Travelling on the Heavenly Road

The Aspect of Travel in Hekhalot and Merkavah Literature

Lisa de Goffau

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Lisa de Goffau

University of Amsterdam

MA Hebrew and Jewish Studies

12-06-2017

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Contents

Preface 3

1. Introduction 4

1.1 Research towards Hekhalot and Merkavah literature 4

1.2.1 Methods of research 6

1.2.2 Methodological issues 7

2. Introduction in Travel Literature 8

2.1 The genre of travel literature and its history 8

2.2 Aspects of travel in travel literature 11

2.3 Research methods: a questionnaire 15

3. Aspects of Travel in Hekhalot and Merkavah Literature 17

3.1.1 Hekhalot Zutarti 17

3.1.2 Aspects of travel in Hekhalot Zutarti 18

3.2 Hekhalot Rabbati 28

3.3 Ma‘aseh Merkavah 31

3.4 3 Enoch 34

4. Conclusions 36

Bibliography 39

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Preface

‘The Sages taught: Four entered the orchard and they are as follows: Ben Azzay, Ben Zoma,

the Other (Aḥer) and R. Akiva. And R. Akiva said to them: When you reach the pure marble

stones, do not say: Water, water!, because it is said: ‘He who speaks falsehood shall not be

established before My eyes (Ps. 101:7).’

Ben Azzay peered and died. About him, scripture says: ‘Precious in the eyes of the

Lord is the death of His pious ones (Ps. 116:15).’ Ben Zoma peered and was wounded. About

him, scripture says: ‘Have you found honey? Eat sufficient, lest you become full from it and

vomit it (Prv. 25:16).’ Aḥer peered and cut the sprouts. About him, scripture says: ‘Do not let

your mouth bring your flesh into sin (Ecc. 5:5).’ R. Akiva went up in peace and came down in

peace.’ (Babylonian Talmud, Hagigah 14b)

This peculiar piece of text is a well-known passage from the Talmud and is often cited when

discussing Hekhalot and Merkavah literature. I see this text as an appropriate introduction to

this research, because this short passage describes many elements and traditions present in

Hekhalot and Merkavah literature and gives a vivid image of the topic that I would like to

discuss in this research: travel.

What is this story about? What are the main characters doing and where are they

going? One thing is very clear: whatever they are doing, is quite dangerous! At least two of

the four characters are harmed and the third ‘cut the sprouts’? This phrase is often interpreted

as becoming apostate, so also Aḥer does not receive a happy end. But where could the rabbis

be going which proves to be so dangerous?

Many scholars discussed the meaning of the word ‘pardes’ which is generally

translated as orchard. According to Halperin the term orchard implies a pleasurable park or

garden as translated from rabbinic Hebrew. However, it seems impossible that a nice park

could hold such dangers as to which the rabbis are exposed in the text. Many scholars,

including Davila as proved in chapter 3, will translate the Hebrew word as ‘paradise’. The

word ‘paradise’ has been explained in different ways, since the term itself can hold many

meanings. ‘Paradise’ in this story has been interpreted as heaven or the throne room where

God Himself houses or one of the seven heavenly palaces. However the more metaphorical

meaning of ‘paradise’ is the teaching of the Torah and in particular the secret teachings of the

Torah. 1 Apparently, the rabbis are involved in something so dangerous or so secret, that only

the most wise and pious rabbi, R. Akiva, can complete the task and even advice the other

rabbis on a dangerous situation on the road. He ascended and descended in peace and must

therefore have survived the journey?

This story, although very suspenseful in my opinion, leaves more questions than it

answers. The possibility of a heavenly journey performed by the rabbis speaks strongly to the

imagination, but what are they rewarded with when they complete this dangerous journey?

What is their motivation to even risk their lives? Is the story speaking of an actual or visual

journey in order to see something of the heavens, or is the journey simply a metaphor for

something spiritually gained by or changed in the mind of the rabbis? And what does the text

mean by citing biblical verses as an explanation for the fates of the rabbis? What is there that

we do not know about a journey to heaven?

1 D.J. Halperin, The Faces of the Chariot (Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr Tübingen, 1988), 31-33.

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1. Introduction

1.1 Research towards Hekhalot and Merkavah literature

The past two years I have submerged myself in the study of Hekhalot and Merkavah

literature. Although two years is definitely too short to completely grasp the complex and

intriguing world of Hekhalot and Merkavah, I can say that I obtained a comprehensive overall

impression of the corpus and the research surrounding it. I wish to add that it had long been

my wish to study Hekhalot and Merkavah since the moment I heard of this corpus several

years ago. This thesis is the final outcome of my journey through Hekhalot and Merkavah

literature, although I hope to be able to continue to work and study on this topic.

The academic field that occupies itself with the study of Hekhalot and Merkavah

literature is quite extensive, but also accessible since the core of the academic literature forms

itself around two main scholars. The research towards this topic has mainly evolved in the

1980’s, although the research started earlier, with the leading scholar G. Scholem who can be

named as the main researcher who sparked future interest in Hekhalot and Merkavah

literature. Scholem’s most important and famous work is the extensive book Major Trends in

Jewish Mysticism2 from 1941 which forms the outcome of his study in Jewish mystical

literature for a twenty-year period. Scholem elaborates on his idea of the central position of

mysticism within Jewish religion and tradition. He argues that mysticism is an inherent

outcome of the development within Judaism and praises mysticism as the essence of Judaism.

He points to traces of mysticism in rabbinic literature, such as the Talmud and Midrashim and

compares Hekhalot and Merkavah literature to these traditions. For Scholem the presence of

mysticism in Hekhalot and Merkavah literature is evident and he traces the traditions back to

Pharisaic circles placing Hekhalot and Merkavah literature in the second and third century CE

in the Palestinian region.

P. Schäfer published his Synopse3, a synoptic edition that presents the Hebrew text

from various manuscripts of the Hekhalot and Merkavah corpus, and a translation with

extensive commentary in the 1980’s by which he made the text of the many Hekhalot and

Merkavah sources accessible for many scholars, including scholars who do not read Hebrew.

In this Übersetzung der Hekhalot-Literatur4 he also presents his ideas about the provenance,

dating and place among the rabbinic literature of Hekhalot and Merkavah literature. Schäfer

argues for a Babylonian background from the fifth to seventh century CE pulling the Hekhalot

and Merkabah texts away from the rabbinic literature cited by Scholem. Schäfer focusses on

the adjurations present in the text in his reaction to Scholem: Gershom Scholem

Reconsidered: The Aim and Purpose of Early Jewish Mysticism5 where he questions the place

of mysticism in the corpus. Other important scholars who have made important contributions

to the study of Hekhalot and Merkavah literature are among others I. Gruenwald6, D.

Halperin7, M.D. Swartz8 and J. Davila9, and of course H. Odeberg10 for the research to 3

Enoch. In chapter 3, I will occasionally elaborate on the opinions of especially Scholem and

Schäfer when discussing individual texts from the Hekhalot and Merkavah corpus.

2 G. Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (New York: Schocken Books, 1941). 3 P. Schäfer, Synopse zur Hekhalot-Literatur (Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr Tübingen, 1981). 4 P. Schäfer, Übersetzung der Hekhalot-Literatur. 5 vols. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr Tübingen, 1987. 5 P. Schäfer, Gershom Scholem Reconsidered: The Aim and Purpose of Early Jewish Mysticism (Oxford: The

Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies, 1986). 6 I. Gruenwald, Apocalyptic and Merkabah Mysticism (Leiden: Brill, 1980). 7 Halperin, The Faces of the Chariot and D.J. Halperin, The Merkabah in Rabbinic Literature. Vol. 62 of

American Oriental Series. New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1980. 8 M. D. Swartz, Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism (Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr Tübingen, 1992). 9 J.R. Davila, Hekhalot Literature in Translation: Major Texts of Merkavah Mysticism (Leiden: Brill, 2013). 10 H. Odeberg, 3 Enoch or the Hebrew Book of Enoch (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1928).

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The research towards the Hekhalot and Merkavah corpus is often occupied with major

questions about the provenance, dating, classification and place among other Jewish literature

of the texts as seen in the works of Schäfer and Scholem, and for example in the book by D.

Halperin, The Merkabah in Rabbinic Literature11, wherein he compares mystical traditions in

Hekhalot and Merkavah texts with traditions in Talmudic and other rabbinic texts. Besides

philological research, other scholars research linguistic and/or semantical characteristics and

questions within the Hekhalot and Merkavah texts, as for example the book by Kuyt12 in

which she researches the semantical meaning of the word yeridah in the corpus. In my

opinion, these are the two main research ‘branches’, which define the research towards

Hekhalot and Merkavah literature. Within this field, the research towards comparing Hekhalot

and Merkavah with other Jewish and non-Jewish traditions and texts is the major tool and

research goal, which is understandable since it helps to formulate a date and provenance of

these texts. The research thereby contains strong rabbinic connotations. This of course is

logical in the sense that the rabbinic background of the texts is undeniable and many scholars

such as Scholem and Schäfer attribute the texts to a group of rabbinic or priestly writers.

However, scholars do not agree on the composition of the corpus, the dating, the topics

discussed in the texts and possible origins or author(s) which makes the Hekhalot and

Merkavah corpus a difficult corpus to draw general conclusions from.

In my opinion, it seems that relatively new research towards Hekhalot and Merkavah

literature mostly builds on established theories and discusses very specific topics within the

content of the texts and philological or semantical issues as discussed above. Every research

has its own worth to the academic field of course, but I feel the major focus on the

philological issues within the texts and comparative research from the perspective of rabbinic

traditions, does not shed light on the substantive nature of the Hekhalot and Merkavah texts.

In addition, I would like to remark that I am interested in new means of researching this

corpus in order to examine the essence of Hekhalot and Merkavah literature. Therefore, I

would like to introduce a relatively modern and vastly expending academic field within

literature studies to the Hekhalot and Merkavah corpus in order to offer new insights to the

means of research of Hekhalot and Merkavah literature. In the last ten years, travel literature

has received a large amount of attention, as well in the academic field as from the general

public, while it has an extensive literary history taking flight with the first discovery

expeditions.

I have examined the academic literature on travel literature in order to understand the

current state of research towards the characteristics, methodological issues and history of the

genre, and to serve as a secure base for my research towards Hekhalot and Merkavah

literature. While reading about travel literature, I have come across multiple characteristics or

aspects of travel which are often imbedded in travel literature or travel writing, for example

the variety of motives for travelling and eventually the relation between the traveler and the

Other which by a movement through space come in contact with one another.13 These

characteristics form the core of travel literature. I would like to examine several of the main

characteristics which are inseparable from travel literature and compare them with the

Hekhalot and Merkavah corpus. Heavenly journeys form, as it where, the stepping stones in

Hekhalot and Merkavah literature and even though they do not display a physical movement

through terrestrial space, the person attempting the journey through the palaces and into

heaven does experience changes of places and scenery in which he comes in contact with the

unfamiliar. Therefore I think certain aspects of travel which are presented in travel literature

can be applied in Hekhalot and Merkavah as well, that could not only spark new insights for

11 Halperin, The Merkabah. 12 A. Kuyt, The ‘Descent’ to the Chariot (Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr Tübingen, 1995). 13 C. Thompson, Travel Writing (London, New York: Routledge, 2011), 10.

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the research itself, but could also offer us new insights in what distinguishes Hekhalot and

Merkavah literature as a corpus. I think travel could take a more defining and prominent place

in the Hekhalot and Merkavah corpus than often recognized by scholars who view the journey

to the heavens as a tool for mystical experiences and traditions. Therefore I expect that an

approach from the perspective of travel literature could expose another layer of meaning and

information within the Hekhalot and Merkavah texts. In this thesis I will ask myself the

following question: ‘Which aspects of travel as presented in travel literature and discussed in

modern studies on travel literature can be found in Hekhalot and Merkavah literature and

what does this mean for the overall interpretation of the corpus?’

1.2.1 Methods of research

In my research, I will firstly perform an examination into the academic literature concerning

travel literature in order to present a comprehensive overview of the history of travel literature

and the development of the academic research towards travel literature in chapter 2. As a

preparation for the eventual questionnaire in which my research method will take shape, I will

discuss several major aspects, characteristics and interpretations of travel in travel literature

and possible stylistics motifs and strategies. It is my goal to be as inclusive as possible and

discuss the most important aspects that are also evident for the academic research towards

travel literature. Although sufficient for this research, it will not be a complete description of

travel literature. At the end of chapter 2, I hope I will be able to create a questionnaire which

poses the right questions from the perspective of travel literature that can be transferred to

Hekhalot and Merkavah texts.

In preparation for chapter 3, I chose four texts from the Hekhalot and Merkavah

corpus which could form the representation of the corpus in this research. The corpus of

Hekhalot and Merkavah literature consists of several main texts on which scholars agree that

these texts form the basic corpus. There are however several additional texts, editions and

sources including Hekhalot and Merkavah material to choose from. I have drafted two criteria

to which the texts have to adhere: 1) the text must contain a heavenly journey and 2) the

content of the text must contain unique and complete substantive passages in relation to the

corpus as a whole. According to these criteria I have selected the following texts as my main

corpus: Hekhalot Rabbati (§§81-121, §§152-173, §§189-277), Hekhalot Zutarti (§§335-375,

§§407-426), Ma‘aseh Merkavah (§§544-596), and 3 Enoch (chapter 1-48). In the preface, I

have elaborated on the Pardes story which in my opinion, should also be part of my selection.

There are of course many other texts which could be included, such as the Geniza fragments,

Merkavah Rabba and Massekhet Hekhalot, but in my opinion these texts show relatively little

additional content that is not represented in the four texts I chose.

Chapter 3 will be dominated by the comparison of the chosen texts to the aspects of

travel literature through the answering of the questionnaire. Each text will be separately

discussed and provided with a small introduction in which I will elaborate on the historical

background of the text. I will only perform the questionnaire completely for a single text,

since it would be too extensive to repeat this step for every Hekhalot and Merkavah text and it

would add little additional information and insights. The three other texts will be individually

discussed and compared to the questionnaire, and the outcome and insights gained from the

first text. I think the comparisons will expose parallels and differences which will pose new

questions to and insights in the Hekhalot and Merkavah texts which I will collect and describe

in the final chapter where I hope to be able to draw some conclusions from my findings. All in

all, I expect my research to offer an interesting take on literary research within the field of

Hekhalot and Merkavah literature and this will hopefully spark new interest for this

fascinating corpus in the academic field as well as with the general public.

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The Hekhalot and Merkavah corpus has much to offer in my opinion and can be a good

example of researching the intriguing world of the unknown as did R. Akiva and R. Ishmael

when they entered the heavens.

1.2.2 Methodological issues

A major methodological issue in this research which combines ancient texts with a relative

modern genre of literature and modern academic research towards it, is anachronism which is

often meticulously avoided in academic literature on this topic which is understandable if one

wants to retrace the historical context of the texts. I realise that many historical developments

to which important characteristic are tied to, cannot be compared to the contents of the

Hekhalot and Merkavah texts. I will take this problem into account when drafting and

answering the questionnaire, but I will also partly set this problem aside, since it is my

intention to introduce the ancient corpus to a more modern way of thinking and researching in

order to reach new possibilities and look with new eyes to the research towards Hekhalot and

Merkavah literature. Therefore I will focus less on specific characteristics of travel literature,

but all the more on the aspect of travel itself and how this is described and used in travel

literature. Therefore I will elaborate on the history of travel literature in the next chapter, since

many of the broader aspects of travel literature developed throughout pre-modern and modern

history. Thus I hope that the obvious anachronism that will occur, can be forgiven and this

research will lead to a broad spectrum of insights in the travel performed in Hekhalot and

Merkavah literature.

Secondly, making a selection from the texts from the Hekhalot and Merkavah corpus

proved not to be an easy task. As I explained in the previous paragraph, I chose four texts on

the basis of two criteria. However I feel my choice needs additional explanation. I researched

many texts within the corpus together with their historical and philological background. Many

of the research done, involves the comparison of multiple manuscripts, editions and additional

passages and traditions in order to retrace the provenance of the texts and their relation to

other ancient texts. This is however a path I do not want to tread with this research. Therefore

I chose texts which in my opinion represent the wide variety of narrative information the

corpus has to offer, as best as possible. I do not wish to add to the existing research on the

various manuscripts and editions, although I will elaborate on the research done on this topic

for each of the chosen texts in chapter 3.

Thirdly, in this thesis I will quote multiple passages from the Hekhalot and Merkavah

texts in order to illustrate the comparisons and parallels I will make. Since this research

should be comprehensive and helpful to readers who are not familiar with Hebrew, I will

quote the passages in English, although in some cases I will provide the Hebrew text when

necessary for the illustration of interesting formulations. I use the Synopse by P. Schäfer14 for

the Hebrew sources since this is the most broadly used work for the various manuscripts and

Hebrew texts. I use the book Hekhalot Literature in Translation: Major Texts of Merkavah

Mysticism by J. Davila15 as a source for the English translations. His translations are clear and

comprehensive, while Davila bases his translation of the manuscripts and Hebrew texts given

in the Synopse. Therefore the text and translations will be compatible and provide secure

academic handles to enable the reader to research the texts further in the Synopse and

Hekhalot Literature in Translation.

14 Schäfer, Synopse. 15 Davila, Hekhalot Literature.

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2. Introduction in Travel Literature

2.1 The genre of travel literature and its history

Travel is a journey of the body and the soul. In order to achieve a new perspective on the field

of Hekhalot and Merkavah literature, I intend to look at the material with new and foremost

modern glasses. As noted in the previous chapter, the corpus of Hekhalot and Merkavah

literature is difficult to define and to classify. We can however determine some basic

characteristics: 1) this corpus offers multiple written texts and 2) these written texts tell one or

more stories and experiences. These stories can be incomplete, have no clear beginning or

end, and contain difficult and complicated traditions. However, Hekhalot and Merkavah texts

contain written accounts of stories and experiences, and therefore I think the corpus can be

approached from the field of literary studies. Modern day literature knows dozens of genres

and subgenres which gives numerous opportunities for a new perspective on Hekhalot and

Merkavah literature. Of course there needs to be some affinity between the chosen genre and

the corpus. Therefore I focused on the third characteristic of Hekhalot and Merkavah

literature that seems to be inevitable: (heavenly) journeys. Even though it remains a question

if an actual journey takes place, the act of travel takes a central place in the corpus.

Secondary, the increasing popularity of the genre of travel literature and the attention the

genre has received in the academic world the last decade, makes this genre interesting to use

in a modern examination of ancient texts. Thus I chose the genre of travel literature to be my

guide through the intricate world of Hekhalot and Merkavah literature.

In the second half of the twentieth century, travel stories gained popularity with the

general audience partly due to new travel writers who appealed to a broad audience. In

reaction to the new additions to the genre, the important British literary journal Granta

published multiple issues on travel literature between 1980 and 1990. The underlying

development to the increased popularity of travel literature was the newly found mobility and

thereby globalisation experienced by especially wealthy people. The second reason for

choosing travel literature as my perspective on the corpus, is the increasing interest in the

genre from within the academic world. Besides increased (e)migration, globalisation also

brought a new form of travel forth: tourism which awakened a new interest in stories from

abroad. With the increased popularity of the genre with the readers, the academic world also

took interest in travel literature and its rich history and particular aspects. In the case of the

academic study on travel literature, the development of post-colonialism and post-colonial

studies formed an important factor. With the theory of orientalism introduced by Said, the

way in which ‘we’ in the Western world see and describe the ‘rest’ became an important

perspective in the established academic studies. Feminism is often treated alongside

orientalism in which the often neglected contributions of women in literary and other studies,

are discussed. Especially orientalism is a major topic in the studies on travel literature, since a

large part of travel stories and writings tell of direct encounters with another world, other

people and other cultures.16 Since Hekhalot and Merkavah literature stems from before the

colonial period and an actual journey on earth doesn’t take place, I will not discuss

orientalism any further in this thesis. And since nothing is known about the author(s) of these

texts or about the context in which these texts were written, I will also not include feminism.

Before travel literature gained popularity among scholars and the general public, the

genre was looked down upon. Some writers and scholars did not even acknowledge it as a

genuine genre and some contemporary scholars and critics argue that travel literature cannot

be viewed as a true literary genre on its own. This is partly due to the complicated and hybrid

nature of the genre. What is travel literature? C. Thompson gives a definition: a record or

16 Thompson, Travel Writing, 2-4.

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product of the encounter between a traveller and the Other which has been established by a

movement through space, and of the negotiation between similarity and difference that the

journey entailed. Thompson: “All journeys are in this way a confrontation with, or more

optimistically a negotiation of, what is sometimes termed alterity.”17 The traveller sets out on

a journey in which he moves from one place to the other, often a not yet known place by the

traveller. He experiences the changes of scenery, climate, culture and people. In the traveller’s

writing he accounts of his experiences, but also includes some of his own cultural and

ideological background in his perspective on the new and the Other. Therefore the account

will inevitably never be an objective description of people and cultural phenomena, even if

the goal of the travel writer is to deliver such an account.

The boundary between fiction and non-fiction is a delicate one in travel literature.

Youngs illustrates this by the following quote from Charles Forsdick18: “the generic

indeterminacy of the travelogue, a literary form situated somewhere between scientific

observation and fiction, while simultaneously problematizing any clear-cut distinction of

those two poles.”19 Most writers will embellish their texts in order to add to the tension,

suspense, and aesthetics of their story or even to increase the credibility of their accounts.

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe is a purely fictional book with no accounts of actual

travelling undertaken by the writer, even though the story is likely to be based on real people

serving as an inspiration for Daniel Defoe.20 By most Robinson Crusoe is considered travel

literature, which indicates the difficulty between fiction and non-fiction in travel writing. The

ambiguity of truth in travel literature, is one of the major issues defining this genre. With this

ambiguity, ideological, religious and political matters can become entangled in the travel

writer’s accounts. The consequences of this should be kept in mind of which orientalism

forms a possible example. Thus the cultural (and political!) background of the writer, the

popularity with the general audience and the gathering of multiple academic disciplines in the

genre induced that travel literature was and is often dismissed as less of a contribution to the

academic discourse.21 Even writers were not too keen on the genre showed by the following

quote from Jan Morris: “I’ve never thought of myself as a travel writer. The term travel

writing seems a bit demeaning.”22

Even though travel literature carries some negative connotations, the genre

nevertheless has much to offer and consists of a rich variety of different travel stories casted

in a multitude of literary forms. Travel books can consist of poems, novels, travel logs,

autobiographies, diaries, essays etc. A written travel story always forms a hybrid between

travel literature and one or more other genres depending on the eventual form the travel

stories is presented. Therefore it is difficult to draw the line on what is travel literature and

what is not, which leads to inclusive and exclusive definitions of travel literature. Paul Fussell

wields a strict definition on the type of literary works which can be called travel literature.

According to Fussell travel writing applies to the travel book which contains prose narratives

sometimes accompanied by additions such as maps or other non-narrative forms of

information with the function of illustrating or exemplifying the narrative. He presses the

autobiographical character of travel books, since the experiences and descriptions of the

author colour the narrative. With his strict definition of travel writing, Fussell also uses a strict

definition of travel itself in which he condemns modern day tourism. Also travel in the

17 Thompson, Travel Writing, 9-10. 18 T. Youngs, The Cambridge Introduction to Travel Writing (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 1. 19 Ch. Forsdick, “French Representations of Niagara: From Hennepin to Butor,” in American Travel and Empire,

ed. Susan Castillo and David Seed (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2009), 58. 20 Youngs, Cambridge Introduction, 4. 21 Thompson, Travel Writing, 30-33. 22 T. Youngs, “Interview with William Dalrymple,” Studies in Travel Writing 9, March (2005): 37-63.

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Ancient World is not ‘proper travel’ according to him. There has to be a sense of travel for the

sake of travel in which a traveller seeks new experiences for himself and defines them by his

own perspective, hence the autobiographical aspect in Fussell’s definition: “a sub-species of

memoir in which the autobiographical narrative arises from the speaker’s encounter with

distant or unfamiliar data, and in which the narrative – unlike that in a novel or a romance –

claims literal validity by constant reference to actuality.”23 Just as travel purely for pleasure,

tourism, does not imply ‘proper travel’, also travel for exploration, trade or refugees is not

travel considered suitable for travel literature. Hence guidebooks designed to help tourists on

their way, log books, maps, and relatively older material, such as ships’ logs, letters, tales of

pilgrimage, etc. do not meet the definition of travel literature as Fussell poses.

Zweder Von Martels attains a drastically more inclusive definition of travel literature.

According to Von Martels both prose works and poetic works can be classified as travel

literature and the genre holds a broad variety of branches of literary forms in which accounts

of journeys or experiences abroad are told.24 This inclusive definition leads to a vast

expanding corpus of travel literature and shows the counterpart of the exclusive definition of

Fussell. This research will follow an inclusive definition of travel literature, since the

comparison with the corpus of Hekhalot and Merkavah literature demands an open outlook on

the possibilities of the travel literature genre. Even though the defining of travel literature

seems to be equally troublesome as to Hekhalot and Merkavah literature, the central aspect of

travel proves to be of all ages.

It is not my intention to set forth a complete historical overview of travel literature,

since I do not have the expertise nor the space in this thesis. Thompson25 or Youngs26 do offer

an elaborate chronological overview of travel literature and travel writers on whom I also base

my short exposition. However it is useful to gain an overall idea of the most important stages

and changes in travel literature trough history in order to fully understand the historical

background behind travel and its narrative during which general characteristics of the genre

developed. In the next paragraph I will elaborate more on the historical developments of some

specific characteristics of travel in travel literature.

There is a range of possibilities in regard to where a history of travel literature should

start, because this depends on what is defined as travel literature and what not. In Ancient

Egypt we find stories and descriptions of travels in excavated tombs dating from the third

century BCE. These are mostly accounts of travel on behalf of the pharaoh or another high

official, or of trade. One of the most famous travel stories from Mesopotamia is the story of

the immortality seeking Gilgamesh from the second century BCE. In Ancient Greece and

Rome it was common to document a journey oversees in so-called periploi (Greece) or

navigationes (Rome). However these accounts of travel seem to include rather documentation

than an actual narrative. The story of Gilgamesh can be qualified as a narrative, but it is likely

that this is a purely fictional story. Youngs also questions the status of Biblical stories as

travel literature.27 With the rise of Christianity, also pilgrimage developed, taking flight under

Constantine in the fifth century CE with the crusades to Jerusalem as the leading role in

pilgrimage stories. Written accounts of pilgrimage defined the travel literature in the Middle

Ages, later accompanied with knightly quests.

23 P. Fussell, Abroad: British Literary Travelling Between the Wars (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982),

203. 24 Z. Von Martels, eds., Travel Fact and Travel Fiction: Studies on Fiction, Literary Tradition, Scholarly

Discovery and Observation in Travel Writing (Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill, 1994), xi. 25 Thompson, Travel Writing, 34-61. 26 Youngs, Cambridge Introduction, 19-86. 27 Ibid., 22-23.

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The thirteenth to sixteenth century were marked by discovery expeditions and their

accounts with the stories of Marco Polo (1254-1324), John Mandeville from whom the story

circulated between 1357 and 1371, Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) and Richard Hakluyt

(1553-1616) as the most well-known expeditioners. These expeditions had various purposes;

foremost the discovery of new land, but also to serve the imperialism of European rulers, to

discover and claim trade routes or to bring civilization and Christianity to ‘barbaric’ people.

Therefore the written accounts of these journeys are strongly biased and it is often uncertain if

the writer actually saw what he described or if it came to him second-hand.

The beginning of the eighteenth century is often marked as the beginning of modern

travel literature. Under the influence of expending mobility, the upper class increasingly

travelled for pleasure developing an early form of tourism. Parallel to this development, trade

and thereby the emergence of colonialism grew to a global level and professionalised into

large oversea companies. In the second half of the eighteenth century, Romanticism emerged

which also influenced increasing production of travel literature and the tendency to

incorporate more and more fiction into travel stories. Famous novelists wrote stories about

travels of which Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe is the most well-known. This is also a

good example of travel stories which are not based on a specific real journey by the writer.

Most of the world had been discovered and described, so the focus shifted from written

accounts of discoveries to personal impressions by travellers, real or fictional. Writers became

more creative with multiple forms of writing, prose and poetry, and stylistic and aesthetic

means in order to make their stories more colourful. At the end of the eighteenth century the

Grand Tour became the defining factor for the travel literature of that time. Young men from

the upper class undertook journeys through Europe visiting the major cities in search of the

historical and artistic highlights and (sexual) experiences as a rite of passage.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century travel became more available for the

middle class by which the Grand Tour lost its exclusive status which proved to become its

demise. Literacy increased and more travel writers emerged during the aftermath of

Romanticism. Tourism became a more common leisure, which sparked the production of

guidebooks for tourists. The twentieth century brought other disciplines closer to travel

literature, such as anthropology and sociology. But also the arts became an important path

leader for travel literature. Today travel literature is still popular although we perceive travel

stories separate from guidebooks and itineraries. Travelling is accessible for almost everyone

in the Western world, and we use guidebooks beside information presented on the internet for

our travels, while the reading of travel stories is a popular time passing in order to escape

from our often busy and rushed lives.

2.2 Aspects of travel in travel literature

The genre of travel literature shows to be an elaborate maze of different subgenres, definitions

and (sometimes paradoxical) characteristics which have been developed out of its long

history, multifunctional and utilitarian nature and overwhelming dimension of the discussed

topic: our world and its cultures, religions, civilizations, fantasies etc. As with Hekhalot and

Merkavah literature, one major theme is absolute and reoccurring in its texts: travel. Travel in

its purest sense could be described as a movement through space, from one place to another.

But is it travel to walk from your house to the supermarket? Or drive from your work back

home? We clearly do not define this as travel. But what makes travel really travel? Thompson

emphasises ‘the encounter between a traveller and the Other which has been established by a

movement through space’28 when speaking of travel. The defining factor between ‘real’ travel

and movement in your direct environment is the encounter with something new: something

28 Thompson, Travel Writing, 10.

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the traveller has not encountered before or does not encounter daily. This definition is not

conclusive however. One can think of travels in which the traveller encounters unfamiliar

things, people and scenes, but would not so easily qualify as the travel accounted in travel

stories, such as travels undertaken by refugees for example, as Thompson admits.29 M. Baine

Campbell makes a distinction between the ‘old’ motifs of travelling; home, departure,

destination and the liminal space in between, and the new motif of the lived experience of the

traveller.30 Even though the descriptions of travel of both scholars do not completely align

with each other, one does get the sense that there is something more to travel than simply

moving oneself from one place to the other. The traveller undergoes something: he

experiences, learns, and sees something which inevitably involves the Other.

The first major aspect of travel which is described in travel literature is the Other. In

most academic publications on travel literature, the encounter that takes place while traveling

and ultimately becomes the subject of the story, is thoroughly discussed. Especially during the

age of discovery expeditions, the encounter with the Other and the description thereof is the

basic goal of the travel and its account. New experiences, new people and new sceneries spark

the sense of wonder in the traveller which presents itself in a mixture of awe, fascination and

even fear. The feeling of wonder is a desirable feeling for any traveller, beside his of hers

secondary intentions, and even touches with a sense of the sublime. Maybe it is this particular

feeling which separates ‘real’ travel from any other movement?

Since the traveller is exposed to unfamiliar things, describing them in an orderly, clear

and (up to a certain level) objective fashion is a severe challenge. Travellers often write they

don’t have the proper words in which they can describe what they have seen. “You have to

have been there.” In medieval and pre-modern travel writing, travellers often refer or attach

their descriptions to something that is familiar in their own culture which will also be relatable

to the reader. Parallel to clear and appealing descriptions, these methods of writing also serve

to increase the credibility of the writer’s account. Travel accounts often pose epistemological

difficulties whereas writers want to be believed for their stories and readers are critical

towards their accounts. Writers often embellish their texts to make them more convincing.

They can draw credibility from basing their information on authoritarian sources or people

who support or refer to their descriptions. In medieval times the Bible, the writings of the

Church Fathers and classical philosophers often served as the perspective in which new

information was presented. With the dawn of the Renaissance, empirical research and

argumentation became the basis for accounts that were considered reliable.

A travel writer may choose to describe his account in first person in order to raise the

empirical character of his findings. However some writers refrain from any form of personal

and empirical additions in order to seem as objective as possible and trust on elaborate

‘scientific’ and impersonal descriptions of their subjects.31 Besides deliberate and undeliberate

attempts to attain accurate and believable accounts of travels, the perspective of the writer

influenced by his own cultural background will shine through in his accounts. But the travel

writer is not only a vessel for his own cultural and historical context; he will also reveal some

of his inner self.

In the first paragraph I have explained some factors as to why travel literature became

such a popular genre. An addition to this argumentation could be that travel literature speaks

to our inner self, our feelings, our own experiences and our own struggles in life. A journey is

often used as a metaphor for inner changes, emotional and mental, in ourselves.32 In life we

29 Thompson, Travel Writing, 10. 30 M. Baine Campbell, “Travel writing and its theory,” in The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing ed. P.

Hulme, T. Youngs (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 263. 31 Thompson, Travel Writing, 62-95. 32 Ibid., 97.

13

are faced with new experiences and challenges everyday which shape us to who we are. Every

time we encounter something new, it alters us in a way and adds to our development. This in

itself can be seen as a journey, a journey through life. But when major life changes come on

our path, we need to conquer the intense emotions and struggles we are faced with, and this

can take a substantial amount of time and effort. This is an emotional journey we need to

make before we overcome it and finish the journey as a changed person. A traveller

undergoing such a mental process can describe it side by side with his actual travel, but other

forms of revealing the self in travel stories are possible. The traveller can describe all the

things he encounters on his journey and in order to add to the aesthetical (and sometimes

dramatic) effect, he can set out his emotional reaction to it. Adding emotional descriptions is

often used to amplify the credibility of the described experiences. The development from

‘telling’ to ‘showing’ is often connected with the Romantic movement and its sentimental

approach to travelling, although this was not such a clear turning point in reality. The

intertwining of an exterior, physical journey and an internal, emotional journey is an ideal

Fussell applauds in, in his eyes ‘real’, travel writing.33

However, travel stories can therefore shift to a more autobiographical work instead of

an account of travel. The overlapping genres reveal the fine line between travel literature and

not travel literature which depends on the definition abided by. Some writers take it to the

extreme in a manner which the work is an autobiography written in the context of an

underlying journey which forms the rack whereon the personal expositions are hung. Whereas

some writers strive to simulate a more objective sense to their work by arguing their personal

impressions, for some writers objectivity shifts to second (or third) place. Pilgrimages are

often mentioned when the self in travel literature is discussed. In order to repent their mortal

sins, pilgrims undertook the often difficult and dangerous journey to Jerusalem in the name of

God. The hardship and violence faced on the road tests the pilgrims for their courage and

faith, and ultimately washes their sins away. Thus the objective for these pilgrims is to renew

their faith, repent their sins and ultimately secure their way to heaven when they die.34

But what moves pre-modern and modern travellers to step outside the door and

document their experiences, physical and emotional? Besides the economic and political

reasons for travelling and discovery expeditions, journeys wherein an inner journey also plays

a role often have a personal underlying motive. However, most travellers leave with a sense of

dissatisfaction with their homeland and previous situation. They have encountered something,

momentary or prolonged, that disconnects them from their lives at home and they attempt to

search something new elsewhere. According to Porter, most travels take place under influence

of a form of desire; the desire to be able to fulfil certain drives that cannot be fulfilled at

home. These desires can embody a multitude of possible subjects, but eventually encompasses

transgressive impulses in relation to that what is denied at home. For most, sexual

transgression, for example as a frequent occurrence in the Grand Tours of young noblemen in

the eighteenth century, is a widely known form of transgression, but only one of many

possible phenomenologies of the term.35

Concepts of Freudian psychoanalysis are often discussed when treating the topic of

inner journeys, also because Freud examined several of his own dreams in which he dreams

about a journey to Rome. According to Freudian psychoanalysis, the tension between

experiences and objects at home and during travelling can tell us about the desires and

dissatisfactions of the traveller. In the experience with the unknown the traveller searches for

something familiar, something that sparks in his mind. Freud calls this an unheimlich, or

33 Thompson, Travel Writing, 97. 34 Ibid., 96-129. 35 D. Porter, Haunted Journeys: Desire and Transgression in European Travel Writing (Princeton: Princeton

University Press, 1991), 1-21.

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uncanny experience. The unheimlich is a strange feeling of familiarity with home in

something that is new, an experience similar to the déjà vu. According to Freudian

psychoanalysis, one can examine the relations the traveller has with his home situation and

potential issues. This eventually reveals the true reasons that the traveller took the step

outside. It is important to notice that this is not the only theory on the inner journeys of

travellers, although some concepts of Freud’s theory are often used to identify themes and

motivations in travel literature.36

Instead of an unheimlich experience, other writers give different descriptions of the

experience when faced with the Other and their emotional climax. For example, Sara Wheeler

describes during her journey through Antarctica, the open, white fields of snow, the barren

circumstances and her feeling of freedom in this uninhabited land. All her experiences added

up to an emotional epiphany which she describes as a sense of God.37 All in all, every

traveller undergoes an emotional connection with what they see and feel and ponder the

equation between home and abroad with the self as a mediator, and it’s up to the readers to

extract this personal story even if not present on the surface of the text.

As seen above, every traveller has his or her own motivation for travelling, but most

journeys start with a desire to discover, overcome or experience something in order to change

the inner person itself even though this may not always be the main motif on the surface of

the text. The quest is a widespread and deeply imbedded model in travel literature which even

sculpted the oldest travel tales. The quest is more than a narrative structure used to tell stories

of travel even though it offers structure, motivation and stylistic handholds for writing. The

quest is a model for travel itself with a fundamental structure: the main character sets out on a

journey and faces several challenges which he is to overcome. He reaches his goal after

battling his opponents (real or mental) by which he increases his own worth and, if necessary

to the story, returns home. In pre-modern times, pilgrimages and knightly quests formed the

blueprint for quests, and even travels in general, for a multitude of motifs and characteristics

of travel literature. The main character or protagonist is often portrayed as a hero. He or she is

often introduced as a relatively regular person, sometimes royal or not, and is faced with

villains, hardship, struggles and violence. The hero often sacrifices something of himself in

order to defeat these evils by showing exceptional bravery, cunning, strength and/or battle

skills. He or she is often rewarded and aided for their character with company or objects.

Characteristic for quests is the representation of the Other in a strongly dualistic form. What

the traveller meets or encounters is either friendly and helps the traveller on his path, or is

hostile to the traveller. This therefore influences the way in which the Other is represented.

The ‘enemy’ can be portrayed in many different ways from dangerous beasts, evil queens,

harsh environments or even the hero’s own mind.

After the age of discovery came to an end, the focus of travel stories shifted to the

traveller’s mind. The quest became a strong metaphor in which physical journeys touches

with inner journeys trough the traveller’s mental developments, but also for pure inner

journeys in which the focus lies solely on overcoming mental struggles. In modern travel

writing, the quest is often linked to the search for a special experience or epiphany. It is about

discovering that what you have been missing at home or at the start in its purest form. Often

this is represented by a quest for authenticity or freedom. Travellers want to escape from their

day-to-day lives and the pressure, social expectations and oppression (often described by

female travellers) that impacts their lives which fits the world of the mostly wealthy men and

women in modern Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Travellers search for

soothing, eye-opening and mentally activating scenes, encounters and experiences which

alters their perspective on their own lives and transforms their priorities.

36 Porter, Haunted Journeys, 1 37 Youngs, The Cambridge Introduction, 113.

15

After a journey filled with hardship and anxious encounters, the reward is peace of mind

which some describe as a religious revelation parallel to the spiritual presence felt by Sara

Wheeler at the end of her journey.38

As a last remark, I would like to add that there is often a very exclusive sphere

surrounding especially modern quests: it is often not deemed possible for the readers to

experience the same as the traveller did. The reader was not there on the exact right moment,

and even if the reader travelled to the same place another time, the authenticity would have

diminished. Even more, the reader does not possess the same qualities, tools, spirit and

experiences the ‘hero’ possessed.39 Thus travel is a strong motif that speaks to the human

mind in a way that transgresses the borders of our own mind and body, and invites us to step

outside our door and explore what lies beyond us. I have only examined some of the basic

aspects of travel represented in travel literature and one could tell so much more about every

one of the aspects above, but a foundation has been laid for our heavenly journey.

2.3 Research methods: a questionnaire

In the last two paragraphs I have provided an overall exposition on the genre of travel

literature and the most evident underlying themes involving travel in general. The quest

follows: how can travel literature be laid parallel and compared to the Hekhalot and Merkavah

literature from chapter 1? Obviously not every signature aspect of travel literature can be

transferred to Hekhalot and Merkavah literature, for example colonialism, orientalism and

feminism which would be strongly anachronistic as discussed in chapter one, but also certain

aspects that are tied closely to the influence of the author and his contributed context are

troublesome if the author is not known. However, I have tried to gather a variety of aspects of

travel and their characteristic attestations in travel literature in order to design a solid

apparatus that is suitable for comparison with Hekhalot and Merkavah literature, while still

offering an inclusive and complete reflection of travel literature.

I have composed a three-part questionnaire with primary, secondary and tertiary

questions. This partition offers a more structured approach which turned out necessary since

relatively small and basic characteristics in travel stories are tightly attached to bigger and

more metaphysical motivations, goals and developments. It might be difficult to determine the

goal of a heavenly journey in the first instance, but through smaller details, terminology,

descriptions and subtle nuances I hope to obtain a deeper and a more textually rooted

representation of travel in Hekhalot and Merkavah literature. I have made my choices for the

aspects I want to discuss on a combination of alleged attestations and importance in travel

literature, and common ground and sustainability in Hekhalot and Merkavah literature. I have

minded myself however, since I have foreknowledge of the literature, to cater my choices pre-

emptive on what I expect to find in Hekhalot and Merkavah literature. In the following

subparagraphs I will explain the different parts of my questionnaire and argument my choices

wherever necessary.

The first part of the questionnaire will encompass primary questions asked to the

basics of the texts in order to lay a solid base on which I can build the more difficult and

intriguing aspects of travel in the Hekhalot and Merkavah texts. I don’t think these questions

need much argumentation as to my choices, since these are basic questions which are

commonly posed when starting a literary analysis in travel literature and other genres. The

following questions will be of importance:

1.a Who is the main character and traveller?

1.b Who are possible other characters?

1.c Where does the journey go to on a basic level? 38 Youngs, The Cambridge Introduction, 113. 39 Ibid., 87-101.

16

1.d From who’s perspective are the accounts written?

1.e Out of which parts the journey consists?

The secondary questions revolve around the internal aspects of travel and reporting thereof

accompanied by possible stylistic characters. These questions will mostly follow the different

aspects of travel as discussed in paragraph 2.2. I have however fine-tuned the questions so

that they align better with the Hekhalot and Merkavah materials. At first instance I wanted to

pay more attention to the possible stylistics characteristics, motifs and strategies a travel

writers can use while reporting his or her journey. However, as I became more acquainted

with the study of travel literature, the diverse character of the genre became obvious. Travel

literature beholds such an amount of subgenres, styles and forms, that there are very few

stylistic characteristics that are broadly attested through travel narratives. Therefore I chose to

examine possible stylistic elements alongside the secondary questions, since they often

support and appear alongside aspects of travel.

2.a Who or what is the Other?

2.b In what way and with what possible stylistic strategies is the Other described?

2.c What terminology is used and how does it affect the story?

2.d Is it the objective of the writer to be as veracious as possible or are there other motifs?

2.e What is the role of the traveller and how much information about him is given?

2.f Does the narrative describe an inner journey? Does the inner journey serve as a metaphor

or is there an actual internal journey described alongside the external journey?

2.g Does the personality of the traveller affect the description of the experiences, sights,

environments, etc.? Showing versus telling?

2.h Are there autobiographical connotations?

2.i Does any sort of transgression take place? How is this described and does it involve

transgression by the traveller himself?

2.j Is there a moment of ultimate experience during or at the end of the journey? what kind of

experience is this; an epiphany, a spiritual or religious moment, an emotional outburst or

relief, an unheimlich experience?

2.k After answering the above mentioned questions, is this journey narrated as a quest? How

do the structure and the common motifs of a quest compare to the structure of the story?

2.l Does the traveller have ‘hero’-like qualities?

Finally, the third part of the questionnaire will revolve around fundamental questions to the

nature of the text. There may be less tertiary questions than primary or secondary questions,

but these last aspects form the closing argument as to the Hekhalot and Merkavah text as a

work of travel literature. In order to add to the persistent debate on the purpose, function and

overall subject of the Hekhalot and Merkavah texts, these questions do not only focus on the

verdict if Hekhalot and Merkavah literature has affinity with travel literature or even can be

classified as such, but also on the direction of the texts itself:

3.a What is the motivation of the main character to undertake the journey?

3.b What does the traveller ultimately want to achieve at the end of his journey?

3.c Can this text be classified as travel literature? What are strong shared characteristics

between this text and travel literature? Are there substantial differences?

3.d Is this text mainly defined by travel or are there other aspects strongly present?

In the following chapter, I will discuss the chosen texts from the Hekhalot and Merkavah

corpus and walk through the questionnaire, examining the results and providing examples

from the texts.

17

3. Aspects of Travel Literature in Hekhalot and Merkavah Literature

3.1.1 Hekhalot Zutarti

In the previous chapter I examined and described travel literature from multiple perspectives

such as its history, its literary and stylistic characteristics, and some of its underlying theories.

At the end of the chapter I formulated a questionnaire which will form the framework by

which I will analyse and compare typical aspects of travel literature and several Hekhalot and

Merkavah texts. As I have explained in the first chapter, I chose four texts from the Hekhalot

and Merkavah corpus which I found suitable for this research, and that form the main core of

literary contents Hekhalot and Merkavah texts have to offer. In order to reduce the sheer size

and maintain the comprehensibility of this research, I will only answer the questionnaire

completely for one text where after I will examine the other texts individually pointing out

important differences and similarities between the texts and highlight interesting literary

features the texts may show. It would be too repetitive to answer each question separately for

the four texts and add very little additional insights to the actual research. After researching

and interpreting all four texts, I will attempt to answer the third part of the questionnaire for

the discussed corpus as a whole and summarize the characteristics of travel literature that in

my view relate to Hekhalot and Merkavah literature.

The text I would like to choose as my designated text that will form the starting point

of my research is Hekhalot Zutarti. While researching the corpus of Hekhalot and Merkavah

literature, I found Hekhalot Zutarti quite intriguing in the sense that it provided a large

amount of individual stories and accounts in a rather short amount of text. The characteristic

Hekhalot and Merkavah paradigm and models are represented in this text, but often lacks the

repetitiveness of these accounts as shown in Hekhalot Rabbati. I realise this may be an

uncommon and even controversial choice, but in regard to my research which focusses on the

literary interpretation of the contents of the texts rather that the philological discussion, and

inclusive amount of literary elements and accounts attested in the text, I believe Hekhalot

Zutarti will serve this examination well. Hekhalot Rabbati is a longer and a better represented

text from the surviving manuscripts and shows a more thorough and complete redaction than

Hekhalot Zutarti40 and is therefore often presented as the first and most important account

from the Hekhalot and Merkavah corpus. I will address some of the main editorial and

philological issues, but this will not be my focus point in this research. Therefore purely from

the view of the contents of the texts, I will start this chapter with Hekhalot Zutarti.

Hekhalot Zutarti (The Book of the Lesser Heavenly Palaces) is a Hebrew and Aramaic

text concerning the Seven Heavenly Palaces, the angels and the chariot. The text consists of

multiple stories and ascension accounts. Among these accounts, there is also a version of the

Pardes story. Hekhalot Zutarti is attested in several manuscripts: N (New York 8128, Jewish

Theological Seminary), O (Oxford 1531, Bodleian Library, Michael 9/Neugebauer 1531),

M22 (Munich 22, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek), M40 (Munich 40, Bayerische

Staatsbibliothek) and D (Dropsie 436, Philadelphia).41 Additional and overlapping material

can be found among the Geniza fragments. Especially N shows large amounts of additions in

its redaction. The redaction of this texts is less complete and less consistent than the redaction

of Hekhalot Rabbati. This also coheres to the fact that there are less manuscripts that contain

Hekhalot Zutarti material than there are with material from Hekhalot Rabbati. Some scholars

however argue that Hekhalot Zutarti contains more original material and is of an earlier date

than Hekhalot Rabbati which is often linked to the presence of a version of the Pardes story in

Hekhalot Zutarti.42 Morray-Jones dated the text around the 3rd or 4th century on the basis of an

40 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 188. 41 Schäfer, Übersetzung, 3:X-XI and Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 19. 42 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 192-193.

18

examination of the Pardes story and the water test in the sixth palace.43 Schäfer however

argues that Hekhalot Zutarti is later than Rabbati and even depends on its text although he

does not provide a specific date of the text.44

The name of the text is first referenced to by Hai ben Sherira HaGaon in his 11th

century responsum.45 Hai ben Sherira HaGaon was the head of a Babylonian rabbinic

academy and provides the first possible attestations of multiple texts from the Hekhalot and

Merkavah corpus. He believed these works stemmed from Tannaitic writers and he discusses

the Pardes story in his responsum. In contradiction to his remarks on Hekhalot Rabbati, he

connects the title of Hekhalot Zutarti to the text we now know today.46 The text seems to be

preoccupant with the dangers of the ascent to the throne of God which is illustrated by three

ascension stories by R. Akiva, an ascension story by Moses and a story about the failed ascent

by an unknown rabbi. There lies emphasis on the terrors faced by the travellers and the

terrible appearances of the angels guarding the palaces and the throne. Alongside the several

stories, description of angels, seals and names and adjurations, a version of the story of the

Four Who Entered the Pardes and a description of the water test in the sixth palace is

included. There has been debate about the specific extent of Hekhalot Zutarti and Davila

suggest that paragraphs §§335-375 and §§407-42647 cover Hekhalot Zutarti. The ending of

both units forms the main topic of the debate, especially fuelled by the additional materials

found in manuscript N.48 I chose to follow the inclusive vision of Davila for my research as

explained in chapter 1.

3.1.2 Aspects of travel literature in Hekhalot Zutarti

In the following paragraph I will attempt to answer the questionnaire I drafted in chapter 2

from the perspective of Hekhalot Zutarti. Since I will only perform the questionnaire

completely for this text, I will also make some remarks that apply to the Hekhalot and

Merkavah corpus in general. It is my intention to examine the text from the contents as much

as possible and leave already established presumptions about the corpus from my

interpretations, although this will prove to be a difficult task.

1.a Who is the main character and traveller?

The main character in Hekhalot Zutarti is somewhat hard to determine in the sense that there

is no main character or hero the reader follows throughout a series of events. R. Akiva fulfils

the role of the main traveller in three stories who ascends through the palaces, and most

accounts are written as spoken by his words (see question 1.d), but also Moses (§336) and an

unknown rabbi (§410) make a journey. The unknown rabbi however fails the water test and is

decapitated. In the Pardes story (§§338-345) R. Ben Azzay, R. Ben Zoma, R. Akiva and R.

Elisha ben Avuyah (‘The Other’) travel to paradise. Hekhalot Zutarti lays less emphasis on

the angels guarding the heavens and ministering before God. Anaphi’el (§421) and Suria, the

Prince of Presence (§§425-426) are the only angels to speak in this text and their monologues

do not cover more than one or two paragraphs.

So who fulfils the role of the main character? In travel literature, the role of main

character is usually fulfilled by a traveller. In Hekhalot Zutarti, R. Akiva is the main travelling

character and the reader receives the largest amount of information about the journey from his

43 C. Roland and C. Morray-Jones, The Mystery of God: Early Jewish Mysticism and the New Testament

(Leiden: Brill, 2009), 233-247. 44 Schäfer, Übersetzung, 3:XVI-XVII. 45 Ibid., 3:VIII. 46 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 39. 47 Schäfer, Synopse, 142-157, 172-183. 48 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 191-192.

19

accounts. But the contents of the text is less concerned with R. Akiva than with the guardians,

the throne of God and God Himself. I however do not think God or any of the angels could be

classified as the main character since the reader learns about them in an indirect manner

through the experiences of the travellers in the person of R. Akiva or the other rabbis.

Hekhalot Zutarti concerns for the larger part the experiences of R. Akiva and therefore I

classify him as the main character which also parallels to the main traveller in the text.

1.b Who are possible other characters?

I’ve named most other characters above in question 1.a. The other travellers are Moses, R.

Ben Azzay, R. Ben Zoma, R. Elisha ben Avuyah (‘The Other’) and an unknown rabbi.

However only Moses is successful in ascending to heaven besides R. Akiva. The other rabbis

face terrible fates wherein they are killed or suffer psychological damage. Only R. Akiva

travels more than one time whereas the other travellers only travel or attempt to travel once.

The other characters such as the angels and the other creatures, I would like to discuss when

examining the Other in the second part of the questionnaire.

1.c Where does the journey go to on a basic level?

In the Pardes story (§§338-345) the physical destination of the journey is clearly described in

the first sentence: ‘R. Akiva said: We were four who entered paradise.’49 It remains unknown

from the text where paradise is located and if it has parallels with the seven heavenly palaces,

and what the eventual goal of the journey is.

The rest of Hekhalot Zutarti does not name a specific location to where the journey

will lead. R. Akiva in general only speaks about his ascent and descent. However from §§368-

375, called the Throne Midrash by Davila,50 the reader receives a vivid image of the end of

the journey: ‘And the throne of glory is the seat of His glory, and the living creatures bear the

throne, and the ophannim are the wheels of the chariot, and all of them are fire in fire

(§373).’51 The destination is the seventh palace where the throne of God is located although it

varies whether the emphasis is laid on the throne of glory or on the chariot. There exists some

ambiguity as to the relation between the throne and the chariot. In for example §§422-423, R.

Akiva explains how to ascent and descent to the chariot in order to reach the throne of glory.

1.d From whose perspective are the accounts written?

The accounts are mostly written from the perspective of R. Akiva, because he himself tells the

reader his accounts and his instructions, for example by phrases such as עקיבא ’אמר ר (‘R.

Akiva said:…’), with the exception of §§420, 425, 426 and 421; those paragraphs are told

from the perspective of R. Ishmael, the second rabbi strongly connected with Hekhalot and

Merkavah literature, and Anaphi’el, an angel. An interesting exception is §336 in which

Moses ascended to the heavens and God teaches him names and a formula for his people: ‘In

the hour that Moses ascended to God, He taught him.’52 In this paragraph God is the person

who addresses Moses and therefore the reader.

However not every paragraph opens with the formula ‘R. Akiva said.’ This is mostly

due to the fact that in the previous paragraph(s) such a formula has been uttered, multiple

characters are speaking after one another or that the writer has not made known who made the

following statements and they may be categorised as general statements. An interesting

example may be §§350b-352 in which Biblical verses are used in order to explain if a mortal

man can see God and live. These paragraphs start without recollecting who is speaking and

state that ‘it is written’53 followed by several Biblical verses. Further in §352 the prophets and

49 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 202. 50 Ibid., 223-227. 51 Ibid., 226. 52 Ibid., 200. 53 Ibid., 207.

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the ‘kings who are on earth’54 are mentioned as uttering a Biblical verse. But it can be

questioned if these characters are actually meant to be directly speaking to the reader or are

described just to demonstrate to who the statements belong. At the end of §352, R. Akiva and

Moses make final statements and the paragraphs ends with: ‘Therefore it is said’55 which

concludes the examination of the problem with a general statement. This example shows that

even though R. Akiva is the main character from whose perspective the reader receives

information, the perspective and speaking character is very fluent and sometimes unclear in

Hekhalot Zutarti.

1.e Out of which parts does the journey consist?

Traditionally the journey towards the throne of glory leads through the seven heavenly

palaces in which the traveller has to present seals and names to the guardians of the next

palace as described in §§413-419. R. Akiva explains that the traveller has to memorize the

names of the seven princes, the guardians of the palaces and he tells the reader the names with

their complementary seals. For example: ‘Over the first palace has been appointed RGZ’L

YHWH the prince and vapor and winds. You show him the seal and seal-ring on which is

engraved ‘ṬBḤ YHWH, God of Israel, our Father who is in heaven (§416).’56 The journey

becomes harder when the higher sixth and seventh palace are reached, but the basic steps in

ascending to the throne of glory are knowing the right names of the guards, showing them the

correct seals and entering each palace.

There are however additional steps in the journey which are individually described in

Hekhalot Zutarti. These steps consist mostly of additional hardship and tests which the

traveller has to pass in order to reach the next palace safely. The most famous is the water test

in the sixth palace which is described in §§408-410. When the traveller enters the sixth palace

the marvellous alabaster environment appears to be made of enormous amounts of wildly

splashing water which is about to burst onto the traveller. This however is simply an illusion

and the wise traveller will recognize the water instantly for what it truly is. He will be granted

passage. The unfit traveller however will scream ‘Water!’ and as R. Akiva describes in §410:

‘In the blink of an eye they severed his head and cast on him eleven thousand iron axes.’57 A

similar test can be found in §407 when the traveller has to enter the palace on exactly the right

moment when he is asked to enter the palace.

Hekhalot Zutarti accounts a third part of which the journey consists: the preparations

and prayers the traveller most know and utter. I find it difficult to make a strict separation

between preparatory prayers and songs, and adjurations to be performed by the angels,

creatures or the traveller himself when in heaven. However the adjuration in §419 which is

imbedded with verses from the Song of Songs carries an additional instruction at the end of

the hymn: ‘As for this teaching, study it each day after prayer.’58 Is this text therefore meant

to be studied and memorized in order to prepare oneself for the ascension? R. Akiva informs

the reader of preparations to be made on earth before the traveller attempts to start his

ascension through the heavenly palaces in §§422-424 where he explains the required forty

days of fasting in the correct position (with the head between the knees, §424) and the uttering

of three blessings and an incantation every day. An additional requirement is to refrain oneself

from ejaculating or touching a women. These steps therefore can be categorised as

preparatory instructions for the ascent. A striking aspect of the journey as described in

Hekhalot Zutarti is the relatively minor attention to the journey back to earth.

54 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 207. 55 Ibid., 208. 56 Ibid., 233. 57 Ibid., 230. 58 Ibid., 237.

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2.a Who or what is the Other?

In the case of Hekhalot Zutarti, this question is relatively easy to answer. The Other is the

complete heavenly realm and all its inhabitants. This therefore includes the seven palaces,

their guardians, several creatures such as the Four Living Creatures in the throne room

(§§353-356) or the Four Living Creatures of the chariot (§§368-375), the angels such as the

ophannim, seraphim and cherubim, specific angels such as Anaphi’el (§421), Gabriel, Uriel

and Michael (§372), the throne room, the throne of glory on the chariot and God Himself. The

heavenly realm is however different from travelling to, for example, a foreign place on earth,

since the traveller will enter the Divine world which forms the centre of his religious tradition

and ideas.

I consider the rabbis named in Hekhalot Zutarti as travellers since they are undergoing

the journey through the heavens. Therefore they encounter the Other and the reader is

involved in their perspectives of the encounters. This applies to each rabbi on a different

scale, since the reader only learns little about the experience of the three rabbis in the Pardes

story who were unsuccessful in their journeys while R. Akiva’s accounts are extensively

described. A special case is the character of Moses in Hekhalot Zutarti. In §336, Moses’

ascent is described along with the names God learned him. Although Moses is a Biblical

character and therefore different from the rabbis, I categorise Moses as a traveller considering

his role in Hekhalot Zutarti.

2.b In what way and with what possible stylistic strategies is the Other described?

As explained in the answer to question 2.a, the Other in Hekhalot Zutarti is an extensive

heavenly world structured in different levels and palaces filled with unfamiliar creatures and

angels, with its own mysterious language displayed in the names and seals, and ultimately the

throne room where God is seated. How could a writer possibly explain and describe such an

intriguing and unknown world? A common method is the use of many adjectives and

elaborate descriptive passages in order to describe the visual environment and physical

outlook of objects and characters on site. Hekhalot Zutarti consists of several long passages

which have purely descriptive purposes, such as §§353-356, §367b (a Shi’ur Qomah

fragment, according to Davila59) and §§368-375. In this selection I have not included

paragraphs that sum up names or seals, provide instructions or are adjurations or hymns that

display descriptive passages.

In these descriptions the number of a certain physical characteristic is often specified,

for example in the description of the Four Living Creatures in the heavenly throne room:

‘There are four faces to each, there are four faces to a face, there are four faces to every single

face, there are sixteen faces to every single face, there are sixty-four faces to each being

(§354),’60 which displays the wish of the author to be precise and accurate in his descriptions

and imply a certain importance towards the exact numerical characteristics of the

environment.

In order to describe the creatures and environment in the heavens in a manner that can

be understood by the reader, the writer refers to things the reader already knows from his own

environment. For example: ‘Their walking (of the Four Living Creatures in the Heavenly

Throne Room) is like the appearance of a lightningflash, a vision of them is like the vision of

the rainbow in the cloud, their faces are like a vision of a bride, their wings are like the

radiance of the clouds of glory (§353).’61 In this passage the writer has used natural

phenomena or visions from earth that instil a certain feeling of awe in the beholder in order to

recreate the same feeling when seeing the heavenly creatures, but Hekhalot Zutarti uses

multiple options for references. In §370 the movements of the living creatures and their effect

59 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 221. 60 Ibid., 209. 61 Ibid., 208-209.

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on the surroundings are described. The writer has chosen Biblical passages to compare the

winds, earthquakes and fires which are caused by the creatures flying in the heavens. For

example: ‘The earthquake is like the sound of magnificent waters (Exod. 15:10, cf. Ps. 93:4),

as it is said, And I heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of many waters (Ezek.

1:24).’62 I personally think §419 is an interesting paragraph concerning the description of the

Other. §419 is labelled as an adjuration spoken before God. This paragraph however contains

an elaborate description of God using many citations from Song of Songs. The passage begins

with several names of God, written in the typical Hekhalot ‘language’ after which God is

asked to give the attender of the throne the opportunity to stand before Him and the creatures

followed by the adjuration and description of God. As a last statement, the writer mentions

that this teaching has to be studied each day after prayer which in my opinion stresses the

importance of this particular prayer which makes the reader able to stand before God, the

ultimate goal and ultimate Other of the heavenly journey.

I’ve only examined passages that are mostly descriptive by nature. However in other

paragraphs which are more instructional or contain warnings or adjurations, descriptions also

occur. These are quite similar to the passages I discussed above. In the following questions I

will additionally address the attitude of the writer on the providing of information. One thing

however must be addressed concerning the description of the Other: I feel that relatively

many questions are left unanswered for the reader when reading Hekhalot Zutarti, especially

concerning the precise role of the creatures and the surroundings in the first five palaces for

example. The creatures for example are thoroughly discussed with their names and their

functions, but as a reader I do not get a clear explanation to how their presence and actions

affect the heavenly sphere.

This raises the question if prior knowledge is supposed, which could be supported by

the fact that the text relies on Biblical verses to express and illustrate certain information.

Moreover the Bible forms important source for presumed knowledge on the topic of the

heavenly journey and the chariot whereon God is seated in the text of Ezekiel 1. The

environment which is described in this chapter is very similar to the heavenly world described

in the Hekhalot and Merkavah text, including descriptions of the heavenly creatures etc., and

can therefore be viewed as a similar and connected text with the Hekhalot and Merkavah

corpus. Viewed from the interconnectivity between the texts, one can assume that the reader

would be acquainted with the knowledge on the heavenly world as described in the vision of

Ezekiel.

2.c What terminology is used and how does it affect the story?

As I have examined in question 2.b, the terminology used in Hekhalot Zutarti is closely tied to

the description of the Other and the issues that come with transferring a comprehensive image

of the heavenly world to the reader. Therefore a broad variety of adjectives and comparisons

to worldly objects and phenomena is utilised. In addition to the visual adjectives, rabbinic

motifs of description are used when for example speaking from the perception of a rabbi: ‘R.

Akiva said:…(§338)’63 or in Hebrew: 64.אמר ר’ עקיבא In several instances Biblical verses are

mentioned in order to clarify a description and compare the situation to an already known

situation from the Bible. Salzer has researched the use of Biblical allusions and citations from

the perspective of the magical texts from the corpus of the Cairo Geniza. She categorizes

different variations of the use of Biblical references as citations, pseudo-citations and

references, and describes the various functions of Biblical citations. Salzer argues that

Biblical citations are not only added for simple textual embellishment, but also for the

purpose of clarifying, supporting and verifying the text. Moreover, through the use of Biblical

62 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 224. 63 Ibid., 202. 64 Schäfer, Synopse, 145.

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citations in magical texts, the reader can become engaged in the praxis and can obtain the

ability and permission for the use of the specific text.65

Besides the rabbinic terminology, Hekhalot Zutarti contains its own jargon which

shapes itself around the word yeridah. The yeridah is the term most used in Hekhalot and

Merkavah literature to describe the heavenly journey. Although this term is strongly

connected to the idea of the heavenly journey, Kuyt has shown in her research that the use of

the term is highly variable and the meaning can differ not only throughout the different texts,

but also within the same text. Kuyt researched the semantical uses of the several words

strongly connected with the journey to heaven in Hekhalot and Merkavah literature, such as

yarad laMerkavah and ‘alah, in Hebrew ירד למרכבה and עלה. She concludes that the word

yarad and the phrase yarad laMerkavah refers to a journey undertaken by a human being

from the terrestrial world into the heavenly world. The term ‘alah is used to refer to the

journey back from the heavens to the human world. In the following paragraphs I will

reference to passages in the texts which concern the journey back. According to Kuyt, the

journey back is rarely mentioned, but implied by the fact that the accounts about the journeys

could be written in general and the references to the transmitting of heavenly information to

the people on earth. Another interesting conclusion drawn by Kuyt which I like to mention, is

that the journey is performed by the traveller out of his own intentions. The yeridah does not

refer to the passive ‘being taken up’ in the heavens by God, but rather to an act of travel from

the traveller’s own free will.66 The research done by Kuyt is interesting to keep in mind in

regard to this examination, but since Kuyt approaches the act of travel from a semantical and

philological angle, I will try to form my own conclusions from a more content-focused and

literary perspective.

Besides the term yeridah, other terms are also present in Hekhalot Zutarti that can be

gathered in the same jargon, such as Merkavah, hekhalot and in relation to the Story of the

Four who Entered Paradise, pardes. I personally think also the names of the angels, the names

of God and the names of the seal can be included in the Hekhalot and Merkavah jargon. Even

though the ‘words’ have no semantical meaning, they are an important and strongly imbedded

aspect to the heavenly journey and to the text of Hekhalot Zutarti itself.

It can be discussed what travel terminology exactly entails, although words of

movement and transportation, such as ‘walk’, ‘travel’ or even ‘fly’ and ‘sail’ must be an

intrinsic part of travel descriptions. Hekhalot Zutarti does not use additional words of

movement that those from its own jargon as examined above. The movement throughout the

palaces and the heavens is almost always described as ‘ascending’ and ‘descending’.

2.d Is it the objective of the writer to be as veracious as possible or are there other motifs?

The position of the writer is difficult to determine for Hekhalot and Merkavah literature. Not

only is the identity of a possible writer unknown, it even remains a question if Hekhalot and

Merkavah texts have been written by only one writer. However scholars argue that the texts

must stem from a rabbinic or priestly group. Since the texts are so varied and miss clear

chronological structure and storylines caused by multiple traditions gathered in the texts, later

editions play a major role in the reception of the texts which further complicates that

determination of traces from a collective of priestly writers.

Besides the issue of the origins of the writer, Hekhalot Zutarti offers not only

instructional and descriptive passages concerning the heavenly journey and the environment

of the heavens, but also passages that contain adjurations and hymns. Although these hymns

play an important role in the succeeding of the journey, they contain no new instructional

information, since they have a proposed fixed structure. Hymns are often wholly or partially

65 D.M. Salzer, Die Magie der Anspielung, Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 134 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck

Tübingen, 2010), 170-218, 345-352. 66 Kuyt, The ‘Descent’, 369-385.

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adopted from other texts and traditions which are in most instances untraceable. There are

however examples of hymns and songs that are clearly part of the liturgy as shown in

paragraph 3.3 discussing Ma‘aseh Merkavah. Here I will focus on the passages of Hekhalot

Zutarti that do provide ‘new’ information and descriptions written to enlighten the reader on

the topic of heavenly journeys.

As examined in question 2.b, the surroundings and creatures seen in the heavens are

described using multiple literary techniques by the writer in order to explain the Other in a

way that is understandable and relatable for the reader. In this sense, one could say that the

writer valued the correct perception of the matter for the reader. The writer desires to write the

truth and instruct the reader on the matter insofar that the reader would be able to undertake

the journey himself. The question however rises if enough information is passed down for the

reader to actually perform the journey. As I mentioned in question 2.b, the information seems

patchy and ill structured which presumes that an actual repeatable instruction is not the main

purpose of the text. There seems to be presumed knowledge required when performing the

heavenly journey. Thus it remains unclear to what extent the writer desires to be as veracious

as possible or refrain from certain information that would only be suitable for the ‘true

traveller.’

As an additional remark, I would like to point out that the writer uses the several

famous rabbis, of which R. Akiva is the main character in Hekhalot Zutarti, to attach his story

to. The use of a famous and respected historical figure, increases the credibility of the written

accounts. From several other rabbinic texts it is known that R. Akiva was able to perform a

heavenly journey. Therefore R. Akiva’s accounts are of great authoritative value when

discussing heavenly journeys.

2.e What is the role of the traveller and how much information about him is given?

As mentioned above, one of the main purposes of R. Akiva, and R. Ishmael on a smaller scale

in this particular text, is to serve as the traveller whose accounts are described. His accounts

form the basis on which other descriptive passages, hymns and other accounts depend.

Although the term storyline is difficult in Hekhalot Zutarti, the accounts of R. Akiva could be

designated as the main storyline. The role of the traveller lies less in the actual performing of

the journey, but more in the description and informing of the reader about his earlier

experiences. No additional information about R. Akiva is given besides his travel accounts

and instructions. He mostly describes the things he encountered during his multiple journeys

and provides warnings and instructions for the reader who is presumed to desire to undertake

the same journey. However, the rabbis are famous and wise rabbis to whom the reader would

be acquainted very well from other texts and traditions.

2.f Does the narrative describe an inner journey? Does the inner journey serve as a metaphor

or is there an actual internal journey described alongside the external journey?

An inner journey in the traditional sense as described in chapter 2 does not occur in Hekhalot

Zutarti. There is no inner struggle, mental problem and no journey towards a solution in the

form of a mental epiphany or change, neither metaphorical nor psychological. However the

mind and heart of the traveller do play a modest, but important role in Hekhalot Zutarti.

Already in the first paragraph (§335), the importance of the heart in the heavenly journey is

stressed: ‘What is in your heart you shall understand when you merit the beauties of the

chariot.’67 In the same paragraph the reader is warned that he must not enjoy the journey lest

he be banished from the world. Thus the state of the heart of the traveller is important for

accomplishing the journey. Therefore the traveller would have to have made certain

preparations and developments in order to obtain the right state of mind and heart.

67 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 199.

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In §336, it becomes clear what kind of influence the names from the heavenly realm

can have on a human heart: ‘Any man whose heart errs – invoke over him these names: In the

name of B’RY `BH’Y H”Y MR MR’WT SMW SLM BRY W’NKYBWN, so that all I hear

and learn may be gathered into my heart – Bible and Mishnah, laws and lore - and I may not

forget, not in this worlds and not the world to come.’68 This passage shows that the heavenly

names, spells and sayings can influence the heart, but also that it is of utmost importance that

you learn and remember the teachings, not only in your mind, but also in your heart. The

same sense of influence over the human mind and heart, gets a darker feel of danger in the

story of the Four Who Entered Paradise, where the last rabbi, R. Elisha ben Avuyah

presumably loses his mind after seeing paradise. So the heavenly journey does not only

requires the traveller to be in a certain state of mind and heart, but will also mentally harm

you if you make mistakes.

2.g Does the personality of the traveller affect the description of the experiences, sights,

environments, etc.? Showing versus telling?

I feel that the personality of the traveller plays a minor to no role in the story itself. R. Akiva

is the role model of a good and wise rabbi and therefore the writer lets the rabbi’s personality

not affect the text. And of course, nothing is known about the actual personality of R. Akiva

except his exceptional wisdom. Besides the absence of personal characteristics of R. Akiva,

his accounts are only told from his perspective in multiple monologues. He therefore does not

respond to anything that happens in his accounts and showing as described in chapter 2, in

relation to his own experiences does not occur in Hekhalot Zutarti.

2.h Are there autobiographical connotations?

Keeping the above mentioned statements about the writer in mind, I have not found any

autobiographical connotations in the text of Hekhalot Zutarti. Although the storylines are

sometimes written from a first person perspective, which gives the feel of an autobiographical

account, the perspectives are those of the mentioned rabbis and not the writer himself.

2.i Does any sort of transgression take place? How is this described and does it involve

transgression by the traveller himself?

Transgression does take place in Hekhalot Zutarti in the sense that the boundary between

earth and heaven is transgressed. The descending itself can be seen as a transgression that is

only possible for a select group of people who have the knowledge and mind set to

successfully partake such a journey. However a transgression as described in chapter 2, where

the traveller crosses a boundary that is opposite to his possibilities at home, does not occur.

One could argue that the passing through the palaces, the water test and entering the throne

room could be described as transgression. I however think that transgression in this sense

misses the connotation of doing something which would be unacceptable or impossible at

home. The passing through the palaces is therefore better described as the passing through the

stages of the journey rather than transgression.

2.j Is there a moment of ultimate experience during or at the end of the journey? What kind of

experience is this; an epiphany, a spiritual or religious moment, an emotional outburst or

relief, an unheimlich experience?

In §335, the text mentions what a successful traveller can expect when he reaches his goal: ‘If

you want to be unique in the world, to have the mysteries of the world and the secrets of

wisdom revealed to you,…’69 In §§411-412, this experience is described more detailed. There

is no emphasis on the knowledge and secrets the traveller receives from the angels and God,

although a reference to this gift is made in §349 and §361.

68 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 200-201. 69 Ibid., 199.

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§412 describes the end of the traveller’s journey and describes the vision of God as

king on His throne: ‘And he gazes and feasts his eyes on the jubilant King, on the humble

King,…’70 Although the final stage of the journey is described, there is no emphasis on the

feelings and experiences of the traveller when seeing the spectacle in the throne room and

God Himself. Therefore I feel Hekhalot Zutarti does not display an ultimate experience, since

the vison of the chariot and the final stage of the journey is written as a descriptive account

and involves no contents from the traveller (in this instance R. Akiva) himself.

2.k After answering the above mentioned questions, is this journey narrated as a quest? How

do the structure and the common motifs of a quest compare to the structure of the story?

Even though the structure of the text of Hekhalot Zutarti often misses a chronological order,

different elements of a quest are present. As examined in chapter 2, the traveller sets out on a

journey with a certain desire to overcome dangers and tests to increase his own worth. In the

case of Hekhalot Zutarti this is certainly an important motif. The traveller seems to desire to

reach the throne room in the seventh palace and to see the vision of God on his throne.

Additionally the traveller expects to receive heavenly knowledge and secrets which are only

known to those who undertook the journey, although it can be discussed how much emphasis

is laid on this aspect of the journey in Hekhalot Zutarti..

The motif of overcoming dangers present in the journey is abundant in Hekhalot

Zutarti. R. Akiva describes the guardians of the palaces, frightening angels and creatures

which test the traveller (§§407-410: the water and the entrance tests). The traveller has to

overcome them by strenuous preparations, the presenting of seals and names and the use of

hymns. If the traveller conquers these obstacles, he is rewarded with the ability to enter the

seventh palace and the welcoming in the throne room. Thus all the aspects and structural

motifs of a quest are present in Hekhalot Zutarti, although the somewhat confusing structure

of the different passages does not add to the tension building for the eyes of the modern

reader.

2.l Does the traveller have ‘hero’-like qualities?

Extending from the above discussed question, it would be logical to label the traveller as a

hero in the context of the heavenly quest. In the passages wherein R. Akiva describes the

journey, all the aspects of a quest are present and passed by him. However, a hero is described

as a protagonist who displays exceptional bravery and cunning, and has to make sacrifices in

order to obtain his goal. Now it becomes visible how the instructional aspect of Hekhalot

Zutarti parallels its literary characteristics: R. Akiva cannot be attributed with ‘hero’-like

qualities, since the writer does not reveal any personal characteristics or experiences of R.

Akiva as a traveller. However, R. Akiva can be seen as a ‘hero’ when approaching him from

the broader rabbinic corpus. The question remains if his ‘hero’-like qualities should be kept in

mind when reading Hekhalot Zutarti or that the writer has chosen to place this element of

character to the background which the texts, in my opinion, suggests.

Another issue with the attribution of a hero in Hekhalot Zutarti, is the dualistic nature

of the story posed by the presence of a hero. A hero is foremost described as ‘good’ and the

opposing force which poses the dangers and difficulties during the journey as ‘bad’. However

how can the heavenly forces and God Himself be described as evil if obtaining a vision of the

heavenly throne room is the ultimate goal? There is no conflict between good and evil in this

context. The traveller is tested for his worthiness to reach his goal, but the heavenly creatures

are not meant to be evil. Therefore I would refrain from describing the traveller, R. Akiva, as

a hero, since these key aspects of a hero are not fulfilled in Hekhalot Zutarti.

70 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 231.

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3.a What is the motivation of the main character to undertake the journey?

Hekhalot Zutarti contains a basic goal to achieve at the end of the journey: to reach the

seventh palace. The motivation of the traveller however is tied to multiple interpretations of

what the traveller eventually wishes to obtain as I will conclude in the next question. What

however forms the motivation of the traveller at the beginning of his journey remains unclear

according to my opinion. The reader could imagine that the traveller wishes to use the

experience from his journey to enrich his own religious life and his life in general, or use the

knowledge he has gained for his own worthiness or the aid of others. Hekhalot Zutarti

however does not display any preliminary ideas or motivation from the traveller, R. Akiva or

others. This parallels the general conclusion that Hekhalot Zutarti does not involve the

personal, psychological or emotional aspects of the traveller. The travellers are mostly used as

‘vessels’ for the writer’s instructions and information, and the authority of the text in my

opinion.

3.b What does the traveller ultimately want to achieve at the end of his journey?

As I mentioned in question 3.a, the basic achievement of the journey is to reach the seventh

palace and enter it safely. This however is not the final goal of the traveller; the traveller also

wishes to receive a vision of God on His throne. Although this experience is not described as

an ultimate experience since the writer is mostly occupied with describing the scene, I

personally interpret it as such, mainly due to the intense description and the fact the vision of

God can be described as the ultimate goal of the journey in Hekhalot Zutarti.

In Hekhalot and Merkavah texts, there is often an additional goal besides being in the

presence of God: to obtain knowledge about certain secrets and additional mental abilities. In

Hekhalot Zutarti however, this additional gain from the journey is not described with much

emphasis. §349 and §361 sum up which powers the traveller has, but this description is

mostly occupied with the powers needed to fulfil the journey, such as ‘to ascend on high’, ‘to

praise the glory’ and ‘the recite the names.’71 The abilities to ‘gaze at His splendor’, ‘to know

the explanation of the living and to see the vision of the dead’ and ‘to be transformed by the

glory’72 do insinuate that there are additional gains for the traveller when reaching the throne

room of God. It remains however ambiguous since the text does not explain who exactly

receives these qualities and when he will be rewarded with them. This ambiguity is remained

thought the text for example in §335: ‘If you want to be unique in the world, to have the

mysteries of the world and the secrets of wisdom revealed to you,…’73 Can they simply be

qualities the traveller has to have before undertaking the journey? Are the knowledge and the

abilities taught in this text and necessary for the completion of the heavenly journey, the

mysteries and rewards of the journey?

3.c Can this text be classified as travel literature? What are strong shared characteristics

between this text and travel literature? Are there substantial differences?

After examining Hekhalot Zutarti thoroughly on the basis of its contents, storylines,

characters, terminology, stylistics and the comparison of these aspects with characteristic

aspects found in travel literature, I am able to give a deliberate answer to the nature of

Hekhalot Zutarti in comparison to travel literature. However I think there is no ‘yes’ or ‘no’

possible as an answer to this question. Throughout the process of my examination I changed

my opinion. When answering the questionnaire I more and more felt that Hekhalot Zutarti had

strong connotations of travel literature and may be classified as such. When rereading and

completing the questionnaire my opinion began to falter.

Firstly, I think Hekhalot Zutarti has several clear aspects that supplement key aspects

of travel literature: 1) a journey is made although through the heavens instead of on earth, 2)

71 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 205-206 and 217. 72 Ibid. 73 Ibid., 199.

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the main character is a traveller, 3) the Other plays an important role and its description is

filled with literary strategies in order to deliver a relatable and clear image for the reader, and

4) additionally Hekhalot Zutarti can be classified as a quest although one could argue against

this decision on the basis of the structure of the text. There are other smaller similarities

between travel literature and Hekhalot Zutarti which I have discussed in the questionnaire.

Thus I think Hekhalot Zutarti shows strong parallels with travel literature both in contents as

in literary characteristics.

However I feel one important aspect is missing in Hekhalot Zutarti that is quite

evident in travel literature: the role and character of the traveller himself. When examining the

questions surrounding the traveller and the aspect of inner journeys, it becomes clear that the

reader gets extraordinary little information about the traveller. As I mentioned above, the

character of R. Akiva and other mentioned rabbis are described as the carriers of knowledge

and experience involving the heavenly journey. The instructions, accounts and even warnings

are presented as told by them. However very little is written about their actual personal

journeys than the fact they undertook them and the lesson the writer wishes to transfer to the

reader. Therefore the traveller does not take part in any described inner journeys and cannot

be classified as a hero, although the traveller could well be so.

In conclusion, Hekhalot Zutarti has strong shared characteristics in contents and in

literary motifs, but these revolve mostly around the journey and the Other, while the character

of the traveller is very little represented and therefore essentially different from the role of the

traveller in travel literature.

3.d Is this text mainly defined by travel or are there other aspects strongly present?

Hekhalot Zutarti is strongly defined by the act of travel, since the subject of the text is the

journey through the heavens to the throne room of God in my opinion. However I feel that the

text has a different character than a typical travel story because of the absence of a major role

for the main character and the abundance of ‘dry’ information and instructions. I cannot yet

determine how I could classify this material on the basis of just Hekhalot Zutarti, but I think

the answer to the question if Hekhalot and Merkavah literature could be represented as travel

literature will be less one-sided than expected.

3.2 Hekhalot Rabbati

Hekhalot Rabbati is the most well-known text from the Hekhalot and Merkavah corpus, since

it contains the longest body of text and is regarded as the most thoroughly edited text. The

text is mostly written in Hebrew with some short Aramaic passages and Greek words or

phrases. The text is attested in many manuscripts: 22 manuscripts contain the full text, 10

manuscripts contain passages and shorter versions of the text, and among the Geniza

fragments, portions of the text can also be found. Several manuscripts include the Sar Torah

text or portions thereof, or additional material. It is generally considered that §§81-277 forms

the basic archetypical text, although the exact boundaries of the texts remain to be discussed.

The translation provided by Davila has been made on the basis of an eclectic critical text

constructed from the seven manuscripts gathered by Schäfer with two additional manuscripts

that according to Schäfer contain important material.74

As pointed out in paragraph 3.1, the name Hekhalot Rabbati is first attested by Hai ben

Sherira HaGaon, although he makes no remarks about the contents of the text that could link

his version of Hekhalot Rabbati to the text we have today. If the texts prove to be the same,

the dating of Hekhalot Rabbati would be in the 11th century. This theory is backed by

evidence from the Geniza fragments. Scholem however suggest a much earlier date; he

believes the text shows connections to Talmudic and other rabbinic texts that go back to the

74 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 38.

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3rd century. He argues that several traditions and rituals found in Hekhalot Rabbati show

parallels to Christian Gnostic traditions. According to Scholem both traditions could not

‘borrow’ from each other which points towards a shared pagan origin. He places these origins

in the Palestinian region.75 Schäfer however provides a much later dating. As mentioned in

paragraph 3.1 he does not name a specific date, but he suggests that the Hekhalot and

Merkavah corpus as a whole must stem from Babylonian priestly traditions from the 6th

century of later with several earlier traditions and later additional material based on the

editions and traditions presented in the manuscripts.76

Hekhalot Rabbati is considerably longer than Hekhalot Zutarti and a large part of the

text consists of Merkavah hymns and instructions. Several versions of songs of Threefold

Holiness are present in Hekhalot Zutarti. There are two main storylines: the story of the Ten

Martyrs and a Merkavah praxis explained by R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah. In short, the story of

the Ten Martyrs (§§107-121) tells of the wicked emperor of Rome who captures four

prominent rabbis. R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah tells R. Ishmael to ascent to heaven and to settle

this problem in God’s courtroom. God firstly decides to write Rome down for severe

punishment at a later moment. The story ends with the punishment of emperor Lupinus

Caesar through a list wherein R. Hananiah ben Teradyon switches appearances with Lupinus

Caesar and he is killed and revived over and over again. The journey to heaven only plays a

minor role as a tool for going to court in heaven and solving the problem in this story.

This story is told to the reader by R. Ishmael as is most of the accounts in Hekhalot

Rabbati. R. Akiva is mentioned several times, but does not have any accounts ascribed to him.

Several other passages are not preceded by a remark about the utterer of the following text.

Therefore one could designate R. Ishmael as the main character, since he also travels to the

heavens forming the main traveller. However, Hekhalot Rabbati shows an interesting

narrative structure wherein R. Ishmael tells about the instructions, accounts and stories he is

told by R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah. In Hebrew for example is said: ישמעאל אמר לי ר’ אמר ר ’

This structure is widely used in Hekhalot Rabbati. Not all praxis and 77.(200§) נחונייא בן הקנה

instructions are presented in this manner, although the larger part of the praxis does appear to

be originally taught by R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah. This is well illustrated by §§238-243

where R. Ishmael argues with R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah that he didn’t teach him the names

for the seventh palace: ‘At once came all the mighty ones of the association and all the

magnificent ones of the academy and stood on their feet before R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah.

He would recite (a name) and they would fall on their faces and the scribes would write

(§240).’78 R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah addresses the audience and teaches them praxis of the

Merkavah. Does it also tell here that the audience was not fit to hear the name, since they fell

to the ground?

The praxis told by R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah and R. Ishmael (§§198-259) forms the

second storyline of Hekhalot Rabbati. Several famous accounts and stages of the journey are

addressed such as the entrance and water test in a shorter version than written in Hekhalot

Zutarti, and the account of the women who touched a piece of wool in order to test who could

enter the throne room and who couldn’t. The latter of the storyline consist of instructions for

entering the palaces and descriptions of angels, guardians and names as described in

paragraph 3.2. There are however interesting interruptions of this line, for example the above

mentioned accounts, but also adjurations and accounts about the angel Anaphi’el (§§242, 244-

245). The instructions have a more open and narrative feel to it in the sense that discussion

75 G. Scholem, Jewish Gnosticism, Merkavah Mysticism and Talmudic Tradition (New York: The Jewish

Theological Seminary of America, 1960), 20-35. 76 Schäfer, Übersetzung, 2:XX-XXV. 77 Schäfer, Synopse, 87. 78 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 124.

30

takes place between R. Ishmael and R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah, and the rabbis try to uncover

some of the secrets and workings behind the already known journey in for example the story

of the women in contradiction to the instructional passages in Hekhalot Zutarti. Besides the

‘dry’ instructions, Hekhalot Rabbati seems to offer sneak peaks into the journey to heaven and

the rabbis working with the secrets and theories surrounding it. For example: ‘R. Ishmael

said: Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel was enraged with me. He said to me: ZHPNWRY’Y very

nearly reprimanded us and crushed us like branflour. Why is it that you have committed a

wilful error with us, when you imagined that Jonathan ben Uzziel is an inferior man in Israel

(§238)?’79

At the end of the accounts of R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah and R. Ishmael, a small

paragraph describes the descender reaching the throne room and standing before the throne of

God: ‘And they place him in vigor. At once one blows the horn from above the firmament that

is over their head (Ezek. 1:26), and the holy living creatures cover their faces, and the

cherubim and the ophannim turn back their faces, and he enters and stands before the throne

of His glory (§250).’80 Although some descriptions of the event are added in Hekhalot Zutarti,

the experience of the traveller himself is not included. The next paragraphs contain

descriptions of the songs sung by the throne of glory which after the story continues with the

entrance and water test. I think that an ultimate experience by the traveller can be presumed,

although the writer did not deem it necessary to describe it.

Hekhalot Rabbati does hold a slightly more detailed passage involving the reward a

traveller gains when completing the journey in §§81-86, 91-92. R. Ishmael describes the

greatness of the travellers and the power they receive, for example: ‘Greatest of all is that he

has a vision of every deed that mortals do, even in inner rooms, whether fine deeds, whether

corrupt deeds (§83).’81 As I mentioned above, Hekhalot Rabbati contains a great amount of

songs and hymns and this is directly initiated by R. Ishmael in relation to the power the

successful traveller will gain: ‘R. Ishmael said: What are these songs that he who seeks to

gaze on the vision of the chariot recites, so as to descend safely and ascend safely (§81)?’82 It

is also interesting to note that R. Ishmael makes a remark here about the journey back to earth.

The role of the Other in Hekhalot Rabbati is not very different than I described for

Hekhalot Zutarti. There are however some additional characters: Suria of the Prince of

Presence, Metatron, the Shekinah and the angel Dumi’el. Also the description of the Other

shows many parallels between the two texts. Hekhalot Rabbati however depends less on the

citation of Biblical verses. An interesting addition in Hekhalot Rabbati is the description of

the daily business and adjurations in the throne room wherein also the numbers of attendants

and other events are included.

In contradiction to Hekhalot Zutarti, Hekhalot Rabbati contains a relative large

amount of songs and adjurations. Therefore they play a major role in the narrative structure of

the text in my opinion. As I pointed out in paragraph 3.2, the uttering of songs, hymns and

adjurations by the traveller are a crucial part of the journey to the heavens. However it is not

always clear who utters the songs and for whom they are uttered, since the creatures in heaven

also sing songs and adjure God on His throne. The storylines are interrupted multiple times by

adjurations and songs of Threefold Holiness. These songs contain passages which are each

preceded by holy, holy, holy. The first song of this type is uttered to the reader by R. Ishmael

and he makes it clear that this is a song a traveller must learn: ‘R. Ishmael said: What is

distinctive that a man sings and descends to the chariot? He opens and says: The head of

79 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 122. 80 Ibid., 132. 81 Ibid., 52. 82 Ibid., 51.

31

songs is the beginning of praise,… (§94).’83 At the end of the song, R. Ishmael emphasises (or

proves?) that the song is important for the completion of the journey by mentioning R. Akiva:

‘R. Ishmael said: R. Akiva heard all these songs when he descended to the chariot and he

seized them and learned them from before the throne of glory – (the songs) that His attendants

sing before Him (§106).’84 This example also shows the difficult ascription of the songs,

because who sings the songs? The creatures in the throne room? Is the traveller expected to

sing them with the attendants?

When reading Hekhalot Rabbati, the descriptive nature of most of the songs is highly

noticeable. The songs provide information about the creatures and the events in the throne

room. Some songs are sung by or to specific creatures, such as the song declared to R.

Ishmael by Suria, the Prince of Presence (§§152-169) and the song for the adoration of

Anaphi’el (§242). An intriguing song in my opinion is the praise of the travellers themselves

(§§216-218) in which God welcomes the travellers and it is (interestingly!) said that he

travellers will ascend to earth and report to ‘the seed of Abraham (§218)’85 what they have

seen. I think that Hekhalot Rabbati displays a striking importance of the songs and hymns, not

only for the journey itself, but as part of the description of the Other as well.

In conclusion, I think Hekhalot Rabbati shows a more traveller-centred approach to

the journey through the seven palaces to God’s throne room. I must admit, that this conclusion

is not merely based on the literary examination of the text, but also from a personal feeling

while reading the text multiple times. As I argued above, Hekhalot Rabbati seems to lay the

focus more on the traveller, although his personality does not receive any more attention than

in Hekhalot Zutarti at first glance. However much more time and effort seems to be spend on

educating and explaining the stages and aspects of the journey to the reader. The journey itself

is less elaborately described, but the instructions, songs, hymns and rabbinic discussion have a

more prominent place as illustrated by the discussion between R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah and

R. Ishmael, the information provided in the songs and the story of the women and the wool

for example. I therefore feel the text lies further away from a travel story than Hekhalot

Zutarti on the level of the storylines, and more in line with an instructional handbook. Therein

the reader would also receive a more prominent place as a possible traveller. The story of the

Ten Martyrs however I find difficult to place in this literary analysis. Can this story be viewed

as a way to demonstrate the possibilities of the journey, the workings of the heavenly

courtroom, God’s power or the power of the travellers themselves?

3.3 Ma‘aseh Merkavah

Ma‘aseh Merkavah is a Hebrew and Aramaic Hekhalot and Merkavah text with Sar Torah

passages and many hymns and prayers. The text is most thoroughly described and examined

by Swartz who divided the text into four parts on the basis of its separate traditions, songs and

stories. The text we now know as Ma‘aseh Merkavah, does not originally carry a name. The

name Ma‘aseh Merkavah was firstly used by Eleazar of Worms and thereafter re-used by

Scholem in his examination of the text. The text is attested in the manuscripts N, O, M22,

M40 and D though in many different redactions. Parts of the texts are present in five other

manuscripts. According to Swartz there are three main redactions present in the manuscripts.

The many poems are written in the conventions of the 3rd to 5th century, but Swartz dates them

in the 4th to 7th century. He argues that the poems are written in a narrative framework that

was later designed to hold the poems together and fuse them into one text. Therefore Swartz

argues that the poems must have been composed earlier than other passages in the text and

with a different purpose, partly on the basis of the presence of a version of ´Alay le-shabbeach

83 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 56. 84 Ibid., 65. 85 Ibid., 106.

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in Ma‘aseh Merkavah.86 Schäfer however, does not provide a specific date for the text of

Ma‘aseh Merkavah, but places it in the same Babylonian line of decent as Hekhalot Rabbati

and Hekhalot Zutarti.87

As I described in paragraph 3.3, Hekhalot Rabbati shows large emphasis on the songs

and hymns necessary for the ascent, and the songs performed in the heavenly throne room.

Ma‘aseh Merkavah takes the element of song even further in the sense that the larger part of

the texts consists of songs, hymns and adjurations. As concluded by Swartz, the poems seem

to be the main textual body while the narratives serve as a frame.88 This also has

consequences for the aspects of travel in the text. But first, I would like to look into some

basic characteristics of the text. The main characters who also serve as the storytellers and

experienced travellers are R. Akiva, R, Ishmael and R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah. The three

rabbis tell the story in a very fluent structure: the narrative perspective often switches between

the three characters and they discuss the means of ascent between each other multiple times.

An interesting addition is the account of R. Ishmael wherein he mentions that he attempted to

ascend when he was 13 years old in §56089 and was told about the preparations by fasting

before the journey by R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah. In this narrative structure, it is no longer

possible to name one main traveller from one of these three rabbis. The question rises what

the position of the reader and/or possible traveller is. Additional other characters are multiple

angels, such as Gabriel and Michael, the Prince of the Torah, the Prince of Gehinnom, the

Shekinah and Metatron.

The Other in Ma‘aseh Merkavah is described using the same stylistic structures as the

other examined texts. However, the songs themselves also contain information about the

environments and characters seen in the heavens, as in Hekhalot Rabbati. The descriptions in

the songs and hymns however are more aimed at God himself, and His might and doings than

on the journey through the palaces. The praxis described in Ma‘aseh Merkavah does contain

some interesting differences with the praxis as told in Hekhalot Rabbati and Hekhalot Zutarti.

Firstly, the praxis and thereby the descriptions of the Other are preoccupied by distances in

the heavenly realm, the numbers of rivers of fire etc. and the number of bridges there over.

Secondly, the descriptions of the praxis consist mostly of accounts about the preparations

before the ascent. This is visible for example in the small story of R. Ishmael who attempts to

fast, fails and tries to resolve this issue by uttering the name of forty-two letters: ‘And

P{D}DQRM, the Angel of the Presence, descended in rage, so that I shrank back, I fell

backward. He said to me: Mortal, son of a putrid drop, son of a maggot and a worm. You

made use of a great name. (Let this be) a lesson to you! Arrays of Torah I am not giving to

you until you sit for forty days (§565).’90 The position of the praxis described in Ma‘aseh

Merkavah is striking in relation to the many hymns in the text; the praxis is highly

instructional with a different focus while presented alongside many hymns and prayers.

Thirdly, the names and the seals are used on the body and limbs (איברי)91 while there is little

to no focus on the guards and dangers in the palaces. For example: ‘Give me success in all my

limbs… and let it be a great seal upon my limbs (§569).’92 One must note, that if the travellers

makes a mistake, the punishment often aimed at his limbs in Ma‘aseh Merkavah in parallels

to for example, the falling on the face of the disciples of R. Nehuniah ben HaQanah in

Hekhalot Rabbati described in paragraph 3.2.

86 Swartz, Mystical Prayer, 211-220. 87 Schäfer, Übersetzung, 3:XXXIII-XXXIV. 88 Swartz, Mystical Prayer, 211-215. 89 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 269-272. 90 Ibid., 274. 91 Schäfer, Synopse, 218. 92 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 278.

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The different nature of the praxis in Ma‘aseh Merkavah is also present in the

description of the experience of the traveller. Ma‘aseh Merkavah uses slightly different

expressions of possible inner journeys of afflictions in the traveller. The personality, thoughts

and feelings of the main characters remains absent in the text, but the text does suggest that

the heart is tested not only on the knowledge in it, but also on the good and the bad: ‘Who is

comparable to you, who tests hearts and searches out the inner affections and understands

thoughts (§548)?’93

In §558, the heart of the traveller plays a role in the journey on a different level when

R. Ishmael asks about the distances in heaven: ‘R. Akiva said to me: (If there were)

uprightness and piety in your heart, you would know how much space is in the heavens.’94

The answer of R. Akiva would suggest that the information necessary for the journey can only

be obtained by a pious and upright person who would already know what lies in the heavens.

The following passage replied by R. Akiva shows something intriguing. R. Akiva presumably

made the journey and obtained the knowledge by which he eventually can name the distances

in heaven, but first he passes through the palaces: ‘When I ascended in(to) the first palace, I

became pious. In the second palace, I became pure. In the third palace, I became upright. In

the fourth palace, I became faultless (§558).’95 As I mentioned in paragraph 3.3 in regards to

Hekhalot Rabbati, the knowledge (and virtues in this case) could be viewed as the eventual

gains, or at least as a part of them, of the journey in my opinion. The next question to arise, is

if this gaining of knowledge and virtues could be described as an inner journey? One could

argue for this idea, but I think the evidence of a true psychological change or journey is too

limited in Ma‘aseh Merkavah. The inner journey could be intended to have taken place by the

writer as a part of the heavenly journey, but the inner journey receives too little attention and

description, that I think it is not to be described as an intrinsic part of the heavenly journey in

the narrative structure. Besides the rewards after completing the journey, the reaching of the

throne room and the vision of God is mentioned by R. Akiva (§557) as the final stage of the

journey.

Thus Ma‘aseh Merkavah makes use of some of the typical Hekhalot and Merkavah

motifs regarding the travel in the text, such as the description of the Other, the instructional

nature of the travel accounts, the characters and the journey itself. However in the

transmitting of the information on the praxis, and prayers, songs and hymns to the reader,

intriguing differences can be found, which give the text a very different character especially

from the perspective of travel, in my opinion. The presumption of information and of certain

personality characteristics or virtues is displayed in a complicated manner as read in the

discussion between R. Akiva and R. Ishmael and other passages on the praxis. The traveller

must possess knowledge and characteristics that are vital for the journey, but are also learned

during the journey. In this sense, the already present aspects in the traveller himself are

confirmed or activated. The general praxis of passing through the palaces and showing the

seals, has a minor place in Ma‘aseh Merkavah while the preparations are thoroughly

discussed. Therefore the instructional value of the text possesses a different perspective which

is emphasized by the large variety of prayers and hymns in the text. The travel itself plays in

this sense a smaller role, while the preparations and the educational role of the text lie close to

the surface. All in all, Ma‘aseh Merkavah detaches itself from the traditional Hekhalot and

Merkavah perspectives while still adhering to the Hekhalot and Merkavah motifs and concept

of heavenly travel.

93 Davila, Hekhalot Literature, 256. 94 Ibid., 266. 95 Ibid., 267.

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3.4 3 Enoch

3 Enoch will be the last text discussed in this research. The text from 3 Enoch is thoroughly

described by H. Odeberg. His book provides an examination of the text, a translation and the

Hebrew text itself.96 The text revolves around the character of Metatron as he interacts with R.

Ishmael in the heavens. The manuscript (manuscript A) used by Odeberg for his translation

and research is the Bodleian MS. OPP. 556, foll. 314 seqq. (Oxford) which carries the title

‘Book of Enoch by R. Ishmael ben Elisha, High Priest’, and contains all 48 chapters. Besides

this main manuscript, Odeberg quotes twelve other sources (B, C, D, E, F, G, H, K, L, Y, R

and S).97 Odeberg dates the text of 3 Enoch in the second half of the 3rd century CE on the

basis of the comparison of various elements in the text, such as the Qedushah and the

character of Metatron with references found in the Babylonian Talmud with special attention

to Hagigah. From the perspective of the names used in the text, such as ‘Sammael, the Prince

of Rome, and Dubbiel, the Prince of Persia’ he determines traces of a Babylonian

environment in which the text would undergo development and editing under the influence of

it Babylonian context. However, according to Odeberg, the description of the Jewish

authorities, such as R. Ishmael and R. Akiva, suggests a Palestinian origin.98

The most striking characteristic of 3 Enoch which is interesting for an examination

from the perspective of travel literature, are the characters and the narrative perspective. The

main character and traveller is R. Ishmael which is similar to the previously discussed text. In

the first chapter however, R. Ishmael is sent to Metatron by God: ‘Forthwith the Holy One,

blessed be He, sent me to Metatron, his Servant, the angel, the Prince of Presence…(chapter

1.4)’.99 The story continues as Metatron guides R. Ishmael through the heavens. From chapter

1 up to and including chapter 16, Metatron answers R. Ishmael’s questions and tells the story

of how he came to heaven and how he pleaded against mankind. This complete account is told

from the perspective of R. Ishmael who tells the reader what Metatron told him. From chapter

17, Metatron shows R. Ishmael the heavens, the angels, the various chariots of God, the

ministering of the angels before God and the events in the courtroom. This storyline continues

up to chapter 48. Chapter 48 however is somewhat problematic since the various manuscripts

show a great variety in different versions. The main manuscript, as described above, contains

a passage wherein Metatron shows the Right Hand of the Most High to R. Ishmael in addition

to a passage about the Divine Names interacting with the angels going through the heavens,

while manuscripts A, E, F, G, H and K only contain (parts of ) the second passage.

But what does this narrative structure imply for 3 Enoch? The combining of the two

main characters, R. Ishmael and Metatron, makes an interesting connection between the books

of Enoch and Hekhalot and Merkavah literature. This is also visible in the narrative: the story

of the ascension of Enoch is used to address the visions of the heavens, the chariot, the angels

and eventually God Himself. In my opinion, the description of the Other strongly precedes the

role of the journey itself in 3 Enoch. The names and guardians are described, but no

instructions, neither for preparations nor for the completion of the journey, are given. The

questionnaire asks the question of showing vs. telling in relation to the personality and

experiences of the traveller, but in my opinion this question also rises in regard to the ‘dry’

information supplied as read in 3 Enoch, since the reader is again deprived from any personal

information about the traveller. However, the text of 3 Enoch seems to be more occupied with

the description of the heavens in a more vivid and lively way with the introduction of

Metatron as the so-called ‘tour guide,’ than with the instructional means displayed in the

96 Odeberg, 3 Enoch. 97 Ibid., 17-18. 98 Ibid., 31-43. 99 Ibid., 4.

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above mentioned Hekhalot and Merkavah texts which argues for the ‘showing’ rather than the

‘telling’ of the story of the vision of the heavens.

Another interesting feature of 3 Enoch is closely connected to the above mentioned

lack of instructional passages: the descriptive passages are very extensive in 3 Enoch and

feature many different elements of the heavens that do not occur in the other Hekhalot and

Merkavah texts. There is a strong emphasis on the various angels, the classes of angels and

the role of the angels in the ministering before God, which includes prayers and hymns.

Especially chapter 18 names a large amount of angels and their functions and places in

heaven, for example: ‘And Tag ҆aṣ, the great and honoured prince, when he sees Baraṭṭiel, the

great prince of three fingers in the height of ‘Aravoth, the highest heaven, he removes the

crown of glory from his head and falls on his face (chapter 18.6)’.100 The descriptions of the

angels and other environmental aspects of heaven are written using narrative techniques

similar to the descriptions of the Other in the other Hekhalot and Merkavah texts.

Thus 3 Enoch offers a different literary character than the Hekhalot and Merkavah text

discussed earlier. Although many characteristic aspects of Hekhalot and Merkavah literature

are present in the text, such as the main characters filled by rabbinic figures, the description of

the heavens and the angels, and the vision of God as basic goal, several important features are

altered or absent in 3 Enoch. As examined above, the instructional aspect of the journey

through the heavens is absent which alters the overall character of the text in my opinion. In

addition, the desire to and achieving of the vision of God, has taken a less important role in 3

Enoch than in other Hekhalot and Merkavah texts in which passages about the experience of

the vision of God are (although often brief) present. All in all, I think 3 Enoch therefore

classifies more as a travel narrative in the sense that the experience and descriptions of the

traveler during the journey play a more important role than instructional passages about the

preparations and the journey itself.

In comparison to the other Hekhalot and Merkavah texts which also display

characteristics of travel literature, the question of an inclusive or exclusive definition of travel

literature comes up again. As I have determined in chapter 2, I keep an inclusive definition of

travel literature in mind to be able to compare Hekhalot and Merkavah literature to travel

literature. However, I think 3 Enoch reads as a different class of travel literature than the other

discussed texts with a more experience-based narrative rather than an instructional narrative

which offers the reader information on how to perform the journey himself. The motivation

and acts of the traveler have been placed to the background and the experience of the tour and

accounts of Metatron seem to form the main narrative which transforms the text into a

foremost prosaic narrative within the corpus of travel literature.

100 Odeberg, 3 Enoch, 56.

36

4. Conclusions

‘If all travel involves an encounter between the Self and the Other that is brought about by

movement through space, all travel writing is at some level a record or product of this

encounter, and of the negotiation between similarity and difference that it entailed.’101 With

this quote from Thompson, I would like to start my series of conclusions that I have been able

to draw after this examination of the aspects of travel in Hekhalot and Merkavah literature

from the perspective of travel literature. This research, as cliché as it may sound, has been a

journey for me: through the various stages of my examination and after every Hekhalot and

Merkavah text, my ideas about the final outcome of this research changed and shifted between

revealing convincing similarities as well as striking differences between travel literature and

Hekhalot and Merkavah literature. However now I have come to the end of this journey and

as I have plunged myself many times in these texts and this academic perspective, I must

admit the results of this research proved themselves quite different from what I expected

when starting out.

Firstly, I would like to highlight some basic similarities between travel literature and

Hekhalot and Merkavah literature on the basis of the narrative structure and strategies. As I

mentioned in the previous chapters, the description of the Other and the stylistic aspects used

to illustrate and embellish the texts, show many parallels with narrative strategies used in

travel literature, in order to supply vivid and relatable images, and convincing and veracious

accounts. Hekhalot and Merkavah literature emphasises on rabbinic and biblical sources and

traditions in order to add dimension to the text by, for example, using famous rabbis as main

characters and travellers, and citing biblical passages in order to illustrate certain events and

environmental aspects of the journey to heaven. As argued by Salzer, the use of Biblical

citations cannot be described without taking their literary context in the specific text in

account. The addition of Biblical citations has consequences for the reception of the text on

many different levels, as described in chapter 3.1.2, and strengthens the connection between

the accounts and praxis told in the Hekhalot and Merkabah texts and the Biblical tradition.102

Therefore, while operating within the rabbinic and traditional Jewish field, Hekhalot and

Merkavah literature can be placed within the line of travel literature.

The position of the main character or traveller in the Hekhalot and Merkavah texts

poses more problems in its comparison with travel literature. The act of travel inherently

implies a traveller. As I mentioned in chapter 3, the rabbis, R. Ishmael and R. Akiva, fulfil the

role of the traveller. However, the position of the reader as possible traveller should also be

considered. Texts such as Hekhalot Rabbati, read as an instructional handbook for the journey

to heaven, while 3 Enoch seems to lay more emphasis on the experiences of Metatron during

his journey. The reader however receives very little information on the psychological

motivation, intentions and experiences of the traveller and relatively much ‘dry’ information

about the journey. Therefore, the texts cannot be simply written to entertain the reader with an

interesting story: the texts are meant to teach something. But, as I mentioned in paragraph

3.1.2, the Hekhalot and Merkavah texts presume prior knowledge of the reader, since many

stages, actions and events in the heavenly journey are not or very lightly explained, which can

be expected since intertextuality with for example Ezekiel 1 and a literary and religious

context should be understated. So what does the reader and the travellers in the texts learn or

gain from the heavenly journey?

101 Thompson, Travel Writing, 10. 102 D.M. Salzer, Die Magie der Anspielung, Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 134 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck

Tübingen, 2010), 170, 345-352.

37

Before I will attempt to answer this question, I would like to grasp back to the major

work of Gershom Scholem and the reaction of Peter Schäfer on the topic of mysticism in

Hekhalot and Merkavah literature. According to Scholem, ‘The earliest Jewish mysticism is

throne-mysticism. Its essence is not absorbed contemplation of God’s true nature, but

perception of His appearance on the throne, as described by Ezekiel, and cognition of the

mysteries of the celestial throne-world.’103 Scholem interprets the Hekhalot and Merkavah

texts as the earliest form of Jewish mysticism and lays emphasis on the traditions closely

connected with Ezekiel 1 and the vison of the God on His throne and chariot. Scholem also

presses the apocalyptical connotations of the texts. Schäfer has reacted on this argument in his

book Gershom Scholem Reconsidered by examining the many adjurations, hymns and songs

in the texts. Scholem has neglected these, according to him, and Schäfer argues for the

inherent importance of the adjurations to the heavenly journey: ‘It is not the heavenly journey

which is at the centre of this mysticism, with adjuration on the edge, but rather the reverse.

Magical adjuration is a thread woven throughout the entire Hekhalot literature. This is true to

such an extent that a heavenly journey may even culminate in an adjuration.’104 Schäfer places

the texts within a liturgical context in which the adjuration of God is the final goal of

Hekhalot and Merkavah mysticism.

I would like to formulate my conclusion after researching the Hekhalot and Merkavah

corpus, against the background of these two citations. When formulating the questionnaire in

chapter 2, I presumed my conclusion would form itself around the question what the

motivation for and the goal of the heavenly journey would be. I had high expectations of

descriptions in the texts for the moment the traveller would enter the courtroom of God and

saw God Himself sitting on His throne. As I mentioned multiple times in chapter 3, these

passages proved to be relatively short; only one paragraph in Hekhalot Zutarti (§412) as well

as in Hekhalot Rabbati (§ 250) and Ma‘aseh Merkavah (§557). Besides the short description,

the experience and reaction of the rabbis was not described to the extent that the reader could

catch a glimpse of the sublimity of this moment. This made me wonder about the above

mentioned interpretations of Scholem and Schäfer who, both in different ways, describe the

end of the journey as the defining moment of the heavenly journey.

However, when reading Ma‘aseh Merkavah, something striking occurred to me. In

§558, R. Akiva described his gaining of virtues and wisdom as he came higher through the

palaces in the heavens. Throughout the texts, emphasis was laid on the intellectual and

psychological gains, the journey would entail. However each text also described the

preparatory means the traveller has to fulfil before performing his journey. These descriptions

often spoke of certain personal and mental conditions which would give the traveller a

suitable state of mind and heart to perform the journey. Therefore, I would like to argue that

the ultimate intention for undertaking such a heavenly journey, does not lie in the reaching of

the Most High, but in the main subject articulated in travel literature: the journey itself. The

journey forces the traveller to develop himself in such an intellectual, mental and even

religious manner, that he can be worthy to see God. But the vision of God is not the price at

the end of the path, but the knowledge, experiences and changes in mind and heart itself are.

The traveller will reach new insights, new abilities and new experiences within his own

religious place on earth, where he will eventually return. I feel this is also emphasized in 3

Enoch where Metatron tells his story of ascension in a more experienced-based narrative in

comparison to the other three texts.

103 G. Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (New York: Schocken Books, 1941), 43. 104 Schäfer, Gershom Scholem Reconsidered, 8.

38

Thus, Hekhalot and Merkavah literature knows many similarities and several strong

differences with travel literature, but the aspect of travel connects them at the heart. I hope

that this research will encourage other scholars to undertake new projects within the rich

corpus of Hekhalot and Merkavah literature backed by the invaluable research done in the

past and inspired by new academic perspectives. Even though the vision of God seems like

the ultimate accomplishment a religious traveller can reach, the journey through and

development of the own mind and soul proves to be the highest reward a human being can

gain from the heavenly world.

39

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