READING: BETWEEN AFTER MIDNINGHT AND DAWN MONDAY

LESSON MATERIAL

A Man and a Woman, if they are Rewarded the Shechina Is between Them – Selected excerpts from the sources

1. Masechet Sota 17a

Rabbi Akiva explained, A man and a woman, if they are rewarded the Shechina is between them. If they are not rewarded, fire consumes them.

2. RABASH, Article No. 240, “Discernments in States”

“A man and a woman, if they are rewarded, the Shechina [Divinity] is between them.” We should ask, If they are opposite, how can there be peace between them?

It is specifically when one becomes worthy, when he inverts reception into bestowal, called “receiving in order to bestow,” there is peace between them. Otherwise, they are in dispute or that one yields before the other. Yielding is not regarded as love in wholeness, for the one who yields always waits for when he will regain the power of control.

3. BeHaye Ben Asher, Rabeinu BeHaye

“A man and a woman, if they are rewarded, the Shechina is between them.” They are rewarded with greater spiritual wholeness than when they are apart, and naturally, all of their work of the Creator, both in prayer and in the work of observing the commandments, is done with more wholeness.

4. RABASH, Article No. 503. “Partnership”

It is like a partnership, where if each one does his job, everyone is happy, as it is written, “which God has created to do,” for there is nothing without labor.

Hence, the husband toils and brings money, and his wife takes the money and toils with it, buying groceries and cooking, and seeing that the food is tasty, and then both are happy.

If the woman cooks well, her husband will have good appetite and will then have strength to go to work and bring in money. Likewise, if the feet walk and the hands buy and give the food to the brain, the brain has the strength to think.

5. Rabbi Abraham Ben David, Baalei HaNefesh

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” That is, this one is worthy of being dedicated to the man, and the man is dedicated to her. Therefore, a man should love his wife as his own body and respect her more than his own body, have compassion for her and cherish her as one cherishes one of his own organs. And she, too, must respect and love him as herself, for it is from him that she was taken.

6. Zohar for All, VaYechi [Jacob Lived], “And He Blessed Them on That Day”Item 495

The Creator gives additional blessing to a male who has married a woman so she will be blessed by this addition.

7. Midrash Rabbah, Beresheet, 17

There is a story about a Hassid [one who belongs to the Hassidut movement] who was married to a woman but they could not have children. They said, “We are not helping the Creator whatsoever.” He divorced her and married a wicked woman who made him wicked, while she [the former wife] married a wicked man and made him [her new husband] righteous. It follows that everything is from the woman.

8. Zohar for All, Yitro [Jethro], “Thus You Shall Say to the House of Jacob”, Item 269

Any person should speak with another person according to his ways: with a female according to her ways, with a man according to his ways.

9. Zohar for All, New Zohar, Hukat, “The Song of the Well, Items 17-19

When a man marries a woman, he adheres to the Shechina, since before he marries a woman, the Shechina is not on him, for the Shechina is not present in a flawed place. …Therefore, anyone who is without a wife is without good, as it is written, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” And he is without joy, as it is written, “And you will be glad, you and your household.” And he is without blessing, as it is written, “to place blessing in your home.” And without peace, as it is written, “and atoned for himself and for his household.” And without Torah, as it is written, “Have I any help in me, when resource is driven from me?” And without wisdom, as it is written, “A woman’s wisdom built her home.” And without life, as it is written, “See life with a woman you love.” And without favor, as it is written, “He who finds a wife has found good, and obtains favor from the Lord.” And without wealth, as it is written, “Let her husband’s heart trust her, and he will not lack bounty.” And without honor, as it is written, “A gracious woman retains honor.”

A woman of valor, Malchut, is called “fearing the Creator,” as it is written, “The fear of the Lord is pure.” When a man marries a woman, all twelve gates open, to add blessings on his head, since he sits in the bosom of Malchut and is completed such as above.

10. Zohar for All, Beresheet Bet [Genesis 2], “Reconciliation and Receiving Permission”, Item 215

One who connects with his wife should make peace with her and mitigate her with words. If he does not appease her, he will not stay the night with her because their desire must be as one, without coercion.

11. Zohar for All, Kedoshim, “Woe to the land shadowed with buzzing wings,” Items 23-24

Man is called “one” when there are male and female, and he is sanctified in upper sanctity and prepares to be sanctified. When a man is in a coupling of male and female and prepares to be properly sanctified, he is complete and is called “one” without a blemish.

For this reason, one must delight his wife at that time, to prepare her with him in one desire, and they should both prepare for that thing. And when they are together, everything is one in body and soul. They are one in the soul, to adhere to one another in one desire, and they are one in the body, since a man who has not married a woman is like a body that has been divided: He is half a body, and his mate is half a body. When male and female join together, they become one complete body, and it follows that they are one soul and one body, and it follows that the man is one. At that time, the Creator is present in the one, and installs the holy spirit in that one, in the one who is born from them.

Male and Female from One Soul

12. Zohar for All, Lech Lecha [Go Forth], “Like an Apple Tree among the Trees of the Forest”, Items 207-208

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.

Happy is the man who is rewarded with his actions and walks on the path of truth, to unite a soul with a soul for him, male and female, as they were before they descended into the world. But if he is not rewarded, he will not be given his mate.

13. Zohar for All, Beresheet [Genesis 2], “He Created Them Male and Female”, Item 369

Wherever you do not find a male and a female together, the Creator does not make His abode there. There are blessings only in a place where there are male and female, as it is written, “And He blessed them and called their name ‘man’ on the day when they were created.” It is not written, “And He blessed him and called his name ‘man,’” teaching you that he is not called even by the name “man” unless a male and a female are together.

14. Zohar for All, Beresheet [Genesis], “Let the Earth Put Forth Grass”, Item 82

A man is male and female, and only they are called “man.” Malchut in and of herself, when she is not in a coupling with ZA, is not called “man” since she is without a male. Only when she makes a coupling with ZA are both of them called “man,” as it is written, “He created them male and female, and blessed them, and called their name Adam [man], on the day when they were created.” Thus, both together are called “man,” but each one for himself is like half a body, and he is not called “man.”

15. Zohar for All, Lech Lecha [Go Forth], “Like an Apple Tree among the Trees of the Forest”, Items 205-206

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.

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.