The Kabbalistic Tradition: An Anthology of Jewish Mysticism by Alan Unterman

Author:Alan Unterman [Unterman, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion, General
ISBN: 0140437991
Google: UXtWbo-QGoAC
Amazon: B002RI9CS4
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2008-11-05T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

SACRED SPACE AND

SACRED TIME

SACRED SPACE

The Earth Is Round

‘Zohar’ 3:10a, Vayikra

This is a view of world geography with which the Medieval Kabbalists worked, and which they ascribed to ancient texts.

In the Book of Rab Hamnuna the Elder, it is explained at great length that the whole of the inhabited world revolves in a circle like a ball, so that some are above and some below, and creatures are different in their appearances due to the nature of the air in the different locations, but they live as long as other men. Because of this there are places within the inhabited world where it is light, while in another part it is dark; for some it is night whereas for others it is day. There are also places where it is always day and where there it is never night, except for a very short period. This is what is actually said in the books of the ancient ones and in the Book of Adam, the first man.… This secret was entrusted to the Kabbalistic masters of wisdom but is not known to those who simply mark out geographical borders, for it is a great secret of the Torah.… It is only humans who have control over all these worlds, and above them is the Holy One, blessed be He.

Jerusalem Is the Heart of the World

‘Degel Machaneh Ephraim’, Va-Etchanan

Outer and inner space are parallel worlds for the mystics, as in this reflection on the value of the pure heart of man.

I have heard from my master and grandfather [the Besht],… It is the way of all the organs [of the body] to act according to the heart, and in it [the heart] is the life force which moves the whole body… for it is the life of all the organs. Behold… the heart is called Jerusalem, for it is in the middle of the body just as Jerusalem is in the middle of the world.… The heart was created to be a dwelling for the Holy One, blessed be He, as it says, ‘Let them make a sanctuary for me and I will dwell among them.’1

Literally ‘among them’.

Great merit accrues to the person who makes a beautiful dwelling place in his heart. We find that the heart was created to be a dwelling place for the Holy One, and the Holy One only dwells in a heart which is broken and humble. Therefore, the perfection of the heart is to be broken inwardly, and then, when it has perfected itself, it is referred to as Jerusalem, and called the holy city with its King within it.

The Third Heavenly Temple

‘Tikkunei Zohar’, Tikkun 8, p. 24a

The forces of evil, led by Samael and his consort Lilith, ‘the Serpent’, were responsible for the devastation involved in the destruction of the two Jerusalem Temples, but in the Messianic age they will be overcome because God Himself will build the Third Temple.

Scripture says:

The moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of Hosts will reign in Zion and Jerusalem.

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