(înapoi la pagina ZOHAR CUPRINS / KI TISA – click)
21) We see, and so can the strong ones in the world, meaning the nations, that the exile is continuing and the Son of David has not come. So it is, but what makes Israel suffer this exile? It is all the promises that the Creator had promised them. They enter synagogues and seminaries and see all the comforts in the holy books, and in their hearts they are happy to suffer all that comes upon them. Had it not been for that, they would not have been able to withstand.
22) Everything depends on repentance. But they cannot all awaken to repentance together because it is written, “So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you.” It is also written, “and you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you.” Also, it is written, “And you shall return to the Lord your God.” And then, if the One who banished you will be at the end of the sky, from there will He gather you. And before all these things come true, they cannot be awakened by them for repentance.
23) O how You have sealed all the trails and paths from the children of the exile, and have left no possibility for them to speak, for they did not delve in redemption every single generation, did not suffer the exile, did not seek reward, departed the rules of Torah, and mingled with the rest of the nations.
24) “As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth, she writhes and cries out in her birth pangs,” since it is the nature of a pregnant woman to wait nine whole months. But there are quite a few in the world who go through only one or two days of the ninth month, while all the pains and pangs of the pregnant woman are on the ninth. Hence, even if she only went through one day of the ninth month, it is considered as though the whole of the ninth month had passed for her. So are Israel: since they tasted the taste of exile, if they repent, it is considered for them as though they had experienced all the troubles that are written in the Torah, especially that they had experienced several pangs since the beginning of the exile.
25) But it is written, “In thy distress, when all these things are come upon thee, in the end of days.” How has the Creator pitied Israel with this thing? It is like a king who had an only son whom he loved dearly. And for his love, he gave him to his mother, the queen, to rear him and to teach him the right ways. Once, the son sinned before his father, and his father came and struck him, and then forgave his sin. He sinned against his father once again. His father was angry with him and expelled him from his house. Thus, the son departed the house.
26) And instead of going in the right way and being worthy and pure so his father would hear and want him, what did he do? He said, “Now that I have departed my father’s palace, from here on I will do as I wish.” What did he do? He bonded with whores and was defiled by filth of soiling with them, and he was only with them when they bonded. His mother, the queen, visited that son every day and knew that her son had bonded with whores, and that his only bonding was with them. She began to cry and to grow bitter with her son.
27) One day, the king came over to her and saw her crying. She said, “How can I not cry when our son is out of the palace? And not only is he not sitting in the king’s palace, he is sitting in a whorehouse.” The king said, “For you, I will bring him back, and you will be the guarantor that he will not sin.” She said, “I will certainly be his guarantor.”
28) The king said, “Since this is so, he need not be brought back openly, during the day, for it is shameful for us to follow him to the whorehouse. Had it not been so, that he defiled himself so and desecrated my honor, I and all my armies would follow him with many treasures, trumpeters marching before him, and weapons to his right and to his left, until all the people in the world would be shaken and all would know that he is the king’s son. Now, since he has defiled himself and desecrated my honor, he will return in secret, so he is not recognized.” The son returned to the king, who then gave him to his mother.
29) In time, he sinned as before. The king expelled him and his mother from his palace. He said, “You will both go, and both will suffer exile and affliction. And since you will suffer together, I know that my son will properly repent.”
30) Such are Israel. They are the sons of the Holy King. He brought them down to Egypt. And you might say that at that time, they had not sinned and He did not bring them down because of a sin but because of the sentence He had sentenced between the pieces, which merited coming true. Indeed, the Creator considered two things: Abraham’s words, “How will I know that I will inherit it?” which was the reason for the exile in Egypt, and that before they departed Egypt they were not a nation and were not worthy of being a proper nation.
31) “As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.” The Creator wished to make Israel similar to what is above, so there would be one lily in the earth that is like the lily above, Malchut. And the fragrant lily, better than all the lilies in the world is only one who has grown among the thorns. This one smells as it should. Hence, He sowed seventy pairs, which are seventy souls, and brought them among the thorns, the Egyptians. And as soon as these thorns came, those pairs out there grew branches and leaves and dominated the world. Then the lily blossomed among them.
32) Since the Creator wished to take out the lily from among them, the thorns dried out and were thrown away and were corrupted until they were regarded as nothing. When He went to collect the lily, to bring out his firstborn son, the King went within several armies, ministers, and rulers with waved banners. He took out his firstborn son with several mighty ones and brought him to His palace to sit in the King’s house, as it should be.
33) Since he sinned against his father, He reproached him and struck him, as it is written, “And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of spoilers.” He sinned as before and rebelled against his father. He took him out of His house. What did Israel do? They saw that they were scattered in Babel, they mingled with the nations, took foreign women, and begot sons from them. This is why the holy mother, Malchut, was their guardian and pleaded with the King, ZA, in their favor.
34) And for having done so, the Creator said, “He is a shame to Me; let My son come by himself. Since he desecrated My honor, he is not worthy of My going there to bring him out and to make miracles and wonders for him as previously in Egypt.” They returned without the help that befitted them, without wonders and miracles, but were all rejected, all tired and poor, and they returned to the King’s palace in shame. And the holy mother, Malchut, was their guarantor.
35) They sinned as before. The Creator expelled his son as before, and his mother with him. He said, “Henceforth, the mother and son will suffer some afflictions together, as it is written, “And for your transgressions was your mother put away.” It is also written, “In thy distress, when all these things are come upon thee, in the end of days.” “The end of days” is the holy mother, Malchut, which is the end of the ten Sefirot, with whom they have suffered all that they suffered in the exile.
36) And if they repent, even one evil or one affliction that they suffered will be regarded by them as though they suffered all the troubles of the exile. And if not, if they do not repent, they will have to wait until the end comes and all its generations, as it is written, “Permanently to its purchaser throughout his generations,” until the end of all the generations that precede the end. And still, this thing depends on repentance, which is why the exile continues.
(înapoi la pagina ZOHAR CUPRINS / KI TISA – click)