Bernhard Pick - The Essential Works of Kabbalah

To this mystery the worshippers of the golden calf alluded when they cried: "Aleh is thy God, Oh, Israel! As on the work of creation, Mi remains conjoined with Aleh (these), so in the name Alhim they are always inseparable. And by reason of this unity the world abides as it is having thus spoken, Elijah disappeared, and I saw him no more. It is from him I learned the meaning of this mystery of Mi, Aleh and Alhim."

Rabbi Eliezar and the rest of the students went, and prostrating themselves before their master, said: "If we had come into the world only to hear and understand the meaning of these words, we should be satisfied." Rabbi Simeon then commenced speaking again, and said: "Thus the heaven and all its hosts have been created by means of Mah, for it is written: " When I behold the heavens. the work of that fingers, etc. Oh, Lord, our God, Mah (what) that name is excellent in all the earth ." (Ps. 8:3) Thou who hast set thy glory above the heavens, signifying and referring to the ascension of Aleh in Mi, after creating one for the other and forming one name. Thus mean the words berashith, bara. Alhim, God, in the beginning created Alhim. This junction of the two words being effected, the mother lent the daughter her garments of splendor and arrayed her in her jewels; and when was this? When all the males appeared before Alhim (God) as it is written: " All the males, three times a year shall they present themselves before the Lord, Alhim ." (Ex. 34:23) Alhim is here called Adon, or Lord, as it is written: " Behold the ark of the covenant, Adon of all the earth ." (Jos. 3:11) So the H from Mah, representing the female principle, went forth and was replaced by I (representing the male principle) from Mi, and thus Alhim is formed. This is the signification of the words " When I remember Aleh, I pour out my soul within me ." (Ps. 43:4) " I have remembered this and have shed tears ."

That the letters, emanating one from the other, might produce Aleh and then form Alhim, according as it is written: " I will bring them down from on high into the house of Alhim below ," in order to form an Alhim like Alhim above. How? By songs and thanksgiving. Rabbi Simeon ceased speaking, and his son, Rabbi Eliezar, exclaimed: "My silence has resulted in the building of a temple above and a temple below, and the old proverb has been realized--'if speech is worth a shekel, silence is worth two.' If my speech was worth a shekel, my silence was worth two; for I have learned that two worlds have been created--the heavenly and the earthly--at the same tame."

Rabbi Simeon spake again: We will explain the words following those which have been quoted and explained: "That bringeth out their host by number." There are two personalities inferred, viz.: Mi and Mah---the one above, the other below. That above says " Bringeth out the host by number ." (Is. 40:26) It must be confessed there is none like unto hire, yet is he who bringeth forth bread from the earth, though below, one and the same. By number, amounting to six hundred thousand, "who stand together as one man." " He calls them by name ." If you say by their own special name, He calls them. It is not so, because Aleh had not as yet entered into the divine name, and He was only known as Mi, and was then creating things in their own nature, and at the same time hidden and concealed in him. But as soon as Alhim was formed, as stated before, from Aleh, Mi, then, by virtue of this name, he created the universe. This is the meaning of the words: " He called by the name ," (Ex. 31:2 Is 40:26) his name. " By the greatness of his might "; that is, by the divine will, which in a hidden and mysterious manner and according to its good pleasure worketh and doeth all things both in the world above and the world below. " Not one faileth ," meaning that of the host of six hundred thousand created and produced by the power of the name Alhim, not one is wanting or missing. Like the children of Israel, who, although punished and afflicted by plagues, yet always continued undiminished in number as they went out of Egypt, not one was missing of their six hundred thousand strong; and so shall it be with the host, both above and below, not one shall be wanting.

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Rabbi Chananya spake, and said: "Before creation began, the alphabetical letters were in reversed order; thus, the two first words in the Book of Genesis, berashith, bara, begin with B; the next two, Alhim, ath, with A. Why did it not commence with A, the first letter? The reason of this inversion is as follows: For two thousand years before the creation of the world the letters were concealed and hidden, being objects of divine pleasure and delight.

"When the Divine Being, however, willed to create the world, all the letters appeared before his presence in their reverse order. Th first ascended and. said: 'Lord of the Universe! let it please thee to create the world by me, as I am the final letter of the word Emeth (truth), which is graven on thy signet ring. Thou thyself art called Emeth , and therefore it will become thee, the great King, to begin and create the world by me.' Said the Holy One (blessed be He): 'Thou, oh, Teth, are indeed worthy, but I cannot create the world by thee; for thou art destined to be not only the characteristic emblem borne by faithful students of the law, from beginning to end, but also the associate of Maveth (death), of which thou art the final letter. Therefore the creation of the world cannot, must not, be through thee.'

"After Th had disappeared, Sh ascended and said: 'I pray thee, Lord of the Universe, as bearing thy great name Shaddai (almighty), to create the world by me, by the holy name that becometh thee only.' Said the Holy One: 'Thou art truly, oh, Schin , worthy, pure and true; but letters that go to form lying and falsehood will associate themselves with thee, viz.: Koph (Q) and Resh (R), and with thee will make up SheQeR (a lie), Falsehood, in order that it may be received and credited, some first with the appearance of truth ( Sh ), which thou representest, and for this reason I will not create the world by thee.' So Schin departed and Q and R , having heard these words, dared not present themselves before the divine presence.

Z then went before him, saying: 'Because I mark the Zaddikim (the righteous), and thou thyself nearest me in thy name, Zaddik (righteous), and also it is written " The righteous Lord loveth righteousness ," (Ps. 9:8) it will become thee to create the world by me.' Then said the Holy One: "Zaddi, Zaddi, thou art truly righteous, but thou must keep thyself concealed, and thy occult meaning must not be made known or become revealed; and therefore thou must not be used in the creation of the world. Thy original form was a rod, symbol of the female principle, surmounted by Yod, a letter of the holy Name, and also of the Holy Covenant, and emblem of the male principle. (By this, reference is made to the first man, who was androgynous, with faces turning one to the right, the other to the left, as symbolized in the figure of Zaddi in the Hebrew alphabet). But the time will come that thou shall be divided, and thy faces shall then be turned to each other.'

"Zaddi then departed, and P ascended and said: 'I am the beginning of the salvation ( P eragna) and deliverance ( P eduth) thou will execute in the world. It will be fitting to create it by me.' 'Thou art worthy,' replied the Holy One, 'but thou also givest rise to Evil ( P eshang), and in thy form resemblest those animals who walk with drooping heads, like wicked men who go about with bowed heads and extended hands. I will not, therefore, create the world by thee.'