Ki Hai: Khuma Drops Her Sleeve, A Hebrew Ko’An
The oft-referred Talmud court drama about modesty, here interpreted as a Kabbalistic map to restore the celestial broken vessel: non-dual awareness itself.
In the Talmudic passage of Bavli Masekhet Ketubot 65a, The Babylonian Khuma, widow of Rav Abaye, petitioned for rations. But even her relation to an esteemed rabbi does not excuse her from being doubted by his colleagues presiding the court. Rava, its leader, refuses to ration wine stating that her deceased husband never drank. To demonstrate the size of their cup, Khuma gestures with her hand, saying ‘ki hai’ — like so. Only in doing that she exposed her arm - of such said radiant beauty it enlightened the entire courthouse, dumbfounding the magistrates — and eliciting cascading awakenings, with every turn of the narrative, beckoning each one of us to pierce the veil of knowing, unify compassion and wisdom, and restore the Broken Cup-Vessel — profound awareness of this aching world. How? And what does it have to do with this moment? Just so — Ki hai.
כה ען & Koan
The Japanese word Koan follows the Chinese gōng'àn, first appeared in China in the 7th century and refers to ‘public cases.’ These writings often centering around a ‘turning word,’ became a tool among Chan and Zen Buddhist teachers to facilitate shifts in consciousness and non-dual openings in the context of meditation, as well as in everyday activity.
Applying this form and practice to Jewish Talmudic cases weaves a unique way to engage the Hebrew texts. The Hebrew word tzior, translatable to drawing, is used by hassidic teachers to describe a mental visualization as meditation practice. While I could use that word to describe the subject of this article, I chose to invoke the Koan, as it is well known and established word related to Zen practice. Ko’an, in hebrew, may be phonetically written as כה ען, Kō-ān, translatable to ‘thus-answered’ - a fitting expression of direct pointing. Khuma’s case in an exemplar of that.
I added a Hebrew ‘capping verse’ to the Talmud original (seen in the image as the bottom block of text) inspired by that practice in the koan collections. These capping verses are evocative poetic means, hinting at the trailheads to mystery, loosening the mind of the practitioner, and potentially double-binding it into release of the thinking faculty altogether. This capping verse utilizes multiple meanings of many Hebrew words, shifting from the literal to the implied. For example, Bat Hisda, the name of Rabbi Abaya’s wife, literally means ‘daughter of compassion,’ lending to creative application.
Artwork
The artwork offered here is another addition to the Ko’An form. The original Talmud text appears in the top center block, and my capping verse below it. The surrounding quotations are from sources adding vaster context.
The figure shows Khuma. I have been told that this image recalls early / Byzantine Christian icons. While I had no intention to make an homage in this way, my appreciation and study of art history have informed it. Representation of figures appeared in mosaics in the turn of the millennium and are still visible in archaeological sites in Israel-Palestine. A common prohibition to not paint God in any form, a fundamentally non-dual practice, has reduced significantly Jewish figurative art making. Art being a natural expression for me, this image appeared as I contemplated the case. I now find in such a practice an important reclamation of Jewish figurative art.
Original Hebrew
כתובות ס״ה:א
חוּמָא דְּבֵיתְהוּ דְּאַבָּיֵי אֲתַאי לְקַמֵּיהּ דְּרָבָא, אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ: פְּסוֹק לִי מְזוֹנֵי! פְּסַק לַהּ: פְּסוֹק לִי חַמְרָא! אֲמַר לֵיהּ: יָדַעְנָא בֵּיהּ בְּנַחְמָנִי דְּלָא הֲוָה שָׁתֵי חַמְרָא. אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ: חַיֵּי דְּמָר דַּהֲוָה מַשְׁקֵי לִי בְּשׁוּפְרָזֵי כִּי הַאי. בַּהֲדֵי דְּקָא מַחְוְיָא לֵיהּ אִיגַּלִּי דְּרָעַאּ, נְפַל נְהוֹרָא בְּבֵי דִינָא.
קָם רָבָא, עָל לְבֵיתֵיהּ תַּבְעַהּ לְבַת רַב חִסְדָּא. אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ בַּת רַב חִסְדָּא: מַאן הֲוַי הָאִידָּנָא בְּבֵי דִּינָא? אֲמַר לַהּ: חוּמָא דְּבֵיתְהוּ דְּאַבָּיֵי. נָפְקָא אַבָּתְרַהּ, מָחֲתָא לָהּ בְּקוּלְפֵי דְשִׁידָּא עַד דְּאַפְּקַהּ לַהּ מִכּוּלֵּי מָחוֹזָא. אָמְרָה לַהּ: קְטַלְתְּ לִיךְ תְּלָתָא, וְאָתֵת לְמִיקְטַל אַחֲרִינָא?!
Translation
From Sefaria
The Gemara relates: Abaye’s wife, Ḥoma, came before Rava after Abaye died, as Rava was the local judge. She said to him: Apportion sustenance for me, as I am entitled to be sustained by Abaye’s heirs. Rava apportioned sustenance for her. She subsequently said to him: Apportion wine for me as well. Rava said to her: I know that Naḥmani, i.e., Abaye, did not drink wine. Since you were not accustomed to drinking wine during your husband’s lifetime, you are not entitled to it after his death. She said to him: By the Master’s life, this is not correct. In fact, he would give me wine to drink in cups [shufrazei] as large as this. She gestured with her hands to show how large the cups were. While she was showing him the size of the cups, her arm became uncovered, and she was so beautiful that it was as though a light had shined in the courtroom. Rava arose, went home, and requested intercourse from his wife, the daughter of Rav Ḥisda. The daughter of Rav Ḥisda said to him: Who was just now in the courtroom? Noticing his unusual behavior, she suspected that there must have been a woman in the court. He said to her: Ḥoma, Abaye’s wife, was there. Upon hearing this, Rava’s wife went after Ḥoma and struck her with the lock of a chest [kulpei deshida] until she drove her out of the entire city of Meḥoza, saying to her: You have already killed three men, as Abaye was your third husband, and now you come to kill another one, my husband Rava? Since you showed him your beauty, he will want to marry you.
Capping Verse
כי האי
במחוות זרועה
צוהר נעשה
שבעת ההיכלות הוארו
בעלי הדין נדמו
הכלי השבור
בא על תיקונו
ניצוץ הדיין התרומם
האם כשל כשזרע את בת חסד, ולא כיוון לבת חוכמה?
כששאלה ״מַאן הֲוַי הָאִידָּנָא בְּבֵי דִּינָא״?
כשל כשלא נכח עומק שופרזו שלו
כשל כשנקב בשם לבוש האלמנה.
בת חסד ובת חוכמה נפגעו בסוד
מכת אהבים, מכת אבל,
וזו השוכנת לה עם שלושה אבות
כוספת לך, הרביעי/ת
שתה/י
כי האי
Capping Verse Translation
Ki hai - Just so
With a gesture of her hand
She opened a portal
The seven hallways were illuminated, penetrated
The court discoursers fell silent
The broken vessel
Was restored.
The spark of the discourser was raised
Has it faltered when it aimed to unify with the daughter of compassion -
instead of the daughter of wisdom, when the first asked?
“Who was it just now in the hall of judgement?”
or was it when he did not fathom the depth of his own vessel?
or when he named the clothing of the widow?
The Daughter of Compassion and the Daughter of Wisdom collided in secret
a clash of lovers, clash of grief.
And she, who dwells with the three forefathers,
yearns for you - YOU, the fourth.
Drink up.
Ki hai - Like so.
