Shi'ur Qomah

Shi’ur Qomah (Hebrew: ‫שיעור קומה‬, lit. Divine Dimensions) is a Midrashic text that is part of the Heichalot literature. It purports
to record, in anthropomorphic terms, the secret names and precise measurements of God’s corporeal limbs and parts. The majority of
the text is recorded in the form of sayings or teachings that the angel Metatron revealed to the Tannaic Sage, Rabbi Yishmael who
transmitted it to his students and his contemporary Rabbi Akiva. It is also an exegetical analysis of Song of Songs 5:11-16 and
proclaims that anyone who studies it is guaranteed a portion inOlam HaBa (the World to Come).[1]

Contents
Provenance and interpretation
References
See also
External links

Provenance and interpretation

Currently the text exists only in fragmentary form, and scholars have debated how to appropriately date it. Modern academic scholars
of Jewish mysticism, such as Gershom Scholem are of the opinion that it is from “either the Tannaitic or the early Amoraic
period.”[2] However in the 12th Century, the rationalist Jewish philosopher Maimonides declared the text to be a Byzantine
forgery.[3] Maimonides also believed that the text was so heretical and contrary to proper Jewish belief that it should be
burned.[4][5]

Rabbi Saadia Gaon also expressed doubts about the origin of the text, and stated that “since it is not found in either Mishna or
Talmud, and since we have no way of establishing whether or not it represents the words of Rabbi Yishmael; perhaps someone else
pretended to speak in his name.” [6] Nonetheless in the case that the text were somehow proven to be genuine, Saadia wrote that it
would have to be understood in line with his “theory of 'created glory,'" which explains the prophetic theophanies as visions not of
God Himself but of a luminous [created] substance.”[7] Rabbi Moses Narboni also wrote a philosophic work about the text entitled
Iggeret Al-Shi'ur Qomah (Heb: ‫ אגרת על שיעור קומה‬lit. Epistle on Shi’ur Qomah), wherein he dismisses the blatant
anthropomorphisms of Shi'ur Qomah as speaking strictly metaphorically. Rabbi Narboni’s work in the Iggeret is a “meditation on
God, Measure of all existing things. It is based on Abraham Ibn Ezra's commentary on Exodus, and, with the aid of biblical and
rabbinical passages, studies two kinds of knowledge: God's knowledge of his creatures, called knowledge of the Face; and His
[8]
creatures’ knowledge of God, called knowledge of the Back (an allusion to Exodus 33:23).”

References
1. “Everyone who knows the measure of the Creator is sure to be a son of the World to Come, and will be saved from
the punishment of Gehinnom, and from all kind of punishments and evil decrees about to befall the world, and will be
saved from all kind of witchcraft, for He saves us, protects us, redeems us, and rescues me from all evil things, from
all harsh decrees, and from all kinds of punishments for the sake of His Great Name.” Shiur Qomah 1:2
2. Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and aTlmudic Tradition: Based on the Israel Goldstein lectures, delivered
at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New o
Yrk. Gershom Gerhard Scholem. Edition: 2. Published by
Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1965. Pg. 40.
3. Maimonides and Philosophy: Papers Presented at the Sixth Jerusalem Philosophical Encounter , May, 1985. Shlomo
Pines, Yirmiahu Yovel. Published by Springer, 1985. Pg. 85, footnote 11, relying on J. Blau, R. Moses B. Maimon —
Responsa (Jerusalem, 1958), 1:201.
4. The Secret Garden: An Anthology in the Kabbalah. David Meltzer
. Published by Seabury Press, 1976. Pg, 3.
 5. Maimonides' responsa siman 1 ( 17 (Blau) (http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1730&st=&pgnum=215)/
373 (Freimann) (http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1733&st=&pgnum=410)); translated by Rabbi
Yosef Qafih and reprinted in his Collected Papers, Volume 1, footnote 1 on pages 475-476 (Hebrew: ‫ יורנו‬,‫שאלה‬
‫הדרתו מה לומר למי ששאל שאלה בענין שעור קומה האם הוא כדברי מי שאמר שהוא חבור אחד הקראים ושמע את זאת‬
‫ או שהוא סוד מסודות החכמים ז"ל וכמוסים בו ענינים גדולים טבעיים או אלהיים כמו שאמר רבנו האיי ז"ל באחד‬,‫מהדרתכם‬
‫ איני סבור כלל שהוא לחכמים ז"ל ואינו אלא חיבור אחד הדרשנים‬,‫ תשובה‬.‫ ושכרו כפול מן השמים‬.‫הקונדרסים בעניני חגיגה‬
‫ ושם אלהים אחרים לא תזכירו וכו' כי‬,‫ כללו של דבר השמדת אותו הספר והכרתת זכר ענינו מצוה רבה‬.‫בערי אדום ולא יותר‬
‫אשר לו קומה הוא אלהים אחרים בלי ספק‬.). See also ibid. p. 477-478 where a booklet found in Maimonides'Genizah
with the text of Shi'ur Qomah appears with an annotation, possibly by Maimonides, cursing believers of Shi'ur
Qomah (Hebrew: "‫ )"ארור המאמינו‬and praying that God be elevated exceedingly beyond that which the heretics say
(Judeo-Arabic: "‫ ;"תע' ת'ם תע' עמא יקולון אלכאפרון‬Hebrew: "‫)"יתעלה לעילא לעילא ממה שאומרים הכופרים‬.
6. Judah b. Barzilai, Peirush Sefer Yetzira, ed. Solomon Zalman, Hayyim Halberstam, Berlin 1885. Pg. 21
7. Von der mittelalterlichen zur modernen Aufklärung: Studien zur jüdischen Geistesgeschichte. Alexander Altmann.
Published by Mohr Siebeck, 1987. Pg. 132
8. A History of Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages. Colette Sirat. Published by Cambridge University Press, 1990.
Pg, 334.

See also
Jewish Mysticism
Heresy in Orthodox Judaism
Medieval Jewish Philosophy
Moses Taku

External links
Shi'ur Qomah - ‫ שיעור קומה‬Hebrew, p. 75-84.
Shi'ur Qomah English Translation
The Shiur Komah: Imaging the DivineBy Joseph Dan

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