i'm very grateful for and to my senses. i love all six hundred and thirteen of them.
When I read this, I recognized 613 as the traditional number of commandments in the Torah, according to Maimonides and others, but I couldn't understand what Laeth was getting at in making it the number of his senses. My tentative interpretation was that, while we always think of the Ten Commandments and the five senses, in each case those who really pay attention will discover that the true number is much larger. Or something.
The next morning, I happened to listen to podcast, "Reincarnation in Mormon Theology: Joseph Smith and Kabbalah." At around the 47-minute mark, it quotes this article on reincarnation in Kabbalah:
Kabbalah explains that the soul is comprised of 613 channels, which parallel the 248 limbs and 365 blood Vessels of the body. These 613 channels attain eternal elevation when all 613 Mitzvot are fulfilled by a soul in its earthly descent.
So I suppose it was these "613 channels" of the soul that Laeth had in mind, and not the Mitzvot themselves. My own engagement with the Kabbalah has been quite superficial, and I had never encountered this idea before. It was quite a coincidence running into it by chance just hours after reading Laeth's allusion.
1 comment:
to be very honest i didn't know the kabalistic implications. although i did have in mind the 613 commandments, i meant something like each of them addressing a specific part of us, and being an exercise for that development. either way, very interesting to see the kabalistic tie in. and indeed, quite a synchronic finding.
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