Daily Zohar # 4926 – Beresheet – He made for Adam and his wife garments

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Hebrew translation:

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Zohar Beresheet
Continued from previous DZ
#288
The verse’ וַתִּפָּקַחְנָה עֵינֵי שְׁנֵיהֶם’—’ And the eyes of both of them were opened’ (Genesis 3:7) also alludes to Israel. Israel knew during the servitude in Egypt that they were naked (ערומים), meaning they were there without the Torah. It is also said of them in the final exile, ‘וְאַתְּ עֵרֹם וְעֶרְיָה’—’ And you are naked and bare’ (Ezekiel 16:7). This means that through the Torah and its commandments (mitzvot), Israel merits garments for their souls. When they were in the exile of Egypt, and likewise in the final exile without the Torah, their souls are necessarily naked (ערומים), without garments. Job said, for this reason, ‘naked’ (עָרוֹם) twice, referring to the two exiles, as it is written, ‘עָרוֹם יָצָאתִי מִבֶּטֶן אִמִּי וְעָרוֹם אָשׁוּב שָׁמָּה’—’Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there’ (Job 1:21). ‘Naked I came’ alludes to the exile of Egypt, and ‘naked I will return there’ alludes to the final exile. What was there (שָׁמָּה, the Torah) as Moshe (משׁ” ה) became, in the eyes of the erev rav, shama (שׁמּ” ה) and desolation (שנינה). This is what Job meant by ‘I will return shama (there),’ and it alludes here that Moses, in the final exile, is destined to be transformed among the erev rav from the name Moshe (משׁ” ה) to shama (שׁמּ” ה), meaning he goes among them as shama. Job said regarding this, ‘יְהוָה נָתַן וַיהוָה לָקָח’—’Hashem gave, and Hashem has taken away’ (Job 1:21), meaning that He gave the Torah, and He took it away in the final exile, when it was concealed from Israel. ‘יְהִי שֵׁם יְהוָה מְבֹרָךְ’—’May the name of Hashem be blessed’ (Job 1:21).
Notes:
The verse “And the eyes of both of them were opened” (Genesis 3:7), originally describing Adam and Eve’s realization of their nakedness after the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, is applied to Israel. In the exile of Egypt, Israel was “naked”, meaning spiritually without the Torah, which provides “garments” for the soul through its commandments (mitzvot).
This nakedness persists in the final exile (galuta batra’ah), as referenced in Ezekiel 16:7, “And you are naked and bare.” The absence of Torah study and practice in exile leaves Israel’s souls unprotected, mirroring the spiritual vulnerability caused by the erev rav’s impurity (zuhama), as discussed in prior sections.
The two exiles (Egypt and the final exile) highlight the ongoing spiritual struggle, resolved when the erev rav are removed, and the Torah’s light is fully revealed.

#289
And at the time when the two Tablets of the Torah were broken, and the Oral Torah was concealed, it is said of Israel, ‘וַיִּתְפְּרוּ עֲלֵה תְאֵנָה’—’ And they sewed fig leaves’ (Genesis 3:7). This means that they covered themselves with several shells (klipot) of the erev rav, because they became naked from the Torah, as mentioned above, and they covered themselves so that their nakedness (עֶרְוָה)—the places of attachment for the klipot—would not be revealed. Their covering is the wings of the tzitzit, as it is written below.
Regarding the straps of the tefillin, it is said, ‘וַיַּעַשׂ ה’ אֱלֹקִים לְאָדָם וּלְאִשְׁתּוֹ כָּתְנוֹת עוֹר וַיַּלְבִּשֵׁם’—’ And Hashem Elokim made for Adam and his wife garments of skin and clothed them’ (Genesis 3:21). But regarding the tzitzit, it is said, ‘וַיִּתְפְּרוּ עֲלֵה תְאֵנָה’—’ And they sewed fig leaves’ (Genesis 3:7). This means that the verse indicates two types of coverings to conceal their nakedness (עֶרְוָה), which came to them through the Tree of Knowledge: (1) The coverings they made themselves, which are the fig leaves. (2) The coverings that the Holy One, Blessed be He, made for them, which are the garments of skin. Therefore, when the verses allude to Israel after the breaking of the Tablets, as mentioned above in the Zohar, it says that the covering of fig leaves alludes to the covering of the wings of the tzitzit, which are in the category of implements of a commandment. After the performance of the commandment, they are discarded, for they have no inherent holiness. The covering of garments of skin alludes to the straps of the tefillin, which are implements of holiness (תשמישי קדושה) that are stored away (Geniza, גניזה), for they retain holiness even after the performance of their commandment, as it is written (Megillah 26b).
The verse ‘וַיַּעֲשׂוּ לָהֶם חֲגוֹרֹת’—’And they made for themselves loincloths’ (Genesis 3:7) refers to what is written, ‘חֲגוֹר חַרְבְּךָ עַל־יָרֵךְ גִּבּוֹר’—’Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one’ (Psalms 45:4). This is the recitation of Shema (Kriat Shema). The recitation of Shema is like a sword against the external forces (חצונים), which is girded upon the thigh. It is said of the Shema, ‘רוֹמְמוֹת אֵל בִּגְרוֹנָם וְחֶרֶב פִּיפִיּוֹת בְּיָדָם’—’Exaltations of God in their throats and a double-edged sword in their hands’ (Psalms 149:6), meaning that the Shema, recited with the throat, is like a sword. Therefore, the verse says of it, ‘And they made for themselves loincloths.
Notes:
Objects used for performing mitzvot are treated with varying levels of sanctity depending on their purpose and inherent holiness, as reflected in the Zohar passage we recently translated. Implements of a mitzvah, such as tzitzit or a lulav and etrog used for Sukkot, are items that facilitate the performance of a mitzvah but do not possess inherent holiness once they become unusable. For example, a torn tzitzit garment, no longer fit for the mitzvah due to damage, may be respectfully disposed of, as it lacks permanent sanctity. These objects, likened to the “fig leaves” (Genesis 3:7), are human-made coverings that protect the soul temporarily but do not require genizah (burial/storage) unless they contain sacred text, such as the tzitzit’s accompanying blessings.
In contrast, tashmishei kedushah (implements of holiness), such as tefillin and holy books (e.g., Torah scrolls, siddurim, or Chumashim), possess inherent sanctity because they contain God’s Name or Torah text. When they become worn or damaged, they must be treated with reverence and undergo genizah, a process of respectful burial in a designated repository, often in a Jewish cemetery, to prevent desecration. The Zohar compares tefillin to the “garments of skin” made by God (Genesis 3:21), emphasizing their enduring holiness, which aligns with their role in protecting the soul against spiritual impurities (klipot). The teaching from the Yenuka, a great tzadik, that a person must be buried after death because they performed mitzvot, reflects a parallel concept: just as tefillin and holy books are “buried” due to their sanctity, a person’s body, which served as a vessel for mitzvot during life, is treated with similar reverence through burial, ensuring their spiritual legacy is honored in alignment with the divine purpose of rectifying Malchut and overcoming the erev rav’s influence, as discussed in the Zohar.

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