Treatise on the Left Emanations

8/6/2019 Treatise on the Left Emanations

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2 . Genesis Rabbah 3 :4 . Cf . Pe s iq t a' d e -Ra Qa b a na ' 145h ..1. In ~lcbrew numerology v.n cquals s ix. On the six extremities correspond-ing to six of the seven lower se j iro t; sec Sefer Yes irab 1:5.4 . S be ma ' Y is ra 'e l YlIWl e ioben Yf/!/lJ chad . .

5. See BT Yorna' 72b. .o . Alluded to in 4 : 1 .7. On the Throne and the Shekhinah in the west, see BT Bava' Ba tra' 25a. Thephylacteries fo r the head have a large square knot, which is p laced at th ebase of the skull behind the cranium, and this know is now likened to theletter d a le t . A smaller knot on the phylacteries for th e ann, placed over thelarge muscle o f the arm, is now likened to the yod.

8. 5:1, 2.9 . H e ik ba lo : mys ti ci sm repor ts thi s s ta tement of a celest ia l beast call ed Israel ,Rabbi Jacob combines this o lder mo tif with the Kahbalistic usage of thesymbol Israe l as the s ix th seJirah, tiferel .

10. The tr ad itional custom is to overenunciate the dal e / of ebal ) whenever re-cit ing the rb ema '. .II. Hebrew qarney. This wo rd can also mean "rays of ," and should be read with

both meanings throughout th is t ext.12. Hebrew q ar ne y a yy el et ba-sbabar. This phrase f iguratively means " the rays

of the morning star." According to BT Yoma' 29a, th e diffr action of th edawn light is l ikened to t he spreading ant le rs of it doc,13. Y, S, R, " L + Y, " Q, B = 9.

14. According to Rabbinic t radi tion Ezekiel mentions nine separate vis ions inEzekiel 43 : 3 . See L e v it i cu s Ra b ba b I: 14.

15. Or upon ta, the letter whose shape is comprised of P and Z joined.16. BT Berakhot 17a. .17. This idea first appears in BT Bava ' Me~i' a' 85b and was subsequently in-corporated into the Treatise o f the Pa lace s. See A. jel linek, ed , , Be l ha-.Hidrash

(Jerusalem, 1938), vol , 2, p. 46.18. Ibid.19. Th is legend is also expr essed in the lHidrash to the Decalogue. Sec Jellinek,Be t b a -Mid r a sh , vol , 2 , p. 66.20. See the Treatise o f the Pa laces , Jellinek, Ba htht1idrash, vol. 2, p. 40.21. In the Sefardi rite, this is recited at the beginning of the service that con-

st itut es the publi c reading of the Torah.22. The text here is corru pt.23. The vocativ e "by the throne o fGod" of Exodus 17 :16 is for the sake of th is

interpretation spelled incompletely. Ke s , "throne," is normally k i s se ' , Y ah ,"God," is usually YflY'H. From these defec tive spe ll ings is der ived the no-tion that the Throne of God is incomplete until the nation of Amalek isthoroughly blott ed out .

24. The "reverse a lphabet" ( a !f a ' b e t a' d e -ToSHRa 'W is a common way of ex-press ing the Hebrew alphabet in reverse order . Scholern s ta tes tha t the texta t thi s point is "apparent ly cor rupt ."

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Treatise on the Left EmanationRABBI ISAAC BEN JACOB HA-KOHEN

I,)-ave noted your tremendous desire to ascend to the ladderof wisdom and perceive enigmas and grasp the cunning ways of [heancient Sages, the masters of inscriptions, I those who expoundedupon the secrets of the souls. And having noted that the Lord God,rna)' I Ie be blessed, bestowed upon you an atten tiveand understand-ing heart, I have decided with much fondness [0answer your ques~tion and fulfill your request ....[I will do [his foryou] even though you are quite aware that thispath was not trod upon except for "two or three berries in the top ofthe uppermost bough" (Isaiah 17:6}---these are the ancient elders, thescholars of Spain who delved in the palace of Samael. It isa long anddeep path and it eludes all masters of wisdom who are not will ing todescend into the depths ofthe wisdom of the hidden emanation, the"depth of good and depth of evil. "Z [It is known] only to those fewsolitarv individuals, "the remnant who the Lord shall call" (joel 3:5).Moreover, to the best-of my ability I will not stray my steps fromthe path' inorder togrant your wish and quench a bit ofyour thirst .May His most beloved assist me in His mercy and Lovingkindness,2. You have already dealt wi th the roots of the emanation of thedegrees, from the top of Supreme Crown ( ke t er ' e ty o n ) to the secretof the Blessing ( sad ba-berakbab) of life everlasting. 4 Now it is time [Qbe awakened to the secret of the emanation radiating forth from

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them, an emanat ion of degrees l ike the image of bodies to souls, spec-ified with names received from the ancient Sages and from the bookof Rabbi Harnai. I have no t seen this book in-ail Provence, save for[copies] belonging to three pietists. One was in :". :arbonne, belongingto a wondrous, skilled scholar. It was t ransmit ted oral! y from anelder rabbi. This holv and venerable rabbi testified that Elijah, mavhis memory be blessed, would appear to him on the Day of Atone-memo The other two copies were in Arks, the large city.

The first emanation-like the image of a spiritual entity---cor-responds to the primal emanation. Its name is Sahi'cl, and we callhim the prince of the Exalted Heights.

The second of the lemanations] is the emanation of Wisdom. Itsname is Pcli'i'el. He is the prince of the wonders (pela'o!) of Wisdom.We have received [a tradition] about him that the name by which hisemanation is revealed is Zequni'el, His name is also Sagsagcl, equalto the numerical value of "you shall honor the face of an o ld m an "(I .eviticus 19:32) .5 He is the plant ing of Wi sdom, "the pia nting of theLord, that he may be glorified" (Isaiah 61 :3). His sign is "In the dayof your planting make it grow ( te sagsegi}" (Isaiah 6 1: 3 ). The samekb .and si n are interchangeable, deriving from the same [sound].

The third is the prince radiated forth from the emanation of Re-pentance, the hidden treasure trove to all those who know Under-standing and have great fear (yir'ah). His name is Yerui'el.

Scripture alludes to all three of them in one verse: "You shallrise up before the hoary head and honor the face of the old man andfear your God" (Isaiah 19:32 ) . These three arc considered l ike bodiesto souls, each one interlinked with the other like a flame to an ember,inwardness to inwardness.

The remaining seven degrees also have seven degrees which ra-diate forth like bodies to souls, and they too are spiritual. The nameof the first is Memeriron. He is the prince of Lovingkindness and isassociated with water. The second is Ceviriron. He is the prince ofawesome and invincible Strength (gevuri lh).

The name of the third is Yedideron. He is the prince of j\lerey,the beloved (yed id) of God.

The name of the fourth is Satriron. He is the prince of the Foun-dation of the world which is concealed and secreted (nistar} in themiddle pillar and is called the secret place of the most high (seter'elyon). Thus "He that dwells in the secret place of the most high shall

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abide under the shadow of the AI mighty" (Psal ms 91 : 1 ). This s ho u l dbe sufficient to the enlightened.

The name of the fifth is ]\; ashiriron. He is the prince of triumphand the victory (nesab} of Israel.

The name of the sixth is Hodiriron. He is the prince radiatingforth from the emanation of Majesty (hod).The name of the seventh is Seforiron. He is the prince radiatingforth from the last (soj) emanation of all the degrees.

These, then, arc the names of the ancient mighty ones. We havefurther received that the first three end their names with "-'eI" andthe latter end with "-ron" because the first three are powers from theforces emanating from within the power of the great and mightyWill, towering above al l else: the Cause of all causes and the Reasonof a ll reasons; while the seven are l ike igni ted candles, each one l ight-ing his own candle (nero) from the seven inner [candles]. They cor-respond tOthe image of inner souls and spiritual bodies.

3. Regarding this we have also received the following: The at-tribute Kingdom possesses three further currents. These are likethree pillars faced toward her, doing her work and guarding herwatch round and about the Throne in fear and trembling and silence,from emanation to emanation up to the beloved of God who em-braces her and kisses her bv means of the Foundation of the world.At this point the princes of Lovingkindness and Strength receive herin great and glorious fear and trembling and in awesome silence.Then Lovingkindness and Strength-s-which arc the inner emana-tions-receive her and revolve like powerful torrents of water and"coals of fire which burn intensely" (Cant icles 8:6). She remains hid-den and concealed in the midst of all the emanations until the ap-proach of the prince of Understanding accompanied by his troops.They receive her with incomprehensible fear and dread and silenceuntil they approach the throne next to the Throne of Glory associ-ated with Repentance. From there the multitude of his warriors ap-pear. Overseeing them all is the prince of Wisdom. Then they setdown the Throne with trembling terror and great quaking into thebosom of ancient Wisdom, who accepts her with the proclamation"Come my beloved.?" He plays with her like a father doting on hisonly daughter among many sons. The Exalted I I eights pours forthhis blessing on her by means of the Father [i.e., Wisdom], for it isimpossible for any emanation to apprehend or perceive spiritual vi-

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sion or supernal perception except through the mediation of\Visdomand Understanding.After the acceptance of the Blessing and after the delights bowand prostrate themselves before the awesome and sublime Throne

of Glory, the Throne of Kingdom, by means of these uniqueprinces, whirls and revolves back from emanation to emanation to itsorigin, resting between the two cherubs which are her arms.

This great outpouring-a joy to the inner souls and a delight tothe spiritual bodies-was in effect when the land of Israel was in-habited and the holy nation dwelled inher. [Earthly] Temple is rnir-rored by [celestial] Temple and attendant High Priest ismirrored bva High Priest of holiness and purity, of fear and trembl ing, knowinghow to direct perfect meditat ions to each of the outer and inner em-anations, knowing how to dra w forth the secret of the holy seraphim,awakening the Holy Spiri t with the beauty ofpoetry and music. Thesingers [of the Temple}, each according to their posit ion and theirperception, concentrate with their fingers upon the strin~ of theharp and the tones which awaken the song and the chant. They di-rect their hearts to the Omnipresent. Then Blessing is st irred andthe divine Presence dwells upon them, each according to his worshipand perception. Then Jerusalem and the earthly Temple fulfill[every] desire and are a delight to all the nations, and the fear andtrepidation for her inhabitants rule over anyone who seesor hears ofher. As it is written: "And all the peoples o f the earth shall see thatyou are called by the name of the Lord and they shall be afraid ofyou" (Deuteronomy 28 ; 1 0 ). Happy is the eye that beholds all this.4. Now Ict us return to the point of our departure, narnelv thethree princes who are the three pillars to the Throne which in ' turnisexalted by the four encampments of the divine Presence. The firstone isnamed Malki 'el, derived from the attr ibute of Kingdom (mat-

khat). The name of the second is 'Aturi'el, derived from the greatDiadem ('atarab), l ike the image of gold which is l ikened to the at-tribute of Severity. The name of the third isN ashri 'cl , derived from[he name of that emanation which isangry and chastises its childrenwhen they fail to conduct themselves along the straight path beforetheir heavenly Father. But when they tip the scales toward merit byway of repentance, then they have peace and divine benevolence,and she has mercy upon her children "like an cagle ( nesber) that stirsup its nest, that flutters over its young" (Deuteronomy 32 ; 11). And

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then "the mother of the children is joyous, reclining on her be-loved. "7These three are in fact three pillars emanated from the powerof the attribute of Kingdom: Each one is an emanation in its ownright. Therefore, the emanation is derived from the thirteen

branches which draw upon one root, for all unity depends on it.Therefore, the verse "God is one" (Deuteronomy 6;4) equals it."Another indication is [the mnemonic] Na 'ambaron for "thebeauty of the Diadem of Kingdom" [~en 'ateret malkhut]. "Ron" [ofNa'am~aronJ is the image ofour patriarch Jacob, peace be upon him,a simple man, a lower form inscribed parallel with a celestial one.He is l inked to the heavens and Jacob. The indication ofthis is"Sing(ranu), 0 heavens" (Isaiah 44:23) and "Sing (ranu) with gladness forJacob" (jeremiah 3'1:7). Thus the union iscomplete."The thir teen are completely spir itual emanations and they areactive, and the thirteen divine attributes mentioned in "And theLord passed before [Moses], and he proclaimed; 'YIIVH, the Lord,merciful and gracious God ... ' " (Exodus 34:6) are activated [bythem]. The active ones are causes, the activated ones are effects.They are without limitation and there is no perception of their trueorigin nor isthere anyone who can know with a certainty their end.Only the unique Lord of all who is hidden and concealed from Hiscreatures [can do so]. Even the thought which can never beapprehended 10 is incapable of perceiving His very reality ....These are three [emanations] encompassed in the Crown ofKingdom, appointed and prepared to forgive and pardon thetransgressions and their perpetrators, who are nothing more thanrebels and sinners. These three are included in one name by virtueof their various activit ies. "And this is the name by which he will becalled" (jeremiah 23:6): Na'am~aron-pardoning transgression, re-belliousness, and sin (Nose' 'aeon Mered Hata'ab) so that the wrath( ba r on a j) of God turns away from Israel and He pardons and hasmercy upon those who turn away from their sins.. ..5. Now we shall turn to the system of accusing hosts which re-side in heaven, those which were created and then suddenly anni-hilated. When I was in the great city of Aries, a master of thistradit ion showed me an extremely old booklet. I ts handwriting wascrude and isdifferent from our own. Itwas transmitted inthe nameof a great Rabbi and gaon. They referred to him as the Rabbi Mas-

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Iiah. Now the venerable Gaon, our Rabbi Pelatiah, was from thehoiv city of [crusalern. And this booklet was brought by a greatsch~lar .and pietist known as Rabbi Gcrshom of Damascus. Hehailed from Damascus and lived in Aries for approximately twoyears, and people there told stories about his great wisdom .andwealth. He showed this booklet to the elder sages of that generanon.[ copied from it some things, things which t?~ sag~s o.f t hat gen~r-arion had understood. For thev were not familiar with Its handwrir-ing as were the earlier sages ;vho had learned it directly from thatscholar and pietist . II

Then I returned (0Beziers, a city of Sages, where my piousb rother of blessed rnemorv had become ill, J have neither added norsubtracted from all that mv brother explained, not even in the slight-est detail except for stylistic concerns. Occasionally there is a smallvaria tion, bur the intent is a lways identica l. L .

With this I will begin to set down the system of the pnnces andtheir forces, from the first to the last. They were all created from asingle emanation flowing for.th from the power of Repentance. Thisemanation acts as a screen, separating the emanation of all the holydegrees in which there are no alien emanations. Each is a spiritualdegree, pure and refined and Iutescent, engraved out of the powerof the Will of the hidden Lord. This dividing screen, emanated fromthe power of the emanated Repentance, was initially brought forthon the condition that various diverse emanations, some good andsome evil, some of endless existence and others of horrible and utterdisgrace, would stem forth from it. There is no one in creation, nei-ther loftv nor low, who can perceive the secret of these worlds. Onlythe spiritual degrees and princes emanating thercf~om [:an be ~r-ceived]. There was a tradit ion already in the possessIOn ot the ancientSages and studied by my brother of blessed memory, written in thecomposition of that perfect pious man, to the effect that the name ofthe ruler of thi s emanat ion is Masukhi'el , since he i s a dividing screen(masakb).

The first emanation which flowed forth from him comprisedthe pure and splendorous souls. And from these souls the par~y. ofangels was emanated, all but the four encampments of the divinePresence.

These souls, which are ange lic emana tions, existed potentiallywithin the recesses of the Emanator, hidden from all. But beforethey could become actuated, another world was emanated from alien

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forms and destructive images. The name of the ruler of this ema-nation, the prince of all its warriors, was Qarnti'cl. These are thecruel ones who began to rebuke and confound the emanations. Irn-mcdiarelv a proclamation (keruz) went forth from Keruzi'cl, theprince a l;d voice of Repentance. He sa id: "Masukh i'el! .\'iasuk~i 'e l!Destroy what vou have created and gather back your emanations,for it i; not thc' wish of the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed beHe that these emanations remain in the worlds."

, [The emanations] then returned to their original state and wereobliterated: Just as they were brought forth, so were they annihi-lated. The Sages of tradition likened the matter to a wick saturatedwith oil. When one desires to extinguish [the fire]' one immerses thewick into the very oil which kept it lit. Thus it returns [to its originalstate] and it is extinguished: so it is annihi la ted.

Afterward, another world was emanated, comprised of strangeforms and alien images. The name of the ruler of this emanation amithe prince o f i ts warriors was Bel i'el. These .'"vereeven n .lOrc.evil intheir plotting and their disruption of the various emananons, Thena decree came forth and the word of the King of kings went forth.They were annihilated in a flash, just like the first.

Thereupon a third world was created, comprised of evenstranger forms than those of the first and second worlds. The nameof the ruler and prince of its warriors was 'Iti'el. These are the worstof all. It is their desire and ambition to rule the Divine and destroyHim, chopping off the divine tree along with all its branches. T~enthere went forth a decree from the div ine Will that thei r annihil ationbe similar to the first two. A decree was then proclaimed that nosimilar emanation would ever again come forth into the ether of theworld, nor would it ever be mentioned again. And these are theworlds about which our Sages of blessed memory said: "He con-structed worlds and then destroyed them . . ." 12

After the destruction of the;e worlds it was the des ire of the \\,illto bring forth the souls emanated from potentiality to actuality.Among them were the myriads of angels and their en~ampments,seven groups in all, The leader of each of these groups is known tothose who are aware of this tradition. From their power the firma-rnents and planets-c-called the seven moving stars according to thescientists-s-were emanated. God willing, I will write about them.

There are many other names that should not be written out forI am not completely certain what the order is and until I sec the order

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of their spell ing and their emergence and their rank, I will not write!t, for I might make a mistake, either in thought or on paper. ThereIS, ~owever, a t~adition to the effect that in a single moment and bya slOgle expressIOn seven other princes were emanated along witht.heirretinues, and they ~rc all known. Once in response to aquestionfrom a student from Avile I was compelled to search for their namesand I put them in order, inspired by a certain idea.

But before I mention their names I would like to point out tothe readerf!f this book that the seven groups of princes belonging tothe above-mentioned angels were all arrayed with bows drawn for apitched battle. This war of enmity and jealousy between them andthe seven princes will never cease ( ta 'abor} in the heavens, for theirobjective is the Lord of all who created them from the root of ema-nation according to His Will and Desire, from the po\l .erof the em-anation of Repentance. We will explain this great jealousy and willinterpret its reason. It isof a divine source which created beings can-not grasp. The reasons derive from the manifestations of emanation.The "secret of intercalation" ( sod ba - ' ib bu r) isa spiritual mystery thatnone can comprehend or understand. The secret ishidden from theangels-UHow much more so those that dwell in houses of clay,whose foundation is in the dust" (job 4:19). Even the allusions aretoo awesome for man, and the secret is one aspectof the statement"Silence! Such is the decree."!'6. I will now set down the names of the princes of jealousy anden~i ty . Yet since their essence and their service is true and pure,their mouths are free from mendacity and neither lies nor falsehoodspass between them.The first prince and accuser, the commander of jealousy, isevilSamael, accompanied by his retinue. He iscalled "evil" not becauseof.his nature b~t because he desires to unite and intimately mingle

WIth an emanation not of his nature, as we shall explain.The second prince iscalled his deputy, and his name isZa'afi'el,accompanied by his entourage.The third prince is called third-in-command, and his name isZa'arni'el, accompanied by his staff.The fourth prince is Qa~fi'el, accompanied by his retinue.!hc ~fth prince is Ragzi'el, accompanied by his staff .I he SIxth prince is 'Abri 'e l, accompanied by his staff.The seventh is Meshulhi'el, accompanied by his staff. Theselatter comprise the delegation of evil angels.

THE. KOHEN BROTHERS

Now I shall allude to y 011 the reason for all the jealousy betweenthese latter princes and the former princes of the seven groups ofhoiy angels whichare ca llcd "the guardians of the walls." A formdestined for Sarn:l .d stirs up enmity and jealousy between the heav-enly delegation and the forces of the supernal army. This form isLilith, and she is in the image of a feminine form. Samael takes onthe form of Adam and Lilith the form of Eve. Thev were both bornina spiri tual birth as one, asa parallel to the forms ~f Adam and Eveabove and below: two twinlike forms. Both Samael and {Lilith,called] Eve the Matron-also known as the Northern One-are em-anated from beneath the Throne of Glory. It was the Sin whichbrought about this calamity, inorder to bring her shame and disgraceto destroy her celest ial offspring. The calamity was caused by theNorthern One, who was created beneath the Throne of Glory andit resulted in :1 partial collapse and weakening of the legs of theThrone. Then, by means of Gamali'el and the primeval snake Na-hashi 'el, the scents of each intermingled: the scent of man reachedthe female, and the scent of woman reached the male. Ever sincethen the snakes have increased and have taken on the form ofbit ingsnakes. Thus it is written, "The Lord sent fiery snakes among thepeople" (';\J umbers 2 t :6). This requires a full explanation in a sepa-rate treatise for i t isvery dcep---no one can find it out . 147. ; \ J " ow I shall make allusions according to the tradition passedfrom ancient Sages to possessors ofthis wisdom. We know for a cer-tainty that Rabbi Sherira and Rabbi Hai were learned and steepedinthis wisdom which came to them rabbi from rabbi, sage from sage,gaon from gaon. They all uti lized the secret knowledge of the L e s s e rlleikbalot, which is the secret knowledge of demons, so that theycou Id ascend, the ladder of prophecy.I t is well established that all the philosophers agree that thereare no corporeal entit ies above the spheres. However, we have seen -and heard that the learned of Israel vary on this point, some agreeingand some disagreeing with the philosophers. But according to whatwe have received from Rabbi Sherira Gaon, and his son Rabbi Hai,and the venerable traditionist Rabbi Joseph Ibn Abitur the greatGaon, and Rabbi Issac Ibn Ghayyat of blessed memories '


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neither in all the primordial emanations nor in the next set of e. . h . ma-nations IS t ere anything corporeal. There is only spiritual .. , . emana_tH~n. So ~ r : o the created a?gels--they ~nd their princes-and theprmces ot Jealousy and their forces are like the form of man creat I. he i fh e(IIIt e Image 0 t e great fire. Even the forms of the fire-steeds aall spiritual forms, and their armor and their chariots are as a ragi~~fire, though not of the essence of elemental fire ..... . 9. The four ~nca~pment.s of the d~vine Presence are noth ing bu t

spirirual emanations, IIIthe Image neither of bodies nor of bodilform. But not all the angels are this way; onlv those of the tenth d ~sr= are. similar to the sons of Adam beheld b y each prophet accor~-10 9 to his stature. Everyone agrees that they have an appearance tooawesome to apprehend.

The prophet and visionary sees all the various powers changefrom form to form until they take on the power of the form visibleto him. Then it ~ransforms like the form of an angel and this formchanges before h~m and be.c~)lnes able to receive the prophe tic fo rce.Then the engravmgs of spiritual channels are inscribed in his heart.. When he completes and fulfills his mission, the prophet then is'divested of the power of the revealed form and is invested with thepower of his first form. He shed s a form and dons a new form. Thene~erything .is arrayed together, uniting and growing ever stronger.1 hen all his corporeal powers return to their first state, Then hespeaks and funct ions like a ll other people . This, then, is the tradit ionf hose oi 16o t ose pIOUS men, .",lay they all be remembered for good .. , .

~O:An?ther tradition: l,t has been rr~nsmitted by the masters ofthe dIvme Names tha t at various known times they used the demonicethers to attain a few of the prophetic quali ties. 'rhis is the uti Iizationof the ether of the Holy One, blessed be He.

. ~ here are also th~se ~'ho can transport themselves magically byattalm~g the ether which includes the secret knowledge of demons.There IS a great and wise traditionist whom we met in Narbonnewho testified along with many others that Rabbi Eleazar of Wormsof blessed memory could occasionally ride upon the form of a magiccloud to faraway places and then return, especially when agood deedneeded to b.e performed far off. Sometimes, though, he would rideupon an animal for many days like all other men. Once he had toperform a circumcision in a far-off place and he flew off bv means ofhis usual incantation. But he forgot something that is required bypeople who have mastered this wisdom and he fell from his low-

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flying cloud, lie became lame in his hip and no worldly remedycured him until the dav of his death. I'

11 . The tradition we received has it that there are three ethersabove. The first ether is ruled by the great and hol y prince whosename is Qedoshi'el. He is the prince of the hosts, and from his powerand might spring forth battalions of princely armies and all the heav-enly soldiers, the angels of the heavenly armies and those of the heav-ens above the heavens. All these are emanated from them, and theemanation of their emanations has neither image nor substance norcorporeali ty, The second ether is the secret knowledge of prophecy,It is the ether donned by the prophets and the high priest and theother priests and the Levites and all who have a supreme soul andintelligence. This is the second ether, The third ether is the ether ofthe secret knowledge of demons. This is the text of the Se J er ba -Ma l-busb.:"

12 . \Ve shall now discus s the third ether. The scholars of tra-dition said that it is a received tradition from their fathers that thisether is divided into three parts: an upper part, a middle part, and alower part. The upper part was given over to Asrnodeus, the greatking of the demons, He does not have permission to accuse or causeconfusion except on Mondays. We will expand on this in the treatiseas best we can.

Even though Asmodeus is called the great king, he is subser-vient ro Samsel. He is called the great prince with reference to rheemanations above him and the king of kings with reference to rheemanations underneath him. Asrnodeus is governed by him and issubservient to him.

Samael, the great prince and great king over all the demons, co-habits with the great Matron Lilith. Asrnodcus, the king of the de-mons, cohabi ts wi th the Lesser [Younger] Li lith. The scholars of thistradition admit to many horrendous details concerning the forms ofSamael and Asmodeus and the images of Lilith the bride of Samaeland Lilith the bride of Asrnodeus. Happy is he who merits thisknowledge.

The middle part was given over to the king who rules spirits.Qafqafoni is his name and his young mate is Sar'ita', with whom hecoha bits for hal f the yea r . For the ot h er hal f o f the year he fornica teswith another mate v.:hosc name is Sagrirta'. Their offspring take ondifferent forms. Thev have bodies and seem to be two-headed, whilethe sons of Sar'ira' take on the image of lepers, Some scholars of tra-


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dition say that all lepers are the result of this despicable offspring.The sons of Sagrir ta' have faces which are ulcerated and they wagea pitched battle among themselves. Evil spirits abound in the etherand all sorts of storms and horrors go forth from the power of theseinterminglings. N everrheless, the rule and terror of Asmodeue isim-posed on them. . . .The third part of the ether is occupied by fiends created andclad in many varying forms. Some are in the form of dogs, createdby human sins. And the dog formed from this evil issuance happensupon man and bites him, and to cure him is most difficult. Some-times it changes form from a dog to a slightly different form. Itbarksand howil and bites again and again and finds no worldly cure untili t dies and returns transfigured, mixed in this ether with the powerof the form. This is i ts punishment and annihilat ion. Because ofthissecret there is the prayer "Deliver my soul from the sword, my pre-cious life from the clutches of a dog" (Psalms 22:21).Some take the form of he- and she-goats. From these are 'Aza'and 'Aza'el . Each separately has the form of the image of real men.When they fell from heaven-a part ofthe above-mentioned ether-they donned the power of this ether just above us and they took onthe bodies of men. Then the upper power weakened and they re-ceived the lower power. But the progeny which issued from themwas more towering and powerful than all mankind.Some take other forms, like the form of man from birth. Sometake the form of men and some the form of women. The onlv dif-ference is the lies and falsehoods. They are jealous of men and theyseek to cheat and foil them. They would have destroyed everythingthey saw were it not that the attribute of Kingdom summoned herown emanation, Yufi 'el , the great prince of the countenance, who isbeloved and near to the divine Presence. He rules over the king ofthat pernicious group. Were it not that the power of his emanationand his terror fills them. they would never leave creatures alone, norwould lowly creatures be able to stand up against them. The nameof the king ruling over them is Qafsefoni and the name of his mateis Mehetabel, daughter of Metrad.!" Their progeny jumps in onebound from one end of the ether to the other. Sometimes they aregiven permission to rectify the injuries that befall mankind and toinform mankind of its future when they appear as men. They ha~eno rille over lies or falsehoods. He who asks of them will find hisanswer according to [Qafsefoni's] will , depending on whether the

THE KOHEN BROTHERS

questioner merits an answer. If he docs not merit an answer, theywill appear to the questioner only by means of an incantation, hutthey will answer him that they do not have permission to answer hisquestion ....14. This ruling pri nee and all hiswarriors are subservient to As-modeus the great king. Their rule and the force of their actions arecommensurate to the power of emanation which reaches each ofthem. All that is below and above is subject to the rule of Samael,king of kings. His emanation and the emanation of his chariots willspread forth upon all the troops. All the princes will scurry about athis command unti l the coming of the word ofthe divine Will, whichwill reveal the time and day of revenge which ishidden in His heartand sealed in I l is treasury. He will (hen bring down the rule of thisred one (edom), as it is written: "I will destroy his fruit from aboveand his roots from beneath" (Amos 2:9). Amen'. Hurricdlv and inourdavs '. 15.Now we will f inish the matter that we started. Occasionallythe prince' whose name is Qafsefoni can, commensurate to the per-mission granted him, unite and cohabit with one creature whosename is Lili ta . She is in the image of IIagar the Egyptian accordingto some of the men of this wisdom, though there is some disagree-ment over this point . .. .17 . Back to what I started regarding the array of heavenly evilarmies and their layout from first warrior to last : they were all cre-ated from one emanation which came forth from the power of theemanation of Repentance. This is the opening words of the treatise.But before I finish discussing this issue I will speak to you ofsomething else you need to know. The first creations of the Hidden-from-all, the Cause of causes and the Reason of reasons, were powerswhich were CfO\\."nSefore Him. They are called "the special world"or"the secluded world," and it isa world which isentirely good. Hechooses only good sothat the good ones would merit a world whichisentirely good. Then His incomprehensible Wisdom chose to cre-ate a world that was entirely evil in order to chastise the erring:Maybe they will return in a perfect repentance to achieve merit- ifnot, this would be their final- obli terat ion. Regarding these twoworlds itis said: "He makes peace and creates evil" (Isaiah 45:7)....

The world of peace comes first in the verse because it is beforethe entirely evil world. And even though it has nopart in the entirelygood world, His first emanation is not from the evil emanation. This


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iswhat we meant when we said that He chooses only the good. Andthough he formed evil from this good, we cannot understand the pro-funditv of this hidden rnvsterv for it is scaled.G o and learn of thi; fron'l the first man who was not the childof any woman but was created from a pure and prist ine likeness [ofGod], lacking any evil inclination to sin. God commanded him andwarned him to keep one commandment for his own benefi t so thathe could enjoy everlasting life. But he transgressed this first com.mandment.\Ve believe that the Creator did not want him to sin, nor did Hedecree that he should. He simply commanded the good. This isthecase ""th other people and pious individuals. The patriarchs serveas an example-from them came Esau and Ishmael and Hezekiahand Manasseh and many other [sinners]. From the good came forthevil, and God neither commanded nor demanded it. All this falls under the category of si lence: do not dwell on it-it isso awesome thatyou ought not inquire, so hidden that you ought not pursue it.'. . I have explained all this first in order to remove all doubts, andthe enlightened will understand. Out of abundant love I have tr iedto hide part of the whole ofwhich I revealed toyou. At first I hintedand concealed when [ laid out the order of the princes and theirforces, saying that they were all created from a single emanation. Idid not say that they were created from the power of a single erna-nation. Then I said that they were created from the power of theemanation of Repentance, but I did not write that they were fromthe emanation of Repentance. By this method it was my intention"to reveal a li ttle and conceal much. '?" "Happy isthe man who fearsthe Lord, who is greatly devoted to his commandments" (Psalms112:0.18.This isthe order of all the armies, a circle within the circlesof the s e fi r ot . They are above everything, surrounding and influenc-ing in a general way all that isspiritual by means oftheir emanations.From the emanation of Repentance come six powers and from thesixth emanation=-called Keruzi'el=-rhe emanation of the seventhprince called Masukhi'el isbrought forth. All of them are holy andGod is in them. From the seventh and onward, ten groups of op-posing powers arc emanated. parallel to the ten holy s e j i r o . The up-per three had no existence and were obliterated. The sevenremaining princes along with their forces constantly instigate warwith the seven princes of the pure and perfect crowns and occasion

THE KOHEN BROTHERS

ally with the seven princes mentioned above in the book we havealready written." "Happy is the man who fears the Lord, who isgreatly devoted to His commandments" (Psalms 112:I). God is inthem: ~Ij~vati'el, Hafsi'el , Me'odi'el, the practical commandmentsare buih in golden basis and they were emanated from these threeprinces who in turn were emanated from the middle pillar calledTao.nThis is the meaning of "You shall not covet the wife of yourneighbor" (Exodus 20:14}-it isa description of"the beauty ofdays,"which corresponds to the middle pillar." "The wife of a neighbor"-these are evil Samael and his mate Lilith. Herndar'el Ishti'elRe'uvel: From these three princes the prohibitions were emanated.They radiate forth from the emanation "Beauty ofWater." 0Hem-dat'eI! Holy of Israel! Grant us the merit to perceive and grasp a per~feet knowledge of the secrets of His Torah, as wonderful and dearas pure gold. Grant us life in the world to come. Amen.19. In answer to your question concerning Lilith, I shall explainto you the essence of the matter. Concerning this point there is areceived tradition from the ancient Sages who made use of the SecretK n 0 1 .v le d ge o f t he L e s se r P a la c es , which is the manipulation of demonsand a ladder by which one ascends tothe prophetic levels. In thistradition it is made clear that Samael and Lilith were born as onesimilar to the form of Adam and Eve who were also born as one'reflecting what is above. This isthe account of Lil ith which was re~ceived by the Sages inthe Sec re t Knowl edge of t h e Pa l ace s . The MatronLilith is the mate of Samael, Both of them were born at the samehour in the image of Adam and Eve, intertwined in each other. As~modem the great king of the demons has as a mate the Lesser(younger) Lilith, daughter ofthe king whose name isQafsefoni. Thename of his mate isMehetabel daughter ofMarred, and their daugh-ter is Lilith.

This is the exact text of what is written in T h e C h ap te rs oj th eLe s s er Pa l ace s as we have received it, word for word and letter for let-t~r. And the scholars of this wisdom possess a very profound tradi-non from the ancients. They found it stated in those Chapters thatSamael, the great prince ofthem all, grew exceedingl y jealous ofAs-modeus the king of the demons because of this Lil ith who is calledLilith the Maiden (the young). She is in the form of a beautifulWoman from her head to her waist. But from the waist down she isburning fire-like mother like daughter. She is called Mehetabeldaughter of Marred, and the meaning is something immersed (;"ahu


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tabal). The meaning here isthat her intentions are never for the good.She only seeks to incite wars and various demons of war and the warbetween Daughter Lilith and Matron Lilith.They say that from Asmodeus and his mate Lil ith agreat princewas born in heaven. He is the ruler of eighty thousand destructivedemons and is called "the sword of king Asmodeus." His name isAlefpene'ash and his face burns like a raging fire C e s ) . He is alsocalled Gurigur, for he antagonizes and struggles with the prince ofJudah, who iscalled Gur Aryeh Yehudah (Lion-cub ofJudah). Fromthe same form that gave birth to this war-demon another prince, aprince w1.'se root is in Kingdom, was born in heaven. He is called"the sword of the Messiah." He too has two names: Meshihi'eI andKokhvi'el, When the time comes and when God wishes, this swordwilll~ave its sheath and verses of prophecy will come true: "For Mysword shall be drunk in the heavens; La, it shall come down uponEdam" (Isaiah 34:5). "A star rises from Jacob" (Numbers 24:17).Amen. Soon in our days may we merit to se e the face of the Messiahour righteous one; we and 'al1our people....

22. I shall now teach you a wonderful innovation. You alreadyknow that evil Samael and wicked Lilith are like a sexual pair who,by means of an intermediary, receive an evil and wicked emanationfrom one and emanate to the other. I shall explain this relying ontheesoteric meaning inthe verse "In that day the Lord will punish withHis great, cruel, mighty sword Leviathan the twisted serpent andLeviathan the tortuous serpent"-this is Lilith-"and He will slaythe dragon of the sea" (Isaiah 2i: I). As there is a pure Leviathan inthe sea and it iscalled a serpent, so there isa great defiled serpent inthe sea in the literal sense. The same holds true above in a hiddenway. The heavenly serpent is a blind prince, the image of an inter-mediary between Samae! and Lili th. I ts name is Tanin' iver. No Themasters of tradition said that just as this serpent slithers withouteyes, so the supernal serpent has the image of a spiri tual form with-out color-these are "the eves." The traditionists call it an eyelesscreature, therefore its name is Tanin'iver. He is the bond, the ac-companiment, and the union between Samsel and Lilith. Ifhe werecreated whole in the fullness of his emanation he would have de-stroyed the world in an instant . .. .When the divine Wil! arr ives and the emanation of Samael andLilith weakens the emanation achieved bv the blind prince, they willbe completely annihilated by Gabriel prince of Strength, who insri-

THE KOHE:"-i BROTHERS

f

gates war against them with the aid of the prince of Lovingkindness.Then the verse which we have expounded according co its secretmeaning will come true ....24. I found written in the name of an ancient traditionisr and inthe name of the perfect Hasid ofblessed mernorv' j that Lilith isalso

T aninsarn. ,6 They said that this name is basect"on the serpent whois in the image of an intermediary between Lilith and her mate. Hewill eat deadly poison at the hands of the prince of Strength; it is ane.li~irof lif~for a~lwhose indination overcomes them. Then he par-ticipates With Michael, the prince of Lovingkindness, in defeatingthe rule ofevil in heaven and on earth. Then the verse wiIJ come true:"For His Lovingkindness has overcome us; the truth of God enduresforever. Hallelujah" (Psalms 117:2). .

The secret of the covenant of salt (melab]" is the kingdom of theaccompaniment of beauty. ~S Therefore they hinted with secrets re-garding the salted fish [Leviathan] to feed the righteous in futuretimes. Happy is he who understands these things as they are . .

"::,,.~~.

~:. :

NotesI. A term for the Kabbalists.2. SererYesirab 1:4.3. According to Psalms 44:19.4. The sefirah Kingdom.5 . S aG aS G' eL equals 15 7 and "old man" rZaQeN) has the same va lue.6. Pa rt o f the Sabha th greet ing ri tua l o fRabbi Yanna i a s recorded inBT Shah-bat 119a.7. See Psalms 113:9 and Canticles 8 : 5 .8. "One" ('-If-D) equals 13. .9. Jacob , the symbol of Beauty, un ites wi th Kingdom.10. An expression referring to the uppermost sefirab.11. For a discussion of this pa ssage , seeJ. Dan, "Samael, Li li th , and the Con-

cept of Evil in Ear! y Kabbalah," AJSrev iew 5 (1980). p. 31 .1 2 . G e ne s is R a b b ah 9:2.13. S~e BT M.ena~ot_29b. The sec re t of ~merealat ion refe rs to the leap monthof the jewish lunisolar calendar, and IS thought to be a great secret.14. Accord ing to Ecc le sias te s 7 :24. See Dan, "Samae] ," pp. l8f.15. The lat te r two a re e leventh-cen tury Spanish rabbis. Ibn Abitur was a con-tempora ry of Ha i Gaon .16. See beginn ing of chapter 5. On this and the following chapters see Dan"Sarnael," pp. 23-32. ,17 . See Isaiah 11:10.18. Most of chapter .1 is ~nA ramaic a.nd is the text of one version of the Siferha-Mulbush , the t it le of severa l magica l tex ts f rom Geonie t imes.


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19. See Genesi s 36:39.20. Based on BT Nedarim lOb.21 . Scholem believes that chapter 18 w asa lat er addition to the Treatise inserted

by Rabbi Isaac. The list of p rinces varies fr um that in chapter 5; it refer s to" the book we ha\ -e a lready wri tt en"; i t ends with a concluding for rnula, Butin light of the admonition at the end of chapter 17, we tend to bel i eve thatchap ter 18 i s a n integr al part o f the o riginal Treatise.

22. The sefirab Beauty (Ii/mt).13. The "beauty of days" is a term representing Kingdom, which along withBeauty i s loca ted a long the middle pil la r.14. Literal ly ; "blind serpent ."25 . Rabb i Judah the Hasid>26. Lit erally; "poisonous serpent ," but a lso "blind" (suma'}.27 . Sec Numbers IS,19.2 8 . M a lJ :b u t L e ci a: H e n,

Glossary

aggadah+-homiletic expositions of the Rabbis.amora=-narne for the Rabbis responsible for the gemara, the last lit-erary layer of the T almuds, between roughly 200 and 550 C. E.Binah-' 'Cnderstanding,' ' the third sefirah. A primal female symbol,located at the top of the left column of the Kabbalist ic tree.devequt-"communion," usually with the divine realm.Eyn Sof-literally, "No End," a Kabbalisr ic term for the hidden Godwho emanates forth the sefirotic tree.gema~ria-numerology. Every Hebrew letter has a numerologicalvalue, and by adding the sum of let ters inwords the esotericisrcan weave and interrelate concepts and terms that at first glancehave no relation.Gevurah-" Strength ," the fifth seJirah. Also called Din (Severity).Most nften linked wi th the forces of eviI, it iscalled "the raginginferno of the Lord."golem-a homunculus.ha'asalah=-The IIebrew term for "emanation."halakhah-l i tcrall y, "the Way ," the legal parameters of Judaism.~asid (pI. ~asidim}--li terally "pious." Many Jewish groups havecalled themselves by this term. In this volume, basid applies tothe German pietists of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Documents

Treatise on the Left Emanations