Zohar on the Torah

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Parshat KiTezeh – Zohar, Rayia MeHemna, Page 276a How unfortunate are those who only eat the straw instead of the real fruit of Torah, and don’t understand the inner secrets of the Torah. They learn only the simple stories as they are written and the logical deductions associated with them. They learn the stories and the strict rules (Chumrot). But the stories are like the straw and the strictures are like the wheat. Wheat is called Chitah. The Chet part of that word means “sin” and the “Hey” at the end of the word is a letter from the world of truth. Wheat was the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which Adam and Eve ate in the garden of Eden. Thus wheat is a mixture of good and evil, chaff and seed – sin and holiness – as reflected in the letters of its name. The spiritual source of reasoning and logical deductions is from this source of mixed good and evil, which explains why using logic to understand Torah is like eating straw instead of proper food. Now it is not the accepted thing for a King or Queen to ride on a donkey [he word donkey is “chamor” and shares the same root as the word “chumrot”] Majesty rides on a horse as it is written: “You rode on Your horses, your chariots of salvation”[1]. One does not degrade a Queen by putting her on a donkey and certainly not the King himself. It is more proper for the king’s servant to ride a donkey [the physical is called “chomriut”, associated with the word chamor] and this is the reason it is written about the Mashiach that he is “just and victorious; humble and riding on a donkey”[2]. The word “humble” (onni) in that verse is spelled Ayin Nun Yud and is an acrostic for the three tractates of the Talmud that deal with the strict decrees – Eruvin, Nidah and Yevamot – and the other orders of the Mishna (Oral Law). [In the mystical realms these tractates represent the control of the physical realm as it given over to the angelic forces supervised by the faithful servant of the King, the angel metatron. The commands of the King are delegated to this angel to carry out or sub-delegate. He represents the spiritual forces affecting the physical world called Assiyah. Until the servant fulfills his command he is not called King. The higher spiritual level is only revealed when there is unity between the spiritual and the physical, between the King and the Assembly of Israel.] The servant is not called King until he rides on his horse that is called the Assembly of Israel. When the King is outside his residence, not united with his Queen, he us not in his full majesty. In the future, when He returns to His residence, then “The Lord shall be King over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be one, and his name one”[3]. All Israel are called the sons of the King. Their relationship is like father and son, but not like the sons of the King until they return to the land of Israel. When they return to the land of Israel the full majesty of their relationship will be revealed. [1] Habakkuk3,8 [2] Zechariah 9,9 [3] Zechariah 14,9

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