Front Matter (PDF) - Stanford University Press

join the search for meaning. Follow the words to what lies beyond and
and
open the gates of imagination.
within;
all, don't reduce everythingyou encounter in these pages to somethingyou
Above
already know. Beware of tryingto ®nd ``the essence'' of a particular
Although usually essence is the goal of mystical search, here essence is
teaching.
unless it stimulates you to explore ever deeper layers, to question
inadequate
assumptions about tradition, God, and self. In the words of a Zoharic
your
parable:
was a man who lived in the mountains. He knew nothingabout those who
There
in the city. He sowed wheat and ate the kernels raw. One day he entered the
lived
They offered him good bread. The man asked, ``What's this for?''
city.
replied, ``It's bread, to eat!''
They
ate, and it tasted very good. He asked, ``What's it made of?''
He
answered, ``Wheat.''
They
they offered him thick loaves kneaded with oil. He tasted them, and
Later
``And what are these made of?''
asked,
answered, ``Wheat.''
They
they offered him royal pastry kneaded with honey and oil. He asked,
Later
what are these made of?''
``And
answered, ``Wheat.''
They
said, ``Surely I am the master of all of these, since I eat the essence of all of
He
wheat!''
these:
of that view, he knew nothingof the delights of the world, which were
Because
on him. So it is with one who grasps the principle but is unaware of all those
lost
delectable delights deriving, diverging from that principle. 40
Zohar 2:176a±b. The wheat and its products (kernels, bread, cake, and pastry)
40.
four levels of meaningin Torah: simple, homiletical, allegorical, and mystical.
symbolize
Translator's Introduction
xix
See Matt, The Essential Kabbalah, 207.