Lilith (Lurianic Kabbalah)

For Lilith in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Talmud, see Lilith.

In the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria, it is said that there are many Liliths. Manasseh Matlub Sithon said "many Liliths and demons are abroad, and go up and down."[1]

The greatest of these is the wife of Adam Qadmon, a being that God used as an avatar to create the Universe in all its ten or more dimensions, hence a multiverse.

Another, more demonic Lilith, known as the woman of whoredom, is found in the Zohar book 1:5a. She is Samael (Satan)'s feminine counterpart.

The Lilith that most are familiar with is the wife of Adam in the Alphabet of Ben Sira (8th to 10th centuries CE), known as Adam ha Rishon, "the common man," among kabbalists.

There are mixed views of Lilith in the Zohar. In one account she is Samael's counterpart and a mother of demons. In another she is seen seducing the fallen angels as Naamah; the angels Azza and Azazael after they challenge the Shekhinah (the feminine dwelling presence of God) over the creation of man. This is alluded in the Zohar book 1 :19a-b, 23a-b, 27a-b respectively. When Lilith and Naamah (another aspect of Lilith) were with Adam in his 130-year separation from Eve after the fall, they had daughters born from their union. These were the nashiym, the lilim, the liloth spirits who were the ones who seduced the Watchers. These daughters along with Lilith and Naamah are restored to Adam through the Wisdom of Solomon, the aspect of the Shekhinah, (referred to as the two prostitutes and the Nashiym in chapters 4 and 5 in the Zohar the Book of Concealment the Sifri D Tsri-nita). [2]

Luria interpreted Book of Isaiah chapter 34:14-15 to mean Lilith would find her rest. From these passages rabbi Isaac Luria believed that Lilith was to be restored to Adam through the marriage of Leah to Jacob — Jacob was Adam, Leah was Lilith, and Rachel was Eve.[3] It must be understood this one of many interpretations concerning the Zohar and of Lilith.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Isaac Jack Lévy, Rosemary Lévy Zumwalt Ritual Medical Lore of Sephardic Women: Sweetening the Spirits Page 189 2002 "Also, on certain other nights of the week, which are the fixed time for this procedure, because in them many Liliths and demons are abroad, and go up and down" (Patai 1964, 4; quoting Sithon)."
  2. ↑ According to commentaries found in the Zohar volume 5 (the sifri Di Tsri-nita section of) the Pritzker edition translated by Daniel C. Matt pages 572-573, 578-579
  3. ↑ (pages 147-148,157-158 of the book: Window of the Soul: The Teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria edited by James David Dunn; Lilith: a Rereading of Feminine Shadow by Ohad Ezrachi and Marc Gafni found on the website:kabalove.org/articles/Lilith-2nd-gate.
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