Choni's circle

Behalotecha by Chaim Gershon

Humanity has been fascinated with the shape of the circle for as long as we know. Ancient philosophers considered it to be the most perfect of shapes and it should not surprise us because a circle has great significance in Kabbalah.

     When Miriam was punished with Tzaras for saying lashon hara about Moshe, her brother drew a circle   (עוגה) , stood inside and vowed that he would not move until she was cured. Moshe davened, "I beseech you, God, please heal her." " אל נא רפא נא לה ". Many years later, his descendent Choni did the same when there was a drought, and when he performed a miracle with this circle, he became known as Choni, the Circle Maker.  Apparently understanding the power and meaning of the circle can make men who are already great, members of HaShem’s “household”. The Chumash says of Moshe, “in all my house, he is trusted”, and the Talmud calls Choni, a ”ben bayis”.

        So what is it about the circle? There is a simple three-stagegeometric  Kabbalistic model for the creation of the world according to the Arizal. Initially there was G-dliness everywhere. Then a void was formed by the Tzimtzum, the contraction of that revelation, so that a circular void was formed. The final stage was the drawing down of energy into the void through a line (kav) resulting in return of G-dliness, in a form both graduated and attenuated but still present everywhere, as the final state. Whereas the individual creatures could not survive and  would be nullified to non-existence if simply placed in the universe during the initial stage, now people can participate in the revelation of G-dliness, and this makes it possible for them to continue to persist in reality and retain the self-perception of themselves as independent autonomous beings.

 

        Most mekublim say the void was in the shape of a circle. Thus, when  both Moshe and Choni made the circle, they  were emulating the Divine creation, through prayer drawing down Heavenly energy from G-dliness that still surrounds our created Universe: this circular source is known also by the term makif. After standing in this supernal circle, Moshe utilized the name  "אל " as it corresponds to HaShem's attribute of chesed, the energy of giving and just as Hashem had drawn energy into a void, so Moshe drew Divine essence from outisde the circlular void into the created world. This is also comparable to the avodah of Eliyahu who also affected change through the efforts on Earth. Three great servants of Hashem, Moshe, Choni, and also Eliyahu were able to transcend time. Moshe stayed on Har Sinai for 40 days three times without food and water, Choni slept for 70 years without aging a day and Eliyahu lives on forever. Through this connection, rising above time, when it was needed, they were able to actualize their requests by changing keter/ratzon/will, that component of  Divine Will that bridges the Godliness that surrounds our world and Godliness within it. 

 

        There is another opinion among Kabbalists that contends that the shape of tzimtzum is that of a square. The square in Kabbalah is considered a man-made shape: "There is no square from the six days of Creation". The geometric operation that relates the two views, the circle and the square, is that of circumscribing. One can draw the circle inside the square or one can draw the square inside the circle. The two Kabbalistic opinions disagree about which is on the higher relative level; ultimately, in the end the difference in opinion amongst these kabbalists is about where and how the Tzimtzum- contraction is occuring.  This is mathematically relevant to the halachas of the sukkah and of the eruv, especially the eruv techumim.  In the latter case, Eruv, that encloses space, is seen as the structure of the Shabbas:  a circle with a square inside, holiness enveloping the work of the week.  Similarly, kabbalists see the circle as the feminine shape and the square as the masculine shape.  This has real world repercussions: for example, there is an opinion that the bride's ring is supposed to be a circle inside a square representing this union. Thus there are two possible contrasting states of potential: a circle and a square, actualized through their interaction. 

 

        Sefer Gilgulim and Likutei Shas Arizal discuss the reincarnations of the soul associated with Choni, the Circle Maker. Originally the soul was that of Og ( עוג), the same grammatical root as circle. When Chazal report that Og survived during the Flood by sitting outside of the ark during the Flood, they allude to the state of a circle surrounding a square, as the ark was a box. However, by being outside of Noah’s ark, Og remained disconnected from rectifying the world, represented by the square of the Ark.

 Korach also was also a protagonist of a circle, being that his tribe is that of Levi, which that of gevurah and feminine relative to the masculine chesed of the Cohanim.  Gevurah is related to the makif of the circle whereas the Chesed is the true form of the Kav that entered the empty space after the Tzimtzum. The reason  why Korach proposed that garments should not require tzizis is because they should be circular garments. Korach and Og are opposites of Moshe and Choni because the former wished to keep a suspended state of the circle rather than drawing down the energy into the world whereas the latter wanted to draw Divinity into the world. Korach and Og represent the circle in itself whereas Choni and Moshe represent the circle in its effect on the world, in engagement with it. The luchos contain both the suspended samech and the closed mem, giving both of these approaches a place within the Holy Torah. The goal of reconciliation of both of these types of circles was partly achieved through the discussions of the Oral Torah by Abaye and Rabbah. Abaye lived for 60 years  while Rabbah lived for 40 years; these ages correspond to the gematriyot of samech and mem. Their talmudic arguments are an avodah from below like davening. There is yet another level, more precious and more elevated. This is the learning of Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai, the Rashbi,  who drew down energy and rain directly from above by saying Torah. Very few are said to achieve the level of the Rashbi in terms of interaction with the world: it is in the realm of the possible to be a Choni.

 

 

Selected Bibliography

Master-a-Masechta Taanis by Rabbi Nachman Cohen

Ohr HaTorah (Tzemach Tzedek) Behalosecha p. 403

Rogachover Mpaneach Raza…p.87

Taanis 23a and Ben Yehoyada

Zohar Bereshis 5b see commentaries: Ketem Paz, Mikdash Melech, Damesek Eliezer

Commentary to Etz Chaim from the Baal Leshem Sh'vo V'Achlamah

Likutei Moharan 59:3

Sefer Gilgulim

Sefer Likutei Shas Arizal

"Made in Heaven" Aryeh Kaplan

Sod Yesharim (Ishbitz)

Rebbe Rashab Ayin Beis..

Torat Levi Yitzhak to Kiddushin

 

Comments

[Yehonasan]

It seems to me sometimes "spheres" is a better translation than "circles" for the term "Iggulim" in the Kisvei HaAri. I can visualize the tzimtzum as being spherical more easily than circular, as my mind tends to try to see the Or En Sof as three dimensional since it "fills all of existence." Chazal at times did use the term Iggul to mean sphere, eg. in Tosefta Mikvaos 5:8 "iggulei sheleg" balls of snow. Also when you start talking about panim and achorayim of partzufim, etc., it's clear that we are speaking in three dimensions, not two.
On the other hand the Histalshelus begins with a point, so it should pass through a stage of two dimensions before reaching three; and thus there was no panim and achor until a later stage.
Perhaps also pertinent here is the fact that the circle can be more easily represented on a page, just like letters, which are two-dimensional; thus a circle is more shayyach to a text-based mysticism of language such as we have today (although it was once based on oral language).