And There Was a Famine in the Land

(înapoi la pagina ZOHAR CUPRINS / Toldot – click)

83) “The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence, His soul hates.” How correct and upright are the deeds of the Creator? All that He does is in judgment and truth, as it is written, “The Rock, His work is perfect.”

84) The Creator did not judge Adam ha Rishon before He commanded him for his own good to not stray his heart and will to another path, to not eat from the tree of knowledge so he would not be defiled. But he was careless and broke his Master’s order and ate from the tree of knowledge. Afterwards, the Creator sentenced him with judgment [Din].

85) Yet, the Creator did not sentence him as he deserved, as it is written, “In the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Instead, He was patient with him and he remained alive for a day, since the day of the Creator is a thousand years, as it is written, “For a thousand years in Your eyes are like yesterday when it passes by,” minus those seventy years that he gave to King David, for he had no life of himself at all. This is why he lived 930 years—1,000 years minus seventy.

86) The Creator does not judge a person according to his bad deeds, which he always does. If He had done so, the world would not be able to exist. Rather, the Creator is patient with the righteous and with the wicked. He is even more patient with the wicked than with the righteous, so they will return in complete repentance and exist in this world and in the next world. This is so because when a wicked returns from his way, he lives in this world and in the next world, and this is why He is always patient with them. Or, because a good stem will emerge in the world from them, as Abraham emerged from Terah, who educed a good stem and root in the world.

87) However, the Creator is always meticulous with the righteous in everything that they do because He knows that they will not stray to the right or to the left, and therefore He tries them. But the Creator does not try them for Himself, since He knows their inclination and the power of their faith, and does not need to try them. Rather, He tries them so as to raise their heads through the tries.

88) The Creator dealt similarly with Abraham, as it is written, “That God tested Abraham.” “Tested” means raising the banner [the words “test” and “banner” share the same root in Hebrew]. He raised his banner throughout the world. And as with the test in the tying, the Creator raised Abraham’s banner for all to see. It is written, “That God tested Abraham.” He tests the righteous in order to raise their banner, to raise their heads throughout the world.

89) What is the reason for trying the righteous? It is because the Creator desires the righteous; He desires the soul, not the body, since the soul is like the upper soul, Divinity, and the body is not worthy of uniting with Divinity above. And although the shape of the body is as the upper one, for it extends from Divinity, Malchut, it is still unfit to unite with her.

90) When the Creator wishes to illuminate a person’s soul, He strikes the body, so the soul will reign. This is so because as long as the soul is equal to the body, the soul cannot govern. And when the body breaks, the soul governs. “Tests the righteous” means He strengthens him.

91) “And the one who loves violence, His soul hates.” This is the degree upon which all the souls depend, Malchut. The soul of that wicked one hates her because he has no wish to adhere to her in this world and he does not desire her in the next world. The soul of the Lord hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. This is why He tests the righteous, because He loves him.

92) When the Creator created Adam, He commanded him not to eat from the tree of knowledge for his own good. He gave him wisdom and rose by his degrees upwards, toward the Creator. When he descended, he saw the lust of the evil inclination and clung to it. He forgot all that he saw in the high glory of his Maker.

93) Noah came. In the beginning, it was written about him that he was “righteous and wholehearted.” Afterwards, he descended and saw a strong wine from one day, which was not clear, meaning full of yeast, and he drank from it and became uncovered.

94) Abraham came, rose in wisdom, and observed the glory of his Master. Afterwards, “There was a famine in the land; and Abram went down to Egypt.” And Abraham rose from Egypt and ascended to his first degree, where he was in the beginning. Thus, he entered in peace and came out in peace.

95) Isaac came. “And there was a famine in the land,” and Isaac went to Gerar and rose from there in peace. So it is with all the righteous, the Creator tries them all, to raise their heads in this world and in the next world.

(înapoi la pagina ZOHAR CUPRINS / Toldot – click)

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