Great Throughts Treasury

"His eye is ever open and sleepeth not, for it continually keepeth watch. And the appearance of the lower is according to the aspect of the higher light.... His two nostrils like mighty galleries, whence His spirit rushes forth over."

"How hard-hearted are people, for they do not watch over the words of that world at all. The evil in the heart, which clings to all organs of the body, does that to them. ?There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy upon men.? This evil is the force of the evil in the heart that wishes to dominate the worldly matters and does not watch over the matters of that world at all."

"Hillel used to say, ?If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when??"

"If you wish to strengthen a lie, mix a little truth in with it."

"I feel very blessed to have received these teachings and to share them with the world, which is the essence of the Zohar teachings."

"I went down to the garden of nuts to see the buds of the valley. See how much there is for man to contemplate and make precisions on each day, to search one?s actions, and to scrutinize all of one?s matters. One should take it to one?s heart that the Creator created him and placed a high soul within them, above the rest of His creations, only to contemplate His work and to adhere to Him, and to not follow vanity."

"Humanity was endowed by the Creator with the power to influence and determine the very nature of the universe, from the quantum level to the birth and death of stars. The instrument of this great power is nothing more than our consciousness, and our realization of the capabilities that are within our grasp."

"It is a precept of Kabbalah that our actions in the physical dimension create the channels that connect us to the Divine"

"It is the principle of all principles, the hidden Wisdom, the Crown which the Highest of the high, and by which all crowns and diadems are crowned". It is the first of the emanations from the En-Sof. The latter being, as has been said above, the infinite, hidden, unknowable Being, the Crown represents, as it were, the first stage by which the Infinite Being takes on the properties of the finite and becomes drawn out of His impenetrable isolation. But, nevertheless, the Crown is an absolute indivisible unity, possessing no attributes or qualities, and baffling all analysis and description. It is, to quote the original, a 'nek?dah pesht?ah,' i.e. 'a simple point,' or 'nek?da rish?nah,' i.e. 'a primordial point.' The idea here is that the first manifestation of the Divine is a point, i.e. a unity, unanalysable, indescribable, and yet possessing the All. In other words, it is the Hegelian idea of 'pure being' (das reine sein). This 'pure being' or 'existence' is the thought or reason of God. The starting-point of everything is the thought as it existed in God. The universe is this 'thought' of God. It is in this 'thought' of God that everything was originally embraced. The first of the Sefirot denotes, then, the primordial Divine Thought (or Divine Will, as the Hebrew commentators often style it); and to say this is tantamount to saying that the Crown contained within itself the plan of the universe in its infinity of time and space, in its endless varieties of form, color, and movement. And it is an emanation from the En-Sof who, while immanent in the Crown, and hence immanent in all the Sefirot, yet transcends them all."

"In the beginning, when the Will of the King began to take effect, He impressed His signs into the heavenly sphere. Within the Most Hidden, the Infinite (En Sof), a dark flame issued forth, like a fog forming in the Unformed. Forming the concentric ring of that [first] sphere, [this flame was] neither white nor black, neither red nor green, of no color whatever. Only after this flame began to assume size and dimension, did it produce radiant colors. From the innermost center of the flame gushed forth a host of colors which spread on everything beneath. Concealed within all was the hidden mystery of the Infinite (En Sof."

"In the days of Rabbi Yosi, there were bandits who robbed people in the mountains, along with bandits from other nations of the world. When they found someone, they seized him for the purpose of killing him. They said to him: What is your name? If he was a Jew, they accompanied him, bringing him out and away from the mountains. But if he was not a Jew, they killed him. Rabbi Yosi said: Nevertheless, they are yet suitable to enter the world to come and attain its life."

"In the last generations that will come, the law will be forgotten from among them. Then wise at heart will gather in their places, and none will be found who will close and open the Torah. Woe unto that generation. Henceforth there will not be as this generation until the arrival of the generation of the Messiah, the knowledge awakens in the world, as it is written, ?For they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them.?"

"In the Zohar as well as in the Bible, names are linked not only to an individual's physical identity but also to his level of spiritual elevation. People's names tell us not only who they are in the world, but also where they are on the ascending path toward God."

"Once we have internalized the reality of the Creator's love and have learned to recognize His Light in the workings of our everyday lives, we are well on the way toward the unity with God that is our true purpose."

"Now I can understand why so many famous and talented people, who have influenced this world, like Madonna, are attracted to these high teachings of the Kabbalah."

"One day Rabbi Yosi was ill. Rabbi Aba and Rabbi Yehuda visited him. They saw him prostrated on his face, sleeping. When he awoke, they saw his face smiling. Rabbi Aba said to him, You have seen something new. He said to them, Indeed, for my soul rose and saw the glory of those who suffered martyrdom for the sanctity of their Master going into thirteen rivers of pure balsam and the Holy One, blessed be He, taking delight in them. I saw what I was given no permission to relate. I asked them saying, Whose glory is this, and they told me it is that of those who loved their Master in that world. From what my soul has seen, my heart is illuminated. Hence my face is smiling."

"Miracles are not about extraordinary happenings. They are about the connection to the Light that makes the extraordinary possible, and the (seemingly) ordinary as well. In this sense, the Zohar tells us, raising children is a miracle. So is just staying alive."

"It says in Deuteronomy, ??You shall not plant for yourselves an asherah or any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord thy God which (asher) you shall make for yourselves.? Are we to suppose that anywhere else it is permitted [to plant an Asherah]? [Of course not!] The truth is that the He? [the letter of God?s name that represents the feminine Divine] is called Asherah, after the name of its spouse, Asher, and the meaning of the verse is therefore: ?You shall not plant another Asherah by the side of the altar which is established upon this[Asherah].? Observe that throughout the Scriptures the worshippers of the sun are called servants of Baal and the worshippers of the moon servants of Asherah; hence the combination ?to Baal and Asherah.? If this is so (that Asherah is the name of the feminine aspect of God), why is it not used as a sacred name? The reason is that this name brings to mind the words of Leah, ?happy am I, for the daughters will call me happy (ishruni),? but this one is not ?called happy? by other nations, and another nation is set up in its place. It is written, ?all that honored her despise her? (Lam. 1:8). But the real altar is one that is made of earth, as it is written, ?An altar of earth you shall make for me.? That is why it says in Genesis, ?dust from the earth.?"

"Our purpose in life is first to recognize God, then to understand His presence in our lives, and ultimately to achieve unity with His nature."

"Our Lord doesn't promise to redeem any 'worlds.' Instead He calls us to choose between this evil world and life with Him in His Kingdom. ?My kingdom is not of this world."

"Rabbi Shimon said, ?I wonder about the people in the world: they have neither eyes to see nor hearts to observe, and they do not know and are not attentive regarding their Master?s will. They sleep and are not awakening from their slumber before that day comes when darkness and gloom cover them and the lender demands His bill of them."

"Perhaps the most fundamental teaching is that when a sufficient number of people have chosen to use the divinely given spiritual tools, a critical mass will be achieved that will bring about the redemption of humanity as a whole, even including those who have followed the negative path. That, one might say, is the good news."

"Rav Kook said, "Therefore, the pure righteous do not complain of the dark, but increase the light; they do not complain of evil, but increase justice; they do not complain of heresy, but increase faith; they do not complain of ignorance, but increase wisdom.""

"One of Kabbalah's most important teachings states that negative thoughts are the origin of chaos in our lives. And of all negative thoughts, doubt may be the deadliest."

"Rabbi Aba said that the words, ?living creatures? refer to Yisrael, because they are children of the Holy One, blessed be He, from whom their holy souls originate. He asked: From where do the souls of idolatrous nations originate? Rabbi Elazar said: Their souls come from the forces of the left, who defile them. Therefore, they are all impure and convey impurity to those who come close to them. ? Rabbi Elazar added, This supports our statement that ?living soul? refers to Israel, who are holy supernal living souls. The words ?Cattle and creeping things and Chayot of the earth? (Beresheet 1:24) refer to the idolatrous nations, which are not living souls. Rather, they are, as we have said, drawn from the forces of the left, which defile them. All souls must undergo transmigration and the souls of men revolve like a stone which is thrown from a sling, so many turns before the final release...Only those who have not completed their perfection must suffer the wheel of rebirth by being reborn into another human body."

"Rabbi Akiva said, ?If a rock, though extremely hard, can be hollowed out by water, how much more so should it be possible for The Light, which is compared to water, to change my heart. I will begin to study it, and try to become a scholar of The Light.""

"The Ancient of Days has three heads. He reveals himself in three archetypes, all three forming but one. He is thus symbolized by the number Three. They are revealed in one another. [These are:] first, secret, hidden 'Wisdom'; above that the Holy Ancient One; and above Him the Unknowable One. None knows what He contains; He is above all conception. He is therefore called for man 'Non-Existing' [Ayin]."

"So much energy is wasted by humankind in the pursuit of things that are ultimately meaningless, while we avoid experiences that can foster spiritual growth."

"The bad news is that the reverse is also true, as has been proven on a number of occasions in the biblical narrative. When evil has become sufficiently widespread, a general cleansing must take place, on a scale that transcends the virtue or depravity of individual human beings. At that point, the wheat is no longer separated from the chaff. Everything is considered chaff."

"The entire lower world was created in the likeness of the higher world. All that exists in the higher world appears like an image in this lower world; yet all this is but One."

"The Creator is destined to open the eyes, for there has never been wisdoms that would gaze upon the upper wisdom and attain what they did not attain in this world, so they would know their Master. Happy are the righteous who are rewarded with that wisdom, for there is no wisdom like that wisdom, no knowing like that knowing, and no adhesion like that adhesion."

"The entire project of existence, even the creation of the universe itself, consists in resolving this duality through the unification of "getting" and "giving" into a single desire to "receive in order to share." When this is accomplished, Kabbalah teaches, the Vessel will at last be prepared to receive the Light of the Creator in full force."

"The fundamental interconnection of consciousness and creation is the very essence of the zoharic worldview. To perceive and embrace this unity is to experience the true spirit of Kabbalah."

"The incident of the golden calf offers a dramatic case in point. After escaping slavery in Egypt and miraculously crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites arrived at the foot of Mount Sinai. But as we have pointed out, in the Zohar, "Egypt" does not refer to a political or geographical entity. "Egypt" is a coded representation of a spiritual condition. It denotes slavery to the physical world, bondage to the degenerate attractions of material reality, and estrangement from the real treasure and fulfillment, which is the Light of the Creator."

"The Most Ancient One is at the same time the most Hidden of the hidden. He is separated from all things, and is at the same time not separated from all things. For all things are united in Him, and He unites Himself with all things. There is nothing which is not in Him. He has a shape, and one can say that He has not one. In assuming a shape, He has given existence to all things. He made ten lights spring forth from His midst, lights which shine with the form which they have borrowed from Him, and which shed everywhere the light of a brilliant day. The Ancient One, the most Hidden of the hidden, is a high beacon, and we know Him only by His lights, which illuminate our eyes so abundantly. His Holy Name is no other thing than these lights."

"The narratives (or words) of the Law are the garment of the Law. Woe unto him who takes this garment for the Law itself! It is in this sense that David spake, saying, 'Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy Law' (Psalm, cxix. 18). David wished to speak of that which is hidden beneath the garment of the Law. There are fools who, seeing a man covered with a beautiful garment, look no further than that; and yet that which gives a worth to the garment is his body, and what is even more precious than that, his soul. The Law, too, has its body. There are precepts which one might call the body of the Law. The ordinary narratives which are intermingled are the garments with which the body is covered. Simpletons have regard only to the garments or narratives of the Law. . . . The better instructed pay no regard to the garment, but to the body which it encloses. Finally, the wise, the servants of the supreme King, they who inhabit the heights of Sinai, are concerned only with the soul which is the foundation of all else, which is the real Law. And in the time to come they will be prepared to gaze at the soul of that soul. which breathes through the Law."

"The Spirit of the Eternal shot out of his Body like a sheet of lightning that radiated at once on the billows of the Seven millions of skies, and my ten splendors were his limbs."

"The Other Side, which is not holy. The spirit that spreads within the idolatrous nations issues from the side that is not holy and is not the aspect of man. Therefore, it is not called by this name, as has been written: ?But you? are men.? The name of this spirit is defiled. It is not called man and has no share in him because it extends from the wicked man (lit. ?man without elevation?), who does not want to ascent to the face of man above. So his body, the vestment of his spirit, is impure and his flesh is defiled."

"The transformation of your being from what it is now to what the Creator wants and intends for you from a being of self-serving desire into one of desire for the purpose of sharing with others."

"The true purpose of humanity in general, and of every human being, is to connect with the Light of the Creator in greater and greater intensity, and eventually to literally become one with the Light. But creating this connection with the Light is not simply a matter of gaining access to it. Making ourselves ready to receive the Light means "preparing the vessel" into which the Light will flow. It means taking positive action in the everyday conduct of our lives. It means replacing desire to receive for ourselves alone with desire to receive in order to share, and loving others as we love ourselves. As the great sage Hillel said, "The rest is commentary.""

"The Torah is the Light of the Creator, and only a person who receives this light is considered as learning Torah (rather than just acquiring mere wisdom)."

"The wisdom that one should know: to know and to observe the secret of his Master, to know himself, to know who he is, how he was created, where he comes from and where he is going, how the body is corrected, and how he will be judged by the King of All."

"The Zohar is literally a kind of lightning rod. It draws the Light of the Creator to us and reveals the Light in ourselves. In so doing, it eliminates inner darkness, for darkness cannot coexist with Light. Nor can chaos, whose essence is disconnection, remain in force when a genuine connection with the Upper World has taken place."

"Therefore it is written, "Do not keep silent, Elohim," so that there will always be an awakening from below upon which that from above will come to rest."

"The truth always turns out to be more wonderful than anything we could have imagined."

"The Zohar depicts humankind as an essentially spiritual entity whose fate is determined by the nature of our own thoughts and actions. That is to say, it is all up to us. Only human beings have the power of free will in determining their spiritual evolution, which in turn is the controlling energy of their physical and material well-being."

"This distinguishes the Holy side from the ?Other Side?. Thus are they marked, to distinguish the holiness of Israel [ie. the people of Israel: the Jews] from the impure idol worshipping nations that originate from the ?Other Side,? as we have learned. Just as He marked Yisrael, so did He mark their cattle and their fowl ? to distinguish them from the cattle and fowl of the idol worshipping nations. How happy is the role of Israel!"

"To know and to observe the secret of the soul. What is the soul within him? Where does it come from and why does it come into this body, which is a foul drop that is here today and in the grave tomorrow? To know the world one is in, and for what the world will be corrected, to gaze upon the sublime secrets of the Upper World, and to know one?s Master. And one observes all that from within the secrets of the Torah."

"To understand a holy unity, examine the flame rising from a candle. We see at first two kinds of light, one glistening white and one blue or black. The white light is above and rises in a straight line, the blue or black light is beneath and appears to be the source of the white; yet the two lights are so closely united they form one single flame. But the source formed by the blue or black light is, in turn, attached to the wick under it. The white light never changes, it always remains white; but several shades are distinguishable in the lower light. Moreover, the lower light moves in two opposite directions; above, it is connected to the white light, and below, it is attached to the burning matter; this matter continually consumes itself and rises toward the upper light. It is thus that all that is, reunites with the one unity."

"Ultimately, according to Kabbalah, every soul is destined for peace, joy, and the fulfillment that accompanies oneness with the Creator."