are, however, perfectly distinct, and may be enjoyed together or separately, but do not necessarily result from each other. Thus he who denies the immortality of the soul, and future rewards and punishments, will not, through the public profession of his creed, be excluded from the full enjoyment of every political privilege, rank, power, and emolument; although the laws, by denying credence to his oath, make the protection extended to him dependent on the testimony of others, and consequently distinguish his creed by a penalty with which others are not visited. Again Dissenters from the Established Church, even till within the last few years, were excluded from all political privileges, and nearly in the same situation as the Jews are at present. Nevertheless, the protection of the laws was, without any distinction, extended to them, as it is to us, equally with the members of the Establishment; and the great principle is recognised, that ail men are equal in the eye of the law. There have, however, been instances when the professors of a particular creed have been subjected to exclusion from political privileges, and likewise suffered under laws so invidious as to render that creed penal. Such was the case not many years ago in Ireland with respect to the Roman Catholics; such is the case at the present day with respect to Jews, in states far more numerous than those to whose liberality our correspondent does justice. The emancipation of the Jews, though at all times just in theory, is become so in practice only since the removal of those disabilities under which all other Dissenters laboured. In this respect the history of fifteen centuries is opposed to that of seven years. In England, some eighty years ago, an enlightened Parliament granted what Jews now contend for; but the national opinion, or perhaps public clamour, compelled the repeal of that just and wise measure. At present the nation thinks very differently: The voice of its Representatives has declared the removal of civil disabilities from the Jews to be an act of justice; and though that act of justice may be delayed, it cannot, in opposition to the will of the nation and its Representatives, be much longer refused. When we spoke of "the protection of the laws," we did so independently of political privileges; for there is no necessary connection between them. When we speak of "gratitude towards the enlightened people amongst whom we dwell,"- —we offer them what is truly their due, not for shelter and personal freedom only afforded to the Jew, but for the exercise of that liberal feeling which, by removing the disabilities of all other Dissenters placed the Jew in a situation to claim the same boon, and which, by the majority of its Representatives, decided his claim to be just. THE EDITOR. In order to understand the essence of the various proper names and adjectives applied to the Sephiroth, thou must know that each Sephira is a power equal to all things and their mutations, and in accordance with the variations of the attribute from one degree to another, in such manner as they receive the same from any one of the superior Sephiroth for the purpose of operating agreeably to the will of Him who parted them off, or to the effects which proceed from that will, in manner, time, and place. Were we to examine the degree of relation existing between the Sephira MALCHUTH* and the Sephira IESOD, † we find at least ten degrees in Malchuth which receives, and the like number in Iesod which bestows: as Iesod can bestow from its original essence, or from what it receives of Tiphereth, or of any other of the Sephiroth; and in the latter case there may be more bestowed by other Sephiroth than by Iesod. Again: Each of the emanations thus bestowed may originate from some other emanation; as, for instance, if Iesod receives from Tiphereth and bestows on Malchuth, Tiphereth may bestow, either from its own original essence, or from what it has received of Gedulah S or Geburah,|| or some other Sephira; and so on, in every case. Thus these emanations become multiplied in an infinite manner; and to each is attached its own peculiar and secret power, effect, and idiosyncracy, according to the decree of Him that endowed them all. Corresponding with the variety of these emanations is the number of adjectives applied to them; each one of Kingdom. Foundation. Beauty. § Greatness. || Might. H No. 4. which is limited to the expression of its own particular qualities, so that what is expressed by one is not expressed by any other, and each of them is requisite to the whole. The purpose of these adjectives is to extend the branches of the sephira to which it appertains: As if we were to assume, that the name of four letters, (Jod, He, Vau, He,) which is in each of the Sephiroth, is their essence, and that each of the ten clothes itself in one of the Divine Names, which must not be erased, as the chief branches which spread from the stem of the tree, and from which again lesser branches extend in the guise of adjectives peculiar to each particular name. If we assume this, we find that these adjectives are so many garments to the names which must not be erased, which again are garments to the Ten Sephiroth, which in their turn clothe the name of four letters; the Great Essence comprising and pervading every thing. Like the stem of the tree, the leaves of which cover its branches, the branches surround the top, and the top crowns the whole. So that each adjective, according to its degree, is more internal than another. Thus there is likewise in each of the commandments different contents, and different effects, each of which denotes one of the Sephiroth. Nor is this either a repetition or superfluous, as each refers to another degree in the same Sephira; and the light and efflux which emanate from one is not like the light and efflux which emanate from another; but all is in accordance with the purpose assigned by His wisdom and law: blessed be He! The members of the human body are a temple, and garments to the spiritual and superior powers; as all these are united and tied together to the exalted branches on high. Consequently, man may, in his mind and ideas, become susceptible of being a Merkaba to the emanation of a Sephira. He who preserves himself free from all sin, and attaches himself to the scrupulous observance of any one of the commandments of the law, becomes a Merkaba of the particular Sephira to which that commandment appertains; especially if his soul be an efflux from that Sephira: and even if his soul be from another Sephira, it will nevertheless become a Merkaba; as all the Sephiroth are related to each other, and every one of them comprises every thing. This becoming a Merkaba, in the case of a man who devotes himself to the scrupulous observance of any one commandment, is by means of a stream of light from the Sephira to which this commandment appertains; and, through its shining on him, the Schechina becomes attracted, and rests upon him. In order that he may be able to receive the light, which is poured forth from above, the Schechina enters the soul of this righteous man, and makes it her temple and resting-place, even till the soul becomes a receptacle to the emanation from that Sephira; for all the superior and inferior worlds, as even the angels, do not receive the emanations of the Sephira, except by means of the souls of the pious, which are united above, through the scrupulous observance of the commandment, the law, and prayers, and are lifted up to that high state of exaltation which they have gained, by traversing the whole universe: Namely, first, the olam hangasiah "world of works," which comprises every thing that is mentioned in the history of creation down to the bottomless pit, and includes the Clipoth, and ten orbits, and the elements, with every thing which they compose. These parts of the olam hangasiah ascend ten degrees. Thence the soul wings her flight through the olam haiezira, the world of formation," and olam ha briah, "the world of creation," unto the olam haaziloth, "the distinguished world." In order to form an idea of these different worlds, thou must know that the Sephiroth are parted off from the INFINITE : blessed be HE!—and they are called aziloth, like weazalti min haruach, "and I will part off from the Spirit." (Num. xi. 17.) The manner in which this is done is such that the power of the bestower is in those who receive; but the bestower does not become less by having bestowed, or after having done so, in like manner as one flame is kindled by another without the first decreasing. The name aziloth is likewise derived from the preposition etzel, "by," or near," to denote their perfect adherence to the Bestower, their First Cause, in whom they are rooted. In the aziloth is the power of the bestower and the receivers; namely, the essence which expands itself into the different vessels or Sephiroth, and gradually descends from the Cether downwards, without ever separating from it even for a single instant. And these Sephiroth are ten, neither more nor less. When the Rav Hai Gaon, of blessed memory, states that the thirteen attributes of mercy are branches which extend from the ten Sephiroth with three principal but hidden heads, he does not mean that there are thirteen Sephiroth, but that there are three hidden powers, the sources and causes of the attributes which are expressed, which again are as shadows to the superior ones, and these are not more than ten, and these are the sources of the Sephiroth. If a man intends to produce any thing, although in his imagination he pictures to himself the thing which he is about to form, it must nevertheless be considered as nonexisting until the form present to his mind is realized by the perfect execution; but such is not the case with the thoughts of the Holy One: blessed be HE! As soon as he thought proper to part off the aziloth, they immediately became separated in his being, but without causing any change in his essence; and thus was produced the existence of these ten that are united to him. (To be continued.) *The presence of the Deity. Shells certain spirits, so called. 51 II. METAPHYSICS AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE RABBIES. 66 Sepher Ikkarim: BOOK OF PRINCIPLES." (Continued from page 39.) DIVISION I. CHAPTER XIX. * FAITH is the perfect impression on the soul of a something past or to come, and which no other impression has the power to gainsay or contradict; although the soul does not know how this certainty has been acquired, any more than it knows how it has obtained its innate impressions, or those other ideas which the mind has so thoroughly appropriated to itself that it feels their certainty as positively as if demonstrated by the evidence of the senses or by experience, however ignorant of the cause of that experience. Faith is the certainty of a something which is not demonstrated to the believer by the evidence of his own senses, but has been demonstrated by such evidence either to one man, whose veracity is universally acknowledged and approved, or to several men, in a manner public and notorious, at a time already past; and which has subsequently been transmitted by the one or the several, traditionally, from father to son, in an uninterrupted chain By which means faith becomes justified before the tribunal of his reason, in the same degree as if it rested on the evidence of his own senses, although in itself it is not within the conception of simple reason. Such, for instance, is the belief, which has been approved by experience, that the Holy One (blessed be HE!) has caused men to become prophets; not one man only, but an entire nation,-men, women, and children; as it is said in the law: "These words the Lord spoke unto all your assembly on the mount, out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a great voice." (Deut. v. 22.) And Moses confirms this statement by his own testimony when he says, "Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire as thou hast heard, and live?" (Deut. iv. 33.) Although this may appear incomprehensible to simple reason, * Vide chapter 16. it is nevertheless proved to be true and certain by the evidence of experience, confirmed by tradition from father to son: It can therefore not be denied or contradicted. It is certain and unquestionable, that no one bears greater love to a man than his own father; consequently the tradition thus transmitted and preserved to him by the love of his own father,whom it reached by the same means, and so on in ascension unto those to This whom the truth of what they transmitted was demonstrated by the evidence of their own senses,-becomes as firmly rooted in the mind as if that evidence of the senses had been afforded to himself; for it is certain, that no father, and much less all the fathers, an entire generation of a whole nation, would transmit to his or their children the inheritance of falsehood instead of truth. conviction is expressed by the Sacred Singer in the forty-fourth Psalm, verses 1-4, when he says, "With our ears we have heard, O God! our the wonfathers have related to us, drous works thou didst in their days, in the days of old: that with thy power thou didst drive out the nations and plantedst them, that thou didst afflict the people and cast them out. For they conquered not the land with their sword, their own arm did not assist them but thy right hand, and thy arm, and the light of thy countenance, because they found favour before thee. Thou art he, my King! God! Command deliverance unto Jacob." His meaning is, We have heard from our fathers what was proved to them by the evidence of their senses; not only by prophecy, but likewise by the supernatural effects of thy aid: For it was thy power that overcame the nations; as their own force, exerted in a natural way, was totally insufficient to conquer the land.* *This exposition will enable us to understand a difficult passage in Judges i. 19; "And the Lord was with Jehuda; and he conquered the inhabitants of the mountain ; for the inhabitants of the plain were not to "Thou art he, my King, O God! As thou hast once deigned to bestow thy special protection on us, vouchsafe to continue us thy aid, and command the deliverance of Jacob:" an appeal to the experience of the past. It is imperative that tradition, in uninterrupted chain from father to son, should be received, as the Divine Laws are not transmitted by any other means; accordingly, Moses, the servant of God, tells us, "Ask of thy father, and he will relate to thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee." (Deut. xxxii. 7.) And in order to afford sufficient protection to the purity and integrity of this tradition, sentence of death is pronounced on him who gainsays the tradition of the fathers, or controverts the decision of the elders; as it is said in the Law: "According to the judgment which they shall tell thee, shalt thou do. Thou shalt not deviate from the sentence which they shall shew thee, either to the right or to the left. And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken to the priest that standeth before the Lord thy God, or unto the Judge, even that man shall die." (Deut. xvii. 11, 12.) Therefore likewise obedience to teachers is enforced, and the punishment of death is denounced against the stubborn and rebellious child. For it is as natural to believe in the tradition of the fathers, as in the evidence of our own senses, however incomprehensible the facts may appear to our simple reason. Hence faith is the firm and inward assurance of the truth of certain things, which at the time present is not proved to us by the evidence of our be conquered as they had chariots of iron." The meaning of which is, The Lord was with Jehuda; and by His supernatural aid they overcame the inhabitants of the mountain in their strong-holds and fastnesses; although without that supernatural aid, and limited to their own force, they could not have accomplished the easier conquest of the inhabitants of the plain, although these had but their chariots of iron on which to depend, and not the additional aid of natural fastnesses, as had the inhabitants of the mountain. The words in Judges are, Ki lo lehorish, or, "There was no overcoming," &c. not, He could not drive out, as in the authorized version. THE EDITOR. own senses or reason; but which rests on tradition, founded on and derived from experience and the evidence of the senses afforded in former days; and is therefore deservedly held as truth, certainty, and conviction. CHAPTER XX. THE more approved the veracity is of the one man, (till it be so generally acknowledged that no one contradicts it,) or the more perfect the qualities, or greater the numbers of the several to whom such evidence of the senses has been afforded, the more implicit faith is due to their testimony from those by whom that testimony is received. Therefore the Holy One (blessed be HE!) vouchsafed to give the Law through Moses, with the greatest possible degree of publicity, before six hundred thousand men, besides women and children, who were present, and the numbers of the mixed multitude who belonged not to their congregation, but nevertheless partook of the same evidence. The joint testimony of all these would be sufficient to satisfy the scruples of all the rest of mankind; and accordingly in this sense our Rabbies of blessed memory say, "The giving of the Law at Sinai was as public and notorious as if all the world had been present." Thus, then, no doubt does or can remain of the reality of the Divine demonstration on Sinai; for that which is asserted by one, or by a few individuals, does not become as completely obligatory on their own contemporaries, much less on succeeding generations, as what is asserted by the concurrent testimony of an entire nation, as the result of the most perfect evidence and conviction. as we said before; (chapter xviii.) not all the miracles performed by Moses previous to the giving of the Law would of themselves have been sufficient to prove that the Divine laws the Israelites with their own were really given through him, until heard the Deity say unto Moses, "Go say unto them, Get you into your tents again; but as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the For ears |