Shabbat In Kabbalistic Thought
Rabbi Eliyahu Yaakov
(Excerpt from “The Trees In The Forest: Jewish Living In The Context Of Kabbalah”)
The story of Shabbat begins with the creation of the world. Most people look at creation of the world as a positive thing – before there was nothing, now there is something. However we are going to demonstrate that, kabbalistically, this is not all that clear.
INFINITE IMPLICATIONS
There are two words used for creation in the Torah – yotzer and barrah.
Being that the Torah is a document given over by the Infinite God, each word is exact and applicable in some way at all times, and nothing is by coincidence. This leads us to ask the obvious question: What is difference between these two words for creation? If there are two different words for creation, it must be that they come to teach or imply two different ideas.
TWO MODES OF CREATION
Imagine I was to shine a flashlight onto the floor – I would have created a spot of light on the floor. This is positive creation – something from something. This is one kind of creation.
Now, if I were to put my hand between the flashlight and the floor, I would create a shadow. However, this mode of creation is very different than the creation of the spot of light. The creation of the shadow is not caused by me putting forth something that was not there previously. Rather, the shadow is created by me holding back the light that was already there. This is negative creation – creation by negation. This creation by default can be referred to as something from nothing – the shadow results due to the lack of light caused by hand blocking the flashlight.
In the Jewish sources, positive creation is referred to as yotzer, and the negative creation is referred to as barrah.
THE WORLD’S CREATION
According to the Torah, the world’s creation was a barrah creation – a negative creation. In a sense, there was “light” – i.e. clarity that God is all there is – and our world’s creation makes God-perception blurry – it is darkness.
One of the paradigms of kabbalistic thinking is that everything in our physical world is a parallel to a spiritual reality. That is to say, what we see and experience in our physical lives is a physical manifestation and projection of a deeper spiritual reality. In fact, the word KaBbaLaH itself shares its Hebrew root with word for parallel, MaKBEeL, indicating the connection.
That is to say, just as light illuminates resulting in one’s ability to see, the spiritual concept of light is spiritual illumination resulting in one’s ability to see spiritually. Before the world’s inception all was illuminated – it was clear that the Infinite God is all there is. With the creation of the world, we now have a perception of an “other” – of something other than God – and now it is unclear whether there is God, what my purpose is, etc. With the creation of the world comes a spiritual state of darkness.
MONOTHEISM IN MULTIPLICITY
This is what the first verse of the Torah is hinting to when it refers to God as Elohim, also meaning powers. Being that the word Elohim is in plural, it makes for a very strange name for God within monotheistic Judaism. However, upon further study it becomes clear that the name Elohim connotes God as the Power behind the multiple powers of the physical universe. Therefore, the Name Elohim is used when we perceive God within the multiplicity of our natural physical world.
Just as I have different names, i.e. father, son, brother, friend, teacher, etc. – each applicable based on the angle by which the other person perceives and relates to me – with the creation of the natural world, the Name (i.e. perception) of God, Elohim, was created. This is hinted to by the fact that the word Elohim itself and the Hebrew word meaning the natural world, hateva, have the same numerical value.
THE HOLY LANGUAGE
Further, we find that the method by which God created the world was through speech – i.e. “God said, ‘Let there be light’; And there was light” (Gen 1:3). We see that the move from the clarity of one God to this world of multiplicity is done by way of the Hebrew letters – that the Hebrew letters are the building blocks of the physical world. This is also hinted to in the first verse of the Torah where a literal read of the Hebrew indicates that the first creation was “et” – “Aleph Tav” – the Hebrew language from aleph to tav, the first letter to the last letter.
If we were to look at a table through a microscope, we would see a bunch of atoms flying around very fast. We would discover that the table is, in fact, mostly empty space with the amount of matter actually present being capable of fitting under one my fingernails. That is to say, while the atoms are microscopic, they somehow manifest themselves in the physical world as solids, liquids and gasses, and it is for this reason that I can not put my hand through the table despite the fact that it is by and large vacant space.
As the table is a manifestation of its physical atomic root, ultimately there is an even deeper root that what can be perceived in a microscope, the Hebrew letters. Meaning, if I was to look at that table through a spiritual microscope, I would find the Hebrew letters, shin, lamed, chet, nun – the letters that make up the Hebrew word for table, shulchan.
For this reason, Biblical Hebrew is called the Holy Language. It is the language of creation and gets to the spiritual root of each item in our physical world. It is similar to looking at microfilm through a projector. While the projection looks big and impressive, it would not exist were the microfilm to be removed. In the end, while the projection is physically more impressive, it has virtually no existence when compared to the microfilm – this is the relationship of the physical world to its spiritual core, the Hebrew letters spoken by God.
According to Kabbalah, this concept – that the spiritual word of God is actually the thing itself in its deepest sense – applies to all things. This is why the Hebrew names of all things describe their essence – because the speech actually is the thing and the thing is a manifestation of the speech: A dog in Hebrew is called a kelev, which can also be pronounced k’lev, meaning like the heart, i.e. man’s best friend. The most physical and brute animal, the donkey, whose lot is to simply carry a physical burden on its back, is a chamor in Hebrew, which is closely related to the Hebrew word chomer, meaning matter or physicality. In this manner, all in our physical reality is a manifestation of its deeper spiritual root.
THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF CREATION
Expanding on this theme, Kabbalah explains that each letter has three ways it can be understood – its shape, its numerical value, what the letter is called.
With this understanding in mind, we can explain a mystical teaching that the World to Come is a projection of the letter yud and the This World is a projection of the letter hay.
The letter yud is the smallest of all the letters and can be likened to a mere dot, therefore it expresses spirituality – existence beyond the realm of physicality i.e. the World to Come – since, when written, it appears on the page but it is not drawn out to contain physical properties.
The letter, hay, however, has two aspects to it. It is made up of the letter dalet, with the letter yud inside of it. The letter dalet represents the physical since it is made up of two lines – one horizontal and one vertical pointing to the four directions of the world. Additionally, the numerical value of the dalet is the number four, corresponding to the directions in our space-oriented world. The letter yud, as we have mentioned, represents the spiritual – existence beyond the physical realm. The letter hay, therefore, expresses a revealed physical world with with a spiritual component hidden within as its source.
If we can get to the yud from within the hay – access spiritual clarity within the physical – we actualize the ultimate in light, clarity, and ourselves, as we will explain.
THE LIGHT OG GOD
This is all seen in the word for light in Hebrew – ohr. The word ohr is spelled with three Hebrew letters – aleph, vav, reish. Aleph is the first letter of the alphabet and, having the numerical value of one, hints to the One God. Vav in the Hebrew language is used to connect sentence fragments into one longer sentence (similar to the English words ‘and’ and ‘or’). Reish means head in Rabbinic literature. So, if we put this all together, we find that light in a deeper sense means: ‘God connected to one’s head’. In other words, to live in light and be able to see clearly means to live a life of God-consciousness.
LIGHT UNTO THE NATIONS
The mission statement of the Jewish people is to be a Light Unto The Nations – that is to say the Jewish mission is to bring clarity of God, purpose, and self – to those who do not have it otherwise.
If we contrast this with Greece, for example, we find that their purpose – from a spiritual perspective –was for the increased emphasis on the physical and the natural. Whereas the Jewish mission is to see the spiritual even in the physical, we can say that the Greek ideal was the opposite – to see the physical in all – even where spiritual is making itself apparent.
If the Jewish people are to be a Light Unto The Nations, I think we can say that Greek culture has played the role of Darkness Unto the Nations. After all, the ideal they are pushing is the decrease of clarity of the Infinite. Indeed, it is humorous to note that Western historians refer to the renaissance based on Greek ideals as the Enlightenment. Jewishly, when someone sees darkness and calls it light, we would say this is the greatest endarkenment there can be.
Interestingly, we find that the word for Greece in Hebrew, yavan, is made up of Hebrew letters that appear as lines going downward, as if to demonstrate that Greece is bringing spiritual clarity down to complete engrossment in the physical. In contrast, the word for Jew, yehudi, comes from the Hebrew word for Judah, Yehuda. Yehuda is made up of the four letter of the name of God, Y-H-V-H, plus the letter dalet, hinting to the idea that the Jew is all about bringing God to those who are spiritually poor i.e. those who lack the awareness and clarity of the Infinite and life’s purpose.
SHABBAT IN KABBALAH
So, we return to the question of whether the creation of the world is good or evil.
So far, the world seems dark, purposeless, and lacking in clarity.
However, the Jewish approach to the darkness and lack of clarity of our world is that it makes for the best backdrop and contrast to a greater revelation of light – i.e. a greater manifestation of the clarity of the world.
This is what we are attempting to achieve with Shabbat.
Shabbat is from the Hebrew word shuv, meaning to return. The Shabbat ideal is to return to the God-clarity of Pre-Creation. But, the truth is, if we can pull off the God-clarity of Pre-Creation even in this world of non-clarity and multiplicity, this will be an even greater manifestation of God-clarity than the original God-clarity of Pre-Creation.
After all, if an angel does the right thing, while we may refer to that as goodness, it is not the truest manifestation of goodness, since an angel does not really have the opportunity or drive to do anything other than goodness. As the Hebrew word for angel, mal’ach, indicates, the angel is malay kaf – his hand is full – i.e. he is already 100% good and does not have a struggle. However, a person, who is made up of both soul and body, lives in the realm of confusion, dilemma, and struggle. This is indicated by the Hebrew word for human being, Adam. The word Adam is made up of the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, alef, corresponding to the number one and hinting to the One Infinite God, and the word for blood, dam. The name A-dam, therefore, implies a coming together of God and blood. If we break down Judaism’s understanding of a person, it is just that – flesh and blood with a spark of Godliness, a soul. If the human being can pull off Godness and goodness even in the struggle and shades of grey, this would be the ultimate in manifestation of God-clarity since it is Godliness being brought to light even in a realm of confusion.
The name Adam is also from the Hebrew word for earth, adumuh. The first human being is called by a name connected to the word meaning earth because there is a connection of essence between Adam and the earth. The earth has the potential for the bearing of trees and fruit which needs to be worked on in order to be brought forth and actualized. Similarly, the human being has a potential to bring forth, and it is only through the labor of working on one’s self that he comes to yield the fruit of self-actualization.
Imagine an average looking picture hanging on the wall. If we were to take that picture and put it through a machine that cuts it up into five thousand, and regularly sit around the table putting the pieces of the puzzle back together, when that picture is ultimately restored as one through our efforts, there is a manifestation of the wholeness of that picture through each individual puzzle piece which only came about because of our efforts. This is the picture we laminate and handle with care. When we see this picture hanging on the wall, there is an appreciation that comes from the return to wholeness that was achieved through our efforts after the picture was initially fragmented.
This is what Shabbat is all about – experiencing clarity within a world of confusion; wholeness within a world of fragmentation; light within a world of darkness.
People talk about Shabbat as a day off, but, truthfully, Shabbat is the day on.
If we are saying that God “put His hand” in the way of the light to form a shadow to allow for this world of non-clarity, we can say that Shabbat is the experience of God pulling His hand away a bit to allow for more of that light to come into our world.
We avoid melacha (that which is not permitted on Shabbat) on Shabbat because melacha is about mastery and ownership of the physical and would, therefore, only serve to engross us further in the confusion of the physical. But Shabbat is all about going beyond the physical – it is about recapturing clarity of Pre-Creation even in the Creation itself, and so we refrain from building the world of non-clarity on Shabbat.
A PIECE OF WHAT’S TO COME
For this reason, the Shabbat experience is referred to as a piece of the World to Come. The World to Come is the experience of a higher clarity, and Shabbat, if melacha is avoided, is a move in that direction.
Similarly, the times of Mashiach, which Jews have been yearning for throughout the ages, is referred to as the time when all will be Shabbat. It is the time when the clarity of Pre-Creation will be ever-present here in the created world of multiplicity.
People think that the time of Mashiach is one of peace and prosperity – and that is true. But most people lose sight of the reason for the peace and prosperity of Messianic times. It is not that people will simply drop all their weapons one day because they have concluded that war is a negative. Rather, there will be such a revelation of the clarity of God and our purpose in the world – such an experience of God’s oneness – that all of humanity will want what is true and what is best, and will actually have agreement on what that is and how to achieve it.
OUR STORY
This is really the story of all of our lives – going from a place of clarity, to a place of non-clarity, for the purpose of achieving a higher clarity.
Each soul, which is an aspect of God, was in a “place” of clarity before entering this world of physicality, multiplicity, and confusion. Then it is sent “down here” where it is engaged in all sorts of struggles, challenges, and finds itself searching for itself. However, when this human being acts as his true soul-self even in this world where his true God-identity is not so apparent, it is specifically from this place of darkness that the greatest light shines.
WHO AM I?
So, while we refer to God as the Ultimate Good for setting up the world for the purpose of giving us the opportunity to achieve an Infinite identification, association, and relationship with Him, the question lingers as to whether God is really the Ultimate Good if, after all, it is not as if God had an “opportunity” or struggle to do evil. And if God does not have that evil option, can we really say that God has the “capacity” to truly manifest goodness?
While at first glance, it may seem that the answer to this question is no, the Jewish answer to this question is yes. God can truly manifest goodness – this is the soul.
The soul is an aspect of God hidden from its true Self for the purpose of being that aspect of God that does struggle with opportunities and desires towards evil. Through the goodness accomplished by the human soul, there is a manifestation of God unachievable otherwise specifically because of the darkness and confusion at the outset of the process.
THE PURPOSE OF CREATION
This is what the story of creation and Shabbat is all about – going from the unity of Pre-Creation, to the fragmentation and multiplicity of the created world, and coming back to the experience of Pre-Creation unity even from there. Ultimately, what we can look forward to as we move towards that time that is all Shabbat – the times of Mashiach – is a time when essays such as this will be met with scorn since, in the end, they are simply made up of words, and can not do justice nor come close to capturing the experience which we are trying to convey.
Rabbi Eliyahu Yaakov is a lecturer on Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah who is noted for his plethora of parallels and explanatory precision, and the author of the books “Shabbos Insights of the Maharal”, “Identity, Direction, Integration: A Kabbalistic Path To Personal Growth”, “The Trees In The Forest: Jewish Living In The Context Of Kabbalah”.For more from Rabbi Eliyahu Yaakov, go to: www.lightuntoournation.com.