G
In the third palace there stand . . . 4
In the fourth palace there stand a thousand of thousands of thou- sands of ten thousands of chariots of fire and two thousands of ten thou- sands of pyres of fire are scattered among them.
In the fifth palace there stand four thousands of thousands of ten thousands chariots of fire, and two thousands of thousands of ten thou- sands pyres of fire are scattered among them.
In the [sixth] seventh palace5there stand forty thousand thousands
of ten thousands chariots of fire and two thousand thousands of ten thousands pyres of fire are scattered among them.
In the seventh palace there stand a hundred thousand thousands of ten thousands chariots of fire and two thousands thousands of ten thou- sands pyres of fire are scattered among them.
In the first palace they say “holy, holy, holy,” and the pyres of fire scatter and then re-assemble into the second palace and they say “holy, holy, holy” and the pyres of fire scatter and then re-assemble to the third palace and they say “holy holy holy” in the third palace, chariots of fire say “blessed is the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever6
from the place of his house of residence [shekhinah].7And the pyres of
fire are re-assembled to the fourth palace and say “blessed is the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever.” In the fourth palace char- iots of fire say “blessed is God who lives and exists for ever and for ever and ever, overpowering above all the chariot. And the pyres of fire are assembled to the fifth palace and say” blessed is God, living and existing [for ever]. In the fifth palace chariots of fire say: “blessed is his sacred kingdom from the place of the house of his residence.” And the pyres of fire are assembled to the sixth palace and say: “blessed is his sacred king- dom from the place of his house of residence.” In the sixth palace char- iots of fire say: “Blessed is God, master of all the power, the creator of power and the governor of every chariot. And pyres of fire assemble to the seventh palace and say: “Blessed is God, master of all the power, etc. In the seventh palace chariots of fire say: “blessed the king of kings of kings God, the master of all power, who is like the living and existing God, whose praise is in the heavens of heavens, the sanctity of his king- dom in the heavens of heavens above, his power in chambers within chambers, holiness on this side and holiness on this side, and their singing flows, always stating the name of Nehoria YHY God of Israel and
they say: Blessed blessed is the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever from the place of the house of his residence.”
Concerning the language of these early Jewish mystics, this textualiza- tion of a supernal vision is a typical example. We do not find in these ancient texts declarations concerning the limitations of language and the denial of the accuracy and clarity of the descriptions. On the other hand, it is evident, I believe, that close reading of these sentences obli- gates us to regard these visions not as direct, full, and informative, but rather an indirect use of language to convey some intimations of a supreme phenomenon that cannot be expressed by semantic means. The text is carefully structured in all its components, and the language used is not free but encapsulated in a series of key phrases that cannot be regarded as semantic and nothing else. The numbers—always expressed in terms of “thousands of thousands of ten thousands” cannot be regarded as information, but an indirect indication of a metalin- guistic vision. The transformation of Ezekiel’s unique, complex, multi- layered description of the chariot has been transformed here into a blurred chaos of billions and trillions of “chariots.” What are these char- iots? Actually, we have no idea. Among them are scattered other bodies of fire; we have no idea what is the relationship between chariots and pyres of fire, even though both terms are repeated in every sentence. They are distinguished from each other by using slightly different phrases of praise to God, but they are actually the same phrases, sung by the two groups in the various palaces like a canon, repetitive yet slightly different in order. Any attempt to reconstruct what did Rabbi Akibah “really” see when he ascended to the divine realms on this occa- sion will be fruitless and counterproductive. We may analyze the his- tory of the phrases used, and speculate concerning their impact on lis- teners and readers, but what “really” happened when the myriads of these fiery entities scattered and reassembled and voiced the sections of celestial prayer of sanctification is beyond any textual analysis.8All we
can know is that the dominant component of the vision was a vast land- scape of dynamic elements of fire, which serve as the celestial choir reciting God’s praise and sanctifying him.
The rhetorical devices used by the writer both express and invoke ecstasy. The phrases are repetitive, the structure—the seven palaces,
the transition from one to another twice in this brief text, every sen- tence moving up from one to another, the avoidance of complexity of language and insisting on minor changes from one stanza to another— all these denote the ecstasy engulfing the speaker that is transmitted to his listeners.
This should be compared to another dominant literary device used by the ancient Jewish mystics, the recital of long lists of synonyms. In some cases we find in these texts series of words and phrases, twenty to forty items long (sometimes arranged alphabetically), which, on the one hand, convey the numinousity of the experience of envisioning the supreme entity, and on the other demonstrate the inability of language, even when exhausted by the lists of synonyms, to actually express any- thing semantic concerning its nature. The strings of words do not add meanings but denote the feebleness and inadequacy of language when confronted with such phenomena, so distant from the semantic realms. Series of such synonyms have become a component of Jewish hymns; some of the Hekhalot hymns were accepted into the regular prayer book, and others have been written in the same manner.
At the core of this anthology is a narrative that describes how Rabbi Ishmael acquired the knowledge of the secret of “The Prince of the Torah,” a mnemonic-magical series of names and formulas, including some esoteric, bizarre names of God and angels. The narrative is scat- tered in several paragraphs in the text, and it is difficult to reconstruct the story. It seems that when Rabbi Ishmael was thirteen years old—the age in which a boy achieves religious responsibility and independ- ence—he complained to his teacher, Rabbi Nehunia ben ha-Kanah, that he cannot absorb his Torah studies and constantly forgets what he learned. Rabbi Nehunia then instructs him, in detail, how to use this secret formula that employs the “prince of the Torah,” sometimes called Yefehfia, and as a result the user retains all that he learns. From some sections in this work it is evident that the secret is not confined to this mnemonic purpose, but leads the user to a profound mastery of the secrets of the universe and he acquires the ability to invoke supernal powers and use them for a variety of needs. The difference between knowledge of the Torah and identification with it and being elevated with it is not a complete one, so that there are both mystical and mag- ical aspects to this practice. As we find often in this literature, this
unique knowledge and power that Rabbi Ishmael acquired in this supernatural way evoked the jealousy of some celestial powers, and the following exchange is recorded:
Rabbi Ishmael said: Zevudiel, the angel of the countenance, said to me: Ben Geim, what is the merit (or: right) of your father and your mother that enabled you to master this secret which all the rest of the world did not have the merit to acquire, only I and Rabbi Akibah had the merit to use it.9
Rabbi Ishmael said: Shakedhoziah angel of the countenance said to me: Ben Geim, do not be proud and see yourself elevated above all your colleagues, and do not claim to be the only one who has merited this, because this did not come because of your power and force but as a result of the power of your father in heaven. But you are happy in this world and you shall fare well in the next world and you shall be happy and fare well for ever and ever and ever, and this is true also for all peo- ple who support you and pray like you, morning and evening.
Rabbi Ishmael said: When I heard this from Shakedhozia angel of countenance I stood up, gathering all my strength, and asserted myself and stood up and gave sanctity in front of the king of the universe and I said: YVY my God, you shall be sanctified for ever, you shall rise proudly over the holy beasts and the chariots of your power, you shall be glorified and blessed, there is none like you. You shall be sanctified for there are no deeds like yours, the heavens of the heavens pronounce your justice, the most terrifying [angels] are recounting your glory. The celestial seraphim and the ones below bow before you, for you are great and terrible. There is no dishonesty and no forgetting before your throne of glory. Blessed are you, YHVH, the true creator of all crea- tures.
Rabbi Ishmael said: When my Rabbi, Rabbi Nehunia ben ha- Kanah, heard that I have stood facing heaven and identified every sin- gle angel who is in every single palace. He said to me: Why did you identify the angels who are positioned in the gates of each palace? I told him: I did not do it in order to praise myself, but in order to praise the king of the universe. Rabbi Ishmael said: My rabbi, Rabbi Nehunia ben ha-Kanah told me: The true torah which Aharon the priest acquired is what was your support, and [because of it] you did not suffer as a result
[of disclosing] this secret. But if you wish to make use of this secret you should fortify yourself with eight prayers which I shall recite. At that time he arranged before me the prayers, each one including twelve let- ters from the name of the living, eternally existing God,10the revered
God who is sanctified and who is inhabiting all the vistas of the celes- tial realms. Rabbi Ishmael said: Since Rabbi Nehunia ben ha-Kanah arranged before me these prayers, I have been praying every day by the names in each of them, when ascending and when descending, and all the limbs of my body were comforted (583–586).
It is evident that the secret names, prayers, and formulas that Rabbi Nehunia taught Rabbi Ishamel were not just mnemonic magic assist- ing in the process of learning; they included secrets that facilitated the mystical processes of ascent and descent to the divine world. The fol- lowing paragraphs in the text present these eight prayers, thus making the text of ma’aseh merkavah into a manual that the reader may use in order to achieve the same powers by which Rabbi Ishmael was endowed. The great secret described so reverently in the text is pre- sented in clear, unambiguous terms to every reader of this treatise. We may conclude that while this work may be esoteric in nature, and not intended to be read by a wide public, it is not so to anyone who man- aged to get hold of it. The great mysteries that were revealed to Rabbi Ishmael in such unique circumstances are now open to every reader of the treatise.
ne of the important methodological norms of the analy- sis of mystical texts is the assumption that when a mystic describes somebody else’s supreme spiritual achieve- ment, he may be actually reporting his own endeavor, or at least presenting an ideal toward which he aspires. Thus, for instance, when revelations to biblical prophets are described in detail, one wonders whether the report- ing mystic is not portraying the visions he himself has had, or expects to experience in the future. This cannot be accepted as a universal law; sometimes mystics express marvel at achievements that they do not dare to hope to share, yet the question of the relevance of the description of past mystical elevations and visions to the mystic’s present and future is a haunting one. The fol- lowing text is an extreme example of such a problem. It may be regarded as the most dramatic and far-reaching description of deification of a human being found in Hebrew mystical works, yet it is very difficult to assess its implications concerning the actual aspirations of the school of mystics from among which it emerged.
This text presents the mystical autobiography of the biblical Enoch, son of Jared, who was taken by God to heaven (Gen. 5:24), and his transformation into the celestial power Metatron, who is described here as “the little YHVH,” a divine entity second only to God him- self. Is the author just commenting on the biblical text, describing an event that occured in ancient times and can never be repeated, or is it a paradigmatic one, rep- resenting the extreme spiritual achievement toward which a mystic may aspire?