Divine Benevolence and the Duality of the World: Selections from the Kabbalistic Zohar, Part 1 of 2

Kabbalah is the ancient mystical school of thought of Judaism. Literally meaning “the received,” Kabbalah is also an esoteric method believed to have been revealed to elect saints and preserved by a certain few since the time of the Garden of Eden. Today, we would like to present selections from the Greater Holy Assembly, a volume of the Zohar where Rabbi Schimeon led a group of holy sages through a discussion on the attributes governing the laws of physical reality as symbolized by the features of Microprosopus. Although the human mind is separate from the Divine, it receives sparks of benevolence and understanding from the Divine as symbolized by Macroprosopus, the creator of Microprosopus.

“And as often as those eyelids (of Microprosopus) are raised, the same eye (that of Microprosopus) appears, just as when the eyes of any human are opened when they awaken from sleep. And (the eyes of Microprosopus) behold the open eye (of Macroprosopus shining down upon them), and they are rendered brilliant with a certain brilliant whiteness of the good eye (that of Macroprosopus, because in Him ‘all is right’ all is good). With this excellent primal whiteness. And in that time is there found with Microprosopus an intuition of mercy, and therefore the prayer of the Israelites ascend, because Microprosopus’s eyes are opened, and are whitened with that whiteness (of the eye of Macroprosopus). Like as it is written, Psalms 44:23: ‘Awake; why sleep Thou, O Tetragrammaton? Arise.’ But whensoever He opens His eyes, these are illuminated from the good eye (of Macroprosopus), and mercy is over Israel.”

“And when they are illuminated with that whiteness, then they behold all the lords of truth, in order to do good unto the world because of them; and every glance (of those eyes) is benevolent towards Israel. But with the red color He beholds those who are bound; which is intimated in these words, ‘In seeing have I seen;’ ‘In seeing,’ for the purpose of doing good unto them; ‘I have seen,’ that by vindicating them I may deliver them from their afflicters.”