Rabbi Avraham Abulafia Meditation / Permutations / Tzeirufim
Rabbi Avraham Abulafia (1240-1291) was the father of the school of prophetic kabbalah / ecstatic kabbalah. In his work Chayei HaOlam HaBa (Life of the World to Come) he hands over the keys to the very foundation of the prophetic kabbalistic tradition. In his work, we come to learn various methods of attaining Divine inspiration and even prophecy. The soul is finally released and able to interact and communicate with its spiritual side and the spiritual worlds in which it lives.
In this video, we explore one of the most basic foundational methods of attaining Divine inspiration. This is known as Tzeirufim / Permutations, where the practitioner of the mystical meditations engages in a method of writing down combinations of letters and rotating them in different ways in order to achieve the mystical state and (/of )union with the Creator. Although the practice is not detailed fully in this video, those wishing to learn more are welcome to be in touch with me for more information.
What is given here is a translation of his work as found in the Rabbi Amnon Gross edition of the Chayei HaOlam Haba on pages 66-68. It is with thanks to Rabbi Amnon Gross that the writings of Rabbi Avraham Abulafia have become available to us today.
I have translated and narrated the translation of this meditation with the beautiful music of Ovadia Hamama playing in the background. This is the famous Ana Bekoach, sharing the Name of God of 42 letters.
Rabbi Abraham Abulafia later on in his book explains how to make use of the 72 letter Name of God as a meditative means to attaching one’s soul to God. However, the Tzeirufim (rotations of letters) are recommended as the starting place for anyone seriously interested in beginning the process of soul connection with God. And while the 42 letter Name of God is only briefly spoken about in his book, I have used this beautiful song as the background music in order to let the sound and the words penetrate our souls as we think about the goal of the permutations. These are all Holy Names and should be treated as such.
I have provided the original 42 Name below together without translation. For the beautiful translation and meaning of these words, please see an upcoming video. When reciting this Name, one should be careful to recite the first two words of each of the six words in each verse in one breath, take a break and then recite the next two letters as can be heard in the song. In one's mind’s eye one should depict the two first letters uniting as a pair. However, for purposes of this Tzeiruf permutation, we will not be reciting this Name at all.
The observant viewer (listener) will note certain contradictions within Rabbi Abulafia’s words. On the one hand he speaks of doing the meditation at night, and on the other hand he speaks about wearing Tefillin then -- which is not the time of Tefillin. He speaks about being in the dark, yet lighting many candles to illuminate one’s eyes. We leave this for another discussion.
In addition to the main translation, I have placed the Tetragrammaton (the four letter Name of God) in the foreground of a variety of beautiful videos to allow for the viewer to enjoy focusing on the essential Divine Name. At the end of the narration, the entire song will play out again with only the Name of Hashem upon the videos as the music continues to play. This is for those who wish to use the Name itself as a meditation to simply contemplate the Name (and to perhaps imagine oneself preparing to engage in the Tzeirufim as detailed by Rabbi Abulafia). Indeed this is one of the greatest ways of initiating oneself into the mystery of attaching oneself to the One God. The viewer can feel free to return back to that point by itself to focus for a few minutes just on the Name itself.
However, in terms of the Tzeirufim, the practitioner will not be staring at the Name, but will however be concentrating on the beauty and mystical value of the letters which they write on a piece of paper and rotate the letters around. It is this that will bring one to the mystical union with God. Certainly, as one does this, one should likewise think of the Name of God and visualize it constantly in one’s mind (at all times) in accordance with the words of King David, “I have placed יהוה before me always.” (Psalms 16:8)
אָנָּא בְּכֹחַ גְּדֻלַּת יְמִינְךָ תַּתִּיר צְרוּרָה. (אב"ג ית"ץ)
קַבֵּל רִנַּת עַמְּךָ שַׂגְּבֵנוּ טַהֲרֵנוּ נוֹרָא. (קר"ע שט"ן)
נָא גִבּוֹר דּוֹרְשֵׁי יִחוּדְךָ כְּבָבַת שָׁמְרֵם. (נג"ד יכ"ש)
בָּרְכֵם טַהֲרֵם רַחֲמֵם (נ"א: רחמי) צִדְקָתְךָ תָּמִיד גָּמְלֵם. (בט"ר צת"ג)
חֲסִין קָדוֹשׁ בְּרוֹב טוּבְךָ נַהֵל עֲדָתֶךָ. (חק"ב טנ"ע)
יָחִיד גֵּאֶה לְעַמְּךָ פְּנֵה זוֹכְרֵי קְדֻשָּׁתֶךָ. (יג"ל פז"ק)
שַׁוְעָתֵנוּ קַבֵּל וּשְׁמַע צַעֲקָתֵנוּ יוֹדֵעַ תַּעֲלוּמוֹת. (שק"ו צי"ת)
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