Front Matter (PDF) - Stanford University Press
Front Matter (PDF) - Stanford University Press
Front Matter (PDF) - Stanford University Press
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One divorced Adam, or not.'' 37 As the rabbi demonstrates by exegetical<br />
Holy<br />
the mystical meaningis the shockingalternative lurkingwithin that<br />
arti®ce,<br />
phrase, ``or not'': Adam drove out, divorced Shekhinah, splittingHer from<br />
bland<br />
divine partner, Tif'eret, and from himself. Once, as Adam, humanity was<br />
Her<br />
to God. The original sin lies in losing intimacy with the divine, thereby<br />
wedded<br />
constrictingunbounded awareness. This loss follows inevitably from tasting<br />
fruit of discursive knowledge; it is the price we pay for maturity and<br />
the<br />
The spiritual challenge is to search for that lost treasureÐwithout<br />
culture.<br />
self or the world.<br />
renouncingthe<br />
you read, see how the Ḥavrayya coax new meaningout of a biblical verse,<br />
As<br />
wordÐor even letter. Often, they rely on standard rabbinic techniques<br />
phrase,<br />
interpretation, such as verbal analogy: ``Here is written: [such-and-such a<br />
of<br />
expression], and there is written: [an identical (or nearly identical)<br />
biblical<br />
implyinga close link between the two expressions.<br />
expression],''<br />
hermeneutical leap may be long, far from the literal meaning, but<br />
The<br />
a verse is read ``hyperliterally,'' ignoring idiomatic usage in favor of<br />
sometimes<br />
lekha), Go forth, . . . to the land that Iwill show you (Genesis 12:1), Rabbi<br />
(Lekh<br />
insists on readingthe words more literally than they were intended:<br />
El'azar<br />
lekha, Go to yourself! 38 Search deep within to discover your true self.<br />
Lekh<br />
startlingillustration is the Zohar's readingof the openingwords of<br />
Another<br />
Torah, traditionally rendered: the n the beginning God created. Everyone<br />
assumes the verse describes the creation of the world, but for the Zohar it<br />
I<br />
to a more primal beginning: the emanation of the se®rot from Ein Sof<br />
alludes<br />
How is this allusion discovered, or invented? By insistingon<br />
(``In®nity'').<br />
(Be-<br />
bara Elohim), construed now as With beginning, It created ElohimÐthat<br />
reshit<br />
by means of Ḥokhmah (the se®rah of ``Wisdom,'' known as beginning), It<br />
is,<br />
Ein Sof) emanated Binah (the se®rah of ``Understanding,'' known by<br />
(ineffable<br />
divine name Elohim). 39 God, it turns out, is the object of the verse, not the<br />
the<br />
The ultimate divine reality, Ein Sof, transcends and explodes our comfortable<br />
subject!<br />
conception of ``God.'' The Zohar dares us to confront this reality, as it<br />
as you undertake this adventure, expect to be surprisedÐstay alert. The<br />
So,<br />
teachings are profound and intense; one who hopes to enter and<br />
Zohar's<br />
in peace should be careful, persevering, simultaneously receptive and<br />
emerge<br />
The message is not served to you on a platter; you must engage the text<br />
active.<br />
Zohar 1:53b.<br />
37.<br />
Ibid., 78a.<br />
38.<br />
Translator's Introduction<br />
L LN N<br />
xviii<br />
a radically spiritual sense. For example, when God commands Abraham,<br />
readingthe Hebrew words in their precise order:<br />
O KFNB<br />
BZC<br />
\K[BZC<br />
transforms the familiar story of Creation into divine biography.<br />
39. Ibid., 15a.