to guarantee the "loan" as a kablan guarantor.  This is the explanation of Ritva.  See ArtScroll ibid.

Let's put what we have found here into the context of the whole of the story of these occurrences as given in B'reshit:

First, G-d sends famine (prefiguring famine of the word of G-d in the last days, Amos 8:11) and Israel suffers from this along with all the world.

Joseph, in the authority of the office of Pharaoh, requires Benjamin to be brought down to him before he will sell Israel grain.  (The mystery of the famine is the mystery of "Joseph" being hidden in Egypt already, seeming to be a gentile.  The aspect of the word of G-d that Israel needs in order to survive will not be given to them until the mystery of "Joseph" is discovered and solved by the brothers.  The resolution of the mystery of "Joseph" depends on the resolution of the mystery of "Benjamin".  This is by design of "Joseph" himself.)

In the story, Simeon is being held as "collateral" for Benjamin.  Judah becomes guarantor of Benjamin.  (Until Judah approaches Joseph as the kablan guarantor of Benjamin without recognizing Joseph but still thinking of him as a gentile who holds the power of life and death over Israel it does not become possible for Joseph to reveal himself to his brothers and therefore for Ephraim and Manasseh to "take hold of" Judah, as in Zechariah 8:23.)

Joseph reveals himself to his brothers.  (He reveals that he has served as the kablan guarantor of all Israel from the time that Jacob returned to the land after his servitude with Laban.)

Now we might expect that after this the famine would end and Israel would immediately dwell with affluence in the Land and even that Joseph, with Manasseh and Ephraim, would return to the Land.  But instead we see that Joseph's revealing himself to his brothers results in all Israel being exiled into Egypt, albeit into the area of Goshen.  Why?

We see that in Joseph's demanding that Benjamin be brought down into Egypt there was more than just a testing of his brothers.  When Judah and his brothers recognized Joseph there was a great repentance on the level of knowledge, but there would be a deeper and fuller repentance possible for them on the level of experience.  As Joseph experienced exile, so they also would experience exile.  Through this experience, ultimately, the cause of the disunity between the brothers in the first place would itself be rectified.

So we see that the famine (of the word of G-d) was the actual beginning of the Egyptian Captivity.  And now we can begin to understand the significance of this.  For in the last days the brothers will learn that the rectification of their unity is the rectification necessary for the rectification of the testimony of Abraham and Sarah, when they turned to Hagar and brought forth the brother of the promised seed, that is to say, Ishmael, the brother of Isaac.

Now these things were understood by Jacob in his End of Days blessing of the tribes of Israel.  From this study on the kablan guarantor we can ask, How is it that Joseph was "owed" Benjamin?  And how is it that the captivity of Egypt "repays" Joseph?  Asking these questions will lead us to look at the 400/210 years of the Egyptian Captivity in light of the 70 weeks spoken of in the Book of Daniel, which "are determined upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."  Daniel 9:24.  This we will do in a latter study, G-d willing.

Here we can observe that from seeing the prophetic "death and resurrection" of Joseph, after the similitude of that of his father, Isaac, Jacob understood that Joseph had been given the (prophetic) position of the firstborn.  Furthermore, he saw that this did not take away from the twelve tribes, or Reuben's being the firstborn on the level of the unification of the twelve tribes, but added to (c.f. Yoseph), or saved, the twelve tribes, forming the position of a thirteenth tribe, as it were.  And to carry forth this very testimony, Jacob not only gave each of the tribes the appropriate prophetic blessing, he also chose Ephraim as his firstborn.  Understand this well.

Accordingly, when Israel came to sin with the golden calf, blemishing the testimony of the firstborn of Israel, it was possible for the tribe of Levi to be placed in the position of the thirteenth tribe of Israel and in the office of the tribe of the firstborn, as it were, for the sake of the rectification of this blemish.

Now in conclusion we may observe that the tradition to which Judah appealed to Jacob to allow him to take Benjamin down into Egypt was the tradition of the one who gave himself as a kablan guarantor for Adam before the creation of Adam, that is to say, Mashiach. 

When Adam Becomes Abraham

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The Zohar teaches that Abraham was the first convert.  To what was he converted?  He was converted to the word of G-d's blessing from the word of G-d's curse upon Adam.  Another way to say that he was the first convert is to say that he was or is the head convert.  As the head convert he is the head of Adam and Adam is no longer his head.  As the head convert to the blessing, he is the head convert to be joined to the one in whom the blessing is to be found.  Who is this one?  It is the one who crushes the head of the evil inclination, the serpent, and makes the the evil inclination the setting for the throne of goodness.  This is the Mashiach, the eternal Son of Adam, to whom as the Malkut, the Kingdom, Abraham the new head of Adam in the female role, is united.

Find background for this understanding at:
http://www.inner.org/audio/aid/E_038.htm
Find the crucial information primarily in the audio lesson there.

How long is the conversion process of Adam becoming Abraham?

Consider the following:

Parshat Emor: Bridging The Gap
Based on a Naaleh.com shiur on Chassidut by Rabbi Herschel Reichman

"Parshat Emor begins with a command to the kohanim not to become defiled with tumat meit. "Emor el hakohanim bnei Aharon v'amarta aleheim...." The midrash asks why the verse repeats the expression, "emor" and "v'amarta?" It answers by explaining a difference in the way Hashem interacts with angels and with people. When Hashem speaks to the angels in the upper worlds, he only needs to speak once. However, when He addresses people, who possess evil inclinations, He needs to repeat Himself twice.

The Avnei Nezer explains that when a person hears Hashem once he is obviously hearing a truth that is important for him to know. He knows intellectually that this is Hashem's will, and he can accept it. However, integrating this concept from his mind into his heart and body is more complex. An angel's actions are completely controlled by his intellect. In contrast, man encounters tremendous resistance in converting his awareness of proper behavior into real action. He needs to work through a process to move from knowledge to emotion to action. Therefore, Hashem had to exhort the kohanim twice in order to shift the command from their mind to their heart and body.

Why can we know what is right and wrong in the moral sphere, but still have such a difficult time translating it to reality? The Shem MiShmuel traces this back to the first sin of Adam. Before the sin, Adam knew clearly what was correct and had no problem transferring it to action. When he sinned, evil entered his heart and body and created barriers that were not subservient to the dictates of his mind. They blocked his view of right and wrong and influenced the way he behaved. This remains one of the greatest challenges for man today. The Shem Mishmuel advises that the power of Torah study can clear the channel between our minds and our hearts and body. Indeed, Chazal say, "Barati yetzer hara, barati Torah tavlin." Hashem says, I created the evil inclination, but I created the Torah as its antidote.

The curse of death is another result of the sin of Adam. The body and mind that were disconnected during life become completely severed from each other in death. This is the idea of tumat meit. The body that refused to submit itself to the soul in life is now separated and becomes impure. Anyone who comes in contact with a corpse is sullied spiritually. Death manifests the calamity of sin and the breakdown of man.

The Shem MiShmuel notes that Aharon Hakohen epitomized harmony between people, and in turn shleimut between mind and body. He helped people find internal peace so they could open the channel between their spiritual-intellectual side and their physical side. This is the antithesis of death and that is why Aharon and the kohanim were forbidden to come in contact with tumat meit.

The Zohar says Shabbat is the secret of unity. On Shabbat, a Jew can reconnect to the state of Adam before the sin. In Lecha Dodi we sing, "Kumi tze'i mitoch hahafeicha - Arise, go out from amidst the turmoil". The six days of the week represent human frailty, inconsistency, and our lack of connection between what we know and do. On Shabbat, we leave this confused existence and reconnect to wholesome harmony. We can put Shabbat in our minds throughout the week too, opening the door to inner peace and shleimut.

The Shem MiShmuel notes that emuna peshuta is another way to achieve internal harmony. The yetzer hara creates complicating factors to prevent us from acting correctly. The greatness of the Jewish nation at Mt. Sinai was that they said "Naaseh v'nishma," a simple acceptance of G-d's will. They had simple faith and thereby merited to receive the Torah.

Let us work on strengthening our Torah study, Shabbat observance, and emuna peshuta and may this help bring Mashiach who will lead the world to ultimate perfection."

To listen to audio lesson:

Parshat Emor: Bridging the Gap
Teacher: Rabbi Hershel Reichman

Go to:

http://www.naaleh.com/viewclass/683/single/

Know this, when the nations are able to fully rest with Israel, in service of Israel, on Shabbat, then the conversion of Adam/Abram to Abraham will be complete and the word of blessing, which is consummated in Mashiach, will be consummated in Abraham: 'In you all the families of the earth will be blessed'.

Also, you may want to listen to Rabbi Gedaliah Kenig's radio talk on "Becoming Adam"

Isaiah 66

18	For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will  gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
19	And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of  them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal,and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the  Gentiles.
20	And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out  of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as  the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of  the LORD.
21	And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD.
22	For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
23	And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.

Mark 1:1 Genesis 1:1

Mar_1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
Mar 1:1 adapted בראשׁית בשורת ישוע המשיח בן־האלהים׃

Gen 1:1 בראשׁית ברא אלהים את השׁמים ואת הארץ׃
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth;


Here is the same mystery of the commandment of God for creation to obey and be as commanded, wherein there is a limitation inherent in the creation's obedience, which is a reflection, not of the word given as commandment but of creation itself according to its nature of limitedness.

Now then, as there was the necessity of the Word of God to enter into the roll of creation and assist the obedience by modifying the form of the declarative commandment into the imperative, Let there be light, for the heavens and earth ought to have shinned with light from the declarative commandment alone, so also in the re-creation the beginning has the need of further assistance from the Word of God before it will be fully obeyed.

For the assistance of God in creation entailed the condescension of God to an act of six days of work, so also the rectification of the world requires not only this condescension of God but more. This is the mystery of Bereshith, both in the creation and in the re-creation of the world, the good news of Yehoshua HaMashiach.

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The Image of God. Who Serves Who?

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Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

On the basis of these verses it has been said that the animals and other creatures were created on a level below Adam to serve Adam.  This statement requires explicit clarification in order that it can be understood to teach, as it ought to be understood, that humanity will be held responsible by the Creator of all creatures for their welfare, rather than being understood to teach that humanity can look on all other creatures as being given to it by the Creator as mere resources or slave beings for use in its own self-gratification.

First, it is important to realize that while Adam was made in the image of his and her Creator, it is only the Son of Adam who is said to actually be the image of the Creator.  Thus it is only by our unification with him that the Creator can actively express his image through us.  As we read:

From Hebrews 1:1-3 God...has... spoken unto us by his Son... Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person...

John 5:19 Then answered Yehoshua and said unto them, With certain truth, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do: for whatsoever things he does, these also the Son does likewise.

What things, then, do we see that the Son has done?  From these things we will know what the Father does.  We read:

From Philippians 2:5-7 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Mashiach Yehoshua:  Who...made himself of no reputation, and took the form of a servant...

Clearly, from these actions of the Son we know that the Father, the Creator of all, serves all, even graciously lowering himself to the lowest level in order to be the servant of all and to sustain the existence and life and welfare of all through his own unselfishness.

We should be careful, therefore, that we do not understand our being given dominion over all other creatures in a way that makes us proud and puffed up, as if it were a matter for us to boast about and a reason for our having a measure of disdain for our Creator's other creatures.  If we are more important to our Creator than the sparrow (Luke 12:7) it is not because the sparrow is less inherently divine than we are but because we were given free choice, so that we might take the responsibility to become the servant of the sparrow and all other creatures, as the Creator himself is the servant of all, and the sparrow and all other creatures were created to be our assistants in this work of serving the Great Servant and all his creation. 

Thus it is for us to know only that our responsibility is greater than that of the sparrow, for we are responsible for the welfare of many sparrows.  This knowledge, then, should fill us with modesty and not with pride and is the true meaning of Adam being delegated the dominion over all creatures of the earth by the Great Servant and Creator of all.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Mashiach Yehoshua...

A Little Lower than Elohim

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John 10:34 Yehoshua answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, You are elohim?
35 If he called them elohim, unto whom the word of Elohim came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 You say of him, whom the Father has sanctified, and sent into the world, You blasphemy; because I said, I am the Son of Elohim? 

Let us look at some of the Scriptural background to the exchange from which this quote is taken:

Deuteronomy 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other elohim, even that prophet shall die.

Psalms 82
1 Elohim stands in the congregation of El; in the midst of elohim he judges.
2 How long will you judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
6 I have said, You are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
7 But you shall die as mortals, and fall like one of the princes.
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for you shall inherit all nations.

Psalms 8
1 O HASHEM our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth! who has set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have ordained strength because of your enemies, that you might still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;
4 What is adam, that you are mindful of them? and the son of adam, that you are present with him?
5 For you have made him a little lower than the elohim, and have crowned him with glory and honour.
6 You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field;
8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passes through the paths of the seas.
9 O HASHEM our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth!

Hosea 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea,
which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass,
that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them,
The children of the living Elohim. 

Yehoshua asked, When the Scriptures call you elohim, why are you offended when I say that I am the Son of Elohim?

In order to understand this, we can look at another Scripture, one that can tie the children of Israel being called the children of Israel being called the children of the living Elohim together with their being themselves called elohim.

Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. 

God's (Elohim's) choice of Israel is His choice to be with Adam even in Adam's fallen state, even in Adam's death. It is a choice of grace and mercy, but it is also a choice of judgment, for only one branch of the family tree of Adam is chosen. Indeed, God chose to direct the creation of this family branch of Adam Himself, and to call it His own and to be revealed to the lost world through His choice of it and ultimately through its corporate salvation. Just as every family branch of Adam is fallen because there is a corporate solidarity to Adam that remains, and must remain in order for Adam (mankind) to be Adam, so Israel also in Adam is in a fallen state. In every family branch of Adam, every nation or people, there is a natural affinity for the original sin of Adam, a disposition of rebellion against Elohim and a proclivity for seeking knowledge and wisdom that should belong to Elohim alone. In Israel, this affinity for the original sin of Adam was illustrated by the sin of the golden calf.

In suffering with Israel all that she suffers (Isaiah 63:9) there is the aspect of HaShem being there with Adam and cHavah in their fall, at least to the degree that He was present with that representative part of Adam which HaShem chose to be His nation, Israel. We can say, then, that Adam-Israel fell from the original hight in which Adam was created by turning to their own understanding and seeking to be as Elohim by the act of disobedience to Elohim in seeking wisdom and the knowledge of good and evil in its entirety in their own experience, having the beginning and end of that knowledge in their own experience without need of Elohim and thereby making themselves to be Elohim.

Now, what is this that HaShem was there with them by way of His suffering with them in this, their error, and in their falling from their hight but that He was made thereby a little lower than Elohim? For, indeed, Elohim was made a little lower than Elohim in order to suffer with Israel. This is because the one who was created a little lower than Elohim tried to make itself to be a little above Elohim and Elohim would not let them fall all the way to destruction. Rather, He made Himself personally to be their foundation so that when they should fall they should fall upon Him.

Thus it is that we see the suffering of Knesset Israel and the suffering of Mashiach as one. As it is one below, so it is one above, for as Israel is repentant and walks in the ruach of HaShem she is elevated to the rectification of her transgression. What is the rectification of her transgression? It is that she should have understanding and wisdom from above and not from below. Because she desired wisdom and did not simply desire disobedience she can hear the correction to the sin that she sought to give what was not hers to give, (the goodness and wisdom of the forbidden fruit). For wisdom is for nothing but to give. However, she sought to give as from herself as the source of giving while the source of giving was not hers. Therefore, being deceived through her desire to be the provider of all that is good she deceived the world and became worthy of condemnation, but HaShem was gracious to her and showed her the suffering of Mashiach's love for her for the sake of her rectification of all things from evil to good, and yet seeing her lacking of the Divine Presence of Elohim within her, she (Israel) repented, (she shall repent entirely when her hour comes), that she might become a true and complete instrument of goodness. Through walking in repentance she was thus elevated to the level of reconciliation with the One who loved her and gave Himself for her, the level of her sufferings being accounted as one with His sufferings. Thus, above, she is Knesset Israel, and she ascends from below unto herself and unto her beloved. Through Mashiach she is elevated again to be a little lower than Elohim, the place of her origin and her life and the place of her eternal estate.

Luke 20:36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of Elohim, being the children of the resurrection.

Emanation

The infinite point of emanation
from the One that is not like anyone ~

The Infinite Eternal One imploding with the gift of light ~
Divine luminescence imploding
becomes emanation exploding in a singularity,
as the singular point of potential emerges ~
Imploding and exploding of the Infinite One beyond eternity,
of the Eternal One beyond infinity,
is the gift of potential time, potential space,
a potential space for eternity,
a potential time for infinity ~
The True One giving all
without losing at all ~
Out of the Fulness,
the potential point of nothing,
in order that there can be something created
from nothing
and something more,
until there is enough,
a potential line,
a potential sphere,
a potential soul ~
The potential line drawing a beam of light
into and out of the finite continuous spatial point,
expanding potential into actual ~
Directions six ~
A circling six
orbiting a circling six ~
Expanding through infinite contraction,
until there is enough ~
The global Reason Why of the One being a gift,
a gift of being with the many,
the many given to Himself
and to one another
and to themselves ~
A billion light years in a moment of space ~
A billion billion souls in the space of six days ~

42

It has been said:

"One of the secrets of 42 in Kabbalah in relation to the creation of the universe is that the Divine act of creation begins with God's saying yehi ("let there be...") = 25, and concludes with God's seeing His creation to be tov ("good") = 17. 25 (the beginning of the creative process) plus 17 (the conclusion of the creative process) = 42 (the all-inclusive power of creation)."

However, precisely speaking the Divine act of creation did not begin with the imperative, "Let there be.." If one understands the relationship of "Let there be..," to Bereshit..., then it is possible to also understand the place and value of the values of 17 and 25 in this context. For the imperative has reference to the grace and faithfulness (which is to say, obedience) of G-d's word in the aspect of an imperative, "Let it be.. and there was..."

What does this mean? Can G-d's word obey G-d's word? To understand this clearly one must understand how G-d's command, His imperative, "Let there be light," was spoken as a part of, an assisting or helping of, the heavens and earth which already existed. Just as G-d first

The Ein Sof and the emanation of worlds

commanded Israel to have faith in Him by simply stating that He is the Lord, their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, so He at first commanded all things to exist and to be in perfect accord with His Torah, without imperfection, simply by stating that in the beginning He created the heavens and the earth. For the father who loves his child will at first let his child know his will simply by stating it. But afterwards, if his child does not fulfill the father's will, having been told it in confidence, then the father will turn and use an imperative form of speech and will give his child a direct command, Go and do this or that which I am commanding you.

However, in creating the world G-d was very careful not to seem to be correcting the heavens and the earth by seeming instead to be improving the expression of His own will by making His will that there should be light explicit. Thus we see that just as the commandmet that there should be light is G-d's word, so this light which obeyed the commandmet is G-d's word. This is His light that was not created, but rather preceded creation, becoming the original divinely created light of creation. For the heavens and earth themselves, on their own, were unable to shine in response to G-d's implied commandment, His first word, His statement, recorded in Genesis 1:1, that in the beginning He created the heavens and the earth. For in partial obedience to this word of G-d the heavens and earth come to exist, but had they obeyed the intent of this Torah they would have not only immediately come to exist but would have immediately come to shine with the light of the glory of their Creator.

However, it was necessary that G-d should assist them in their obedience. And so, accordingly, He condescended to Himself command the light to exist, in order that His creation might glorify Him. And it was, therefore in this act of assistance that the word of G-d acted in solidarity with the creature and attributed G-d's own merit to the merit of the heavens and the earth, thus becoming, as it were, not only the Author of creation but also a part of creation. This, then, is the aspect here of 25 and it was because of this aspect that G-d said, "It is good", the aspect of 17. One can begin to see the outline of Mashiach therefore, in the 42 letter name of G-d.

Free Will

You have almost endless choices in life. But most of those choices you or other people have created. Many others are incidental or inconsequential. You might make any such choices in this way or in that way. Is this free will? What good to you are choices that G-d has not created?

How many choices actually constitute choices of free-will? Certainly only those choices which G-d Himself creates for you, for only G-d has the power to guarantee that what you choose is what you'll get. Yet what does it mean to say that even such choices are free?

What does G-d have to do in order to make them free for you? What did G-d have to do in order to make Adam's choice free, to disobey G-d and eat of the Tree of the Kowledge of Good or Evil, or to obey G-d and not eat of it? Did He not have to create and destroy worlds?

We want to say that free choice is free in the sense of free will, that there is no constraint forcing you to choose one way or the other. But if you knew the consequences fully of each way you might decide would it not affect your decision? So is ignorance of the possible consequences a necessary part of free will?

But you are intelligent. How can you have no idea of what the consequences of your choices might be? In fact G-d told Adam what the consequences of disobedience would be and by implication what the consequences of obedience would be. It had to be through unbelief in what G-d said that Adam became ignorant of this. Is unbelief therefore a necessary element in free-will?

We run into many problems when we seriously try to understand free will and free choice. Perhaps we are at fault for creating these problems by using such a broad term as "free" in the first place. Do we simply not mean, unconstrained choice? And is it not really something more like responsible and accountable will that we are thinking of in describing this certain attribute of Adam?

What then do we mean by saying that there are choices that G-d has directly created and those which He has not directly created, but that have been created by G-d's creatures? It is clear what we mean when we say that G-d has given someone a choice. The choice consits of something in particular but what is most important about it is that it is a choice that is a part of G-d's relationship with that person. That is what was most important about Adam's choice.

Having to make the choice meant that Adam and cHavah had to choose what relationship they would have with G-d. In fact, it is only in this aspect that there is any free will or can be any free choice. For human beings, like other creatures, have no power and therefore no freedom to change anything in the world in any way on their own, that is to say, if G-d does not empower their choice. So every choice that is actually free to make a difference in the world is only free within the relationship that exists between G-d and Adam.

Free will is not something that exists in a vacuum - as if G-d created it as a power that Adam could use on their own and having created it then stepped back out of the way. But this is the way we often speak of it and think of it, as if we had been given power over creation to do as we will, and G-d had bound Himself to not interfere until the end when He would judge the results. These ideas just show our arrogance and insensitivity to G-d. No such power independent from G-d exists. Everywhere G-d actually gives us a choice He gives it to us knowing full well that He is the only power that can make any real changes in the world. Indeed, G-d is the only power.

We should ask again, What is free will? What is free choice? It is something that only exists in G-d's love. If free will only exists in G-d's love then every choice which He gives to us which we make as He desires is a choice made in a manner that brings Him joy and every choice given to us which is made in a manner which He does not desire is a choice made in a manner that brings Him pain. And there is no other kind of free will.

Do we fear the day of judgment when G-d will look at what we have done and be pleased with us or displeased? Whatever we have done through the choices He gave us has already brought G-d joy or caused Him pain. Otherwise it would not have had any power to be done by us at all. On the day of judgment we will know this. We will know the joy we brought G-d and the pain we brought G-d. We will know that every choice that was given to us from Above that we made, we made in intimate relationship with our Creator, even if we deceived ourselves and did not believe it at the time.

It is time that we stopped thinking of ourselves as having any power apart from G-d to effect things either for good or for evil. It is time that we faced the truth that while we have turned our backs on G-d, He has not turned His back on us, otherwise we would not be here at all. It is time that we began to wonder about the mystery of G-d's love for us and how He suffers so much on account of us every day. It is time that we became again like very little children and prayed for help in making every choice that He gives to us. Then we will begin to know the true meaning of free will.

Bereshith and the First Commandment

"I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

This, the first commandment to Israel is not given in the form of an grammatical imperative. What does this fact say to us?

It is as if one said to his child, “I am your father!” From this the child ought to understand the implied meaning to be, “Believe in me! Obey me!” And from this chosen form of expression the child would be elevated much higher than if it were necessary for the father to say, “Believe in me! Obey me!” directly. For this direct expression would convey an element of rebuke and an implication that the child could not understand its relationship to the father naturally if reminded. This is the situation in the case of the giving of the Torah to Israel with the first commandment. In the case of the creation of the world. It was also not fitting that G-d should immediately command creation to come to be with a direct imperative, which would have had an overtone element of rebuke due to the lack of a gentle, soft form of expression.

Thus it is that just as the first imperative to Israel is, as it were, a hidden imperative, so the first imperative to the world to come to exist out of nothing is, as it were, a hidden imperative: Bereshith... In this form the commandment to heavens and earth to come to be is given like the statement of the fact that G-d created them. This is in the manner of a father saying, as it were in a statement of fact, to his child, "I am your father!" Heaven and earth were to understand themselves to be created from this statement of G-d creating them and being their Creator and obediently come forth and exist through the hearing of this statement.

On the nature of the soul of Adam

From Bereshit - Midrash Rabba:

"If Adam had been created out of spiritual elements only there could be no death for him, in the event of his fall. If, on the other hand, he had been created out of matter only, there could be no future bliss for him. Hence he was formed out of matter and spirit. If he lives the earthly, i.e., the animal life only, he dies like all matter; if he lives a spiritual life he obtains the spiritual future bliss."

Such observations as this make a statement about a certain aspect of human nature with poetic language. If the language is understood as though it were speaking clinically about the nature of the relationship of life and matter in the human being it could seem to be saying that in animals life and matter are of the same mortal nature but in Adam life and matter are of entirely different natures and that they are simply stuck together by some mysterious force, the mortal and the immortal.

It is very important that this misimpression not occur, or that if it does occur that it is corrected. Just as in all animals, life and matter in the human being are organically one. It is not somehow unnatural for the spiritual force of life to be united with matter in the human being but not in other creatures. Such a notion can lead to all sorts of false philosphies and theologies.

To clarify this, the distinction between Adam and the animals according to the Torah of G-d is that Adam was created with the potential of obeying or disobeying G-d's commandment. This unique potential meant that Adam's form of life had the potential for transcending mortality. This does not mean that all the other living creatures of heaven and earth have no hope of immortality. Precisely to the contrary, Adam is by nature so intedependent in creation with all other creatures that Adam could never be transformed into an immortal condition, body and soul, without all creation being transformed with them. If this transformation of all creation did not occur, Adam would simply not be Adam.

How Adam fell into complete mortality and therefore doomed all creation but was not abandoned in this state by the God of Israel is the story of the joy of all creation!

Introduction to Bereshit, The Revelation of Messiah and Kabbalah

PART ONE

Before anything else we will address the question of the relationship of the Messiah to the Ein Sof, the Infinite-Eternal Divine One.

When the question of this relationship was raised in a dialogue with Yehoshua he said,

Is it not written in your Torah, I said, You are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; do you say of him, of him whom the Father has sanctified, and sent into the world, You blasphemy; because I said, I am the Son of God?

If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I do, though you do not believe me, believe the works: that you may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

In chapter 1 of the Tanya we read:

ונפש השנית בישראל היא חלק אלו-ה ממעל ממש
"The second, uniquely Jewish, soul is truly 'a part of G-d above...'”
On the face of it, this can sound like a form of pantheism, but is it? Yehoshua, when he discussed these things with certain Judeans appears to have insisted upon the understanding of the passage from the Psalms that would teach us that those to whom he spoke were "a part of G-d", that is to say that they were elohim.

Read the whole study >>

Christian/Jewish Dialogue

Many seekers of Torah truth today are coming from the Christian tradition, from one stream of the Christian tradition or another. Some feel they can leave the Christian tradition behind them entirely and enter the road of conversion to Judaism. Others do not want to leave the Christian tradition behind them but, rather, desire to rectify their spiritual inheritance and experience. Many of these would say that it is the very teacher of Christianity, Jesus, (Yehoshua) who is ultimately leading them to seek the truth of the Torah. For such people, clarification of what a Christian/Jewish dialogue might be is of the greatest importance.
One fact should always be clear right up front. There cannot be a complete dialogue with Judaism without a dialogue involving some aspect of Jewish Kabbalah.

On Ex Nihilo

"...one will not find an explicit statement... in the Bible ...that matter was created by God from nothing..." http://tektonics.org/af/exnihilo.html

Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

"This passage brews a storm of controversy over a single word that is rendered here as 'created': the Hebrew word bara. Does it indicate ex nihilo creation?" (ibid.)

NOTE: Why does the Torah not state the doctrine of creation ex nihilo explicitly? Because, when talking about this, creation itself can never be the primary subject. When talking about creation only God, the Creator can be the primary subject. Creation cannot be in the foreground and God in the background. People, thinking from their own point of view may try to do this, but the Bible will never do this. The Bible begins with God and from God's point of view. Of course this is only possible for us to follow by means of literary suggestion, but at the same time, if we follow it we are not starting from our own point of view.

What happens if we do start from our own point of view? Various things may happen but in the end our conclusions will contain the limitations of our own point of view and our understanding and learning will not be able to transcend these limitations. Our minds, however we expand them, will never be able to develop beyond the parameters of their original structural premises.

2 Maccabees 7:28 I beseech thee, my son, look upon the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, and consider that God made them of things that were not; and so was mankind made likewise.

But is it really possible for us to start to learn about creation from God's point of view and not from our own point of view? Even as just-born infants when we hear and listen, just as when we see, do we not have an innate point of view or experiential reference point of awareness? If we are not God but other-than-God, then how can we ever begin to learn anything from God's point of view? With this question we come to face the problem or question of creation ex nihilo not objectively (as we tried to do by starting from our own point of view) but subjectively. If God alone is the 'something' and we are the 'nothing' in relation to God, can we learn anything from God's point of view, even from writings that purport to be from God?

If our answer will be yes, then we are beginning with faith in the power of the words of the Torah to accomplish a victory over the gulf between God's existence and our non-existence in relation to God that is akin to the victory that is claimed by the Torah's account of the original victory of God's word over the absence of creation. More than this, we will be attributing our faith in the recorded words of the Torah to the divine power of those words themselves to produce our faith in them. For we are not talking about starting from our own point of view but from God's point of view.

Thus when we read, "In the beginning God..." we take by faith as a given, on the authority of these words of the Torah, that God already existed in the beginning, and therefore had always existed. How truly we actually believe this claim of the Torah and how the original Hebrew words actually read are two other subjects that we need to explore, but our exploration of either or both of these subjects will not change this basic principle that the Torah is recording an account of the process of creation with the Creator, and the pre-existence of the Creator as a given, so that we must accept the authority of the Torah completely or not accept it at all. Nevertheless, though this is the choice we are given, in our human nature we do not make the choice we are given but try to both believe and not believe the Torah's claim.

This is illustrated by the fact that we try to think about the question of creation from our own point of view. Dualism and atheism ultimately end by outright denying the Torah's claim. But sincere efforts to establish the doctrine of creation ex nihilo starting from our own point of view (with ourselves as the implicit given) demonstrate the ambiguity of our response to the claim of the Torah that God alone can be the given and God's point of view alone the starting point of understanding and learning. For by seeking from our own point of view to establish the doctrine of creation ex nihilo objectively we are seeking to overcome our resistance to the claim of the Torah. We are attempting to accomplish an action that nullifies itself, and in doing so nullifies, in principle, our own point of view. Thus we are trying to nullify ourselves in principle in order to help ourselves be able to listen to the word of God. This is an exercise that may or may not be useful.

Because the human response is ambiguous at best to God's claim in the Torah to all authority of thought and learning, it becomes apparent that bringing humans into a full acceptance of and faith in the authority of the word of God requires God to go through a process of some length. Beginning, then, with whatever measure of faith in its claim of authority for all thought and learning it finds, by beginning from God's point of view,  the Torah continues...

To begin with God, and with God alone, as given is to state gracefully and without argument that God did not create out of anything pre-existent, and then, without having another thought for this question, to go on to the question of how God, who was all in all, came to share existence with that which was, and is, other than God. In Hebrew, in the first verse of Bereshith (Genesis), we can read of the 'et' את of the heavens and the 'et' את of the earth, which, if it were translatable as more than a direct object marker might say, "the 'with' of the heavens and the 'with' of the earth." This allows us some room to ask the question specifically, if God was alone and there was nothing 'with' God, then where in relation to God was that which was not God created?

Asking this question we are led by its legitimacy toward accepting the validity of reading the Hebrew, 'et' את, as meaning "with" (in a metaphysical sense) and not as only being an object marker in this verse. God, who was alone, had to create a "withness" in relation to himself, a metaphysical space, for the heavens and the earth before he could create their material or spiritual manifestation. This leads us toward acceptance of the teachings of the Ari, the great Middle-Ages Kabbalist, on this subject. We find in the teachings of the Ari the concept of the tzimztum, the metaphysical space of the relative absence of the presence of God that God created first in order to create the universe.

We can think together with the Ari of this tzimztum, this space created by God for creation, as circle or a sphere, from our point of view, the 'et' את of the earth, the boundaries in which the earth and the heavens are created, which are defined only by God and the 'place' or 'boundary' of the full presence of God, where God remains alone and creation does not exist. So then, in Isaiah 40:22 we see a progression from the earth at the center, or lowest point, of the created space up through the created heavens, progressively coming closer and closer to the 'edge' of creation and to the fullness of the presence of God.

It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in. (Isaiah 40:22)

Having begun to read Bereshith (Genesis) 1:1 as talking about the creation of the 'withness' which allowed for the unfolding in creation of the heavens and the earth, we have begun to prepare ourselves to go on to learn something about the primordial water that the Torah refers to as given through the creation of the 'et' את of the heavens and the 'et' את of the earth.

The 'Christian' Gemstone To Be Mined from Kabbalah

First read the following excerpts from the parsha commentary by Rabbi Winston for Haazinu 5763

"Thus, the Arizal explains that Dovid HaMelech did not have any intrinsic desire to make the mistakes he did, but rather, he was compelled to commit them BECAUSE of his lofty soul. For, as the rule goes, the greater the soul, the deeper the level from within the K'lipos which it originated. He continues, this time regarding another great individual whose mistakes had been even more costly:

"This is the sod of what Chazal said: Had you not been Dovid and he Shaul, I would have destroyed many Dovid's before Shaul (Moed Katan 16b)."
"In other words, G-d was telling Dovid HaMelech, before you celebrate your victory over Shaul HaMelech, who, in your eyes (and ours) had been a great sinner, realize that his soul was extremely elevated. Tried as he did, it was difficult for him to succeed because of where his soul emanated from. "However," G-d told Dovid HaMelech, "comparatively-speaking, you would have failed even faster!"

Note:
NOW UNDERSTAND HERE THE 'CHRISTIAN' APPLICATION THAT CAN BE MADE TO THE MYSTERY OF THE MESSIAH, HIS SUFFERING AND HIS ATONEMENT FOR THE APOSTASY OF ISRAEL.

R. Winston continues -->
"In other words, while in essence G-d is completely unaffected by the actions of man, He acts as if He is, with respect to history, to make our free-will choices count. To allow our thoughts, words, and actions to have REAL consequences, He acts as if He is unable to interfere with them WHEN - and this is one of the most important conditions of all of history - it suits the master plan for creation."

Note:
THE FULL POWER OF THIS STATEMENT CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD IN THE WHOLE CONTEXT OF KABBALAH. WHEN IT IS UNDERSTOOD IT ILLUMINATES THE DOCTRINE OF THE MESSIANIC ATONEMENT AS NO 'CHRISTIAN' THEORY OF THE ATONEMENT HAS BEEN ABLE TO DO.

My final comment at this point:
I will elaborate at a later time upon what I have said here about using this Jewish framework of thought for understanding the atonement of Mashiach. What I want to say at this point is that because there is such a great treasure as a reward in the understanding of the teaching of Kabbalah as the illumination of the atonement of (Christ) Mashiach, I am studying that teaching here on this site. I will start with a Kabbalistic study that can be found online, which not only teaches some basic ideas of Kabbalah but also seeks to use its expositon of Genesis to further the ecumenical dialogue in the world.

Forming The Seed of Redemption

There was a divinity connector created in Adam. Adam was whole - was what the word of God defined Adam to be - only as linked to God. The fall of Adam broke the divinity connection and damaged the faculty for connection that was created as a part of Adam. This was a critical situation for Adam and insured a terminal condition, for Adam had fallen under the authority of death and was barred from the Tree of Life. 

If Adam was to be connected again to God, this divinity connector would have to be redeemed with God creating a new justification for life. Immediately, God swore an oath against the serpent who had deceived the woman, concerning the seed of the woman, which made hope and faith, in the coming of a new justification for life, possible. The Spirit of God then began to reestablish a connection with the woman and the man, Eve and Adam, and certain of their children, such, for example as, Enoch and Noah, giving life to hope and faith in this oath of God. This new connection was, in fact, a regeneration, a new spiritual birth, which began healing and rebuilding the divinity connector within Adam.

Next in this series, The Conception of Redemption.

Exegesis for the Parashah of Bereshit (Gen 1:1 – 5:8)

The Academy of Jerusalem – Torah from Zion Project,

The New Israeli Genesis Exegesis

(The Book of Genesis as a Redemptive Scenario and
Rebiographic Guide)

Exegesis for the Parashah of Bereshit (Gen 1:1 – 5:8)

QUESTION: WHAT DOES KABBALAH HAVE TO DO WITH REVELATION CHAPTER 10?

FIRST PLEASE CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING FROM:

http://www.thehope.org/toreng1.htm


The following is an excerpt from the above referenced work:

A. The Place of the Book of Genesis in the Pentateuch, and the Pattern of the first Genesis Parashah-Portion. According to the teachings of later (Lurianic) Kabbalah, the whole of Being (HaWaYaH) is structured in a five-stratum pattern (each as if “below” the predecessor), which are called:

1. Adam Kadmon (Primordial Humanity),
2) Atziluth (Emanation or Divine Consistency),
3) Beri’ah (Creation),4) Yetsirah (Formation),
5) Assiyah (Making or Actuality).

Most of these names are gleaned from the prophetic verse (Isaiah 43:7), which details the work of Creation: “every one that is called by my name (and recall that Adam is the one who calls names – Gen. 2:20), for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him, yea I have made him”. Of all these strata, only the one – the fifth and lowest one – is capable of {being known by} sensory perception.

We see the Action, but not the processes of Formation, not the thought that brings about the planning, and not the whole array of forces – “The Nature” or haTeva, which has the gematric value (the sum of the numerical values associated with the letters that make up the Hebrew word under consideration) of 86, which is the gematric value of Elohim (the word for “God” in the Book of Genesis).

(It should be noted that the word Elohim is in the plural form, as a plurality of forces or “Laws of Nature”. This means that, in a certain sense, Elohim-God is identical to “The Nature”, as we shall discuss in the sequel).________________________________________________

WHY STUDY THE ACADEMY OF JERUSALEM TEXT ON BERESHITH? WE NEED, FOR EXAMPLE, TO HAVE SOME AWARENESS OF KABBALAH IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THE EXPOSITION OF YASHANET ON THIS CHAPTER OF REVELATION. THE EXPOSITION OF YASHNET ON REVELATION CHAPTER 10 IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR US TO UNDERSTAND.
SEE THE FOLLOWING LINK:

http://www.yashanet.com/studies/revstudy/text/r10_1-11.htm

Midrash Rabbah - Esther VII:18 - How many hosts are at My service, how many lightnings, how many thunders,’ as it says, The Lord thundered with a great thunder (X Sam. VII, 10); ' how many Seraphim and how many angels! But My might shall go forth and fight with thee...’

KEY POINTS FROM YASHANET'S EXPOSITION OF REVELATION CHAPTER 10:

• THE ANGEL'S CLOUD CLOAK IS THE SHEKINAH.
• THE SEA AND LAND THAT THE ANGEL STRADDLES ARE WORLDS ABOVE AND BELOW.
• THAT THE THUNDERS WILL BE HEARD ABOVE AS WELL AS BELOW MEANS GOD'S JUDGMENT IS RAPIDLY APPROACHING ITS FINAL PHASE.
• THAT THE ANGEL IS SAID TO COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN MEANS THAT IT IS FROM A LEVEL ABOVE (BERIAH), AN ARCHANGEL, MOST LIKELY MICHAEL, OFTEN CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH THE LORD HIMSELF, SPEAKING WITH A VOICE OF SEVEN THUNDERS.
• THERE IS A FINAL RECTIFICATION IN THE HEAVENLIES JUST PRIOR TO THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH. THIS IS INDICATED BOTH BY WHERE THE ANGEL IS LOCATED AND BY THE TRIPLE OATH THAT HE UTTERS.
• THAT THERE IS NO MORE DELAY HAS REFERENCE TO THE REVELATION COMING NOW FULLY TO THE GROUND LEVEL.

Ezekiel 3:12-13 - Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice: "Blessed is the glory of the LORD from His place!" I also heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, and a great thunderous noise.


The following pertains to the above entry.

The Kabbalistic exegesis found on this site does not imply a competing interpretation of Genesis from the literal reading. It is built on the understanding given in the literal reading that in the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth.

***

Messianic teachings can clarify Jewish Kabbalistic teachings.

Read the complete note >>

Elohim As Binah

More From:
The Academy of Jerusalem – Torah from Zion Project

The New Israeli Genesis Exegesis

http://www.thehope.org/toreng1.htm

The text also testifies that the intention of the Creation was to form Adam-mankind beTsalmenu kiDemutenu - “in our Image-Tselem - after our Likeness” – (here too, God’s own regard to himself is in the plural form), as well as “so God created Mankind in his own image (Tselem), in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them (1:27). Namely: if the Adam is in the Image of God - also the converse is true: Elohim-God is in the Image-Tselem of “Adam”, and this is the hidden secret of “Adam Kadmon” – who is primordial and God-Elohim is made in his image.

In this context we may also note that the first word, Bereshit (commonly translated as “In the Beginning”, which gives less than one percent of its plethora of meanings) can also be read – as is done in the Zohar, not as the adverb ‘in the beginning”, but as a proper noun of a hidden entity who created God! “Bereshit created Elohim-God” – or, that through the agency of “the Beginning-Reshit” God-Elohim was created. The Book of the Zohar identifies this Bereshit with the Torah, and with this – with the Sephirah of Hokhmah-Wisdom, and bases this identification on the verse in the Proverbs (8:22), where Wisdom is personified as saying “the Lord created me in the beginning of his way”. This exegesis follows that of Bereshit Raba 1:1 that notes “there is no other Reshit (beginning) but the torah”.

The Zohar then equates the name Elohim (God) with the Sephirah of Binah (Understanding), which issues from Hokhmah-Wisdom. The first verse of the Book of Genesis can thus be understood as dealing with the creation of God-Elohim, or with the birth of heaven and earth, where Bereshit is the Father and Elohim-God is the Mother.

My Notes December 21, 2007
This can be understood in Mashiahch Yehoshua, through whom it can be seen that G-d made Himself a Creator when He created, that is to say that through beginning, Torah, wisdom, G-d created Himself into a Mother of worlds, the birth-giver of all structures = Elohim. This does not say that G-d could be created out of nothing but that the Eternal One could take on the aspect of the attribute of being created by creating. Through this attribute it was possible for G-d to be manifested in the flesh.

Elohim As The Laws of Nature

More From:
The Academy of Jerusalem – Torah from Zion Project

The New Israeli Genesis Exegesis

http://www.thehope.org/toreng1.htm

• The Book of the Zohar - which regards the Torah as an entity that preceded the creation of this world, something like a guidebook for the creation (see the introduction chapter above) – was revealed in our world at the precise beginning of the Sixth Millenium. Only at the sixth millenium of the Creation – or the sixth “Day” of the Hebrew Calendar, which is the “Day” for the creation of Adam – could there be performed the additional stage, the attempt to contend theologically with the concept of “Adam Kadmon”. From the Book of Etz Hayim (the Tree of Life) that relates the teachings of the Holy ARI of blessed memory, there is brought the conception that this Adam Kadmonis the primordial substance, which created the Torah, which in turn created God-Elohim who is the sum-total of the Laws of Nature.

My Note on this, written on December 21, 2007

In this paragraph Adam Kadmon must be understood as being the Thought of Mashiach in the mind of G-d before the Beginning. So that we have in John 1: "In the beginning was the word and the word was (already) with God, (for) the word was God."

General Note. Remember:

This Kabbalistic exegesis does not imply a competing interpretation of Genesis 1:1 from the literal reading. It is built on the understanding given in the literal reading that in the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth. The kabbalistic reading here is about how G-d did this and directs us to begin our thought about this with the understanding that in creating out of nothing, G-d added to His attributes, i.e., He created in and for Himself the attribute of being
a Creator - but since it is impossible for G-d to change in His attributes we have an apparent dilemma.

It would seem that either Creation always existed with G-d, or if it did not then G-d can change
in His attributes. Since neither of these can be true according to the revelation of the literal reading of Scripture, which we hear and obey by faith, then we must come to a place of understanding how both are true. The new Messianic Covenant Scriptures teach us how to come to exactly this understanding.

All new Messianic Covenant Scriptural teachings wrestle with nothing other than these paradoxes. There is no true Messianic theology that does not struggle to come to terms with
this. Misuse of Kabbalah and misunderstanding of Kabbalah have combined to turn traditional Christian theology away from its study. However, a study of these teachings which proceeds on the right basis can give great insight into all new Messianic Covenant Scriptures and teachings - as here with John 1:1. Likewise those Messianic teachings can clarify these Kabbalistic teachings.

Specific Note. Remember:

When we read here, then, that Elohim-G-d/Mother is equated to the Laws of Nature, we do not read this as proscribed by science, Taoism, Hinduism, etc., but as merely reflected in science, etc., in a very imperfect way. More precisely we should read this to say that when G-d said, Let there be (=Torah commandment) light (=Torah definition), there was light (=Torah obedience), a 'law of nature'.