|
|
Chapter 8
Christmas and New Years
The Torah Koan of Adam’s Lost Yom Tov
The Mishna, the 2nd century codex of the Jewish Oral tradition, states: “These are the festivals of the idolaters: Kalenda [beginning the new Calendar, i.e., New Years], Saturnalia [beginning Dec. 17 and ending Dec. 25]… .[1]
Our Rabbis taught:[2]
When Adam HaRishon saw the day getting gradually shorter, he said, “Woe is me, perhaps because I have transgressed [with the Tree of Knowledge], the world around me is being darkened and returned to its state of chaos and confusion (tohu and bohu); this then is the mode of death to which I have been sentenced from Heaven!’ So he began keeping an eight days’ fast. But as he observed the winter equinox and noted the day getting increasingly longer he said, ‘This is the natural way of the world’, and he took it upon himself to keep an eight days’ yom tov (sacred festival). In the following year he appointed both (the eight days preceding and following the winter solstice – the shortest day of the year) as yomim tovim (plural). Now, he designated them for the sake of Heaven, but they [the idolaters] designated them for the sake of idolatry.
Rabbi Chanan ben Raba said: Kalenda is kept on the eight days following the [winter] solstice, Saturnalia on the eight days preceding the equinox. As a mnemonic aid use the verse, “You have formed me behind (back) and before (front)” (Psalms 139-5).[3]
Secrets of the Aggada
Within the sea of the Talmud there are two dimensions to be navigated. One, the halachic material, deals with laws, rituals and jurisprudence and comprises the majority of the sixty tractates. The aggada, the non-halachic aspect of the rabbinical discussions, comprises over a quarter of the Talmud. Aggada (literally, the “telling”) touches upon virtually every aspect of life and its concerns none the least of which is the Kabbalah, the inner teachings of the Torah. Many secrets of the esoteric tradition of the sages are strategically embedded throughout the talmudic tomes and pages of the midrash.[4] Odd and unbelievable stories, simple aphorisms, archaic medical remedies, astronomical and anatomical observations and even psycho-ethical or philosophical messages are systematically used by the Talmudic sages to transmit teachings of the inner Torah. The holy Zohar states that the root meaning of aggada is to draw down and channel supernal wisdom.[5] The sages in their commentaries, over the last one thousand years (long after the close of the Talmud and midrashim), have decoded much aggadic material.
There is a category of aggada that is dispersed throughout the Talmud and midrash where there is little, if any, commentary. These are the numerous references to Yeshu HaNotzri (Jesus), Christianity, and the collective soul of the gentile nations. The lack of commentary is due to the threat of the Church. Under the power of the Church, the rabbis of the middle ages and thereafter were not free to spell out the earlier sages’ intentions. Often, the text of the Talmud itself dealing with “Yeshu and his followers” was censored by altering words or even removing entire passages. This was either directly at the hands of the official church censor or by the rabbis themselves protecting Jewish communities from persecution or worse.
There is no longer church censorship and the censored talmudic and midrashic texts (and a few commentaries) have been restored. Still, whether by the hand of man or by the hand of Heaven, many Jewish esoteric teachings concerning Christianity remain closed to outsiders. This is due to the highly volatile nature and the potential misunderstanding and abuse of the subject by Christians and by some Jews as well (religious or secular). Yet, the Gaon of Vilna is known for his statement regarding our present generations, “The final redemption will come through the leaning of the Kabbalah”. This involves the mystical teachings of the Talmudic aggadah as much as it does the study of the Zohar, the Aitz Chayim of the ARI zal or the Chassidus of the Baal Shem Tov. According to this tradition, the lost or hidden seeds buried within the Written Torah and in the collective rabbinical mind of the Oral Torah must sprout and bear fruit. This includes the arcane Jewish teachings concerning Christianity.
The Saturnalia
It is a historical fact that Constantine, the Emperor of Rome, after himself converting, forcibly converted the entire Roman world to Christianity. The pagan Roman Empire became the Holy Roman Empire. This follows the rabbinical and Kabbalah traditions that Christendom is the spiritual legacy of ancient Rome (Not by coincidence is the Vatican in Rome). The collective soul of Rome, in turn, is the spiritual legacy of Esav. Thus, the Scriptural equation, “Esav is Edom”. (Edom is the traditional name for Rome).[6]
It is also a historical fact that Christianity inherited, adopted and transformed, -- “Christianized” -- the Roman gods and goddesses, their festivals, convocations and religious symbols. As mentioned in the Mishna, the ancient festival of Saturnalia, which began on the 17th of December and concluded eight days later on the 25th of December, became the “modern” Christmas. Eight days later, throughout the Roman Empire they celebrated Kalenda, which has become the accepted new Calender Day throughout the modern world. It wasn’t until the fourth century, however, that the Church set Christmas on December 25, not because they believed their founder was born then, but because they wanted to absorb and Christianize the existing midwinter pagan feast that was a time of drinking and revelry. The English Victorians commandeered the holiday, and Victorian writers helped transform it into a domesticated and safer type of feast. It was imported to America and has evolved into the worship of the gods of materialism and the feast of cash registers.
“Now, Adam designated them for the sake of Heaven, but the [pagans] designated them for the sake of idolatry”. Saturnalia, as the name implies, involved worship of the god Saturn “At the time of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian calendar), Saturnus, the god of seed and sowing, was honored with a festival. In the Roman calendar, the Saturnalia was designated a holy day, or holiday, on which religious rites were performed. The Saturnalia was the most popular holiday of the Roman year. It was an occasion for celebration, visits to friends, and the presentation of gifts, particularly wax candles, perhaps to signify the returning light after the solstice. During the holiday, restrictions were relaxed and the social order inverted. Gambling was allowed in public. Slaves were permitted to use dice and did not have to work. [They] were treated as equals, allowed to wear their masters' clothing, and be waited on at meal time in remembrance of an earlier golden age thought to have been ushered in by the god. And the Saturnalia did continue to be celebrated as Brumalia (from "bruma," winter solstice) down to the Christian era, when, by the middle of the fourth century, its rituals had become absorbed in the celebration of Christmas.[7]
The modes of idolatrous worship during the Saturnalia are very interesting, especially how they and even more ancient pagan practices have been transformed into Christmas and New Years. Practices and beliefs, with idolatrous roots, include the rituals of mistletoe, the yule log, “decking the halls”, gift giving, “the three wise men”, Santa Claus and the Christmas tree. To what extent Christians have continued to “designate them for the sake of idolatry”, or not, is an important question. The permissibility or not of a gentile – a Noachide -- observing Christmas and New Years and their rituals is a very complicated matter and is dealt with in the halacha, Jewish Law. The purpose here, however, is not a judgment or even a critique of Christianity and its festivals.
Rather, the objective is to glimpse an extraordinary Torah perspective of Christmas. Initially, this can appear bizarre and paradoxical, and it requires the penetrating mind of one who can “understand on his own”. The rabbis of the Zohar admonish us, “Not every mind can handle this”. The full scope of Christianity and Christmas is beyond this article, but to challenge the uncommon mind we will analyze a few clues found at the scene. Clue, in Hebrew, is remez, one of the four modes of Torah exploration. Clues do not draw conclusions or supply answers, rather they point in directions. It is up to the reader to “get the point”, connect the dots and envision the constellations in the metaphysical sky.
The short account of the world’s original Yom Tov is a kabbalistic tapestry woven with layers of meaning nestled one within the other. Yet, in searching through dozens of commentaries – classical, kabbalistic and Hassidic – although it is understandable in light of the above – it is no less astounding that I have not found a single source that makes reference to the obvious “Christmas connection”.[8]
Based simply on the historical development there is a logical connection: Adam’s original 16 days of Yom Tov had an intrinsic relationship to Saturnalia and Kalenda which, in turn, had an intrinsic relationship to Christmas and New Years. Therefore, Adam’s Yom Tovs have an intrinsic relationship to the Christmas and New Years of today. Christmas and the gentile New Year have their roots in the original observance of Adam HaRishon. Not only that, but the rabbis refer to them as “Yom Tov”. Yom Tov is a specific term used by the sages to refer to the sanctity of a period in time that is set aside due to its elevated stature. The spirituality of the day is so altered that certain modes of labor and movement shift into another gear and are prohibited. There are only five true Yom Tovim: the three Pilgrim Festivals – Pesach, Shavuot and Succot – are each a Yom Tov, as is Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. That the sages refer to these primal days as Yom Tovim is astounding. What is the nature of this relationship? Can the Christian observance of Christmas with its explicit pagan roots be at its root a “Jewish” Yom Tov!? When humanity enters the messianic age and all truth be told, is it possible that Christmas will also reveal its hidden source? This is the Kabbalah Koan of the Other Side of Christmas.
There is indeed another “side” to this story and to proceed there are two cosmological laws that are necessary to introduce. The first is the law of the fallen “sparks”. The second is the law of parallelism.
The "Other Side" Of the Story
The Torah teaching of the "fallen sparks" (nitzotzin), as detailed in the Kabbalah, is that everything in creation -- including the forces of evil -- has concealed within its essence a "spark" of divinity. It is this spark of spiritual purity that sustains and enables every person, place or thing to exist and act. In the case of evil, however, the spark of God’s Light is, so to speak, taken captive by "external elements" (sitra achara), corporeal "shells" (qlipot) and cosmic viruses (el achair and ellilim). The divine spark, in effect, is infected and forced to host the invading element as it commandeers its life force and uses that life force to empower and propagate itself and "impersonate" the true source of its life. This is the basic idea although the mathematical-like details of this concept fill volumes. There remains, however, an important question. When the sparks of divinity "fall", i.e., collapse into a lower reality, how do they fall? Along what "geometry" or topological surface do they adhere? The answer to this question is the formula contained in the verse supplied by Rabbi Chanan ben Raba, "You have formed me behind (back) and before (front)". Ostensibly, using a Scriptural verse as an aid to remember the plethora of Oral teachings (especially before any of it was permitted to be written down) is well documented in Talmud and midrash. Notwithstanding, the sages also use mnemonic devices to transmit secrets of the Torah. The rabbinical art of concealment is obvious in this case because why would we need a mnemonic to remember the relatively simple matter of the order of two pagan festivals? Additionally, we can ask why this verse and not another? Moreover, why does the Mishna mention the two festivals in reverse chronological order to begin with? Although this question has been addressed by the classical commentaries, it appears that the masters of the Mishna are also teaching us a hidden aspect contained in these two time periods. This verse, "You have formed me back and front", like a terse equation written in symbolic notation, contains a great deal of information. One is the cosmological concept of opposites or the Law of Parallelism. "God has set the one parallel to the other" (Ecclesiastes 7:14), i.e., God has constructed all existence upon an apposition relationship.[9] This is known as the "sod of opposites." However, such terms -- opposites, mirroring, parallel -- are insufficient for the Torah’s conception of the relationship between these "parallel" forces. The law of parallelism is not simply "two sides of the same coin." A coin -- representing a single reality -- has two distinct surfaces or geometrical planes. If these two planes were infinitely extended, they would exist as two parallel planes, yet "never the twain shall meet". The surface of a Mobius strip, however, is very different even though all that is involved is a simple "twist" -- both in the topology of the strip and in the topology of the mind. Appearing paradoxical but geometrically true, a Mobius strip has two surfaces but only one "side," i.e., a single reality that extends into two modes of its own essence. Using the Mobius strip model, we can better understand that the Torah designations of "front" and "back" do not refer to opposing or even mirroring realities. Rather, they refer to dual unified realities that exist in an inverse relationship with each other. There is only one singular "side" that, depending on how it is designated, is being turned "inside-out" or "outside-in" as it oscillates between its concave or convex surface. The “inside” is equivalent to the face or front, and the “outside” is equivalent to the back or behind. This new understanding now reframes the formula “He has formed me back and front” and reveals an unexpected relationship between the subjects, namely Adam’s Yom Tov and Christmas. Saturnalia, and consequently Christmas, are back-to-back – or more accurately, “back-to-front” with the Adamic Yom Tov. These two festivals, however, are not opposites, i.e. in opposition to each other. Rather, there is only one "side" that has two surfaces - a "front" (or face) and a "back” in the sod of the verse “He has formed me back and front”. The front side is the original "face" whereas the backside is just that - the backing for the face. Yet, because there is only one unified reality ("one side") to junctions in time (the festivals), its backside will replicate or mimic qualities of its face, although in an inverse relationship. When the “[pagans] appointed them for the sake of idolatry” means that they “inverted” the sacredness of the Adamic Yom Tov causing those holy sparks to “fall” into their own backside. Simply put, Christmas is the backside of Adam’s Yom Tov. Adam’s Yom Tov is the true face of Christmas. The soul of Adam’s lost Yom Tov has become captive in spirit of Christmas.
The spirit of Christmas has been turned “inside-out” to reveal, in mind-boggling cosmic irony, an immense spark of holiness hidden at its center that belongs to Adam HaRishon! As the history of the world draws closer to its grand conclusion we hear echoes of the formula “Blessed is the One Who releases the bound”. In the messianic Era the mitzva-commandment “to redeem the captive” takes on additional significance. The sages of the Talmud are teaching us that even the captive soul of Christmas will be redeemed and returned to its original and rightful owner. It appears that in the higher, messianic dimension Adam’s lost Yom Tov will shed its alien garments, be resurrected and reunited with the collective soul of the Nation of Israel and all humanity. And when this season comes around (however those temporal coordinates will manifest in the higher world of a rectified Adamic reality) our all-knowing souls will greet each other with a “good yontif”! (Yiddish for yom tov greeting), the joy of which will have never been heard in the world till then.[10] The sound of the Kabbalah Koan of the Other Side of Christmas is an amazing, cosmic “merry Yom Tov”! [1] Talmud Babylonian, Tractate Avoda Zara 8a
[2] Ibid.
[3] The chronological order in the Mishnah is reversed. Kalenda actually follows behind Saturnalia and Saturnalia comes before Kalenda.
[4] Midrash (lit. “expound”) is essentially aggadic material that is not included in the Talmud, but exists as separate works and collections. By the same token, midrashic material contained in the Talmud is called aggada. The two occasionally overlap. Do not infer that the Halachic material is fundamentally any less kabbalistic than the aggada and midrash. Rather, it is only that the Kabbalah of the halacha is initially less accessible and requires a “Master’s degree” in pshat and sod of the entire Torah.
[5] Zohar VaYechi on the verse. “Gather together now and I will tell you…”
[6] See my commentary about Yitzchak and Esav, Father Of a Failed Messiah.
[7] Encyclopedia Romana (Internet)
[8] I have also approached contemporary rabbinical scholars with this section of Talmud, and although no one would deny the extrapolated connection between Saturnalia and Christmas, the idea of a “lost” Adamic Yom Tov and its possible implications in the future had never been considered.
[9] Appositional as opposed to oppositional means placing side by side or next to each other. This is a more correct meaning of the Torah concept of “opposites” even though we may continue to use the more common term “opposites”.
[10] An interesting observation is that Christmas always falls around the time of the eight days of Chanukah. In recent times it has been bemoaned the fate Chanukah has suffered due to the coincidental timing with Christmas. Yet, based on the tradition of the Adamic source to Christmas there appears to be a spiritual synchronicity to the convergence of the parallel pattern of the eight days. Also, according to traditional accounts the original events of Chanukah, which occurred on the Hebrew calendar date of the 25th of the month of Kislev, corresponded that year in the gentile calendar to the 25th of December.
|