Zohar, Vayigash 5:8

The stranger then began to discourse on the verse: The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens (Prov. 3, 19). ‘When God’, he said, ‘created the world, He saw that it could not exist without the Torah, as this is the only source of all laws above and below, and on it alone are the upper and lower beings established. Hence, “the Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens”, inasmuch as it is through Wisdom that all things are enabled to exist in the universe, and from it all things proceed.

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:204

And therefore we read: “And David comforted Bathsheba his wife” (2 Sam. 12, 24), which is a proof that she was considered as David’s lawful wife, destined for him since the beginning of time, since the day whereon the world was created.

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:86

She is like unto a beautiful and stately damsel, who is hidden in a secluded chamber of a palace and who has a lover of whom no one knows but she. Out of his love for her he constantly passes by her gate, turning his eyes towards all sides to find her. She, knowing that he is always haunting the palace, what does she do? She opens a little door in her hidden palace, discloses for a moment her face to her lover, then swiftly hides it again. None but he notices it; but his heart and soul, and all that is in him are drawn to her, knowing as he does that she has revealed herself to him for a moment because she loves him. It is the same with the Torah, which reveals her hidden secrets only to those who love her. She knows that he who is wise of heart daily haunts the gates of her house. What does she do?.She shows her face to him from her palace, making a sign of love to him, and straightway returns to her hiding place again. No one understands her message save he alone, and he is drawn to her with heart and soul and all his being. Thus the Torah reveals herself momentarily in love to her lovers in order to awaken fresh love in them.

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:275

Then Moses answered them and said: “Behold, all that they have done in connection with the sin of the golden calf is delivered unto you; is it not enough that so many thousands of them have perished for their sin?” Straightway he “strawed it (the dust of thc calf) upon the water”. But even then the floods were not appeased. So he took from those angry seas a portion of water, and poured it upon the place where he had burned the calf, and then at last the Ocean was soothed and returned to its own bed.

Zohar, Yitro 5:2

A man with very smooth, sleek and heavy-hanging hair, is a good companion, and one benefits from association with him. When left to himself he is not quite reliable. He cannot keep secrets unless they are of great importance. His actions are sometimes good and sometimes the reverse.

Zohar, Toldot 9:3

Lentils form a red pottage which is cooling to hot blood. Hence Jacob purposely chose such a dish as a means of weakening the strength and power of Esau, and the effect was that Esau sold himself to Jacob as a slave and sold him his birthright. At that moment Jacob divined that for the sake of one he-goat that his descendants would bring as a sacrifice to Esau’s grade, the latter would consent to be a slave to them and desist from attacking them.’

Zohar, Vaetchanan 15:2

R. Simeon further said: ‘We have learnt that the curses in Leviticus were uttered by Moses as coming from the mouth of the divine Might, but those in Deuteronomy were uttered by him as from the mouth of himself. What is meant by “as from the mouth of himself,’? Can it be thought that Moses said a single word of the Law of himself?

Zohar, Vayeilech 1:4

AII the days of Moses the children of Israel ate bread from heaven, but as soon as Joshua came “the manna ceased on the next day… and they ate of the produce of the land” (Joshua 5, 12). What is the difference between them? One is from the higher source and the other from the lower. As long as Moses was alive the orb of the sun was in the ascendant and illumined the world, but as soon as Moses departed the orb of the sun was gathered in and the moon came forth.

Zohar, Beshalach 10:2

He manifested His power in the Patriarchs, and particularly in Jacob.

Zohar, Nasso 5:9

Now it may be asked: This was properly done for the women, but why include the men? But, indeed, the men also had to be probed to show that they had not contaminated themselves with Egyptian women, in the same way as the women had to be probed to show that they had kept themselves uncontaminated by Egyptian men, all the time they were among them. And all, male and female, were proved to be pure, were found to be the seed of Israel, holy and pure. Then the Holy One, blessed be He, caused His Name to dwell among them. Hence assuredly it was by the waters “there that he… proved them”. Similarly here it is through water that the priest proves the woman, and through the Divine Name.’

Zohar, Vayishlach 7:1

And there are 365 sinews in a person - they correspond to 365 commandments that were given to not do; and correspond to the days of the year. And behold that the Ninth of Av is one of them. For it corresponds to Samael (the prosecuting angel), who is one of these 365 angels (another version: days). And because of this, the Torah said, "the Children of Israel do not eat et the sciatic nerve." Et is to include the Ninth of Av, that we not eat on it and we do not drink.

Zohar, Introduction 8:1

R. Hiya and R. Jose were walking along the road. When they reached the open country, R. Hiya said to R. Jose, ‘What you said about Bereshith signifying bara-shith (created six) is certainly correct, since the Torah speaks of six primordial days and not more. The others are hinted at but not disclosed;

Zohar, Yitro 11:4

The bones and sinews, as we have said, correspond to the Chariots and Hosts. The flesh is a covering to those hosts and chariots, and manifests itself outwardly, and is symbolically connected with the “other side” (the purely sensuous element).

Zohar, Bereshit 19:3

The explanation is this. God created the world by means of the Torah, that is to say, in so far as it is called Reshith. By this Reshith He created the heavens and the earth, and He supports them by it, because the word Bereshith contains the word brith (covenant); this covenant is referred to in the verse: “Were it not for my covenant with the day and night, I had not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth” (Jer. 33, 25). This heaven is that of which it is said “the heavens are the heavens of the Lord” (Ps. 115, 16), and this earth is the “land of the living” comprising seven lands of which David said: “I will walk before the Lord in the lands of the living” (Ibid. 116, 9).

Zohar, Beshalach 10:21

The words “asher tenah” (lit. which set) in the second half of the sentence are peculiar; we should expect either asher natata (which Thou hast set), or simply tenah (imperative, set) without the “asher” (which, who). In reality, however, this passage contains the mystery of the deepest “river” which flows out of Paradise; and the “asher” is a reference to “Ehye asher ehye”-“I shall be that which I shall be”;

Zohar, Vayakhel 4:5

According to another interpretation, “who hath ascended up into heaven” is an allusion to Elijah, whereas “and descended” alludes to Jonah, whom the fish caused to sink into the nethermost depths of the sea. Jonah was only made possible by Elijah. Elijah ascended and Jonah descended, and the one as well as the other “requested for himself that he might die”.

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:128

Hence he said “my heart is not haughty, although I am a mighty king, nor mine eyes lofty, when I stand before Thee studying the Torah, and I do not walk in greatness or haughtiness when I go among the people.” Now if David was thus humble, how much more must ordinary people be so! And I, how lowly and with what downcast eyes must I stand before the Holy King! Far be it from me to be puffed up when I deal with holy words of the Torah.’ He wept and his tears trickled on to his beard.

Zohar, Yitro 8:11

When people look at him a sense of shame for his past misdeeds comes over him, for he feels that everyone knows his former evil ways, and the blood rushes to his face, and then again he turns pale.

Zohar, Shemot 3:5

Said the Holy One to them: “Has death any sway over you? Behold, in My Law death is the punishment for certain sins! Is robbery or theft known to you? In My Law it is written, ‘Thou shalt not steal’! Is there sexual desire among you? I have said, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’! Is it possible for you to lie? I have said, ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour’! Can covetousness lodge with you? I have said, ‘Thou shalt not covet’! Of what service, then, will the Law be to you?” Straightway they sang in unison: “O Lord, our lord, how excellent is thy Name in all the earth” (Ibid. 10). No more did they say, “give Thy glory to the heavens”!

Zohar, Pekudei 10:1

Observe that all is predisposed and revealed before the Holy One, blessed be He. Even so was it with Balak and Balaam: although the motive of their action1Viz. the building of the altars and the offering of sacrifices. was not the glory of Heaven, yet was all they did duly recorded before the Lord, who did not diminish aught of their reward in this world. Thus, through the power of the forty-two offerings which they brought on the seven altars, Balak and Balaam obtained for the time being dominion over Israel, so that twenty and four thousand Israelites died by the plague besides those who were slain, as we read: “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them up unto the Lord in face of the sun…. Slay ye every one his men that have joined themselves unto the Baal of Peor” (Num. XXV 4-5).’

Zohar, Noach 10:6

Woe to those when they leave this world. Who shall ask about them and plead for them when they are turned over to hands of (the Angel) Dumah, and are in the burning fire, which they can leave only on the first day of the month and on the days of Shabbat? As it is written: "And it shall come to pass, that every new moon and every Shabbat, shall all flesh come to bow down to the ground before Me, says Hashem" (Yeshayah 66:23). When (they) are over, an announcer from the north says, "The wicked shall be turned back to Sheol" (Tehilim 9:18), many angels of destruction then gather and attack them. From four sides, fire is burning in the valley of Ben Hinnom. (They do so to punish the wicked who spoiled the four aspects of Chochmah, Binah, Tiferet and Malchut).

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:16

For this world is entirely directed by the “tree of knowledge of good and evil”, and when human beings walk in the way of righteousness the scales are weighted on the side of good, and when they walk in the evil way they incline towards the evil side. And all souls found then on the scales are violently caught by the evil side.

Zohar, Terumah 7:3

and a herald rises in the Heavenly courts and proclaims: “Blessed are ye, holy people, for that ye perform (make) good (tob)1Here a synonym for the Sefirah, Yesod or Zaddik. before the face of the Holy One, blessed be He!” This is the inner significance of the words, “I have done what is good in thine eyes” (Isa. 38, 3): namely, that King Hezekiah connected by his devotions “Redemption” with “Prayer”. For when the praying people have reached the words “praises to the supreme God” (in the last hymn before the “Eighteen Benedictions”) and the white brightness rests, as we have said, upon the top of that Chamber, the Zaddik is aroused to join the appropriate Place in love and joy, and all the “limbs” are united as one in one desire, the higher with the lower, and all the celestial lights sparkle and glow with divine supernal fire, and all are united in this Righteous who is designated “Good”, as it is written, “Say ye to the righteous that he is good” (Isa. 3, 10). And He unites them all in the silence of perfect joy, and kisses of friendship; and everything is united in the Chamber.

Zohar, Lech Lecha 11:5

And this Ruach leaves this world and is separated from the Nefesh, (which remains hovering at the grave), and it enters the Garden of Eden of this world. There, it clothes itself with the air of the Garden of Eden, just as the supernal angels do when they come down to this world. Then, they clothe and cover themselves with the air of this world, because they were created from that spirit (Ruach), as it is written, "Who makes the winds (also: spirits) his angels" (Tehilim 104:4).

Zohar, Kedoshim 3:15

Therefore a man should rejoice with his wife at that hour to bind her in affection to him, and they should both have the same intent. When they are thus united, they form one soul and one body: one soul through their affection, and one body, as we have learnt, that if a man is not married he is, as it were, divided in halves, and only when male and female are joined do they become one body. Then God rests upon “one” and lodges a holy spirit in it:

Zohar, Achrei Mot 9:8

At first they are like combatants who seek to kill one another, but afterwards they become friends and brothers.1v. T. B. Kiddushin, 30b. Then God says: “Behold how good”, etc., and He himself listens to them and delights in their converse.

Zohar, Vayakhel 5:16

Hence the words of Moses: “and they shall say unto me: What (mah) is his name” (Ex. 3, 13), signifying that the Israelites knew the Holy One, blessed be He, at no time having forgotten Him, but having suffered the pangs of exile for His sake. For the sake of this they merited redemption and great miracles and signs.

Zohar, Lech Lecha 9:6

See now, whatever God does upon the earth has some inner and recondite purpose. Abram was not cleaving to God as closely as he should have done, and therefore God said to him, “Get thee forth”, alluding thereby to the place where he would be able to draw near to God, which was the first grade for entering before God; hence “get thee forth”.

Zohar, Mishpatim 3:103

But behold the mighty works of the Lord! The spirit which the “redeemer” brought in becomes the garment of the deceased’s soul, taking the place of the proselyte’s soul, and the naked spirit who has returned there to be built up becomes the covering for the supernal holy soul of the deceased. And the spirit which was left (by the deceased) cleaving to the “vessel” flies away from there, and the Holy One prepares for it a place in the mysterious region of the opening of the rock which is behind the walls of Paradise. There it is stored up and it enters eventually into the former body, together with which it will rise on the Resurrection. This is what I meant when I spoke of two that are one (or one that is two).

Zohar, Bamidbar 6:3

It is true that it is written, “the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see” (Ibid. 10), but it also says, “putting his hands crosswise” (Ibid. 14). That is, he first raised up his right hand, but the Shekinah turned it toward Ephraim, and having caught the scent of the Shekinah, as it were, over his head, he said: By Thee will Israel bless. He saw then that the Shekinah is in the west.

Zohar, Vayakhel 3:9

how much more so is this needful when the Angel of Death here below is executing judgement and taking the lives of men; and how much more still when people proceed to and return from the place of burial! For when the women walk in the funeral procession, the Angel of Death descends and places himself among them. So Scripture says: “Her feet go down to death” (Prov. 5, 5), to wit, to the region called by the name of “death”. It is thus that Eve brought death into the world. May the Merciful One save us!

Zohar, Terumah 12:5

Then the Matrona makes herself ready with joy, and adorns herself with delight, and Her attendants accompany Her, and in hushed silence She encounters her Spouse; and Her handmaids proclaim, “Blessed be the Name of the Glory of His Kingdom for ever and ever.” These words are said in a whisper, for so she must be introduced to her Spouse. Blessed is the people which perceives these things, ordering its prayers in accordance with this mystery of the Faith!

Zohar, Vayakhel 11:14

The name of the one in charge of the northerly region, who also has under his command a number of chieftains and officers, is Petahyah. He is appointed over that side to which prayers offered for deliverance from enemies ascend. If such a prayer be found worthy, the chief takes it up and kisses it.

Zohar, Toldot 6:6

We learned that Rabbi Shimon said, It is deceitful, and from a deceitful world, namely, from Paddan-Aram. Also, deceitful is the Evil Inclination. This is the meaning of the verse, "the daughter of Betu'el the Arammian," who is the deceitful bone of the spine. The words, "of Paddan-Aram," which means that he came from a deceitful (Heb. ramai) world, represent two deceivers, as we have learned that Paddana means a 'couple'. The two deceivers are "the sister of Laban," the sister of the deceitful Evil Inclination. At first, when it was corrupted by sins in this world, it was called 'Lot'. In the future, when it will no longer be as corrupted, as someone who has washed and was cleansed of his impurities, and it will be called 'Laban' (lit. 'white'). Nevertheless, the Evil Inclination is not eliminated from the world. Come and hearken, we learned from the Mishnah that the two daughters of Lot symbolize the two forces of the body that arouse the Evil Inclination. Because it has bathed and is no longer so impure, it is called 'Laban'. And the two daughters are not completely negated, as it is written, "And Laban had two daughters" (Gen. 29:16).

Zohar, Bereshit 8:12

“Eagle” ascends to seek guidance and gaze in the face of “Man”. There ascends with it another name, which is crowned and engraved in two mystic forms, to shine forth and to mount and be crowned on high; this represents the attribute “Great”. Then it turns back and the throne engraves it and it is imprinted thereon to be under the guidance of this mystic name.

Zohar, Shemot 12:3

R. Jose remarked: ‘If it was for the sake of the Matrona, why did He not “come” to Babylon, where the Shekinah was also in exile with Israel?’ To this the Jew replied that according to tradition the reason why the Holy One did not reveal Himself fully by signs and wonders in Babylon was because the Israelites took to themselves foreign wives and profaned the sign of the holy Covenant. In Egypt, however, it was different: they entered it as pure sons of Israel, and left it as such.

Zohar, Shemot 15:4

And the following verse - “My God (Eli), my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” - suggests the cry over the “hind (ayala) of the morning”, when she separates herself from the day.’ As they were thus walking, the day lightened and the time for prayer arrived. Said R. Eleazar: ‘Let us pray, and then continue our journey.’ They sat down and prayed, and then resumed their walk.

Zohar, Yitro 1:33

This is exactly what happened when Jethro, the high priest of paganism, was converted to the worship of the true God of Israel: the whole world, hearing of the mighty works of the Holy One, and seeing that the great sage, Jethro, had been drawn to worship the God of Israel,

Zohar, Bereshit 14:9

On account of the darkness, which was destined to sin against the light, the Father was not willing to share in man’s creation, and therefore the Mother said: “let us make man in our image after our likeness”. “In our image” corresponds to light, “after our likeness”, to darkness, which is a vestment to light in the same way that the body is a vestment to the soul, as it is written, “Thou didst clothe me with skin and flesh.” ‘He then paused, and all the colleagues rejoiced and said: “Happy is our lot that we have been privileged to hear things which were never disclosed till now.’

Zohar, Shemot 8:11

Said R. Abba: ‘I will give you a third. It says, “The word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel… in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar” (Ezek. 1, 3). Ezekiel, it is said, could not have been as faithful as Moses, of whom it is written, “He is faithful in all my house”, for he revealed all the treasures of the King. But we have been instructed to beware of such thoughts about this prophet;

Zohar, Terumah 4:2

He then began to discourse, saying: ‘It is written: “King Solomon made him a palanquin (apiryon).of the trees of Lebanon. He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love by the daughters of Jerusalem” (S.S. 3, 9, 10). This verse we interpret as follows. Apiryon symbolizes the Palace below which is formed in the likeness of the Palace above. This the Holy One, blessed be He, calls “The Garden of Eden”, for He created it in order to satisfy His own ardent desire for joyous and continual communion with the souls of the righteous who have their abode there-these being those souls which have no bodies in this world. These all ascend and are crowned in that place of perfect delight, and have each their appointed places from whence they can perceive the “loveliness of the Lord”, and partake of all the delicious streams of pure balsam (aparsamon).

Zohar, Vayera 5:15

Not so with the seed of Isaac, with the portion of Jacob. For it is written, “And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac” (Ibid. 5), this being the holy heritage of faith to which Abraham clave, and from the sphere of which issued Jacob, of whom it is written, “And, behold, the Lord stood beside him” (Gen. 28, 13), and also, “And thou, Israel, my servant, etc.” (Is. 41, 8). Hence it behoves a man to follow the Holy One and to cleave to Him continually, as it is written, “and to him shalt thou cleave” (Deut. 10, 20).

Zohar, Vayishlach 3:4

R. Judah cited here the verse: “Happy is the man that feareth alway; but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into evil” (Prov. 28, 14). ‘Happy is the people of Israel’, he said, ‘in whom the Holy One, blessed be He, finds delight, and to whom He has given the Torah of truth that thereby they may merit life eternal. For whoso labours in the Torah is vouchsafed from heaven the best life, and is taken up into the life of the world to come, as it is written: “for that is thy life, and the length of thy days” (Deut. 30, 20); also, “and through this thing ye shall prolong your days” (Ibid. 32, 47), implying life in this world and in the world to come.’

Zohar, Mishpatim 2:2

But if the soul has emanated from the sphere of the Shekinah Herself, who is symbolized by the number seven, it “shall go forth free”, because its owner is righteous, and is not subjected to labour or servitude.’

Zohar, Kedoshim 4:6

R. Simeon said: ‘When a man sanctifies himself below, as, for instance, the Companions who sanctify themselves from Sabbath to Sabbath,

Zohar, Vayakhel 3:1

Whilst they were thus occupied in the study of the Torah the day broke. They then arose and came into the presence of R. Simeon. As soon as he saw them he said: ‘Eleazar, my son! You, together with the Companions, must hide yourselves during the next three days, and not go out of doors, as the Angel of Death is now in the town with permission to do harm, and once such permission is given him he can lay hands on anyone that he sees.

Zohar, Bereshit 8:9

the word SHiN’AN expresses by means of its initials all the figures, the Shin standing for Shor (ox), the Nun for Nesher (eagle), and the Aleph for Aryeh (lion), and the final Nun representing by its shape man, who walks erect, and who mystically combines male and female. All those thousands and myriads of angels issue from those symbolised by the name Shin’an, and from these types they diverge in their several groups, each to its appropriate side.

Zohar, Balak 6:81

What then do her mighty warriors do? They roar like lions, until their voice is heard by the Beloved above, and He knows that his Beloved is lovesick like himself, so that none of her beauty can be seen,

Zohar, Korach 7:2

All Solomon’s words’, he went on, ‘are written in wisdom, yet it would seem that here he is giving the rein to worldliness, and equally in the words that follow: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do with thy might, for there is no work nor device”, etc. How could the wise Solomon speak thus? But, indeed, all the words of Solomon have a deep inner significance. What is indicated here is that a man should always merge the left in the right, and all his actions should be controlled by the right. Thus we interpret, “all that thy hand findeth to do” of the left, and “that do with thy might” of the right.

Zohar, Vayigash 8:4

It may be asked, how could Moses and Elijah speak thus, seeing that evil is never done to man by the Almighty? The truth is that when a man walks on the right side, the protection of the Holy One, blessed be He, is constantly with him, so that the other side has no power over him, and the forces of evil are bowed before him, and cannot prevail over him. But as soon as the protection of the Holy One is withdrawn from him by reason of his having attached himself to evil, that evil gains the mastery and advances to destroy him, being given authorization to take his soul.’

Zohar

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