The Jewish mystical commentary on the five books of the Torah, the Zohar, reveals deep spiritual meanings hidden in the text of the Bible in regards to the Mystical Rose (Rosa Mystica) which alludes to this mysterious feminine Presence in Judaism who Raphael Patai calls the Hebrew Goddess. However this Goddess is not like the pagan Goddesses who do their own will but she is the one who perfectly mirrors the Divine Will. There are seventy faces to this mystical diamond or sapphire and Rosa Mystica can be understood on many levels and layers of meaning that complement but not contradict each other or the other elements of Jewish and Catholic faith.
On one level of understanding the Rosa Mystica is the mystery of the Two Hearts that beat as one. These are the two children symbolised by the cherubs on the Ark of the Covenant mentioned in the introduction to the Zohar. They are the "blossoms". The Mother or female is the rose bush with its blossoms and the male is the apple Tree with its blossoms (see the Song of Songs chapter 2). The blossoms are the ten attributes (sefirot). The Hebrew words of sapphire (safir) and sefirot share the same root ספר. The term of ‘created these’ (‘bara elleh’) refers mystically to these two with child-like hearts that beat as one. The heart of the feminine Rosa Mystica is united to the heart of her Divine Son (the male Mystical Rose) who is the image and likeness of the Infinite One.
Who created these (mi bara elleh) two hearts? The Infinite One through the power, light and love of the Holy Spirit. The Son in his divinity was not created but in his humanity he was created through the flesh of his Mother. These two Cherubic Hearts united by the Divine Mercy (chesed) adore the Infinite Abba (Father) in spirit and in truth. The mystery (Raza) of the Temple is the Rose that is the two hearts. It is two Roses that are united as One Rose. It is the Rosa Mundi. The white rose of the female and the red rose of the suffering male are united to form this Universal and Mystical Rose. O mystery of mysteries (Raza de Razin) is the holy rosarium. Rosarium is Latin for the Rose Garden. The rose Garden is the Garden of Pardes- it is the spiritual journey to the divine heart of the Mystical Rose. It is the number 13. 13 is for Love (ahavah). 13 is for oneness and unity (echad) of the hearts filled with the 13 qualities or attributes of mercy (Chesed).
The Zohar asks “Who created these?” ‘Who’ (‘mi’ in Hebrew) and ‘what’ (‘mah’ in Hebrew) refers to the cherubs of the Ark – the Holy children- one male and the other female. Metatron and Matronita. Yeshuah and Miriam. The ‘mem’ מ of ‘who’ (mi) is the female enclosed with two mems as a Rose Garden. This is part of the mystery (raza) of the name ‘Miriam’ מרים who is Rosa Mystica. The letter ‘yod’ י of ‘who’ (miמי) is the male- the Divine Yesod (foundation) and Holy Tzaddik (righteous one). The memמ of ‘mi’ is at the level of Binah (Understanding) and the yod of ‘mi’ is at the level of Hokmah (Wisdom).
The mem of ‘mah’ is the Mother as Kneset Yisrael– Mother of the Church. The ‘hay’ ה of ‘what’ (‘mah’ מה) is the radiance of the Shekhinah – it is the Holy Spirit and the Son as the Body of Christ. He is the Head (rosh) and Beginning (reshit) of Creation. Shekhinah is the manifestation of the love of the triune god through the mirror of the Mother united with the human and divine Heart of her Son. For its humanity is heart of her heart. It is the Mystical Rose for all time – the very beauty of God.
‘Bara Elleh’ (‘created these’ ברא אלה) alludes to the mystery of these two pure and holy ones. Bara can be also read as Bera (Son) and represents the male cherub while Elleh represents the female cherub on the Ark of the Covenant. Elleh or Elahאלה also means Goddess in Hebrew. It is the female that unites the two for the Son (bera) is flesh of her flesh, heart of her heart and blood of her blood. ‘mi bara elleh’ also mystically reveals that this Son is Elohim (God). The ‘mi’ מי is united with ‘elleh’ אלה in order to reveal that the Son (bera) is Elohimאלהים. This uniting of the words ‘mi’ and ‘Elleh’ makes the word Elohim אלהים.
The Bera (ַas Divine Son) is the ‘concealed of the concealed’ according to Yehuda Liebes (a leading Israeli Jewish scholar) in his book on Zohar. He is the great secret of the Zohar. The Son and his Mother is the hidden and Mystical Rose. This is the Son as the Creative Word and Light (see Gospel of John 1). Beriyah is the dimension or World where the Son (Bera) is revealed as Divine Word and Creator God (Elohim). This is also part of the mystical understanding of the first three words of the Torah “Bereshit bara Elohim”. This phrase represents the Triune Deity and the role of the Son as Creator God. Bereshit points to the Father, bara hides the mystery of the Son and Elohim proclaims the role of the Holy Spirit in the act of creation.
The mystery of ‘Bereshit’ בראשית the first word given a triune meaning of Beraברא (Son), Rosh ראש (Head) and Shit שית (six) as revealed in the Zohar also reveals the mystery of the Rosa Mystica. The word ‘shit’ שית refers to the number six alluding to the six days of Creation. It also alludes to the male Rose (shoshan) for Shoshan also derives from the number six as a rose is said to have six petals on one of its tiers. Here we see that the rose refers to both Jesus and Mary as well as to the very Creation itself. The three meanings of the Mystical Rose are intricately linked. The Rose also represents the five gates of salvation united with the sixth sefirah (attribute) of Yesod /Tzaddik (foundation/ righteousness) of the lower attributes that make up the Divine Body of the Son (Zer Anpin / Shorter or Lower Divine Face).