סיפורי צדיקים ע"פ הזוהר הקדוש באנגלית:
להורדה: עלונים של סיפור צדיקים ע"פ הזוהר הקדוש באנגלית: לחץ כאן:
Rabbi Pinchas Bein Yair goes out
to greet Rabbi Shimon
Bar Yochai after exiting the cave
.
(Introduction to the Zohar -Pg. 11a)
Rabbi Pinchas Ben Yair was often found in the presence of Rabbi Rechumai on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. He was a very great and old man who could no longer see with his eyes. He said to Rabbi Pinchas: “I heard that our friend Yochai has a wonderful gem [referring to son Rabbi Shimon]. I looked [with the eye of my mind] at the light of that gem [referring to the light of Rabbi Shimon’s teachings] and I saw it illuminate like the brilliance of the sun coming out of its ‘cover’ to illuminate the entire world. That great light spreads from the heavens to the earth and illuminates the entire world… and from this light came out a smaller light that will also illuminate the entire world [referring to his son – Rabbi Elazar]. How fortunate are you! Go out, my son. Go after that wonderful gem that illuminates the world – as the time has come for you.” [i.e. Rabbi Rechumai saw in the eye of his mind that Rabbi Shimon had already left the cave and that the time has come for Rabbi Pinchas to go out and greet him]
He departed from him and entered a boat with two other men. He saw two birds flying towards him over the sea and he called out to them: “Birds, birds who fly over the sea. Did you see where Rabbi Shimon is?” Seeing their pause, he said: “Birds, birds – go find him and report back to me.” The birds flew off and they continued sailing in the sea. Before he even left the boat the birds came back to him and in the mouth of one of them was a note [that fell down from the heavens] saying: “The son of Yochai has left the cave along with his son Elazar”.
He went and found Rabbi Shimon appearing much different than he did before – as his body was full of cracks and wounds [from sitting in the acidic soil for thirteen years]. He cried along with him and said: “Oy to me for seeing you in this state”. Rabbi Shimon answered “How fortunate I am to be seen in this state. Had you not seen me in this state I would not be holding in my current [elevated] state [that I reached in the cave while learning Torah with so much self-sacrifice]!”
Learning Torah on the road
(P. Bereshit – Pg. 58b,59a)
Rabbi Shimon was walking on the road and along with him were his son Rabbi Elazar as well as Rabbi Yosei and Rabbi Chiya. As they were walking Rabbi Elazar said to his father: “The road is clear and prepared for us. Therefore, we want to hear words of Torah.” Rabbi Shimon opened [with words of Torah] and said: “[the verse in Kohelet 10:3) says:] ‘And also in the path that the fool goes his heart is missing, etc.’ – When a man wants to ensure that his journey should find favor in the Almighty’s eyes, then before he begins his journey he must consult the Shechina and pray for a successful journey [i.e. he must recite Tefilat Ha’Derech as he leaves town] as we learned from the verse [in Tehilim 85:14] ‘Tzedek shall walk before him and he shall then stride on his path’ – [Rabbi Shimon now explains what is the ‘Tzedek’ mentioned in the verse] This is the Shechina that will not abandon him on his path. However, regarding one who does not believe in the Almighty [and instead of reciting Tefilat Ha’Derech relies upon his own strength] the verse [quoted above from Kohelet] states: ‘And also in the path that the fool goes his heart is missing’. Who is ‘his heart’? This is the Almighty [i.e. the holy Shechina which is the heart all the creations] that will not accompany him on his journey [to watch over him] as he is lacking its assistance on his journey. Because this man who does not believe in the Almighty did not pray for his assistance before setting off on the road. Furthermore, he does not toil in words of Torah on the road. As a result, ‘his heart is missing’ [i.e. the Shechina which is called the heart is not with him] – since he does not travel along with his master [having not prayed Tefilat Ha’Derech before departing] nor will he be found on his journey [since he is not toiling in Torah on the road].
[The above mentioned verse in Kohelet that ends with the words] “And he announces to all that he is a fool” [could be read differently from its simple understanding] – That even when [the fool] hears [Torah] words of Emuna [from someone wise] he says it is foolish to toil in them. [according to this the verse should be read “And he announces to all the wise men that the Torah is foolishness”, and that they are foolish for toiling in it]. Like the [foolish] man who [was not circumcised and] was asked about the holy Brit Mila that is marked on our flesh. He answered that this matter [of circumcision] does not pertain to Emuna [and has no relevance nor substance]. When Rav Yeyva Sava heard, he glanced at him and turned him into a pile of bones [as the Chachamim had the power to exact punishment with their eyes. Rabbi Shimon now ends off his introduction and says:] However we set off on our journey with the help of the Shechina [having prayed Tefilat Ha’Derech] and therefore now we need to say words of Torah [so that the Shechina will remain with us for the duration of our journey] .——————————————————————————————————————————————The Ohr Hachaim Ha’Kadosh wrote (in P. Vay’Chi – 49:11) that the strength of our redeemer the Mashiach comes from our learning the ‘wine’ of the Torah. I.e. the ‘wine’ of the torah are the Torah’s secrets which are called its ‘wine’ (since both ‘wine – יין’ and ‘secret – סוד’ have the same numerological value of seventy).
Let us therefore take to heart that it is within our own hands to hasten our redemption and merit seeing Mashiach in God’s mercy. This is why will all learn the holy Zohar!
The Almighty’s judgment!
(P. Noah – Pg. 62a)
Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Yehuda were walking on the road till they reached some tall mountains. Between these mountains they found bones that remained from the generation that drowned in the great flood. They walked three hundred feet to get from one end of the bone to the other, and marveled at the sheer size of that bone. They said: ‘This explains why we learned that the people of that generation were not afraid of the Almighty’s judgment do to their great size and strength’ – as alluded to in the verse (in Iyov 21:14) “And they said to God go away from us as we do not want to know your ways.” What did they do? When the springs would rupture to flood the world they would stomp them with their feet in order to prevent the water from rising. However, the Almighty made the waters rise in boiling temperatures so that even they could not withstand. As a result they would fall dead to the ground.
The Chofetz Chaim would say that in one minute one could utter around two hundred words which in one hour amounts to twelve-thousand words. Since the Mitzvah of learning Torah is equal to all the Mitzvot put together its comes out that each word of Torah is actually equal to six hundred and thirteen Mitzvot. If so, then in a single one hour Shiur one has actually amassed more than seven million Mitzvot (7,356,000). In two hours the total is more than fourteen million Mitzvot, and in four hours the total is more than twenty eight million Mitzvot.
The ‘Ben Ish Chay’ wrote in the name of the Kabalists that an hour of learning Torah on Shabbat is worth a thousand hours during the weekdays. Furthermore, the ‘Kise Melech’ wrote that Kabalah learning in and of its self is worth one thousand times compared to the revealed portions of the Torah. If so, then learning Zohar on Shabbat is worth one million times more than learning of the revealed Torah during the weekday.
If so, we must certainly increase our Torah learning and especially the Torah of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in the Zohar Ha’Kadosh, and especially on Shabbat when we naturally become tired and have to overcome our tiredness and learn in spite of the difficulty of staying awake. After all, ‘Avot De’Rabbi Natan’ tells us that when one learns in spite of his difficulty his Torah is worth one hundred times more.
We’ve already learned that our learning on Shabbat is worth one thousand times compared to the weekday and that each word of Zohar is worth a thousand words of revealed Torah. When you multiply this by one hundred times due to the inevitable tiredness factor on Shabbat we find that our learning of Zohar on Shabbat is worth no less than 100,000,000 times more than revealed Torah during the weekday!
We should also take to heart that the ‘Orchot Tzadikim’ writes that any Mitzvah done with happiness is worth one thousand times more – and we should be naturally be filled with happiness with that thought alone!
Note: Let us not forgot our sages’ warning in Pirkei Avot (1:3) lest we serve the Almighty merely in order to get reward – even in the world to come! By all means then, when we said that by learning Zohar on Shabbat when people are naturally tired that this Torah is worth 100,000,000 times more than the revealed Torah during in the weekday we did not mean to urge our readers to be greedy for heavenly reward. Of course the reward will come, however our main intention was to impress upon our dear readers that this type of learning accomplishes 100,000,000 times more in order to bring Mashiach than any other learning. Let us not make that mistake and merit seeing the imminent arrival of Mashiach in our own days, as well as the appropriate reward in the world that awaits all those who yearn for his imminent arrival as those who learn the Zohar with that intention in mind!
The severity of sins done in public
(P. Bereshit – Pg 57b)
Rabbi Shimon was walking by the gates of Teveria one day when he saw people commit a very grave sin in public. He said: “How can they sin so blatantly in public with intention to angers their creator!” He focused his eyes on them in order to punish them and they were immediately thrown into the sea and drowned.
Come and see how any transgression done in public chases the holy Shechina away from the land and drives its presence out of this world! And this generation of the flood would behave with a great brashness and Chutzpah and by doing so chased the Shechina away from the world – until the Almighty also responded by chasing them away from the world with the great flood. This is expressed in the verse (Mishley 25:5) ‘Remove the wicked from before the king’ and by doing so ‘his thrown will founded upon righteousness’, and similarly (Mishley 25:4) ‘Remove the excess from the silver’ and by doing so the craftsman will make beautiful silverware.
The Ararat Mountains
(P. Noah – Pg. 63a)
Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Yosei were walking on the road. When they encountered the Ararat mountains they saw cracks in the earth. Rabbi Chiya said to Rabbi Yosei: “These cracks are from the days of the great flood when the Almighty opened the earth for the boiling waters to rise up. The Almighty left these cracks for future generations to see so that the remembrance of those sinners will not be forgotten. As this is the way of the Almighty – He wants the righteous ones who do his will to be remembered favorably in the heavens above and down on earth as well, so that their blessed memory shall not be forgotten. And the same holds regarding the wicked ones who do not do his will, so that their transgressions and bad name shall not be forgotten from all future generations. This is expressed in the verse: ‘Your sin is marked before me, etc.;’ (Yirmiyahu 2:22)”
The great holy Kabalist Rabbi Yaakov Abuchatzirah of blessed memory (in his book Ginzei Ha’Melech – Pg. 185) says in the name of the Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai that one who did not learn Torat Ha’Emet which are the secrets of the Torah is better off not to be born in the first place, as without this learning one does not know the Almighty’s godliness, nor can he properly love God or have awe of him. And Rav Phetayah of blessed memory says in the name of Rabbi Chaim Vital of blessed memory in the beginning of Shaar Ha’Mitzvot that one who has not done so is lacking the Mitzvah of learning Torah which is equal to all the other Mitzvot put together and has to come back in a reincarnation until he does toil in all four sections of the Torah properly (i.e. Pshat, Drush, Remez, and Sod which are the Torah’s secrets). Rav Phetayah also said that when such a person passes away, while they are still crying over him during the funeral procession he may have possibly already returned to this world in a reincarnation – may God spare us!
As all flesh has corrupted his ways
(P. Noah – Pg. 68a)
Rabbi Yosei was before Rabbi Shimon one day. He asked him: “Why did the Almighty see fit to destroy the animals of the field and the birds of the sky along with the wicked people during the flood? Understandably the wicked people sinned, but how did the birds of the sky as well as the other creatures sin?” Rabbi Shimon answered: “As the verse states: ‘All flesh has corrupted his ways on the earth’ (Bereshit 6:12). All these creatures corrupted their ways as well by abandoning their own kind and instead choosing to multiply with other species. Come and see how it was actually the wicked people of that generation that caused the other creatures to do so, as they wanted to deny and distort God’s act of creation by introducing new species in to the world. For example, by urging the horse to multiply with a donkey a mule would come out, and with this new mule they would distort God’s original act of creation thereby denying that God actually created the world – since originally there was no mule. It was they who caused all the other creatures to corrupt their ways the way the generation of the flood corrupted their ways. Therefore, the Almighty responded: “You wanted to deny the works of my hands by denying my act of creation by introducing new species into the world – therefore I will play along with you and do just that! I will wipe the all life from above the earth and return the world to a state of water the way it was in the very beginning in a state of waters with waters. And then, after the remaining species will undergo a spiritual renewal in the ark, I will make so-called ‘new’ yet proper creatures in the new world that I will regenerate!
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The Rebbe from Kamarna would say: Many people run away from learning from learning the secrets of the Arizal and the Zohar which happen to be our life-support. And if only my people would listen to me, then in the days of the foot-heels of Mashiach when heresy prevails – they should spend their entire days on the writings of the Arizal and the Zohar mixed with the Chasidut of the Baal Shem Tov and they would abolish all evil decrees… And if only may people would listen the me, in this wicked generation that heresy prevails, they should learn the Zohar and the Tikunim with a nine-year old in order that his piety will precede his wisdom – so that his wisdom will prevail!
Even if man would hide in his hiding place
(P. Noah – Pg. 68a)
Rabbi Chiya began by explaining the verse (in Yirmiyahu 23:24) that states: ‘Should a man hide in his hiding place will I not see him? – says Hashem!’ How could people be so closed-hearted and blind to entertain that they can hide their sins from the Almighty! By doing so they are certainly denying the Almighty’s glory since his presence is certainly found everywhere and therefore he necessarily sees all their actions, as the conclusion of that verse states: ‘Does my presence not fill the heavens and the earth?’ How then could people imagine they could possibly hide their sins from him and say: “Who sees us and who knows about us!” Regarding them the verse (in Yeshayahu 29:15) says: “And their actions are in the dark!” Where do they imagine they can possibly hide from him?
What could this be likened to? To a king who built a castle, and underneath this castle he dug secret tunnels. After many years the people of this castle rebelled against the king. The king came with his army and surrounded the castle. What did the people of the castle do? They hid in the secret tunnels under the castle. Said the king: “I was the one who dug these secret tunnels and you imagined you could possibly hide in them from me?” This is the meaning of the verse: ‘Should a man hide in his hiding place will I not see him? – says Hashem!’ I was the one who dug these secret tunnels and I was the one who created both light and darkness. And you? How could you possibly hide yourself even in the darkness!
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The holy Zohar should be seen as Noah’s ark, where even the wicked can find refuge in without any fear!
Rav Moshe Cordovero wrote (in Ohr Yakar) that the holy Zohar should be seen as Noah’s ark that contained many species who were saved only by going into the ark. So too must we view the holy Zohar. Therefore the righteous must certainly enter the secret light of this holy book in order to save themselves, as it is the charm of this holy book that by approaching it with a love of Hashem it will immediately draw him closer and closer like a magnet would pull a metal towards it. He should therefore enter it in order to save his sole. Not only that but even the wicked ones will suffer no harm should they enter the ark known as the holy Zohar as it will surely arouse them to repent and return to their father in heaven.
Bandits destined for the world to come
(P. Vayera – Pg. 118a)
*** note: on the Hebrew sheet the page is mistakenly numbered 116a!
In the days of Rabbi Yosei were bandits who used to rob people in the mountains along with the gentile bandits. When they would catch a person and were about to kill him they would first ask him for his name. If he turned out to be Jewish they would personally escort him out of the dangerous mountains into safety. However, if he was from the other nations they would rob and kill him. Rabbi Yosei would say that in this merit they will surely be awakened to do Teshuva and also merit a place in the world to come.
Rabbi Eliezer goes to meet his Rav – Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai
(P. Chayey Sarah – Pg.127a)
Rabbi Eliezer [the ‘great’, son of Horkenus] went to see his Rabbi – Raban Yochanan Ben Zakai. That day was Rosh Chodesh. When he reached him, Raban Yochanan Ben Zakai asked him: “You are compared to a well [of water] cleansed from all debris and dirt that is constantly filled [from above with fresh water] on top of its own self-replenishing waters [from the depths of the earth] – what do you seek here?” [i.e. Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai hinted that by now Rabi Eliezer had become a tremendous Talmid-Chacham and was therefore surprised that he came to him for even more Torah (that is likened to water)] He answered: “One must visit his Rabbi” [for example on Rosh Chodesh as that day was]. Rabbi Yochanan responded: “That is not what I was referring to. Rather, I see on your face that you came to me with a wonderful Chidush from the great depths your are destined to investigate!” [i.e. Raban Yochanan praised him as if to say ‘since you are destined for so much greatness in the secrets of the Torah why did you came to me for more?’]