📕 TUESDAY PRAYER: BINAH-MAIN READING OF THE WEEK – THE ZOHAR BOOK

READING: SUNSET MONDAY

Main Reading for PRAYER OF MANY, today with ENGLISH ZOHAR READING, page 233

ARVUT OF : Robin Anderson

In the spiritual worlds, the donkey driver constitutes a special spiritual force
that helps the souls of the righteous move from one spiritual degree to another.
Without this help sent by the Creator from Above, it is impossible to exit your
degree and ascend to the next. Hence, the Creator sends a Higher soul from
Above to each of the righteous (those who wish to ascend). Each receives his
own, according to his degree, properties, and purpose.
And so, at first the righteous fails to recognize this exalted soul; he
considers it low, that it leeched onto him on his spiritual path. Such state
is called Ibur—conception of the righteous’ soul. Since the Higher soul has
not yet completed its assistance and purpose, it is not yet perceived by the
righteous for what it really is.
However, after it completes its task in its entirety, and brings the righteous’
soul to the Upper Degree for which it is intended, the righteous then reveals
the exalted properties of the soul that helped him. This is referred to as the
revelation of the soul to the righteous.
In our case, the soul that was sent to help the souls of Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi
Aba was the soul of Rabbi Hamnuna-Saba—a very exalted and perfect soul, the
Light of Yechida. Yet, initially, it is revealed to the righteous in its smallest scope,
called Ibur, conception (in sensations). Hence, they perceive it as the level of a
spiritual donkey driver—a simple soul.
The Hebrew word for donkey is Hamor, which also means matter, Homer!
Thus, one who can control his donkey, his body, his desires, ascends above matter
as a spiritual being. And since he wishes to ascend above matter in his desires, he
is considered a righteous. However, here, The Zohar speaks of Higher Degrees.
The donkey driver’s task is to take the riders, mounted atop of their donkeys,
from place to place; yet, he walks in front of his donkeys, thereby leading them
through spiritual degrees. Since every word in the Torah has several meanings,
due to the multiplicity of the Upper Roots (wherefrom word notions descend),
the notion of a “donkey driver” is more precisely referred to as a “donkey guide,”
and implies properties that are coarse, sinful, and most base.
Therefore, Rabbi Aba said: “Let us open the gates of the Torah, for the time
has come for us to correct our path,” that is, to open their souls with the help
of the secrets of the Torah, so their path would be correct and lead them to
the Creator. Rabbi Elazar then began to discuss a passage from the Torah that
says, “You shall observe my Shabbatot,” as he stood at this degree (the Light of
YESHSUT) in his properties. He therefore concluded that Shabbat itself is the
property of ZON, which has not yet reached the property of sanctity, but only
receives the Light of YESHSUT on Shabbat. It is written about this Light, “You
shall fear my sanctity,” for when Ohr Hochma passes from YESHSUT to ZA, it
evokes fear in them.