זוהר ויקרא — דף לג ע”א

The passage distinguishes the holy, holy things, and the holy of holies, then asks what the Holy One, blessed be He, gains from sacrifices consumed by fire. The explanation that Isaac's ashes protect Israel in times of distress, as well as the one linking this burning to the death of Aaron's sons, are presented as homiletical interpretations. The text describes three fires in the lamp: white, black, and blue, corresponding to the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings, as well as to the priest, the Levite, and Israel. Blue represents the Shekhinah, close to human beings, attached to the fringes of the tsitsit; this Shekhinah, identified with Adonai, is the judgment that consumes sacrifices and burnt offerings.<br />
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People compared to dry wood, without oil — oil figuring the Torah and mercy — are consumed by this fire. The text likens the people of the land to beasts and warns them against approaching the Shekhinah with the evil inclination, designated as a stranger: "the stranger who approaches shall be put to death" (Numbers 3). If they repent at the moment of death, Michael, high priest and lion who eats the sacrifices, presents them as an offering before YHWH. The dying person confesses, recites "Hear O Israel" and "Blessed be the Name," and gives his soul back to YHWH; he must repent and return to YHWH and Eheyeh, whose value is forty-two. The text names Adonai as the judgment of kingship.<br />
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It describes meditation on the explicit name Yod-He-Vav-He, with a single heart, at the moment the spirit leaves the body. The soul accepts death and sufferings; the person confesses and regrets his faults. The four judicial penalties are mentioned — stoning, burning, death by the sword, and strangulation — received from Adonai, then repentance toward Eheyeh, associated with the two names YHWH, YHWH. The thought unites confession and acceptance of death; the priests bow down and say: "Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever." "Glory" equals thirty-two in gematria. Michael performs the offering and focuses his intention on the explicit name at the departure of the spirit, compared to the nocturnal departure of the spirit. Hence the teaching: "Repent one day before your death"; each day, the human being must repent and surrender his spirit, according to "Into your hand I commit my spirit" (Psalms 31). Finally, the passage associates the sage with goodness and wisdom, the "yod" with wisdom and the pious; the five books of the Torah, given from the left side, characterize the strong in Torah and the one who fears sin. It also cites "The righteous knows the soul of his beast" (Proverbs 12) and "An ignoramus does not fear sin."