Updated: 2008.05.05
mᵊnor•âhꞋ; candelabra.
îÀðåÉøÇú äÇîÌÈàåÉø (Mᵊnor•atꞋ ha-Mâ•orꞋ; "The Candelabra of the Luminary") is the text codifying early Yemenite views on Talmudic Ha•lâkh•âhꞋ, was authored by éÄöÀçÈ÷ àÂáÌåÌäÈá (Yi•tzᵊkhâqꞋ A•bu•hâvꞋ), a Jew who was perhaps in contact with the Tei•mân•imꞋ (as Maimonides was), and may have been Tei•mân•iꞋ himself. A•bu•hâvꞋ lived in the Netherlands, or perhaps Spain, at the end of the 14th century. His grandson lived in the Netherlands.
"His use of passages from aggadic works now lost and the variants in the talmudic and midrashic texts he cites make the Mᵊnor•atꞋ ha-Mâ•orꞋ of great importance for establishing the text of the Tal•mudꞋ used in the Spanish-North African [i.e., Sᵊpha•rad•iꞋ; ybd] academies as distinct from that of the Franco-German [i.e. Ash•kᵊnazꞋi; ybd] school" ("Aboab, Isaac I," Ency. Jud., 2.91).
A•bu•hâvꞋ "combines the teachings of Maimonides, whose
The reason that "the ideas of the teachers of Qa•bâl•âhꞋ" are found in Mᵊnor•atꞋ ha-Mâ•orꞋ while A•bu•hâvꞋ knows nothing about the Zo•harꞋ is because A•bu•hâvꞋ's Mᵊnor•atꞋ ha-Mâ•orꞋ preceded the authoring of the Zo•harꞋ, and represents pre-Zo•harꞋ, pre-Medieval mystic, pre-Qa•bâl•âhꞋ, pristine Judaic esoteric tradition dating back to Har Sin•aiꞋ!
The "teachers of Qa•bâl•âhꞋ," therefore, devised their magical and medieval "ideas… of Qa•bâl•âhꞋ" either from the same tradition as A•bu•hâvꞋ's Mᵊnor•atꞋ ha-Mâ•orꞋ records, or from A•bu•hâvꞋ's Mᵊnor•atꞋ ha-Mâ•orꞋ itself!!! The medieval magical ideas of the Zo•harꞋ—and the resulting Qa•bâl•âhꞋ, being a consequent product of the Zo•harꞋ—are intractably contradictory to Tor•âhꞋ and Mᵊnor•atꞋ ha-Mâ•orꞋ. Therefore, the Zo•harꞋ is clearly a perversion of Mᵊnor•atꞋ ha-Mâ•orꞋ!
A•bu•hâvꞋ's pre-Qabbalist and pre-Zo•harꞋ Judaic esoteric tradition in Mᵊnor•atꞋ ha-Mâ•orꞋ is documented from Tal•mudꞋ. "The great teachers of that time were also generally conversant in mystical studies of the highest order. This is clear from the Tal•mudꞋ's description of Rav Yo•khân•ânꞋ Bën-Za•kaiꞋ (ca. B.C.E. 30-90 C.E.) as the most junior of the students of Hi•leilꞋ the Elder who, nevertheless, did not fail to study even one great or one small thing. The Tal•mudꞋ goes on to explain that 'a small thing' refers to the questions and legal arguments of Ab•ay•iꞋ (born about the close of the third century; died 339 C.E.) and RâbꞋâ (b. 270 C.E.), while 'a great thing' refers to the nature of the [Më•rᵊkâv•âhꞋ ('Divine Chariot')] (Suk•âhꞋ 28a)…
"At the time of the closing of the Tal•mudꞋ, Rav Ash•eiꞋ [beginning of 5th century]… realized that, as much as it was important to compile and record the legal aspects of the Tor•âhꞋ, it was equally important to preserve for posterity these teachings that dealt with the highest of matters… To achieve this purpose, Rav Ash•eiꞋ included all of these chronicles and teachings in the Tal•mudꞋ and interspersed them among the discussions of the legal parts of the Tal•mudꞋ. This aspect of the Tal•mudꞋ ['the highest of matters,' i.e. pristine Judaic esoteric tradition] became known as the Ha•jâd•âhꞋ and the legal aspect as the Ha•lâkh•âhꞋ" (Rabbi Yaakov Yoseiph Reinman, "Menoras Hamaor," an English translation of Lamp #1, including "Profile of the Mᵊnor•âhꞋ" 1982: (Lakewood, NJ: Chinuch Publ), p. 238).
This work is not the same work as its offspring of the same name by Rab•eiꞋnu Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ Bën-Yo•seiphꞋ al-Nakava ("al-Nakawa").
Orientation of Lamps in Mᵊnor•atꞋ ha-Mâ•orꞋ: Tᵊhil•imꞋ 34.15:
Lamp:
That One Not Pursue Luxury (à – ëè, sections 1-29)
That One Not Be Indiscreet Through Ugly Speech (ì – òæ, sections 30-77)
Lamp:
To Perpetuate The Mitz•wotꞋ (òç – øìæ, sections 78-237)
On The Topic Of Tal•mudꞋ Tor•âhꞋ (øìç – øòã, sections 238-274)
In The Ways Of Tᵊshuv•âhꞋ (øò"ä – ùé"á, sections 275-312)
Lamp:
In The Ways Of Shâ•lomꞋ and Love (ùéâ – ùëè, sections 313-329)
On The Topic Of Humility (ùì – ùìç, sections 330-338)