Peter Schäfer Communion with the Angels: Qumran and the Origins Of

Peter Schäfer Communion with the Angels: Qumran and the Origins of Jewish Mysticism The question of the origins of Jewish mysticism has become a major focus of at- tention in recent research. Most scholars agree that what is called Merkava mysticism, the movement revolving around God's divine throne (first described in Eze- kiel, ch. 1) as the target of the mystic's heavenly journey, forms the first manifestation of what can be aptly called "Jewish mysticism". Gershom Scholem, the towering father figure of modern research on Jewish mysticism, has devoted much effort to this movement but was less concerned about its origins. This gap has in- creasingly come under scrutiny by a new generation of scholars, and it is hardly exaggerated to maintain that the Vorgeschichte of Merkava mysticism, if there was such a thing, is one of the most fashionable topics now of historians of ancient Judaism in the post-Scholem era. Not surprisingly, the front runner among the possible candidates for the origins of Jewish mysticism is the Qumran community (itself one of the most heavily re- searched phenomena in the history of religions). Among the many texts found in the Qumran caves are the so-called "Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice", and it is these hymns that, immediately after their first publication, were singled out as the seeds of what was soon to become "Jewish mysticism" (although it is not certain that they originated in the Qumran community). More precisely, some scholars now argue that it was not the proponents of Merkava mysticism (whoever they were) who formed the first manifestation of Jewish mysticism but rather the Qumran community itself which preserved the hymns and related texts. The temporary cli- max of this trend in scholarship is Rachel Elior's book The Three Temples: On the Emergence of Jewish Mysticismsoon to be followed by a new book by Philip Alexander, pro grammatically titled The Mystical Texts: Songs of the Sabbath Sac- rifice and Related Manuscripts2. In this essay, I will analyse the relevant Qumranic texts, mainly from the Thanksgiving Hymns, the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, 1 Littman Library of Jewish Civilization (Oxford, Portland/Oregon 2004), Hebrew original (Jerusalem 2002). See Martha Himmelfarb's paper in this volume. 2 Continuum (London, New York 2006). 38 Peter Schäfer and the so-called Self-Glorification Hymn3, and will draw some conclusions with regard to the question of these texts' relationship to Merkava mysticism4. Liturgical Communion with the Angels The liturgical or cultic communion of the Qumran sectaries with the angels comes to full expression in the hymns of the community and in the rule governing its daily life. The so-called Hodayot or Thanksgiving Hymns (1QH) are a collection of hymns in which the members of the sect praise God for their destiny: that they have been saved from the lot of the wicked and that they have been gifted with special knowledge of the divine mysteries. Some of the hymns seem to refer not to all the members of the community but to an individual, probably the Teacher of Righteousness himself, the founder of the sect. The various hymns hardly belong to the same time but originated at different times and under different circum- stances. The entire collection may have reached its final stage during the last cen- tury BCE. The hymns express the firm conviction that the members of the community are free from sin and pure and that it is this extraordinary purity which unites them with the angels. Hence, when the Qumran sectaries perform their privileged task of praising God, they can be certain that they join in with the praise of the angels in heaven (lQHa XI19-23)5: "(19) I thank you, Lord, for you have saved my soul from the Pit (sbabat), and from the Netherworld of Abaddon (she'ol avaddon) (20) have lifted me up to an eternal height, so that I can walk on limitless plain. And I know there is hope for someone (21) you formed from dust for an eternal community (sod 'olam). The depraved spirit you have purified from great offence so that he can stand with (22) the host of the holy ones (seva' qedoshim), and can enter in communion (la-vo' be-yabad) with the congregation of the sons of heaven ('adat bene shamayim). You have cast for man an eternal destiny (goral 'olam) with the spirits (23) of knowledge (rubot da'at), so that he might praise your name in a common rejoicing (be-yabad rinnab), and tell your marvels before all your works." 3 Some other important texts, particularly in the War Scroll (1QM), will be dealt with in my more comprehensive treatment of the subject. 4 This paper is part of a larger book project, tentatively called "The Origins of Jewish Mys- ticism". 5 Cf. the parallel 1QH» XIX 10-14. - The text division and the translation of 1QH, 1QS, and lQSb follow (with some changes): F. Garcia Martinez and E. J. C. Tigcbelaar (eds.), The Dead Sea Scrolls: Study Edition, vol. 1 (Leiden, New York, Koln 1997) 69 ff. Qumran and the Origins of Jewish Mysticism 39 Here the sectaries speak in full awareness of the fact that they, as members of the community, are already saved from the Pit and the Netherworld of Abaddon. In other words, they experience salvation during their lifetime, by virtue of their membership in the sect; they know that they are saved and will not descend to the Netherworld. This is a clear example of immediate/realized eschatology, an escha- tological concept that experiences salvation in the present, here and now6. To be sure, the sectaries continue to expect the full realization of salvation in the future (in the very near future, indeed), but they know already that, whatever will happen, they will be part of this salvation. There is a certain tension between the immediate eschatology (the firm conviction that one is already saved) and the traditional eschatology expected in the future, and it goes without saying that this tension can be the more easily tolerated, the closer the current situation is to the expected ultimate decision (and becomes the more unbearable, the larger the gap between the imperfect presence and the full realization of salvation in the future). Whereas the War Scroll puts the emphasis on the future salvation (although expected very soon), the Thanksgiving Scroll is imbued with the certainty that salvation has already taken place or, to be more precise, that the decisive prerequisite for salvation - to be chosen by God - has been fulfilled: the members of the community are redeemed from the Netherworld and raised up to "eternal height" be- cause they belong to the "eternal community" of the Qumran sectaries. They are free of sin and therefore able to stand with the "holy ones". The full Hebrew expression for "stand" is le-hityassev be-ma'amad 'im ..., literally "to take a stand/ to station oneself in a position/the (same) standing place with ...": the one who prays is physically standing at the very same place with the angels. Since the original place of the angels is in heaven, we may conclude that the members of the community envisage themselves standing with the angels in heaven when uttering the hymn (although the possibility cannot be ruled out that the opposite movement has taken place: that the angels have come down to earth to join the humans in their worship). This is enforced by the continuation which states that they enter into a yahad (literally "union/communion") with the "sons of heaven" and that this presence of humans among the "spirits of knowledge" (again the angels) is an "eternal destiny", i.e., will be experienced by the chosen sectaries forever. The use of the word yahad together with the preposition 'im ("with") is typical of the Qumran concept of the communion of angels and humans7. The same is true for 6 On this concept see D. Aurte, The Culting Setting of Realized Eschatology (Leiden 1972); J. J. Collins, Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls (London, New York 1997) 115-129; H. Lichtenberger, Auferstehung in den Qumranfunden, in: Auferstehung - Resurrection. The Fourth Durham-Tübingen Research Symposion: Resurrection, Transfiguration and Exaltation in Old Testament, Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, ed. F. Avemarie and H. Lichtenberger (Tübingen 2001) 79-91. 7 See H.-W. Kuhn, Enderwartung und gegenwärtiges Heil (Göttingen 1966) 66ff.; P. von der Osten-Sacken, Gott und Belial. Traditionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen zum Dualismus in den Texten aus Qumran (Göttingen 1969) 223 ff.; P. Schäfer, Rivalität zwischen Engeln und Menschen. Untersuchungen zur rabbinischen Engelvorstellung (Berlin, New York 1975) 38 with n. 24-26. 40 Peter Schäfer the word goral, which appears frequently in texts mentioning this communion8; moreover, it is not unlikely that the idea of an everlasting destiny for humans together with the angels has priestly connotations9. The hymn climaxes in the last two lines which specify the purpose of the communion of humans and angels in heaven: they praise God's name be-yahad rinnah, literally "in a joint/united rejoicing". This phrase alludes to Job 38:7: "When the morning stars (kokhve boqer) rejoice together (be-ron-yabad)10, then all the sons of God (bene elohim) shout for joy." In the biblical context both the celestial bodies of the "morning stars" and the "sons of God" are, of course, angels, and the verse describes the heavenly praise of the angelic hosts. In the Thanksgiving Scroll, in contrast to the Bible, those who are united in rejoicing are angels and humans, and the only parallel which applies Job 38:7 not just to angels but to both angels and humans is a large midrash complex in the rabbinic literature11.

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