Note 4 — II.

First of all comes the fundamental number ten. This decade is divided into a tetrade and hexade, and thereby is shown the gradual development of the world out of nothing. At first there existed nothing except the Divine Substance, with the creative idea and the articulate creative word as the Spirit or the Holy Spirit, which is one with the Divine Substance and indivisible. Hence, the Spirit of the living God (‏רוח אלהים חיים‎) stands at the head of all things and is represented by the number one. “One is the spirit of the living God, blessed be His name, who liveth for ever! voice, spirit, and word, this is the Holy Ghost.”4 (Chapter i, Mishna ix). From this Spirit the whole universe proceeded in gradual and successive emanations, in the following order. The creative air, represented by number two, emanated from the Spirit (‏רוח מרוח‎). “In it He engraved the twenty-two letters.” The water again, represented by the number three, proceeded from the air (‏מים מרוח‎). “In it He engraved darkness and emptiness, slime and dung.” Whilst the ether or fire, represented by the number four, emanated from the water (‏אש ממים‎). “In it He engraved the throne of His glory, the Ophanim, the Seraphim, the sacred animals, and the ministering angels, and from these three he formed His habitation; as it is written—‘He maketh the wind his messengers, flaming fire his servants’ ”5 (Cap. i. Mish. ix, x.) These intermediate members between the Creator and the created world sustain a passive and created relationship to God, and an acting and creating relationship to the world; so that God is neither in immediate connection with the created and material universe, nor is His creative fiat hindered by matter.