(înapoi la pagina ZOHAR CUPRINS / ACHAREI MOT – click)
1) It is written, “And the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron … And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to Aaron your brother.’” It is written, “And the Lord called Moses and spoke to him,” and it is written, “And to Moses He said, ‘Come up to the Lord.’” The beginning of the verses, “And the Lord called Moses,” and “And to Moses He said,” are the degree of Malchut. The continuation of the verses, “And the Lord spoke to him,” and “Come up to the Lord,” are the degree of ZA.
Here, too, “And the Lord spoke to Moses is a degree of Din [judgment], called “speech.” Afterward, “And the Lord said to Moses” is the degree of Midat ha Rachamim [the quality of mercy], called “saying.” And the reason why it is written in both of them, “the Lord,” is that they are regarded as the same, and everything was composed from the same root. That is, the two abovementioned degrees, Din and Rachamim [mercy], are of the same value and from the same root, which is ZA, called HaVaYaH.
2) It is written, “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” It is also written, “Serve the Lord with joy, come before Him with singing.” These verses contradict each other, since here it says to serve with fear and trembling, and there it says to serve with joy and singing. However, “Serve the Lord with fear,” since any work by which one wishes to serve one’s Master requires fear first, to fear Him. And because of the fear of his Master, he will later be rewarded with performing the Mitzvot [commandments] of the Torah with joy. This is why it is written, “What does the Lord your God ask of you, but to fear the Lord,” and by that, he will be rewarded with everything.
3) “And rejoice with trembling.” One must not be exceptionally glad in this world, in worldly matters. But in matters of Torah and the Mitzvot of the Torah one should be glad. And after he is not glad with worldly matters, he will find that he will perform the Mitzvot of the Torah with gladness, as it is written, “Serve the Lord with joy.”
4) “Serve the Lord with fear.” Fear means as it is written, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” It is also written, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” The Creator is called “Fear of the Lord,” which is Malchut. One who wishes to work in serving his Master begins and aims his work to unite the name of his Master with fear. It is so because in fear, meaning in Malchut, is the beginning of the work from below upward, since the first Sefira from below upward is Malchut.
5) It is written, “After the death of the two sons of Aaron,” and then it writes, “With this shall Aaron come to the holiness.” What is the connection between the verse, “After the death,” and the verse, “With this shall Aaron come”? The death of the sons of Aaron is the beginning of warning the priests that they should be careful with “this,” which is the fear of God, Malchut, since the death of the sons of Aaron was because they were not careful with Malchut.
6) “After the death of the two sons of Aaron.” It should have written “After the death of Nadav and Avihu,” why is it written, “The two sons of Aaron”? It is because until now they were not on their own but under the authority of their father, which is why the text calls them the sons of Aaron. This is also why it is written, “When they drew near before the Lord and died,” for they came too soon to offer incense during the life of their father. And it is also because of that iniquity that they committed by offering foreign fire.
In one place it is written that they died because they offered foreign fire, and in another place it is written, “When they drew near before the Lord,” that they died because of that nearing, since they came too soon to offer incense during the life of their father. It is so because both were causes of their death. This is why it is written here that they were Aaron’s sons, to teach that they were under Aaron’s authority. And it is written, “When they drew near,” that the death was because they drew near before the Lord during the life of their father.
7) “A song, a psalm for the sons of Korah. Great is the Lord and highly praised.” “A song, a psalm” is a double song: a song and a psalm. This is a better song than the rest of the songs. This is why it writes, song, twice in it. It is also written, “A psalm, a song for the Sabbath day,” indicating that it is better than the rest of the songs. And likewise, it is written, “The song of songs, which is for Solomon,” which means a song that is above any song.
8) A song that is a psalm is better than the rest of the songs. It is a song of the Creator that the sons of Korah would be singing over those who are sitting at the door to Hell. The sons of Korah are the brothers of those who sit at Hell’s door, as it is written, “And the sons of Korah did not die.” A place was secured for them in Hell, and this is why this song is said on the second day in the Temple.
9) Whenever the righteous depart from the world, the Dinim [pl. of Din] depart from the world, and the death of the righteous atones for the iniquities of the generation. This is why we read the story of the sons of Aaron on Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement], so there is atonement for the iniquities of Israel. The Creator said, “Engage in the death of these righteous and it will be considered for you as though you are offering sacrifices on this day to atone for you. As long as Israel are in exile and do not offer sacrifices on this day, and cannot offer two male goats, they will have the memory of the two sons of Aaron and it will be atoned for them.
10) It is written, “These are the names of the sons of Aaron, Nadav, the firstborn, and Avihu, Elazar, and Itamar.” Avihu was equal to both his brothers, Elazar and Itamar, together, and Nadav was equal to all of them together.
11) The firstborn was Nadav. He is on his own. Avihu is also on his own. Next, Elazar and Itamar are read as though connected together. Nadav and Avihu individually are as important in the eyes of the text as Elazar and Itamar together. But Nadav and Avihu in and of themselves are equal to the seventy Sanhedrin that were serving before Moses. This is why their death atones for Israel. And this is why it is written, “And your brothers, the whole house of Israel, shall bewail the burning which the Lord has burned.” The firstborn is Nadav, and all the praise and glory are his. Nadav and Avihu together are even more so because there was no one in Israel like them.
(înapoi la pagina ZOHAR CUPRINS / ACHAREI MOT – click)