READING: BETWEEN AFTER MIDNIGHT AND DAWN THURSDAY

Righteous and Wickeds – Selected Excerpts from Zohar for All

Righteous and Wickeds – Selected Excerpts from Zohar for All

1. Zohar for All, Truma [Donation], “And They Shall Take a Donation for Me”, Item 39

When we see that man’s will is to chase and to exert after the Creator with his heart, soul, and will, we know for certain that Divinity is present there. Then we need to buy that man for the full cost, bond with him and learn from him. We learn about that, “And buy yourself a friend.” He should be bought for the full price to be rewarded with the Divinity that is in him. This is how far we must chase a righteous man and buy him.

2. Zohar for All, Toldot [Generations], “And There Was a Famine in the Land”, Item 87

The Creator is always meticulous with the righteous in everything that they do because He knows that they will not stray to the right or to the left, and therefore He tries them. But the Creator does not try them for Himself, since He knows their inclination and the power of their faith, and does not need to try them. Rather, He tries them so as to raise their heads through the tries.

3. Zohar for All, Toldot [Generations], “And There Was a Famine in the Land”, Item 86

The Creator does not judge a person according to his bad deeds, which he always does. If He had done so, the world would not be able to exist. Rather, the Creator is patient with the righteous and with the wicked. He is even more patient with the wicked than with the righteous, so they will return in complete repentance and exist in this world and in the next world.

4. Zohar for All, Toldot [Generations], “And There Was a Famine in the Land”, Items 89-90

What is the reason for trying the righteous? It is because the Creator desires the righteous; He desires the soul, not the body, since the soul is like the upper soul, Divinity, and the body is not worthy of uniting with Divinity above. And although the shape of the body is as the upper one, for it extends from Divinity, Malchut, it is still unfit to unite with her.

When the Creator wishes to illuminate a person’s soul, He strikes the body, so the soul will reign. This is so because as long as the soul is equal to the body, the soul cannot govern. And when the body breaks, the soul governs.

5. Zohar for All, Chayei Sarah [The Life of Sarah], “And Abraham Was Old, Advanced in Days”, Items 121-122

Happy are the penitents, for in one hour, in one day, in one moment, they draw near to the Creator. This was not so even for complete righteous, for they drew near to the Creator over several years. Abraham did not enter those high days until he was old. And so was David, as it is written, “Now King David was old and advanced in days.” But a penitent immediately enters and adheres to the Creator.

Where penitents stand, in that world, the complete righteous have no permission to stand, since they are closer to the King than anyone and they draw the abundance from above with more intention in the heart and with greater force to draw near to the King.

6. Zohar for All, VaYeshev (And Jacob Sat), “And Jacob Sat”, Item 11

A righteous one, who fears his Master, how much evil does he suffer in this world so as to not believe and partake with the evil inclination? But the Creator saves him from all of them, as it is written, “Many are the ills of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all.” The text [in Hebrew] does not say, “Many are the ills of the righteous,” but “Many ills, righteous.” Thus, one who suffers many ills is righteous because the Creator wants him. This is so because the ills he suffers remove him from the evil inclination, and for this reason the Creator wants that person and delivers him from them all. And he is happy in this world and in the next world.

7. Zohar for All, VaYeshev, New Zohar, “The Selling of Joseph,” Item 9

When a person approaches the Torah, which is called “good,” as it is written, “The law of Your mouth is good for me,” one approaches the Creator, who is called “good.” At that time, one approaches being righteous, who is called “good.”

When one is righteous, the Shechina [Divinity] is over him, teaching him the upper secrets in ‎the Torah, since the Shechina makes a coupling only with the good, who is a righteous one. ‎And a righteous one and justice, where justice is the Shechina, they go together.‎

8. Zohar for All, Miketz (At the End), “They Brought Him Hastily out of the Dungeon“, Item 53

“He has also set the world in their heart,” for the whole world and all the deeds in the world are connected to holiness only by the desire of the heart, when it comes into man’s will. It is written, “Know this day, and lay it to thy heart.” Happy are the righteous who draw good deeds by the will of their hearts, to do good to themselves and to the entire world. They know how to adhere at a time of peace, when there is a Zivug of the upper one, called “peace.” Also, by the power of righteousness they do below, they raise MAN and extend it into that degree called, “everything,” which is Yesod, to shine in its time, which is the Nukva.

9. Zohar for All, Truma [Donation], “The Righteous are the Face of Divinity”, Item 680

When a person sees the righteous or the ones who are fitting in the generation and meets them, they are certainly the face of Divinity. They are called “the face of Divinity” because Divinity hides within them. Divinity is hidden in them, and they are revealed because those who are close to Divinity are considered her face. And who are those who are close to her? It is them with whom she is established to be seen by the high King, ZA. They are the ones who raise MAN to unite the Creator and His Divinity.

10. Zohar for All, Pinhas, “A Spirit Passes through Him and He Is Gone”, Item 91

Likewise, a man who dwells in a city where there are bad people, and cannot keep the Mitzvot of the Torah, and does not succeed in the Torah, changes his place, uproots himself from there, and strikes root in a place where good people with Torah and with Mitzvot dwell. The Torah is called “a tree,” as it is written, “It is a tree of life for they who hold it.” Also, man is a tree, as it is written, “For man is the tree of the field.” The Mitzvot in the Torah are as fruits. […]

This is why he must uproot himself from that place where there are wicked, for he will not be able to succeed in Torah and Mitzvot there. He should plant himself elsewhere, among righteous, and he will succeed in Torah and Mitzvot.

11. Zohar for All, Pinhas, “The Pulse of the Sick One in Exile in Edom”, Item 111

He never strikes the righteous, except to heal a generation and to atone for their iniquities, for it is the most convenient for the Sitra Achra when the Din [judgment] rules over the righteous, for then he does not mind the world and does not notice them for all his delight from ruling over the righteous. And that righteous, who is tormented for the generation, is rewarded with high governance in this world and in the next world. And if there is a righteous who is happy, it is because the Creator is not concerned with atoning for the world.

12. Zohar for All, Beresheet Bet [Genesis 2], “And He Was Saddened in His Heart”, Items 400-401

When the Creator passes judgment on the wicked of the world, although they sin before the Creator and anger Him all day, He does not want to eradicate them from the world. When He regards their actions, He pardons them for they are the work of His hands, and He is patient with them in the world.

And because they are the work of His hands, He receives comfort and is comforted over them, and He pities them. When He seeks to pass judgment on them He is seemingly saddened. Because they are the work of His hands, He becomes sad over them.

13. Zohar for All, Toldot, “The Meal of the Righteous at the End of Correction,” Item 39

On that day, the Creator is destined to rejoice with the righteous, to place His Shechina [Divinity] with them, and all will rejoice in that joy, as it is written, “The Lord will rejoice in His works.” At that time, the righteous are destined to create worlds and revive the dead. Yet, it is written that there is nothing new under the sun? But while the wicked are in the world and proliferate, the whole world does not exist. When the righteous are in the world, then the world exists.

14. Zohar for All, Miketz [At the End], “They Brought Him Hastily out of the Dungeon”, Item 57

One should never open one’s mouth for evil, for he does not know who receives the word. And when a person does not know, he fails in it. And when the righteous open their mouths, it is all peace.

15. Zohar for All, Toldot, “The Meal of the Righteous in the Future”

The Creator is destined to make a meal for the righteous in the future, as it is written, “And they saw God, and they ate and drank.” This is “nourished,” and this is “enjoying.” The righteous who were not so rewarded, enjoy that brightness, which they will not attain so much. But the righteous who were rewarded are sentenced until they attain complete attainment.