Kabbalah Library

308. The beauty of Jacob the patriarch is like the beauty of Adam HaRishon, since Jacob was tent dwelling, and learned in the house of Shem, and Ever, and Abraham, and Isaac, to serve the Creator, for he was the elder, as it is written, “My son, my firstborn, Israel,” and the worship is in the elders.

309. Certainly, The Book of Adam HaRishon was for Jacob, and The Book of Enoch and The Book of Creation were by Abraham the patriarch. In the tractate Idol-Worship by Abraham, there were four hundred chapters. Jacob the patriarch—a whole man, dwelling in tents—learned from all those books great wisdom, and his beauty and the features of Jacob were as the features of Adam HaRishon.

310. Jacob was like Adam HaRishon, the first in creation, the creation of the Creator’s hands. Jacob, too, was the first, the first in wholeness, as it is written, “Israel was holy to the Lord, the first-fruits of His harvest,” since his bed was complete; there was no flaw in his semen.

311. This was not so with Abraham, from whom Ishmael and Ketura came out. They were the waste of silver, since Abraham is Hesed, called “silver,” and Ishmael and Ketura were his waste.

Adam, from whom Cain came out, and Noah, from whom Ham came out, and Isaac, who is Gevura, called “gold,” Esau came out of him, the waste of gold.

But the bed of Jacob was complete, which is why the Creator chose him from all the nations, as it is written, “For the Lord has chosen Jacob, Israel for His Segula [remedy],” and it is written, “For the portion of the Lord is His people, Jacob, His allotted inheritance.”