Considerations

An ongoing series

[I recently purchased the new, English translation of the Zohar, the book that laid the foundation for Jewish mystical thought and the Kabbalah. (It is the most important book in Judaism after the Bible and the Talmud.) As I go through the Zohar, I will be publishing excerpts here for any readers who may be interested in addition to my series of commentaries on each week's Torah portion.]

Haqdamat Sefer HaZohar (1:1a)

Rabbi Hizkiyah opened, "Like a rose among thorns, so is my beloved among the maidens (Song of Songs 2:2). Who is a rose? Assembly of Israel. For there is a rose, and then there is a rose! Just as a rose among thorns is colored red and white, so Assembly of Israel includes judgment and compassion. Just as a rose has thirteen petals, so Assembly of Israel has thirteen qualities of compassion surrounding Her on every side. Similiarly, from the moment אלהים (Elohim), God, is mentioned, it generates thirteen words to surround Assembly of Israel and protect Her; then it is mentioned again. Why again? To produce five sturdy leaves surrounding the rose. These five are called Salvation; they are five gates. Concerning this mystery it is written: I raise the cup of salvation (Psalms 116:13). This is the cup of blessing, which should rest on five fingers -- and no more -- like the rose, sitting on five sturdy leaves, paradigm of five fingers. This rose is the cup of blessing.

"From the second אלהים (Elohim) till the third, five words appear. From here on: light -- created, concealed, contained in the covenant, entering the rose, emitting seed into Her. This is the tree bearing fruit with its seed in it (Genesis 1:12). That seed endures in the actual sign of covenant. Just as the image of the covenant is sown in forty-two couplings of that seed, so the engraved, explicit name is sown in forty-two letters of the act of Creation.

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Related posts:

1. The Zohar (1:4a)
2. The Zohar (1:1b)
3. The Zohar (1:18a to 1:18b) — Bereshit IV
4. Kabbalist? Download Zohar Introduction to the Torah and Qabalah
5. The Zohar (1:7a to 1:7b)