Zohar 1:82b

 

Each and every night the souls of the righteous ascend, and at midnight the Holy One, blessed be He, comes to the Garden of Eden to take delight in them. In whom? R. Yose said- In all of them, those who are in their habitations in that world and those who sit in their habitations in this world; the Holy One, blessed be He, takes delight in them at midnight. Come and see- The world above needs the arousal of the world below. When the souls of the righteous depart from this world and ascend above, they are clothed in the supernal light in a glorious image, and in them the Holy One, blessed be He, takes delight and desires them for they are the fruit of His actions … R. Yose said- [The Holy One, blessed He, delights in] even those in this world. How is this so? He said to him- At midnight all the truly righteous rise to study Torah and to hear the praises of Torah. It is said that the Holy One, blessed He, and all the righteous that are with Him in the Garden of Eden come to hear their voices. A thread of mercy extends to them during the day, as it says, “By day may the Lord vouchsafe His faithful care, so that at night a song to Him may be with me” (Ps. 42-9). It follows that the praises that rise before Him at night are a complete praise.

Translated by Elliot Wolfson in “Forms of Visionary Ascent and Ecstatic Experience,” in Gershom Scholem’s Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism 50 Years After 209-235. Edited by J. Dan and P. Schafer, Tubingen- J. C. B. Mohr, 1993.

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