\ 2. ‏שכינה‎, Shechinah. / Whole Body. The prophet Elias having learned in the heavenly college the profound mystery and true import of the words in Isa. xl, 25, 26, “To whom will ye liken me, and shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who (‏מי‎) hath created these things (‏אלה‎),” revealed to R. Simon b. Jochai that God in his absolute nature is unknown and incomprehensible, and hence, in a certain sense, non-existent; that this Who (‏אלה‎ unknown subject) had to become active and creative, to demonstrate his existence, and that it is only by these (‏אלה‎) works of creation that he made himself known to us. It is therefore the combination of the unknown Who (‏מי‎) with these visible (‏אלה‎) works that showed him to be God (‏אלהים‎ which is produced by ‏מי‎ transposed, i.e. ‏יﬦ‎, and united with ‏אלה‎). Or, as it is in the language of the Kabbalah;— “Before he gave any shape to this world, before he produced any form, he was alone, without a form and resemblance to anything else. Who then can comprehend him how he was before the creation, since he was formless? Hence it is forbidden to represent him by any form, similitude, or even by his sacred name, by a single letter or a single point; and to this the words ‘Ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you’ (Deut. iv, 15)—i.e. ye have not seen anything which you could represent by any form or likeness—refer. But after he created the form of the Heavenly Man (‏אדם עלאה‎), he used it as a chariot (‏מרכבה‎) wherein to descend, and wishes to be called by this form, which is the sacred name Jehovah. He wishes to be known by his attributes, and each attribute separately; and therefore had himself called the God of Mercy, the God of Justice, Almighty, God of Sabaoth, and the Being. He wishes thereby to make known his nature, and that we should see how his mercy and compassion extend both to the world and to all operations. For if he had not poured out his light upon all his creatures, how could we ever have known him? How could the words be fulfilled, ‘The whole earth is full of his glory’ (Isa. vi, 3)? Woe be to him who compares him with his own attributes! or still worse with the son of man whose foundation is in the dust, who vanishes and is no more! Hence, the form in which we delineate him simply describes each time his dominion over a certain attribute, or over the creatures generally. We cannot understand more of his nature than the attribute expresses. Hence, when he is divested of all these things, he has neither any attribute nor any similitude or form. The form in which he is generally depicted is to be compared to a very expansive sea; for the waters of the sea are in themselves without a limit or form, and it is only when they spread themselves upon the earth that they assume a form (‏דמיון‎). We can now make the following calculation: the source