Yonat ‘elem (Mute Dove)
Menaḥem Azariah da Fano
First Half of the 17th Century
Chapter 1
O God, You have taught me from my youth: and until now I declare Your wondrous deeds (Psalms 71:17)
O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You: my soul thirsts for You. (Psalms 63:2)
When the King who is exalted alone freely decided to create the world in order to benefit His creations, that they might recognize His greatness and warrant being the chariot for the might of His divine presence, that they might cleave to Him, may He be blessed and His name forever be exalted, then His light, which is His ancient name, which is as primordial as He is, and which is His aforementioned will that infinitely enlightens, immediately contracted and was reduced, by way of the lofty secret of the days of the world. And there was created and remained an “empty place,” which in numerology adds up to “He is clothed” in majesty (Psalms 93:1), which is equal to “the secrets” of the merciful God.1 And from that which is raised up in majesty, there remains “the impression” from “the light of His garment,”2 which is also grace and mercy according to the nature of grace, which comes in upright form from its beginning. And that which remains of Him with His departure from this empty place does not change His stature, and this impression is that which is truthfully called “His uppermost purification,” which numerically equals “His name,”3 and this keeps His image simple and spiritual. [ . . . ]
Chapter 2
When the Lord first spoke about these lofty speculations on the purpose of exaltedness and greatness, the familiar appellation, begun by wise men, was to use the name “Ein Sof,” which numerically equals “light.”4 And the same applies whenever we expound the hidden and the suitable revealed aspects of emanation, in accordance with the proper order of study by way of the spirit of the world—that we attribute Ein Sof to the hidden aspects of keter ‘elyon [the upper crown] in every place. For that negates this appellation and all similar ones from that which enlightens the entire world with His glory. He is the Master of the will, may He be blessed. His name is exalted above all blessing and praise, and we are not permitted to contemplate it at all, except to know it by means of faith in the artisan, the necessity of His existence, in reverence and awe, in trembling and fear. These means of faith are the commandments that depend on the mind and in the heart, in the inner parts and in the general structure of man. And they correspond to the four signs of heaven and His kingdom, which rules over all. And neither does the appellation that we have mentioned, which is very terrible, and who can abide it (Joel 2:11) do justice to the King who is exalted alone from time immemorial; neither it nor any of the other names that are not to be erased does justice, not even the ineffable name, and certainly not any of the other designations. Thus, we cannot approach the master of the will, may His name may be praised by all of His creatures, but only through all of the blessings and thanksgivings and in all of the speculations and intentions, which are sacrificed and offered to His name, the will of the heart in silent praise, for He is the source of simple grace. He will never change, but the will is the grace [ḥesed], and from it judgment [din] will flow, for it is its source. And a mnemonic for you is “The Master of Strengths,” which numerically equals 720 [actually 719], is the secret of the upper grace times ten.5 And behold, He and His will are one. [ . . . ]
Chapter 3
Then [az] He saw it and declared it. He established it, and searched it out, and He said. It is majestically written elsewhere by us that the hint in these honored words is to the primordial causes in nature and the uniqueness of all of beings, hidden and revealed, and none is excluded (Isaiah 34:16). And here, according to the honor of the excellent majesty [see Esther 1:4] of the subject, we shall first precisely analyze the word then [az]. As we have mentioned, it was with the One who is exalted alone from time immemorial [me-az]. And behold, the closest and best known hint for the enlightened concerning the word az is that the management of the lower entities after the correction of offenses is the conjunction of the eight letters of Ha-va-ya-h and E-he-ye-h, or Ha-va-ya-h and A-do-na-y.6 However, above in the peaks of the heights, one is not to attribute any name to God except for the plain Tetragrammaton, and those who allegorically interpreted the first four addenda [i.e., the four letters of the divine name] with regard to it itself were hardly permitted to do so and could not use another name. But in order to put it in terms that one can understand, he must learn from the az in the height of His secret place, as a mere remembrance of the excellent upper world, as one cannot imagine, envisage, or picture how much the way of the world is exalted above all blessing and praise, for His name alone is exalted (Psalms 148:13).
Translated by
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Notes
[“Empty place” (makom panuy), “He is clothed” (lavash), and “secrets” (kivshe) each have the gematria value of 332.—Trans.]
[“The impression” (ha-roshem) and “the light of his garment” (‘or levusho) are both numerologically 551.—Trans.]
[“His uppermost purification” (tehiru ‘ilah) and “His name” (shemo) both equal 346.—Trans.]
[Ein Sof and light (‘or) both equal 207.—Trans.]
[ḥesed equals 72, times 10 equals 720.—Trans.]
[Az numerically equals 8; there are four letters in each of the divine names; thus, the combination of two of the names yields eight letters.—Trans.]
Credits
Menaḥem Azariah da Fano, “Yonat ‘elem (Mute Dove)” (manuscript, Italy, first half of the 17th century). Published as: Menahem Azariah da Fano, Sefer yonat ‘elem (Lemberg: Druck des S. Back & A. J. Menkes, 1859), pp. 1–3.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.
