Preface of the Proofreader

[Running head:] Preface of the Master Proofreader (Hakdamah de-Ba'al ha-Maggihah) For the sake of the unification of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shekhinah (שכינתיה) [Aram.], through that Hidden and Concealed One. Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom for ever. [Acrostic poem; the large initial letters spell RAZIEL, רזיאל] R — See, this is new; it is what already was for ages. By it one can know every knowledge, hidden things and secret things. Z — This is the book of the generations of Adam; in it [he] searched, and understood, and calls the generations, from the head, from the beginning, the end. Y — Upright are the ways of the LORD (ה'); the righteous shall walk in them, to be for them a name (ש"ם) and a remnant. A — Then their light shall break forth like the dawn, to give light to their eyes, to see in the shining mirrors (aspaklaryot). L — No iniquity shall befall the righteous, to understand the pure utterances that go forth from the ten Sefirot. This book was laid up with me, sealed in my treasuries, these many years, and the sons of my people were angry with me to print it, and I was not willing; for in all my days I have not said a thing and gone back on it, lest my words not be heard — until I saw, I saw two proofs: that most of [its] structure and most of [its] number had already been printed in the book called "The Picture of Letters of the Whole World" in the French tongue; and I saw that the holy, honoured book is [Aram. אית] in the hands of poor men — poor in words of Torah — and they give it to be copied, one to another, for much money. And certainly copying is a great outcry and little work, for error comes after error until the error is greater than the essential [text], without investigation; and through this they could, God forbid, cut down the plantings. And I looked, and searched, and inquired well after the book that is in my hand, whether it is corrected; and I spent much money to borrow two books from other countries, and I saw by them that mine was the father of them all, and all of them were copied from my book, as I showed by proofs to the sons of my people. And there is signed in it "the small one, Eliezer son of my lord father, Rabbi Yehud[ah]", who received the Work of the Chariot (Ma'aseh Merkavah) from our master Yehudah he-Hasid, who received from his father, our master Shim'on he-Hasid; and certainly he himself was its corrector. And also signed in it is our teacher Rabbi Teb'li, of the dwellers of the Land of the Gazelle [= the Land of Israel], whose name went from one end of the world to the other. And certainly they would not have transgressed the prohibition "Let not iniquity dwell in your tent" — this is one who keeps an uncorrected book in his house. And also I found in it great benefits in this book for excellent prayer, as it is said: Why were the first ones praying and answered immediately, and we cry out all day and there is none who heeds us [Aram.]? Because they knew the Name, as it is said, "for he knew My name; he shall call Me and I will answer him." And many prophets did not prophesy except through first contemplating this book, as is [found] on folio 3, that this book is a preparation for prophecy; for "the LORD gives wisdom to the wise" [Aram., Dan. 2:21], for everything in this world needs a preparation: as with Elijah, the jar of meal; with Elisha, the cruse of oil; and with Israel, "and armed they went up"; and so in every place. And by the preparation of this book the verse will be fulfilled, "for the earth shall be full of knowledge." Also it is written within the book, folio 3, column 2: "Whoever is worthy of it, happy is he and good for him," etc.; for it is not given to all, for not all men will understand or grow wise from it. And I said: if this holy, honoured and awesome book should come to the hand of one who is of the side of impurity [Aram. מסטרא דמסאבא] and a fool, he will not understand this; only a wise man understanding from his own knowledge. And there are in it all the virtues, as is written in the "Rebuke of Instruction" in the book Raziel the Great. And certainly no stumbling-block, iniquity, obstacle or diminution will go forth through this holy book, but all of it for good to whoever merits it, and great benefits for petitions and prayers, as it is said, "every one that is called by My name," etc. And also I have seen, after Him who sees me, the poverty of the poor ones [unclear: "עני עניות"] in the secret of secrets [Aram. ברזיא דרזין] — my people who are in Egypt (Mitzrayim), in the strait of the sea (metzar yam), dwellers outside the Land, who [Aram. דאינון] dwell upon the fullness of the husks (qelippot), the princes above, and from their dregs they drink; the princes above are in the strait of the Shekhinah, which is called the Sea of Solomon, by which the building was completed. The shadows have stretched out, the shadows of evening, which made mixtures in the worlds; and Israel was brought very low from words of Torah, from words of prophecy. For death has come up into our windows — these are the husks — and covers our windows, as it is said, "You have covered Yourself with a cloud, that prayer should not pass through"; "those that look out of the windows are darkened" — these are the prophets, as it is said, "Where is the seer?" — that they cannot see in prophecy. Still they used to employ the Holy Spirit through the hole, as it is said, "he put his hand through the hole"; and it was like a finger in a palace, and now [Aram. השתא] like a finger in a wall, for it has grown thicker and the hole is stopped up through the multitude of our iniquities, until we have become like asses (hamorim), turning after material things (homrei); and the power of their intellect has grown coarse. Even though their belly is filled with every wisdom that is in the world, they do not wish to learn the wisdom of the Kabbalah, for they rely on the Mishnah, "One does not expound," etc., "nor the Work of the Chariot to an individual," and they pay no heed to the Gemara, "One does not expound to an individual unless [unclear abbreviation: אא] etc." — but if he is wise and understands from his own knowledge, one is permitted to expound before him. This implies: even by way of exposition; but without exposition one is permitted to learn, even though he does not understand so much from his own knowledge, for example through a book. And did not Ezekiel write, and also the other prophets? And if you say it is bound up and sealed — also in this book it is bound up and sealed in its place. These ones — and some of them say that the angels were changed at the time of the Destruction, as is found in the Midrash on the verse "He cast down from heaven to earth." They do not understand the plain sense: that every practical reception (qabbalah ma'asiyot) needs one to direct [it to] the seasons, the months, the days and the hours, for every hour the angel changes, as is found in the book within; and the Holy One, blessed be He, was making darkness and they could not direct [it to] the hours, as is found in Midrash Eikhah: "A king of flesh and blood puts out the lamps — so I," as it is said, "the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining." And the angels were changed only for them; but the angels stood upon their watch as they had been from the days of the world. And some of them say: "Who has gone up to heaven, that he should tell these things?" They are deniers of the Torah of Moses and of the Prophets, as is known. Woe to the ears that hear thus, and woe to the eyes that see thus! Their ears are smeared over from hearing, their eyes are shut from seeing; for the purpose of the Kabbalah is the essence of the Torah, as is [Aram. אית] in the Two Tablets of the Covenant. And behold the order of the steps is thus: "no boor fears sin," but one needs to learn the 613 commandments; and the Talmud brings us to deed. If so, when he comes to this height, the deed is a ladder to contemplation, which is the hidden part, and he will merit to behold the pleasantness of the LORD. And it is known that the end is greater than the beginning, as it is said, "better is the end of a thing than its beginning," for every beginning is for the sake of the end. According to this, a commandment is better than the study of the revealed, and the hidden is better than the doing of a commandment. And this is the explanation of the verse, "For the commandment is a lamp, and the Torah" — the hidden — "light," a torch. One cannot say that what he said, "Torah is light," is about the revealed — for is not a commandment preferable? And how would he call the revealed "light" and the commandment "lamp"? Perforce, this "Torah is light" is the hidden. And it is known that if one wishes to bring a small lamp to a bonfire, before it comes to the bonfire it goes out from the heat of the bonfire; but a bonfire to another bonfire he can bring. So the Holy One, blessed be He, is a consuming fire, and "the lamp of God is the soul of man"; and the essence of our purpose is to cleave to the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, "But you who cleave to the LORD your God."

[Running head:] Preface of the proofreader (ba'al ha-magihah). [Folio] 2 (ב). […continuing from the previous folio:] "your God (אלהיכם, Eloheikhem)," etc. — Can a small candle cleave to so great a light? Only through the performance of many commandments, for from many candles a bonfire is made, and it can cleave. All the more so one who occupies himself with the hidden part [of Torah], which is itself a torch that can cleave to the Holy One, blessed be He (הקב"ה). And it is known that the revealed part belongs only to this world (ע"הז). Even some commandments that seem to have no benefit in them, such as tefillin [and] sukkah — their essence has benefit in it: tefillin, as it is said, "[the name of] the LORD (ה׳) is called upon you, and they shall fear [you]" etc. [Deut. 28:10] — that is the tefillin of the head; sukkah — to atone for one who is liable to exile. So with all the commandments; go out and examine. This is what is said: "The hidden things belong to the LORD (ה׳)" [Deut. 29:28] — to cleave to the LORD; "and the revealed things to us and to our children" — for our benefit in this world, when the son and the father will be as one. But [Aram.] in the world to come, every righteous man has a dwelling of his own. And a further hint for us: in gematria "ha-teva" (nature) is like "Elohim" (אלהים), for this world was created with the name Elohim, as it is written "In the beginning Elohim created" [Gen. 1:1]; in gematria [it equals] ha-teva, for this world [unclear: was created / is conducted] according to nature, as above, that it needs preparation. And this is: "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end" [Deut. 32:29] — for the latter end is to cleave to the Holy One, blessed be He. And this comes because of the thick materiality that was thickened by our sins, and we have no remedy except to break the shells (kelippot) through the sweat of pilpul [dialectic], as it is said that Adam bore after his death "…its pilpul in wisdom" [sic — citation as printed], as it is said "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread" [Gen. 3:19] — this is Torah, as it is said "Come, eat of my bread" [Prov. 9:5]. Also through weeping, for all the gates were locked except the gates of tears. "Bekhi" (weeping) in gematria is 32, to show that through weeping the 32 paths of wisdom are opened to him. "Mah" (what) — the power of "mah" [= 45], the supernal Adam: Yod He Vav He (יו"ד ה"א וא"ו ה"א) [spelled out = 45]. And this is "dim'ah" (tear) — "ad mah" (until what), that is to say, until the power of mah. And by this he can know [Aram.] the secrets of secrets, the hidden of hidden things, until he cleaves to the Ancient of Days (עתיק יומין, Attiq Yomin) from the side of his soul • and his rank will be greater than angels • And so whoever merits to learn and understand in this book, God (אלהים, Elohim) will be with him • and he will be like Enoch, whom God (אלהים) took • and the verse will be fulfilled: "Now it shall be said to Israel • What has God (אל, El) wrought" [Num. 23:23]. [Margin: "See"] "This is the book of the generations of Adam" [Gen. 5:1] — [Aram.] the Book of Adam the First, as it is in the Zohar: "This is the book" — a book indeed. And we have established that when Adam was in the Garden of Eden, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent down to him a book by means of Raziel (רזיאל), the holy angel appointed over the supernal holy secrets; in it were engraved supernal engravings and holy wisdom, and seventy-two kinds of wisdom were expounded from it into six hundred and seventy engravings of supernal secrets. In the middle of the book was an engraving of wisdom, to know one thousand five hundred keys that were not entrusted [even] to the holy supernal ones, and all of them were hidden in that book. [unclear] at that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, hinted to Raphael (רפאל), and he returned that book to him, and Adam occupied himself with it, and [unclear: left/gave] it to Seth his son, and so to all those generations until it reached Abraham, and by it he knew how to gaze into the glory of his Master; and it has been said. And so to Enoch a book was given, and he gazed from it into the supernal glory. [End Aram. quotation.] Also in the Zohar Hadash, portion Terumah: [Aram.] "Enoch — there was found [in him] the radiance that Adam the First lost," etc., until: "supernal angelic messengers came and taught him supernal wisdom; they gave him a book that had been hidden within the Tree of Life, and he learned from it." Until here. — Behold, [this shows] you that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave a book to Adam by means of Raziel the angel (רזיאל המלאך). And if you say: what is this, that the book brings mishnayot of Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Ishmael, and the Sefer Yetzirah? This is no difficulty, as it is in the Zohar on the verse "This is the book of the generations of Adam," etc., until: [Aram.] "it reached the generation of Rabbi Akiva, and he saw his Torah and rejoiced, and saw his death and was grieved," etc. Also in the Gemara: He showed him [each] generation and its expounders, generation and its leaders, until he saw Rabbi Akiva — he rejoiced in his Torah and was grieved at his death. Behold, [this shows] you that he saw [each] generation and its expounders and saw their Torah, and [Aram.] there is no further difficulty at all. Also one should not wonder at what is written in this book, folio 42, that one should write names on myrtle leaves, etc. This is no difficulty, for it is not forbidden to erase except the seven names, and according to one reading even Ehyeh (אהיה) is forbidden to erase, as it is in Yoreh De'ah, siman 276, se'if 9. Also one should not wonder at what is written on folio 3, "And these are the words of the book." This too is no difficulty; for is there not also in [tractate] Berakhot: [Aram.] "whoever wishes to see them, let him bring the afterbirth" etc. — for every thing needs some preparation, as above. And if you say: but it is written [Aram.] "and whoever makes use of the crown (taga) passes away" [Avot 1:13] — they do not understand the plain sense: taga, this is Keter (crown); certainly whoever makes use of the sefirah of Keter passes away, as is known to the knowers of grace (ח"ן, hidden wisdom). But practical Kabbalah and amulets that are in this book are permitted, in a place where there is need, but in purity. [Margin: "Come"] and see the praise of this book: whoever merits to learn in it in holiness and purity brings merit to himself and to his sons and his sons' sons, and all the more so to his father, for [Aram.] "a son brings merit to the father"; only one must treat it with honour, as is [written] in the introduction to the Book of the Vestment (ספר מלבוש), folio 4. Even one who does not merit to learn in it, but only that it be in his house, hidden beside his silver and gold — certainly he will be saved from burning and from a demon and from breakage, as it is in this book, folio 40a. On this folio, side b, begins the Book of the Vestment, and in it the virtue of the book, and that Razi'el (רזי"אל) gave it to Adam, and how one must conduct oneself with it, and the names of the seasons (tequfot), and the names of the angels who serve in each and every season, and in each and every month, and in each and every day, and the names of the heavens and the earth, and each and every wind, and the angel over each constellation, and the angels of the seven planets according to each season; and the adjurations. On folio 7b begins the Great Book of Razi'el, and in it moral rebuke sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, and the Work of the Chariot (ma'aseh merkavah), and other matters, every single word of which is exceedingly fine to expound; and in it are included angels and their workings, and to know the winds and rains and every thing. Folio [unclear: 24/2?]b begins to explain the Name of 72 (שם ע"ב) and its working, and its form, its letters and vowel-points. Folio [unclear: 34/3?] begins the Book of Noah, and in it to work great workings, and in it the Work of Creation (ma'aseh bereshit), and prayers, and Shi'ur Qomah. [Folio] 41b begins the Book of the Constellations (mazalot), and in it are included amulets for every thing, and they are tested and tried • and an explanation of the Name of 22 and the Name of 42 and their workings. Such as this, it must be made known that one is not permitted to speak the holy names, but only to meditate in his heart, even for prayer. And this is what is said in the Gemara: "and you shall serve the LORD (ה׳) your God (אלהיכם) with all your heart" [cf. Deut. 11:13] — which is the service that is in the heart? This is prayer. And it is difficult: but prayer also needs the letters to be articulated, etc.? Rather, this is the mention of names, which one must intend and not speak. This too must be made known: that I hold bans (ḥaramot) from rabbis that none shall reprint [it] after me, against their will (עב"פ), for a period of ten years. And I did not bring them to print in the book, according to another sage who said to me that it is not fitting and proper to print the bans inside this holy book; and I set aside my opinion before his opinion, and did not print them inside the book, as I shall print, with God's help (בע"ה), in the Zohar Hadash, for the rabbis gave them to me for both together. But whoever transgresses the words of the rabbis and reprints after me, all the curses written in the Torah of Moses shall fall upon him, and there shall be fulfilled in him: "Cursed be he who does not uphold the words of this Torah" [Deut. 27:26] — even one commandment, such as encroaching on a boundary. And let not the curse of a common man be light in your eyes, for my curse is [by] the Talmud (ש"ס), the rabbis and the Geonim of the land. And whoever listens to me shall be made pleasant. And I brought this copy to print just as it was in the copy of mine, letter by letter, and especially in the holy names; also the names of angels I proofread four (ד׳) times, letter by letter. If I have erred, may the LORD (ה׳) atone for me. All the aforesaid words are from the proofreader, who brought the copy to print, the young Isaac son of the ḥaver Abraham, of blessed memory, judge (dayyan) of the holy community of Amsterdam.