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Thursday

י"ח אדר ב’ התשפ"ד

Thursday
י"ח אדר ב’ התשפ"ד

חיפוש בארכיון

137. The Zohar (a) / זוהר

Studying the book of the Zohar is a very exalted manner to purify and sanctify one’s soul. Even if the person does not understand what he is saying, and commits many errors, its is nevertheless considered significant before the Holy One, as it is written, And His banner above me is love (Shir Hashirim 2:4), which our Sages interpret as though it is written, “and his omissions is beloved to Me.” This is like a toddler who does not yet know how to speak, and only knows a few words, uttered imperfectly, yet the child’s father and mother delight listening to his or her voice. So, too, the One Who sits on High laughs and delights when a Jew relishes Torah and wishes to learn despite his feeble understanding or despite the fact that he does not have anyone to teach him, so he learns as much as he is capable of learning — certainly such a person brings satisfaction to his Creator and will receive his reward. Thus, there is no excuse on the Day of Judgment, for a person is capable of learning to the best of his own abilities. And although when it comes to studying the Mishnah and Tanach (the Bible) there are opinions that maintain that the person must at least understand the general idea of what he is learning, yet when learning Tehillim and the holy Zohar, even if the person does not understand it at all, it is significant, accepted and desired before Hashem.

And if the person is a man of books, and can understand the words of the holy Zohar, even in their simplest meaning, will discover wonderful insights, sweet thoughts, and powerful lessons that draw one’s heart to his Father in Heaven. However, we have been warned that when learning the holy Zohar, one should be extremely careful when one encounters such terms as, Abba, Imma, “Son,” “Daughter,” Z’eir Anpin, Arich Anpin, and Matrunisa. Likewise, when encountering terms of organs such as, Reisha, ’Aynin, Udnin, etc. one must be very careful to not envision any image of these ideas — Heaven forefend. About this it is said, “Accursed is the man who will make a graven or molten image… and emplace it in secret (Devarim 27:15) — accursed is the person who ascribes an image to the Hidden One of the world.” Rather, one must believe with perfect faith that these concepts do not apply at all to the [One] above, but that they are all supernal matters and most hidden secrets that our minds cannot comprehend. All of these terms used by the holy Zohar are all allegorical, which the initiated can understand but we do not, and we have no permission to think or envision them at all. For us, it is sufficient that we just read them with our lips and preface it with a prayer that “may the pleasantness of Hashem be upon us, and may the utterances of our lips be significant, accepted and desirable that they bring satisfaction to our Creator.

“My brothers and my nation, take this sefer Torah, and with this, and like this learn well, so that you should have it good; listen and enliven your soul, and achieve gladness and joy in this world and the world to come” (From the author’s intro.)