Daily Zohar # 5183 – Vayikra – Ayelet ha-Shahar

Hebrew translation:

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Zohar Vayikra
Continued from previous DZ
#367
Rabbi Chiya opened and said: “לַמְנַצֵּחַ עַל אַיֶּלֶת הַשַּׁחַר מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד” “For the leader, upon Ayeleth ha-Shahar, a psalm of David” (Psalms 22:1). Who is “Ayeleth ha-Shahar”? This is Knesset Yisrael, who is called “Ayeleth Ahavim” and “Ya’alat Chen” (the loving doe and the graceful roe).
He asks: And is it Ayeleth ha-Shahar? She, Malchut, and not all the day?
And he answers: Rather, the meaning is “Ayeleth” from that place called “Ayeleth Ahavim and Ya’alat Chen,” and she comes from the place called “Shahar” (dawn), as it is said: “כְּשַׁחַר נָכוֹן מוֹצָאוֹ” “as the dawn, His going forth is sure” (Hosea 6:3). That is Chessed. And King David said this concerning Knesset Yisrael, for this is the meaning from the fact that it is written “upon Ayeleth ha-Shahar” — that she is Malchut at the time she is clothed in Chessed.
Notes:
The Zohar interprets the superscription of Psalm 22, “upon Ayelet ha-Shahar” (the hind of the dawn), as referring to Knesset Yisrael / Malchut. She is called the loving doe and graceful roe. The phrase “ha-Shahar” (the dawn) alludes to Chessed, the attribute of loving-kindness. When Malchut is clothed in Chessed, she is in her state of “Ayeleth ha-Shahar.”
David’s psalm thus speaks of the Shekhinah in her illuminated, merciful aspect. This connects to the themes of exile and redemption, where Malchut yearns for union and is eventually clothed in the light of Chessed. The teaching shows how biblical titles for Malchut reveal her different states of revelation and concealment.

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