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Zohar on the Torah |
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Parshat Vayeira – Zohar, Page 99a Translated and adapted by Mr. Simcha Treister Rebbi Abba opened his discourse with the words: “Who shall ascend the mountain of HaShem and will stand in His holy place?”[1]Come and see: People in the world don’t look at the reason why they are in the world. Their days go by and rise up in front the Holy One Blessed be He, that is every single day that a person lives in this world. Every day is created by Him, and even after they have “passed” in this world, they each have spiritual standing before Him. From where do we learn this? From the verse: “In Your book all things are written, all days are fashioned.”[2] When the time comes for a person to depart from this world, then all those days approach and go up before the King on High as is written: “The days of King David approached to his death”[3] and “The days of Israel drew near for his passing”[4]. When a person is in this world he doesn’t monitor and meditate on the reason for his being alive and his purpose in this world. Instead he thinks that all his days go by in a meaningless fashion, without any other reality involved as part of them, which is definitely not the case as each and every day stands for eternity. When the soul goes out from this physical world it doesn’t know down which path it is being led. The reason is that the path to Gan Eden where the righteous souls shine is not known to all, because the manner which a person conducts himself in this world, determines the place where his soul will be drawn after it leaves the physical realm. That which he sought after in this world determines the force that attracts his soul as it ascends the spiritual realms. Rebbi Abba continued; One day, as I was
traveling, I was in a particular city and met some people from India. They told
me some of the ancient knowledge that is found in their books of wisdom (based
on the names of the unholy side that were sent to them by Avraham in an attempt
to help them overcome their tendency to idol worship). I was shown one book
where it was written, that the direction that a person directs his will in this
world, draws down to him a spiritual force from above. This spirit is similar
to his desire to reach a goal that he has attached himself to in this world. If
his will is directed towards something lofty and holy, he draws that thing from
the spiritual realms down to himself. If his desire is to cleave to the forces
of impurity (ego driven desires) and he makes this his focus of meditation,
then he draws down that thing onto himself from on high. They told me that the
essence of this learning is to cleave with words and actions and heartfelt
meditation to the desired object, and by so doing, he draws down power from
that side he cleaves too. I found in this same book, rites and ceremonies
relating to worshipping the stars and constellations and the mantras needed to
be chanted in their worship. There were also instructions as to how to
concentrate a person’s will on them in order to draw these forces down on to
himself. The same principle applies to someone who wants to attach himself to the higher holy spirit. It is through action accompanied by speech and fervent meditation, directed towards a particular thing, that a person can draw down a force from above and cleave to that object. They also added that in the way that a person’s will leads him in this world, so he is lead after he departs from this world. The very thing he cleaved to in this world is what he seeks in that world. If in holiness, then he attaches to holiness. If the impure, then he attaches to the impure side. If he is drawn after the holy, then he is led to that side, and cleaves to it in the spiritual realms. He is made a servant among the other angels. Thus he is attached in the spiritual realms and stands among those holy ones as is written: “then I will let you walk between those who stand before me”[5]. In a similar manner, if one was drawn after the impure in this world, he is drawn to that side and made to attach himself to them and be like them. These are called pests, causing damage and terror to mankind. At the time that their spirit leaves this world it is drawn to gehenom, the place where he is judged along with all those who have defiled themselves and their spirit. Afterwards he becomes one of them and damages and terrorizes the world as they do. I said to them, my sons, these are words similar to those of the Torah. Nevertheless you should stay well away from these books, in order that you not be led astray by those forms of worship and all of those negative forces that are mentioned there, and stray away from worshipping the Holy One Blessed be He. All these books mislead a person. The ancient children of the East were wise, they inherited the wisdom that Avraham sent with the sons of his concubines, as is written: “Avraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them eastward to India, away from his son Isaac while he was still alive. Over time they were drawn down many wrong paths by that wisdom. This didn’t happen to the descendants of Isaac and the inheritors of Jacob, as it is written: “And Avraham gave all that he had to Isaac”. This was the holy portion of faith (emunah) which Abraham adhered too and which gave rise to the inheritance of Jacob, of whom it is written: “And behold the Lord stood over him and said I am the Lord G-d of your Abraham your father, and the G-d of Isaac”. And it is further written: “And now listen, Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen”[6]. Because of this it is proper for a person to be drawn after the Holy One Blessed be He always, as is commanded: “You shall serve Him, and to He you shall adhere.”[7] Come and see, the verse we started our discourse with “Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord and who will stand in His holy place?” is asking who will be worthy to ascend to the spiritual Garden of Eden? Goes on afterwards to give the answer – “He who has clean hands and a pure heart”. Clean hands and a pure heart are a description of a persons physical and spiritual endeavors. Such a person has guarded himself against the power of his evil inclination and has not defiled himself to become a vehicle of impure forces. He has diverted his heart and mind from these sources of negativity, and directed them instead towards the service of the Holy One Blessed be He. The verse goes on to add: “He has not puffed up his Nefesh with falsehood”. Nafsho – his Nefesh- is the way the verse is written, but the traditional pronunciation of the word is “Nafshi”- “My Nefesh”. Nafshi means “My life force”, which is the sphira of Malchut, the manifestation of HaShem in this world through those such as King David who represents Kingship based on complete faith in HaShem. “Nafsho” represents the actual life force of each person. Thus the verse refers to two levels of work. The person who merits to ascend is void of pride and falsehood and also recognizes the manifestation of HaShem’s will in the things that happen around him. When such a person departs from this world, his nefesh ascends accompanied by all the positive works and mitzvot that it has done. These are what provide him the ability to manifest among the holy souls as it is written: “I shall walk before the Lord in the lands of the living”[8]. As a result of his not having “puffed up his life force with falsehoods” he shall “receive blessing from the Lord”[9]. |
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Ascent of Safed
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