CHAPTER VI

THE JEWISH KABALA,—ITS TEACHINGS CONCERNING IMMORTALITY

So mysterious a work as the Kabala cannot be reviewed as one reviews ordinary literature for the original claim made for the Kabala is that it is in every sense a revelation to earth from heaven.

One tradition concerning its origin is that a society of angels constitute a Theosophic school in Paradise and that they chose seventy elders in Israel as their mouthpieces on earth and through those elders alone, it was claimed, a correct knowledge of the esoteric meaning of the Torah could be obtained. But regardless of legends concerning its origin the Kabala is unquestionably a marvelous production well deserving serious attention. Written for the wise alone it has seldom occurred that an extensive translation into English has been attempted, though a valuable book entitled "The Kabbalah Unveiled" was issued by S. I. MacGregor Mathers, published by George Redway of London in 1887. This fascinating volume was dedicated to those two remarkable authors Dr. Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland who were deep students of ancient mysteries and producers of really extraordinary literature, of which "The Perfect Way or Finding of Christ" is the best known portion. The Kabala may reasonably be styled the handbook of esoteric Judaism, and though it is largely discredited among Jews of the modern school, it is unquestionably a source from which many prevailing Jewish ideas and ceremonies have emanated. The Kabala has long exerted an intense fascination for all lovers of the profound and the mysterious, and though at first sight its claims appear too stupendous, and its introductory propositions well nigh bewildering, it thoroughly repays an earnest painstaking study conducted in a spirit of impartial examination. The twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet must be interpreted somewhat mystically before one is prepared to read their significance when employed Kabalistically.

The following table may aid all who desire familiarity with the outlines of the subject.

Name	Roman Equivalent	Significance	Numerical Value
Aleph	A	Ox	1
Beth	B	House	2
Gimel	G	Camel	3
Daleth	D	Door	4
He	H	Window	5
Vau	V	Peg or nail	6
Zayin	Z	Weapon or sword	7
Cheth	CH	Enclosure or fence	8
Teth	T	Serpent	9
Yod	I	Hand	10
Caph	K	Palm of hand	20
Lamed	L	Ox-goad	30
Mem	M	Water	40
Nun	N	Fish	50
Samekh	S	Prop or support	60
Ayin	O	Eye	70
Pe	P	Mouth	80
Tzaddi	TZ	Fishing-hook	90
Qoph	Q	Back of the head	100
Resh	R	Head	200
Shin	SH	Tooth	300
Tan	TH	Sign of the Cross	400

Thousands are denoted by a letter of increased size, thus a large Aleph signifies not one, but 1,000. In stating numbers beyond 400 and below 1,000 recourse is had to finals.

Final Caph stands for 500. Final Mem for 600. Final Nun for 700. Final Pe for 800. Final Tzaddi for 900. Students of Kabala declare that the most mystical and highly figurative portions of the Old Testament, notably the books of Daniel and Ezekiel, also the New Testament Apocalypse, are quite intelligible when we are furnished with the Kabalistic Key though without it the intricate symbols are, to the bulk of readers, meaningless or else suggestive of wild and lurid fancies such as are frequently indulged by would-be interpreters whose particular delight is in predicting awful world-wide catastrophies. Among European mystics of a recent period in whose eyes the Kabala has appeared extremely sacred may be mentioned Cornelius Henry Agrippa the famous philosopher and physician (1486-1535), John Baptist von Helmont the remarkable chemist (1577-1644), Robert Fludd (1574-1637), Dr. Henry More (1614-1687). These highly learned and profoundly philosophic men have eulogized the Kabala in the strongest and most enthusiastic terms displaying their glad acceptance of its claim to a Divine origin. The story of the Kabala is an intensely romantic one and one that taxes the credulity of modern scholars to almost the breaking point. After man’s fall from primitive innocence into a state of partial alienation from God, though there was no longer such close communion of earth with heaven as had been enjoyed in the primitive age of man’s sojourn on this planet, the angels of the Theosophic school in Paradise who were the custodians of the celestial truths revealed in the Kabala, graciously arranged to communicate them through chosen instruments on earth for the ultimate good of all humanity. These angels appointed or selected certain men as “Protoplasts” beginning with Adam and extending through Noah to Abraham, who is said to have emigrated to Egypt where he allowed a certain portion of the mysterious doctrine to become approximately public. Moses, we are distinctly told in the Bible, was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, but though he imbibed much instruction in the land of his birth, tradition states that it was only during forty years wandering in a wilderness, and by means of instruction specially imparted by an angel, that he became qualified to take the exalted place among seers and sages which he has occupied for so many centuries in the estimation of a vast number of both Jews and Gentiles.

When considering the interviews of Moses with the Angel we are soon led on to familiar Spiritualistic ground, and it seems impossible to attach any literal significance whatever to much of the Bible narrative without indorsing the simple theory that an angel is a spiritual messenger qualified and commissioned to impart instruction to selected pupils.

In four out of the five books which constitute the Pentateuch, it is said that the esoteric doctrine which Moses imparted to the sacred seventy elders is contained, but it is absent from Deuteronomy. We are further told by traditional authorities, that David and Solomon carried on an unbroken line of Kabalistic tradition, but Kabala was not committed to ordinary writing until the days of Schimlon Ben Jochai who lived during the period of the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem. Rabbi Eleazar, his son, with the assistance of Rabbi Abha, his secretary, and some of his disciples, collated the treatises of Schimlon Ben Jochai and composed out of them the celebrated Zohar, a title meaning splendor. The Kabala is usually divided into four sections: Practical, Literal, Unwritten, Dogmatic. The practical portion deals with talismans and the general details of ceremonial magic. This is kept very secret and is not considered edifying for the multitude. The other sections known as the esoteric significance of the Law are considered highly profitable for Rabbinical edification, and through the Rabbis the congregation of Israel can be enlightened, and through Israel eventually all Gentile nations may be made recipients of universal wisdom.

The principal doctrines of the Kabala are designed to solve every problem in the universe beginning with the nature and attributes of the Supreme Being. Cosmogony, the creation and destiny of angels and men, the nature of the soul, descriptions of demons and elementals, the import of revealed law, the transcendental symbolism of numbers, the mysteries of Hebrew letters and the “equilibrium of contraries” are some of the principal topics dealt with in the Kabala.

The “Book of Concealed Mystery” deals with the “equilibrium of balance.” Equilibrium is said to be “that harmony which results from the analogy of contraries.” It is the central point, the “point within the circle” of ancient symbolism, the living synthesis of counter-balanced power. Eliphas Levi, an eminent Kabalist of the nineteenth century, says in his “History of Magic” that Kabalists have a horror of whatever savors of idolatry; they however ascribe the human form to God, but only hieroglyphically.

The Kabalistic definition of Deity is “the intelligent, living, loving, Infinite One.” God is in all, but distinct from all, immanent but not inherent in the manifested universe. The Kabalistic idea of a trinity as a manifestation of Deity is of Kether (Crown) Chokmah (King) Binah (Queen). The universe is spoken of as “born from the union of the crowned King and Queen.” Before the complete form of the Heavenly Man (the 10 Sephiroth) was produced primordial worlds were created, but they could not very long subsist because the equilibrium of balance was not perfect. These are called “Kings of ancient time” and “Kings of Edom who reigned before the monarchs of Israel.” Edom means a world of unbalanced force; Israel signifies the balanced Sephiroth.

The archetypal world (Olahm Atziloth) gave birth to three other worlds in a descending or decreasing scale of brightness. The second world is termed Olahm Ha-Briah or world of creation, an immediate emanation from the first, a realm of pure spirit. The third world is called Olahm Ha-Yetzirah, the world of formation and abode of angels who are draped in luminous substance and who appear in human form when they communicate with men. The fourth world is designated Olahm Ha-Asiah or world of action. Here are to be found the Demons or “Shells” which are the grossest and most deficient of all existences. There are ten varieties of Demons answering to the decade of the Sephiroth, but in inverse ratio. The Demons have a prince named Samael, the original of Satan. Kabalists lay great stress upon the unpronounceableness of the true name of Deity by the multitude, the secret of its pronunciation being the greatest of secrets known only to a very few illustrious initiates.

The famous saying, “He who rightly pronounceth the Divine Name causeth heaven and earth to tremble, for this is the name which rusheth throughout the Universe” accounts for the fact that no devout orthodox Jew will attempt to pronounce the name formed from the sacred consonants Yod, Heth, Vau, Heth, but makes a slight pause or substitutes Adonai, which is customary when reading from the scrolls in synagogues. The ineffable Name has twelve transpositions, all conveying the same meaning, “to be.” It is the only name that will bear so many transpositions without involving a change of meaning.

These twelve transpositions are called “banners of the mighty Name” and have a reference to the twelve signs of the Zodiac which are also the twelve major sections into which the human body is divisible.

The Sephiroth of the Kabala are called both persons and attributes of God, some of which are male and some female, for no Kabalist ever does violence to the central truth of the equality of male with female in Divinity.

The clear teaching of the first chapter of Genesis (vide, verses 26, 27, 28) is never forsaken for a false interpretation of the second chapter which has long obscured the true idea of the union of masculine and feminine in the eternal Godhead as set forth in all esoteric treatises. While we cannot possibly understand a trinity of three exclusively male personages at the root of a creation which displays male and female expressions of life conjointly, we can in some measure comprehend the idea of a Divine Father and Mother begetting offspring. In the Kabalah the “Ancient of Days” is expressed as Father and Mother and thus begets the Child. In Egypt the concept of Osiris and Isis begetting Horus, and Horus being presented for contemplation under a dual aspect of son and daughter, agrees exactly with the entire teaching of the Kabala which is, in main features, scarcely distinguishable from the Hermetic philosophy which at one time had its home in Egypt. The ten Sephiroth are divided into three divisions called Pillars. The right-hand pillar is Mercy; the left-hand pillar is Justice or Judgment; the middle pillar is Mildness. In their total unity the ten Sephiroth signify the Archetypal Man, Adam Kadmon, the Protaganos. In the form of the human body is found the Tetragrammaton. The sacred letters Yod, Heth, Vau, Heth, are distributed as follows: The head is Yod; the arms and shoulders are the first Heth; the trunk of the body is Vau; the lower limbs are the second Heth. In considering the three great divisions of the inner life of humanity—Neshamah, Ruach, Nephesh — the first is the spiritual realm, the second the rational, the third the sensuous. All souls are declared preëxistent in the archetypal world and are in their original state androgynous, but when incarnate upon earth they are separated into male and female and inhabit different bodies. The doctrine of counterparts is clearly taught in the Kabala, but there is no suggestion given anywhere that one expression of the soul—male or female—is any sense superior or inferior to the other.

Eliphas Levi in his dissertations upon the Kabala drew the following inferences concerning the nature of the soul. The soul is a veiled light; this light is triple. Neshamah is pure spirit; Ruach is the rational soul; Nephesh is the plastic vehicle. Nephesh is immortal only through destruction and renewal of forms. Ruach progresses through the evolution of ideas. Neshamah is without forgetfulness and not susceptible to dissolution. The book of Ecclesiastes read in the light of the Kabala no longer appears sad or pessimistic for the various questions it raises and the statements it makes are all intelligible and acceptable when we are aware of the differing planes of consciousness and states of existence to which the analytical preacher so searchingly refers. Souls when perfected on earth pass to other planets and eventually they reach the sun; then they ascend to a superior universe and begin another career from planet to planet and from sun to sun. In the suns they remember all their experiences, but in the planets they seemingly forget. Solar lives are days of eternal life and planetary lives are nights in which the soul dreams. Angels are luminous emanations personified by divine influence and reflex. . . . Angels desire to become men for the perfect man is above all angels. Planetary lives are composed of ten dreams each lasting for one hundred years. Each solar life lasts one thousand years, therefore is it said that in God’s sight one thousand years is as one day. Every “week,” i. e., every fourteen thousand years the soul “bathes itself and reposes in the jubilee dream.” On awaking from which it remembers only good, for good alone is worthy of remembrance. Spinoza was a deep student of the Kabala and in his Ethics summed up its teachings with much insight and ability. Among Spinoza’s definitions the following are especially luminous: “By the Being who is the Cause and Governor of all things, I understand AinSoph (Supreme Wisdom) infinite, without attributes.” “By Sephiroth, I understand the potencies which emanate from the Absolute, all entities limited by quantity.” “AinSoph is both immanent and transcendent.” “The Sephiroth are emanations not creations.” “As AinSoph is perfect the Sephiroth proceeding therefrom must also be perfect.” The great mystery of Macroprosopus and Microprosopus, the greatest and least countenances, is elaborately treated in the Book of Concealed Mystery which few modern scholars attempt to explain though, to all who are disposed to search for profound verities below the surface or behind the veil of archaic symbolism, it is a treasure-house of wisdom rich beyond compare. In the books of Greater and Lesser Holy Assembly studious Christians will find the roots of the doctrine of the Trinity and indeed of practically all the mystic doctrines which the esoteric Christian Church has dogmatically formulated, insisting upon their acceptance by the multitude to whom they are indeed unexplained and seemingly inexplicable mysteries. The great offense of dogmatic theologians has been the persistence with which they have forced dogmas upon the masses as necessary to salvation while the Kabala only sets forth propositions and condemns no one who fails to comprehend them. The "Three Heads" are alluded to frequently in the Kabala and it is not difficult to surmise from what source the Athanasian fathers derived their precise definitions concerning a trinity of persons though God is absolute unity.

How widely different is the Kabalistic view from the perverted doctrine which multitudes of Christians have unthinkingly accepted on the basis of alleged authority is clearly evident when we find in the Kabala no threats of damnation for those who fail to perceive a truth veiled in august mystery, but only a statement is made that as the soul advances in enlightenment it comes to perceive a truth "hidden from the foundation of the world."

Were the Anthanasian creed revised by enlightened Kabalists its so-called "damnatory" clauses would be greatly changed, for instead of implying that souls "perish everlastingly" if they do not endorse a mysterious doctrine, the Kabala declares that as man becomes increasingly illumined or regenerate he gradually comes to an understanding of mystic verities, the knowledge of which is an evidence of an advanced stage in the progress of illumination or regeneration. There is no perdition taught in the Kabala, but on the contrary only a continual rising of the soul from sphere to sphere, casting off error and retaining truth alone. Enigmatical the language of the Kabala may be, cruel and unreasonable it decidedly is not.

As Swedenborg in his voluminous treatises revived the similitude of the Human Form as the form of all the heavens, and his theological works, in particular, are industriously circulated by his admirers to-day, the language of the Kabala is gradually becoming measurably familiar to the general public. We have no space in this volume for further discussion of it, but we commend a perusal of this marvelous and fascinating literature to all students who have leisure and disposition to peer beneath the surface of familiar Scripture, to divine the deeper truths which long have been veiled beneath the guise of seemingly but doubtful ancient history.