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    Shi'Ur Qomah

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    Shi'Ur Qomah

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    sq english

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    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    248 views2 pages

    Shi'Ur Qomah

    Uploaded by

    philip shtern
    sq english

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Shi'ur Qomah

    Shi’ur Qomah (Hebrew: ‫שיעור קומה‬, lit. Divine Dimensions) is a Midrashic text that is part of the Heichalot literature. It purports
    to record, in anthropomorphic terms, the secret names and precise measurements of God’s corporeal limbs and parts. The majority of
    the text is recorded in the form of sayings or teachings that the angel Metatron revealed to the Tannaic Sage, Rabbi Yishmael who
    transmitted it to his students and his contemporary Rabbi Akiva. It is also an exegetical analysis of Song of Songs 5:11-16 and
    proclaims that anyone who studies it is guaranteed a portion inOlam HaBa (the World to Come).[1]

    Contents
    Provenance and interpretation
    References
    See also
    External links

    Provenance and interpretation


    Currently the text exists only in fragmentary form, and scholars have debated how to appropriately date it. Modern academic scholars
    of Jewish mysticism, such as Gershom Scholem are of the opinion that it is from “either the Tannaitic or the early Amoraic
    period.”[2] However in the 12th Century, the rationalist Jewish philosopher Maimonides declared the text to be a Byzantine
    forgery.[3] Maimonides also believed that the text was so heretical and contrary to proper Jewish belief that it should be
    burned.[4][5]

    Rabbi Saadia Gaon also expressed doubts about the origin of the text, and stated that “since it is not found in either Mishna or
    Talmud, and since we have no way of establishing whether or not it represents the words of Rabbi Yishmael; perhaps someone else
    pretended to speak in his name.” [6] Nonetheless in the case that the text were somehow proven to be genuine, Saadia wrote that it
    would have to be understood in line with his “theory of 'created glory,'" which explains the prophetic theophanies as visions not of
    God Himself but of a luminous [created] substance.”[7] Rabbi Moses Narboni also wrote a philosophic work about the text entitled
    Iggeret Al-Shi'ur Qomah (Heb: ‫ אגרת על שיעור קומה‬lit. Epistle on Shi’ur Qomah), wherein he dismisses the blatant
    anthropomorphisms of Shi'ur Qomah as speaking strictly metaphorically. Rabbi Narboni’s work in the Iggeret is a “meditation on
    God, Measure of all existing things. It is based on Abraham Ibn Ezra's commentary on Exodus, and, with the aid of biblical and
    rabbinical passages, studies two kinds of knowledge: God's knowledge of his creatures, called knowledge of the Face; and His
    [8]
    creatures’ knowledge of God, called knowledge of the Back (an allusion to Exodus 33:23).”

    References
    1. “Everyone who knows the measure of the Creator is sure to be a son of the World to Come, and will be saved from
    the punishment of Gehinnom, and from all kind of punishments and evil decrees about to befall the world, and will be
    saved from all kind of witchcraft, for He saves us, protects us, redeems us, and rescues me from all evil things, from
    all harsh decrees, and from all kinds of punishments for the sake of His Great Name.” Shiur Qomah 1:2
    2. Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and aTlmudic Tradition: Based on the Israel Goldstein lectures, delivered
    at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New o
    Yrk. Gershom Gerhard Scholem. Edition: 2. Published by
    Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1965. Pg. 40.
    3. Maimonides and Philosophy: Papers Presented at the Sixth Jerusalem Philosophical Encounter , May, 1985. Shlomo
    Pines, Yirmiahu Yovel. Published by Springer, 1985. Pg. 85, footnote 11, relying on J. Blau, R. Moses B. Maimon —
    Responsa (Jerusalem, 1958), 1:201.
    4. The Secret Garden: An Anthology in the Kabbalah. David Meltzer
    . Published by Seabury Press, 1976. Pg, 3.
    5. Maimonides' responsa siman 1 ( 17 (Blau) (http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1730&st=&pgnum=215)/
    373 (Freimann) (http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1733&st=&pgnum=410)); translated by Rabbi
    Yosef Qafih and reprinted in his Collected Papers, Volume 1, footnote 1 on pages 475-476 (Hebrew: ‫ יורנו‬,‫שאלה‬
    ‫הדרתו מה לומר למי ששאל שאלה בענין שעור קומה האם הוא כדברי מי שאמר שהוא חבור אחד הקראים ושמע את זאת‬
    ‫ או שהוא סוד מסודות החכמים ז"ל וכמוסים בו ענינים גדולים טבעיים או אלהיים כמו שאמר רבנו האיי ז"ל באחד‬,‫מהדרתכם‬
    ‫ איני סבור כלל שהוא לחכמים ז"ל ואינו אלא חיבור אחד הדרשנים‬,‫ תשובה‬.‫ ושכרו כפול מן השמים‬.‫הקונדרסים בעניני חגיגה‬
    ‫ ושם אלהים אחרים לא תזכירו וכו' כי‬,‫ כללו של דבר השמדת אותו הספר והכרתת זכר ענינו מצוה רבה‬.‫בערי אדום ולא יותר‬
    ‫אשר לו קומה הוא אלהים אחרים בלי ספק‬.). See also ibid. p. 477-478 where a booklet found in Maimonides'Genizah
    with the text of Shi'ur Qomah appears with an annotation, possibly by Maimonides, cursing believers of Shi'ur
    Qomah (Hebrew: "‫ )"ארור המאמינו‬and praying that God be elevated exceedingly beyond that which the heretics say
    (Judeo-Arabic: "‫ ;"תע' ת'ם תע' עמא יקולון אלכאפרון‬Hebrew: "‫)"יתעלה לעילא לעילא ממה שאומרים הכופרים‬.
    6. Judah b. Barzilai, Peirush Sefer Yetzira, ed. Solomon Zalman, Hayyim Halberstam, Berlin 1885. Pg. 21
    7. Von der mittelalterlichen zur modernen Aufklärung: Studien zur jüdischen Geistesgeschichte. Alexander Altmann.
    Published by Mohr Siebeck, 1987. Pg. 132
    8. A History of Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages. Colette Sirat. Published by Cambridge University Press, 1990.
    Pg, 334.

    See also
    Jewish Mysticism
    Heresy in Orthodox Judaism
    Medieval Jewish Philosophy
    Moses Taku

    External links
    Shi'ur Qomah - ‫ שיעור קומה‬Hebrew, p. 75-84.
    Shi'ur Qomah English Translation
    The Shiur Komah: Imaging the DivineBy Joseph Dan

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    This page was last edited on 2 August 2018, at 12:50(UTC).

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