Dylan the Kabbalist

Dear Friends,

In November of 2006 I was called by Dylan’s manager to join the Never Ending Tour as his resident tutor in the Kabbalah. He’d play his sets, not much chit chat between songs, curtain descended and then he’d join me at the back of the bus, where a small table, a candle, and an old mystical manuscript awaited. Crossing the midnight threshold we hunched over the Gates of Light, written in Spain, same time as the Zohar, late 13th century, author, Joseph Gikatillah. As on the stage, no chit chat, just the text, the opening of the book, the candle and the letters drawn down from the river flowing between worlds, awakening something in him as the tour bus pulled out of Columbia, Missouri heading over the Mississippi.

The text of inquiry attaches one of the divine names to each of the sefirot, the energy centers on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. Each chapter then, ten gates, gives over all of the symbology associated with that gate, beginning with the roots, ascending to the head of the tree.

By spring I was dismissed as soon as I had been hired. But over the years as albums continued to pour from the master, I’d recognize in the poetry, material from our nights together. His recent tune “I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You” is an encyclopedic homage to the symbology of the last sefirah of the tree, called Malchut, inhabitance or dwelling. With the first fall of snow in New York City, I recalled the tune, and the accompanying symbology of snow, grace, blessing, stars, dove, ocean, love. The tenderness is most welcome in this fragile hour. Signs of hope amidst the storm. Everything is included below for your own contemplation, excerpts from the Kabbalah, Dylan’s lyric, and the tune.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Zach Fredman

I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You - Bob Dylan

I'm sitting on my terrace, lost in the stars

Listening to the sounds of the sad guitars

Been thinking it all over and I've thought it all through

I've made up my mind to give myself to you

I saw the first fall of snow

I saw the flowers come and go

I don't think that anyone ever has ever knew

I've made up my mind to give myself to you

I'm giving myself to you, I am

From Salt Lake City to Birmingham

From East L.A. to San Antone

I don't think I can bear to live my life alone

My eye is like a shooting star

It looks at nothing here or there, looks at nothing near of far

No one ever told me, it's just something I knew

I've made up my mind to give myself to you

If I had the wings of a snow-white dove

I'd preach the gospel, the gospel of love

A love so real, a love so true

I've made up my mind to give myself to you

Take me out traveling, you're a traveling man

Show me something I don't understand

I'm not what I was, things aren't what they were

I'll go far away from home with her

I've traveled a long road of despair

I've met no other traveler there

Lot of people gone, lot of people I knew

I've made up my mind to give myself to you

Well, my heart's like a river, a river that sings

Just takes me a while to realize things

I've seen the sunrise, I've seen the dawn

I'll lay down beside you when everyone's gone

I've traveled from the mountains to the sea

I hope that the gods go easy with me

I knew you'd say yes, I'm saying it too

I've made up my mind to give myself to you

Shaarei Orah - First Gate (Selections)

All holy names mentioned in the Torah are contained in the four lettered name, which is YHVH, which is called the body of the tree, and the rest of the names - some are roots, some are branches, some are treasures hidden, and each one of them has a specific activity that belongs to it alone. It is similar to a storehouse that has several rooms, and each room is specific to what is inside; in this room precious stones and pearls, in this room silver, in this room gold, in this room all sorts of edible things, in this room all manner of drink, and in this room clothing. And when a person needs something edible, and does not know which room has food, the person could die of starvation, and the rooms are all filled with good things, but the person will die not because the request was denied, but because one did not know in which room was the needed thing. And the exact same way is the comprehension of the holy names of the blessed one: there are names that are specialized for prayer and compassion and forgiveness, and there are those for tears, and there are those for injury and difficulties, and there are those for food and sustenance, and there are those for grace. And if one does not know to concentrate during one's prayer on the name that is the key to what one needs, who caused one not to be able to express one's desire?

And since YHVH  showers all types of flow and emanation in the name ADoNaY and in it there are all the treasures of the king and every type of goodness, and to it they will enter, they will assemble and they will hide, and from there they will extend to fill the needs of every creature, and it is a resemblance of a pool that a river continues into, and from the pool there is enough water to satisfy the watering of the garden and all the rest of the needs, the name in the Torah ADoNaY is a reference to blessing, because the word blessing (brachah ברכה) comes from the word pool (berichah בריכה). 

Sometimes the name ADoNaY is referred to in the Torah by the sign of the Well … And some times the name is called by the sign Sea … And sometimes the name is called by the sign All … And sometimes the name is called in the language of Stone … And sometimes the aspect of ADoNaY is called by the sign Temple … And sometimes this aspect is called Shechinah [dwelling] … And sometimes this name is called Eagle … And sometimes it is called the Tree of Knowledge, and also the Book of Life …