Editing Leviathan (section)

== Judaism ==
[[File:Lev-Beh-Ziz.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Leviathan the sea-monster, with [[Behemoth]] the land-monster and [[Ziz]] the air-monster. "And on that day were two monsters parted, a female monster named Leviathan, to dwell in the abysses of the ocean over the fountains of the waters. But the male is named Behemoth, who occupied with his breast a waste wilderness named [[Duidain]]." (1 Enoch 60:7–8)]]
[[File:מיכאל סגן-כהן, לויתן, 1983.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|''Leviathan'' (1983), a painting by [[Michael Sgan-Cohen]], the [[Israel Museum]] Collection, Jerusalem]]

Later Jewish sources describe Leviathan as a [[dragon]] who lives over the sources of the [[tehom|deep]] and who, along with the male land-monster [[Behemoth]], will be served up to the righteous at the end of time.
The [[Book of Enoch]] (60:7–9) describes Leviathan as a female monster dwelling in the watery abyss (as [[Tiamat]]), while [[Behemoth]] is a male monster living in the desert of Dunaydin ("east of Eden").<ref name=DDD/>

In the Jewish [[midrash]] (explanations of the Tanakh), it is stated that God originally produced a male and a female leviathan, but lest in multiplying the species should destroy the world, he slew the female, reserving her flesh for the banquet that will be given to the righteous on the advent of the [[Jewish Messiah|Messiah]].<ref>''Babylonian Talmud'', tractate ''Baba Bathra'' 74b.</ref><ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/> A similar description appears in [[Book of Enoch]] (60:24), which describes how the Behemoth and Leviathan will be prepared as part of an eschatological meal.

[[Rashi]]'s commentary on {{Bibleverse|Genesis|1:21|HE}} repeats the tradition:

<blockquote>'''the ... sea monsters''': The great fish in the sea, and in the words of the Aggadah (B.B. 74b), this refers to the Leviathan and its mate, for He created them male and female, and He slew the female and salted her away for the righteous in the future, for if they would propagate, the world could not exist because of them. הַתַּנִינִם is written.{{efn|
The "הַתַּנִינִם is written" reference is to a ''missing'' final letter 'י‎' ("[[yodh|yud]]"), which would denote a plural, if used. [[Rashi]] uses this to infer that the ''leviathans'' did not remain two, but were reduced to just one ''leviathan'', hence [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] [[grammatical number|grammatical singular]] spelling.
}}<ref>Gen. Rabbah 7:4, Midrash Chaseroth V'Yetheroth, Batei Midrashoth, vol 2, p. 225</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Chabad |title=Rashi's Commentary on Genesis |url=http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8165/showrashi/true |access-date=25 October 2012}}</ref></blockquote>

In the [[Talmud]] ''[[Baba Bathra]] [https://www.sefaria.org/Bava_Batra.74b.9?lang=bi 75]'' it is told that Leviathan will be slain and its flesh served as a feast to the righteous in [the] "time to com"e and its skin used to cover the tent where the banquet will take place. Those who do not deserve to consume its flesh beneath the tent may receive various vestments of Leviathan varying from coverings (for the somewhat deserving) to amulets (for the least deserving). The remaining skin of Leviathan will be spread onto the walls of Jerusalem, thereby illuminating the world with its brightness. The festival of [[Sukkot]] (Festival of Booths) therefore concludes with a prayer recited upon leaving the ''sukkah'' (booth):
: "May it be your will, Lord our God and God of our forefathers, that just as I have fulfilled and dwelt in this sukkah, so may I merit in the coming year to dwell in ''the sukkah of the skin of Leviathan''. Next year in Jerusalem."<ref>{{cite book |last=Finkel |first=Avraham |title=The Essence of the Holy Days: Insights from the Jewish sages |year=1993 |publisher=J. Aronson |location=Northvale, NJ |oclc=27935834 |isbn=0-87668-524-6 |page=99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BpCOAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>

The enormous size of Leviathan is described by [[Johanan bar Nappaha]], from whom proceeded nearly all the [[Aggadah|aggadot]] concerning this monster:
: "Once we went in a ship and saw a fish which put his head out of the water. He had horns upon which was written: 'I am one of the meanest creatures that inhabit the sea. I am three hundred miles in length, and enter this day into the jaws of the Leviathan'".<ref name="Baba Bathra 74a">Babylonian Talmud, ''Baba Bathra'' 74a.</ref><ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/>

When Leviathan is hungry, reports Rabbi Dimi in the name of Rabbi Johanan, he sends forth from his mouth a heat so great as to make all the waters of the deep boil, and if he would put his head into [[Paradise]] no living creature could endure the odor of him.<ref name="Baba Bathra 75a">Babylonian Talmud, ''Baba Bathra'' 75a.</ref> His abode is the [[Mediterranean Sea]].<ref>Babylonian Talmud, ''Bekorot'' 55b; ''Baba Bathra'' 75a.</ref><ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/>

In a legend recorded in the midrash called ''Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer'' it is stated that the fish which swallowed [[Jonah]] narrowly avoided being eaten by Leviathan, which eats one whale each day.{{efn|
The dragon is often represented in the act of partially wrapping itself on itself, with an apparent link with the commonly known snake; the combination of the dragon with the orbits of the constellations is evident, it also represents the incorruptible laws of creation and in this case the laws of the stars, as mentioned in the [[Book of Psalms]] and in particular in the [[kiddush levana]], thereby indicating the ethical balance of who, being [[tzadik]], would never allow himself to be tempted by sin.
:
The correlation with the fish Leviathan, as mentioned, thus concerns the attempt not to let oneself "be submerged by the sins of the world", so much so that in the same [[Pirkei Avot]] it is explicitly taught that God has mercy on His creatures and on Creation when the merits in the World exceed in quantity the sins of men.
:
Thus the principle of stability in the world together with "detachment from sin", while balanced by involvement in the good things that it presents to us, is sanctioned with what God says to [[King David]], warning him about "the fundamental stone of the world in correspondence with [[Jerusalem]]": It is explained that God tells King David not to insist ... because
: "otherwise the fundamental stone would have risen to the surface ... and the waters would have invaded the world again&nbsp;...".

This is precisely the messianic struggle already prophesied about Leviathan.
}}{{Cn|date=September 2024}}

The body of Leviathan, especially his eyes, possesses great illuminating power. This was the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer, who, in the course of a voyage in company with Rabbi Joshua, explained to the latter, when frightened by the sudden appearance of a brilliant light, that it probably proceeded from the eyes of Leviathan. He referred his companion to the words of [[Book of Job|Job]] 41:18:
: "By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning".<ref>Bava Batra l.c.</ref>

However, in spite of his supernatural strength, Leviathan is afraid of a small worm called "kilbit", which clings to the [[gill]]s of large fish and kills them.<ref>Shabbat 77b</ref><ref name=JewishEncyclopedia>{{Jewish Encyclopedia |title=Leviathan and Behemoth |inline=1 |first1=Emil G. |last1=Hirsch |first2=Kaufmann |last2=Kohler |first3=Solomon |last3=Schechter |first4=Isaac |last4=Broydé |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=275&letter=L |access-date=3 September 2009}}</ref>

In the eleventh-century [[piyyut]] (religious poem), ''[[Akdamut]]'', recited on ''[[Shavuot]]'' (Pentecost), it is envisioned that, ultimately, God will slaughter Leviathan, which is described as having "mighty fins" (and, therefore, a kosher fish, not an inedible snake or crocodile), and it will be served as a sumptuous banquet for all the righteous in heaven.

In the [[Zohar]], Leviathan is a metaphor for enlightenment. The Zohar remarks that the legend of the righteous eating the flesh of Leviathan at the end of the days is not literal, and merely a metaphor for enlightenment.<ref>Zohar 1:140b. See also Zohar 3:279a</ref> The Zohar also specifies in detail that the Leviathan has a mate.<ref>Zohar 1:4b</ref> The Zohar also associates the metaphor of the leviathan with the "tzaddik" or righteous in Zohar 2:11b and 3:58a. The Zohar associates it with the "briach" the pole in the middle of the boards of the tabernacle in Zohar 2:20a. Both, are associated with the [[Sefira]] of Yesod.<ref>Matuk Midvash on Zohar 2:11b</ref>

According to [[Abraham Isaac Kook]], Leviathan – a singular creature with no mate, "its tail is placed in its mouth" ([[Zohar]]) "twisting around and encompassing the entire world" ([[Rashi]] on [[Baba Batra]] 74b) – projects a vivid metaphor for the universe's underlying unity. This unity will only be revealed in the future, when the righteous will feast on Leviathan.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morrison |first1=Chanan |last2=Kook |first2=Abraham Isaac |year=2013 |title=Sapphire from the Land of Israel: A new light on weekly Torah portion from the writings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaKohen Kook |publisher=Chanan Morrison |isbn=978-1490909363 |page=91 }}</ref>