Zohar, Behar 3:1

What is meant by “for nothing”? The words have the same inner meaning as in the verse, “We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt for nought” (Num. 11, 5)-that is to say, without pronouncing a blessing; for in Egypt the yoke of heaven was not upon them. What is the yoke of the kingdom of heaven? Just as an ox is put under a yoke in order that it may be of use, and otherwise it never does any work, so a man must first accept the yoke and then perform religious service: and without it he will not be able to serve God.

Zohar, Terumah 13:2

“On the part of everyone whose heart is willing ye should take my heave offering.” The words “on the part of seem at first sight to be superfluous, but in reality they contain a deep lesson for the masters of the esoteric lore. Blessed are the righteous who have learnt how to centre all their thoughts and desires on the Heavenly King, and whose aspirations are directed, not towards the vain and foolish toys of this world and its lusts, but to attaching themselves wholeheartedly to the world above in order to draw down the favour of the Lord Himself from heaven to earth.

Zohar, Tazria 5:10

Hence it is written here: “When a woman conceives seed and bears a male”, and not “male and female together”, since on account of the ways of the world they are not united (at birth) as they were when they issued from on high,

Zohar, Noach 12:6

You may perhaps say that there was not here any destroying angel, but only the onrush of the overwhelming waters. This is not so; no doom is ever executed on the world, whether of annihilation or any other chastisement, but the destroying angel is in the midst of the visitation. So here there was indeed a flood, but this was only an embodiment of the destroyer who assumed its name. Hence the command given to Noah to hide himself and not to show himself abroad.

Zohar, Metzora 10:4

“The flashes thereof are flashes of fire”: this is the fire that issues from the Shofar, compounded of air and water. And with that flame the Community of Israel sets on fire the world when she is passionate for the Holy One, blessed be He, and woe to him who crosses the path of that flame.’

Zohar, Shmini 1:5

R. Judah said: ‘The beth has two parallel lines and a third joining them. What do these signify? One for heaven, one for earth, and one for the Holy One, blessed be He, who unites and receives them.’

Zohar, Yitro 12:9

3. When a man deserts the ways of the Torah and follows ways of iniquity, the holy spirit, which formerly dwelt in his inner self, removes its influence from him and another spirit takes up its abode there, with another form which impresses itself on the outer lineaments and is there manifested to the vision of the wise in the form of an Ox.

Zohar, Vayigash 1:7

The word “thou” here refers to the grade by which the world was planned and created, and by which man was brought into the world.

Zohar, Vayishlach 8:1

AND HE HIMSELF PASSED OVER BEFORE THEM, AND BOWED HIMSELF TO THE GROUND SEVEN TIMES, UNTIL HE CAME NEAR TO HIS BROTHER. Said R. Eleazar: It is written, “For thou shalt bow down to no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Ex. 34, 14). Now, Jacob was the consummation of the patriarchs, who was selected as the choicest portion of the Almighty, and was brought specially near to Him and was perfected above and below. How came it, then, that such a man should bow down to the wicked Esau, who was of the side of another god, so that bowing down to him was the same as bowing down to another god? The proverb, it is true, says, “When a fox is in honour, bow down to him.” This, however, could not apply to Esau, who was like another god, belonging to that side and that portion to whom Jacob would in no way bow down.

Zohar, Introduction 10:3

Meanwhile, there appeared a host of huge winged celestial beings upon whose wings R. Simeon and his son R. Eleazar were borne aloft into the heavenly Academy, whilst those beings remained at the threshold, awaiting them. Their splendour was constantly renewed, and they radiated a light exceeding that of the sun.

Zohar, Yitro 6:2

If his forehead has large uneven furrows when he speaks, but other lines on his forehead lie even, he is not a person to associate with save for a brief period. Whatever he plans or does is only for his own advantage; he cares for no one but himself. He is incapable of keeping any secret entrusted to him, and the saying, “A tale- bearer revealeth secrets” (Prov. 11, 13) is true of him; indeed, he cares not what he says. This type of person belongs to the mystery of the letter Nun when it is contained in the letter Zain. Such a one may be thought of as anything but reliable.

Zohar, Vayeilech 2:4

And even though his works were not particularly evil, he is gathered in before his time and not in accordance with judgement, and the doom of Zedek lights on him for his sins because the time of the other to whom she belongs has come.’

Zohar, Chayei Sara 2:1

1. "And the life of Sarah shall be… the body of the Mishnah—we were close; we heard a voice turning from above to below, spreading through the world lightly, breaking mountains and shattering mighty furnaces. Great whirlwinds rise, ears are opened." This passage uses vivid imagery to describe a divine or cosmic event—possibly the revelation or transmission of Torah or spiritual energy—moving from the upper realms to the lower, with powerful effects on creation. If you'd like, I can help unpack the symbolism or connect it to broader themes in Midrash or Kabbalah.

Zohar, Vayera 5:16

It is written, “Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord?” and the answer is given, “He that hath clean hands and a pure heart” (Ps. 24, 3-4), that is, he that has not made with his hands vain shapes nor grasped with them wrongful objects, nor has he defiled himself through them like those who defile their bodies wilfully. “And pure of heart”: that is, he that averts his heart and mind from the “other side” and directs them towards the service of the Holy One.

Zohar, Vayeshev 5:26

Esoterically speaking, benediction does not abide save where male and female are together,

Zohar, Introduction 9:4

When we take now the Mim of both MI and MaH and join each to each we have complete the sacred name AeLoHiM and also the name ABRaHaM. According to another view, the Holy One, blessed be He, took MI and joined it to AiLeH, so that there was shaped AeLoHiM; similarly He took MaH and joined it to AiBeR and there was shaped ABRaHaM. And thus He made the world unfold itself, and made the name complete, as it had not been hitherto. This is meant by the verse “These are the generations (i.e. unfoldings) of the heaven and of the earth BeHiBaReaM (when they were created)”. That is, the whole creation was in suspense until the name of ABRaHaM was created, and as soon as the name of Abraham was completed the Sacred Name was completed along with it, as it says further, “in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven”.’

Zohar, Shemot 6:1

R. Eleazar and R. Jose were once walking together. Said R. Eleazar to R. Jose: ‘Open thy mouth, and let thy words flow forth!’ R. Jose replied: ‘Will it please the master if I ask him to solve a certain difficulty for me? I have heard from the mouth of the “holy lamp” (R. Simeon b. Yohai) this interpretation of the words: “and these are the names of the children of Israel”-that they refer to the “Ancient Israel” (God) and to all the heavenly hosts and chariots who went into captivity with Jacob. I am, however, puzzled how to fit the words “a man and his household” in this verse into this interpretation.’ R. Eleazar replied: ‘What R. Simeon said is certainly correct. We have an esoteric doctrine that the receiver is, as it were, a “house” to the giver.’

Zohar, Tazria 1:2

She “seeks him but finds him not”, for it is not his way to unite with her save in his temple. She “calls him and he answers not”, for She dwells among other peoples, and only his sons hear his voice.

Zohar, Vayera 11:5

R. Judah commented as follows: ‘The Holy One, blessed be He, gave the whole land to Abraham as an everlasting heritage, as it is written: “For all the land which thou seest, to thee I give it, etc.” (Gen. 13, 15). That he saw the whole land is indicated in the words which precede: “lift up now thine eyes from the place where thou art, northward, etc.” (Ibid. I4). And now the Holy One found it necessary to uproot those places. He therefore said to Himself: “I have already given over the land to Abraham, he thus being the father of all its inhabitants [so it is written: ‘for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee’ (Gen. 17, 5)], and so it is not fitting for me to inflict punishment on the children without first giving warning to their father, to ‘Abraham my friend’ (Is. 41, 8). Hence, AND THE LORD SAID, SHALL I HIDE FROM ABRAHAM, ETC.?

Zohar, Tzav 10:6

In another place are hosts who stand in fear and trembling. All look towards that supernal altar.

Zohar, Terumah 10:19

Why do the Psalms of David come before the Song of the Sea? Does not the “written Torah” (the Pentateuch) take precedence of the Oral Law, and even of the Prophets and the Writings, of which latter the Psalms form a part?

Zohar, Nasso 13:8

Again: “And the grace of the Lord is from world to world” is an allusion to the priests who proceed from the side of Grace and have obtained this inheritance that descends from the upper world to the lower. “Upon those who fear him”, to wit, the priests here below, regarding whom it is written, “and [he shall] make atonement for himself, and for his house” (Lev. 16, 6), by means of which house (i.e. wife) he falls within the category of Adam. The Psalmist continues: “and his righteousness unto children’s children”, in allusion to the priest who was rewarded with children’s children.

Zohar, Metzora 6:2

R. Isaac discoursed on the verse: “And he called unto Moses, and the Lord spake unto him out of the tent of meeting, saying” (Lev. 1, 1).

Zohar, Vayera 12:2

I WILL GO DOWN AND SEE: IF IT IS ACCORDING TO THE CRY OF IT, THEN MAKE YE AN EXTERMINATION. To whom was this command addressed? It cannot be to the angels, since that would mean that God was speaking to one party (Abraham) and giving command to another (the angels), which is not usual. The explanation is that it was really addressed to Abraham, in whose jurisdiction the cities were. But then why the plural, “make ye” (‘asu) instead of the singular “make thou” (‘ase)? The answer is that it was addressed both to Abraham and the Shekinah, which was all the time with him. According to another interpretation the command was given to the angels, who were standing there ready at hand to do execution.

Zohar, Achrei Mot 9:6

Or they may still be spoken by the Community of Israel, and allude to the verse, “For he hath cast from earth to heaven the beauty of Israel” (Lam. 2, 1).

Zohar, Balak 6:8

They were dumbfounded, and could say nothing. R. Judah asked the boy what was the name of his father. The boy was silent for a moment, then went to his mother and kissed her saying: ‘Mother, these wise men have asked me the name of my father; shall I tell them?’ His mother said: ‘Have you tested them?’ He replied: ‘I have tested them and not found them satisfactory.’ His mother then whispered something to him, and he went back to them and said: ‘You asked about my father. He has departed this world, but whenever holy saints travel on the road he follows them in the form of a pedlar. If you are sainted holy ones, how is it that you did not find him following you?

Zohar, Bamidbar 1:14

Should the blessing be removed, the “other side” may swoop down and inflict harm. The text continues:

Zohar, Pekudei 4:21

Now if that meal, though measured out and known to consist of a handful, yet did not fail to receive blessing in virtue of the word spoken by Elijah, how much the more so here, in regard to the Tabernacle of the testimony, notwithstanding its having been subjected to numbering, was it meet that blessings should rest on it since its inventory was made by Moses himself! ‘ THESE ARE THE ACCOUNTS OF THE TABERNACLE.

Zohar, Vaera 10:3

He also said that sinners impair the supernal world by causing a separation between the ” Right” and the “Left”. They really cause harm only to themselves, as it is written, “He (Israel) hath corrupted himself (lo) that they are not (lo) his children; it is their blemish ” (Deut. 32, 5). “Lo” (himself), and “lo” (not), in this verse suggest that they both cause and cause not: they cause, i.e. prevent the descent of blessings from above, as it is written: “and then the Lord’s wrath be kindled against you and he shut up the heaven that there be no rain” (Deut. 11, 17); and they cause not, as the heaven keeps the blessings to itself.

Zohar, Nasso 1:6

Observe that when mankind lie asleep and experience a foretaste of death, the soul of each ascends on high and to an assigned region. There she is examined concerning all the actions she performed during the day. These are recorded on a tablet. Indeed, the soul then gives evidence concerning man’s works, and concerning each word that issued from his mouth.

Zohar, Behar 8:6

Hence “if ye say, What shall we eat in the seventh year?” the answer is, “I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year”; just as it is written elsewhere: “See that the Lord… giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days” (Ex. 16, 29).’

Zohar, Terumah 16:2

What is the meaning of the word “tell” (mesaprim) P Assuredly not the mere telling of a tale. Far otherwise! It signifies that they are illumined from the flashing of the supernal Point and ascend in the Name which is contained in the light-stream of the supernal perfectness.

Zohar, Kedoshim 4:3

R. Isaac connected this with the preceding words, “ye shall be holy”: when a man comes to sanctify himself together with his wife, it is the female who deserves the greater credit for that sanctification, and therefore the mother is placed first here.’

Zohar, Terumah 8:1

Then he continued, saying: AND THIS IS THE OFFERINC WHICH YE SHALL TAKE OF THEM: GOLD AND SILVER AND BRASS. This verse applies both to the higher side, the side of holiness, and to the lower, the “other” side. Observe that when the Holy One created the world, He began to create from the side of silver, that is, Mercy, which is the right side, because that silver was above; but in the work of the Tabernacle, which was built according to its prototype (the universe), He began His creation from the left side and then proceeded to the right side, because the Tabernacle was from the left side.

Zohar, Lech Lecha 10:2

UNTO THE PLACE OF SHECHEM, UNTO THE OAK OF MORETH, i.e. from one sphere to the other, as befitted. AND THE CANAANITE WAS THEN IN THE LAND. This confirms what has previously been said, that up to that time the wicked serpent that was cursed and brought curses on the world held sway over the land, as it is written, “Cursed is Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren” (Gen. 9, 25), and of the serpent, “Cursed art thou above all cattle” (Gen. 3, 14). It was in that land that Abram drew near to God. For it is written here AND THE LORD APPEARED UNTO ABRAM: here was revealed to him what he could not previously find out, the hidden force that ruled over the (holy) land,

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:131

Therefore we are taught that after a woman has been twice widowed no one should marry her again, for the angel of death has taken possession of her, though most people do not know this.

Zohar, Shmini 2:2

R. Phineas then began a discourse on the verse: “The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion, and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem” etc. (Ps. 128, 5). ‘Why’, he said, “from Zion “? Because there blessings repose, as it is written, “For there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore” (Ps. 133, 3). And for the sake of Zion Jerusalem is blessed and visited with mercy, and when Jerusalem is blessed all the people are blessed.

Zohar, Bechukotai 8:3

‘AND MY SOUL SHALL NOT ABHOR YOU. Suppose now the man is so fond of his friend that he wants to live with him, then he takes his bed to his house, saying: Here is my bed in thy house so that I shall have no need to leave thee. So the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Here is my bed in your house, and therefore you shall know that I shall not leave you.

Zohar, Bereshit 4:11

“After the quaking there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire”, because over it presides the name Elohim from the side of darkness. “And after the fire there was a small still voice”; and here at last was found the name Tetragrammaton. There are in this verse four clauses corresponding to the four so-called “sections of the body” and “limbs” which, being four, are resolvable into twelve. Here, too, is the graven name of twelve letters which was transmitted to Elijah in the cave.

Zohar, Balak 6:3

R. Judah’s hands were dirty, but he commenced to say the blessing before he had poured water on them. Said the boy to them: ‘If you are the disciples of R. Shemaya the Saint, you ought not to say a blessing with dirty hands, as this renders one liable to death.’

Zohar, Vayera 11:11

So you see that Lot, by reason of having kept company with Abraham, although he had not adopted all his ways, had learnt to show kindness to people in imitation of Abraham, and this it was that enabled those cities to exist so many years after Lot settled among them. ‘1The last 6 lines of the Hebrew text do not appear in our translation.

Zohar, Lech Lecha 20:6

For no angel has control of the land of Israel, but only God. When Israel sinned and burned incense to other gods in the Holy Land, the Shekinah was driven from its place, and other gods were associated with it, and so other nations obtained dominion and the prophets died out, and all the higher grades ceased to rule,

Zohar, Lech Lecha 8:2

AS THE LORD HAD SPOKEN TO HIM: i.e. because he had received all those promises. AND LOT WENT WITH HIM: i.e. he attached himself to him to learn his ways, and in spite of this he did not learn them too well.’ Said R. Eleazar: ‘Happy are the righteous who learn the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He, to walk in them and to go in fear of that Day of Judgement when man will be called to account before God.’

Zohar, Vayera 1:3

“the time of song was come”, the earth being now ripe to offer up praises to the Almighty, which it could not do before man was created. “And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land”: this is the word of God, which was not in the world till man was created. Thus when man was there, everything was there.

Zohar, Balak 7:4

Pethor, to which he sent, was the town of Balaam; it was so called because Balaam used to prepare a table (pethor) there with food and drink for the evil sides, as is the custom of those who practise magic, in order to bring together the evil spirits to answer their inquiries.’

Zohar, Tazria 3:3

R. Hizkiah adduced here the verse: “O Lord, how manifold are thy works” (Ps. 104, 24). ‘How manifold’, he said, ‘are the works of the Holy King in the world! He is like a man who takes in his hand a number of bundles of seed and sows them all at once, and in time each kind comes up separately. So the Holy One, blessed be He, accomplished His work with wisdom; with wisdom He took all together and sowed them and afterwards they all issued each in its time, as it says: “In wisdom hast thou made them all”.’

Zohar, Vayeilech 5:4

“And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song (shirah, 2 Sam. 22, 1). It is to the honour of David that he attained to this grade of inditing a shirah from the lower to the higher. This was towards the end of his days, when he had reached a higher stage of perfection. And why was he worthy to indite such a hymn, from the lower to the higher, at the end of his days? Because he had peace on all sides, as it is written, “On the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies” (Ibid.).’

Zohar, Vayakhel 1:2

It is the way of a serpent to lie in wait on the cross-roads. So Amalek, the evil serpent of Israel, was lying in wait for them on the cross-roads, as it is written: “how he set himself against him in the way” (Ibid.). He was lying in ambush on high in order to defile the Sanctuary, and below in order to defile Israel. This we deduce from the expression, “how he met thee by the way” (Deut. 25, 18), where the term qar’kha is meant to suggest the kindred term in the passage, “If there be among you any man that is not clean by reason of that which chanceth him (miqre) by night” (Ibid. 23, 11).

Zohar, Vayeshev 3:1

R. Hiya discoursed on the text: Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: Far be it from God that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty that he should commit iniquity. For the work of man will he requite unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways (Job 34, 10-11). ‘God,’ he said, ‘in creating the world, meant it to be based on justice, and all that is done in the world would be weighed in the scales of justice, were it not that, to save the world from perishing, God screened it with mercy, which tempers pure justice and prevents it from destroying the world. The world is thus governed in mercy and thereby is able to endure.

Zohar, Chukat 4:5

5. Every item that pertains to this cow, WHICH IS MALCHUT, is in seven, seven washings. And we were already taught that. What is the reason? It is because MALCHUT is the seven years of the Sabbatical year THAT CONTAINS SEVEN SEFIROT - CHESED, GEVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD, YESOD AND MALCHUT, and is called 'Bathsheba' (lit. 'Daughter of Seven'). Therefore, all her rituals are in seven. Come and behold: all that is made from this cow is for the purpose of purification and not for sanctification. Although it was given to an aid OF THE PRIEST, THAT IS, ELAZAR, he does not perform the slaughtering or the burning so that no Harsh Judgment will be at his aspect. Even more so for Aaron, who is in a more perfected level THAN ELAZAR. He need not present himself or be available there.

Zohar

Install Darobodo