Zohar on the Torah

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Parshat Shoftim – Zohar, Rayia MeHemna, Page 274b “You shall appoint judges and policemen to be present at all your city entrances which the Lord your G-d gives your tribes; and they shall judge the law cases of the people with righteous decisions.”[1] This is the mitzvah to appoint judges and law enforcement officers and yet it is said “But the Lord (Elokim) is the judge; He humiliates this person and raises up another.”[2] The word “Ki” (But) at the beginning of the quote is spelled Kaf Yud. The gematria of the letter Yud when is spelled in full (Yud, Vav Dalet) is 20. After the word “Ki” the verse uses the word describing the Divine attribute of strictness. “Elokim judges, this one humiliating” – where the word for “this” is 12 in gematria, the same number value as the two letters Hey (when spelled Hey Aleph) in the holy name spelled Yud Hey Vav Hey – “and this one raising up” – where the word “and”, spelled vav vav in full (also number value 12) - is used. {The letter Kaf from the word “Ki” is the first letter of the name of the highest sphira, Keter or “Crown”. The number 20, “esrim”, is also the gematria of Keter, which confirms that judgement originates in the highest sphira of Keter and descends down to this world in the wisdom of the properly appointed judges. Their level is hinted at by the yud following the letter Kaf. Yud always signifies the sphira of Chochma and the gematria of Yud in full is 20 showing its connection back to the sphira of Keter. The Yud is Chochma and the Vav Dalet of its spelling in full (together gematria 10) hints at Binah that contains the spark of wisdom from Chochma. The two letters Hey in the holy name represent the sphirot of Bina and Malchut. The two vavim represent the sphirot of Tiferet and Yesod at the spiritual level and the two witnesses that provide evidence to the judges on the physical level.} The next commandment is for the judges to impose the proper penalty, whether the judgment should be death by sword, strangulation, stoning or burning. Who is sentenced to death by the sword? Sama-el the spiritual source of the person’s inclination to do wicked deeds. By killing a person who has become a vehicle for his own evil inclination the Bet Din in this world saves his soul from punishment in the spiritual (and hence eternal) worlds. This is the explanation of the verse: “For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it shall come down on Edom, and upon the people of who are an anathema to me, to receive their judgement.”[3] The sword of the Holy One Blessed Be He – the sword of judgement in the spiritual realms – is hinted at in the very name Yud Hey Vav Hey. The Yud represents the handle of the sword and also the sphirot of Keter and Malchut. The Vav is the body of the sword, the six directions of the world, Tiferet, combining judgement with mercy. The two letters Hey symbolize the two sharp cutting edges (pipiyot) of the sword, two mouths (Piy means mouth) – the Higher mouth, Malchut, and the mouth of the judge in this world. It is written in respect of these two mouths – “Pursue justice, true justice, in order that you may live, and inherit the land which the Lord your G-d gives you.”[4] The repetition of the word “justice” in the text refers to the two decisions involved in justice, the decision of the court in the spiritual realms and the concurrent decision of the court in the physical realm. From this we see that there is judgement involved in everything, no matter how small the matter as we have learnt “No-one bruises their finger in this world unless it was so decreed against him in heaven”[5]. The sheath of the sword of justice is the name Adonai representing Malchut, when combined with the merciful holy name Yud Hey Vav Hey. The unity of these is the meditative state of union with the infinite symbolized by the names when spelled together – Yud Aleph Hey Dalet Vav Nun Hey Yud. [1] Deuteronomy 16,12 [2] Psalms 75,8 [3] Isaiah 34,5 [4] Deuteronomy 16,20 [5] Gemara Chulin 7b

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