The Gates (from Openings)
By Zohar (Moses de Leon)(1245? - 1305)
English version by Daniel Chanan Matt

He [Abraham] was sitting in the opening of the tent....Sarah heard from the opening of the tent. (Genesis 18:1, 10)Rabbi Judah opened"'Her husband is known in the gateswhen he sits among the elders of the land'(Proverbs 31:23).Come and see:The Blessed Holy One has ascended in glory.He is hidden, concealed, far beyond.There is no one in the world, nor has there ever been,who can understand His wisdom or withstand Him.He is hidden, concealed, transcendent, beyond, beyond.The beings up above and the creatures down below--none of them can comprehend.All they can say is:"Blessed be the Presence of YHVH in His place'(Ezekiel 3:12)The ones below proclaim that He is above:'His Presence is above the heavens'(Psalms 113:4)the ones above proclaim that He is below:'Your Presence is over all the earth'(Psalms 57:12).Finally all of them, above and below, declare:'Blessed be the Presence of YHVH wherever He is!'For He is unknowable.No one has ever been able to identify Him.How, then, can you say:'Her husband is known in the gates'?Her husband is the Blessed Holy One!Indeed, He is known in the gates.He is known and graspedto the degree that one opens the gates of imagination!The capacity to connect with the spirit of wisdom,to imagine in one's heart-mind--this is how God becomes known.Therefore 'Her husband is known in the gates,'through the gates of imagination.But that He be known as He really is?No one has ever been able to attain such knowledge of Him."Rabbi Shim'on said"'Her husband is known in the gates.'Who are these gates?The ones addressed in the Psalm:'O gates, lift up your heads!Be lifted up, openings of eternity,so the King of Glory may come!'(Psalms 24:7)Through these gates, these spheres on high,the Blessed Holy One becomes known.Were it not so, no one could commune with Him.Come and see:Neshamah of a human being is unknowableexcept through limbs of the body,subordinates of neshamah who carry out what she designs.Thus she is known and unknown.The Blessed Holy One too is known and unknown.For He is Neshamah of neshamah, Pneuma of pneuma,completely hidden away;but through these gates, openings for neshumah,the Blessed Holy One becomes known.Come and see:There is opening within opening,level beyond level.Through these the Glory of God becomes known.'The opening of the tent' is the opening of Righteousness,as the Psalmist says:'Open for me the gates of righteousness...'(Psalms 118:19).This is the first opening to enter.Through this opening, all other high openings come into view.One who attains the clarity of this openingdiscovers all the other openings,for all of them abide here.