Sefer HaZohar on the Stones Jacob Arranged

"And arranged them מראשותיו at his 'heads' [the literal translation]. At whose heads? At the heads of that place. What does this mean? If you say, 'Like a person putting something under his head' - no! Rather, at its heads, at the four heads, directions of the world: three stones to the north, three to the west, three to the south, three to the east, with that place above them arrayed upon them. Then, 'he lay down in that place'. Once the bed was prepared, he lay upon it. Who lay upon it? The sun."

-- Sefer HaZohar, 1:148a


This Zohar passage contains an esoterically encrypted meditation exercise. The specific step-by-step directions and geometrical placements will be obvious to those who already know them; the upshot here is to link this practice to the recitation of the verse from the Torah.

 

Sefer HaZohar on the Body Parts of the Torah

"Everything exists for the sake of humanity, as is written: 'I made the earth and created humankind upon it' (Isaiah 45:12). Torah stands calling out to human beings to engage in her, strive for her, but no one bends an ear.

"Come and see: Whoever engages in Torah sustains the world, maintaining every work of creation perfectly, fittingly. Every single smooth member in the human body corresponds to a creature in the world. For just as a human being is composed of members upon members, all standing rung upon rung, arrayed one upon another, yet all one body, so too the world: all those creatures are members upon members, standing one upon another, which when arrayed actually form one body.

"All these resemble Torah, for Torah is entirely members, joints, and sections - standing one upon another, all arrayed, becoming one body."

-- Sefer HaZohar, 1:135a


This section is coded for Shi'ur Qomah.

Sefer HaZohar on Abraham's Circumcision and The Covenant

"Rabbi Hiyya opened, 'The blossoms have appeared on the earth, the time of singing has arrived; the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land' (Shir haShirim 2:12). 

"'The voice of the turtledove is heard in our land', for the word of the blessed Holy One was absent from the world until Adam was created.  As soon as Adam appeared, everything appeared.  Once he sinned, everything disappeared from the world and the earth was cursed.

"Noah arrived, but later, 'he drank of the wine and became drunk' (Gen. 9:21).  The inhabitants of the world came and sinned before the blessed Holy One, so the powers of the earth disappeared as before, and so they remained until Abraham arrived.

"As soon as Abraham arrived in the world, immediately, 'the blossoms appeared on earth' - all powers of earth were arrayed and revealed.

"'The time of pruning has arrived' - when the blessed Holy One told him to circumcise himself.  The moment that the covenant manifested in Abraham through circumcision, this entire verse was fulfilled, the world was firmly established, and the word of the blessed Holy One was openly revealed, as is written, 'YHVH appeared to him' (Gen. 18:1)."

-- Sefer HaZohar 1:98a

Sefer HaZohar on Torah Study and the Tree of Life

"How intensely human beings should contemplate the service of the blessed Holy One and engage in Torah day and night!  For on everyone engaging in Torah, the blessed Holy One prides Himself above and below - since Torah is a tree of life, a tree of life for all those grasping her, extending them life in this world and in the world that is coming."

-- Sefer HaZohar, 1:107a

Sefer haZohar on the First Verse of Genesis and the Image of the Cherubim on Top of the Ark Cover

"This image extended in the spreading of the cover, and in that spread two images formed, one male and one female, standing as two youths in passionate love, clinging to one another.  This mystery is: 'In the beginning God created' - spread of concealed cover.  'Heaven and earth' - two cherubim, standing in passionate cleaving.  It is not written שמים וארץ (shmayim va-aretz), but rather את (et) - to include two cherubim as one. This cover is spread within, in the secrecy of the Temple, and these two stand on two sides."

-- Sefer haZohar 2:277b


SPREADING OF THE COVER : As it is written, "The name of the Lord is a tower of strength; the righteous runs into it and is strengthened."  (Proverbs 18:10).

TWO IMAGES : This refers to the conjunction of יה with וה.

ONE MALE AND ONE FEMALE : Each image is comprised of male and female. In the first image, י (Yod) is male and ה (Heh) is female.  In the second image, ו (Vav) is male and ה (Heh) is female.

STANDING : They stand together in their place, as it is written, "Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place." (Ezekiel 3:12).

TWO YOUTHS : Each image is comprised of male and female, and these are the two youths.

SPREAD OF CONCEALED COVER : This refers to the Throne of Glory and the Seven Palaces.

TWO CHERUBIM, STANDING : The image of assembly for the Mishkan above, and the image of construction for the Beit haMiqdash below.

TWO CHERUBIM AS ONE : They are included as one under one sign.

COVER SPREAD WITHIN : The concealed emanation of the Head is revealed within the Body.

SECRECY OF THE TEMPLE : The secret is known to those two whom has been revealed the secret emanation from above spreading into below, as it says, "And I shall no longer hide My face from them, for I shall have poured out My spirit upon the House of Israel," says the Lord God."  (Ezekiel 39:29).

THESE TWO : These are the male on each side.  The י (Yod) is above, concealed, and the ו (Vav) is above, concealed.

STAND ON TWO SIDES : They stand above the female on each side.  The י (Yod) stands above the ה (Heh) on their side, in the image of the Throne of Glory inside the Seven Palaces.  And the ו (Vav) stands above the ה (Heh) on their side, in the image of the Mishkan inside the Beit haMiqdash.

Hekhalot Zutarti in the Four Who Entered Paradise and a Hidden Parallel in the Zohar

"And these are they who entered paradise (פרדס): Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Elisha ben Avuyah, and Rabbi Akiva.

"Ben Azzai peered and died. Concerning him the Scripture says, 'Worthy in the eyes of YHVH is the death of His pious ones' (Psalms 116:15).

"Ben Zoma peered and was struck down. Concerning him the Scripture says, 'Have you found honey? Eat only your fill, lest you become sated and vomit it up' (Proverbs 25:16).

"Elisha ben Avuyah peered and cut the plants. Concerning him the Scripture says, 'Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin' (Ecclesiastes 5:5).

"Rabbi Akiva entered safely and went forth safely. Concerning him the Scripture says, 'Draw me after you, let us run. The King has brought me into His chambers' (Song of Songs 1:4)."

-- Hekhalot Zutarti, §339, 345


BEN AZZAI : The one who teaches the Pshat (פשט), the literal meaning.
BEN ZOMA : The one who teaches the Remez (רמז), the allusions in scripture.
ELISHA BEN AVUYAH : The one who teaches the Derash (דרש), the homiletical discourse.
RABBI AKIVAH : The one who teaches the Sod (סוד), the secret wisdom.


"Come and see: The blessed Holy One formed the human being corresponding to the pattern above, all according to wisdom, for you cannot find a single human limb not founded upon supernal wisdom. Look! When the whole body is arrayed in its limbs fittingly, the blessed Holy One joins with it, inserting a holy soul - to teach the human how to walk in the ways of Torah and observe His commandments, so that he will perfect himself."

-- Sefer haZohar, 1:186b (Pritzker ed. 3.137)


THE PATTERN ABOVE : This is the soul of Ben Azzai.
ARRAYED IN ITS LIMBS FITTINGLY : This is the soul of Ben Zoma.
JOINS WITH IT : This is the soul of Elisha ben Avuyah.
A HOLY SOUL : This is the soul of Rabbi Akiva.


"And God said, 'Let us make...'" -- Genesis 1:26 

Sefer haZohar on the Mishkan as the Vessel of Shekhinah

"Mystery of mysteries for those who know Wisdom: When an impulse arose in the will of Secret of Secrets to form glory for Its glory, It blew a spirit from a supernal point extending from above to below, and placed Its array to settle in this world. Why? Because without an essential root of this world, there would be no vessel to pour to this world at all. And without pouring to this world, it would immediately perish, unable to exist for even one moment. But since its arrayal stems from this world, it is filled ─ from one side to pour to this world, and from another side to pour to supernal angels. All are nourished by it as one."

-- Sefer haZohar, 2:146a (transl. Matt)


The "array" is the Mishkan. It is the "vessel" into which the "spirit" from above can be poured. There is a Mishkan in this world, and a Mishkan in the angelic world.  There is a correspondence between the lower Mishkan and the upper Mishkan. When human beings build their lower Mishkan, it motivates the angels to become active at their level, and a conduit of communication is opened between human beings below and the angels above.

Sefer haZohar on the Ten Commandments and the Holy Name of God

"Rabbi Elazar taught: In these ten statements are embodied all the commandments in the Torah, decrees and punishments, cleanness and uncleanness, branches and roots, trees and plants, heaven and earth, sea and the deeps. For the Torah is the name of the Holy One, blessed be He. Just as the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, is embodied in the ten statements, so the Torah is also embodied in the ten statements, These ten statements are the name of the Holy One, blessed be He. And the whole Torah is one name, the actual holy name of the Holy One, blessed be He. Happy is the man who gains it. Whoever gain the Torah gains the holy name."

-- Sefer haZohar, 2:90a (transl. Tishby)

Sefer haZohar on the Mishkan of Metatron

"Moses fashioned the Mishkan in the desert to bring Shekhinah down to earth, and on that same day another Mishkan was erected along with it above, as they have established, for it is written: 'The Mishkan was erected' (Exodus 40:17) ─ another Mishkan erected with it, namely the Mishkan haNa'ar (Tabernacle of the Youth), Metatron, and nothing further."

-- Sefer haZohar, 2:143a (transl. D. Matt)

Sefer haZohar on the Mishkan as Body of Shekhinah

"The making of the Mishkan resembled the pattern above, one corresponding to the other, so that Shekhinah would be embraced on all sides, above and below.  Here in this world, its workmanship is like that of the body, to contain spirit within ─ namely, Shekhinah, who is included above and below.  She is Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit), continuously entering and drawn into the mystery of the body, so that kernel will dwell within shell, all fittingly."

-- Sefer haZohar, 2:140b (transl. D. Matt)

Sefer haZohar on Reciting the Shema Fulfills the Entire Torah

"When the people of Israel enact unification by this verse ─ in the mystery of twenty-five letters: שמע ישראל יהוה אלהינו יהוה אחד (Shema Yisra'el YHVH Eloheinu YHVH ehad), 'Hear O Israel, YHVH our God, YHVH is one'; and ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד (Barukh shem kevod malkuto le-olam va-ed), 'Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever', which contains twenty-four letters ─ focusing on each one of the, all those letters join as one and ascend to forty-nine gates, in the mystery of Jubilee. Then one must elevate ועד (va-ed), 'and ever' ─ no further ─ upon which gates are opened, and the blessed Holy One considers that person as if he had fulfilled the complete Torah, which appears in forty-nine facets, completely.

"Therefore, one should focus the will on twenty-five and twenty-four, elevating them by aspiration of the heart through the forty-nine gates that we have mentioned. Having focused on this, one should focus on the unification described by our Master ─ שמע ישראל (Shema Yisra'el), 'Hear O Israel! ...', and ברוך שם (Barukh shem), 'Blessed be the name...', are the entirety of the whole Torah. Happy is the share of one who focuses on them, for this is surely the entirety of Torah, above and below! This is the mystery of the complete Human, male and female, and mystery of all faith."

-- Sefer haZohar, 2:139b (transl. D. Matt, Pritzker ed. vol. 5, pp. 284-5)

One who recites the Shema is as one who has fulfilled all 248 positive commandments, which are body parts of the "complete Human" - supernal Adam.

The 3 paragraphs of the Shema contain 245 words. Including the 3 words אל מלך נאמן (El melekh ne'eman) 'God, faithful king', brings the count up to 248.

The 248 words of the Shema are coded for the mathematics of the exceptional simple Lie group E8, a 248-dimensional Lie group that is part of the foundations of mathematical physics, in particular string theory and supergravity. Below is an image of E8 projected into the Coxeter plane:

The Lie group E8

   

Sefer haZohar on the Torah as the Name of God

"The whole of the Torah is the name of the Blessed Holy One and he who studies it is like one who studies the holy name, since the whole Torah is one holy name, a supernal name, a name that comprises names."

-- Sefer haZohar, 2:124a

Sefer haZohar on the Prayers of the Righteous and Angels Appointed Over Prayers of Israel

"Rabbi Abba said: [...] The blessed Holy One constantly desires the prayers of the righteous and crowns Himself with their prayers, as they have said: That angel appointed over the prayers of Israel takes all those prayers, fashions them into a crown, and places it on the head of Vitality of the Worlds, as they have established. All the more so with prayers of the righteous, desired by the blessed Holy One, fashioned into a crown with which He is crowned. [...]

"Come and see what Rabbi Shim'on said: 'The prayer of a congregation ascends before the blessed Holy One, who crowns Himself with that prayer because it ascends in many colors, encompassing many facets. Interweaving many colors, it is made into a crown and placed on the head of the Righteous One, Vitality of the Worlds; wheras the prayer of an individual is not interwoven but monochromatic and so not as readily received as the prayer of a congregation.'"

-- Sefer haZohar 1:167b (transl. D. Matt)

Sefer haZohar on the Holiness of Words of Torah

"Rabbi El'azar opened, 'If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will suffer' (Mishlei 9:12). Woe to the wicked of the world who neither know nor consider words of Torah! And if they do not consider, words of Torah appear to them entirely empty and worthless, since they lack intelligence. All because they are empty-headed! For all words of Torah are entirely precious. Of every single word is written: 'She is more precious than rubies; nothing desired can compare with her' (ibid. 3:15, 8:11) ─ with words of Torah.

"All those close-minded, close-hearted fools, upon seeing words of Torah ─ as if it weren't bad enough that they are unaware, they actually claim that those words are defective, worthless! Woe to them when the Blessed Holy One avenges the humiliation of Torah and they are inflicted with punishment for rebelling against their Lord!

"What is written in Torah? 'It is not an empty word מכם (mi-kem), for you' (Devarim 32:47); and if it is empty, it is mi-kem, from you ─ because of you! For Torah is completely filled with all precious stones and priceless pearls, with all the world's treasures, as is said: 'Nothing desired can compare with her'. So how can they say she is empty?

"King Solomon declared, 'If you are wise, you are wise for yourself', because when a person grows wise in Torah, this is his own benefit, since to Torah herself he cannot add even a single letter. 'If you scoff, you alone will suffer', for he will not diminish the glory of Torah in the least. His scoffing is totally his, lingering within him to eliminate him from this world and from the world that is coming.

"Come and see: When supernal letters all combine on this rung ─ last of all sacred supernal rungs, filled by them, blessed by the higher world ─ then this rung stands poised to water all those flocks, each one fittingly, each one watered with judgment and compassion."

-- Sefer haZohar 1:163a (transl. D. Matt)

The last paragraph is an allusion to letter combination and permutation methods of mystical meditation, as taught for example by the school of Rabbi Abraham Abulafia. The "last rung" is a reference to the 10th sefirah, Malkut.

Sefer haZohar on Emanation and the Letters of YHVH

"Rabbi Shim'on said, 'We have learned that when the blessed Holy One created the world, He carved engravings of mysteries of faith within radiances in supernal mysteries. He engraved above, He engraved below, all in one mystery of engravings of the Holy Name, YHVH, ruling through its letters above and below. Through this mystery worlds were consummated, the upper world and the lower world.

"The upper world was consummated by mystery of the letter Yod ─ primordial supernal point emerging from within the concealed and hidden, which is unknown unsusceptible to knowing, and completely unknowable, mysterious ascension of Ein Sof. From this concealment shone a single radiance ─ subtle, concealed, comprising within itself the totality of all lights. That concealed radiance was struck by one who did not strike, illumined by one who did not illumine, and then it emitted one radiance ─ bliss in which to delight, radiance in which subtle concealed radiance may be secreted..."

-- Sefer haZohar, 2:127a (transl. D. Matt)

Rabbi Shim'on continues his discourse, but consider: this portion of text is meant to be recited aloud as a blessing. It is a theurgical exercise that opens the subtle energy channels inside one's own Tree.

Sefer haZohar on the Engraved Name of Rabbi Shim'on bar Yochai

"The blessed Holy One engraved the image of Rabbi Shim'on bar Yochai above and his voice ascends ever upward, and is crowned with the holy crown, until the blessed Holy One is crowned with him in all the worlds and is glorified through him. About him is written: 'And he said to me: You are my servant, Israel, in whom I glory' (Isaiah 49:3). From the day that the blessed Holy One created the world, Rabbi Shim'on bar Yochai was present before the blessed Holy One and was with him; and the blessed Holy One call him by His name."

 -- Sefer haZohar 3:61a

Sefer haZohar on the Letters of the Forty-Two Letter Divine Name

"Here is a mystery for fathomers: One who wishes to set out on a journey should rise before dawn and gaze momentarily toward the east and he will see an apparition of letters striking the sky, one ascending, another descending. These are the sparkling of the letters with which heaven and earth were created.

"If, by the mystery of those letters, he knows the mystery of the Holy Name of Forty-Two Letters and invokes them fittingly with fervor, he will see in the glow of the foredawn in the sky six yods, three to the right and three to the left, and three vavs ascending and descending, sparking the sky ─ these are the letters of the priestly blessing. Then he should recite his prayer and set out on his way; surely Shekhinah is with him, preceding. Happy is his share!"

-- Sefer haZohar 2:130b (transl. D. Matt)

Sefer haZohar on Aspiration of the Heart

"Happy are the righteous who know how to focus the aspiration of their hearts on the Holy King, and whose hearts' intention is not at all directed to this world and its vain desires; rather, they know and strive to direct their will and cleave above, drawing the will of their Lord to them from above to below. Where do they obtain the will of their Lord, drawing it to them? From a certain supernal holy place, whence issue all holy desires. And who is this? This is 'kol ish (every man)' ─ master of the house, whose desire is constantly for Matronita, like a man who loves his wife. Incessantly, his heart impels him ─ He loves Her, and his heart, His Matronita, is impelled to cleave to to Him."

-- Sefer haZohar, 2:134b (transl. D. Matt)

Sefer haZohar (Ra'aya Meheimna) on Kabbalah Above Halakhah

"Just as fish must live in the sea, so the sages, the Masters of the Mishnah, must live in the Torah; if they are taken from it, they die immediately. The Tannaim of the Mishnah proliferate in it like the fish in the sea, yet if they are on dry land and are thrown into the sea, not knowing how to swim, they die. But Adam, who was the master of Kabbalah, which is above halakhah, is above all the Tannaim. It says of him: 'He will rule the fish of the sea and the birds of the air' (Genesis 1:26)."

 -- Sefer haZohar (Ra'aya Meheimnah), 3:278a

Sefer haZohar on Adam as the Supernal Chariot

"For He made the image of the chariot of the supernal Adam, He descends there, and is called in that image, YHVH, so that He might be recognized in all aspects."

-- Sefer haZohar (Ra'aya Meheimna), 2:42b (transl. Tishby)

The "image" is the pattern of the Tree diagram, in the shape of "supernal Adam", with the 22 paths of letters. "He" - this is Ain Sof - He descends into this "image", which is called YHVH. Yod - Keter & Hokhmah, the crown of the head and the left brain of Adam. Heh - Binah, the right brain of Adam. Vav - Hesed through Yesod, the torso, arms & legs of Adam. Heh - Malkut, the feet of Adam. In this single body, the chariot below upon which rests that which is above, "all aspects" are unified as one.