Daily Zohar # 1696 – Miketz – Love your ‘gifts’ and hate gifts
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Hebrew translation:
14. דָּבָר אַחֵר, מֶלֶךְ בְּמִשְׁפָּט יַעֲמִיד אָרֶץ – זֶה דָּוִד הַמֶּלֶךְ, שֶׁכָּתוּב (שמואל-ב ח) וַיְהִי דָוִד עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה לְכָל עַמּוֹ, וְהוּא קִיֵּם אֶת הָאָרֶץ, וּבִזְכוּתוֹ עָמְדָה לְאַחַר מִכֵּן. וְאִישׁ תְּרוּמוֹת יֶהֶרְסֶנָּה – זֶה רְחַבְעָם.
15. בֹּא רְאֵה, הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, בִּשְׁבִיל הַצַּדִּיקִים, אַף עַל גַּב שֶׁפֻּרְעָנוּת נִגְזְרָה עַל הָעוֹלָם, הִיא מִתְעַכֶּבֶת בִּגְלָלָם וְלֹא שׁוֹלֶטֶת עַל הָעוֹלָם. כָּל יְמֵי דָוִד הַמֶּלֶךְ הִתְקַיְּמָה הָאָרֶץ בִּגְלָלוֹ. לְאַחַר שֶׁמֵּת, הִתְקַיְּמָה בִּזְכוּתוֹ, שֶׁכָּתוּב (מלכים-ב כ) וְגַנּוֹתִי עַל הָעִיר הַזֹּאת לְהוֹשִׁיעָהּ לְמַעֲנִי וּלְמַעַן דָּוִד עַבְדִּי. כְּמוֹ כֵן כָּל יְמֵי יַעֲקֹב וְכָל יְמֵי יוֹסֵף לֹא שָׁלְטָה הַפֻּרְעָנוּת בָּעוֹלָם.
16. בֹּא רְאֵה, מֶלֶךְ בְּמִשְׁפָּט יַעֲמִיד אָרֶץ – זֶה יוֹסֵף. וְאִישׁ תְּרוּמוֹת יֶהֶרְסֶנָּה – זֶה פַּרְעֹה, שֶׁהֲרֵי מִשּׁוּם שֶׁהִקְשָׁה אֶת לִבּוֹ לַקָּדוֹשׁ-בָּרוּךְ-הוּא, הֶחֱרִיב אֶת אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם. וּבָרִאשׁוֹנָה עַל יְדֵי יוֹסֵף הִתְקַיְּמָה הָאָרֶץ, בְּאוֹתוֹ הַחֲלוֹם שֶׁחָלַם, שֶׁכָּתוּב וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ שְׁנָתַיִם יָמִים וְגוֹ’.
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Zohar Miketz
Proverb 29:4
“מֶלֶךְ–בְּמִשְׁפָּט, יַעֲמִיד אָרֶץ; וְאִישׁ תְּרוּמוֹת יֶהֶרְסֶנָּה”
“By justice a king builds up the land, but he who expects gifts tears it down.”
The Zohar explains that ‘the King’ is Joseph, who was second to Pharaoh. ‘Justice’ is Jacob because the central column is called ‘Justice’ for its balance. ‘builds the land’ is Jacob that when he came down to Egypt the famine stopped. During the life of Joseph and Jacob there was no chaos in the world.
Another aspect of ‘The King’ is David, the one who ‘builds the Land’.
2 Samuel 8:15
“וַיִּמְלֹךְ דָּוִד, עַל-כָּל-יִשְׂרָאֵל; וַיְהִי דָוִד, עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה–לְכָל-עַמּוֹ”
“So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered justice and righteousness for all his people.”
‘he who expects gifts tears it down’ is his grandson, Rehoboam, that with his great selfish desires destroyed and tore the kingdom apart, letting the Assyrians come and easily scatter the 10 tribes throughout the world.
‘he who expects gifts’ is the aspect of those who claim ‘entitlements’. They expect God to follow and abide by their desires. Pharaoh was the one that tore down his kingdom. He didn’t accept the existence of YHVH and his heart was hardened. Because of that he brought destruction and end to the control of Egypt over the world.
Lesson: God’s ‘gifts’ must be earned. They will come if we have the merit for them. Many of us expect God to fulfill our wishes and desires because we did something positive. We can’t tell how much we destroyed in previous lives. We can pray, beg, cry and ask for free gifts but we can never demand as if we are entitled to any kind of fulfillment. No matter how easy or hard is our lives, we should focus on building ourselves and others until our last breath.
Proverbs 15:27
“עֹכֵר בֵּיתוֹ, בּוֹצֵעַ בָּצַע; וְשׂוֹנֵא מַתָּנֹת יִחְיֶה”
“The greedy bring ruin to their households, but the one who hates gifts will live.”
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