A River Flows from Eden

The Language of Mystical Experience in the Zohar

Melila Hellner-Eshed

• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9780804776240
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Jewish Theology

In the Zohar, the jewel in the crown of Jewish mystical literature, the verse "A river flows from Eden to water the garden" (Genesis 2: 10) symbolizes the river of divine plenty that unceasingly flows from the depths of divinity into the garden of reality. Hellner-Eshed's book investigates the flow of this river in the world of the Zoharic heroes, Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai and his disciples, as they embark upon their wondrous spiritual adventures. By focusing on the Zohar 's language of mystical experience and its unique features, the author is able to provide remarkable scholarly insight into the mystical dimensions of the Zohar, namely the human quest for an enhanced experience of the living presence of the divine and the Zohar 's great call to awaken human consciousness.

PART I

THE ZOHAR’S HEROES

Rabbi Shim’on bar Yoḥai and the Companions

The world of mystical experience in the Zohar transpires amid the adventures of its heroes: Rabbi Shim’on bar Yoḥai and his circle of students. Through these figures and their stories, we are acquainted with the religious-emotional spirit that motivates and arouses them to create, expound, and act. In order to understand this world of experience, we first need to be familiar with the composition’s heroes, and with the way they understand themselves and their destiny. This is the subject of Part I.

Chapter 1 focuses on the radiant star of the Zohar, Rabbi Shim’on bar Yoḥai—“the holy luminary,” who reveals the secrets of divinity found in the Torah and in the world. We examine his persona as portrayed in the composition, his self-image, and the way in which he is described by his students. In this context, we compare the figure of Rabbi Shim’on with the figures of Moses (the hero of the written Torah) and of Rabbi Akiva (one of the great heroes of the oral Torah). We also explore his role as the master teacher, the experience of being in his presence, and the sense of terror and loss surrounding his death.

Chapter 2 focuses on Rabbi Shim’on’s circle of students, the Companions, the manner in which they are portrayed in the composition, and the different epithets they use to describe themselves—through which we learn about their self-perception as a circle of mystics.

Chapter 3 examines the three generations in Jewish history whom the Companions view as possessing a special religious-spiritual consciousness, and with whom they identify.

1

The Figure of Rabbi Shim’on bar Yoḥai

Whoever separates from Torah is like one who separates from life, and one who separates from Rabbi Shim’on is as if he separates from all. . . .

Woe to the generation when Rabbi Shim’on departs! For when we stand in the presence of Rabbi Shim’on, the wellsprings of our heart open in all directions and all is revealed. And when we withdraw from him, we do not know anything and all the springs are closed.

Rabbi Ḥizkiyah said, “Corresponding to what is written: He held back some of the spirit that was upon him and put it upon the seventy men, the elders (Numbers 11:25)—like a lamp from which many lamps are lit, while retaining its vitality. Similarily, Rabbi Shim’on son of Yoḥai, master of Lamps, illumines all, yet light does not depart from him and he retains vitality. This is the meaning of what is written: He drew (va-ya’atsel ) upon the spirit that was on him and put it upon the seventy elders (ibid.), like a lamp from which are kindled many lamps, yet it remains intact. So Rabbi Shim’on bar Yoḥai, the master of lights, illumines all, yet the light does not depart from him and remains intact.”¹

Zohar 2:86b; Matt 2004–2007, vol. 4, p. 487, adapted

Rabbi Shim’on bar Yoḥai is the central hero of the Zohar. Often referred to by the acronym “Rashbi” (= Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai), he appears as a colossal figure, at once human and divine, who touches and influences the upper and lower worlds. He is the great radiance, the great light of the world and the Torah, the complete man, the perfect mystic, a powerful shaman, master of Torah, and the great teacher. Rashbi teaches his students the essence of the hidden, mystical world as well as the appropriate boundaries between the disclosure of the mysteries of ultimate reality and their concealment. He teaches his students; and through them, he teaches us readers about the possibility of revealing and innovating mysteries in order to take part with him in the tikkun (rectification) of reality, and in the drawing-down of blessings throughout the divine and human worlds.

The mystical dimension of the Zohar is created and revealed amid the stories of Rabbi Shim’on bar Yoḥai and his disciples. In order to trace the Zohar’s experiential world, therefore, we must first familiarize ourselves with the world of its heroes and with the way in which they understand themselves and their destiny in the world.

In the Zohar we encounter a myth, or a mythical epic, about Rabbi Shim’on bar Yoḥai, the hero of the composition; his disciples (the Companions); wondrous figures from his generation; as well as descriptions and numerous characterizations about the generation in which they all live.This mythical epic bestows upon the composition unique qualities and also implicitly and subtly reflects its authors’ understanding of themselves and their generation, as well as their motivations for writing.

The narratives that appear in the main corpus of the Zohar are not linear, certainly not according to the order in which they appear in the printed editions.² Yet if we examine them in their entirety, we find that this narrative weaving displays a high level of internal coherence, from which emerges the stable and continuing presence of the Companions. The members of this circle are known to us by name; some are more important than others, like Rabbi El’azar (Rashbi’s son), Rabbi Abba (the master student), and Rabbi Ḥiyya (the youngest member of the circle and possibly the heir of Rabbi Shim’on). The life of the circle unfolds with a deep and abiding awareness of the presence of the teacher, who represents the ultimate key for the total illumination of the events that the Companions experience, as well as the biblical verses that they expound. He is, in short, the personality through which the Companions understand the true nature of reality.³

We shall begin, therefore, with an exploration of the figure of Rabbi Shim’on bar Yoḥai. There is no limit to the praises showered upon Rashbi in the Zohar. In the many homilies discussing his praises, he is presented not only as the crown of creation and humanity but also, in pathos-laden descriptions, as possessing divine qualities:

The blessed Holy One engraved the image of Rabbi Shim’on above and his voice ascends ever upward, and is crowned with the holy crown, until the blessed Holy One is crowned with him in all the worlds and is glorified through him. About him is written: And he said to me, “You are my servant—Israel, in whom I glory” (Isaiah 49:3). . . . From the day that the blessed Holy One created the world, Rabbi Shim’on bar Yoḥai was present before the blessed Holy One and was with Him; and the blessed Holy One calls him by His name. Happy is his portion above and below! About him is written: Your father and your mother will rejoice (Proverbs 23:25)—your father, this is the blessed Holy One; and your mother, this is the Assembly of Israel.⁴ (Zohar 3:61a–b)

Rashbi appears here as a figure who has existed since the very beginning of time, and as one who shares a deep intimacy with God. Rashbi’s status as the son of the blessed Holy One and the Assembly of Israel (also known as Shekhinah) establishes a myth whereby the divine powers ruling over reality are understood as the father-god, the mother-goddess, and the beloved son—the chosen man, Rabbi Shim’on bar Yoḥai.

Rabbi Shim’on is the earthly representative of the divine sefirah Yesod (Foundation). Yesod occupies the ninth position in the kabbalistic system of the ten sefirot emanating from Ein Sof (Infinity). The full appellation for this sefirah is tsaddik yesod olam, “the righteous is the foundation of the world” (Proverbs 10:25), the cosmic righteous one who is the pillar upon which the world stands, and the conduit that connects the divine and human worlds. Yesod draws into itself the flow of the divine world in all its different modes, and it guides this flow into the sefirah Malkhut (Kingdom).

The sefirah Yesod represents the qualities of transmission, fertilization, and masculine sexuality and eroticism. It is the dynamic, erotic quality in divinity of appropriately timed gathering, storing, and discharging, as well as disclosure and concealment, and is thus symbolized by the male sexual organ.

The power of Rashbi’s teaching, as well as the power of other great teachers after him, is understood as an expression of the quality of Yesod in the world.⁵ The Idra Zuta, the section of the Zohar that describes the occasion of Rashbi’s departure from the world, tells of his ecstatic and erotic transformation from a human being into the attribute of Yesod.⁶ Indeed, even in his life, and not only on the occasion of his death, we find Rashbi identifying with this divine level. For example, in the story narrating the mystical experience of Rashbi and the Companions that appears in the Zohar’s commentary on the Torah portion Aḥarei Mot, we find described the ecstatic moments in which the qualities of the sefirah Yesod are made manifest through his person. In zoharic language, Rashbi is “crowned with the crown” of this sefirah:

While the king was on his couch, my nard gave forth its fragrance (Song of Songs 1:12; transl. NJPS). This is Yesod, which brings forth blessings for the intercourse of the holy king with Matronita [Shekhinah] [through this level]. Then blessings are given in all the worlds, and the upper and lower worlds are blessed; and now, behold, the holy luminary [Rashbi] crowns himself with the crown of this level. (Zohar 3:62a)

Just as Rabbi Shim’on represents the most masculine of divine qualities, he at times represents the sefirah Malkhut, the most feminine of all the sefirot. Before discussing our hero further, let us pause to consider the characteristics of this particular sefirah:

• Malkhut is the tenth and last sefirah in the emanatory system. She represents time and movement; the dynamics of birth, growth, and death; differentiation and duality; and the characteristic of containment.
• This sefirah is represented by a rich array of symbols and associations connected with the feminine—motherly, erotic, sexual—both divine and demonic.
• She is the sefirah that receives into herself the river of the divine flow, via the sefirah Yesod.
• She is the queen of all reality below the world of emanation, the matrix of the physical world in which we exist. She is also responsible for the just distribution of the divine flow within her domain.
• Malkhut is also Shekhinah, the feminine, motherly divinity that dwells among human beings in this world through their loving interrelationships—especially when they share words of Torah. The human beings who experience the serenity of her presence are those who direct their deeds to support and aid her.
• In the zoharic world, the sefirah Malkhut merits the most extensive and intensive attention of all the sefirot. She is the object of the kabbalists’ speculation, as well as the object of their emotional, religious, and mystical longing.⁷

In the Zohar, Rashbi is described as “the mouth of Shekhinah” or “the mouth of God,” with some meriting the opportunity to kiss him.⁸ He is also the divine face, “the face of the Master, God,” which refers to the face of Shekhinah, as we learn from another passage: “Rabbi Pinḥas went out and kissed him [Rabbi Shim’on] and said, ‘I have merited to kiss Shekhinah. Happy is my portion!’” (Zohar 3:59b).

In another story, in which the expression “the mouth of God” is explained as meaning the mouth that “rules over all,” Rabbi Pinḥas ben Yair, depicted in the Zohar as Rashbi’s respected father-in-law, comes and kisses him and says: “I have kissed the mouth of God, perfumed with the fragrances of His garden” (Zohar 3:201b).

These passages highlight Rashbi’s great versatility, at once capable of appearing as an expression of the masculine quality of divinity, as well as an expression of the divine’s feminine aspects. An additional example, drawn from the words of Rabbi Abba, illustrates somewhat humorously the divine qualities of Rabbi Shim’on bar Yoḥai: “One day Rabbi Shim’on was going from Cappadocia to Lydda, accompanied by Rabbi Abba and Rabbi Yehudah. Rabbi Abba was weary, running after Rabbi Shim’on, who was riding. Rabbi Abba said: They will follow YHVH, roaring like a lion (Hosea 11:10)” (Zohar 1:223a; Matt 2004–2007, vol. 3, p.340).

An additional divine aspect associated with Rashbi is connected with his being the bearer and distributor of light. In the biblical book of Daniel, God is described as the locus of light: “He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him” (Daniel 2:22; transl. NJPS). In the Zohar, this divine light is attributed to Rashbi himself.

Perhaps the most common epithet for Rashbi in the Zohar is botsina kaddisha (the holy luminary),⁹ which is found along with botsina di-nhora (the ...