Maimonides and the Beginnings of Kabbalah

Kabbalah, although often distorted with unrelated Hindu theology by some modern writers, is the most recognizable form of Jewish mysticism. This extremely durable form of mysticism is usually associated with the book of Zohar, which appeared in the 13th century, and will be discussed in a future article.

The previous century witnessed some remarkable developments in Jewish esoteric thought.
The complex creativity in medieval Judaism stemmed partly from external challenges and partly from internal factors. Previously we observed that Hasidei Ashkenazi developed in response to the communities marginalization caused by Christian oppression. We also saw the possible integration of some Christian themes, such as penitential remorse.
The complex creative developments in Medieval Judaism stemmed from both internal and external factors. One of the most durable influences in modern Judaism has been the writings of Moses Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon, often known by the acronym Rambam), 1135–1204 C.E.

Maimonides, whose writings are highly rational and exoteric, while espousing some mystic views, sought to preserve the sacred texts and the truth, integrity, and vibrancy of Judaism in response to the intellectual challenges of Islamic philosophy. Maimonedes attempts to explain Torah in the terms of Jew still living in a land that still enjoyed Temple services. Like the Christian thinker Thomas Aquinas, Maimonides sought rational engagement with Arabic thought taking the best influences found in Muslim and Aristolean thought. Maimonides The Guide of the Perplexed attempted to defend Jewish belief and practice in light of contemporary Arabic intellectual ideas. In particular, the strongly influential writings of Islamic scholars Hussain ibn Abdullah ibn Hassan ibn Ali ibn Sina c 980 C.E. (370AH) -1037 C.E. (428 A.H.), often described as the father of modern medicine, and Abū 'l-Walīd Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Rushd (often known as Ibn Rushd or by the Latinate distortion Averroes) 1126-Dec 10, 1198 C.E.

Maimonides wrote The Luminary (a commentary on the Mishnah, and The Eight chapter's, a commentary on Avot, or Sayings of the Fathers, a single section of Mishnah. His mammoth Mishne Torah is an extensive codification of Torah, now held in high regard, yet rejected by many of Maimonides contemporaries. Jewish though had developed upon the thoughts of preceding Rabbi’s and Jewish practice, the actual following the deed of Torah commands or Mitzvot, had been seen as more important than ones personal beliefs. Maimonides not only codified Torah, he also extrapolated 13 principles of Jewish theology. This was for some of Maimonides contemporaries a little too close to the codification of theology found in Christianity.

Maimonides was particularly criticized when Solomon of Montpellier was excommunicated by followers of the sage. The Catalan Rabbi, philosopher, physician, Kabbalist and Biblical commentator, Moses ben Nachman Gerondi (also known as Nachmonides, the acronym Ramban or by the Catalan name Bonastruc ça Porta, b. Gerona, Spain, b. 1194; d. Israel, 1270) disagreed with Maimonides whilst holding him in great respect. Nachmanides unsuccessfully attempted a reconciliation and. In a letter to the French rabbis, praised the stringent interpretations within Mishne Torah. Nachmonides also stated that Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed, was intended for those led astray by the non-Jewish philosophical works of Aristotle and Galen. This view is rejected by modern writers. At the time, the book was even openly excommunicated in some synagogues.
However, the rationalist arguments of Maimonides left a great imprint in halachic and mystical thought. The fact that Maimonides does not directly refer to Kabbalah is used by some authors to demonstrate that Kabbalah is of later origin. However, Maimonides does not give the sources of the halachic rulings that he claims are to be accepted either.

Modern scholars argue that earliest kabbalah began an intense desire to respect the past (Kabbalah means “tradition”), together with an intense creativity generated by the socio-religious context and the concentration of imagination in small groups of Talmudic scholars in Provence and Spain. This contradicts the claims of many kabbalists who date the tradition back to the most ancient Judaism. Secular scholarship claims that Kabbalistic literature, as well as the prophetic literature of the Bible, is a collection of later pseudonymous works claiming ancient authorship.

However, as we have seen previously, mysticism was associated with the most arthodox, exoteric Rabbis of the past, such as the admired Rabbi Akiva.
“No sharp line can be drawn (either historically or conceptually) between Jewish philosophy and Jewish mysticism…both reach similar conclusions” wrote Professor Norbert Samuelson of Temple University writing about David Bakan’s “Maimonides on Prophecy” (Jason Aronson Inc. New.Jersey).

“The seeming absence of references to Kabbalah in his writings is very much in keeping with accepted practice of that period and is also consonant with his personal literary style.…many Rishonim (early Torah scholars)… state unequivocally that Maimonides was a master of the Kabbalah. To list a few briefly: Sefer HaChinuch 545, Sefer HaZikaron, and RaMBaN in his Perush of Torah (see Koran P’nei Moshe, Devarim 22:6,7). In addition, the nineteenth-century Rabbi Gershon Henoch of Radzin (known as the Ba’al HaTcheilet), published a thoroughly convincing study which demonstrates that theTa’amei HaMitzvot (Rationales of the Torah Commandments) of the Guide to the Perplexed are actually Kabbalistic teachings couched in rationalistic terms.
Maimonides was apparently an adherent of the position that Kabbalah was, in fact, a “hidden” and “secret” branch of Torah, and its study must not be conveyed by any other means than “from the mouth of the master to the ear of an understanding recipient.” It is no wonder, then, that Maimonides avoided any reference to Kabbalah in his writings” wrote Rabbi Moshe Greenes (Foreword to Six Treatises Attributed to Maimonides, Fred Rosner M.D. Jason
Aronson Inc. New Jersey.)

One 13th century author who supported Maimonides Kabalistic credentials was Rabbi Abraham Abulafia (1240–c.1291) who claimed claimed, the Rambam’s usage of Greek philosophy enabled him to reveal certain secrets of the Torah, using Greek philosophy as a veil of concealment.

There are a number of works on kabbalistic themes attributed to Maimonides. However, as exemplified by Dr Fred Rosner, who has translated “The Existence and Unity of G-d” and “Six Treatises Attributed to Maimonides”, modern scholarship argues that they could not be written by the great rationalist. On the other hand, in the forward of ‘this work, Rabbi Moshe Greenes counter that as Maimonides did not list any of the authorities for his legal and theological conclusions, it is unwise to automatically assume that by not directly referring to Kabbalah directly proves Maimonides did not know of it.

An example of Maimonedes aluding to mysticism is found in his comparing the Shema with the Song of Songs:

"What is the love of God that is appropriate? It is to love God with an exceedingly strong love until one's soul is tied to the love of God. One should be in a continuous rapture, like a person who is 'lovesick,' whose thoughts cannot turn from his love for a particular woman. He is preoccupied with her at all times, whether he is sitting or standing, whether he is eating or drinking. Even more intense should the love of God be in the hearts of those who love him, possessing them always as we are commanded 'with all your heart and with all your soul' (Deuteronomy 6:5). This is what Solomon expressed allegorically 'for I am sick with love' (Song of Songs 2:5), and indeed, the entire Song of Songs is a parable for this concept."—Maimonides, Laws of Repentance, 10:3

Maimondes borrows the language of the first paragraph of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-8), known as v'ahavta--תבהאו, "and you shall love" is used by Maimonides to echo the command:"When you sit in your house, when you walk on the way, when you lie down and when you rise up" (6:7).
In today’s Hassidism this analogy is developed as an explanation of why A Jew obeys Torah. When one falls in love the love and the relationship create a complete unity of experience. The lover is ‘The one’ as for the Jew, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one!" As the Shema reminds the Jew, a relationship has its spoken and unspoken rules. If one partner breaks them, these connecting bonds seem to whither. So in the second paragraph of the Shema (Deuteronomy 11:13-22) begins "If you will truly listen/understand/obey (ועמשת עמש םא) my mitzvot" (commandments, related to the word for connection) then God will send rain in the appropriate season; the fields will produce plenty of wine, grain, and oil; and you will eat and be satisfied. If you don't observe the commandments, His blessing will wither, the rain will stop and the the land will dry up.

The Hasidim of Medieval Germany

Jewish life in the Medieval Middle Ages of Christendom was exremely difficult. Crusade fever, although directed to the so-called infidel Muslims, could easily be directed to Jewish communities that stood apart from Christendom. Torah observance in Germany was therefore perilous in the century from 1150 -1250 C.E. Within those difficult circumstances A form of mysticism developed connected to Merkabah mysticism developed that emphasized deep personal piety, messianic speculation and a deep altruistic love as an expression of obedience to God by all, not just the elite Torah scholar.
The roots of German Hasidism were less speculative than earlier Jewish esoteric thought. In contrast to the small groups of skilled scholars following a perilous secretive ascent to the heavens, the Hasidim of Medieval Germany was a tradition of the common life and was hence quieter.


Social Background

Feudalist Europe was controlled by Christendom, where Church permeated European political and social life. Catholic Canon law ensured Jews remained visibly separate to society. This visibility was a risk in difficult times.

Christendoms society was based on Feudalism, the aristocratic ownership of land. However, Jews were legally barred from land ownership. As land ownership was the measure of social recognition, Jewish people were forced to develop skills in trade and finance. Christendom forbade Clergy charging interest on loans in the 5th century and forbade the laity from doing so in the 6th century. In the eighth century Emprerer Charlemagne, declared usury a general criminal offence until 1311 when Pope Clement V made the ban on usury absolute. The Quran of Islam condemned Usury (Surah 2:188, 274-280; 3:130; 4;29, 161; 9: 34-35, 43; 30:39) and by the time of Caliph Ulmar (ruled 634–644), the prohibition of interest was a well established working principle of Islamic economic system.

However, Jewish law allowed interest in some circumstances. In the TaNaK, the charging of interest is either forbidden or discouraged in the agricultural Jewish community(Exod. 22:24-25; Lev 25:35-3; Deut 23:19-21; Ezek 18: 20; Prov. 28:8; Ps 15:5; Neh. 5:7) The Mishah (Baba Metzia 68b; 5:6) identified a number of ways around the usuary laws and since the Bible allowed non Israelites to be charged interest, the Rabbi’s regulated the practice of a Jew being charged interest when a Gentile intermediary was involved in the transaction. The resultant Jewish financiers were a necessary but often resented part of the Feudal economy.


Although anti Jewish hostility was common. Periods of cooperation existed, such as between the Torah scholar Rashi (1040-1105), whose TaNaK commentary is now included in the Talmud, and the theologian Hugh of St Victor (1096 – 1141). However, during times of distress, fed both by Christian preaching and by those who feared loss in times of trouble, Jews were often made scapegoats for the perceived punishment of God. The supposed curse on the Jewish people, derived from the book of Matthew 27:24-25 and slanderous allegations of Jews sacrificing children or poisoning wells Also the first Crusade (1096–1099). although officially directed against Muslims, resulted in marauding groups attacking Jewish communities.
States could expel Jews from within their borders, as did France in 1182 and Spain in 1492. Also, the Church issued controlling laws, as did the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, and sponsored the burning of the Talmud on many occasions. Rulers could organize debates between Christian missionaries and appointed Rabbis, with a claimed view of conversion, which forced the Jewish Community to remain conspicuous and therefore easily threatened.


Vibrant Jewish life

Despite such external pressures, life in the Jewish community remained faithful to its religious roots. Within the Jewish schools (the yeshivah) held in local synagogues, generations of scholars continued the reading of Torah in Hebrew and the Talmud in Aramaic. This vibrant education and social framework allowed the spread of the mystical traditions.

The social vibrancy and the extent of devotion and widespread piety of the average Jew is exhibited in the Last Will and Testament of Eleazar of Mayance (Mainz), (Abrahams, I, Hebrew Ethical Wills, 2 vols.) an ordinary Jewish businessman who died c1357.

Eleazar’s will provides a window to the concerns of the 14th century pious Ashkenazic German Jew. His main concerns are that his daughters observe the laws of modesty, ritual purity, and that all his children pray regularly, conduct their business honestly, avoid Lashon Hora (lit. evil tongue, or gossip), keep the Sabbath and honour their spouse.

“These are the things which my sons and daughters shall do at my request. They shall go to the house of prayer morning and evening, and shall pay special regard to the tefillah (the Eighteen Benedictions) and the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4). So soon as the service is over, they shall occupy themselves a little with the Torah, the Psalms, or with works of charity. Their business must be conducted honestly, in their dealings both with Jew and Gentile. They must be gentle in their manners, and prompt to accede to every honorable request. They must not talk more than is necessary, by this will they be saved from slander, falsehood, and frivolity. They shall give an exact tithe of all their possessions; they shall never turn away a poor man empty-handed, but must give him what they can, be it much or little. If he beg a lodging overnight, and they know him not, let them provide him with the wherewithal to pay an inn-keeper. Thus shall they satisfy the needs of the poor in every way. My daughters must obey scrupulously the rules applying to women; modesty, sanctity, reverence, should mark their married lives. They should carefully watch for the signs of the beginning of their periods and keep separate from their husbands at such times. Marital intercourse must be modest and holy, with a spirit of restraint and delicacy, in reverence and silence. They shall be very punctilious and careful with their ritual bathing, taking with them women friends of worthy character. They shall cover their eyes until they reach their home, on returning from the bath, in order not to behold anything of an unclean nature. They must respect their husbands, and must be invariably amiable to them. Husbands, on their part, must honor their wives more than themselves, and treat them with tender consideration.” He advises his sons to show great discretion, and continence with women and to “avoid mixed dancing”.

Following a Jewish Tradition of Ethical Wills Eleazar of Mayance stresses anger management, not quarrelling; cleanliness with the ideal that if one studies Torah, good qualities become habitual, for Torah study is the “best of all works a man can do”.

“I earnestly beg my children to be tolerant and humble to all, as I was throughout my life. Should cause for dissension present itself, be slow to accept the quarrel; seek peace and pursue it with all the vigor at your command. Even if you suffer loss thereby, forbear and forgive, for God has many ways of feeding and sustaining His creatures. To the slanderer do not retaliate with counterattack; and though it be proper to rebut false accusations, yet is it most desirable to set an example of reticence. You yourselves must avoid uttering any slander, for so will you win affection. In trade be true, never grasping at what belongs to another. For by avoiding these wrongs-scandal, falsehood, money­grubbing-men will surely find tranquillity and affection. And against all evils, silence is the best safeguard.”

Cleanliness, which is linked to holiness, is also emphasized: “Be very particular to keep your houses clean and tidy” wrote Eleazar who lived through the Black Death of 1349 “I was always scrupulous on this point, for every injurious condition and sickness and poverty are to be found in foul dwellings.”

Eleazar stresses the importance of charity: "On holidays and festivals and Sabbaths seek to make happy the poor, the unfortunate, widows and orphans, who should always be guests at your tables; their joyous entertainment is a religious duty.

However, his primary concern is their spiritual and obligations to the and advice of marriage within the Jewish community:

“If they can by any means contrive it, my sons and daughters should live in communities, and not isolated from other Jews, so that their sons and daughters may learn the ways of Judaism. Even if compelled to solicit from others the money to pay a teacher, they must not let the young of both sexes go without instruction in the Torah.”

His emphasis on the importance of worship includes the admonition to arrive early to synagogue (“Be of the first 10 to the synagogue”) and to “Be careful over the benedictions; accept no divine gift without paying back the Giver's part; and His part is man's grateful acknowledgment. [Pay God for His blessings by blessing Him.].. Pray steady with the congregation giving due value to every letter and word seeing that there are 248 words in the Schema corresponding to the 248 limbs in the human body.”

This reference to the number of words in the Shema links to the writings of the Torah scholar and medical physician Maimonides’(1135 – 1204) who catalogued 248 male limbs 251 female limbs. There are 613 commandments (mitzvot) of which there are 248 positive commands and 365 prohobitions. The 248 positive commands correspond to the 248 limbs of the male body[1], while the 365 prohobitions correspond to 365 sinews and ligaments. The connection between the proactive commands and the active limbs, and the connection between the prohibitions and the restrictive nature of the ligaments correlate to the relationship between the opposing forces that make mobility possible. Just as seeming opposites are needed for productive movement, so is true regarding both commands and prohibitions for spiritual growth.

Actually, the Shema has only 245 words. “In order to make up the missing three words, the prayer leader should repeat the last three words of Shema, Hashem Elokeichem Emes (Hashem your G-d is Truth)” (Shulchan Aruch 61,3). This is based on the halachic principle of shome’a k’oneh that when one listens to words it is as if one said them personally. Although there are some variations within Jewish traditions on how the 3 extra words are applied, the total number of words comes to 248 words. For example, the Ashkenazim who say Shema without a minyan do not repeat these three words, wheras the Sephardim do. An Ashkenazi should preface the Shema with the words “Eil Melech Ne’eman” (G-d, Faithful King).

“There are 248 limbs in the body, and each word of Shema serves to protect one of them” (Zohar Chadash, Rus 97b). This fascination in the number of word in the Shema is linked to the development of gematria, the interpreting both the numerical value of letter in languages where the alphabet is also used for the number system, was used by the Jewish people to gain leverage to the text.

The Hasidei Ashkenazi

In medieval Germany a distinctive mystical tradition developed from 1150–1250 called the Hasidei Ashkenazi (the “Devout” or “Pious of Germany”). This mystical tradition was shaped by three generations of teachers from the Kalonymides family. The first was Samuel the Hasid, the son of Kalonymus of Speyer who lived in the middle of the 12th century, of whose writing little remains. His son was Yehudah the Hasid of Worms(1150 -1217), who died in Regensburg , wrote Sefer Hasidim and possibly Sefer HaChochmah. His many writings are now known only through his disciples who regarded him virtually as a prophet. He was the prominemt figure in founding the Hassidim Ashkenaz movement of the medieval period, he was prominent in ethics and theology. The third generation, Eleazar ben Jehudah of Worms (1160?/1176?–1238) was a Talmudist and kabbalist born probably at Mayence and died at Worms in 1238 left the greatest body of literature and is the main source of information about our knowledge about Hasidei Ashkenazi Mysticism. The most influential book is Sefer Hasidim (the Book of the Devout, or the Book of the Pious). As in earlier esoteric Judaism, the mystics life is not just one of esoteric fancy but one of strict pity as thise book title suggests. The Sefer Hasidim shows lines of continuity with earlier Jewish traditions, including Merkabah speculation and the writings of the 10th-century Muslim Rationalist scholar Saadia Gaon (Saadia the Great, 892 -942 C.E.) who stressed the analogy between divine and human erotic love. It should be observed however, that Eleazar ben Jehudah’s writings quote a mistranslated rewriting of the original Arabic Rationalist text, The book of Philosophic Doctrines and Religious Beliefs, into a reworked Hebrew mystical text. It is this mistranslation that is quoted by Eleazar ben Jehudah of Worms. It is also possible that Eleazar ben Jehudah was influenced by the Christian mysticism influence of penitence, that is an ongoing remorse, not just the turning away from sin found in earlier Jewish thought. For piety is described as an elaborate ritualized transition from non-piety to piety.

This German Mysticism was more popular and less speculative than Merkabah mysticism, focusing on the shaping of individual piety. Rather than being the focus of a small group of elite Torah scholars of towering intellect, the Hasid is the ordinary pious Jew who humbly seeks holiness. Nevertheless, Hasid can, nevertheless, become a guide to piety for others and even claim direct inspiration enabling him to answer legal questions that confounded scholars. Hence, speculation about the divine realm (theosophy) is at times inconsistent and emphasizes the human relationship to an immanent, yet transendent, God. God’s attributes are developed as aspects of divine immanence, as ways of bringing God closer to the individual. The pious may in fact perform miraculous deeds. Heavenly archetypes exist for all created things, including humans, who can work to realize their heavenly ideal. Mystical literature describe a fine line between mysticism and a type of magic or theurgy particularly with the creation of the Golem, a type of mindless humanoid servant shaped to life from inanimate embryonic substance. Having a Golem servant was seen as a symbol of wisdom and holiness, and many tales connect Golems to prominent Rabbis throughout the Middle Ages.

Consider this example of a question seeking a divine answer from God:“I ask another ? …“Is it permitted to make theurgic use of the Holy Name of 42 letters to conjure the holy angels appointed over Torah to make a man wise in all that he studies and never forget his learning?” In other words, can I miraculously become a great scholar?" “ … and is it permitted to conjure by means a name appointed by the angels over wealth and victory over enemies to in order to find grace in the eyes of princes?” Or is it forbidden to use theurgic use of the name for any of these purposes?’
The answer: “Holy holy Holy is the Lord of hosts, he alone will satisfy all your needs” In other words, Torah study is to enable one to approach God and give Him honour.

To the Hasidei Askenaz prayer is like Jacobs ladder extending from heaven to earth, it is a process of mystical ascent. In the famous Hymn of Glory we read of longig for intimacy with the unkowable divine:

Sweet hymns and songs will I recite,
To sing in Thee by day and night,
of Thee who art my souls delight.

How doth my soul within me yearn
Beneath thy shadow to return
The Secret Mysteries to learn.

Thy glory shall my discourse be,
In images I picture Thee,
Although myself I cannot see.

In mystic utterances alone,
By prophet and by seer made known,
Hast thou thy radiant glory shown.

My meditation day and night,
May it be pleasant in Thy sight,
for Thou art my souls delight.

There is great concern for the modus of the commandments, the motives behind the Commandments and the precise words used. Just as Philo of Alexandria sort a deeper meaning of the text through Greek Philosophy, the Hasidei Askenazi used Gematria.

Used by the Babylonians (the oldest example being an inscription of Sargon II (727–707 B.C.E.) ) and the ancient Greeks, and the Gnostics, this technique uses the numerical equivalent of letters in alphabets where letters are also used as numbers.
"Gematria has little significance in halakhah. Where it does occur, it is only as a hint or a mnemonic" writes David Derovan in the Encyclopedia Judaica. It is used as a tool to link or elaborate on themes already derived upon halachically. However, in some forms of later Jewish mysticism thse connections take on a life of their own.
The earliest Rabbinic reference is in 2nd century statements by tannaim used as supporting evidence by R. Nathan. It is claimed that the phrase Elleh ha-devarim ("These are the words") in Exodus 35:1 hints at the 39 categories of work forbidden on the Sabbath, since the plural devarim indicates two, the additional article a third, while the numerical equivalent of elleh is 36, making a total of 39 (Shab. 70a). However, there were apponents to the use of gematria. Abraham *Ibn Ezra (1092/1093–1167)(in his commentary on Gen. 14:14) and later opponents of the Kabbalah (Ari Nohem, ch. 10) and even several kabbalists (e.g. Naḥmanides (1194 - 1270)) warned against exaggerated use of gematria.

Among the "Ḥasidei Ashkenaz books devoted to the gematria'ot found in the Bible are known, as is the case with R. *Judah he-Ḥasid, and his descendant R. *Eleazar ha-Darshan (Ms. Munchen 221). An interesting example of wide-ranging gematria in most of its varieties is found in the manuscript writings of a contemporary of Eleazar of Worms, R. Nehemiah ben Solomon the Prophet, which reflect the centrality of this technique outside the circle of Kalonymide esotericism in Worms. One of the most famous gematriot, Elohim = teva = 86, may have an influence on Spinoza's philosophy" (M. Idel, 2002, Absorbing Perfections: Kabbalah and Interpretation).

We have already seen the mystical importance in Hasidei Ashkenazi.

"These prayers could include Eleazar discovered through gematria the mystical
meditations on prayers which can be evoked during the actual repetition of the words. His commentaries on books of the Bible are based for the most part on this system, including
some which connect the midrashic legends with words of the biblical verses via gematria, and some which reveal the mysteries of the world of the *Merkabah (“fiery chariot”) and the
angels, in this way. In this interpretation the gematria of entire biblical verses or parts of verses occupies a more outstanding place than the gematria based on a count of single words. For
example, the numerical value of the sum of the letters of the entire verse “I have gone down into the nut garden” (Songs 6:11), in gematria is equivalent to the verse: “This is the depth
of the chariot” (merkavah)" writes the Encyclopedia Judaica.

As previopusly explained, Mysticism focuses on the inner life of the devout individual and not the outer world of history. Hence things that distract from this inner transformation is discouraged. The emphasis is not on cosmic eshatology, but on ones own personal future reward, that is a personal eschatology. Notably, Messianic speculation is discouraged if not forbidden; The claim the Bar Kochba was Messiah by Rabbi Akiva had been associated with the destruction of Jerusalem. Yet driven by despair at their persecuted condition, Jewish false messiahs appeared thoughout the Middle Ages and Rennaissance : David Alroi (1160), David HaReuveni (1542), Shlomo Molcho (1500-1532), Shabbtai Zvi (1626-1676), Jacob Frank (1726-1791). Among the Ḥasidei Ashkenaz,Messianic speculation is described as demonic. Yehudah the Hasid wrote “If you see one making prophecies about the Messiah you should know that he deals with witchcraft and has intercourse with demons. He is one of those who seeks to conjure with the names of God. Now since they conjure the angels or spirits these tell them about the Messiah in order to tempt him to reveal his speculations and in the end he is shamed and instead a misfortune occurs at that place ..because he has called up the angels and demons.. No one knows anything about the coming of the Messiah."

Personal piety as described in the Book of the Devout demonstrates three characteristics found in other esoteric traditions. The hasid practices physical asceticism, by renuncing worldly pleasures. However, in contrast with Chrisitian mysticism, sexual relations are positively analogy of the love between humans and God. Rather, love is seen as more important knowledge. He practices serenity and peace of mind in all circumstances, including when he is persecuted and demonstrates altruistic justice toward all humanity beyond the demands of Torah.

[1] There are examples of speculation of the spiritual significance of differences between the male and female body. In the 17th century, Tkhines, or prayers that were primarily developed for Jewish women, by Jewish women, developed . An example from 1648, Amsterdam, can be found here.

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Merkavah Mysticism

Classical Judaism appears at first to be supremely legal and intellectual, yet at the heart of the rabbinic circles was a powerful form of mysticism centered in the spiritual “ascent” to the heavenly throne-chariot (merkabah). This form of mysticism had its dangers and was, therefore, restricted to the holiest and most learned among the Rabbis.
Classical Judaism, (or Rabbinic, Talmudic Judaism) emerged from a formative period of 500 years as a minority community challenged by Hellenism and Roman rule. Rabbinic Judaism developed from the Mishnah of Judah the Prince and crystallized in the Babylonian Talmud and the Talmud of the Land of Israel centered on a commitment to Torah observance.
Three important factors influenced this development: 1) Commitment of the Pharisees, 2) expertise of the Sadducees and 3) the Jewish Diaspora.
Following destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. and the destruction of the city of Jerusalem in 135 C.E. following the bar Kochba rebellion Judaism lost any link to the land of Judah. The commitment of the Pharisees to Torah observance was cenral and transcended concerns over the land of Israel and even the temple. The problem faced by this commitment to Torah observance was that the laws were ancient and written for an agricultural nation, rather than an increasingly urban diasporic community. This is where the expertise of the Sopherim, the scribes, interpreted scripture (the TaNaK) through a process of midrash (lit. Interpretation). Torah showed adherents how to walk (Halakah) and every letter and syllable of the text is analysed, extended and contemporised to gain interpretive leverage from the text applied to the legal text (Halakah) and non-legal stories, psalms and wisdom literature (Haggadah). This developed the interpretive tradition of the Oral (or Second) Torah that enabled a highly flexible form of life for the Jewish diaspora forced to live among those of different beliefs. For example, the Torah commanded that the land owner leave an unharvested corner (Heb. Peah) of his land, any gleanings (Heb. Leket, ears of grain that fell from the reaper's hand or the sickle while harvesting) and forgotten sheaves (Heb shich'chah) left n in the field for the use of poor and strangers to supply their needs (Lev. 19:9–10., Lev. 23:22, Deut. 14:28-29,) . In an urban, dispersed community, this law was developed into an extensive Jewish welfare system. With the destruction of the temple, the laws of sacrifice could not be literally applied, however midrashic tradition placed equal emphasis on carrying out the Commandments and studying them. An attempt to understand the laws of sacrifice was in itself a spiritual sacrifice regarded as the equivalent of actually carrying out sacrifices in the temple that once stood in Jerusalem.

Some modern Jewish traditions stem from similar challenges to Jewish Law. For example, Torah requires that a Jew give a portion of dough to the Levites, who had no land inheritance and depended on Jewish society to perform theirreligious duties. A Levite could only eat of this food if he were ritually pure, a purity partly dependent on the sanctuary. Without the temple, no Levite can now legally eat this offering, whereas the the obligation to give it is not legally removed. So to this day a portion of challah, or Jewish Sabbath bread, is left to burn in the ovens of Jewish households preparing for sabbath as a reminder of the lost temple and of the Manna that fed the Jews in the desert after the Exodus.


Historically, the tradition developed incrementally over centuries as a body of literature expounding on the TaNaK. Around 200 C.E. Judah ha-Nasi, Judah the Prince, codified in Classical Hebrew the Oral traditions in the Mishnah, meaning to
repeat or study since it was originally memorized and recapitulated. The Mishnah, the epitome of ‘repetition’’ has six orders, each divided into a variable number of tractates. The conversations that fed into the Mishnah, expanded into the basis for the The Talmud of the Land of Israel (4th century C.E.) and The Babylonian Talmud (5th/6th century C.E.) which added commentary to the Mishnah in Aramaic (Gemara). The Babylonian Jewish community was highly regarded and Babylonian Talmud became the normative text for Jews for the next centuries. The conversation among scholars continued and commentaries on the Talmud itself were expounded and added. The collective and individuals responsibilities of God’s word were reapplied in response to changing social conditions. The Talmud is described by the Rabbi’s as an ocean (suf) to depict the almost net like webbing of competing thoughts, unified within it.
While, Judaism at first appears legalistic and intellectual, each believer is to recreate the temple within his heart. The Sabbath, both an individual and communal obligation involved a freedom from profane work and the delving into the playful work of Torah study, singing and worship. Among those studying the Torah, the divine presence, the shekinah, is felt. “When two sit and there are between them the words of Torah the Shekinah rests between them” (Pirke Aboth, 3:3) and Rabbi Hillel stated ‘if there is only one study the Torah there is Shekinah’. The Aramaic Targum of the Song of songs depicts God and his bride as torn apart in times of sin, describes the Assembly of Israel to a “chaste bride”(TCa 5:1) that ‘longed to dwell under the shadow of His Presence, and the commands of His Law were like spice to my palate–and the reward for my observances was stored up on my behalf for the world to come.” (TCa 2:30).

Rabbi Gershom Scholem, (Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, pp. 40–79) claimed that mysticism, particularly, merkabah mysticism, was at the heart of early Rabbinic Judaism. David J Halperin (The faces of the Chariot) demonstrates from the Tosefta that ‘many expounded on the chariot. However, the Babylonian tractate Hagigah 11b, under the rubric of forbidden relations (Lev. 18:6), shifts to esoteric teaching and leads on to discuss forbidden topics of discussion “The subject of . .. the work of the chariot [may not be expounded] . . . unless [one] is a sage and understanding of his own knowledge.. Whoever speculates on [the work of the chariot], it would have been better if he had not come come into the world." (Mishnah Hagigah 2:1). Theosophic speculation on hidden gnosis of “four things … what is above, what is beneath, what before, what after” is strictly forbidden "as well as the throne chariot, the merkabah.
However, the Gemara demonstrates a variant opinion. Where the Mishna is cautious, the Gemara is positive to the presence of mystical speculation. The Gemara discusses the meaning of the seventh heaven, the creatures around the throne, and the chambers, that is the hekal, or palaces, in heaven. It also speculates on the size of the bodies of the heavenly creatures that appeared to Ezekiel. However, the Gemara also warns that speculation on the merkabah can be only undertaken by the most learned and most Torah observant. Therefore, we see that the most highly qualified exoteric Rabbi’s were linked to mysticism. For the initiate, this mysticism was ‘honey under the tongue’ but for the uninitiated it could be fatal. “A youth who studied the 'Ḥashmal' (Ezek. 1:27) was consumed by the fire which sprang forth from it" (Ḥag. 13a;). Clearly, It was considered dangerous to study these mysteries and Merkabah speculation was for the sages, Only the ages dare be initiated in the mysteries. "I am not old enough," said R. Eleazar when R. Johanan b. Nappaḥa wished to instruct him in them. They were to be imparted in suggestions rather than in complete chapters (Ḥag. 13a). "The bird that flew over the head of Jonathan b. Uzziel as he studied them was consumed by the fire surrounding him" (Suk. 28a; cp. Meg. 3a). "Ben 'Azzai was seated meditating on the Torah, when, behold, a flame encircled him; the people told R. Aḳiba, and he went to Ben 'Azzai, saying, 'Art thou studying the mysteries of the Merkabah?'" (Cant. R. i. 10; Lev. R. xvi.). "In the future Ezekiel will come again and unlock for Israel the chambers of the Merkabah" (Cant. R. i. 4).

As can be seen in the above and following examples, mystical speculation is associated with miracles:

"They seated themselves under a tree. A fire descended from heaven and encompassed them; the ministering angels danced before them as the attendants of a wedding canopy do to bring rejoicing to a groom. One angel called out of the fire: 'The work of the chariot is indeed in accord with your exposition, Eleazar b. Arakh.' At once the trees opened in song: 'Then shall all the trees sing before the Lord' (Pa 96:13). When R. Eleazar completed his discourse on the work of the chariot, R. Johanan ben Zakkai stood up and kissed him on the head and said: 'Praised be the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who has given Abraham our father a wise son who knows to expound the work of the chariot. (TJ Hagigah 2:1).
Tosefta Hagigah 2:3-4 tells the ‘Story of four Who Entered the Garden’.
PaRDeS (orchard, or garden) is an anagram for four level of scriptural interpretation or exegesis.

• Peshat (פְּשָׁט) (plain or simple), the direct meaning..
• Remez (רֶמֶז) (hints) referring to deeper allegoric interpretation..
• Derash (דְּרַשׁ) from the Hebrew darash,"inquire or seek, which refers to the comparative examination of similar occurrences of words.

• Sod (סוֹד) (secret, mystery) or the mystical meaning

The story begins with the phrase “Our rabbis taught” which usually indicates the story us traced to the earliest teachers of the Talmud, the Talmudim.

“Our rabbis taught: Four entered the 'Garden' (pardes), namely, Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher [a famous heretic], and Rabbi Akiva (the most learned Rabbi and hero Martyred by the Romans in 135 C.E.)” states the Talmud ( Hagigah 14b, (Song of Songs 1:4)).
Alluding to the symbol of the shiny sapphire floor of the TaNaK the account continues:
"Rabbi Akiva said to them, When you arrive at the stones of pure marble, do not say 'Water, water!' For it is said, 'Whoever speaks falsely shall not be established before My eyes' (Psalm 101:7). Ben Azzai took a look and died. Of him Scripture says 'Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His righteous ones' (Psalm 116:15). Ben Zoma looked and was stricken [mad]. Of him Scripture says 'Have you found honey? Eat as much as is sufficient for you, lest you be filled with it and vomit it out' (Proverbs 25:16). Acher mutilated the shoots. Rabbi Akiva departed unharmed. Concerning him Scripture says: "Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it [was] an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?" (Ecclesiastes 5:5).And Rabbi Akiva went up safely and came down safely. Concerning him Scripture says: "Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee."
Rabbi Akiva is held in such esteem that it is said that Moses saw of a vision of Akiva’s future martyrdom when he received the Talmud. We thus observe that the most orthodox of men is associated with a mystical experience.
"R. Eleazar ben 'Arak was riding on a mule behind R. Johanan b. Zakkai, when he asked for the privilege of being initiated into the secrets of the Merkabah. The great master demanded proof of his initiation into the gnosis, and when Eleazar began to tell what he had learned thereof, R. Johanan immediately descended from the mule and sat upon the rock. 'Why, O master, dost thou descend from the mule?' asked the disciple. 'Can I remain mounted upon the mule when the telling of the secrets of the Merkabah causes the Shekinah to dwell with us and the angels to accompany us?' was the answer. Eleazar continued, and, behold, fire descended from heaven and lit up the trees of the field, causing them to sing anthems, and an angel cried out, 'Truly these are the secrets of the Merkabah.' Whereupon R. Johanan kissed Eleazar upon the forehead, saying, 'Blessed be thou, O father Abraham, that hast a descendant like Eleazar b. 'Arak!' Subsequently two other disciples of R. Johanan b. Zakkai walking together said to each other: 'Let us also talk together about the Ma'aseh Merkabah'; and no sooner did R. Joshua begin speaking than a rainbow-like appearance [Ezek. 1:288] was seen upon the thick clouds which covered the sky, and angels came to listen as men do to hear wedding-music. On hearing the things related by R. Jose, R. Johanan b. Zakkai blessed his disciples and said: 'Blessed the eyes that beheld these things! Indeed I saw myself in a dream together with you, seated like the select ones [comp. Ex. xxiv. 11] upon Mount Sinai; and I heard a heavenly voice saying: "Enter the banquet-hall and take your seats with your disciples and disciples' disciples, among the elect, the highest ('third') class"'
The theme of the spiritual ascent to the merkabah was powerfully developed by the Rabbis in Hekaloth literature which was edited in the 5th to 6th centuries). In the literature, such as in the books III Enoch, The Lesser Hekaloth, The Greater Hekaloth the heavenly halls or palaces through which the visionary passes are described and in the seventh heaven is the throne-chariot resides, on which God sits.
Consider the Jewish Hebrew book 3 Enoch purporting to be written in the 3rd century B.C.E. but possibly written in the 5th century C.E.
Beginning with the words, “And Enoch walked with the with God and he was not for God took him’ from Genesis 5:25 we read of Rabbi Ishmael ascending to the Throne chariot. “Rabbi Ishmael (who died 132 C.E.) said “When I ascended on high to behold the vision of the Merkaba and had entered the six Palaces, one within the other: as soon as I reached the door of the seventh Hall I stood still in prayer before the Holy One, blessed be He, and, lifting up my eyes on high, I said Lord of the Universe, I pray thee, that the merit of Aaron, the son of and pursuer of peace, who received the the lover of peace crown of priesthood from of Sinai, be valid for me in this hour, so and the angels with him may not get power over me nor throw me down from the heavens." Thus he requests that opposing angels not hinder his progress.

To which “the Holy One.. sent to me Metatron, his Servant the angel, the Prince of the Presence … [who] spreading his wings … save(d) me from their hand” “saying to me: "Enter in peace before the high and exalted King 3 and behold the picture of the Merkaba". Then I entered the seventh Palace, and he led me to the camp(s) of Shekhina and placed me before the Holy One, blessed be He to behold the Merkaba” When the piercing eyes of the princes of the Merkaba and the flaming Seraphim.
And Ishmael “was benumbed by the radiant image of their eyes and the splendid appearance of their faces” until God rebukes them and Metatron restored his spirit.
(1:6-8).

Exhausted, an hour passes before God “opened to me the gates of Shekhina, the gates of Peace, the gates of Wisdom, the gates of Strength, the gates of Power, the gates of Speech, the gates of Song, the gates of Qedushsha, the gates of Chant.” And he enlightened my eyes and my heart by words of psalm, song, praise, exaltation, thanksgiving, extolment, glorification, hymn and eulogy And as I opened mouth, uttering a song before the Holy Chayyoth beneath and Holy One, blessed be He" above the Throne of Glory answered and said "HOLY and "BLESSED " BE THE GLORY OF YHWH FROM HIS PLACE (that is they chanted the Qedushsha, traditionally the third section of all Amidah recitations).” These hymns give a mystical glow to the vision while the wording is of limited content.

These mystical ascents follow a period of ascetic living of 12 to 40 days, and the sexual abstinence immediately before the esoteric experience. The ascent is an internal one, described experientially, that becomes increasingly hazardous. Angelic guards bar the path that require the utterance of prayers, the use of seals, the uttering of passwords such as the correct verses of Torah. The dangers include gazing on the waters, passing through fire, and experiencing suspension in bottomless space. Hekaloth literature developed and expanded images from TaNaK symbolism.
In the Visions of Ezekiel, the son of Buzi “It would have been proper for the text to say, ‘The heaven was opened’(niftah hashshamayim). What does it mean by saying, The Heavens were opened (niftehu hashshamaayin, [Ezekiel 1:1]) . This teaches us that seven firmaments (heavens) were opened to Ezekiel: shamayim, sheme shamayim, Zebul, cAraful, shehaqim, cArabot, and kisse’ kabod” The Vison of Ezekiel, claims there is a uniquely named merkavah in each of the seven heavens. These seven heavens protect Ezekiel from the assumption that access to God is immediate or quick. Astronomical times are given to cross these heavens. ‘Rabbi Isaac said ‘From earth to the firmament (raqia) is a journey of five hundred years … the thickness of the water that is on the firmament is a journey of five hundred years … It is a journey of five hundred years from the sea to the sheme shamayim is five hundred years”(Visions of Ezekiel ii:A1-C). Leading to a journey of 3,500 years total. The jouney protects the trranscendance of God from man and the journey is in itself arduous. More than desire is required to reach god. God really is other and beyond. This transcendence is characteristic of hekalot mysticism.
This transcendeance is perhaps mitigated by Shiur Koma (measure of the body), speculation on the body of God. Specualed measuerements of extravagant proportions are given for the the body of God. This fascination of the holy Ones body is suggested by Professor Luke Timothy Johnson to have derive from the Song of Songs descriptions of the beloveds body and is an attempt to give the transcendant God a sennce of immediacy in the initiates mind. God is depicted in a ‘garment of light’ that reveals god presence yet it also conceals him.
We see that within the detailed, exoteric strictness of Judaic Torah observance there is an esoteric teaching, a sod, a secret, practiced by the most orthodox experts and adherents of the exoteric tradition. As manuscripts were difficult to obtain, it is likely thatinitiates met together, and this common society suggests a school tradition.of esoteric mysticism. The spiritual ascent of the internal mind and heart, combined with ascetic preparation, reveals that the point of Torah is the individual’s relationship with the divine. Nevertheless, the mystic scholarship is highly mental, rather than of the heart, and highly speculative. Perhaps, as Professor Johnson suggests the point of this literature was that it could be used to induce a mystical experience in initiates. This may in itself be a reason why the literature is rhetorically rich but lacking in specific details.

Mysticism of Early Judaism

Judaism as we know it developed its basic form from 350 BCE to 200 C.E. The original biblical worship of YHWH had been worshipped by a nation, but from the time of Alexander the Great (356 – 323 B.C.E.), the Jewish people were forced to redefine their religious experience while undergoing cultural displacement and political conflict. From their return to the land of Canaan following the Jewish exile in Babylon, the Jewish people struggled to retain their cultural identity and worship. However, from Alexander’s time the loss of any real political identity and the aggressive influence of Hellenism challenged Jewish religious and social life.
Alexanders Hellenism, encouraged Greek language, an open, tolerant polytheistic system offering to absorb the Jewish God as part of the pantheon. Historically the Hellenistic kingdoms that resulted after Alexander’s death promoted Hellenism by rewarding Greek speaking and Hellenized local officials. Thus Judaism was threatened both religiously and culturally.
During the rule of Antiochus Epiphanies, the temple was converted to a place of worship for Zeus, resulting in the Maccabean revolt and the rededication of the Temple remembered in the celebration of Hanukkah. In 63 BCE, the Roman general Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (106-48 B.C.E.), made Palestine a part of the Roman Republic to be governed through a system of prefects.
How could they best observe Torah and obey God? Jews both in Palestine and in the Diaspora displayed a variety of ways of maintaining fidelity to the covenant while negotiating with the prevailing cultural influence of Greece and the political dominance of Rome.
Some Jews thought assimilation possible, especially in the Diaspora while others who had political, as well as religious, convictions divided into sects. The Saducees, strongly associated with the Priesthood and temple, were more likely to go with the flow, whereas the Pharisees, removed from political influence, promoted a separate identity based primarily on observance of the Torah’s principles applied in the new social circumstances.
Although not directly mentioned in the Christian Bible, the Essenes were a third group that formed a quasi monastic tradition.
A violent reaction to Roman rule was found amongst the Zealots. This group fermented the Jewish rebellion of 66 – 70 C.E. and a later outburst in the Bar Kokhba Revolt of 132 -135 C.E. which temporarily restored the Jewish state for two and a half years. The first rebellion resulted in the Jewish temple being destroyed and the latter rebellion resulted in the total decimation of the city of Jerusalem which had been renamed Aelia Capitolina by Emperor Hadrian.
Hence, Judaism was threatened from without and divided from within.
Twice as many Jews lived outside of the province of Judea, and this diaspora was affected by the dominant Hellenistic culture. By 250 B.C.E. they had translated the TaNaK into the Greek, Septuagint Bible (abbreviated LXX because there were traditionally 70 translators) and had began to interpret the TaNaK allegorically in the same way that the Stoic philosophers interpreted the texts of Homer, who used allegoric interpretation to explain the stories of the often scandalous behavior of the gods of mount Olympus. Whereas a diasporic Jew experienced his community differently to a Jew in Palestine.
A Hellenistic Jew may have seen no need to identify his loyalty to the politics and institutions of Judea. He may go to the gymnasium, read homer and then go off to the synagogue. Whereas in Palestine Judaism was associated with questions of whether you have the temple or you don’t, or whether the land is Holy Land or it is not.
Literary evidence points to a powerful religious spirit among Jews both in Palestine and the Diaspora. As a religion Judaism was growing. In Palestine, crowds made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and gathered at great feasts, such as the Passover. Both in Palestine and in the Diaspora, synagogues were centers for community, the study of Torah and prayer. A large body of non Jews, some estimates as high as 10% of the population, were fascinated with this religion and the Jewish Temple was seen by Roman’s as a type of tourist attraction.
"Esotericism was apparrently first taught in ancient times" writes Talmus scholar and Kabbalist Rabbi Adin Steinaltz (The Essential Talmud, p212, 213).
"The schools established by the prophets ("sons of the prophets") certainly discussed ways of preparing indiciduals to recieve the gift of prophesy aND DEAL WITH THE INCULCAtion od specific intellectual methods od comprehendinf these matters."
Secular scholarship argues that prophesy was recorded after the event and that in Palestinian Judaism, at least two manifestations of mysticism appear during this period.
Apocalyptic literature, such as the book of Daniel, with its coded symbolism, use of symbolic numbers, beasts and astronomical phenomenon, depicts history teleologically, where which God is in charge, will intervene, and will save his people so that they will be triumphant in the future. The religious message is that adherents must endure and God will prove faithful to the people.
One of the earliest examples of apocalyptic writing is the book of I Enoch. Usually dated to the 2nd century B.C.E. with later additions into the 1st century C.E., this pseudonymous work is ascribed to the prophet Enoch who is reported on in Genesis chapter 5. Originally composed in Hebrew or Aramaic, it is extant in Ethiopic, and Aramaic fragments have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran.
It is an extraordinarily complex work, but at its heart are a series of visions experienced by Enoch. The biblical account of Enoch in Genesis 5 claims that Enoch “was not; for God took him”. In 1 Enoch, the prophet is shown ascending into the presence of God and being shown a vision. In the first of these (I Enoch 4:8–25), we find many elements drawn from the prophetic visions in the Bible.
“Behold, and I saw the clouds: And they were calling me in a vision: and the fogs were calling me and the course of the stars and the lightning’s were rushing me, and causing me to desire; and in the vision the winds were causing me to fly and rushing me high up into heaven” (1 Enoch 4:8, 9).
Enoch comes to a wall “which is built of crystals and surrounded by tongues of fire” “And I went into the tongues of fire and drew nigh to a large house” or Hekal, the word for palace that was used in the vision of Isaiah chapter 6, “which was built of crystals”.
The “walls of the house were like a tessellated floor (made) of crystals, and its groundwork was of crystal” (1 Enoch 4:10-12). This reminds us of the pavement of sapphire in the vision of god seen by Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elder men at Exodus 24:8-11.

Its ceiling was like the path of the stars and the lightnings, and between them were fiery cherubim, and their heaven was (clear as) water. A flaming fire surrounded the walls, and its 13 portals blazed with fire. And I entered into that house, and it was hot as fire and cold as ice: there 14 were no delights of life therein: fear covered me, and trembling got hold upon me. And as I quaked 15 and trembled, I fell upon my face.

Inside the Hekal is a second more majestic house, suggestive of the temple for inside is enthroned The Lord “And I beheld a vision, And lo! there was a second house, greater than the former, and the entire portal stood open before me, and it was built of flames of fire. And in every respect it so excelled in splendour and magnificence and extent that I cannot describe” (1 Enoch 4:15-16) “And its floor was of fire, and above it were lightnings and the path of the stars, and its ceiling also was flaming fire. And I looked and saw therein a lofty throne: its appearance was as crystal, and the wheels thereof as the shining sun.” Here we see a reference to the Throne chariot or merkabah of Ezekiel 1 and Daniel 7:9.10 that were used as symbols of the presence of God. The merkabah is again described with cherubim and fire: “and there was the vision of cherubim. And from underneath the throne came streams of flaming fire so that I could not look thereon.”
Like the vision of Ezekiel 1:24-28 god is described with great glory, however the Enoch account describes the glory as being so intense that angels cannot enter into The Lord. “And the Great Glory sat thereon, and His raiment shone more brightly than the sun and was whiter than any snow. None of the angels could enter and could behold His face by reason of the magnificence and glory and no flesh could behold Him. The flaming fire was round about Him, and a great fire stood before Him, and none around could draw nigh Him: ten thousand times ten thousand (stood) before Him". This figure of 10,000 times 10,000 is used of angelic figures before the ancient of Days in Daniel 7:10.
No doubt these writings served to teach, comfort and exhort, however, in mystical experience it is difficult to distinguish the literature and experiential life of the initiate. Hence, it has been suggested that the symbolic literature may have been used to induce mystical experiences in the initiates reading these texts.
The sectarian community at Qumran at the Dead Sea, possibly the Essenes, reveals a Jewish commitment to God that anticipates many later features of Christian Monasticism: a community separate from the world, living a common life that was dedicated to study and prayer, following a strict rule, and practicing strict ritual purity. The Dead Sea community saw the Jewish Temple system as corrupted, its sacrifices unlawful, and refused to associate with the gentile world or with those, like the Pharisees, who associated with the Hellenized world.
Teacher of Righteousness, the community’s founder, describes in hymn (Hodayoth) form his loneliness before God, yet hopes to stand among the holy ones.. Unlike 1 Enoch, these intense Hodayoth do not seem to be visionary, nor do they describe going to the Hekal, or Heavenly Palace, however in Hodayoth 5 we read of an intense yearning to be in the heavenly realm and a deep personal piety and sense of mans mortal unworthiness before God:

“I thank thee, O Lord,
For thee has redeemed me from the Pit,
and from the Hell of Abaddon,
Thou hast raised me up to everlasting height.

“I walk on limitless level ground,
And I know there is hope for him
Whom thou hast shaped from dust,
for the Everlasting Council.
Thou hast cleansed a perverse spirit of great sin
That it may stand in the host of the holy Ones,
And that it may enter into community
with the congregation of the Sons of Heaven.

Thou hast allotted to Man an everlasting destiny,
Amidst the spirits of knowledge,
That he may praise Thy Name in a common rejoicing
And recount Thy marvels before Thy works.
And yet I, a creature of clay,
What am I?
Kneaded with water,
What is my worth and my might?”

In the Songs of Sabbath Sacrifice, (also known as Angelic Liturgy) portrays community worship as participating in the heavenly worship of the angels. During a thirteen-week cycle, the community that recites the compositions is brought through a lengthy preparation and is gradually led through the spiritually animate heavenly Temple until the worshippers experience the holiness of the Merkabah and the Sabbath sacrifice as it is conducted by the high priests of the angels" (James M. Scott, "Throne-Chariot Mysticism in Qumran and in Paul" in Eschatology, Messianism, and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1997), p. 104). this theme of the earthly activities also happening in the divine realm will be taken up by later esoteric traditions.

"[Praise the God of...] [...] Exalt Him, [...] the glory in the tabernacl[e of the God of] knowledge. The [Cheru]bim fall before Him and bless Him; as they arise, the quiet voice of God [is heard], followed by a tumult of joyous praise. As they unfold their wings, God's q[uiet] voice is heard again. The Cherubim bless the image of the chariot-throne that appears above the firmament, [then] they joyously acclaim the [splend]or of the luminous firmament that spreads beneath His glorious seat. As the wheel-beings advance, holy angels come and go. Between His chariot-throne's glorious [w]heels appears something like an utterly holy spiritual fire. All around are what appear to be streams of fire, resembling electrum and [sh]ining handiwork comprising wondrous color embroidered together, pure and glorious. The spirits of the living [godlike beings move to and fro perpetually, following the glory of the [wo]ndrous chariots." (Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice 4Q405 Frags. 21-22:10-11).

Just as it was suggested that Enoch may have been used to induce mystical experience,
James M. Scott writes of the angelic liturgy, “"The worshipper who hears the songs has the sense of being in the Heavenly sanctuary and in the presence of the angelic priests. The large number of manuscripts of the Angelic Liturgy found at Qumran (4Q400-407) makes it probable that the recitation of these songs was a major vehicle for the experience of communion with the angels as it is alluded to in the Thanksgiving Hymns (1QH 3:21-23; 11:13) and in the Rule of the Community (1QS 11:7-8). Carol Newsom [Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice: A Critical Edition] suggests that the purpose of these Sabbath Songs may have been communal mysticism” (ibid, p. 104).
By worshipping in prayer and offering spiritual sacrifices the community unites in worshipping with God in heaven. What happens on earth is but a pale reflection of that greater, ultimate heavenly reality.The community envisions a mystical reconstruction of reality, seeing itself as a replacement temple, a pure people in the desert, offering the true esoteric inner sacrifices to God replacing what they the claimed to be the corrupted exoteric, outer, practices and polluted sacrifices in Jerusalem. By devoting oneself to a quasi-monastic life of prayer and meditation the initiate becomes a spiritual sacrifice to God and it follows they enter into Gods presence. Many of these themes will be developed by Christianity.
Divine hierarchies are referred too as are the seven heavens inside one another, borrowing 1 Enoch and Ezekiel chapter 1. The later Christian Saul of Tarsus, or Paul, would also write of a vision of a man ‘caught away’ to the third heaven. Ezekiels imagery of the Throne Chariot, the merkabah, is found a number of times (4Q404,1,2:1-16 and 4Q405,20-21-22) and described in ways of later Merkabah mysticism.
Perhaps the closest to visionary literature directly attributable to the Qumran is a fragmentary vision of the divine Throne Chariot. Professor Luke Timothy Johnson suggests that this may be a reference to actual visionary experiences within the Qumran community:

"...The cherubim bless the image of the Throne-Chariot above the firmament, and they praise the majesty of the fiery firmament beneath the seat of his glory. And between the turning wheels, angels of holiness come and go, as it were a fiery vision of most holy spirits"

As Geze Vermes wrote (The Dead Sea Scrolls, Penguin books, 1962 (1970 Ed) p. 210, 211) “The Divine Throne-Chariot draws its inspiration from Ezekiel (1:10) and is related to the Book of Revelation (4). It depicts the appearance and movement of the Merkabah, the divine Chariot supported and drawn by the cherubim, which is at the same time a throne and a vehicle. … The Throne-Chariot was a central subject of meditation in ancient as well as in medieval Jewish esotericism and mysticism, but the guardians of Rabbinic orthodoxy tended to discourage such speculation. The liturgical use of Ezekiel's chapter on the Chariot is expressly forbidden in the Mishnah; it even lays down that no wise man is to share his understanding of the Merkabah with a person less enlightened than himself. As a result, there is very little ancient literary material extant on the subject, and the Qumran text is therefore of great importance to the study of the origins of Jewish mysticism.”

In the Diaspora, Philo of Alexandria Philo of Alexandria (20 B.C.E.- 50C.E.),an Alexandrian born Jew, developed a theology that was developed from his reading of the Greek Septuagint using the Grecian method of allegoric interpretation. Some have noted similarities between his doctrines and early Christianity, suggesting he may have been a major influence on the early Church. His world view was Platonic using Plato’s distinction phenomenal and the noumenal. That is the world of our senses, the phenomenal, and the world of forms, the true reality of Plato, which is the noumenal. In this way, Philo could read that God created the true reality, the noumenal heavens and the less real, phenomenal reality, the earth.

The extent of Philo’s influence is unsure. Views range from Philo’s ideas being unique to himself, or to the other extreme that states that Hellenistic Judaism was as a whole a mystical religion contrasting with Palestinian Judaism. However, some contemporary literature such as Pseudo-Orpheus suggest that there was at least a few that held similar views to Philo.

In Philo’s writings we find references to mystical symbolism. For example, Philo describes Moses as undertaking a mystical ascent that can be followed by others

“Has he not also enjoyed an even greater communion with the Father and Creator of the universe, being thought unworthy of being called by the same appellation? For he also was called the god and king of the whole nation, and he is said to have entered into the darkness where God was; that is to say, into the invisible, and shapeless, and incorporeal world, the essence, which is the model of all existing things, where he beheld things invisible to mortal nature.”

Here we see Moses being described as crossing from the phenomenal to noumenal realm. Moses is then described as a model for others to imitate:

“for, having brought himself and his own life into the middle, as an excellently wrought picture, he established himself as a most beautiful and Godlike work, to be a model for all those who were inclined to imitate him. And happy are they who have been able to take, or have even diligently laboured to take, a faithful copy of this excellence in their own souls” (Life of Moses 1.158–159).

Philo describes his own life and religious experience in mystical terms. For example Philo describes his mind as “seized with a sort of sober intoxication like the zealots engaged in the Corybantian festivals, and yields to enthusiasm, becoming filled with another desire, and a more excellent longing, by which it is conducted onwards to the very summit of such things as are perceptible only to the intellect, till it appears to be reaching the great King himself. And while it is eagerly longing to behold him pure and unmingled, rays of divine light are poured forth upon it like a torrent, so as to bewilder the eyes of its intelligence by their splendour” (On the Creation 71).

Here we see that Philo describes ecstasy as intoxication, he points to the supremacy of the mind, and highlights the issuing forth of shining rays of light, a symbolism that are important in later Jewish and Islamic mysticism. Also note that it is the eye of understanding and intelligence that is illumined.

Philo claims that although, he is lowly he is given sufficient wisdom to “venture not only to study the sacred commands of Moses, but also with an ardent love of knowledge to investigate each separate one of them, and to endeavour to reveal and to explain to those who wish to understand them, things concerning them which are not known to the multitude”.( On the Special Laws 3.6). Here Philo examplifies a major theme in Jewish mysticism, that is, the importance of the study and explanation of a deeper, esoteric understanding that must be explained by the mystic to the literal minded.

Philo also praises Jewish monastic’s, perhaps the Essenes, and an Egyptian based Jewish monastic group he calls the Therapeutae (Every Good Man is Free; Hypothetica; On the Contemplative Life).

Of their devotion Philo writes “they always retain an imperishable recollection of God, so that not even in their dreams is any other object ever presented to their eyes except the beauty of the divine virtues and of the divine powers. Therefore many persons speak in their sleep, divulging and publishing the celebrated doctrines of the sacred philosophy. And they are accustomed to pray twice every day, at morning and at evening; when the sun is rising entreating God that the happiness of the coming day may be real happiness, so that their minds may be filled with heavenly light, and when the sun is setting they pray that their soul, being entirely lightened and relieved of the burden of the outward senses, and of the appropriate object of these outward senses, may be able to trace out truth existing in its own consistory and council chamber” (On the Contemplative Life 3:26).

In any case, Philo seeks to reveal a deeper reality within the Torah about god and the divine and this seeking of a deeper reality is developed in later Jewish Mysticism.

The Hebrew Bible Source of Mystic Imagery

The Hebrew Bible is the primary source of symbolism and the promise of divine union for esoteric Judaism, Christianity and Islam, The Scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam were not read by mystics, they were to an extent lived out and acted upon. The mystic, esoteric experience is an attempt to directly experience an unmediated relationship with the Divine. However, this experience is mediated by inherited symbols from earlier traditions and the need to have a shared symbolic language that is understood within the esoteric community. This language has its roots within the Hebrew bible, the TaNaK, or Old Testament, which is read both by Jews and Christians and indirectly through the Quranic retelling of the TaNaK narrative.
We must remember that preceding the enlightenment, the Bible was read as a faithful record of actual events. The Israelites did walk through the Red Sea, Moses bought water from a roc, there was a great Flood. Scholars did note the difficulties and contradictions posed by the Scriptural account, and much debate and analysis was given my exoteric and esoteric writers alike. Historical critics today, attempt to demystify the bible and challenge the efficacy of the creation account, the miracles of Moses, the Davidic kingdom as well as biblical morals such as the practice of slavery and the treatment of woman. Whereas ancient readers were seeking wisdom of mans past, present and future. The life stories of the biblical hero is seen as revelatory of what is possible. If Moses can perform a miracle then why can not the mystic also experience Divine power? What the bible says about the prophet Moses is accurate and is a pattern for the mystic to follow. What the Bible describes of the world is true, whether literally or symbolically. For primarily the accounts are examples for mankind to follow. In later mystery traditions, the ecstatic experience of God and miracles were at times entwined.
The foremost and greatest influence is the prophet Moses. Although preceding biblical figures acted as prophets, Adam speaks with god (Gen. 3:8-19, as does Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3) who is called a Navi or prophet (Gen 20:70, Hagar, the descendant of Islam, is helped by God (Gen. 21:14-21), Jacob sees the heavens open declaring the location Beth-el or the house of God (Gen. 28:10-15), Isaac and Jacob are refred to as prophets (Ps 105:9-15) and Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams (Gen 31:25-46). However, it is Moses directly relationship with God ‘face to face’ and his experiencing symbols that are repeated and expanded upon by later mystics that place Moses as greatest amidst the mystic writers.
Having fled Egypt, God appears to Moses on “Horeb, the mountain of God”, “in flames of fire from within a bush” that “did not burn up”(Exod. 3:1, 2). Moses is ordered to remove his sandals “for the place where you are standing is holy ground” and “Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.” (Exod. 3:5,6). When Moses asks what he should say when asked what the n ame of God is, and in reply Moses is empowered to miraculously lead Israel out of Egypt, dry shod through the Red Sea “wall of water on their right and on their left” (Exodus 14: 22) before destructively turning the waters back on the pursuing Egyptian army. (Exodus 14:21-31)
Notably, “then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing.” (Exod. 15:20). Later mystics for example, the Sufi, would associate dancing the joyous experience of God. Another example is found in 18th century, Hasidic ceremonies described as “very noisy affairs….When they prayed, often at the top of their voices, they swayed and clapped their hands. They sang a tune called a niggun and danced to it.”(Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews, Harper Perennial, 1988,p. 297).
On arriving back at Mount Sinai (Horeb) the people are told to prepare themselves for “the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai before all the people.” God had come to Moses ‘in a dense cloud, so that when the people hear me speaking with you, they may have faith in you also” (Exod. 19:9) now they are to experience a great theophany. The mountain is declared off limits on pain of death until the sound of a rams horn calls them up the mountain.
They are to be sanctified and have not ‘intercourse with any woman’ (Exod. 19:14, 15). This theme of sexual asceticism before god would be later developed in some esoteric schools.
Sinai was enshrouded in heavy cloud and smoke as if ‘from a furnace’ with great thunders and lightning’s and loud trumpet blasts. The people are afraid and Moses and Aaron ascend the mountain and in full hearing of the people the Ten Commandments, a series of laws and promised rewards for fidelity declared aloud by God. Following a communal sacrifice, “Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself." But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; "they saw God, and they ate and drank”(Exod. 24:9-11).
Moses is described as God’s ‘intimate friend’ who knows God ‘face to face” (Exod. 33:11, 12). In what appears to be an oddity in the text, Moses who asks to see God’s glory and is told “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." (Exod 33:19, 20) Of course chapter 24 described Moses and the elders seeing God with no ill effect. However, Moses is told “I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen" (Exod. 33:21-33) and God passes by declaring his attributes “"The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (Exodus 34:6, 7).
In these accounts we see a basic pattern repeated by later mystics. A person approaches God through ascent and pilgrimage from slavery to the promise land of freedom. Purification is demanded, the sea is crossed, a mountain ascended, cloud and darkness passed, fire and a sea of sapphire or glass described and a land of rest rewarded.
Other Jewish prophets would take up these themes and expand upon them. Isaiah of the 8th century BCE has a vision of the “Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled" the temple ‘house’ or hekal (a large house or palace) where he is commissioned as a prophet. Isaiah sees a group of seraphim, a type of angel, “each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying “ who declare God holy “At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke” (Isa 6:2, 4). Immediately Isaiah declares he is ‘ruined’ or as good as dead for he is unclean of lips and unworthy to see God at which a Seraph takes a coal from the altar and cleanses his lips declaring “your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for" (Isa. 6:4-7) and Isaiah willingly accepts the call for someone to represent God declaring “Here I am, send me!”‘
Again we see the theme of glory, holiness and the need for purification from uncleanness to approach God. Also we see the hekal , house, or palace, as a symbol which is taken up by later mystics.
Another Prophet whose visions became part of the symbolic language of esoteric Abrahamic Mysticism was Ezekiel, who lived as part of the of the Israelite community exiled to Babylon by the King Nebuchadnezzar exiled
Ezekiel hears “the word of the Lord” (Ezek. 1:3), the heavens open, he experiences a great vision visions (Ezek. 1:4−28), and is also commissioned to the role of prophet (2:1−4). “A whirlwind” comes “out of the north”, there is “a great cloud” and “a fire” “in folding it, and brightness was about it: and out of the midst thereof, that is, out of the midst of the fire, as it were the resemblance of crystallite” From within this fire their appear 4 creatures called cherubim (cherubs) with four faces, four wings and a mixture of angelic human and animal features, the wings of each angel, which loudly emit “the noise of many waters, as it were the voice of the most high God” touches the other and they can go any direction without turning at the impulse of the spirit moving like ‘flashes of lightening” (Ezek. 1:5-12, 14). The cherubs are described as like “burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of torches” and “in the midst of the living creatures, a bright fire, and lightning going forth from the fire’ (Ezek. 1:13). A divine chariot is seen. It appears as “one wheel” “with four faces” that is in fact four wheels “like the appearance of the sea” “and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the midst of a wheel.”
Over this Heavenly Throne chariot, the merkabah,” “ was the likeness of the firmament, the appearance of crystal terrible to behold” (Ezek. 1:22) above which is a description of the enthroned rider of this chariot in a glory comparable to that used to describe The Lord in Exodus 24. Above the firmament “was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of the sapphire stone, and upon the likeness of the throne, was the likeness of the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as it were the resemblance of amber as the appearance of fire within it round about: from his loins and upward, and from his loins downward, I saw as it were the resemblance of fire shining round about. As the appearance of the rainbow when it is in a cloud on a rainy day: this was the appearance of the brightness round about” (Ezek. 1:26-28).
From this vision of the wheeled Throne chariot, surrounded by angels, clouds, flashing fire we are symbolically taken to the presence of God.
Another prophet significant to Abrahamic Mysticism was Daniel. Daniel is also commissioned a prophet and experience highly encoded visions that include symbolic numbers, symbolic animals, cosmic symbols’ such as the sun, earth, moon, planets and stars communicating gods future purpose.
Daniel is taken to the heavenly court and he “beheld till thrones were placed, and the ancient of days sat: his garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like clean wool: his throne like flames of fire: the wheels of it like a burning fire” (Dan. 7:9). Note that again we see that the throne has wheels – an illusion to the Divine merkabah.
What happens next would be expanded on in Christian Mysticism. Daniel beholds “one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the ancient of days: and they presented him before him. And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him: his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed.” (Dan 7:13, 14). This vision of the “Son of Man” is seen as fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth as Christian Messiah.
From the Hebrew Bible we see a number of repeating symbols. One ascends the mountain , through the darkness to the presence of God experienced with fire and lightening, a shining floor of glass, sapphire, or gleaming bronze. God is a king in a throne room, on a wheeled Heavenly Throne Chariot.
The Bible also uses erotic imagery. The use of erotic symbolism and imagery found in later mysticism derives from the mystical description of mans relationship to god. The tradition of describing God and Israel as effectively a husband and wife permeates the Jewish prophetic literature of Isaiah (Isa 5:1-7; 45:4-8), Jeremiah (Jer. 2:2, 32) and Ezekiel (Ez. 16:23) where Israel is a wife given to unfaithfulness.
The prophet Hosea takes ‘a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms’ (Hos. 1:2) and has 2 sons and a daughter given prophetic names (Hos. 1:3-11). Hosea’s choice of a prostitute mirrors God’s choice of Abraham’s descendants who would become the unfaithful nation of Israel. Hosea pleads with his children that they also “Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.” (Hos. 2:-3).
The desolation of the desert, a place of intimacy within the mystic traditions, would be a place of restoration. Using the language of the heart, “I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. …. And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me husband; and shalt call me no more (the false god) Baal ” (a word meaning owner which was also a title used for a man’s husbandly ownership of his wife) (Hos. 2:14, 16). They are betrothed anew “in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in mercies” (Hos. 2:21).
Jeremiah also speaks of the heart in his personal relationship with God: “For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” (Jer. 8:21-22). Jeremiah feels hurt in the performance of his prophetic commission “O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; …. I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me. … Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” (Jer 20:7,9).
The prophet Ezekiel describes Israel’s history in terms of marital infidelity. Seen first as a new born rejected at birth, covered in blood Israel is taken in and later when “thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned …I looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness” in sexual union and I “washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil” (Ezek. 16:7-9). Although made famous as the wife of God (Ezek. 16:9-14) Israel “didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pourest out thy fornications on every one that passed by” (Ezek. 16:15) and suffer violent punishment “I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy” (Ezek 16:38) as a destroyed nation later to be restored and the covenant renewed (Ezek 16:62), just as was Gomer was restored to Hosea.
The most powerful erotic symbolism is found in the Song of Songs, also called Song of Solomon or Canticles. This book describes the intimate love and devotion of a Shulamite maiden and her shepherd boy. The book does not mention God, or the divine Name, and was challenged by some as not belonging to the divine Canon. Yet read within the literary tradition describing the mystical union of God and man in Marriage that would be expounded upon in Judaic. Christian and Islamic Mysticism.
The opening words “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth” would form the basis of four of Bernard of Clairvaux’s sermons. Why not just say “Let him kiss me”? why say “with the kisses of his mouth’. Such was the intense development of the erotic imagery in mysticism.
The opening words “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth” would form the basis of four of Bernard of Clairvaux’s sermons. Why not just say “Let him kiss me”? why say “with the kisses of his mouth’. The 6th century C.E Midrash (1:1) we read: "R. Johanan said 'Wherever King Solomon is mentioned in this scroll, the reference is to the actual King Solomon; whenever the word "King" appears [alone], the reference is to God.' The sages say: 'Wherever King Solomon is mentioned the reference is to the King who is (the Lord) of peace; wherever King is mentioned the reference is to the congregation of Israel.'"
Such was the intense development of the erotic imagery in mysticism.
“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.” (Ca. 1:2-4).
“He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.”
Christian and Jewish love poetry owes much to the Song of Songs. Consider the words of St. Clare of Assisi (1193? – 1254, Italy):

Draw me after You!
We will run in the fragrance of Your perfumes,
O heavenly Spouse!
I will run and not tire,
until You bring me into the wine-cellar,
until Your left hand is under my head
and Your right hand will embrace me happily
and You will kiss me with the happiest kiss of Your mouth

Describing intense adoration for the lover, some of the most beautiful poetry ever written extols the beauty of the beloved with an intensity that would be paralleled in later writers such as the Sufi poet Jalal al-Din al-Balkhi al-Rumi. "Sufism is poverty toward God. To be poor toward him is to acknowledge one's need for him, and the deeper and more sincere that acknowledgement becomes, the more it turns into an overpowering drive to reach the beloved" (William Chittick, Sufism, A Short Introduction).

"What are we to make of the Song of Songs which, in spite of its antiquity and its archaic images, still carries with it such charm and power, is still so touching to those who fall under its spell? The subject of love, even physical, erotic love, when it is conveyed with such beauty strikes a chord deep within us all. We have a profound longing to be whole, to be united with another, but this longing carries with it something more than just physical desire. The Sufi poet, Rumi, in the first part of his Masnavi, describes that longing as the plaintive song of the reed flute, lamenting its abrupt removal when it was cut from the reed bed, longing to be back again from where it came. It is the primordial longing of the created to be back, united with our origins, at one with the Creator" wrote Judith Ernst in Song of Songs: Erotic Love Poetry, by Judith Ernst

Rumi wrote:

“Listen to the story told by the reed of being separated. Since I was cut from the reed bed, I have made this crying sound. Anyone apart from someone he loves understands what I say. Anyone pulled from a source longs to go back. At any gathering, I'm there, lingering and laughing and grieving, a friend to each, but few will hear the secrets hidden within the notes. No ears for that. Body flowing out of spirit, spirit out from body, no concealing that mixing. But it's not given us to see, so the reed flute is fire, not wind. Leave that empty.“- The Reed Flute's Song.

and

“If anyone asks you about the houris, show your face, say: like this. If anyone asks you about the moon, climb up on the roof, say: "Like this." If anyone seeks a fairy, let them see your countenance. If anyone talks about the aroma of musk, untie your hair and say: "Like this." If anyone asks: "How do the clouds uncover the moon?" untie the front of your robe, knot by knot, say: "Like this." If anyone asks: "How did Jesus raise the dead?' kiss me on the lips, say: "Like this." If anyone asks: "What are those killed by love like?" direct him to me, say: "Like this." If anyone kindly asks you how tall I am, show him your arched eyebrows, say: "Like this.""
The whole poem is a description of the physical beauty of the lover, for Rumi, In the end, all human beings can get to that candle of purity and reach God,

In the Song of Songs, the Shepherd boy adoringly describes his lover's beauty; “How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.”He then describes her navel, which some scholars argue is a code word for the female genitalia, “Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins. Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus. Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries. 6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes. I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples; And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me” (Ca 7:1-11).
An example of the intense theological speculation is found in the Song of Songs Rabbah:
“YOUR TWO BREASTS: these are Moses and Aaron. Just as the breasts are the beauty and the adornment of a woman, so Moses and Aaron were the beauty and adornment of Israel. Just as the breasts are the appeal of a woman, so Moses and Aaron were the appeal of Israel. Just as the breasts are full of milk, so Moses and Aaron filled Israel with Torah. Just as whatever a woman eats helps to feed the child at the breast, so all the Torah that Moses our teacher learned he taught to Aaron, as it is written, "And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord (Exodus 4:28)." The Rabbis say, "He revealed to him the ineffable Name." Just as one breast is not greater than theother, so it was with Moses and Aaron, for it is written, "These are that Moses and Aaron (Exodus 4:27)," and it is also written, "These are that Aaron and Moses (ib. 26)," showing that Moses was not greater than Aaron nor was Aaron greater than Moses in knowledge of Torah. R. Abba said,"They were like two fine pearls belonging to a king which he put in a balance, finding that neither weighed down the other. So were Moses and Aaron just equal." (Song of Songs Rabbah IV:13)
Thus the mystical union of man and God is portrayed with erotic allusions that would be expanded by the mystics of Judaism. Christianity and Islam.