Philosophically Speaking: Annals of the International Philosophy Grou Philosophical-Annals-II-2017 | Page 25

Joseph Tunic Colour: A Metaphor in Kabbalah
By Meir Israelowitz
The Bible story of Joseph clothing is and relationship with his brothers represent the deepest
significance of a spiritual experience and conflict base on jealousy. Idel in his work in
Kabbalah mention a section Zohar deal specific clothing 1 . The tunic has special significance,
the clothing for burial, used in the high-holiday, Passover, New Year and the Day of
Atonement following Isaac: our sins shall be made as white as snow 2 .
Porpola connect the Assyrian tree of life to the sefirot, 34 , while the Assyrian tree of life
represented their Gods, as Porpola point out 5 , but does not escape the Jewish interpretation,
where numbers have specific meaning, where the Ten Commandments correspond to the god
manifestation through the sefirot and 365 commands are revolving to the manifestation of the
sefirot.
1
Idel Moshe, 1988. Kabbalah: New perspective, Yale University Press, pp. 104-107
Isi 1:18
3
Porpola S, 1993. The Assyrian Tree of Life: Tracing the origin of Jewish Monotheism and Greek Philosophy,
Journal Near Eastern Studies 52: 161-208. Porpola first explain the use of the Assyrians of the tree of life in pp-
162, Gods hierarchy representation, in pp-165 cover the basic symbolism and concept of the tree of life and pp-
169 the Sefirot concept tree of live, in figure show the correspondence not only to the world of Sefirot, but other
mystical traditions, Tatrans. In page pp-169 correlated the Assyrian Gods to the hierarchy of the Sefirot, Porpola
acknowledge not trace in cuneiform, but in the Palace and temples walls the significance—show in pp-183 direct
of the walls British museum: The same description in page 186 is related to the Kabbalah concept of the Adam
ha Kadmon, the gematria applied in Kabbalh mention in the book of Creation 1:1, is found tree of life of the
Assyrians pp-180. The epic Gilgamesh as a classic application of the tree of life, other example is the Etana myth
of men acceding to the heaven using eagles, but each heave was a place of the Gods, and the equivalence to the
Sefirot.
2
4
Porpola S, 1993. The Assyrian Tree of Life: Tracing the origin of Jewish Monotheism and Greek Philosophy,
Journal Near Eastern Studies 52: 161-208
5
Porpola S, 1993. The Assyrian Tree of Life: Tracing the origin of Jewish Monotheism and Greek Philosophy,
Journal Near Eastern Studies 52: 161-208