Zohar on the Torah
Parshat Emor, Page 96b
Translated and adapted by Mr. Simcha Treister
Rebbi Shimon said that
the barley offering brought by the sota [the wife suspected of being
unfaithful], was an offering of barley. This offering was referred to as a
‘jealousy offering, an offering to cause remembrance’ (Numbers 5:15).
The word “jealousy” [kina’ot] in that verse is written without the vav
because the sefira of malchut that is also called by this name,
is in a neglected state. She is lacking the abundance flowing from yesod,
and this is indicated by the missing vav. The same root word, kina,
is used in the case of Pinchas, who killed the prince of the tribe of Shimon
who was fornicating with a Moabite princess. Pinchas was blessed with
everlasting priesthood, ‘because he was jealous [or zealous] for his G-d’.
Note that in English
the two words jealous and zealous are very closely connected – the letters “j”
and “z” are the only difference between the words, and even those letters are
phonetically similar.
Jealousy [kina] is
an attribute of the sefira of yesod [which is the sefira
of sexuality] and whoever is unfaithful to the covenant of Israel arouses the
force of yesod that brings jealous zealots against him. This is what is
meant by the phrase in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 81b) ‘Zealots may punish
him’.
Come and see. The barley
[animal fodder] that was from the Omer [the offering of barley collected
from the fields on the second day of Pesach and delivered to the Temple] was
what she used as her offering. It was crushed and shredded under the
grindstone, and they would collect an isaron [an ancient measurement]
and winnow it 13 times in a sieve.
Thirteen is the number of the Divine attributes of mercy. Through the
winnowing process the barley was cleansed of all attachments, i.e., the husks
and shells that contaminated it physically and spiritually.
This is what
is meant by the phrase, used in the command to count the Omer, ‘Seven complete
weeks’ (Leviticus 23:15).
The word “complete” refers to the completion of the purification of the sefira
of malchut during this period between Pesach and Shavuot. During this
period, she is refined from the attachment of all forces that sully her, and
all the seven sefirot of Zeir Anpin - which are each
comprised of seven sefirot – are counted. This raises into consciousness
all the 49 facets of malchut, and serves as a preparation for the 50th level which is the
receiving of the Torah.