Re: [asa] Sefer Yetzirah

In a message dated 8/29/2006 9:01:08 PM Eastern Standard Time,
randyisaac@adelphia.net writes:
I just came across some interesting references to some Talmudic works on
creation. Do any of you know whether the Sefer Yetzirah is taken seriously in the
Jewish community or is it a rather esoteric document that is easily ignored?
It is claimed to be written by Abraham. Following is an excerpt from
Wikipedia. I just wondered what role this played in the typical Jewish view of
creation.

Randy

Randy,
The Sefer Yetzirah is the more ancient of the kabbalistic books. It contains
an ancient cosmogony with many Chaldean phrases but no Latin or Greek. The
Zohar, the other major kabbalistic work is younger and more important and
contains discussions of the composition of the human soul which broaden your
understanding of the biblical text by fleshing out the theology of the fall and the
return from the fall.
Gershom Scholem was considered the master scholar of the kabbalah and has
some good books, one which is enlightening for Christology is his The Messianic
Idea in Judaism, a collection of essays.
The rebbes who created modern rabbinical Judaism were steeped in the
kabbalah. The kabbalah is considered a mysterious science approachable only by those
with the necessary wisdom:
"The teachers taught; 4 persons entered the garden of delight namely ben
Azai, ben Zoma, Aher and R. Akiba. Ben Azai looked around and died. To him may be
applied the verse of the scriptures: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of his saints (PS 116:15).
Ben Zoma also looked around and lost his reason. The scriptures say of such
as him, "Hast thou found honey, eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest
thou be filled therewith and vomit
it (Proverbs 25:16). Aher made ravages in the plantations. Akiba entered in
peace and came out in peace." Adolphe Franck, The Kabbalah.

My paper True Religion which contains a biological explanation of the nature
of the fall, is in accord with the theology of the Zohar which states: " the
supreme wisdom, the divine word by which creation was accomplished, the
principal of all intelligence and of all life, is designated as the true Eden, the
higher Eden." p. 46 Franck

rich faussette

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Wed Aug 30 07:10:31 2006