Exile and Redemption
On My Bed at Night
Ki Tazria [When a Woman Delivers]
1) “On my bed night after night I sought him whom my soul loves.” The assembly of Israel spoke before the Creator and asked Him about the exile, since she is seated among the rest of the nations with her children, and she lies in the dust. And because she is lying in another land, impure one, she said, “I ask on my bed, for I am lying in exile,” and exile is called “nights.” Hence, “I sought him whom my soul loves,” to deliver me from it.
2) “I sought him but did not find him,” since it is not His way to mate in me, but only in His palace, and not in exile. “I called him but he did not answer me,” for I was dwelling among other nations, who do not hear his voice, but only His sons. “Did ever a people hear the voice of God?”
3) “On my bed night after night,” said the assembly of Israel, Divinity. “On my bed I was angered before Him, asking Him to mate with me to delight me—from the left line—and to bless me—from the right line—with complete joy—from the middle line.” When the king, ZA, mates with the assembly of Israel, several righteous inherit inheritance of a holy legacy, upper Mochin, and several blessings are found in the world.
Exile of Divinity
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
344) On the day when the Temple was ruined below and Israel went into exile with millstone round their necks and their hands tied behind them, the assembly of Israel, Divinity, was expelled from the King’s house, to follow them into exile. And when Divinity came down she said, “First, I will go and weep for my abode, the Temple, for my sons, Israel, and for my husband, ZA,” who has drifted from her. When she came down she saw that her place was destroyed and all the blood of the followers that was shed in it, and the Holy Palace and the House were burnt in fire.
345) Then she raised her voice in weeping, and the upper and lower were moved, and the voice reached up to the place where the King, ZA, resides. But the King wished to return the world into chaos until several battalions and several camps of angels came down to comfort her, but she turned down their comforting. It is written about that, “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel is weeping for her children, sherefuses to be comforted for her children,” since she did not receive comforting from them. “Because He is gone” means because the holy King went up and is not inside her.
346) “Rachel is weeping for her children.” It should have said that Divinity is weeping for her children. Rachel is the assembly of Israel, Divinity, Jacob’s wife, the wife of ZA, as it is written, “And Jacob loved Rachel.” It is also written, “but Rachel was barren,” and also, “Who makes the barren woman dwell in her house as a joyful mother of children.” All these verses relate to Divinity.
347) Another interpretation: “He is gone” means “none,” that is, there are none who are greater than Me in this house. “Gone,” since the Creator departed above and was removed from everything. “He is gone” means He is not in a Zivug with her. “Gone” means that His name, Divinity, is not His great Name. Rather, she is in exile.
348) From which place did Divinity begin to be disclosed? From the Temple, where she was present. Afterwards, she roamed the whole of the land of Israel. Then, when she departed the land, she stood inside the desert and sat there three days, leading the masses, the camps, and the residents from the King’s house, from Jerusalem, and calling about her, “How lonely sits the city.”
349) They were not exiled from the land of Israel and the Temple was not ruined before all of Israel were guilty before the King, and before all the leaders of the world were found guilty first, as it is written, “O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray and confuse the direction of your paths.” And when the heads of the people went with evil, the whole people followed suit.
Four Exiles
Ki Tetze [If You Go Forth]
63) There were four exiles: three corresponding the three Klipot of the nut. The first is Tohu, a green line, the green shell of the nut. The second is Bohu, moist stones, strong rocks, from which the authors of the Mishnah sentenced several sentences, and they grip to them to bring out the waters of Torah. And this is why they are called “moist stones,” since water comes out of them. The third Klipa [shell] is the thin shell of the nut, the small third exile. This is “And darkness.” The fourth exile is the great deep, the hollow of the nut, “And darkness was over the face of the deep.”
64) The fourth Klipa, the deep, is called “a pit where an ox fell,” as it is written about Joseph, “The firstborn of his ox, majesty is his.” It is written, “And threw him into the pit,” the evil Nukva of the Klipa. The empty pit is the male of the Klipa. Empty means without Torah, which is called “water.”
However, there were serpents and scorpions there, and this is the fourth exile, which is empty, without Torah, a generation of wicked, filled with serpents and scorpions, meaning that they are as deceitful as serpents and scorpions because they have uprooted the words of sages and judge falsely. It is said about them, “Her adversaries became the head.”
65) “And he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one” from Israel among those wicked in that generation. Instead, they were mixed multitude. This will come about at the end of the exile, and for this reason, the end of redemption is stated as the great deep, which is the fourth exile. And Moses, you went down there. The deep [ Tehom] is death [ HaMavet] with the letters inverted, and there is no death but poverty, poverty of reason. But this was sorted above, before the Tannaim and the Amoraim, who all went down to the deep in the fourth exile because of her, to help you.
Hurry, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young hart
Shemot [Exodus]
235) “Hurry, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young hart.” Every yearning that Israel yearned for the Creator is the yearning of Israel that the Creator will not go and will not walk away, but run like a gazelle or a young hart.
236) No other animal in the world does what the gazelle or the hart does. When it runs, it turns its head slightly to the place from which it came. It always turns its head back. This is what Israel said, “God Almighty, if we cause You to depart from among us, may it be that You will run like the gazelle or the young hart.” This is because it runs and turns its head to the place it had left, the place where it was before and left it and fled from there.
This is the meaning of the words, “Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them.” Another thing: The gazelle sleeps with one eye and is awake with the other eye. This is what Israel said to the Creator, “Do as the gazelle does, for He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”
And I Will Set My Tabernacle among You
BeHukotai [In My Statutes]
30) “And I will set My tabernacle among you.” My tabernacle is Divinity, My pawn, Divinity, was mortgaged by the iniquities of Israel because she goes into exile with them. There is an allegory about a man who loved his friend. He told him, “Certainly, because of the sublime love that I have for you, I wish to dwell with you.” His friend replied, “How will I know that you will dwell with me?” He went and took all the good things in his home and brought them to him and said, “My pawn is with you, so I will never part from you.”
31) So is the Creator. He wished to dwell with Israel. He took His treasure, Divinity, and lowered it down to Israel. He told them, “Israel, here is My pawn with you, so I will never part from you.” And although the Creator was removed from us, He left the pawn in our hands because Divinity is with us in exile and we keep His treasure. And when He asks for His pawn, He will come to dwell with us. This is why it is written, “And I will set My tabernacle among you.” “I will give you a pawn so I will dwell with you.” And even though Israel is in exile now, the Creator’s mortgage is with them and they have never left it.
32) “AndMy soul shall not abhor you.” This is similar to a man who loves his friend and wishes to dwell with him. What did he do? He took his bed and brought it to his house. He said, “Here, my bed is in your house, so I will not draw far from you, from your bed and from your vessels.” Thus said the Creator, “And I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you.” Thus, My bed, Divinity, is in your home. “And since My bed is with you, know that I will never part from you.” And for this reason, “My soul shall not abhor you,” I will not part from you.
33) “And I will walk among you, and will be your God.” Since my pawn is with you, you should know for certain that I am going with you, as it is written, “For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you; therefore shall your camp be holy.”
Length of the Exile
Ki Tissa [When You Take]
21) We see, and so can the strong ones in the world, meaning the nations, that the exile is continuing and the Son of David has not come. So it is, but what makes Israel suffer this exile? It is all the promises that the Creator had promised them. They enter synagogues and seminaries and see all the comforts in the holy books, and in their hearts they are happy to suffer all that comes upon them. Had it not been for that, they would not have been able to withstand.
22) Everything depends on repentance. But they cannot all awaken to repentance together because it is written, “So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you.” It is also written, “And you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you.” Also, it is written, “And you shall return to the Lord your God.” And then, if the One who banished you will be at the end of the sky, from there will He gather you. And before all these things come true, they cannot be awakened by them for repentance.
23) O how You have sealed all the trails and paths from the children of the exile, and have left no possibility for them to speak, for they did not delve in redemption every single generation, did not suffer the exile, did not seek reward, departed the rules of Torah, and mingled with the rest of the nations.
24) “As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth, she writhes and cries out in her birth pangs,” since it is the nature of a pregnant woman to wait nine whole months. But there are quite a few in the world who go through only one or two days of the ninth month, while all the pains and pangs of the pregnant woman are on the ninth. Hence, even if she only went through one day of the ninth month, it is considered as though the whole of the ninth month had passed for her. So are Israel: since they tasted the taste of exile, if they repent, it is considered for them as though they had experienced all the troubles that are written in the Torah, especially that they had experienced several pangs since the beginning of the exile.
In Its Time, I Will Hasten It
VaYera [The Lord Appeared]
454) How long should we be in exile until that time? The Creator made redemption completely dependent on whether they repent. Thus, they will be rewarded or not rewarded with redemption by whether or not they repent, as it is written, “I the Lord will hasten it in its time.” If they merit, they will repent, and “I will hasten it.” If they do not merit, they will not repent, and “in its time.”
The Allegory of the King and the Queen
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
78) In all of Israel’s exiles, He set a time and an end to all of them. And in all of them, Israel return to the Creator, and the virgin of Israel, Malchut,returns to her place at the set time. But now, in the last exile, it is not so. She will not return as in the other exiles. This verse teaches, “She has fallen; she will not rise again—the virgin of Israel,” and it does not say, “She has fallen and I will not raise her again.”
79) It is like a king who was angry with the queen and expelled her from her palace for a certain period of time. When that time was through, the queen would immediately come and return before the king. This was so once, twice, and thrice. But on the last time, she became remote from the king’s palace and the king expelled her from his palace for a long time. The king said, “This time is not as like the other times, when she came before me. Instead, I and all my household will go and seek her.”
80) When he reached her, he saw that she was lying in the dust. Who saw the glory of the queen at that time, and the king’s requests of her? Finally, the king held her in his arms, raised her, and brought her to his palace. And he swore to her that he would never part from her again and will never be far from her.
81) It is similar with the Creator: every time the assembly of Israel were in exile, she would come and return before the King. But now, in this exile, it is not so. Rather, the Creator will hold her by the hand and will raise her, appease her, and bring her back to His palace.
To the Extent of Concealment, the Extent of Disclosure
VaYera [The Lord Appeared]
453) Vav and everything appears in it, for everything appears by the perfection of the Vav. This is so because in everything that is concealed, He reveals all that is hidden, and one who is revealed will not come and reveal what is concealed.
Man is created in utter wickedness and lowliness, as it is written, “When a wild ass's foal is born a man.” And all the vessels in one’s body, meaning the senses and the qualities, and especially the thought serve him only wickedness and nothingness all day. And for one who is rewarded with adhering unto Him, the Creator does not create other tools instead, to be worthy and suitable for reception of the eternal spiritual abundance intended for him. Rather, the same lowly vessels that have thus far been used in a filthy and loathsome way are inverted to become vessels of reception of all the pleasantness and eternal gentleness.
Moreover, each Kli whose deficiencies had been the greatest has now become the most important. In other words, the measure that they reveal is the greatest. It is so much so that if he had a Kli in his body that had no deficiencies, it has now become seemingly redundant, for it does not serve him in any way. It is like a vessel of wood or clay: the greater its deficiency, meaning its carving, the greater its capacity and the greater its importance.
And this applies in the upper worlds, as well, since no revelation is dispensed upon the worlds except through concealed discernments. And by the measure of concealment in a degree, so is the measure of revelations in it, which is given to the world. If there is no concealment in it, it cannot bestow a thing.
This is the meaning of the Vav in the name, HaVaYaH. It is ZA, whose Mochin are always in covered Hassadim and are concealed from the illumination of Hochma. This is why it will reveal the complete redemption, as it is written, “The Vav will raise the Hey.” This is so because the measure of concealment and covering in it will determine the measure of its revealing in the future. And the bottom Hey of HaVaYaH, the Nukva, where the Hassadim appear, and all the discernments of disclosure of Hochma in the worlds come only from her. And since there is no concealment in her, she cannot reveal what is concealed, meaning redemption. And although there are other concealments in the Nukva, they are nonetheless insufficient for this great disclosure of the complete redemption, since by the measure of this revelation, so must be the measure of the concealment.
The Darkness before Redemption
Beresheet [Genesis]
308) As they were walking, they saw that the dawn has paled and then the light rose. Rabbi Hizkiya said to Rabbi Yosi, “Come and I will show you that so is Israel’s redemption: When the sun of redemption shines for them, trouble after trouble will come upon them, and darkness after darkness. And when the light of the Creator shines upon them, as it is said, ‘His going forth is as sure as the dawn,’ it is written, ‘But the sun or righteousness will rise for you who fear My name, with healing in its wings.’”
309) At that time, wars will awaken in the world—nation against nation, and city against city—and many troubles will surface over the enemies of Israel until their faces are darkened like the sides of a caldron. After that, their redemption will appear over them out of the roar of their pressure and stress.
BEIT LECHEM [BETHLEHEM]
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
87) And why is this holy place called “bread,” since the writing says that Ephrat is Beit Lechem [House of Bread]? This is because it is from the name of the Creator, for they will die there in fighting for His name, “The hand upon the throne of Koh [ Yod- Hey]: the Lord will have war against Amalek.” This means that they will die there to complement the name Yod- Hey. This is so because the name is not complete with HaVaYaH until the memory of Amalek is blotted out, and this is why the war is to complement the name Yod- Hey with Vav- Hey. This is why the name is called Lechem, from the word Milchamah [war], since he fought in exile because he came to complement the name of the Creator.
With The Zohar, We Will Come Out of Exile
Nasso [Take]
89) Such as that will be done, testing Israel in the last exile, as it is written, “Many will be purged, purified and refined,” which are from the side of the good, enduring the trial. “But the wicked will act wickedly,” from the side of the evil, and the verse, “Nor will they enter the land of Israel,” will come true in them, and he kills them.
Bina, the tree of life. It was for them that The Book of Zohar said, “And the wise will shine like the radiance of the firmament,” from the radiance of Upper Ima, who is called, “repentance.” These do not require testing, and because Israel are destined to taste of the tree of life, which is this Book of Zohar, they will be delivered from the exile with mercy through it.