Eng Introduction to the Book of Zohar

8/12/2019 Eng Introduction to the Book of Zohar

1/28

-1-

Introduction to the Book of Zohar

1)In this introduction, I would like to clarify matters that are seemingly simple.

Matters that everyone fumbles with, and which much ink has been spilled over inattempting to clarify. Yet we have not reached a concrete and sufficient knowledge of

them. And here are the uestions!

1. "hat is our essence#

$. "hat is our role in the long chain of reality, which we are but small links of#

%. "hen we e&amine ourselves, we find ourselves to be as corrupted and as low as

can be. And when we e&amine the operator who has made us, we are compelled to be

at the highest degree, for there is none such praiseworthy as 'im. (or it is necessary

that only perfect operations will stem from a perfect operator.

). *ur mind necessitates that 'e is utterly benevolent, beyond compare. 'ow,

then, did 'e create so many creatures that suffer and agoni+e all through their lives#Is it not the nature of the good to do good, or at least not to harm so#

. 'ow is it possible, that the infinite, that has neither beginning nor end, will

produce finite, mortal, and transient creatures#

2)In order to clear all that up, we need to make some preliminary inuiries. And

not, od forbid, where it is forbidden, meaning in 'is essence, of which we have no

perception whatsoever, and thus have no thought of 'im. ut where the inuiry is

reuired, meaning an inuiry in 'is deeds, as the /orah tells us! 0know thou the od

of thy father and serve 'im, and as it says in the poem of unification! 0y your

actions we know you.Inuiry 2o. 1! 'ow can we picture a new creation, meaning something new, that

is not a part of 'im, when it is obvious to anyone of right mind that there is nothing

that is not a part of 'im# 3an one give that which one does not have#

Inuiry 2o. $! If you say that from the aspect of 'is almightiness, 'e certainly

can create e&istence from absence, meaning something new that is not in 'im, there

rises the uestion - what is that reality, that can be conceived, which has no place in

'im and is completely new#

Inuiry 2o. %! 4eals with what kabbalists have said, that a one5s soul is a part of

od, in such a way that there is no difference between 'im and the soul, but that 'e

is the 0whole and the soul is a 0part. And they5d compared it to a rock carved from

a mountain. /here is no difference between the rock and the mountain, e&cept that 'eis a 0whole and the rock is a 0part. /hus we must ask! a stone carved from the

mountain is separated from it by an a& made for that purpose, causing the separation

of the 0part from the 0whole. ut how can you picture that about 'im, that 'e will

separate a part of 'is essence to become separated from 'im, meaning a soul, to the

point that it can only be understood as part of 'is essence#

3)Inuiry 2o. )! 6ince the chariot of the 7vil 6ide and the shells are at the other

end of 'is holiness, that nothing farther remote can be conceived, how can it be

e&tracted and made from holiness, much less that it will sustain it#

Inuiry 2o. ! /he matter of the rising of the dead! 6ince the body is so

despicable, that immediately at birth it is doomed to perish and be buried.

-1-


2/28

-$-

(urthermore, the 8ohar said that before the body rots entirely, the soul cannot ascend

to its place in 'eaven, while there are still remnants of it. /herefore, why must it

return and rise at the revival of the dead# 3ould the 3reator not delight the souls

without it# 7ven more bewildering is what our sages said, that the dead are destined to

rise with their flaws, so that they will not be mistaken for another, and after that 'e

will cure their flaws. "e must understand why od would mind that they would notbe mistaken for another, that for that 'e would recreate their flaw and then would

have to cure it#

Inuiry 2o. 9! :egarding what our sages said, that man is the center of reality, that

the upper worlds and this corporeal world and everything in them were not created but

for him, and obliged man to believe that the world had been created for him. It is

seemingly hard to grasp, that for this trifle human, who grasps no more than a wisp of

this world5s reality, much less of the upper worlds, whose height is immeasurable,

that the 3reator troubled 'imself to create all this for him. And also, why would man

want all that#

4)In order to understand these uestions and inuiries, the trick is to start by

looking at the end, that is at the purpose of creation. (or nothing can be understood in

the middle of the process, but only at its end. And it is clear that there is no act

without purpose, for only the insane can be found to act purposelessly.

I know that there are those who cast over their backs the burden of /orah and

Mitzvot ;precepts


3/28

-%-

falls only on the 3reator, who created us and the nature within us, for it is clear that

'e created us and not we.

'e also knows all the ways that stem from the nature and attributes 'e created in

us. It is as we5ve said, that we have to contemplate the end of the act. /hen we will be

able to understand it all, as the saying goes! 04o not show a fool an unfinished work.

6) *ur sages have instructed that the 3reator created the world for no other

reason, but to delight 'is creatures. And here is where we must place our mind and

heart, for it is the ultimate aim of the act of the creation of the world. And we must

bear in mind, that since the thought of creation is to bestow to 'is creatures, 'e had

to create in the souls a great amount of desire to receive that which 'e had thought to

give. (or the measure of each pleasure and delight, depends on the measure of the will

to receive it. /he greater the will to receive, the greater the pleasure, and the lesser the

will, the lesser the pleasure from reception.

6o the thought of creation itself, dictates the creation of an e&cessive will to

receive, to fit the immense pleasure that 'is Almightiness thought to bestow upon thesouls. (or the great delight and the great desire must go hand in hand.

7)*nce we have learned that, we5ve come to understand the second inuiry to its

fullness, with complete clarity. (or we have learned what is the reality that one can

base clear decisions on, that is not a part of 'is essence, to the e&tent that we can say

that it is a new creation, e&istence from absence. And now, that we know for sure, that

the thought of creation is to bestow to 'is creatures, 'e necessarily created a measure

of desire to receive from 'im the bounty and delight that he had planned for them.

/hus we see that that will to receive, which certainly was not a part of 'is essence

before 'e had created it in the souls, because from whom could 'e receive, that is anovelty that is not in 'im.

And along with that we understand, according to the thought of creation, that there

was no need to create anything more than the will to receive. (or this new creation is

sufficient for 'im to fulfill the entire thought of creation, that 'e had thought to

bestow upon us. ut all the filling in the thought of creation, meaning all the benefits

'e had planned to render us, stem directly from 'is essence, and 'e has not a need to

recreate them, since they are already e&tracted, e&istence from e&istence, into the

great will to receive that is in the souls. /hus we see that the whole matter of the

renewed creation, from start to end, is only the 0will to receive.

8)2ow we5ve come to understand the words of the >abbalists in the third inuiry.

"e wondered how it was possible to say about souls that they were a part of od

above, like a stone that is carved from a mountain, there is no difference between

them e&cept that one is a ?part5 and the other is a ?whole5. And we wondered! it is one

thing to say that the stone that is carved from the mountain becomes separated by an

a& made for that purpose, but how can you say that about 'is essence# And with what

were the souls divided from 'is essence and e&cluded from the 3reator to become

creatures#

(rom the above we clearly understand that @ust as the a& cuts and divides a

physical ob@ect in two, so the spiritual change of form divides it in two. (or e&ample,

when two people love each other, you say that they cleave to one another as one body.And when they hate each other you say that they are as far from one another as the

-%-


4/28

-)-

east from the west. ut there isn5t a uestion of near or far in this case, but it goes to

show the resemblance of form, that when they are eual in form, that each loves what

the other loves and hates what the other hates, they become lovers and cleave to one

another.

And if there is some change of form between them, meaning that one of them

likes something that the other hates and such, then to the e&tent that they differ inform, they become distant and hateful to one another. And if, for e&ample, they are

opposite in form, meaning that everything one likes is hated by the other, and

everything he hates is liked by the other, they are deemed as far away from each other

as the east from the west, meaning from one end to the other.

9)And you find that in spirituality the change of form operates as the a& in the

corporeal world, and the distance between them is proportional to the oppositeness of

form. (rom this we learn that since the will to receive pleasure has been imprinted in

the souls, and since that form is absent in the 3reator, because from whom can 'e

receive, that difference of form, that the souls acuired, separates them from 'isessence, as the a& that carves a stone from the mountain. And because of that

difference of form the souls were separated from the 3reator and became creatures.

'owever, everything the souls acuire of 'is light is e&tended from 'is essence

e&istence from e&istence.

It therefore turns out that as far as the light that they receive in their vessel ;which

is the will to receive< is concerned, there is no difference between them and 'is

essence. /hat is because they receive, e&istence from e&istence, directly from 'is

essence, and the difference between the souls and 'is essence is only that the souls

are a part of 'is essence. /hat means that the amount of light they receive in their

vessel, being the will to receive, is already separated from od because it is being

received through difference of form of the will to receive, which made it a part

through which they were separated from the ?whole5 and became a ?part5. /hus, the

only difference between them is that one is a ?whole5 and the other is a ?part5, as stone

that is carved from a mountain. And scrutini+e this meticulously for it is impossible to

e&pand further on such a sublime issue.

10)2ow we can understand the fourth inuiry! how is it possible that from 'is

'oliness will emerge the chariot of defilement and shells, since it is at the other end

of 'is 'oliness and how can it be that 'e supports and sustains it# Indeed we must

first understand the essence of defilement and the shells.

>now, that it is the great will to receive, of which we said that it is the essence ofthe souls by creation. And because they are willing to receive the entire filling that is

in the thought of creation, it does not stay in that form within the souls, because if it

had, they would have had to remain eternally separated from 'im, because the

difference in form would have separated them from 'im.

And in order to mend the separation that rests upon the vessel of the souls, 'e

created all the worlds and separated them into two systems, as the verse goes! 0*ne

against the other od made them, which are the four worlds of AYA of holiness

and opposite them the four worlds of the impure AYA. And 'e imprinted the will to

bestow in AYA of holiness and removed from them the will to receive for

themselves, and placed it in the system of the impure worlds of AYA. And becauseof that they5ve become separated from the 3reator and from all the worlds of holiness.

-)-


5/28

--

(or that reason the shells are called 0dead, as the verse goes! 0sacrifices of the

dead ;salms 1=9, $Bidushin it says, that with an important man she gives and he says -

by that you are sanctified. ecause reception that is in order to delight the giver is

deemed absolute bestowal and giving. y that one buys complete adhesion with 'im,

for the spiritual adhesion is no more than identicalness of form, as our sages said that

0one does not cleave to 'im, but to 'is attributes, and by that a man becomes

worthy of receiving the delight and pleasure and the gentleness within the thought of

creation.

12)/hus we have clearly e&plained the correction of the will to receive that is

imprinted in the souls by the thought of creation. (or 'e has prepared for them twosystems of worlds, one against the other, through which the souls pass and divide into

two aspects, body and soul, and dress one in the other.

And through /orah andMitzvotthey finally turn the will to receive to be as the

will to bestow, and then they can receive all the pleasures in the thought of creation.

And along with it they acuire a solid adhesion with 'im because through the work in

/orah andMitzvotthey have attained sameness of form with their Maker, which is

deemed the end of correction. And then, since there is no longer a need for the evil

*ther 6ide, it shall be eliminated from the earth and death shall cease forever. And all

the labour that was given to the world over the past si& thousand years, and to each

person for the duration of his seventy years of life, is only in order to bring them tothe end of correction, to the above-mentioned sameness of form.

--


6/28

-9-

/he issue of the formation and e&tension of the system of the shells and impurity

from 'is 'oliness is also thoroughly clear now, that it had to be in order to e&tend by

it the creation of the bodies, which would then correct it through /orah and Mitzvot.

And if our bodies, with their corrupted will to receive, would not have been e&tended

through the impure system, we would never have been able to correct it, for one

cannot correct that which is not in him.

13) Indeed we still have to understand, how could the will to receive have

e&tended from the thought of creation in the Infinite, whose unity is beyond words

and beyond description, when it is so flawed and corrupted# Indeed, by the very

thought to create the souls, 'is thought completes it all, for 'e does not need an act

the way we do. And right away there came to be all the souls and worlds that were

destined to be created, filled with all the delight and pleasure and the gentleness 'e

had planned for them to have, in the final perfection that the souls were destined to

receive at the end of correction, meaning after the will to receive in the souls has been

fully corrected and turned into pure bestowal, completely identical to the emanator./hat is because in 'is 7ternalness, the past and present are as one, and the future

is as the present and in 'im there is no such thing as time. And because of that there

was never the issue of the corrupted will to receive in its separated state in the

Infinite.

*n the contrary, that identicalness of form, destined to be revealed at the end of

correction, appeared instantly in the Infinite. And our sages said about that! 0efore

the world had been created there were 'e and 'is name as one. (or the separated

form of the will to receive had not been revealed in the reality of the souls that

e&tended in the thought of creation, rather they were cleaved to 'im in sameness of

form, as 0'e is one and 'is name one.

14)/hus you necessarily find that on the whole, there are three situations to the

soul!

1st situation - /heir presence in Infinity in the thought of creation, where they

already have the future form of the 7nd of 3orrection.

$ndsituation - /heir presence in the si& thousand years, which were divided by the

above two systems into a body and a soul, when the work in /orah andMitzvotwas

given to them, in order to invert their will to receive and turn it to a will to bestow

contentment to their Maker, and not to themselves at all. 4uring that time there will

be no correction to the bodies, only to the souls. /hat means that they have to

eliminate any aspect of reception for themselves, and remain with but a will to

bestow, which is the form of the will in the souls. 7ven the souls of the righteous will

not be able to re@oice in 'eaven after their departure, but only after the body rots in

the dust.

%rdsituation - /hat is the state of the 7nd of 3orrection of the souls, after the

revival of the dead. At that time the complete correction will come to the bodies, for

then the reception itself, which is the shape of the body, will take on the form of pure

bestowal, and become worthy of receiving for themselves all the delight and pleasure

and goodness in the thought of creation. And with all that they will attain solid

adhesion because of their euivalence of form with their Maker, since he now takes

complete delight in bestowal. And in short I5ll use from now on the names of these

-9-


7/28

-F-

three situations, meaning 1stsituation, $ndsituation and %rdsituation. And remember all

that is said here in every situation.

15)"hen you e&amine the above three situations, you5ll find that one completely

necessitates the other, in a way that if one were to be cancelled, the others would be

cancelled too.

If, for e&ample, the third situation, which is the conversion of the form of

reception to bestowal, had not materiali+ed, then certainly the first situation would

never have materiali+ed as well.

It is because the perfection did not materiali+e there, only because the future third

situation had already been materiali+ed there as though it were present. And all the

perfection that was pictured there in that state is like a reflection from the future into

the present, but if the future could be cancelled, there would not be any present.

/herefore the third situation necessitates the e&istence of the first.

All the more so, when something of the second situation is cancelled, because

there is where all the work that is destined to be over in the third situation, meaningthe work of corruption and correction and the continuance of the degrees. /hus how

will the third situation come to be# /herefore we see that the second situation

necessitates the e&istence of the third.

And so it is with the e&istence of the first situation in infinity, where the perfection

of the third situation resides. It definitely necessitates that it will be adapted, meaning

that the second and third situations materiali+e, in complete perfection, no less and no

more in any way.

/hus, the first situation itself necessitates the materiali+ation of two opposite

systems in the second situation in order to allow the e&istence of a body in the will to

receive, which has been corrupted by the system of impurity, thus enabling us tocorrect it. And if there hadn5t been a system of impure worlds, we would not have that

will to receive, and we could not have corrected it and come to the third situation, for

0one cannot correct that which is not in him. /hus we need not ask how the impure

system came to be from the first situation, for it is the very first situation that

necessitates its materiali+ation and that form of e&istence in the second situation.

16)/herefore, one must not wonder at how it was that the choice had been taken

from us, since we must be completed and come to the third situation, since it is

already present in the first. /he thing is that there are two ways the 3reator has set for

us in the second situation to bring us to the third situation!A< /he ath of observing /orah andMitzvot.

< /he ath of ain, since the pain refines the body and will eventually compel us

to convert our will to receive to take on the form of a will to bestow and cleave to

'im. It is as our sages said - 0If you repent, fine, and if not, I will place over you a

king such as 'aman, and he will make you repent. *ur sages said! 0If they are

granted, I will hasten their time, if not, in due time.

/hat means that if, we are granted, through the first path, meaning by observing

/orah andMitzvot, we thus hasten our correction, and we do not need the harsh agony

and the lengthening of time that they take in order to compel us to reform. And if not -

0in due time. /hat means that only when the pain will complete our correction and

the time of correction will be forced upon us. *n the whole, the ath of ain is also

-F-


8/28

-B-

the punishments of the souls in 'ell. ut the 7nd of 3orrection, which is the third

situation, is an utter must, one way or the other, because of the first situation. *ur

choice is only between the ath of ain and the ath of /orah and Mitzvot. /hus we

have made it very clear how the three situations of the souls are connected to one

another and necessitate one another.

17)(rom all the above we thoroughly understand the third inuiry, that when we

e&amine ourselves, we find ourselves to be corrupted and despicable as can be. ut

when we e&amine the 3reator who created us, we must be e&alted for there is no

higher than 'im, as becoming of the 3reator who created us, because the nature of the

complete is to perform complete acts.

2ow we can understand, that our body, with all its little incidents and possessions

is not our real body, since our real body, the eternal and complete body, already e&ists

in Infinity, in the first situation, where it takes its perfect form from the future third

situation, meaning receiving in the form of bestowal, that is euali+ed in form with

the 3reator.And if our first situation necessitates that we receive the shell of that body in the

second situation, in its corrupted and loathsome form, which is the will to receive for

himself alone, which is the force that separates us from the infinite so as to correct it

and allow us to receive our eternal body in practice, in the third situation, we need not

protest against it. *ur work cannot be done, but in a body as transitory and as wasteful

as ours, for 0one does not correct that which is not in him.

/hus we already are in that perfect, worthy state, adapted to the perfect operator

who has made us in that second situation, for this body does not defect us in any way,

since it is going to e&pire and die and is only here for the time necessary for its

cancellation and reception of our eternal form.

18)"ith that we settle the fifth inuiry! how could it be that from the eternal

would e&tend transitory, wasteful actions# And we see that indeed they have already

been e&tended as they should, worthy of 'is eternalness, meaning eternal and perfect

beings. And our eternalness necessitates that the shell of the body had been given to

us only for a transitory, wasteful work, for if it had stayed in eternity, we would have

remained separated from the Cife of Cives for all eternity.

"e5ve said before ;item 1%


9/28

-G-

ut this agony is felt only by the shell of our body, created only to be perished and

buried. And that teaches us that the will to receive for himself, is created only to be

eradicated, abolished from the world and turn it into a will to bestow. And the pains

we suffer are but discoveries of its nothingness and the harm in it. Indeed, when all

human beings agree to abolish and eradicate their will to receive for themselves, and

have no other desire but to bestow upon their friends, all worries and @eopardy in theworld would cease to e&ist. And we would all be assured of a healthy and complete

life, since for each and every one of us there would be a whole world ready to satisfy

his every need.

Indeed, when everyone has only the will to receive for himself, from here

originate the pains, the wars and slaughter which we cannot escape. /hey weaken our

bodies with all sorts of sores and maladies and you find that all the agonies in our

world are but manifestations that are offered to our eyes, so as to push us to annul the

evil shell of the body and take on the complete form of the will to bestow. And it is as

we5ve said, that the ath of ain in itself can bring us to the desired form. ear in

mind that theMitzvot;precepts< between man and his friends come before theMitzvot

between man and od, because the bestowal to his friend brings him to bestow to his

Maker.

20)After all that we5ve said, we come to the resolution of the first inuiry! what is

our essence# *ur essence is as the essence of all the details of reality, which is no

more and no less than the will to receive. ut it is not as it is now in the second

situation, which is the will to receive for himself alone, but as it stands in the first

situation in infinity, meaning in its eternal form, which is reception in order to bestow

contentment to his Maker.

And although we have not yet actually reached the third situation, and still we

lack time, it does not in any way alter our essence, because our third situation is

necessitated from our first. /hus 0All that is bound to be collected, is deemed

collected. And the lack of time is regarded a deficiency only when there is a doubt of

whether or not he will complete what needs to be completed in that time.

And since we have no doubt about that, it is as though we have already come to

the third situation, and the body, given to us in its present corrupted form, in no way

flaws our essence, since it and all its possessions are to be eradicated completely

along with the whole impure system, from which they originate. 0And all that is

bound to be burned, is deemed burned, and regarded as though it never e&isted.

Indeed the soul that is dressed in that body, whose essence is also made up only of

a will, but a will to bestow that is e&tended from the four worlds of the holy AYAe&ists forever. (or that new form of will to bestow is euali+ed in form with the Cife

of Cives and is not in any way e&changeable.

21)And do not be led astray by the philosophers who say that the very essence of

the soul is a substance of the mind, and that it only e&ists through the concepts it

learns and from there it grows and they are its essence. And the uestion of the

continuance of the soul after the departure of the body depends solely on the e&tent of

concepts it has acuired, until in the absence of such concepts, there remains nothing

to continue. /hat is not the opinion of /orah. It is also unaccepted by the heart, and

anyone who ever tried to acuire some knowledge knows and feels that the mind itselfis a possession not the possessor.

-G-


10/28

-1=-

ut as we5ve said, all the substance of the renewed creation, both the substance of

the spiritual ob@ects and the substance of the corporeal ob@ects, is no more and no less

than a will to receive. And although we said that the soul is all will to bestow, it is

only through corrections of returning light that it receives from the upper worlds.

Indeed, the very essence of the soul is also a will to receive. /he difference that

we can tell between one ob@ect and the other is therefore apparent only in its will, forthe will in any essence creates needs, and the needs create thoughts and concepts so as

to attain those needs, which the will to receive necessitates their reception.

And @ust as human desires differ from one another, so are their needs, thoughts

and ideas. (or instance, those whose will to receive is limited to beastly desires, their

needs, thoughts and ideas all aim to satisfy that desire in its entire beastliness. And

although they use the mind and reason as humans do, it is, however, enough for the

slave to be as his master. And it is as a beastly mind, since the mind is enslaved and

serves the beastly desire.

And those whose will to receive takes mainly human desires, such as domination,

over others and respect, which are absent in the beast, the ma@ority of their needs,thoughts and ideas revolve solely around satisfying that desire as much as they can.

And those whose desire is mainly for knowledge, the ma@ority of their needs, thoughts

and ideas are to satisfy that desire as much as they can.

22)/hese three desires are mostly present in every person, but they mingle in

different uantities, and hence the changes from one person to the another. And from

the corporeal attributes we can deduce about the spiritual ob@ects, relating to their

spiritual value.

23)'uman souls also, the spiritual ones, through the dresses of the returning lightreceived from the upper worlds from which they come, have only the will to bestow

contentment to their Maker, and that will is their essence. It turns out that once

dressed in a human body, it generates needs and desires and ideas to satisfy the will to

bestow to its fullest, meaning to bestow contentment to the Maker, proportional to the

si+e of the will.

24)6ince the essence of the body is but a will to receive for itself, and all its

manifestations and possessions are fulfillments of that corrupted will to receive,

which had initially been created so as to be e&terminated from the world in order to

come to the complete third situation at the 7nd of 3orrection, therefore making ittransitory and mortal. It is, along with all its possessions, as a fleeting shadow, leaving

nothing when it5s gone.

And since the essence of the soul is but a will to bestow, and all its manifestations

and possessions are fulfillments of that will to bestow, which already e&ists in the

eternal first situation and in the future third situation, therefore it is immortal and

irreplaceable. /he soul, with all its manifestations is eternal and e&ists forever.

Absence does not apply to them upon the departure of the body. *n the contrary, the

absence of the corrupted form of the body, greatly strengthens it, thus enabling it to

rise to the 'eavens. /hus we have clearly shown that the persistence of the soul in no

way depends upon the concepts it has acuired, as philosophers claim, but its

eternality is in its very essence, meaning in its will to bestow, which is its essence.And the concepts it acuires are its reward, not its essence.

-1=-


11/28

-11-

25)(rom here we come up with the full solution of the fifth inuiry! since the

body is so corrupted that the soul cannot reside in it before it rots in the ground, why

does it return at the revival of the dead# And also the uestion about the words of our

sages! 0/he dead are destined to be revived with their defects, so that they5ll not be

mistaken for another.

And you will clearly understand it from the thought of creation itself, meaning

from the first situation. ecause we5ve said that since the thought of creation was to

delight 'is creatures, it necessitates that 'e must have created an overwhelmingly

e&aggerated desire, to receive that great bounty in the thought of creation. (or 0the

great delight and the great will to receive go hand in hand. And we5ve stated there,

that this e&aggerated will to receive is all the renewed substance that 'e had created,

for 'e needs nothing more in order to carry out the thought of creation. And it is the

nature of the perfect worker, that 'e does not perform anything needlessly, as the

poem goes! 0of all your work not a thing was forgotten, you did not subtract and you

did not add."e have also said there, that this e&aggerated will to receive, has been removed

completely from the holy system and was given to the system of the impure worlds,

from which e&tend the bodies of this world and their livelihood. Hntil a man reaches

thirteen years of age, and through the work in /orah and Mitzvotbegins to attain a

holy soul, at which time he is nourished by the system of the holy worlds, to the

e&tent of the si+e of the holy soul he has attained.

"e have also said above, that during the si& thousand years that are given to us

for work in /orah and Mitzvot, no correction comes to the body, meaning to its

e&aggerated will to receive. All the corrections that come through our work amount

only toNefesh, which by that climbs the degrees of holiness, which means only the

enhancement of the will to bestow, that e&tends with the soul.

(or that reason the body is bound to die, be buried and rot, because it has not been

corrected in any way. ut indeed it cannot remain that way, for if he should abolish

the e&aggerated will to receive, the thought of creation could, od forbid, not be

carried out. Meaning that all the great pleasures that 'e thought to bestow upon the

creatures will not be received, for 0the great will to receive and the great pleasure go

hand in hand. And to the e&tent that the will diminishes, so diminish the delight and

pleasure from reception.

26)"e have already stated that the first situation necessitates the third situation,

to fully materiali+e as was in the thought of creation, not omitting a single thing./herefore, the first situation necessitates the revival of the dead. /hat means that their

e&cessive will to receive, which had already been eradicated and rotten in the second

situation, must now be revived in all its e&aggerated measure, with no restraints

whatsoever, meaning with all its flaws.

/hen begins the work anew, in order to convert that e&cessive will to receive in

order to bestow. And then we will have doubled our gain!

/hat we have a place in which to receive all the delight and pleasure and the

gentleness in the thought of creation, since we already have the body with its greatly

e&cessive will to receive, which goes hand in hand with these pleasures.

6ince our reception in that manner will only be in order to bestow contentment toour Maker, that reception will be regarded as complete bestowal. And that would

-11-


12/28

-1$-

bring us to euivalence of form, which is adhesion, which is our form in the third

situation. /hus we see that the first situation necessitates the revival of the dead.

27) Indeed there cannot be a revival of the dead, but only near the 7nd of

3orrection, that is toward the end of the second situation. (or once we have been

granted the denial of our e&cessive will to receive and have been granted the will to

bestow alone, and once we5ve been endowed with all the wonderful degrees of the

soul, calledNefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, Yechida, through our work at negating

that will to receive, we have come to the greatest perfection, until the body could be

revived with all its e&cessive will to receive, and we are no longer harmed by it and

separated from holiness because of it.

*n the contrary, we overcome it and give it the form of bestowal. And indeed that

is done with every corrupted attribute that we want to remove from it. /hat at first we

must remove it completely, until there is nothing left. /hen we can receive it again

and conduct it through the middle line. And as long as we have not fully removed it, it

is impossible to conduct it in the desired middle line form.

28)*ur sages said! 0/he dead are destined to be revived with their flaws and then

be healed. /hat means that in the beginning the same body is revived, which is the

e&cessive will to receive, without any restraints, meaning @ust as it grew under the

nourishment of the impure worlds before the /orah andMitzvothave corrected it in

any way. And that is the meaning of - in all their flaws.

And then we embark on a new kind of labour - to insert all that e&aggerated will

to receive in the form of bestowal. /hen it is healed, because it now attained

euivalence of form. And they said that reason is that 0no one can say that it is

another. Meaning that it cannot be said about it that it is in a different form from theone it had in the thought of creation, since there stands that e&cessive will to receive,

aiming to receive all the bounty in the thought of creation.

It is only that in the meantime it5s been given to the shells for purification. ut in

the end, there must not be a different body. (or if it were diminished in any way, it

would be deemed entirely different and unworthy of receiving all the bounty in the

thought of creation as it received is the first situation.

29)2ow we can resolve the above second inuiry! what is our role in the long

chain of reality that we are but tiny links of, during the short span of our days# ear in

mind that our work along the seventy years of our days is divided in four!1stdivision - It is to attain the e&cessive will to receive without restraints, in its

entire corrupted multitude from under the hands of the four worlds of the impure

AYA. (or if we do not have that corrupted will to receive, we cannot correct it, for

0one cannot correct that which is not in him.

/hus, the will to receive that is given at birth is not enough, but it must be a cradle

to the impure shells, for no less than thirteen years. /hat means that the shells must

dominate it and give it their lights, for their lights increase its will to receive. /hat is

because the fillings that the shells supply the will to receive with only increase the

desire of the will to receive.

(or e&ample, when an infant is born, he has a desire for the smallest things and no

more. 'owever, when the 7vil 6ide fills up its measure, it immediately grows and he

-1$-


13/28

-1%-

wants twice as much. /hen, when the 7vil 6ide gives him the doubled amount, he

instantly wants four times the amount. And if he does not overcome it through /orah

andMitzvotand turns it into bestowal, it increases throughout his life, until eventually

he dies without attaining half his desires. /hat is regarded that he is at the hand of the

7vil 6ide and the shells, whose role is to e&pand and increase his will to receive and

make it e&aggerated and unrestrained in any way, so as to provide one with all thematerial he needs to work with and repair.

30)$nddivision - (rom thirteen years and on. At that point the point in his heart,

which is the posterior of holiness, is given strength. Although it is dressed in his will

to receive at birth, it only begins to awaken after thirteen years, and then one begins to

enter the system of the holy worlds, to the e&tent that one observes /orah and Mitzvot.

And its primary role is to attain and increase the spiritual will to receive, because

at the moment of birth one has only a will to receive material things. /herefore,

although one has attained the e&cessive will to receive before he turned thirteen, it is

not yet the completion of the growth of the will to receive, for the primer growth ofthe will to receive relates only to spirituality.

ecause if, for e&ample, before he turned thirteen he desired to take in all the

wealth and respect in this corporeal world, which is apparently not eternal, and for all

of us is but a fleeting shadow. "hereas when he attains the e&cessive spiritual will to

receive he wants to swallow - for his own delight - all the wealth and delights in the

eternal upper world, which is an eternal possession. /hus the ma@ority of the

e&cessive will to receive is completed only with the will to receive spirituality.

31)*ur sages say - 0/he leech has two daughters, crying, give, give ;roverbs %=,

1


14/28


15/28

-1-

to materiali+e all at once, but by the preceding three phases that gradually e&pose and

develop it, until its form has been completed.

35)In the first phase of the will to receive, called still, which is the preliminary

e&posure of the will to receive in this corporeal world, there is but a general

movement that includes the whole of the still category. ut in particular items there

isn5t any movement apparent. /hat is because the will to receive generates needs and

the needs generate sufficient movement, enough to attain what it needs. And since

there is only a small will to receive, it dominates the whole of the category at once,

but its power over the particular items is indistinguishable.

36)/he vegetative is added to it, which is the second phase of the will to receive.

Its si+e is larger than the still and its will to receive dominates each and every item of

the category, because each item has its own individual movement that spreads up and

down and to the sides, and moves where the sun shines. /he matter of eating and

drinking and e&traction of waste is also apparent in each item. 'owever, it still lacksan independent, individual sensation to each item.

37)*ver that comes the animate category, which is the third phase of the will to

receive. Its measure is already completed to a great e&tent, for this will to receive

already generates in each separate item an individual independent sensation, which is

the life that is uniue to each item separately. ut they do not yet have the sensation

of others, meaning that they haven5t the preparation necessary to participate in the

others5 pains or their @oys etc.

38)Above all comes the human species, which is the fourth phase of the will toreceive. It is the complete and final measure, and its will to receive includes the

sensation of others as well. And if you wish to know the precise difference between

the will to receive in the third phase that is in the animate, and the fourth phase of the

will to receive in man, I shall tell you that it is as the worth of a single creature against

the whole of reality. (or the will to receive in the animate, which lacks the sensation

of others, can only generate needs and desires to the e&tent that they are imprinted in

that creature alone.

"hereas man, who can feel others, becomes needy of everything that others have

too, and is thus filled with envy to acuire everything that others have too. "hen he

has a certain share, he wants to double it, therefore his needs forever multiply until hewants to swallow all that there is in the whole world.

39)And after we5ve shown that the purpose the 3reator desires of creation is to

bestow upon 'is creatures, so that they may know 'is genuineness and greatness, and

receive all the delight and pleasure 'e had prepared for them, as the verse goes!

07phraim my dear son, a darling child ;Eeremiah %1, 1G


16/28


17/28

-1F-

ina, Tifferet, Malchut, where the five Cights J NRNHY are dressed, which

correspond to the five worlds.

And besides the five 6efirot KHBTMin each world there are the four spiritual

categories J 6till, egetative, Animate, 6peaking J where the soul of man is regarded

as the 6peaking in that world, and the Animate is regarded as the angels in that world.

/he egetative category is called dresses and the 6till are called the halls. And theyall dress one over the other - the 6peaking, which are the souls of people, dress in the

five odly 6efirot JKHBTMJ in that place. /he Animate, which are the angels dress

over the souls, the egetative - which are the dresses J dress the angels and the 6till J

which are halls J revolve around them all.

/he dressing means that they serve one another and evolve one from the other, as

we have clarified with the corporeal 6till, egetative, Animate and 6peaking of this

world, that the three categories J 6till, egetative, Animate J did not e&tend

independently, but only so that the fourth category, which is man, may evolve and rise

by them. /herefore, their whole purpose is to serve man and be useful to him.

And so it is in all the spiritual worlds. /he three categories J 6till, egetative,Animate J in that world e&tend only in order to serve and be useful to the 6peaking in

that world, which is the soul of man. /herefore it is deemed that they all dress over

man5s soul, meaning to serve him.

43)"hen man is born, he immediately receives a holy soul. ut not an actual

soul, but the posterior of it, meaning its last category, which is called a 0point

because of it smallness. And it dresses in a man5s heart, meaning in his will to

receive, which is found primarily in a man5s heart.

And know this rule, for all that you5ll find in reality in general, you will also find

in every world, even in the smallest particles of it. /hat @ust as there are five worlds inreality, which are the five SefirotKHBTM, so there are five SefirotKHBTMin each

and every world, and there are five 6efirot in the smallest particle of that world.

/hus we have stated that this world is divided into 6till, egetative, Animate and

6peaking ;6A6eter. Indeed even in the smallest particle of each species

in the 6A6 there are four inner categories of 6A6, so that in a single item of the

speaking species, meaning even in one person, there are also 6A6, which are the

four parts of his will to receive, where the point from holiness is dressed.

44)7arlier than thirteen years of age there cannot be any detection of the point in

his heart. ut after thirteen years, when he begins to delve in /orah and Mitzvot, even

without any intention, meaning without any love and fear, as there should be with

someone who serves the king, even LoLishma, the point in his heart begins to grow

and reveal its action.

Mitzvotdo need not an aim, and even aimless acts can purify his will to receive,

but only in the first degree, called 6till. And to the e&tent that he purifies the still part

of the will to receive he builds the si& hundred and thirteen organs of the point in the

heart, which is the 6till of the holy Nefesh. And when all si& hundred and thirteen

Mitzvotare completed in action, that completes the si& hundred and thirteen organs of

the point in the heart, which is the 6till part of the holy Nefesh, whose two hundredand forty-eight spiritual organs are built through the observance of the two hundred

-1F-


18/28

-1B-

and forty-eight positive Mitzvot;precepts that you have to perform in action J the

translator


19/28

-1G-

/he vessel of Bia is finer still than Tifferet, and the light it e&tends from the

Infinite relates to the purification of the animate part of man5s body, and it is called

the light ofNeshama.

/he finest of all is the vessel of Hochma. /he Cight it e&tends relates to the

purification of the speaking part of man5s body. It is called the light of Haya, and its

action is beyond measurement.

47) In PartzufNefesh, which man has attained through observing /orah and

Mitzvot without intent, there already dresses a point from the light of Ruach. And

when one strives to observe /orah andMitzvotwith the desired intent, he purifies the

vegetative part of his will to receive and to that e&tent builds the point of Ruachinto a

Partzuf, that by performing the $)B positiveMitzvotwith the right intent, the point

e&pands through its $)B spiritual organs. And by observing the %9 negativeMitzvot,

the point e&pands through its %9 tendons.

"hen it is completed with all 91% organs, it rises and dresses over the Sefiraof

Tifferet in the spiritual world of Assiya that e&tends to him from infinity a greaterlight, called the light ofRuach, which comes against the purification of the vegetative

part of a man5s body. And all the items of still, vegetative and animate in the world of

Assiya, which relate to the stature of Tifferet, aid man5s art+uf ofRuachin receiving

the lights from Tifferetin all its entirety, as was done before in the Cight of Nefesh.

ecause of that it is called 06acred egetative.

/he nature of its light is as the corporeal vegetative, where one can differentiate

substantial movement in each item, so is the spiritual light of vegetative able to light

ways to each and every organ of the 91% organs in the PartzufofRuach, each of them

indicates to the action related to that organ. "ith the e&tension of the Partzuf of

Ruachthere also e&tended the point of the ne&t in height degree, meaning a point ofthe light ofNeshama, which dresses in its internality.

48)And by observing the secrets of /orah andMitzvothe purifies the animate part

of his will to receive, and builds the point of theNeshama, dressed in him in its $)B

organs and %9 tendons. "hen the construction is completed and it becomes a

Partzuf, it rises and dresses the Sefiraof ina in the spiritual world ofAssiya, which

is much finer than the preceding vessels J TifferetandMalchut. y that it e&tends a

great Cight from infinity, which dresses inside the vessel.

And all the items of 6till, egetative and Animate in the world of Assiya that

relate to the degree ofBiaaid man5sPartzufof Neshamareceive all its Cights from

the SefiraofBia. And it is also called 0sacred animate because it corresponds to the

purification of the animate part of man5s body. And so is the nature of its Cight, as

we5ve seen with the corporeal animate ;chap %F


20/28

-$=-

49)And when he has attained the great light called Neshama, where each of the

91% organs of that Partzuf light in its own uniue way, each as an independent

Partzuf, opens before him the possibility to observe each Mitzvaaccording to its

genuine intent, for each organ of the Partzuf of Neshama lights the path of each

Mitzvathat is related to that organ.

And through the great strength of those lights he purifies the speaking part of hiswill to receive and turns it into a will to bestow. And the point of the light of Haya,

which is dressed within its spiritual $)B organs and %9 tendons, builds accordingly.

"hen it is completed into a whole Partzuf it rises and dresses the Sefira of

Hochma in the spiritual world of Assiya, which is an immeasurably fine vessel.

/herefore it e&tends a tremendous light from infinity called the light of Haya or

0Neshama to Neshama. And all the 6till, egetative, and Animate details inAssiya

that relate to the Sefiraof Hochmaaid him in receiving the light of Hochma to the

fullest.

And it is also called the 6acred 6peaking, corresponding to the purification of the

speaking part of a man5s body. And the stature of that light in odliness is as thestature of the speaking in the corporeal world, meaning that he attains the sensation of

others. /hus, the measure of that light over the measure of the spiritual 6till,

egetative and Animate is as the measure of the corporeal 6peaking over the

corporeal 6till, egetative and Animate. And the light of infinity dressed in that

Partzufis called! 0Yechida.

50)Indeed you must know that these five Cights J NRNHYJ that were received

from the world ofAssiya are no more than aNRNHYof the Cight ofNefeshand as yet

have nothing of the Cight ofRuach. /hat is because the Cight ofRuachis only present

from the world of Yetzira onwards, and the Cight of Neshama from the world ofBeria, and the Cight ofHayafromAtzilutand YechidafromAK.

ut everything that is in the general is found in the particular as well, and to the

smallest possible detail. /hus there is the whole of the NRNHYin the world ofAssiya

as well, although it is onlyNRNHYof Nefesh. And by the same principle there is a

NRNHYin Yetzira, which is aNRNHYof Ruach. And there is aNRNHYof Neshama

inBeria, aNRNHYofHayainAtzilutand aNRNHYof Yechida inAK. /he difference

between each world is as we5ve specified before regarding the difference between

each of theNRNHYofAssiya.

51)And know that repentance and purification cannot be accepted unless they are

totally permanent, that there he will not turn back to folly, as the verse goes! 0how do

we tell a true Tshuva;repentance


21/28

-$1-

their purification does not have to be permanent, 0until 'e who knows all mysteries

will testify that he will not turn back to folly.

/hat is because the whole of the world ofAssiya, with all its fiveKHBTMSefirot,

are actually no more thanMalchutwhich relates only to the purification of the still.

And the five Sefirotare but the five parts ofMalchut.

/herefore, since he has already attained the purification of the still part of the will

to receive, he already euali+es in form with the world ofAssiya. ut since each and

every Sefirafrom the world ofAssiyareceives from its corresponding Sefira in the

higher worlds, for e&ample J Tifferetof Assiyareceives from the world of Yetzirah,

which is all Tifferetand the Cight ofRuach.BiaofAssiya receives from the world of

Beria, which is allNeshama. Hochma of Assiya receives from Atzilut, which is all

Hochmaand the Cight ofHaya.

/hus, although he has permanently purified only the still part, if he has purified

the remaining three parts of his will to receive, even though he has not done so

permanently, he can still receive the Cights of Ruach, Neshama and Haya from

Tifferet,BiaandHochmaofAssiya, although not permanently. /hat is because whenone of these three parts of the will to receive has awakened, it immediately loses these

Cights.

52)After he permanently purifies the vegetative part of his will to receive he

permanently rises to the world of Assiya, where he attains the permanent degree of

Ruach. /here he can also attain the lights of Neshama and Haya from ina and

Hochma of Yetzira, regarded as Neshama andHaya of Ruacheven before he has

purified the animate and speaking parts permanently, as we5ve seen in the world of

Assiya. (or after he has permanently purified the vegetative part of his will to receive

he is already in euivalence of form with the whole of the world of Yetzira, to itshighest degree.

53)After he purifies the animate part of his will to receive and turns it into a will

to bestow 0until 'e who knows all mysteries will testify that he will not turn back to

folly, he is already in euivalence of form with the world of Beriaand he rises and

permanently receives the light of Neshama. And through the purification of the

speaking part of his body he can rise up to the SefiraofHochmaand receive the light

ofHaya, although he has not yet permanently purified it, as with Assiyaand Yetzira.

ut the light that he receives is also not permanent.

54)And when he permanently purifies the speaking part in him he attains the

euivalence of form with the world of Atzilut, and he rises and permanently receives

the light ofHaya. And when he rises higher still, he attains the light of infinity and the

light of Yechidadresses in the light ofHaya, and here there is nothing more to add.

55)And thus elucidates our uestion! what does man need the upper worlds that

the 3reator created for# "hat need has he of them# (or now you5ll see that it is

impossible for man to attain bringing contentment to his Maker, but through the aid of

these worlds. (or he attains the lights and the degrees of his soul, called NRNHY,

according to the measure of the purity of the will to receive. And in each degree that

he attains, the lights of that degree in the purification aid him.

-$1-


22/28

-$$-

/hus he rises in degrees until he attains the amusements of the purpose of the aim

that is in the thought of creation ;see chap %%


23/28

-$%-

And so it is with my commentary to the 8ohar. ecause there has not yet been

created the way to clarify these most profound of words. ut nonetheless I have

constructed a path and an entrance for all, that using it they can rise and scrutini+e in

depth the book of 8ohar itself, for only then will my purpose of this commentary be

completed.

59)And all those who know the ins and outs of the holy book of 8ohar, that is

who understand what is written in it, unanimously agree that it was composed by the

odly /anna ;sage< :abbi 6himon ar Yochai. *nly those who are far from this

wisdom doubt this origin and tend to say, relying on opponents5 fabricated tales that

its composer is :abbi Moshe 4e Ceon, or others of his time.

60)And as for me, since the day I have been endowed with a glance into this holy

book through the Cight of od, it has not crossed my mind to uestion its origin, for

the simple reason that the content of the book brings to my heart the merit of the

/anna :abbi 6himon ar Yochai far more than all other sages. And if I were toclearly see that its composer is some other name, such as :abbi Moshe 4e Ceon, than

I would praise his merit more than all other sages, including :abbi 6himon ar

Yochai.

Indeed, @udging by the depth of the wisdom of this book, if I were to find that its

writer is one of the forty-eight prophets, I would have found it a lot more acceptable

than to relate it to one of the sages, and even more so if I were to find that Moses

himself received it from the Cord on Mt. 6inai. /hen my mind would really be at

peace, for such a composition is worthy of him. /herefore, since I have been blessed

with presenting an interpretation that enables every e&aminer to understand its

content, I think I am completely e&cused from bringing myself into that e&amination./hat is because any e&aminer of the 8ohar will settle now for no less than the /anna

:abbi 6himon ar Yochai as its writer.

61)/hat brings us to the uestion! why was the 8ohar not revealed to the early

generations, whose merit was undoubtedly greater than later ones and they were more

worthy# "e must also ask, why was the commentary on the 8ohar not revealed

before the time of the A:I, why was it not revealed to his predecessors# And most

perple&ing of all! why were the words of the A:I and the commentary on the 8ohar

not revealed until today#

/he answer is that the world, during the si& thousand years of its e&istence, is like

one Partzuf that is divided into three parts! head, interior, end, meaning J HB!

;Hochma, Bia, !aat


24/28

-$)-

world, which is /orah. /herefore the middle millenniums are called /orah. And the

last millenniums are vessels ofNHYM ;Netzah, Hod, Yesod, Malchut


25/28

-$-

64)Indeed our sages have asked about this! 0:abbi apa said to Avy! 'ow were

the first different that a miracle had happened to them, and how are we different that a

miracle does not happen to us. Is it because of the study# 4uring the years of :abbi

Yehuda the whole study was 2e+ikin ;section of the /almud J 3.:.


26/28

-$9-

internality, for the good of his soul, and a minor effort, the mere necessity, to sustain

his 2ations of the "orld, meaning his bodily needs, as it says ;Avot 1< - 0make your

/orah permanent and your labor transient, by that he makes - in the internality and

e&ternality of the world - the 6ons of Israel soar upwards and the 2ations of the

"orld, which are the general e&ternality, recogni+e and acknowledge the value of the

6ons of Israel.And if, od forbid, the contrary occurs, that a person from Israel enhances and

regards his e&ternality, which is the 2ations of the "orld in him, higher than the

Israel in him - as it says ;4euteronomy $B< 0/he stranger that is in the midst of thee,

the e&ternality in him will soar upwards, and you, that is the internality, the Israel in

you, will plunge deep down. /hat causes the e&ternality of the world in general,

which are the 2ations of the "orld, to soar ever higher and overcome Israel,

degrading them to the ground, and the 6ons of Israel, the internality of the world, to

plunge, od forbid, deep down.

68)4o not wonder, that a single person will trigger with his action, a descent oran ascent to the whole world. (or it is an unbending law, that the general and the

particular are as eual as two drops in a pond. And all that is customary in the general

is customary in the particular as well.

Moreover, the particulars compose everything that is in the general. (or the

general cannot come to be, but after the particulars have been revealed, according to

the uantity and uality of the particulars. 7vidently, the act of a particular, according

to its value, raises or declines the whole.

/hat will clarify the words of the 8ohar, that through the study of the 8ohar and

the "isdom of /ruth, they will be redeemed from e&ile, into complete deliverance.

ut what is really the connection between the study of the 8ohar and the deliveranceof Israel from amongst the nations#

69) It5s been thoroughly clarified, that the /orah too has its internality and its

e&ternality, as does the whole world. /herefore, he who delves in the /orah also has

those two degrees. And upon increasing his toil in the internality of the /orah and its

secrets, to that e&tent he makes the virtue of the internality of the world, which is

Israel, rise ever higher over the e&ternality of it, meaning the 2ations of the "orld.

And all the nations will recogni+e and admit to the ascendancy of Israel over them,

until the words - 0And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place! and

the house of Israel shall posses them in the land of the Cord ;Isaiah 1), $


27/28

-$F-

disgrace the 6ons of Israel, and regard Israel as redundant, as though the world has

not a need for, od forbid.

And furthermore, by that they make even the e&ternality of the world overcome its

internality. (or the worst of the 2ations of the "orld, which destruct and damage it,

mount higher over the internality of them, which are the righteous of the "orld, and

then they cause the ruin and the heinous slaughter our generation witnessed, may odprotect us from now on.

/hus you see that the redemption of Israel and indeed its rise depends upon the

study of the 8ohar and the internality of the /orah. And vise versa, all the ruin and

decline of the 6ons of Israel, is a result of their abandoning of the internality of the

/orah, degrading it and turning it to something seemingly redundant, od forbid.

70)/he correction of the 8ohar says ;correction )=

4ivine resence, for your heart is empty, without the wisdom to know and to attain it,

although it is within you. And the secret of it is, as it says! that a voice pounds within

the heart of each and every one of Israel, to pray for the rising of the 4ivine resence,which is the assembly of the souls of Israel. ut the 4ivine resence says, I have no

strength to pick myself up from the dust, for all the flesh is but hay. /hey are all like

hay eating beasts. Meaning that they perform the precepts mindlessly, @ust like beasts,

and all its grace is as the flower of the field, all the good deeds they do, it is for them

they do it.

/hat means that in the good deeds that they perform, they do not mean to please

their Maker, but only to please themselves. And even the best of them, who have

dedicated all their time to the /orah, did not do it, but for the benefit of their own

body, lacking the desired aim, to please their Maker.

It is said about the generation of that time! 0a spirit leaves so as never to return,that is the spirit of the Messiah, the one who should deliver Israel from e&ile and from

trouble to complete redemption, to fulfill the words! for the earth shall be full of the

knowledge of the Cord. /hat spirit left and alights not in the world.

Alas, these people, who make the spirit of Messiah vanish from the world, so as

never to return, make the /orah dry, without the moist of mind and knowledge, for

they confine themselves to the practical part of the /orah, and do not wish to try and

understand the wisdom of >abbalah, to know and educate themselves in the secrets

and the reason behind the /orah and Mitzvot. Alas, they cause by their deeds the

poverty, the ruin and the robbery, the looting, the killings and destruction in the

world.

71)And the reason for that is, as we5ve said, that since all those who delve in the

/orah, depreciate their own internality, and the /orah5s internality, leaving it as

though it were redundant in the world, and studying it only at a time that is neither

day nor night. And they are like blind men searching the wall, causing by that the

proliferation of their own e&ternality, meaning the benefit of their own body, and they

regard the e&ternality of the /orah as higher than its internality - thus causing the

e&pansion of each e&ternal aspect in the world over its internal parts, each according

to its own essence.

ecause the e&ternality of the whole of Israel, meaning the 2ations of the "orld

among them, intensifies and revokes the internality of the whole of Israel, which arethe reats of the /orah. And the e&ternality within the 2ations of the "orld too,

-$F-


28/28

-$B-

which are the destructors among them, intensifies and revokes the internality among

them, which are the :ighteous of the "orld. And the e&ternality of the whole world,

being the 2ations of the "orld, intensifies and revokes the 6ons of Israel, which are

the internality of it.

In such a generation, all destructors of the 2ations of the "orld raise their heads

and wish primarily to destroy and kill the 6ons of Israel, as it says! ;Yebamot 9%< 02ocalamity comes to the world but for Israel, as it says in the above corrections, that

they cause poverty and ruin and robbery and killings in the whole world.

And since, through our many faults, we5ve witnessed the aforesaid in the

corrections, and not only that, but the calamity struck at the very best of us, as it says!

;aba >ama 9=< 0And it does not start, but from the righteous. And of all the glory

Israel had had in the countries of oland and Cithuania etc. there remains but the

remnants in our holy land. 2ow it is upon us, to correct that dreadful wrong. And each

of us remainders, will take upon himself, heart and soul, to intensify from this day

forth, the internality of the /orah, and give it its worthy place, above the e&ternality of

the /orah./hen, each will be awarded with the intensification of his own internality,

meaning the Israel in him, which is the needs of the soul over the aspect of his own

e&ternality, being the 2ations of the "orld in him, which are the needs of the body.

And that force will come to the whole of the people of Israel, until the peoples of the

world within us recogni+e the virtue of the reats of Israel over them, and listen and

obey them. And also the internality of the 2ations of the "orld, which are the

:ighteous of the "orld, will overcome their e&ternality and subdue them, which are

the destructors. And the internality of the world, which is Israel, shall also rise with all

the praise and virtue, over the e&ternality of the world, which are the nations. /hen,

all the 2ations of the "orld will recogni+e and admit to the ascendancy of Israel over

them.

And they shall carry out the words! 0And the people shall take them, and bring

them to their place! and the house of Israel shall posses them in the land of the Cord

;Isaiah 1), $

Documents

Eng Introduction to the Book of Zohar