זוהר ויקרא — דף לב ע”ב

Rabbi Yehuda opens on "Who roofs His upper chambers with water": when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, He brought it out from within the water and set it upon the water — He divided the water in two, half below and half above; from the lower half He made and fixed this world, "for He founded it upon the seas," and raised the other half above to set the supernal ceilings upon it. He made a firmament between the two halves, "let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters," and upon them He fixed and arranged holy supernal beings out of drops, in a spirit that was cut, "and by the breath of His mouth all their host." With these He arranged the singers of His praise by day, intermingled with flames of fire; the legions of hosts recite song by day, praises in the morning and hymns in the evening, and when night arrives all cease the song, and above them legions of fire in a mighty flame stand, scenting the consuming fire, and return to their place. There exists on the other side abysses rising one upon another, an upper abyss and a lower abyss, and in all of them dwell the masters of judgments from the side of harsh judgment; within the side of the lower abyss are flames burning sparks of fire appointed over the world's judgments, to burn the wicked with fire flowing from the river of fire (nehar dinur) — all is fire, their appearance a blazing fire, standing between the upper and lower. And when the altar's smoke rises, they pass and rise beyond that level destined to destroy and annihilate, and that flow of the mighty fire of the river of fire, strong and supernal, returns to its place; and all enjoy the altar's smoke, for it is prepared opposite the supreme king, and they draw near here. Another smoke rises — this is the will of all that ascends above, which is a satisfaction of spirit for the holy king. It is said that at the altar Uriel rises and appears, like the appearance of a mighty lion crouching on its prey, and the priests and Israelites would see and rejoice, knowing it was accepted with favor before the holy king; and another supernal holy fire descends to meet the lower fire, and then a person walks and trembles before his Master and returns in complete repentance. A parable of a king to whom a gift was sent and who received it favorably: he said to his servant, go and take this gift that was brought to me — so the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Uriel, go and receive the gift My children offer before Me. How much joy is found in all, how much fragrance is found in all, when the priest, the Levite, and the one offering the sacrifice intend to offer the sacrifice properly, in complete unity. "And fire went out from before the Lord and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering" — this is Uriel descending in the appearance of fire in flame until he descends to the altar to receive the gift, and appears as a great lion crouching on the offering. And when Israel was not found righteous, or the one offering the sacrifice did not offer it properly and his offering was not accepted, they would see that the smoke did not rise in a straight path, and a spirit would rise from the northern aperture and enter the altar, and they would see the image of a brazen dog crouching on the offering — then they knew that offering had not been accepted with favor. A parable of a king to whom a gift was sent, and he saw it unworthy to be brought before him: the king said, remove that gift and give it to the dog, for it is unworthy to enter before me — so when the offering was not accepted with favor, the gift was handed to the dog, and that is why they would see the image of the dog upon the altar. The folio closes by returning to Uriel: Rabbi Yehuda says this is Uriel appearing in the flame of fire on the altar, crouching on the offering, and then there was joy in all, for it had been accepted with favor, as it is written "and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people" — and had it not been for the confusion of Aaron's sons, from the day Israel left Egypt such favor had never been found above and below.