Front Matter (PDF) - Stanford University Press

``Eden'' (or ``Lebanon'') whence that ¯ow is to come is an accessible if
The
rungwithin the divine and human self. It is not just an ancient and lost
hidden
of the biblical tale, nor is it only the ``paradise'' to which souls will ascend
site
death. Eden is the ``upper world,'' a recondite and inward aspect of being
after
is mirrored in the ``garden,'' the One who needs to be watered by that
that
We creatures of the ``lower world,'' trees growing in the garden, need to
¯ow.
back the course of that river to its source, linkingthe upper and lower
trace
(Binah and Shekhinah, but also Shekhinah and ``this'' world, or Shekhinah
worlds
the soul), so that the ¯ow will never cease.
and
these nature-evokingverses takes us back to the typically
Re¯ectingon
settings of the companions' conversations, which we have mentioned
outdoor
These settings represent the varied topography of the land of Israel as it
earlier.
in the authors' imagination, including deserts and vast, forbidding
existed
as well as fertile oases and spring s of water. The lush mountains arden, g
as evoked in the Songof Songs, is a particularly characteristic setting
especially
inspire such conversations. This may be connected to the much older desig-
to
of the ``place'' of mystical speculation as pardes or ``orchard.'' But it is
nation
also to the verses quoted here and to the series of connected gardens in
related
the kabbalist sees himself as dwelling. This world is a lower garden,
which
to be watered by sources from above, ultimately by the love
needingconstantly
But She too is a garden, nurtured
andsustenancethatisthegiftofShekhinah.
the river than comes forth from the hidden Eden, itself also a ``garden'' in
by
unknown, mysterious way. Somewhere between this world and Shekhinah
some
the ``Garden of Eden'' that contains the souls of the righteous, both
stands
who have completed their time on earth and those not yet born. It too is
those
into ``upper'' and ``lower'' sections, described in various mythic ways.
divided
of these gardens are linked to one another. The kabbalist sitting and
All
with his companions in an earthly gardenÐphysically in Cas-
studyingTorah
but imaginatively in the Holy LandÐis aware that at the same moment the
tile,
in the Garden of Eden are also engaged in such study. Their garden
righteous
open from above, because it is taught that God Himself descends into that
is
to take delight in the souls of the righteous. All of these point still
Garden
toward the se®rotic gardens, and all these levels of the imagination
higher,
and enrich one another. The sweet aromas risingfrom these gardens
fructify
play a role in the descriptions of mystical intoxication frequently found in
also
Zohar's pages.
the
unique genius that ®nds expression in the Zohar has everythingto do with
The
Its homiletical style builds upon midrashic sensitivity to the nuances
language.
biblical language, and often seeks to go beyond it. Underlying every page of
of
Zohar's readingof Torah is a rich ``ear'' for associative links and plays on
the
Introduction
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