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Note: The selections below are all taken from Maggid
Meisharim, Rabbi Caro's recording of the teachings he heard from his angelic
mentor. (The bold type indicates the original text; regular type is
commentary.) To see futher information on Rabbi Yosef Caro's works,
click here.
The Importance of Mishna
When Rabbi Yosef Caro's angelic mentor, the maggid,
first appeared to him, he explained to Rabbi Caro what he should do to ensure
the continuity of this revelation.
Know that I am the Mishna that speaks in your mouth. When
you will be expert in the six order of the Mishna you will be elevated to
the highest levels. The conduits of true wisdom will be open before you, for I
am the Mishna and within me is true wisdom because I am the "mother" ( bina, called "mother" in kabbala) about whom the verse states, "...
the prophecy that his mother taught him" (Prov. 31:1). | | " The maggid discusses with Rabbi Caro the descent of the soul" | | |
Therefore take
care from today not to let your mind wander from the Mishna as you have
done in the past, for although you occupy yourself with halachic
decisions in which Rabbi Caro was a leading authority, which is a good
thing, nevertheless, studying the Mishna will raise you to a higher
level. So, "Grasp this, but do let go the other" (Eccl. 7:18), for
together they are good. Take care that you do not fall into the category of
those who forget even one thing of their studies,G-d forbid.
(Maggid Meisharim, Bereishit)
The Descent of the Soul
Regarding the question you often ask, "Since the souls of the
Patriarchs come from beneath the Throne of Glory, why was it necessary for them
to descend to this lowly world? Now both answers that you usually give in
response to this question are true. (What these answers are will soon become
clear).
For this reason, too, our Sages are divided over the issue of
whether it would have been better for a person to be created or not. Now this
disagreement is puzzling, since throughout each stage of creation the
Torah states "and G-d saw that it was good." Even regarding death,
the Sages explain that the verse "and it was very
good" (Gen. 1:31) alludes to death. If so, how could anyone even think of
saying that it would have been better had man not been created? For this means
that his creation is deficient, and G-d forbid to say such a thing!
However, the secret of the matter is this: Until souls came to
this world they were comparable to one who eats the king's bread without working
for it. In that case it would be better had one not been created even if
only to reside in the supernal realms, for souls are ashamed to eat the
king's bread without earning it. In order to avoid this shame, they wish to be
created and to descend to this world and occupy themselves with Torah and
mitzvot "to work it and to keep it" (Gen. 2:15), and in this way
they will eat bread without shame.
Furthermore, when the souls leave this world they rise up
to higher levels than previous to their descent into this world.
For initially they were hewn from underneath the Throne of Glory, and
afterwards, after living in this world, they rise up to be bound "in the
bond of life with the Lord your G-d"...Now when souls that did not rise up
to the higher world (because they did not descend to this world) see the
subsequent elevation of souls that were in this world, they declare
that it is better to be created in order to merit the higher world. | | " The maggid explains the secret of Eliyahu " | | |
The other opinion states that it would have been better for
man had he not been created because the soul's entry into this world is fraught
with danger. Perhaps they will do wrong and fall to a lower level than
previously. Accordingly, it would have been better for them not to have been
created and suffer the shame of undeserved bread.
Furthermore, it would have been better to remain cleaving to
higher levels and "be bound up in the bond of life" (1 Sam. 25:29) and be
satisfied with the level of "beneath the Throne of Glory" than to come to this
world and enter into danger...
(Maggid Meisharim, Bereishit)
Seeing Eliyahu ( Elijah) the Prophet
The letters in Eliyahu's name, alef-lamed- yud- hei- vav,
can be broken down into two parts, alef-lamed) and yud-hei-vav.
Thus the name Eliyahu comprises chesed (loving-kindness),
as indicated by the Name E-l, and the ten supernal sefirot
indicated by the Name yud-hei-vav -- yud signifies
chochma; hei signifies bina; vav signifies the six
sefirot from chesed to yesod, and implicitly includes
malchut as ateret hayesod and corresponding to them the letter
hei, which is matronita, malchut as an independent
partzuf, to become illuminated by all ten supernal sefirot.
Note that the three letters yud-hei-vav, together with the hei,
form the Four-Letter Ineffable Name Yud-Hei-Vav-Hei, alluding to the fact
that the Prophets spoke in the Ineffable Name of G-d.
Now if you exchange the letters of the word navi,
nun-beit-yud-alef, using the a't ba'sh formula, this
renders tuf-shin-mem-tet. These letters, ta'sh ma't, come
to tell us that the final hei mentioned above, which is shemita
(shin-mem-yud-tet-hei), the final year of the seven-year agricultural
cycle, a word formed by combining the substituted letters, corresponding to
malchut, is illuminated by the Jubilee, the fiftieth year,
corresponding to bina. The fiftieth year, the Jubilee, follows seven
cycles of seven years and alludes to the perfection of the seven lower
sefirot, similar to the festival of Shavuot, the fiftieth day after
Passover, when we received the Torah - after the 49 days of counting the Omer.
With this secret of the final hei of the Ineffable
Name, which receives from the previous three letters, and is therefore
comparable to the body that receives the soul, Eliyahu becomes
clothed in a physical body and appears in this world.
Therefore, when you desire that Eliyahu appear to you,
meditate on these matters when you go to sleep, and then he will appear to you...
(Maggid Meisharim, Bereishit)
When I am I
"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am for
myself, what am I" (Avot 1:14). | | " If one does not accept the Yoke of Heaven, what holiness is there in emulating any of the Divine Attributes?" | | |
"If I am not for myself, who will be for me" means that if I do
not grasp hold of the "I," namely malchut which is called ani,
who will be for me -- that is, to which of the supernal sefirot can I
dedicate myself? Malchut represents the authority of G-d, and
dedicating oneself to malchut means accepting upon oneself the Yoke of
Heaven. If one does not accept the Yoke of Heaven, what holiness is there in
emulating any of the Divine Attributes?
"And if I am for myself, what am I" means when I grasp the "I,"
malchut, and I take it "for myself," for the lower malchut (malchut
of the lowest world, Asiya), namely, the human individual, in this case
"myself," as it says in the verse, "Bone of my bone, flesh of my
flesh," (Gen. 2:23) then "what (ma'h) am I?" This
can be read as "I am ma'h," meaning that at that moment I join
together the Name Yud-Hei-Vav-Hei expanded to the numerical value
of ma'h (45) with ani, malchut. In other words,
when I take upon myself the Yoke of Heaven (malchut) and make it part of
me, there is revealed upon me the Ineffable Name, whose transcendent,
indefinable quality is alluded to in the word "what" -- ma'h.
(Maggid Meisharim, Ki Tissa)
Visitor Comments: 3
Anonymous, 5/7/2006
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