Zohar on the Torah

Parshat Tetzaveh - Zohar, Page 179b

Translated and adapted by Mr. Simcha Treister

Rebbi Shimon opened his discourse concerning the first words of the parsha which are ‘VeAta’ - ‘And you’ (shall command…), saying: It is written ‘And You (VeAta), O Lord, be not far away from me; O my strength, come quickly to help me.’[1] The word VeAta [which represents the Holy union of the spiritual dimension Ze’er and Nukva] and the name Lord – Havayah -  [Ze’er Anpin] are all one unity. The words ‘Be not far away from me’ is a meditation that the Holy union should continue and not become separated and the names Havayah and A-donai should remain united in my conscious understanding and not remove itself from me by disappearing into higher realms of the spiritual. [The name Havayah represents the infinitely merciful aspect of the Divine while the name A-donai represents strict judgement. The word-picture meditation where the name Havayah contains the smaller printed letters of A-donai in the final letter Hey is found in many Sephardi prayer books.]

When these two aspects of the Divine are separated, the great spiritual light which enables man to see the Divine in all aspects of his life, is darkened. Then the merciful Divine presence is not felt at all in the world. The separation of this unity [where the light of the Divine – Ze’er Anpin - illuminates Malchut/physical reality] is what caused the destruction of the Temple in the days of Yirmiyahu/Jeremiah. Even though the Temple was subsequently rebuilt the light of the presence of the Divine, the Shechina, did not fully return[2].

Now the fact that the Shechina did not return is hinted in the very name of the prophet that foretold the destruction of the first Temple. He was called Yirmiyahu, which describes the disappearance of the feeling of the presence of the Divine that removed Itself further and further away. The name Yirmiyahu can be broken up into two parts – Yarim, which means to elevate away, and the letters yud-hey-vav, which are the letters of the name Havayah. Hence his name means ‘The disappearance of the Divine’. He was certainly named properly because the Shechina did elevate away and didn’t return to its place even after the Temple was rebuilt.

The Second Temple was also destroyed and Divine lights [of Ze’er and Nukva] were removed even further away. But the name of the other prophet, Yishayahu/Isiah [who prophesied on the comforting of Israel and Jerusalem in the future] foretells of the future salvation. [Yisha means salvation and the letters Yud-Hey-Vav in his name are the letters in the Divine name Havayah.] His name represents the return of that consciousness of the Divine to its proper place and (hence) the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. Then all good, and all lights will return.