Daily Zohar # 4927 – Beresheet – They heard the voice of Hashem

Show DZ reading video

Hebrew translation:

.

Zohar Beresheet
Continued from previous DZ
#290
The verse’ וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶת־קוֹל ה’ אֱלֹקִים מִתְהַלֵּךְ’—’ And they heard the voice of Hashem Elokim walking’ (Genesis 3:8) alludes to Israel when they approached the receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. This is what is meant by, ‘הַשָּׁמַע עָם קוֹל אֱלֹקִים מְדַבֵּר מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ כָּמוֹךָ וַיֶּחִי’—’ Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire as you have and lived?’ (Deuteronomy 4:33). It derives a gezerah shavah (גזרה שוה, a method of interpretation) from the word ‘hearing’ (שמיעה). But the erev rav could not bear to hear the voice of God and died, and those of the erev rav who remained, who did not die, said afterward to Moses, ‘וְאַל־יְדַבֵּר עִמָּנוּ אֱלֹקִים פֶּן־נָמוּת’—’Let not God speak with us, lest we die’ (Exodus 20:19). They caused forgetfulness in the Torah by inciting Israel to sin with the Golden Calf.
The erev rav are those ignorant people, of whom it is said, ‘אָרוּר שֹׁכֵב עִם כָּל־בְּהֵמָה’—’ Cursed is the one who lies with any beast’ (Deuteronomy 27:21), because they are from the side of that Snake (serpent), of which it is said, ‘אָרוּר אַתָּה מִכָּל־הַבְּהֵמָה’—’ Cursed are you above all beasts’ (Genesis 3:14).
Notes:
The verse “And they heard the voice of Hashem Elokim walking” (Genesis 3:8) is linked to Israel’s hearing of God’s voice at Mount Sinai, as described in Deuteronomy 4:33, “Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire as you have and lived?” The Zohar uses a rabbinic interpretation method based on shared words (here שמיעה, “hearing”) to connect the two events. At Sinai, Israel’s ability to hear God’s voice and survive reflects their spiritual readiness to receive the Torah, aligning with Malchut’s role as the receptacle of Hashem’s revelation.
The gezerah shavah of שמיעה, ‘hearing’, highlights the transformative power of Torah study and mitzvot (like reciting the שמע Shema prayer, discussed previously as a “sword” against the klipot). Israel’s ability to hear God’s voice reflects their role in rectifying Malchut, while the erev rav’s failure reinforces their identity as forces of separation.

#291
And behold, there are several evil mixtures among Israel, called beasts (בְּהֵמוֹת) and wild animals (חַיּוֹת). There is a mixture from the side of the Snake, and there is a mixture from the side of the nations of the world, the idol-worshippers, who are likened to the beasts and wild animals of the field. There is an erev rav from the side of the destroyers (מַזִּיקִים), which are the souls of the wicked, for the souls of the wicked are truly the destroyers of the world. And there is an erev rav of demons (שֵׁדִים), spirits (רוּחוֹת), and lilin (לִילִין, night spirits), and all of them are intermingled among Israel. None among them is as cursed as Amalek, who is the evil serpent, and the ‘other god’ (אֵל אַחֵר). He is the one who reveals all the nakedness in the world, meaning he is the root of the klipah that brings about the revelation of illicit relations (גִלּוּי עֲרָיוֹת) in the world. He is a murderer, from whom murder is drawn into the world, and his mate is the poison of death of idolatry. Thus, the three severe transgressions—illicit relations, bloodshed, and idolatry—are drawn from the klipah of Amalek, who is the serpent and the ‘other god.’ All of them are aspects of Sama-l, and there are many aspects of Sama-l, but not all are equal. However, this Sama-l, who is from the side of the serpent, is the most cursed of them all.
Notes:
This passage notes that there are many aspects of Sama-l, but the one tied to the serpent is the most cursed, as it embodies the root of all klipot.

{||}