Zohar, Vayigash 5:7

R. Judah and R. Jose came up to him and kissed him. They asked him his name. He said: ‘Hezekiah (lit. strengthened by God).’ They said: ‘May you be strong and may your knowledge of the Torah augment.’ When they sat down again, R. Judah said to the man: ‘Having made a start, tell us more of the sublime mystical doctrines you alluded to.’

Zohar, Toldot 5:3

Rabbi Yitzchak said, Do not pronounce it dudaim ('mandrakes'), but rather dodim ('lovers'). They are the body and the soul, who are lovers and friends to each other. Rav Nachman said, They are real mandrakes. As the mandrakes bring love into the world, so they create love in the world. And they give off a fragrance, which is how they know and recognize their Creator.

Zohar, Shmini 6:6

Therefore the priest, when he entered the Sanctuary to perform divine service, was forbidden to drink wine, because his service is carried out quietly.’

Zohar, Vayakhel 5:12

But the truth is, that when it is the pleasure of the Holy One, blessed be He, to build a city, He first considers who shall be the leader of its people, and not until then does He build the city and bring the people into it. The verse then says, in effect, “I chose no city until I had observed David to be fitting shepherd of Israel.” For a city with all its inhabitants depends for its existence on the care of the people’s shepherd and leader. If the latter be a good shepherd, it is well with him, well with the city, and well with the people; but if he be an evil shepherd, woe to him, woe to the city, and woe to the people! ‘Thus, the Holy One, blessed be He, when He looked at the world and decided to build the city, first raised up David, as it says, “but I chose David”, etc.’

Zohar, Bamidbar 4:2

It is concerning such a one as thou that it is written: “Let thy father and thy mother be glad, and let her that bore thee rejoice” (Prov. 23, 25). “Thy father” is the Holy One, blessed be He, and “thy mother” is an allusion to the Community of Israel, while “her that bore thee” refers to thy mother here below. As for thy father, R. Simeon, where is his joy referred to? In a separate verse, saying: “The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him” (Ibid. 24), where by “the father of the righteous” is meant the Holy One, blessed be He, and “the begetter of a wise child” refers to thy father here below.’

Zohar, Shemot 5:2

One is he who cohabits with a woman in the days of her separation. There is no impurity comparable with this. He defiles himself and all connected with him. The child born of such a union is shapen in impurity, imbibes the spirit of impurity, and its whole life is founded on impurity.

Zohar, Shmini 1:8

All those who study the Torah cleave to the Holy One, blessed be He, and are crowned with the crowns of the Torah and beloved above and below, and God stretches out to them His right hand; and all the more to those who study at night, who, as we have stated, are associated with the Shekinah and joined with her. When morning comes the Holy One, blessed be He, winds round them a thread of grace to distinguish between the higher and the lower ranks,

Zohar, Lech Lecha 7:2

For though Terah was an idolater, yet since he had the good impulse to go forth with Abram, and since, as we know, God delights in the repentance of sinners, and Terah actually began the journey, why is it not written “get ye forth”? Why was it said to Abram alone “get thee forth”?

Zohar, Terumah 16:5

This dew “streams down” (maggid in the Aramaic sense) from the Head of the King, with an abundance of blessing, the “firmament” here signifying the stream issuing from the Cistern, the “River which went out of Eden”, which flows earthwards, as the stream of the Supernal Dew which gleams and flashes from all sides. This “firmament” draws it downward upon a current of love and desire, in order that it may water the field of bliss and joy at the entrance of the Sabbath.

Zohar, Beshalach 3:6

Nay, but for that sin Israel would have been, then and forever, that which the Holy One had ordained them to be; namely, pure as the angels and free from all evil: free from death and free from the dominion of earthly powers.

Zohar, Introduction 12:34

We may also find enshrined in this passage a mystery of wisdom, in which all other mysteries are enclosed. We translate: “O Mah, great is thy goodness, etc.” Mah (“How” or “What”) has already been explained. Rab (“abundant” or “great”) alludes to the strong and mighty tree: there is another and a smaller tree, but this one is tall, reaching into the highest heaven.

Zohar, Lech Lecha 11:4

Ruach gives existence to the Nefesh in this world. It is drawn by the arousal of the Nukvah toward the male, when they are in a state of united passion. The female is aroused toward the male because of her passion to receive from him the Ruach, just like a woman in this world who is inseminated by the power of her passion to (receive from) the man. And this is the secret of the words, "and the spirit (Ruach) shall return to the Elohim who gave it" (Kohelet 12:7).

Zohar, Shmini 6:12

However, the Holy One does in truth praise the Community of Israel thus, in response to Her praises. As She says, “His palate is sweet”, He replies, “Thy palate is like the best wine”, to wit, the wine that has been treasured from the Creation. “My beloved” is Isaac, who is called “beloved from the womb”, and “straight forward” means, to unite the left with the right, through the joy diffused by that wine. Hence “causing to mutter the lips of the sleepers”, because all are awakened with joy and blessing, and all worlds rejoice and rouse themselves to pour down blessings below.’

Zohar, Shemot 2:3

So when Israel went to Egypt they were inured to suffering, their father, the righteous Jacob, having been all his life a man of sorrows, and they could thus endure the exile patiently. But the exile of Babylon was a real torment for which there was weeping both in heaven and on earth,

Zohar, Beshalach 3:5

Mark this. Were it not for that “mixed multitude”, which joined and mingled with the Israelites, the sin of the “golden calf’ would never have been perpetrated, and the children of Israel would not have had to suffer for it as they did.

Zohar, Vayera 16:3

(For Lot’s daughter once offered a piece of bread to a poor man, and when it was found out, the people of the town covered her body with honey, and left her thus exposed on the top of a roof until she was consumed by wasps.)

Zohar, Yitro 1:15

R. Eleazar meditated on the words of the Psalm: “God be merciful unto us” (Ps. LXVII). Said he:1There appears to be a lacuna here in the text. ‘King David rose and praised and thanked the Holy King. He was studying the Torah at the moment when the north wind rose and touched the strings of his harp, so that it made music. Now, what was the song of the harp? See now.

Zohar, Vayera 9:5

Similarly, man’s soul cannot be known directly, save through the members of the body, which are the grades forming the instruments of the soul. The soul is thus known and unknown. So it is with the Holy One, blessed be He, since He is the Soul of souls, the Spirit of spirits, covered and veiled from anyone; nevertheless, through those gates, which are doors for the soul, the Holy One makes Himself known.

Zohar, Chukat 2:5

and the drawing off of the shoe removed him from this world and placed him in another world.

Zohar, Vayera 2:7

Rabbi Akiva said, The Holy One, blessed be He, stands over the Soul. And the soul begins by saying, "Hashem my Elohim, You are very great...", continuing with all the verses to the end, as the passage reads, "Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth..." (Ibid. 35). Rabbi Akiva continued, As well as this, it praises the Holy One, blessed be He, thanks Him for the body that is left in this world, and says, "Bless Hashem, my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name" (Tehilim 103:1). The words, "all that is within me," allude to the body. At first, the soul praises and thanks the Holy One, blessed be He, for its own achievements. Then it says, "Bless Hashem, my soul! Hashem my Elohim, You are very great." And then it praises and thanks Him for the body. And then it says, "Bless Hashem, my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name."

Zohar, Vaera 8:5

He “remembered His covenant”. “Remembering” (Zachor) is always connected with the Covenant and its sign, for it is the awakening of the longing for union in the supernal spheres. Hence “I remembered my Covenant”, to connect it with its proper place, and therefore “say unto the children of Israel, I am TETRAGRAMMATON” (v. 6.)’

Zohar, Vayikra 2:5

while the words “eat, O friends, etc.” indicate that all those beneath and all the branches were blessed and nourished when the others were blessed above. And wherewith are they all blessed and regaled? With the odour of the sacrifice.

Zohar, Yitro 8:8

In the seed of David the colours are reversed, and this it was that misled Samuel (I Sam. 16, 7). Such a face contains all forms.

Zohar, Vayakhel 3:11

At the time when Israel made the calf and all those hosts died, the Angel of Death mingled himself among the women who were in the camp of Israel. As soon as Moses became aware of his presence among them he assembled all the male persons separately, and this is why Scripture says, “And Moses assembled all the congregation of the children of Israel”, namely, the menfolk, whom he collected and set on one side.

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:278

The writing, too, was the “writing of God”, black fire on white fire, and it was haruth (engraved) because the Jubilee proclaims freedom (heruth) to all worlds.’ Having spoken these things, the old man paused a moment and then said: ’So far, my friends, and now no further!

Zohar, Vaera 3:13

Earth, however, combines with all the other elements, and all work through it according to their several ways. For without earth there is no gold, no silver, no copper. For each element imparts of its character to the other to form a compound, and earth mingles with all, because the two sides, fire and water, are attached to it. Air also joins with it on account of those two, and acts upon it.

Zohar, Kedoshim 3:6

As they were going along they came across a man riding on a horse through a garden, and as he raised his hand he broke off the branch of a tree. Said. R. Jose: ‘This illustrates the verse: “Ye shall sanctify yourselves and become holy”; if a man sanctifies himself below, he is further sanctified above.’

Zohar, Bereshit 8:7

The words “fruit tree bearing fruit” indicate the form of male and female in combination. Their faces are “like the face of a man” (Ezek. 1, 10), but they are not like the Cherubim, having large faces covered with beards, whereas the Cherubim have little faces like those of tender children. All forms are comprised in these, because they are “large faces”. On them are traced forms like the tracings of the Divine Name on the four cardinal points, East, West, North, and South.

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:49

And when the King Himself appears, “Jacob kisses Rachel” (Gen. 29, 11), that is, the Lord discovers each holy soul, and takes each in turn up unto Himself, fondling and caressing her

Zohar, Terumah 9:16

If the watcher is cognizant of the mystery of the letters which form the mystic Holy Name of forty-two letters, and if he should in this hour be mindful of them with devout intent, with a loving heart, then will he behold in the luminous heaven six Yods, three upon the right side and three upon the left; also three Vaus, which ascend and descend and sparkle in the firmament. These are the number of the initial letters of the words of the priestly blessing. He should then say his morning prayers and set forth upon his journey, because, verily, the Shekinah Herself goes before him; happy is his lot!

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:43

But “if she pleased not her Master”, that is, if she be polluted by sin and guilt, He does not again appoint that same body for her, and so she loses it for ever, unless the person should be roused to repentance, for then “shall she be redeemed”-as it is written: “He will deliver his soul from going into the pit” (Job 33, 28); which signifies that man is advised to redeem his own soul by repentance and amendment. In fact, the words “he shall redeem her”.have a double significance: they point to man’s own redemption of his soul by repentance, followed by the redemption from Gehenna effected by the Holy One.

Zohar, Yitro 15:2

R. Judah said: ‘Blessed was Moses, concerning whom that verse was written! Of him we read: “And Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was” (Ex. 20, 21); and also, “Moses alone came nigh to the Lord, but they did not” (Ibid. 24, 2).’ THUS SHALT THOU SAY TO THE HOUSE OF JACOB: this refers to the females; AND TELL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL: this means the males.

Zohar, Vayakhel 11:16

It then ascends and cleaves the heavens.1Al. and ethereal spaces. When it reaches the first heaven it is met by the chief of the West, whose name is Zebuliel, and who presides over numerous chieftains and officers that stand sentry over nine doors.

Zohar, Introduction 12:10

On account of this circle and square, the Sabbaths here referred to come under the injunction of the word “keep” used in the second version of the Ten Commandments (Deut. 5, 12) as it is written here, “ye shall keep my Sabbaths”. For the other, the highest Sabbath does not come under the injunction of Shamor (keep), but is under that of Zakhor (remember), which is used in the first version of the Ten Commandments (Exod. 20, 8), since the Supreme King is hinted at in the word Zakhor (remember). For this reason He is called “the King with whom Peace dwells”, and His peace is within the injunction of zakhor (remember). And this is why there is no contention in the supernal realm,

Zohar, Nasso 5:4

Observe that the priest does not obtrude himself into the affair, but when she presents herself before him to clear herself he questions her once and twice, and then performs a ceremony in order to restore peace.

Zohar, Introduction 11:4

And so each word of wisdom is made into a sky which presents itself fully formed before the “Ancient of Days”, who calls them “new heavens”, that is, heavens created out of the mystic ideas of the sublime wisdom. As for the other new expositions of the Torah, they present themselves before the Holy One, blessed be He, and ascend and become “earths of the living”, then they descend and become absorbed into one earth, whereby a new earth emerges through that new discovery in the Torah.

Zohar, Vayigash 2:13

THEN JUDAH CAME NEAR UNTO HIM. This was an approach of one world to another so as to join together. For Judah was king and Joseph was king, and they came nearer and nearer to each other until they united.

Zohar, Miketz 4:22

Everything is thus dependent on man’s free will, as it is written: “so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end”; and inasmuch as it depends on a man’s will whether his deeds are attached to the proper grade or to the improper one, the text continues: “I know that there is no good in them but to rejoice, and to perform good actions so long as they live” (Ibid. 3, 12). That is to say, if a man’s actions are not good, he has to rejoice at all their consequences and to give thanks for them to the Holy One and to do good actions as long as he lives; for since his own act brought evil upon him through the grade presiding over it, he has to rejoice at the punishment and to give thanks for it, seeing that he brought it on himself, like a bird blindly falling into the snare.

Zohar, Chukat 2:8

Now if that redeemer is not willing to establish seed for his brother in this world, he must tie a shoe on his foot and the wife must loosen it and take it to herself. Why was a shoe chosen for this purpose? Because the shoe was the support of the dead man in this world, and the woman, by taking it, signifies that the dead man who was wandering about among the living

Zohar, Vaera 10:1

R. Eleazar and R. Abba once spent a night in an inn in Lydda. R. Eleazar expounded there the verse: “Know therefore this day and consider it in thine heart (lebabeka) that TETRAGRAMMATON is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is none else” (Deut. 4, 39), as follows.

Zohar, Bamidbar 3:6

Thus the Yod, symbolic of the east, is the starting-point of light which moves on toward the south;

Zohar, Vayakhel 8:6

The lower Law, on the other hand, is not embodied in writing, and hence is not constructed into a Palace for the central point beneath as is the superior Law for the supernal point. Hence, also, the oral Law is designated t’rumah (heave-offering, something separated), being apart and separated.

Zohar, Vayera 12:4

“Seeing” in the Scriptures can be both for good and for ill. An example of the former use is: “And God saw the children of Israel, and God took cognizance of them” (Ex. 2, 25); an example of the latter is “I will go down and see”, i.e. to determine the mode of punishment. In regard to all this God said, “Shall I hide from Abraham, etc.”

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:231

Now, Israel is the supreme “brain” of the world. They were first in the mind of the Creator, and therefore it is that the heathen nations, who are but the “husk”, gained the start of them, as it is written: “And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel” (Gen. 27, 29). But in the future the Holy One will form the brain first without waiting for the husk, as it says: “Israel is holiness unto the Lord, the firstfruit of His increase”; and because of this, “all that devour him shall be considered guilty, evil shall come upon them” (Jer. 2, 3).

Zohar, Vayera 1:2

Similarly, the heaven did not impart strength to the earth until man came. So it is written, “All the plants of the earth were not yet on the earth, and the herbs of the field had not yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground” (Gen. 2, 5), that is to say, all the products of the earth were still hidden in its bosom and had not yet shown themselves, and the heavens refrained from pouring rain upon the earth, because man had not yet been created. When, however, man appeared, forthwith “the flowers appeared on the earth”, all its latent powers being revealed;

Zohar, Yitro 8:3

There is a place which is called “the world to come”, from whence issues the mystery of the Torah with its alphabet of twenty-two letters, which is the essence of all things. Now that “river which goes out of Eden” carries all this along with it, so that when the spirits and the souls emerge therefrom they are all stamped with the imprint of those letters; the which, when the spirit of a man be thus stamped by it, makes also a certain impression on the face.’

Zohar, Shmini 3:10

Hence sinners of Israel are not made the agents of the King to punish other sinners of Israel, since they do not come from the side of the left. We may illustrate by the following parable. Certain men having offended against the king, an officer was charged to arrest and punish them. One clever fellow among them went and mixed himself with the officer’s men. The officer, however, detected him and said: “Who said you could join us? Are you not one of those who have offended against the king? You shall be punished first.”

Zohar, Noach 14:23

From this passage we derive the mystical doctrine that the Holy One, blessed be He, is sometimes discoverable and sometimes undiscoverable. He is discoverable when presiding over the lower Court. He remains undiscoverable in the spot whence all blessings flow. Hence those possessions of a man which are hidden from sight are receptive of the heavenly blessing; whereas things which are exposed to view attract the notice of the accuser, and are subject to the influence of him who is named “Evil of eye”. There is a deep mystery which connects all this with the supernal pattern.’

Zohar, Introduction 6:8

The Nun entered and pleaded her merits as being the initial letter in “Fearful (Nora) in praises” (Ex. 15, 11), as well as in “Comely (Nawa) is praise for the righteous” (Ps. 33, 1). The Lord said: O Nun, return to thy place, for it is for thy sake (as representing the falling, Nofelim) that the Samekh returned to her place. Remain, therefore, under her support. The Nun immediately returned to her place.

Zohar, Introduction 14:16

“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.

Zohar

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