BO
Ex. X, 1-XIII, 17
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES, GO IN UNTO PHARAOH, FOR I HAVE HARDENED HIS HEART. R. Judah opened here with the verse: Blessed is the people that knows the joyful sound; O Lord, they shall walk in the light of thy countenance (Ps. LXXXIX, 16). He exclaimed: 'How important it is for man to walk in the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He, and keep the commandments of the Torah, that so he may be worthy of the world to come and triumph over all accusations, both on earth and in heaven! For as there are accusers of man here below, so there are also accusers above. But those who keep the commandments of the Torah and walk in righteousness, in fear of their Lord, will never lack intercessors in heaven, for is it not written: "If there be with him an angel-intercessor, one among a thousand ... then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom" (Job XXXIII, 23-24)?' Said R. Hiya to him: 'Why should man need an angel to intercede for him? Is it not written: "The Lord shall be thy confidence and shall keep thy foot from being taken" (Prov. Ill, 26); "The Lord shall keep thee from all evil" (Ps. CXXI, 7)? Yea, verily, the Holy One Himself beholdeth all that man does, whether it be good or evil, as it is written: "Can a man hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?" (Jer. XXIII, 24).' R. Judah replied: 'Indeed, thou speakest truth! But it is also written that Satan said: "But put forth thine hand and touch his bone and his flesh", and that the Holy One Himself said to Satan, "And thou movest me against him" (Job II, 3-4); which proves that permission was given to the powers of the "other side" that they might so rise up against man on account of the deeds he had done in this world. And in all this the ways of the Holy One are hidden, and it is beyond me to follow them, for these are the statutes of the Holy One, which men must not examine too closely, save those who walk in the way of wisdom and so are in truth worthy to penetrate into the veiled paths of the Torah, and to comprehend the hidden truths contained therein.'
R. Eleazar then discoursed on the verse: And there was a day when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, and Satan came also among them (Job I, 6). 'This "day"', said he, 'was New Year's Day, on which the Holy One sits in judgement on the world. "The sons of God" are the supernal beings who are appointed to watch the actions of mankind. The expression "to stand before the Lord" is parallel to the verse, "All the hosts of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left" (I Kings XXII, 19). But in this verse it has a more special significance, viz. to make manifest the love of the Holy One for Israel. For these messengers who are appointed to watch over the works of men roam hither and thither throughout the world, gathering up the deeds of all creatures so that on New Year's Day, the day of judgement, they may stand before the Lord with their burden of accusations. Yet of all the peoples of the earth, it is only one -- Israel -- whose works are examined by them carefully and in detail, for the Israelites are the Holy One's children in a particular sense, and when their works are not according to the Divine purpose, they actually weaken the power of the Holy One Himself, but when they do His will they, as it were, increase His power and might -- "give strength to God" (Ps. LXVIII, 35). Thus "the sons of God", the supernal messengers, when they "stand" with their accusations against Israel, stand also "against ('al) God". "And Satan came also among them." "Also" signifies that [33a] he came with the set purpose of displaying his superior power as the greatest of all the celestial accusers and so making it difficult for Israel to obtain forgiveness. When the Holy One saw that they all came thus to accuse, "He said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? And Satan replied, From going to and fro in the land." Now we know that the control of all lands is entrusted to the supernal Chieftains, save that of the Land of Israel alone. Hence, when the Satan said "the land", God knew that he intended to accuse Israel, and therefore straightway asked him: "Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth?", in order to divert him to another subject and make him leave Israel alone -- like a shepherd who throws a lamb to a wolf in order to save the rest of the flock. Thereupon Satan left Israel and turned his attention to Job, saying: "Doth Job fear God for naught?", as if to say, "No wonder the servant fears the Master who gives him all that his heart desires! Remove thy providential care from him and then see what his fear and reverence will be worth!" Mark this! When in the hour of need something is thrown as a sop to the "other side" -- like the lamb thrown to the wolf -- the representative of the "other side" soon ceases to attack its original victim. This is the reason for the offering of a goat at the New Moon and on the Day of Atonement; for Satan occupies himself with these and leaves Israel in peace. Now the time had come for the "other side" to have its due from the whole seed of Abraham. For Satan had a case against Abraham for having brought as a sacrifice an animal instead of Isaac -- an unlawful transaction, since it says, "he shall not alter it (an animal destined for sacrifice) nor change it" (Lev. XXVII, 10). His claim, therefore, was quite reasonable. Thus, from the time when Isaac was saved and an animal substituted for him as a sacrifice, the Holy One, blessed be He, apportioned unto Satan another branch of Abraham's family that he might accuse it, namely the (heathen) descendants of his brother Nahor, the family of Uz (and Job was from the land of Uz). Now Job was one of the closest counsellors of Pharaoh, and when the latter formed the intention of exterminating the children of Israel, Job advised him: "Do not kill them, but take their possessions from them and subject their bodies to severe toil." Then said the Holy One: "As thou livest, thou shalt be judged according to thine own judgements!" Therefore, when Satan said, "But put forth thine hand now and touch all that he has and touch his bone and his flesh" (v. 11), the Lord placed in his power all Job's possessions and his flesh, only bidding him to "save his soul" (v. 12) -- that is, his life. It is true, the text says, "And thou movedst me against him to destroy him without cause" (Job. 11, 3), which would seem to show that Job's sufferings were undeserved. We should, however, translate not "against him" (bo), but "in him", i.e. in his opinion, this being only Job's own idea, not the real fact.' [33b] R. Abba here interposed, saying: 'All that is correct to a point, but we have been taught that Satan, the "old but foolish king" (Eccl. IV, 13), has the right to accuse only individuals, not humanity as a whole; for the judgement of the world is executed by the Holy One Himself, as it says concerning those who built the Tower of Babel: "And the Lord came down to see" (Gen. XI, 5); also in connection with Sodom and Gomorra: "I will go down now and see" (Ibid. XVIII, 21); for the Holy One would not rest satisfied to condemn the world to perdition merely on the strength of the word of Satan, who is the great accuser and whose only desire is to destroy the world. The truth is, however, that on New Year's Day two "sides" stand before the Holy One, blessed be He, for the reception of mankind. Those men of whom good deeds and repentance can be recorded are privileged to be inscribed in the roll of that side which is life and which brings forth life, and whoever is on its side is inscribed for life; but those whose works are evil are assigned to the other side, which is death. Sometimes, however, it happens that the world is, as it were, exactly balanced between the two. Then if there is but one righteous person to turn the scale, the world is saved; but if one wicked, then the whole world is condemned to death. And in just such a condition were the affairs of men in the time of Job, when the Accuser "stood before the Lord", eager to denounce the world. Straightway the Holy One asked him: "Hast thou considered my servant Job?" And as soon as Satan heard this name, he concentrated all his attention upon him. For this reason we are taught that it is wrong to isolate oneself and be separated from the corporate community, since one is then liable to be singled out and accused in the upper realm. Therefore the Shunammite woman said, "I dwell among my people" (2 Kings IV, 13), meaning that she had no desire to separate herself from the majority, having dwelt hitherto among her people and being known above merely as one with them. Job, however, was known apart from his people: he was singled out; and this was Satan's opportunity.
It is ironic that Israel, the country in the modern world singled out more than any other by Project Democracy as a model of the triumph of democratic values, should turn out to be a corporate state with marked similarities to Mussolini's Italy....A review of the institutions of the corporate state as exemplified by D'Annunzio, Mussolini, and Bukharin is an excellent preparation for recognizing the corporate state in present-day Israel, and for discerning the outlines of the ongoing Trilateral-Project Democracy fascist transformation of the United States....
The institutions through which totalitarian control of economic life is mediated merit special attention. In Eastern totalitarianism, this is accomplished by making each branch of the state-owned industries subject to the Council of Ministers and the state planning authority, and thus to the party. At the same time, the trade unions are the passive "transmission belt," in Lenin's phrase, for party control. In totalitarian regimes in the Western world, masses of labor have often been simply dragooned through institutions such as Dr. Ley's Nazi Labor Front. But the characteristic institutions of fascism in the West are those of the so-called corporate state. In the fascist regime of Italy, Vichy France, and many others, it was the corporations which were to bring together ownership and employees, management and labor under the direct control of the one-party state for the purpose of extending totalitarian domination into the nooks and crannies of everyday economic life while at the same time fragmenting potentially rebellious workers along the lines of branches of industry.
The corporatist principle
This corporatist principle in fascism is so neglected and misunderstood that it merits our special attention, especially because the form of fascist totalitarianism which Project Democracy aims at is of a corporatist variety. The word corporation here has nothing to do with its usual English meaning of a joint-stock company. "Corporation" here means, approximately, a guild. For present purposes it is enough to recall that corporatism emerged as an irrational, solidarist opposition to capitalism and the United States Constitution during the period of the reactionary Holy Alliance after the end of the Napoleonic wars. Corporatism asserted that the way to overcome the tensions between labor and capital was not through the broad national community of interest prescribed by Alexander Hamilton's American System of dirigist political economy, but rather through the artificial creation of medieval guild organizations, based on the pretense that capitalists were masters, and workers were journeymen and apprentices, all functioning together in "organic" unity.
Thus, Mussolini advertised his fascist regime as the stato corporativo or corporate state, proclaiming that Oil fascismo sara corporativo o non sara (fascism is corporative or it is nothing). In German, the equivalent for stato corporativo is Standestaat, wherein Stand has the meaning of social position in the sense of aristocracy, clergy, and bourgeoisie, the three "estates" of pre-evolutionary France. Hitler's National Socialist German Workers Party was corporatist from the very beginning: point 25 of the "unalterable" program of the Nazis as adopted on Feb. 25, 1920 included the "creation of corporative and professional chambers" (Odie Bildung von Stande--und Berufskammern zur Durchfuhrung der vom Reiche erlassenen Rahmengesetze in den einzelnen Bundesstaaten.) For a certain period after Hitler's seizure of power in 1933, his regime referred to itself prominently as a Standestaat, or corporate state. When Marshal Petain and Pierre Laval created their Nazi puppet-state in Vichy, Petain announced that one of the principal goals of his "national regeneration movement" was the creation of an ordre corporatif. Other fascist regimes, especially the many that were directly modeled on the Italian one, also stressed corporatism, so that corporatism emerges as the characteristic institutional structure of fascism.
-- Project Democracy's Program -- The Fascist Corporate State, by Webster Griffin Tarpley
Said he: "Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast not thou made an hedge about him and about his house? ... " (Job I, 9-10), meaning, "Take away all the good things with which thou hast endowed him, and he will curse thee to thy face (v. 11): he will leave thee and become attached to the 'other side'. At present he eats thy bread; take that away and we shall soon see of what stuff he is made and to whom he will cleave!" Whereupon "the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand" (v. 12). Thus permission was given to the Satan to persecute Job and to show that his motives were not really pure; for as soon as he was tried he left the right way and did not remain steadfast: "He did not sin with his lips" (II, 10), but he did sin in his mind, and later, also in his speech. He did not, however, go so far as to attach himself to the "other side", as Satan had predicted. His trials lasted twelve months, for this is the space of time allotted to the "other side", as, according to tradition, sinners are judged in Gehenna for twelve months. And because Job did not attach himself to the "other side", "the Lord blessed the [34a] latter end of Job more than his beginning" (XLII, 12).
R. Simeon said: 'The Holy One, blessed be He, did not tempt Job in the same way as He tempted other righteous men; it does not say concerning him, as it says concerning Abraham (Gen. XXII, 1), that God tempted him. Abraham led with his own hands his only begotten son to be sacrificed to the Holy One, but Job gave nothing to Him. Indeed, he was not bidden to do anything of the kind, as God knew that he would not be equal to the trial. He was merely delivered to the Accuser, and the Holy One spurred Satan, through the medium of the attribute of Justice, to test him, as it says: "Hast thou considered my servant Job? " ...'
Said R. Simeon: 'It is written concerning Cain that he brought a sacrifice "at the end of days" (Gen. IV, 8), and we have laid down that this expression indicates the "other side" (v. Zohar, Gen. 62b). And of Abel it says that "he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof" (Ibid. 4).The expression "he also" (gam hu) suggests that, unlike Cain, he brought his offering primarily to the Holy One, and spared only "the fat thereof" to the "other side"; whereas Cain offered primarily to the "other side", and gave only a part to the Holy One, and therefore his sacrifice was not accepted. Now we read in regard to Job that "his sons went and feasted ... and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them" (Job I, 4.).While they thus feasted and made merry the Accuser was daily present in their midst, but he could not prevail against them, as it is written: "Hast not thou made an hedge about him and about his house?" And when Job made sacrifices, he did not give Satan any part whatsoever, for it says, "He offered burnt-offerings according to the number of them all" (Ibid. 5), this being an offering which ascends ('olah) entirely on high, so that he gave no portion to the "other side". Had he done so, the Accuser would not have been able to prevail against him. Hence in the end he only took what was his due. As to the question which might be asked, why then did God allow Job to suffer thus, the answer would be that, had he given Satan his due, the "unholy side" would have separated itself from the holy, and so allowed the latter to ascend undisturbed into the highest spheres; but since he did not do so, the Holy One let justice be executed on him. Mark this! As Job kept evil separate from good and failed to fuse them, he was judged accordingly: first he experienced good, then what was evil, then again good. For man should be cognizant of both good and evil, and turn evil itself into good. This is a deep tenet of faith.'
"GOD IS THE RECONCILIATION OF OPPOSITES"
SAYS THE SUFI KARRAS.
-- Toward the One, by Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan
The fundamental principle, is the reconciliation of the opposites. We cannot choose one opposite over another. We must experience the relationship between the two and reconcile them into a higher synthesis. This does not mean to be in the middle. For instance, the proper balance between wealth and poverty is not the mathematical average between $1,000,000 and $1, i.e. $500,000. There are people who are poor at $1,000,000, others who are rich at $1. Reconciling the opposites is not that simple. It would be a great help if someone who has gone before us would describe the experience. What would he say of himself if he had reconciled the opposites? I AM the bread of life (John 6:35); I AM the light of the world (John 8:12); I AM the door of the sheepfold (John 10:7); I AM the good shepherd (John 10:11); I AM the resurrection and the life (John 11:25); I AM the way the truth and the life (John 14:6); I AM the true vine (John 15:1). "I AM" is the most powerful statement any person can make.
-- Reconciliation, Orientation and Unity, by Jack Courtis, Kabala Series, Rosicrucian Archive
If all knowledge were within a man, and ignorance were wholly absent, that man would be consumed and cease to be. So ignorance is desirable, inasmuch as by that means he continues to exist; and knowledge also is desirable, in that it is a means to the spiritual knowledge of God. So each is an ally of the other, and both at the same time are opposites. Though night is the opposite of day, yet it is the ally of day and both do the same work. If night lasted forever, no work would ever be produced and result; while if day lasted forever, eye and head and brain would remain dazzled and would go mad and cease to function. Therefore men rest and sleep in the night, and all the implements -- brain, thought, hand and foot, hearing and sight -- all gather strength; and by day they expend those powers. So all things, though appearing opposite in relation to their opposites, in relation to the wise man are all performing the same work and are not opposed. Show me the evil thing in this world wherein no good is contained and the good thing wherein no evil is contained! For instance, a man was intent on murder, then busied himself with fornication, so that he shed no blood. Inasmuch as it is fornication, it is evil; but inasmuch as it prevented murder, it is good. So evil and good are one and indivisible. That is the substance of our quarrel with the Magians. They say there are two Gods, one the creator of good and one the creator of evil. Now show me good without evil, that I may acknowledge that there is a God of evil and a God of good! This is impossible, for good does not exist apart from evil. Since good and evil are not two and there is no separation between them, therefore it is impossible that there should be two creators. Do we not confute you? By all means, be sure that it is so.
-- Discourses of Rumi, translated by A. J. Arberry
But after all we do have some knowledge of Marxism and have learned how and when opposites can and must be combined; and what is most important is that in the three and a half years of our revolution we have actually combined opposites again and again." Nonetheless we have studied Marxism a bit, we have studied how and when opposites can and must be combined. The main thing is: in our revolution… we have in practice repeatedly combined opposites.”
-- The Trade Unions, the Present Situation and Trotsky's Mistakes, by V.I. Lenin
In Qabala, the world is reduced to nothing or, better NO-thing at the highest level, that is, the apparent Opposites are resolved; anything is true only insofar as the reverse is true also -- false, only insofar as the reverse also is equally false.
-- Secret Rituals of the Men in Black, by Allen Greenfield
HIPPIES CREATE POLICE POLICE CREATE HIPPIES
IF YOU'RE
IN POLARITY YOU'RE CREATING
POLAR OPPOSITES
YOU
CAN ONLY
PROTEST
EFFECTIVELY
WHEN
YOU LOVE
THE
PERSON
WHOSE IDEAS YOU ARE
PROTESTING AGAINST
AS MUCH AS
YOU LOVE
YOURSELF ...
& THE FINAL THING YOU SEE
IN THE WORLD OF FORM
BEFORE YOU GO INTO THE FORMLESS
& INTO TOTAL UNITY
YOU SEE THE WORLD OF
YIN &
YANG
AND THE WORLD OF YIN & YANG
IS ANOTHER ASTRAL PLANE
& IT'S ONE OF THE HIGHEST PLANES
IN THE WORLD OF FORM
BUT IT'S STILL DUALITY
IT IS STILL POLARIZATION
THERE IS GOD THERE IS MAN
THERE IS GOOD THERE IS EVIL
YES NO
PLEASURE PAIN
LOSS GAIN
THE WORLD MOST EVERYBODY IS LIVING IN
MOST OF THE TIME
THE ONLY WAY OUT OF THAT IS TO TAKE
THE POLES OF EVERY SET OF OPPOSITES
AND SEE THE WAY IN WHICH
THEY ARE ONE
AND: IF YOU CAN GET INTO THAT PLACE
WHERE YOU SEE THE INTERRELATEDNESS OF
EVERYTHING
AND: YOU SEE THE ONENESS IN IT ALL
THEN: NO LONGER ARE YOU ATTACHED
TO YOUR POLARIZED POSITION
-- Be Here Now, by Ram Dass
En-Sof in Hebrew literally means "there is no end...the very absolute as such, or positive nothing ...the principle of unconditional unity or 'unityness' as such, the principle of freedom from all forms, from all manifestations, and, consequently, from all being)... eternally finds its opposite in itself, so that only through a relationship to this opposite can it assert itself, so that it is perfectly reciprocal."
-- Vladimir Solov'ev on Spiritual Nationhood, Russia and the Jews, by Judith Deutsch Kornblatt
The animal face which I felt mine transformed into was the famous [Deus] Leontocephalus of the Mithraic mysteries, the figure which is represented with a snake coiled around the man, the snake's head resting on the man's head, and the face of the man that of a lion ... In this deification mystery you make yourself into the vessel, and are a vessel of creation in which the opposites reconcile."
***
Serpent: "I am only my own half; I'm not one, but two; I'm the one and the other. I am here only as the serpentlike, the magical. But magic is useless here. I wound myself idly around this branch to await further developments. You can use me in life, but not in hanging. In the worst case, I'm ready to lead you to Hades. I know the way there."
A black form condenses before me out of the air, Satan, with a scornful laugh. He calls to me: "See what comes from the reconciliation of opposites! Recant, and in a flash you'll be down on the greening earth."
I: "I won't recant, I'm not stupid. If such is the outcome of all this, let it be the end." ...
Satan: "Reconciliation of the opposites! Equal rights for all! Follies!"
***
"The daimons become reconciled in the one who has found himself, who is the source of all four streams, of the source-bearing earth. From his summit waters flow in all four directions. He is the sea that bears the sun; he is the mountain that carries the sun; he is the father of all four great streams; he is the cross that binds the four great daimons. He is the incorruptible seed of nothingness, which falls accidentally through space. This seed is the beginning, younger than all other beginnings, older than all endings."
-- The Red Book: Liber Novus, by C.G. Jung
This peculiar linking-together of opposites -- knowledge with ignorance, cynicism with fanaticism -- is one of the chief distinguishing marks of Oceanic society. The official ideology abounds with contradictions even when there is no practical reason for them. Thus, the Party rejects and vilifies every principle for which the Socialist movement originally stood, and it chooses to do this in the name of Socialism. It preaches a contempt for the working class unexampled for centuries past, and it dresses its members in a uniform which was at one time peculiar to manual workers and was adopted for that reason. It systematically undermines the solidarity of the family, and it calls its leader by a name which is a direct appeal to the sentiment of family loyalty. Even the names of the four Ministries by which we are governed exhibit a sort of impudence in their deliberate reversal of the facts. The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation. These contradictions are not accidental, nor do they result from ordinary hypocrisy; they are deliberate exercises in doublethink. For it is only by reconciling contradictions that power can be retained indefinitely. In no other way could the ancient cycle be broken. If human equality is to be for ever averted -- if the High, as we have called them, are to keep their places permanently -- then the prevailing mental condition must be controlled insanity.
-- Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), by George Orwell
THERE WAS ONLY ONE CATCH ... AND THAT WAS CATCH-22.
-- Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
R. Simeon continued: 'It is now fitting to reveal mysteries connected with that which is above and that which is below. Why is it written here, "Come (bo) unto Pharaoh"? Ought it not rather to have said "go" (lekh)? It is to indicate that the Holy One, blessed be He, guided Moses through a labyrinth right into the abode of a certain supernal mighty dragon -- that is to say, Egypt's celestial representative -- from whom many lesser dragons emanate. Moses was afraid to approach him, because his roots are in supernal regions, and he only approached his subsidiary streams. When the Holy One saw that Moses feared the dragon, and that none of the supernal messengers was able to overcome him, He proclaimed: "Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon (tanim) that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said: My river is my own, and I have made it for myself" (Ezek. XXIX, 3). Yea, truly, the Lord Himself had to war against this dragon, and no lesser being. This is the mystery of the "great dragon" for those who are familiar with the esoteric lore.' Said R. Simeon further: 'It is written: "And God created the great dragons (taninim) and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind" (Gen. I, 21). This verse', he said, 'we have already discussed, but the words "He created the great dragons" contain a yet more special and particular mystery: they refer [34b] to the Leviathan and his mate, which last was slain and is preserved by the Holy One for the regaling of the righteous (in the days of the Messiah). The great dragon reposes between nine rivers, the waters of which are turbulent; and there is a tenth river whose waters are calm, and into the depth of which the blessings of the waters of Paradise descend three times a year. Into this river the dragon enters, making there his habitation; and thence he sallies forth and swims down to the sea, and devours there fish of all kinds, and then returns again to the river. The nine swift rivers are banked by trees and fringed with flowers. The parent river issued from the Left Side and from it three drops fell into a certain channel, and each of the three was divided again into three, and every drop became a river. These are the nine rivers which flow through all the firmaments. And from the final moisture that remained when all the drops had issued forth yet another drop was formed, which issued gently, and of this drop was formed that tenth river, which flows calmly. Into this river also flows a drop from the blessings poured forth from the Right side by the "perennially flowing stream", and it is greater than all the rest. When the four rivers which flow out of the Garden of Eden divide, the one called Pison flows into and is fused with the calm tenth river of which we have spoken. Out of the calm river, thus augmented, are fed and filled all the other rivers; in each of which a dragon dwells, so that the number of the dragons is nine. And each of these nine has a hole in his head, and the great dragon as well, because each of them emits breath upwards and not downwards. It is written: "In the beginning God created ..." and also "And God created the great dragons". This indicates that all the ten acts of Creation had their counterpart in these ten rivers, on each of which one of the dragons breathes heavily. Now, that great dragon, when he raises his fins, heaves up the waters around him, and all the earth is shaken and all the lesser dragons, and this takes place every seventy years.' Said R. Simeon: 'Verily, though the members of the Fellowship are students of the story of Creation, having knowledge of its wonders and perception of the paths of the Holy One, blessed be He, yet even among them there are few who know how to interpret it in connection with the mystery of the great dragon.' [1] [35b]
***
FOR THE LORD WILL PASS THROUGH .... R. Jose commented on the expression, "The Lord shall see the blood ... and pass over". 'Does God then', he said, 'require a sign? Are not all secrets revealed to Him? The explanation, however, is that only when a thought -- be it good or evil -- is translated into action, does it bring about its due result above, whether for reward or punishment, saving only the intention of idolatry, of which it says, "Take heed to yourselves that your heart be not deceived" (Deut. XI, 16).' As to the significance of the hyssop, R. Jose explained that all the streets and market-places of the Egyptians were filled with idols, and all their houses with implements of magic to link them with lower "crowns", and therefore it was necessary to purge the doors with the hyssop, in order that these powers might be exorcised; and this was done in three places, namely upon the lintel and the two side-posts. THEREFORE THE LORD WILL PASS OVER THE DOOR AND WILL NOT SUFFER THE DESTROYER TO COME IN UNTO YOUR HOUSES, because he will see the design of His Holy Name upon the door. Said R. Judah: 'But if so, why was blood only required, seeing that, as we have been taught, the divine attributes are symbolized by three colours, white, red, and a colour which is between the two and combines both?' R. Jose replied: 'The blood was of two kinds, that of circumcision and that of the Passover lamb, the former symbolizing mercy and the latter justice.' 'Not so,' rejoined R. Judah. 'It is even as we have been taught, that the Holy One made the blood a symbol of mercy, as if there were white in it, and therefore it says: "And when I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee: In thy blood live" (Ezek. XVI, 6). To this end was the door smeared with blood in three places, viz. on two sides and in the middle.' R. Hezekiah, however, held that two kinds of blood appeared on the doors to represent the two "crowns" which were manifested at that moment in the regions above. R. Jose maintained that it was one crown consisting of two sides blended, [36a] viz. mercy and justice. Said R. Abba: 'In how many ways does the Holy One show His loving-kindness to His people! A man builds a house; says the Holy One to him: "Write My Name and put it upon thy door (mezuzah), and thou wilt sit inside thy house and I will sit outside thy door and protect thee!" And here, in connection with the Passover, He says: "You inscribe on your doors the sign of the mystery of My Faith and I shall protect you from the outside!" They inscribed the likeness of the Holy Name in the form of the letter He. As the Holy Name was then turned from Mercy to Judgement, chastisement came into (God's) view at that time. Everything was turned into red, as a symbol of vengeance on Israel's enemy. Esoterically speaking, it is fitting to show below the colour corresponding to the state above, whether mercy or judgement. And as it was then even so shall it be in the future, as it says: "Who is this that cometh from Edom (= Rome), with dyed garments from Bozra?" (Isa. LXIII, 1); for He will clothe Himself entirely in judgement to avenge His people.'
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AND NONE OF YOU SHALL GO OUT AT THE DOOR. The reason is found in the dictum of R. Isaac, that, when punishment impends over a place a man should not go out into the open, since, once the Destroyer is given leave, he does harm indiscriminately, and makes no distinction between the righteous and the unrighteous; therefore the people of God should hide themselves lest they be consumed in that vengeance which is the due of the Destroyer. R. Jose said that the same power which exercised judgement on the Egyptians was the agent of mercy to Israel, as it is written: "When I see the blood I will pass over you" (v. 13). For, as we have been taught, all the holy crowns above contain at one and the same time both judgement and mercy. R. Hezekiah drew the same inference from the verse, "And the Lord shall smite Egypt, smiting and healing" (Isa. XIX, 22), i.e. smiting the Egyptians and healing Israel, to wit, from the wound of circumcision, the phrase "the Lord will pass over the door" suggesting the "door" of the body, which is the place of circumcision.
Fascist ideology, whatever its specific predicates, repudiates human reason and exalts irrationalism and irrationalist violence, often in the form of wanton military aggression and imperialism. A fascist mass movement is the most aggressive form of militant irrationalism. From Mussolini's Romanita through Hitler's Herrenvolk to the Great Russian master race conception of "Moscow the Third Rome," fascist ideology is based on notions of racial superiority and race hatred, extreme chauvinism, and blood and soil mysticism. Fascism is neo-pagan.
-- Project Democracy's Program -- The Fascist Corporate State, by Webster Griffin Tarpley
R. Simeon interpreted it in a similar way: at the moment when the night was divided and the Holy Crown (the Sefirah Kether) was moved to unite with the masculine principle which is the supernal Grace -- for they never manifest themselves one without the other -- one smote and the other healed. Also, "the Lord passed over the door": that door which is the opening of spirit and body. That circumcision is of such significance can be seen from Abraham: before he was circumcised he was, as it were, a closed vessel, impervious on all sides, but when he was circumcised, and the sign of the letter yod of the Holy Name was manifested in him, he became open to supernal influences, this being the inner meaning of the words, "he sat at the door of the tent in the heat of the day" (Gen. XVIII, 1), i.e. of the supernal holy Tent. R. Eleazar said that when the yod was manifested he received the glad tidings that Grace was confirmed with Righteousness. R. Abba said it refers to the tenth crown (that of Grace), with which he was then endowed, as indicated by the words "in the heat of the day", namely at the time when Grace predominates. According to another explanation, [36b] the word "pass" here signifies that God passed over the pleadings of the lower crowns, which were connected with certain celestial crowns, and loosened them from their foundations, and did constraint to Himself in order to execute judgement on them and to guard Israel. And so whenever the word "pass" is used of the Almighty, it means "constraining or forcing Himself", whether to exercise mercy or severity. [2]
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3. From here to the end of the section (p. 43b) is from the Ray'a Mehemna.[/b]