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146) “Rachel weeps for her sons.” But Rachel’s sons were only Joseph and Benjamin, and the six tribes were Leah’s; thus, why did Rachel cry and not Leah?
147) It is written, “And Leah’s eyes were soft,” since she went to a crossroads each day and asked about Esau. She would be told of the deeds of that wicked one and she feared that she would fall under him, and she cried each day until her eyes were softened.
148) And the Creator said, “You cried to be rewarded with that righteous, Jacob, and to not fall under that wicked one. Your sister will rise in a crossroads and will weep for the exile of Israel, and you will be in the Cave of Machpelah and will not cry for them. And Rachel, she will cry for the exile of Israel.”
149) Rachel and Leah are two worlds: Nukva from Chazeh de ZA upwards is called “Leah,” and Nukva from Chazeh de ZA and below is called “Rachel.” One is a concealed world, Leah, and the other is a revealed world, Rachel. This is why Leah was buried and hidden in the cave and was covered, and Rachel stood at the crossroads, for she was buried in the way to Ephrat, which is revealed. It is all as it is above. This is why he did not bring Rachel to the cave or to another place, since it is written, “When there was still some way to come unto Ephrat,” and he did not bring her into the city because he knew her place was in a revealed location.
150) The assembly of Israel is Malchut, Rachel, and it is written, “Like a sheep [Rachel also means “sheep” in Hebrew] that is silent before its shearers.” She is silent because when other nations rule, she is devoid of a voice—ZA.
151) “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping.” “A voice is heard in Ramah” is Jerusalem above, Bina. “Rachel weeping for her children” means that as long as Israel are in exile she weeps for them because she is their mother. She weeps “Because they are gone,” because her husband—ZA—which is voice, has departed her and is not connected to her.
152) Not once did she cry for Israel, but every hour they are in exile. This is why when they blemished the voice that departed Rachel, the Creator caused a voice to punish them, the Egyptians, as it is written, “And there shall be a great cry.” He also prepared other voices for them in those frogs, which raised a voice inside their intestines, and were they falling in the streets as though they were dead.
153) “And the frog came up.” It should have said, “frogs” in plural form. But there was one frog, and it procreated and the land was filled with them, and they were all giving themselves to the fire.
And if you say, “What concern is it of the Egyptians that all the frogs went into the fire?” The answer is that they would walk into the oven and get inside the bread. There they would split and others came out of them and were swallowed in the bread. When they ate the bread, the bread turned back into frogs in their stomachs, where they would dance and raise their voices until the Egyptians died.
For them, this was the toughest blow of all. It is written, “And the river shall swarm with frogs … And the frogs shall come up both upon you, and upon your people, and upon all your servants.” Thus, they came inside their bodies. Pharaoh was struck first, and more than everyone, for it is said, “Both upon you, and upon your people, and upon all your servants.” May the name of the Lord be blessed from the world and unto the world, for He commands people’s deeds in all that they do.
154) It is written, “And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.” It writes “Pharaoh” three times here: one for that time, one implying the Pharaoh at the time of Joseph, and one implying the Pharaoh in the days of Moses, who was struck by his rod.
155) When Sarah was taken to the first Pharaoh, he gestured to the artists and they painted her figure in his room on the wall above his head. But he was not calmed until they formed Sarah’s figure on a board, and when he went to his bed he would take the board with him. Every king that came after him would see that image in the painting. Entertainers would come before him, and when he went to bed he enjoyed that painting. This is why here the king was struck more than everyone, as it is written, “Into your bedroom, and upon your bed,” and then, “Into the house of your servants, and upon your people.” However, it does not write “Upon your bed” for all of them, only for him.
156) “All the rivers run into the sea.” When these rivers, lights of ZA, run to the sea, Malchut, the sea receives them and swallows them into it, since the water freezes in the sea, and this ice sucks all the water that come into it. Afterwards, the waters come out by the force of the south, the Hassadim on the right side, and waters all the “beasts of the field,” as it is written, “They give drink to every beast of the field.”
This is so because first, Malchut receives only from the left side. At that time, her level is equal to ZA, since then she has GAR de Hochma. However, without Hassadim, the Hochma cannot shine. Hence, at that time, Malchut becomes a frozen sea because the light in her is frozen and does not shine. Then comes the middle line and makes the right overcome the left, and the right imparts the light of Hassadim to the left, and the Hochma clothes in Hassadim. Then the ice melts and the sea waters all the worlds. However, for this reason the Hochma is reduced from GAR and there is only VAK de GAR in it.
It is written, “All the rivers run into the sea,” meaning the lights of the left line of Bina, which ZA imparts to Malchut, as it is written, “Let his left hand be under my head.” The sea receives them and engulfs them within it, since the water freezes in the sea and this ice sucks all the waters that come into it, since the great lights of GAR de Hochma come into Malchut only when it is frozen.
This is so because after the ice has melted, there is only VAK de Hochma in her. Hence, it is considered that that ice sucks all the waters that come into it, even the GAR de Hochma, and not in the subsequent state. The waters come out by the force of the south, meaning the right, south, overcomes the left line, and imparts it with Hassadim to clothe the Hochma. Then the ice melts and turns back to water, to bestow upon all the lower ones, watering all the beasts of the field, meaning the degrees in BYA, which are outside Atzilut.
157) When the frozen sea receives from the left line, it freezes and sucks all the water, even GAR de Hochma. And it melts by the force of the south, when it overcomes the left—north—by the force of the middle line. At that time it imparts it with Hassadim for the clothing of Hochma in it, by which it can shine below. This is considered that the ice has melted and returned to being water. And this is why the sea is not full, since it only returns to being water through the middle line, when it makes the south prevail over the north. By that, it loses the GAR de Hochma that it received while being frozen. It turns out that it is not filled because it lacks the GAR.
158) “Unto the place where the rivers go, there they go again,” because that river that comes out of Eden, Yesod de ZA, never ceases its abundance from the Malchut and always brings out water to the sea. This is why the waters “Go again,” coming and going and coming ceaselessly. And when it goes again, to go and to water everything, meaning to extend Hochma that surrenders all the Klipot, a Northern wind comes, left, from which there is Hochma, and the water freezes. Then the warm Southern wind opens them so they can go in every direction. This is why the sea sits between the two sides, north and south, and persists through them. And ships, which are the degrees that receive from the Malchut, go and travel in it to all directions once the four directions—south, north, east, and west—are included in one another.
159) When the king, ZA, comes to his bed, to Malchut, at half the night, the Northern wind awakens, meaning the left line, and evokes love for the queen, Malchut. Without the awakening of the north the king would not bond with her because love begins in the north, as it is written, “Let his left hand be under my head.” And the south, the right line, embraces with love, as it is written, “And let his right hand embrace me.” Then, several entertainers evoke singing until the morning comes, as it is written, “When the morning stars sing together.”
160) And when the morning comes, all the upper and lower sing. At night, only the angels that extend from the left line sing, but in the morning they all sing, even those who extend from the right. This is so because then all the lines are included in one another under the domination of the right. And similarly, Israel below sing, as it is written, “You who remind the Lord, take no rest.” It says, “Take no rest” specifically to the lower ones, to Israel.
161) When half the night is through, those whose desire is to always mention the Creator do not give rest to their hearts; they rise out of their beds to mention the Creator. When the morning rises, they come early to the synagogue and praise the Creator. It is the same at midday, at Minhah [afternoon prayer], and at night, when it is dark, when the night clings to darkness and the sun sleeps. It is written about them, “You who mention the Lord, take no rest.” This is the holy people of Israel.
162) This is why the Creator mentioned them in Egypt and they rose over Pharaoh, meaning those who do not calm day and night, who are the frogs whose voices never quiet. And this was because he attacked the holy people who never cease from praising the Creator day and night. And there was not a man in Egypt who could speak to his friend. The land was ruined by them, and the infants and children died by their voices.
163) How is it that they could not kill the frogs? If a person raised a stick or a stone to kill one, it immediately split and out of its gut emerged six frogs that walked and kicked the earth until they refrained from approaching them.
164) Several rivers, several Niles come out from the upper sea, Malchut, when the water opened and were drawn. The several streams divide into several sides, several Niles, and to several rivers that are the part that is appointed over the side of Egypt. These are spawning waters, since there is no water that comes out of the sea that does not produce fish of all sorts.
165) If the rivers and Niles are upper degrees that extend from the Malchut, then who are the fish? They are emissaries in the world, appointed over doing the will of their Maker. They are appointed by the spirit of wisdom. There is water that raises wise and there is water that raises fools, according to these rivers, which strengthen into all discernments.
166) The rivers of Egypt grow sorcerers, which are strong fish, connected by ten degrees of magic, as it is written, “Magician, magic, one who sees in clouds, a fortuneteller, a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or one who practices divination, or one who calls up the dead.” Magician is one and magic is two, thus they are three. With the other seven, they are ten, thus ten kinds of the wisdom of sorcery.
167) At the time of the exodus from Egypt, the Creator stretched out His finger and mingled those streams and rivers of the Egyptians, which are the upper degrees from which the Egyptians nurse. Thus, their fish of wisdom were detained from imparting them with wisdom. One turned into blood, and one, the fish—meaning the frogs—raised their voice to extend the spirit of wisdom uselessly, and the spirit of their wisdom did not come upon them.
168) Arov [“mixture,” 4th plague, a.k.a. “flies”] means that He mingled their degrees of wisdom and they could not attain them. Moreover, even those degrees of wisdom that were already in the land, they destroyed them in the land, meaning they became damaging and corrupted their ways. Arov is a medley, as it is written, “a garment … of two kinds of material mixed together,” meaning a mixture of wool and flax.
169) Several forces awakened above as one, and the Creator mixed them together to mingle their strong forces above. And all those mighty deeds that the Creator did in Egypt were with one hand, the mighty hand, meaning He raised His hand over them above and below, and from there was the wisdom of Egypt lost, as it is written, “And the wisdom of their wise men shall perish.”
170) “And I will spur Egypt against Egypt,” the Egypt above, their ministers, against the Egypt below. This is because those armies above were appointed over the armies below and they were all mingled. Their systems above were mingled and the Egyptians could not use their magic to connect to these places of their ministers above, to whom they connected from the beginning, since they were mingled. This is why He brought upon them the plague of the mixture, which is animals that were mingled in one another.
171) What do the lice that the dust of the earth brought up mean? Everything that is born on earth extends from an appointed force from above, which has been sown upon it. It is all as it is above.
172) The Creator created seven firmaments, and correspondingly, seven lands. These are the boundaries that were explained in their places, corresponding to the seven Sefirot, HGT NHYM. Also, there are seven firmaments above and seven boundaries of the earth above. Similarly, the degrees expand below in seven firmaments and the seven boundaries of the earth.
There are two orders in the world: 1) One is an arrangement of circles one inside the other, where the outer is more important. The outermost circle is on top, near Ein Sof, and the worst is the most internal, this world. 2) Arranged directly one below the other, where the more internal is more important and the more external is worse.
The circles are inside one another like onionskins. Here it is referring to the direct order; hence, the holy land is inside and the seventy lands of the nations surround it from the outside, since in the direct order, the more internal is better.
173) And these are the seven boundaries of the earth above, which correspond to HGT NHYM. Each spreads into ten, since each of the HGT NHYM consists of ten Sefirot, hence they divide into seventy appointees that were appointed over the seventy nations. And those lands, which are the boundaries of each nation, which are the seventy lands, surround the holy land of Israel, as it is written, “Behold, it is the traveling couch of Solomon; sixty mighty men are around it, of the mighty men of Israel.” And there are ten that are hidden in them, which are seventy together. These are the seventy that surround the holy land. This is above, and it is the same below.
174) That land is the boundary of the part of Egypt. At that time, the Creator stretched out His hand and flames of fire were born in that boundary, and all those boundaries that were wet from the sea were dried, as well as each drop of springing water. Then the lice were seen below in the land of Egypt, out of the dust of the earth.
175) It was said that Aaron struck the dust of the earth with lice, and here it says that the Creator stretched out His finger. But this is why Aaron was striking, to show that the right hand of the Creator broke the enemies, as it is written, “Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.” This is so because Aaron is a priest, a Merkava [chariot/structure] for the Creator’s right hand. It is similar to what the Creator is destined to bring upon the great city of Rome, as it is written, “Its streams will be turned into pitch and its dust into brimstone.” It is for this that He dried the water from the dust of Egypt and the whole of the dust of the land was lice throughout the land of Egypt.
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