FROM BOOK SIX, MYTHS OF THE HOLY TIME

 

380. THE SEVEN SHEPHERDS

 

It is known that on the first night of Sukkot a mysterious guest sometimes appears in the

booths of the righteous. This is none other than Abraham, who is the first of seven guests

to appear, one on each night of the festival. On the second night Isaac appears, and on the

third, Jacob. Joseph appears on the fourth night, Moses on the fifth, Aaron on the sixth,

and King David on the last night of Sukkot. Blessed, indeed, are those who receive these

guests, who are known as the Seven Shepherds. Every day of Sukkot one of these seven

shepherds arrives at the sukkah as a guest.

   Before these celestial guests can appear, they must be invited with the following words:

“Let us invite our guests. Let us prepare the table. You shall live in booths seven days (Lev.

23:42). Be seated, guests from on high, be seated! Be seated, guests of faith, be seated!”

Some say there is another visitor who is present for all seven days of the festival. That

is the Shekhinah, who dwells in the sukkah of each righteous man as She once dwelled in

the Temple in Jerusalem. She spreads Her wings over him from above, and Abraham and

the other holy guests make their dwelling with him inside it. And one should rejoice on

each of the seven days, and cheerfully welcome these guests to stay.

   All the other days of the year, the Seven Shepherds are not able to descend to the lower

world. This happens only in a sukkah, when air from the upper worlds is drawn down,

and the sukkah becomes the Holy of Holies, and the Shekhinah dwells in it. Only then can

the Seven Shepherds descend and enter this world. Therefore, everyone who fulfills the

mitzvah of the sukkah becomes a partner with God in the work of Creation. Through the

making of the sukkah and making a place for the Shekhinah to rest, one fulfills God’s intention

to make a dwelling place below.

   Blessed is the portion of those who have merited all this. For it is said that those who

welcome the celestial guests into their sukkah will rejoice with them both in this world

and the next.

 

   The festival of Sukkot derives from a biblical injunction: You shall live in booths seven

days (Lev. 23:42). Jews observe this holiday by building sukkot—booths—which have

leaves and branches for a roof. During Sukkot Jews eat all their meals in these booths.

   There is a widely known tradition that the Ushpizin, literally, “guests,” who consist of

seven patriarchal figures, come to visit the booths (sukkot) of righteous Jews during

the festival of Sukkot, one on each night of the festival. These guests are known as the

Seven Shepherds. When Jews leave their homes and enter the sukkah they receive the

Shekhinah as a guest, along with one of the Seven Shepherds. Every night of Sukkot

the prayer is recited that invites the guest to enter. They are invited with the words,

“Be seated, be seated you exalted guests.” The patriarch Abraham is invited on the

first day, and on subsequent nights Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joseph, and David are invited

with the words “May it please you, my exalted guest, that all the other exalted guests

dwell here with me and with you.”

   There are varying lists of the Seven Shepherds. According to Micah 5:4 and B. Sukkah

52b, they are Adam, Seth, Methuselah, David, Abraham, Jacob, and Moses. According

to the Zohar (3:103b-104a), they are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, together with Moses,

Aaron, and Joseph, plus King David.

   Among some modern Jews there is a new custom of also inviting the four matriarchs,

Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, along with Miriam, Deborah, and Esther, or

other female leaders of the Jewish people, to visit in the sukkah.

   For more background information about Sukkot, see the commentary to “Dwelling

in Exile,” p. 300.

 

Sources:

Zohar 3:103b-104a; Sefer Netivot ha-Shalom.

 

 

383. THE BODY OF MOSES

 

Rabbi Hayim Vital once dreamed that it was the ancient custom of Israel to bring the

body of Moses to the synagogue on Simhat Torah. The reason for this custom is that

Simhat Torah is the day of rejoicing with the Torah that had been given through Moses.

Furthermore, on this day the Torah portion that is read from Deuteronomy recounts the

death of Moses.

   Now the day of the festival had arrived, and they brought the body of Moses to the

synagogue in Safed. It took many men to carry the body inside the synagogue, for it was

at least ten cubits long. Then the body, wrapped in a white robe, was placed on a very

long table that had been prepared in advance. But as soon as the body of Moses was

stretched out on the long table, it became transformed into a scroll of the Torah that was

opened to its full length, like a long letter, from the first words of Genesis to the end of

Deuteronomy. And in the dream they began to read the words of the Torah, starting with

the creation, and they continued until they reached the last words, displayed before all

Israel (Deut. 34:12).

    All this time the rabbi of Safed sat at the head of the table, and Hayim Vital sat at the

foot. And in the dream it occurred to Hayim Vital that while the rabbi of Safed sat closest

to the account of creation, he himself was closest to that of the death of Moses. And when

the scroll of the Torah had been completely read, the scroll of the Torah became the body

of Moses once again, and they clothed it and set a girdle around it. That is when Hayim

Vital awoke, and for hours afterward it seemed to him as if the soul of Moses was present

in that very room.

 

   This astonishing dream of Hayim Vital shows the close link in the Jewish mind between

the Torah of Moses and Moses himself. In the dream the body of Moses is brought

to the synagogue on Simhat Torah, which follows the seventh day of Sukkot and is a

day of rejoicing. On Simhat Torah the year-long reading of the Torah comes to an end

with the last few verses of the Book of Deuteronomy and starts again with the first

verses of the Book of Genesis. This explains Hayim Vital’s focus on the end of

Deuteronomy and the beginning of Genesis. Note that the death of Moses is part of the

Sephardic liturgy for Simhat Torah, and this may have inspired Hayim Vital’s dream.

   Once the body of Moses, which is of gigantic proportions (as Moses was a giant

among prophets—B. Berakhot 54b recounts that the body of Moses was ten cubits tall), is

carried inside and put on a long table, it turns into the scroll of the Torah. Hayim Vital

sits closest to the end of the Torah, where the account of the death of Moses is found. He

assumes that because he is closest to this end, he is the closest to Moses. Once the Torah

has been read from beginning to end, it turns back into the body of Moses.

   Hayim Vital had one of the richest religious imaginations in all of Jewish history,

and in his dreams and visions the line between mythology and religion is completely

erased, as here, where the Torah and the body of Moses are one and the same. In his

writings he strongly hints that his master, the Ari, had a messianic role, and in his

dreams, visions, and other writings he likewise attributes such a role to himself. In

fact, he makes this connection explicit in his comments on the dream: “This indicates

there was a cleaving and connection between my soul and that of Moses.”

 

Sources:

Sefer ha-Hezyonot 2:50; Shivhei Rabbi Hayim Vital. The dream took place on 20 Tevet

1609.

Studies:

Jewish Mystical Autobiographies, edited by Morris M. Faierstein.

 

 

387. THE WEDDING OF GOD AND THE SHEKHINAH

 

When they are first engaged, God sends His betrothed nuptial presents and a meal of

celestial bread. So too does He make preparations for the wedding feast. On the eve of

Shavuot, before the wedding takes place, the members of the heavenly household remain

with the Bride all night, and rejoice in the preparations for the wedding. They study

Torah, progressing from the Five Books of Moses to the Prophets, and from the Prophets

to the Writings, and then to the midrashic and mystical interpretation of the text, for

these are the adornments and finery of the Bride.

   Throughout the night, the Bride rejoices with Her maidens and is made ready by them.

And in the morning She enters the bridal canopy, illumined with the radiance of sapphire,

which shines from one end of the world to the other. Shining in all Her finery, she

awaits each of those who helped to prepare Her. And at the moment when the sun enters

the bridal canopy and illumines Her, all Her companions are identified by name. And

God inquires after them, and blesses them, and crowns them with bridal crowns, and

blessed is their portion.

   Then the Bridegroom enters the bridal canopy, and He offers the seven nuptial blessings

and unites with His Bride, joining with the Queen in perfect union, and the heavens

declare the glory of God (Ps. 19:2).

 

   This Shavuot myth describes the wedding of God and the Shekhinah. Since Shavuot

commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, it is the appropriate time for

the wedding of God and the Shekhinah. The night of Shavuot is traditionally devoted

to Torah study, including study of the mystical texts, and here that study is identified

as the adornments of the Bride. Thus the scholars who study on the night of Shavuot

are identified here as members of the heavenly household who remain with the Bride

all night and assist Her in preparing for the wedding.

   The myth that follows, also a Shavuot myth, describes the wedding of God and

Israel. Both versions are quite common, although the wedding of God and Israel, because

of its appearance in the Sephardic Mahzor (holiday prayerbook), is the betterknown

myth.

   Note, as well, a remnant of a sun myth—the entrance of the Bride of God into the

bridal canopy is described in terms of the sun rising. Thus the Shekhinah is also linked

to the sun, as well as to the moon. Other remnants of sun myths can be found in the

transformation of Enoch into Metatron, where Metatron is described in terms identical

to the sun.

 

Sources:

Zohar 1:8a; Or Zaru’a Ms. JTSA ff. 39b/54b.

 

Studies:

The Sabbath in Classical Kabbalah by Elliot Ginsburg.