zohar01
 

R. Simeon was sitting and studying the Torah during the night when the bride was to be joined to her husband.1` For 1 i.e. the eve of Pentecost.

we have been taught that all the members of the bridal palace, during the night preceding her espousals, are in duty bound to keep her company and to rejoice with her in her final preparations for the great day: to study all branches of the Torah, proceeding from the Law to the Prophets, from the Prophets to the Holy Writings, and then to the deeper inter­pretations of Scripture and to the mysteries of Wisdom, as all these represent her preparations and her adornments. The bride, indeed, with her bridesmaids, comes up and remains with them, adorning herself at their hands and rejoicing with them all that night. And on the following day she does not enter under the canopy except in their company, they being called the canopy attendants. And when she steps under the canopy the Holy One, blessed be He, enquires after them and blesses them and crowns them with the bridal crown: happy is their portion!

Hence R. Simeon and all the companions were chanting the Scripture with exultation, each one of them making new discoveries in the Torah. Said R. Simeon to them, ‘0 my sons, happy is your portion, for on the morrow the bride will not enter the bridal canopy except in your company; for all those who help to prepare her adornments to-night will be recorded in the book of remembrance, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will bless them with seventy blessings and crown them with crowns of the celestial world.’ R. Simeon opened his discourse thus: The heavens declare the glory of God, etc. (Ps. XIX, 2). He said: ‘The inner meaning of this verse is as follows. When the bride awakes on the morn of her wedding day, she begins to prepare her ornaments and decorations with the aid of the companions who have rejoiced with her all that night, as she with them. On that day there assemble in her honor hosts upon hosts, awaiting each one of those-who have helped in her adornment on the previous night. As soon as the bride beholds her spouse, “the heavens declare the glory of God”. “The heavens” are the bride­groom, who enters under the bridal canopy. “Declare” (meSaPeRim) signifies that they radiate a brilliance like that of a sapphire, sparkling and scintillating from one end of the world to the other. “The glory of El” (God) signifies the glory of the bride which is called El (God), as it is written “and El (God) hath indignation every day” (Ps. Vii, 12); all the days of the year it is called El (God), but now when she enters under the bridal canopy it is called Glory. It is also at the same time still called El (God), signifying glory on glory, splendor on splendor, and dominion on dominion. Thus, at that time when heaven enters into the canopy and irradiates her, all those companions who joined in her adorn­ment have their names recorded there above, as it is written, “and the firmament showeth his handiwork” (Ibid. xix, 2), the words “his handiwork” being an allusion to those who have entered into a covenant with the bride. The confederates of the covenant are called “ the works of his hands”, as we read “the work of our hands establish thou it” (Ps. xc, 17) This is an allusion to the covenant that is graven on man’s body.’

Rab Hamnuna discoursed thus: Suffer not thy mouth to bring thy flesh into guilt (Eccl. v, 5). ‘This is a warning to man not to utter with his mouth words that might suggest evil thoughts and so cause to sin the sacred body on which is stamped the holy covenant. For he who does this is dragged into Gehinnom. The angel presiding over Gehinnom is called Duma, and there are tens of thousands of angels of destruction under him. He stands at its door, but those who have care­fully guarded the sign of the holy covenant he has no power to touch. David, after his affair with Uriah, was in great fear. Duma entered into the presence of the Holy One, blessed be He, and said: [8b} “0 Lord of the universe, it is written in the Torah: ‘And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, etc.’ (Lev. xx, io), and it is also written ‘And with thy neighbour’s wife, etc.’ (Ibid. xviii, 20). Now, David has misused the sign of the holy covenant; what shall be done to him?“ Said the Holy One, blessed be His name: “David is pure, and the holy covenant remains untouched inasmuch as at the creation of the world it was revealed before Me that Bath-Sheba was assigned to him.”

“If before Thee it was revealed, yet it was not revealed to him.”

“And further, what was done was done lawfully, since every one who goes out to war first gives a bill of divorcement to his wife.”

‘“Even so, he ought to have waited three months, which he did not.”

‘“That rule only applies where there is a risk that she may be pregnant. In this case, however, it is known to Me that Uriah never came in unto her, in witness whereof My name is sealed in his, as he is sometimes called URiYaH and some­times URiYaHU, to show that he never had intercourse with her.”

‘“0 Lord of the universe, I must repeat my plea. If to Thee it was manifest that Uriah never came in unto her, was it manifest unto David? He ought then to have waited three months. Further, if David was aware that he never came near her, why then did he send an order to him to go home and visit his wife, as it is written, ‘Go down to thy house and wash thy feet’ (II Sam. xi, 8)?”

‘“He certainly was not aware of it, and indeed he waited even more than three months, namely, four months, as we have been taught: The twenty-fifth day of Nisan David called the people to arms, and the people assembled under Joab on the seventh of Sivan, when they went and smote the Ammonites. They remained there the months of Sivan, Tamuz, Ab, and Elul, and on the twenty-fourth of Elul happened the incident of Bath-Sheba: And on the day of Kippur (Atonement) the Holy One, blessed be He, forgave him that sin. According to another account, on the seventh day of Adar David called the people to arms, and they assembled on the fifteenth of Iyar, and on the fifteenth of Elul happened the incident of Bath-Sheba, and the day of Kippur he was vouchsafed the message: ‘The Lord also hath put away thy sin: thou shalt not die’ (Ibid. XII, 13), to wit, thou shalt not die at the hand of Duma.”

‘“0 Lord of the universe, I have still one argument, that he himself pronounced his doom, saying: ‘As the Lord liveth, the man that bath done this deserveth to die’ (Ibid.5). He thereby condemned himself, and my charge against him stands.”

‘“Thou hast no power over him since he made confession to Me and said ‘I have sinned against the Lord’, although he was not guilty. As for his sin in the matter of Uriah, I prescribed a penalty for him which he suffered immediately.”

‘Duma returned then crestfallen to his place. It is in regard to this that David said: “Unless the Lord had been my help, but a little would have been wanting that my soul had dwelt in duma” (silence) (Ps. XCIV, 17). That is, if the Lord had not been my advocate, “it wanted but little, etc.” Only by the hairbreadth which is between me and the “Sinister Power” did my soul escape from the clutches of Duma. A man should therefore be on his guard not to let slip an incautious word like David, since he will not be able to plead with Duma “that it was an error” (Ecci. v, .5), like David, who was vindicated by the Holy One, blessed be His Name; “wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands?“ (Ibid.), i.e. the flesh of the holy covenant which the man has defiled and which, as a punish­ment, is stretched in Gehinnom at the hand of Duma.’

[R. Simeon resumed:] ‘The words “And the firmament showeth his handiwork” (Ps. xix, a) are an allusion to the companions who kept the bride company and are the custo­dians of her covenant. Every one of them He telleth and in­scribeth. The “firmament” here mentioned is that one wherein are the sun, the moon, the stars, and constellations, and which constitutes the Recording Book. He telleth and inscribeth every one of them as denizens of the heavenly Palace, whose desires shall always be accomplished. “Day unto day uttereth speech” (Ibid. 3); each sacred day of the heavenly days utters the praises of the companions and re­peats each word of exposition which was exchanged between them: day unto day expresses that word and extols it. “And night unto night revealeth knowledge” (Ibid.): that is, all the forces ruling in the night extol to one another the deep know­ledge of the companions, and become their devoted friends. “There is no speech, there are no words, neither is their voice heard” (ibid. 4): this refers to worldly conversation, which is not heard by the holy King, nor does He desire to hear it. But as for those words of wisdom, “their line is gone out through all the earth” (Ibid. 5), they trace [9a] the measure and the plan of all celestial and all terrestrial habitations: it is indeed through those words that the heavens were made, and it is through the praises sung in those words that the earth was made. Nor think that they rest only in one spot: we are told “and their words to the end of the earth” (Ibid.). Who, then, inhabits the heavens made by them? “In them hath he set a tent for the sun” (Ibid.): the sacred sun has made his habita­tion in them and is crowned in them. Thus we read “And he is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber” (Ibid. 6), gaily coursing through those heavens. When he emerges from them and hastens to another tower in another place, “his going

- forth is from the end of the heavens” (Ibid. 7), he issues from the supernal world, which is as the “extremity of heaven” above. “His circuit” (Ibid.) is the extremity of heaven” below, viz, the circuit of the year, which goes com­pletely round and extends from the heaven to our firmament. “And there is nothing hid from his heat” (Ibid.), i.e. from the heat of this circuit, and from the circuit of the sun, which embraces every side; from this “nothing is hid”, i.e. no one of all the upper grades is hid from him, since all come round to him, and not one is hidden “from his heat” when he returns to them ii~ full strength. All this praise and laudation is on account of the Torah (Law), as we read, “The Law of the Lord is perfect, etc.” (Ibid. 8—10). We find in this passage six times the mention of the Lord (tetragrammaton) as well as six verses from “The heavens declare” up to “The Law of the Lord is perfect”. Likewise the first word of the Torah, bereshith (in the beginning) consists of six letters, and the rest of the first verse, “created God the heaven and-the earth”, also consists of six words. The six verses of our text correspond to the six letters, and the six mentions of the Name correspond to the six words.’

‘Whilst they were sitting there entered his son, R. Eleazar, and R. Abba. He said to them: ‘Of a certainty the face of the Shekinah has arrived, and it is for this reason that I named you Peniel, because you have seen the Shekinah face to face. And now that you have learnt the secret of the verse con­cerning Benajah the son of Jehoiada, an exposition indeed emanating from the Ancient and Holy One, as well as of the verse following, I am going to expound to you another even more mysterious verse in another passage.’ He then opened his discourse thus: ‘It is written, And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high (1 Chr. Xl, 23). There is here the same hidden meaning as in the verses just mentioned. By “the Egyptian” is meant that well-known figure who was “very great in the land of Egypt in the eyes of the servants, etc.” (Exod. XI, 3). He was great and honured, as Rab Hamnuna explained. In the heavenly Academy, however, the words ish middah (man of dimension) were explained as “one whose dimensions extended from one end of the world to the other”, which were the dimensions of the first man, Adam. Those “five cubits”, then, must have been such as to extend from one end of the world to the other. To return, however: “And in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam” (1 Chr. XI, 23). This alludes to the divine rod which was in Moses’ hand, and on which there was engraved the divine ineffable Name radiating in various com­binations of letters. These same letters were in possession of Bezalel, who was called “weaver”, and his school, as it is written: “Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart ... of the craftsman and the skilled workman, and the weaver, etc.” (Exod. xxxv, 35). So that rod had engraved on it the in­effable Name on every side, in forty-two various combina­tions, which were illumined in different colors. The rest of the verse is as he already explained. Happy is his portion Come, dear friends, come and let us renew the preparations of the bride in this night. For everyone who keeps vigil with her in this night will be guarded above and below and will complete the year in peace. It is of them that it is written: “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth them: 0 consider and see that the Lord is good.” (Ps. xxxiv, 8-9).’

R. Simeon opened his discourse thus: ‘It is written, in the beginning God created. This verse must be well laid to heart, for he who affirms that there is another god will be destroyed from the world. It is written: Thus shall ye say unto them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth and from under’ the heavens. (Jer. x, 11). Why has this verse [₉b] been written in Aramaic, with the exception of the last word ? It cannot be because the holy angels do not pay attention to Aramaic and do not understand it, for then all the more was it appropriate for this verse to be written in Hebrew, so that the angels should acknowledge its doctrine. The true reason certainly is that the angels, since they do not understand Aramaic, shall not come to be jealous of man and do him evil. For in this verse the holy angels are comprised, as they are called Elohim (gods, powers), and yet they have not made heaven or earth. Instead of wearka (and the earth) there should have been written the proper Aramaic word wear’a. Arka, however, is one of the seven nether earths, the place inhabited by the descendants of Cain. When Cain was banished from the face of the earth, he descended into that land and there propa­gated his kind. That earth consists of two sections, one en­veloped in light, the other in darkness, and there are two chiefs, one ruling over the light, the other over the darkness. These two chiefs were at perpetual war with each other, until the time of Cain’s arrival, when they joined together and made peace; and therefore they are now one body with two heads. These two chiefs were named ‘Afrira and Kastimon. They, moreover, bear the likeness of holy angels, having six wings. One of them had the face of an ox and the other that of an eagle. But when they became united they assumed the image of a man. In time of darkness they change into the form of a two-headed serpent, and crawl like a serpent, and swoop into the abyss, and bathe in the great sea. When they reach the abode of ‘Uzza and ‘Azael they stir them up and rouse them. These then leap into the “dark mountains”, thinking that their day of judgement has come before the Holy One, blessed be His Name. The two chiefs then swim about in the great sea, and when night comes they fly off to Na’amah, the mother of the demons (shedim), by whom the first saints were seduced; but when they think to approach her she leaps away six thousand parasangs, and assumes all shapes and forms in the midst of the sons of men, so that the sons of men may be led astray after her. These two chiefs then fly about through the world, and return to their abode, where they arouse sensual desires in the descendants of Cain to bear children. The heaven above that earth is not like ours, nor are the seasons of seed and harvest the same as ours, but they only return after cycles of many years. “These Elohim”, then, “who have not made heaven and earth [may] perish from” the upper earth of the universe, so that they should have no dominion there, should not traverse it and should not cause men to pollute themselves “through anything that chanceth by night’ and for that “they will perish from the earth and from underneath the heaven” which were made in the name of Eleh, as has been explained above. It is for that reason that this verse has been written in Aramaic, so that the angels should not think that they are alluded to and so bring accusations against us. This, too, is the secret of the last word, to wit, Eleh, which being a sacred name, could not be altered into Aramaic.’

R.     Eleazar said to his father: ‘Regarding what is written in the same passage, Who will not fear thee, 0 King of the Gentiles? For it befitteth thee (Jer. x, 7), is this such a high eulogy?’ His father said to him: ‘Eleazar, my son, this passage has been variously explained, but for its full meaning ~we must go to its continuation, which reads: For among all the wise men of the Gentiles, and in all their royalty, there is none like unto thee. (Ibid.) The purpose of this verse is to express the view of the sinners, who fancy that God does not know their thoughts, and to answer them according to their folly. Once,’ he continued, ‘a Gentile philosopher came to visit me and argued with me thus: You say that your God rules in all the heights of heaven, and that all the heavenly hosts and legions cannot approach Him and do not know His place. If so, then this verse, saying “For among all the wise men of the Gentiles, and in all their royalty there is none like unto thee”, does not extol Him very highly, for what special glory is there for Him not to find among perishable men His like? [10a] And further, you infer from the passage which says ‘And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses” (Deut. xxxiv, 10), that only in Israel hath there not arisen, but among the other nations of the world there did arise one like him; and on this analogy I am justified in inferring that only among the wise of the Gentiles there is none like Him, but among the wise of Israel there is. If that is so, such a God, the like unto whom is to be found among the wise men of Israel, cannot be all-powerful. Look closely into the verse and you will find that it bears out my inference. I replied to him: Indeed, what you say is actually true. Who raises the dead to life? Only the Holy One alone, blessed be He; yet Elijah and Elisha came and raised the dead to life. Who causes rain to fall? Only the Holy One alone, blessed be He; yet Elijah came and kept back the rain and then made it descend again, through his prayer. Who made heaven and earth? The Holy One alone, blessed be He; yet Abraham came and they were firmly established for his sake. Who regulates the course of the sun? None but the Holy One, blessed be He; yet Joshua came and ordered it to stand still in its place and it stood still, as it is written, “And the sun stood and the moon stayed” (Jos. x, 13). The Holy One, blessed be He, issues decrees, but similarly Moses issued decrees, and they were fulfilled. Further, the Holy One, blessed be He, pronounces judgements and the righteous of Israel annul them, as it is written, “The righteous ruleth the fear of God” (II Sam. xxIII, 3). And further, He com­manded them to follow literally in His ways, and to be like Him in every way. That philosopher then went to K’far Shekalim and became a proselyte, and was given the name of Jose Katina (humble), and he studied the Torah dili­gently until he became one of the most learned and pious men of that place.’

‘Now,’ continued R. Simeon, ‘we must look more closely into this verse. We remark at once that another passage says: “All the nations are as nothing before him” (Is. XL, 17). What special glorification is then here expressed? Is He only the King of the Gentiles and not the King of Israel? The explana­tion is this. We find in every place in the Scriptures that the Holy One, blessed be He, has desired to be glorified only by Israel and has attached His name to Israel only; so it is written: “The God of Israel”, “the God of the Hebrews” (Exod.v,1,3), and further: “Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel” (Is. XLIV, 6). The nations of the world therefore said: We have another Patron in heaven, since your~ King has dominion only over you alone and not over us. Hence the verse comes and says: “Who would not fear thee, 0 King of the Gentiles? Forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations”, alluding thereby to the great chiefs in heaven ap­pointed over the Gentiles. The expression “and in all their royalty there is none like unto thee” alludes to the celestial government, inasmuch as there are four rulers on high who, by the will of God, rule over all the other nations; and for all that, not one of these has the power to do the smallest thing except as He commands them, as it is written: “And he doth according to his will in the host of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth” (Dan. IV, 32). “The wise ones of the Gentiles” are, then, the heavenly superintendents from whom they draw their wisdom; and the phrase “and in all their royalty” implies the heavenly over-lords of the nations, as has just been explained. This is the plain meaning of the passage. But in ancient books I have found it ex­pounded as follows. Although these heavenly hosts and legions (who are “the wise of the nations and their royalty”) have the control of the affairs of this world and have each their mission allotted to them, who of them can accomplish the least thing “like unto thee”? For Thou excellest in Thy work on high and below above all of them. “There is not like unto thee, 0 Lord”, that is, What Holy Unknown is there who acts and is like Thee above and below, and is on an equality with Thee in all respects? The work of the Holy King is heaven and earth, but “they are vanity, and their costly idols cannot profit” (Is. XLIV, 9). Of the Holy One, blessed be He, it is written, “In the beginning God created etc.”, but of the lower royalty it is written “And the earth was chaos and confusion”.’

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Last modified: 06/27/08