> [!NOTE] The Zohar on Vayikra (**III 2a**) > > The Zohar opens its drash on the weekly portion, Vayikra, in classic fashion: It quotes a verse from נ"ך - neviim and ketuvim or prophets and writings - the second two parts of the Tanakh. The art of the drash is to open with a verse from *nach* that seems unrelated to the parasha, and then to connect them. > > The verse chosen here is from the Book of Isaiah. It is part of a drama that becomes one of the multi-layered and interlocking narratives from which our section of Zohar is constructed. > > The drama in the Book of Isaiah is that its the 8th Century BCE and the Kings of Israel and Aram have declared war on the King of Judah. The King is terrified. God tells the prophet Isaiah to go reassure the king. Isaiah tells the king that the other two kings that are attacking him are nothing but "burned-out, smoldering torch-stubs" but the kings is still terrified. Isaiah says to him: Okay, ask me for a sign, a miracle, from God, that everything is going to be alright. That's our verse: *"Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in/to the depth, or in the height above"* (Isaiah 7:11). > > So Rabbi Elazar opens his drasha on Vayikra by inserting us into the story of Isaiah and the King of Judah. (SR) | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | (1) Rabbi Elazar opened: *"Ask thee a sign of YHVH thy God; ask it deep (alt. trans. "ask all the way down to Sheol"), or in the height above"* (Isaiah 7:11). We have compared the former generations with the latter, and found that the former generations knew and perceived supernal wisdom, and knew how to combine the letters that were transmitted to Moses on Sinai. Even the sinners among Israel knew the supernal wisdom within those letters – the wisdom of the upper letters and of the lower letters – the wisdom to conduct deeds in this world. | **(א) רִבִּי אֶלְעָזָר פָּתַח: ״שְׁאַל לְךָ אוֹת מֵעִם יְהוּ-ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ הַעֲמֵק שְׁאָלָה אוֹ הַגְבֵּהַּ לְמָעְלָה״ (ישעיהו ז:יא). אִסְתַּכַּלְנָא בְּדָרִין קַדְמָאִין וְדָרִין בַּתְרָאִין — מַה בֵּין דָּרִין קַדְמָאִין לְדָרִין בַּתְרָאִין. דָּרִין קַדְמָאִין הֲווֹ יַדְעִין וּמִסְתַּכְּלִין בְּחָכְמְתָא עִלָּאָה, וְיַדְעִין לְצָרְפָא אַתְוָון דְּאִתְיְהִיבוּ לֵיהּ לְמֹשֶׁה בְּסִינַי. וַאֲפִילּוּ חַיָּיבִין דִּבְהוֹן בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל הֲווֹ יַדְעִין גּוֹ אַתְוָון חָכְמְתָא עִלָּאָה — וְיַדְעִין גּוֹ אַתְוָון עִלָּאִין וְגוֹ אַתְוָון תַּתָּאִין — חָכְמְתָא לְאַנְהָגָא עוֹבָדִין בְּהַאי עָלְמָא.** | > [!tip] Pirush > > ***We have compared the former generations withe the latter…*** > Rabbi Elazar explains that in order to understand the verse from Isaiah, we need to understand that we have forgotten the power of letters. The early generations, including Isaiah and the King, still knew about the power of letters. Even sinners (perhaps meaning the King) knew, and so it makes sense that Isaiah would have talked about letters with him. > > ***The wisdom to conduct deeds in this world*** > It is this wisdom that the early generations had. They knew how to "conduct deeds", that is, to make stuff happen, and to live their lives, through the power of the letters. > > Question: Did Isaiah talk to the king about letters? Are they mentioned in the verse? 🤔 | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | (2) For every letter that was transmitted to Moses would be crowned and ascend upon the heads of the holy supernal Ḥayyot. All the Ḥayyot were crowned with them, and flew through the air that descends from the supernal air — the refined [air] that is unknowable. | **(ב) בְּגִין דְּכָל אָת וְאָת דְּאִתְּמְסַר לֵיהּ לְמֹשֶׁה הֲווֹ מִתְעַטְּרִין וְסַלְּקִין עַל רֵישַׁיְיהוּ דְּחֵיוָון עִלָּאִין קַדִּישִׁין. וְכֻלְּהוּ חֵיוָון הֲווֹ מִתְעַטְּרֵי בְּהוּ, וּפַרְחִין גּוֹ אֲוִירָא דְּנַחְתָּא מִגּוֹ אֲוִירָא עִלָּאָה — דָּקִיק דְּלָא יְדִיעַ.** | > [!NOTE] Pirush > > ***…crowned and ascend upon the heads of the holy supernal Ḥayyot*** > The **חַיּוֹת** (*Hayyoth*, "living creatures") are the four-faced angelic beings of Ezekiel's vision (Ezekiel 1) who wear the letters like crowns. They move through the **אֲוִירָא** (*avira*, "ether") — not the gross physical air but a refined, rarefied medium that descends from an even more refined ether that is wholly unknowable, symbolizing the higher reaches of the *sefirot* as they emerge from *ein sof*. The Hayot and their crowns of letters form part of the structure of the divine chariot seen by Ezekiel. Upon this chariot sits God. The chariot and throne above are parallel to the *mishkan* below. They are both dwelling places and vehicles of movement for the divine indwelling (SR) > > **The Structure of the Chariot** > As we will see as we get deeper into this piece, the Zohar teaches, following the midrash (see below under **Additional Sources**) that the structure of the heavenly chariot is parallel to the structure of the earthly mishkan. | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | (3) Large letters and small letters rise and fall. The large letters descend from the highest, most hidden *Hekhal* (palace); the small letters descend from another, lower *Hekhal* (palace). Both kinds were transmitted to Moses at Sinai. | **(ג) וְסַלְּקִין וְנַחְתִּין אַתְוָון רַבְרְבִין וְאַתְוָון דְּקִיקִין. אַתְוָון רַבְרְבִין נַחְתִּין מִגּוֹ הֵיכָלָא עִלָּאָה טְמִירָא דְּכֹלָּא; וְאַתְוָון דְּקִיקִין הֲווֹ נַחְתִּין מִגּוֹ הֵיכָלָא אָחֳרָא תַּתָּאָה. וְאִלֵּין וְאִלֵּין אִתְמְסָרוּ לֵיהּ לְמֹשֶׁה בְּסִינַי.** | | (4) And the combinations of letters — those that combine secretly within every single letter — for example, the letter א, a single letter, yet two others combine with it secretly: לף. And so all of them were transmitted to Moses at Sinai, and all are hidden among the Companions. Happy are they. | **(ד) וְחִבּוּרָא דְּאַתְוָון דְּאִינּוּן מִתְחַבְּרָאן בִּטְמִירוּ בְּכָל אָת וְאָת — כְּגוֹן א, אָת יְחִידָא, מִתְחַבְּרָאן עִמָּהּ בִּטְמִירוּ תְּרֵין אָחֳרָנִין: לף. וְכֵן כֻּלְּהוּ אִתְמְסָרוּ לֵיהּ לְמֹשֶׁה בְּסִינַי — וְכֻלְּהוּ טְמִירִין גּוֹ חַבְרַיָּיא. זַכָּאִין אִינּוּן.** | | (5) *"Ask thee a sign"* — an actual sign/letter. For all [great deeds] were performed through the mystery of letters. And so with Rahab it is written: *"Give me a true sign"* (Joshua 2:12) — this is the letter ו, which is called the "true sign." You might ask: are the other letters not true? — yes [they are], but *this* letter is specifically called the "true sign." | **(ה) ״שְׁאַל לְךָ אוֹת״ — אוֹת מַמָּשׁ. דְּכֻלְּהוּ הֲווֹ נַטְלִין בְּרָזָא דְּאַתְוָון. וְכֵן בְּרָחָב מַה כְּתִיב: ״וּנְתַתֶּם לִי אוֹת אֱמֶת״ (יהושע ב:יב) — דָּא אָת ו׳, דְּדָא אִקְרֵי אוֹת אֱמֶת. וְאִי תֵּימָא שְׁאָר אַתְוָון לָאו אִינּוּן אֱמֶת — אִין, אֶלָּא אוֹת דָּא אוֹת אֱמֶת אִקְרֵי.** | > [!NOTE] Pirush > The Hebrew word **אוֹת** (_ot_) means both _sign_ — a miraculous token — and _letter_ of the alphabet. For the Zohar, when Isaiah tells King Ahaz to "ask thee a sign," the text is saying: ask for a _letter_. The letters are the instruments through which everything happens. > > After hiding the Israelite spies in the story of Joshua, Rahab the innkeeper of Jericho for **אוֹת אֱמֶת** — a "true sign". The spies told her to tie a crimson cord to her window. Perhaps the cord is like the letter **ו** (_vav_): a single vertical stroke, a hanging line. In any case, the prophet Micah states, **תִּתֵּן אֱמֶת לְיַעֲקֹב חֶסֶד לְאַבְרָהָם**, *You give truth to Jacob, loyalty to Abraham."* (Micah 7:20). In kabbalistic thought, Jacob represents the sefirah of **תִּפְאֶרֶת** (_Tiferet_, "Beauty") which is the letter **ו** in the divine Name **יהו-ה**. The _vav_ stands at the center of the Name, between the upper **יה** above and the lower **ה** (_heh_) below. It is the connecting letter and the sign of truth. (SR) | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | (6) *"Ask it deep (alt. trans. "ask all the way down to Sheol"/"Deepen the ask")* — this is the final ה of the Holy Name. *"Or in the height above" (alt. trans. "Or raise it up above")* — this is the letter יוֹד, the head of the Holy Name. This is the mystery of: *"Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God"* — a sign from the Holy Name, as it says *"from with YHVH"* — for this is the Name of the Holy Blessed One, one letter from within it. And the *mishkan* stands upon this. | **(ו) ״הַעֲמֵק שְׁאָלָה״ — דָּא אוֹת ה׳ בַּתְרָאָה דְּבִשְׁמָא קַדִּישָׁא. ״אוֹ הַגְבֵּהַּ לְמָעְלָה״ — דָּא אָת יוֹ״ד, רֵישָׁא דְּבִשְׁמָא קַדִּישָׁא. וְדָא אִיהוּ רָזָא דִּכְתִיב: ״שְׁאַל לְךָ אוֹת מֵעִם יְהוּ-ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ״ — אוֹת מִשְּׁמָא קַדִּישָׁא, מַשְׁמַע דִּכְתִיב ״מֵעִם יְהוּ-ה״ — דְּדָא אִיהוּ שְׁמָא דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, אָת חַד דְּבֵיהּ. וּמַשְׁכְּנָא קָאִים עַל דָּא.** | > [!NOTE] Pirush > Having established that Rahab's sign was the letter **ו** (_vav_), the Zohar now reads the rest of Isaiah's verse as a map of the divine Name. > > Isaiah says: _"Ask it either in the depth — or in the height above."_ The Zohar hears these not as directions in space but as directions within **יהו-ה** itself. "Deepen the ask" — reach all the way down — and you arrive at the final **ה** (_heh_), the lowest letter of the Name, closest to the world below. "Raise it up above" — and you arrive at the **י** (_yod_), the topmost letter, the hidden head of the Name, barely a point. > > And this unlocks the verse's central phrase. The full verse reads:**שְׁאַל־לְךָ אוֹת מֵעִם יְהֹוָ-ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ הַעְמֵק שְׁאָלָה אוֹ הַגְבֵּהַּ לְמָעְלָה** *Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God — ask it either in the depth, or in the height above."* (Isaiah 7:11). The word translated "of" is **מֵעִם** — literally _from within_. The Zohar reads this precisely: Isaiah is not saying "ask God for a sign." He is saying "ask for a letter from the name יהו-ה". > > So the full structure becomes clear. The divine Name has four letters. Three of them are named in this passage: > > - _Yod_ **י** — the height above, the concealed head > - _Vav_ **ו** — the sign of truth > - _Heh_ **ה** — the depth below, the final letter > > Then Zohar then drops a single line: **וּמַשְׁכְּנָא קָאִים עַל דָּא** — _"and the Mishkan stands upon this."_ As we will see when we go further and uncover the mystical meaning of ויקרא vayikra, the letter upon which the *mishkan* is the Vav, the letter of truth. (SR)