Holy Books of ha QBLH

[Jonathan Barlow Gee]

Sepher Ha-Bahir 

or 

“The Book of Illumination” 

Attributed to Rabbi Nehunia ben haKana 

Translated by Aryeh Kaplan

The First Verses of Creation 3 

The Aleph-Beth 7 

The Seven Voices and the Sephiroth 12 

The Ten Sephiroth 32 

Mysteries of the Soul 53 

Index 57

------------------------------------------------------------------

Sepher Yetzirah

INTRODUCTION 

The “Sepher Yetzirah,” or “Book of Formation,” is perhaps the oldest Rabbinical treatise 

of Kabalistic philosophy which is still extant. The great interest which has been evinced 

of 1ate years in the Hebrew Kabalah, and the modes of thought and doctrine allied to it, 

has induced me to translate this tractate from the original Hebrew texts, and to collate 

with them the Latin versions of mediaeval authorities; and I have also published An 

Introduction to the Kabalah which may be found useful to students. 

Three important books of the “Zohar,” or “Book of Splendour,” which is a great 

storehouse of Kabalistic teaching, have been translated into English by S. L. MacGregor 

Mathers, and the “Sepher Yetzirah” in an English translation is almost a necessary 

companion to these abstruse disquisitions: the two books indeed mutually explain each 

other. 

The “Sepher Yetzirah,” although this name means “The Book of Formation,” is not in 

any sense a narrative of Creation, or a substitute Genesis, but is an ancient and instructive 

philosophical treatise upon one aspect of the origin of the universe and mankind; an 

aspect at once archaic and essentially Hebrew. The grouping of the processes of origin 

into an arrangement, at once alphabetic and numeral, is one only to be found in Semitic 

authors. 

http://www.utom.org/library/books/Aryeh%20Kaplan-Sefer%20Yetzirah.pdf

[Jonathan Barlow Gee]

[Jonathan Barlow Gee]

also check out the full online Zohar:

http://www.zohar.com/terms/zohar_body/127

[Jonathan Barlow Gee]

 The following sections of the Zohar explore the metaphysical structure of all reality. The Zohar is not just another book that provides information. As we scan these Aramaic words and sentences, they convey mystical knowledge, profound spiritual influence, and positive energy into all areas of our lives. The Zohar is a life-enriching instrument that conveys the very same spiritual Light that it describes in its pages. The act of looking at and learning from the Zohar allows us to assimilate the energy that is present in each and every letter. Quite simply, the words on these pages bring Light to places of darkness.There are seven chambers in the Garden of Eden "“ that is, seven levels or frequencies of spiritual energy. These seven chambers correspond to seven Sfirot, or dimensions.Though there are ten Sfirot in all, and these comprise all reality, they are divided into two groups "“ the Upper Three [Keter, Chochmah and Binah] and the Lower Seven [Chesed, Gvurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod and Malchut].Generally, the Upper Three have no real influence or sway over our physical world. They are above and beyond the boundaries of our cosmic neighborhood. The Lower Seven, however, directly affect our world. More than that, they are like a holographic projector that projects the Light of The Creator into a three dimensional hologram that we perceive as our universe. Because there are seven Light sources, it's not surprising that the number seven appears again and again: · Seven notes of music. · Seven colors of the spectrum. · Seven seas. · Seven continents.

1.	Rabbi Shimon said: As we have already learned, when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, He made inscriptions in the secret of Faith, namely of Malchut, within the lights of the higher secrets, that is, He elevated Malchut to Binah. Hence He made the same inscriptions that was in Malchut on the higher Sfirot of Binah. This is the secret of combining the qualities of the Mercy of Binah and the Judgment of Malchut shaped by the One who emanated them for the purpose of structuring the world. He engraved above, in Binah, and He engraved, in Malchut. He established all of this at the same time, meaning that both inscriptions have the same form, that of Binah. And He made the lower world, Malchut, in the likeness of the upper world, Binah. And He made one the exact reflection of the other, so that they can be elevated and thus united as one. That is why the Holy One, blessed be He, established the laws of the upper and lower letters of the alphabet, with which He created the worlds.	אֲמַר רָבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן הָא תָּנִינָן, דְּכַד בְּרָא קֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא עָלְמָא, גָּלֵיף בְּגִילוּפֵי דְּרָזָא דִּמְהֵימְנוּתָא, גּוֹ טְהִירִין, בְּרָזִין עִלָּאִין, וְגָלֵיף לְעֵילָא, וְגָלֵיף לְתַתָּא, וְכֹלָּא בְּרָזָא חָדָא, וַעֲבֵיד עָלְמָא תַּתָּאָה, כְּגַוְונָא דְעָלְמָא עִלָּאָה, וְדָא קָאֵים לָקֳבֵיל דָּא, לְמֶהֱוֵי כֹּלָּא חָד, בְּיִחוּדָא חָדָא, וּבְגִין כָּךְ קֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא גָּלֵיף גְּלִיפֵי דְאַתְוָון עֵילָא וְתַתָּא, וּבְהוֹ בְּרָא עָלְמִין.
2.	Come and see, that in the same manner the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, which is to say by including the quality of the Mercy of Binah, as explained above, He also created the soul of the first man, adam, and it received the same quality of Mercy with which the world, Malchut, was created. Subsequently, he was also able to attain the level of the upper emanations of Binah as well as Malchut, as the Zohar explains to us. He opened up the discussion and said, "but they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant" (Hoshea 6:7), because the Holy One, blessed be He, crowned Adam with the supernal crowns of the Mochin of the first three Sfirot. He also created him with the six directions of the world, namely with the Mochin of the six extremities, so that he would be complete in everything. And all the creatures trembled before Adam and feared him because when he was created it was in the supernal form. All the creatures looked at that form and were reverent and fearful of him.	וְתָּא חֲזֵי כְּגַוְונָא דַּעֲבַד קֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא עָלְמָא, הָכֵי נָמֵי בְּרָא לֵיהּ לְאָדָם קַדְמָאָה. פָּתַח וַאֲמַר וְהֵמָּה כְּאָדָם עָבְרוּ בְּרִית וגו', דְּהָא קֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא אַעֲטַר לֵיהּ בְּעִטְּרִין עִלָּאִין, וּבְרָא לֵיהּ בְּשִׁית סִטְרִין דְּעָלְמָא, לְמֶהֱוֵי שְׁלִים בְּכֹלָּא, וְכֹלָּא זָעָאן וְדָחֲלָן מִקַּמֵיהּ, דְּהָא כַּד אִתְבְּרֵי אָדָם, אִתְבְּרֵי בִּדְיוֹקְנָא עִלָּאָה, וַהֲווֹ מִסְתַּכְּלָן בְּהַהוּא דְּיוֹקְנָא, וְזָעָאן וְדָחֲלָן מִקַּמֵּיהּ.
3.	Subsequently, the Holy One, blessed be He, brought Adam into the Garden of Eden to enjoy its supernal delights. He was encircled by holy angels, who served him and informed him of the secrets of their Master. Come and behold: When the Holy One, blessed be He, brought Adam into the Garden of Eden, Adam saw and observed all the higher secrets and wisdom, so that he was able to observe and understand the splendors of his Master. Adam had access to all that, because he was created in the supernal form of Binah.	וּלְבָתַר אָעֵיל לֵיהּ קֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא בְּגִנְתָּא דְעֵדֶן, לְאִתְעַדְּנָא תַּמָּן בְּעִדּוּנִין עִלָאִין, וַהֲווֹ מַלְאָכִין עִלָּאִין סָחֲרִין לֵיהּ, וּמְשַׁמְּשִׁין קַמֵּיהּ, וְרָזִין דְּמָרֵיהוֹן הֲווֹ אוֹדְעִין לֵיהּ. תָּא חֲזֵי, בְּשַׁעֲתָא דְּאָעֵיל לֵיהּ קֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא לְגִנְתָּא דְעֵדֶן, הֲוָה חָמֵי וְאִסְתַּכַּל מִתַּמָּן, כָּל רָזִין עִלָּאִין, וְכָל חָכְמְתָא, בְּגִין לְמִנְדַע וּלְאִסְתַּכָּלָא בִּיקָרָא דְּמָרֵיהּ.
4.	There are seven chambers and seven levels above, which are the secrets of supernal Faith, namely Binah. And there are seven chambers below, in Malchut, similar to those above, in Binah. Six of these chambers are just as they are above, corresponding to the six Sfirot of Zeir Anpin,  but one chamber, corresponding to Binah, is hidden and concealed. And all the chambers of Malchut, and even the lower six, are part of the holy secret, and thus they are in the shape of Binah. This is because each of the chambers has some of the likeness of above and some of the likeness of below, so that it is included in the form of the supernal secret of Binah as well as in the form of the lower secret of Malchut. Adam resides in these chambers.	שִׁבְעָה הֵיכָלִין מְדוֹרִין אִינוּן לְעֵילָא, דְּאִינוּן רָזָא דִּמְהֵימְנוּתָא עִלָּאָה, וְשִׁבְעָה הֵיכָלִין אִינוּן לְתַתָּא כְּגַוְונָא דִלְעֵילָא, וְאִינוּן שִׁית כְּגַוְונָא עִלָּאָה, וְחַד טָמִיר וְגָנִיז אִיהוּ לְעֵילָא. וְכָל אִלֵּין אִינוּן בְּרָזָא עִלָּאָה, בְּגִין דְּכָל הָנֵי הֵיכָלִין, אִית בְּהוֹ כְּגַוְונָא דִלְעֵילָא, וְאִית בְּהוֹ כְּגַוְונָא דִלְתַתָּא, לְמֶהֱוֵי כָּלֵיל בִּדְיוֹקְנָא דְרָזָא דִלְעֵילָא, וּבִדְיוֹקְנָא דְרָזָא דִלְתַתָּא, וּבְהוֹ הֲוָה דִּיּוּרֵיהּ דְּאָדָם.
5.	And after the expulsion of Adam from the Garden of Eden, the Holy One, blessed be He, prepared the chambers for the souls of the righteous, to reward them with the blissful splendors of His celestial precious light. And each one of those chambers was prepared in the semblance of the supernal shape of Binah and the lower shape of Malchut, as we have already explained.

וּלְבָתַר דְּאִתְתָּרַךְ מִגִּנְתָּא דְעֵדֶן, אַתְקִין לוֹן קֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא לְנִשְׁמַתְהוֹן דְּצַדִּיקַיָא, לְאִשְׁתַּעְשְׁעָא בְּהוֹ. כִּדְקָא חָזֵי, מִזִּיוָא דִּיקָרָא עִלָּאָה. וְכָל חַד וְחַד, אִתְתַּקַּן כְּגַוְונָא דִלְעֵילָא, וּכְגַוְונָא דִלְתַתָּא, כְּמָה דְאוֹקִימְנָא.