14 Ernest I. Jacob

Kabbalah contains a good deal of general erotic symbolism that is sometimes rather crude. The modern scholar Patai felt that this constituted a rise of a mythology within Judaism , so contrary to the amythological or antimythological history of Judaism .'® Yet the kabbalists emphasized the abstract and purely spiritual nature of these forces represented by the anthropomorphic and erotic language. This has been best demonstrated through the names assigned to the male and female figures of the godhead, such as Hokhmah(Wisdom ), Binah(Understanding), 7iferet(Glory), Shekhinah(Presence). Most kabbalists consistently warn that the terms must not be taken literally and only“as it were,” that is, not in a human way. Nevertheless, the border between symbolism and mythology was, particularly in the Zohar , clearly crossed“out of unknown emotional and visionary motives that are active in the recesses of the soul and demand release.”’” This remained a fundamental problem for the Kabbalah as it has to reconcile its dynamic and organic theology with the uncompromising monotheism of Judaism . The Zohar and all kabbalistic literature strive mightily to uphold the Oneness of God and yet to loosen it for their purposes, an almost impossible undertaking.

God is unknowable, beyond the limits of human experience and understanding for the Kabbalah . God reaches out into the world through a succession of emanations that are part of him, however, and that never cease. These emanations are the Ten Sefirof with their abstract names, and through them God maintains contact with our lower world. Many terms have been used for the internal process within the godhead. It has been likened to a stream flowing from above, like light radiating from its divine sources, and it has also been expressed in sexual terms, as for example: God , about whose real being nothing can be said, brought forth“Wisdom ”(Hokhmah). “Wisdom ” brought forth“Understanding”(Binah). These two first Sefirot unite sexually with each other, and from their sacred marriage, all other Sefirot are born. Six of them are sons, and at the lowest level, which is closest to this world, a daughter, the divine