Zohar, Shmini 8:3

“Comfort me with apples”: this is the same, and it also contains an inner meaning. Raisins intoxicate, but apples sober. Hence raisins to excite, and apples to see that the intoxication does not harm. And why all this? Because “I am sick of love” in the exile. He who unifies the Holy Name must fitly join Mercy with Justice, and this is what supports the Community of Israel in exile.

Zohar, Bereshit 19:1

THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. We have laid down that the expression “these are” denotes that those mentioned before are henceforth of no account. In this case what is referred to is the products of tohu (emptiness) hinted at in the second verse of the first chapter, “and the earth was tohu and bohu”. These it is of which we have learnt that “God created worlds and destroyed them”. On account of this the earth was “dazed” (tohah) and “bewildered” (bohah),

Zohar, Bereshit 17:8

For the morning prayer also a lion comes down to receive it in his winged arms: this is Michael. For the afternoon prayer an ox comes down to take it with his arms and horns: this is Gabriel.

Zohar, Vayera 1:14

Straightway “it lifts up its eyes and looks, and lo, three men stand over against it”. Who are these three men? They are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who stand over this lower grade, and from whom it draws sustenance and nourishment.

Zohar, Shemot 8:10

As they were going along, R. Abba met them. Said R. Jose: ‘Behold, the Shekinah is in our midst, as we have a great master of doctrine with us.’ Said R. Abba: ‘What were you discussing?’ R. Jose replied: ‘We were deducing that the angels went down with Israel to Egypt from the two verses “I will come down with thee into Egypt” and “These are the names, etc.”.’

Zohar, Introduction 4:1

Said R. Simeon, ‘Eleazar, son of mine, cease thy discourse, that there may be revealed the higher mysteries which remain sealed for the people of this world.’ R. Eleazar then fell into silence. R. Simeon wept a while and then said: ‘Eleazar, what is meant by the term “these”? Surely not the stars and the other heavenly bodies, since they are always visible, and were created through Mah, as we read, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made” (Ps. 33, 6). Nor can it imply the things inaccessible to our gaze, since the vocable “these” obviously points to things that are revealed.

Zohar, Achrei Mot 5:2

Similarly with the months and similarly with the days of the week, and even with the parts of each day and each hour. Therefore it is written: “There is a time for every purpose” (Eccl. 3, 1), and again, “My prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time” (Ps. 69, 14). Hence it says here: “Let him not come at every time to the Sanctuary”.’

Zohar, Vayishlach 1:15

AND JACOB SENT ANGELS. Said R. Abba: What induced Jacob to make advances towards Esau? Would he not have done better to leave him alone? The truth is that Jacob said to himself: “I am well aware that Esau has great respect for his father and would never cause him any vexation, and so I know that I have no ground to fear him so long as my father is alive. Let me, therefore, effect a reconciliation with him whilst my father is alive.” Straightway, then, Jacob “sent angels before him”.’

Zohar, Vayigash 2:10

Observe that nefesh, ruah, and neshamah are an ascending series of grades. The lowest of them,nefesh, has its source in the perennial celestial stream.

Zohar, Vayigash 1:8

“For Abraham knoweth us not”, inasmuch as, though life and death were in his hands, he did not show so much care for us as for Ishmael, on whose behalf he pleaded, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before thee!” (Gen. 17, 18). Further: “Israel doth not acknowledge us”, seeing that he left it to the divine grade to confer on his sons the blessings which he himself ought to have pronounced.

Zohar, Korach 7:4

A man should not say, When I reach that world I will seek mercy of the King and repent before him, for “there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom” after a man departs from this world, but if a man desires that the Holy King should illumine him for that world and give him a share in the world to come, he should strive in this world to place his actions in the sphere of the right.

Zohar, Lech Lecha 9:7

Abram could not attain to this grade until he had entered the promised land; but there he was destined to attain it. Similarly with David, of whom it is written, “And David inquired of the Lord saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.” (II Sam. 2, 1). Seeing that Saul was dead and the kingship belonged of right to David, why was he not at once declared king over all Israel?

Zohar, Beshalach 7:2

“And call the Sabbath a delight” (Ibid.): a delight for the soul, and a delight for the body; a delight for those who are above, and a delight for those that are below. “And call the Sabbath.” Call it, invite it, as one invites an honoured guest and prepares everything bounteously and concentrates one’s attention on him, “not doing one’s own ways, nor finding one’s own pleasure, nor speaking (profane) words” (Ibid.).

Zohar, Miketz 2:16

AND IT CAME TO PASS AT THE END. R. Hizkiah quoted here the verse: To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven (Eccl. 3, 1). ‘For every thing that the Almighty has made in the lower world,’ he said, ‘He has appointed a fixed term and limit. He has appointed a time for light and for darkness. He has fixed a term for the light of the other nations who are now the rulers of the world; and a term for the darkness of the exile of Israel who are now subjected to their rule. And so there is a term for every purpose in the lower world.’

Zohar, Shemot 13:16

Then from the holy Throne the Bird’s Nest and the Messiah are summoned three times, and they both ascend into the heavenly places, and the Holy One swears to them to destroy the wicked kingdom (Rome) by the hand of the Messiah, to avenge Israel, and to give her all the good things which he has promised her. Then the Bird returns to her place. The Messiah, however, is hidden again in the same place as before.

Zohar, Kedoshim 9:1

R. Jose the younger once went in to see R. Simeon and found him expounding the verse: “And the man said: The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat” (Gen. 3, 12). ‘The expression “with me”,’ he said, ‘indicates that Adam and Eve were created together with one body.’ Said R. Jose to him: ‘If so, what of the words of Hannah to Eli: “I am the woman who stood with thee here” (I Sam. 1, 26)?’ He replied: ‘It does not say here “was given”.’

Zohar, Vayeilech 1:1

AND MOSES WENT AND SPAKE THESE WORDS UNTO ALL ISRAEL. R. Hizkiah cited here the verse: “That caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, that divided the water before them” (Isa. 63, 12). ‘Happy’, he said, ‘are Israel in that God chose them, and because He chose them He called them sons, firstborn, holy, brothers, and came down to dwell among them and sought to establish them after the supernal pattern, and spread over them seven clouds of glory.

Zohar, Balak 6:51

We have learnt’, he said, ‘that there are seven firmaments which are six and also five.

Zohar, Beshalach 9:5

What is called here “sea” is later called “deeps” (Ex. 15, 8). This shows that God performed one miracle within another: causing the deeps to congeal in the heart of the sea, so that “the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea” (xv 8-19).’

Zohar, Nasso 4:11

And since it is over the heads of people, it is forbidden for people to move four cubits with their head uncovered. For if it would withdraw from above the head of a person, life would immediately withdraw from him.

Zohar, Balak 7:1

AND HE SENT MESSENGERS UNTO BALAAM THE SON OF BEOR. There are here twenty-eight words corresponding to the twenty-eight degrees of the sorceries of the bird. It may be asked, Why did Balak commence with Balaam so abruptly? He should have first ingratiated himself with him and then told him what he wanted.

Zohar, Vaera 6:1

AND MOSES SPAKE SO UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, BUT THEY HEARKENED NOT UNTO MOSES FOR ANGUISH OF SPIRIT. What is the meaning of “anguish of spirit” (lit. shortness of breath)? R. Judah interpreted the expression literally, “they had no rest from their labours, no time to breathe”. But R. Simeon saw a mystical significance in the expression; the “Jubilee” (the world of Binah, the abode of transcendental “Freedom “) was as yet not in manifestation to give them spiritual rest, and the later Spirit (Malkuth) was not yet able to exercise its functions, and so there was anguish to this Spirit.

Zohar, Bereshit 6:4

Moses thereupon said: ‘Assuredly the Gehinnom is embittering this quarrel. The left ought to strive upwards and absorb itself in the right. Korah has no wish to attach himself to the higher influences and to merge himself in the right. Let him, then, descend below in the impetus of his wrath.’

Zohar, Bereshit 8:21

and every night the spirit is divested of that garment and ascends and is consumed by that consuming fire, and then reverts to its former state and takes the same outer shape again. Hence they have not the same permanency as those supernal forms, and in allusion to this it is written, “new every morning” (Lam. 3, 23), i.e. human beings who are renewed every day. The reason is that “great is thy faithfulness” (Ibid.)-great and not little.

Zohar, Lech Lecha 3:2

Its journeys were measured at five hundred Persian miles. The desires of these Persian miles come on Him. So when He awakens, all awaken with Him, and no one is capable of diverting His will. After that, all are united and join His will.

Zohar, Vayera 11:6

R. Abba said: Notice the unselfishness of Abraham. For although the Almighty notified him of the coming calamity, announcing VERILY, THE CRY OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH IS GREAT, and so on, and thus gave him a breathing-space before the final catastrophe, Abraham, nevertheless, did not plead for Lot to be delivered from the punishment. Why so? In order that it should not appear that he was asking a reward for his good deeds.

Zohar, Kedoshim 3:4

and the Torah is called “holiness”, as it is written, “I the Lord am holy”, and the Torah is the supernal holy Name. Therefore he who studies it is first purified and then sanctified. We have learnt that the holiness of the Torah surpasses all other sanctifications, and the holiness of the superior recondite wisdom is highest of all.’

Zohar, Miketz 2:11

By that (upper) river seven grades are irrigated and blessed, they being “well favoured and fatfleshed”, AND THEY FED IN THE REED GRASS (ahu). The word aku (meadow, or brotherhood) signifies that there is no separation between them. The number seven has everywhere a similar symbolism, e.g. the seven maidens and the seven chamberlains mentioned in the Book of Esther (Esther 2, 9; I, 10).

Zohar, Shemot 7:6

“Yod He Vau He” He cries; Then murmurs anew. The song of the myriads, Of holy turning wheels.. In ecstasy they chant “Blessed be the Lord’s glory. From the place of His Shekinah”..

Zohar, Ki Teitzei 2:4

For at the exodus from Egypt, the fifty gates of freedom were opened to them from the side of Judgment, which is left, which is Adonai, אֲדֹנָי, [This corresponds to Malchut of the left side] where, "will I judge" (Genesis 15:14), [אֲדֹנָי contains the letters of the word judgment, which is din in Hebrew], for first I judge and then they shall come out. But at the last redemption {it is written about it}, "with great mercies {will I gather you}" (Isaiah 54:7), which is the grade of Abraham. And Greatness, גְדוּלָּה, [which is Chesed], is the grade of Abraham, since Binah there is {referred to as} the 'great hand', and there are fifty shekels of silver there [These are the '50 Gates of Binah']. Later, "he may not put her away" into exile, "all his days" because "she shall be his wife." This is like the words, "And I will betroth you to Me forever" (Hosea 2:21), and another verse, "For your Maker is your husband. Hashem Tzva'ot is His name" (Isaiah 54:5). "You shall no more be termed forsaken" (Isaiah 62:4). For even though the Shechinah is in exile, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not move from her.

Zohar, Lech Lecha 13:8

(And with all this the Israelites do conclude a blessing with his name.1The third blessing after the Haftarah. Therefore David said: “‘Thou, O Lord, art a shield about me, my glory and the lifter up of my head’: this grade assuredly is my glory with which I am crowned.”’

Zohar, Vayera 8:8

According to another interpretation, the expression “and he was behind him” refers to Abraham, who was behind the Shekinah.’

Zohar, Bereshit 8:3

The Psalmist continues, “and herb for the service of man”, indicating by “herb” the angelic orders named Ofanim (wheels), Hayyoth (animal-shaped), and Cherubim, all of whom are upheld, sustained, and confirmed whenever mortal beings come to worship their Master with sacrifices and prayers, in which consists the “service of man”, and as they are reinforced by virtue of that service of man,

Zohar, Vayakhel 12:2

On the sixth day, when the time of evening arrives, a brilliant star appears in the north accompanied by seventy other stars. That star smites the others, absorbing them all into itself, so that one takes the place of seventy. The same star then becomes enlarged, and is made into a fiery mass, blazing on all sides. The flaming mass then extends itself round a thousand thousand mountains, becoming in the process a mere thread.

Zohar, Vaetchanan 14:3

God then glories in them and proclaims through all worlds: See what my son has done in my world. He, however, who leaves his house to go to the synagogue without the phylacteries on his head or fringes on his garment and who yet says, I will bow down to Thy holy temple in Thy fear-of him God says: Where is my fear? he is bearing false witness.’

Zohar, Vaera 8:2

But he who brings the Covenant into its place and so guards it in purity becomes a channel of blessing both to the upper and lower worlds.

Zohar, Vayishlach 10:2

Hence, when Esau said: “Let us take our journey, and let us go”, that is, “let us share together this world and rule it in partnership”, Jacob replied: “Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant”, as much as to say: “Have thou first thy dominion of this world, and I will journey on gently, and reserve myself for the world to come and for the latter days that flow on gently…

Zohar, Vayigash 7:6

Thus the words: “Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him”, refer to all those that stand and wait to receive food and drink from the Righteous One. In the sentence: “And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren”, the term “with him” is an allusion to the Community of Israel, and “his brethren” refers to the other chariot-riders and legions referred to in the verse: “For my brethren and companions’ sake” (Ibid. 122, 8). Or again: “And there stood no man with him” is a description of the time when the Holy One, blessed be He, will be mated with the Community of Israel. “While Joseph made himself known to his brethren”: this again alludes to the time when the Holy One will join Himself to Israel, to the exclusion of the idolatrous nations.

Zohar, Vayakhel 14:6

During the six days of the week that spirit experiences a heavenly bliss radiated from the Ancient of Ancients. But on the Sabbath, after it descends and bathes itself in the Garden of Eden, it shares in the bodily pleasure derived from the meal of Faith, and is thus filled with the delights both of the superior world and the lower world.

Zohar, Noach 7:5

It is true, the Scripture says in one place, “For she hath seen that the heathen are entered into her sanctuary” (Lam. 1, 10), and have destroyed the House, from which it may be inferred that if those alien chiefs had not had sway, the Temple would not have been destroyed. This, however, must not be stressed; for the Scripture also says, “For thou hast done it” (Ibid. 1, 21), and “The Lord hath done what he hath devised” (Ibid. 2, 17).’

Zohar, Balak 14:5

All the hosts of heaven ask one another: With what is the Holy One, blessed be He, engaged? They answer: He is engaged eagerly with His own vessels. None of them know what is done with that prayer of the poor man and with all his complaints. But when he pours out his tears with expostulation before the Almighty, God desires nothing so much as to receive them.

Zohar, Vayeshev 3:10

and all on account of the allotment (mazzal) that flowed forth and joined itself to that grade in order to be perfected and blessed by it. We see thus that all things are dependent on allotment (mazzal), according to the dictum: “Children, life, and livelihood do not depend on a man’s merits, but on mazzal.״

Zohar, Bereshit 8:8

Michael is imprinted on the South, and all faces are turned towards him, viz. “the face of a man… the face of a lion… the face of an ox… the face of an eagle” (Ibid.). “Man” implies the union of male and female, without which the name “man” (Adam) is not applied. By him are formed the figures of the chariot of God, as it is written: ” (On) the chariot of God are myriads of thousands of Shin’an (angels)” (Ps. 68, 15):

Zohar, Bamidbar 3:9

So are the corners of the altar circled (by the priest when sprinkling the blood), beginning with southeast, as the strength of the south resides in the east, the starting-point of the sun; followed by the east-north, since the south in its turn gives its light to the north, the north being enfolded in the south, as the left hand is clasped in the right;

Zohar, Chukat 6:5

It is written: “And the sun ariseth and the sun goeth down” (Eccl. 1, 5). This signifies, as we have explained, that when the Israelites came forth from Egypt the Sun1tifereth. shone for them and not the Moon, but it went down in the wilderness. To where, then, was it gathered in? “Unto its place”, in order to give light to the Moon.

Zohar, Vayikra 6:1

R. Hizkiah once, when in the company of R. Simeon, asked him what was the precise meaning of the term korban (offering). He replied: ‘As is well known to the Companions, it means their “drawing near”.1From karab, to draw near,. It refers to those holy Crowns which are all knit together and drawn near to one another until they all form a perfect unity to make whole the Holy Name. Hence it is written, “a korban to TETRAGRAMMATON”, meaning that the drawing near of those Crowns is to TETRAGRAMMATON to unify properly the Holy Name so that mercy should be shown to all worlds, and rigour should not be aroused. Hence the name TETRAGRAMMATON is used (in connection with the sacrifices), and not the name Elohim. ‘

Zohar, Vayera 16:6

AND LOT SAW AND RAN TO MEET THEM… AND HE SAID, BEHOLD NOW, MY LORDS, TURN ASIDE, I PRAY YOU. The expression “turn aside”, instead of “draw near”, implies that he took them by a roundabout way, so that the people of the town should not see them.

Zohar, Bereshit 17:7

When he opens his mouth to utter the evening prayer an eagle comes down on the weekdays to take up on its wings the evening prayer. This is the angel called Nuriel when coming from the side of Hesed (Kindness), and Uriel when coming from the side of Geburah (Force), because it is a burning fire.

Zohar, Bereshit 12:11

Later, however, God brought him under the aegis of Hod, after he had anointed kings. On this account he is ranked with Moses and Aaron, since he combined two lower grades, as they combined two upper grades, though all the grades are linked with one another.1Here in the text follows a passage (up to behai’ alma, p. 22a) dealing with the prophetic grades of Moses and Jacob as typified respectively by the ‘Jubilee’ and the ‘Shemitah’. It has been omitted from the translation as being both highly technical and in the nature of a digression.2The first 16 lines of the Hebrew text do not appear in our translation.

Zohar, Vayera 2:3

The Holy One, blessed be He, then calls upon Jacob and says to him, You, who suffered the sorrow of (raising) children, go and welcome so-and-so, the righteous person who has come here, and I shall go along with you, as it is written, "those who seek your face Jacob, Selah" (Tehilim 24:6). It does not say "seek" in the singular, but in the plural. Rabbi Chiya said, This we understand from the first part of the verse. As it is written, "This is the generation of them that seek him," which teaches us that the intention of the verse alludes to the souls of the righteous, the seekers, namely, the leaders of the generation.

Zohar

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