Sefer Yetzirah

Sefer Yetzirah (Hebrew: סֵפֶר יְצִירָה‎ Sēp̄er Yəṣīrā, Book of Formation, or Book of Creation) is the title of a book on Jewish mysticism. Early commentators, such as the Kuzari^[1], treated it as a treatise on mathematical and linguistic theory as opposed to Kabbalah. The word Yetzirah is more literally translated as "Formation"; the word Briah is used for "Creation".^[2] The book is traditionally ascribed to the patriarch Abraham, although others attribute its writing to Rabbi Akiva. Modern scholars have not reached consensus on the question of its origins. According to Rabbi Saadia Gaon, the objective of the book's author was to convey in writing how the things of our universe came into existence.^[3] Conversely, Judah Halevi asserts that the main objective of the book, with its various examples, is to give to man the means by which he is able to understand the unity and omnipotence of God, which appear multiform on one side and, yet, are uniform.^[4]

The famous opening words of the book are as follows:

By thirty-two mysterious paths of wisdom Yah has engraved [all things], [who is] the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, the living God, the Almighty God, He that is uplifted and exalted, He that Dwells forever, and whose Name is holy; having created His world by three [derivatives] of [the Hebrew root-word] s^ef^ar : namely, sefer (a book), sefor (a count) and sippur (a story), along with ten calibrations of empty space, twenty-two letters [of the Hebrew alphabet], [of which] three are principal [letters] (i.e. א מ ש‎), seven are double-sounding [consonants] (i.e. בג"ד כפר"ת‎) and twelve are ordinary [letters] (i.e. ה ו ז ח ט י ל נ ס ע צ ק‎).^[5]

^ Kuzari, Fourth Essay
^ In Hebrew, Yetzirah can mean either "creation" or "formation," but can also refer to the created or formed object itself. A work of art, for example, is called in Hebrew 'yetzira', as well as the action of creating it. Thus, the name Sefer Yetzirah could refer to the act of creating or forming the cosmos, or to the cosmos itself, or both. Since there is a specific Hebrew word for the creation of the cosmos (briah) it is more likely that the meaning refers to formation, or formed-object, or both.
^ Sefer Yetzirah Hashalem (with Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Commentary), Yosef Qafih (editor), Jerusalem 1972, p. 46 (Hebrew / Judeo-Arabic)
^ Rabbi Judah Halevi, Sefer Kuzari, Part Four : section 25, translated by Hartwig Hirschfeld (1905) at Wikisource
^ Qafih, Yosef. "Sefer Yetzirah Hashalem (with Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Commentary)". The Committee for Publishing the Books of Rabbi Saadia Gaon: Jerusalem 1972, p. 35. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)

[1] Kuzari, Fourth Essay

[2] In Hebrew, Yetzirah can mean either "creation" or "formation," but can also refer to the created or formed object itself. A work of art, for example, is called in Hebrew 'yetzira', as well as the action of creating it. Thus, the name Sefer Yetzirah could refer to the act of creating or forming the cosmos, or to the cosmos itself, or both. Since there is a specific Hebrew word for the creation of the cosmos (briah) it is more likely that the meaning refers to formation, or formed-object, or both.

[3] Sefer Yetzirah Hashalem (with Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Commentary), Yosef Qafih (editor), Jerusalem 1972, p. 46 (Hebrew / Judeo-Arabic)

[4] Rabbi Judah Halevi, Sefer Kuzari, Part Four : section 25, translated by Hartwig Hirschfeld (1905) at Wikisource

[5] Qafih, Yosef. "Sefer Yetzirah Hashalem (with Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Commentary)". The Committee for Publishing the Books of Rabbi Saadia Gaon: Jerusalem 1972, p. 35. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)

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