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

READING: SUNSET MONDAY

Main Reading for PRAYER OF MANY, today with ENGLISH ZOHAR READING, page 149.

ARVUT OF : Robin Anderson

Each Upper Partzuf is considered the Creator of its adjacent lower Partzuf,
for the latter originates (born) from it. Therefore, in relation to all the creatures,
Zeir Anpin of the world of Atzilut is considered and called “the Creator,”
our Creator.
And, like the Tav, the letter Shin is called “truth” and “the Creator’s seal,”
for a seal signifies the end of a spiritual object—Partzuf, like a seal fixed at the
end of a letter, written in the name of the Creator. The Creator’s seal is similar
to Himself; this is why the seal is called the mark of truth, for only the presence
of a seal gives a letter the force of truth, and confirms the truthfulness
of its content.
However, the significance of the letter Shin is greater than that of the letter
Tav, for Shin is the first letter of the word Shadday, one of the Creator’s namesproperties,
designating His power, by which He said “Dai” (enough) to creation—
stop and do not descend further (Talmud, Hagigah, 12)—do not descend below
the letter Shin.
This reveals that the world and its inhabitants can only exist with the help
of the letter Shin, thanks to its property that restricts the diffusion of Light.
The Creator said: “Stop, Creature, at the letter Shin, and do not spread to the
letter Tav,” for if the Light had spread to Tav, the impure forces would have
received such great strength that man would have no hope of escaping them and
reaching altruistic properties. This is why the ending point of Shin is called “the
central point of existence.”
Therefore, after the letter Shin saw the Creator refuse the letter Tav, precisely
because ending the diffusion of Light with Tav creates conditions for correction
of the world that are too difficult for man to meet, the letter Shin claimed that
its property of Shadday is suitable for the creation of the world, and was certain
that the Creator would choose it—its properties—as the basis of creation, for
it possesses all the advantages that Tav lacked, which was the reason for the
Creator’s refusal.
And it has Tav’s advantage, as well: it is the Creator’s seal—truth. Moreover,
it has an additional advantage: it is called by the name Shadday, the new ending
of Malchut for the inhabitants of the world, instead of the ending by the property
of the letter Tav. Based on all that, the letter Shin found the strength and courage
to appear before the Creator with the proposition to create the world with it.
But the Creator answered that precisely because of Shin’s additional
advantages compared to those of the letter Tav, the impure forces opposite it
are strengthened. For opposite each letter (spiritually pure forces or properties)
there is an opposing impure force (egoistic desire), as it is written: “The Creator
had made one opposite the other” (Kohelet, 7:14).