Zohar, Lech Lecha 8:3

To illustrate this, R. Eleazar expounded the text: “By his hand every man sealeth, that all men may acknowledge their works” (Job. 37, 7). He said: ‘On the day when man’s time arrives to depart from the world, when the body is broken and the soul seeks to leave it, on that day man is privileged to see things that he was not permitted to see before, when the body was in full vigour.

Zohar, Achrei Mot 9:2

The expression “in unity”,’ he said, ‘refers to the Cherubim. When their faces were turned to one another, it was well with the world-“how good and how pleasant”, but when the male turned his face from the female, it was ill with the world.

Zohar, Vayakhel 5:15

This was exemplified in Jacob, of whom it is written: “Now Jacob saw that there was crushing1Sheber=corn; also=crushing, breaking, misfortune. in Egypt” (Gen. 42, 1), indicating that Jacob foresaw the calamity of the exile that he would undergo in Egypt, but he placed his confidence in the Holy One, blessed be He. Similarly, the children of Jacob endured the calamity of exile, and yet did not deviate from the essence of the faith of their ancestors, the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, always having been, in the midst of the exile, on their lips.

Zohar, Bamidbar 1:4

and he contemplated in wisdom both what was above and what was below. But once he sinned his prosopa diminished, wisdom departed from him, and he could survey only the affairs of his body. He then begat offspring partaking both of the higher and of the lower nature, but the world was not settled by either of them until Adam begat a son called Seth,1Sheth = foundation. by whom the world was made complete.1Al. with whom the world was planted. v. Mid. r. Num. 14, 12; Cant. 8, 9.

Zohar, Miketz 4:5

AND PHARAOH SENT AND (he) CALLED JOSEPH. Instead of “and called” we should have expected “to call for”. The implied subject is, therefore, God, as in the verse “And he called to Moses” (Lev. 1, 1), and this harmonizes with the words of the Psalmist: “Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him” (Ps. 105, 19). AND HE CHANGED HIS RAIMENT , out of respect for royalty, as explained elsewhere.

Zohar, Yitro 1:27

Said R. Abba: ‘We have frequently affirmed that whatever the Holy One has made, whether it be above or below, has a purpose: He is truth and His work is truth, and therefore no phenomenon in the world is to be spurned as of no account, since everything is formed according to a divine pattern, and therefore is of some necessity.

Zohar, Bamidbar 3:10

there follows north-west, the west, symbolised by the last He, deriving from the north; finally, west-south, the west thus proceeding to be embraced, as it were, by the south; in the same way as the south depends on the east, from which it derives its strength, so the west is embraced by the south, as it says: “Let his left hand be under my head, and his right hand embrace me” (S.S. 2, 6). The right signifies the south, and the left the north.

Zohar, Vayikra 8:4

It may still be asked, however, why were they burnt? The following parable will explain. A man came before the queen to inform her that the king intended to visit her and enjoy her company. He then presented himself to the king, who saw that he was physically defective. Said the king: “It comports not with my dignity that through the agency of this cripple I should be presented to the queen.” Meanwhile the queen had prepared the room for the king. When she saw that the king was prevented from coming to her by that man, she ordered him to be put to death.

Zohar, Miketz 5:15

“all the days of thy vanity”, inasmuch as she is bound up with life, with the world of the living, as opposed to this world, which is not the world of the living, since its denizens are “under the sun”, where the lights of that (upper) sun do not reach-those lights which have departed from the world since the day when the Temple was destroyed, as is hinted in the verse: “The sun shall be darkened in his going forth” (Is. 13, 10).

Zohar, Chukat 2:10

She must dash the shoe on the ground to show that she has laid to rest the body of the dead, and God then, or after a time, has pity on him and receives him into the future world.

Zohar, Nasso 1:3

Then all the keepers of the outer gates of the universe bestir themselves and spread about, and all mankind have a foretaste of death.

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:30

and allows them to be wrenched away by that “maidservant”, namely Lilith, who, when they have been delivered into her power, gloatingly carries them away to other regions.

Zohar, Yitro 4:4

There is also another, a lower “Adam”, alluded to in the words, “on the day that God created man (Adam)”, in the same verse. In regard to the upper Adam, the union of male and female is at first only distantly alluded to in the words “this is the book”, but after they produced offspring they are called openly “Adam”. Then it is said that God made man in the “likeness” of God. By the word “likeness” we are to understand a kind of mirror in which images appear momentarily and then pass away. According to another explanation, the word “likeness” refers to the union of male and female organs: and so the Master affirmed. In regard to the upper Adam, the union of male and female is at first only distantly alluded to in the words “this is the book”, but after they produced offspring they are called openly “Adam”.

Zohar, Vaera 3:2

Therefore man was created from the dust of the lower Sanctuary; and the four winds of the world united at that place which afterwards was named the House of Holiness, and these four were then joined to the four elements of the lower world: fire, air, earth, and water. And when these winds and these elements were thus mingled, the Holy One, blessed be He, formed one body of wondrous perfection. Therefore it is plain that the substances composing man’s body belong to two worlds, namely, the world below and the world above.’

Zohar, Miketz 4:19

He further discoursed on the verse: He hath made everything beautiful in its time; also he hath set the world in their heart, yet so that man cannotfind out the work that God hath done, etc. (Ibid. 3, 11). ‘How happy’, he said, ‘are those who labour in the Torah and thus learn to see with the eye of wisdom! Whatever God has formed in the world has its own controlling grade which directs it either for good or for evil. There are grades of the right and grades of the left. If a man goes to the right, whatever act he performs then becomes a directing grade on that side which helps him onward and procures him other helpers. But if he goes to the left, then whatever act he commits becomes a directing force on that side, and brings indictments against him, whilst leading him further into that side. Hence, whenever a man performs a good and proper act the chieftain of the right hand affords him help, and this is indicated in the expression “good in its time”, that is, the act and its time become intimately bound up together;

Zohar, Bereshit 15:3

The colleagues here interrupted him and said, ‘Rabbi, allow us to make a remark. Did you not state above that the Cause of causes said to the Sefirah Kether, “Let us make man”?’ He answered, ‘You do not listen to what you are saying. There is something that is called “Cause of causes”, but that is not the “Cause above all causes” which I mentioned, which has no colleague of which it should take counsel, for it is unique, prior to all, and has no partner.

Zohar, Metzora 8:1

R. Hiya discoursed on the verse: “Behold a day of the Lord cometh when thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee” (Zech. 14, 1). ‘This day’, he said, ‘has been fixed from the creation of the world for punishing the wicked and for God to take vengeance on those that afflict Israel. That day ever comes and stands before God, and calls upon Him to execute judgement on the heathen.’

Zohar, Balak 12:3

that is, the highest of the grades of uncleanness, those who direct the boat and the tempest.

Zohar, Vayeshev 2:2

For the sun, even when he approaches the moon, cannot cause vegetation without the help of that grade which goes under the name of Righteous (Zaddik). It was, then, Joseph who was the grade of Jacob to bear fruit and bring forth offspring in the world. Hence: “These are the generations (tol’doth, lit. offspring) of Jacob: Joseph.”

Zohar, Noach 9:5

so were they punished with water. Further, the waters of the Deluge were burning hot, and caused their skins to peel off, this being a meet punishment for the sin they committed in wasting the warm fluid. It was all measure for measure. The words in the text, “All the fountains of the great deep were broken open” refer to the lower waters, and the words “And the windows of Heaven were opened” refer to the upper waters. Thus were the two waters combined as a fit punishment for their sins.’

Zohar, Yitro 4:3

For all the souls and spirits that enter human beings are alluded to in the words “generations of man (Adam)”, for they all issue from the “Righteous One”, and this is the “watering of the river that went out of Eden to water the garden” (Gen. 2, 10).

Zohar, Vayikra 10:2

Said R. Aha: ‘I, too, have been perplexed with the same difficulty. I once came before R. Simeon looking very troubled. He said to me: “Your face shows that there is something on your mind.” I said: “Truly my mind is as sad as my face.” He said to me: “Tell me what it is.” I said: “It is written, ‘The virgin of Israel is fallen, she shall no more rise’. If a man is angry with his wife and she leaves him, shall she never return? If so, alas for the children who have been sent away with her!” He said to me: “Are you not content with what the Companions have said?” I replied: “I have heard their explanation, that it is really a message of comfort, but it does not satisfy me.”

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:213

It is also written of David that he “went up by the ascent of Mount Olives, going up and. weeping, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot” (2 Sam. 15, 30). He did this to show that he considered himself excommunicated, in order to receive his punishment, and his people kept away from him a distance of four cubits. Blessed is the servant who worshipped his Master thus, confessing his sin and turning back to Him with perfect repentance!

Zohar, Vayeshev 1:15

AND JACOB DWELT IN THE LAND OF HIS FATHER’S SOJOURNINGS, IN THE LAND OF CANAAN. R. Jose discoursed here on the verse: The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and godly men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come (Is. 57, 1). ‘When God’, he said, ‘surveys the world and finds it misbehaving and meet for chastisement, He first removes from it any righteous man that is present in it, so that chastisement should be visited on all the others and there should be none to shield them.

Zohar, Terumah 16:21

Therefore the Torah is introduced here in six parallel sentences of five words (in Hebrew) each, in order to complete the mystery of fifty. “The Torah of the Lord is perfect, quickening the soul” is five. “The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” is five. “The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart” is five. “The commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes” is five. “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring for ever” is five. “The judgements of the Lord are true, righteous altogether” is five. All these sentences present themselves in five words each, after the semblance of the supernal Mother;

Zohar, Yitro 8:2

Man has a spirit on which the letters of the alphabet are in a way designed. All these letters are enclosed in that spirit, and for a time the designs of those letters enter into the face; and as they enter, the face appears with the design of these letters upon it. But this semblance lasts for a short time only, save upon the faces of adepts in wisdom, on whom it is always visible.

Zohar, Korach 8:1

BUT THE LEVITES SHALL DO THE SERVICE OF THE TENT OF MEETING. At the time of the Creation the world was not completed and established until man emerged in his complete form as the consummation of all and the (seventh) day was sanctified and the holy throne was set for the King.

Zohar, Introduction 14:19

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;

Zohar, Vayikra 7:1

R. Abba discoursed here on the Psalm commencing: “A song, a psalm of the sons of Korah” (Ps. XLVIII). ‘This psalm’, he said, ‘surpasses all the other hymns of praise, sung by the sons of Korah, being hymn upon hymn, a hymn with two facets, song and psalm.

Zohar, Balak 5:1

Similarly Joshua the high priest was taken up for trial to that Heavenly Academy when he departed this world. He was “standing before the angel of the Lord”: this is the “youth”,1Metatron. the head of the Academy, who pronounces sentence on all. The “Satan” is he who has charge of the souls in Gehinnom, who ever craves for more and says “give, give”, more souls to Gehinnom. Then, “The Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, Satan, and the Lord rebuke thee….” Why two rebukes here? One for Dumah and one for him who comes out of Gehinnom to lead astray.

Zohar, Introduction 12:41

and when they reached the house of R. Simeon the son of Lakunya they saw there R. Simeon the son of Yohai, and they rejoiced exceedingly. R. Simeon said to them, ‘Assuredly ye traversed a path of heavenly miracles and wonders, for as I was sleeping just now I had a vision of you and of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, who was sending you two crowns by the hand of a certain elder to crown you withal. Assuredly the Holy One, blessed be He, was on that path. Further, I saw your faces as if transfigured.’ R. Jose remarked: ‘Well have ye said that “the sage is superior to the prophet”.’ R. Eleazar then approached and put his head between the knees of his father and told him all that had happened to them.

Zohar, Balak 8:5

He therefore summoned Samael and said to him: Dost thou desire my Law? What is written in it, he asked? He replied, taking a test passage: “Thou shalt not kill”. Whereupon Samael said: Heaven save us. This Torah is thine, and let it remain thine. I do not want it. He then besought Him, saying: Master of the Universe, if Thou givest it to me, all dominion will vanish, for it is based upon slaughter, on the star of Mars, and if there are no wars it will pass away from the world.

Zohar, Introduction 12:22

The same is implied in the verse “and the river faileth and drieth up” (Job. 14, 11): “faileth”, referring to the first Temple, and “drieth up” to the second Temple. And so “He smote the two strong lions of Moab” (Moab- Meab, of the father), namely the Temples of the Father in heaven, by whom they were now destroyed, so that all lights which illuminated Israel were now darkened.

Zohar, Vaetchanan 8:13

R. Abba learnt: It is written, “Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers” (Deut. 10, 15). Commenting on this, R. Simeon said that the patriarchs are the holy chariot above. As there is a holy chariot below, so there is a holy chariot above. And what is this? As we have said, the holy chariot is the name given to the Whole, all being linked together and made one.

Zohar, Terumah 7:6

Then two witnesses who are among the number of the “eyes of the Lord which run to and fro through the whole earth” (Zech. 4, 10), and who stand behind the curtain, emerge therefrom and testify, saying: “We testify indeed for that man.” Blessed is his lot, for on his account his father shall be blessed and remembered into good, because he has re-made souls in the earthly sphere-souls even of sinners who had been captured by the “other side”. Thus is the glory of the Holy One exalted in perfect joy.

Zohar, Nasso 5:5

The priest writes the Divine Name once in a straightforward way and then upside down,1ahah tetragrammaton. symbolic of Mercy and Rigour intertwined. If she be proved innocent the letters signifying Mercy remain, and those pointing to Rigour disappear. But if she be not as she should be, Mercy departs and Rigour is left, and judgement is executed.’

Zohar, Vayigash 7:9

“O thou that art enthroned in the heavens”: inasmuch as all might and strength is centred in heaven. For when the Jubilee opens the springs, all the gates of heaven are ready, and when the heaven receives all the lights that issue from the Jubilee, there flows down drink and food for the Community of Israel through the intermediary of one Righteous One.

Zohar, Bamidbar 2:3

The text cited above says: “Rejoice ye with Jerusalem”, etc., inasmuch as at no time is there joy save when Israel is established in the Holy Land, where the Wife is joined to her Spouse, diffusing thereby world-embracing joy, both on high and below. But when Israel is not in the Holy Land, a man is forbidden to display joy or gladness, as Scripture says: “Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad in her״, to wit, only when within her.’

Zohar, Noach 11:5

Come and behold: when the fruit tree yielding fruit is joined with the fruit tree (Malchut) then all the species of above, great and small living creatures and all their varieties come forward, each with other members of its species. As it is written: "both small and great beasts" (Tehilim 104:25). So was the case with Noah and the ark. They all emerged from the ark (they were all corrected while in the ark). And the world existed just as above. And this is why Noah is called a husbandman, that is the husband of the earth, and "a righteous man", as has been previously explained.

Zohar, Vayera 14:2

Hence, “they are forgotten of the foot”, i.e. men avoided it and never put foot into it; and as for those who happened to enter it-“they are the poorest of men, they move away”, i.e. as no food or drink was given to them, their bodies became so emaciated that they scarcely looked any more like human beings, and hence “they moved away”, i.e. people passed it by on one side. Even the birds of heaven avoided it, as it is written, “that path no bird of prey knoweth” (Ibid. 7). A universal outcry therefore went up against Sodom and Gomorrah and all the other towns that behaved like them.

Zohar, Ki Teitzei 1:13

Whoever is righteous but for whom things go badly, namely, he who is from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, since there is evil with him {at the moment}, "For there is not a just man upon earth who...never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). As for an evil man for whom things go well, it is that the Evil Inclination overpowered his Good Inclination. Therefore they said that it is well with him, because the good is under the power {of the evil man}. And since the evil dominates the good, he is an evil man, since whoever is stronger receives the name. An evil man with whom things are evil is another El, who is Samael. It is evil with him, namely the poison of death, which is idol worshiping, {as it is said}, "Evil shall slay the wicked" (Psalms 34:22). For that reason a raped woman is considered so only if that soul has a mixture of good and evil.

Zohar, Lech Lecha 5:3

When he came to the central point of the inhabited world he tried to weigh it, but obtained no response. He tried to find the power to which it was entrusted, but could not grasp it, though he weighed again and again.

Zohar, Lech Lecha 12:7

with a double meaning: one the literal, the other figurative, as in the words “say to Wisdom, thou art my sister” (Prov. 7, 4). SAY NOW THOU ART MY SISTER.

Zohar, Vaetchanan 5:8

For at the first moment they did die, for so it had to be on account of the tree of death, but after they revived and stood up God desired to bring them up to the Tree of Life, which is above the tree of death, that they might endure for ever, but they drew back and were not willing; therefore was the power of Moses weakened and another power with him. Said the Holy One, blessed be He: I desired to establish you in an exalted place that ye might cleave to life, but ye desired the place of the Female. Therefore GO, SAY TO THEM, RETURN TO YOUR TENTS: let each one go to his female and join her.

Zohar, Beshalach 10:33

Behold, Pharaoh imbibed from that source, so that he and his whole people perished. As soon as this judgement was awakened against him his celestial guardian was removed from his dominion, shaken in his power, and all whom he represented on earth fell with him. This is the significance of the words, “and he took off their chariots’ wheel”, to wit, He annulled the power of their supernal guardian, and the result was that all the Egyptians died in the sea. Why in the sea? Because the supernal “sea” was roused against them and they were delivered into its hands.’ Said R. Hiy 1: ‘Quite so. And therefore it says: “His chosen captains also were drowned in the sea of Suph” (the Red Sea), for “Suph” suggests “soph“, an end, namely the end of the grades of the supernal powers.’

Zohar, Beshalach 10:26

The stranger then began to expound the verse: As yet shall he (Sanherib) remain in Nob that day, he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion (Isa. 10, 32). He said: ‘This passage has already been interpreted by the masters of the academy, but I shall give you an esoteric interpretation which I have learnt. “That day.” Which day? Now it is written: “And Aaron took Elisheba the daughter of Aminadab to wife” (Ex. 6, 23). This, allegorically interpreted, refers to the Community of Israel, in which Aaron is the “friend of the Bride”, to prepare the house, to serve her, to lead her to the King, in order that she may unite herself with him. From that time every priest who ministered in the Sanctuary had the same office as Aaron (to unite Israel with God).

Zohar, Pekudei 5:4

The whole arrangement is symbolized by the structure of the human eye. For just as in the human eye there are three concentric layers surrounding a central point, which forms the focus of vision, so is the world’s vision focused in the central point, consisting of the Holy of Holies and the Ark and the Mercy Seat. Hence the description, “a beautiful bowery, the joy of the whole earth”, “beautiful” in its appearance, and radiating joy to the whole world. It is compared to a “bowery” because the beauty of a tree is displayed in its branches.

Zohar, Lech Lecha 7:1

R. Eleazar was sitting one day before his father, R. Simeon, and with him were R. Judah and R. Isaac and R. Hizkiah. Said R. Eleazar to R. Simeon: In reference to this verse, GET THEE FORTH FROM THY LAND AND FROM THY KINDRED, since they all went forth, why was not Abram told that they should go?

Zohar, Chukat 4:4

AND YE SHALL GIVE HER UNTO ELEAZAR THE PRIEST. Why to him and not to Aaron? Because Aaron was the friend of the Matrona, and also because Aaron came not from the side of Pure, but from the side of Holy; for only he is called pure who emerges out of impurity.

Zohar, Bechukotai 1:4

R. Judah said: ‘In truth God does heed us and remember us, otherwise Israel would not be able to stand a single day in captivity, for so it is written, “And yet for all that when they be in the land of their enemies”, etc. (Lev. 26, 44). God does not requite us according to our deeds.’

Zohar

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