56 THE ZOHAR « OW you might say, 'Who deployed the Destroye r here? It was . overwhelming. ' Come and see: Judgment never ma nifes ts in the the world obliterated, without that Destroyer surgi ng thro ugh the executed upon the world. Similarly here, there w as a flood, the surging through that flood, called by that name. 176 So the blessed told Noah to hide himself, not expose himself op enl y. « ow you might say, 'The ark was exposed in this wo rld , and was surging.' However, as long as one's face is no t visib le to the ha no power over him. 177 How do we know? From E gypt, as is of you shall go out the door of his house until mo rning (E xodus Because the Destroyer loomed, ready to destroy, a nd one must himself in his presence. So Noah together wi th all hi s co mpa nions away in the ark, and the Destroyer had no power over the m. " Rabbi I:Iiyya and Rabbi Yose were walking on the way. Th ey mountains of Kurdistan,1 78 where they saw trace of c rev ices dating from the time of the Flood. 1 79 Rabbi I:Iiyya said to Rabbi Yose, «These crevice are ves tiges Ii preserved by the blessed Holy One ever since, thro ugho ut the that the ins of the wicked not be obliterated fro m His sig ht. For way of the ble sed Holy One: He wants the virtu ous who do remembered above and below, their blessed me mory un forgotten to generation. Similarly He wants the sins of the wicked, who will, not to be forgotten, their punishment a nd ev il me mory generation to generation, as is written: Stained is your i niquity (Jeremiah 2:22).,,180 Rabbi Yose opened, saying, «Cry shrilly, 0 Daughter of Laishah! 0 poor Anathoth! (Isaiah 10:30) . 181 This ve rse has heeD 176. called by that name Called "Flood." 177. a long as one's face is not visible ... See Devarim Rabbah 4:4; Zohar 1:68b, 108b. 178. mountains of Kurdistan lTli' ,.,ll.l (Turei qardu), namely, the mountains of Ara- rat, upon which the ark settled as the waters of the Flood subsided. See Genesis 8:4, and Targum Qllqe/os, ad loc., from whom the Zohar borrows this Aramaic expression. Cf. Zohar 3:149a; Zij lib (MhN), 49a. The neol- ogistic phrase in 1:15a: XnlJ'Tli" XJ'Yl:l (botsina de- qardil1uta). "a spark of impene - trable darkness, " may allude to Kurdi tan (see above, p. 107. n. 4). 179. cr ev ices .. . from the Flood See Ge nesis 7: 11: All the great abyss bll rs/. 180. Stailled is y our See above, page 355. 181. Cry s hrill y, 0 Listell, Lais /wh! 0 poor calls on tile inhabitants of Gallim (litera ll y, Dallght er warn the nation (s pecificllly. of Laishah and Anathoth) of Assyrian invasion.
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56
THE ZOHAR
« OW you might say, 'Who deployed the Destroyer here? It was . overwhelming. ' Come and see: Judgment never manifests in the the world obliterated, without that Destroyer surging through the executed upon the world. Similarly here, there was a flood, the surging through that flood, called by that name. 176 So the blessed told Noah to hide himself, not expose himself openly.
« ow you might say, 'The ark was exposed in this world, and was surging.' However, as long as one's face is not visible to the ha no power over him. 177 How do we know? From Egypt, as is of you shall go out the door of his house until morning (Exodus Because the Destroyer loomed, ready to destroy, and one must himself in his presence. So Noah together with all his companions away in the ark, and the Destroyer had no power over them."
Rabbi I:Iiyya and Rabbi Yose were walking on the way. They mountains of Kurdistan,1 78 where they saw trace of crevices dating from the time of the Flood. 179
Rabbi I:Iiyya said to Rabbi Yose, «These crevice are vestiges Ii preserved by the blessed Holy One ever since, throughout the that the ins of the wicked not be obliterated from His sight. For way of the ble sed Holy One: He wants the virtuous who do remembered above and below, their blessed memory un forgotten to generation. Similarly He wants the sins of the wicked, who will, not to be forgotten, their punishment and evil memory generation to generation, as is written: Stained is your iniquity (Jeremiah 2:22).,,180
Rabbi Yose opened, saying, «Cry shrilly, 0 Daughter of Laishah! 0 poor Anathoth! (Isaiah 10:30) . 181 This verse has heeD
176. called by that name Called "Flood."
177. a long as one's face is not visible ...
See Devarim Rabbah 4:4; Zohar 1:68b, 108b.
178. mountains of Kurdistan lTli' ,.,ll.l
(Turei qardu), namely, the mountains of Ara
rat, upon which the ark settled as the waters
of the Flood subsided. See Genesis 8:4, and
Targum Qllqe/os, ad loc. , from whom the
Zohar borrows this Aramaic expression. Cf.
Zohar 3:149a; Zij lib (MhN), 49a. The neol
ogistic phrase in 1:15a: XnlJ'Tli" XJ'Yl:l
(botsina de-qardil1uta). "a spark of impene
trable darkness," may allude to Kurdi tan
(see above, p. 107. n. 4).
179. crev ices .. . from the Flood See Genesis 7: 11: All
the great abyss bllrs/. 180. Stailled is your
See above, page 355.
181. Cry shrilly, 0 Listell, Lais/wh! 0 poor calls on tile inhabitants of
Gallim (literally, Dallghter warn the nation (specificllly.
of Laishah and Anathoth) of
Assyrian invasion.
the Companions, but it was declared for Assembly of Israel. 182 Cry shrilly,
of Gallim! Daughter of Abraham; so they have established. IS3
of Gallim, as is wri tten: a sealed In (gal), spring (Song of Songs
Gallim-waves, streams merging, flowing into Her, fi ll ing Her, as is
Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates (ibid., 13).1 84
Laishah, as is written: 1lI''7 (Layish) , The lion, perishes for lack of prey 4=11 ). Layish is male; Laishah, female. Why is She called Layish?1 85 Either
of the verse: Layish, Lion, mighty among beasts (Proverbs 30:30), or
of: Layish, The lion, perishes for lack of prey. But She is aU: Mighty lion, from upper Might;1 86 The lion perishes for lack of prey, when those
disappear, no longer entering Her. Then She is calJed Poor Laishah, (Isaiah, ibid.), perishing for lack of prey, as is written: The lion perishes of[63h) prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered. 187
'nnw' nOD
Hebrew this
denotes the people of Israel. The
on the Song of ongs describes the
affair between the maiden (the earthly
. of Israel) and her lover (the
One, blessed be He). In the Zohar, Ke· can refer to the earthly commu-
also (often primarily) to Shekhinah. femin ine counterpart of the peo
lilt aspect of God most intimately con
with them. The lover in the Song of
are pictured as the divine couple: Tif-and Shekhinah.
Rabbi Yose cites aver e from Isaiah
to the people of Israel and applies
ee Zohar 1:249a-b.
~ 0 Daughter of Gallim! Daughter of
.. . See BT Sanhedrin 94b: "Rav
said. ' ... Cry shrilly, 0 Daughter of Daughter of Abraham, Isaac, and
who enacted mitsvo( a profusely as
-In (gallei ha-yam), the waves of the
Cf. £ikhah Rabbah, Peti~ta 1; Pesiqta Kahana Ip.
Rabbi Yose focuses on Abraham,
according to rabbinic tradition was
with a daughter in his o ld age. In
this daughter symbolizes Shekhiderive from Hesed, symbolized by
Abraham and by flowing water. See Tosefta, Qiddllshin 5:17; BT Bava Batra 16b; Bahir 52
(78); al:unanides on Genesis 24:1.
184. sealed "l (gal), spring .. . streams
merging. . . In the midrashic interpretation
of Song of Songs, the beloved described as a sealed spring symbolizes the people of Israel
(Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah on 4:12; Shemot Rabbah 20:5). Here the spring i Shekhinah , As
sembly of Israel , filled by the flow of the
sefiro( from He ed to Yesod, who are known
as Gallim. "waves" of emanation.
185. Layish is male; Laishah, female . ..
The word ;,w'., (/aishah) means "lioness,"
while its homonym, Laishah, is the name of
the city addressed by Isaiah. Usually male
and female symbolize the divine couple, Yesod and Shekhinah , though here, as we soon
see, both genders characterize hekhinah. See
Zohar 1:249b-250a and, on the masculine
aspect of Shekhinah, 1:232a.
186. deriv ing from upper Might Shekhinah . the liones , derives from Gevurah (Might).
187. when those streams d isappear . . .
Poor Laishah ... When She is not nour
ished by the flow of emanation, Shekhinah is impoverished and unable to transmit bless
ing. See Zohar 1:250a.
3
Extreme
Highlight
368
THE ZOHAR
''Anathoth, poorest of the poor, as is said: of the priests who wen
(Jeremiah 1:1),188 and similarly: Anathoth, go to your field! (1
What is the point?l90 As long as King David was alive, Abiathar
and in all ways. Afterward Solomon said to him, Anathoth, go Why did Solomon call him this? Because he was telling him, father was poor; now, go to your field!' 191
"Now still the question may be posed: Why was Abiathar called you say he came from Anathoth, look at what is written: One SOlI
son of Ahitub escaped-his name was Abiathar (1 Samuel 22:20),192
have been from Nob, since Nob was the city of the priests. 193 Evm claimed that Nob and Anathoth are one and the same-it being thoth' only because the city was reduced to poverty and destroyed
the priests eliminated-still Anathoth was a village, not identical
The real reason he called Abiathar Anathoth was as he said:
(hit 'anneita), you were afflicted, with all the hardships my father ibid. ).195 He came from the city of Nob, but because the
transpired during his lifetime, he was called otherwise."
188. Anathoth, poorest of the poor ...
Rabbi Yose interprets the name of the priestly village, mml1 (Anatot) , in the ense
of'll1 (ani), "poor," referring to the priests'
lack of inheritance (Deuteronomy 18:1-2).
The plural form suggests intense poverty.
See Zohar 1:249b. 189. Anathoth, go to your field! The ex
pression means literally: Go to Allathoth, to your field, a command given by King Solo
mon to Abiathar. Abiathar had been a loyal follower of Solomon's father, King David,
and was appointed high priest. However, as
a result of his upport for the succession of
Adonijah (another of David's sons), King
Solomon banished him to Anathoth. See 1
Samuel 22-23; 1 Kings 1:7; 2:26-27. 190. What is the point? Why did Solo
mon call Abiathar by the name Anathoth?
191. 'In your days father was poor; now, go to your field!' Abiathar initially served
David in a period of poverty, as indicated by the name Anathoth. Shekhinah, symbolized
by David, was then al 0 incomplete. Now
in the affluent reign of Solomon, with Shekhinah fulfilled, Abiathar is out of place and
must return to his humble home.
moon does not become day of its cycle, 0 it
until the gloriou reign of
fifteenth generation from siqta de-Ray Kahana Pl; IIIIl bah 15:26: "When Solomon disk of the moon became
See Zohar l:73b, 7¥.
249b; 2:85a; 3=6Ia; ZJ:l83b de Leon, Shushan Edut, 341-moon symbolize Shekh,nah.
192. One son ... his II4IIIt
The verse concludes: and he
son, who escaped. ee I
1:224ll.
194. Anathoth was a with Nob The village of
located on the outskirts of the See Nehemiah 11:32; Zohar
195. all the hardships dured Abiathar hared the
Rabbi l:fiyya said, "The world was impoverished ever since the day Adam
violated the commands of the ble ed Holy One until oah arrived and offered an offering, and the world was settled. »196
Rabbi Yose aid, "The world remained unsettled and earth did not escape the slime of the erpent until Israel stood at Mount Sinai, embracing the Tree of Lifejl97 then the world was settled. Had Israel not relapsed, sinning before the
blessed Holy One, they would have never died, for they had been purged of the slime of the serpent. Then the original tablets were smashed-tablets comprising total freedom, freedom from that serpent: End of all flesh. 198 When the Itvite rose to deal death,I99 the evi l serpent aroused, slithering in front of
them, but he could not overpower Israel for they were all girded with armored
belts. Once Moses said Now take off your ornaments (Exodus 33:5 ), the serpent was empowered to dominate them.20o
Solomon's father, David , as he fl ed from King Saul.
196. The world was impoverished . . . until Noah arrived and offered an offering . . . Adam's sin ruined the union of the sefirot, drreby depriving the world of the rich di line flow. When oah emerged safely from Ibt ark following the Flood, he offered sacrifices (Gene is 8:20-22), wh ich stimulated Ibt union of the sefirot, ensuring blessi ng aOO harmony for the world.
197. slime of the serpent. . . IVnn KlJOll!
(Zohama de-naha h), "The fi lth of the serpent."
See BT Shabbat 145b-1 46a: "Rav Yosef 1IIght: ' . .. When the serpent copulated with Eve, he injected her with KlJOl1T (zohama). filth [or: slime, lewdness]. Israel, who stood at Mount inai- their zohama ceased. Star·worshipers, who did not stand at Mount Sinai- their zohama did not cease.'" Isracl 's acceptance of the Torah, symbolized by the Tree of Li fe , inoculated them against the YCIIOmous slime and restored them to a parldisiacal state.
198. original tablets were smashed .. . When Mo es saw the Children of Israel worshiping the Golden Calf, he smashed
the stone tablets insc ribed with the Ten Commandments. Later Moses ca rved a second set, wh ich were aga in inscribed by God. See Exodus 32:19; 34:1.
According to rabbinic tradition, the first tablets offered immortality. See TanQulIla, Ki Tissa 16; and Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah on 8:6: "nr''\n (Harut), Ellgraved, on the tablets [describing the divine writing] . Do not read m,n (harut) , engraved, but rather m,'n (heirut), freedom. Rabb i Yehudah, Rabbi e~emiah , and the Rabbis: Rabbi Yehudah
says, 'Freedom fro m the Angel of Death .' Rabbi e~emiah says, 'Freedom from foreign rulers.' The Rabbis say, 'Freedom from suffering.'" See Zohar 1:37b, 52a-b.
Here the serpent is identified with the Angel of Death, known as Elld of all flesh (see above, pages 363-65). On the di tinction between the original tablets and their copy, see Tishby, Wisdom of the Zohar, 3:1103-06.
199. When the Levi tes rose to deal death To kill those who had sinned with the Golden Calf. See Exodus 32:26-28.
200. they were all gi rded with armored belts. . . See Tan~llIma (Suber), Shela ~l ,
add . I : "Rabbi Shim 'on son of Yo~ai said , ' He adorned them with weapons engraved with the Ineffable Na me [YHVH], and as long as they possessed these, no evil could touch them, nei ther the Angel of Death nor
370
THE ZOHAR
"Come and see what is written: The Children of Israel were ornaments from Mount Horeb on (ibid., 6) . '7:~m," (Va-yitnatstselu),
stripped-the verse should read '7YJ" (Vaynatstselu), They stripped.»1
were stripped, by someone else, for the serpent was empowered to ornaments from Mount Horeb-that they received from Mount Torah was given to Israe1. »202
Rabbi J:Iiyya asked, "Since Noah was a righteous man (Genesis didn't he abolish death throughout the world?»203
Rabbi Yose replied, "Because the slime of the world had not yet Furthermore, they did not believe in the blessed Holy One; all of grasping the leaves of the tree below and dressing themselves spirit. 204 Further, they later persisted in sinning, clinging to the as before, and Torah, Tree of Life, had not yet been brought down the blessed Holy One.,,205
anything else. As soon as they sinned [with
the Golden Calf], Moses said to them: Now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you (Exodus 33:5). At that moment, When the people heard this evil word, they mourned, [and no olle put on his ornaments] (ibid., 4). What is written? The Children of Israel were stripped of their ornaments .. .. (ibid., 6). '"