The Concept of the Ascent of Prayer by Sixteenth-century Jerusalem Kabbalist, R. Joseph ibn Zayyah Thesis submitted for the degree of “Doctor of Philosophy” by Sachi Ogimoto Submitted to the Senate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem August 2011 This work was carried out under the supervision of Professor Jonathan Garb Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Jonathan Garb, of the Department of Jewish Thought, Faculty of Humanities, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I appreciate his support and patience in helping me complete this project and his provision of clear-cut advice with profound insight and encouragement. Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................... 2 Zayyah’s Life ............................................................................................................. 3 Zayyah’s Writings ..................................................................................................... 7 Introduction to Perush le-Tefilah ......................................................................... 11 Survey of Research ................................................................................................. 16 Methodological Queries ........................................................................................ 19 The Structure of the Thesis ................................................................................... 21 Characteristics of Zayyah’s Writing .................................................................... 21 Chapter One: Pre-Zayyah Patterns of the Ascent of the Prayer: Rabbinic Views, Hasidei Ashkenazic Views, and Early Kabbalistic Views .................... 25 Rabbinic Views ....................................................................................................... 25 Heikhalot Literature ............................................................................................... 33 Hasidei Ashkenazic Views ................................................................................... 38 Early Kabbalistic Views ........................................................................................ 64 Chapter Two: Ascent of Prayer in the Theory of R. David ben Yehudah he-Hasid ........................................................................................................................ 83 Introduction to Sefer Or Zaru’a ............................................................................ 85 Ascent Traditions .................................................................................................... 87 Theosophical Interpretation of Ascent of Prayer ............................................. 89 The Change of the Personal Pronoun ................................................................. 98 Chapter Three: Ascent of Prayer by Angel .......................................................... 105 Angel as a Receiver of Prayer ............................................................................. 106 Metatron and Shemaiel ....................................................................................... 114 Angelic Liturgy ..................................................................................................... 125 Angel as a Deliverer of Prayer ........................................................................... 128 Geographical Path ................................................................................................ 130 Obstacle to the ascent of prayer ......................................................................... 131 Counterforce to Satan .......................................................................................... 135 Chapter Four: Ascent of Prayer by Divine Name: The Forty-Two-Letter Name ...................................................................................................................................... 138 ii Forty-Two-Letter Name ....................................................................................... 141 Divine Name as Ascending force of Prayer ..................................................... 145 The Classic Model: The Ascent of the Crown ................................................. 146 The Medieval Model—Ascent of Prayer by Divine Names......................... 148 Numerological Exegesis ...................................................................................... 151 The Medieval Model 2: Counterforce ............................................................... 152 Counting Method ................................................................................................. 153 Notarikon, Roshey Tevot .................................................................................... 156 Neoplatonic concept versus Traditional concept ........................................... 163 Chapter Five: The Relationship with Kavvanah ................................................ 169 The Definition of Kavvanah in Prayer: Transition of the Meaning ........... 170 The Objects of Kavvanah .................................................................................... 172 Kavvanah as the condition for acceptance of the prayer .............................. 180 Theosophical Kavvanah ...................................................................................... 183 Kavvanah as the Semantic Linguistic Magic of Power ................................. 191 Kavvanah as a Counterforce to Obstacles to prayer ...................................... 197 Architectonic Significance of Kavvanah .......................................................... 202 Chapter Six: Interpretation of Prayer by Gematria ............................................ 209 Single Calculation Numerology ........................................................................ 212 Roshey Tevot/Notarikon ..................................................................................... 223 Great is our Lord ................................................................................................... 230 Concluding Remarks ............................................................................................... 234 Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 246 Primary Sources in Print ..................................................................................... 246 Secondary Sources ................................................................................................ 248 265 ..................................................................................................................... תקצ י ר iii Chapter One Pre-Zayyah Patterns of the Ascent of the Prayer Introduction Jewish thought depicts a variety of entities ascending heavenward: the soul, thoughts, letters, sacrificial offerings, the smoke of sacrifice, corporeal bodies, and prayer. 1 Each of them has its own purpose: Sacrificial offering atones for the sins of the nation and of the individual 2; an ascent of the soul and corporeal body brings solutions for earthly troubles 3 or new knowledge; and prayer’s rise heavenward has multiple purposes. These phenomena demonstrate the prevalence of the notion in Jewish thought that certain materials or spiritual entities ascend to the most solemn place or to heaven. Scripture repeatedly states that God hears man’s prayer, 4 and Rabbinic Judaism continues to reinforce this concept. All prayer ascends to heaven. This notion has been firmly believed since the biblical period. How then does God 1 According to the 13th century testimony of R. Ezra of Gerona, the ancient pious men knew how to raise their thought to its source. See Moshe Idel, Kabbalah: New Perspectives (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988), 46. The second highest Sefirah, Hokhmah , is the source of thought, beyond which thought cannot ascend. 2 B. T. Zevahim, 7b. 3 Moshe Idel, Ascensions on High in Jewish Mysticism: Pillars, Lines, Ladders (Budapest: CEU Press, 2005), 35. 4 Kings I 9:3, Kings II 19:4, Is. 37:4, Is. 38:5, Jer. 14:12, Ps. 4:2; 4:4; 6:10; 17:1; 39:13; 54:4; 61:2; 65:3; 66:19; 84:9; 102:2; 143:1; Prov. 15:29; 28:9; Neh. 1:6, Ch.II 6:19; 6:20; 6:35; 6:39; 7:12; 30:27. 2 hear human prayer? How does prayer, a worldly entity, reach God? The former question is God-oriented, and the latter investigates the human side of the act. Indeed, there is a view that God listens to all human words or thought without any effort on the part of man. In other words, God, in His omnipotence, does not require humans to enable Him to hear their prayers. This human-oriented view has dominated since the post-biblical period and is especially prominent in kabbalistic speculation. This concept reached its summit with the 16th century Jerusalem kabbalist, R. Joseph ben Abraham ibn Zayyah (1505-1573), one of the most important Kabbalists in this center.5 In this thesis, I will focus upon the latter human-oriented question, which will be a point of departure for understanding how the new tradition, the ascent of prayer, emerged and developed. I shall focus further here on one of the phenomena of the ascent of prayer found in Perush le-Tefilah, written by ibn Zayyah. Zayyah’s Life R. Joseph ben Abraham ibn Zayyah lived in Jerusalem during the Golden Age of the Ottoman period in Eretz-Israel/Palestine.6 The economic crisis in 5 Moshe Idel, “Spanish Kabbalah after the Expulsion,”