זוהר ויקרא — דף כו ע”ב
Summary
"The priest shall put on his linen garment": these garments are reserved for holiness, the linen being singular, consecrated to holiness; "they are holy garments, he shall bathe his flesh in water and put them on." Why is this holy? The secret of the matter: the burnt offering is the Holy of Holies, so that everything rises and is crowned in the Holy of Holies in a single bond, and afterward the priest clears away and removes the spirit of impurity that defiles everything, so that it may not rule or come near the sanctuary, and it is removed from every side of holiness — and everything remains holy in a singular holiness.<br />
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Rabbi Shimon said: it has been explained that it is written, "Man and beast You save, O Lord" (Psalm 36), and thus the secret of man rises from the side of man, and the beast from the side of the beast; therefore it is said, "a man, when he brings an offering from among you" — a man indeed, for his offering rises first to form the bond, and afterward that of the beast; and everything is included in the verse "man and beast," which is the secret required for an offering. See: when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, He did so — man and beast.<br />
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And should you say that it is written, "a bird that flies above the earth," and that from them an offering is brought, even a burnt offering — see: among all those birds, only turtledoves or young pigeons are offered, and the secret of this is: what is fit for one is unfit for the other, one is the right and the other the left, and all is one. "A bird that flies above the earth" — these are the secret of the Chariot, through which the holy spirit rises upward; they are two, one to the right and one to the left — the bird on the right is Michael, the one that "flies" on the left is Gabriel. Therefore both are offered, in order to raise the holy spirit: the left crowns and nourishes below on the left side, the right goes to the right, and a wife binds herself to her husband to become one — and everything rises and is bound together as one, above and below, and the Holy One, blessed be He, rises alone and is strengthened.<br />
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Rabbi Elazar asked Rabbi Shimon his father: behold, the bond of everything is tied in the Holy of Holies in order to illuminate, the attachment of the will of priests, Levites, and Israelites above — how far does it rise? He answered him: to the Infinite (Ein Sof), for every bond, union, and perfection is concealed in that modesty which cannot be grasped or known, in which lies the will of all wills. The Infinite does not stand to be known, and makes neither an end nor a beginning out of nothing; the First brought forth a beginning and an end — the beginning is the supernal point, the head of all that is hidden, standing within thought, and it makes an end called "the end of the matter," but there He remains truly infinite. There are no wills, no lights, and no candles in that Infinite; all these lights and luminaries depend on it for their existence and are not attainable by knowledge — one who knows and does not know is but the supernal hidden will of all that is hidden, the "Nothing."<br />
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And when the supernal point and the World to Come rise, nothing is known but a "scent" — like one who smells a fragrance and is delighted by it; and this is not true "contentment," for it is written, "I will not smell the pleasing aroma of your offerings" — for the pleasing aroma is the aroma of will: all those wills of prayer, the will of song, and the will of the priests, which are all the secret of man, all become a single will, called "pleasing aroma," will according to its translation; then everything is bound and shines as one, as is fitting.<br />
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Therefore the other side was placed in the priest's hand, as it is written, "Command Aharon and his sons, saying" — the secret here: "command" refers only to idolatry, and here the priest is given the power to burn away that evil thought and remove it from the sanctuary through this will that rises above, in the smoke and the fats that are consumed, so that they may be cleared from the sanctuary; and this "command" remains in their power to separate evil from holiness within this offering. And should you say "command the children of Israel" — likewise, it remains in their power to separate it from holiness as long as they do the will of their Master, so that evil cannot rule over them.
<br />
Rabbi Shimon said: it has been explained that it is written, "Man and beast You save, O Lord" (Psalm 36), and thus the secret of man rises from the side of man, and the beast from the side of the beast; therefore it is said, "a man, when he brings an offering from among you" — a man indeed, for his offering rises first to form the bond, and afterward that of the beast; and everything is included in the verse "man and beast," which is the secret required for an offering. See: when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, He did so — man and beast.<br />
<br />
And should you say that it is written, "a bird that flies above the earth," and that from them an offering is brought, even a burnt offering — see: among all those birds, only turtledoves or young pigeons are offered, and the secret of this is: what is fit for one is unfit for the other, one is the right and the other the left, and all is one. "A bird that flies above the earth" — these are the secret of the Chariot, through which the holy spirit rises upward; they are two, one to the right and one to the left — the bird on the right is Michael, the one that "flies" on the left is Gabriel. Therefore both are offered, in order to raise the holy spirit: the left crowns and nourishes below on the left side, the right goes to the right, and a wife binds herself to her husband to become one — and everything rises and is bound together as one, above and below, and the Holy One, blessed be He, rises alone and is strengthened.<br />
<br />
Rabbi Elazar asked Rabbi Shimon his father: behold, the bond of everything is tied in the Holy of Holies in order to illuminate, the attachment of the will of priests, Levites, and Israelites above — how far does it rise? He answered him: to the Infinite (Ein Sof), for every bond, union, and perfection is concealed in that modesty which cannot be grasped or known, in which lies the will of all wills. The Infinite does not stand to be known, and makes neither an end nor a beginning out of nothing; the First brought forth a beginning and an end — the beginning is the supernal point, the head of all that is hidden, standing within thought, and it makes an end called "the end of the matter," but there He remains truly infinite. There are no wills, no lights, and no candles in that Infinite; all these lights and luminaries depend on it for their existence and are not attainable by knowledge — one who knows and does not know is but the supernal hidden will of all that is hidden, the "Nothing."<br />
<br />
And when the supernal point and the World to Come rise, nothing is known but a "scent" — like one who smells a fragrance and is delighted by it; and this is not true "contentment," for it is written, "I will not smell the pleasing aroma of your offerings" — for the pleasing aroma is the aroma of will: all those wills of prayer, the will of song, and the will of the priests, which are all the secret of man, all become a single will, called "pleasing aroma," will according to its translation; then everything is bound and shines as one, as is fitting.<br />
<br />
Therefore the other side was placed in the priest's hand, as it is written, "Command Aharon and his sons, saying" — the secret here: "command" refers only to idolatry, and here the priest is given the power to burn away that evil thought and remove it from the sanctuary through this will that rises above, in the smoke and the fats that are consumed, so that they may be cleared from the sanctuary; and this "command" remains in their power to separate evil from holiness within this offering. And should you say "command the children of Israel" — likewise, it remains in their power to separate it from holiness as long as they do the will of their Master, so that evil cannot rule over them.
Torat Emet / Rav Pinhas Reuven — CC BY-NC-SA 2.5
in Hebrew