Kabbalah: Occultism in “science fiction”
(Introduction - Part I)
KABBALAH AND SCIENCE FICTION
In the trilogy pertaining to the title, three aspects of Science Fiction-New Age thought will be examined as an outgrowth of ideas derived from the mysticism of the Kabbalah. In Part 1 the theory of “extraterrestrial life” will be examined; in part 2 the “hollow earth” theory, and in part 3 the theory of “pre-Adamians”. The last two theories are completely intertwined and dependent on the first, as will be evident in the respective articles.
The trilogy is completed with an Appendix. In it, the source is given in translation, namely. pages 15a-16a of the work by Rabbi Pinchas Elijah Hurwitz (1765-1821), titled “Sepher ha-Breet” (Bible of the Testament, 1797). The rabbi was a Lithuanian Jew who lived in Vilna. In his time, the scattered Jewish groups who were living in ghettos were severely lacking in learning about the social and intellectual changes taking place in the rest of Europe. He - along with other rabbis of his time - had undertaken to help Jewish thought to pursue the current trend and create a Jewish “enlightenment”. This is explained, by the fact that he was a Kabbalist and consequently a radical.
In his time the Jews, cut off from developments, had not realized that the philosophy of Europe was no longer an advanced Aristotelianism. Rabbis like Hurwitz tried to present the new currents of thought in a more Jewish manner. His book, “Sepher ha-Breet”, was an amalgam of new scientific and geographical discoveries spiked with a strong dose of Kabbalistic metaphysics intended to introduce the Jews to the new world. It quickly became a best-seller in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. For the new radical current, its conflict with conservatism and the role of Pinchas Elijah Hurwitz, I will not refer to the work “Fiddler on the Roof”, but to Yoel Matveyef and his work titled “Between Enlightenment and Romanticism, Computational Kabbalah of Rabbi Pinchas Elijah Hurwitz” History and Philosophy of Logic 32 (2011), pp. 85-101.
PART A – THE KABALLAH AND “EXTRATERRESTRIALS”
The Kabbalistic view of the existence of extraterrestrial life is biblically based in Judges 5:20 and 23:
'20. The stars lined up from the sky; they lined up with Sisara, away from their paths.
- “Curse Meroz”, said the angel of the Lord, “curse it; cursed are all who inhabit it, because they did not come to the Lord's help - to the help with mighty ones.”
The passages are taken from the victory hymn, the so-called “Ode of Debborah”. The Canaanites had oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. Under the leadership of the prophetess Deborah and the military leadership of Barak, son of Abinoam, Israel was able to defeat the Canaanite army, under general Sisara, at Tanah.
The village of Meroz is located in the Galilee valley, north of Mount Tabor. As mentioned in the Ode, an angel of the Lord curses its inhabitants because they did not come to the aid of the Israelites against the Canaanites.
According to the Talmud (Moed Katan 16a) verse 5:23 of Judges - as the continuation of verse 5:20 - reveals that Meroz is a certain other planet. For the Kabbalists, the angel's curse on the inhabitants of Meroz reveals that it is an inhabited planet, hence we have a revelation about the existence of extraterrestrial life.
At this point the reader will wonder how it is possible for such a blatantly obvious, unrealistic interpretation to be accepted. According to the Zohar - a fundamental Kabbalistic text - the reading of the Torah accepts 4 ways of analysis, which give 4 levels of explanation:
- the first level is called Peshat (simple): it is about the realistic interpretation of the meaning.
- the second level is called Remez (interpretive key): an allegorical interpretation, which is also followed by the Christian sects.
- the third level is called Daresh (research): comparative interpretation through the examination of phrases, words and even letters. This is the rabbinical interpretation.
- the fourth level is called Sod (mystic): it is the esoteric metaphysical interpretation, which is followed by the Kabbalah.
So, according to the fourth way of interpretation, Meroz is a certain inhabited planet; to some, it is Mars. Going a step further, the words 'The stars lined up’ means that this “star war” did not take place on earth.
Being a Lurianic interpreter, Hurwitz follows Isaac Luria's view that God created an endless series of worlds. In the Kabbalistic panorama there are four dimensions of reality (worlds): the present dimension in which we exist is “Assiah”, while above it follow “Yetzirah”, “Beri'ah” and “Atziluth”.
-“Assiah” corresponds to the material world and includes the Ten Heavens.
-“Yetzirah” corresponds to the emotional dimension.
-“Beri'ah” corresponds to the intellectual dimension.
-“Atziluth” corresponds to the spiritual dimension.
Each of these dimensions contains an infinite number of worlds. Hurwitz wonders, why should the lowest dimension, Assiah, not also include infinite worlds, like the three other supernatural dimensions? According to the teaching of the Zohar and the Mishnah, God will reward the righteous by installing them as rulers of 310 worlds (Chiliasm, Millennialism).
For Hurwitz these worlds are physical planets in outer space. After the age of the Messiah and the resurrection of the dead follows the ascension of the righteous to the heavens, where they will be installed as rulers of the stars, regents of God.
These stars are inhabited, therefore extraterrestrial life exists. Hurwitz compares extraterrestrials to humans, concluding that their significant difference is the lack of free will.
Free Will
The issue of free will (“behirah”) is very important in theories pertaining to extraterrestrials and it determines the role of each species. The extraterrestrials - whom Hurwitz identifies as “ba'alei sekhel u'madah” (ie teachers of intellect and science), do not have the potential to exercise free will. As such, they need guidance.
The Talmud also advocates this wherever it is written, that: “all the stars were created for the sake of Israel”. Going a step further, Kabbalists claim that the exercise of free will, as an act of choice between good and evil, can elevate one's consciousness above the control of the Space-Time limitations (ascension). Here they invoke verse 40:31 of the prophet Isaiah: “they who endure God shall sprout wings like eagles”.
It is to this omission that Chicago Rabbi Ariel Bar Tzadok attributes the mythologizing of reports on “close encounters of the third kind”. According to such reports, extraterrestrials lack any knowledge of God, albeit seemingly more advanced than humans in science and technology. This same difference explains the alleged abductions, in which people are rendered objects of specific research - obviously for the extraterrestrials to understand how that difference becomes manifest through biological processes.
Returning to Hurwitz, we notice that he mentions the existence of 18.000 worlds. He claims, with the deficient scientific knowledge of his time – for example he maintains that the sun is habitable; that the stars are also habitable planets. At this point he follows the Talmudic tradition which mentions the existence of 1018 worlds in the visible universe.
According to oral tradition, every “Tzaddik”, i.e. every righteous person, will become the ruler of a planet in outermost space, by virtue of possessing “behirah”. This will take place in the post-Messianic age, after the resurrection of the dead. They will be God's co-regents.
For the precise understanding of the previous sentence, something must be said about the Jewish mentality. Genesis begins with the creation of the world, visible and invisible, by the “Elohim”. To the Hebrews it is a divine name, a composite word, meaning “Lord of hosts.” For Kabbalists, “Elohim” is an impersonal manifestation of God's Providence in the world; it is the “left hand” of God, which represents justice and the law.
In Jewish numerology – “Gematria” - the name “Elohim” returns a numerical value of 86. It is therefore equivalent to the name “HaTeva”. This is the name given to “Nature” or “Natural Laws” - which some of us, unsuspectingly or suspiciously, call “Mother Nature”.
On the other hand - on the right-hand side - above the name “Elohim” is the Tetragrammaton, (i.e. YHWH). Due to its supposed sacred nature, to pronunce it is forbidden; so, they instead use the word “Hashem” (The Name) and “Adonai” in prayers. The Tetragrammaton for Kabbalists is the “right hand” of God and it represents God's mercy, which supercedes His justice.
The presence of the Name in the physical world is - for them - the Torah, just as the presence of the Logos of God in the world is - for Protestants - the Holy Bible. The Protestants emulate the Kabbalists in this matter.
Therefore, by having a “right hand” and a “left hand” in the pre-Messianic age (“Elohim” and “YHWH”), in the post-Messianic age He will have co-regents and the righteous as governors of the stars, and the extraterrestrials as their inhabitants.
George Hadzistamatiou Researcher
Translation: K. N.
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