Daily Zohar # 5020 – Vayeshev – The chain of life

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Hebrew translation:

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Zohar Vayeshev
Continued from previous DZ
#174
And this is what we have learned: In the future, the righteous will have sons after their death. That is, the sons of the yibum (levirate marriage) who rectify him who died without children and has no brother, as mentioned above. In their lives, they did not merit, and in their death, they merited. And therefore all the deeds of the Holy One, blessed be He, are all truth and righteousness, and He has mercy on all. That is, even on one who has no brother.
And one should not ask, “What does this teach us?” For all who die without children, so that they have sons after their death through yibum. Instead, the main novelty is here in what it says “to the righteous,” for those who die without children are those of lack and not righteous ones.
Notes:
Righteous childless men merit sons through yibum after death, showcasing God’s merciful justice for the Tzaddik.
#175
He opened and said: “טוֹבִים הַשְּׁנַיִם מִן הָאֶחָד”, “Two are better than one” (Ecclesiastes 4:9). These are those who strive in this world to have children. For these children, they left; for them, there is a good reward in this world, and for them, their fathers inherit a portion in the world to come.
Notes:
Striving to have children brings reward in this world and inheritance in the next for parent and child, making “two better than one.”
#176
Come and see: The Holy One, blessed be He, plants trees in this world; if they succeed, good; if they do not succeed, He uproots them and plants them in another place, even many times. And therefore all the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He, are all for good and to rectify the world.
The meaning is: If a person does not merit to be perfected in his first life, he comes in gilgul in this world a second time, and so many times until he is perfected.
Notes:
The Zohar uses the metaphor of God planting and replanting trees to explain gilgul (reincarnation). Just as God persistently rectifies trees until they thrive, souls return in new lives until they achieve tikkun (perfection). This reflects divine mercy in the rectification process, ensuring ultimate growth.
#177
“בֹּא אֶל אֵשֶׁת אָחִיךָ”, “Go to your brother’s wife” (Deuteronomy 25:5), etc. It should not have been necessary to say this to him, for Judah and all the tribes knew this. Rather, the main matter he said to him was: “וְהָקֵם זֶרַע לְאָחִיךָ”, “and raise up seed for your brother” (Deuteronomy 25:7), because that seed was needed so that the matter would be rectified, and to prepare a body that would receive rectification as proper, so that the branch would not be separated from its root. And this is the meaning of “וְאֶל עֲפָר תָּשׁוּב”, “For dust you are and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).
The meaning is: Even though death is decreed upon man, which separates him from his eternal exalted root, nevertheless, he is not completely separated. For through the sons that each one begets, every person remains attached to his eternal exalted root, because every son is a part of the father’s body. And in this way, every person is like one ring in the chain of life, which begins with Adam and continues until the time of the Mashiach, the Resurrection, and eternity, without interruption. And as long as the chain of life is not broken for a person, because he leaves behind a son, death does not cause any separation from eternity. And it is as if he is still alive.
And this is what they said: “The branch is not separated from its root,” because the one who dies without children needs rectification so that he will not be separated from his eternal root because of death without children, for the chain of life is broken for him, as mentioned above. And for this, there are two rectifications needed: One, to rectify the matter of separation that rests upon him because of death without children. 2. A body must be made in which the soul of the dead will be clothed and return and reconnect to the chain of life.
Notes:
The levirate marriage (yibum) ensures the deceased’s soul remains linked to the eternal chain of life from Adam to Mashiach. Two rectifications are needed: repairing the separation of death and creating a body for the soul’s return.

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