By April 10, 2008 Read More →

Zohar 2:216a-b

Jewish Mysticism
One who prays from love cleaves to a supernal place above and cleaves in the holiness of the world to come, since such a one ascends to be crowned and to cleave in the right side. And if you argue that worship is from the side of fear, such is not worship, it is a valuable worship, but it does not ascend to cleave above. And when [one] worships from love, he ascends and is crowned above, and cleaves to the world to come, and this is a man who is worthy of the world to come. Meritorious is his lot, for he rules over the place of fear, and there is none who rules over the gradation of fear other than love, the mystery of the right, the mystery of the union that is required of the one who is worthy of the world to come, to unite the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, and to unite the limbs and gradations above and below, and to encompass everything and to ascend everything to the place that is required to bind bonds… And afterwards, when this is encompassed in that in one combination, then it is necessary to unite limbs and to combine two Tabernacles as one in all limbs, in the desire of the heart, to ascend in the cleaving of ein sof, and to cleave all there to make one desire above and below. The mystery of this is ‘will be’ (yihiyeh), as it is said, “God will be one” (Zechariah 14-9), in the mystery of “will be.” Yod to unite and cleave in heh, which is the inner courtyard of the concealed place of this supernal point which is yod. And this is the mystery of “God (YHWH) our Lord,” these two letters, yod heh, to encompass all limbs in that place where they came from, which is the inner courtyard, to return things to their place, root, foundation and source, to that place of the source of the covenant. And after these, two other letters come to unite and cleave yod in heh. This is the mystery of the holy covenant, and this heh is the courtyard, the concealed place of this mystery of the holy covenant which is yod. And even though we have established that vav is second, yod is its mystery, to unite them as one. One, to unite from there and to ascend everything as one, and to ascend desire and to connect everything from below to above as one in one connection, to ascend his desire in trembling and mercy above, above, to ein sof, and his desire will not depart from all of these gradations and limbs, but rather, his desire will ascend in all of it and cleave to them to make everything one connection in ein sof. And this is the unification of Rav Hemnuna Saba, that he learned from his father, and his father from his teacher, until the mouth of Elijah… even though we have established this in many mysteries, all of these mysteries amount to one… YHYH is the sign of this mystery. And thus it is taught, one, mystery of above and below and the four directions of the world, thus it is to unite above and below, as it is said, and the four directions of the world. These are the mystery of the supernal chariot, to encompass everything as one in one bond, in one unity, until ein sof, as we have established.

Translated by Hartley Lachter

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