16 Ernest I. Jacob
impair God ’s Oneness and force Him into contact with“the other side.” When God separated from the Shekhinah, His legitimate wife, her place was taken by the she-devil, Lillith, the maid-servant. Thus, He deprived himself of his honor, for how could a king associate with the maid in place of the queen(Zohar 1 122a; 111 69a). God , however, always longed for the Shekhinah when they were separated. Her image remained imprinted on His heart like the imprint of a wax seal (Zohar 11 114a). What happens between them has also been expressed through the metaphor of a man whose female friend resided in an ill-smelling portion of town that he normally would not enter, but through her it seems like a sweetly fragrant section(Zohar 111 115b). Such statements must have moved Jews who lived in the ghetto slums.
The Kabbalah also gave reality to the“other side”(Sitra Ahera) and so explained the existence and power of evil in this world, a teaching that is dualistic. The Zohar also contains additional views of the“other side,” which mitigates this dualism. The“other side” had strong sexual components. Evil was understood to thrive particularly in sexual sins(Zohar 1 348). It has been personified by the male and female powers who live in darkness in the cave of the abyss. The male devil, Samael, has as his wife Lillith, also called the woman of whoredom. Like“Glory” and“Presence” on the divine side, they are closely bound up with each other(Zohar 1 148). Through their copulaton many kinds of tribulations such as murder and warfare enter the world.“If one does not ride on the other and they are not connected, they could excercise no power.”(Zohar, 11 143a, 144 a). Other female demons such as Na-amah were also active.
KABBALISTIC SEXUAL PRACTICES