Jewish mystical tradition actually has a lot to say about the rainbow, and it's not all sunshine and well, rainbows.

The Zohar" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="source-link">Tikkunei_Zohar" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="source-link">Tikkunei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, delves into this very question. In the Tikkunei Zohar 71, Rabbi El’azar asks his father, Rabbi Shim’on, a pretty straightforward question: "Why is it forbidden to gaze at the rainbow?" It's a great question, right? What's the big deal?

Rabbi Shim’on's answer is fascinating, and a little unsettling. He says that the rainbow isn’t just a beautiful display of light and water; it also contains what he calls "husks" (kelipot in Hebrew). These husks, or shells, are like layers that obscure and conceal the divine light. They aren't inherently evil, but they do stand between us and pure goodness.

Think of it like a nut. You have the delicious, nutritious fruit inside, but it's protected by layers of shell. The Tikkunei Zohar uses this imagery to explain the rainbow. Rabbi Shim’on refers to the verse in Ezekiel 1:4, "a tempest wind... a great cloud, and a sparking fire, and a ‘glow’ (nogah) round about it." He then identifies each of these elements as a different kind of "husk."

The "tempest wind" is the "line of chaos" (tohu), the "green husk of a nut," a ‘green line.’ The "great cloud" is the second, white, husk, a "void" (bohu). The "sparking fire" is the third husk – "darkness." And finally, the "glow" (nogah) is the fourth husk, the one closest to, and even united with, the “fruit” (moḥa).

This nogah, this glow, is particularly interesting. It represents a kind of liminal space, a place where the holy and the unholy are intertwined. And according to the text, from the midst of it comes something like "electrum" (ḥashmal) which is the fruit (moḥa) of the nut. This fruit, it says, is represented by the letters Y-A-Q-D-V-N-Q-Y.

Now, what does all of this mean? Why is staring at the rainbow problematic? The Tikkunei Zohar suggests that gazing at the rainbow can draw us too close to these "husks," to these layers that obscure the divine. It’s a reminder that even in beauty, there can be hidden complexities, layers that need to be understood and navigated with care. We can see the echo of this idea elsewhere in Jewish thought, such as the concept of tzimtzum, the divine contraction, where God "hides" himself to allow for creation.

It's not about being afraid of beauty or denying the wonder of the natural world. It's about recognizing that there's always more than meets the eye. The rainbow, in this view, becomes a symbol of the delicate balance between the revealed and the concealed, the holy and the… well, not-so-holy. So, next time you see a rainbow, take a moment to appreciate its beauty, but also remember the deeper layers of meaning that Jewish tradition ascribes to it. Maybe don't stare too long. Just a thought.