Zohar, Vayera 3:12

Rabbi Shimon said, The soul of a person warns him and says, "Until the day break". And it shall seem to you as the blink of the eye while you are still in this world. The words, "and the shadows flee away" are equivalent to the verse that reads, "Because our days upon earth are a shadow" (Iyov 8:9); so I beg of you, "Turn, my beloved, and be you like a roe or a young hart."

Zohar, Shmini 3:3

R. Eleazar asked: ‘Does God ever make an Israelite His agent?’ He replied: ‘Yes: that is, a pious Israelite to punish a wicked one, but not one wicked one to punish another, save when he does so accidentally, as it is written, “but God deliver him into his hand” (Ex. 21, 13), in order to punish both of them.’

Zohar, Bamidbar 2:5

whilst the other says, “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling” (Ibid. 2, 11). ‘The former’, he explained, ‘speaks of the time when Israel dwells in the Holy Land, whilst the latter refers to the time of their dwelling in a strange land. Or we may also say that “serve the Lord in fear” speaks to the Community of Israel at a time when She is in exile among the nations.’

Zohar, Noach 10:3

Should a man strive towards purity of life, he is aided thereto by a holy neshamah, whereby he is purified and sanctified and attains the title of “saint”. But should he not strive for righteousness and purity of life, he is animated only by the two grades, nefesh and ruah, and is devoid of a holy neshamah. What is more, he who commences to defile himself is led further into defilement, and heavenly help is withdrawn from him. Thus each is led along the path which he chooses.’

Zohar, Bereshit 7:5

The same is referred to in the words, “My bow I have set in the cloud” (Gen. 9, 13): to wit, from the day on which the world was created. On the day of cloud, when the bow, “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord” appeared, the Left arose in might. Then “Rachel went forth and had pain in childbirth”. With her appeared Michael on one side, Raphael on another, and Gabriel on a third, these being the colours which appeared in the “likeness”.

Zohar, Chayei Sara 1:1

AND THE LIFE OF SARAH WAS A HUNDRED AND SEVEN AND TWENTY YEARS. R. Jose discoursed on the verse: And they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging (Jonah 1, 15). ‘The question may here be asked,’ he said, ‘why it was the sea and not the earth that raged against him, seeing that he fled to prevent the Shekinah from resting upon him.

Zohar, Introduction 2:2

The following is an alternative exposition: “The blossoms” are the patriarchs who pre-existed in the thought of the Almighty and later entered the world to come, where they were carefully preserved; from thence they issued secretly to become incarnate in the true prophets. Thus when Joseph entered the Holy Land he planted them there, and thus they “appeared on the earth” and revealed themselves there. When do they become visible? When the rainbow betokens that “the time of pruning is come”, to wit, the time when the sinners are due to be cut off from the world; and they only escape because “the blossoms appear on the earth”: if not for their appearance the sinners would not be left in the world and the world itself would not exist.

Zohar, Bereshit 18:2

(R' Shimon) began again, saying: Assuredly by the cantillation mark, Zarka, the prayer should be elevated to that known place, just as one aims the stone in a slingshot, so should thought be elevated with concentration on prayer to that crown, which is the decorated and all-inclusive stone. Of this it is said that one should stand upright with the mention of the Name.

Zohar, Balak 3:3

In this verse David mentioned three degrees of mercy. If one’s sins are so numerous that they are marked by KAH, then there is “the Lord”, who stands for mercy: and if even this name which stands for mercy arises to chastise, and all grades are sealed in judgement, there is still one grade to which we can turn, since all healing comes from it, and this will have pity on us: this is Ml (Who). Therefore it says here, “Who shall stand?”, since all the ways of mercy and repentance open out from it.

Zohar, Balak 6:93

He then expounded for them the verse: “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud” (Ex. 13, 21). ‘We should’, he said, ‘render thus: And the Lord, that is, the Shekinah, was there,

Zohar, Toldot 3:3

Observe that Isaac lived with his wife for twenty years without having children, the reason being that God delights in the prayer of the righteous, who thereby attain to higher sanctity and purification. He therefore withholds from them their needs until they offer their supplications.

Zohar, Vayigash 9:2

R. Isaac proceeded to discourse on the verse: Thy neck is like the tower of David builded with turrets, whereon there hang a thousand shields, all the armour of the mighty men (S. S. 4, 4). ‘The tower of David’, he said, ‘signifies the heavenly Jerusalem, of which it is written: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is set up on high” (Prov. 18, 10), the phrase “on high” pointing to the tower above.

Zohar, Tzav 10:3

Now there is on the altar a footway with a certain number of steps, and the lowest step reaches to the abyss which is the highest of six, and when the coals mentioned above reach the four corners of the altar a spark shoots forth and descends to that highest abyss.

Zohar, Beshalach 1:4

not uprooting the child from the former region, but awakening a new spirit from above and restoring his soul to him. “And the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes” (v. 35).

Zohar, Vayeshev 7:1

AND JOSEPH DREAMED A DREAM, ETC. On the subject of dreams, R. Hiya discoursed on the text: And he said: Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord do make myself known unto him in a vision, I do speak with him in a dream (Num. 12, 6). ‘God’, he said, ‘has brought into existence a series of grades, one higher than the other, one drawing sustenance from the other, some on the right, others on the left, all arranged in a perfect hierarchy.

Zohar, Tazria 2:5

R. Jose took the next verse: “She doeth him good and not evil all the days of her life”. ‘She provides good for the world, for the temple of the King and those who frequent it. When is this? When those “days of the heaven” shine upon her and unite with her fitly, these being then the “days of her life”, because the Tree of Life has sent to her life and shines upon her.’ Said R. Abba: ‘All this is well said, and all these verses can be applied to the Community of Israel.’

Zohar, Lech Lecha 1:1

R. Abba introduced this portion with a discourse on the text: Hearken to me, ye obstinate of heart who are far from righteousness (Is. 46, 12). He said: ‘How obstinate is the heart of sinners who see the paths and ways of the Torah and pay no heed to them, but harden their hearts and do not return in repentance to their Master, wherefore they are called “obstinate of heart”. Also “far from righteousness”, because they keep themselves far from the Torah.

Zohar, Beshalach 1:9

Moreover, the fact that it does not say shegioth (errors), but shigionoth, shows that the reference is to the musical instruments, like “shigayon of David” (Ps. 7, 1), which were used by all the prophets (except Moses, who was independent of external aids to prophecy), in order to enter into an ecstatic mood before receiving the spirit of prophecy (cf. I Sam. 10, 5; 2 Kings 3, 15), and Habakkuk needed the calming influence of music more than anybody.

Zohar, Shmini 1:1

AND IT CAME TO PASS ON THE EIGHTH DAY. R. Isaac said: ‘Happy are Israel in that God has given them a holy Law which is the universal delight, the joy of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His recreation, as it is written, “and I was daily his delight” (Prov. 8, 30). The Torah is all one name of the Holy One, blessed be He. By the Torah was the world created, as it is written, “And I was an artificer with him” (Ibid.).

Zohar, Toldot 6:2

Rabbi Abba said (this is true), and through this, dissension will increase in the world. For we learned in the Mishnah that all that the Holy One, blessed be He, did, He made as body and soul. One may argue that the angels have no bodies and cannot perform actions until the Holy Soul joins them, which is help from above.

Zohar, Vayakhel 14:8

The heavenly part of it consists of transcendental holy bliss and sublime delight in the resplendency of the Ancient of Ancients; whilst in the terrestrial part there is the physical enjoyment of the repasts. It behoves, therefore, a man to cheer that day with sumptuous food and drink, with noble raiment, and with whatever conduces to joyfulness.

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:54

Now the spirit (ruak) of a righteous man is adorned with its own form in the lower Paradise; and on sabbaths, festivals, and new-moons the spirits are crowned with new crowns, and ascend to the higher realms of Heaven. And as the Holy One deals with the supernal holy soul (neskamak) in the upper Paradise, so also He deals with this spirit in the lower Paradise: He brings it up before Him and says, “This spirit belongs to such and such a body.” Then He crowns it with many crowns and finds His joy therein.

Zohar, Nasso 15:9

At that moment there is a whisper followed by silence throughout the universe. So when a king is about to join his queen, all his attendants are agog and a whisper runs through them: Behold, the King is about to meet his Matrona. Here the Matrona is the Community of Israel.’

Zohar, Pekudei 3:2

It is from thence that there flow forth, first all the rivers of the “right side”, and after them the others. On the “right side” it was that the Lower Throne was established, since the Holy One, blessed be He, established that Throne “through mercy, and there sitteth thereon in truth”. The Throne is the bearer of the seal, the impress of which is Truth, and the Holy One sits on that Throne only in virtue of that seal; “in the tent of David”, which is identical with the Lower Throne.

Zohar, Beshalach 5:2

R. Hiya illustrated from the verse, “The Lord shall punish the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth” (Isa. 24, 21). ‘When the Holy One’, he said, ‘shows favour unto the celestial representatives of a nation, granting them dominion and power, He deals similarly with the earthly nation which they represent; and when He lessens His favour and diminishes their power above, He does likewise below.’1The last 6 lines of the Hebrew text are omitted from the translation.

Zohar, Vaetchanan 8:15

R. Judah said: ‘It is written of David, “He was ruddy and withal fair of eyes”. The “ruddiness” typifies his occupation (as a man of war), while “with fair of eyes” refers to the patriarchs.

Zohar, Vaera 1:16

“the seas” refer to the seven pillars which are the foundation of the earth, and over which rules the Sea of Kinnereth (R. Judah, however, maintained that the latter is filled by the others); “the rivers” are connected with the “river which went out of Eden to water the garden” (Gen. 2, 10).

Zohar, Bereshit 8:13

“Lion” ascends to seek guidance and to gaze in the face of “Man”. Another name ascends with it and is crowned and engraved in two mystic forms to be endowed with strength and power, representing the attribute of “Mighty”. It turns back and the throne engraves it and it is imprinted thereon to be under the guidance of this mystic name.

Zohar, Yitro 6:6

On his forehead are four large wrinkles, which usually appear when he speaks. Sometimes, however, the skin of his forehead is stretched and the wrinkles are not evident, but other larger ones appear close to his eyes. He laughs for no reason, and at nothing. His mouth is large and loose. Such a man is of no worth or use. The other kind of madness included in this type is less apparent, and is unnoticeable in common intercourse. Such a man may pursue study with success, even the study of the Torah, though he will not take it up for its own sake, but only to make a show. He makes a great parade of his religion, to give the impression that he is deeply pious, but in reality he has no thought of God, but only of man. The one object of all his thoughts and behaviour is to draw attention to himself. This type, with its two distinct variants, also stands under the sign of the Nun when it is contained in the Zain.

Zohar, Vayera 1:17

Tosefta Of the verse, "And Hashem appeared to him by the terebinths of Mamre" (Gen. 18:1), why by the terebinths of Mamre and not in any other place? Because Mamre gave him good advice about being circumcised. When the Holy One, blessed be He, told Abraham to circumcise himself, Abraham consulted his friends. Aner told him, You are more than ninety years old, and you shall pain yourself.

Zohar, Pinchas 3:1

We have learnt that a completely righteous man is not thrust aside, but one who is not completely righteous may be thrust aside. A completely righteous man is one who does not receive migratory souls out of their course, who builds on his own inheritance, and digs his wells and plants his trees there.

Zohar, Introduction 9:1

Said R. Jose: ‘Assuredly it is so, and I have heard the Sacred Lamp say the same, to wit, that bara is a term of mystery, a lock without a key, and as long as the world was locked within the term bara it was not in a state of being or existence. Over the whole there hovered Tohu (chaos), and as long as Tohu dominated, the world was not in being or existence.

Zohar, Beshalach 10:20

Then he took up the thread of their discourse thus: “It is written: O Lord our God, how glorious is thy name over all the earth, who hast set (asher tenah) thy glory above the heavens (Ps. 8, 2).

Zohar, Bereshit 4:2

The “spirit of God” is a holy spirit that proceeded from Elohim Hayyim (living God), and this “was hovering over the face of the waters”. When this wind blew, a certain film detached itself from the refuse, like the film which remains on the top of boiling broth when the froth has been skimmed off two or three times.

Zohar, Bereshit 10:11

The lower beings which have been compounded with this spirit assume shapes which are clothed in another vestment, such as the forms of clean animals, ox, sheep, goat, deer, etc. They would fain partake of the vestment of man, corresponding to their inner nature, but their forms are covered by the name applied to their bodies; so we find “flesh of ox”, “ox” being the inner element of that body, while the “flesh” is the vestment; and so with all.

Zohar, Beshalach 7:11

except in one connection,namely the war of the future, of which it says: “The Lord shall go forth as a giant… like a man of war” (Isa. 42, 16).

Zohar, Metzora 10:3

“Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol”: of all the grades of Gehinnom there is none so hard as Sheol, and he who is jealous of a beloved one finds it harder to part than the Sheol, which is the hardest grade of Gehinnom.

Zohar, Shemot 10:3

The Book of R. Yeba the Elder remarks as follows: It is written “The matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones” (Dan. 4, 16). All the judgements passed upon the world, and all decrees and decisions are stored in a certain palace, where seventy-two members of Sanhedrin deliberate upon them. The palace is called ” the Palace of Acquittal”, because the judges there lay stress on whatever can be pleaded in favour of the accused.

Zohar, Terumah 12:14

Of this Jacob is symbolic. Before his death, when he was about to speak of the “end of days” (and the Shekinah left him) he said to his sons: “Perchance some stain is attached to me or to my seed?” But they replied: “Nay, there is no such stain, nor is any fault found. Thine own heart is possessed only by the One, and as for us-we have no contact with the ‘other side’ or any of its evil minions; on the contrary we, like thyself, are united with the King alone, since all our will and intent has been to separate from the ‘other side’.”

Zohar, Bamidbar 5:10

R. Eleazar wept. He discoursed on the verse: “The sound thereof shall go like the serpents”, etc. (Jer. 46, 22). ‘At the present time,’ he said, ‘when Israel is in exile, he is assuredly as the serpent. For when the serpent presses its head into the sand its tail flies upwards, being master, as it were, and lashing out at anyone near him; so Israel in exile has his head bowed down into the dust whilst the tail obtains the mastery. But although the head is bowed down into the sand, it is the same head, and that directs and rules the movements of the tail;

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:19

and after a while he continued to speak on the following verse: IF SHE (the maidservant) PLEASE NOT HER MASTER, WHO HATH BETROTHED HER TO HIMSELF, THEN SHALL HE LET HER BE REDEEMED; BUT TO SELL HER TO A STRANGE NATION, HE SHALL HAVE NO POWER (V. 8). ‘This passage’, said he, ‘continues the inner meaning of the “man who sells his daughter as a maidservant”. It is written: “Who would not fear thee, O king of the nations? For it becometh thee, as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee” (Jer. 10, 7).

Zohar, Vayigash 5:6

For at midnight, when the supernal holiness is awakened, the man who remains asleep in his bed without regarding the glory of his Master falls under the spell of death and is attached to the other place. David thus rose up to contemplate continually the glory of his Master, who was a Living One like himself, and so never slept long enough to have a foretaste of death. He only slept like a horse, sixty breaths at a time.’

Zohar, Vayera 16:8

“For he looketh to the end of the land”, to give them food and to satisfy all their needs; for He continually holds it under His eye, as it is written. “The eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year” (Deut. 11, 12).

Zohar, Yitro 8:10

2. When a man, not entirely bad, changes his ways and turns to the Lord, a good spirit begins to rest upon him, so that he is enabled to prevail against the evil that was in him, and for a time this new spirit thrusts itself forward into the expression of his face in the form of a lion. At a first casual examination his face would not inspire love, but gradually it becomes better comprehended and so better loved.

Zohar, Vayera 6:1

When Abraham was still suffering from the effects of the circumcision, the Holy One sent him three angels, in visible shape, to enquire of his well-being. You may, perhaps, wonder how angels can ever be visible, since it is written, “Who makes his angels spirits” (Ps. 104, 4).

Zohar, Bereshit 18:11

In the Holy Name, Yud Hei Vav Hei rises by the Revi'a (lit. 'fourth'). And one should prolong this intonation, which is the secret of the Tekiah . (The place) to make it short is at the aspect (of Gevurah) of Sh'varim (short blowings of the Shofar) (this is the Tevir). The middle, which is neither prolonged nor shortened, is Teruah. This is the central pillar and Shalshelet (lit. 'chain'), which chains both (according to the secret of) the Shekel of the sanctuary.

Zohar, Emor 6:1

THEY SHALL NOT MAKE BALDNESS UPON THEIR HEAD. R. Jose said: ‘The reason is that on the head of the supernal Priest is the holy oil of anointing, the removal of which would cause baldness; and therefore the priest below must perform an action symbolical of this.”1Here follows in the original a passage expanding this idea in the highly allusive and untranslatable style of the Midrash Hane’elam.

Zohar, Vaera 5:7

and the particular, individual, knowledge of God causes salvation and blessing to enter into every day of the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year (corresponding to the three hundred and sixty-five negative commandments).

Zohar, Nasso 5:11

Said R. Jose: ‘If it were written here “and of the dust” and no more, this remark would be relevant; but since it says, “and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle”, it seems to point to something else. Indeed, it points to the verse, saying: “He makes his sword in the form of dust” (Isa. 41, 2). This verse speaks of the archers and catapult throwers, symbolic of rigorous judgement. Similarly here “the floor of the tabernacle”, which is connected with elements underneath. The priest then puts it into the water,

Zohar, Miketz 5:24

Observe that God has made the earthly kingdom after the pattern of the heavenly kingdom, and whatever is done on earth has been preceded by its prototype in heaven. Now the dominion of the celestial kingdom was not perfect until it united itself to the patriarchs, since the Holy One intended that the supernal kingdom should be illumined from the grades symbolized by the patriarchs.

Zohar

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