Poem: On Creation

Late 11th Century

About This Entry

Sahlal ben Nethanel’s poetic recapitulation of Sefer yetsirah (Book of Creation) summarizes and interprets this enigmatic work. The 248-line poem reviews the history of Israel until the Maccabees, suggesting that it was intended for synagogue recitation during the festival of Hanukkah. The poem, however, focuses on nature’s miracles, the angels, Jewish history, and Sahlal’s own tribulations. This excerpt comments on Sefer yetsirah, particularly the thirty-two paths (a sum reached by the twenty-two letters and the ten digits), and mentions the four Aristotelean elements, all of which participated in the creation of the world. The second section here closes with a prayer for divine gifts. This text attracted the attention of as important a figure as Jacob ben Meir (Rabbenu Tam), among others.

One should praise the nation of people of proper understanding,

which brings healing to all who are crushed.

Our God’s name is lofty and His speech;

He cannot be evaluated, nor has He anyone in His league.

He created, with thirty-two paths,

His universe, and all that is gathered in it.¹

With ten of them, the numbering to create the celestial spheres.²

The first of them is the force of the highest of choice things.

The second is the extended force,

beyond the divine force, for the choice things

that are created through it are the four elements,

such as the land, with all its hills and mountains.

The third is the nature of the earth

and the splendid, mighty strength of the air.

From clay and muck and ice

the earth is made, and stones.³

The fourth is the flame of fire, from which

God’s servants, the [angelic] men, are made.

They serve our God in awe,

and are stationed in his service, bounded in.

And all this [creation] is through mighty letters,⁴

which God made for Himself and elevated.

They are yod and vav, signed in the skies above.

Through them, He spread out the heavens, expressing them.

And from the heh and the yod and the vav,

the Rock spread them firmly,⁵ and established the luminaries in them.

Afterwards, he signed the earth,

down to the bottom of the foundations of creation.

He signed it with yod heh vav, and it was silent,

like lamps, illuminating all sides.

The twenty-two letters are allusions,

more precious than luxurious gold.

Through them, understand everything, all collected knowledge,

and all assembled obscure and recondite matters,

and every law and sweet commandment,

which provide refreshment to the muscles.

[The letters] are inscribed over all speech,

and alef, mem, and shin are called “mothers.”⁶ [ . . . ]

To every place where Jeshurun⁷ was exiled,

the divine presence dwelled with them, through the generations.

In Egypt and the city of Babylon,⁸ and Elam,

He made them favorable⁹ in all lands where they dwelt.

And since the time their dominion ended,

they are closed¹⁰ by And yet for all that¹¹ and Your mercy.

Just as He showed vengeance in early times,

so may He show it in other times.

May we be consoled, as a man’s mother consoles him,

and a man restores his children to his table.

And may God’s dwelling¹² be elevated above all mountains,

with agates and carbuncles and white marble.

May He then be an eternal joy, leading His people,

and may the scholars take delight in all types of consolation.

And, especially, may God [give] to Sahlal ben Nethanel

all manner of sheep,¹³ and may he be with the righteous.

May I show honor to His name with great honor,

to visit him every morning, at dawn.

With all my strength, through all my time on earth, [until] I am gone,¹⁴

to the Rock of Jacob I shall express praise and songs.

Translated by Gabriel Wasserman.

Notes

[A reference to the beginning of Sefer yetsirah, that says God created the universe with thirty-two “paths”: ten numbers (sefirot) and twenty-two letters of the alphabet. The poet will go on to list various “numbers” and “letters” according to his understanding. Although in later times the ten “numbers” would be identified as the famous ten sefirot of kabbalah, that is not their meaning here.—Trans.]

[Despite the similarity in sound, there is no known etymological connection between sefirot and the English word spheres (Greek sphairai); the Hebrew word for spheres is galgalim.—Trans.]

[Lit. chalk-stones.—Trans.]

[The various letters of the Tetragrammaton, yod, heh, and vav.—Trans.]

[Hebrew reka‘am, from the same root as rakia‘, “the firmament.”—Trans.]

[These letters are called thus in Sefer yetsirah.—Trans.]

[A poetic name for the Jewish people (see Deuteronomy 32:15).—Trans.]

[I.e., Persia.—Trans.]

[I.e., He made it such that their rulers and neighbors would be kindly disposed to them.—Trans.]

[Perhaps: their persecution and exile are limited.—Trans.]

[The opening words of Leviticus 26:44, where God promises never to abandon the Israelites, even in exile.—Trans.]

[The Temple.—Trans.]

[Alternatively: pillows, representative of wealth (as are sheep). In any event, the syntax and meaning of the whole line are uncertain.—Trans.]

[Syntax difficult; meaning of Hebrew uncertain.—Trans.]