Kaplan Explains Hebrew Mysticism

Kaplan, Aryeh. 1997. Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation. San Francisco: Weiser Books.

Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra

In my work on Christian spirituality, many interpretations are leveraged on the creation accounts in Genesis. Asked about marriage, Jesus himself skipped over the teaching of Moses and cited God’s intentions in Genesis. Curious to learn more, I inquired of a Jewish friend about Hebrew mysticism and he referred me to a commentary on the Sefer Yetzirah, an ancient Kabbalistic manuscript that translates as the Book of Creation presumed by some to have been crafted by Abraham and later written down.

Introduction

In the introduction to his commentary on the Hebrew text, Sefer Yetzirah, Aryeh Kaplan writes about its uses, origins, and dating.

In general, he sees Kabbalah texts falling into three categories: theoretical, meditative, and magical. Theoretical texts focus on the worlds of the Sefirot, souls, and angels while meditative texts make use of divine names, letter manipulation, and contemplation and magical texts center on signs, incantations, and divine names. Kaplan describes the Sefer Yetzirah as “A meditative text with strong magical overtones.” (ix-x) This is reported to have been used, for example, to create a Golem, a kind of mystical android, like the woman depicted in the comedy film, Weird Science (1985).

The Sefer Yetzirah is linked to Abraham (xiii) referencing the verse: “Abraham went as God told him, and Abraham took…the souls that they had made in Haran.” (Gen 2:4). The translation of “had made” is normally translated as “had acquired” (ESV) or “had gotten” (JPS), but appears within the semantic range of “ “.עָשׂ֣וI am surprised that the translation refers to Abraham, because he is still known as Abram at this point in Genesis. Kaplan (xiv) cites several other references in Genesis (e.g. 25:6 and 37:2) that could be interpreted as having employed the Sefer Yetzirah.

Kaplan describes multiple written versions of the Sefer Yetzirah following an extended period of transmission via oral tradition in the early second temple period. Several scholars place the written edition dating as early as 100 BC (xxii).

Background and Organization

Aryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan (1934-1983) was an American Orthodox rabbi, author, and translator, best known for his Living Torah edition of the Torah. Before becoming a rabbi, he earned a B.S. at University of Louisville and a M.S. degree in physics from University of Maryland. Kaplan’s preparation in physics is apt because the Sefer Yetzirah employs numerous mathematical schemas that would baffle the untrained eye.

Kaplan’s comment has an extensive introduction followed by six unnamed chapters structured after the Sefer Yetzirah itself. These are followed by an exhaustive set of appendices that provide, among other things, transcripts of alternative editions of the Sefer Yetzirah.

Why Letters and Numbers?

An important starting point for the Sefer Yetzirah is to understand that the creation account in Genesis describes God speaking creation into being. Words are important and the letters composing them have literal, numerical, and symbolic meanings. Even the shape and pronunciation of letters can have special significance.

The Hebrew language uses one of the oldest phonetic alphabets with twenty-two letters and no numbers. Because no numbers are given, letters have numerical equivalents, suggesting that words have numerical values. For example, the five fingers in your hand have fourteen bones, which happens to be the numerical value for yad, the Hebrew word for hand (32).

The twenty-two letters in the alphabet also correspond to human body parts—ten fingers plus ten toes plus the tongue and the male sex organ—which have spiritual power. When Elijah prays with his head between his knees, he maximized the spiritual potential of his prayer, given this line of thought (I Kgs 18:42).

The implication drawn in the Sefer Yetzirah from creation is that through meditation on key words and associations, what is contemplated can create things much like God did. Hence, the interest in creating a Golem.

Angels

Kaplan (170-173) describes two types of angels: Temporary and permanent. Angels are created with a mission. Temporary angels were created on the second day of creation while permanent angels have names and were created on the fifth day, because of their association with particular stars and the names given them (Isa 40:26; Ps 147:4).

Divine Time

Thinking about the divine week of creation, Kaplan (186-187) explains that a divine day is a thousand years (Ps 90:4) so a week would be 2.5 billion years. This is roughly the time that scientists say life has been on earth. Furthermore, Adam was not the first anatomical human being, but he was the first human being created with a soul (Gen 2:7). According to Kaplan, this took place on Rosh HaShanah (the Hebrew New Year) on September 9, 3761 BC.

Hebrew Astrology

The Hebrew calendar is a Lunar calendar with twelve months (220-221). To determine your sign, take the numerical value of your name in Hebrew and add the value of your mother’s name in Hebrew. Then, divide that number by twelve. The remainder determines your sign. For Abraham and his mother Sarah, the total is 753, which has a remainder of nine so Abraham was a Capricorn.

The planetary influence requires division by seven because the seven planets were considered to be: Mercury (0), moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, sun, and Venus, which are visible with the naked eye. For Abraham, son of Sarah, 753 is divided by 7, which leaves a remainder of four. So, Abraham’s Zodiac was most heavily influenced by Mars (220).

Assessment

Aryeh Kaplan’s commentary on Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation is a fascinating introduction to the Hebrew mysticism, known as the Kabbalah. Kaplan is well-versed in the literature around this system of belief and explains it in detail. Anyone interested in the symbolism behind the worldview of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) will want to read this book. Be warned, however, that understanding Hebrew and mathematics is required to follow many of Kaplan’s arguments.

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