Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Two faced humans

As a quick followup to the post on last week's parsha, about man being created with two faces, and how Rav Yonasan Eibeshutz took it, I would note that this idea is found in the Zohar, with some of the prooftexts I mentioned, and some others. I believe the capital letters are the translator's insertions:

2. And though it was settled, we must look into this verse: "So Elohim created man in His own image, in the image of Elohim He created him." Since it already said, "His image," why REPEAT AGAIN, "in the image of Elohim He created him"? HE ANSWERS: There were two levels IN THE MAN, SINCE he was composed of male and female. THEREFORE, there is one for the male, THAT IS, "SO ELOHIM CREATED..." and one for the female, THAT IS, "IN THE IMAGE..."

3. And as a result of this, there were assuredly two faces, MALE AND FEMALE, and the end of the verse proves it, since it is written, "male and female He created them" (Ibid.). And he was composed of both aspects. Although the female was attached to his side, she ON HER OWN was also composed of two sides, WHICH ARE CHESED AND JUDGMENT, to be complete in all.

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