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1.0 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 11
We find and see in the words of the sages of the Talmud that they have made the path of Torah easier for us than the sages of the Mishnah. This is because they said, “One should always practice the Torah and Mitzvot, even Lo Lishma, and from Lo Lishma he will come to Lishma, since the light in it reforms him.”
Thus, they have provided us with a new means instead of the penance presented in the above- mentioned Mishnah, Avot: the “light in the Torah.” It bears sufficient power to reform one and bring him to practice Torah and Mitzvot Lishma.
They did not mention penance here, but only that engagement in Torah and Mitzvot alone provides one with that light that reforms, so one may engage in Torah and Mitzvot in order to bring contentment to his Maker and not at all for his own pleasure. And this is called Lishma.
1.02 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Items 12-13
The light in the Torah shines only to those with faith. Moreover, the measure of that light is as the measure of the force of one’s faith. Yet, to those without faith it is the opposite, as it is written, “To the left leaning in it — a potion of death” (Shabbat 88), for they receive darkness from the Torah and their eyes darken.
Sages have already presented a nice allegory about this matter regarding the verse, “Woe unto you who desire the day of the Lord! Why do you need the day of the Lord? It is darkness and not light” (Amos 5). There is an allegory about a rooster and a bat that were awaiting the light. The rooster said to the bat, “I await the light for the light is mine. But you, why do you need the light?” (Sanhedrin 98b).
1.03 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 155
Why then did the Kabbalists obligate every person to study the wisdom of Kabbalah? Indeed, there is a great thing about it, which should be publicized: There is a wonderful, invaluable remedy to those who engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah. Although they do not understand what they are learning, through the yearning and the great desire to understand what they are learning, they awaken upon themselves the lights that surround their souls.
This means that every person from Israel is guaranteed to finally attain all the wonderful attain- ments with which the Creator contemplated in the thought of creation to delight every creature. And one who has not been awarded in this life will be granted in the next life, etc., until one is awarded completing His thought, which He had planned for him, as it is written in The Zohar.
And while one has not attained perfection, the lights that are destined to reach him are con- sidered surrounding lights. This means that they stand ready for him but are waiting for him to purify his vessels of reception, and then these lights will clothe the able vessels.
Hence, even when he does not have the vessels, when he engages in this wisdom, mentioning the names of the lights and the vessels related to his soul, they immediately illuminate upon him to a certain extent. However, they illuminate for him without clothing the interior of his soul, for lack of vessels able to receive them. Yet, the illumination one receives time after time during the engagement draws upon him grace from above, and imparts him with abundance of sanctity and purity, which bring him much closer to achieving his wholeness.
1.04 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 18
The Creator, Who created it and gave the evil inclination its strength, evidently knew to create the remedy and the spice liable to wear off the power of the evil inclination and eradicate it altogether.
And if one practices Torah and fails to remove the evil inclination from himself, it is either that he has been negligent in giving the necessary labor and exertion in the practice of Torah, as it is written, “I did not labor and found, do not believe,” or perhaps he did put in the necessary amount of labor, but has been negligent in the quality.
This means that while practicing Torah, they did not set their minds and hearts to draw the light in the Torah, which brings faith to one’s heart. Rather, they have been absent-minded about the principal requirement demanded of the Torah, namely the light that yields faith. And although they initially aimed for it, their minds went astray during the study.
1.05 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 235, “Looking in the Book Again”
After one sees some words of Torah in a book and memorizes them, since what enters the mind is already blemished, hence, when looking in the book again, he can elicit the light so as to receive illumination from what he is seeing now. This is already considered new and unblemished.
1.06 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 141
You can understand the words of our sages about the words, “Leave Me and keep My law.” They interpreted, “I wish that they left Me and kept My Torah—the light in it reforms them” (Jerusalem Talmud, Hagigah, Chapter 1, Halacha 7).
This is perplexing. They mean that they were fasting and tormenting to find the revelation of His face, as it is written, “They desire the nearness of God” (Isaiah 58:2). Yet, the text tells them in the name of the Creator, “I wish you would leave Me, for all your labor is in vain and futile, for I am nowhere but in the Torah. Hence, keep the Torah and look for Me there, the light in it will reform you, and you will find Me,” as it is written, “Those who seek Me shall find Me.”
1.07 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 68, “Man’s Connection to the Sefirot”
One cannot correct one’s thought, but should only aim the heart—make one’s heart straight to the Creator. Then all of his thoughts and actions will naturally be to bestow contentment upon his Maker. When he corrects his heart to be a heart and desire of Kedusha, the heart will then be the Kli in which to place the upper light. And when the upper light shines in the heart, the heart will grow stronger and he will add and supplement continuously.
Now we can interpret our sages’ words, “Great is the learning that yields action.” It means that through the light of the Torah he is led into action, as the light in it reforms him. This is called “an act.” This means that the light of the Torah builds a new structure in his heart.
1.08 Baal HaSulam,
“Concealment and Disclosure of the Face of the Creator-1”
One’s request to become stronger in believing in His guidance over the world during the conceal- ment brings one to contemplate the books, the Torah, and to draw from there the illumination and understanding how to strengthen his faith in His guidance. These illuminations and observations that one receives through the Torah are called “the Torah as a spice.” When they accumulate to a certain amount, the Creator has mercy on him and pours upon him the spirit from above, that is, the higher abundance.
But once he has completely discovered the spice—the light of Torah that one inhales into one’s body—through strengthening in faith in the Creator, one becomes worthy of guidance with His face revealed. This means that the Creator behaves with him as is fitting to His name, “The Good Who Does Good.”
1.09 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 218, “The Torah and the Creator Are One”
The Torah is called “the light” in it. This means that during the study, when we feel the light, and want to give to the Creator with this light, as it is written, “One who knows the command- ment the Master will serve Him.” Hence, he feels that he exists, that he wants to bestow upon the Creator, and this is the sensation of oneself.
However, when one is awarded the discernment of “the Torah and the Creator are one,” one finds that all is one. At that time, one feels the Creator in the Torah. One should always yearn for the light in it; and the light we can with what we learn, although it is easier to find the light in words of Kabbalah.
1.10 Baal HaSulam,
“The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”
The Torah is the only spice to annul and subdue the evil inclination, as our sages said, “The light in it reformed them.”
1.11 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 17
The student pledges, prior to the study, to strengthen himself in faith in the Creator and in His guid- ance in reward and punishment, as our sages said, “Your employer is liable to pay you the reward for your work.” One should aim one’s labor to be for the Mitzvot of the Torah, and in this way, he will be rewarded with enjoying the light in it, and his faith will strengthen and grow through the power in this light, as it is written, “It shall be health to your navel, and marrow to your bones” (Proverbs 3:8). Then one can be certain that from Lo Lishma he will come to Lishma, in a way that even one who knows about himself that he has not been rewarded with faith still has hope through the prac- tice of Torah, for if he sets his heart and mind to attain faith in the Creator through it, there is no greater Mitzva than this. It is as our sages said, “Habakkuk came and stressed only this: ‘A righteous shall live by his faith’” (Makkot 24). Moreover, there is no other counsel but this.
1.12 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 5
It is written in The Zohar: “With this composition, the children of Israel will be redeemed from exile.” Also, in many other places, only through the expansion of the wisdom of Kabbalah in the masses will we obtain complete redemption.
Our sages also said, “The light in it reforms him.” They were intentionally meticulous about it, to show us that only the light enclosed within it, “like apples of gold in settings of silver,” in it lies the Segula [power/cure] that reforms a person. Both the individual and the nation will not complete the aim for which they were created, except by attaining the internality of the Torah and its secrets.
1.13 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 6, “What Is Support in the Torah, in the Work?”
Torah refers to the light clothed in the Torah, as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” This refers to the light in it, since the light in it reforms him.
1.14 Baal HaSulam,
Shamati, Article No. 34, “The Advantage of a Land”
What should one do in order to come to love the Creator? For this purpose we are given the remedy of engaging in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], for the light in it reforms him. There is light there which lets him feel the severity of the state of separation. Bit by bit, as one aims to acquire the light of Torah, hatred for separation is created in him. He begins to feel the reason that causes him and his soul to be separated and far from the Creator.
1.15 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 22
It is easier to draw the light in the Torah while practicing and laboring in the wisdom of truth than in laboring in the revealed Torah. The reason is very simple: The wisdom of the revealed Torah is clothed in external, corporeal clothes, such as stealing, plundering, torts, etc. For this reason, it is difficult and heavy for any person to aim his mind and heart to the Creator while learning, so as to draw the light in the Torah.
It is even more so for a person for whom learning the Talmud itself is heavy and arduous. How can he remember the Creator during the study, since the scrutiny concerns corporeal matters, and cannot come in him simultaneously with the intention for the Creator?
Therefore, he advises him to engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah, as this wisdom is clothed entirely in the names of the Creator. Then he will certainly be able to easily aim his mind and heart to the Creator during the study, even if it is very difficult for him to study, for the study of the issues of the wisdom and the Creator are one and the same.
1.16 Baal HaSulam,
“Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 35
Even though they do not succeed through the practice in the revealed Torah, since there is no light in it and it is dry due to the smallness of their minds (see Item 16), they could still succeed by engaging in the study of Kabbalah, for the light in it is clothed in the clothing of the Creator—the Holy names and the Sefirot. Thus, they could easily come to that state of Lo Lishma that brings them to Lishma.
1.17 Baal HaSulam,
“The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”
There is another magnificent power in it: All who engage in it, although they still do not understand what is written in it, are purified by it, and the upper lights draw closer to them.
1.18 Baal HaSulam,
Matan Torah [The Giving of the Torah], Item 12
Through the natural remedy of engagement in Torah and Mitzvot Lishma, which the Giver of the Torah knows, as our sages said (Kidushin 30b), “The Creator says, ‘I have created the evil inclina- tion; I have created for it the Torah as a spice.’” Thus, that creature develops and marches upward in degrees of the above-said exaltedness until he loses all remnants of self-love and all the Mitzvot in his body rise, and he performs all his actions only to bestow, so even the necessity that he receives flows in the direction of bestowal, meaning so he can bestow.
1.19 RABASH,
Article No. 218, “Israel Are the Sons of Kings”
Wherever one retires from enjoying and causes unification, you find in it Kedusha [holiness], since the upper light can be there because the Kelim [vessels] can receive the light of the Creator called Kedusha, for the Kedusha is present only in a place of purity. “Purity” means purity of qualities, and then the Kedusha is present in a place of purity.
However, sometimes, “I the Lord, who dwells with them in the midst of their Tuma’a [impurity],” meaning that even when they still do not have Kelim that are ready to be in equivalence, in order to assist a person in achieving this, he must be aided from above. This is the meaning of Lo Lishma, that the light in it reforms him. That light is called “The Lord, who dwells with them in the midst of their Tuma’a.”
This pertains specifically to one who wants to achieve Lishma but cannot overcome his body. Hence, he is given that light so he can defeat the will to receive and walk in the way of the Creator, which is bestowal.
1.20 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
The Torah reveals something new to a person, which he did not know before. This is so because man is born with a nature of wanting to receive. When told to work with a desire to bestow, it is to him unimportant and despicable. The body wants to run away from such desires, since it can only lose if it uses the vessels of bestowal.
However, when a person learns Torah with the aim to be rewarded with the light of Torah because this light reforms him, this light of Torah reveals something new to him, which he did not know before. That is, now he knows the complete opposite of what he thought before. Before he was rewarded with the light of Torah, he knew that what is important to man is primarily the vessels of reception, for with the vessels of reception he can receive the joys of life in this world. Conversely, with acts of bestowal he can only do good to others, that they, too, will enjoy the world through his help.
However, this is only for the purpose of Mitzva, because he feels sorry for others who cannot provide for themselves, and he is helping them. Certainly, he expects those people whom he benefits not to be ungrateful and respect him.
But now, by being rewarded with the light of Torah, which reforms him, something new has been revealed to him: By using the vessels of reception, he loses life and delight and pleasure for himself. If he uses the vessels of bestowal for the sake of others, he will receive true delight and pleasure for himself. Only through vessels of bestowal does he gain for himself delight and pleasure, whereas with vessels of reception he loses delight and pleasure. This secret has now been revealed to him through the light of the Torah.
1.21 RABASH,
Article No. 721, “The Segula of Torah and Mizvot”
There is a Segula [power/cure] in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] that if he learns with this intention, although his heart disagrees with it, and all that he does with this intention is against his will and heart, yet through compulsory work, he is rewarded with inverting his desire from self-love to love of others.
We should understand what is written, that it is harder to attain the concept of bestowal upon others as this is against nature. Nevertheless, through the power of Torah and Mitzvot in order to bestow, we can be rewarded with inverting our nature into aiming to bestow.
There is a question: When one is immersed in the nature of self-love, how can he engage in Torah and Mitzvot in order to bestow, since he has no desire or ability whatsoever to do anything unless it is for his own sake? Thus, how can one be educated into engaging in Torah and Mitzvot in order to bestow?
We should say that although man’s nature is only self-love, and that which is against it is hard for him to do, to the point that all his organs go against him, but there is the matter of coercion, meaning that when he engages in Torah and Mitzvot, he learns against his will, meaning that he wants it to be only for the sake of the Creator, and then he learns and thinks only about things that speak of the matter of bestowal.
And although the body disagrees, through the labor in which he exerts himself, forcing his body to work with this intention, although his heart’s desire disagrees with this intention, the light in it reforms him.
1.22 RABASH,
Article No. 16 (1984), “Concerning Bestowal”
This means that first, one must see if he has the strength to come to be able to act with the aim to bestow contentment upon the Creator. Then, when he has already come to realize that he cannot achieve it by himself, that person focuses his Torah and Mitzvot on a single point, which is that “the light in it reforms him,” that this will be the only reward that he wants from the Torah and Mitzvot. In other words, the reward for his labor will be for the Creator to give him this strength called “the power of bestowal.” There is a rule that one who makes an effort, meaning cancels his rest, it is because he wants something, since he knows that without labor he will not be given, so he must toil. For this reason, a person who exerts to keep Torah and Mitzvot must certainly be missing something, and this is why he exerts in Torah and Mitzvot, to obtain what he wishes through it.
Accordingly, one must pay attention and contemplate what he wants—what is the reward that he wants for his work—before he begins his work in serving the Creator. Or, put simply, what is the reason that compels him to engage in Torah and Mitzvot? Then, when he determines what he needs, for which he must toil, a person begins to think very hard until it is difficult for him to know what he really wants.
1.23 RABASH,
Article No. 12, (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
The meaning of “Torah and work” is that he learns Torah in order for the Torah to bring him the light of Torah. By this, he will be able to invert the vessels of reception to work in order to bestow, and with these Kelim he will be rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator, called “learning Torah Lishma.”
1.24 RABASH,
Article No. 267, “Man Was Created in the Torah”
It is known that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. For this reason, a nature has been imprinted in man that he will want to receive pleasure for his own delight. This is called the “evil inclination” (as explained in the introduction to the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar]), as it is written, “For the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”
It is called the “evil inclination” because by wanting to receive pleasure, a person becomes removed from the real pleasure because he has no equivalence of form. However, through the Torah, he will have a correction where through the Torah, it will be possible for him to receive the real pleasures, as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice” (Baba Batra 16).
The spice is as our sages said, “I wish they left Me and kept My Torah [law], for the light in it reforms them” (Jerusalem Talmud, Hagigah, Chapter 1, Rule 7). It therefore follows that the Torah has the power to reform a person, referring to the evil within man, meaning the will to receive, that it will work in order to bestow.
In this manner, he will have Dvekut [adhesion] and will be able to receive the real pleasures and will not be considered a receiver. Thus, through the Torah, it will be possible to sustain man in this world, for the Torah will reform him.
This is the meaning of “Let us make man,” which they explained, “I and you will establish him in the world.” That is, from the Creator comes the will to receive and from the Torah comes the desire to bestow, and from those two, man will be able to exist in the world. That is, through those two, he will be able to receive abundance yet remain in Dvekut.
1.25 RABASH,
Article No. 12, (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
We engage in the Torah in order to subdue the evil inclination, meaning to achieve Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, so that all our actions will be only in order to bestow. That is, by ourselves, we will never be able to go against nature, since the mind and heart that we must acquire require assistance, and the assistance is through the Torah. It is as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice. By engaging in it, the light in it reforms them.”
1.26 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
Feeling the vitality in the Torah requires great preparation to prepare his body to be able to feel the life in the Torah. This is why our sages said we must begin in Lo Lishma, and through the light of Torah he obtains while still in Lo Lishma, it will bring him to Lishma, since the light in it reforms him. Then, he will be able to learn Lishma, meaning for the sake of the Torah, which is called “Torah [law] of life,” as he has already attained the life in the Torah, for the light in the Torah will have given such qualification to a person as to be able to feel the life that is in the Torah.
1.27 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
We should make several discernments in the Torah: 1) one who learns Torah in order to know the rules, to know how to observe the Mitzvot of the Torah, 2) one who learns Torah in order to observe the Mitzva of learning Torah, as it is written (Joshua 1), “This book of Torah shall not move from your mouth, and you shall contemplate it day and night.” RASHI interprets “contemplate it” as “looking in it,” every thought in the Torah is in the heart, as he said, “The contemplation of my heart is before You.” 3) He learns Torah in order to be rewarded with the light of the Torah, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice because the light in it reforms him.” By this he will be rewarded with faith, and to adhere to the Creator, and then he will become “Israel” for he believes in the Creator in complete faith. 4) Once he has been rewarded with faith, he is rewarded with the “Torah, as in the names of the Creator.” In The Zohar, this is called “The Torah and Israel and the Creator are one.” At that time he is rewarded with the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, when the creatures receive what the Creator wants to give to the creatures.
1.28 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
RASHI interpreted about the verse, “You shall contemplate it day and night,” he says “look in it. Every thought in the Torah is in the heart.” We should understand what he means by saying that the thought is in the heart, since when we learn Torah, it is in the mind and not in the heart, so why does he tell us, “Every thought in the Torah is in the heart”?
We should interpret that this does not pertain specifically to the Torah that relates to rules he learns in order to know how to observe the Mitzvot. Instead, he wishes to say that the Torah also includes the last two discernments just mentioned: 1) that he learns in order to receive the light of Torah, 2) that he is then rewarded with the Torah, called “the names of the Creator.”
Those two belong specifically to the heart, as Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra says (in the “Introduction to the book Panim Masbirot,” Item 10), “Know that all the Mitzvot that are written in the Torah or the accepted ones, which the forefathers have established, although the majority of them are in deed or utterance, they are all in order to correct the heart. This is because the Lord wants all the hearts, and He understands the inclination of every thought. It is written, ‘To those whose hearts are straight,’ and conversely, ‘a heart filled with thoughts of transgression.’ Know that the Torah was given only to men of heart.”
1.29 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
It is our inability to do anything for the sake of the Creator. Only the light of Torah will correct the heart, for the heart is called “desire,” and by nature, it is a desire only to receive. But how can a person go against nature?
This is why the Creator said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” It follows that he is not learning Torah for the intellect, to understand, but he is learning in order to understand so as to achieve Dvekut with the Creator, who is clothed in the Torah, and this pertains to the heart. Through the light he will receive, it reforms him, meaning that the will to receive for his own sake can receive strength from above that enables it to work for the sake of the Creator.
1.30 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
If a person wants to work and observe Torah and Mitzvot without any reward, only because he wants to serve the King, then he needs to know the greatness of the King, for the measure of his work depends on the extent of his faith in the greatness of the King, for only the greatness and importance of the King gives him fuel for work.
It is as it is written in The Zohar about the verse, “Her husband is known at the gates.” It means that each according to what he assumes in his heart. By this, he tells us that to the extent that a person assumes in his heart the greatness and importance of the Creator, to that extent he dedicates himself to serving the King.
For this reason, people of this kind, who want to work only in order to bestow, and the whole reason that compels them to engage in Torah and Mitzvot is the importance and greatness of the Creator, as it is written in The Zohar that “The essence of fear is to work because He is great and ruling,” when these people believe that the Creator is clothed in the Torah, and believe what the Creator said to Israel, “I sold you My Torah; it is as though I have been sold with it,” when they learn Torah they want to elicit the light of the Torah that reforms him. This is the meaning of what our sages said, “He who comes to purify,” through the Torah, “is aided,” since the Creator is clothed in the Torah.
1.31 RABASH,
Letter No. 62
Man’s primary work is to examine the greatness of the Creator. That is, one should delve in books that speak of the greatness of the Creator, and while delving, one should depict to oneself to what extent our sages, the Tanaaim and Amoraim, felt the greatness of the Creator.
One should pray to the Creator to shine so he may feel His greatness, so he can subdue his heart and annul before the Creator, and not follow the currents of the world, which is pursuing only the satisfaction of beastly lusts, but that the Creator will open his eyes so he may engage all his life in Torah and work, and “In all your ways, know Him.” That is, even when engaging in corporeal matters, it will be for the purpose of Kedusha [holiness], as well.
But from Lo Lishma, we come to Lishma. That is, Lishma is already a high degree, and one must begin from Lo Lishma. In other words, one should be fully aware that pleasure is found primarily in Torah and work, and not in corporeality.
Although at the moment he feels more pleasure in corporeal things, more than he feels in spiritual things, it is because he lacks the qualification in Torah and work, which also depends on faith in the Creator. At that time, through Torah and faith in the Creator, one feels the light in the Torah, and that light reforms him.
1.32 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
A person must make a great effort before he comes to learn so that his learning will bear fruit and good results, meaning so the learning will bring him the light of Torah, by which it will be possible to reform him. Then, through the Torah, he becomes a wise disciple.
What is a “wise disciple”? Baal HaSulam said that it is a student who learns from the wise. That is, the Creator is called “wise,” and a person who learns from Him is called a “disciple of the wise.” What should one learn from the Creator? He said that a person should learn only one thing from the Creator. It is known that the Creator wishes only to bestow. Likewise, man should learn from Him to be a giver. This is called a “wise disciple.”
1.33 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
If in the beginning of his study, when a person comes to study, there is no desire to thereby achieve complete faith, which he can achieve through the light in the Torah by wanting to adhere to the one who wears it, who is clothed in the Torah and gives the light of Torah and none other, it follows that he is learning Torah, which is the clothing of the Creator. Through it, he wants to achieve complete faith, adhere to the one who wears it, who is the giver of the Torah. Here there is unification of three discernments:
- ) the Torah, which is the clothing of the Creator,
- ) the Creator, who is clothed in the Torah, and
- ) Israel, the person who is learning Torah with the above intention.
This is called “unification,” called “the Torah and the Creator and Israel are one.” Although The Zohar speaks to those who have already been rewarded with “the names of the Creator,” which is called that they have been rewarded with a “hand Tefillin,” called “faith,” and a “head Tefillin,” called “Torah,” yet, those who walk on the path of achieving Torah and faith also receive a sur- rounding from this unification.
1.34 RABASH,
Article No. 22 (1985), “The Whole of the Torah Is One Holy Name”
During the study we must always pay attention to the purpose of the study of Torah, meaning what we should demand from the study of Torah. At that time we are told that first we must ask for Kelim, meaning to have vessels of bestowal, called “equivalence of form,” by which the restriction and concealment that were placed on the creatures are removed. To the extent that this is so he begins to feel the holiness and begins to have a taste for the work of the Creator. At that time he can be happy because Kedusha [holiness] yields joy, for the light of doing good to His creations shines there. But if he has not yet decided that he should always walk on the path of bestowal, as our sages said, “all your works will be for the Creator,” this is regarded as “preparation of the Kelim” to be fit for recep- tion of the upper abundance. He wants to be rewarded with vessels of bestowal through the study, as our sages said, “The light in it reforms him.”
And once he has been rewarded with vessels of bestowal, he comes to a degree called “attainment of the Torah,” which is the “names of the Creator,” as The Zohar calls it: “The Torah, the Creator, and Israel are one.”
1.35 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
It is beneficial to elicit the light from the Torah—if he aims while engaging in the Torah, to learn in order to receive the reward of the Torah, called “light.” At that time, the learning of Torah is good for him. But when he is distracted from the purpose of studying Torah, the Torah does not help complete the work of making the vessels of bestowal and not using the vessels of reception for one’s own sake. Otherwise, his Torah vanishes from him. That is, the force of Torah and that should have subdued the evil inclination is cancelled. This is the meaning of the words, “Any Torah with which there is no work,” meaning when he does not aim for the Torah to do the work of turning the vessels of reception to work in order to bestow, “is finally cancelled,” meaning that that force is cancelled.
1.36 RABASH,
Article No. 22 (1985), “The Whole of the Torah Is One Holy Name”
We should discern two things in the Torah:
1) the light of Torah, which comes in order to reform him. This is the correction of the Kelim [vessels].
2) Obtaining the light of Torah, which is the “holy names,” called the “revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world” (see in the essay Matan Torah [“The Giving of Torah”]).
It therefore follows that when we study Torah we should discern the two above matters: 1) to extend light so it will create for us vessels of bestowal. It is impossible to obtain these Kelim [vessels] without the light of Torah. Therefore, what does he expect? To be rewarded for studying Torah. His only desire is to obtain that Kli, called “vessel of bestowal.” This is precisely once he has begun the work of bestowal and has made great efforts to be able to do things only with the intention to bestow.
Only then can he come to know that the will to receive that was installed in him by nature cannot be cancelled. At that time he begins to understand that he needs “heaven’s mercy,” and only the Creator can help him be rewarded with vessels of bestowal, and this help comes from the light of Torah.
1.37 RABASH,
Article No. 21 (1988), “What Does It Means that the Torah Was Given Out of the Darkness in the Work?”
The Torah is given specifically to the deficient, and that deficiency is called “darkness.” This is the meaning of the words, “The Torah was given out of the darkness.” That is, one who feels darkness in his life because he has no vessels of bestowal is fit to receive the Torah, so that through the Torah, the light in it will reform him and he will obtain the vessels of bestowal. Through them, he will be fit to receive the delight and pleasure, for those two are included in the Torah: 1) The Kli—that he wants to bestow. 2) Then he receives the delight and pleasure into the vessels of bestowal.
Conversely, the nations of the world did not receive the Torah, since it was given out of the darkness. In the work, “the nations of the world” means that the body comprises seventy nations that want the Torah not because they feel darkness when they have no vessels of bestowal. Rather, their only desire is the vessels of reception and they have no desire to emerge from that control. They want the Torah in order to add more light to themselves, meaning more pleasure than they receive from corporeal matters. That is, they also want the next world, as it is written in The Zohar, “They howl as dogs Hav, Hav [give, give], give us the wealth of this world, and give us the wealth of the next world.” That is, the wealth of this world is not enough for them, but they also want the wealth of the next world.
It follows that the Torah was given specifically to those who feel that their will to receive controls them. They cry out from the darkness that they need the Torah in order to deliver them from the darkness that is the control of the vessels of reception, on which there was a Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment so that no light will shine in that place. But that place is the cause for the need to receive the Torah.
1.38 RABASH,
Article No. 21 (1988), “What Does It Means that the Torah Was Given Out of the Darkness in the Work?”
Since the Torah came because of the darkness, the Torah did two things:
1) “The light in it reforms him.” Then, the Tzimtzum and concealment depart from his vessels of reception because where he had vessels of reception, he has now been rewarded with vessels of bestowal. This is the meaning of the words, “And the Lord will shine upon you.” That is, as the Creator wants to bestow, so man will be rewarded with a desire to bestow.
2) After he has been rewarded with vessels of bestowal, meaning he was granted the ability to work Lishma [for Her sake], which is called “learning Torah Lishma,” then he is shown the secrets of the Torah, as Rabbi Meir says (in the Mishnah, Avot). This is the meaning of the words, “And His glory will be seen upon you,” meaning the glory of the Creator, which is the revelation of Godliness. It “will be seen upon you,” for then one is rewarded with “The Torah, and Israel, and the Creator are one.”
1.39 RABASH,
Article No. 21 (1990), What Is, “As I Am for Nothing, so You Are for Nothing, in the Work?”
They said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice,” meaning the light spices the evil inclination. In other words, the Creator gives the power to want to do everything for the sake of the Creator.
1.40 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
A person should examine with which purpose does he want to observe the Mitzva [commandment] of learning Torah? That is, does he engage in Torah because of the Torah itself, in order to know how to observe the rules of doing the Mitzvot, or is the learning of Torah itself his whole intention, and knowing the rules of doing the Mitzvot is a completely different matter for him? meaning he is learning Torah for two reasons.
However, even while learning Torah for the sake of learning Torah, he should still distinguish with which intention he is learning. Is it to observe the commandments of the Creator, as it is written, “And you shall reflect on Him day and night,” or is he learning in order to receive the light of Torah because he needs the light of Torah in order to cancel the evil within him, as our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice”? It turns out that he is learning in order to obtain the spice, as our sages said, “The light in it reforms him.”
Certainly, prior to learning Torah, a person should examine the reason for which he is learning Torah, for any act needs to have some purpose that causes him to do the act. It is as our sages said, “A prayer without an aim is as a body without a soul.” For this reason, before he comes to learn Torah he must prepare the intention.
1.41 RABASH,
Article No. 12 (1988), “What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?”
A person who is born with the will to receive and wants to correct it into working in order to bestow, since this is against nature, he has only one counsel: Only the light of Torah can invert him into working in order to bestow, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice,” and the light in it reforms the heart. It is said that “evil” is receiving for one’s self, and “good” is when his heart is only about bestowal and not about reception.
For this reason, those who engage in Torah not necessarily in order to know the rules and cus- toms how to observe the Mitzvot, but have another, exalted role, that they are learning Torah in order to correct the heart, these are called “wise-hearted,” since everything is named after its action. For this reason, the Torah they learn with this intention is called “wise-hearted” and not “wise-minded,” since they need the Torah in order to correct the heart.
1.42 RABASH,
Article No. 875, “Three Lines – 4”
Before one is rewarded with emerging from self-love and doing everything in order to bestow, called Lishma, although he learns all these matters as they are, they are only names without any clarification, meaning that he has no attainment in those things that he is learning, since he has no knowledge about the material of the upper roots, called “the holy names,” or Sefirot and Partzufim [pl. of Partzuf ].
We can learn the upper matters, called “the wisdom of Kabbalah,” only by way of Segula [remedy/power], since they can bring a person desire and yearning to adhere to the Creator because of the Kedusha [holiness] of the matters that speak of the holy names. Conversely, in the revealed Torah, he must believe that the whole Torah is the names of the Creator. It follows that these matters are more capable (as explained in the essay, “The Giving of the Torah”).
When a person learns the upper matters in order for it to bring him closer to Kedusha, it causes a nearing of the lights. This means that this learning will cause him to thereby be rewarded with aiming all his actions in order to bestow. This is called “work in the manner of preparation,” where he prepares himself to be worthy of entering the King’s palace and to adhere to Him.
1.43 RABASH,
Article No. 10 (1987), “What Is the Substance of Slander and Against Whom Is It?”
The important thing is to be rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator, which is called “a vessel of bestowal,” meaning equivalence of form. This is why the remedy of Torah and Mitzvot was given, so that through it we would be able to exit self-love and reach love of others.
1.44 RABASH,
Article No. 10 (1987), “What Is the Substance of Slander and Against Whom Is It?”
The main work we must do, to achieve the purpose for which the world was created—to do good to His creations—is to qualify ourselves to acquire vessels of bestowal. This is the correction for making the King’s gift complete, so they will feel no shame upon reception of the pleasures. And all the evil in us removes us from the good that we are destined to receive.
We were given the remedy of Torah and Mitzvot so as to achieve those Kelim. This is the meaning of what our sages said (Kidushin 30), “The Creator says, ‘I have created the evil inclination; I have created for it the spice of Torah,’ by which he will lose all the sparks of self-love within him and will be rewarded with his desire being only to bestow contentment upon his Maker.”
1.45 Zohar for All, New Zohar, “Song of Songs,”
“The Wisdom that One Needs,” Item 484
Anyone who walks into that world without knowing the secrets of the Torah will be sent out of all the gates of that world even if he has acquired many good deeds.
1.46 Zohar for All,
“On the Night of the Bride,” Item 125
Rabbi Shimon was sitting and studying the Torah on the night when the bride, Malchut, unites with her husband. On that night, after which—on the day of Shavuot—the bride is to be with her husband under the Huppah [wedding canopy], all the friends, who are the members of the bridal chamber, must be with her on that night and rejoice with her in the corrections that she is corrected, meaning to engage in Torah, from Torah to Prophets, from Prophets to Hagiographa, the interpre- tations of the texts, and the secrets of the wisdom, for these are her corrections and adornments.
The Bride and her maidens come and stand on their heads, and she is corrected in them and rejoices in them all through that night. On the next day, the day of Shavuot, she comes to the Huppah only with them. And these friends, who engage in the Torah all night long, are called “members of the Huppah.” And when she comes to the Huppah, the Creator asks about them, blesses them, and crowns them with the crowns of the bride. Happy are they.
Explanation: There are two meanings to it, which coincide.
- The days of the exile are called “night,” since this is the time of the concealment of His face from the children of Israel. At that time, all the powers of separation of the servants of the Creator dominate, and yet, precisely at that time the bride bonds with her husband—through Torah and Mitzvot of the righteous, who at that time are regarded as those who hold the Torah. All the sublime degrees called, “secrets of the Torah,” are revealed by them, since this is why they are called “those who make them,” for they seemingly make the Torah. It follows that the days of the exile are called “night,” in which the bride bonds with her husband, and all the friends, who are the members of the bridal chamber, are those who hold the Torah.
After the end of correction and the complete redemption, it is written, “For there shall be one day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, when in the evening time there will be light.” This is why it is written that on the next day, the bride is to be with her husband under the Huppah, for then BON will return to being SAG, MA will be AB, and AB is regarded as the next day and a new Huppah.
At that time, the righteous are called “members of the Huppah,” who engage in Torah, in whom there is no action, for then it is said, “And the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.” And since those righteous—through their good deeds—raise BON to being SAG by their extension of the fear from the past, they are regarded as making this new Huppah, and this is why they are called “members of the Huppah.”
- The night of Shavuot is called “the night in which the bride bonds with her husband.” This is so because on the next day, she is destined to be with her husband under the Huppah, on the day of Shavuot, the day of the reception of the Torah. However, it is the same matter as the first explanation because on the day of the reception of the Torah it was already the end of correction, in the form of “He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces.” It is as it is written in the verse, “Harut [carved] on the tablets”; do not pronounce it Harut, but Herut [freedom], since freedom from the angel of death has come.
1.47 Zohar for All, Lech Lecha [Go Forth], “Night and Midnight” Items 363-367
At midnight, when the roosters awaken, the north side awakens in Ruach [wind], meaning the left line in illumination of Shuruk, meaning illumination of Hochma with absence of Hassadim, GAR de Ruach. The scepter, the south side—right line, Hassadim—rises and mingles with that Ruach of the left line, and they mingle with one another. At that time, the Dinim of the left line rest and it is mitigated in Hassadim. Then the Creator awakens in His custom to play with the righteous in the Garden of Eden.
At that time, happy is a man who rises to play in the Torah, since the Creator and all the righteous in the Garden of Eden listen to his voice, as it is written, “You who dwells in the gardens, the friends are listening to your voice; let me hear it.”
Moreover, the Creator draws upon him a thread of grace, to keep him in the world so that the upper ones and lower ones will guard him, as it is written, “By day the Lord will command His grace; and in the night, His song is with me.”
Anyone who engages in Torah at that time will certainly have a permanent part in the next world. What is permanent? These Mochin extend from YESHSUT, whose Zivug is intermittent and not permanent. But each midnight, when the Creator awakens in the Garden of Eden, all those plant- ings—the Sefirot in the Garden of Eden, the Nukva—will be watered abundantly from that stream, which is called “a primordial stream,” “a stream of delights,” “upper AVI,” whose waters never stop, meaning that the Zivug of AVI never stops. And one who rises and engages in the Torah, it is as though that stream pours down on his head and waters him inside the plantings in the Garden of Eden. Hence, he has a permanent share in the Mochin of the next world, too, meaning YESHSUT, since the Mochin de AVI contain the Mochin de YESHSUT within them, too.
Moreover, since all the righteous in the Garden of Eden listen to him, they put a share for him in that potion of the stream, which are the Mochin of upper AVI. It turns out that he has a perpetual part for the next world, which are included in Mochin de AVI.
1.48 Zohar for All, Toldot [Generations],
“These Are the Generations of Isaac,” Item 14
Bless the Lord all the servants of the Lord. Who are they who are worthy of blessing the Creator? All of the Creator’s servants. Even though all the people in the world are from Israel, they are all worthy of blessing the Creator.
But blessings for which upper and lower are blessed, who are they who bless Him? It is the servants of the Creator. And who are they whose blessing is a blessing? It is them who stand in the house of God at night, those who rise at midnight and awaken to read in the Torah. They are the ones who stand in the house of God at night. And they need both: to be servants of the Creator, as well as to rise at midnight, for then the Creator comes to entertain with the righteous in the Garden of Eden.
1.49 Zohar for All, New Zohar, VaYetze,
“Behold, a Ladder Was Placed on the Earth,” Items 44-47
Rabbi Aba fell asleep and Rabbi Yosi was sitting. He saw that Rabbi Aba’s face was growing red and he was laughing, and he saw a great light in the house.
Rabbi Yosi said, “This means that the Shechina [Divinity] is here.” He lowered his eyes, sat there until the dawn rose in the morning and light shone in the house. When he raised his eyes, he saw the dawn and the darkness of the house.
Rabbi Aba woke up; his face was shining and his eyes laughing. Rabbi Yosi held him. Rabbi Aba said, “I know what you want. Indeed, I saw sublime secrets. When Matat, minister of the Panim [face] held my soul, he raised her to high and sublime chambers.
“And I saw the souls of the rest of the righteous go up to there, and the minister of the Panim told them, ‘Happy are you, righteous, for thanks to you I am built in a holy building of the honorable name,’” for the lights of the holy name are extended to him, to answer, to bestow upon the hosts of the upper King.
And I saw the Torah that I had learned, that it was placed there pile over pile, like a big tower.
And because of it, I was happy with my share and my eyes laughed.
1.50 Zohar for All, BeShalach [When Pharaoh Sent],
“And the Lord Walks before Them by Day,” Items 46-51
The Creator and all the righteous in the Garden of Eden, all listen to His voice. It is written, “You who sit in the gardens, friends listen to your voice; let me hear it.” “You who sit in the gardens” is the assembly of Israel, Malchut. At night, she praises the Creator with the praise of the Torah. Happy is he who partakes with her in praising the Creator in the praise of the Torah.
When the morning comes, the assembly of Israel, Malchut, comes and plays with the Creator, and He gives her the scepter of Hesed [grace/mercy]. But not only to her, but to her and to all those who partake with her. One who engages in Torah at night, the Creator draws to him a thread of Hesed during the day. This is why Malchut is called “The morning star,” for she praises the Creator at night with the praise of the Torah.
When the morning should rise, the light darkens and grows black, and the blackness is present. Then a woman clings to her Husband, which is the third watch, when a woman tells with her husband, meaning ZON, to tell with Him, and she comes to His palace.
Afterwards, when the sun should set, the night shines and comes and takes the sun. Then, all the gates close, donkeys bray, and dogs bark. When half the night is through, the King begins to rise and the queen, Malchut, begins to sing. The King, ZA, comes and knocks on the palace’s gate and says, “Open for me, my sister, my wife.” And then He plays with the souls of the righteous.
Happy is he who has awakened at that time with words of Torah. For this reason, all the chil- dren of the queen’s palace must rise at that time and praise the King. All praise before Him and the praise rises from this world, which is far from Him, and this is more favorable to the Creator than anything.
When the night departs and the morning comes and dawns, the King and queen are in joy, in a coupling, and He gives her presents, as well as to all the dwellers of the palace. Happy is he who is numbered among the dwellers of the palace.
1.51 Zohar for All, VaYikra [The Lord Called],
“Behold, Bless the Lord, All You Servants of the Lord,” It. 200-203
“Bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord.” This is a praise for all those with faith. Who are those with faith? They are the ones who engage in Torah and know how to unite the Holy Name properly. And the praise of those with faith is that they stand at midnight to engage in Torah and adhere to the assembly of Israel, Malchut, to praise the Creator with words of Torah.
When one rises at midnight to engage in Torah, a Northern wind—meaning illumination of the left—awakens at midnight, which is the deer and Malchut, and stands and praises the Creator, ZA. And when she stands, several thousands and several tens of thousands stand with her in their existence, and they all begin to praise the holy King.
The Creator listens to he who was rewarded and rose at midnight to engage in Torah. It is written, “You who dwell in the gardens, friends listen to your voice; let me hear it.” And all that multitude above and those who praise their Master in song keep silent for the praises of those who engage in Torah. They declare and say, “Bless the Lord, all servants of the Lord.” In other words, you who engage in Torah, bless the Lord. You—praise the holy King; you—crown the King.
And the deer, Malchut, is crowned in that man. She rises before the King and says, “See in what son I have come to You, in what son I have awakened toward You.” And who are those that all their merit is before the King? It is they who stand in the house of the Creator in the nights. They are the ones who are called “servants of the Creator”; they are the ones who are worthy of blessing the King and whose blessing is a blessing, as it is written, “Lift up your hands to the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.” You, who merit the holy King being blessed by you, the blessing through you is a blessing.
1.52 Zohar for All, VaYikra [The Lord Called],
“The Morning Doe,” Items 367-372.
“For the Leader upon the morning doe [“deer” or “the morning star”], a psalm of David.” The morning doe is the assembly of Israel, called “A lovely hind and a graceful doe.” But is the doe of the dawn, meaning Malchut, not through the whole day? A doe is from that place which is called “A lovely hind and a graceful doe.” She comes from a place called “dawn,” as it is written, “Is sure as the morning,” meaning Hesed. King David said that about the assembly of Israel, which means that what is written about the morning doe, Malchut, is when she clothes in Hesed.
When the night falls, the upper and lower doors shut, and all the outer ones awaken and roam throughout the world, turning people’s bodies and surrounding their places and beds. They see the shape of the holy King who watches over them, and they are afraid to do harm because the people strengthen themselves in their beds with the words of the holy Name and they are kept. And the souls of people rise each as it should. Happy are the righteous, whose souls rise while they sleep and do not detain in a place where they needn’t.
At half the night, a herald stands and declares and the doors are opened. At that time, a spirit of the north side awakens, meaning illumination of Hochma in the left line, and strikes the harp of David, meaning Malchut. It plays by itself and praises the King, ZA, and the Creator entertains Himself with the righteous in the garden.
Happy is he who awakens from his sleep at that time and engages in Torah. Also, anyone who rises at that time and exerts in Torah is called “a friend of the Creator and of the assembly of Israel.” Moreover, they are called “His brothers and friends,” as it is written, “For the sake of my brothers and friends I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’” They are considered friends of the upper angels and upper camps, as it is written, “The friends listen to your voice.”
When the day rises, a herald stands and declares, and the doors on the south side open. Then the stars and signs awaken and the doors of Rachamim [mercy] open, and the King sits and receives praises from the friends who rose at night. At that time, the assembly of Israel takes these words of praise and rises to the King, ZA, and all the friends who rose at night grip to the wings of Malchut. Their words of praise come and reside in the King’s bosom, and then the King commands to write down all those words.
In the book, all the sons of His palace who rise at night are written down, and a thread of grace extends over them during the day, and from that thread of grace, the man is crowned with the crown of the King, which is GAR. Then upper and lower fear him, he enters all the King’s gates and there is no one to protest against him. Even when the litigants are poised to sentence the world, they do not sentence him because he was registered in the King’s list, and it is known that he is from the King’s palace. For this reason, they do not pass judgment on him. Happy are the righteous who engage in Torah, especially when the Creator longs for words of Torah, at midnight.
1.53 Zohar for All, VaYikra [The Lord Called],
“A Flame Under the Wings of the Rooster,” Item 394
Torah that is studied at night is purer than Torah that is studied during the day, since the purity of the written Torah is in the oral Torah, in Malchut, which is called “night.” The oral Torah, Malchut, governs at night and awakens more than at daytime, and when Malchut governs, she is the purity in the Torah.
1.54 Zohar for All, VaYikra [The Lord Called],
“A Flame Under the Wings of the Rooster,” Items 397-399
When the rooster calls and people sleep in their beds and do not awaken, the rooster calls, strikes his wings and says, “Woe unto so and so; he is cursed by his Master, he is abandoned by his Master,” since his spirit has not awakened and he did not observe the King’s honor.
At the rise of day, a herald declares about him and says, “But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,’” to help him with those praises so that all will be in one assis- tance. The Malchut sings to ZA at night, to help man so he, too, will awaken with these praises. And when one praises and engages in Torah, she raises MAN, he helps the Malchut, and they are both in one assistance.
What is “My Maker”? When a person rises at midnight, he engages in the song of the Torah, since the song of the Torah is read only at night, when he engages in the Torah. When the day rises, the Creator and the assembly of Israel correct him with a single thread of grace that was saved from all, to illuminate him among the upper ones and lower ones.
“Where is God my Maker.” It should have said, “Makes for me”; why “My Maker”? When he rises at midnight to engage in Torah, when the day rises, Abraham awakens with his thread of grace and the Creator and the assembly of Israel correct him. They make him a new creation every day, as it is written, “God, my Maker.”
1.55 Zohar for All, Metzorah [The Leper],
“When the Night Grows Dark,” Items 5-9
“As birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared.” People do not know and do not hear and do not observe their Master’s will. And the announcer calls before them daily, and there is no one to listen and no one to awaken one’s spirit to the work of his Master.
When the night grows dark and the gates close, the Nukva of the great abyss awakens and several armies of damagers are in the world. At that time, the Creator puts all the people in the world to sleep. He puts to sleep even all those who have awakening of life, meaning the righteous. And the spirits roam the world and announce things to people in their dreams. Some of them are lies and some of them are true. And people become connected in their sleep.
And when the north wind awakens and the night divides, a flame bursts out and strikes under the wings of the rooster, and he calls. Then the Creator enters the Garden of Eden to play with the righteous, and an announcer comes out and calls, and all the people in the world awaken in their beds. And those with awakening of life rise up from their beds to the work of their Master, and engage in Torah and in praising the Creator until the morning comes.
When the morning comes, all the armies and camps above praise the Creator. Then, several gates open to all sides, and Abraham’s gate, Hesed [mercy], opens in the assembly of Israel, Malchut, to summon all the people in the world to enjoy the Hassadim [mercies]. It is written, “And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba,” since Malchut is called Beersheba, and Abraham planted the tree of Hesed in it.
And one who cannot awaken his spirit to serve his master, with what face will he rise before the King when judgment is evoked upon him, and he is caught and chained, meaning when he is imprisoned so as to be brought to judgment? He will not have the merit to be saved. It is written about that, “As birds trapped in a snare.” As they, “So the sons of men are ensnared.” And before a person leaves this world, the soul with the body are sentenced to several judgments before they part, and there is no one to watch over it.
1.56 Zohar for All, Shmini [On the Eighth Day],
“Man Was Created in the Torah,” Item 8
All those who engage in Torah cling to the Creator and are crowned in the decorations of Torah. They are loved above and below, and the Creator offers them His right hand, mercy. It is even more so with those who engage in Torah at night, as well, for they have established that they partake in Divinity and join together. And when the morning comes, the Creator decorates them with a single string of grace, so they will be among the higher and among the lower.
1.57 Zohar for All, Aharei Mot [After the Death], “The Poets, Heyman, Yedutun, and Asaf,” Items 152-154
When the night comes, the angels outside the curtain awaken. They are drawn from the Achoraim de Malchut and from her externality. At that time everything quiets down and there is no opening of a door. The Dinim below, of Malchut, who is below all the Sefirot, awaken all of them until half the night. After midnight, when all the angels that extend from the middle line gather, an appointee is appointed over them and collects all the camps, as it is written, “Which was the rearward of all the camps and their hosts.” His name is Asaf [Me’asef means “in the rear” or “gathering”], correspond- ing to the Asaf of above, introduced in Psalms. Malchut is called Asaf because the illuminations of all the Sefirot gather in her for she receives from everyone. And since that minister extends from Malchut, his name is called Asaf.
Until the morning comes. When the morning comes, the boy Matat, who suckles from his moth- er’s breasts, Malchut, rises to purify the angels of the night and enter the sun. When the morning rises, it is a time of good will, when the queen is speaking with the king, ZA. The king stretches from Himself a thread of blessings, Hassadim, and spreads over the queen and those who bond with her, those who engage in Torah at night, when it is divided.
Happy is he who comes with the queen when she comes to welcome the king, ZA, to speak with him, and he is with her when the king sends forth his right hand, the light of Hassadim, to welcome the queen.
1.58 Zohar for All, Aharei Mot [After the Death],
“The Poets, Heyman, Yedutun, and Asaf,” Items 155-156
All those who engage in Torah when half the night is through unite with the Shechina [Divinity]. When the morning comes and the queen, the Shechina, bonds with the king, ZA, they are with the king and the king spreads his wings over all of them, as it is written, “By day the Lord will command grace [Hesed], and at night, His song is with me.”
When the morning rises, the patriarchs, HGT de ZA, come with the queen and rush to speak with her and bond with her. And in them the Creator, ZA, speaks with her and calls her to spread His wings over her.
1.59 Zohar for All, Kedoshim,
“Oh Land of Whirring Wings,” Item 18
One who wants to be sanctified with the will of his Master will engage only from midnight onward or at midnight, since at that time, the Creator, ZA, is in the Garden of Eden, in Malchut, and upper Kedusha [holiness] awakens, and that is the time to be sanctified. This is so for the rest of the people. For wise disciples, who know the ways of Torah, midnight is their time to rise and engage in Torah, to connect to the assembly of Israel, Malchut, and praise the holy name, Malchut, and the holy King, ZA.
1.60 Zohar for All, Emor,
“He Gives Prey to Those Who Fear Him,” Item 31
Anyone who engages in Torah at night and rises at midnight, when the assembly of Israel, Malchut, awakens to correct the King’s house, to extend illumination of Hochma [wisdom] for Him, as it is written, “The house will be built with wisdom,” that man partakes with her. This is considered that he is from the King’s house, and each day he is given from those corrections of the house.
1.61 Zohar for All, Miketz [At the End],
“They Brought Him Hastily out of the Dungeon,” Items 32-33
“The Lord favors those who fear Him.” Oh how the Creator desires the righteous, since the righ- teous make peace above, in AVI, and make peace below, in ZON, and bring the bride to her husband. And for this reason, the Creator desires those who fear Him and do His will. Through the MAN that they raise to ZON, ZON, too, raise MAN to AVI, and a Zivug occurs above, in AVI, and below, in ZON. And they bring the bride, Nukva, to her husband, ZA, to mate. For this reason, the Creator, ZA, desires only them, for without them there would be no peace, which is a Zivug, neither above in AVI nor below in ZON.
“Them that await His mercy.” “Them that await His mercy” are those who engage in Torah at night and partake with Divinity. And when the morning comes, they await His mercy.
When a person engages in Torah at night, a thread of mercy extends upon him during the day, as it is written, “By day the Lord will command His mercy, and in the night His song shall be with me.”
1.62 Zohar for All, Aharei Mot [After the Death],
“Nefesh and Ruach” [Soul and Spirit], Item 217
“Even my spirit within me seeks You,” that I may cling to You with great love in the night. One should rise each night out of love of the Creator to engage in His work until the morning rises and draws upon him a thread of grace [Hesed]. Happy is one who loves the Creator with this love. Those true righteous who love the Creator so, the world exists because of them and they govern all the harsh decrees above and below.
1.63 Zohar for All, VaYikra [The Lord Called],
“When the Morning Stars Sang Together,” Items 379-380
“When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” When the Creator comes to entertain with the righteous in the Garden of Eden, all things, meaning degrees in the lower world, Malchut, and all the upper ones and lower ones awaken toward Him. And all the trees, meaning degrees, in the Garden of Eden begin to praise before Him, as it is written, “Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy before the Lord, for He has come.” And even the birds in the land all utter praise before Him.
At that time, a flame comes out and strikes the wings of the rooster, who calls and praises the holy King. He calls upon people to exert in Torah, in praising their Master, and in His work. Happy are those who rise from their bed to engage in Torah.
When the morning comes, the doors on the south, meaning Hesed, open and the gates of healing come out to the world. And Eastern wind, ZA, awakens and Rachamim are present. And all those stars and signs, meaning degrees, which are appointed under the governance of that morning, which is Yesod that shines Hassadim, they all begin to praise and to sing for the High King. It is written about that, “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”
But what do the sons of God, who are Din, want here, summoning a shout on this morning, which is the time of Hesed? After all, all the Dinim [judgments] are removed when the Hesed awak- ens in the world. However, “And all the sons of God shouted for joy” means that the authority of the harsh Dinim has been broken, their strength has been shattered, since “Shout” means that they broke, as it is written, “The earth is broken, broken down.”
1.64 Zohar for All, VaYigash [And Judah Approached],
“Sixty Breaths,” Items 34-39
King David would sleep as a horse; he slept little. Thus, how did he rise at midnight? After all, this measure of sixty breaths of the horse’s sleep is little and he would not rise even at a third of the night. However, when the night came, he would sit with all the great ones of his house and he would sentence judgments and engage in words of Torah. This means that he did not go to sleep in the beginning of the night, but close to midnight. Afterwards, he would sleep his sleep until midnight, rise at midnight, awaken, and engage in the work of his Master, in song and in praise.
King David lives and exists forever and ever. King David kept himself all his life from tasting the taste of death, since sleep is one part of sixty of death. And David, because of his place, which is “alive,” slept only sixty breaths, since he lived only through sixty breaths, minus one, and from there on, man tastes the taste of death and the side of the spirit of impurity governs him.
This is why King David kept himself from tasting the taste of death and from being gov- erned by the side of the other spirit. This is because sixty breaths minus one means that the life above—up to sixty breaths—are sixty high breaths, and life depends on them. And from there down it is death.
This is why King David was measuring the night until midnight, so he would remain alive and the taste of death would not govern him. And when half the night was through, David would exist in his place, in his degree, living and existing, since he had woken up from his sleep and sang and praised. This is so because when he awoke at midnight and the holy Keter—the Nukva, awakened— it must not find David connected to another place, the place of death.
When half the night was through and the upper holiness awakened, if a person who sleeps in his bed does not rise from his sleep to observe the glory of his Master, by that he connects to death and clings to another place, to the Sitra Achra. This is why King David would always rise at midnight to observe the glory of his Master, living in a living, and he would not sleep in slumber to the point of tasting the taste of death. This is the reason why he would sleep as a horse, sixty breaths, but not in completeness, for they lacked one.
Sleeping means shutting of the eyes, meaning the Mochin. This is as one who is lying mindlessly with his eyes shut. Its root extends from the domination of the illumination of the left line, Hochma, when it is in dispute with the right line, Hassadim, where because the Hochma cannot shine without Hassadim, the Mochin are blocked out.
Awakening from sleep extends from the middle line, since the state of sleep continues until the ascent of the middle line with the Masach de Hirik in it. This is the point of Man’ula [lock], which diminishes the left line and includes it in the right, when the Hochma in the left is included in the Hassadim in the right. At that time, the Mochin open and the Hochma can shine.
1.65 Zohar for All, VaYigash [And Judah Approached],
“Sixty Breaths,” Item 39
But the Nukva, which is called “night,” receives the construction of her Sefirot from ZA. For this reason, she, too, is divided at the point of Chazeh, like him. From the point of midnight, from the Chazeh and above—in the first six hours through the middle of the night—there is no force of Din and death there from the point of Man’ula at all. Rather, from the point of Chazeh down, in the second six hours, they, too, become life and holiness like the HGT above, if there is the correction of awakening in them.
However, if there is no correction of awakening in them—the sentencing in the middle line— and the dominion of the left without the right continues, meaning sleep, then the force of death in Man’ula at the point of Chazeh awakens and the NHY from the Chazeh down, the second six hours—after midnight—are dominated by death and the Sitra Achra.
1.66 Zohar for All, VaYigash [And Judah Approached],
“Sixty Breaths,” Items 46-47
Thus, these are sixty breaths indeed, the six hours preceding midnight, which are of life, both above in the upper worlds, from Chazeh of the Nukva and above, and below in this world. And past the point of midnight, there are sixty other breaths, HGT NHY from the Chazeh down, all of which are from the side of death, and the degree of death is upon them, meaning the point of Man’ula at the point of Chazeh, which causes every death in the world. And those sixty breaths from the Chazeh and below are called “sleep,” and they are all the taste of death.
This is the reason why King David clung to those sixty breaths of life on the six hours preceding midnight, from the Chazeh and above, since the force of Din and death at the point of Chazeh cannot reach them. And from then on he would not sleep at all, as it is written, “I will not give sleep to my eyes.”
1.67 Zohar for All, VaYigash [And Judah Approached],
“Sixty Breaths,” Items 48-52
“O Lord, the God of my salvation, I have cried out by day and in the night before You.” At midnight, King David would rise and engage in Torah, in songs and praises for the joy of the King and the mistress. This is the joy of faith in the land, since this is the merit of faith, Divinity, which is seen in the land.
This is so because above, several high angels begin with joy and singing in several ways, praising at night on all the sides, even in illumination of the left side. This is so because at that time it is the dominion of the Nukva, as it is written, “She rises while it is still night.” It is similar below, on earth. He who praises the Creator in the night on earth, the Creator desires him, and all the holy angels that praise the Creator listen to the one who praises the Creator on earth at night, since this singing is in perfection, to enhance the glory of the Creator from below and to sing of the joy of unification.
King David wrote, “O Lord, the God of my salvation.” When is the Lord the God of my salvation? He is my salvation on that day when I first sing for You in the night, for then He is my salvation in the day.
This is so because he who praises his Master in the song of Torah at night grows stronger in Gevura during the day, on the right side, Hesed. The Hochma that he received in the night from the left side dresses in Hesed from the right side during the day because a thread of grace comes out from the right side, and then it extends on him and he is strengthened in it. This is why David said, “O Lord, the God of my salvation, I have cried out by day.”
And this is also why he said, “It is not the dead who praise the Lord.” “It is not the dead” because the living should bless the living, and not the dead toward the living, as it is written, “It is not the dead who praise the Lord.” Rather, we bless the Creator because we are alive and we have no part whatsoever in the side of death. King David is alive and close to the One who lives forever. And one who is close to Him, to the One who lives forever, is alive, as it is written, “But you that adhere unto the Lord your God are alive everyone of you this day.” And it is also written, “And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel.”
1.68 Rav Kook,
Lights of Torah, Chapter 10, Item 10
One of the wonders of learning the secrets of Torah is that when a person learns these sublime mat- ters out of love and internal feeling, although he cannot grasp the matters clearly with his intellect, they still elevate his entire being. If this is so, the matters shine their light upon him.
1.69 Ramchal,
Adir BaMarom
Rashbi [Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai] composed The Book of Zohar according to the illumination that came to him when he was corrected in the cave. It is a great and terrible composition that reveals the depth of the secrets in great clarity about the Torah itself. This is “revealing the Torah in its interior.”
1.70 RAMAK,
Know the God of Your Father, 2
This book will be called The Book of Zohar because of the influence of that light from the upper radiance. Through its light, all who engage in it are influenced by Godly Providence, since upper light and abundance from Daat is poured in the secrets of the Torah. Since it flowed from there, that composition was called The Book of Zohar [Book of Radiance], meaning it streamed that radiance.
1.71 RAMAK,
Ohr Yakar, Gate 1, Mark 5.
When we engage in this composition, we awaken the power of the souls with the power of Moses, since when they engage in it, they renew and renewed light that was innovated at the time of composing it. The Shechina [Divinity] shines and illuminates from that light as when it was first engendered, and all who engage in it reawaken that benefit and first light that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his friends revealed while composing it.
1.72 Raaiah Kook,
Orot [Lights]
Now the time obligates to increase possession of the inner Torah. The Book of Zohar, which breaks new paths, sets a trail in the desert, a track in the wilderness, it and all its crops, is ready to open the gates of redemption.
1.73 The HIDA,
The Name of the Greats
Learning The Zohar is a great correction to illuminate the soul and sanctify it.
1.74 Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh of Ziditshov,
Ateret Tzvi
One who has not seen the Light of The Book of Zohar has never seen light in his life.
1.75 Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Eichenstein of Ziditshov,
Depart from Evil and Do Good
Hear me, my brothers and friends, who are craving and seeking the truth, the truth of the work of the heart—to behold the pleasantness of the Lord and to visit His hall. My soul shall bow and cling unto The Book of Zohar, as the power of engaging in the holy book is known from our ancient sages.
1.76 Rabbi Moshe Chaim Ephraim of Sudilkov,
Degel Mahaneh Ephraim, Assortments
The words of The Zohar are capable for the soul. Even though he does not understand what he is saying whatsoever, it is akin to one who enters a perfumery. Even if he takes nothing, he still absorbs the fragrance.
1.77 Rav Yitzhak Yehuda Yehiel Safrin of Komarno,
Notzer Hesed, Chapter 4, Teaching 20
Each and every letter in The Book of Zohar and the writings of our great teacher by Rav Chaim Vital … are great corrections for the soul, to correct all the incarnations.
1.78 Rabbis of Jerusalem
The merit of learning The Zohar is known, that it revokes all kinds of calamities and harsh and bad decrees.
1.79 RAMAK,
Know the God of Your Father
We would never have the power to undress the Torah from its clothes were it not for Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his friends.
1.80 “Introduction to The Zohar,” Livorno Press, 1892
The virtue of the study of The Book of Zohar is already known, as the ARI said, “A single day of studying The Book of Zohar and the secrets of Torah equals an entire year of studying the literal.
1.81 Rav Raaiah Kook,
Love of Israel in Sanctity, 232
There is no measurement or value to the virtue of one who contemplate the words of the living God, The Book of Zohar, all that accompany it, the words of true sages, and especially the clear writings of the Ari … By constant engagement, the gates of light and the openings of wisdom will be revealed to all who walk on the path of the Creator wholeheartedly, whose soul yearns to approach the hall of the honorable King. Hence, all who volunteer to engage in the wisdom even an hour or two each day, and with a good thought, are blessed. The Creator adds it to an act, and it will be regarded as though he is standing all day long forever in the court of the Creator and His dwelling place is in the secrets of the Torah.
1.82 Rabbi Yitzhak Maltzan,
“A Commentary on the Vilna Gaon Prayer Book”
It was testified in the name of the GRA (Vilna Gaon) that he said, “The order of the study is from below upward, and the attainment will guide him from above downward, for when one fully understands the secret, he will also understand the literal, and as long as he does not understand the secret, the literal will also not be clear.” It therefore follows that by meriting being among those who know His name, which is the internality of the Torah, by this we will also fully understand the literal meaning.
1.83 Rabbi Chaim of Voluzhin,
Nefesh HaChaim
The reason that our sages wrote that learning The Zohar is awesome and very sublime although he does not know what he is saying (reading) is that in the whole of the Torah there is PARDES, and in every study, the secret is not apparent whatsoever. On the contrary, the mind of one who reads and learns is only on the literal, without understanding if there is even a secret in the Torah at all. Conversely, in The Book of Zohar, the secrets are revealed and the learner knows that it speaks wonders and secrets of the Torah, and he does not know. This is very helpful for correcting the soul.
1.84 Rabbi Eliyahu Di Vidash,
Resheet Hochma
Learning according to the literal is called “slave,” and according to the secret, it is called “son.” When one knows one’s Master only according to the literal, he is usually called a “slave.” When he is a son, who knows the secrets of Torah in Atzilut, like a son searching through his father’s treasures, he is called a “son.”
1.85 The HIDA,
The Name of the Greats
Precisely the study of The Zohar has more Segula [power/merit] than learning the Bible, the Mishnah, and the Talmud. This is surprising for in what is its power greater than all of the Torah? Whether for the Bible or for the Mishnah, meaning that the Bible, the Mishnah, and the Talmud are very clothed and the secret is not at all apparent in them. Not so is The Zohar, which speaks of the secrets of the Torah explicitly, and there is not a fool who will read and not understand that its words are in the depth of the secrets of the Torah. Hence, since the secrets of Torah are revealed without clothing, they brighten and illuminate the soul.
1.86 RAMAK,
Know the God of Your Father
There is no part of the Torah that causes such unification as the secrets of the Torah.
1.87 Simcha Bonim of Pshischa,
A Torah of Joy, p 57
Previously, the evil inclination was not so strong, and the revealed Torah was sufficient as a spice against it. But now, before the redemption, the evil inclination is intensifying and requires strength- ening through the hidden, too.
1.88 RAMAK,
Know the God of Your Father
The merit of this composition is such that one who engages willingly, the love of the Creator will draw him like a magnet pulls the iron. It will permeate him to save his Nefesh [soul], Ruach [spirit], and Neshama [soul], and his correction.
1.89 The Holy Shlah,
In Ten Utterances
The wisdom of Kabbalah makes the fool wise, and one who has not seen the light of this wisdom has never seen lights in his life, for then he will understand and learn the meaning of His uniqueness and the meaning of His governance … and all who retire from it, retire from the spiritual, eternal life.
1.90 Rabbi Chaim of Voluzhin,
Nefesh HaChaim
One who engages in Torah, even if he initially becomes soiled with enormous iniquities and sins, and terribly submerged in mire and sludge, the abyss of evil, nevertheless, by engaging in Torah he can be certain that the light in it will surely reform him, the good will overcome the evil in him bit by bit, until finally, the good will prevail and spread through all of him completely.
1.91 Rav Yitzchak Safrin of Komarno,
The Path of Unification
When you aim, with submission and fear, to awaken the surrounding lights and the Mochin above, although you do not know any essence or the surrounding lights or the Mochin of anything, still, by your knowledge, you awaken their existence. And although you do not know their essence, a great light is drawn over to you.
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