The Eucharist and Jewish Mystical Tradition – Part 3
Athol Bloomer
Ed. This article appeared in The Hebrew Catholic #80. All rights reserved. Athol is a lay missionary with the Missionary Society of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. This series reflects talks that Athol gave in the early 1990’s.
Caution: Athol’s reflections spring from his life previously as an observant Jew and now as a Catholic. Our inclusion of these articles are not to be understood as a recommendation to study Jewish mysticism as found in modern day versions of the Kabbalah. On the contrary, without special studies and a firm formation in the Catholic faith, we would urge all Catholics to avoid the Kabbalah – it is a mixed bag of the occult and other elements contrary to the faith. Athol’s reflections sort through the distortions introduced by the Lurianic Kabbalists to show the truths of the Catholic faith hidden in the Jewish mystical traditions. Here is Athol’s response to an email query.
Q. I studied Kabbala years ago; it is a gnostic corruption of Judaism. Could you explain … your position …?
A. In regards to the Kabbalah being gnostic this is a rather complex topic. It is more that Gnostics took elements of the Jewish and Christian Mystical traditions and distorted them to their own ends. Also, some Gnostic elements have come into the Jewish Kabbalah via certain schools and I am very discerning when reading the interpretations of Kabbalah by the Lurianic Kabbalists. At times the wheat is mixed with the chaff. When we stand on the Rock of our Faith in Yeshua and His Kehilla we are able to discern what is part of the authentic Kabbalah and what has been introduced as a distortion.
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The Pinnacle of all Human Acts
Kabbalah states that human righteous acts open a channel (Yesod/Tzaddik) that allows the attributes or emanations of God to flow on to the earthly level (see the Zohar). This channel is called the Sefirah of Yesod or Tzaddik. The Jewish traditions and Scripture associate the Tzaddik with the humble Messiah. This is confirmed in the New Testament where Jesus as Messiah and High Priest of the New Covenant opens the gate or veil to heaven for all believers. One can only perform righteous acts by being in union with the Righteous One (Tzaddik) who is Jesus. The pinnacle of righteousness is to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul – you do this through worship and adoration of God. Thus Perpetual Adoration is the pinnacle of all human acts and opens wider and wider the gateway to Heaven pouring out increasing amounts of God’s purifying love and power – this is the fire of the Holy Spirit which is the love of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. When enough people adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament then the whole of creation will be impenetrated with God’s Presence of Love (Hesed), flowing from the Eucharist, that the earth will be transformed and it will culminate in a new heavens and a new earth.
A Symbolic Language
Of course it is important to note that the whole system of the Sefirot and Kabbalah is a purely symbolic explanation of reality put into human language, as is the case with the explanations of the Catholic mystics such as St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila. The mystics experience the reality of the heavenly mysteries and symbolic language is the closest they can express this reality so that it can be comprehensible to others.
The Titles of Jesus
That Jesus himself was familiar with this mystical tradition or kabbalah within Judaism is evident by the titles he calls himself such as Son of Man (Ben Adam), the Bridegroom (Hatan), and the Lord of the Sabbath. His reference to himself as Lord of the Sabbath proclaims him as the heavenly King associated with the concept of Shekinah. The title Bridegroom (Hatan) linked him with the mystical interpretation of the Song of Songs as mentioned above. The use of the title Son of Man (Ben Adam) linked him to the mysticism of the Book of Daniel and the Enochian literature. The role of Enoch was very important in the Jewish mystical tradition.
Enoch and Metatron
The Enoch traditions confuse Enoch with the Son of Man who is also called Metatron and, in other Jewish accounts, the Angel Yahoel. Both 1-Enoch (the Ethiopian Enoch which was also found in Aramaic in the Dead Sea Scrolls) and 3-Enoch (the Hebrew Enoch) confuse the identity of the ascended Enoch with the divine Son of Man. Enoch however, is like Elijah, a type of the Messiah or Son of Man. The mystical tradition associates Metatron with the name Shaddai. Both these names add up to 314. Shaddai is a title of the divinity and is translated as ‘Almighty’. In this same tradition Metatron is called the ‘shining light of Shekinah’, and thus is the Divine Presence. The mistaken understanding that Enoch, a human, could be transformed into Metatron shows a vague and confused knowledge that the Divinity was to become man. This same misunderstanding is shown by Eve in Genesis when she thinks she has given birth to God in the flesh of Cain. This is seen when one reads this account in the Hebrew. The concept of the God–Man found in the Enoch/Metatron tradition shows that there was a strand of this knowledge in the authentic mystical tradition. Isaiah also shows evidence of this belief that the Messiah would be both God and man.
In the Zohar, Metatron is in existence before the creation and thus Enoch could not really be Metatron. However Enoch is closely associated with Metatron who will become the Son of man and be a Son of Enoch . Enoch, in his translation into the heavenlies, is so transformed by the light of the Divine Presence (Metatron) that in a mystical sense he becomes one with the Divine Presence and reflects this light of Metatron. Tikkunei Zohar identifies Metatron as the Biblical Tree of the Knowledge and Good and Evil. The Sefirot are described as a cosmic Tree or Divine body. The Sefirot are also seen as an orchard. The New Testament describes God’s People with the images of the Body (see Paul’s epistles) and a Tree (Hebrews).
The figure of Enoch is at the heart of much of the Kabbalah. According to the Catholic mystic (whose case for beatification has been reopened by the Pope in recent times) Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich, Abraham and the patriarchs had access to the writings of Enoch. I believe that the books of Enoch are edited versions of the oldest surviving literature of man and its influence is seen in both the Old and New Testaments. It has also influenced other ancient Jewish writings as well as the ancient Egyptian texts and religion. The whole mystery of the Pyramids is connected with these Enochian mysteries.
Within the ancient religious cults of Mesapotamia and Egypt elements of the Divine revelation were concealed and hidden among many false concepts and ideas. They had a confused knowledge of the coming of the Divine Seed of God and the writings of Enoch were the pure form that the Mesopotamian and Egyptian cults distorted. The Church Fathers taught that elements of the Divine Revelation were concealed in the ancient pagan religions and these seeds of the gospel were a preparation for the full revelation in Jesus Christ. Satan however has sought to conceal these truths by mixing in his own elements in order to lead mankind astray from the truth.
Ancient Mythologies
The Norse Mythology, also like the Bible and the Jewish mystical tradition, had the concept of the cosmic Tree and the whole of the Norse Mythology is a corruption of the religion of the northern Israelites. In fact the mythological religions of the Norse, Celts, Greeks and Egyptians show a substratum of the Hebrew religion and a distorted version of the Kabbalah. The Egyptian theology of the Ennead shows this link very clearly. Many of the ancient Gnostic and mystery religions show evidence of this link with Kabbalah but coming via the Egyptian distortion of Kabbalah. The roots of Kabbalah are in the Enochian literature and both the religions of Mesapotamia and Egypt show evidence of a confused transmission of this tradition. This Kabbalistic influence in the Egyptian religion confirms the radical redating of the chronology of Egypt as first proposed by the Jewish genius Immanuel Velikovsky in his writings.
Joseph and Amon
The Egyptian religion of Amon is a confused translation of the Hebrew mystical tradition brought to Egypt by Jacob and Joseph. The Kabbalah in Judaism is closely associated with the patriarchs. The primordial Torah in Kabbalah is said to be given the name Amon before the creation as taught by Rabbi Isaac the Blind of Provence. Amon means architect and this is why the Freemasons who draw on Kabbalistic and Egyptian traditions call the Divinity the ‘Great Architect’. The Egyptian priests saw the patriarch Joseph as a manifestation of the deity Amon (Architect). Jacob ,his father, they called ‘Ra’ (Sun). Ra which means Sun in the Egyptian language was associated by Joseph with his father Jacob in his heavenly dream or vision in Genesis 37.
“ ‘Look, I have had another dream’ Joseph said. ‘I thought I saw the sun and moon and eleven stars, bowing to me’. He told his fathers and brothers, and his father scolded him. ‘Are all of us then, myself your mother and your brothers, to come and bow to the ground before you?’ His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the thing in mind.” (Genesis 37:9-11)
The Sefirah of Tif’eret was also called Jacob as well as Sun in the Jewish Kabbalah. The Ennead of the Nine gods is the Egyptian understanding of the Sefirot of the nine Triadic Sefirot. The phallic image of Geb the Earth god is linked to the Sefirah of Yesod also known as the phallus of the divine body and this divine phallus is called in Kabbalah the axis mundi or cosmic pillar. This is why the Egyptians portray the earth as a male with an erect phallus. This phallus or Sefirah of Yesod is also associated with Osiris whom the Egyptians identify with Joseph. The Catholic mystic Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich states that Joseph and his wife Asenath were associated by the Egyptians with Osiris and Isis. She also saw that the Egyptian religion was a confused distortion of the teachings of Joseph and Asenath and the patriarchal religion.
The Zoharic Kabbalah associates the Sefirah of Yesod with Joseph. The Egyptian Benben stone is associated with the phallus of Osiris which can be connected with the Stone of Jacob or Jacobs Pillow on which he saw the ladder or channel to the heavenly realm in Genesis 28. The Yesod is seen in Kabbalah as a channel linking the Shekinah to the higher Sefirot. Here is the gate to heaven.
‘Taking one of the stones to be found at that place, he made it his pillow and lay down where he was. Jacob had a dream: a ladder was there, standing on the ground with its top reaching to heaven: and there were angels of God going up it and coming down … Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Truly the LORD was in this place and I never knew it!’ He was afraid and said, ‘How awe-inspiring this place is! This is nothing less than a house of God: this is the gate of heaven!’ Rising early in the morning Jacob took the stone he had used for his pillow, and set it up as a monument, pouring oil over the top of it. He named the place Bethel … ‘this stone I have set up as a monument shall be a house of God, and I will surely pay you a tenth part of all you give me’.” (Genesis 28)
The Divine Sparks
The concept of the Divine Sparks of Truth being diffused throughout the world and that the Messiah will gather together these Divine Sparks is a part of Kabbalistic lore. However this doctrine has become unfortunately entangled with the false notion of reincarnation especially among Lurianic Kabbalists. The Church Fathers taught that not only was the Jewish inheritance the preparation for the Gospel or New Covenant but that elements (Divine Sparks) within the pagan religions and philosophies were also a preparation for the Gospel. All these authentic elements were a preparation for the understanding of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus as the Eucharistic Lord.
Many of the enemies of the Catholic Church and of the Eucharist associate the Catholic beliefs and customs with paganism because of similarities with some aspects of Pagan Religion. It can be demonstrated that all these so-called pagan beliefs and customs are rooted in Jewish prototypes and the reason some aspects are similar to pagan religions is because these religions have distorted Jewish and Enochian beliefs and religion, mixing the truth with the lies and distortions of the Evil One. From the beginning there have been two priesthoods and two religions symbolised by Cain and Abel. The spiritual descendants of Cain have tried to twist the divine truths preserved by the spiritual descendants of Abel such as Seth, Enoch, Noah and Shem. The Cainite religion was reintroduced by the grandson of Shem, Cainan, to the post deluge world and it was centred at Eridu as the cult of Enki. It succeeded in conquering and absorbing the Enochian cult of Anu at Uruk and developed a hybrid or synthesis of religion in ancient Mesapotamia.
The result of this was that God chose Abraham, a descendant of Heber in his generation to preserve the authentic Divine Truths or Revelation, and his descendants – the Hebrew nation after him. This Elect people were to be prepared for the unveiling of the mystery of the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery of the Eucharist. From the remnant of Grace among the Jewish People – the Eucharist was to be taken to all nations. It is by means of the Eucharist that Jesus is winning back the whole of the fallen creation for God the Father.
Eucharistic Evangelisation
Today we are in the time of Divine Mercy and this is also the time of the Eucharist’s greatest glory. Today all evangelisation must be Eucharistic evangelisation drawing all people to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. It is there with the Eucharistic Jesus that hearts will be converted and souls healed. It is only by receiving the Divine Love or Mercy (Hesed) in our Holy Hours that allows us, like Mother Teresa’s nuns, to go out to others and bring them the true love and mercy and forgiveness of the Lord from the midst of the Sacred Heart of Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament.
The Pope’s Request
Pope John Paul 11 has asked in Seville, Spain on 13 June 1993, that every parish and Christian community have Perpetual Adoration of Jesus exposed in the Blessed Sacrament. The Virgin Mary as Mother of the Eucharist is asking for Eucharistic adoration in her numerous apparitions. The Lord is leading the Church at this stage of history into a deeper understanding of the mystery of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. At this time of Mercy (see Romans 11 and Zechariah), the Jewish People will be converted by a Eucharistic miracle to the Catholic Faith. In these last days they will become the champions of the Eucharist. It is then that the full impact of the Kabbalistic preparation for the Eucharist will be revealed and the Lurianic perversion of Kabbalah will be expelled by the Jewish body.
The Sons of Antichrist
The Catholic tradition, as recorded by St. Thomas Aquinas, claims that Enoch and Elijah (two important figures in Jewish Kabbalistic thought) will take the newly found Ark of the Covenant (whose discovery will be associated with the Eucharistic miracle, see 2 Macc 2) and they will place the Blessed Sacrament upon the Ark proclaiming that the Eucharistic Jesus is the King Messiah of Jewish prophecy and belief. The Antichrist or False Messiah will persecute these two Eucharistic messengers and all those who remain true to the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Mass.
All the enemies of the Sacrifice of the Mass and Perpetual Adoration are in the spirit of antichrist for they deny Christ come in the flesh. His flesh and blood are the Eucharistic species which is the Sacrifice of the Mass. Those who wish to turn the Wedding Feast of the Sacrificial Lamb into a bland Protestant memorial meal are the sons of Antichrist. When the meal aspect of the Eucharist is stressed to the detriment of the sacrificial aspect we see the hand of Satan.
The Jewish Passover Meal cannot be fully comprehended without understanding the role of the sacrificial Lamb. Thus the Last Supper is incomprehensible without it being perceived as the sacrifice of Christ as the Lamb of God made present in the Eucharistic species of bread and wine.
The Good News
That all evangelisation should be Eucharistic evangelisation (preaching the good news) is shown in that the Hebrew word basar (flesh/body) used by Jesus in John 6 and at the Last Supper comes from the same root as the Hebrew word bisir (to bring good news/to herald), Joseph Stallings in his book Rediscovering Passover states
“…the Hebrew word biser comes from the same root as basar (flesh, body) and means ‘to bring good news, to herald’ (Alcalay, Complete Hebrew-English Dictionary, col.299). Kittel asserts that the New Testament concept of ‘evangellion’ (gospel, the good news) comes from the Rabbinical use of the verb ‘biser’ for ‘proclaiming good news’ and that it is not derived from some Greek source. That implies that the concept of ‘good news’ (evangellion) originates in Jesus words, ‘Den Bisri’” (Stallings pg 216)
‘Den Bisri’ is the Aramaic for ‘This is my Body’ and is connected with the Hebrew and Aramaic idiom for ‘flesh and blood’, meaning a person’s whole being. In Aramaic the expression is ‘bisra-adam’ and in Hebrew ‘basar-dam.’ Stallings also states:
“… ‘basar/bisra’ have sacrificial connotations as well, as both ‘body” and ‘flesh’ are terms used to describe the sacrificial offering, especially of the sacrificial lambs.” (Stallings p.215)
The Errors of the Pharisees
The Kabbalah can be used as advocated by Pope Sixtus IV to proclaim the truths of Catholicism but with an awareness that much is handed down by the Pharisees (whom we today call the Orthodox Jews), and some of their faulty suppositions will be found in the material. The Pharisees confused the doctrine of the Resurrection (in which Jesus and Paul agreed with them) with the concept of reincarnation. Thus in the Kabbalah, coming via Pharisaic sources, will be found allusions to this erroneous belief in reincarnation.
That this false teaching was admixed with the authentic in the mystical tradition is seen in that many early Christians such as Origen taught it. St. Jerome tells us that it was also taught among the early Christians as an esoteric and traditional doctrine which was given to the select few (see The Kabbalah: Its Doctrine, Development and Literature by Christian G. Ginsburg p. 125). Ginsburg tells us that it was also taught by the Karaite Jews since at least the 7th century. lt would seem that this occultic teaching of transmigration or reincarnation entered the Jewish Tradition through Gnostic or Babylonian sources. Jesus warned his followers against many of these ‘traditions of the elders’ that the Pharisees had introduced into the pure religion of Moses. Rigid legalistic fence building, followed by the Pharisees and continued by the Lurianic Kabbalists, turn true spirituality in religion into a magistical ritualistic observance which puts the greatest importance in the strict following of rituals rather than a humble spiritual search for the Divine. Rules, rituals and laws should be the pathway or signposts to an encounter with God, not a method for blocking such access.
A Catholic Mystic
Venerable Anne Catharine Emmerich, a Catholic mystic who bore the stigmatic wounds of Christ (born 1774) and could see the past, present and future in mystic vision, states in regard to the authentic mystical visions of the Patriarch Joseph’s wife, Asenath, a Priestess of Annu (Heliopolis) that:
‘… Asenath ascended a tower upon which she seemed to be, as it were in a little garden. Here she gazed upon the stars by moonlight. She fell into ecstacy and read all things clearly in the stars. The truth was shown her in pictures, because she was chosen of God. I have seen the pagan priests introduced into strange, diabolical worlds where they beheld the most abominable things. By such diabolical visions were the secret communications of Asenath disfigured and made to contribute to the abominations of idolatry…”
(Life of Jesus Christ p.98 Vol 1).
Much of Emmerich’s mystical concepts have similarities to the Kabbalistic concepts, just as do the mystical works of St. Teresa of Avila. However one must weed out the chaff from the wheat in the Kabbalah, removing the leaven of the Pharisees. For just as the pagan Egyptian priests have distorted Kabbalah through occultic means, so have the Pharisees and Lurianic Kabbalists. Today the New Age movement is another perversion of the spiritual and mystical tradition which takes elements of the truth and mixes them with the doctrines of demons. Today true mysticism is found centred on Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament found at the heart of his Church, just as in the Old Covenant true mysticism was centred on the Shekinah Presence of God found above the Ark of the Covenant in the Jewish Temple.
The Gate to Heaven
It is only through Jesus and his Church that one can make the mystical ascent to the highest realms of the Heavenlies whether in this life or after death. In the Old Covenant times, the gate to Heaven was closed and even Enoch and Elijah (the two greatest figures in the Jewish mystical tradition), only ascended to the Garden of Eden situated at the gate to Heaven. Venerable Anne Catharine Emmerich states that:
“… Enoch was taken up to Paradise. There he waits at the entrance gate, whence with another (Elijah) he will come again before the last day.”
This gate or portal was only opened by the sacrifice of Christ. Emmerich states:
“… I have always thought that by the wounds of Jesus there were opened anew in the human body portals closed by Adam’s sin. I have been given to understand that Longinus opened in Jesus’ side the gate of regeneration to Eternal Life, therefore no-one entered Heaven while that gate was closed.”
Emmerich with Kabbalah believes that man (Adam) was created in the image of the Divine Body or Primordial Adam. She states:
“The first man was an image of God, he was like Heaven, all was one in him, all was one with him. He was a reproduction of the Divine Prototype.”
Thus the basic teachings of Kabbalah in regards to the Godhead seem to be in accord with Catholic belief. This is why many Catholics, including Popes Sixtus IV and Leo IX, were so excited about Kabbalah. Pope Sixtus IV ordered the Kabbalah to be translated into Latin so it could be studied by Divinity students. A knowledge of Kabbalah also helps one comprehend more clearly the writings of the great Catholic mystics as well as many concepts found in Scripture, especially in the writings of Paul and John as well as in the Letter to the Hebrews.
The Church
We have seen that the Shekinah is associated with the heavenly King or the Word of God who dwells in History through the power of the Holy Spirit. We also saw that the Shekinah was associated with the Sabbath Bride and thus with Our Lady and the Church.
The Shekinah has two aspects in the Jewish mystical tradition, as the dwelling Presence of God and secondly as the mystical Body of Israel, or the Community of the People of God. In this second aspect, Shekinah is called the Matronita in the Kabbalah. Matronita is the prototype of the Church. The Messiah Jesus and the Church are so united that they can both be associated with the term Shekinah. Matronita or the Matron is seen in Kabbalah as a Queen (see Ginsburg p. 102). The Matronita is seen as the Mother of Israel or People of God.
“… The Shekina-Matronit, we read in the Zohar, is the (spiritual) mother of Israel, and as such she is the embodiment of the ‘Community of Israel’ (the Hebrew term for which, ‘Knesset Yisrael’, has the feminine gender).” (The Hebrew Goddess by Raphael Patai p.200).
Matronita in Kabbalah is also seen as a warrior Queen who commands the hosts of Heaven. She is the defeater of Israel’s enemies both spiritual and physical. Matronita is also seen as the mother of Metatron. Thus Matronita is an image of both Mother Church and the Mother of God. Raphael Patai in his book The Hebrew Goddess shows the similarities between the Jewish concept of Matronita and the Virgin Mary of Christianity. This role of Mary is also seen in the Jewish concept of the Sabbath Bride/Queen. Matronita is closely associated with the Sabbath in the Kabbalah. The Falasha Jews describe the Sabbath in language very similar to that used by Christians of Mary. The union between Christ and his Church as taught by St. Paul is seen as a marriage relationship and the Christian interpretation of the Song of Songs confirms this. The church as Mother or Matronita unites or embraces her husband God/Christ seen as the Sefirah of Tiferet or King.
Kabbalah teaches that this mystical union between Matronita (Shekinah) and Tiferet is called the Sacred Apple Orchard and it produces the human souls of the Just. Thus we are all the children of the heavenly Huppah (marriage canopy) and thus children of our Holy Mother, the Church.
The Zohar
The Zohar compiled by Rabbi Moses de Leon contains much of the traditions of the Jewish mystical tradition. Rabbi Moses de Leon takes this precious material and places this wisdom in the mouths of the famous second century A.D. rabbis. However throughout the Zohar material, appears the mysterious figures of the Old Man Donkey Driver as a heavenly messenger and of his mysterious child. The disguised Old Man is familiar in Jewish tradition as the Prophet Elijah who sometimes visits men in this guise. The Zohar associates the child in close connection with this Donkey Driver. The Messiah is to enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey according to Zechariah, and thus this Donkey Driver is none other than the Prophet Elijah who is to herald this Davidic Messiah.
The mysterious Child of the Zohar is revealed as a Son of Joseph and he is connected with the sign of the Fish. Thus hidden in the Zohar is information that Jesus Christ is the Jewish Messiah. He is revealed as the Christ-Child in the Zohar, an image of the Messiah dear to Catholic devotion. The wisdom and questioning of the Child by the Rabbis is an allusion to the Child Jesus in the Temple, at twelve, confounding the Rabbis of his time. Thus within Judaism is hidden the true identity of the Messiah. The Zoharic account of this Child is disturbing – and the reader knows that the Child is somehow Divine or Heavenly – not just the son of a famous rabbi. The Zohar has retained this in hidden form possibly through traditions coming from Rabbi Simeon Ben Zoma and Rabbi Eleazar who were both famous rabbis of the second century who accepted that Jesus was the Messiah. That Ben Zoma taught these Christian doctrines has been recently shown by Jewish scholarship. Due to the greatness of Ben Zoma, the Orthodox Jews tried to hide Ben Zoma’s Christian convictions from future generations.
The Rabbis Encounter a Child
In the Zohar is found the following story which reveals Jesus as the Messiah and the Eucharistic Lord.
“ … His mother came and said to them, ‘Masters, please look on my son with a good eye.’ They said to her, ‘Happy are you, worthy woman! Singled out from among all women! The Blessed Holy One has selected your portion, raised your banner above all women of the world.’
The Child said, ‘I am not afraid of the evil eye, for I am the son of a great and precious fish, and fish do not fear the evil eye, as it is written, ‘They shall multiply like fish in the midst of the earth’ (Genesis 48:16). This blessing includes protection from the evil eye, for we have learned: ‘Just as fish of the sea are covered by water and are immune to the evil eye etc [so the descendants of Joseph are immune to the evil eye].’ ‘In the midst of the earth,’ indeed ‘among human beings on earth’.
They said, ‘Son, Angel of YHVH! There is no evil eye in us, we do not come from the side of the evil eye. The Blessed Holy One is covering you with His wings.’
They kissed him as before and said: ‘Come, let us bless,’ I-Ie said, ‘I will bless, because everything you’ve heard until now was from me, I will fulfill the verse: One whose eye is generous will be blessed. Read it: ‘will bless’. Why? ‘Because he gave of his own bread to the needy’ (Prov. 22:9). From the bread and food of my Torah you have eaten.’
Rabbi Judah said: ‘Son, Beloved of the Blessed Holy One! We have learned: ‘the master of the house breaks bread, and the guest blesses.’
He said to them, ‘I am not master of the house, and you are not guests! But I have found a verse and I will fulfill it, for I am truly generous. Without your asking, I have spoken until now and you have eaten my bread and my food.”
He took the cup of blessing and began to bless. His hands could not hold the cup; they were trembling. When he reached ‘for the land and the food’ he said ‘I raise the cup of salvation and invoke the name, Y~.’ (Psalm 116:13). The cup stood firm and settled in his right hand and he continued blessing. At the end he said, ‘May it be the Will that life be extended to one of these from the Tree of Life on which all depends! May the Blessed Holy One be surety for him. May he find surety below to share his surety with the Holy King.’
Having finished blessing he closed his eyes for a moment. Then he opened them and said, ‘Comrades, Shalom to you from the good Lord who possesses all Shalom! They were amazed, and cried, and blessed him.
They stayed the night. In the morning they rose early and left. When they reached Rabbi Shim’on, they told him what had happened. Rabbi Shim’on was amazed. I-Ie said, I-Ie is the son of an invincible rock! He deserves this and more than any human can imagine. He is the son of Rav Hammina Sava.”
The Davidic Messiah
This account in the Zohar is a description of the Davidic Messiah as the Jewish tradition connects this with the role of the heavenly David. David Goldstein in his book Jewish Mythology states:
“… David occupies a privileged position in Paradise. On the Day Of Judgement, there will be a banquet for the righteous in Heaven, when they will all taste the delicious flesh of Leviathan. David will say to God, ‘Master of the Universe, may it be your will that your Presence dwell among us.’ The Holy One, blessed be He, will accept David’s invitation … and he will enter with David. All the righteous will stand by their thrones, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will sit upon his throne of glory, and David will sit opposite him, on the throne prepared for him … After the meal Grace is said, and God invites all the righteous in turn to take the cup of wine and say the blessing over it. Abraham refuses because he says, ‘I had a son (Ishmael) who angered God’. Isaac refuses because the descendants of one of his sons, Esau, destroyed the Temple. Jacob refuses because he married two sisters together which was later forbidden by the Torah. Moses refuses because he was not permitted to enter the Promised Land, and Joshua because he was not blessed with a son. When David’s turn comes he accepts, saying, ‘I shall pronounce the blessing. for I am the fit person to do it. as it written (Psalm 116:131) 1 shall raise the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the LORD.’”
Thus we see a veiled revelation of the Eucharistic Messiah King in these two accounts. The above account states that it is David who raises the cup of salvation and the Zohar states that it is the Mysterious Child. That it is not the earthly David but the Davidic Messiah is shown in that King David due to adultery and homicide would not be worthy to raise the Cup of Salvation (Jesus/Yeshua), but it is the righteous (Tzaddik) King Messiah whom David is representing in this tradition. We see this in the Psalm about God not allowing David his Holy One to see corruption but the new Testament sees this as referring to Jesus the Davidic Messiah.