זוהר ויקרא — דף לא ע”א

Folio 31a deepens the explanation of "and God is indignant every day": "El" everywhere is the light of supernal wisdom, standing in its being every day, as in "the kindness of El endures all day" (Psalm 52). Were it not for this "El" awakening in the world, the world could not stand even one hour before the harsh judgments awakened daily. "These are the generations of heaven and earth behibar'am" — read not "behibar'am" but "be-Avraham": they stand through Abraham's awakening, and when Abraham awakens in the world, all those judgments are pushed outside and cannot stand before him. Hence "and God is indignant (zo'em) every day" — not "nizam" nor "za'um" but "zo'em": every day that judgment is found, He pushes it outside and stands sweetening the world, as in "by day the Lord commands His kindness" (Psalm 42); without this the world could not stand even a single moment, so all stands for Abraham's merit. Likewise "Mighty God" does not mean God Himself is "mighty" in the sense of judgment, but the verse alludes to the Patriarchs and to the supernal holy faith, as in "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9): "Wonderful" is supernal wisdom, wondrous and hidden from all; "Counselor" is the supernal river flowing ceaselessly, counseling and giving drink to all; "El" — this is Abraham; "Mighty" — this is Isaac; "Everlasting Father" — this is Jacob, who holds both sides and stands in complete wholeness; "Prince of Peace" — this is the Righteous One (Yesod), who is the peace of the world, peace of the home, peace of the Matrona. Rabbi Chizkiyah and Rabbi Yehuda came and kissed his hands, wept, and said: fortunate is our portion that we asked this, fortunate the generation in which you dwell. Rabbi Shimon opened on "this is the offering of Aaron and his sons which they shall offer to the Lord": the wicked of the world cause the Holy One to depart from the community of Israel, as in "a perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates close friends (aluf)" (Proverbs 16) — the "aluf" is the Holy One, the master of the world, and the wicked separate "this" (zot) from "that" (zeh), which is the peace of the home and their union. Holy Aaron and his sons come, and through them both are brought near and unite, "zeh" with "zot" — "with this (be-zot) shall Aaron come into the sanctuary" — thus uniting the holy supreme King with the Matrona; through them the upper and lower worlds are blessed, and all is found as one without separation. And if one asks why it is not written "zot korban," it is because the priest above causes the union to come to the community of Israel until it reaches "zeh" to unite with "zot" and bring them together as one — fortunate is their portion in this world and the world to come. Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Yosei were walking from Usha to Tiberias, and Rabbi Chiya quoted "for the Lord has chosen Zion... this is My resting place" — sometimes the colleagues name this attribute in the masculine, since it is mercy, yet here the verse names it in the feminine. Rabbi Yosei added that he heard from the holy lamp (Rabbi Shimon): at the time of union, to show that the feminine is included within as one whole, the feminine is called by the masculine name, for then the blessings of the Matrona are found with no separation at all; "for the Lord has chosen Zion" specifically, that very place where He dwells, not "toward Zion" — and all is one, whether called by the masculine or feminine name, all standing at the same level. Rabbi Yosei concludes by expounding "and of Zion it shall be said, this man and that man was born in her" (Psalm 87) — one for judgment, one for mercy; when they unite as one in a single union, then it is called Zion, and Zion and Jerusalem become known, one depending on the other. The folio closes with Rabbi Yosei opening on "you shall sanctify yourselves and be holy": whoever sanctifies himself from below is sanctified from above, and whoever defiles himself from below is defiled from above — sanctification from above makes sense, since the holiness of his Master rests upon him, but from where does defilement come? And if one says from above — does defilement reside above?