Question regarding the revelation at sinai

[dauer]

This is mostly directed at BB because I'm not sure anyone else will follow very well or have the resources to direct me where I'm looking.

Over the past couple of weeks I've worked my way through Adin Steinsaltz' 3-volume commentary on Tanya and I was wondering about something. In Chapter 36 Reb Schneur Zalman at one point discusses the revelation at sinai in relation to olam haba saying of the revelation at Sinai,

" 'it was shown' verily with physical vision... And the Rabbis... explained... as is also explained in the Tikkunim [that is, tikkunei zohar 22] that 'there was no place from which He did not speak unto them...' ... because of the revelation of His blessed will in the Decalogue constituting the epitome of the whole Torah, which is the inwardness of His blessed will and wisdom, wherein there is no concealment of the Countenance at all..."

In chapter 23 he states that the explicit revelation in Torah and in Nach comes from the combinations of letters, not the apparent meaning (this is in contrast to the Divine will as expressed in the meaning of halachah). He goes further, saying "Thus, His Wisdom [in his commentary on chapter 4 R' Steinsaltz says that Torah is chochmah d'atzilut and I reallllly wish this translation included the original text alongside it for clarity.]... the Torah, is above [all of the supernal worlds], and it is identified with His blessed Will which is described as "encompassing" all worlds, [that is] that aspect which cannot clothe itself within the worlds, but animates and illuminates in a transcending and encompassing manner."

What I get him saying from this and other passages is that the physical letters of Torah are an explicit manifestation of the Divine will in assiyah, the blueprint of everything that exists enclothed in (or perhaps in the case of the Torah "translated" into) something tangible and differentiated, all of the various permutations being the "code" that underlies all of creation.

So what I was wondering is, do you know of anyone who has interpreted the synesthetic experience at sinai to refer to the perception of the otiot of the Torah in their function as building blocks everywhere that the people looked ala Neo in The Matrix during his awakening? If so, who and where? I'm wondering if this is the implicit suggestion of the Baal HaTanya anyway given a citation I omitted in the first quote of shemot rabbah 5:19 where it says "They looked eastwards and heart the speech issuing forth: 'I am', etc., and so [turning] towards the four points of the compass, and upwards and downwards..." along with the quote from the tikkunei zohar and his emphasis on the revelation of Divine will expressed in the letters of the Torah and even Nach. I'm pretty sure the second section of Tanya deals more fully with cosmology so will have to read in there a bit.

Thanks for your time and any sources that you can offer.

-- Dauer

 

[bananabrain]

So what I was wondering is, do you know of anyone who has interpreted the synesthetic experience at sinai to refer to the perception of the otiot of the Torah in their function as building blocks everywhere that the people looked ala Neo in The Matrix during his awakening? If so, who and where?

i heard something which sounded quite similar from r. elliott hoffman on this when he was talking about synesthesia. i interpreted it to mean that, essentially, the Divine Image was "seen" by means of the connection between the aleph of "anokhi" and the human face - think aleph made up of yod - vav - yod as eye - nose - eye. you can extend the concept further to include both the yin-yang symbol and the hindu swastika, both of which are imo connected to the aleph via the human face. i'm not sure if this is exactly what you mean, but i do know what you mean about the matrix. in any case, this idea that the otiot are the basic building blocks of the universe is a fundamental concept in both the sefer yetzirah and the bahir. now, my knowledge of zohar and tanya is not yet developed enough to know what the connections are between the SY and the bahir, concerning which i have far more knowledge. the SY is also the guidebook to the process of golem creation (look at commentary on the gemara source of rava's man and the calf of r. oshiya and r. zeira, sanhedrin 65b) which is done by letter permutation techniques. this also takes you down the road towards abulafian techniques, which bearing in mind what i know about your personal life and health i do not encourage you to investigate without a qualified guide. however, r. aryeh kaplan's book on meditation and kabbalah is an excellent place to look for guidance.

I'm wondering if this is the implicit suggestion of the Baal HaTanya anyway given a citation I omitted in the first quote of shemot rabbah 5:19 where it says "They looked eastwards and heart the speech issuing forth: 'I am', etc., and so [turning] towards the four points of the compass, and upwards and downwards..."

this to me suggests the aleph as well, what you are basically reading here is a description of the shape of the letter, so the synesthesic experience here would appear to be "sound that is visible" in a particular shape, namely the fourfold shape of the aleph. i'm not sure this concerns cosmology per se.

the other place you might like to look is in midrash tanhuma, but i couldn't tell you the reference.

hope this helps!

b'shalom

bananabrain

 

[dauer]

i interpreted it to mean that, essentially, the Divine Image was "seen" by means of the connection between the aleph of "anokhi" and the human face - think aleph made up of yod - vav - yod as eye - nose - eye.

I really like that interpretation but I think Reb Schneur Zalman was probably going in a different direction. I did some reading in hayichud v'ha'emunah, the second section of Tanya and he spoke about the otiot at length, but not in relation to the revelation. The only emphasis he's placed so far, in terms of individual letters, is on מנצפך -- which I'm guessing refers back to sefer yetzirah? -- and the letters of the ten utterances, neither of which was stated in relation to the revelation at sinai. The only plain answer that I've yet come across about what was contained in the revelation is quoted above where he points to the decalogue and that seems inconclusive. The first section of Tanya generally only deals with those types of questions in passing as they relate to the beinoni. I'm still working my way through shaar hayichud v'haemunah, the second section of tanya, and hopefully I'll find more answers there.

what i know about your personal life and health i do not encourage you to investigate without a qualified guide. however, r. aryeh kaplan's book on meditation and kabbalah is an excellent place to look for guidance.

Do you mean being bipolar? I've just got pretty mild asperger's. Was misdiagnosed when I was young on account of meltdowns, intense interests and a bad reaction to a medication I was given. I didn't start to get healthy again until a few years ago when I took myself off all of my medications. Most of my symptoms at that time were side-effects. That said, from what I know of Abulafia's life I'm not sure it's ever wise to engage in his methods without guidance. I'll have to look at Meditation and Kabbalah. I've read Meditation and the Bible but not the other. Only added it to my amazon wishlist for later purchase a few weeks ago.

this to me suggests the aleph as well, what you are basically reading here is a description of the shape of the letter, so the synesthesic experience here would appear to be "sound that is visible" in a particular shape, namely the fourfold shape of the aleph.

I hadn't thought of that. Maybe you are right. Hopefully he will answer the question directly at some point.

-- Dauer

 

[bananabrain]

I really like that interpretation but I think Reb Schneur Zalman was probably going in a different direction.

well, i dare say, but i thought you wanted to know about the matrix-type scenario.

he spoke about the otiot at length, but not in relation to the revelation.

the connection runs through the midrashic / kabbalistic idea of the primordial Torah (G!D Looked into the Torah and Created the Universe) written in black fire on white fire; the Torah revealed at sinai was the Torah as it is clothed in the 'olam ha-'assiyah, whereas the Torah of the 'olam ha-asiluth is the Torah of the ma'aseh bereisheeth. the Torah of 'olam ha-beriah is the Torah of nebiuth, the Torah of ma'aseh merqabah and the Torah of 'olam ha-yesirah is probably the Torah of ruah ha-qodesh and the angelic names. leastways, that's the way i see it. the otiot reach through each of these worlds.

The only emphasis he's placed so far, in terms of individual letters, is on מנצפך -- which I'm guessing refers back to sefer yetzirah?

no, it's zohar / lurianic: see here - www.kabbalah5.com/Dict Ch 1.pdf - these are the otiot of the partzuf of nuqbah. if you want to understand partzufim, you'll need to read "innerspace".

The only plain answer that I've yet come across about what was contained in the revelation is quoted above where he points to the decalogue and that seems inconclusive.

it would seem to me that he is talking about the Revelation in terms of malkhuth, i.e. the Shekhinah. that would make sense in terms of sinai. it is, i think, more likely to be about the degree of emanation necessary for the Shekhinah to be Revealed to the beinoni.

That said, from what I know of Abulafia's life I'm not sure it's ever wise to engage in his methods without guidance.

i'd agree with that. it certainly wasn't wise for abulafia himself.

I'll have to look at Meditation and Kabbalah. I've read Meditation and the Bible but not the other. Only added it to my amazon wishlist for later purchase a few weeks ago.

some of the stuff in M&K consists of extracts from extremely advanced texts. what r. kaplan does do, however, is detail certain aspects of advanced techniques, albeit with certain important aspects missing which will only be given over to a "mequbal".

I hadn't thought of that. Maybe you are right. Hopefully he will answer the question directly at some point.

from what i remember the last time i was studying tanya i don't think so. it's an important book but, to my way of thinking, fatally flawed by his contentions about the difference of soul-structure between jews and non-jews. i find that highly problematic. in terms of kabbalistic mussar, i prefer the tomer deborah and ramchal.

b'shalom

bananabrain

 

[dauer]

well, i dare say, but i thought you wanted to know about the matrix-type scenario.

Good point.

the connection runs through the midrashic / kabbalistic idea of the primordial Torah (G!D Looked into the Torah and Created the Universe) written in black fire on white fire; the Torah revealed at sinai was the Torah as it is clothed in the 'olam ha-'assiyah, whereas the Torah of the 'olam ha-asiluth is the Torah of the ma'aseh bereisheeth. the Torah of 'olam ha-beriah is the Torah of nebiuth, the Torah of ma'aseh merqabah and the Torah of 'olam ha-yesirah is probably the Torah of ruah ha-qodesh and the angelic names. leastways, that's the way i see it. the otiot reach through each of these worlds.

Thanks. He'd just kinda glossed as in, to paraphrase, "First you got yer primordial Torah and then -- BAM -- it's enclothed all the way down to assiyah." I think it may be because this was all related to the importance of Torah study and its effect on the beinoni. Hhe wanted to focus on its root, cut out the middle stuff that might distract from that.

no, it's zohar / lurianic: see here - www.kabbalah5.com/Dict%20Ch%201.pdf - these are the otiot of the partzuf of nuqbah. if you want to understand partzufim, you'll need to read "innerspace".

The footnote to the acronym said:

"These five letters have two alternative forms, one of which is used (e.g., ך instead of כ) when it terminates a word. Since their use in this way restricts the appearance of any other further letters, it is an act of limitation, and hence an expression of the attribute of Gevurah."

Chapter 4 - Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah

He was talking about the ten utterances/kelim rooted in מנצפך. I did a little more reading in Tanya, innerspace and an online translation of ramchal's klach pitchey chochmah. It seems like, if nukva is the partzuf of malchut which is associated with tzimtzum and the kelim are rooted in nukva that it's more or less an aside to his discussion of Or Ayn Sof permeating and nullifying space-time in relation to Ayn Sof albeit not perceptibly nullified from the perspective of created beings due to tzimtzum. I think I get the connection between those letters and nukva, both in terms of their function and location.

from what i remember the last time i was studying tanya i don't think so. it's an important book but, to my way of thinking, fatally flawed by his contentions about the difference of soul-structure between jews and non-jews. i find that highly problematic. in terms of kabbalistic mussar, i prefer the tomer deborah and ramchal.

I like tanya's emphasis on concealment over contraction. At this point in the text it seems like it's less mussar and more theory. I agree that the soul-structure issue is problematic. Even the sources he cites in his favor don't agree with him. For me it is more a matter of translating away from those limited concepts. I picked up Tanya again to look for influences on Reb Zalman as part of my studies, but now I see that, if I decide to write a paper on his influences, I'd likely do well to also cover Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, Hazrat and Vilayat Inayat Khan and Howard Thurman.

Thanks for your help and have a good shabbos.

 

[pohaikawahine]

Just bookmarking so I can keep up with this dialogue (not an easy thing to do with the two of you, but I try) - today is Tisha B'Av and I'm trying to understand its "inner space" meaning, a good day to rebuild .... he hawai'i au, poh