Chapter 2 - Part 1

Series II: Seder Hishtalshelus,

Divine Creation from Conception to Completion

Written by Rabbi Mendel Markel & Edited by Rabbi Yossi Markel

Copyrighted by Rabbis Yossi & Mendel Markel 2004

INTRODUCTION

It is with great pleasure that I begin to write the 2^nd part of the Kabbalah Series for the Average Mind. Originally, I had intended to present the Hishtalshelus (Chaining down of the worlds) series 1^st. I began however with the series on Hisbonenus (the analytical study which must precede meditation) because I feel that understanding the proper method of study and meditation is of the utmost importance to the beginner to Kabbalah. All of the material that will be presented on the Divine systems of creation are useless to one who approaches the study without the proper method. Studied by any other method the concepts of Divine creation can be understood completely backwards to the point of heresy. I therefore very strongly recommend that if you haven’t yet read Series I, read it first. Read it over and review it until you know it inside out. Then do the same with this series. Reviewing the material is extremely important in general, but even more so with this series.

Series II, as you will find, will be somewhat more challenging than Series I. Although written in the same style as Series I, the concepts are much deeper and much more complex. As before the allegory will be much used as a tool to make the abstract more tangible. Here, however, we graduate from explaining the human processes and their general spiritual connection to trying to comprehend the deeply Divine. (Remember: if you have any questions on the series, you can join our cyberYeshiva and ask them. Information below)

In this series I will present a summary of the Seder Hishtalshelus (Chaining down of the worlds), the Divine systems of creation. I will explain the general process of the Divine creation from beginning to end. From the uppermost, utterly Divine and infinite realms of the Ein Sof (Infinite), through the various contractions, screens and filters and finally to our very own physical world. The point of this series is to familiarize the beginner with the general topics of Kabbalah, with the “big picture”, so as to give the background to understand more advanced studies. Although this is a “non advanced” series of basics, make no mistake. We’ll be covering some very complex and deep concepts and as much as I might simplify these concepts, this will be far from “easy reading”. If you wish to benefit from this series, be prepared to open your mind like you’ve never opened it before. These concepts are not only mind-blowing in a philosophical sense, but also in that they will open your eyes to a whole new world, a completely new sense of our purpose and ultimately to a totally new life.

I sincerely hope that you have taken my advice and read Series I before beginning on this series. In the event you haven’t (or even if you have), let me reiterate one very important point. If you read this series once and then “meditate” on the concepts you will not benefit from it in any way. Your only benefit will be the satisfaction of fooling yourself into a “spiritual” stupor of believing that you understand the deep concepts of Kabbalah. If you wish to glean the fruit you must labor for it. Plow the soil of your mind, water it time and time and time again. Only by reviewing these concepts over and over and over again will the true depth be realized. This said, let us begin the amazing journey into the great unknown and remember: sometimes the journey itself is more important than even the final destination.

In this series there may be many concepts that demand more or deeper explanation. This is due to two things: A) some concepts will be covered at first only briefly in order to introduce the reader to pertinent background information. These concepts will be revisited later in depth. B) Part of the complexity of the concepts to be explained is that many of them are interlocked. Therefore there may be times that one concept will only be fully understood when a subsequent concept has been explained. To make things a little easier I will try to at least lightly touch on interrelated concepts in the course of explaining the primary concept.

During the posting of the first series, we received several technical questions regarding some of the allegories used. I would therefore like to clarify one thing about allegories. Although usually based on reality, it is actually irrelevant if an allegory is scientifically, methodologically or otherwise accurate. Firstly, the “proven truths” of modern science are not as proven as many people like to think (whereas Kabbalah is). Secondly, the point of the allegory is merely to demonstrate a given point. The purpose of an allegory is to use concepts that are easily understandable in order to convey a more abstract concept. Don’t focus so much on the technicalities that you lose sight of the point. This in fact mistake #1 that the mainstream “Kabbalah Centers” teach in their “feel-good” brand of Kabbalah (made famous by Madonna, Roseanne Barr and company). They focus so much on the allegories, the “secrets of the universe”, that they lose sight of the fact that they are missing the main point of the infinitely deeper concepts of Divine creation. Unfortunately, as such, their teachings amount to complete heresy and idolatry. Their “Kabbalah” practice, which focuses on the “keys of nature” is one and the same as that of the biblical idolaters who worshipped the sun and the moon. In addition, these “secrets” that they teach are child play compared to the true colossal secrets and mysteries of Divine creation. In this sense I pity them in that they are missing the real juice.

If you are really stuck on science, you’re an atheist or you are just studying Kabalah to expand your mind, here’s something that may help you. Divine creation does not have to be reconciled with the implications of science. You can use the phrase that my science teacher taught us in 6^th grade, “as if“. When he was teaching the concepts of evolution to a class of Orthodox Jewish children (who had been taught that the world was created by G-d less than 6,000 years ago) he would tell us to think of the world being created “as if” it had a long history behind it. Being that according to Torah the world was created for the sake of man, the world had to be “man ready” at the time man was created. G-d therefore being the “all capable” and unbound by time (itself a creation) created the world in seven days, albeit with a history of several billion years that is “as if” it had a long history behind it. Think about a movie with a plot that takes place during the year 2525. Although the movie might only cover one year, there is a presumed history from the present time until the time the plot takes place. Furthermore, without the presumed history, the movie doesn’t make any sense! But yet this history of over 500 years never really takes place. So on the same lines, we were taught in Mr. S’s science class to think of the world “as if” there was a history of billions of years behind it.

So remember, although there are many details, concepts and allegories, they are all tied together by a common thread. We are studying the processes of Divine creation in order to understand ourselves and our purpose and to understand the world and its purpose. Understanding ourselves and the world however is not the true goal. The real goal rather is to try to understand G-dliness for its own sake towards the ultimate purpose of “Know today…for the L-rd is our G-d, in the heavens above and on the land below, there is no (existence) besides for him.”

One last thought I’d like to convey is the famous comment from Rebbe Joseph Isaac of Lubavitch, made to one who claimed that he didn’t believe in G-d: “The G-d that you don’t believe in, I too don’t believe in”. G-d is not an old man in the sky who rewards and punishes for deeds good and bad. G-d is beyond everything and includes everything. Whether you believe in miracles or the forces of nature, the forces of logic and reason or the cosmos…its all from G-d. But G-d is not any of these things. Open your mind wide because you are about to start seeing Divinity in a way that is totally mind-blowing and will open you’re eyes to G-d beyond your wildest dreams. If you believe in G-d, this will completely change your perception. If you don’t believe in G-d, I don’t believe in  that  G-d either.