July 27th, 2010
Tikkun 21 – 109
(Continue the subject from Daily Zohar 366,367)
When Jonah avoided the light and the guidance of his Ruach, he caused a disconnection between his soul level of Nefesh and the level of Ruach. It is described in Jonah 1:5 “וְיוֹנָה, יָרַד אֶל-יַרְכְּתֵי הַסְּפִינָה, וַיִּשְׁכַּב, וַיֵּרָדַם”
“Jonah was gone down into the innermost parts of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep”
Jonah fell into darkness when his Ruach left his body. His candle נר, which are the Nefesh and Ruach levels as described previously, was broken and he was left without guidance. When the R ר for Ruach left, the N for Nefesh stayed. The N represents a falling state.
Many of us experience ‘falling’ of the body just before going into sleep. When the soul leaves the body for the night sleep and the body is not ready to let go of it, the separation of the body and soul creates a feeling of falling and a fear of death.
In the book of Lamentation that we read on the ninth of Av we find the same feeling that Jonah experienced when his Light, the Ruach, left him.
Lamentation 1:1 “אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה בָדָד, הָעִיר רַבָּתִי עָם–הָיְתָה, כְּאַלְמָנָה; רַבָּתִי בַגּוֹיִם, שָׂרָתִי בַּמְּדִינוֹת–הָיְתָה, לָמַס”
“How does the city sit solitary that was full of people? How doeshe become as a widow! She that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how does she become tributary!”
Before the destruction of the Holy Temple we enjoyed the guidance and protection of the Light. Without the Holy Temple, we fell into darkness and loneliness like a widow, which represents the vessel for us, left without the support of her husband, the light.
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Tags: following guidance, Holy Temple, Jonah 1, Lamentation 1, Nefesh, ruach, tikkun 21
Zion Nefesh 
“Don’t fall in your sleep” can have many meanings. It can also mean that a person shouldn’t give in to temptations even while asleep, and therefore waking up in the mornimg on the same level as before going to sleep.
I once heard tht a person would not do in sleep what they wouldn’t do while awake. Is that actually true? Would anyone know?
Dear Simple Jew,
“I once heard that a person would not do in sleep what they wouldn’t do while awake. Is that actually true? Would anyone know?”
The Baal Shem Tov teaches us that negative thoughts that come to our mind are what we should focus on for our correction. When we clear the impure actions, the impure thoughts won’t come back to us again. This is true for thoughts that comes when our mind is quiet, when we pray the standing silent prayer (Amida), or when we go to sleep.
Dreams are different and are not in the same category.