Zohar on the Torah

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Zohar Parshat Bamidbar (3:118b) translated by Mr. Simcha Treister and edited by Rabbi Avraham Sutton [Rabbi Yehuda continued:] "Every man of the children of Israel shall camp by his own flag [inscribed] with the insignia of his father's house" (Numbers 2:2). These are the four camps of Knesset Yisrael [the Divine Presence]. And [since each camp was comprised of three tribes] these are the twelve tribes. The four camps parallel the four angelic hosts that are said to 'surround' the Shechinah. These four angelic hosts are in the dimension of Yetzirah. They are Michael to the south, Gavriel to the north, Uriel to the east, and Raphael to the west. Now, the full revelation of the Light of the Shechinah or G-d's Glory, which is called Malchut d'Atzilut, is too powerful for Yetzirah to withstand. It must first be surrounded by [i.e. clothed in] the dimension of Beriyah, which is called The Throne of Glory. This Throne is then 'surrounded' and 'carried' by the four angelic hosts of Yetzirah which are called The Divine Chariot. Down below, the four camps of Israel [comprised of twelve tribes encamped around the Mishkan] paralleled the four angelic hosts of Yetzirah, and in this way [through this system of filters] became a Chariot for the Divine Presence in history. These are also the twelve 'boundaries' encircling Her [the Divine Presence], all as reflected above. A three-dimensional object, say a cube, has six faces (north, south, east, west, up and down). These six faces are connected by twelve lines or edges. In the spiritual dimension, as well, the light of the Shechinah is surrounded [i.e. refracted into the lower worlds] by a number of sets of twelve. One of these sets consists of the twelve diagonal "boundaries" of the Sefirot: east-upper, east-north, east-lower; south-upper, south-east, south-lower; west-upper, west-south, west-lower; north-upper, north-west, north-lower. There are also twelve permutations of the Four-Letter Name YKVK. All of these represent a refracting of the powerful light of the Divine into the lower dimensionality of this world. It is written "For there [to Jerusalem] the tribes ascended, the tribes of Yah. [They ascended to the Temple in which reposed] Israel's Testimony. [They ascended] to gratefully acknowledge the Merciful Name of God" (Psalms 122:4). These are the twelve tribes, the twelve lower boundaries. They are the tribes of Yah, as we have learned. For the Name Yah is a testimony for Israel. The letters Yud and Hei, comprising the holy Name Yah, were joined to the names of the tribes (see below). On a simple level, this attests to the purity of their lineage. Every person knew his Jewish father. On a deeper level, it attests to the fact that Israel embodies the mystery of the letters Yud and Hei, representing the exalted levels of Abba/Chochmah and Imma/Binah. This is represented in the way the names of the tribes are written (in Parashat Pinchas, Bamidbar 26): HaReuvenY, HaShimonY, etc. The letters Yud and Hei literally 'embrace' each and every name. And indeed, this is the case [i.e. the twelve tribes of Israel are rooted up in the twelve diagonal boundaries of the Sefirot of Atzilut]. For the Holy Tree [of Life] on High sealed them with His Seal. The "seal" of the twelve diagonal boundaries of the Sefirot of Atzilut is imprinted in all the worlds below, and finally embodied in the twelve tribes of Israel encamped around the Mishkan. And thus have we learned: It is written [concerning the Chayot - Living Creatures that Ezekiel envisioned in his Vision of the Chariot], "The form of their faces were, the face of a man, with the face of a lion to the right side of the four; the face of an ox to the left of the four; and the face of an eagle to the four" (Ezekiel 1:10). The face of a man was included in all four faces [in Ezekiel's vision]. In other words, none of the faces were actually those of animals. Rather, they all had human faces whose features resembled those of these animals. This is what is so amazing about the human face: it contains all possible forms (see Ramak and Mikdash Melech). The four faces faced the four directions. Each had a different form. Nevertheless, all had the face of a man. 1) Michael [the angel of G-d's love] on the right [to the south of the camp], had a lion-like face, associated with chesed. 2) Gavriel [the angel of G-d's power] on the left [to the north], had an ox-like face, associated with gevurah. 3) Uriel [the angel of G-d's light] in front [to the east], had a purely human face, associated with tiferet. 4) Raphael [the angel of G-d's healing] behind [to the west], had an eagle-like face, associated with yesod-malchut. Above them all is the Divine Presence of the Shechinah. Two surround Her on one side [Uriel and Michael] and two surround Her on the other side [Raphael and Gavriel], while She was in the middle. In the same manner, Israel was aligned below on earth: Two were on one side [the camps of Yehudah and Reuven], and two were on the other side [the camps of Ephraim and Dan]. Yah [embodied in the Sapphire Tablets which reposed in the Ark of the Covenant in the center of the camp] was in the middle. * * * In Pirkey d'Rebbi Eliezer (Chapter 4), the following Midrash is found which complements our text: Four camps [companies, hosts] of ministering angels utter praise before the Holy One. The first camp, that of Michael, is at His right (chesed/south). The second, that of Gavriel, is at His left (gevurah/north). The third, that of Uriel, is before Him (tiferet/east). The fourth, that of Raphael, is behind Him (yesod-malchut/west). The Presence of the Holy One is in the middle, over them. He is seated on a high and exalted Throne (cf. Isaiah 6:1) -- high above, suspended in mid-air. The reflections of His Glory have the radiance of Chashmal [pulsing like Electricity], as Ezekiel envisioned, "I saw a vision of the Chashmal like a vision of fire..." (Ezekiel 1:27). Upon His head is a crown, with the Ineffable Name engraved upon it. His eyes range over the entire earth. Half [of His Glory] is fire; the other half, hail. At His right is Life; at His left, death. He holds a sceptor of fire in His hand, and a Veil is spread out before Him. Within the Veil, which is called Pargod [Curtain, Partition], seven angels minister before Him. His footstool is composed of fire and hail. Under His Throne of Glory is the likeness of Sapphire (cf. Exodus 24:10). Fire flashes continually about His Throne. The foundation upon which His throne rests is [a perfect combination of] charity and strict justice (cf. Psalms 97:2). Seven Clouds of Glory surround Him. The Ophanin and the Galgalim and the Cherubim and the Chayot all offer praise before Him. His Throne has four legs. One holy Chayah is affixed to each leg. Each has four faces and four wings... Facing them are the Ophanim and the Galgalim of the Chariot... The Chayot stand next to the Throne and yet do not know the place of His Glory. They stand in awe and dread, in fear and in trembling, and from the perspiration of their faces, a Nahar DiNor [River of Fire] flows and issues forth before Him, as it is said, "A fiery stream issued and came forth before Him" (Daniel 7:10). Shabbat Shalom

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