The Zohar explained

New created blogs on the horizon

2008-02-14T01:25:00.000+01:00

It has been a long while since I wrote something for my blogs here, but it will still be some while before going on with it I must say. My apologies for that.

Yeah, I haven't found something yet, or rather found in the mean time some other things while at the same updating my website. It has now a lot of info that has been revised, especially in the section of thoughts, articles, quotes, as well as some editorials.

But what's most important is that the entire study of the Book of Esther has been completed and can be read over there when you would want to. It has a new updates section as well of Yisraeli news & Music in a new clothing.

So there is clearly a lot new on offer because all the thoughts minus the last two to this day have not only been revised, but are as good as completely new ones. The revised quotes are going gradually into the same direction as well.

So if you are curious about it, then please feel free to pay my website a visit at:

http://users.skynet.be/JT/Index.html

As always are you most welcome to the site. And when you do, then don't be shy to post a comment in the guestbook as well. Thank You!

Oh yes, before I forget. The calendar section has also been put into a new clothing, which makes it for me a bit easier, and for you the visitor a much more interested tool to work with I hope.
Tho that there is still quite some work to do, then it is progressing steadily and cautiously so to speak. Like many people would say: Haste is in such a work not in anyone's good interest, certainly not myself the student.

But if you for any reason whatsoever wouldn't like to visit my website, then you can also visit me also on these four blogs:

http://eretz-yisrael.skynetblogs.be/

http://jewish-quote.skynetblogs.be/

http://jewish-thought.skynetblogs.be/

http://esther-wisdom.skynetblogs.be/

Hope to see you there soon or at the website.

What you will see in three of the blogs over there is everything that already have been updated on the website like quotes, thoughts and the fully done study of the Book of Esther. The only new blog is the one named Eretz Yisrael. On the website itself is there of course a lot more to wander around in.

Enjoy I would say.

And thanks for your visit!!

Time to give revisions a chance for change

2007-06-27T09:58:00.000+01:00

I know that it has been a long while since I wrote something new for this blog, even the Jewish-endeavor one. And my apologies for those who once in a while stopped over to read what became available. However, It will still take quite some time before I will renew my writings for both blogs, especially the Zohar one because I'm in the process of revising a lot of thoughts, written by myself, these days before moving on once again with what I was busy on, and it all takes a tremendous amount of time, and effort, to hopefully do it right, just, and with strength within.

So please, my sincere apologies for those who feel a bit puzzled about the entire situation. Still, it's my hope that you the reader can understand that I'm doing this all on my own together with a full time job. Okay, not so full, as I work a 4/5 shedule, meaning 4 weeks working and the fifth one on leave. Nevertheless, I somehow will perhaps also create some new blogs in the future on Blogger, which will solely take the revised content in full this time to you. Well, it's my understanding that blogs have at least a much better chance of staying online than an own free personal website, a little bit of some Mb space on the net that I pay for that is within the form of a subscription I have with my Internet provider.

And beside that, blogs do give readers a rather easier ease to comment on what a blogger does write, whereas it's my hope that you of course will do so unless you feel that it can only be read in silence that is with due respect. But we all do learn from the moment we are born till our last breath of air we inhale on this tiny spot within the immensity of the universe(s). And it can only be achieved through a sincere and honest interaction between people.

For now, don't be shy to keep stopping over once in a while, and read anew some of the content available, or just visit the website at: http://users.skynet.be/JT/Index.html if you can't wait, and feel the need to read what has also already been revised within the section of thoughts and quotes.

Thank you for your time and visit.

Bernadette Schaepdryver

Comprising all colours..

2007-03-10T20:31:00.000+01:00

(Pritzker edition of the Zohar, Vol 1 page 113 – 114)

Before moving on with this section, I want to return for one brief moment to the matter of Alpha and Omega within the Christian interpretation. Previously I wrote that it, and even Islam, would come to an end. So let me explain a bit further on it. And then, let’s think about it more thoroughly and look for missing clues knowing that it (Alpha and Omega) means the beginning and the end, that it begins with and that it will end with. Thus no matter the differences of being against or for Christianity, the revelation does stay the same from every angle we can look at it, even from a corruptive religious word. Therefore, let’s, theoretically/fictively that is, assume that the Christian messianic version will return, which means the same for Islam, as this religion could not have emerged if there had been no Christianity in the first place. Both are intertwined very closely with each other, even when at odds with each other (hate-love relation). If one ends, the other one will do so as well, but not Torah as it has no end because, as written within the holy Hebrew language, the words of the Hebrew alphabet do amplify its content within beyond its very own reality, meaning beyond just individual letters and even vowels. Therefore, when the person Jesus would return as they claim, then this will be Omega, his first appearance being Alpha. And to understand it even better, try not to betray yourself because the bottom line of this person’s message was not the salvation through him, rather through Torah. It’s a detail, but nevertheless a very important one that is to be accounted for within a thorough analysis of the matter in question. As a result, we may fairly state that from the very first word/action he has uttered/done (Alpha) to the last one (Omega), when it all would become ‘fulfilled’ based on the Christian word that is, his message will end, everything that is. And what will be left?, then only Torah, the very source of Judaism!

The lesson behind the Christian word is thus very simple because through him, and thus even Mohammad, no one can acquire the everlasting salvation, but through Torah everyone can, as our very own Hebrew/Jewish prophets so well taught us. Even the Zohar does let us become immersed into this supernal message from our prophets, a brilliance, and a light that waits to become radiated to all corners of the Earth, even beyond. As such, both groups can start to behave within, or towards, an apocalyptic lifestyle due to this hidden truth/reality to many of them, resulting in hatred/rebellion against everything and/or everyone that would reflect that picture in their mirror of life. Or, many to all can start trying to accept this light within them and see, absorb and become enlightened, even a Tsaddiq, a Noahide alike within their world. But, let neither Christians nor Muslims try to pull His people away from the very Torah (Judaism) that means their salvation as well everlasting. Now, some will perhaps argue that it’s thus true that you can only become salvaged through Jesus. Then I say and state very clearly: Not at all because only through Moshe is it possible, or rather, and much more correct/just, through G-d, His Torah, meaning the unison of the supernal, oral and written one as the Zohar explains. It all returns to the Torah because without it, nothing could become revealed what would last an eternity, having neither alpha nor omega anymore. Hence, without it, there would have been even no beginning, no primordial point to study about. As a conclusion, I would want to use towards every generation the same words as Moshe once spoke to the Egyptian Pharaoh: ‘Let my people go praying to their G-d.’ Let them pray to Him always, and yes, even on the soil He had prepared for them the way He has transmitted it to the world entire. It’s no crime. It’s no oppression, even no apartheid. It’s a blessing, a righteous deed to do so, to support with all your heart (body), mind and soul, even as a gentile to this particular matter, and this everlasting!

Thus, that being said, let’s now focus our attention to the real work of the day so to speak. And doing so, we as a result will bump into the message that radiance (Zohar) does comprise all colours in this way, till here. It refers to three rungs, a triad alike. But, even as it could seem a mystery to many, it’s not so when we would have looked at the upper sefirot more closely. After all, we do have a trinity when combining Keter, Hokhmah and Binah together. Still, the text speaks about YHVH Eloheinu YHVH, YHVH our G-d, YHVH. It are three rungs corresponding to the supernal mystery as is written. Nevertheless, every triad in its likeness like also Ehyeh asher ehyeh has the same credentials, meaning that they symbolize the three upper sefirot as it would seem. But if we look at it in this context, then we obviously will never become immersed within the world of G-d here in our world below as it speaks of three rungs and not just one. For that thus to happen, the world above must become equal to the world below, meaning that our world has to radiate the same light as the one above, or what is happening here is the same above. Or also in that Man is being given his Chava (=soul). It means that whatever does occur in a set time based on this, it has been written above, both worlds living in a kind of synchronisation with each other so that the supernal mystery, or supernal Torah, can gradually become revealed, the hidden (Chava to Ein Sof) becomes known, not veiled anymore. Therefore, we have beside the triad of Keter, Hokhmah and Binah (the Crown) also the triad of Binah, Hokhmah and Tif’eret, not a triad of the three rungs as it represents the Crown while Tif’eret with its Beauty/Compassion becomes the sefirah that will help Shekhinah to become part of these expressions of trinity as well. In her case this would mean the emergence of the triad Hokhmah, Tif’eret and Yesod (Foundation/Tsaddiq/Righteous One). And this trinity will be referenced as the triad of Wisdom because you can’t bring Malkhut (Shekhinah) into the realm of Ein Sof, of its Creator without having a solid foundation first.

In that kind of emphasis, we have thus three triads, three trinities with one serving the others. But there is still one left at this moment, namely the one that will reveal Understanding towards Power/Judgment (the sefirah Gevurah), as neither Crown nor Wisdom alone can truly create other worlds when no one comprehends what the Crown (Keter) and the Wisdom (Hokhmah) wants, Ein Sof being their Creator. But once it does, it can expand. It can become be-reshit bara Elohim whereas be-reshit stands for the primordial point Hokhmah, bara for the concealed one Keter (concealed, veiled behind nothingness, Keter the one who conceals, Keter a nothingness, but not really that empty), and Elohim being Binah, the sefirah who gives birth to the lower seven sefirot. This means the creation of the triad Gevurah (Power/Judgment), Hesed (Love/Greatness) and Tif’eret. True, I am a bit deviating from what Daniel C. Matt explains. But, let’s recapitulate so that everything can become hopefully a bit clearer to you. And then, we have learnt that Keter hides Ein Sof through its nothingness, or what is perceived as such. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it is as it is. After all, it’s veiled! Still, it’s by filling that nothingness with a thought, a spark that the primordial point/beginning, or Hokhmah becomes created. Through this point Binah, referred to as Understanding beside being also Palace and Womb, the lower sefirot became born. So now we have one triad, a unison. Whatever happens in one is the same in the other. All three are an oneness to this regard. Ein Sof did let his thought/spark be known as wisdom through Keter as well as Hokhmah, and Binah became as such immersed within this same wisdom, understanding its blessings as it all emerged out of goodness. At that moment, she became in the ability to conceive and give birth. And, we may neither forget that these things were not veiled to them, only to us, to man, even man below Malkhut (Shekhinah).

Now we have thus one element of the puzzle revealed. Therefore, let’s move on to the next stage. And here we arrive at the triad of Binah, Hokhmah and Tif’eret representing the one I just wrote about, not one of the three rungs the Zohar is mentioning. This triad will serve as a kind of transmitter serving the well being of all other triads, every triad being an oneness on itself while all triads do form one as a whole as well with Ein Sof. It’s like cells dividing themselves into more cells, but still kept together in unison do form an oneness with the body. As such, Binah as being the womb can channel her energy to Tif’eret. And Tif’eret can bring this same energy on its turn towards and into the other triads like Gevurah, Hesed and Tif’eret as well as Hokhmah, Tif’eret and Yesod. Through Binah became Tif’eret taught in understanding Ein Sof, even His Wisdom, and why it is that Keter kept Him concealed. Out of this, Gevurah (Power/Judgment) could become a judge. Now, rules can become applied and man can judge himself and others with it because he can understand their purpose and the wisdom that lies behind them. Nevertheless, no one can judge within a righteous manner without the ability to love (Hesed) nor without compassion (Tif’eret). The creation of the triad of Gevurah, Hesed and Tif’eret becomes as such a fact, a reality. And as mentioned above, you can’t have a solid world without a proper foundation too. Therefore, before Tif’eret can channel its radiance to Shekhinah so that she can reign over the lower worlds, just as Binah does so over the lower sefirot, Shekhinah included, Shekhinah being Binah’s daughter. To this we may neither forget that Gevurah is Binah’s son, and all three together are also called Elohim, as they are an image of Ein Sof, meaning that they have the ability to create. These three are on themselves a triad as well, a hidden one as it in an oneness will create Adom, the Kingdom of G-d on Earth as well as Assembly of Yisrael. But before this all, before Malkhut can become born, before Binah’s daughter comes to the forefront for the lower worlds, all the other nine sefirot have to work in tandem superbly. Yes, before Shekhinah can reign over the lower worlds, she must have the power, the wisdom and the understanding of everything so that the Adom that would become created could truly emerge into the world of man as a human being in His likeness, an oneness that is, et ha-shamayim, the heavens, not separated, just male and female as one.

Later on, we will have a few other triads as well, some who you maybe will have noticed yourself already when in the possession of the Pritzker Edition or seen somewhere else (the picture of the ten sefirot). But let’s focus our attention for the moment on this part of the Zohar. Let’s not run too far ahead. Let’s see what it can tell us that could amplify what has been explained till now. And in that light, we come to learn about the creation of new words like attah, you, a word given to expand the one of Shekhinah with. This word has been taken from et, et representing Shekhinah, and the last letter of YHVH. The letter ה (he) was added to את (et) and it became written אתה (attah), you. Shekhinah was given more strength, more power so to speak, to create a fresh breath of air into man’s lungs, making him truly become reborn again when the time of this endeavor would become fulfilled. But through the creation of attah with that one single letter of all letters of the alphabet, other new words will eventually become created as well. Remember that et does symbolize the beginning of the Hebrew alphabet as well as the end of it. So, as a result, as the Zohar states, all these letters would be combined with he (ה), and it formed now the word attah. As a result, we have Ve-Attah (ואתה), And You, enliven them all. You will be able to give man a new horizon so that he will live again once the time is right. You will bring meaning to his life, expression, essence and above all depth. The Mystery of Adonai, L-rd, becomes slightly revealed within the supernal mystery behind Tif’eret. ואת (Ve-et) also being known as the oneness, male and female, resembling the oneness of ויהוה (va-YHVH), and all is one, just as Gevurah and Binah do, creating one single body.

The entire mystery behind the sefirot, its triads, behind every single sefirah has been engraved, fashioned, vivified in hidden ways, through the opening verse of the Torah. Now it could start generating souls. And in that light, remember that it is written that we may not eat the blood as every living creature where through blood is flowing has a soul. Therefore, as the stage was set, its blueprint on the table, the earth could bring forth its fruit and verdure. And it is embraced at three sites within the realm of the ten sefirot, namely with Shekhinah for the below, Binah for the above and Tif’eret for the middle, or cosmos, revealing that the unison of Shekhinah and Tif’eret is of utmost importance to the well being of the cosmos, meaning order and not chaos. Still, the blueprint was there, and from here on a new word saw the light, namely bara, created from splitting Bereshit into two (Be-reshit, בראשית), being read as ברא שית (bara shit), ‘created six’. Ein Sof’s thought/idea that first created a point in Keter’s nothingness becoming a primordial point or Hokhmah, understood by Binah so that she could give birth to the lower sefirot and as such Shekhinah to the lower worlds became now ready to expand itself from one end of heaven to the other in six directions, namely north, south, east, west, up and down symbolizing the six lower sefirot Gevurah, Hesed, Netsah, Yesod, Hod, and within the center Tif’eret also referred to as supernal mystery coordinating everything. So, through this new word bara (shit), we come to reveal the importance that Ein Sof did emphasized on the creation of a very solid foundation before that Binah would eventually give birth to Malkhut (Shekhinah). It started with the primordial point out of Keter and now we arrive at the point of creation, an expansion of that first one. And with the creation of the opening verse of the Torah, the forty-two letters became formed, a name with a mystery, the blueprint of what was to become, an oneness, even Ein Sof.

Concealed and treasured..

2007-02-28T16:23:00.000+01:00

(Pritzker edition of the Zohar vol 1 page 112)

Radiance! Concealed and treasured, while offspring lay within yet to be born. Hokhmah has made Binah pregnant with its seed, the spark that enlightened it, from Ein Sof through Keter, and made it what it became, a primordial point, a beginning. The house could now start to expand, arrayed by that seed of holiness. It became a circle through its unison with Binah, the merger between male and female that tells us that there will be no end and even no beginning as a circle has none of both once it’s fully constructed, a house alike. Till that moment, it has a beginning and an ending, or an alpha and an omega in Christian terminology, something that even tells the Christian world that it in fact will come to an end as the builder of its house is the point where it began and the point where it will end too, as is the same for Islam, namely life and dead as the person lived and he died in our world, but not eternal life (Moshe) as that is only to be found in the Torah that even began before Adom and thus in the world to come, even when it will be merging with ours as a tool/help, in first instance, to construct a full circle of life and also a help, an outstretched hand, in cleansing a religious ideology/world of corruption, of corruptive tendencies/elements in the likeness of Balaam as the Talmud states.

Anyhow, it would be wrong to assume that we due to this reality cannot or may not go beyond this circle, the one of Malkhut. If this had been the reality, then we would only have one or even none, which is luckily not the case in the world that G-d has set up for us to live in within the one of Ein Sof, as we will come to learn. As it is said, the house expanded. It expanded into more than one circle once the lower sefirot became a reality. And when He constructed it all from top to bottom, we cannot but only walk the path from bottom to top like Moshe did. To succeed in this endeavor, we have to learn to not stick to just one level of spiritual ascension. Yes, even when we only can start on the level of Malkhut, the lowest sefirah, there are nine more to not only learn about, then nine levels that can enlighten our soul to a degree that would equal the standing of Yoseph in Egypt in this world and the one of Moshe in the world of Ein Sof. After all, we have been asked to not stay in the desert, but to ascend and reach our inheritance and keep its holiness at all times, namely Eretz Yisrael (Tziyyon). It’s a priestly task, a holy endeavor that has no beginning anymore and has no ending neither, but whereas we need to not be afraid of going beyond the one circle.

This is quite extraordinary because it teach us that He is enticing us daily so that we would try to reach out to His outstretched hand as far as we possibly can, to reach even Keter so to speak, to succeed in laying down our hand in His and walk with Him within Himself, the circle of salvation, of security, of a real peace and freedom which He has put around His children as a cloud by day and a fire of light by night. And it’s not that absurd to think as such when we take Moshe as a comparison to such a vision. After all, Moshe was the one who guided us out of Egypt, and if we listen carefully in our inner self, still tries to do so to this very day in our own lives. His lessons are not ones that only last a generation. They last everlasting, as they are lessons from the Source, even when a mystery or mysteries would finally be solved. It’s not because it becomes a visible house (bayit) in front of our eyes, or in ourselves, that it all of a sudden becomes less attractive, something that we should not care for/uphold anymore, or may throw into the garbage bin like humane morality or the sanctity of life. On the contrary, once it does, it will emerge in our own self as a light, a spark in our own darkness, a supernal hope that will guide us towards the next level, the next circle so that we from Malkhut can ascend to Yesod and so on, from Adom to Noah and so on till we reach the time of Moshiach ben David, nothingness becomes fullness, or almost complete fullness as only Ein Sof can have this.

The most important thing we have thus to keep in mind is that we should not be afraid of leaving the safety of Malkhut, but cause a splitting of the egg into more than one cell that fuse (+ (female) and – (male)) themselves together so that we can start to enliven the world of Yesod. Once we do succeed in this spiritual endeavor, then we are ready to do this again and again till we would even become in the ability of reaching Keter and finally become a full grown human being in His likeness just as He had created Adom in the first place and thus us as well would there have been no beginning first. But, He created a beginning (Reshit). So, when the hidden becomes revealed, when the mystery is solved, or a piece of the puzzle completed, it doesn’t become therefore less attractive. No, it will become a beauty, a brilliance beyond our comprehension for the time being because now we can witness its inner light, but later on will radiate it into our day-to-day activities like a radiance. Still, before it all can begin to shape itself, it had to be all combined first, cells into the womb, sefirot into the circle of Ein Sof. It had to be Be-reshit first. And only once the pregnancy becomes completed, a next bayit build, Binah can become arrayed in the name Elohim, as she would create in the likeness of Ein Sof.

Gradually since the beginning, our own Hebrew alphabet became formed because through the use of the very first letters, others were created as well for the purpose of new words. Nevertheless, it could only start with the birth of Adom, once a human had succeeded through evolution into becoming a spiritual being, not an Elohim anymore in the sense of worshipping deities outside the sefirot (false gods or even human judges and angels). At that point after In the beginning, namely the creation of the supernal Torah and thus the ten Sefirot, we come to the rephrasing With the beginning. With the beginning, the creation of Adom, Ein Sof could now enter Shekhinah (Adom) and Adom became light, became enlightened. From that moment on, Adom could start to ascend. (S/He) was given the freedom to give names to everything around and much more. The Oral Torah became a reality. It began with the beginning of Adom, and Ein Sof, the fullness of the supernal Torah, guided its steps just as it would do so when the written Torah became written once man would reach the sefirah of Tif’eret, and becoming also immersed into Ein Sof through the wisdom of the oral one.

Mysteries became revealed, but are therefore not less attractive. Their attractiveness becomes even much greater than before as it was first veiled in secrecy and now we are in the ability of witnessing its supernal beauty, its inner self. The veil has gone, has been taken off, but it gave us light/inner warmth instead so that we could become light/radiance in its likeness. Tif’eret learns us about this as it itself is also regarded as beauty, Rahamim (Compassion), Blessed Holy One, Heaven. It’s not wrong to witness this kind of beauty once we have reached the moment that we can endure its light and strength within ourselves so that it can enlighten and not destroy us like when Balaam was not ready to absorb this light and it destroyed him. But once man as a righteous one or Tsaddiq can withstand its force, Hokhmah can put its seed directly into Shekhinah through Tif’eret, and the foundation is laid down for the written Torah to emerge once man would become spiritually strong enough to uphold its power in righteousness, justice as well as peace. And yes, Moshe had reached this ability and could therefore write down the written Torah. This could also only happen when the entire alphabet of divine speech (Hebrew) was completed, which it was. Therefore, the primordial point (Hokhmah) could now sow the seed of three points, namely holem, shuruq and hireq. These points are referred to in the Zohar of the Pritzker edition as representing the three lines of emanation: right, left, and center, or also symbolizing Hokhmah, Tif’eret, and Shekhinah.

The unison of the supernal, oral and written Torah became a reality. It became a voice emerging in unison, G-d speaking as one voice, heaven, the final ehyeh (I will be) from ehyeh asher ehyeh (I will be who I will be). From Ein Sof, He could teach man all the way down directly to Shekhinah. And as a result, Shekhinah can even create in the likeness of Him and thus even Binah. It is even said that the partner of Tif’eret is Shekhinah, who is called Et, comprising the entire alphabet of divine speech, the letters from א (alef) to ת (tav). And it is explained as seeing it as the beginning and the end, or as an alpha and an omega. But Rabbi Akiva taught that whenever et appears in a biblical verse, it amplifies the original meaning. Thus the alphabet on itself has no beginning and no ending. Once completed, it becomes a full circle wherewith we can create (amplify) a play of words with in the freedom that G-d has given man to name things, or we can write the Torah.

So, through the fulfilment of this unison, man would have now the ability to go all the way to Keter and someday even beyond the point of nothingness into fullness of being, Torah within and without, voice and consort. Ehyeh asher ehyeh whereas the first ehyeh, as the Pritzker edition of the Zohar reveals, refers to Keter, asher to Binah and the last ehyeh to Tif’eret. As such we learn that Ein Sof not only reaches Shekhinah through Hokhmah alone, but also through Binah as well. After all, we have learnt that Binah and Hokhmah became one (male and female), had merged together so to bring forth the lower sefirot. And once the puzzle becomes completed, the mysteries solved, the attractiveness to it won’t evaporate because we will become fully immersed in it, in its beauty as a rose without thorns, with five leaves, not seven. We will emerge out of this bath of roses again within a robe of light, a brilliance, a radiance, a spark, a new world.

The enlightened will shine..

2007-02-09T14:01:00.000+01:00

(Pritzker edition of the Zohar, vol 1 pages 109 - 112)

They will shine like the Zohar, radiance, of the sky. Those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever will shine with them. And like it is written, many can follow in the footsteps of them who follow the light of emanation, of supernal wisdom, into coming to know what has not been known because it was concealed, a mystery not yet revealed. The lightning was captured in an enclosed vessel. It struck its aura to one point, the point that is referred to as Hokhmah, referred to as wisdom, the beginning of all because before knowledge can enter the world, there has to be the wisdom that creating knowledge is good, not bad, not wrong. It has to be revealed that what will be created is done out of wisdom, a supernal goodness that will benefit the entirety of Ein Sof where out it did emerge through Keter. So Hokhmah became beginning out of nothingness, out of a thought, a mind where out the idea emerged for it to begin. Through the void of darkness, a light emerged, a lightning light that enlightened the void, a nothing, and it acquired the will to radiate the received energy further on. The thought became an idea and the idea became wisdom, but not yet a concrete matter, only a cause for further study, research, a horizon of hope as well as love, the ultimate goal, the perception that will reveal what has been concealed.

This is what is asked from the reader, not to stick to what s/he reads, but to go further than the knowledge acquired. We have to let us enter the wisdom of emanation, of even perception, not of science. It’s not because the aura touched and did not touched this point that it tells us to back-off, to refrain from knowing more about itself. No, because every mystery tells us to solve its mystery, the puzzle to its reason of existence, of its creation. Like what is hidden behind the horizon, behind what we can perceive with our sight, so are we enticed to search, to look for what we yet do not know, is still a mystery as the knowledge or the solution is still hidden to us. But, it is also often said that the solution lies mostly in front of us, the closest to that what we can see. Still we somehow always seem to manage to make matters more difficult than they are or as we perceive them. We want to look far beyond the horizon so to learn more about the mystery that hides behind it, without realizing that we ourselves are the mystery of the point in question. This is true because after every horizon, we do come closer to ourselves, to the point where we once stood and went on our journey to acquire knowledge. But only when we go beyond the point of beginning, of even nothingness, only then will we become in the ability to receive wisdom, even the wisdom concerning the beginning, or beyond it. It does not mean that there was first knowledge before there was wisdom. No, because in our search as seekers for the hidden, we go backwards, and it seems that the one comes first before the other. In reality, it’s quite the opposite.

So once we reach that point we do not know, even when we are fully aware that it exists, then will we truly become in the ability to move on, as we will not live by knowledge, rather by wisdom. This kind of wisdom, the supernal wisdom that is, will than expand, building itself a palace worthy of glorious praise. In the Zohar this place is referred to as Binah, the womb, the place (palace) where we can come to understand what the wisdom tries to reveal, to let us know more about. Yet, before it can help us out, it has to become impregnated by the seed of Hokhmah, or its light that it on its turn received from Ein Sof through Keter. Once that Hokhmah has impregnated its seed into Binah, Binah can give birth, so to speak, to any revelation of divine wisdom we seek to know more about. Therefore, we may assume that the information has never been hidden for us. It rather awaits our arrival. And once we do embrace it in our arms, we become reborn in a manner of speaking. We were dead and are made alive. We become a new being, a new beginning, a spiritual being, an Adom alike, Adom with his Chava (soul = Eve). The seed died and the soil of the earth did it mature into a beautiful flower, so magnificent that it almost blinds the eye of those who seek to know more about its secret. Nevertheless, it will only blind those who do want to harm it, or who do not yet know about its existence, even are ignorant perhaps. It can only reveal when the talent of wisdom is turned on within us. As long as this is not done, no wisdom will start to radiate from out of such a body. Yes, it will acquire knowledge and perhaps will do great things with it, but what would it be able to do when it would merge with the wisdom we are speaking about and only know goodness!?

The possibilities would be quite enormous, unknown to man. Yet, man would come to know to what the knowledge was, is and will really be intended to fulfil. He will come in the ability to create worlds with it. As the Zohar reveals that if created is written here, no wonder it is written: G-d created the human being in His image. We are that point whereas it is said that nothing is known beyond it. When we look into the mirror to ourselves, then we reveal what we see, not what we don’t see. And even what we see, in a time related manner, depends on what kind of mirror we are looking into, or how far we do stand from it. Therefore, to move on beyond that point of sight, to move on beyond knowledge that is not quite fully right, we need to go inside. In a way, we need to infiltrate our personality, our character, our deepest us, the one who we truly are. And once we succeed doing just that, looking inwards that is, only afterwards can our talents emerge in front of us, the solution to the first step in solving a mystery, the puzzle. The greatest opportunity in human history could and can emerge once we all would enliven such a state of the mind within ourselves. Still, for that to succeed or even emerge, man has to free himself of any wrong. He has to have to try to come to accept ehyeh asher ehyeh, or I will be who I will be (I am who I am), the moment when G-d revealed His name to Moshe in Exodus. He could only reveal this to him when he had set himself free first of anything that would connect him to the world he was living in. As a result of this endeavor of one man, all of it became known to those who left Egypt as they too had set themselves free, but not yet in the same likeness as Moshe had done, nor Avraham, or even Adom.

The quest we seek to start does ask a tremendous effort, spiritually and physically. But it’s not at all impossible to start with and to even reach the farthest galaxies that man has come to know like many before us have shown us the way. As is written: The secret is: Her stock is seed of holiness. Once we understand, the stock will come to life again for we have come to accept the same freedom as they did. In the Pritzker edition, this is explained as being one-tenth of the people of Israel, who will be saved. Probably we can thus look at it as well through the one-tenth that was offered to YHVH in the Holy Temple on Mount Moriah, also referred to as the Temple Mount in Yerushalayim. Anyhow, better it is to not look for its answers solely in the outside, rather use the outside help for finding it in the inside of us. Not all male toddlers were the first male ones in a house. And so we have to merge this phrase with what we have started with: The enlightened will shine like the Zohar, radiance, of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. Not only the enlightened, but also every person they led to righteousness will be regarded as her stock, seed of holiness. Once we learn and fully comprehend its essence, the door will be put wide open for new revelations of hidden mysteries, of what was yet not known. Out of this, we also will come to know more about the emergence of the Holy language (Hebrew) as it too started with the letter bet (ב) from the word Bereshit (Be-reshit), not aleph (א), nothingness. New words became formed using the letters of the very first one that became created, and so we come to Bereshit bara Elohim, With beginning, _____ created G-d. And out of those words when Hokhmah had impregnated Binah with it, sowed seed that gave birth to availing worlds, the word bayit (house) emerged, the womb of emanation that was not inhabited before the light of Hokhmah made it pregnant. The primordial point, the merger between male and female into one whole became a reality, a fact. Now it could array new habitation, and it became also called Elohim – still hidden, concealed for the worlds beyond Keter, Hokhmah and Binah had yet to be born.

In the beginning..

2007-02-07T15:21:00.000+01:00

Parashat Be-Reshit [“In the beginning” (Genesis I:1 – 6:8)]

(Pritzker edition of the Zohar, vol. 1 pages 107 -109)

The Zohar is not an easy book to do a study about, but for everything there is a beginning. In every spark of what seems to be an impenetrable darkness sits a ray of hope, an opportunity to know more about its mystery. After all, man is known to be a seeker of knowledge, of trying to learn more about that what he still doesn’t know and find answers to his questions, realizing that behind every answer will always lay another question till everything becomes known what is to be known to man. But before he can do just that and achieve the ultimate goal, he must seek and reveal. He has to be aware of his tremendous capabilities, talents wherewith he will acquire the ability to progress, to evolve, even beyond the point of what he in first instance seems to assess as a point he can’t cross, he can’t look behind it. Still, deep inside himself, he knows that he can because before he will ask himself the question, the answer will be available for him to be found, and this since the beginning of everything that became, seen from a human point of view that is, within our own galactic horizon, or horizon universalis so to speak. A Rabbi will teach, but will also learn by teaching others, while a student will learn and can become a tutor out of what s/he learnt as well as staying a student. Every generation that wants to progress/evolve can not push itself to stagnate with what it learnt, but has to learn new things from it, new answers, revelations of what it yet did not know or even didn’t knew about correctly or entirely right. It has to put its knowledge onto a bank account so that it will generate more income.

Of this, we can already take note of within the very first lines of this very Parashat where the Zohar talks about because just as the written Torah had to start somewhere, so does the Zohar has to have a mystical point of focus, of beginning (Reshit), but not Bereshit (In the beginning). The Zohar, let we not forget, is a mystical reading/explanation of the written Torah. And so it begins with what it calls Ein Sof (= Infinity) or also as the Sefirah named Keter. It tells us about the head of potency of the King (=Authority). But even when Ein Sof itself is full of potential, the same as we are as a human being created in His image, Keter is regarded as the Crown, Will, Ayin (nothingness). It reflects that before there was something, there was nothing, or not quite perhaps!? Yes, there was a thought, a spark, and a ray of hope. Thus, as Keter is seen as a coeternal element with Ein Sof, it can not be put on the same level as Ein Sof itself. When Keter is regarded as nothingness, then Ein Sof is just the complete opposite of it, namely fullness. The brilliance of emptiness, of an impenetrable darkness can only become a brilliance when it joins in a union with Ein Sof, or what we have come to call the unison of male and female.

At the beginning of the Pritzker Edition of the Zohar by Daniel C. Matt we are being shown the Ten Sefirot where the Sefirah of Malkhut stands at the bottom and the one of Keter at the top. Still, I would put something above Keter as well just as Malkhut is put below Yesod. But in difference to Malkhut, it can’t be called a Sefirah, nor being a part of the Sefirot as it is the Creator of them, the spark (Elohim = G-d) that caused it all to occur. Nevertheless, when we look at it from this kind of angle, we learn that there is truly something beyond the point whereof nothing is known. Because of this, it is called Reshit, Beginning. Anyhow, it’s not really a beginning as Ein Sof (Infinity) tells us that there will be no end. This means that as there is no end, there is also no beginning. And this on itself explains to us that there is something to be learnt about the point beyond nothingness. Yes, even as Keter is referred to as being nothingness, there is still Ein Sof beyond itself. Let we remember that, and above all not forget it as it’s the most important element of knowledge, the basis whereupon everything else became build and is even being build as we speak and/or write in our own world. You could also refer to it as being the eternal fuel, the eternal energy, energy in a vessel that does not need to be refilled at a gas station or through an electric socket as it constantly re-energises itself without interruption.

We can all this explain through our very own perception regarding the horizon seen from the point we do stand at a certain place on Earth. When man of before saw it on land, they were not afraid of going towards it; it even enticed them to go looking, to find out what lays behind it. Somehow they knew that they would not fall of it. Sill, some people were, due to certain religious worldly influences from ‘high’ above or rather below them, very strict in not doing so when sailing on the ocean. For them, the horizon was a point forbidden to cross as it meant death to them. They wrongly interpreted it as a point where nothing laid behind it, no water, no land, and no air, just nothing, an ocean of nothingness in a manner of speaking. Their perception was curtailed because a horizon is only what we can see with our sight, but, as these people too have come to learn, does not mean that there is nothing to be found behind it. In a certain way, it has no ending because the more we try to reach it, it will always keep the same distance away from us, whether we look to the north, south, west, or east, even upwards and downwards. We never can reach it, even when it reaches its hands constantly out towards us. This on its turn reveals that we must not fear to walk towards it; for it wants that we learn what lies behind it within our perception of sight. In a spiritual essence, it asks us to seek, learn and comprehend what we still can’t grasp the essence of it. So, if what we feel is something we are unable to know more about, which is that point of nothingness, then this point, this horizon on itself has something in and beyond it that can be of a great benefit to all of humankind, even all life. YHVH reaches His hands out to us! And YHVH is full of knowledge!

The Zohar tells us this as well when it says that it split and did not split its aura. It was concealed, was not known, till under the impact of splitting. Then it became known, a supernal point shone. What was not known became known and at the same time created a new horizon, a new point of focus. And beyond that point, nothing is known; nothing is known about what lays behind it. Therefore it became called Reshit, Beginning. Still, later on we will come to learn that there is also an alternative reading of the word Bereshit, meaning: In the beginning.., that is rephrased as: With the beginning.. . Thus, with the beginning of that spark, everything for our world began its existence, but it doesn’t mean that it is the beginning of everything beyond the point of our perception since our beginning. Keter is the point of nothingness, but not so for Ein Sof as it can be referred to as the circle that encompasses all the Ten Sefirot, or as the head of potency of the King, the Authority of emanation, an everlasting nuclear fusion that creates life without an end in sight, a horizon that can’t be reached, but still a point where we all can learn more about, even what lays behind it. It’s a splitting that we can regard as a fusion in nuclear terminology, a fusion (unison) of male and female, of the positive and negative side of a magnet, even meaning thus that male and male, and female and female is not possible as this would have to be rather seen as a nuclear explosion, or magnets that will never be joined together as such, the dead of life instead of the fusion that creates life, of poles that attract each other over and over again. It’s like when we would catch a lightning boll within a vessel. Its energy within that vessel will never cease, the womb of emanation, of life, male and female within one body, not two.