God’s Nose Loves the Aroma of the Sacred BBQ
Andrea Luna
When I returned to Parsah Pinchas this year, I was intrigued, once again, by the recurring images of the sacrifices burning on the altar as being “pleasing to God’, (re-ah n-hoah, a phrase repeated over and over, elsewhere in Torah)...inferring that God has a physicality, a Divine Nose, perhaps, to be able to smell the intense aromas of the daily korbanot.
וַיְַדֵ֥בּריְהָֹ֖וה ֶאל־מֶֹ֥שׁה ֵלּא ֽמֹר׃Numbers28
:spoke to Moses, saying יהוה
ַ֚צו ֶאת־ְבֵּ֣נייְִשָׂרֵ֔אלוְאַָמְרָ֖תּ ֲאֵלֶ֑הם ֶאת־ׇקְרָבּ֨נִי ַלְחִ֜מי ְלִאַ֗שּׁיֵ֚ריַחִנֽיחִֹ֔חי ִתְּשְׁמ֕רוּ ְלַהְקִ֥ריבִ֖לי ְבּמוֲֹעֽדוֹ׃ Command the Israelite people and say to them: Be punctilious in presenting to Me at stated times the offerings of food due Me, as offerings by fire of pleasing odor to Me.
Nu. 1:6:
עַֹ֖לת ָתִּ֑מיד ָהֲעֻשׂיָ֙ה ְבַּ֣הר ִסי֔נַי ְלֵ֣ריַחנִי֔חַֹח ִאֶ֖שּׁהַֽליהָֹוֽה׃
.יהוה the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai —an offering by fire of pleasing odor to
Nu: 1:27
וְִהְקַרְבֶ֨תּםעוָֹ֜לה ְלֵ֤ריַחנִי֙חַֹ֙חַֽליהֹ֔וָה ָפִּ֧רים ְבּנֵי־ָבָ֛קר ְשַׁ֖ניִםַ֣איִל ֶאָ֑חד ִשְׁבָ֥עה ְכָבִ֖שׂים ְבֵּ֥ני ָשָׁנֽה׃
You shall present a burnt offering of pleasing odor to יהוה: two bulls of the herd, one ram, seven
yearling lambs. Nu 1:36
ו ְ ִה ְק ַר ְב ֨ ֶתּ ם ע ֹ ֜ ָל ה ִא ֨ ֵשּׁ ה ֵ ֤ר י ַח נ ִ י ֙ח ֹ ַ ֙ח ַ ֽל י ה ֔ ֹ ו ָ ה ַ ֥פּ ר ֶא ָ ֖ח ד ַ ֣א י ִ ל ֶא ָ ֑ח ד ְכּ ָב ִ ֧שׂ י ם ְבּ נ ֵ י ־ ָשׁ ָ ֛נ ה ִשׁ ְב ָ ֖ע ה ְתּ ִמ י ִ ֽמ ם ׃ You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to יהוה; one bull, one ram, seven yearling lambs, without blemish;
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The idea of God’s body is somewhat jarring to our sensibilities which have been shaped by ‘normative” modern Judaism’s belief that God has no body in a rigid anti-iconic ethos. Yet Torah vividly personifies God in myriad ways : “He” is jealous, compassionate, forgiving, vindictive, loving, commanding, exact in “His” desires and ways “He” wants Jews to behave and live their lives, and honor “Him”. And, it says repeatedly that God loves the aroma of the sacrificed animals burned in the Sacred BBQ continuously roasted throughout the day.
In 2018 Mirisa Livingstar gave a well researched derash on the Jewish tradition of forbidding images because of the second Commandment which is repeated in Leviticus and
ֽ א ־ ַת ֲע ֨שׂ וּ ָל ֜ ֶכ ם ֱא ִל י ֗ ִל ם וּ ֶ ֤פ ֶס ל וּ ַמ ֵצּ ָב ֙ה ֽ א ־ ָת ִ ֣ק י מ וּ ָל ֔ ֶכ ם ו ְ ֶ ֣א ֶב ן ַמ ְשׂ ֗ ִכּ י ת ֤ א : . D e u t e r o n o m y ִתְתּנ֙וּ ְבּאְַרְצֶ֔כם ְלִֽהְשַׁתֲּח֖וֺת ָעֶ֑ליָהִ֛כּי ֲאִ֥נייְהָֹ֖וה) ֱאֵהיֶֽכם׃
You shall not make idols for yourselves, or set up for yourselves carved images or pillars, or place figured stones in your land to worship upon, for I יהוה am your God. (Lev 26:1)
ו ְ נ ִ ְשׁ ַמ ְר ֶ ֥תּ ם ְמ ֖א ֹד ְל נ ַ ְפ שׁ ֹ ֵת י ֶ ֑כ ם ִ ֣כּ י ֤ א ְר ִא י ֶת ֙ם ׇכּ ל ־ ְתּ מ וּ ֔נ ָ ה ְבּ ֗י וֹ ם ִדּ ֨ ֶבּ ר י ְ ה ֹ ָ ֧ו ה ֲא ֵל י ֶ ֛כ ם ְבּ ח ֹ ֵ ֖ר ב ִמ ֥תּ וֹ ָה ֵ ֽא שׁ ׃ ) 9 1 - 5 1 : 4 . D e u t (
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For your own sake, therefore, be most careful—since you saw no shape when יהוה spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire—
֨ ֶפּ ן ־ ַתּ ְשׁ ִח ֔ת וּ ן ו ַ ֲע ִשׂ י ֶ ֥ת ם ָל ֶ ֛כ ם ֶ ֖פּ ֶס ל ְתּ מ וּ ַ ֣נ ת ׇכּ ל ־ ָ ֑ס ֶמ ל ַתּ ְב ִ ֥נ י ת ָז ָ ֖כ ר ֥א וֹ נ ְ ֵק ָ ֽב ה ׃ not to act wickedly and make for yourselves a sculptured image in any likeness whatever: the
form of a man or a woman,
ַתּ ְב ֕נ ִ י ת ׇכּ ל ־ ְבּ ֵה ָ ֖מ ה ֲא ֶ ֣שׁ ר ָבּ ָ ֑א ֶר ץ ַתּ ְב נ ִ י ֙ת ׇכּ ל ־ ִצ ֣פּ וֹ ר ָכּ ֔נ ָ ף ֲא ֶ ֥שׁ ר ָתּ ֖ע וּ ף ַבּ ָשּׁ ָ ֽמ י ִ ם ׃ the form of any beast on earth, the form of any winged bird that flies in the sky,
ַתְּב֕נִיתׇכּל־רֵֹ֖משׂ ָבֲּאָדָ֑מה ַתְּבִ֛ניתׇכּל־ָדָּ֥גה ֲאֶשׁר־ַבַּ֖מּיִם ִמַ֥תַּחת ָלָֽאֶרץ׃ the form of anything that creeps on the ground, the form of any fish that is in the waters below
the earth.—
וֶּפן־ִתָּ֨שּׂא ֵעי֜נֶי ַהָשַּׁ֗מיְָמהְ֠וָֽרִ֠איָת ֶאת־ַהֶ֨שֶּׁמשׁוְֶאת־ַהיֵָּ֜רַחוְֶאת־ַהֽכּוָֹכִ֗בים֚כֹּל ְצָ֣בא ַהָשַּׁ֔מיִםוְנִַדְּחָ֛תּוְִהְשַׁתֲּחִ֥ויָת ָלֶ֖הם
ו ַ ֲע ַב ְד ָ ֑תּ ם ֲא ֨ ֶשׁ ר ָח ֜ ַל ק י ְ ה ֹ ֤ ָו ה ֱא ֶ ֙ה י ֙ א ֹ ֔ ָת ם ְל כ ֹ ֙ל ָ ֽה ַע ֔ ִמּ י ם ַ ֖תּ ַח ת ׇכּ ל ־ ַה ָשּׁ ָ ֽמ י ִ ם ׃ And when you look up to the sky and behold the sun and the moon and the stars, the whole
heavenly host, you must not be lured into bowing down to them or serving them. These your God יהוה allotted to other peoples everywhere under heaven;
ֽ֣א־יְִהֶ֥יֽה־ְל֛֩ ֱאִ֥֨הים ֲאֵחִ֖֜רים ַעל־ָפָּ֗נַֽי׃:20:3-5.And:Ex You shall have no other gods besides Me.
ֽ֣א־ַֽתֲעֶ֨שׂה־ְלֶ֥֣֣֙פֶס֙ל ׀ וְׇכל־ְתּמוּ֔֡נָה ֲאֶ֣֤שׁר ַבָּשַּׁ֣֙מיִ֙ם ׀ ִמַ֔֡מַּעלַוֲֽאֶ֥שׁ֩ר ָבָּ֖֨אֶרץ ִמַָ֑֜תַּחתוֲַאֶ֥שׁר ַבַּ֖֣מּיִם ׀ ִמַ֣֥תַּחת ָלָֽ֗אֶרץ׃ You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth.
ֽא־ִתְשַׁתֲּחֶ֣֥וה ָלֶ֖ה֮םוְ֣אׇתׇעְבֵ֑ד֒םִ֣כּיָֽאנִֹ֞כייְהָֹ֤וה ֱאֶ֙היֵ֣֙אל ַק֔נָּא֠פֵֹּקד ֲע֨וֺןאָ֧בֹת ַעל־ָבִּ֛נים ַעל־ִשֵׁלִּ֥שׁיםוְַעל־ִרֵבִּ֖עים ְלשֹׂנְָֽ֑אי׃ You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I your God יהוה am an impassioned/ jealous God...
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Mirisa pointed out that despite these Torah source texts commanding belief in an invisible God, there was a deep and persistent rich tradition of God manifesting physically, and cited a long list of phrases and texts that relate or allude to the figure of God and that challenge the belief that this is the kind of God Jews always believed. Daniel Boyarin “The Eye in the Torah: Oracular Desire in Midrashic Hermeneutic' (Critical Inquiry Vol.16, no.3,Spring 1990, pp 532-550) says: “It is actually quite astonishing that Judaism could ever be described as having an invisible God, given the evidence of these verses (where God is anthropomorphized, sic.) and many others.”
The first verse cited is often Gen 1:26: “Let us make man in our image and likeness’ (b’tzalem ki-d-mutenu). The root word tselem refers to a three-dimensional image or form.
God later (Ex 33:20 )refuses to allow Moses to show Moses His face “for no one may see me and live”, implying not that God is devoid of form, but the opposite. We learn that humans may not see God and live, but there may be some exceptions:
(Ex 24:7-11) Moses and the elders went up and “saw the God of Israel ..and ate and drank.”
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Another related and very interesting and critical area of inquiry is the act of hearing God versus seeing God: was the revelation at Sinai an auditory or visual event? Language mysticism, i.e. divine speech as the mystical shape of God, the doctrine of secret names, a tradition that the alef-beit and words and the secret names of God as keys to mystical knowledge opens up with this area of inquiry. I touched on this at Shavuot.
Meir Bar- Ilan (a Rabbi and one of the big personalities and agents of change that bridged illustrious eastern European rabbinic dynasties and the founding of the State of Israel, newspaper publisher, Talmudic scholar, founder of Bar-Ilan University) says that there is so much material showing the anthropomorphic belief of God’s body in Jewish history that he just focuses on God’s hand. In his paper The Hand of God: A Chapter in Anthropomorphism, he examines first the biblical period as a theological background for the Rabbinic period, including Hekhalot sources, which I find endlessly intriguing and will refer to today.
The Hekhalot literature from the Hebrew word for "Palaces", relates to visions of ascents into heavenly palaces. The genre overlaps with Merkabah or "Chariot" literature, concerning Ezekiel's chariot, so the two are sometimes referred to together as "Books of the Palaces and the Chariot" (ספרות ההיכלות והמרכבה). The Hekhalot literature is a genre of Jewish esoteric and revelatory texts produced some time between late antiquity – some believe from Talmudic times or earlier – to the Early Middle Ages.
Many motifs of later Kabbalah are based on Shi’ur Qomah (Hebrew: שיעור קומה, lit. Dimensions of the Body), a midrashic text that is part of the Hekhalot literature. It purports to record, in anthropomorphic terms, the secret names and precise measurements of God's corporeal limbs and parts.
The picture of God as presented in the Shiur Komah is a combination of three lists: a list of the limbs of the divine figure-head, crown, beard, eyes, hands, legs, neck, etc.; a list of the measurements of these limbs, given in the Persian unit used also in talmudic texts‐‐parasangs; and a list of the holy, esoteric names of each limb. These are combined into a description of the Creator,
This doctrine developed in the tannaitic period as the most secret part of *Merkabah mysticism. When the mystic attained the vision of the supernal world and found himself standing before the throne, he was vouchsafed a vision of the Shi'ur Komah as the "figure in the form of man" which Ezekiel had seen on the throne in his first vision of the Merkabah (Ezek. 1:26). Not only was this doctrine consistent with the obviously anthropomorphic descriptions of God in many biblical passages, it was also reinforced by the interpretation of the Song of Songs as relating to God and Israel.
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the beloved as described there (Songs 5:11–16) served to legitimize the Shi'ur Komah doctrine, which was further embellished by the details given about the ḥaluk, the robe of glory with which this mystical body of God is clothed. Fragments of this doctrine have been preserved in several texts bearing the title Shi'ur Komah and in many allusions to it in midrashic literature. The fragments consist of a detailed description of the limbs of God in the figure of a man and this apparently deliberate and excessive indulgence in anthropomorphism proved shocking to later and more rationalistic Jewish thought. On the other hand, the kabbalists hailed it as a profound, symbolic expression of their own purely spiritual world. The fragments also contain an enumeration of the secret names of these limbs. The measures given for the several limbs may have contained some sort of numerical symbolism which can no longer be reconstructed.
The height of the Creator is given as 236,000 parasangs, based on a numerological interpretation of Psalm 147:5 as "the height of our Lord is 236." The details, however, transcend any possibility of visualization and cannot really have been intended to indicate any concrete measurements. In the fragments preserved these obviously over-drawn anthropomorphisms are explicitly defined as describing not the substance of God but His "hidden glory," or the "body of the Shekhinah," guf ha-Shekhinah.
In Shiur Quomah the elementary unit is ten million parasangs (eleph revavot). Each parasang included three miles; each mile, two thousand "feet" (amot). Each foot included three "fingers" (zeratot). Thus the basic unit is 180,000,000,000 "fingers."
Each finger, says the author, is not the human one, but the divine one, by which the heavens were built, and its length is from one end of the world to the other. As each limb is measured in thousands of these basic units, it is quite clear that the picture presented in this text is not a simple anthropomorphic one, one that can be gleaned from the verses of the Song ofSongs, but an attempt to mystify the reader and prove to him that the "measurements of the height" of God are far beyond the reach of human imagination, and that any comparison between a human hand and a divine one is completely impossible.
The majority of the text is recorded in the form of sayings or teachings that the angel Metatron revealed to the tanna Rabbi Ishmael, who transmitted it to his students and his contemporary Rabbi Akiva. Maimonides (not surprisingly) believed that the text was so heretical and contrary to proper Jewish belief that it should be burned.[4][5]
Today we’ll look at our Siddur (Kol Haneshamah) as an “aspaklaria” (aramaic, Latin: “specularia” a mirror, speculum, lens, that gives us clues, reflects back imperfectly) to the large and complex kabbalistic tradition and teachings of God’s body and the imbedded pathways to experiencing God’s manifestation in the worlds. The service we
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davven every Shabbat has encoded glimpses of a deep Kabbalistic layer and secrets of theologies from the distant past.
Open our Siddur:
We have a minhag to davven a sort of shorthand version of Nishmat, emphasizing our favorite verses and melodies. But underlying this part of the service is an ancient mystical belief system, a rich and complicated ritual pathway of humans ascending or descending into the throne room of God to be in God’s Presence, braving terrifying angelic creatures on the journey.
-p.236/237: “Deity of every “creature”/ habriot
-p.240/ 241: image of God on the lofty and exalted “throne”/ cisay ram v’nisah
The image of the immense Throne upon which God’s immense body sits (or reclines?) is straight from the Merkava mystical tradition and the Hekhalot literature.
-p.244/245: The Kaddish continues the praises in all realms
-p. 246: Barchu
-p. 248; “let all beings praise...” includes those in the mystical realm of God’s throne. -p. 250: “You are the world’s sole sovereign dwelling in the highest heights...
-p. 252-253: El Adon:note: Written by Merkabah mystics , draws on visions of Ezekiel 1-2 and Isaiah
-p. 260: God returns to Throne of glory on 7th day of Creation, creatures praise
-p.264: ”holy beings / “omadim”
Here I’ll go to the Hekhalot texts in Massechet Hagigah of the B.Talmud which has many pages devoted to the Mysteries of the Chariot. Hagigah12b GEMARA: Rabbi Yehuda said: There are two firmaments, as it is stated: “Behold, to the Lord your God belongs the heaven and the heaven of heavens” (Deuteronomy 10:14), indicating that there is a heaven above our heaven.
Reish Lakish said: There are seven firmaments, and they are as follows: Vilon, Rakia, Sheḥakim, Zevul, Ma’on, Makhon, and Aravot.
Mystical texts often reflect an ancient oral history or redactions from texts that preceded them. While reading the names of the angels guarding the throne rooms of God I felt like I was hearing Sumerian chants, and I discovered that Ancient Mesopotamians/Sumerians believed in seven heavens and seven earths, the first heaven being home to all the stars. Islam also teaches seven heavens, the first being the universe (or perhaps just our solar system – Allahu ‘alim). Hence seven heavens are ultimately of mythic origin and are part of religious cosmology found in many major religions such as Islam and Hinduism and in some minor religions such as Hermeticism and Gnosticism.
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In fact, as Qur’an 71:1-15 shows that the seven heavens and earths were part of the Ilm al-Ghayb (Knowledge of the Unseen) that Allah revealed to Prophet Noah. This knowledge, like that of the Seven Gates of Hell, was inherited by post-flood humanity and became embedded/ embellished in the myths of subsequent cultures.
The Gemara in Masechet B.Hagigah explains the role of each firmament: 1)Vilon, curtain, is the firmament that does not contain anything, but enters at morning and departs in the evening, and renews the act of Creation daily, as it is stated: “Who stretches out the heavens as a curtain [Vilon], and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in” (Isaiah 40:22). 2)Rakia, firmament, is the one in which the sun, moon, stars, and zodiac signs are fixed, as it is stated: “And er, stands and sacrifices an offering upon it, as it is stated: “I have surely built a house of 3)Shehakim......
4) Zevul for You, a place for You to dwell forever” (I Kings 8:13). And from where do we derive that Zevul is called heaven? As it is written: “Look down from heaven and see, from Your holy and glorious abode [Zevul]” (Isaiah 63:15).
5) Ma’on, habitation, is where there are groups of ministering angels who recite song at night and are silent during the day out of respect for Israel, in order not to compete with their songs, as it is stated: “By day the Lord will command His kindness, and in the night His song is with me” (Psalms 42:9), indicating that the song of the angels is with God only at night.
6) Makhon, dwelling place, is where there are storehouses of snow and storehouses of hail, and the upper chamber of harmful dews, and the upper chamber of drops, and the room of tempests and storms, and the cave of mist. And the doors of all these are made of fire. How do we know that there are storehouses for evil things? For it is stated: “The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens” (Deuteronomy 28:12), which indicates the existence of a storehouse that contains the opposite of good.
7) Aravot, skies, is the firmament that contains righteousness; justice; righteousness, i.e., charity; the treasuries of life; the treasuries of peace; the treasuries of blessing; the souls of the righteous; the spirits and souls that are to be created; and the dew that the Holy One, Blessed be He, will use to revive the dead. There, in these firmaments, are the ofanim, the seraphim, the holy divine creatures, and the ministering angels, and the Throne of Glory. The King, God, the living, lofty, exalted One dwells above them in Aravot, as it is stated: “Extol Him Who rides upon the skies [Aravot], Whose name is God” (Psalms 68:5). And from where do we derive that Aravot is called “heaven”? This is learned by using a verbal analogy between two instances of “rides” and “rides”: Here, it is written: “Extol Him Who rides upon the skies [Aravot],” and there, it is written: “Who rides upon the heaven as your help” (Deuteronomy 33:26).
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(We might also interpret the mystical heavens as states of consciousness...)
And above them, above all the firmaments, are the divine creatures. The feet of the divine creatures correspond in distance to all the firmaments; the ankles of the animals correspond to all of them, the shins of the animals correspond to all of them, the knees of the animals correspond to all of them, the thighs of the animals correspond to all of them, the bodies of the animals correspond to all of them, the necks of the animals correspond to all of them, the heads of the animals correspond to all of them, and the horns of the animals correspond to all of them. Above them is the Throne of Glory: The feet of the Throne of Glory correspond to all of them, the Throne of Glory corresponds to all of them, and theliving, almighty, lofty, exalted King dwells above them. A
Now I’ll read a bit from Meditation and Kabbalah by the brilliant Aryeh Kaplan (author of The Waters of Eden that Margaret reads from on every Yom Kippur), which contains more explicit information of the the descent and ascent of those seeking to penetrate guardians of God’s abode and see God’s actual Personage.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
Our last venture into the mystical texts imbedded in our Siddur are images from the Idra Rabbah in “Shir Hakavod” right before Adon Olam which ends the service.
The description of God’s body, particularly the head, found here are also found in Sefer Yetsirah, an important and easily available, if not so easy to understand, kabbalistic text attributed to Abraham. Aryah Kaplan’s translation is once again, brilliant.
I first studied the Idra Rabbah with Beth Huppin, student of Melilah Hillner Eshed whom I consider a pre-emininent scholar and teacher of Zoharic literature today for her over all grasp of the deeper meaning and creative synthesis of these texts in the literature of Kabbalah. And for her uncovering the place held by the Divine Feminine.
I’ll share a bit from Melilah’s latest book Seekers of the Face: Secrets of the Idra Rabba (The Great Assembly ) of the Zohar (Stanforn university Press, 2021) to end: