VaEtchanan [I Pleaded]
1-2) How powerful is the force of Torah, and superior she is to everything. Anyone who engages in Torah does not fear upper ones or lower ones, and does not fear ill happenings in the world because he grips to the tree of life, the Torah, and eats from it each day.
The Torah teaches a person to walk in the path of truth. She teaches him counsel how to repent before his Master, and even if he is sentenced to death, everything is cancelled and departs from him, and does not stay over him. Therefore, we should engage in Torah day and night, and never part from her, as it is written, “And you shall meditate therein day and night.” If he removes the Torah from himself or parts from her, it is as though he has parted from life.
8-9) When a person rises from his bed at midnight to engage in Torah, a herald calls on him and says, “Behold, bless the Lord all the servants of the Lord who stand in the house of the Lord in the nights.” In the morning, when he stands in prayer before his Master, that herald calls on him and says, “And I have given you ways among them that are standing.”
After he concludes his prayer with favor before his Master, he should devote his soul with the heart’s desire to Malchut. There are several counsels for a person in everything. When he is in prayer, all those words that one utters from his mouth in that prayer rise up and breach airs and firmaments until they reach the place that they reach and crown in the head of the king, who makes a crown out of them.
32) In all of one’s actions, he should see the Creator before him. Anyone who is walking along the road, who fears robbers, should aim for three things—a gift, a prayer, and a war—as did Jacob when he feared Esau. However, the most important of them is the prayer. But even though prayer is the most important, two or three friends engaging in words of Torah is the most important of all, for they do not fear robbers because Divinity is connected to them, for they are engaged in Torah.
35) The Creator is destined to open the eyes, for there has never been wisdoms that would gaze upon the upper wisdom and attain what they did not attain in this world, so they would know their Master. Happy are the righteous who are rewarded with that wisdom, for there is no wisdom like that wisdom, no knowing like that knowing, and no adhesion like that adhesion.
47) One who loves the king does a great Hesed [grace/kindness]. He does Hesed with all. A greater Hesed is called “a true Hesed,” when he does not desire reward for his works, but works only because of the love of the king, whom he loves dearly. For this reason, Hesed depends on the love of the king, which is why he is called “Abraham, who loves Me,” for because he loved Him dearly, he multiplied Hesed in the world.
62) When a person comes to unify the name of the Creator, all the hosts of heaven stand in lines to be corrected and to all be included in that unification, to stand in one, in one unification. They are all properly corrected in their corrections through that unification.
69-70) It is a commandment [Mitzva] to love. The love of the Creator means that one should love Him with great love, as did Abraham, who loved the Creator with a great love and devoted his body and soul to Him. From this we learn that one who loves the Creator keeps ten utterances, ten Sefirot, above and below. For this reason, all those ten trials by which Abraham was tried and succeeded in all of them correspond to ten utterances because each trial is one utterance, one Sefira, an utterance by which he was tried and succeeded.
For this reason, there are ten trials opposite the ten Sefirot, and Abraham succeeded in all of them because he was tied and clung to the right of the Creator, which is called “great love,” Hesed de ZA. It is called “great love,” because one who stands in this love is tied to the upper world, which is ZA.
An everlasting love is the lower world, Malchut, to which the love of the Creator is tied. Everything—great love, everlasting love—are one without separation between them. The love transcends all the works in the world. With love, the Creator’s name is glorified and blessed more than anything.
138) Since the day when Israel were exiled from their land there has not been joy before the Creator, and it is all because of the love that the Creator loved them, as it is written, “‘I have loved you,’ said the lord.” This is why it is written, “And you shall love the Lord your God.” “And you shall love” means that one should connect to Him with sublime love, that any work that one should do for the Creator should be done with love, as there is no work like the love of the Creator.
139) There is nothing more favorable in the eyes of the Creator than one who loves Him properly, as it is written, “With all your heart.” What does “With all” mean? It should have said “With all your heart,” as well as “With all your soul,” and “With all your might”; what is “With all your heart”? It comes to include both hearts—one good and one bad. “With all your soul” means with two souls—one good and one bad. “With all your might” means whether one comes into wealth by inheritance or whether he has earned it.
140-141) One who loves the Creator is crowned with Hesed [grace/mercy] from all sides, does Hesed to all, and cares not for his body or means. How do we know it? From Abraham, who because of his love for his Maker, cared not for his heart, for his soul, or for his means.
“For his heart” means that Abraham did not look after his own will for his love for his Master. “For his soul” means that he had no mercy for his son and his wife for his love for his Master. “For his means” means that he stood at a crossroads and offered food to the whole world. This is the reason why he was crowned with a crown of the Sefira Hesed, as it is written, “Mercy to Abraham.”
One who is tied with the love of his Master is rewarded with it, and moreover, all the worlds are blessed for him. This is the meaning of what is written, “And Your pious ones shall bless You.” Do not pronounce it “Shall bless You,” but “Shall bless Koh,” since the pious ones, those who have been rewarded with the Sefira of Hesed, will bless Divinity, who is called Koh. Thus, even Divinity is blessed because of them.
144) Happy are those in whom the love of their Master clung. There is no measure to the portion of those in that world.
145-147) The righteous have several sections above sections in that world. The highest among those sections is for those to whom love is their Master is connected, since their section ties to the palace that rises above all because by that, the Creator is crowned with love.
This palace, the highest of all, is called “love,” and everything stands on love, as it is written, “Many waters cannot quench the love.” Everything stands with love because the holy name, HaVaYaH, is so. The upper tip, Keter of Yod of HaVaYaH, Hochma, never parts from her because the Keter is on her with love, and never part from her. The letter Hey of HaVaYaH is Bina, from which the Yod, Hochma, never parts and they are always together in love, never parting from one another. Likewise is the Hey of HaVaYaH, as it is written, “And a river comes out of Eden,” where the river, Bina, comes out of Eden, Hochma. Bina always comes out of Hochma, and they forever cling with love.
When Vav-Hey, Zeir Anpin and Malchut, cling to one another, they cling together in love, the groom with the bride, whose way is always in love. It follows that Yod with the first Hey, the first Hey with Vav, and Vav with the last Hey always connect to one another with love, and everything is called “love.” Hence, one who loves the King becomes tied to that love, and this is why it is written, “And you shall love the Lord your God.”
150-151) The evil inclination, what is it like? When it comes to bond with a person, it is like iron before it is placed in the fire. Once it is heated, it returns being entirely like fire.
When the evil inclination comes to bond with a person, it is like a person who sees the opening and sees that there is no one at home to stop him. He enters the house and becomes a guest there, and he sees that there is no one to stop him from leaving there to go on his way. Since he entered the house and there was no one to stop him, he became appointed over the house and became the landlord of the house, until he finds that the whole of the house is in his possession.
197) The amount of pleasure is according to the amount of the will to receive. However, it must be straightened so it is limited to receiving in order to bestow, and this is done by the lights of Bina because the will to receive will be corrected and straightened into being reception in order to bestow, and then the will to receive will not be corrupted as before. By that he is healed from all the blemishes that were in him.
New Zohar, VaEtchanan [I Pleaded]
11-13) The word Ehad [one] in “Shema Ysrael [Hear O Israel].”
The Dalet of Ehad is higher and bigger than the other letters. Likewise, the Reish of Aher [other] is bigger than the other letters, to make a distinction so as to not replace the high and holy one, One God, and include the other side with Him, another god. The sign is that Ayin Dalet in “Hear O Israel” are big: the Ayin of Shema [hear], and the Dalet of Ehad are the letters Ed [witness] implying the need to testify a testimony to the secret of secrets, to elicit one measure for measuring the faith. One who knows that secret knows the secret of his Master and inherits two worlds—this world and the next world. Also, the measure is called “the measuring line.”
This was given to the high and holy sages who know the meaning of their Master and exert in His glory. It was not given to the wicked of the world who do not know and do not care for the glory of their master. Those true righteous, on whom the meaning of the upper faith depends, were permitted to know and to look because they stray neither to the right nor to the left, but cling to the middle line.
93) One who knows the meaning of the wisdom can attain and make merits on all sides until he knows the upper secrets, the secrets of his Master, the secrets of the wisdom to know and to attain. One who knows and regards, happy is he in this world and in the next world because that rule will correct a man’s legs to enter the presence of the king and to walk on a straight path. Happy is he in this world and happy is he in the next world.