Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE BOOK OF THE LEFT PILLAR, by MOSES OF BURGOS



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BOOK OF THE LEFT PILLAR, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: As the idea rose in the mind of god & in his pure thought to create a holy
Alternate Author Name(s): Moses Ben Solomon Ben Simeon Of Burgos
Subject(s): Mysticism - Judaism


. . . & he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple he
set up the
right pillar & named it Jachin & set up the left pillar & named it
Boaz . . . (I KINGS 7.21.)

as the idea arose in the mind of God & in his pure thought to create a holy & a
pure reality, the foundation & the pillar of perfection, to let all good things
pour forth from his majesty . . . so the idea arose in his divine & pure will to
create real beings according to an order & arrangement too diverse, too darkly
wonderful, too distant & too strange for its logical comprehension by any of the
masters of rational knowledge & of exegesis: but there is a reliable tradition,
a kabbala passed on to all the masters of the hidden wisdom, that reality as a
whole could not exist except through real beings, beings that do good & that do
evil, that bring things into being & sustain them, that terminate & that
obliterate, that give rewards & punishments: & THE ELOHIM HAS DONE THIS SO THAT
MEN SHOULD FEAR BEFORE HIM (Ecclesiastes 3.14) as Solomon has said THE ONE AS
WELL AS THE OTHER ELOHIM HAS MADE (Ecclesiastes 7.14): & our wise ones, may
their memory be a blessing, said: HE CREATED THE RIGHTEOUS, HE CREATED THE
WICKED, HE CREATED PARADISE, HE CREATED HELL, TO SHOW THAT HE CREATED ALL THINGS
& THEIR OPPOSITIONS (Talmud: Hagiga 15a): & the Prophet said I FORM THE
LIGHT & CREATE DARKNESS, I MAKE PEACE & CREATE EVIL, I YAHVEH DO ALL THESE
THINGS (Isaiah 45.7): & listen: from the meaning of these verses we can
understand & we can know that He, the Holy One Be Blest, made all things & also
made their contraries, & perfectly he did his perfect work perfecting his
perfection for the good ones, those whose hearts are straight: & he created
evil: a new reality of being appointed to bring suffering & punishments on
rebels & on sinners & on all who walk the dark & gloomy road: the unpaved way


Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA
98368-0271, www.cc.press.org




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