{"id":329,"date":"2017-11-14T01:53:42","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T01:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress_bw2\/5-2-lilith-as-the-serpent-in-the-zohar\/"},"modified":"2017-12-10T02:55:20","modified_gmt":"2017-12-10T02:55:20","slug":"5-2-lilith-as-the-serpent-in-the-zohar","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/the-case-for-lilith\/lilith-in-the-zohar\/5-2-lilith-as-the-serpent-in-the-zohar\/","title":{"rendered":"5.2) Lilith as the Serpent in the Zohar"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Zohar also teaches that Lilith is the Serpent who deceived Eve.\u00a0 Zohar 1:148a-148b (Vayetze: Passage 23) calls Lilith a \u201csnake\u201d and the \u201cfemale of Samael.\u201d\u00a0 It also calls her \u201ca wife of harlotry.\u201d\u00a0 The passages speak of the Serpent Lilith\u2019s intrinsically fused nature with Samael (Lucifer).\u00a0 She and Samael are one, just as Adam and Eve were one before Eve was taken from him.\u00a0 A footnote to the passages further explains, \u201cSamael is like the soul and Lilith like the body.\u00a0 Deeds are wrought by Lilith with the power of Samael.\u201d\u00a0 This is true because Samael is the animating spirit of Lilith.\u00a0 This is in keeping with the notion that the defective light of Lilith\u2019s klipah<\/em> in Zohar 1:19b is the spirit of Samael.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Zohar 1:148a-148b (Vayetze: Passage 23)<\/strong><\/div>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0A deep mystery is found in the strength of Yitzchak’s light, and from the dregs of wine.\u00a0 One shape emerged (from both), made of male and female (Good and Evil), as one. \u00a0The male is called \u201cSamael\u201d, and his female is always included with him.\u00a0 Just as on the side of holiness, there are male and female, so on \u201cthe other side\u201d there are male and female, included one with the other. The female of Samael is called \u201csnake\u201d, \u201ca wife of harlotry\u201d, \u201cthe end of all flesh\u201d, \u201cthe end of days.\u201d\u00a0 Two evil spirits are attached to one another. \u00a0The male spirit is fine; the female spirit spreads out down several ways and paths and is attached to the male spirit.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Another important passage comes in Zohar 2 (Pekudei: Passage 454).\u00a0 The passage clearly links the Serpent to Lilith.\u00a0 It also once again emphasizes the strange union between Samael and Lilith.\u00a0 In the passage the Serpent is called a seductive woman, full of flattery and deception.\u00a0 The Serpent practices the art of seduction, and instigates rebellions in the world.\u00a0 Note that the passage attributes these powers to the Serpent itself, and not from Samael who rides her.\u00a0 Thus, the Serpent\u2019s power to speak, to subtly seduce, and to deceive were innate in her creation.\u00a0 This is what we expect from the Lilith myth.<\/p>\n

\n
Zohar 2 (Pekudei: Passage 454)<\/strong><\/div>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0When Adam was in the Garden of Eden and was occupied in worshipping his Master, Samael went down with all the grades in him, and was riding on the evil serpent to deviate them. \u00a0As the serpent underneath was subtle, and led astray and seduced people, as it is written, “For the lips of a strange woman drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil” (Mishlei 5:3), He gives power and she practices the art (of seduction and instigation) in the world, and they cannot rule the one without the other.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Zohar has two passages that have caused many to surmise that it teaches that the Serpent had physical intercourse with Eve, and that the result was Cain.\u00a0 At first, this idea may seem outlandish because the Serpent is female.\u00a0 However, recall that the Zohar teaches that the Serpent is androgynous with both male and female aspects.\u00a0 Although the Serpent certainly appears to have had intercourse with Eve based on only the two passages below in isolation, we shall see this is almost certainly not the case.\u00a0 The passages speak of a spiritual, not physical, insemination.\u00a0 It is likely the Zohar purposely makes it teachings on Eve\u2019s guilt in this matter confusing, as this uncertainty best follows the mysteries of the bitter water trial, where the guilt of the woman is always in question.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beresheet A passage 455 states that two individuals had intercourse with Eve.\u00a0 These two individuals are commonly assumed to be the Serpent and Adam.\u00a0 The passage is then understood to say that from the Serpent came evil Cain, and from Adam came Able.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Zohar 1 (Beresheet A: Passage 455)<\/strong><\/div>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0After this, they gave birth to the first son. \u00a0He was the son of defilement, because two had intercourse with Eve and she conceived from both and gave birth to two (Cain and Able). \u00a0Each resembled his own father and their spirits were separated, one to the side (of impurity) and one to the side (of Holiness). Each was in the appearance of his own aspect.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Chayei Sara passage 19 bluntly states that the Serpent injected impurities into Eve.\u00a0 This is commonly seen as a reference to semen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
Zohar 2 (Chayei Sara: Passage 19)<\/strong><\/div>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Come and behold: Eve came into the world and clung to the serpent. He injected impurities into her.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The common understanding of these two passages, that the Serpent had intercourse with Eve, is probably wrong.\u00a0 There are other passages in the Zohar that conflict with the notion that the Serpent had physical intercourse with Eve.\u00a0 Beresheet B passages 349-350 states that neither Able nor Cain were born in the image of Adam.\u00a0 They were both produced by \u201cattachment\u201d to the Serpent and Samael.\u00a0 Cain was born in the image of defilement.\u00a0 Able was born in the image of Holiness.\u00a0 It is inconceivable that the Serpent could be physically responsible for Able\u2019s conception in Holiness.\u00a0 Therefore, the Zohar must be indicating that Cain and Able were produced through spiritual and mystical inseminations.\u00a0 These inseminations mirror those in the Bitter Water trial, and they are caused by the spirits of Jehovah and the Serpent.\u00a0 Therefore, in passage 455 above, the two who had intercourse with Eve would be the spirits of God and the Serpent, and not the physical Adam and Lilith.\u00a0 I hold that the mystical inseminations derive from the bitter water judgment which Eve underwent.\u00a0 Cain is the seed of adultery in the image of the Serpent Lilith.\u00a0 It bruises the heel of the promised seed, Abel.\u00a0 However, unto the innocent woman modeled in Eve, a replacement seed is granted.\u00a0 This seed is Seth, who Genesis says was a replacement for Able, whom Cain slew.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
Zohar 1 (Beresheet B: Passage 349-350)<\/strong><\/div>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Rabbi Yehuda continued by saying, “And he begot [Seth] in his own likeness after his own image” (Beresheet 5:3). This indicates that his other sons (Cain and Able) were not after his likeness, but Seth was in his own likeness and after his image, both physically and spiritually. As Rabbi Shimon said, in the name of Rabbi Yeba Saba (the elder), Adam’s other sons had been produced in defilement, through attachment to the serpent and its rider, who is Samael. \u00a0Hence, they bore no resemblance to Adam. Even though Able, unlike Cain, was from the side (of purity and not from the Serpent), neither had the form of the image of Adam. \u00a0<\/div>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Rabbi Yosi says: It is written: “Adam knew his wife, Chavah, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain” (Beresheet 4:1), but it is not written that Adam begot Cain. \u00a0This was not written of Able either. \u00a0Instead, it is written: “and she further gave birth to his brother, Able” (Beresheet 4:2). \u00a0And here lies the concealed truth (that even Able was not born in the image of Adam), but of Seth it is written: “And he begot in his own likeness, after his image.” \u00a0.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That the above passages speak of spiritual inseminations is supported by Beresheet B passage 331.\u00a0 It states that Adam physically begot both Cain and Abel.\u00a0 Cain was fathered before Adam repented and was thus born of defilement.\u00a0 Able was fathered after Adam had repented and was thus born of purity.\u00a0 It is probable that Eve mystically conceived the spirits of both Cain and Able at the time of her cursing before God.\u00a0 This is because many scholars believe Cain and Able to be twin brothers.\u00a0 This stems from the fact that the Bible states that Adam knew his wife only once, yet both brothers were the result. \u00a0Thus, both may have been spiritually conceived (or at least received their images) at the same time during Eve\u2019s cursing before God.\u00a0 The actual physical conception may have played-out more naturally, with Adam later having intercourse with Eve and mystically giving rise to two seeds not in his image.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
Zohar 1 (Beresheet B: Passage 331)<\/strong><\/div>\n

Adam clove to the unclean spirit (the Serpent) and his wife clung to it first and took and received defilement from it. \u00a0He begot a son; that son was the son of the impure spirit. \u00a0Thus, there were two sons: one from the unclean spirit (Cain) and another who was born after Adam had repented (Able). \u00a0Hence, one was born of the side of impurity and one of the side of purity.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I hold that the Zohar does not teach that the Serpent had physical intercourse with Eve.\u00a0 However, it does speak of a spiritual insemination.\u00a0 The physicality of the act is merely an impression given from the weighty and difficult mysticism of the topic.\u00a0 This difficulty is best resolved by what the Zohar teaches on the bitter water trial.\u00a0 It teaches that the Serpent\u2019s spirit is the fundamental cursing agent in the trial, and that when it injects its venom in the belly of the woman, it begins the curses.\u00a0 The Serpent\u2019s spirit is one of two animating spirit in the trial.\u00a0 Thus, when Beresheet A passage 455 states that two had intercourse with Eve, it refers to these two animating spirits — that of Jehovah and of Samael.\u00a0 It does not refer to Eve\u2019s physical mating with the Serpent and with Adam.\u00a0 When Chayei Sara passage 19 (and others) state that the Serpent injected defilement into Eve, it refers to the curses that resulted from Eve\u2019s sin.\u00a0 This is all seen in what the Zohar has to say about the Serpent\u2019s role in the bitter water trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Zohar also teaches that Lilith is the Serpent who deceived Eve.\u00a0 Zohar 1:148a-148b (Vayetze: Passage 23) calls Lilith a \u201csnake\u201d and the \u201cfemale of Samael.\u201d\u00a0 It also calls her \u201ca wife of harlotry.\u201d\u00a0 The passages speak of the Serpent Lilith\u2019s intrinsically fused nature with Samael (Lucifer).\u00a0 She and Samael are one, just as Adam … Continue reading “5.2) Lilith as the Serpent in the Zohar”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":9,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-329","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":345,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/329\/revisions\/345"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}