The Worship of The Shekhinah in Early Ka
The Worship of The Shekhinah in Early Ka
The Worship of The Shekhinah in Early Ka
by
Tzahi Weiss
It is commonly recognized that the detailed depictions and the central function of the
from earlier Jewish literature. The question concerning the origins of the Shekhinah,
or, in other words, from whence did a female divine presence appear at the core of
patriarchal Jewish theology, has been discussed in the research literature over the past
150 years. The main subject which has occupied most of the scholars has been
whether the Shekhinah is a Kabbalistic innovation or whether the Kabbalists had only
put into writing an existing early Jewish tradition. In recent years, some scholars have
Nonetheless, despite the different attitudes concerning the origins of the Shekhinah, it
seems that there is an assumption common to all the above approaches, namely that it
was Kabbalistic literature which had disseminated the belief in the Shekhinah.
Magnes Press, I will reexamine this research consensus and will present a description
according to which the main motivation of most of the early kabbalists was not, in
fact, to disseminate the belief in the Shekhinah but rather and quite on the contrary –
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that the intent of most of the Kabbalisits was to supervise and restrain this belief
which had developed outside the main Kabbalistic circles or in their margins.
regarding the danger of what the kabbalists, following the rabbinic terminology,
Heaven' ()שתי רשויות בשמים. My purpose is to demonstrate that this recurrent concern
about the exclusive worship of the Shekhinah expressed by the kabbalists is the
product of the encounter between two conflicting theological attitudes, namely that
parallel with the commonly held attitude of most of the kabbalists which considered
the exclusive worship of the Shekhinah as an act of heresy it seems that there were
My claim is that the designation 'Cutters of the Shoots' bestowed upon those who
exclusively worshiped the Shekhinah reflects the Kabalists’ struggle against these
the Kabbalists to moderate such current theological approaches that the aim of the
Kabbalistic literature was, at best, not only to disseminate Jewish Myths but also to
supervise and control them. In this sense, the present paper follows along the lines set
by Yehuda Liebes who has argued that, by and large, Kabbalistic literature is of a less
presented by Liebes relates to the diachronic level in the transition from the classic
extend this line of thought to the synchronic level and argue that there exists in
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Kabbalistic literature a consistent attempt to govern and control contemporary
Since discussions which express objection to the exclusive worship of the Shekhinah
are rather frequent in Kabbalistic literature, it is possible to examine this subject based
on a wide variety of examples. In the following I will concentrate on one image of the
subsequently in the lecture. The origin of this image is in Midrash Mishley a late
midrashic composition which depicts the Shekhinah as standing before God and
talking with him or according to some of the versions of the Midrash falling prostrate
before him. The fear provoked by such images is quite comprehensible since the
conducting a dialogue rather than two different parts of one divine presence. This is,
for example, the way R. Menahem Recannati apologetically explains this midrashic
image:
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R Menahem Recannati is apprehensive of the mythical description of the Shekhinah
falling prostrate before God. In order to explain the necessity of directing the prayers
Like R Menahem Recannati, R. Moshe Azriel the son of R. Elazar Hadarshan, also
relates to the theological danger involved in the description of the Shekhinah falling
These words of R. Moshe Azriel are of special importance, as we can perceive the
degree of consternation evoked by the image of the Shekhinah falling prostrate before
God which is accredited the most severe image reserved to Binatrian heresy,
C.
Contrary to the last two sources which akin to most of the kabbalistic literature
presence, I would like to note rarer sources which depict the Shekhinah as an
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independent entity and discuss the very same Midrashic description of Her falling
I will begin with a quote from the Hebrew writings of the Ba'al Ra'aya Mehemanah
127-123 ' עמ,[הכתבים העבריים של בעל רעיא מהימנא ותיקוני זוהר – חיבור ב' ]גוטליב
[ אשרי...] .אמר המחבר שמתי נפשי רוחי ונשמתי כעני ההולך לעמוד בהיכל המלך ליכנס בהיכל שכינתך
[...] ולקשט המלכה בתכשיטיה להיות התפילין פאר עליה,המסדר תפלתו לעמוד בשער המלך ולבקר בהיכלו
[ אשרי שומרי השכינה...] והיא דת קדומת יומים, והיא מלכות מהכל כלולה,והיא שורש הייחוד והאמונה
[ אשרי...] . שהמצות הם תכשיטיה ותיקוניה להאיר אל עבר פניה,ושומרי מצותיה שהם בגלות מחזיקים בידיה
ויסירו המסוה מעליה והם ההם הנכנסים בעומקי התורה וסודותיה,הנשמות המזמרים בתפלתן בכל יום אליה
[...]לראות יופיה ומהלליה
Said the author: I have placed my soul, spirit and breath – as a beggar who goes to
stand in the palace of the king – to enter the palace of your . […] Blessed is
he who orders his prayer [so as] to stand at the gate of the king and visit his palace,
and adorn the queen with her jewels so the phylacteries are garland on Her. […] and
She is the root of the union and belief, and She is who is consolidated from
the totality, and She is an age+old religion. Blessed are the guardians of the
and the observers of Her commandments, who hold Her hands in exile. For the
commandments are Her jewels and embellishments which illuminate Her face […]
Blessed are the souls who chant every day in their prayers to Her, and they shall
remove the veil from her and it is they who enter the depths of the Torah and its
secrets to see Her beauty and laud Her […]
From the words of the Ba'al RM concerning the Shekhinah and her attitude toward
God, I wish to call attention to the wording relating to those who worship the
Shekhinah: ! " # $ .
These words which encourage the worship of the Shekhinah, are based on a mythic
description which is presented in the same text according to which the Shekhinah is
the sole mediator between men and the upper worlds. The Shekhinah admits the
prayers of Israel and her position is like that of Queen Esther who pleads for her
people before God who upon hearing her pleas acquiesces and saves his people:
127-123 ' עמ,[הכתבים העבריים של בעל רעיא מהימנא ותיקוני זוהר – חיבור ב' ]גוטליב
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, ]אס' ז,[ היא מתחננת לפניו ובהן נשאת חן בעיניו...] בההוא זמן בשלש ראשונות שכינה נכנסת לפני המלך י"י
[ 'מה6 , באחרונות הוא אומ' ]שם ה. ובני לא ימסרו ביד העמים,'[ 'תנתן לי נפשי בשאלתי ועמי בבקשתי3
והיא אומרת, אחר שאלותיה היא נופלת על פניה ומשתטחת לפניו.'שאלתך וינתן לך עד חצי המלכות ותעש
[ 'אם על המלך טוב וטובה אני בעיניו' להפיר עצתו ומחשבתו של סמא"ל הרשע שגזר על עמך לגרשם5 ,]שם ח
[...] ולאבדם ולטורדם ממקומם ומביתם
At that time, in the first three hours, the approaches the Lord […] She begs
before Him, and through them She finds favor in his sight "let my life be given to me
as my petition, and my people as my request" (Est. 7:3) and may my sons not be
handed over to the nations. In the last ones [three hours] he says "What is your
petition? It shall be granted you. Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done" (ibid
5:6). After Her questions, She fall and Her face and prostrates in front of Him and
says: "If it pleases the king and I am pleasing in his sight" to avert the plan and
scheme of the Evil Samael who had decreed that your nation be banished, destroyed
and uprooted from their places and homes.
This section is characterized by two attributes which are relevant to our discussion.
First, its Binitarian nature expressed in the clear presentation of a dual structure of
divinity in which there is a concealed king who is comparable to Ahasverosh and the
Shekhinah in the form of Queen Esther who mediates between the people and the
responsible for God’s responsiveness to the prayers of Israel. Second the section
presents the Shekhinah as She who falls prostrate before him. As noted above this is
the very same image of the Shekhinah which was cause of concern for the Recannati
and R. Moshe Azriel. In my opinion, the positive representation of this image in the
last text is not accidental as chronologically Ba'al RM wrote this text subsequent to
Reccannati and R Moshe Azriel and he was well aware of the battle waged by such
Thus, a complex picture unfolds in which we can observe that, in fact, there were
trends supporting the worship of the Shekhinah which developed outside the main
kabbalistic literature.
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Another and earlier tradition dating from the middle of the thirteenth century, at the
latest, which describes the Shekhinah as prostrated before God in a positive manner is
quoted by R. Yitshak Hacohen in his treatise on the left emanation as well as by his
disciple R. Moshe from Burgos in one his treatise named %& ' . The
depiction that these two Kabbalists quote is one of the most beautiful mythic
articulation which is similar to that of the Hekhalot literature on the one hand and that
of Sefer HaBahir on the other as well as in its literary narrative which tells of the
ascension of the Shekhinah beyond the other until Her encounter with Her
The description of the Shekhinah in the above text as ascending above the seven
lower sefirot until arriving to a state of intimacy with wisdom, Her father, when she
bows before him is based upon the myth of the ascension of the Shekhinah. Clearly,
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this detailed portrayal evolves from the intent to integrate between two traditions: a
Binatrian tradition according to which there exist only a father and a daughter and
those traditions which adhered to the belief in the existence of the ten Sefirot. This
text is a fascinating description according to which not only does the Shekhinah
ascend beyond the other Sefirot but, also, as some versions relate, the bounty which
the other Sefirot receive is, in fact, from the lower Sefirah, the Shekhinah, who on her
descent quenches the need of the other Sefirot. According to this text the Shekhinah is
no longer a weak Sefirah lacking in means and in need of the abundance which she
receives from upper Sefirot. On the contrary, the Sefirot are portrayed as in need of
the abundance + food and water which She bestows upon them. Methodologically, it is
of utmost importance when reading such traditions to pay attention, not only to the
content of the text, but also, to the potential it presents of outlining the tension
between the detailed Kabbalistic theosophy which includes the ten Sefirot and the
simpler Binitarian myth of father and daughter. This text serves as an aperture to
Jewish medieval theological approaches which although they are not rampant
D.
In order to expand the discussion concerning the theological tension involved in the
description of the Shekhinah in the early kabbalistic literature, I would like to turn
your attention to two Zoharic interpretations to the words from Genesis 47:31: *
interpretations as well as the manner in which they were edited in the Zoharic
literature may reveal how, for all intents and purposes, those traditions which
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supported an exclusive association to the Shekhinah were expelled from the core of
before the Shekhinah, we encounter a more detailed Midrash in the Zohar whose
purpose seems to be to demonstrate that Jacob did not worship the Shekhinah but
It is quite obvious that as opposed to the first interpretation which determines that
Jacob bowed to the Shekhinah, the above interpretation presents the verse at length
which it should be said that Jacob bowed before that represents the
name Israel.
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In another text in the same Zoharic tractate one finds both interpretations which were
edited together and hence supplies us with an additional perspective on the tension
between them. An examination of the manuscript of this text reveals three central
In the first version the interpretation of Jacob bowing to the Shekhinah is presented
first and immediately after, with no break, the second interpretation according to
posed ‘who is the bed?' and each time a different answer is offered. We encounter an
The second version appears to be an attempt to correct the contradiction which arises
from the encounter between the two interpretations: the one in which Jacob bowed to
the Shekhinah and the other that he bowed to . In this version the word
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From the reading of this text it seems that in order to obscure the difference between
the two interpretations the editor or the transcriber of the text omitted the word
The third version of the text is the most interesting. The claim that Jacob bowed to the
accredited to R. Shimeon var Yohai who makes a correction in very sharp words
In concluding this section the question should be posed as to why some of the writers
and editors of the Zoharic literature resist the belief that Jacob bowed to the
cases there is worship to one of the sefirot and essentially there should not be any
difference between these two positions in all that regards the fear of
. In order to respond to this issue, I would like to refer to a short and interesting
sentence from the chapter on Cutting the Shoots in Ma'arekhet HaEluhut. In this
sentence the Anonymous writer raises the very same question: why is the definition of
Cutting the Shoots directed mainly toward and not towards the other ,
The writer himself replies with the assertion that in order to deal with the reality of
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those times in which the heretics believed mostly in it was necessary to
address the worship of the Shekhina as a threat and designate it as Cutting of the
fascinating aperture not only to the fact that there existed at the time a significant
trend of the worship of the Shekhinah but also to the manner in which the Kabbalists
In order to sum up, I would like to present two clarifying comments which relate to
regarding the fear that the structure of the may lead to a perception of God
which is not unitary make reference to the multiplicity of two and, surprisingly, do not
make mention of the fear of a polytheistic perception. In my opinion, the reason for
this derives from the conceptual context in which the early Kabbalistic literature was
written. In the conceptual context of the time there existed theological trends which
continued to hold Binitarian traditions of a mediative nature and it was this conceptual
context which threatened the Kabbalists and of which they specifically cautioned. On
the other hand polytheistic concepts which were not rampant and were mostly
unknown to the Kabbalists at the time in their milieu were not perceived as a concrete
threat.
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Secondly, we have seen that the Kabbalists’ attempt to moderate the theory of the
unrecognized voices of Jewish beliefs that had not been put into writing or that did
not stand out amongst those voices which had been put in writing. Nevertheless, I do
not wish to argue that the belief in the centrality of the Shekhinah was rampant and I
do not believe it would be correct, to attribute this belief to what can be considered as
folklore. In the present day state of research with regard to texts in our possession,
there is in my opinion no reliable way to estimate the extent of the belief which exalts
the position of the Shekhinah during the early stage of the Kabbalah.
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