Daily Zohar # 3897 – Tzav – How to achieve freedom and peace forever
Daily Zohar 3897
Hebrew translation:
143. וְתַנָּאִים וְאָמוֹרָאִים, אִם תֹּאמְרוּ, וְכִי עַם הָאָרֶץ מִנַּיִן יוֹדֵעַ אֶת זֶה? אֶלָּא וַדַּאי עַם הָאָרֶץ הוּא כְּמוֹ שׁוֹר אוֹ שֶׂה אוֹ עֵז אוֹ (פַּר) תוֹר אוֹ יוֹנָה. מַה בְּהֵמוֹת אֵין יוֹדְעוֹת תּוֹרָה, שֶׁהִיא שֵׁם יְהֹוָ”ה, כָּךְ עַם הָאָרֶץ לֹא יוֹדֵעַ. אֶלָּא מִיכָאֵל כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל הוּא עוֹשֶׂה אוֹתוֹ עוֹלָה וְקָרְבָּן לִפְנֵי ה’, וְהוּא מְכַוֵּן בַּשֵּׁם הַמְפֹרָשׁ בַּעֲלִיַּת רוּחוֹ שֶׁתֵּצֵא בְּלֵב אֶחָד, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכְּשֶׁיּוֹצֵאת רוּחַ הָאָדָם בְּכָל לַיְלָה.
144. וּמִשּׁוּם זֶה פֵּרְשׁוּהָ הַחֲכָמִים, שׁוּב יוֹם אֶחָד לִפְנֵי מִיתָתְךָ. שֶׁבְּכָל יוֹם וָיוֹם צָרִיךְ אָדָם לַחֲזֹר בִּתְשׁוּבָה וְלִמְסֹר אֶת רוּחוֹ אֵלָיו שֶׁיֵּצֵא בְאֶחָד. זֶהוּ שֶׁכָּתוּב (תהלים לא) בְּיָדְךָ אַפְקִיד רוּחִי.
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Zohar Tzav
Continued from previous DZ
#142
When he is at the word אחד (Echad, One) of the Shema Israel, he meditates to say a confession and accept his death in his heart. This is a unification of Malchut (his heart) and Zeir Anpin (יוד-הא-ואו-הא). With the glory of this name, the priests bend and bow their face down, saying “בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד” “Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto L’olam Vaed” “Blessed be the glory of his majesty forever and ever.”
The word “glory” “כבוד” has the numerical value of 32, same as for the word ‘Heart’ ‘לב.’ With his heart and the glory of the name, he meditates to complete the unification of Malchut and YHVH.
#143
He asks how a simple man could know all these meditations, and he answers that a simple man is like a bull, a lamb, a goat, a turtledove, or a pigeon sacrificed on the altar. The same way the animals do not know Torah, so it is with a simple man that doesn’t learn Torah, which is the aspect of the Holy Name.
The angel Michael, who acts as the high priest, brings the sacrifice before YHVH. He makes the meditation of the Holy Name, and the soul of the person leaves the body as it leaves every night.
#144
The sages said to make Teshuva one day before our death. For that reason, a person must repent every day and give his soul to the Holy One when he makes the unification of the Shema at the word ‘אחד’ ‘One’ as it is written;
Psalm 31:6
“בְּיָדְךָ אַפְקִיד רוּחִי פָּדִיתָה אוֹתִי יְהוָה אֵל אֱמֶת.”
“Into Your hand, I commit my soul; You have redeemed me, O YHVH God of truth.”
Lesson;
Saying the verse above before going to sleep would guarantee that the soul returns to us after sleep.
The Hebrew word “אַפְקִיד” translated to ‘commit’ in English, but its literal meaning is “deposit.” We ‘deposit’ our soul into the hands of God.
Since the soul submitted as a deposit into the hands of God of truth, he is trusted to return it.
The sages say that making a will and buying a grave plot is good for long life.
Before we go to sleep at night, we prepare for ‘death’ that we experience during the night sleep. We meditate on forgiving others and asking forgiveness for our negative deeds. Then we recite the Bedtime Shema to unify ‘Echad’ as explained above. We confess to cleanse our souls. Then we make special connections that add protections to the sixty parts of the soul on its ascend. The last words we say are the verse (Psalm 31:6) to deposit our soul in the hand of Hashem.
Following this process gives our soul the daily cleansing and protection that we need. When we wake up, we first thank Hashem for returning the soul to us with mercy.
Death is something that none of us can avoid. At a young age, we think of ourselves as immortal, but in time, the mirror shows us an older person, possibly much wiser but weaker and wrinkler.
Preparing for our last moment is a connection to freedom and peace in this life. When we do the right thing every day, we care less about the time of death because we prepare for it every night.
We need to remember that the Torah instructs us to maintain robust health, so we must keep doing good deeds every day, even if we go through hardships and pain.
Achieving freedom of the soul is done by accepting the ways of the Torah. Following the Torah takes away the freedom to choose the bad things in life and reach levels of peace that free us from worries. We can achieve immortality if we are ready to deposit our souls in the hand of Hashem. We deposit the soul every night, and when we make the final unification and deposit at the time of death, we still trust Hashem to return the soul to us at the time of the Resurrection. At that time, we will wake up not just for one day but for a thousand years.
Psalm 90:4
“כִּי אֶלֶף שָׁנִים בְּעֵינֶיךָ כְּיוֹם אֶתְמוֹל כִּי יַעֲבֹר וְאַשְׁמוּרָה בַלָּיְלָה.”
“A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.”
Proverbs 3:18
“עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה ותומכיה מאושר:
“The Torah is Tree of Life is for those who cling to her, and her supporters are blessed.”
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