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Zohar on the Torah
The large size green text is the direct translation of the Zohar.
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A Blessing on Your Head Parashat Ekev -- Zohar 271a Our translation picks up from where we left off last year. The source is from Raiya Mehemna which means "The Faithful Shepherd" -- a reference to Moshe Rabbeinu. This work appears in many sections of the Zohar as a sub-text. It explains the inner secrets of the mitzvot. At the time when those blessings (berachot) that a person has made descend they crown the Field of Holy Apples [Field here refers to malchut and the apples are the other sefirot which are likened to fruit hanging on a tree]. Then [the shefa (Divine outpouring) generated by the blessing] encounters many [angels] in charge of various missions throughout the world and dwells on them. Then they speak, announcing "This is the present which the person here named sent up to the Holy One Blessed be He." Now, having explained the spiritual power generated by the person who makes a blessing, the text reveals the manner in which the shefa is drawn down from above. From what place
does this [shefa] descend? To
the [first] place it descends, which is one head of the tzadik [the
unified sefirot of Yesod of Abba and Imma]. This is the
place to which they [the blessings] go up and from there they arouse different
[responsive] blessings to descend from above. This is the meaning of the verse
in Proverbs 10:6 "Blessings to the head of the tzadik." Tzadik is a term used by the Zohar to describe the sefira of yesod. It acts as a funnel, receiving the outflow of energy from all the other sefirot and funneling it into malchut. When that level [yesod of Abba and Imma] is full [of the shefa flowing downwards in response to the blessing made by the person below] it empties from there into the bride [malchut of Atzilut], and from there it is poured out and drawn downwards [to the lower worlds]. It is drawn down in response to blessings, prayer and Torah learning in this world. When those blessings [made over something enjoyed in this world] arise from below there is no gate [to any of the supernal sefirot] that is closed to them. When a person makes a blessing before eating food in this world, the expiration of his breath as he makes the blessing releases a spark of holiness that was trapped in that food. That spark ascends on his breath and is attracted back to its holy source from where it generates a downward flow of beneficence. There is not one [spiritual force] appointed to guard the entrances [of the holy sefirot from the external forces or kelipot], that would refuse to open those gates. They make an announcement saying, "This is the gift that so and so has sent to the King." And what is the gift that has been given in the most fitting manner? It is a blessing that has received the response "Amen." The sages say that greater than the one who makes a blessing is one who says "Amen" after someone else has made it. From this we learn that one should never be embarrassed to say "Amen" after someone else's blessing. The opposite should be the case, because the response "Amen" properly completes the blessing, giving it added life force which generates great merit for the one who answers "Amen." Simcha Treister is a lawyer from New Zealand who made aliya to Safed with his family in 1993 to study Zohar, and continues doing so to this day. |
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