זוהר ויקרא — דף מד ע”א

Parashat Tazria opens with the law of a female child being born: as has been explained, when the left side dominates and the right submits, the female is more distant from the male in the bonding of spirit to body, for the left does not settle as the right does, and is thereby found in greater force.<br />
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On this, Rabbi Yehuda opens with "There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none besides You, and there is no rock like our God" (I Samuel 2). This verse appears difficult: "There is none holy as the Lord" would imply that there is another holy one, since it says "as the Lord"; likewise "there is no rock like our God" would imply there is another rock.<br />
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But in truth there are indeed many holy beings: holy ones above, as it is said, "and the request is by the word of the holy ones" (Daniel 4), and Israel itself is holy, as it is said, "you shall be holy" (Leviticus 19). All are holy, but they are not holy as the Lord. The reason is "for there is none besides You" — the holiness of the Holy One, blessed be He, exists independently of theirs, for He does not need their holiness; but they are not holy without Him — this is the meaning of "besides You": their holiness does not exist apart from Him.<br />
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So too with "there is no rock like our God": the Holy One, blessed be He, forms a shape within a shape, prepares it, breathes into it a spirit of life, and brings it out into the air of the world. The word "rock" also has another meaning, as it is said, "look to the rock from which you were hewn" (Isaiah 51) and "you shall strike the rock" (Exodus 17); all of these are called "rock," but none of them is a rock like our God, to whom belong dominion and kingship over all.<br />
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It is told that Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Acha sat one night before Rabbi Abba. They rose at midnight to occupy themselves with Torah. Before they went outside, they saw one star strike another star three times and conceal its light. At that moment they heard two voices from two sides: one voice toward the north, above, and one voice below; and that voice proclaimed, "Come in and gather to your place, now the guarding of the female is open" — the Holy One, blessed be He, enters to walk in the garden and delight with the righteous who are in it. Then that voice passed and grew still.