לא נשכחו ולא נאבדוNot Lost in Exile

lo nishkeḥu ve-lo ne'evduIn Gamatria ↗

A chain of witnesses, unbroken from the tanna'im to us.

Shaltiel tries a third answer: perhaps the secrets were lost in the long exile. Yehoyada gives a chain of witnesses. Sefer Yetzirah, the Bahir, the Heikhalot and the Zohar are works of the tanna'im, and even philosophers cite them: the Kuzari, Crescas, Ibn Ezra, Albo. Rav Sherira and Rav Hai Gaon wrote of the secrets; the Raavad, Ramban and Rashba say they received them from teachers. Why did the Rambam not know them? Not everyone merits every wisdom, and these books are sealed without oral keys. Later writers even report he met kabbalah late in life. In any case, philosophy shifts from one generation to the next, while the kabbalists agree with Scripture and the sages. Readings that turn Abraham's angels into a vision, Irgas says, contradict Scripture; they are not its secrets.

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