Zohar, Terumah 2:2

The upper was brought to completion by the influence symbolized by the letter. Yod, representing the primordial supernal point which issued from the absolutely hidden and unknowable, the mysterious Limitless (En-sof). Out of this unknowable issued a slender thread of light which was itself concealed and invisible, but which yet contained all other lights, and which received vibrations from That which does not vibrate and reflected light from That which diffused it not.

Zohar, Lech Lecha 17:4

“Soul” (nefesh) is the lowest stirring, it supports and feeds the body and is closely connected with it. When it sufficiently qualifies itself, it becomes the throne on which rests the lower spirit (ruah), as it is written, “until the spirit be poured on us from on high” (Is. 32, 15).

Zohar, Shemot 13:5

“The glory of his majesty” refers to the Messiah when he shall reveal himself in the land of Galilee; for in this part of the Holy Land the desolation first began, and therefore he will manifest himself there first, and from there begin to war against the world.

Zohar, Vayakhel 11:9

If it be fitly uttered, he, together with all the other chieftains, kisses that utterance and carries it aloft into the supernal firmament, where other chieftains are awaiting it. When kissing the utterance of prayer they say: “Happy are ye, O Israel, who know how to crown your Master with holy crowns. Happy is the mouth from which issued this utterance, this crown.”

Zohar, Vaera 8:3

Hence it says here, “Be ye afraid of the sword”, for if this commandment does not awaken the sense of awe in a man, no other commandment will.

Zohar, Beshalach 13:1

R. Simeon further said that the “Moon”-the Shekinah-was then in her fulness and perfection, manifesting both attributes and representing in herself seventy-two holy Names according to the threefold order.1Of the letters of the three verses, Ex. 14, 19-21, containing the mysterious Divine Name of seventy-two letters, and producing, when combined according to certain rules, no less than seventy-two other distinct names. In virtue of the first order of letters, she clothed herself with the garment of Grace, shining with the resplendence of the light which the Supernal Father caused to shine for her;

Zohar, Pekudei 4:4

Now, when God commanded Moses to make the Tabernacle, Moses stood bewildered, not knowing how to proceed until God showed him an actual representation of it. We thus read: “And see that thou make them after their pattern, which is being shown thee in the mount” (Ex. 25, 40). We learn from the phrase, “after their pattern”, that the Holy One showed Moses each single part of it in its exact supernal form, after which Moses constructed the earthly Tabernacle.

Zohar, Introduction 12:25

“In a day of snow”, that is, in the day when on account of Israel’s sins sentence was pronounced by the Court on high. (The same is implied in the verse “She is not afraid of the snow for her household” (Prov. 31, 21), that is to say, of the judgement on high; why so? “for all her household are clothed with scarlet”, and hence can endure the strongest fire.) Such is the mystical meaning of this verse.

Zohar, Balak 6:53

This Vine is the one that is recognized as holy, in contrast to another which is called the “strange vine”, the grapes of which are hard and biter. But this is the vine from which all the holy ones drew the taste of old and good wine, the wine in which Jacob poured water so that all who knew the taste of wine could drink it with relish.

Zohar, Pinchas 16:2

He replied: You have reminded me of a very deep idea which very few people know. He pondered for a moment and wept. Then he continued: Alas for mankind who go about like cattle without understanding. This thing alone is sufficient to distinguish the holy souls of Israel from the souls of heathen peoples. The souls of Israel have been hewn from the Holy Lamp, as is written, “The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord” (Prov. 20, 27). Now once this lamp has been kindled from the supernal Torah, the light upon it never ceases for an instant, like the flame of a wick which is never still for an instant.

Zohar, Introduction 11:6

Said R. Eleazar: ‘What signifies “with the shadow of my hand have I covered thee”? ‘He replied: ‘When the Torah was delivered to Moses, there appeared myriads of heavenly angels ready to consume him with their fiery breath, but the Holy One, blessed be He, sheltered him. Similarly now when the new word ascends and is crowned and presents itself before the Holy One, blessed be He, He covers and protects that word, and also shelters the author of that word, so that the angels should not become aware of him and so be filled with jealousy, until that word is transformed into a new heaven and a new earth. That is the meaning of the passage “and with the shadow of my hand have I covered thee, to plant a heaven and to lay the foundations of an earth”. From this we learn that each word of which the purpose is not obvious contains some lesson of special value, as it is written: “And with the shadow of my hand have I covered thee.” Why is it covered and hidden from our view? For an ulterior purpose, to wit, “to plant a heaven and to lay the foundation of an earth”, as already explained.

Zohar, Terumah 7:5

and he cries with a loud voice: “Ye upper and lower beings! Bring witness of him who, by reclaiming sinners becomes a ‘maker of souls’, that he deserves to be crowned and is worthy to enter now into the presence of the King and the Matrona, because the King and the Matrona enquire after him!”

Zohar, Vayera 2:5

Rabbi Eliezer was sitting and studying Torah when Rabbi Akiva arrived. He said to him, Master, what are you studying? He replies, The passage where it is written, "and to make them inherit the Throne of Glory" (I Shmuel 2:8) what does "and to make them inherit the Throne of Glory" mean? This is Jacob, the Patriarch for whom he made a Throne of Glory by himself that would receive Torah for the souls of the righteous.

Zohar, Vayeshev 9:1

R. Simeon further discoursed on the text: I rejoiced when they said unto me: Let us go unto the house of the Lord (Ibid. 122, 1). ‘This verse has been explained’, he said, ‘as follows. David was minded to build the House of God, but he was commanded to leave the task to his son, as we read: “Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord… nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name” (I Kings VIII, l8-19). The whole of Israel knew of this and they used to say: “When is David going to die so that Solomon his son may arise and build the House, and we shall be able to say, ‘Our feet are standing within thy gates, O Jerusalem’ (Ps. 122, 2), for we will then go up and offer sacrifices?”

Zohar, Yitro 1:3

And these “ten potentates” will then take of the blessings above, and pour them down upon him who is below.

Zohar, Shmini 2:3

The words “all the days of thy life” mean that the rainbow shall not be seen in thy days any more than in the days of thy father. “And see thy children to thy children”, god-fearing, saintly and holy. “Peace upon Israel1The appearance of the rainbow was supposed to indicate a lack of virtue in the generation. Cf. Zohar, Gen. 225a.“: as who should say. “Peace upon the head of the king that he may lack nothing.” So there is peace upon Israel when righteous men are in the world.’

Zohar, Vayikra 3:6

R. Hizkiah applied the verse to the sacrifices, because they are the banquet which is brought before the King, and the accusers also partake of it and are satisfied, and so joy is diffused everywhere.

Zohar, Terumah 5:4

By the fourth ordering, the light of the sun was kindled to illumine the darkness of the apiryon, and it entered therein to give light, but did not perform its function till the fifth day. The apiryon produced in the likeness thereof, and this was the fourth day of those “trees of Lebanon”.

Zohar, Noach 1:13

Tosefta Why is "Noah Noah" (Gen. 6:9) written twice? Each and every righteous person in the world has two spirits. One stays in this world, while the other is in the World to Come. And so we find that the Holy One, blessed be He, named all the righteous twice: "Moses, Moses" (Ex. 3:4), "Jacob, Jacob" (Gen. 46:2), "Abraham, Abraham" (Gen. 22:11), "Samuel, Samuel" (I Shmuel 3:10) with the exception of Isaac. He is not named twice because when he approached the altar to be sacrificed, the soul that was within him in this world left him. And because it is said of Abraham, "blessed are You who resurrect the dead", so only the soul of the World to Come was returned to him. And that is why you shall find that the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, was not unified (on any righteous person in his lifetime). It was unified only on Isaac, because he was already considered as dead. He was like those who pass away from this world. The verse therefore states: "Behold, He puts no trust in His holy ones" (Iyov 15:15) because He does not unify His name on the righteous during their lifetimes.

Zohar, Vayeilech 2:11

FOR THOU SHALT BRING THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. And previously (v. 7) it says, “thou shalt come with this people”. Why this variation? One was to announce to him that he would enter the land and remain on it, the other that he would have sway over Israel.’

Zohar, Vayeshev 5:19

Further: “So let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, that I may drink.” It is one of our affirmations that every soul that occupied itself in this world in the study of the deep mysteries of Divine Wisdom, when it goes to heaven is raised to a high grade, high above those who remained in ignorance; and it is they who will rise from the dead first. The words, then, “Let down thy pitcher, etc.” signify the inquiry which the servant will make of each soul regarding her occupation in this world.

Zohar, Beshalach 4:4

as it is written, “Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice” (S.S. 8, 3), and we refer this to the Community of Israel when she extols the Holy One by studying the Torah at night. Happy he who joins her in this praise!

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:83

Then the old man expounded in connection with the subject of the soul and her garment the words: “And Moses went into the midst of the cloud and got him up into the mount” (Ex. 24, 18). ‘Now what does the cloud signify?’ he asked, and answered his own question, saying: ‘There is a reference here to the words: “I set my bow in the cloud”: namely, the rainbow, in reference to which we have learnt that it removed, as it were, its outer garment and gave it to Moses, who went up to the mountain with it and saw through it all the sights with which he was feasted there.’ When the ancient one had reached this point he paused, and the two rabbis prostrated themselves before him, wept and said: ‘Had we come into this world only in order to hear these thy words from thy mouth it were sufficient.’

Zohar, Vayakhel 11:4

At the moment of daybreak, when light emerges from darkness, a proclamation resounds through all the firmaments, saying: Make yourselves ready, ye sentinels at the doors, chiefs of the Palace-each one to his post! For the day-attendants are not the same as the night-attendants, the two groups replacing each other with the succession of day and night.

Zohar, Terumah 2:6

that is to say, to other men permission has not been granted to penetrate to the higher point (Binah), but only as far as the “costly possession” (Malkuth), which is a lower grade; and from this they can ascend higher in intention but not in actual attainment, as Jacob did.

Zohar, Nasso 4:9

And regarding this [it is written]: "And I will do due to My name" (Ezekiel 20:14) and also "Because of Me, because of Me I will do" (Isaiah 48:11). And if they do not return I will set on them a king whose decrees will be harsher than Pharaoh's, and they will return against their will. And this is what is written "return to Ad-nai your God" - truly up to YHV"H.

Zohar, Bereshit 9:1

AND GOD SAID, LET THERE BE LIGHTS, ETC. The,word for “lights” (meoroth) is written defectively, as if me’eroth (curses), for the reason that the children’s disease, croup, was through them created. For after the primordial light was withdrawn there was created a “membrane for the marrow”, a k’lifah, and this k’lifah expanded and produced another. As soon as this second one came forth she went up and down till she reached the “little faces”.1v. p 79. She desired to cleave to them and to be shaped as one of them, and was loth to depart from them. But the Holy One, blessed be He, removed her from them and made her go below.

Zohar, Shemot 13:55

But over Israel those tribulations will come. After that King Messiah shall fight against the whole world, aided by the Right Hand of the Holy One.

Zohar, Terumah 13:5

In that case, it might be asked, why does it say, “which ye should take from them” instead of “from Me”? Because the “from them” refers to these two Divine names or grades.

Zohar, Introduction 13:3

The letter Beth (=2) indicates two things joined together, namely two points, one shrouded in mystery and one capable of being revealed; and as they are inseparable they therefore are both joined in the single term reshith (beginning), i.e. they are one and not two, and he who takes away the one takes away the other as well. For He and His name are one, as it is written “That they may know that thou and thy name of Lord art alone” (Ps. 83, 19).

Zohar, Shmini 6:9

The youth hereupon remarked: ‘If it had been written, “thy palate is from the best wine”, your explanation would have been correct, but it is written “like the best wine”.’ They looked at him, and R. Judah said: ‘Speak on, for your remark is a good one.’

Zohar, Vayeilech 5:5

R. Simeon said: ‘What is the most perfect hymn? One that is addressed both by the lower to the higher and by the higher to the lower, and which then combines the two.

Zohar, Shmini 6:3

R. Jose said: ‘Each lends to the other, and therefore wine gladdens at first because it contains water, but afterwards it reverts to its own nature and brings gloom.’

Zohar, Vayakhel 15:2

There is, it is true, a traditional teaching which says that a man should not go out alone either on the night of the fourth day of the week or on the night of the Sabbath, and that at these times one has to be on one’s guard; and this seems to contradict what has just been said, that on Sabbath night men are shielded from all evil accusers and need not therefore offer up a special prayer.

Zohar, Miketz 6:14

and by “pleasantness” is meant that pleasantness which issues from the other world, the source whence radiate all lamps in all directions. That felicity, that light which our patriarchs absorbed and inherited, is thus called “pleasantness”. Or we can say that the world to come itself is called “pleasantness”, because when it is awakened there is a stirring of all joy, all felicity, all illumination, and all freedom.

Zohar, Balak 6:64

Hence Moses told the Israelites: “God said to me, Vex not Moab” (Deut. 2, 9); that is to say, this injunction was laid upon Moses but not on any other, on David, for instance.

Zohar, Shemot 13:23

At the end of the twelve months the “sceptre of Judah”, namely the Messiah, will arise, appearing from Paradise, and all the righteous will surround him and gird him with weapons of war on which are inscribed the letters of the Holy Name (Tetragrammaton).

Zohar, Vayeilech 2:7

If it is asked, Could not Saul have lost the kingdom without also dying, the answer is that God did him a kindness in gathering him in while he was yet king so that he should not see his servant ruling over him and taking what was formerly his.

Zohar, Miketz 10:2

Observe that it is written here: AND JOSEPH SAID UNTO THEM THE THIRD DAY: THIS (zoth) DO AND LIVE , by which he showed them that he was not going to act towards them in the way they acted towards Shechem; for whereas they had first made the people of Shechem take upon them the sacred rite of the covenant, which is symbolized by the word zoth (this), and then had slain them to the last man, Joseph, on his part, said: “This (zoth) do and live”; why? “For I fear God”, and am guarding the sacredness of the covenant. All this procedure was only for the sake of Benjamin.

Zohar, Lech Lecha 20:11

and there the Shekinah was revealed exceptionally to relieve Israel in their emergency; but at other times it did not appear there. Therefore Jonah left the Holy Land in order that the Shekinah might not rest upon him or appear to him, and hence it says “from the presence of the Lord”, and again, ‘for the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord” (Jon. 1, 10).

Zohar, Lech Lecha 2:4

1. One mounts to one side.2. One descends on that side.3. One enters between the two.4. Two crown themselves with a third.5. Three enter into one.6. One produces various colours.7. Six of them descend on one side and six of them on the other.8. Six enter into twelve.9. Twelve bestir themselves to form twenty-two.10. Six are comprised in ten.

Zohar, Vayishlach 2:14

Laban, indeed, employed against Jacob all the ten kinds of magic and divination of the flashing of the underworld crowns, but could do him no hurt, as it is written: “and he changed my wages ten times, but God suffered him not to hurt me” (Gen. 31, 7), where the term monim (times) is akin to the term minim, signifying “kinds”.

Zohar, Tzav 10:1

1The first 11 lines of the Hebrew text do not appear in our translation.FIRE SHALL BE KEPT BURNING UPON THE ALTAR CONTINUALLY; IT SHALL NOT GO OUT. R. Hiya said: This fire is the fire of Isaac, who said (at the time of the binding), “Behold the fire and the wood” (Gen. 22, 7), which perpetually exists.

Zohar, Shmini 3:6

For when men’s actions are virtuous on earth, then the Right Hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, is active for them above, and many friends and protectors come forward on their behalf above on the right and on the left, and the Left Hand is subdued and kept under control. But when men’s actions on earth are not virtuous, then the Left is awakened, and all those who come from the side of the left with it, and all become agents to inflict harm on men. For all who transgress the precepts of the Law receive a mark on their faces through which they are recognized by those who rise up from the side of the left.

Zohar, Terumah 10:22

When the Yishtabah hymn is reached, the Holy One takes this crown and sets it before Him, and the Community of Israel prepares herself to meet her King. She must be attended by the thirteen attributes of the Divine Mercy wherewith she is blessed. These are the thirteen aspects of praise, enumerated during the course of that hymn: song, praise; hymn and psalm; strength and dominion; victory, power and greatness; adoration and glory; holiness-these together make twelve, and unto these is added Malkuth- sovereignty- which is the thirteenth, and whose office is to unite all the rest in one bond, for it (Sovereignty) receives blessings from the others.

Zohar, Bechukotai 4:3

AND YE SHALL DO (MAKE) THEM. After walk and “keep” have been mentioned, why does it also say “do”? Because he who “keeps” the precepts of the Law and “walks” in God’s ways, if one may say so, “makes” Him who is above. Also it says, “You shall make them”, because the two aspects (of statute and judgement) are both aroused through you and join together so that the Holy Name is consummated.’

Zohar, Miketz 6:9

Observe, that when Joseph was lost, Jacob was deprived of that increase of spirit through the departure of the Shekinah from him. But afterwards “the spirit of Jacob their father revived” (Gen. 45, 27), that is, it regained its former increase and growth.1The first eight lines of the Hebrew text do not appear in the English version.

Zohar, Lech Lecha 5:10

AND FROM THY FATHER’S HOUSE, that thou shouldst not heed thy father’s house, even if thou couldst hope in virtue of thy father’s house for some prosperity in this world; therefore get thee gone from this wisdom and from this consideration.

Zohar, Noach 14:15

And when the moon obtains her due fill of blessings, Israel come and draw sustenance from her all by themselves; and of this it is written, “on the eighth day there shall be to you a solemn gathering” (atsereth, Num. 29, 35). This “gathering” indicates the gathering of all the blessings from above, from which no other nation draws sustenance save Israel; hence “there shall be to you a gathering”, to you, and not to the other nations and presiding chiefs.

Zohar, Vayigash 10:8

The “house of Par’oh” (Pharaoh) here is, again, an allusion to the Temple on high, that is, to the house that was stripped (par’oh= uncovering) and bared of all its light and radiance and its hidden treasures.