Daily Zohar # 4731 – Vayeshev – Why Hashem ‘hurts’ us
Daily Zohar 4731
Hebrew translation:
163. בֹּא רְאֵה, אַף עַל גַּב שֶׁאָדָם מִשְׁתַּדֵּל בַּתּוֹרָה יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה וּמְקוֹרוֹ וּמַעְיָנוֹ עוֹמֵד בּוֹ לְחִנָּם, אֵין לוֹ מָקוֹם לְהִכָּנֵס לַפַּרְגּוֹד. וַהֲרֵי נֶאֱמַר שֶׁבְּאֵר הַמַּיִם, אִם לֹא נִכְנָס בָּהּ אוֹתוֹ הַמָּקוֹר וְהַמַּעְיָן, אֵינָהּ בְּאֵר, שֶׁהַבְּאֵר וְהַמָּקוֹר הֵם יַחַד וְהֵם סוֹד אֶחָד, וּבֵאַרְנוּ.
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Zohar Vayeshev
Continued from previous DZ
#162
Isaiah 53:10
“וַה’ חָפֵץ דַּכְּאוֹ הֶחֱלִי אִם תָּשִׂים אָשָׁם נַפְשׁוֹ יִרְאֶה זֶרַע יַאֲרִיךְ יָמִים וְחֵפֶץ ה’ בְּיָדוֹ יִצְלָח”
“Yet it pleased Hashem to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of Hashem shall prosper in His hand.”
Come and see, regarding that body, what is written: ‘וַה’ חָפֵץ דַּכְּאוֹ הֶחֱלִי אִם תָּשִׂים אָשָׁם’—’ Yet it pleased Hashem to crush him, He made him ill; if his soul would offer itself as a guilt-offering’ (Isaiah 53:10).
‘Hashem desired to crush him’—this verse requires contemplation. Why would Hashem desire this? The answer is: To purify him.
Regarding ‘If his soul would offer itself as a guilt-offering,’ it asks: Why is the word ‘תָּשִׂים’ (you place) in the feminine form when it should be in the masculine? The answer is that this word refers to the soul. Its meaning is: If the soul seeks to be appropriately rectified, it will ‘יִרְאֶה זֶרַע’ ‘see seed,’ as the verse states.
This implies that the soul moves and roams, lacking a place of rest, until it enters that seed—meaning the children—that a person fulfills through the mitzvah of ‘Be fruitful and multiply.’ When this occurs, the soul will ‘prolong its days,’ achieving its rectification.
‘Hashem desired’—this refers to the Torah. ‘Through his hand, it will succeed,’ meaning that if a person has merited having children, the Torah assists him. But if he did not merit having children, the Torah does not aid him, as explained earlier.
#163
Come and see, even though a person engages in Torah study day and night, if his source and spring are barren—meaning he does not bring forth children—he has no place to enter the domain of the Holy One, Blessed be He. We have learned that a well of water, if its source and spring do not flow into it, is not considered a well, for the well and the source are one, representing one secret.
This has been explained: one who has no children is as though his source does not flow into him, meaning it is not active within him.
Notes:
The Zohar emphasizes the essential connection between spiritual engagement (Torah study) and physical procreation. It compares a person who has no children to a well that lacks an active spring, signifying a lack of completeness or fulfillment. The teaching highlights that the spiritual and physical dimensions are intertwined, and both are necessary to achieve a holistic connection with the Divine.
The act of bearing children is likened to a vital flow from a spring into a well, signifying the union of spiritual and physical vitality essential for one’s completeness in the eyes of the Holy One, Blessed be He.
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