What is Kabbalah?

What is Kabbalah?

What is Kabbalah?

In the 12th and 13th centuries C.E., a mystical form of Judaism, called Cabala, started gaining popularity.

According to Cabalistic teachers, the simple meaning of the Bible text is not its true meaning. They believe that God used the individual letters of the Hebrew Bible text as symbols, which when properly understood reveal a greater truth. In their view, each Hebrew letter and its position in the Bible text was set by God with a specific purpose in mind.

The Jewish kabbalists had a system called athbash (Hebrew: אתבש‎; also transliterated Atbaš), whereby the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is read as the last one, the second letter as the second to last letter.

The earliest documented Kabbalistic writing is called the Sepher Yetzirah, or the book of formation. 

One tradition says that the Rabbi Akiva wrote it. He is supposed to be one of the greatest Kabbalists of all time.

Moses De Leon, a 14th century Spanish Kabbalist presented the Zohar, an extremely influential book in Kabbalistic philosophy.  De Leon originally claimed that he found the scrolls that have been written much earlier, more than a thousand years earlier.  Recent scholarship supports the idea that he is the one who wrote the Zohar.

What does Kabbalah mean? 

What does Kabbalah mean? 

There are slightly different definitions of the word "Kabbalah". One source says it comes from the three Hebrew kbl which means "reception". Another source says "Kabbalah is a word meaning "tradition."

Kabbalah is also know as cabala, cabalah, kabala, caballah, qabala, qabalah, etc. You do not have to be Jewish to study Kabbalah and its proponents state that it can adapt itself to any religious system.

Furthermore, the Kabbalist is supposed to gain understanding about God and himself by learning to understand these 10 aspects, their relationship to each other, and then apply the principles thus learned in his own life to help him return back to God -- Kabbalah teaches the soul's pre-existence. 

Kaballah is the way of viewing reality based upon subjective, experiential interpretations of the world, life, death, creation, meaning, purpose, etc.  It is an inner-contemplative movement and is considered to be a way of life.  

Christian Gnostic traditions pre-date the classical Kabbalah of the Zohar

Christ also has his name from chrism, for the father anointed the son, the son anointed the apostles, and the apostles anointed us. (gospel of philip)

Clement of Alexandria records that Valentinus was instructed by Theudas, and that Theudas in turn was taught by Paul (Clement of Alexandria Stromata 7:17)

The Sepher Yetzirah

  

     The  is also known as the "Book of Formation" and the "Book of Creation." It is the oldest known Kabbalistic writing from which the Zohar is derived. It "describes a total of 32 intelligences or emanations that make up the body and mind of God."  Kabbalistic traditions says that the origins of the Book of Formation go back to Abraham. Others say it goes back to Rabbi Akiva of the first century. However, modern scholarship dates the book as originating in the fifth century A.D. 

     The Sepher Yetzirah is not a creation narrative.  It is a writing on one aspect of the formation of the universe and mankind and is considered to be a compilation of Hebrew Kabbalistic rabbis.  It expounds on the basic structure of Kabbalah, describes creation, through the 32 paths, the ten sephiroth (from the ), and the twenty two letters of the Hebrew Alphabet.

The Zohar

     The Zohar is one of the most important texts, if not the most important in Kabbalah. The Zohar is not a single book. Instead it is allegedly a 2nd century A.D. collection of Aramaic writings from various Kabbalists that is a commentary on the Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy with some commentary on the song of songs, also known as the song of Solomon.  Its interpretations of the Torah are highly mystical and subjective and often in contradiction to what the Torah reveals. it seeks to explain as well as the video the relationship between God and man.  But, the book is generally believed to have been authored by a 13th Century Jewish mystic named Moses De Leon (1250-1305) partly because it was never mentioned in the Talmud (a collection of commentaries used to explain the the oral law concerning the first five books of the Old Testament).  Additions were added to the Zohar in the 14th century.

What are the main teaching of Kabbalah? 

What are the main teaching of Kabbalah? 

1. God has 10 aspects through which creation was realized. 

1. God has 10 aspects through which creation was realized. 

2. The the truths of Kabbalah were given to the angels first, then to Adam, then Abraham, and finally to Moses. 

3. The human soul preexisted before coming to earth. cooper, 107. 

4. Reincarnation of the soul. 

5. Higher realms of consciousness 

6. Multiple universes 

7. The interconnectedness of all levels of consciousness, angels, demons, thoughts, incarnations, etc. 

8. "There are four primary archangels:  Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael.  (Cooper, David A., God is a Verb. New York, New York: Riverhead Brooks, 1997, p. 135.) 

1. "Liliel is the Angel of the Night...Lilith is considered to be the arch she-devil."  Sandalphon is the angel of prayer as is Michael, (Cooper, p. 135) 

9. There are two Messiahs, one from the lineage of Joseph and the other from David, (cooper, p. 181. 

10. The fall of Adam and Eve was because they failed to make a rectification that would bring "the universe to a new level of consciousness."  cooper, 107 

11. It is possible to have a direct experience with God without the need of a mediator such as Jesus. 

The Sephirot (also spelled "sefirot"; singular sefirah) are the ten emanations and attributes of the Deity through which The Infinite One reveals Himself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher spiritual realms.

The Infinite One emanated himself in stages to create the universe. There are ten Sefirot, which are vessels or containers called the Sephirot (the word Sephirot means emanations).

These emanations or attribute that are manifested are powers and virtues, wisdom, knowledge, justice, mercy, and so on these are still referenced in attributions to the seven lights of the Jewish synagogue, which you will find on the altar in a synagogue with seven lights this seven lights will reference 10 Sefirot.

The seven lamps allude to the branches of human knowledge, represented by the six lamps inclined inwards towards, and symbolically guided by, the light of God represented by the central lamp.

There are 22 paths that connect these ten Sephirot and that makes 32 names of God. The root attributes of the powers and virtues of God were understood as a kind of tree like the tree of life. It was the image of God in mankind as the blind men said I see men as trees walking we find a lot of this tree language in this tree of life are ten Sefirot ten vessels

The tree of sefirot also has a numerological significance. Between the 10 sefirot run 22 channels or paths, which connect them, a number which can be associated with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Together the spiritual forces of the 10 sefirot and the 22 connecting channels are called the "32 Paths of Wisdom".

According to Christian Gnostic tradition there are 30 aeons which are the emanations of the Deity they are called the Triacontad

The Aeons in the Valentinian system are given biblical names
First generation
Bythos (the Depth) and Sige (Silence, Charis or Grace, Ennoea, etc.)
Second generation
Nous (Nus, Mind) and Aletheia (Veritas, Truth)
Third generation, emanated from Nous and Aletheia
Sermo (the Word) and Vita (the Life)
Fourth generation, emanated from Sermo and Vita
Anthropos (Homo, Man) and Ecclesia (Church


This, then, is the Tetrad begotten according to the likeness of the Uncreated (Tetrad). And the Tetrad is begotten [... ] the Decad from Word and Life, and the Dodecad from Man, and Church became a Triacontad.

One analogy might be that the Valentinians were to proto-orthodox Christianity what Kabbalah is to Judaism.

Gnostic ideas found a Jewish variation in the mystical study of Kabbalah. Many core Gnostic ideas reappear in Kabbalah, where they are used for dramatically reinterpreting earlier Jewish sources according to this new system The Kabbalists originated in 13th-century Provence, which was at that time also the center of the Gnostic Cathars.

Sethian Gnosticism was always anti-Jewish, even when it arose among Jews or Jewish Christians, for its radical dualism of an alien God set against an evil universe is a total contradiction of the central Jewish tradition, in which a transcendent God allows Himself to be known by His people as an immediate presence, when He chooses, and in which His creation is good except as it has been marred or altered by man's disobedience or wickedness.

The Calendar of Enoch

The Calendar of Enoch

The greatest treasure of the book of Enoch is found in chapters 72-82. These are the calendar instructions that allow us to obey the Sabbath commands of the fourth commandment and Exodus 31:13. The calendar of Enoch is a solar only calendar that consists of twelve months of thirty days plus four days that divide the seasons of the year every 90 days.


Enoch 72:10 The day is slightly longer than the night. Enoch begins the new year with the spring equinox according to Israel Standard Time on March 20th. The spring equinox is a pin point of time when the sun crosses the equatorial plane of the earth at the intersection of the ecliptic of the stars, which are at a 23.4 degree angle to the equator. This agrees with Genesis 1:14, where we are told the lights of the heavens, the stars, are for signs, appointed times, days and years. This day is what Enoch refers to as the first leader of the seasons and should be regarded as a Sabbath. Jubilees 6 tells us the four leaders of the seasons are a remembrance to Noah and the flood for saving us from the terrible Nephilim. When counted correctly, the four leaders of the seasons will always fall on the weekly Sabbath of the thirteenth week of each season. However, per Enoch 82, the four leaders of the seasons are not counted in the days of the months, they stand alone to lead their respective season.


The day following the spring equinox, March 21st, is the first day of month one, when we begin a count of thirty days for each month. The count for each season looks like this, 1 + 30 + 30 + 30. Beginning with day one month one we count every seventh day as the weekly Sabbath. The appointed times are counted to per the instructions of Leviticus 23.


When referenced to the Roman calendar, the spring equinox will cycle through the days of the week as the years pass. This is due to the perpetual nature of the Roman calendar. However, the dates of the Sabbath and appointed times are always on the same date every year, this is why a universal time is needed. Unlike the calendars of man, the calendar of Enoch is self-adjusting, needing no involvement by man or his religions. This self-adjustment occurs on a four-year cycle to compensate for the .25 day of the solar 365.25 day year, according to the timing of the spring equinox at Israel standard Time.


Twice in the book of Jubilees, four times in the book of Enoch, we are commanded to make the year a count of 364 days "only". The 365th day is uncounted as we await the day of the spring equinox to begin a new count of days. However, the 365th day serves some purpose. First, the 365th day acts as a partition between the old year and the new year to stop the count of days. Second, the 365th day is a buffer that allows the whole earth to finish it's count of days and begin a new count all together.

The calendar of Enoch comes with an accuracy test. In astronomy circles it's known as "The Spring Phenomena". This phenomena occurs on alternating cycles of eight and eleven years. When this phenomena occurs, the calendar of Enoch will align with the lunar calendar of Judaism for the first month. This alignment took place on the crucifixion year of 30 AD, which is also confirmed in the Talmud. The last alignment took place on the new year of 2015, with the next alignment to take place on the new year of 2023. Messiah Yahshua sacrificed himself on HIS Sabbath, the fourteenth day of the first month, known as Passover. Although Judaism has done away with Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, relegating it to nothing more than a day of preparation.

See the attached calendars for use as a visual aid to understanding the calendar.

72:10 On that day, the day is longer than the night by one day turns be exactly ten p72:10 On that day, the day is longer than the night by one ninth; 

Article by  Wayne Thibodeaux

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The Valentinian and the Sefirot

The Valentinian and the Sefirot

I will speak my mystery to those who are mine and to those who will be mine. Moreover it is these who have known him who is, the Father, that is, the Root of the All, the Ineffable One who exists as Oneness. He dwells alone in silence, and silence is tranquility since, after all, he was in fact One and nothing existed before him. He also exists as Twoness and as a Pair, and his partner is Silence. And he possessed the All dwelling within him. And as for Intention and Persistence, Love and Permanence, they are indeed unbegotten. (The Nag Hammadi Library A Valentinian Exposition)

God came forth: the Son, Mind of the All, that is, it is from the Root of the All that even his Thought stems, since he had this one (the Son) in Mind. For on behalf of the All, he received an alien Thought since there were nothing before him. From that place it is he who moved [...] a gushing spring. Now this is the Root of the All and Oneness without any one before him. Now the second spring exists in silence and speaks with him alone. And the Fourth accordingly is he who restricted himself in the Fourth: while dwelling in the Three-hundred-sixtieth, he first brought himself (forth), and in the Second he revealed his will, and in the Fourth he spread himself out. (The Nag Hammadi Library A Valentinian Exposition)

This passage is taken to mean that the root of the All the Father first spreads himself out into Two and than Four. From Four he also extends himself as far as Three Hundred Sixty, representing the ultimate edge of the Pleroma although in a distinct dimension of his transcendent essence he keeps himself restricted to the primal Four.

The Four primal emanations maybe a symbol for the four worlds (Olam) in Kabbalah they could also stand as a symbol for 4 letters of the divine name YHWH or Tetragrammaton (meaning "consisting of four letters"). The Tetragrammaton was permutated into 72 angelic names by simply taking the yo da valve and mutating them

The Valentinians understood the four primal emanations as a refernce to the tetragrammaton which was permutated into 72 angelic names by simply taking the yo da valve and  permutating them, that was known as the Shemhamphorash.

The different names of God in the Jewish mysticism current at the time of Jesus the names of God were understood to be emanations or divine attributes of God they were hypostasis or emanations of Godhead manifesting into existence as the world's are coming into existence Jewish mysticism

In Jewish angelology, the angels and archangels are manifested as coming forth and emanating from Godhead and originally all the angels were personifications of these things and they were named with a suffix EL which means of God for example Micha-EL the loving kindness of God Rapha-EL the healing of God and so on. In the Kabbalah the Sephirot became the emanation of the more abstract moral qualities of God in the Valentinian Pleroma of the Aeons Godhead was manifested in pairs male/female pairs

The Valentinian Exposition from the Nag Hammadi Library 

That Tetrad projected the Tetrad which is the one consisting of Word and Life and Man and Church. Now the Uncreated One projected Word and Life. Word is for the glory of the Ineffable One while Life is for the glory of Silence, and Man is for his own glory, while Church is for the glory of Truth. This, then, is the Tetrad begotten according to the likeness of the Uncreated (Tetrad). And the Tetrad is begotten [... ] the Decad from Word and Life, and the Dodecad from Man, and Church became a Triacontad. Moreover, it is the one from the Triacontad of the Aeons who bear fruit from the Triacontrad. They enter jointly, but they come forth singly, fleeing from the Aeons and the Uncontainable Ones. And the Uncontainable Ones, once they had looked at him, glorified Mind since he is an Uncontainable One that exists in the Pleroma.
But the Decad from Word and Life brought forth decads so as to make the Pleroma become a hundred, and the Dodecad from Man and Church brought forth and made the Triacontad so as to make the three hundred sixty become the Pleroma of the year. (The Nag Hammadi Library A Valentinian Exposition)

The Decad is the Sefirot

God emanated himself in stages to create the universe. There are ten aeons, which are vessels or containers called the Sephirot (the word Sephirot means emanations). These emanations or attribute  that are manifested are powers and virtues, wisdom, knowledge, justice, mercy, and so on these are still referenced in attributions to the seven lights of the Jewish synagogue, which you will find on the altar in a synagogue with seven lights this seven lights will reference 10 Sefirot.

The seven lamps allude to the branches of human knowledge, represented by the six lamps inclined inwards towards, and symbolically guided by, the light of God represented by the central lamp.

There are 22 paths that connect these ten Sephirot and that makes 32 names of God. The root attributes of the powers and virtues of God were understood as a kind of tree like the tree of life. It was the image of God in mankind as the blind men said I see men as trees walking we find a lot of this tree language in this tree of life are ten Sefirot ten vessels

The tree of sefirot also has a numerological significance. Between the 10 sefirot run 22 channels or paths, which connect them, a number which can be associated with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Together the spiritual forces of the 10 sefirot and the 22 connecting channels are called the "32 Paths of Wisdom".

Samuel Zinner writes: 

Morever the name Theudas is curiously reminiscent of Syrian Jewish-Christian tradition and this might explain the many Jewish (actually; Jewish-Christian) Kabbalistic elements in the Valentino an system. Traditional scholarship over-emphasizer traditional scholarship over-elements the Valentnian system.aspects of Valentine's thought we therefore now turn to an examination of the possible Jewish components found in his metaphysics.First in the Valentnian system Logos. and Zoe (word and Life) emit ten emanations whereas the celestial Son of man and Ecclesia (Church) emit twelve emanations.These number correspond precisely to the ten sefirot and the twelve tribes of Israel whi Kabbalists add together in order to arrive at the number of the 22 Letters of the Hebrew alphabet. (The Gospel of Thomas By Samuel Zinner)

In later Valentnian school of Ptolemy we encounter a doctrine of two Sophia's precisely paralleled in the Kabbalah Upper and lower shekhinah, the upper being wholy righteous, the lower being morally ambiguous. (The Gospel of Thomas By Samuel Zinner)

The Jewish-Christian Ebionite distinction between the celestial Saviour the earthly Jesus. also seems to be reflected in Valentnian thought. The Valentnian system reflected in Valentnian thought. The Valentinian systems references to concepts such as the Father measure size or extent are all reminiscent of the ancients shi'ur qomah traditions. For Valentinus Sophia is the last of the aeonic emanations precisely as Shekinah is the final sefirah in Kabbalah . (The Gospel of Thomas By Samuel Zinner)

According to Ptolemy all the aeons were Words which is exactly paralleled in the Kabbalah a teaching that the ten sefirot correspond to God's ten words of creative command in the Genesis creation account (nine explicit commands one implicit). (The Gospel of Thomas By Samuel Zinner)

The Valentinian use of gematria in the Greek name iesous is also indicative of typical Kabbalistic procedures. Although gematria was by no means confined to Jewish circles in light of the other extensive specifically Jewish parallels in Valentinus' thought it is more natural to associate his practice of gematria with Judaism than with Hellenism. (The Gospel of Thomas By Samuel Zinner)

As the Zohar teaches that Hokhmah made the emanation Elohim (Binah understanding) so the Valentnian Ptolemy teaches that Sophia is exalted above the Demiurge. Naturally qualifications must be made with regard to various details but the overall general paradigms seem sufficient to indicate a strong Jewish or better Jewish-Christian component within Valentinianism and we would suggest that the best candidate for transmission of these ideas to Valentinus would be Theudas. (The Gospel of Thomas By Samuel Zinner)

Since it is quite likely that the Nag Hammadi Gospel of Truth was written by Valentinus we should comment on it somewhat .Its Jewish Christian character is especially apparent in its divine Name Christology. We note that the word God occurs in this document only once and this is strongly suggestive of the traditional Jewish avoidance of the name God. There is a heavily Syrian Jewish-Christian complexion this text if this tendency had been mediated to Valentinus via Theudas this then might imply that the latter may have been of Syrian origin. (The Gospel of Thomas By Samuel Zinner)

According the Gospel of Truth 17 the obvious flaws in creation do not in actuality exist. For the mutable creation itself in contrast to the immutable Father can be said to be non_existent therefore the flaws in creation are no dishonor to God. In Folio 18 We find a point curiously Philo Oblivion did not emerg into existence from the Father even if it did come to because of him (The Gospel of Thomas By Samuel Zinner)

The image of the hypostatic Book in folios 19_23 is deeply Jewish-Christian in tone. 6In folio 23 we encounter a list of emanational attributes associat!ed with the supernal pleroma man of which curiously coincide to varying degrees with the Kabbalistic sefirot such as Wisdom Knowledge Forbearance. Crown Glory Love.Folio 24 reflects the Syrian Jewish-Christian idea that the feminine bosom of the Father is the Holy spirit Jewish-Christian as well is the Triad of Father Mother (=Holy Spirit) and Son ... into the Father into the Mother Jesus of the unending sweetness Folio 27 s lan_guage may indicate Knowledge of the traditions concerning pre-existence found in the Gospel of Thomas logion19 and this yet another Syrian feature of the Gospel of Truth...those come into existence... before they come into existence Fo-lios 38-39 present the Jewish-Christian doctrine of the Son as the Name of the Father.This passage implies that the Father essence is unnameable for his essence cannot be named there fore the Son is his name. (The Gospel of Thomas By Samuel Zinner)

The Evil Inclination Jeremiah 17:9

The Evil Inclination

There are numerous texts about the Yetzer HaRa (the Evil Inclination, aka "Satan") in the Jewish Talmud. The Jewish sages were in no way monolithic in their understanding of the source of our human capacity to do evil. They all agreed that humans are born with it. Here are a number of selections which present proof texts for this:

The following curt statement by Reish Lakish is the most controversial understanding of the Evil Inclination:

Baba Batra 16a:

R. Simeon ben Lakish said: Satan, impulse to evil, and angel of death: all three are the same thing.

So how persuasive is the Evil Inclination?

Brachot 61b:

It has been taught: R. Jose HaGalili says, The righteous are swayed by their good inclination, as it says, My heart is slain within me.

The wicked are swayed by their evil inclination, as it says, Transgression speaks to the wicked, I believe, there is no fear of God before his eyes.

Average people are swayed by both inclinations, as it says, Because He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from them that judge his soul.

Raba said: People such as we are of the average.

Said Abaye to him: The Master gives no one a chance to live!

Raba further said: The world was created only for either the totally wicked or the totally righteous.

Raba said: Let a man know concerning himself whether he is completely righteous or not!

Three people never had any problem with the Evil Inclination:

Baba Batra 17a

Three there were over whom the evil inclination had no dominion: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob...

For the rest of us, however, who are the most susceptible to the wiles of the Evil Inclination?

SCHOLARS!

Sukkah 52b

Abaye explained, Against scholars more than against anyone;

as was the case when Abaye heard a certain man saying to a woman, ‘Let us arise now and go on our way.'

‘I will', said Abaye, ‘follow them in order to keep them away from transgression' and he followed them for three parasangs across the meadows.

When they parted company he heard them say, ‘Our company is pleasant, the way is long.'

‘If it were I,' said Abaye, ‘I could not have restrained myself,' and so he went and leaned in deep anguish against a doorpost, when a certain old man came up to him and taught him: The greater the man, the greater his Evil Inclination.

Even when we mourn, we're not safe from the Evil Inclination's influence:

Chagigah 16a

For behold R. Elai the elder said: If a man sees that his [evil] inclination is prevailing upon him, let him go to a place where he is not known, and put on black garments, and wrap himself up in black garments, and let him do what his heart desires; but let him not profane the Name of Heaven publicly!

R. Judah son of R. Nahmani, the speaker of Resh Lakish expounded: What is the meaning of the verse: Trust not in a friend, put not confidence in a familiar friend.

If the evil inclination says to you: Sin and the Holy One, blessed be He, will pardon, believe it not, for it is said: ‘Trust not in a friend,' and ‘friend' [Rea'] means none other than one's evil inclination, for it is said: For the inclination of man's heart is evil [Ra']...

Oy! The Evil Inclination is so bad that it's one of the things God regrets creating:

Sukkah 52b

R. Hana b. Abba stated: It was said at the schoolhouse, There are four things of which the Holy One, blessed be He, regrets that He had created them, and they are the following: Exile, the Chaldeans, the Ishmaelites and Evil Inclination.

‘The Exile', since it is written, Now, therefore, what do I here, says Adonai, seeing that My people is taken away for nothing; (Isaiah 52:5)

‘the Chaldeans', since it is written, Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this is the people that was not." (Isaiah 23:13)

‘the Ishmaelites', since it is written, The tents of the robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure since God brought them with His hand." (Job 12)

‘the Evil Inclination', since it is written, [And I will gather her that is driven away] and her that I have afflicted.(Micah 4:6)

Is there no hope against the Evil Inclination? Of course there is!

Sukkah 52b:

The school of R. Ishmael taught, If this repulsive wretch meets you, drag him to the Beit Hamidrash, the House of Study.

Despite the power of the Evil Inclination, we are still held responsible; we can beat it. The following selection deals with Psalm 4:5: Tremble and sin not; Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still. Sela."

Brachot 5a:

R. Levi b. Hama says in the name of R. Simeon b. Lakish: A man should always incite the good impulse to fight against the evil impulse.

For it is written: Tremble and sin not.

If he subdues it, well and good.

If not, let him study the Torah. For it is written: ‘Commune with your own heart.'

If he subdues it, well and good. If not, let him recite the Shema'.

For it is written: ‘Upon your bed.'

If he subdues it, well and good. If not, let him remind himself of the day of death. For it is written: ‘And be still, Selah.'

Avot D'Rabbi Natan 16:

"The impulse of man's heart was evil from the time he was expelled from his mother's womb." (Gen. 8:21).

If you argue: "Is it not the Holy One Himself who created the impulse to evil, of which it is written, 'The impulse of man's heart was evil from the time he was expelled from his mother's womb?' Who then can possibly make it good?"

the Holy One replies, "You are the one who makes the impulse to evil stay evil.

How? When you were a child, you did not sin. Only when you grew up, you began to sin."

If you argue: "But no man can guard himself against it!"

the Holy One replies, "How many things in the world are even less bearable and more bitter than the impulse to evil, yet you manage to sweeten them.

Nothing is more bitter than the lupine, and yet, in order to sweeten it, you carefully boil it in water seven times, until it becomes sweet.

Now, if you sweeten for your need bitter things that I alone created, all the greater is your responsibility for the impulse to evil, which was placed under your control."

Baba Batra 16a

"Although you know that I am not wicked, and there is none that can deliver out of your hand."

Raba said: Job sought to exculpate the whole world.

He said: Sovereign of the Universe, You have created the ox with cloven hoofs and you have created the ass with whole hoofs;

you have created Paradise and you have created Gehinnom:

you have created righteous men and you have created wicked men, and who can prevent you?

His companions answered him: Yea, you do away with fear and restrain devotion before God.

If God created the evil inclination, He also created the Torah as its antidote.

Baba Metzia 32b

Come and hear: If a friend requires unloading, and an enemy loading, one's [first] obligation is towards his enemy, in order to subdue his evil inclinations.

Now if you should think that [relieving the suffering of an animal is Biblically [enjoined], [surely] the other is preferable!

Even so, [the motive] ‘in order to subdue his evil inclination' is more compelling.

The most extraordinary story about a sage overcoming his Evil Inclination is not found in the Talmud: it's from a midrash collection called the Tanchuma. However, because of its remarkable imagery, I'm including it here.

A story of Matia ben Heresh: He was rich and feared Heaven and, like R. Meir, his teacher, sat all his days in the house of study occupying himself with Torah.

Now, the splendor of his countenance shone like the radiance of the sun, and the beauty of his features resembled that of the ministering angels. It was said of him that never in his life had he raised his eyes upon a woman.

Once, Satan passed by and, seeing him, was overcome with envy as he said: Is it possible that there is a righteous man entirely without sin in the world? At once he went up to the height above, stood before the Holy One, and said, "Master of the universe, Matia ben Heresh:what sort of man is he in Your sight?"

God: "He is utterly righteous."

Satan: "Give me permission, and I will test him."

God: "You will not prevail over him."

Satan: "Nevertheless!"

So God gave him permission.

Satan went and found R. Matia seated and occupied with Torah. So he appeared to him in the guise of a beautiful woman, the like of which there had not been in the world since the days of Naamah, Tubal-Cain's sister, on account of whom ministering angels went astray.

Satan stood in front of R. Matia, who, upon seeing him, turned his back to him.

Satan went around and again stood in front of R. Matia. When R. Matia turned his face to still another direction, Satan was once more in front of him.

When R. Matia saw that Satan [in the woman's guise] turned up on all sides, he said to himself: I fear that the impulse to evil will gain mastery over me and cause me to sin.

What did that righteous man do then?

He summoned one of his disciples, who acted as his attendant, and said to him: My son, go and bring me fire and nails.

After he brought them, R. Matia passed the nails through the fire, then plunged them into his own eyes.

When Satan saw this, he was shaken, all but knocked out, and left R. Matia.

In that instant, the Holy One summoned Raphael, prince of healings, and said to him, "Go and heal the eyes of Matia ben Heresh."

When Raphael came and stood before him, Matia asked, "Who are you?"

Raphael answered, "I am the angel Raphael, whom the Holy One had sent to heal your eyes."

Matia: "Let me be. What happened has happened."

Raphael returned to the Holy One and reported to Him, "Master of the universe, thus-and-thus did Matia ben Heresh answer me."

The Holy One said, "Go and tell him: From this day and henceforth, fear not. I guarantee you in this matter that, throughout your days, the impulse to evil will have no sway over you."

When Matia ben Heresh heard God's guarantee from the angel, he was willing to accept the angel's healing and was healed.

The Evil Inclination
(continued)

There are numerous texts about the Yetzer HaRa (the Evil Inclination, aka "Satan") in the Jewish Talmud. The Jewish sages were in no way monolithic in their understanding of the source of our human capacity to do evil. They all agreed that humans are born with it. Here are a number of selections which present proof texts for this:

Brachot 61a

R. Nachman b. R. Hisda expounded: What is meant by the text, Then the Lord God formed [va-yitzer] man?

[The word va-yitzer] is written with two yods, to show that God created two inclinations, one good and the other evil.

R. Nachman b. Isaac demurred to this. According to this, he said, animals, of which it is not written va-yitzer (with two yods), should have no evil inclination yet we see that they injure and bite and kick?

In truth [the point of the two yods] is as stated by R. Simeon b. Pazzi; for R. Simeon b. Pazzi said: Woe is me because of my Creator [yotzri]; woe is me because of my evil inclination [yitzri]!

Or again as explained by R. Jeremiah b. Eleazar; for R. Jeremiah b. Eleazar said: God created two countenances in the first man, as it says, Behind and before have You formed me....
Sanhedrin 91b:

Antoninus asked Rabbi, "At what time does the impulse to evil gain mastery over man: at the time of his conception or at the time he is born?"

Rabbi: "At the time of his conception."

Antoninus: "If so, he would have kicked his way out of his mother's womb. Accordingly, the impulse to evil must gain mastery at the time of birth."

Subsequently, Rabbi used to say: This is one thing that Antoninus taught me, and Scripture supports him, for it is said, "At the door [through which the newborn child issues], sin crouches" (Gen. 4:7).
Avot D'Rabbi Natan 16:

Come and observe: a kid or a lamb, when it sees a pit, turns back, since in an animal there is no impulse to evil [to lead it to harm].

But an infant: the impulse to evil drives him headlong [to destruction], so that the infant places his hand on a serpent or a scorpion and is stung by it, or he places his hand on glowing coals and is burned....

The following text from Avot D'Rabbi Natan 16 is the most depressing statement about the Evil Inclination that I've read; it provides such a sense of futility about a child's development!

The sages said: The impulse to evil is [at least] thirteen years older than the impulse to good.

It begins growing with a child in the mother's womb and comes out with him. If the child is about to profane the Sabbath, it does not deter him;

if the child is about to take a life, it does not deter him;

if the child is about to commit an act of unchastity, it does not deter him.

Only at the age of thirteen is the impulse to good born in a child.<BR.
If then he is about to profane the Sabbath, it warns him: "You fool! Scripture states, 'Everyone that profanes it shall surely be put to death.' " (Exodus 31:14)

If he is about to take a life, it warns him: "You fool! Scripture says, 'Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.' " (Genesis 9:6)

If he is about to commit an act of unchastity, it warns him: "You fool! Scripture states, 'Both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.' " (Leviticus 20:10)

When a man stirs up his passion and is about to commit an act of lewdness, all parts of his body are ready to obey him. On the other hand, when a man is about to perform an act of piety, all his parts become laggard, because the impulse to evil in his innards is ruler of the two hundred and forty-eight parts of his body, whereas the impulse to good is like a man confined in a prison.
The following selections all try to describe the site and basic "nature" of the evil inclination

Brachot 61a:

Rav said: The evil inclination resembles a fly and dwells between the two entrances of the heart, as it says, Dead flies make the ointment of the perfumers fetid and putrid.

Samuel said: It is a like a kind of wheat [chittah], as it says, Sin [chattat] couches at the door.

Our Rabbis taught: Man has two kidneys, one of which prompts him to good, the other to evil; and it is natural to suppose that the good one is on his right side and the bad one on his left, as it is written, A wise man's understanding is at his right hand, but a fool's understanding is at his left. (Ecclesiastes 10:2)
Sukkah 52a:

R. Assi stated, The Evil Inclination is at first like the thread of a spider, but ultimately becomes like cart ropes, as it is said, Woe to them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart-rope.
Sukkah 52b:

R. Yochanan remarked, There is a small organ in man which satisfies him when in hunger and makes him hunger when he's satisfied, as it is said, When they were starved they became full. (Hosea 13:6)

R. Isaac said: A man's impulse to evil renews itself [in allure] every day, as is said, "Every impulse wrought by his mind was sheer evil every day" (Gen. 6:5).

R. Simeon ben Lakish said: A man's impulse to evil grows in strength from day to day and seeks to slay him, as is said, "The wicked watch the righteous, and seek to slay him." (Psalm 37:32)

And but for the Holy One who is his help, he could not withstand it, as is said, "The Lord will not leave him in his hand." (Psalm 37:33)
Shabbat 105b

"There shall no strange god be in you." (Psalm 81:10). What is the strange god within a man's body? It is none other than the impulse to evil.
Sotah 8a:

Rava said: We have a tradition that the impulse to evil dominates only what its eyes see.
Kiddushin 30b:

Our masters taught: The impulse to evil is hard to bear, since even its Creator called it evil, for He said, "From his youth the impulse in man's heart is evil." (Gen. 8:21)
Niddah 13b:

Rav stated: ‘A man who wilfully causes erection should be placed under the ban.'

But why did he not say, ‘This is forbidden?'

Because the man merely incites his evil inclination against himself.

R. Ammi, however, stated: He is called a renegade, because such is the art of the evil inclination: Today it incites man to do one wrong thing, and tomorrow it incites him to worship idols and he proceeds to worship them.
Sukkah 52a-b:

In the time to come the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring the Evil Inclination and slay it in the presence of the righteous and the wicked.

To the righteous it will have the appearance of a towering hill,

and to the wicked it will have the appearance of a hair thread.

Both the former and the latter will weep;

the righteous will weep saying, ‘How were we able to overcome such a towering hill!'

The wicked also will weep saying, ‘How is it that we were unable to conquer this hair thread!'

And the Holy One, blessed be He, will also marvel together with them, as it is said, Thus says the Lord of Hosts, If it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, it shall also be marvelous in My eyes.

R. ‘Avira or, as some say, R. Joshua b. Levi, made the following exposition: The Evil Inclination has seven names.

The Holy One, blessed be He, called it Evil, as it is said, For the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.

Moses called it the Uncircumcised, as it is said, Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart.

David called it Unclean, as it is said, Create me a clean heart, O Lord, which implies that there is an unclean one.

Solomon called it the Enemy, as it is said, If your enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat and if he be thirsty give him water to drink. For you will heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord will reward you;

read not, ‘will reward you' but ‘will cause it to be at peace with you.'

Isaiah called it the Stumbling-Block, as it is said, Cast you up, Cast you up, clear the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people.

Ezekiel called it Stone, as it is said, And I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh.

Joel called it the Hidden One, as it is said, But I will remove far off from you the hidden one.


　

Jewish Origins of the Mandaean People

Jewish Origins of the Mandaean People 

who are the Mandaeans

Mandaeans derived from Aramaic, the word mandayye, from which they take their name, means “gnostic" Kurt Rudolph, Mandaeism (Lieden: Brill, 1978), 29.

They live in Persia and Arabia, especially at Bassora; and regard religion as consisting principally infrequent, solemn ablutions of the body, which their priests administer with certain ceremonies

The Europeans call them "Christians of Saint John", because they have some knowledge of Christ. By the Oriental writers they are called Sabbi or Sabians

The Clementina speak of John the Baptist as a Hemerobaptist, and the disciples of John are accordingly called "Hemerobaptists" ("Homilies," ii. 23; comp. "Recognitions," i. 54); similarly, Banus, the teacher of Josephus ("Vita," § 2), was a Hemerobaptist. Hegesippus (see Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl." iv. 22) mentions the Hemerobaptists as one of the seven Jewish sects or divisions opposed to the Christians. Justin ("Dial. cum Tryph." § 80) calls them simply "Baptists."

The proto-gnostic movement seems to have had a schism over the roles of John the Baptist and Jesus. The Mandaeans followed the teachings of John the Baptist and regarded him as a messianic figure, but they regarded Jesus as a "false messiah." The Mandaeans also rejected Moses and the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible). 

In Mandaeism, the laity are called mandaiia, "gnostics," while initiates into the priesthood are called naṣuraiia (naṣoreans).

Epiphanius in his Panarion, takes care to note that the heterodox Jewish group of Nasarenes were different than the Christian group of Nazorenes, whom he also describes. He states that they lived primarily on the east side of the Jordan, that they practiced circumcision, observed the Sabbath and the Jewish feasts, honored the patriarchs, but rejected the law of Moses (the Pentateuch).

The existence of the Nasarenes is significant, because the Mandaean version of that term, Nasoraean, is used often in the most ancient Mandaean literature.

In the texts, not only historical persons such as John the Baptist, but also heavenly beings such as Hibil, Sitil and Anos (Enos-Uthra), who symbolize the faith of the Mandaeans are called the Nasoraeans.

l am inclined to look upon these Christians of St. John, as descendants of those Hemerobaptists who were a Jewish sect about the time of Christ.

First, they profess to be Jews ; and say, their ancestors lived on the banks of the Jordan.

The early church writer Epiphanius mentions the Masobotheans and the Hemerobaptists. Besides the fact that they were part of the baptist movement, very little can be said for sure about them. It is likely, however, that at least the Hemerobaptists were very similar to the group of John the Baptist, as the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies refer to him as “one John, a hemerobaptist who was also . . . the forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ

It is commonly supposed, that this John was John the Baptist, Christ's forerunner mentioned in the Scriptures.

Hence many conclude, that the Sabians are descended from the disciples of John the Baptist.

The Sabians as they are called by the Orientals, or the Mandaeans (mandayye), i. e., Disciples of St. John, as they call themselves, or the Christians of St. John as they are called by Europeans, though they perhaps have some imperfect knowledge of Christ, seem to be a Jewish sect, and the descendants of the ancient Hemerobaptists mentioned by the early Christian writers. At least, that John whom they call the founder of their sect, was altogether unlike John the Baptist, and bore a far stronger resemblance to the John whom the ancients represented as the father of the Jewish Hemerohaptists

Those who believe (in the Qur'an), And those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), And the Christians, and the Sabians—Any who believe in Allah, And the Last Day, And work righteousness, Shall have their reward With their Lord."

Chabad Chokhmah, Binah and Da'at

Chabad

(kha-BAHD) n.

A Hebrew acronym for Chokhmah, Binah and Da'at, (wisdom, understanding and knowledge, respectively).

These words translate to three core mental functions in the process of what is commonly known as thought:

that first flash of insight (chokhmah),

the cogitation and rumination that follows (binah),

and thirdly,

the ability to process an idea so that it becomes part of your heart and soul (da'at).

I lite only one candle in Chabad following simple instructions. I looked into the Christos of the candle, the part which separates from the flame; without the Christos the flame would not survive. At tip of my nose I looked and closed my eyes and saw within the centre of my brain and I longed for the light to be there always.

I asked on purpose for the Lord to enlarge the light of Christ in me so that I might know the truth and be set free.

I wanted to know the truth of what’s going on; desiring the truth I knew evil was present with me; I walked with the Lord as our father Abraham did and in asking the Lord on purpose I heard him and from this I learned how to ask and how to walk while I remained in service following the law of the land in peace and love.

His name is Jesus and I walked with him, he’s alive with Christ in me.

When I woke in the morning he was with me, when I lay down at night he was with me; when I did my daily chores, the work needed to be done, preparing meals, looking after the household, he was with me; I turned to him always and was comforted knowing he was with me.

He never left my side and I turned to him as a friend, a brother, my lord and master, not knowing the Father I followed the Son.

I was not forsaken.

I began to see the light in the world in bits and pieces and in hearing his voice within I was careful not to trip on myself knowing evil was present with me. I remembered all I had been taught and followed simple instructions along the way.

I’m here as your sister, your mother, your brother, your friend saying calmly Jesus is the only way to the Father and the kingdom's within.

Who has done this (?) I am speaking the truth in written word. I am awake with Christ in me and I will not taste death.

He is with all who hear his voice. Now is the time to turn to him.

We are the true children within this organic matter called flesh, created man. The flesh is covered by skin.

We’re in the second coming of Christ who has returned for his bride, his body.

Yes there is a little bit of darkness to go through.

Like a little sprout and a little child who’s just learning to walk we go the way and yes we are called to be simple minded of the things pertaining to evil for we have to pass through evil, as darkness to come into the light.

Yes there is an ego in man who’s name is an adversary to the Lord & we know all these things work together for those who love the Lord.

We are not afraid for little children are kept safe with him, we desire truth and we seek to know being born to do this, soul searches. This is the way with the Lord.

The dead in Christ will rise first, all souls are here within these clay vessels asleep dreaming as if awake.

We are the first fruits of the Lord, we receive our name each individual and unique, only the person receiving will know; we are made Christ's with Lord Jesus along the way.

Stop all fighting, lay down your arms and no blaming each other; who knew? Stop accusing your brother and pointing the finger at religions, wait for the Lord to come.

The mortal body we are in is death, and a number has been assigned to it first be born and then second to die. Souls are not organic, they are holy begotten of the Father and are seeds.

We are in the second coming; the first coming for Israel, the second coming for the Gentiles in Christ.

Do not harm any, lay down your arms, know the truth and be set free.

We are the children.

Scattered throughout the earth we are the seeds; there is nothing to fear from our Father who is not worried one IOTA.

Change into a little child, humble yourself before him; go from the milk to the meat, eat the hidden manna; turn to Jesus and go the way and come into the Father's presence.

Non-Mythological Gnosis

non-mythological gnosis

seeking salvation through gnosis (‘hidden wisdom’),

Originally gnosis had no mythological associations and was simply “knowledge of the

divine mysteries reserved for an elite

first Jewish Gnosis had no mythologies to it, it saw the Law and the Deity as part of its orthodox beliefs

Book of Proverbs 25:2 ¶ It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

Psalm 19:2 One day after another day causes speech to bubble forth,
And one night after another night shows forth knowledge

isa  11:2 the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah; 3 and there will be enjoyment by him in the fear of Jehovah.

9 They will not do any harm or cause any ruin in all my holy mountain; because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea

12 For wisdom is for a protection [the same as] money is for a protection; but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom itself preserves alive its owners

(Proverbs 3:18) She (Wisdom) is a tree of life to those taking hold of it, and those keeping fast hold of it are to be called happy

There are many says in the New Testament which attest to the gnostic view:

Seek and you will find,” “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you,” “My kingdom is not of this world,” “The flesh profiteth nothing”…)

They are all about seeking and finding hidden gnosis. They are also seen in the parables of the hidden treasure, the found pearl, and the captured fish of great price (Mt 13:44-50).

Such sayings also have nothing to do with the later mythology of Gnosticism. They
are all about seeking and finding hidden gnosis

(Ephesians 4:13) until we all attain to the oneness in the faith and in the accurate knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of stature that belongs to the fullness of the Christ;


(Philippians 1:9) And this is what I continue praying, that YOUR love may abound yet more and more with accurate knowledge and full discernment;

Peter exhorts us to "grow in knowledge" (2 Pet. 1:5-6), and the word is "gnosis". He assures us that if we follow his advice we will be "neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (v. 8).  But in this statement the word is "epignosis", and
similar comparisons will be found elsewhere. The question is; What is the significance of these two words? And if we have "gnosis" (knowledge), when can we claim to have "epignosis" (deeper knowledge)?

Both words are derived from the verb "ginosko" which signifies the act of taking in knowledge, in such a way as to establish a relationship between the one knowing and the object known. For example:

John 17:3 This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ

In such a context, the verb implies the one knowing, and not merely an academic knowledge.

When the preposition "epi" is added to the noun or verb, transforming it into "epignosis" or "epignosko", it suggests a fuller knowledge or recognition of the object known. Hence the question posed us: When does one reach "gnosis" to move on to "epignosis"?

Salvation by Knowledge
their taking in knowledge of you John 17:3

The Primal Four and the 365 Aeons

 The primal Four and the 365 Aeons

I will speak my mystery to those who are mine and to those who will be mine. Moreover it is these who have known him who is, the Father, that is, the Root of the All, the Ineffable One who exists as Oneness. He dwells alone in silence, and silence is tranquility since, after all, he was in fact One and nothing existed before him. He also exists as Twoness and as a Pair, and his partner is Silence. And he possessed the All dwelling within him. And as for Intention and Persistence, Love and Permanence, they are indeed unbegotten. The Nag Hammadi Library A Valentinian Exposition


God came forth: the Son, Mind of the All, that is, it is from the Root of the All that even his Thought stems, since he had this one (the Son) in Mind. For on behalf of the All, he received an alien Thought since there were nothing before him. From that place it is he who moved [...] a gushing spring. Now this is the Root of the All and Oneness without any one before him. Now the second spring exists in silence and speaks with him alone. And the Fourth accordingly is he who restricted himself in the Fourth: while dwelling in the Three-hundred-sixtieth, he first brought himself (forth), and in the Second he revealed his will, and in the Fourth he spread himself out. The Nag Hammadi Library A Valentinian Exposition


http://gnosis.org/naghamm/valex.html

The (First) Apocalypse of James 

"Nothing existed except Him-who-is. He is unnameable and ineffable. I myself am also unnameable, from Him-who-is, just as I have been given a number of names - two from Him-who-is

James said, "Rabbi, behold then, I have received their number. There are seventy-two measures!" The Lord said, "These are the seventy-two heavens, which are their subordinates. These are the powers of all their might; and they were established by them; and these are they who were distributed everywhere, existing under the authority of the twelve archons.

Eugnostos the Blessed

Then the twelve powers, whom I have just discussed, consented with each other. <Six> males (and) females (each) were revealed, so that there are seventy-two powers. Each one of the seventy-two revealed five spiritual (powers), which (together) are the three hundred and sixty powers. The union of them all is the will

And when those whom I have discussed appeared, All-Begetter, their father, very soon created twelve aeons for retinue for the twelve angels. And in each aeon there were six (heavens), so there are seventy-two heavens of the seventy-two powers who appeared from him. And in each of the heavens there were five firmaments, so there are (altogether) three hundred sixty firmaments of the three hundred sixty powers that appeared from them. When the firmaments were complete, they were called 'The Three Hundred Sixty Heavens', according to the name of the heavens that were before them. And all these are perfect and good. And in this way the defect of femaleness appeared.


This passage is taken to mean that the root of the All the Father first spreads himself out into Two and than Four. From Four he also extends himself as far as Three Hundred Sixty, representing the ultimate edge of the Pleroma although in a distinct dimension of his transcendent essence he keeps himself restricted to the primal Four.

The Four primal emanations maybe a symbol for the four worlds  (Olam) in Kabbalah they could also stand as a symbol for 4 letters of the divine name YHWH or Tetragrammaton (meaning "consisting of four letters"). The Tetragrammaton  was  mutated into 72 angelic names by simply taking the yo da valve and mutating them

The 3rd book of Enoch:

CHAPTER XIII God writes with a flaming style on Metatron's crown the cosmic letters by which heaven and earth were created R. Ishmael said : Metatron, the angel, the Prince of the Presence, the Glory of all heavens, said to me : (1) Because of the great love and mercy with which the Holy One, blessed be He, loved and cherished me more than all the children of heaven. He wrote with his ringer with a flaming style upon the crown on my head the letters by which were created heaven and earth, the seas and rivers, the mountains and hills, the planets and constellations, the Ughtnings, winds, earthquakes and voices (thunders), the snow and hail, the storm-wind and the tempest ; the letters by which were created all the needs of the world and all the orders of Creation. (2) And every single letter sent forth time after time as it were lightnings, time after time as it were torches, time after time as it were flames of fire, time after time (rays) like [as] the rising of the sun and the moon and the planets.

ex 3:14  At this God said to Moses: “I SHALL PROVE TO BE WHAT I SHALL PROVE TO BE.”*+ And he added: “This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘I SHALL PROVE TO BE has sent me to YOU.’”

The memorial, in its simplest form, is ehyeh asher ehyeh, I will be who I will be.' Asher 'who', the relative pronoun in this memorial, is both singular and plural, masculine and feminine. It will therefore, stand for 'ten thousand times ten thousand,'

The other two words of the memorial are the first person singular, future tense of the verb hay ah, 'to be.'

“Yahweh” (Heb., חַוָּה, YHWH), God’s personal name, first occurs in Ge 2:4. The divine name is a verb, the causative form, the imperfect state, of the Hebrew verb 01961 היה hayah haw-yaw  (ha·wah´, “to become”).

the one bringing into being, life-giver (compare חַוָּה Genesis 3:20) Schr HSch; giver of existence, creator, Kue Tiele; he who brings to pass (so already Le Clerc), performer of his promises,

01961 היה hayah

A primitive root (compare hava'); to exist, i.e. Be or become, come to pass 

Come into being, become: — יְהִי אוֺר וַיְהִי אוֺר Genesis 1:3 let light appear, and light appeared, compare Genesis 1:5; Genesis 1:8; Genesis 1:13; Genesis 1:19; Genesis 1:23; Genesis 1:31

Ge 1:3  And God said, Let there be <01961> light: and there was light.
Ge 1:29  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be <01961> for meat.

Here we can see that the verb 01961 היה hayah which makes up the divine name is used in Genesis chapter 1 

The Tripartite Tractate

Whomever he wishes, he makes into a father, of whom he in fact is Father, and a god, of whom he in fact is God, and he makes them the Totalities, whose entirety he is. In the proper sense all the names which are great are kept there, these (names) which the angels share, who have come into being in the cosmos along with the archons, although they do not have any resemblance to the eternal beings.

Each one of the aeons is a name, <that is>, each of the properties and powers of the Father, since he exists in many names, which are intermingled and harmonious with one another. It is possible to speak of him because of the wealth of speech, just as the Father is a single name, because he is a unity, yet is innumerable in his properties and names.

The Nag Hammadi Library A Valentinian Exposition That Tetrad projected the Tetrad which is the one consisting of Word and Life and Man and Church. Now the Uncreated One projected Word and Life. Word is for the glory of the Ineffable One while Life is for the glory of Silence, and Man is for his own glory, while Church is for the glory of Truth. This, then, is the Tetrad begotten according to the likeness of the Uncreated (Tetrad). And the Tetrad is begotten [... ] the Decad from Word and Life, and the Dodecad from Man, and Church became a Triacontad. Moreover, it is the one from the Triacontad of the Aeons who bear fruit from the Triacontrad. They enter jointly, but they come forth singly, fleeing from the Aeons and the Uncontainable Ones. And the Uncontainable Ones, once they had looked at him, glorified Mind since he is an Uncontainable One that exists in the Pleroma.

But the Decad from Word and Life brought forth decads so as to make the Pleroma become a hundred, and the Dodecad from Man and Church brought forth and made the Triacontad so as to make the three hundred sixty become the Pleroma of the year. And the year of the Lord [...perfect...] perfect [...] according to [...] Limit and [...] Limit [...] the greatness which [...] the goodness [...] him. Life [...] suffer [...] by the face [...] in the presence of the Pleroma [...] which he wanted [...]. And he wanted to leave the Thirtieth - being a szygy of Man and Church

God has 72 names and that each of those names is also an angel.
These 72 names of God and they're very prevalent  in cabbalistic thought so you can use  these names to access different aspects of deity
"And the angel of God who had been going ahead of the camp of Israel now moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud went from in front of them and stood behind them. Thus [the pillar of cloud] came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel, making it cloud and darkness [to the Egyptians], but it gave light by night [to the Jews], so that the one came not near the other all the night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and G‑d drove the sea back with a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land; thus the waters were divided." (Ex. 14:14)

The seventy-two-lettered name is derived from three verses in Exodus (14:19–21) beginning with "Vayyissa", "Vayyabo" and "Vayyet" respectively. Each of the verses contains 72 letters, and when combined they form 72 names, known collectively as the Shemhamphorasch.

The kabbalistic book Sefer Yetzirah explains that the creation of the world was achieved by the manipulation of these sacred letters that form the names of God.

This teaching abut the 72 names of God comes from the The 3rd book of Enoch

The 3rd book of Enoch:

CHAPTER XLVIII (cont.) (B) The Divine Names that go forth from the Throne of Glory, crowned and escorted by numerous angelic hosts through the heavens and back again to the Throne the angels sing the 'Holy' and the 'Blessed' 



These are the seventy-two names written on the heart of the Holy One, Blessed be He: Righteousness, - , Righteous (one)-, Lord of Host, God Almighty, God, YHWH - - - Living (one) - Riding upon the Araboth (highest heaven), - Life Giver - King of Kings, Holy One - - Holy, Holy, Holy, - - - Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever, - - Complete, King of the Universe, - - The beginning of Wisdom for the children of men, - - {blessed be He who gives strength to the weary and increaseth strength to them that have no might. Is. xl. 29}that go forth (adorned) with numerous crowns of fire with numerous crowns of flame, with numerous crowns of chashmal, with numerous crowns of lightning from before the Throne of Glory. And with them (there are) thousand hundreds of power (i.e. powerful angels) who escort them like a king with trembling and dread, with awe and shivering, with honour and majesty andfear, with terror, with greatness and dignity, with glory and strength, with understanding and knowledge and with a pillar of fire and a pillar of flame and lightning and their light is as lightnings of light and with the likeness of the chashmal. 
 (2) And they give glory unto them and they answer and cry before them: Holy, Holy, Holy. And they roll (convoy) them through every heaven as mighty and honoured princes. And when they bring them all back to the place of the Throne of Glory, then all the Chayyoth by the Merkaba open their mouth in praise of His glorious name, saying: "Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever".

On Exod. 28:30 Jer. Targ. speaks of "the NAME by which were created the 310 aeons," where 310 refers to the words of Wisdom in Prov, 8:21 "that I may cause them that love me to inherit SUBSTANCE (lit. that which is )," the word "substance" being interpreted numerically as "310" (see Sanhedr. looa and Tehill. i. 52) and meaning "310 worlds (Olam), or aeons"


Pr 8:21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance (03426 ישׁ yesh yaysh ); and I will fill their treasures.

To cause those who love me to inherit substance.” Yesh, Yud-Shin, is the numerical value of 310,

03426 ישׁ yesh yaysh 

perhaps from an unused root meaning to stand out, or exist; subst; [BDB-441a] {See TWOT on 921 } 

AV-is 54, be 28, have 22, there 13, misc 16; 133 

1) being, existence, substance, there is or are 
1a) substance 
1b) existence 

1c) there is or are

 Exod. 28:30 Jer. Targ:

JPS 28:30

And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the LORD; and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.

ONK 28:30


And thou shalt put in (or upon) the breastplate of judgment the Uraia and the Thummaia;(55) and they shall be upon Aharon's heart when he entereth before the Lord; and Aharon shall carry the judgment of the sons of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually.

PAL 28:30

And thou shalt put upon the breastplate of judgment the Uraia, which illuminate their words, and manifest the hidden things of the house of Israel, and the Tumaia, which fulfil (or perfect) their work to the high priest, who seeketh instruction by them before the Lord; because in them is engraven and expressed the Great and Holy Name by which were created the three hundred and ten worlds (Olam), and which was engraven and expressed in the foundation stone wherewith the Lord of the world sealed up the mouth of the great deep at the beginning. Whosoever remembereth that holy name in the hour of necessity shall be delivered. And they shall be upon Aharon's heart in the time that he entereth before the Lord; and Aharon shall bear the judgment of the sons of Israel before the Lord continually.


https://juchre.org/targums/comp/exo28.htm

in this mystic tradition that God emanated himself in stages to create a universe which later became in Kabbalah the four worlds (Olam) and there were ten vessels 10 containers ten hearts they call the Sephirot that were manifested and they were powers and virtues wisdom knowledge justice mercy and so on these are still referenced in attributions to the seven lights of the Jewish synagogue which you will find on the altar in a synagogue with seven lights this seven lights will reference 10 cefiro and this is not to be confused with the the Hanukkah menorah which has eight lights and there are 22 paths that connect these ten Sephirot and that makes 32 names of God the root attributes of the powers and virtues of God were understood as a kind of tree like the tree of life