Commentary: On the Book of Creation (Sefer yetsirah)

Chapter 1

In its plain [literal] sense, the text states that the Creator, the God of Hosts, engraved the paths of wisdom and its hidden ways and its secrets and mysteries in thirty-two paths. They are the ten sefirot and twenty-two letters, which indicate the twenty-two sounds that a man utters with his mouth. Of these twenty-two letters, three are revealed and lofty, spoken and drawn forth. And of the remaining nineteen letters, seven are doubled and twelve are simple and single. But the ten sefirot are indicated by the ten fingers and the one covenant because of which they were doubled, acting as mediator for all of them, by what the tongue says.

And its interpretation is that the author and compiler of this book desired to inform us that the Creator, blessed be He, combined and joined all of His creations in three categories: book [sefer], which is writing; number [sefor], which is counting; and story [sippur], the meaning of which is as it is written, a story. [ . . . ] He further combined these three categories, which are book, number, and story, in thirty-two words, and put into these thirty-two words all the upper and lower worlds. By upper worlds, I mean metaphysics, which has as its starting point the oneness [of God], and physics, [which] refers to what follows. The lower worlds refer to knowledge of the science of the sphere and its orbits, for all of this is included in writing and counting, and by them its strength [alim] is attained. And all writing is comprised of twenty-two letters, which represent the twenty-two sounds that are in nature. For with them and from them are built the words of all the languages.

Furthermore, he mentioned the sublimity of these letters and explained that they signify the twenty-nine sounds, of which there are three letters that are smooth, soft, and enunciated and by which the remaining letters are enunciated, which we said are mute and silent, concealed and sealed. For these three smooth and spoken [letters] reveal and make apparent the totality of the letters such that they can be enunciated, and the tongue produces speech by means of them. This [explanation] is according to one who says [the text of Sefer yetsirah should read] iyumot [primary letters], but for one who said [it should read] imot, their name means “mothers,” that is, foundations. But iyumot is more correct in my eyes. And these three were chosen only for their lightness and ease of pronunciation in every language. And these three are the alef, the yod, and the vav. The lightest of the three is the alef, [which makes] the sound known in the holy tongue as pataḥ gadol, a soft sound as in ‘asah and banah. For this sound, the pataḥ gadol, is nothing but air going forth from the lungs, with no need for any other of the bodily organs used in speech, such as the chest, the throat, the palate, the tongue, the teeth, or the lips; it goes forth by movement of the lungs alone. And similar to it in lightness is the yod, which is a sound called “breaking,” though some call it nemikah (lowering). It is a sound made when the tip of the tongue cuts the air leaving the lungs with the aid of two teeth known as premolars. And following the yod in lightness is the vav, and it is the heaviest of the three light letters, because it requires the use of the lips, the organ of speech farthest from the source, which is the lungs. For the lungs are the source of the moist and fiery air that in living things surrounds the digestive organs, which are the heart, the liver, and the stomach. And it is necessary to expel it [i.e., the moist hot air] through the windpipe and to draw in cold air from outside and to blow with it on the digestive organs, lest the vital heat in the heart be lost or the digestive fire in the liver stop working and the [second] digestion cease, resulting in the death of the living thing, as happens when one blows and moves the blown [air] and man, with his mouth, when he completes a syllable.¹ Such is the air, the source of which is the lungs, the organ responsible for respiration in birds, beasts, cattle, and for speech in man. [ . . . ]

Another proof that one is not a number is that every number must be either odd or even. And it is a distinguishing characteristic of every even number that it is divisible into equal parts, that is, with equal value. For four, which is even, can be divided into two and two, and two is [equal to] two; and six can be divided into three and three, and three is [equal to] three; and such is every even number. And it is a distinguishing characteristic of every odd number that it is divisible into unequal parts. For three is odd, and it is divisible into two and one; and five is odd and is divisible into three and two. And since this cannot be done with one, we know and understand clearly that it is neither even nor odd; rather, it is the cause of every even number and every odd number, and through its multiplication every number is even or odd. One is the cause of one, and through it one is one. And therefore the author of Sefer yetsirah said “ten numbers [sefirot]” for if we remove one from the ten we are left with nine, which is the final number according to the wisdom of the Creator, may His name be blessed, and which is the basis of all numbering in the world. Thus, the people of India set the number of their letters at nine. And I have said about this, in stronger and clearer words than these, in the books I composed on the arithmetic of the Indians.

But when he said, “and the one covenant is placed in the middle, in the circumcision of the tongue and the circumcision of the flesh,” he wished to say that in truth man is the mediating center between the ten fingers, a singularity between pairs. For there are an even number of fingers [and toes], and the member is singular and separate, mediating between the ten fingers and toes.

And he called it “one covenant,” since the one who founded this book, namely, our father Abraham, was the first of those who affirmed God’s oneness and the first of those who worshiped the One God. For his father, Terah, was not of those who affirm God’s oneness, but one who worshiped [gods] other than the Creator. And God commanded Abraham to circumcise—to be a covenant, and the proof of this is the odd-numbered member which is the member between him and his creator. And [He commanded] that it be an inscribed and preserved commandment for him and for his seed and seed’s seed, to the end of all generations, to know that Abraham was the first of those who affirmed God’s oneness who served the One Creator, and therefore He said, “and circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, etc.” and He said further, “You shall certainly circumcise, etc.” And he made circumcision a powerful sign in the member of [the divine] Oneness since our father Abraham was the first of those who affirmed God’s Oneness and he was the first to circumcise. And he let us know he set it in this so that Oneness would not ever leave his seed.