Inner Space: Introduction to Kabbalah, Meditation and Prophecy

134 Pages·1991·84.51 MB·English

by  Aryeh Kaplan

INNERSPACE
Introduction to Kabbalah, Meditation and Prophecy
by
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan z'7
October 23, 1934 — January 28, 1983
Edited by
Abraham Sutton
Jerusalem 5751 (1991)
Acknowledgments
This book
is dedicated to the memory of
The editor would like to express his appreciation to Rabbis
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
Mordechai Attie
and
V"T irr^K mp» rmx rmn
Shabtai Teicher
for their invaluable assistance in preparing the original transcripts for publication.
jVsp p
KJ^DI ^XIDIP
y&OT mw Y" TOM
This book contains Divine Names Do not take it into the bathroom or any other unclean place.
•msa mm mm xnn
o^nn
Copyright e 1990 by Moznaim Publishing Corporation
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced
in any form without the written permission of the publisher.
For information write:
Moznaim Publishing Corporation
4304 12th Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11219
TeL [phone]
1st printing 1990
2nd printing 1991
Printed and bound in Jerusalem, Israel
by Vagshal Ltd.
Typesetting by Vagshal Ltd.
Jerusalem
Printed in Israel
Table of Contents
Foreword wl
Part I: Introduction to Kabbalah
Chapter 1: Kabbalah and Prophecy 3
Chapter 2: God and Man 9
Chapter 3: The Universes 21
Chapter 4: The Sefirot 37
Chapter 5: Keter 49
Chapter 6: Chokhmah and Binah 57
Chapter 7: Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferet 61
Chapter 8: Netzach, Hod and Yesod 64
Chapter 9: Malkhut 74
Chapter 10: The Shattering of the Vessels 78
Chapter 11: Partzufim 92
Chapter 12: Adam Kadmon 110
Chapter 13: Tzimtzum 120
Part II: Meditation and Prophecy
Meditation and Prophecy 131
The Dream Center 132
Ezekiel's Vision 140
The Merkavah as a Meditative Experience 155
The Glowing Husk 159
The Speaking Silence 165
The Mitzvah.of Circumcision 171
y/ Table of Contents Vti
The Chayot §1
The Zodiac 180
Notes 185
Index 233 Foreword
Biblical Quotations 253
The first part of this book is based on a series of classes that Rabbi
Aryeh Kaplan z"I gave to a small group of students at his home in
Brooklyn, from August 10 to November 2,1981. Thinking of eventually
developing them into a book, Rabbi Kaplan had the classes taped and
transcribed. Such being the origin of this book, the editor was reluctant to
tamper with the sometimes colloquial style, for it brought vivid memories
of the author discussing these profound concepts with the unique clarity
and simplicity that characterized him. His frequent smile, the amusing
comments with which he lightened a long and involved example, his
unique use of Mashal (analogy) blending his scientific background with
his profound knowledge of Torah, all bring to mind the attribute
Kabbalists are generally known for: Mesamchey Lev (causing others to
be happy of heart).
With the eventual publication of these transcripts in mind, Rabbi
Kaplan made lists of all the ideas mentioned in each class, and included
these summaries after the corresponding transcript. Needless to say, these
lists were invaluable in editing the material for publication. In addition,
Rabbi Kaplan's voluminous written works were consulted throughout
the entire editing and annotating process.
Although this book is designed as an introductory course in Kabbalah,
it includes only a brief survey of the main texts and personalities in the
field, for Rabbi Kaplan's Meditation and Kabbalah (Weiser, 1982) covers
his main research in this area. The title of this book is Rabbi Kaplan's
own. As he bound the transcripts of the classes, he included an initial
sheet with the title and subtitle he had selected.
Perhaps due to the aura of secrecy around it, Kabbalah has always
been an appealing subject; there are many books printed on Kabbalah.
The amount of misinformation printed under that title, however, is
staggering. In view of this, Rabbi Kaplan was concerned to give an
insider's view of how the hidden worlds relate to human experience, thus
presenting a simple outline of the most complex structures, highlighted
by his lucid explanations and examples. It is important to realize,
however, that he only attempted to help his listeners understand the
basic foundations of Kabbalah, without ever going into these difficult
Foreword
viti
concepts in depth. As he was discussing the structure of Adam Kadmon,
he observed:
"As usual, these beautiful Kabbalistic concepts will appear to you very
simple, until you look at the Etz Chaim, which covers about fifty pages
Part I
discussing the structure and functions of Adam Kadmon. By the time
you are finished, besides being totally dizzy, you realize that just as INTRODUCTION to KABBALAH
there is nothing simple in the visible world, to a much greater extent,
there is nothing simple in the hidden world."
It is important to warn the reader that in order to describe certain
Kabbalistic notions such as Sefirot or Partzufim, it is necessary to use
metaphors to express abstract concepts, due to the limitations of human
language. The reader should understand these descriptions as complex
poetical symbols rather than focusing on the imagery as such.
The second part of this book is an independent series of lectures on
the first chapter of the book of Ezekiel that were given from January
18 to March 15, 1981 In these lectures. Rabbi Kaplan developed the
theme of meditation as it manifests itself in prophecy. In this sense,
it is a sequel to his posthumous Jewish Meditation (Shocken, 1985).
It seemed logical to join this section to the first part of this book rather
than publish it as a separate volume because it would be useless to
a beginner without the knowledge of the basic principles of Kabbalah
expounded in the first part. In addition, they supplement the first part
in that they translate Kabbalistic concepts into our everyday life. It is
our hope that many readers will be inspired to return to the faith of
their fathers as the mystical reasons behind the commandments are
progressively unveiled to them and that this will be a source of benefit
for the soul of our departed teacher. Amen.
As in any class, there was a problem of asides to deal with. Questions
sometimes led Rabbi Kaplan in a different direction. Although he
invariably came back to the point be started out discussing, the aside
was often an important thought that* would be lost if merely ignored.
These asides were incorporated whenever they did not lead the discussion
too far afield.
It was fortunate for the Jewish people that Rabbi Kaplan always had
his das«s taped. On January 4, 1982, he mentioned how important it
f^HM thcir ^ P1* P**™ their oral teachings. Rabbi
Kaplan followed a long tradition of Kabbalistic masters whose teachings
K fr " r *^ thdr dUdplcf' ^ P** volume has
~djparagraphs of transition for the purpose of readability. He
hop«i»ot to have misinterpreted the teachings of Rabbi Kaplan in the
Jerusalem 5750 (1990)
r -
3
Chapter 1: KABBALAH and PROPHECY
What docs the word Kabbalah mean? It stems from the root Kabal,
meaning "to receive.'* The term implies that it is a certain kind of
wisdom that is received.1
The Mishnah says that "Moses kibe/-received Torah on Sinai
and [subsequently] transmitted it to Joshua. Joshua transmitted it to
the Elders. The Elders transmitted it to the Prophets. The Prophets
transmitted it to the Men of the Great Assembly."2
Moses was the master of all prophets.3 He understood the Torah
completely.4 In this sense his prophetic vision was on the level of an
open vessel that could always receive more.3 Perhaps the secret of
Moses' receiving was, the more he transmitted, the more he was able to
receive. The Mishnah thus says, "Moses kibel Torah" because he was the
paradigm of complete and total kabbalah-receptivity to the prophetic
experience.6
The idea of Kabbalah, then, is to become completely infused with
Torah and to connect with it on every possible level.7 Without Kabbalah,
a person could understand Torah on a number of levels. The only way
to grasp every single nuance of Torah, however, is through the prophetic
wisdom that is contained in Kabbalah.8
We can now understand what Moses "transmitted to Joshua and
Joshua transmitted to the Elders, etc." According to the Torah, God told
Moses to place his spirit upon Joshua (Numbers 27:20). In other words,
Moses was to invest Joshua with his own spirit of prophecy.9 According
to an ancient Midrash, this included the necessary methods and disciplines
for acquiring prophecy.10 Moses thus transmitted the keys for entering
the prophetic state to Joshua. These keys constituted the Kabbalah
tradition.
Throughout the period of the Prophets, the Kabbalah was guarded
by the master prophets and transmitted to select disciples." During this
time, the Sanctuary, and later the First Temple, served as the focal
point for all prophetic experience.12 When the Temple was about to be
destroyed the prophet Ezekiel was shown a vision which was to signal
the end of a thousand year period of prophecy.'3 This vision is known as
Ma'aseh Merkavah, the Discipline (or Workings) of the Chariot.'4 While
referring specifically to the opening chapter of the book of Ezekiel, the
4 Innerspace Kabbalah and Prophecy 5
term Ma'aseh Merlcavah is also a general appellation for the entire At this time, Rabbi Nehunia ben HaKanah and his disciple, the High
Kabbalah tradition.13 Priest Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha, put into writing the Sefer Bahir (Book
Unlike previous prophetic messages, Ezekiel's vision included an of Illumination)24 and the Pirkey Hekhalot Rabatai (The Greater Book
actual detailed description of the ascent of the prophet and the barriers of the Divine Chambers).25 These two sages redacted the traditions they
he encountered before hearing God's voice. Coming at the close of had received in order to preserve them from oblivion during the violent
the prophetic era, Ezekiel's vision had to contain explicit directions for times in which they lived. Commenting on the Mishnah quoted above,
attaining and entering the prophetic state. Nevertheless, these directions Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki-Yarchi 1040-1105) asserts that one of the
were couched in extremely obscure terms. For all intents and purposes, main texts for the study of Ma'aseh Merkavah was the Pirkey Hekhalot
the Kabbalah tradition was to remain even more concealed than it had Rabatai. This text contains actual meditative exercises, disciplines, and
been until now. directions for entering the prophetic state.26
By the time of the building of the Second Temple, the keys to the The Zohar (Book of Splendor), one of the main pillars of Kabbalah,
Kabbalah tradition had been entrusted to the last prophets of the Jewish was taught by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai around 135 C.E. Rabbi
people as well as to its greatest sages.16 Together, they constituted the 120 Shimon also lived during these tumultuous times when the Romans
Men of the Great Assembly.17 It was this body of sages that formulated were actually killing all the great teachers, the sole transmitters of the
the Mishnah in Tractate Chagigah, stating: "The Ma'aseh Merkavah may revealed and concealed traditions. During the thirteen years that Rabbi
be taught only to individual students (one at a time), and they must Shimon spent hiding in a cave with his disciples, he taught what he
be wise, understanding with their own knowledge."18 They thus insured had received from his teachers.27 During this time as well, he received
the continued transmission of the Kabbalah tradition by restricting its Divine Inspiration (Ruach HaKodesh) and merited the revelation of
practices to the smallest possible circle of masters.19 Outside of this Elijah the prophet.28 There was a tradition that if the Oral Torah was
circle these practices would remain almost totally unknown. This policy endangered to the point of being forgotten, it was permitted to put it
continued until after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. It into writing.29 Therefore, all the masters, Rabbi Akiba, Rabbi Nehunia,
was only then that things began to change. Rabbi Yishmael, and Rabbi Shimon, set a precedent. They began
Looking at the history of the period for a moment, we can see committing parts of the oral tradition to writing. Despite this, however,
that even after the Second Temple was destroyed, the Romans still all of these texts were not given final form for several generations after
allowed some remnant of Jewry to live in the land of Israel. However, these teachers. This would be the task of their disciples.30
in the wake of the Bar Kochba revolt in 132-135 C.E., things took a
All of these major texts, the Yetzirah, the Bahir, the Hekhalot Rabatai,
drastic turn for the worse. At this time the Romans became intent on
the Zohar, and the various parts of the revealed Torah, contained the
uprooting the last traces of Torah from the Jewish people. The Hadrianic
basic teachings which had been passed down through the prophets and
persecutions reached such a crescendo that all teachers of Torah were sages from Moses.31 The time had come to commit these teachings to
condemned to death. This was the time of the Ten Martyrs, among
writing. Interestingly enough, all of these works are obscure to the point
whom were the final transmitters of the Kabbalah tradition.20
of begging the question: what was gained? What had been written down
As a result of these persecutions, the oral tradition from Sinai, in remained, as the Torah had been in its time, a closed book. The keys
particular the Kabbalah tradition, was in danger of being forgotten. were to remain oral. Just enough had been written down to insure
At this time, Rabbi Akiba (50-135 C.E.) received his tradition. He that only someone familiar with the tradition would understand.32 This
was considered the greatest sage of his generation, a master of the whole corpus of writings, ranging from the practical understanding of the
revealed Torah, as well as the concealed. Rabbi Akiba possessed the commandments to the most sublime experience of prophecy, remained
Merkavah (Chariot) tradition.21 Many sources attribute to Rabbi Akiba a closed book. Yet, the Kabbalah tradition had been saved.
the authorship of the Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Formation), one of the
We mentioned that one of the main pillars of Kabbalah was the Zohar,
oldest and most obscure Kabbalistic texts.22 Just as the great bulk of
from the school of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. It was on the teachings of
the Talmud bears Rabbi Akiba's stamp, so does the Sefer Yetzirah.23 It
the Zohar that the two greatest Kabbalists of modern times built their
was Rabbi Akiba who transmitted these teachings in a well-defined form.
entire systems: Rabbi Moses Cordovero (d. 1570), known as the Ramak,
6 Interspace
Kabbalah and Prophecy
7
and Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572), universally referred to as the Ari,
an acronym for Elohi Rabbi Yitzchak, the Godly Rabbi Isaac. while the Sha'ar Ruach HaKodesh teaches how to put this into practice.
The Zohar is opaque. Very often, the Ari used to take a passage The eighth gate is Sha'ar HaGilgulim, the Gate of Reincarnations.
from the Zohar and meditate on it, perhaps repeating it over and over An important point which is often lost is that Kabbalah cannot stand
like a mantra, until the inner meaning was revealed to him.33 The main by itself without the entire corpus of the revealed Torah: it is an integral
part of the Torah. There is not a single Kabbalistic work which does not
relationship between the writings of the Ari (Kitvey Ari) and the Zohar is
contain quotations from the Bible, the Talmud and the Midrash and
that without the Art's teachings the Zohar does not make any sense
require a profound knowledge of all of these. Bible, Talmud, Midrash
at all. You could study the Zohar, which is a very poetic text, but
and Kabbalah all work together.
you cannot detect any system or structure. Once you know the Kitvey
There are three types of Kabbalah: theoretical Kabbalah, meditative
Ari, the entire Zohar becomes an open book. For example, you could
Kabbalah, and practical Kabbalah. The theoretical Kabbalah essentially
study the qualities of metals and see that silver is white, gold is yellow,
gives us a description of the spiritual realm. Meditative Kabbalah tells
copper is red, certain things are harder and others softer. Yet, you you how to get into this inner space. Very often, the theoretical Kabbalah
will not understand the reasons for any of these things until you know is an important guide once you are in there. Otherwise, it is like taking
atomic theory and solid state physics. Once you have learned these off in a plane; you need maps and charts to make sure you will be able
disciplines and you know exactly how light is reflected from certain to land. The theoretical Kabbalah gives you these landmarks; in other
atoms of copper, you understand why copper is red; it all makes sense words, which world you are in, whether on the side of good or of evil,
and becomes part of a system. The Ari's teaching could be called the etc. There are very few books published on the meditative Kabbalah,
atomic theory of the Zohar. everything begins to make sense. One can although there are many manuscripts. The paradigm of this is Sha'arey
Kedushah, Gates of Holiness, written by Rabbi Chaim Vital. This is one of
go deeper and deeper, as far as the human mind can delve, and it will
always yield new treasures.34 the few published books which tells you how to meditate kabbalistically.
Until recently, only the first three sections were published. The fourth
The main work of the Kitvey Ari is the Etz Chaim (Tree of Life).
section consists of a collection from manuscripts of all the different
This work expounds the theoretical foundation of the Kabbalah. For
meditative methods.
one who has mastered the contents of this work, the rest is essentially
The third type is practical or magical Kabbalah. Here too there are
revealed. Then, the Pri Etz Chaim (Fruit of the Tree of Life), shows you
almost no books in print, except Raziel HaMalakh, the Angel of Divine
how to apply the various teachings of the Etz Chaim to all kinds of daily
Mysteries, which is divided into three sections. The first printer dropped
situations: meditations when you put on tzitzit or tefillin, when you pray
the manuscript, however, and printed it in shuffled order. The typesetter
or when you eat matzah. It also shows you how to develop meditative
found no errors because he was not expected to understand the text. The
techniques based on the Ari's teachings.
main work on magic is Shoshan Yesod Olam, the Rose Foundation of
Then come the works known as the Shemoneh Shearim (Eight
the World, of which one manuscript exists.37
Gates). The first gate, Sha'ar HaHakdamot, (Gate of Introductions),
covers the same theoretical ground as the Etz Chaim. The second is
The Spiritual Dimension
Sha'ar Ma'amarey Rashby,35 the Gate of Zoharic Teachings; the third
One of the most important foundations of our faith is the belief that
is Sha'ar Ma'amarey Chazal, the Gate of Talmudic Teachings;36 the God is an absolute Unity in every possible respect.38 We see God as a
fourth is Sha'ar HaPesukim, the Gate of Biblical Verses; the fifth simple unity, absolutely Simple and absolutely One. There is no element
is Sha'ar HaMitzvot, the Gate of the Commandments; the sixth is of form, structure or plurality in Him whatsoever.39
Sha'ar HaKavanot, the Gate of Meditations; the seventh is Sha'ar But this brings up a tricky question. How does God, who is absolutely
Ruach HaKodesh, the Gate of Divine Inspiration, which is a general simple, interact with the different aspects or parts of His creation? How
recapitulation and describes how to-'use the Ari's system as a meditative does the One interact with the many?40
discipline. In many ways, the Sha'ar Ruach HaKodesh is the key to While we are pondering this question, however, and before we attempt
the entire Kitvey Ari, because all the previous gates deal with theory, to answer it, we are led to an even more perplexing one. According to
8 Innerspace
9
the Kabbalists, God's simple essence is so powerful that it must be
hidden if creation is to exist at all. If, on the other hand, God wouid
withdraw Himself completely, creation would utterly cease to exist. We
thus have the paradoxical situation where the very existence of anything
but God Himself becomes extremely tenuous. The question therefore is
Chapter 2: GOD and MAN
no longer "How can the One interact with the many?" but "How can
a many exist?"41
The Kabbalists answer this question and the previous one by explaining
The Purpose of Creation
that God created a spiritual dimension.42 This dimension is made up of
The foundation of Judaism is the realization that life has purpose.
every basic concept needed to create and sustain the universe. It is
This, of course, is true of every major religion, but in the case of
essentially through this spiritual domain that God interacts with the
Judaism it is absolutely central. Insofar as we can say that Judaism has
universe. It thus forms the bridge between God and creation and acts as a
one central teaching, it is that man's existence has purpose. The universe
step-down mechanism which prevents creation from being overwhelmed was created for a reason, and somehow, man partakes of it.1
by God's essence while still being infused by it
But to merely say that the universe exists for a purpose is not enough.
According to many Kabbalists it is this spiritual dimension that Judaism goes a step further and states that both man and the universe
makes it possible for us to speak about God's multifaceted relationship have purpose because they were created by a purposeful being. We call
to the universe without violating the basic principle of His Unity and His that being God.2
Simplicity. For, according to the Kabbalah, any action or state of being
The truth is that we do not have the power to understand what God
that we might ascribe to God refers to something that God created
is, and just as we cannot understand Him, so we cannot understand
in order to interact with the universe — not to God Himself.43 Thus,
His reasons. There is nothing we can say about God Himself. He exists
without some knowledge of how this dimension is structured, i. e.,
— and we can say no more. But we can speak of His relationship
knowledge of theoretical Kabbalah, a person cannot really know how
with His world. We can try to understand the world and ask why it
God interacts with us. In addition, as we shall see, knowledge of this
exists. We can look and see what God Himself has taught us about the
spiritual dimension provides us with a key to the entire prophetic
purpose of creation.
tradition, beginning with the Bible itself and culminating in the most
One of the main things that we can say about God is that He is good.
abstract Kabbalistic ideas.
Not only do we say that He is good, but also that He defines good. Every
If we were to imagine the spiritual domain, therefore, it could act of God contains the most pure and infinite Good that can exist. His
be described as an infinitely huge spiritual computer. This computer goodness and His love are two of the most basic of God's qualities that
is programmed to fulfill God's one ultimate purpose of bestowing we can understand, and they work together to bring about His purpose.
good upon His creation.44 The main difference between the spiritual The Psalmist sings of this and says, "God is good to all, His love rests
domain and a computer is that the components of the former consist on all His deeds" (Psalms 145:9).3
of intelligent, sensitive, spiritual beings.43 Since the main point of the God had absolutely no need to create the world. God Himself
theoretical Kabbalah is to resolve the paradox of God's interaction with is absolute perfection, and He has no need for anything, even
creation, it deals almost exclusively with the structure and dynamics of creation.4 Thus, to the best of our understanding, we can say that God
this domain. created the universe for the purpose of bestowing good upon man.
God Himself calls His creation an act of goodness. It is for this
reason that, at the end of the first six days of creation, after making
man, the Torah says, "And God saw all that He had made and behold
it was very good" (Genesis 1:35).3 We are being told that the creation
of the universe was an expression of His goodness.
This is why God made man last in the order of creation. All the world