Masonic, Occult and Esoteric Online Library
Zohar: Bereshith to Lekh Lekha
By Nurho de Manhar
Previous Worlds and Races
"These (aleh) are the generations (children or races) of the heavens and the earth" (Gen. xi., 4). It has been stated that in every passage of Scripture that the word aleh occurs, there is no connection with what precedes it. This is the ease with the passage just quoted. Its logical reference and connection is with the words "tohu," and "bohu" (without form and void) in the second verse of Gen. i. There are those who say that the Holy One created worlds and then destroyed them. Why were they destroyed? Because, as the Scripture says, "the earth was tohu and bohu," indicating the state of former worlds before their destruction. But would it not have been better if he had24b-25a not created them? Most certainly it would, and the explanation involves a great mystery. if you ask an explanation of what and wherefore He destroyed them, our reply is this: In the first place the Holy One never has destroyed the work of his hands. The scripture referring to the heavens, states: "The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old as a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner" (Is. li. 6), from which it has been inferred that the Holy One creates and destroys worlds with their inhabitants according to a certain law. The fact is, that the Holy One created the, world and its population through the law expressed esoterically in the word "brashith," and referred to in the following passage:
"The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, and before he had created anything I was with him" (Prov. viii. 22); and by this brashith (beginning) he created the heavens and the earth, the foundations of which were based on "berith" (law or covenant), the letters of which are contained in br(ash)ith. It is of this berith that scripture speaks: "If the law (or covenant) I have made had not existed, there would have been no day nor night, heaven nor earth" (Jer. xxxiii. 25), and it is of this law the Scripture further states: "The heavens are the Lord's," and he has given the earth to the children of men. (Ps. cxv. 16.) By the earth the Psalmist means our earth or world, which is one of seven worlds or earths referred to by David: "I will walk before the Lord in the lands or earths of the living" (Ps. cxvi. 9). If, therefore, the Lord created worlds and destroyed them by reducing them to a state of tohu and bohu before the creation of the heavens and the earth, it was because the berith or law of such creation was not yet elaborated or existent. This is why the earth has escaped the fate of previous worlds.
At first God made known this law by the symbolism of circumcision to the heathen nations of antiquity; but, as they were unwilling to accept it, the earth remained barren and unfruitful. This is the esoteric meaning of the words, "Let the waters be gathered into one place" (Gen. i. 8), signifying the secret doctrine or knowledge of the divine law; "into one place" designates Israel, whose spiritual derivation is from the place of which it is said, "Blessed be the glory of the Lord in his place" (Ez. iii. 12), meaning by "the Glory of the Lord" the lower Shekina, and "in his place" the Shekina on high. As the souls of Israel are unified with it, therefore Jehovah is with them and over them, for it is written, "The portion of the Lord is his people" (Deuter. xxxii. 9). For this reason, the Scripture also saith, "Let the waters be gathered together in one place";25a that is, Israel who accepted the law, and "let the dry land or element appear"; that is, the idolatrous nations who, unwilling to receive it, have remained barren and sterile.
This, then, is the explanation of what has been erroneously said: "God created worlds and destroyed them" through caprice. It was because of their rejection of and non-conformity to the law of nature. According to traditions that have been handed down, they, that is, the early races and their offspring, were created and called into existence by the second Divine Form, or hypostasis, symbolized by the letter H, as it is written "behibaram" (whom he created), a word which the most ancient teachers maintain ought to be divided and written "behi baram," meaning, God created them by the he. This is why the letter H in this word (an anagram of the name Abraham) is found written in the Pentateuch smaller than the other letters, and implying the barrenness and infertility of the heathen during the fifth or He millenium after creation, which led up to the destruction of the first and second temples.
Moses, because he wished to bring these nations to a knowledge of the Divine, believing they had been created by the Divine Form called He, was greatly disappointed and grieved when God said to him: "Go, get thee down, for thy people have sinned" (Ex. xxxii. 7), in that they have failed in love to H and reverence to V that were due unto them, and have fallen from that high state of spiritual elevation represented by V, the letter which proceeds and is derived from the L and H, and descended from on high along with H in order that not a single soul should be lost of those who had inhabited previous worlds that had entered into pralaya, symbolized by the captivity of Israel. The souls of the Antediluvians (ereb rah) emanated from those to whom Scripture refers. "For the heavens shall disappear like smoke and the earth wax old as a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner" (Is. li. 6). They are also those for whom Noah was unwilling to intercede, and therefore it is written of them, "And they were destroyed from the earth" (Gen. vii. 23). They were the same souls of whom it is also written, "Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven" (Deuter. xxv. 19).
Unthinkingly, Moses caused to descent the being called He among these men, and was therefore denied the privilege of25a entering into the Holy Land until He returned to its former place on high. When He descended from above Vau came down also. Who shall raise He again on high? It is Vau whose presence was not with Moses (the word Moses is written without a Vau). This is why the letter He in "behibaram," an anagram as stated of Abraham, is written smaller than the other letters in the book of the law, and to which scripture alludes. "He brought them forth out of Egypt" by means of the Vau who, at the same time, brought out the He. When the Vau and He became conjoined, the vow was made. "The hand of God upon his throne shall be raised against Amalek, the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation" (Ex. xvii. 16), "yod al cas Jah milehamah la Jehovah beamalek."
What is the signification of the words, "from generation to generation"? They allude to the time of Moses. We have been informed by ancient masters that a generation is in number equivalent to 600,000 souls, and there exists a tradition that in the time of Moses each woman bore in her womb potentially the same number of embryos.
After the deluge the souls of the antediluvians incarnated in five different races or nations, viz., the Nephilim (fallen or degraded), Giborim (mighty ones), Anakim (tall ones), Rephaim (the giants), and Amalekim (Amalekites). It was through the last of these that He fell from on high. Balaam and Balak were descendants of Amalek. Take Ain and Mim (a and m) from the former, L and K from the latter, and the remaining letters form the word Babel, and the subtracted letters the name Amalek. It is of them that Scripture refers, "therefore is the name of it called Babel because the Lord did there confound (babel) the language of the earth" (Gen. xl. 9). And they were they who survived the catastrophe of the deluge of whom it is said: "He destroyed every living thing on the face of the earth" (Gen. vii. 23).
These five races survived till the time of the fourth captivity of Israel, whose chief enemies they were, and therefore called instruments of iniquity. They are denoted in Scripture by the words, "And the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence" (Gen. vi. 11). Of these, the first race was the Amalekites. Of the Nephilim it is recorded, "And the sons of God beheld the daughters of men that they were fair" (Gen. vi. 2). They were also the second in rank of the angel hosts that were cast out of heaven and became incarnated.
