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THEART OF METOPOSCOPY:A STUDY IN ISAAC LURIA'S

CHARISMATICKNOWLEDGEby

LAWRENCEFINE

Amongstthe most importantroles whichIsaac Luria(1534-1572),thepreeminentkabbalistof sixteenth-centuryafed,playedin the lives of hisdiscipleswasthatof physicianof the soul. Before heycouldpracticeritualswhichwereintended o enablethem to bindtheirsoulsto the divinerealm,and to "repair" hat realm in accordancewith the teachingsof Lurianicmythology,his discipleshad first to mend their ownsouls, to cleanse andpurify hem of all imperfection.'No individualwhose own soulhad failedtoachievea certain evel of perfection ouldhopeto engagesuccessfullyn the

1. The major exposition of Lurianicmythology is by I. Tishby, Torat ha-Ra ve-ha-Kelippahbe-Kabbalatha-Ari (Jerusalem, 1960). See also idem, "Gnostic Doctrines in Sixteenth CenturyJewish Mysticism," Journal of Jewish Studies 6 (1955); G. Scholem, Major Trendsin JewishMysticism (New York, 1941), lecture 7; idem, Sabbatai Sevi (Princton, 1973), pt. 1. For ageneral introduction to the religious life of Safed in the sixteenth century, see L. Fine, SafedSpirituality (New York, 1984).

79


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80 LAWRENCE FINEintricatendelaborateontemplativeituals-suchastheYibudim2-whichLuria devised. A person had to undergo a period during which he cultivatedcertain spiritualand moral traits and atoned for whatever sins he might havecommitted.Luria, n fact,providedhisfollowerswithhighlydetailedritualsof atonementbywhichtheywereto mendtheirsouls. Thesepenitentialactswere known as tikkuneiavonot "amendsof sin") whose purpose,in thewords of IHayyim ital'sson Shmuel,wasto "mendhis soul" and "cleansehim from the filth of the diseaseof his sins."3HayyimVital(1542-1620),Luria's chief disciple, himself introduces the tikkunei avonot with a dis-cussion of the relationshipbetween one's soul and sin.4 The followingpassage providesa lucid account of the Lurianictheory of sin and theeffectiveness f genuinerepentance:

Man is created rom matterand fromform,which consists of soul [nefesh],spirit[ruah], ndsuper-soul neshamah],he divineportion romabove,asit issaid: "and[God]breathed ntohisnostrils he breath nishmat] f life"[Gen.2:7]. And his body is dark matterfrom the side of the "shell," uringandpreventingmanfrom[achieving] erfection f hissoul [in order] o cutit [i.e.,his soul] off from the Treeof Life .... and so "there s not a righteousmanuponthe earth that doethgood and sinnethnot" [Eccles.7:20].It is knownthatsin is a blemish, tain,and rust n thesoul,andthat it is thesicknessofthepuresoul. When t [isimmersed]n filthandstain, t is unable o perceive ndachieve the true perfection,which is [attainmentof] the mysteriesof theTorah.... And the transgression ecomesa barrier eparatinghe soul fromher Creator,preventingher from perceivingand comprehending oly andpuresupernalmatters,as it is said:"The aw of the Lord s perfect,restoringthe soul" [Ps. 19:8]....When the soul is pureand unblemished,hen the supernalholy matterstake shapein her,andwhen she dwellsin rust and staineverything ecomesbittersweeti.e.,evilappears sgood]. [This s] similar o thesickpersonwho,when he is ill, abhorsthe good thingsand loves thingswhichaggravatehis

2. For a detailed study of the Yihzudim,ee L. Fine, "The Contemplative Practice ofYihudim n Lurianic Kabbalah," in Jewish Spirituality,ed. A. Green, vol. 2 (Crossroad, forth-coming).3. The tikkunei avonotare discussed in Sha'ar Ruaz ha-Kodesh of the ShemonahShe'arim,pp. 40-64 (see below, n. 4). They are studied in the above-mentioned article.4. Hayyim Vital was responsible for the most detailed versions of Lurianic teachings,among which the ShemonahShe'arim ("Eight Gates") is the most important. All referencestothe Shemonah She'arim are to the Yehudah Ashlag edition (Tel Aviv, 1962).


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THE ART OF METOPOSCOPY 81illness.The doctor,in orderto restorehis health,giveshim spices, ncludinggall, bywhichhis naturewill return o what t originallywas,andhishealthasbefore.So, too, the sicksoul,to remove he sicknessromher,mustreceive hebitternessof medicineand "return"n [theform of] mortification ndfasts,sackcloth,ashes,and stripes,ritual mmersions,and purificationsrom filthand the stains of sin. [Thisis] in orderto be able to attainandcomprehendsupernalmatters,whichare the mysteriesof the world.5

Only the weapons of ascetic piety are potent enough to cleanse the soulof the filth that clings to it. Luria himself, proclaims Vital, is the diagnosti-cian and healer of diseased souls! Luria's powers stem from the spirit ofprophecy which he possessed, meriting him divine light and esoteric knowl-edge with which to teach his followers. But Luria only revealed hisknowledge to those disciples who were completely pure and worthy. To thisend he prescribed for each of his students personalized penitential deeds tomeet their specific needs.

He would not revealany of the mysteriesof this holy knowledge o one inwhose soul he perceived,with the aid of the Holy Spirit,a blemish-until hegave himpenitentialacts to straighten ut all he did crookedly.And liketheexpertdoctorwhoprescribesor eachsickperson hepropermedicine o curethisillness,so too [IsaacLuria],mayhe rest npeace,used o recognizehesin,tell himwherehe had incurreda blemish,andprescribeor himthepeniten-tial act needed for this transgressionn order to cleansehis soul, so that hecould receive he divinelight, as it is written:"O Jerusalem,washthy heartfrom wickedness, hat thou mayestbe saved"[Jer.4:14].6

Isaac Luria did what any good physician would do; he carefullydiagnosed the specific maladies which his "patient" had and prescribed theappropriate cure. Among the several diagnostic techniques which Luriahadat his disposal, according o HayyimVitalandothers,the mostimportantappears to have been his capacity to discern and interpret the meaning ofHebrew letters visible upon an individual's forehead, a variation on themedieval art known as metoposcopy.

Metoposcopy was one of the wide array of divinatory or mantic artspracticed especially in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, along with

5. Sha'ar Ruah ha-Kodesh of the Shemonah She'arim, p. 39 (hereafter cited as SRH).6. SRH, p. 40.


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82 LAWRENCE FINEsimilar arts such as chiromancy palmistry)and physiognomy form andshape of variousother physicalfeatures,particularlyacial features).Aswith these other "sciences,"metoposcopywas employedfor purposesofjudgingan individual's haracterand personality,and in manycases, forpredictingone's future.As Jewishsources hemselvesattest,a variationofthis artwas known at least as earlyas lateantiquity,but it flourished n theMiddleAges and most especially n the Renaissance. n the sixteenthandseventeenth enturies he publicationof metoposcopicworksproliferated.Like chiromancy,metoposcopywas primarily oncernedwith the signifi-canceof lines, in this case, on the forehead,and was typicallyassociatedwith astrologicalnotions.'Thepurposeof thepresent tudy s to examine hetheoryandpracticeofmetoposcopy accordingto Lurianicteachings, and, more broadly, toexplorethewaysin which Luria'sdisciplesregardedhistypeof knowledgeon theirmaster'spart.

In the various lists detailingIsaac Luria'sextraordinary bilitieswithwhich our sourcesprovideus, one of the standard tems is his skill atmetoposcopy.Concerningisattainments,t is impossibleor oneto relate hem even]ngeneralerms,no less in detail.However,hesearethewondrousndtruethingswhich witnessed ithmyowneyes:He knewhowto makea futuresoulappear efore im,as wellasthesoulof aliving rdeceasederson,romamongheearlyas wellas later ages.He could nquire f themwhatever ewishedoncerningnowledgefthefuture ndsecretmysteriesftheTorah.TheprophetElijah,mayhismemoryeablessing, ould lsoappearo himand eachhim.He couldalsorecognizehe etters n theforeheadnd[wasadept t]thescience fphysiognomy,swellas at[recognizing]he ightshatareupon he skinandbodyof anindividual.Hewasalso skilled t recog-

7. For treatments of non-Jewish approaches to metoposcopy, see L. Thorndike, A Historyof Magic and ExperimentalScience (New York, 1923-58), especially vols. 6-8; K. Seligman,Magic, SupernaturalismandReligion (New York, 1948), pp. 256-261; S. Alexandrian, Histoirede la philosophie occulte (Paris, 1983), pp. 201-203. Concerning the development of thephysiognomic arts in Judaism, see nn. 11-12 below.


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THE ART OF METOPOSCOPY 83

nizing]the lightsin the hair,the chirpingof birds,and thelanguageof treesandplants.[He understood] ven thespeechof inanimate hings,asScripturesays:"Forthe stoneshallcryout of the wall [andthe beam out of the timbershallanswer t]" [Hab. 2:11]. [He knew]the languageof the burningcandleand the flamingcoal; he was able to see the angelswho announceall theproclamations fromon high],as is well known,and to conversewith them.His knowledgewasexpertconcerning ll theplantsand thegenuineremedies[which heyprovided].Therearemanyothersuch hingswhichcannotevenberelated. Those who hear of them will not believethem when told. I haverecorded hat whichmy eyes have seen in all truth.8

The theoretical basis for the recognition of letters upon the forehead(.hokhmatha-par;uf) has to do with

a set of kabbalistic beliefs concerningthe relationship between language and creation as a whole. These beliefs goback, in part, to the first systematic attempt at speculative thought inHebrew, the Sefer Yetirah, probably written sometime between the thirdand sixth centuries.' According to the opening chapter of this brief andhighly enigmatic book, God brought all of creation into existence "bymeans of thirty-two wondrous paths of wisdom." These thirty-two pathscomprise "ten sefirot beli mah," the ten fundamental numbers, and thetwenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The bulk of the book's specula-tive efforts concern the function and role of these letters in the process ofcosmogony. Everythingthat exists came into being through combinations ofthe alphabet's letters, particularly by means of two hundred and thirty-one"gates," combinations of the letters into sets of two in which every letter ofthe alphabet is joined to every other. All existence is invested with thesedifferent combinations of letters and is nourished by their power.When, centuries later, medieval kabbalists appropriated the ideas of theSefer Ye;irah, this linguistically founded world was understood as an

8. SRH, p. 19. Other versions of this list are found in Sefer ha-Gilgulim(Przemysl, 1875),p.26; Shivhei ha-Ari (Bardejov, 1929), pp. 6-7; Sefer Toledotha-Ari, ed. M. Benayahu (Jerusa-lem, 1967), p. 156; Eleh Toledot Yighak, Benayahu, pp. 248-251.9. For discussion of the Sefer Yegirah,see G. Scholem, UrsprungundAnfdngeder Kabbala(Berlin, 1962), pp. 20-29; idem, "The Name of God and the Linguistic Theory of theKabbalah," Diogenes 79 (1972): 59-80; idem, Kabbalah(New York, 1974), pp. 23-30. See aswell the studies by I. Weinstock and N. Aloni in Temirin,vol. 1 (Jerusalem, 1972), pp. 9-99.Luria's use of the Sefer Yepirahn this connection is explicitly acknowledged, SRH, pp. 15-16.For broader discussions of the relationship between language and Kabbalah, see G. Scholem,On the Kabbalahand Its Symbolism (New York, 1965), pp. 32-86; idem, the Diogenes articlementioned above, as well as its continuation in Diogenes 80 (1972): 164-194.


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84 LAWRENCE FINEexpressionof divineself-disclosure r emanation.According o thisconcep-tion, the Hebrew ettersand their combinationsarenot merely nstrumentsby which the Creatorwroughtcreation,but formsassumedby the divineitself. Thatis, not only can the revelationof deitybe describedn termsofthe ten sefirot, the most familiarand typical symbolic system of thekabbalists,but it can beimaginedas well as the everunfoldingwordof Godwhich expresses tself in a virtually nfinitevarietyof combinationsandgradations.In this symbolism he Torahis understood o comprisea vastnetworkof "names,"each of whichsignifiesa particular oncentration fdivine power or energy.As such these "names"possess a plenitudeofmeaningnot exhaustedby conventionalhumanlanguage.Nowhere s thedivine/linguistic onstitution f allcreationmoreevidentthan in the case of humanbeingsthemselves.According o HIayyimVital,thetwenty-twoettersof thealphabetarepresent n eachof the threeaspectsof the human soul, in ascendinghierarchicalorder, nefesh, ruab, andneshamah. Each s constructed,o to speak,on the basisof thelettersof theHebrewalphabet.The character ndqualityof each set of lettersare some-whatdifferentn accordancewiththe different evels of the soul'stripartitedivision.The letterspresent n the nefeshare small, those of the ruabaremedium n size, and those of the neshamah re largestof all. Thesethreedimensions of soul clothe one another,as it were, with the body's skinconstitutinghe outercoveringof all. In the case of a wicked ndividual, helights/lettersof the soul remaincovered and concealedby the skin. Butwhena personperfectshimselfbypracticinghe commandmentsndstudy-ing the Torah,he graduallypurifies he variouspartsof soul,thusenablingthe powerand lightof the letters withineachpartto come to the surface.

10. SRH, p. 16. This idea is already found in the Zohar, in the context of its discussion ofphysiognomic matters. See, for example, Zohar 2, 73a, where we learn that the mystery of thetwenty-two letters is engraved within the ruah of an individual, and that these letters canappear on the face.According to the anthropological views of the Kabbalah, the soul is considered to havethree aspects. The nefeshis automatically present and active in every individual; the two moreelevated levels, however, are latent. These manifest themselves only in the case of persons whoare spiritually advanced and who have strived to develop themselves through religious activity.Such activity aids in the cultivation of the higher powers of cognition and results in the fullestmaturation of the soul. Later kabbalists-including the Lurianists-added two other levels ofsoul. These are hayyah and yehidah, and are considered to represent still higher stages ofspiritual attainment, present only in the most select figures. These two aspects of soul do notfigure in the Lurianic discussion of metoposcopy.


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THE ART OF METOPOSCOPY 85Thelettersare unveiledandmanifest hemselvesn a waywhich s visibletothe skilledeye.Theappearance f the letterson theskin allows one whocanrecognize hem and determineheirmeaningvirtually o see the divinepartof the humanpersonality, he soul itself. One "sees" the soul in the sensethat the lettersare a relativelymaterial xpressionof that which s otherwiseimmaterial. n the case of one who has sufficientlymendedall threegradesof soul, the entirealphabetbelonging o eachgradewillappear,at onetimeor another,on the body's skin, most especiallyupon the forehead."Accordingto Vital, the foreheaddisclosesthe soul's lettersbest of all,due,in part,to the fact that the lettersof thealphabetasawholecorrespondto the sefirahBinah,which,in turn, is symbolizedby the forehead."2 he

11. SRH, pp. 15-16. The primary Lurianic account of metoposcopy is found in SRH, pp.15-22. The earliest Jewish interest in physiognomy, in general, appearsto go back to a Qumrandocument, published as 4Q 186. According to this text certain physiognomic criteria, such asthe size and shape of the thighs, toes, fingers, hair, eyes, beard, teeth, height, and quality ofvoice, can be examined to ascertain an individual's moral and spiritual status. Such criteria,along with a person's zodiacal sign, were used to determinea person's fitness for membershipinthe "House of Light,"that is, the righteous among Israel. Concerning this, see Discoveries in theJudean Desert, vol. 5, QumranCave 4, ed. J. M. Allegro (Oxford, 1968), pp. 89-91.Physiognomic considerations play little role in conventional rabbinicmaterials, but were ofgreat interest to the Merkavah mystics. As in the Qumran text, the Merkavah literature indi-cates that physiognomic criteria were employed to determine eligibility for admission into thecircle of mystics. These criteria have to do with the characterof the nose, lips, eyes, eyebrows,eyelashes, and sexual organs, although greatest significance was attached to the lines and lettersupon the palm and forehead. These texts already speak, albeit in an unsystematic and exceed-ingly obscure way, of certain letters which appear on the hand and forehead. The primary textin this connection is Hakkarat Panim le-Rabbi Yishmael,which speaks of twelve letters that arevisible on the forehead, although it does not specify which letters these are. This chapter andrelated materials are analyzed in two articles by G. Scholem, "Hakkarat Panim ve-SidreiSirtutin," in Sefer Assaf (Jerusalem, 1953), pp. 459-495 (see particularly, pp. 481-485), and"Ein Fragment zur Physiognomik und Chiromantic aus der Spatantikenjudischen Esoteric,"in Liber Amicorum: Studies in Honor of Professor Dr. C. J. Bleeker (Leiden, 1969); see alsoidem, "Chiromancy," in Scholem's Kabbalah (Jerusalem, 1974), pp. 317-319; I. Gruenwald,"Ketaim .Hadashimmi-Sifrut Hakkarat Panim ve-Sidrei Sirtutin," Tarbiz40 (1971): 301-319;idem, Apocalyptic and Merkavah Mysticism (Leiden, 1980), pp. 218-224. The most extensivetreatment of physiognomy, chiromancy, and metoposcopy in medieval Jewish literature, priorto the Lurianic texts, is found in the zoharic corpus. Concerning this, see below, n. 12.12. SRH, pp. 15-16. While the Lurianic notions of metoposcopy described here do notappear to have any direct link to the material found in the Merkavah literature(see above, n.11), they are unmistakably indebted, at least to some degree, to the fairly extensive discussionsin the zoharic corpus. The literature of the Zohar treats physiognomic, chiromantic, andmetoposcopic issues in several places, including: (1) Zohar 2, 71a-78a (along with the parallelversion in Raza de-Razin); (2) Zohar 2, 272b-276a; (3) Zohar Iadash 35b-37c; and (4)TikkuneiZohar, tikkun 70. These speculations are based, in part, on exegesis of Exodus 18:21.


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86 LAWRENCE FINEparticular etters which appearon a person'sforeheaddepend upon thecommandmentswhich that individualperformsproperly.For there is aletterto correspond o each and every precept althoughwe areinformedaboutonly a few of the details of this correspondence). hus, the personwhoperformsall the commandmentsn a regularbasis,andin whom thereis no sin,willbearallthe lettersuponhisforehead.Certainetters,however,will appearmore brightlythan at other times under various conditions.Whenoneperformsparticularmi;vot, heappropriateettersshineespecial-ly brightlyon thatsameday.Sometimesa certainword-such as thewordbayyim signaling hat a personcanexpectto continue n life)-will appearbrieflyand thendisappear.One skilled n this art, then,must be careful ogaze at the righttime upon an individual's orehead.An exception s thedeedof charity ;edakah),whose lettersremainshiningbrightlyuponone'sforeheadfor an entire week. This is demonstratedby the scriptural ext:"And his righteousness ;idkato]endureth orever" Ps. 111:3).Thelevelof soulwhichone has achieved s also discernible n the basisof the size of the letterswhichappear.Thus,if a personhas onlyperfectedthe levelof nefesh,heletterswillbe small,andso on. If an individualmani-festsonlyonesetof letters,havingattainedonlythe level of nefesh,and morethanoneof a particularetter s requiredo spellout a wordon hisforehead,the letterwillinitiallyappearbrightlyn oneplace ntheword,andreappeara secondor third time as needed.The lettersof the alphabetalsopossessa sefiroticcorrespondence. hatis, it is possibleto identifydifferent etterswitheachof the tensefirot. By

While I plan to analyze these materials elsewhere, it is worth noting here certain substantialdifferences between the Zohar's discussions and the Lurianic one: (1) Whereas the Zohar treatsin some detail the severalsubjectsof physiognomy, chiromancy, and metoposcopy-discussingthe significance of the hair, forehead, eyes, face, lips, lines on the hand, and the ears-Luria wasalmost exclusively concerned with metoposcopy, that is, the forehead. He takes up othermatters in the most passing way. (2) The Zohar's analysis of metoposcopy is mostly concernedwith the shape of the forehead and with the lines or creases appearing in it, and far less withletters. In Luria's case, on the other hand, there is no discussion of anything but the letters andwords which manifest themselves. (3) Whereas the Zohar's discussion incorporates elements ofastrological speculation, the Lurianic account has only the briefestpassing referenceto this (seeSRH, p. 16) and is clearly not genuinely concerned with astrology. (4) The Zohar tends toindicate how physical characteristics, such as the shape of the forehead or eyes, signify certainmoral and spiritual traits in general ways. Thus, for example, a person is said to be inclinedtoward anger, impulsiveness, or joyfulness. In our texts, Luria is able to determine the specificsins or righteous acts which a person has performed.


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THE ART OF METOPOSCOPY 87virtueof this one can ascertain he sefiroticroot of a person'ssoul, for theappropriateetters will appearmorefrequently han the others.'3The recitationof the one hundredberakhotblessings)requireddailyofeveryindividualalso inducesthe manifestationof letters.14Forjust as the613 mi;vot as a whole have their correspondingetters, so too do theberakhot hatone recites,such as in thecourseof dailyprayer.Thelightsofthe letterswhich appearon the skin as a result of recitingberakhotarespecial nsofarasthere s light surroundingachletter; hissurroundingightis moreluminescenthan thatof the letter tself.Ifoneseesthattheoppositeis the case, that the lightof the letter s more intensethanthe surroundinglight, it signalsthat the blessingwas not performedproperly.Moreover, fone fails to performcertainberakhot ltogether, heircorrespondingettersdo not appearat all. If a berakhahs recitedwitha mistake, hen the letterwill appearbut will be incompleteor imperfectlyormed.And if it is per-formed correctly,but without appropriatecontemplative ntention, theletterwill be present,but will be dark and unillumined.If theappearance fletterssignifiesvirtuousbehavior, hentheirabsenceindicatessinfulness,be it a sin of commissionor omission. One who isresponsiblefor some transgressionwill be lacking in the correspondingletters,whichwillthereby ail to display hemselves n hisforehead. ndeed,someoneuponwhose foreheadnolettersarediscernible anexpectto meethis death withinthirtydaysunlesshe performsactsof greatrestitutionandrepentance.Thereare other indicationsof the presenceof sinfulness,or that some-thing tragichas befallen the individual nvolved.Sometimesa particularletter will appearbrokenin the middle.In the case of the letterbet, forexample,this indicatesthat one's son has died.At othertimeslettersmayappearupsidedownor lyingon their side. There s one letter,forexample,which, if it appearsabnormally,ndicatesthat a man has had intercoursewith his wife in an impropermanner.In this connection,Vital relatesaninterestingncident.The wife of a certain ndividualhaddemandedof himthatheengage n intercourse,omethingwhichhe didn'twantto do, since t

13. SRH, p. 17.14. Ibid., p. 18. According to B.T. Menabot 43b, R. Yose declares it to be the duty of every-one to recite one hundred blessings daily, whereas Numbers Rabbah 18 indicates that KingDavid instituted the one hundred daily blessings.15. SRH, p. 16.


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88 LAWRENCE FINE

happenedto be a weekdayrather than Sabbath,the preferred ime formarital ove. Luria nformedVitalthat he hadrecognizedhe lettergimelontheman'sforehead,butthatit appearedupsidedown.Thegimel,Luria oldVital,symbolizeshesefirahYesod,hesefirahassociatedwithmaleprocrea-tive vitality,humananddivine. Insofaras the man involveddid not intendto stimulateYesodby havingsex at whathe considered o be an impropertime,thegimelappearedn this unusualmanner.Luria ndicated hat suchan act should not be considereda transgression,despitethe fact that itoccurredon a weekday.Wereit a sin the letterwould have been turnedupsidedown,but would not haveshonebrightlyas it did.Ingeneral,whenalettermanifeststselfupsidedown,it signifies hatthe realmof thefeminineis involved.For this reason,the letterson the foreheadof a malewhosesoul-ancestry gilgul)derives romthe feminine ide of the divinestructurewill consistentlyappearupsidedown.16If a personexperiences nocturnal mission tumatkeri),saysLuria, heevidenceof hisimpuritywillappearon his forehead hefollowingday.If heseeksto cleansehimselfof thisimpurity hroughritual mmersionn water,then the evidencewillremainduring he daybutwillbe only mildlyvisible.However, f he does not undergo itual mmersion,hesinwillbediscernibleuntil he does so.The transgressions f a personwho, by virtueof other deedshe hascarriedout, merits the "extra"soul which people can acquireon theSabbath,will not be visible upon the foreheadduringthe course of theSabbath tself.This is due to the fact that thepowersofevil havenopotencyon the Sabbath.The verypresenceof the additionalSabbathsoul can bedeterminedby gazing uponthe forehead.For as soon as one performs heritual mmersion equired spreparationortheSabbath, he extraSabbathsoul manifests tself, the evidencefor which is found upon his forehead.Interestingly,we learnthat scholarsof the Torahexperiencea specialkindof dispensation. f aperson s agreatscholarofTorah,andparticularlyif he is a studentof Kabbalah(hokhmat a-emet),his studyhas theeffectofcoveringover the sins for which he is responsible,providing hat they areminortransgressions.n suchinstances,one'ssinsare not visibleupontheforehead."If, however, heyaresignificant ins,thentheywillbe discerni-ble, scholarlymeritnotwithstanding.

16. Ibid., p. 17.17. Ibid., p. 22.


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THE ART OF METOPOSCOPY 89In this connection, HIayyimVital indicated that there were limitations tohis master's abilities to diagnose the status of the soul on the basis ofmetoposcopy. At times he had to resort to more direct communication withan individual's soul.

He possessedanotherkind of skill;he could call forth the nefesh,ru'ah,orneshamah f an individual,andspeakwith it [directly].Hewould nquireof itandaskit questions,and it would answerwhatever t was he desired o know,evenincludingmattersof detail. He toldme thatthereare somethingswhichhe is unableto discernwhen he gazesuponthe lettersof theforehead,due totheirbeingtoo subtleand concealed.However,whenheinquiresandsearchesout a person'ssoul [directly],hen heis able to learn hingswithgreataccura-cy and clarity.'8While the forehead was the most common place for the materializationof the soul's letters, they could appear on any part of the body. "Know thatin each and every organ of a person's body, there are letters engraved,

informing us about that individual's actions. But the primary place is theforehead, as indicated earlier.""9In addition, other parts of the body havespecial features which are instructive with respect to one's conduct andcharacter, especially the eyes, fingernails, and all types of bodily hair. In thecase of hair, for example, color, length, type of hair, and the way that it lies,all are clues to a person's status, although we are provided no details aboutthis.

There are a substantial number of anecdotal reports by Vital and otherSafed scholars about Isaac Luria's practice of the art of metoposcopy. Suchevidence clearly suggests that Luria actually engaged in this activity, andthat it was not merely a matter for theoretical discussion. Moses Galante,for example, writes that he had personally seen sages who had the ability topractice the art of "determining [the letters on] the countenance."20Similar-

18. Ibid., p. 17.19. Ibid., p. 20. See nn. 11-12 above.20. Kohelet Ya'akov(Safed, 1558), p. 57a.


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90 LAWRENCE FINEly, Elijah de Vidas, author of the influential treatise on kabbalistic piety,Reshit flokhmah, writes:

... oursages aught:"Onseeing hesagesof Israelone shouldsay,'BlessedbeHe who hath mparted f Hiswisdom o themthat fearHim'" [B.T.Berakhot58a]. In Safed, located in the upperGalilee, there have alreadyappearedsagesforwhom t wasappropriateo recite hisblessing.Theywerecapableofpracticing he art of physiognomy[bokhmatha-parguJ]nd were able toinform a manconcerning ll that he had done-whether it wasgood or evil.To be sure,these individualsdid not merit this wonderfulwisdom(which sakin to possessing he Holy Spirit)excepton accountof theirvirtuousdeedsand saintlybehavior.21

There can be little doubt that both Galante and de Vidas had in mindIsaac Luria, although it is interesting to note that each of them implies thatthere may have been others with this skill. Eleazar Azikri preserves a storybearing upon Luria's knowledge of metoposcopy in his Sefer .Haredim.22zikri reports that Luriaonce gazed upon the face of a certain sage and toldhim that "the transgressionof cruelty toward animals is inscribed upon yourcountenance." The distressed man returned home to discover that his wifehad failed to feed their turkeys and had left them to wander in the street.After making sure that his wife took corrective action to care properly forthe animals he came again before Luria. Without knowing what had takenplace, Luriainformed him, upon looking into his face, that the transgressionhad been expiated. The sage then proceeded to tell Luria what had tran-spired. Vital reports an incident in which Luriagazed upon the forehead of acertain sage and informed him that in his entire life this man had neverrecited a certain prayer correctly.23

Elsewhere, we learn in more general terms that Luria "used to recognize,upon the forehead of a man, the virtuous deeds and the sins which he hadcommitted or had contemplated committing. He knew the gravity of theinjury brought about by each transgression, where [on high] the harm hadits impact, and the nature of the harm. He [also] knew the restitution that

21. Elijah de Vidas, Reshit IHokhmah(Venice, 1579), "The Gate of Love," chap. 6.Concerning de Vidas, his relationship to Luria, and Reshit fIokhmah, see Fine, Safed Spirituali-ty, pp. 83 ff.22. Sefer Iaredim (Venice, 1601), p. 25a.23. Peri Ez Hayyim (Jerusalem, 1980), Sha'ar ha-Amidah, chap. 19.


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THE ART OF METOPOSCOPY 91wasrequired for ts repair],n termsof fasts,contemplation, nd therecita-tion of scriptural erses. He wouldprovideeach andevery ndividualwiththe meansof atonement n accordancewith the sin he had committed."24Oursourcesalsoindicate hatLuriautilizedhis skill fora purposeotherthandetermining person'smoralstatus,althoughevenherethesoul'sper-fection was at issue. In Sha'arha-GilgulimVital writes that every singleeveninghis masterwouldgaze upon the face of each of his disciples.Hewould see a scriptural erseshiningupontheforehead; he visualizedversewasone thatpertained o thatparticulartudent's oul, in accordancewiththe Lurianicnotion that everysoul possessesinterpretations f Scripturethatareunique o it. Luriawouldthenpartially xplain he esotericmeaningof the verse, in termsof the significance hat it held for that individual'sspiritual ondition.Thedisciplewasthen nstructed o concentrate pontheexplanationhe hadbeengiven,andto recite heversebeforegoingto sleep.He did thisso thatwhen his soulascended o the upperrealmduringsleep,he might gain full knowledgeof the verse'smeaning.In such a way theindividual's oulwouldincreasen purity,andascend o stillhigher evels nthedivinerealm,where t wouldenjoytherevelationof additionalmysteriesof the Torah.25

ElsewhereVital describesthis activity in a somewhatdifferentway.Luriawouldgazeupontheforeheadof each studentaftersunset,anddeter-minewhatkindof text his soulwouldstudythatnightwhenit ascendedonhigh,be it somerabbinicworksuchastheMishnah,or anesotericone suchas the Zohar.Heretoo he instructed he discipleto recitethis text beforefallingasleep.26Vital also preserves everalanecdotes n which he himselfwasinvolved.Onone occasion,hewrites,Luria dentified helettersalef,bet,andgimelonhis forehead.This demonstrated, ccording o Luria,that Vitalneededtoshowcompassion owardhis father.27n a different ersionof this traditionwe learn that the lettersalef and bet, spellingout the wordav ("father"),werewritten n normalfashion,while the gimelwas upsidedown.28

24. This report is found in a somewhat legendary account of Luria'sactivities, Eleh ToledotYi;bak, ed. Benayahu in his Sefer Toledot ha-Ari, p. 251.25. Sha'ar ha-Gilgulim of the Shemonah She'arim, hakdamah 17.26. Sha'ar ha-Mi;vot, Ve-ethanan,p. 87.27. SRH, p. 17.28. Sefer Toledot ha-Ari. Benayahu, p. 190.


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92 LAWRENCE FINEIn Sefer ha-fIezyonot,Vital's dream diary, he describes an incidentaccording o which Luria is reported,on a Sabbatheve, to have seen on

Vital's forehead the words, "Preparea throne for Hezekiah, king ofJudah." 9This revealedhat he wasinvestedwith thesoul of KingHezekiahas his "extra"Sabbathsoul, saysVital. Sometimeduring hatSabbathdayVital becameangrywhilein his house,by reasonof whichHezekiah's ouldeparted.ThefollowingweekVitalrepented or havingbeenangry,where-upon, on the next Sabbath eve, Luria recognizedthe spirits of bothHezekiahand RabbiAkiva upon Vital'sforehead.Again, however,Vitalexperiencedanger,causingthesespiritsto leave him. After Vital hadweptandrepentedonce againfor the sin of anger,Luria nformedhim that thespiritof BenAzzaihad invested tselfinhim,despite hefact that Ben Azzaiand Vital did not share the samesoul-ancestry.Ben Azzai was, however,Akiva's son-in-law.In this story,then,Luria s reported o havebeenableto determine hecomingandgoing of Vital'svisitingsoulsby gazingon his forehead.It isinterestingo observe hatin this seriesof incidentsLuria s not said to havedeterminedhe deedsfor which Vital was responsible,but the effectthosedeeds had upon his spiritualstate.Inanotherentry n hisdiary,Vitalreportsa storywith a similar heme.30Histeacher s able to explain hemeaningof a dream hat Vitalhadbyrefer-ence to the name of Rami barHami,whichLuriahad seenon Vital's ore-head the eveningbefore. The conclusionLuriareachedwas that Vitalwasinvestedwith the soul of this Babylonian moraic age.In Sha'arha-Mi;votVitalpreserves et anotherstory, according o which he spokethe name ofSamael i.e., Satan)whileconversingwith someoneat night.ThefollowingmorningLuria ookedat his faceand toldhimthat he hadviolated hepro-hibitionagainstuttering he namesof othergods. WritesVital,"he strictlywarned me that under no circumstances,neitherduringthe day nor thenight, shouldI utter Samael'sname."To do otherwisecan haveinjuriousconsequences,causingone to fall preyto sin or to be punished."3The common eaturenthese ncidentss IsaacLuria's ole nbringingo

29. Sefer ha-IHezyonot,ed. A. Z. Aeshcoly (Jerusalem, 1954), p. 165. Concerning Vital'ssoul-ancestry in general, and his relationship to Hezekiah in particular, cf. pp. 143-144, 174,184, 191, 198.30. Sefer ha-IHezyonot,p. 173.31. Sha'ar ha-Mi;vot, Mishpatim, p. 36.


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THE ART OF METOPOSCOPY 93Vital's attentiona sinhe hadcommitted,eitherby explicitly nforminghimof whathehaddonewrongor,as in thecase of the Hezekiah tory,bydeter-miningwhether he soulswith whichhehadbeen nvestedhaddesertedhim.Thesereports,alongwith theonesdescribed arlier,make t clear hat Luriadidnot use thistechnique orpurposesof predictinghefuture;nowherearewe told that Luriahadpropheticknowledgeof what was to come.Rather,he employedthe art of metoposcopy n order to determine he statusof aperson'sspiritualconditionon the basis of his actions.While we cannotknowwhether he incidentsreportedhere occurredasdescribed,whatthesestoriesdo tellus is that Luria'spracticeof this art wassufficientlycommonplacefor it to be mentionedas a matterof fact. InVital'scase the motivation n narratinghese incidentswas not to impressthe readerwith Luria'sskillas much as to informhim about Vitalhimself.The readercould be expectedto be familiarwith the remarkablewisdomand knowledgewhichIsaac Luriaexhibited.

IIIThe accounts by Ijayyim Vital and others concerningIsaac Luria'spracticeof metoposcopyprompt mportantquestionshavingto do with thecharacterof Luria'sknowledgeand the source of his authority.While thepresentstudycannot treat these complexissues in the detailthey deserve,even a generaldiscussion of such questionswill enable us to place thephenomenonof metoposcopywithin a broaderLurianiccontext.Vital's discussionof the variousesotericskills Luriapossessed,and thetypesof knowledgehe exhibited,as seenearlier,32uggests hewayin which

Luria's followers regardedthese abilities. They are, in Vital's words,"wondrousand truethings"which "it is impossible or one to relate."Onehas to witness them in orderto comprehend heir extraordinary ature.Their wondrouscharacterhad to do, in significantpart,with the fact thatthey demonstratedLuria'smasterfulabilityto communicatewith a widerangeof heavenlymessengers.Thus he could speakwith the souls of de-parted sages, from the distantas well as the more recentpast, inquiringofthem"knowledge f the futureandsecretmysteriesof theTorah."He could

32. See above, sec. I.


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94 LAWRENCE FINEcommunicate with the angels on high "who announce all the proclamations... and converse with them." He was able to comprehend the language ofbirds, a language which contains mysteries from above. Most significantly,he experienced revelations from a heavenly agent of even greater importancethan the rest of these, Elijah the prophet. As Vital reports, "Elijah wouldconstantly reveal himself to him, speaking to him directly, and instruct himin these mysteries."33Luria, then, was considered to have easy and ongoingaccess to the heavenly realm, and to be uniquely adept at holding directconversations with a wide assortment of ancient prophets, teachers, andangels.

The deep wisdom, knowledge, and skills acquired by these means, more-over, were believed to be largely unavailable hrough conventional methodsof attaining knowledge of the Torah, namely, intellectual study. Vital makesthis clear in rather explicit terms:

The secretsof theTorahand hermysteries re not revealed o humanbeingsby the powerof theirintellects,but only by meansof divinevitalitywhichflows from on high, throughGod'smessengers ndangels,or throughElijahthe prophet,may his memorybe a blessing.34

Vital amplifies this point in the following words:... thereis no doubt that these matters i.e., esotericknowledge] annot beapprehended y meansof human ntellect,butonly throughKabbalah, romone individual directly]o another,directlyromElijah,mayhismemorybeablessing,or directlyfrom those souls whichreveal themselves n each andevery generation o those who are qualified o receivethem.35

In this context, Vital provides us with Luria's views regardingthe historyof the transmission of kabbalistic knowledge. Kabbalistic mysteries were

33. Sefer ha-Gilgulim, p. 27. The Lurianic literature is replete with stories and referencestoLuria'sexperience of meriting the revelation of Elijah. See, for example, the referencesto Elijahin Sefer Toledotha-Ari, Benayahu, index to the names of individuals, p. 379. Regarding revela-tions of Elijah experienced by earlier kabbalists, see G. Scholem, Reshit ha-Kabbalah(Jerusa-lem, 1948), pp. 66-98. Concerning the multifaceted role of Elijah in Jewish literature, see A.Wiener, The Prophet Elijah in the Developmentof Judaism (London, 1978).34. Sefer ha-Gilgulim, p. 25a.35. Ibid., p. 25b.


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taught openly and publiclyuntil the death of Rabbi Simeon bar Yobai(Rashbi),to whom traditionascribes he authorship f the Zohar.Quotingthe Zohar'sown words on this subject,Vitalwritesthatever since SimeonbarYohai'sdeath "wisdomhas departed rom thisearth" Zohar1,217a).All of those sageswho hadborne kabbalisticwisdomsince thattime havedone so in great secrecy,eachdisclosinghis knowledge o a single disciple.Whatis more,even to these selectdisciples,kabbalisticmasterstaughtingeneralizations nly, revealingbut a portionof theirknowledge. n suchafragmented nd fragmentarywaykabbalisticwisdom waspassedfrom onegeneration o the nextuntil the timeof MosesbenNabman(Nabmanides),the great Spanishrabbiof the thirteenth entury.36 ollowinga well-knowntraditionrecordedby MenahemRecanati ca. 1228-ca. 1290),Vital nformsus that duringthis time certainsageswereprivileged o meritdirect,per-sonalrevelations romElijah heprophet, ncludingAbrahambenDavidofPosquieres1120-1191),and the latter'sson, IsaactheBlind.Isaac, n turn,passed his traditionon to his two disciples,Ezraand Azriel of Gerona.From them kabbalistictraditionpassed to the final teacher of genuineKabbalah,Moses ben Nabman.37What was Isaac Luria'splace in this processof transmission?Luria,according o Vital,representsnothingless than the firstand only appear-ance of authentickabbalisticknowledge inceNabmanides.Evenmore,hisknowledgemaybe comparedonlyto that of RabbiSimeonbarYobaihim-self. For this knowledgehas "been neitherseen nor heardin all the landsince the days of Rabbi Simeon bar Yobai, may he rest in peace, untilnow."38Despite the aforementionedclaim that true Kabbalah had notmanifested tself since Nahmanides,Vital writes that in every generationGod displayshis compassionby giving Israelextraordinaryndividuals(yebidei egullah)"uponwhom the Holy Spiritrested,and to whomElijah,

36. Ibid. p. 37b.37. In this connection, see M. Idel's study of Nabmanides' own view regardingwhat consti-tutes genuine and legitimate kabbalistic tradition, "We Have No Kabbalistic Tradition onThis," in Rabbi Moses Nahmanides (Ramban): Explorations in His Religious and LiteraryVirtuosity,ed. I. Twersky (Cambridge, Mass., 1983), pp. 51-73. Concerning the question ofdivine revelations experienced by the earliest kabbalists of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries,see A. J. Heschel, "Al Ruab ha-Kodesh be-Yemei ha-Beinayim," in Alexander Marx JubileeVolume (New York, 1950), pp. 165-207, especially pp. 190-193; I. Twersky, Rabad ofPosquibres:A TwelfthCentury Talmudist(Cambridge, Mass., 1962), pp. 286-300.38. Sefer ha-Gilgulim, p. 26a. Cf. Shivhei ha-Ari, p. 6.


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96 LAWRENCE FINEmayhis memorybe a blessing, evealed imself,nstructinghem n thesecrets f Kabbalah."nourgeneration, od hasnot withheld redeemerfrom srael,ending sa saintly ngel,"thegreat abbi, ursaintlyeacher,ourrabbi ndmaster,saacLuriaAshkenazi,mayhisnamebe for an ever-lastingblessing,illed ike a pomegranateith[knowledgef] Scripture,Mishnah,Talmud,Pilpul,Midrashim,Ma'asehBereshit, nd Ma'asehMerkavah."9All who witnessLuria's nowledgendskills,andallwhofamiliarizehemselves ith his teachingswillrecognize that hehumanmind by tself]couldnot attain uchdeepandwondrousmatterswithoutthepower ftheHolySpirit,mediatedhrough lijah,mayhismemory e ablessing."0IsaacLuria,hen,maybesaid o havebeenregardedyhiscircleas anindividualossessingnowledgef acharismaticype, hat s,as apersonowhomdirect ndexceptionalnowledgefthesacred adbeenvouchsafed.Luria's harisma, is especiallyloserelationshipo thesacred,was evi-dencednotonlybyhisremarkableaintliness,utevenmore ignificantly,byhisunusual nowledgendesoterickills,mysteries hichare ypicallybeyondhegraspof ordinaryuman eings.41Masteryf the artof meto-poscopy, heknowledgef which, t wasbelieved,ouldonlyhavecomefromonhigh, houldbeunderstoodsoneaspect-albeitamost mportantone--ofa typeof knowledge hichhelped stablish uria s a teacher ndreligiousmentor f unique tatus n Safed.Froman historical ointof view,thislegitimizationy the Lurianicfellowshipf thecharismatic odeof acquiring eligiousruth s, in myview, extremely ignificant.The effort to gain kabbalisticknowledgethrough uch means tands,of course,n marked ontrast o traditionalrabbinicmethods f developingeachingshrough ariousypesof textualinquiry.Whiledifferentermeneuticaltylesmaybebroughto bearuponsuchinquiry,he common actor s theessentiallyntellectualrocessofstudyingan existing ext for the purposeof clarifying,nterpreting,r

39. Sefer ha-Gilgulim, p. 26a.40. Ibid., p. 27a. It would be mistaken to conclude from this that Luriadid not engage alsoin conventional textual study, of both exoteric and esoteric texts. Concerning this subject, see,for example, the traditions reported in Sha'ar ha-Mipvot, Parashat Ve-ethanan;SRH, pp.34-46. Some of the relevant texts are translated in Fine, Safed Spirituality, pp. 68-70.41. For a discussion of the notion of religious charisma as it is used here, see Charles F.Keyes, "Charisma:From Social Life to Sacred Biography,"in Charismaand SacredBiography,ed. M. Williams, Journalof theAmericanAcademy of Religion ThematicStudies48, nos. 3 and 4(1982): 1-22.


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furtheringmeaning. For meaningis believed to reside within the textsthemselves;one need only apply the appropriate echniques n ordertoferretout the intentionof the text. This wasthecase not onlyfor therabbisof lateantiquity;t was true for the medievalphilosophers,biblicalexegetesof varioustypes, as well as most kabbalists.In Luria'scaseappealwasnot made to theinherentmeaningof existingtexts which could be discoveredthroughrationalinquiry,but to someheavenlysource. Knowledge,as we have seen, was regardedas derivingdirectlyfrom on high, rather than from an individual'sown intellectualpowerto determineGod'swill. Whereashetalmudic ageswentout of theirway to denythe possibilityof furtherprophecy,claiming nstead that theprivilegeof understandinghemeaningof Torahwasnowa more"earthly"one,42he Lurianists eassertedhe contention hat moredirectchannelsofcommunicationwerenot only possible,but urgentlypreferable.As we havealready een,therewere earlierkabbalistswhomkabbalistictraditionregardedas havinggainedtheirknowledgen thisway.But it wasnot until the fifteenthand sixteenthcenturies hat we encounter he pro-liferationof this type of activityon a largescale. The revelatorymaggidofthe TurkishkabbalistJosephTaitaeak, heheavenlydisclosures xperiencedby MosesCordoveroand SolomonAlkabeZduringtheirwalksamidst thegravesites of Safed,JosephKaro'smaggidicvisitations,andHayyimVital'stechniqueof communingwith the soul of a departed anna, are all vividexamplesof the emergenceof a new point of view.43When Isaac Luria

42. See, for example, the often-cited text in the Babylonian Talmud, Bava Meria 59b. Onthe question of revelation and authority, see G. Scholem, "Religious Authority and Mysti-cism," in his On theKabbalahandIts Symbolism,pp. 5-31; idem, TheMessianic Ideain Judaism(New York, 1971), pp. 282-303.43. Concerning the experiences of Joseph Taitaeak, see G. Scholem, "Ha-Maggid shel R.Yosef Taitaeak ve-ha-Giluyim ha-Meyubasim Lo," Sefunot 11 (1977): 69-112. On the revela-tions accorded Cordovero and AlkabeZ, see R. J. Z. Werblowsky, Joseph Karo, Lawyer andMystic (Oxford, 1962), pp. 51-55, as well as Y. Liebes, Ha-Mashiah shel ha-Zohar-le-Demuto ha-Meshihit shel R. Shimon bar Yohai(Jerusalem, 1982), pp. 107-109. On Karo, seeWerblowsky, Joseph Karo, passim. Vital's technique is studied in L. Fine, "Mishnah as aVehicle for Mystical Inspiration:A Contemplative Technique Taught by Hayyim Vital," Revuedes etudesjuives 141 (1982): 183-199. In this connection, see L. Fine, "Maggidic Revelation inthe Teachings of Isaac Luria," in Mystics, Philosophers,and Politicians, ed. J. Reinharz and D.Swetschinski (Durham, N.C., 1982), pp. 141-157. See also the study by M. Idel, "Iyyunimbe-Shitat Ba'al Sefer ha-Meshiv," Sefunot, n.s. 2, no. 17(1983): 185-266, in which he discussesthis book's influence upon the development of the kind of revelatory techniques mentionedhere. See, as well, the survey of such techniques in Werblowsky, Joseph Karo, pp. 38-83.


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98 LAWRENCE FINEarrived n Safed from Egyptin the year 1570,then, he found himself inculturalsurroundingswhich were highly supportiveof men who soughtknowledgeof Torahfromon high,and who weresuccessfuln thoseefforts.Luriawas not, however,merelyanotherexampleof a generaltendency.Rather, n Luriawe see a rich and full realizationof this tendency.Luriastoodout in largepartbecausehe wasperceivedas a virtuosoat such acti-vity, as one who was gifted beyondcompare.Through he strengthof hisimpressivepersonality,as wellas through he powerof his teachings hem-selves,Luria was well positionedto raisethe phenomenonof charismaticexperience o a status whichit had not known for centuries.44

IVLuria'scapacity o diagnose he moral status of his disciplesand othersthrough he art of metoposcopyhas also to be understoodwithin hespecificcontext of the redemptive rocessof whichhe andhis circlebelieved hem-selves to be a part.Theprojectof redemption,owardwhich Isaac Luria'smythological eachingsweredirected n theirentirety,required ach of hisdisciples o assumeresponsibilityor the extremely omplex askof tikkun.Tikkun efers o the elaborateactivityof mending he cosmic flawsbroughtaboutby the intradivine uptureknownas the "breaking f thevessels,"aswell as by human sin. At its deepestlevels this was to be accomplishedthrough the performanceof intricatecontemplativeand theurgicrites,describedn such detailin the Lurianic iterature.But suchrites,as men-tionedearlier,could be practiced uccessfully nly byindividualswhowerethoroughlyworthy,that is, by those who hadalreadyachieveda degreeof

personaltikkun.Luria'sexpertiseat diagnosingsin and offeringprecisepenitential xerciseswith whichto purify he soul wasperceivedbyhiscircleas anessentialdemonstration f Luria's edemptiveole. Luriawas indeeda"redeemer,"s Vitaltellsus,insofarashealing he soul was anindispensablestage n thelarger ask of messianic edemption, nd insofarashe imparted

44. One ought not to underestimate the influence which the personality of Isaac Luriaexerted upon later mystical developments, particularly Sabbatianism and IHasidism, n signifi-cant part through the hagiographical works on Luria, Shivbeiha-Ari and Toledot ha-Ari. Inthis connection, see J. Dan, Ha-Sippurha-Ivribe-Yemeiha-Beinayim(Jerusalem, 1974), chap.11. This is a subject which deserves further investigation.


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techniques of contemplation to those he deemed worthy to play a furtherand more advanced role in the process.For Isaac Luria and his followers believed that theirs was the final,messianic generation, and that the time was ripe for the increased disclosureof heavenly secrets.

... for this wisdomwas concealedsince the daysof Rashbi,mayhe restinpeace,untilnow,as he [i.e., Rashbi] aught:"Permissions notgivento revealit until the finalgeneration,until the kingMessiahcomes."Now is thetime,for on accountof oursaintly eacher,our honoredmaster,RabbiIsaacLuria,may his memorybe a blessing,by means of the spiritof prophecywhichappearedn him,oureyeshavebegun o beenlightenedwiththelightofdivinewisdom,hidden[untilnow] from the eyes of all living things.45

The connection between Simeon bar Yobai and Isaac Luria goes evendeeper. Luria regarded himself as Simeon bar Yobai redivivus,and believedhis closest disciples to be reincarnations of Rashbi's comrades!46While thereis rich and diverse evidence attesting to this, one tradition is of particularrelevance to our subject. According to this tradition-recorded in severalplaces in slightly different versions47-Luria and his disciples journeyed tothe same place where Rashbi and his fellowship had engaged in a dramaticstudy session, an event known in the Zohar as the Holy Idra ("threshingfloor"). According to the Zohar, in the course of this event Rashbi and hisdisciples revealed recondite mysteries of the Torah.48Luria is reported tohave sat in the exact spot that Rashbi had occupied, and to have placed eachof his disciples in the position of one of Simeon bar Yobai's comrades,revealing to each disciple the comrade with whose soul he was boundthrough the process of metempsychosis. Luria is also reported to haveengaged in a ritual known as yihud ("unification") by lying stretched outupon Rashbi's grave, as a result of which Rashbi revealed to Luria "all that

45. SRH, pp. 39-40.46. This has already been noted and briefly discussed by Y. Liebes in his important study,mentioned in n. 43, Ha-Mashiah shel ha-Zohar, pp. 109-110 and passim.47. See Shivbei ha-Ari, p. 17; Sefer Toledot ha-Ari, Benayahu, pp. 179-180; Sefer ha-Hlezyonot,p. 153.48. The section of the Zohar entitled Idra Rabbais in Zohar 3, 287b-296b. For an Englishtranslation of these sections, see R. Rosenberg, The Anatomy of God (New York, 1973). TheIdra Rabbais studied in the monograph by Liebes mentioned in the preceding note. In general,the Idra Rabba played an exceedingly important role in Isaac Luria's thinking.


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100 LAWRENCEINEhe had learned in the academyon high, just as a man speakswith hisfriend."49According o one versionof thisstory,Luriaandhisdisciplesalsoengaged in the study of the Idra itself, in the course of which Luriarevealed he secretmeaningof Simeon bar Yolai's Idrateachings.50t isclearfromthis thatIsaacLuriaandhis circlebelieved hattheywere reen-acting and furthering he redemptivework that had been carriedout byRashbiand his fellowship.The mythologicalbasis for this traditionlies in an intricateset ofLurianicteachingsconcerningthe transmigrationof souls, particularlythose of Luria'sown innercircle.5'For presentpurposes t is sufficient opoint out that Luria deviseda transmigratoryhain whichlinkedJosephandhisbrothers,RabbiAkivaandthe other"TenMartyrs,"Rashbiandhiscomrades,and Luria's ellowship.Eachgrouprepresented decisive tage nthe processof tikkun.Throughtheir effortsto bringabout tikkun n thesupernalrealm,the membersof these circlesoccupiedcriticalroles in theredemptiveprocess.52Moreover,each group galvanizedaround a centralfigurewho stood at the centerof these efforts.Thisprocesshad reachedanew and criticalstagewith IsaacLuriaandhis disciples; or theybelievedthattheiractionswerecapable,at leastpotentially,of realizing heredemp-tion once and for all.The Safedkabbalistsappear o havethoughtthat the year 1575wouldwitnessthe beginningof themessianicage. According o the Lurianists, inand exile had caused the exile of the inner secretsof the Torah;in themessianicage,however, hesemysterieswould be revealedonceagain.Theredemptionof holiness, which lies at the heart of Lurianicmysticism,extended vento theredemption f theTorah tself.Whereasnowonlyfrag-

49. Shivhei ha-Ari, p. 17.50. Sefer Toledot ha-Ari, pp. 179-180.51. The subject of metempsychosis constitutes a major topic in Lurianic teachings, theprimary accounts of which are Sha'ar ha-Gilgulim, Sefer ha-Gilgulim,and Sefer ha-ljezyonot,pt. 4. A survey of the history of metempsychosis in kabbalistic literaturemay be found in G.Scholem, Pirkei Yesod be-Havanat ha-Kabbalah u-Semaleha (Jerusalem, 1976), a Germanversion of which is found in idem, Vonder mystischenGestalt der Gottheit (Zurich, 1962). Athorough study of the place of metempsychosis in Luria'smythology, and its relationship to hisfellowship's self-understanding, is still needed.52. See, for example, the account in Vital's Sefer ha-ljezyonot, pp. 210-229; Sefer ha-Gilgulim(Vilna, 1886), chap. 35. Cf. Liebes, Ha-Mashiahshel ha-Zohar,p. 109, n. 95. Concern-ing the messianic roles of Luria (and Vital), see D. Tamar, "Ha-Ari ve-ha-Rabu ke-Mashiahben Yosef," Sefunot 7 (1963): 167-177; Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, pp. 52-58.


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THE ART OF METOPOSCOPY 101ments of the Torah'sdeepmysteriesare available, n the messianic utureevery Israelitewill achieveknowledgeof the Torah in its entirety.Thespecialknowledgemeritednthe unredeemed tatebyLuria-and to a lesserdegree by his disciplesand others-was regardedas a sign of the comingredemption.But it was far more than a meresignal.For this knowledge,a"knowledgeof the future and secretmysteriesof the Torah,"was also ameansthroughwhichIsaacLuriacould facilitatethe task of tikkun.

IndianaUniversityBloomington,Ind.

metemscopy

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