The Interpretation of the Lurianic Concepts of Zimzum, the “Breaking of the

Vessels” and Tikun in »7

Apart from the imagery o f “sparks” o f light, divided feces and felling “vessels”, which

allude to Lurianic ideas, there are a few instances in the novel, in which Lurianic

concepts are directly referred to and given a particular interpretation by some of

Bashevis’s characters.

The passage quoted at the beginning o f this chapter describes Rabbi Dan on his way to

Warsaw with his family, after having been expelled from Kleyn-Tereshpol at the outset

of the First World War.*^ Rabbi Dan reflects on the people o f Israel being like a lamb

among wolves, surrounded by idolaters, murderers, lechers and drunkards. He thinks

that the “rT”U?S7n (World o f Action), is the “ms'^'ppn o'?!!?” (world o f the Klipot) and

the resting-place o f the sitra ’ahra. But he comforts himself with the thought that in its

essence everything is “mpbK” (Godliness), and that even the Klipah has its root in ’Ein-

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Sof. “m ’nn rx ]T>'7DPi ly i" (Its purpose is free will). At the end every “m s” (defect)

will have its “pp’n” (cosmic restoration). The “nxûlü” (profane) is in truth only a

(illusion). On his journey Rabbi Dan has the feeling that he is

encountering the powers o f darkness “D’B □’’3*3” (face to face), and that the

“□’’pibx (spark o f Divinity) within him is being extinguished. He tries to pray

“nnia” (the afternoon prayer), but he cannot remember the words [324].

In this passage we find direct references to the Lurianic concepts o f the “breaking o f

the vessels”, the formation o f the Klipot from the “shards” o f the broken ‘Vessels” and

the process o f Tikun. In this paragraph Rabbi Dan’s reflections on the Klipah and the

world o f the Klipot occur in a context, where the rabbi is surrounded by evil, the

beginning o f the First World War, the expulsion o f the Jews from Kleyn-T ereshpol and

the hostility o f the soldiers towards them. In fact. Rabbi Dan feels so threatened by the

evil surrounding him, that he even considers the “n’’’’U7yn □bllZ”, that is our terrestial

world, as the world o f the Klipot.

In »7, which culminates in the Second World War, death and

destruction, the powers o f evil, Jewish suffering and unfulfilled hopes o f redemption

are major themes. The above-quoted passage, set in the context o f the First World War,

expresses these major themes o f the novel and provides us with a possible answer to the

question o f the root o f evil and of God’s intentions in allowing evil and suffering in our

world. This answer, expressed in this passage by Rabbi Dan, is a particular interpretation

o f the Lurianic concept o f the “breaking of the vessels”, which is bound up with the

teleological interpretation o f Zimzum, developed in the writings o f Moshe Hayim

Luzzatto, as explained above.

Rabbi Dan also refers to the Lurianic concept o f Tikun in this passage, by expressing the

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hope that in the end every fault will have its meaning that everything will be

restored to its originally intended state o f harmony, which was upset by the “breaking

o f the vessels”. With the decline of Jewish life in Poland, growing destruction and the

approach o f the Second World War, with all it represents, this hope remains unfiilfilled.

Another passage, which presents the reflections o f the Bialodrewna rehe on the

privileged status o f the human being, who has the power “ m a ’i S '|'” T IS p n a ” (to rectify

cosmic defects) and to lead the “sparks o f holiness” back to their source [541], has been

mentioned previously.*^

This belief in the power o f the human being to bring about Tikun or cosmic restoration

is also upheld by Arele, the new rehe o f Bialodrewna. On a visit to Warsaw from

Palestine, where he has settled, Arele informs his fellow hasidim about the situation in

the Land o f Israel: Although Jews do not rule in Palestine yet, they are not as downcast,

as in the (diaspora). A “nu^np” (holiness) seems to hover over every com stalk,

over every blade o f grass. At the “ D’"Qp y p ’’’7‘’’’n ” (holy graves) “ D'’*7mpa” (Kabbalists) are

gathering, who are “ om n"' (literally: unifying unifications) and “ D'’5l*T’S

(literally: combining combinations) - [698 f.].**

The word “O’Dii’S” refers to combinations o f letters and names, widely employed by

Lurianic Kabbalists in their “niino” (“intentions” for prayer). Lurianic Kabbalah

emphasizes the more active side o f prayer in directing every prayer toward the

“upraising o f the sparks o f light”. In Lurianic prayer a special place is reserved for

“acts o f unification”, which are “meditations on one o f the letter combinations

o f the Tetragrammaton” or on configurations o f Divine names.*^ These unifications of

Divine names were believed to effect unification within the Godhead. This means, they

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See: Section 5.4.4, 176 f.

This paragraph is omitted in the translation [English: 598]. Cf. G. Scholem, Kabbalah, 178-180.

were supposed to work towards a re-unification o f the exiled Shekhinah with the rest

of the Godhead, fi-om whom the Shekhinah was separated on the occasion o f the

“breaking o f the vessels”, and thus they were supposed to effect Tikun.

Another passage elaborates on the subject o f (unification). An old hasid

remembers the time, when the late rebe o f Bialodrewna was still alive, and the

Shekhinah seemed to rest upon him. He recalls the wedding of Akive and the rebels

daughter Gine-Gendl. He thinks that fom the beginning they were not a suitable couple.

She should have married Herts Yanover, but since she could not have him (in a

permitted way), she acted “"no’xn” (in a forbidden way). Everything can be understood

“nnpn idt nrnnn” (in the sense o f male and female). This is also the meaning o f the

principle Kin xwnp n rr du?*?” (for the sake o f the unification o f the Holy

One Blessed be He and His Shekhinah). Even in the higher spheres there must be “n n ’”

(unification) - [705 f.].^°

The thoughts o f this hasid reflect the idea o f the xilTT” or “sacred marriage”,

which plays a central role in the Zohar and in all subsequent Kabbalah, as explained

above.^* In Lurianic Kabbalah the fulfillment o f every commandment is to be

accompanied by the afore-mentioned formula, declaring that this action is performed

for the sake of the unification o f the Holy One Blessed be He and His Shekhinah?^

Thus every prayer and every fulfillment o f a commandment, performed with the

intention o f bringing about the unification o f the Shekhinah with the rest o f the

Godhead, is believed to be a mystical action effecting Tikun.

One last passage should be referred to again in connection with the theme of Lurianic

The whole 4^ section o f the 58^ chapter, where this reference can be found in the Yiddish original, is omitted in the translation [English: 603].

See: Section 3.4.3, 96.

ideas expressed in the novel. In a sermon delivered on Rosh Hashanah at the beginning

o f the Second Wold War, Arele speaks about Rosh Hashanah being called “pin-DT’” (the

day o f justice), although on Rosh Hashanah the moon is hidden, which is supposed to

represent “I’ln m ’ü” (the attribute o f justice), while the sun is supposed to represent

m ’û” (the attribute o f mercy). But in reality, Arele says, “D’a m ” (mercy) and

“p i” (justice) are derived jfrom one (root). “I’l ”, that is “justice” or “judgement”,

only exists for the sake o f “m ’na” (free will). The “m ‘’na-’7ya” (person possessing free

will) has the choice between “yn (good and evil) - [753]. The human being has

been sent down to the o7iy” (World o f Action), in order to earn his reward. The

“nxnan ]T>*7Dn” (purpose o f creation) is “m ’na” (free will). For the sake o f free wiU

“lynyjL osaxa t»t nio-ps oxn” ( 'Ein-SofhaiS contracted Himself). So that there should be

free will, the Klipot were created [754].^^

Unlike in the reflections o f the Bialodrewna rebe, analyzed previously, in Arele’s sermon

it is not the “breaking o f the vessels“, but already the act o f Zimzum, which is supposed

to have occured for the sake o f free will. This is in accordance with Moshe Hayim

Luzzatto’s teleological interpretation o f Zimzum, as explained above.^"*

Arele’s statement that “p i” and “□’iDm” have the same origin, accords with Isaac Luria’s

explanation o f Zimzum. The connection, which Arele makes between “p i” and “m ’n::”,

is a combination o f Luria’s explanation o f Zimzum as originating in a concentration o f

the forces o f “p i”, and Luzzato’s interpretation, according to which the act o f Zimzum

enabled the creation o f imperfect creatures, who were given the opportunity to perfect

themselves and to choose between good and evil.^^

Arele also states that the Klipot were created for the sake o f free will. This is exactly the

This passage forms part o f the last chapter o f the Yiddish original, which is omitted in the English. See: Section 3.4.1, 84-86.

95 Ibid.

same idea expressed previously by the rebe o f Bialodrewna in the context o f the First

World War. The time o f Arele’s sermon is Rosh Hashanah, in the autumn o f 1939, and

the context, in which this sermon is given, is the beginning o f the Second World War,

the bombing o f Warsaw and the still greater evils in store for aU the Jews, who had not

been able to flee Poland in time. The extent o f these evils is only known to the readers,

not to the characters o f Bashevis’s »7, although the lurking danger is felt

by them as well. In such a context the question o f the root o f such evil is predominant.

The answer to this question, given by some o f Bashevis’s characters and expressed with

Lurianic terminology in the reflections o f the Bialodrewna rebe and in Arele’s sermon, is

perhaps the only credible answer perceivable for a believer in God.

However, in Arele’s sermon in the autumn o f 1939 no mention is made anymore o f the

possibility o f Tikun.

5.5. Conclusion

Bashevis’s second major novel, »7, is a femily chronicle, in which the

individual stories of members o f the Mushkat, Banet and Berman families are seen against

the panorama o f Polish-Jewish history fi*om the beginning o f the twentieth century until

the outbreak o f the Second World War.

In this novel, whose emphasis is on destruction, decay and unfulfilled hopes o f

redemption, the dominant leitmotif is death. In the descriptions o f various characters’

dying hours mystical imagery o f the higher spheres is employed abundantly, inspiring a

longing in these characters to leave this world, which is seen as the world o f the Klipot.

More kabbalistic terminology is employed in connection with ideas about death and life

afl:er death, espoused by several characters. Most prominently there is the belief in gilgul,

wide-spread folk belief.

In the novel various kabbalistic works are mentioned explicitly as being studied by certain

characters, as being found among the books on their bookshelves or as being employed by

them for magical or superstitious practices. The superstitious practices described testily to

the popular belief in the inherent power o f the letters o f the Hebrew alphabet and

particularly o f holy names.

On several occasions throughout the novel a mystical significance is attributed to script,

and in particular to the letters o f the Hebrew alphabet. In the experience o f some o f the

characters in the novel, the letters o f the Hebrew alphabet can be detected in the majesty

o f nature, which, according to the cosmogony o f Sefer Yezirah, was created through

them. Thus the Hebrew Bible and all the other Jewish religious works composed with

these letters also have the power to sustain Jews in all the persecutions and calamities they

encounter.

Apart fi*om the ideas about creation found in Sefer Yezirah, the mystical images and

kabbalistic terminology employed in the novel are mainly connected to Lurianic Kabbalah.

Throughout the novel we find the image o f “sparks” o f light in contexts o f darkness, both

physically and metaphorically, which is highly allusive to the Lurianic concept o f the

“sparks o f holiness”, which are also present in the world o f the Klipot, the powers o f evil.

Other Lurianic allusions can be found in the images o f felling ‘Vessels” and divided faces

employed in connection with some o f the women characters in the novel. These are the

same images employed in the description o f Rekhele, the central female character in

”■7^ pi!/ 1Ü7, who is at times associated with the Shekhinah. Since according to

Lurianic Kabbalah, the “breaking o f the vessels” caused the mystic exile o f the Shekhinah,

who is always understood as the female aspect o f the Godhead, it is no coincidence that

»7.

Apart from imagery alluding to Lurianic ideas, there are a few paragraphs, in which the

Lurianic concepts o f Zimzum, the “breaking o f the vessels” and Tikun are directly referred

to, foremost among them one passage set in the context o f the First World War and

another in the context o f the Second World War. Both o f these passages present the

reader with the question o f Jewish suffering, the root o f evil in the world and God’s

intention in permitting this suffering and evil. The answer to this question, advanced by

two o f Bashevis’s characters in the novel is an interpretation o f the Lurianic concepts

o f Zimzum and the “breaking o f the vessels” as having occured for the sake o f free will.

Bashevis’s character Arele endorses a teleological interpretation o f Zimzum, which is

advanced in the writings o f Moshe Hayim Luzzatto. Bashevis’s Rabbi Dan endorses an

explanation o f the “breaking o f the vessels”, which is closely connected to Luzzatto’s

teleological interpretation o f Zimzum.

These ideas on the root o f evil may provide scant comfort in the context o f the Second

World War, in which the novel culminates, but then nothing else does either. The hope for

Tikun, the cosmic restoration o f the universe to a state o f harmony it has not enjoyed since

the “breaking o f the vessels”, is expressed several times in the novel and is closely

connected to the hope for messianic redemption. With the internal decay, decline and

disintegration o f Jewish life in Poland and the external destruction o f the Second World

War this hope becomes less and less likely to be fulfilled.

At the end the Yiddish readers o f this novel are left with a choice between a nihilistic

response to the catastrophe in seeing redemption only in death, and a return to the ideas

and values o f Judaism and o f the Torah. In the last chapter o f the Yiddish edition, Oyzer-

Heshl, the main protagonist o f the novel, finds the God he had lost in his pursuit of

Oyzer-Heshl’s inner conflicts will not prevent his physical destruction by the Nazis, but it

will give him strength to carry on for a whhe. After ah, the letters o f the Torah, from

which he draws his strength, are the same letters, with which the whole universe was

created, and which keep on soaring on high, even when the parchment, on which they are

In document Between concealment and revelation: Mystical motifs in selected Yiddish works of Isaac Bashevis Singer and their sources in Kabbalistic literature (Page 191-200)