Daily Zohar # 4881 – Acharei Mot – The letter that comes from the infinite

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Hebrew translation:

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Zohar Acharei Mot
Continued from previous DZ
#383
Rabbi Chizkiyah said: Everything operates according to the supernal secret, to teach us that whoever causes blemish below causes blemish above. “עֶרְוַת כַּלָּתְךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה” “The nakedness of your daughter-in-law you shall not uncover.” (Leviticus 18:15) We have learned: The designated time for marital intimacy among Torah scholars is from Shabbat to Shabbat because they know the secret of the matter. They can focus their hearts and align their will properly, and the children they bear are called “children of the King.” But if such individuals cause a blemish below, it is as if they blemish the Supernal Bride — which is Malchut. And in such a case, it is written: “The nakedness of your daughter-in-law you shall not uncover.” This interpretation applies to those who know the ways of the Torah. But for the rest of the people, the interpretation refers to the revealed sense: That is, your actual daughter-in-law, your son’s wife. Yet even with this sin, the Shechinah departs from among them — meaning the higher Bride also withdraws as a consequence of this transgression below.
Notes:
The Zohar teaches that physical transgressions — especially sexual ones — have profound spiritual consequences. For Torah scholars, whose unions have elevated potential, their sanctity or lack thereof affects the union of the Holy King and Queen — Zeir Anpin and Malchut. Even for ordinary people, sins such as uncovering the nakedness of a daughter-in-law cause the withdrawal of the Shechinah, weakening the supernal connection. This passage underscores the responsibility of spiritual awareness — especially for those who engage in sacred studies — and the unity of the upper and lower worlds.
#384
We have learned that the Holy Name is engraved with specific properties through inscribed forms of the twenty-two letters (of the Hebrew alphabet). 
The Yud (י) is present in the Alef (א), and the Alef is in the Yud.
The Yud is in the Bet (ב), and the Bet is in the Yud.
The Yud is in the Dalet (ד), and the Dalet is in the Yud.
The Yud is in the Hei (ה), and the Hei is in the Yud.
The Yud is in the Gimel (ג), and the Gimel is in the Yud.
And so forth — all letters are engraved in the Yud.
And the Yud elevates them — meaning that it elevates all twenty-two letters.
Explanation (Rabbi Ashlag)
This passage reveals a profound Kabbalistic principle: The Yud (י), representing Chokhmah, is the source and root of all twenty-two Hebrew letters, just as Chokhmah is the source of all Creation, as in the verse:  “כֻּלָּם בְּחָכְמָה עָשִׂיתָ” — “All were made with wisdom” (Psalms 104:24). The explanation unfolds as follows: Every Hebrew letter, when written, begins with a dot, symbolized by the Yud (י). This dot represents Chokhmah, the initial spark of Creation or intellectual seed within every form. Then, the letter is drawn and extended, but its root is always the Yud. Therefore, the Yud is said to illuminate and be present in every other letter — Alef, Bet, Gimel, etc. Then, the process reverses: each of those letters is said to be elevated and return to the Yud, showing that everything ultimately reintegrates into Chokhmah. Thus, the Yud becomes the container for all letters — it engravings and collects them back into itself.
Notes:
A Torah scribe, or sofer stam, begins each letter by gently placing the tip of the quill on the parchment to form a small dot, a tiny mark shaped like the Hebrew letter י (Yud). This deliberate act is not merely technical—it has a deep spiritual connection. The Yud, the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, represents the Sefira of Chokhmah, the initial flash of Light in the structure of the Ten Sefirot. It is the seed of Creation, the origin point from which all further expression flows. Chokhmah is the undivided point of pure potential from which all reality emerges, and so too is every letter in the Torah born from a Yud. The scribe begins with this tiny mark and develops the unique form of each letter from it. This process mirrors the metaphysical unfolding of the universe: Chokhmah gives birth to Binah, which then gives structure and detail to what was once just an undifferentiated spark of insight.
The Zohar alludes to this when it says that the Torah was created from the black fire on white fire—a reference to the letters (black fire) forming from an infinite white light (the undifferentiated Divine source). The Yud, in this sense, is the first “black fire,” the point of definition that begins to limit and shape the infinite into a form that can be read, understood, and revealed.
Moreover, the Yud’s shape and modest size carry profound meaning: it is small, humble, and almost hidden, yet it holds within it the power to give rise to all the other letters and thus to the entire Torah and, by extension, the world. As the Talmud teaches (Menachot 29b), even the crowns on the letters of the Torah hold deep secrets—how much more so the foundational point from which they emerge.
In this way, writing the Torah becomes not just a scribal task but a spiritual reenactment of Creation, where the sofer channels divine wisdom (Chokhmah) into physical reality through holy letters. Each letter, word, and scroll is thus a living reflection of the flow of the Sefirot—from the infinite Light of Ein Sof, through Chokhmah, into the revealed world of form and meaning.

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