Zivug [Coupling]
The Creator Makes Zivugim
Lech Lecha [Go Forth]
346) All the souls that are destined to come into the world stand in Zivugim, Zivugim[Zivugim—plural of Zivug (coupling)] before Him. Each divides into male and female, and when they come into this world, the Creator makes Zivugim, as it is written, “The daughter of so and so with so and so.”
347) What does it mean when it says that the Creator says, “The daughter of so and so with so and so”? After all, it is written, “There is nothing new under the sun,” and all has already been done in the act of creation. Can it be that the matter of Zivugim is a new thing in each Zivug, that there is a need to declare, “The daughter of so and so with so and so”? Indeed, it is written, “There is nothing new under the sun.” However, above the sun there is news. So why does He declare here, “The daughter of so and so with so and so,” if it is said that at the very same time when one is born into the world, his mate is made ready for him?
348) Happy are the righteous, whose souls are crowned before the holy King before they come to the world to clothe in a body. At the time when the Creator elicits the souls to the world, all those spirits and souls consist of male and female, which conjoin.
349) They are given into the hands of that appointee, the emissary, who has been appointed over the impregnation of people, and whose name is “Night.” When they come down to the world and are given into the hands of that appointee, they part from one another. Sometimes, one comes down before the other and descends and clothes in people.
350) When their time to mate arrives, the Creator, who knows the males and females of those spirits and souls, brings them together as they were in the beginning, before they came to the world, and declares about them, “The daughter of so and so with so and so.” And when they unite, they become one body and one soul, and they are right and left, as it should be. The male is the right of the body and the soul, and the female is the left part in them.
For this reason, there is nothing new under the sun. Even though the Creator declares, “The daughter of so and so with so and so,” it is still nothing new but a return to how they were prior to their arrival in the world. And since it is known only to the Creator, He declares them.
351) But we learn that a person is given a mate according to his deeds and ways. Indeed, if his deeds are upright, he is rewarded with uniting with his mate as they were united at the time when they departed from the Creator, before they were clothed in a body.
352) Where will one whose deeds are upright seek his mate? It is written, “One should always sell all that he has and marry the daughter of a wise disciple.” This is so because the wise disciple has the deposit of his Master trusted in his hands, and he will certainly find his mate with him.
353) All those souls that come through reincarnation and have no mate can hurry their mate with mercy by hurrying and taking the mate of another person. The friends commented on that and said, “One does not wed a woman on a festival, but one does sanctify, lest another will come before him with mercy.” They also made a precision about “another,” that the one who incarnated without a mate, it is because he descended and became Achoraim [posterior], who is himself regarded as a Nukva [female]. This is why he has no mate. Hence, this incarnated one is called “another,” to indicate that he comes from Achoraim, and this is why the conduct about him is that he takes the mate of another.
This is why the Zivugim are difficult for the Creator, since because the mating male and female are two parts of one soul and they divided even before they came into the world, why is it said that man’s Zivug before the Creator is difficult? After all, it is only a repetition of something that was done before. However, from what has been explained, that there are incarnated souls that have no mate, who rush and take the mate of another through mercy, then afterwards, if his friend is rewarded through his actions with his mate being given back to him, the Creator must take from one and give to the other. And this is hard for Him—to reject one before the other. And yet, “The ways of the Lord are right,” for certain, and all that the Creator does is good and just.
354) Those who come by reincarnation and have no mate, where will they take their mate? The story of the sons of Benjamin proves that the incarnated souls must hurry with mercy and take their mate from another. This is why the writing says, “Lest another will precede him with mercy.”
355) Certainly, the Zivugim are hard for the Creator because He must take from one and give to the other. Happy are Israel, for the Torah teaches them the ways of the Creator and all the secrets that are hidden and concealed before Him.
356) “The law of the Lord is perfect” because it contains everything. Happy are those who engage in the Torah and do not part from it, for anyone who is separated from the Torah for even an hour, it is as though he has parted from life in the world. And it is written, “For it is your life and the length of your days,” and it is written, “For length of days, and years of life, and peace, will they add to you.”
Craving
Lech Lecha [Go Forth]
205) The female’s craving for the male makes a soul. And also, the male’s craving for the female and his adhesion with her produces a soul, which includes the soul from the craving of the female and takes it. Thus, the craving of the lower one, the female, is included in the craving of the upper one, the male, and the two souls become one, without separation.
206) And then the female contains everything, taking both souls and becoming impregnated by the male in them. The craving of the both of them becomes attached and they become as one. Hence, everything is mingled with each other and when the souls come out, male and female are mingled in them as one.
207) Afterwards, when they descend to the world, the male and female separate from one another; one turns this way and the other turns that way, and later, the Creator mates them. But the key for the Zivug is given to none other than the Creator, for only He knows how to mate them, to unite them properly so they become male and female of the same soul.
One—the Complete Zivug
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
101) How does the word, “one,” indicate the complete Zivug? It is written, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” “One” is the assembly of Israel united with the Creator, ZA. The Zivug of male and female is called “one,” since a place where the Nukva is present is called “one,” for a male without a female is called “a half body,” and a half is not one. But when two half bodies unite, they become one body and they are called “one.”
Envy, Lust, Love
Noah
154) The awakening of the male to the female is when he envies for her. When there is a righteous in the world, Divinity does not depart from him and her desire is for him. At that time, the upper lust, from Zeir Anpin, is awakened toward her with love, as a male’s lust toward the female when he envies for her, as it is written, “And I will set up My covenant with you.” That is, the lust has awakened in Me because of you, as it is written, “And I will establish My covenant with Isaac,” for it is because of Isaac, as with Noah.
Everything is extended to the world through the Nukva, whether corrections or corruptions, as it is written, “And His kingdom rules over all.” When bestowal is corrected, it extends from a Zivug of Zeir Anpin and Nukva. When bestowal is corrupted, it extends from Zivug Zeir Anpin and Nukva of Tuma’a [impurity], which are called “another god,” which clings to Nukva de Zeir Anpin and draws toward it the abundance of Kedusha [holiness], turning it into Tuma’a and corruptions. This is the envy that Zeir Anpin envies for the Nukva, so another god will not cling to her.
And when there is a righteous in the world, due to the great desire of the Nukva to bestow upon the righteous, she stays far from another god and the love of Zeir Anpin to mate with Divinity, to bestow upon the righteous, grows extensively, as the love of a man for his wife grows when he is envious for her and fears that she will hide with another. Similarly, Zeir Anpin was afraid that she would cling to bestow upon another god.
I Washed My Legs
New Zohar, Beresheet [Genesis]
107) When the Creator confers with the Malchut and Israel are unfit to be a wick unto her, to shine, when they are unfit to raise MAN for the Zivug of Zeir Anpin and Malchut, it is written, “I have taken off my gown, how can I wear it again? I have washed my feet, how can I dirty them again?”
“I have taken off my gown” are the monikers, which are Netzah and Hod, the garments. When they all join, they are regarded as the Creator’s gown. When He confers with her, He is devoid of all those garments so as to bond with her. This is why the Creator said, “I have taken off my gown,” to be corrected and ready to benefit you, and you are not properly corrected. Now, “How can I wear it again,” how shall I put these garments back on, for they illuminate only in Achoraim, from afar, and by that I will depart from you once more?
108) “I have washed my feet, how can I dirty them again?” I have washed My feet from that filth. And what is it? When I was set up and made for you, I moved the other side, the impure one, from before My feet. Now, how shall I put that filth back on, covering the Temple, since you are not ready with your corrections to be corrected toward Me? We learn from this that when the spirit of impurity passes from the world, everything grows from above and below. For this reason, “I have washed my feet, how can I dirty them again,” as before?
When wishing to repel the Sitra Achra and correct the Malchut into being worthy of a Zivug with Zeir Anpin, an obstacle must be placed before the Sitra Achra, as it is written, “I will put hooks in your cheeks.” That is, first it is given a grip unto Kedusha [holiness], and by that it is later failed completely.
This is the meaning of what is written, “I have washed My feet from that filth,” when I was being corrected and made ready for you, meaning when Malchut was corrected into being fit for a Zivug. “I moved the other side, the impure one, from before My feet,” by first giving it a grip unto Kedusha, by which He later failed him and removed him completely. “Now, how shall I put that filth back on, covering the Temple,” should she drift away from Him again, and I will have to correct it once again. Thus, I will have to give the Sitra Achra a grip on the Temple once again in order to fail it, since that prior gripping is considered the dirtying of the feet.
As an Apple Tree among the Trees of the Wood
Aharei Mot [After the Death]
317) “As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men.” How fond is the Creator of the Assembly of Israel, for she praises Him with this verse. And why does she praise Him with an apple and not with something else, or with something that has color or fragrance or flavor?
318) Because it writes an apple, it follows that she praises Him with everything: colors, fragrance, and flavor. This is so because as an apple is a cure for everything, the Creator is the cure for everything. As the apple is colorful, for there are white, red, and green in it, the Creator has the upper colors, Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, which are white, red, and green. As an apple has a finer scent than all other trees, the Creator smells like the Lebanon. As an apple is tasty and sweet, the Creator is sweet to the palate.